Ponyvilleby TheFieldsofIceChaptersChapter One: A New DayChapter Two: The Day BeforeChapter Four: Out of the Light Comes the DarkChapter Three: Truth to Be ToldIMPORTANT AUTHOR'S UPDATEChapter One: A New Day It began as any other day. The birds were chirping happily, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was just a perfect day. Fluttershy was walking through the streets of Ponyville, happily looking at some birds that were flying overhead. As she walked down the street she saw Spike, he was carrying something and almost running with it. It looked like scrolls. “Hi Spike,” she said as she waved a hoof at him. Spike didn’t look up at her and just kept running, but he did hear her. “Hi Fluttershy,” the little dragon replied sounding a bit out of breath. “Spike sure is in a hurry,” Fluttershy thought to herself. “I hope everything’s ok,” Spike flew through the door of the library and called out “Twilight, I’m back.” Twilight ran down the stairs with a look of fear and exhaustion on her face. She quickly ran up to Spike and took a few rolled up papers from him. “Let’s get these to the basement,” she said with great terror in her voice. Spike walked over to a door and opened it for them. When they entered the room Spike was shocked. Maps were plastered all over the room; each had a few red pushpins in them. “Twilight?” Spike said rather worriedly. As Twilight unrolled the papers, that Spike gave her, she explained. “Spike, it’s happening today. We’re out of time.” Spike’s face ran cold. “We have to warn the others!” he exclaimed. “Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow!” Twilight looked over at spike and replied “They’ll be fine.” “But it’s happening today! We have to get everyone out of here! Now!” Spike was in an all-out panic by now. “No, we don’t… I got it.” Twilight said in a slightly warm tone. Twilight then pointed to a crate on the other side of the room. They both began to slowly walk over to it. “Is- is that what I think it is?” Spike stuttered as he nervously twiddled his thumbs. “Yes, it is.” Twilight lifted the lid of the crate and they both peered into it. Spike covered his mouth and gasped. “I-I-I can’t believe you did it.” Twilight looked over at spike and replied “I hope the others did too.” Fluttershy was walking back to her cottage when she decided to pay Twilight a visit. She knocked on her door and waited for a minute or two. Just as she was starting to walk away an exhausted Twilight opened the door. “Oh, hi Twilight.” She said softly. On second glance she realized just how bad Twilight looked. “Wow you look awful Twi. Are you sick?” “No no no,” Twilight replied. “I’m just doing a lot of studying. That’s all.” Twilight then looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder and asked “Hey, Fluttershy would you like to come in?” “Oh, no. I don’t want to be a burden.” “Please, come in. It’s no problem at all. I insist.” Fluttershy was a little surprised by Twilight’s persistence, but decided to come in anyways. “Well ok.” She replied softly. Once she had entered the house Twilight closed the door behind her somewhat quickly. They began to walk into the main room when Twilight’s clock began to chime. She froze as all color left her face. Each chime made her even more terrified than the last. Then the twelfth chime finally came. Fluttershy looked over to her and asked “Are you ok Twilight?” Rainbow Dash had just woken up from a little nap and was lying on a cloud just outside of Cloudsdale. She stretched her arms and yawned slightly. She then looked around to see where her cloud had taken her when she was sleeping, but right when she did this something happened. There was a small flash of light to the south. She couldn’t quite see what it was, it was just so bright. Then there was another flash, this one defiantly came from Canterlot. Then another from what looked like Manehatten. Rainbow Dash looked back to where she saw the first flash and saw a large mushroom cloud beginning to form. Then another two flashes emanated from the south east. “Hoofington” Rainbow Dash thought to herself, but she couldn’t recall what the other one was. Then suddenly she had a horrifying thought. “Cloudsdale.” Her eyes widened and she didn’t spend too much time thinking about it. Rainbow Dash instantly shot up into the sky as fast as she could, trying to get away from the nearby city. Rainbow Dash flew so fast she actually created a sonic rainboom, but she could care less at the moment. She was higher than she’d ever been in her life, and more horrified than she’d ever been as well. Then once she was several thousand feet in the air she saw it. Across the mountains there were three more mushroom clouds forming with an orange sky to highlight them. Rainbow Dash covered her mouth and sobbed in terror and sadness as she looked around her. Equestria was under attack. Twilight was still standing in the middle of the room as Fluttershy stared out of the window in shock. They could only see two of the bombs, but Twilight knew there were more. Many more. “Twilight!” Fluttershy called frantically. “What’s happening?!” she screamed. She’d