The Bane of Equestria

Sweetie Belle walked along the moss covered railroad which lead into Canterlot. Half of the train station before her was arsoned while the other half was covered in bushes and graffiti. A strange aroma was in the air as she entered the humongous city. It smelt more fresh than the others did.

The whole city was desecrated in all sorts of ways. Shrubs were growing out off walls, houses were burnt to the ground, windows were missing the glass… it was all disfigured. Above every ceiling a plant of some sort was growing out of it. Some were so large it seemed it would crack the entire building in half.

At the end of the paved pathway leading through the city, was a road block from the castle. Where riots once took place before it, skeletons now laid. Each one was fully decomposed. Sweetie Belle used her magic and levitated one of the road block signs out of the way. After a few minutes she was at the front doors. With the shear force of her hooves, the door opened. Inside was a long decorative hallway with several doors that lead to many rooms.

She walked through the long corridor until she came across a specific door. She opened that one, and inside was a large bedroom. Much larger than hers. Celestia’s room.

She sat down on one of the pillows on the ground and stared in front of her at a small pink unicorn plushie.

“Hey Cherry Bomb!” She gleamed. The plushie did nothing and just continued staring into nothingness. After a long awkward silence, she acted like it still replied anyways and kept the smile that was amongst her face. She was fascinated in the stuffed animal. As if it were real.

“I brought us food!” She opened her old worn out saddle bags and levitated out two loaves of stale bread. She set one loaf in front of herself, and the other in front of Cherry.

Sweetie looked up as if she heard Cherry say something. “I found it in an old house outside the city.” She said. “It was just sitting in the cabinets all alone, but that wasn’t all I found.” She levitated out some canned goods, some bottled water, and a kettle. “We can finally have tea parties!” She joked. “First I need to find tea…”

Awkward silence filled the room once again, and once again, she replied, “I don’t know how to grow tea.” She know how to grow and harvest all sorts of things, but not everything. One of those “everythings” was tea. She doesn’t even know how to plant it into the ground!

After a few seconds of waiting, another response came. “Well, I’ll put that in the checklist of things that I’ll have to learn how to do.” The plushy continuously did nothing. “Do you really think the library will have a book that will show me how to do that?”

“I guess I can look around there for a bit.” She got up, and walked over to the door. “I’ll be back if I find it.” With that she walked out…

***

23 years earlier…

“What should we have for breakfast this morning?” Said Rarity. Sweetie plopped up from her chair, and ran for the cabinets. They were out of pancake mix so… muffins? No, they didn’t have the good kind. Finally, Sweetie Belle hesitated.

“How about just cereal?” She asked. Rarity didn’t seem to mind. Her horn engulfed in a blue aura, and she levitated out a box of Cherry Oats, a bowl, and milk.

Sweetie Belle sat at the table in patience. Rarity gave Sweetie her bowl of cereal, sat down, and picked up the newspaper on the table. She scanned through it and found not a single article of her interest. Her little sister happily made slurping noises as she ate her bowl of cereal. Rarity looked up at her and said, “Can you not slurp your cereal.” Sweetie gave an embarrassed nod and continued eating.

What was seemed like minutes of finding nothing interesting, she finally came across an article.

The Ponyville Express

Scientist have recently discovered several new spells that affect a pony’s health. Each spell specifically targets a part of the body, and either destroys or heals it. After hours of studying, they have concluded that the spells are mighty dangerous, and can harm the population severely. They’re now currently working around the clock to figure out how they can turn these spells into the source for a cure. Within the next year, Equestria just might have a cure for every disease. Even the common cold!

Each spell serves its purpose to help improve the body. Imagine never having to get a kidney transplant ever again. It can just heal! Another, after some studying, has shown that it can kill both good and bad cells in a pony’s anatomy. This spell can be used to not only treat patience, but also be used to completely eliminate any major disease the victim might have.

While these spells sound interesting and all, scientist still haven’t concluded whether the spells are safe for usage. Many seem to have dangerous effects! But don’t worry, these spells will be completely safe at the time of their release. So until than, hold on, because it’s allergy season!

‘It’s an interesting article.’ Rarity thought. She continued flipping through the paper hoping to find something else. After finding nothing of interest, she put the paper down and looked at the clock. They still had a lot of time.

“What did you find?” Asked Sweetie Belle as she stuffed a spoonful of cereal and milk into her mouth.

“Just a simple column about allergy season.” She said.

(((((Regidar’s Entry to the rest of the flashback)))))

*****

“The tea’s brewing.” Sweetie said. Cherry Bomb remained still. It was as if, to Sweetie Belle, the Plushie was real. As if it was an actual pony conversing with her. Like her best friend  was just the quiet type.

Sweetie Belle went out onto the balcony and stared out into the city of Canterlot. Here, she could see every last bit of it. She could see the top of trees that were far bigger than any of the ones back in Ponyville, bushes that hid in alleyways, and graffiti that was hardly legible from her distance. It was beautiful. Out of all the places in Equestria, this one had the most beautiful scenery. Canterlot was… is a place of hope to her.

Each building was lined perfectly in blocks. She wanted to go down there and see what she would find in any of them, but was more worried in what she “would find.” She wasn’t in the mood to see anything drastic today. She was already going mentally insane. Talking to a doll was the only thing that kept her sanity. To her, Cherry Bomb was truly, the greatest friend she could ever have asked for. She did miss her two friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. She did miss the little adventures that they would always have. It was just something she had to put behind now.

Each individual pony is granted with their own unique talent. The cutie mark is a representative of the talent. Sweetie Belle never found her talent. She never found her cutie mark. She felt that if all her friends were still here, it would be here by now. But it’s still…

Sweetie Belle’s ears perked up at the sound of something hissing. She looked back at the kettle sitting on top of the hot plate and noticed that the tea was done brewing. As quickly and with as much excitement as possible, she ran towards it.

She turned off the hot plate, opened the kettle, and put a small bag of tea in. Some of the water transformed immediately, but the rest remained the same. She closed the kettle and waited.

After just a few minutes, the water's color was a complete brownish color. It was now another substance. Different from what it was before.