Clouds

Chapters

Chapter One: The Centennial Monsoon
Chapter Two: On the Winds of Disaster
Chapter Three: Through the Vortex
Chapter Four: Sobibor
Chapter Five: Sebastian
Chapter Six: Safer in the Clouds
Chapter Seven: Wings of Hope
Chapter Eight: Shots in the Dark
Chapter Nine: Scattering
Chapter Ten: Flight of the Night
Chapter Thirteen: The Letter
Chapter Eleven: The Last Song
Chapter Twelve: Cloudburst

Chapter One: The Centennial Monsoon

Rainbow Dash and the other weather Pegasi were preparing for a huge storm, in fact everyone in Equestria was. For the next week a once in a century monsoon would storm across Equestria, reviving the rivers, lakes, and ponds that had gone down considerably since the last century.

“Okay, everypony," Rainbow Dash started, "We need to be on our top game today, and tomorrow, and the rest of the week. This is the Centennial Monsoon that we cannot afford to screw up. If we do mess it up, there is no redo. None. We can't mess up because the next century of Equestrian life depends on it.” Rainbow Dash lectured, “Also, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight Sparkle will be joining us. Yes, thats right. This storm is so big we need alicorn magic just to keep it in check.”

A wave of excited murmurs ran through the Pegasi. This really was a huge storm. Who wouldn't be excited? That was when the Princesses flew into Cloudsdale.

“Princesses.” Rainbow Dash gasped. All of the weather crew bowed. It was uncommon to see 3 princesses all at once. Although Rainbow Dash had seen this many times, she still showed great respect for the occasion.

“Now, no need for that, my little ponies.” Princess Celestia said in her calming, regal voice. With that Rainbow Dash bolted off the ground and tackled Twilight. With all the preparation for the storm, none of the element-barers had seen each other in a while. Twilight had been busy with her princess preparations for the storm, while Rarity had been making countless (and fashionable) raincoats for the entire population of Equestria. Applejack on the other hoof was hunkering down Sweet Apple Acres, and Fluttershy was getting the animals into shelter. All the while Pinkie Pie was planning the Centennial Monsoon Festival in Canterlot, and Rainbow Dash was up in Cloudsdale making sure everything was running perfect in the Weather Factory. Life was a sped up disaster for all of them, but the pony under the most stress was Rainbow Dash. As leader of the Weather Pegasi, the weight of the Centennial Monsoon responsibility fell on her. Yeah, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight could help with their Alicorn magic, but that was nothing compared to creating the storm and making sure it didn't destroy Equestria.

“Twi!” Rainbow shouted with excitement.

“Dashie!” Twilight squealed back. The two friends gave each other a big hug.

“How has the storm been coming?” Twilight asked. Rainbow let out a stressed sigh.

“Twi, its been so stressful. I am afraid I am going to screw up the whole thing and wreck
Equestria for the next Century.”

“I thought you would be so excited.” Twilight said confused. Rainbow Dash was a
fearless pony who could do anything.

“I am. Really, but I’m scared too. I have never had this much responsibility before.”

“Oh, Dash, you’ll do fine. And plus, 3 of the 4 alicorn princesses will be here to help you.”

Twilight smiled and tried to be as positive as possible, but truth was she was scared too. If anything went wrong, well, she didn't want to think about that. It was best to keep her mind clear.

“Yeah.” Rainbow said with a thick layer of sarcasm.

“Princes Twilight,” Celestia called, “We have to get our suits on.”

“Oh,” Twilight gasped, “Thats my call.” She dashed after Celestia to one of the cloud
buildings and disappeared inside. Rainbow Dash sighed. The weight of the fate of a century settled hard on her shoulders.

Author's Note

This is my first fanfiction, so can anypony give me constructive pointers. :derpytongue2:

Chapter Two: On the Winds of Disaster

Twilight Sparkle snapped an overly tight spandex suit on her body. It reminded her of the time when she was the Masked Matter-Horn. As cool as the spandex looked, it didn’t feel that way. Princess Celestia and Luna were putting on their suits. Celestia seemed annoyed with the overly tight material, while Luna on the other hoof was quite happy with the way it took to her figure. Celestia was fussing with her suit when Luna walked up to Twilight.

“Twilight,“ She whispered, “Are you nervous?”

“Yes,” She replied, “I don't think I have ever been more nervous in my life.”

“Me too. Its the first time I have done it in a thousand years. What if I mess up?”

“I am sure Princess Celestia has a pretty good handle on things. We just have to follow her lead.” Twilight said with more courage then she felt. Truth was, she felt the same way as Luna, and they shared the same doubts.

“What if my sister’s lead isn't good enough?”

Twilight shrugged her shoulders. She didn't want to think about that, or the thousand other ways the Centennial Storm could go wrong.

“Are you ready?” Celestia asked as she walked up to the two princesses. Twilight nodded, but Luna hesitated. Celestia saw her fear.

“Luna, everything is going to be okay. Everypony is a little nervous for this occasion, even me.”

Twilight and Luna both stared at her in shock. “Really?” They asked simultaneously.

“Yes. If this goes wrong, even my magic cannot fix the damage it will do. We all have our right places to be nervous, even scared, but we cannot let that hinder us from the task before us. I have done this on my own before, and I know that we can all do this together.” A smile came on the Sun Princess’s face. It was filled with confidence that spread to the other two nervous princesses. If Celestia had done it on her own for all those years, now, together, nothing could stop them.

“So are you ready?” Celesta asked again. This time her answer was two reassured nods. The trio of Princesses walked out of the cloud building and to the Weather Pegasi.
———

The weather factory was a disaster of excited and terrified ponies. Emotions were running as rampant as the ponies were, making everything all the more confusing.

“Why the hay is the cloud machine not making more clouds?” A pony screamed.

“Wind?”

“Check.”

“Be careful with that liquid thunder!”

“Watch out! Lightning coming through.”

“Where is the Weather Team they should be….”

Just at that moment the procession of Weather Pegasi walked through the doors of the Weather Factory. At the front of the procession were the three princesses. No matter how busy or how full their hooves were, everyone fell to their knees in respect. Usually Celestia would have told everypony to rise, but instead she let them rise on their own time and she told a story.

“Before we begin the Centennial Monsoon, I must tell you why we do this.” Celestia Began, “It is of utmost importance to know the history behind things, or you may repeat the bad.

“A long time ago, when my mother and father, Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos, ruled the land of Equestria, they saw their beautiful world declining. The water had run out. Drought and famine took over the land, and not even their Alicorn magic could fix it. Ponies were dying and suffering, so Queen Galaxia and he most loyal servants went on a journey. They traveled as fast as they could until they reached edge of the world. At the edge was a great blue expanse full of water, and a small kingdom. It was ruled by Aquarius, the alicorn king of the great blue expanse. King Aquarius welcomed my mother and her servants into his kingdom. Queen Galaxia told King Aquarius about the drought and famine in her land. King Aquarius felt sorry for his guests. He had all the water in the world, and they were dying of lack of it. King Aquarius offered some of his ocean - that is what he called the great blue expanse - to Queen Galaxia. She gladly accepted it, but unfortunately had no way to transport it back to her land. That day King Aquarius made contact with a special guild of magical blacksmith ponies called The Incendium to make a special box that could contain the power of a storm. Their leader, Flame Burst, accepted the task but said it would take a week. Unfortunately, Queen Galaxia didn't have a week. Equestria was dying, and they needed water now. King Aquarius spared no time and called in all of his able subjects.

“‘For the sake of Queen Glaxia and her land, I have called you all here to preform a huge task, one I am not sure is completely possible. I need all of you to help create a storm. This storm cannot be the little thundershowers that hit the coast every once in a while, this must be as big as the hurricanes that come in the spring, and bigger. We must, for Queen Galaxia and Equestria.’