never been this scarred in her life, neither had Twilight for that matter. As Fluttershy looked at the blasts she started to get light headed. Suddenly Fluttershy hit the floor. She had fainted. Twilight was too in shock to even notice. Spike walked out of the basement with some papers, but when he saw it he dropped them all. Canterlot and Manehatten were nothing more than clouds of dust rising off the ground. Twilight’s eyes were fixated on the site as well. The cloud seemed to rise forever. Then Spike finally broke the silence, “T-Twilight, how many do you think are left?” Twilight didn’t stop staring at the cloud, but replied “I don’t know,” in an emotionless tone. “Spike, go to the basement.” Spike didn’t protest one bit and slowly walked away unable to take his gaze off of the mushroom clouds. Twilight snapped out of it and saw Fluttershy lying on the ground. “Oh no!” she said as she ran over to her. Spike must have not seen her when he walked in earlier, and who could blame him, the site out of the window was almost hypnotizing. But Twilight wasted no time and threw Fluttershy onto her back and quickly descended into the basement. As she walked down the steps to the basement she saw Spike on a large radio. “Who’s left?” Twilight asked as she laid Fluttershy down on the other side of the room. Spike had a grim look on his when he answered her. “Us and Appeloosa.” He said with a slight quiver in is voice. “All the other targets have been hit,” he continued. Spike was in too much shock to cry or scream. Twilight did the only thing she knew to do, work. So she went over to a map and unrolled it. “Spike where are the push pins?” Twilight asked. Spike didn’t notice her question and just sat there. “Spike! Where are they?!” she snapped. Spike looked up rather suppressed and asked “Where are what?” “The pushpins!” she yelled angry. He pointed to a desk and calmly said “On top.” Twilight grasped a few and started placing them into the map. Spike was a little concerned with Twilight and asked “Twi, are you ok?” Twilight ignored his question and continued placing the pushpins. “Are- are you ok, Twi?” he asked again. Twilight placed the last pushpin into the map and stared at it. Spike arose from his sitting position and walked over to Twilight. He hugged her and said “It’s going to be ok, Twi.” Twilight looked down at him in surprise and started to cry on him. “We did our best!” she managed to say in between the sobbing. Spike began to cry as well. “It’s ok Twi. You still saved so many ponies.” Twilight managed to stop the uncontrollable sobbing, but still continued to cry. “Thank you, Spike” she said as she looked down at him. Twilight looked at Spike for a second and leaned forward a little to kiss him, but quickly backed away. She blushed slightly and walked away. “We need to find something for the radiation,” Twilight said trying to cover up what had happened. But her efforts were pointless Spike knew what she was about to do. “Over there,” he said pointing to a shelf with a bottle on it. Twilight levitated the bottle with her horn down to Spike. The label read “Potassium Iodine.” Spike wasted no time and quickly took two pills. He handed the bottle to Twilight and she did the same. Twilight was putting the pill bottle up when Spike said “Hey, Twilight.” She turned to look at him and was met with his lips against hers. The pill bottle hit the floor, and when it did it woke up Fluttershy. She looked around trying to see what had made the noise and saw Spike kissing Twilight. Spike then pulled back and said “Just encase I don’t get a second chance.” He then smiled at her while blushing slightly. Twilight was completely blown away. She then turned away and looked over to see Fluttershy staring at them. “Fluttershy,” Twilight said still a little shocked in her voce. “We need you to get every pegasi to create a big wind storm for the next few weeks.” “What? Why? And what was that? You two were just-“ Twilight cut her off. “We have just a few hours before the radiation gets here! We don’t have time to talk.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “That wasn’t a dream?!” she said with utter terror in her voice. “No, now hurry we don’t have time for this.” “Oh my god they’re all dead!” Fluttershy said with tears beginning to run down her face. “Fluttershy! Now!” Twilight exclaimed. “Ok, ok. I’ll do it” “And Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she threw her the pill bottle. “Take two. There’s more radiation up higher.” Fluttershy did as she was asked and took the pills. “Now hurry!” Twilight said frantically. “We can’t have any wind blowing into Ponyville.” Twilight was rather good at hiding the shock in her voice as she talked to Fluttershy despite all the thoughts racing in her head at that moment. When Fluttershy left, with tears pouring down her face, Spike walked over to Twilight and held her hoof. “Are you ok?” he asked. Twilight looked over to Spike and replied “Wh- Why?” Spike chuckled a little and replied “It’s the apocalypse. I think it’s about time I let you know.” Twilight was still a bit shocked and said the