When The Clock Strikes

The train ride to Canterlot was nothing special, aside from the looks on Dr. Whooves and his boss's faces. Even up there, gossip about rumbles and hotter conditions were not uncommon. Even though Whooves was quite hungry, and Joe's Donut Shop was in the area of the castle, the safety of Equestria came first. It took no more than 10 minutes, but after a few misfires in their navigation of the castle, Whooves and his boss arrived in the throne room. Celestia was there.

"What brings you two here?" the princess asked.

"Your Highness, we suggest you take a look at these readings. They appear to show a critical condition below Ponyville. We ask that a meeting of everyone in Equestria be called. This problem is way more than deadly, and may be the cause of the hotter conditions and tremors," Dr. Whooves said.

"There is a supervolcano beneath Ponyville?!" the princess said, quite clearly startled.

"One big enough to destroy everything that makes Equestria what it is," Whooves's boss added.

Princess Celestia thought for a moment before speaking. "Very well. A meeting will be held in 20 minutes," she finally said.

"How much time do we have?" said one pony.

"Is this it?" said another.

The whole population of Equestria was buzzing with questions. Everyone had many questions and were panicking.

"Everypony calm down, calm down," Whooves's boss said.

"HOW CAN WE BE CALM AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!" some ponies shouted.

"Everypony, we just wanted to say that we have no idea when that mountain's gonna blow, but we do know that nowhere is safe, and tha-" Whooves's words were cut off from minor tremors. Nopony was paying attention at this point. However, the Griffon Mines told a different story...

Midnight...

Everypony in Canterlot was shook by a gigantic earthquake. Suddenly, there were screams all around, almost to the point of deafening some. Whooves took a look outside, and the view was the very opposite of pleasant. His nightmare would finally come true.

Lava was erupting out everywhere from underneath Ponyville, and even the mountains off in the distance were blowing up. Whooves ran from his spot, as lava rocks were raining down. His boss followed close behind. Some pegasi decided to fly back to Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus, but the two cities were drenched by lava. Derpy flew up to Whooves and joined him.

"Whooves, what's happening?!" she asked, panicked.

"Our worst fear," he answered.

"Whooves, what're we gonna do?" Whooves's boss asked.

"I think I know how to stop and reverse all this devastation and chaos! We gotta get down to those mines!" Whooves responded, as they narrowly escaped death and ran out of Canterlot.