“All of his subjects saw the need in Queen Glaxia’s eyes, and they spent the that night and the next day creating a storm out of the ocean water. Eventually even the little fillies and colts of King Aquarius’s kingdom began to help. Before the sunset of the next day, they had created the biggest storm all of the pony lands had ever seen. As it was finished, Queen Galaxia sent her fastest Pegasus ahead to warn all of Equestria that a storm unlike any other was coming, and that they needed to take shelter. He flew off, but there was one problem: the storm was not moving. It simply hovered above the ocean that they had created it from.

“‘Use your alicorn magic to move it!’ One of King Aquarius’s subjects called. Without a second thought, King Aquarius and Queen Galaxia shot a powerful spell at the storm. My mother always used to tell me how powerful the storm got when it consumed her spell. She said it was like a living being, and like a living being it moved. The storm gained speed and moved, with guidance, to Equestria.

“Queen Galaxia thanked King Aquarius and his subject for doing so much, but one question lingered: How would they stop the storm?

“King Aquarius explained that The Incenduim was making a box that would capture and contain the storm, and that as soon as it was finished he would fly it over himself. Queen Galaxia was happy with his answer, and she thanked him once more, then flew off after the storm.

“When Queen Galaxia and the storm arrived, everypony was safely hidden in cellars and their houses. It was a good thing that they had taken shelter, because the storm swept across the land like the hurricane it was. For a week it raged on, before Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos began to worry if King Aquarius would ever come with the box that would supposedly capture and contain the storm.

“Queen Galaxia was just about to send a messenger to him, when King Aquarius himself came through the storm onto the Palace steps. He had some box shaped thing strapped to his back.

“‘Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos’ he said as he unstrapped the box from his back, ‘I present to you The Procellica. Its name is Incenduim for ‘storm tamer’. I have delivered it myself, just as I said I would, and I believe you might need to learn how to use it.’

“Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos nodded in agreement.

“‘We must first go the the heart of the storm.’ King Aquarius told them, ‘Opening it there will trigger the Incenduim magic that will call the storm into the box. There it will be contained and safe.’

“King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia lead King Aquarius to the heart of the storm where he opened The Procellica. Just as he had said, magic called the storm into the box. All of the winds, rain, hail, clouds, thunder, and lighting came in with great noise. The box shut with the loudest thunder clap Equestria had ever heard. This ended the storm. King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia thanked King Aquarius for all of the help he gave to them. Equestria wouldn't be alive without King Aquarius’s kindness all those years ago.

“King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia kept the box, and put it in a safe place in the castle in Canterlot, just in case they would ever need to use it again.” Celestia paused for a moment, “And I wish, my little ponies, I could say that is where the story ended, but I cannot. Princess Luna, can you tell the rest of it.”

Luna nodded and began were Celestia left off, “Unfortunately, the legend of the power of the storm spread across the lands and an evil Unicorn, by the name of Malus heard about it and wanted it for himself. One night he took the Procellica from the palace and opened it. The power of the storm was good power, but good power in the hooves of bad ponies, does bad things. He did not know at first was he was getting himself into. Nopony can perceive the power of the storm until they see it for themselves. Still, Malus managed to harness the power of the storm and used it to destroy much of the restored land. All the ponies of Equestria and terrified of Malus’s power, even King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia. They knew the power, and all of its dangers.

“The storm destroyed Equestria and raged throughout all of the world. Malus was undaunted, and crazed by the power of the storm. Eventually, the storm reached the end of the world where it was created from. King Aquarius would not stand and watch as his kingdom was destroyed as the other Monarchs did. He took a stand and vanquished Malus in an epic battle. Malus was in turn, banished to Tartarus for all of his crimes against the pony world. After King Aquarius banished Malus, he retrieved The Procellica and gathered up the storm. This time, the whole world was thankful for his bravery, but he wanted no more thank you than that they would allow him to keep The Procellica in a safe place far from anymore tyrants such as Malus. All the monarchs of the world agreed and it was so that The Procellica was to be kept watch on by King Aquarius until it was needed again.

“As it turns out, King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia found that Equestria needed the revival of the storm every century to keep our land from falling into that horrible drought and famine again. So every century, My sister journeys to King Aquarius’s land to get The Procellica, and here it is today, so that we may revive our land.”

Celestia teleported The Procellica into the Weather Facotry. The Procellica itself was a relatively small box with strange foreign markings on it. It was defiantly not made by anyone in Equestria.

A small blue Pegasus walked up to Princess Celestia.

“Princess,” said Dr. Blue Yonder, the head of the Weather Factory, “Everything is in order.”

“Then let the storm begin.” She said. Everypony stared at the The Procellica, entranced by its power, for a moment before Princess Celestia called forth its power. The factory fell silent as the storm was unleashed.

“Luna, Twilight, make a barrier of magic around the box so I can take it outside. Weather Pegasi, be prepared to take of. Everything is going to happen very fast from here on out.” Celestia commanded in a strained voice. Merely opening the Mystic box was taking a toll her her strength. Without another word, Luna and Twilight formed a magic barrier around the box, and the Weather Team took of and prepared for action. The Box was taken outside, and not a moment to soon, for the second it reached open air, all hell broke loose. The magic barrier that Luna and Twilight had formed shattered, and the storm formed around it. The clouds and lightning from the Weather Factory gathered in a swirling vortex above the box. Amidst the thunder a lighting screamed of terrified Pegasi could be heard. No one could blame them. The sight of this storm should have sent them all running for the hills, but it didn’t.

Eventually, Celestia’s magic was no longer required to awake the storm in the box. The storm gushed out in the wildest manor anyone had seen. It was a caged beast running in the wild for the first time. The Pegasi followed it quickly, staining to keep it together. Rainbow Dash was at the head of it all and was beginning to realize how bad this storm could be. Little cells were beginning to break of the main storm, and were getting very hard to control. If that wasn't enough, lighting was jabbing at everyone left and right. But that was all trivial when compared to the wind that came next. No Pegasi on this storm run had ever been in winds that strong. 180 mph. Gusts came and swooped the Pegasi away from the growing storm. Seeing that her Weather team was fading fast, Rainbow Dash called out for help. It wasn't usually like her, but then again, this storm was no usual storm.

“Princesses, Alicorn magic might be a good thing to use right now!” She screamed, but before she finished a braid of combined magic was shot at the quickly forming twister. Luna bolted to the storm right behind the magic blast. Celestia and Twilight followed. All three of them were casting containment or calm down spells, but the storm just seemed to soak up the magic and become more powerful. The wind roared and shot Princess Celestia across the sky.

“Celestia!” Luna cried, and she flew after her sister. Twilight was left to the storm. Every containment spell that she had ever read was spewing out of her horn that second, but not a single one worked. Not even a little.

“Magic is not working.” Twilight muttered to herself, “How can magic not work?”

Luna and Celestia came flying back with revenge in mind. Luna was never going to let some storm hurt her, her sister, or her kingdom.

“Take this!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. An explosion ripped through the air, and a beam and ancient powerful magic collided with the storm. For a moment it paused. The storm, if this is even possible, was taken aback. It didn't last long though. It absorbed the magic and grew even more powerful. That was when Twilight caught on.

“Everypony! We need to stop using magic!” She cried, just as Luna was about to send another epic blast into the storm.

“Why Princess Twilight?” Luna asked, still furious at the storm.

“Because it is absorbing the magic and getting bigger!” Rainbow Dash announced from across the storm.

“Exactly!” Twilight agreed, “Remember from the story, you told us. The storm absorbs magic and gets stronger from it. How did you know Rainbow Dash?”

“I have been watching you guys fight the storm - super awesome by the way - and I saw that the more magic you shot at it the bigger it got.” A huge gust of wind slung the princesses and Rainbow Dash through the clouds. Thats when the rain hail started. Between dodging the hail and trying to keep from being sucked into the storm, all the Pegasi and Alicorns were exhausted.

“That is right.” Princess Celestia muttered as she regained her stability, “I should have known from the beginning that sending magic at it would only make it worse.”

“It doesn't matter anymore, we can’t control it; We can only make sure it doesn’t destroy everything!” Luna cried.

“My sister is right. Something went wrong. It is too late to fix it now.” Celestia added.

Twilight nodded.“We better go warn everyone.”

