COSMIC CENTURY

Darkness falls and twinkling stars cover the night sky like a blanket.

The gentle breeze and the sparkling night, lead by the ever-shining moon, stand as our reliable companions in the journey towards Canterlot: the capital of Equestria. A marbled Fortress-City hanging from the side of Canterlot's Peak, the tallest mountain in all of Equestria.

I was doing some business in Ponyville.

Both colossal peak and magnificent fortress are visible from every single road in Equestria, and the rarely-traversed dirt road we are walking through is no exception, and the sight is so impressive I barely even feel the weight of the wagon me and Big Mac are pulling.

Just keeping myself busy to leave troubled thoughts outside.

"You are not looking too well, AJ."   Big Mac directs a worn out gaze towards me, sweat visible on his brows.   "Seems you could use a little rest."

I was about to pick up Diamond Tiara at school when I heard a ruckus at the library.

"It's nothin', just a little bit distracted. You don't need to worry about me."

"Good to know."   Big Mac lets go of the wagon, and soon enough I feel the full weight of it fall on my shoulders.   "I, on the other hoof, do need a brief recess before I pass out."   He moves to the side of the wagon and shuffles some hanging bags until he gets a hold of a small canteen.

"I'll be waiting for you here, then, Macintosh."

I ran to it as fast as I could.

"Just hurry it up a bit, okay?"

What if someone's hurt?

Big Mac turns around and stares at me with those big, inquisitive eyes of his for a second.

"I won't take long."   Then walks away into the brush while downing the canteen's contents, leaving me alone to take care of the wagon.

That's when I saw them.

I suppose he was carrying most of the weight, 'cause now my shoulders hurt one hell of a lot just by trying to keep it from rolling back. Guess he really needed that rest.

This raggedy wagon is much heavier than it looks like, made with thick, heavy wood from the toughest trees in the Everfree Forest, a wagon meant to carry the heaviest loads possible without breaking down.

And all the bags and it's four passengers do make for heavy load. All in all, this thing's too heavy for me to carry all alone.

Monsters, covered in flames.

In fact, why am I even carrying this thing?

"Just.... have.... to push this.......heavy thing.....a little bit and......there you go!"

Safe and sound, carefully placed where it won't roll back when I'm not looking. Now I can finally let go of it.

"Ooof....almost....broke back...."

I feel so drained right now : My feet hurt and are covered in muck, my entire coat is glittering from buckets of sweat, I have more than a few scratches here and there from rogue rocks and twigs, and my tongue is dry as a desert, so much that I could really use a.....

A white mare ran to them, and then they....

"I need a drink."

I do much like by bro and move towards the side of the wagon, to check inside a particularly large bag, it's insides messily filled with baggage, all of them essentials for traveling.

"Let's see...."

First aid kit...

Some matches...

Bandages and drapes...

A canteen filled with water...

Clean bed-sheets....

Binoculars...

Dried food...

....

Bottles of soft cider. Sweet, tasty, soft cider. Liquid energy.

Thank Celestia for them.

Moving  away from the wagon and into the greens, I take a few moments to bask in the tranquil surroundings before taking the bottle to my mouth.

The entire forest is caressed by the most gentle of breezes, a cool and comforting wind which courses along the paths and crevices between the sea of trees, granting life to the leaves in the dark forest, filling the air with the rustling of leaves and the movement of branches, a symphony joined by the singing of crickets and toads standing beside the many flowing creeks.

*crack*

They released a storm like fire and lightning, which hit everyone around us.

My body tenses and all of my senses go into overdrive. My gaze shoots towards the source of the noise: a brush at the side of the road.

I saw a stallion get hit in front of me.

"Whoever or whatever you are, show yourself or I will hurt you!"   I hope I spoke clearly and angrily enough, because I'm dead serious.

My heart races in expectation,  my eyes meticulously analize the smallest movements, my ears tune in for the faintest sounds, and my muscles prime themselves to slam whatever dares attack.

He screamed.

But silence is the only response: an overbearing silence that drowns out the sounds of forest, it's inhabitants and the wind.

Empty.

Unnatural.

It feels as if the entire forest has set it's eyes on me.

And there was blood.

