Awake
Rainbow Dash awoke with a start.
She was certain that she had just been having an intense, vivid dream, but the harder she tried to remember it, the more it slipped out of her grasp. It was like trying to grab glass coated in oil. She caught a flash of powerful emotion, of what kind she was uncertain. Whatever it was, it chilled her for a moment, but she quickly shrugged it off as inconsequential.
With a yawn, Dash shook the last dregs of sleep out of her system and rolled over to examine her clock and calendar.. It was 8:37 AM, on the morning of May 24th. A quick peek out her window confirmed what she could innately sense as a pegasus; the weather was absolutely gorgeous, a perfect day with barely a cloud in sight (barring the one she called home, anyway). The sun was beaming down from above, warming the entire region.
Smiling, Dash bounded out of bed. Finally, the day was here. A day where she was totally free, no work, no obligations. A day she intended to spend entirely with the five ponies who she called her best friends. And they were getting an early start to the day's fun, too; the group was scheduled to meet at Sugarcube Corner in just a few minutes. Dash had nearly overslept, but she was confident that she could easily make it in time.
Certain privileges come with being the fastest flyer in Equestria, after all.
Deciding to forgo any grooming, Dash blasted out of her front door so fast she nearly knocked it from its hinges. As she raced down towards Ponyville, she let the clean, crisp air of morning fill her lungs. She laughed wildly from the exhilaration of flight; how earth ponies and unicorns lived without this, Dash mused, was beyond her.
I guess they can't miss what they've never had, Dash thought to herself.
Swooping down low over the plains surrounding Ponyville, she began to make out tiny dots of color that grew into ponies as she drew closer to the town. Dash grinned as she saw a certain grey pegasus clumsily smack into a house during takeoff.
Cutting her speed, Rainbow veered towards the colorful Sugarcube Corner, already able to make out the features of her friends waiting outside... all... four of them?
Impossible, thought Dash. The egghead is never late.
Dash folded her wings and gently alighted near her friends. After the usual pleasantries were exchanged, Dash voiced her concern for Twilight's strange absence.
"Anyone seen Twi? We were supposed to meet here at 8:45 and, well, she's late! Twi's never late!"
Applejack chuckled and said "Don't you worry, Dash. It ain't nothin' serious. She jus' got called up to Canterlot to help out the princesses with somethin' real quick. She'll be on her way back already. Should be here any minute now, as a matter a' fact."
Her fears allayed, Dash started to relax again, and struck up a conversation with Pinkie about her newest line of cupcakes. Rarity and Fluttershy likewise began their own discussion. Dash was deep in debate with Pinkie over what the best type of filling would be when a sound caught her sensitive ears. Flicking them up, Dash caught a whisper of noise once again.
It almost sounded like "girls."
Dash's head whipped around as she became aware of Twilight, flying towards them from the direction of Canterlot, faster than she had ever flown before. Sensing something was amiss, Dash bolted into the sky to intercept her. As she got to Twilight, Dash was startled that the alicorn did not stop to talk; instead, she simply blazed past, aiming directly for the rest of their friends at top speed. Recovering, Dash put on speed till she was abreast with the frantic Twilight.
"Twi?! What's wrong?!" Dash asked. Out of breath, Twilight only shook her head and put on a final burst of speed, nearly plowing headfirst into the ground but managing to get her legs underneath her just in time to absorb the shock. Dash noticed that Twilight had made no attempt to slow down before landing.
For a second, Twilight just stood there, her head bowed, her sides heaving, not saying anything. And as she lifted her head and opened her mouth, Dash was gripped by an unspeakable sense of dread. Whatever Twilight was going to say, it was going to be bad. Very, very bad.
"Girls!" Twilight panted. She swallowed, then continued. "Girls, we have to get out of Ponyville, now. Something's happened in the castle, something terrible. The princesses, all three of them, called me there to see if I could help. Nothing. I was totally unable to affect it in any way!" Twilight shook, though with exhaustion or fear Dash was unable to tell. For a second, Twilight seemed almost as if she was about to collapse. Then she rallied and steadied her legs beneath her.
"Not even Discord could help."
This sentence sent a wave of confusion through the friends. They started to clamor, to ask Twilight questions, but she urgently silenced them with a raised hoof.
"There's no time for questions! We have to go, now! Even if we leave right now, there may no be enough time to-"
Twilight was interrupted before she could finish by a sound that came from Canterlot. It was unlike any sound Dash had ever heard, something like a mixture of a colossal trumpet and the howl of a thousand tortured souls crying out in agony.
Twilight's pupils shrunk to tiny dots. "N-no..." she whispered, "They couldn't hold the gateway any longer..."