“Going down would be suicide. We stay up here or we’re gunna die.” Rainbow Dash objected.

“She’s right. The best thing we can do is stay up here, and hope no pony dies.” Luna said solemnly. The quartet trudged through the storm, and prayed that no pony would die.

Author's Note

Edit 1: Hopefully the Legend of this edit is more believable, and well thought through. If there is any major plot holes in it please let me know.

Chapter Three: Through the Vortex

Before long the storm was well on its way to Ponyville. Unfortunately, no pony in Equestria (except for the Pegasi) knew what was coming for them. Once the Pegasi had felt the storm going crazy, they had sent one of their elite flyers to warn the rest of Equestria. Unfortunately, the storm tossed him about so much, that he never really go to reach his destination.

Down in Ponyville where the messenger pegasi was supposed to reach, walked Fluttershy. She had been leading all the little animals she could into burrows where there would be safe. At the present moment, she was with a family of badgers. The last animals to go to safety.

“Oh dear.” She muttered. Her mane rustled in the gradually increasing wind. “Keep on going, little badgers.” The badgers looked up at her, their eyes widened with fear. The wind blew harder.

“It’ll be okay. Just get in your burrow.” She assured them with more courage than she had herself. The family of badgers ducked into their cave. They grumbled a thank you that only Fluttershy could have understood. The pressure started to drop fast. All too soon, the winds blew harder, and it got colder. Over the horizon was a wall of endless clouds.

“You’re welcome, little badger family.” She said with a bright smile, but the second that they were safe the smile disappeared. The storm was dangerously close now. Fluttershy dashed back to her home only to find someone was missing. Angel. She dived outside searching franticly for her little white bunny.

“Angel!” Fluttershy cried. The stupid bunny was sitting in the path of the monster monsoon, staring at it. The storm was coming fast, but Fluttershy dashed to her little bunny. By the time she reached him, the storm was coming to fast for her to out fly or out run it. An act of desperation propelled her to throw Angel to a nearby burrow.

“Be safe, Angel!” She called. Those were her last words in Equestria for a long while.

———

The element-holders were not the only ones who were really busy. There was a silly filly by the name of Derpy Hooves who had quite a load of mail to deliver. Since there wasn't going to be postage for a whole week, her mail bag was extra heavy. Just now, Derpy was finishing up the last part of the mail route to Sweet Apple Acres. She was smiling and humming, and completely unaware of the monster monsoon that was coming up over the hills.

“Derpy!” Cried a heavily accent pony, that could only be Applejack. She was inside her house, but had seen Derpy outside and decided to warn the poor filly. “DERPY!!!” She screamed again. The silly filly didn't hear her.

“DERPY! STORM!” Applejack called again. This time Derpy hear. Her cooky eyes flew open and for the first time they beheld the majesty of the Centennial Monsoon.

“Whoa…” Derpy muttered under her breath, “thats cool.” Applejack shook her head. What pony in their right mind would think a storm that size as 'cool'?

“DANGER!” She screamed for the last time, “GET INSIDE!”

Derpy snapped out of her stunned trance. Unfortunately for Derpy, she snapped out of it too late. The storm had sucked her up.

Author's Note

If I did Derpy's character please tell me, and I will try to edit it.

Chapter Four: Sobibor

Fluttershy and Derpy were hurled around in the storm. Both screamed at the top of their lungs, but it was drowned out by the roaring wind and clashing thunder. The little mail that was in Derpy’s bag was spinning wildly in the air.

“HELP US!” Fluttershy cried, but no one came to the rescue. They were tossed aimlessly for what seemed like forever before the ground became uncomfortably close. It came as a shock, but they were falling. Fast. Both of the ponies fluttered their wings in a desperate attempt to break their fall, unfortunately neither of them were exceptional fliers. The ground came faster, and faster, and right when they were expecting a crash, a magical aurora surrounded them. The two Pegasi were in shock as they were suspended in magic for a fews seconds. But those few seconds faded fast, and they were soon flung out and into the air. The good thing was that they were out of the storm, the bad thing was they were once again headed for the ground, even faster than before. The two ponies screamed helplessly and they tumbled into the pine forest below them. Tree branches were like whips as they fell. They cut and ripped at their coats, causing pain to shoot through them as it never had before. The trees, after all the damage they had done, set them nicely onto the bed of pine needles below. The two Pegasi groaned in pain while they lay on the ground. It was a moment before either one of them regained the conciseness to even think about where they were.

“Where are we?” Fluttershy muttered, as she began to look around her.

“In a forest.” Derpy replied, while she stumbled to her hooves.

“I hope it isn't the Everfree forest.” Fluttershy hoped. Anything would have been better then falling into the Everfree forest.

“I don’t think so. To piney.”

“Yeah it doesn't’ really look like the Everfree forest.” Fluttershy got to her hooves and looked around. Derpy was already hopping around and investigating her surroundings.

“Is it just me, or is it cold?” Derpy asked as she popped out from behind a tree.

“Yes, it is.” Fluttershy replied as a wave of shivers ran through her body. She looked around at the trees. These trees were unlike anything she had seen before. The storm must have shot them really far away.

“Sweet Celestia!” Derpy shouted. Fluttershy jumped in shock.

“What?” Fluttershy asked, running to Derpy’s side.

“That.” Derpy pointed her hoof at a skinny, male human tumbling through the forest in raged clothes.
Huge, brown and black wolves were right as his heels. Loud bangs followed the wolves. It was some sort of chase.

“Where is he going?” Fluttershy inquired.

“We’re gunna find out.” Derpy replied.

The two Pegasi forgot about their pain and flew after the running human and wolves. More of the loud bangs were heard behind him. Fluttershy and Derpy flinched. The man ran faster.

“Are those wolves?” Derpy asked.

“They look like wolves, but the colors are wrong. They might be a wolf - dog mix.” Fluttershy replied, but quieted when they heard voices behind them.

“Packt ihn!” A rough voice screamed.

“Schneller ihr stumme Hunde!” Another called. More bangs were heard. This time they were much closer.

One of the wolf-dogs took notice of the two Pegasi flying through the forest, and took off after them. The creatures mouth was dripping with saliva; its eyes burning with hate. Fluttershy and Derpy flew faster, faster than either of them knew they could fly. Derpy motioned for them to go up above the trees. Fluttershy didn't need to be told twice. She bolted into the sky where she was greeted was a shower of bullets, one of which grazed her left wing. Above the tree she could see a flag flying high from a tower at the end of a forest. It was a sign of bright red color against the grey, bleak sky. In the center was a white circle with a weird black symbol on it.

“Get back down!” Derpy screamed, now realizing her mistake. Fluttershy flew down from the tops of the trees. Along with the barking, shouting, and loud bangs, a horrible siren sounded through the forest. Fluttershy covered her ears.

“Ugh! What is this place?” She wailed.

Derpy nudged Fluttershy, “We have to keep going.”

“What?” Fluttershy asked, talking her hooves off her ears.

“We have to keep flying.” Derpy repeated. Then the two took off, and were soon parallel with the running man again. They didn't notice though. Both of them were too distracted by the monstrous wolf-dog behind them, so distracted that they didn't see the forests end or the black wall of barbed wire in front of them.

“Komm zurück du blöd Hund!” One of the men called. The monstrous wolf-dog retreated leaving Fluttershy and Derpy in peace. The two Pegasi sighed in relief, only to see their next trial in front of them. Fluttershy halted and crashed into the ground, while poor Derpy slammed right into the wall. The barbed wire hooked into her soft flesh and tore up her grey fur. She screamed in agony.

“Derpy!” Fluttershy shouted and she ran up to her friend. Derpy was tangled deeply into the barbed wire. Blood poured from her wounds, and started to drip onto the ground.

“It’s okay Derpy. I’ll get you out.” Fluttershy reassured her, although she didn't think the she could. Before she even began to peel Derpy off of it, she her two of the loud bangs really, really close. She looked to her left and saw the man that was running shot mercilessly with the bullets that nearly hit her in the sky above. The same red blood that was pouring out of Derpy, gushed out of the human. He eventually collapsed to the ground in an uncomfortable pile. The dog surrounded the man and started to tear at him. The sirens stopped. Fluttershy didn’t watch the rest of it. Derpy needed to be free of the barbed wire.