"Hello? Is anyone there?!"

To my surprise, a faint, blue glimmer lights up from inside the brush, as if answering my question.

"I can see you!"

And then he *fell*.

"Miss Applejack?"

My heart skips a beat and I feel a chill run down my spine.

"Who are you speaking to?"

It's Filthy Rich, head peeking out of the wagon, giving me a weird look.

"Umm, Miss.....? You look pale."

I turn around and quickly scan the vegetation all around me, looking for the glimmer.

"Applejack?!"

But it's gone. There are no lights, no glimmers, no flashes, there's nothing: the brush is as empty and dark as the rest of the forest.

"Is there something wrong?!"

Twigs and branches break as I search each and every brush on the side of the road for any signs of movement.

"Answer me!"

But I find nothing. I lost sight of it and it's all thanks to...!

"Applejack!"

I can feel Big Mac's hoof fall heavily on my shoulders.

"M-Macintosh?! I-I think I saw a-"

Now the other one falls on my mouth.

"I saw it too, AJ."   Big Mac glances towards the wagon, a pale Filthy Rich at the door.   "But you are scaring him like this."

"D-d-did you see a-anything?!"   Filthy Rich's voice trembles, sweat trickles down his face and his legs shake. The stallion is once again on the verge of a panic attack, and it's all my fault.

Sighing deeply, I move Big Mac's hoof away from my mouth.

"I thought I saw something moving over here."   My hooves run through the brushes, where they hit nothing.   "But, as you can see, nothing bad came out."

"Thank goodness."   Filthy Rich drops to the ground, exhausted, and hides once more inside the wagon, and out of sight.

"Big Mac, grab the wagon. We have to go now."

"Actually, Miss Applejack?"   Filthy Rich's head peeks from inside the wagon once more.   "I've been wanting to ask if you could check on my Tiara again?"

....

"Can't it wait for later?"

....

"I think it's an emergency...."

Darn it.

"Sure thing, Mister Rich..."   What was supposed to be a cheery response came out as tired and frustrated instead.   "Macintosh, you stay out and watch for trouble."

Big Mac nods and enters the forest.

Slowly moving the drapes of the wagon, I greet the four familiar ponies inside: Granny Smith sleeping quietly in one corner, Diamond Tiara laying on the floor and covered in a slightly bloodied blanket, Filthy Rich who's sitting right beside her, and Applebloom who's watching intently over them.

"She was complaining about feeling numb a moment ago."   Filthy Rich seems to have regained some of his composure.

"Let me see..."   Moving a bit closer to Tiara, I attempt to remove the blankets from her.

"Just a moment, let me try and...."

Attempt is the code word here: The blankets don't budge one bit no matter how much I pull, and every time I try to unfurl it, she just twists and turns until the stupid blanket is back in it's original position.

"Tiara, could you please let go of the blanket?"   My hoof rubs her mane a little bit, a simple gesture to comfort her, but she responds by tugging harder than before.

"It's **cold."

"Now, now, sweetie, if you don't let go then Miss Applejack won't be able to help you."

Diamond Tiara responds with a loud groan, but she finally releases her deceivingly strong grip on the blanket, which I roll and pull to reveal the entirety of her body to me.

There are small patches of dried blood around a slightly shaved spot to the side of her midriff, and at the very center of it, under the transparent coverings, I see the wound itself: a very small, red hole. So small it made it hard to believe that so much blood came out of it.

Reaching to her, I press my hooves lightly on top of the wound to gauge her reactions, and her response comes almost immediately in a sudden recoil.

"Did that hurt too much?"

"It stings a bit."

Seems she felt that one just fine.

"Did she say where she felt numb?"

"She says it's her legs."   A teary-eyed Filthy Rich caresses his daughter's legs.   "She says they feel heavy and weird, like bugs crawling on them."

My gaze follows her legs all over, looking for any signs of damage, then I shift some of the hair with my hooves and get a closer look, to try and find any wounds I could have missed. I even grab and pull her legs a little bit, but they just limp down and get no other reaction.

"Her legs seem fine to me, Mister Rich."   My hooves feel the small wound on her chest.   "The numbness is probably part of the blood loss."   And I do a quick go-around on her chest, her back,  her shoulders, her head and anything else, just to be sure, and find nothing.