opposite of what she wanted to say. “B- but I don’t….” Spike’s eyes widened at her words. “Oh god I’m so sorry I just thought that-“ “No, it’s ok I’d have done the same thing if I were you,” she cut in. Spike looked rather disappointed after Twilight spoke. “Hey, it’s going to be ok. But we really don’t have time for this. Now come on we have to see what’s left up there.” Spike nodded and started up the stairs. “Hey, we’ll talk about this later ok.” Twilight said warmly as she walked up the steps beside Spike. He just nodded again and opened the metal door. Instantly they could hear the screaming ponies running around. As they looked out the window they could see the fear on their faces, some were carrying things, things she knew weren’t theirs. The mushroom clouds that engulfed the horizon had dissipated by now. Twilight placed her hoof into Spike’s hand to somewhat hold his hand. “Ok, let’s go get a better look.” She said as she jerked her head in order to motion to the balcony. Twilight stepped out of the library with the little dragon by her side and saw the chaos unfolding before her eyes. Discord couldn’t hold a candle to this. This was true and utter disorder. Twilight felt the wind blowing around her and looked up to see all of Cloudsdale flying around Ponyville. “Thank you Fluttershy,” she said to herself. She then stepped to the front of her balcony with Spike and knew something had to be done to stop this chaos. “Hey!” she yelled, but it was to no avail. “Hey!” she yelled even louder. Everyone looked up at her and she continued. “Now listen everypony. We have to stop this. Stealing from your neighbors? What’s wrong with you? This isn’t the Ponyville I know and love. David, yeah I’m talking to you. Stop that now. Now, everypony I know something happened in Canterlot and Manehatten, but nothing happened here. So are we going to fall apart and die together or work together to rebuild our lives? We need to stop this now! Just stop and take a look at yourself and everypony around you…” Everypony did so. “Now everypony don’t you dare do this again.” She continued. As soon as she finished speaking the yelling and screaming ceased. Twilight felt a minor sense of accomplishment, in that moment. Twilight stepped back inside of her house with spike and walked over to the bookshelf. “What are you doing Twi?” Spike asked. “I’m looking for a book on radiation or nuclear weapons,” she replied. “Do you need any help?” “No, it’s ok Spike.” Twilight pulled out five books and set them down on a table, but when she did so the tower of books fell over revealing a book with the title “Dating Advice.” Spike looked up at her with a confused expression and picked up the book. Twilight’s face was now burning red. “What’s this?” he asked. “I uh uh I- I uh uhh… um….” She then leaned in and kissed Spike quickly. He was shocked to say the least. “Twi, I thought you didn’t-“ Twilight then cut in “No, I’m sorry I lied to you. I just didn’t know what to say. There was so much happening then, but now that I have a minute… and you caught me I thought I’d tell you the truth. I do like you too, but we just got attacked Spike. Did you really expect me to be all there when you told me?” “I uh. Uhh.” “What is it?” Twilight asked curiously. “Nothing, never mind. It’s nothing.” “Hey, wait a second. I’m a little confused. What happened to Rarity? I thought you liked her.” “LikED,” Spike said putting emphasis on the ed. “Well uh, It’s pretty obvious she doesn’t like me, so I gave up on her, besides I kind of started to see that I uh… Only seemed to like her for looks,” Spike said rather embarrassed. “… And that’s when I realized… I liked you for your heart… And looks” Spike then smiled and began to blush. Twilight blushed as well and tried to hide a smile from Spike, but failed at doing so. Suddenly the lights went out in the library. “Great.” Twilight said sarcastically. She quickly walked over to a shelf and lit a few candles, and then repeated the proses in the kitchen. Even though she could still see perfectly fine, she didn’t want to be thumbing around in the dark later, with only her horn to light the way. Just after she finished lighting the last candle she looked over to see Spike standing behind her, just staring at the ground by her feet and nervously popping his fingers. “What is it, Spike?” she asked. “Uh… Um… Twilight… Uh… I love you,” he said very quickly. Twilight was shocked, but very happy to hear those words. She then walked over to Spike and hugged him. “I love you too,” she replied. As they hugged she noticed how quiet it was. “I guess my speech worked,” she thought to herself, but that wasn’t the only thing she noticed. After a few seconds of hugging Spike she could feel a warmth in her hart for him. After a moment or two they reluctantly broke their embrace and looked into each other’s eyes. Spike leaned forward slightly at the same time Twilight did. Their lips were only inches away from each other’s, and just before they kissed something startled them. There was a loud knock at the door causing the new couple to back away from each other. They both looked at the