“Who would ever make something this horrible.” Fluttershy muttered to herself as she freed Derpy’s wing. Derpy groaned.

“It’s going to hurt a while, but being free will help the pain to stop.” Fluttershy said to Derpy. After ripping, tearing, and yanking at Derpy and the barbed wire for sometime, Derpy was eventually free. Unfortunately, she was covered in blood and more fur was on the fence then Derpy. Fluttershy lifted Derpy onto her back and walked back into the forest, where she laid Derpy on a soft bed of pine leaves. Now that she was free the silly filly started to cry. Fluttershy cuddled close to her.

“I’ll be okay, Derpy. I’ve gottcha.”

Derpy cried into Fluttershy’s chest. Derpy’s blood leaked onto Fluttershy’s fur, staining it red.

“You’ll live. You’ll be okay.” Fluttershy reassured as she rocked her new friend. She was almost crying herself, but held in the tears for the sake of her friend. The two Pegasi sat there for some time, and Derpy fell asleep on Fluttershy. When Fluttershy realized this, she gently set Derpy down, and walked through the forest to look for some sort of pain-killing plant, but she could find none. Fluttershy eventually wandered to the edge of the forest were she saw more humans. Their skinny, malnourished bodies were lined up in front of a building that had huge black letters painted on it. They read: Sobibor.

Chapter Five: Sebastian

Sebastian and his fellow prisoners were harvesting the last of the vegetables from the garden. He longed to sink his teeth into even the smallest carrot, but he knew if he did he would be shot with out mercy, or worse, they would let the dogs out on him.

Earlier the hour, one of the men who was working with him had lost his will to live and ran into the forest in an insane attempt to escape. The soldiers didn’t come back with his body. Sebastian could only assume the worst. The dogs. Those awful dogs. He shivered at the thought. The sirens had gone off, and many of the soldiers had chased after the man. Gunshots echoed throughout the camp. Oh, he hated that. It didn't matter though. He was stuck here. He had been stuck here for 9 months already. Nothing was going to change. He knew that.

After that afternoon’s kerfuffle, Sebastian was looking into the forest where the insane man had run. Through the trees he saw a bright pink and yellow. That wasn't usual, at all. He squinted. It really was a pink a yellow creature in the forest. He didn't believe his eyes though. No one else had seemed to notice it. Sebastian waved his hand at it, although with the colors of the creature being pink and yellow, he was fairly sure it was a girl.
—————————————————————————————————————————

Fluttershy looked at one of the humans. Was he waving at her? He must of been. She was the only other creature in the forest, so she waved back. The human seemed genuinely shocked by this. Before she could say anything one of the humans in strange uniform clothes shouted, “Holen Sie sich zurück in der Linie, Abschaum!”

The thin human stood back in line, straight as a board. He only gave the occasional glance at Fluttershy before she disappeared back into the woods to care for Derpy.

Derpy was still asleep when Fluttershy came back. Fluttershy had collected a few pain-killing herbs at the edge of the garden to give to Derpy. She had stopped bleeding, and her wounds had started to scar over. The magic that gave ponies their Cutie Marks, also gave ponies fast healing powers. It didn’t spare them any pain though.

“Derpy,” Fluttershy whispered as she tapped Derpy, “I have some pain-killing herbs.”

It took a moment for Derpy to wake up before she groaned a “thank you” to Fluttershy, and ate the herbs. Fluttershy watched over her as she chocked down the bitter plants.

“These taste awful.” Derpy grumbled with a full mouth.

“I know, but they will help with the pain.” Fluttershy replied. Derpy finished the herbs and nodded back to sleep. It had been full day for the filly. She deserved some sleep. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was not tired at all. The whole afternoon had been a life changing experience for her. She couldn't just sleep it off, so she went for a walk. The sun was setting in the grey sky. Usually sunsets brought brilliance and color to the world, but this sunset just brought more misery.

On her walk, Fluttershy scoped out the forest. It turned out to be really small and on the east and south sides was that horrible fence. On the west side was the place where she saw the humans. There was a barren garden and building with Sobibor written on the side. The same she had seen this afternoon. Now that the sun was setting the place was clear of humans, but she still tread quietly just in case there were humans that she hadn't seen. The garden was even more sorry up close. No little animals got any joy from that. The building where they kept all of the garden produce was locked tight. She couldn't get any food for Derpy and her there.

By now, the sun was fully set. The stars would usually come out at this time, but the clouds covered their brilliance. Fluttershy always loved the stars. She would often make pictures by connecting the stars with invisible lines. Back at home she found a lion, a scorpion, a griffin, a pony, and a goose. Oh, she missed them. She missed home. She missed all of the little animals and angel, but most of all she missed her friends. They had all been busy preparing for the Centennial Storm for the past 2 weeks that she never got to see them, and now she was not sure she would ever get to see them again.

Beside the building to the south was a wooden fence with building inside it. Inside the buildings she heard the cries of sad, lonely creatures. All the anger and sadness burst out of the little pony at that moment. Tears fell down her face and to the ground. She sat down, buried her face her hooves, and cried the longest she had in years.
—————————————————————————————————————————

Sebastian had been wondering about the pink and yellow creature he had seen in the woods all day. He simply could not get her out of his mind. That night when they were sent to their barracks, Sebastian heard a cry above all the rest. It was soft, timid, and not quite human. The guards had gone, probably to drink beer, be merry, enjoy freedom. He was stuck in this hell, but there was a light in his plight. Sebastian got out of his bunk and walked to the door.

“Sebastian,” One of the boys in his barrack muttered. Sebastian looked back at him. It was Jakob. The poor kid was days away from death. The Natzis had beaten him up for too long and to hard. Now, they were just starving him to death. Jakob seemed to welcome death. It was probably the only break he would ever get.

“Where are you going?” he continued.

“I have to use the bathroom.” Sebastian lied and he stepped outside. Strangely enough there was the little pink and yellow creature crying. He now saw that the creature was more like a horse. A very small and colorful horse. Defiantly a female. Sebastian walked up to the crying creature and put his had on its shoulder. The wooden fence wasn't much of a barrier as it was a divider. It just separated the barracks from the camp.

Normally Sebastian would never have put his had on any strange animal no matter how cute. Then again, normally, Sebastian wouldn’t have been locked up in a camp where the main goal was to kill everyone in it in the most painful way possible. The creature was startled when he put his hand on her shoulder. She stopped crying and gave a little yelp.

“Shhhhh….” He whispered to her. She gasped when she turned her head.

“You were the human who waved to me!” She whispered in shock. Now this really startled Sebastian. Not only was this little creature weird colors, but she could talk and now that he was closer, he saw that she had wings.

“You’re a horse, with wings,” He whispered very, very startled, “and you talk.”

“Don’t all ponies talk?” She replied. Sebastian shook his head.

“Hi,” She said in a soft voice, “I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I'm Fluttershy. I don't usually cry like this.” Fluttershy wiped the tears from her eyes. They were so big and blue and cute.

“I’m Sebastian.” He replied after a moment of pause.

“What is this place?” She asked.

“A Natzi death camp.” He said without pause.

“Whats a Natzi?”

“Evil Germans.”

“Whats a German?”

“What are you?” asked Sebastian, who was a little annoyed and a little frightened that the little pony knew so little.

“I am a Pegasus from Equestria.”

“You’re a what from what?”

“A pegasus, which is a pony with wings, from Equestria, my home where all ponies live.”

“Germans are people from a country called Germany.”

“Okay, so what’s a death camp.” Fluttershy asked. Sebastian was silent for a moment. He didn't real want to answer that. It was just confirmation that he was going to die here.

“A place where the Natzi’s keep the people that they hate or think are bad and kill them.” Sebastian finally replied.