Dash was about to ask Twilight what exactly she had just said, when her attention was torn away from the lavender alicorn to Canterlot. It seemed as if the city was... glowing?
"Girls!" Twilight screamed. "Run!"
Canterlot exploded.
With a blinding flash of light and heat, the capital of Equestria was vaporized in a tremendous blast that did not stop at the city's borders. Indeed, the dome of blazing fire grew, and grew, and grew.
And raced towards Ponyville.
With a start, Dash snapped out of her trance and flew into action. She grabbed Pinkie and Applejack, the only two ponies who were restricted to land travel, and pushed her wings as hard as she could in an attempt to outrun the vast explosion. She could see Rarity using her magic to perform short, rapid teleports and Fluttershy moving surprisingly quickly alongside her.
But where was Twilight?
Dash spun to see Twilight still where she had landed, facing the oncoming conflagration. Her pose was rigid, her legs locked in place.
Her eyes burned from within with a fire not unlike the one that swelled before her, contrasting with the tears flowing freely down her cheeks. With a jolt, Dash realized that everypony in Canterlot, including the princesses and possibly even Discord, was surely dead. She pushed her grief away, however, and focused on Twilight.
"You've taken my mentor!" she screamed at the titanic fireball, now only seconds away from totally engulfing the town. "But you will never take my friends!" Twilight's horn glowed with amazing power as she created a shield over the entirety of Ponyville. Dash had never seen the alicorn this furious or determined.
With a sound like a rushing wind, the flames slammed into Twilight's shield. She gasped and staggered but managed to remain upright. Her horn's light flickered, then doubled in strength. She cried out from the exertion of her already-depleted magic reserves. Clearly, whatever task she had been called upon to perform in Canterlot had taken a lot out of her.
The flames seemed to pulse and dance, pressing down upon the fragile life-preserving dome of magic that kept the town alive. By now the streets were filled with ponies, either going into a panic or silently watching, praying that Twilight could save them.
A crack appeared in the shield.
Twilight cried out in agony as she forced her head back towards everypony. Her eyes fixed on Dash, who had set Applejack and Pinkie down on a roof. Dash recognized that look.
"Get to cover!" Dash screamed, seizing the two earth ponies and diving off the edge of the roof at the same instant that Twilight's magic gave out.
Dash felt the heat on her hindquarters as the flames rushed through the town, devouring everything it touched. She slammed into a muddy, water-filled ditch as the fire surged towards her.
Dash lost consciousness as her head collided with a stone under the surface of the water.
* * * * *
Dash awoke with a splutter, her muzzle half submerged in muddy water. She ached all over from her fall and her head throbbed like a hot spike was being driven into it.
But her pain was forgotten in an instant as she opened her eyes and looked around.
Ponyville had been utterly decimated.
The burning skeletons of both buildings and ponies were littered everywhere. Not a single structure had remained standing.
Nothing moved, except of the flames.
Dash staggered to her feet. "Pinkie! Applejack!" she screamed. She searched frantically for her two friends that had been with her, checking everywhere for them, praying that she would find them okay.
She found them.
The building that they had stood on had been blown sideways by the blast, sandwiching the two earth ponies inside the alleyway. They had been totally unable to move when the flames found them. Bits of their skin, some even with fur, still clung to their burning skeletons.
Their still-burning eye sockets seemed to gaze down at Dash with agony, begging to be released, though they were both clearly dead. It had not been a peaceful death either.
Dash sank to the ground, unable to move or think. She felt as if she was being crushed. The tears had just begun to streak down her face when she heard a cough from somewhere off to her right.
In an instant, Dash launched herself towards the sound.
She beheld Twilight Sparkle... or what was left of her.
Her body, while still retaining much of it's skin and flesh, was so badly burned that it was almost unrecognizable. Dash had to fight not to be sick as the smell of crisped flesh assaulted her nose.
Twilight must have been in absolute agony, but if she could still feel anything she hid it well. She spoke with a croak, her vocal cords no doubt heavily burned.
"D-dash? I-is that you?"
Dash rushed to her friend's side, fighting back tears. "Yes, Twi! It's me!"
With a sigh of relief, Twilight closed her eyes.
"Thank Celestia. I was afraid I'd die alone."
Twilight's breathing stopped.
Rainbow Dash awoke with a scream.
She bolted to her hooves, trembling and shaking uncontrollably. She was covered in sweat and there were tears in her eyes. She fought to control herself after such a horrible nightmare. Slowly, she calmed herself with deep breaths. She was safe. Everything was okay. To prove it to herself, she took a quick look around her house. Her controlled breaths became strangled gasps as her eyes fell on her clock and calendar.
It was 8:37 AM, on the 24th of May.
It was a beautiful day outside.