"Are you sure? She said the numbness was pretty bad..."

"Yep. We just need to get her to a hospital and she'll get all-better."

Filthy Rich let's out a tired sigh and moves closer to his filly, covering her in the blanket while lovingly stroking her mane, apparently satisfied with my answer, and certainly more satisfied than me.

Truth is, aside from the obvious, I couldn't tell what's wrong with her legs. They seemed fine to me, but that numbness has me worried. It could be just about a thousand things, some worse than others, and I'm simply not good enough to tell.

We'll have to get to a doctor if we want to get any real answers.

"You heard my sister!"   Applebloom's speaks with a shrill voice right on Tiara's ears, which elicits even more groaning from the downed filly.   "It's probably nothin' and you'll be fine, Tiara!"

"Shuuut uuuup....I'm trying to sleeeeep...."

"Won't do, lady! With all that gloom and doom, how do you expect to get better?"

"I'd get better if you'd just..."

"You just have to think positive, Tiara!"

"Hard to do when someone's    screaming your ears off!!!"

Heh.

Never imagined I'd see Applebloom trying to comfort her bully like that. I guess it's difficult moments like these which brings out the best in you.

Filthy Rich seems to think so too, because now he has this stupid-wide smile splattered all over his face, so stupid I think it's contagious.

"Pretty cute, isn't it?"   Maybe I should try breaking the ice a bit and try to apologize for my outburst out there.

But Filthy Rich doesn't respond, he doesn't even move, and neither does his smile.

"Mister Rich?"

"I apologize for my daughter's behaviour, Miss Applejack."   And he turns to share that smile with me.

"She's been through a lot today, Rich. Anypony would feel the same."

"It's my fault Tiara has been so cruel to Applebloom all this time."   A smile that melts away to reveal the crestfallen stallion inside.   "I should have known sooner...."

"You don't have to worry about that now, sugarcube."   And I lend a hoof to him.

But he just lowers his gaze while shaking his head, and moves closer to Tiara, to give her a kiss on her forehead.

It's still to soon.

"Sis?"  And only now I notice that Applebloom herself isn't smiling either.

"What is it, sugarcube?"

"Do you think Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are going to be alright?"

I don't know.

I don't know if they are fighting back.

If they are winning.

Or losing badly.

Or escaping.

Or hurt and screaming for help.

And I'm not there for them.

"I wished I knew."

Standing on the very edge of a tall cliff, the kind that I grew up surrounded with, I look far into the horizon.

Ponyville burns like a tall bonfire inside a shroud of darkness, a blazing inferno which eats away the town's silhouette little by little, each fire releasing sparks and embers which rise and paint the night sky an angry red.

Bright fireballs emerge from the horizon like inverted shooting stars, to shatter as they reach the clouds, blowing them away and replacing with fiery smoke, each a distant and eerie explosion bent on destroying any beauty to be found in the night.

Each a distant and eerie explosion bent on reminding me of the farm and my friends.

And I'm not there for them.

"You don't have to stay here if you don't want to, AJ."   I slowly turn my head to see Big Macintosh standing right beside me, and staring like I'm some sort of confused foal at that.

"You know I can't leave y'all to fend for yourselves, Big Mac."     And I don't know if I could forgive myself if something happened to you while I'm gone.     "I just want to make sure you are all out of danger."

"And what about Twilight and others?"

I want to know. I *need** to know.*

"Twi's a smart pony, Macintosh, and pretty strong on top of that."    But she is not invincible.    "I bet she probably found a way to stop those monsters and is just having trouble cleaning up the mess...."

Big Mac's only response is slow blinking, which he follows with a glance towards the burning town, and before I know it, he is heading back towards the wagon, leaving me to my own thoughts.

There's no fooling that stallion, is there?

The blazing town of Ponyville. Just looking at it fills me with dread.

But I can't look back.

"Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, Flutters....please be safe."   I mutter this to no-one in particular, I'm just hoping my wishes reach them, somehow.

*CRACK*

"I cAn SeE yOu ToO"

The faint glimmers surround me like a ferocious pack of timber-wolves surrounds their helpless prey.