“That’s awful!” Fluttershy cried. She felt more tears from in her eyes, “How did you get here? You look like a young human. What do they have against little ones?”

The sadness in her voice nearly provoked him to tears, but he told her his story despite wanting to cry.

“Well, about 3 years ago the Natzi’s attacked my town, and you see, I am a Jew. There is no people that the Natzi’s hate more than the Jews. They think the world would be better off without them. Even the kids. Luckily for me, I had some good friends who hid me and my family for about two years. It was all good, until 9 months ago the Natzi’s attacked our town again. This time they figured out that my friends were hiding me and my family. They killed my friends and my father. There rest of my family they took and sent to different Death or Concentration camps. I have been here for about 9 months. It’s hell. Real hell. You get tortured everyday, and then you work until your legs give out under you, and after all that they give you pig-slop for food, if any. Every few days, they’ll gather us up and shot a few of us for fun. I have seen so much death and pain, Fluttershy, I just want to give up.” Now Sebastian was really crying. Fluttershy hopped over the fence and put her wing around him.

“Don’t give up.” She whispered into his ear. For a moment, everything seemed right. For a moment he felt hope. But that's the thing about moments, they pass.

The Natzi soldiers were coming for inpection to make sure everyone was in their bunks. Sebastian ran back into his barracks.

“Sorry, Fluttershy, I have to run.” He called. Fluttershy waved goodbye. She hoped she would see Sebastian again.

Author's Note

This is not accurate at all to what went down in Sobibor Extermination Camp. I do not mean to be disrespectful or hurtful to anyone about it. My deepest apologies if I do.

Chapter Six: Safer in the Clouds

Fluttershy moseyed her way over to when Derpy had fallen asleep. She collapsed next to the grey pony, and didn’t wake until morning.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy!” An excited voice called. Fluttershy instantly recognized it as Derpy’s. Most of her wounds were healed, and the fur was starting to grow back. Pony magic was a truly wonderful thing.

“Come on!” Derpy shouted.

“What is it, Derpy?” Fluttershy asked as her mind started to wake up.

“Come on! There is someone who wants to see you!” She shouted. Fluttershy hobbled to her feet. It had to be Sebastian.

“Come on!” Derpy shouted for the last time. Fluttershy took off after her. The two fillies ran through the forest to where Sebastian stood.

“Fluttershy, I see you have a friend.” Sebastian said as the two Pegasi ran up to him.

“You meet Derpy?” She asked, taking heavy breaths.

“Yes. She’s really funny.”

“ ‘She’ is right here.” Derpy interjected, slightly annoyed. Both Sebastian and Fluttershy laughed. Derpy had a way with making any pony (or anybody in this case) laugh.

It had been forever since Sebastian had laughed. It had been at least nine months, maybe a year, maybe more. That didn't matter. He was laughing now.

“Wait,” Fluttershy wondered out loud, “What time is it?” Poor Fluttershy had just realized that it was still dark outside.

Sebastian laughed again. The silly pony didn't know what time it was. He couldn't blame her. He didn't really know what time it was either.

“It is really early in the morning." - Sebastian really hoped that was accurate - "I came out to see you, Fluttershy, but I found Derpy instead.”

“Good thing too.” Derpy said with a smile, “If Sebastian here hadn't found me, he may never have found you.”

They all burst out into laughter again. It felt good to laugh. Heaven knows that they all needed it. They laughed for a time, but not to long, or too loud. They could have all been caught and killed in a heartbeat.

“So, Derpy told me you two stay in the forest.” Sebastian said after the spurt of laughter.

“Yeah.” Fluttershy replied.

“You shouldn’t. They almost always check the forest at night. Last night was an exception. They had all been to busy with the runaway man. In fact you should just leave.” He warned.

Derpy said, “We can’t just leave. We have nowhere to go.”  “Go!” Sebastian snarled, “Go Anywhere. Anywhere but here.” He didn't know what provoked him to anger. Maybe it was the happiness that the two ponies had, and he was devoid of. Maybe it was the fact, that eventually they would have to leave. Or maybe it was the growing fear in him that they were not real at all.

“Don’t be so mad, Sebastian.” Fluttershy said in her soft, sweet voice, “We don't want to leave. We would get lost, and we would have to leave you.”

“Yeah,” Derpy agreed, “You seem nice too.”

“And you need some good in this horrible place.” FLuttershy continued. She hoped with all her heart that Sebastian wouldn’t tell them to leave again.

“Stay,” Sebastian said after a time, “But don't stay in the forest. Stay up in the clouds. There is an awful lot of them lately.”

“Okie, dokie!” The ponies said in unison.

“You’ll be safer up in the clouds.” Sebastian muttered to himself. He really hoped these ponies were not some day dream he had made up to keep his sanity.

Chapter Seven: Wings of Hope

Eventually Sebastian had to run back to his barracks before the morning role call. Fluttershy and Derpy waved good bye and their mutual friend. Fluttershy’s face sunk. The poor little boy would be going off to suffer another day of torture.

“Fluttershy,” Derpy asked, “Why do you look so sad?”

“Well,” Fluttershy began, “I… He… Do you know what this place is?”

Derpy shook her head.

“Well, it’s… it’s… it’s a d..d…death camp.”

“What’s that?” Derpy asked. Her innocence was to be spared no longer.

“It’s where they put innocent people they don’t like before they kill them. They torture them, Derpy.” Tears were forming in Fluttershy’s eyes.

“Why would anybody do that?” Derpy almost screamed. Anger was bubbling up in the little grey pony. Innocent people never deserve to die.

“Because there are humans who are evil. Really, truly evil.” Fluttershy explained. The tears were flowing freely now.

“Even fillies and colts?” Derpy was fuming with anger. Real anger. Not the anger she felt when a stupid pegasus ran into her when she was delivering mail. Not the anger she felt at her daughter when she did something naughty. No. None of those compared to the anger she was feeling now. It was the anger that is caused in any being with a heart against injustice.

“Those evil humans deserve to die.” She snarled and stormed off into the woods.

“Derpy,” Fluttershy called through thick tears, “go to the clouds!”

Derpy pretended not to hear and she left Fluttershy crying alone.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Later that day Fluttershy made her way from the ground and to the clouds. There was still no sign of Derpy anywhere. Fluttershy contemplated whether she should go down and find her, but she decided against it. Fluttershy did not ever what to come close to the flying bullets again.

After some time Derpy made it up to the cloud where Fluttershy was at.

“Hey, Fluttershy.” She mumbled as she crashed down next to her, “Sorry for being so mad, but… but… it made me really mad. It’s not fair.”

“It’s okay, Derpy. I don't know why anyone would ever do something like that, either. It’s not right.” Fluttershy replied.

“Maybe we could free them.” Derpy suggested. Fluttershy’s eyes widened. She hadn't thought of that.

“How?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe we could go all Rainbow Dash on those evil humans’ hind ends.” Derpy replied.

Fluttershy laughed. Never in her life had she heard something so ridiculous and sensible at the same time. “Maybe.” She laughed.

“No,” Said Derpy, who was slightly offended that her friend was laughing at her, “I’m sirius.”

“I know. That’s why I am laughing.”

“That’s rude.” Derpy was now glaring intensely at Fluttershy. She caught Derpy’s glare and stopped laughing immediately.

“Sorry.” She muttered, realizing her mistake. Derpy sniffed in disapproval.

“Since you obviously think my idea is stupid, what do you suggest we do, ‘cause I am not going to sit around here and do nothing while people get tortured.”

Fluttershy paused for a moment, deep in thought.

“We could sing.” She finally said. It was now Derpy’s turn to laugh.

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!” Derpy guffawed.

“Yeah, it’s not fighting, but it’s giving them hope.” Fluttershy said. Derpy shut up. Hope is a very special thing. It’s a wild thing with wings. It sings in the heart and makes it beat. It tells you, you can go on even when your brain says no. It tells you nothing is impossible, even when it is. Hope says you are worth something, even when the world says you are not. Hope is a very good thing to give.

“Yeah, but hope only goes so far?" Derpy objected.

"I know."

"We need to fight." Derpy demanded.

"With what? Our hooves? You saw what those evil men have. Those exploding sticks kill the humans in 1 bullet. We would be toast." Fluttershy argued.

"But... But..."

"But, nothing. We need an army. The people who would be our army have no hope. Trust me, I work with beaten and abused animals. They can't do anything unless you heal them first. We.. It.. asking them to fight would be like asking a bird to fly with broken wings. These people are broken. They need healing, not another person yelling at them telling them to fight." Fluttershy couldn't believe what had come out of her mouth. The anger and pain that Sebastian had suffered for the past nine months had been passed to her.

"So we are supposed to get an army by singing to them?"

"No we give them hope by singing to them. We heal them. We have to tell them they are worth something. When they are healed then we can ask them to fight. That day will come soon, just not now."

“Okay, then tonight?” Derpy asked.

“Tonight. Tonight, we give Sebastian and all the other humans hope.” Fluttershy answered.

***

That night Derpy and Fluttershy dashed down from the clouds to the barracks. Sebastian was waiting for them outside.

“We’re coming in!” Derpy announced .

“Shhhhhhhhh…” Sebastian and Fluttershy scolded.

“You are not coming in.” Sebastian said.

“Why not?” Derpy asked. The passionate fire was back in her voice.

“Shhhhhhhh…..” Sebastian and Fluttershy scolded, again.

“Humans may not like you.”

“We are colorful balls of soft fur and adorableness. Humans will be fine.” Derpy stated as she tried to nudge Sebastian aside.

“No.” He grunted and shoved Derpy back.

“Sebastian, we came to sing to you.” Fluttershy whispered.

“What?” Sebastian asked. He remembered when his mother used to sing to him. She would sing to him on the nights he had nightmares. It had been three years since he heard her sing, and every one of those nights he had a million nightmares. He would never get the chance to hear his mother sing again. He would never get the chance to see his mother again.

“Derpy and I want to sing to you.” Fluttershy said. This time with more confidence.

“Fine,” Sebastian gave in, “but make it quick.” Secretly he wanted to hear these ponies sing, and he knew that everyone in his barracks could use a good song in their heads. Maybe it would replace the screams of pain and sights of horror from the day and drown out the endless moans in the night.

When Sebastian walked in everyone was genuinely shocked to see two colorful balls of furry adorableness walked in with him. Shocked, but willing to accept it as real. These kids were so hopeless that they were willing to take in any form of sunshine that they could.

“We are here to sing!” Derpy announced loudly. There was a moment of silence. No one knew what to think of the two pegasi. Well, no one, until the youngest in the group spoke up.

“What in the name of heavens are you?” The five year old boy asked.

“We are pegasi, from Equestria, and we know you are in desperate need of hope.” Derpy announced once more, “Fluttershy is going to sing for you.”

“I am.” She gulped.

“Yes, yes, you are.”

“Well, um…” Fluttershy muttered, “Everyone go to….. Uh…. where should we go, Sebastian?”

Sebastian lead Fluttershy to his bunk. All of the children followed. As many as could fit hopped up to his bunk. The ones that didn't sat on the floor in eager anticipation. Fluttershy was soon surrounded by children

“Hi, I am Fluttershy,” She said, “uh…. and my friend is Derpy.” Derpy nodded. She had sat herself on the floor by the other children.

“Do you want to hear the song I sing to my animals when they are scared or sad?” Fluttershy asked Sebastian. He nodded. There were nine other little boys cuddled at his bunk. Many were leaning on her, or curled up by her belly. They were all so horribly thin and tiny and desperate. Their wide eyes were focused on the pink and yellow pony. Fluttershy curled her tail around as many as she could and sang.

“Sunshine, sunshine

life is unkind

just know you are a sunshine

know you are my sunshine

Shine bright, Sunshine

life is mean

just know you’re my sunshine

please shine for me”

By the end of her song, many of the kids were crying. Not the tears of sadness that they so often cried, but tears of joy. They had not heard such soft words in such a long time. Even Sebastian was shedding tears. Fluttershy heard the harsh call of the guards.

"I have to go." She announced.

“Don’t leave, Fluttershy.” One of the children called. Fluttershy had no choice. If she stayed she would get killed, or worse, the kids would be punished even more. Fluttershy flapped her wings, and flew out of the cabin. She was followed by Derpy. They dashed up to the clouds, and spent the night thinking about what they had just done. Hope was a very powerful thing to give, but they had no idea how powerful it really was.

***

That very next evening Fluttershy and Derpy snuck into the open door. As they surveyed the cabin they realized that there were more people there. Not just kids either. Adults. Mainly mothers to toddlers, but still grown humans. They looked just as hopeless as their children. Word had gotten around.

"Hi, I'm Fluttershy," Fluttershy began, but she never got to finish.

"And I'm Derpy," Announced Derpy. Sebastian was sitting on his bunk. He smiled at the two ponies. They walked to him and sat. The crowd of humans gathered around. They looked up at the two ponies with wide, hungry eyes.

"Ummm," Fluttershy muttered, trying to think of what she could sing to all these people. Oh, how she wished Rarity was here. She had the most wonderful voice. She could've helped. "Here goes nothing,

Yes, I know you spend your days

Wondering when you’ll be free

Screaming from all of the pain

Bleeding from all of your scars

Yes, I know it is so hard

trying to get through just one day

I have been where you are

Don’t ever loose the sun

Yes, I know you spend you days

locked in an endless haze

you just have to stay strong

Don’t you ever lose the sun

Yes, it may be covered in clouds

or hidden by a storm

just know they don't last

please don't ever loose the sun"

Fluttershy finished her song just as the sobs burst loose. One of the adults hid her face in her hands, crying profusely. A man who was sitting in the back stepped over the host of weeping children and adults to the bed where Sebastian was sitting. He grabbed Fluttershy and gave her an enormous hug.

"Thank you," He said, voice thick with emotion, "You have the voice of an angel."

Fluttershy hugged the man back. She herself was trying to keep back from tears.

"Thank you for listening." She managed to muster. The man set her down.

"All people from Barrack 9, we have to go." He announced softly.

"Same with all the people of Barrack 8."

"And 6."

Nearly all of the people got up and slipped out of the door an quietly as they could. When they left, Sebastian grabbed Derpy and Fluttershy and pulled them closer to him.

"Tommorrow, Okay." He said.

"Yup." The two ponies replied. There was a harsh call outside.

"I think the guards are coming." Said Sebastian. The two ponies ran to the door. They were serenaded with the calls of boys of whatever Barrack they were in.

"Bye!"

"Auf wiedersehen."

"Totdat we elkaar weer ontmoeten."

"Kochamy cię."

"Don't go."

Fluttershy and Derpy smiled at each other and the dashed up to the clouds under the cover of darkness. It felt good to give something to the people of Sobibor.

***

The next evening they did the same thing, the evening after that, and the one after that, and for a whole week they sang. Hope spread it’s little wings for the first time among the people of Sobibor. It fluttered around and united them. The hope that they had been deprived of for so long, grew.

Chapter Eight: Shots in the Dark

Over the past few days, Fluttershy and Derpy had learned a lot. The two pegasi’s time was not only limited to the starless evening. They would often meet with the humans in the early morning. Many of the prisoners, including Sebastian, could speak a language called ‘English‘ that was strangely close to Equestrian. Those that didn’t speak English would have someone to speak for them. The prisoners told them their horrible stories of how they came to Sobibor. They also learned a bit of how the war caused this Death Camp, and others like it, to spring into existence. Sebastian said it was because of a man named Hitler. At one point, when Sebastian and the others were telling them of how the war started, Derpy had a fit and started ripping at the floor. Before she finally calmed down many of the floorboards were beyond repair. Sebastian and the others tried their best to cover the damage Derpy had done, but it was not enough to evade the keen eyes of the Natzi guards. The children of Sebastain’s barrack were punished with countless beatings and a day without the meager food supplies they would normally receive. Derpy felt awful when she realized the consequences of her actions. The poor filly cried for a whole day and night when she heard what hat happened. Nothing, not even sweet innocent ponies could escape the horrors of Sobibor.

On a night near the end of the week, Fluttershy and Derpy were cuddled up in a cloud when they heard the loud bangs from below. It sounded like the fire sticks, which they learned were called ‘guns’. Fluttershy’s immediate fear was that Sebastian had been shot. The gun shots were not such a foreign sound anymore, seeing that they were fired so often during the day. But this was either really late at night, or really early in the morning. Definitely not the time when guns were shot.

Derpy and Fluttershy were diving towards the ground before they even considered the danger that was below. Sure enough the wolf-dogs were loose. Bullets were flying left and right. If anyone had been sleeping, they wouldn’t be for much longer. Screams pierced the air after the gun shots. Fluttershy rushed towards Sebastian’s Barrack. Derpy followed closed behind. When the two pegasi burst through the door, they saw that no one was there.

“No!” Fluttershy screamed in horror, thinking that the worst had happened. Her head spun widely around, searching for a sign of life, something that would tell her that they were still alive.

“No, no, no, no, NO!” She screamed again, heaving herself onto the bed where so many children had gathered to hear her sing. The room was empty. She didn't want to believe it. All those children. All those poor, port children.

“Fluttershy,” Derpy called. She was waiting outside the door.

“What?!” Fluttershy shouted. Tears were now running freely down her face as she fell onto the hard bunk.

“Sebastian and the others are in another barrack.” Derpy continued.

“Really?” Fluttershy's sides were heaving, her hooves were shaking. It took her a moment to understand what Derpy had just said. Could the children possibly be safe?

“They are over there, hiding, from…” Derpy never got to finish that sentence, because at that moment there was a massive explosion that blew the two pegasi far from any barracks. For a time, everything went black for the two little ponies.

Chapter Nine: Scattering

A scream came from barrack 9 as Sebastian watched the orange explosion engulf the two Pegasi he had come to love so much. His scream wasn't alone. It was followed by the cries of other children who had seen the same. Their two little angels were dead. One of the woman in barrack 9 clamped her hand around Sebastian’s mouth.

“Shhhhhh…” She hissed, even though tears were streaming down her face. Explosion and cries from the other side of the camp could be heard. Sebastian uttered another muffled scream. He had seen enough death for one life time.

“Shhhhhhh…” The woman hissed again. It was much softer this time. Sebastian turned to her and buried his face in her bony chest. The woman held him close.

***

Derpy’s eyes fluttered open. She looked around. Everything was a blur. There was a storm. A big storm. There was mail flying everywhere. A pink and yellow pony was crying for help. What was her name? Then there was a forest, pain, dogs, screams, more pain. Tearing, ripping, endless pain. Then there was the pink and yellow pony again. Then a human. Then more. The soft voice of an angel echoed in Derpy’s head. BANG! The explosion. She remembered now. The explosion. The agonizing pain made since now. Derpy looked at her wings. The feathers were crisped. Her port wing was bent in a way wings don’t bend. The fur that had just grown back a few short days ago was torn off again. Derpy sank her head back into the ground and let out a cry. It hurt so bad. She didn’t dare look at the rest of her body.

***

Fluttershy opened her eyes. There was something not right about the way the world looked when she opened them. Why in the name of Celestia would trees be growing from the sky? The sky was on the ground. Discord? It had to be. Then the pain came. No matter how many times Discord had caused chaos, there was never this level of pain with it. Fluttershy struggled. Something had caught her hoof. A tree. She struggled some more. The tree let her go. The ground came racing up fast. Now that Fluttershy was thinking about it, the tree wasn't so bad. She yelped as other branches swatted at her face. They slapped her torn body and open wounds. She tried to extend her wings, only to find out the majority of them was charcoal. Another scream came out of her mouth. The thud of her hitting the ground silenced her. Fluttershy groaned and as she stumbled her way to her feet.

Derpy! Sebastian!

More pain shot through the Pegasi’s body. She had to find them. They could be anywhere. Oh sweet Celestia she hoped that they weren’t dead. They couldn’t be, right? Fluttershy tried in vain to lie to herself as she stumbled through the forest. She was guided by the screams and shouts of people from the camp, and the flashes of light from the explosions.
“I’m coming!” Fluttershy called weakly. It was all she could do.

***

Barrack 9 was in panic when they realized it was on fire. Anyone who had been inside ran out of there fast. In fact, anyone who had been in any barrack ran away. This was their chance. It may be their last. This could be the day they would finally escape this hell. This could be the day they would be free.

Chapter Ten: Flight of the Night

Sebastian ran through the forest leading the other prisoners. Tree branches slapped at his face and scratched at his eyes. Little trickles of blood leaked from the small scratches they had made. He didn’t care. This might be his only chance out. The fire behind him grew. Flames leaped for the sky as if they too thought that this was hell. Sebastian sprinted as fast as his skinny legs could carry him until he saw the ragged body of Fluttershy. He stopped dead in his tracks and collapsed to his knees.

“Fluttershy!” He howled.

“Sebastian,” She groaned in reply.

“I gotcha.”

“Must… find… Derpy.”

“You should have stayed in the clouds.”

“Derpy.” Fluttershy moaned once more.

“We’ll find her.” Sebastian picked up Fluttershy. The little pony didn’t weigh much. She was easy to carry. A stampede of prisoners came rushing from behind. They were so desperate to get out that they hardly took any notice of Sebastian and the pony in his arms. Sebastian ducked through the crowd.

“DERPY!” He called above the screams, gunshots, and explosions. His voice was drowned out. Still he called. He dashed about the forest in hope that Derpy might be there, but she wasn’t.

“DERPY!” He screamed until his throat was raw. He ran out of the forest in a last desperate attempt to find Derpy. Fluttershy called for her friend, but her already too soft voice was never heard.

Outside of the forest fires burned everywhere. Gunshots and explosions still hadn’t ceased. Sebastian spun his head in every possible direction. Maybe, just maybe, Derpy would turn up. There! Over by the garden. He sprinted towards her.

“I found her.” He whispered in a hoarse voice to Fluttershy. She gave a worn cheer in reply. Sebastian set Fluttershy down on her feet next to Derpy.

“We’re here.” He announced. Derpy took her face out of the ground. It was beaten and bloodied like the rest of her body.

“You’re safe now.” Sebastian said as he stroked Derpy. She smiled. Fluttershy gave her a friendly nudge.

“Come on. We need to get out of here.” She said, mustering up the last of her strength.

“I hurt.” Derpy complained.

“Me too. Come one. We don’t have time to complain about pain. We have to go.”

Derpy groaned and shuffled to her hooves. Sebastian was just about to pick them up when a Natzi guard appeared. His left arm was disjoined and he stumbled around with a fierce limp. His right arm held a pistol. Sebastian looked up in terror at the man.

“Bitte!” He begged. The poor kid knew his fate. Derpy and Fluttershy stood on the sidelines frozen, not realizing what was going to happen.

“Stirb, Jude.” The guard snarled and fired the gun. The explosion was earsplitting. The bullet hit Sebastian in the chest. His body jolted back. A hideous howl escaped his mouth.

“NO!” Fluttershy and Derpy screamed. They understood now, but it was too late. Blood gushed out of Sebastian's chest. The solider smiled and turned the gun on himself.

“Wir sehen uns in der Hölle.” He muttered. Another earsplitting blast filled the air. This time the bullet hit the soldier. He collapsed to the ground. Blood pooled around his head. Fluttershy and Derpy dared not to look. Their eyes flashed back to Sebastian. His eyes glazed over and he fell face forward into the dirt. Fluttershy ran up to his body.

“NO!" She screamed hysterically. She wrapped her front legs around his body.

“Please, please, please No.” She screamed. Derpy was too shocked to do anything, until she heard a gunshot right behind her.

“Die Juden sind dort drüben! Finden Sie sie und tötet sie!” A Nazi shouted.

“RUN!” Derpy screamed. Even though she was broken and bruised she ran. The last thing Fluttershy ever wanted to do was leave her friend. Poor, sweet innocent Sebastian. He didn’t deserve this. She squeezed him one last time and ran off. Every step hurt. Tears ran down her face. The screams and gunshots faded. Derpy was just ahead.

"Come on!" She screamed back to Fluttershy. She pretended not to hear. She didn't want to feel anything. She just wanted to be numb. Numb was better.

Chapter Thirteen: The Letter

Fluttershy and Derpy had been home for a day now. The three alicorns had managed to control the storm by getting Discord to use Tirek’s magic sucking spells to suck most of the magic from the storm. Even Tirek’s spell couldn’t drain the last of the magic from the ancient storm. Still Equestria was wet, very wet. Too wet. But that is all a part of natures course, things have to get wet or they will stay dry. Even the littlest of fillies knows that.

***

The night after Derpy and Fluttershy had returned home Fluttershy sat down in her room and started to write a letter. She was feeling awful about what had happened in Sobibor. Sebastian had died. He was so young. Too young. As awful as that was, she had learned something from it. She had learned something from Sobibor and all the death and pain there. So she wrote, she wrote about all of the things she had learned in such a Celestia forsaken place.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

I have learned many valuable things about friendship during my time in the human world. The first thing I learned about friendship is that desperation and fear ties ponies (and people) together like nothing else. The second thing I learned about friendship is that it ends. The third I learned is that bad things happen to make us better. They hurt, but I think that pain is our teacher. The fourth thing I learned is that Hope is more powerful than fear ever will be. Fear cannot kill those who have hope. And the last thing I learned is that we cannot let all the bad in the world choke out all the good. Yes, bad things will happen and we may feel helpless against them, but we can’t let them win against us. We have to fight through the fear and the pain and the darkness and be lights. We have to be hope and love. I think that is all we can do, but I think that is the best thing any pony could do.

Sincerely,

Fluttershy”

Fluttershy set down her quill and stared into the moon on a cloudless night. The stars twinkled brighter then ever, but it brought no joy to Fluttershy. Her sadness was too complete.

“He will always haunt me.. I have failed him...” Fluttershy sobbed, “I failed myself...” Tears fell down her face. Her head hung in shame. She would never forget the image of Sebastian being shot. The blood. The endless blood. He was just a child.

“Snap out of it!” She screamed at herself, “You gave him hope, and love, and light. You did the best thing any pony could do.” Fluttershy breathed hard, trying to calm herself down. She walked to the window and looked up at the night sky. This time the twinkling stars gave her hope. She had been a star in a dark, dark night sky.

“You’ll be safer up in the clouds.” She muttered. Maybe Sebastian would hear it in heaven.

Author's Note

I am sorry to say to you that though the characters and many evens are fictional, Sobibor was not. It was a real life Nazi extermination camp located in Poland. It is estimated that 200,000 to 250,000 prisoners were murdered there. On October 14, 1943, the prisoners revolted, killing several guards. Nearly 600 prisoners were able to escape. Almost immediately after the revolt, the Nazis destroyed the camp and planted tons of trees in a sad attempt to try and hide the remain of the camp. If you ever want to see Sobibor, it really is in Poland and there is a memorial dedicated to it.

I have made a fictional work reminding everyone that there was a Holocaust. World War 2 did happen, and countless people suffered and died needlessly. I do not mean to offend anyone by making this story, and I know what I put in here would pale in comparison to what these actual death camps were like. I hope you all enjoyed the story. ~ Zuzu

(P.S. - I would like to say a huge thanks to my editor, TuxOKC, and a constructive reader, Pankrazius. You guys helped so much! The constructive comments are always appreciated.)

Chapter Eleven: The Last Song

The revolt had begun and ended in the same day. Six hundred prisoners had escaped Sobibor, not including Fluttershy and Derpy. Most had gone running for the hills and forests of Poland, but there was a group of 50 or so who camped in a forest a few miles away. It wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do, but most of the group consisted of children, the old, the sick, or those who simply couldn’t go much further. The two little ponies found themselves camping with them.As they were walking along one of the humans came up to them. A woman.

“Znam cię. Ci śpiewał do mnie.” The woman said. Fluttershy and Derpy looked up at her.

“We don’t understand.” Derpy said, “We don’t speak whatever language you speak.”

The woman looked confused. Then a little girl came running up to her.

“Mamo, mówią po angielsku.” The little girl said. The woman nodded and whispered something in the little girls ear. The little girl turned to the ponies and smiled.

“Mama, says thank you for singing. You gave her hope when there wasn’t any left. I thank you to. You have the voice of an angel.”

Fluttershy walked up to the little girl and woman and gave them a hug. Even all pain in her little body couldn’t shroud that message. The two hugged her back. Even Derpy joined in.

***

Later that day when everyone had sat down to rest, a mob of children came up to the ponies. They were all from the Barrack Sebastian was from. Fluttershy tried to keep back her tears when she saw their bright little eyes looking up at her. They probably wanted to see their friend, but he was no more to be seen.

“Sing us a song!” One of the little boys called.

“Yeah, Please.” They begged. To Fluttershy’s shock not one of them wanted to Sebastian. Derpy looked at Fluttershy. “Please.” She mouthed. Fluttershy nodded and began.

“Carry on my Vagabond

you don’t know how much your worth

don’t let this bitter life

rip apart your beautiful heart

Storms have thunder

and their lightning

and the rain that don’t seen to end

Just know there in sunshine ahead

People hurt you

and they curse you

and they say your aren’t with anything

just know that you are more than words

Carry on my Vagabond

you the light in the dark

don’t let this worn out world

break your special soul”

By the time Fluttershy had finished her song at lease forty people were sitting around her. Half of them didn’t understand a word she had sang, but the message was clear: There is always hope. The numbness in her chest melted. Sebastian may not have lived but these people had new lives and hope, and that was the most important thing any pony could ever give.

Author's Note

I know that the Polish is probably really off, but I am just trying to be real (lol, this is a pony story) seeing that this is Poland.

Chapter Twelve: Cloudburst

A day had passed since Fluttershy last sang.The band of prisoners had moved atop of a high hill that looked down over Poland. From the hill you could see Sobibor. Some looked to say goodbye to loved ones, or utter curses against the Natzi’s, but most kept going on straight forward. It was best not to remember.

Right before they went over the crest of the hill, both Fluttershy and Derpy looked back. All of the memories of the past week came flooding back to them. It felt like a lifetime. Just a short week ago they had been carefree ponies in the colorful land of Equestria. They had spent their days doing carefree things and living and a carefree town. In one short week all that had changed. They had too. In Equestria no pony ever really suffered, but here in Sobibor everybody life was a living hell. The innocence was gone. No doubt about that, but they had learned something too. Fluttershy still had yet to puzzle that out. Then at that moment right above them a hole in the sky formed. Inside the colors Twilight’s, Celestia’s, and Luna’s magic swirled in a brilliant array. The two ponies mouthes dropped. Was that their way home? It had to be. They looked back at the humans who were now going down the hill, and back to the hole in the sky.

“We have to go home.” Derpy said to Fluttershy.

“I know, but I feel like we are abandoning them.” Fluttershy replied.

“We did all we could. We gave them hope, we might of even helped start that revolt thing. Their free now.”

Fluttershy nodded. There special pony magic had healed them to a point where they could walk and fly. Both of the exercises were painful, but doable none-the-less. Derpy spread her grey little wings. The bent one was, for the most part, straightened. Fluttershy unfolded her wings. A bit of charcoal was on them, but nothing to complain about. The two pegasi took off. Fluttershy longed to say goodbye, but she had a feeling that it would be better if she didn’t. Besides, they didn't have time to waste. The hole in the sky could close at any minute.

The pegasi flew as fast at they could towards the tear in the clouds. Tendrils of magic extended to the ponies and wrapped around them. Despite what it may sound like, it was a rather pleasant feeling for the two ponies who had been in such pain. The magic licked at their few remaining wounds, healing them and taking away their pain. Derpy smiled at Fluttershy as they were sucked into the magical rip in the sky. Nothing could keep them from home now.