door, and were both a little startled, as they made their way to it. As they approached the door, completely oblivious to the other, Twilight and Spike both had the same thought. “Wow that was a moment killer.” Once they reached the door Twilight reached a hoof out and opened the door to see a trembling Rainbow Dash. The moment she opened the door Rainbow Dash hugged her. “There were so many,” she said while crying on Twilight. “Come in,” Twilight offered as she moved out of her way. Rainbow Dash did so and sat down in the main room, and then she continued what she was saying, while still crying a little. “I was sleeping near Cloudsdale when it happened. I think I saw five of them. Then I got scared and flew up higher encase Cloudsdale or Ponyville got… I actually flew so fast that I accidentally made a sonic rainboom, but the explosions… And screams hid the noise it made. That’s when I saw the other three clouds over the mountains. The first city was Fillydelphaia, then Canterlot or Manehatten. I can’t remember exactly. I was just so scared.” Rainbow then continued sobbing once more. “Hey Rainbow, I’m so sorry you had to see that. But it’s going to be ok.” Twilight said as she placed a hoof on her back. Then she just had a weird feeling come over her, about Rainbow Dash. “She said she was near Cloudsdale, which isn’t too far from Canterlot,” Twilight thought to herself. “Hey Rainbow, where were you after the blasts?” “I-I flew towards Canterlot to get a better look, you know, to see what was left” Twilight’s eyes widened as her suspicion was confirmed. “How close were you?” “About twenty miles away, Why?” “Spike get me a bottle of potassium iodine now!” Spike was frightened because of Twilight’s tone, but quickly complied with her demands. “Rainbow, how long were you there?!” “About five minutes.” Rainbow Dash replied. “Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed. “Don’t touch anything. You may have been exposed to the fallout!” “What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Radiation. It’s radioactive dust particles.” “Yeah so what?” “It will kill you in large enough doses!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened after Twilight spoke. “Spike!” Twilight called. “Where’s the potassium iodine?!” “Here!” Spike said as he ran out of the basement, while waving a brown bottle. He then tossed the bottle to Twilight. She caught it with her magic and immediately unscrewed the top, then three pills floated out of the bottle, which was encompassed with a purple hue. “Here, take these!” she said frantically as she levitated the pills over to her. Rainbow wasted no time and quickly swallowed the pills in front of her. Twilight then began to speak again, “Rainbow, I need you to go take a shower now. You may still have some in your fur.” Rainbow Dash understood and walked to the bathroom. Then Twilight had a thought. She hugged her when she entered. “Oh god!” Twilight exclaimed as she leaped up. She then quickly ran into the other bathroom. Spike was a little confused by what had just happened and just stood there. Then he had an idea. Neither Twilight nor spike knew if the princess was still alive or not, so he thought of a way to find out. He was also a little surprised that neither of them had thought of this until now. He quickly pulled a sheet of paper off of Twilight’s desk and began writing rather frantically. He was hoping by some miracle the princess could reply to a letter, letting them know she was ok. Spike had just finished writing when Twilight stepped out of the bathroom, still with a towel around her flank. “Hey Spike, what are you doing?” she asked. Spike held up the rolled up paper and incinerated it with a green flame. He then looked over to Twilight and replied “Hoping for a miracle.” Twilight looked to the place where Rainbow Dash sat and then looked over to Spike. “Hey, go get a brush and a bucket of soapy water. I don’t want to chance getting any radiation particles on us. Especially you Spike, dragons don’t have fur so you’d get radiation poisoning easiest.” Spike understood and walked into the kitchen. Twilight then heard a loud ruckus in that room. “Are you ok?” she asked in a slightly worried tone. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied. “I just knocked over the broom… Among other things.” Twilight was a little annoyed, but really didn’t care, fore that wasn’t the focus of her attention at all. Spike walked back into the main room, carrying the items Twilight requested. He walked over to her and set them down at her feet. “Thank you Spike,” Twilight said kindly. She reached a hoof into the bucket and pulled out a cleaning brush. Twilight then dipped it into the soap and water mixture and began to scrub the chair. She was scrubbing in a downward direction in order to get off as much of the possible radiation as she could. She repeated this prosed at least six more times. She then reached around her waist and pulled her towel off so she could wipe the chair one last time. By the time Twilight had finished it looked like a brand new chair. “There we go,” she said happily as she looked at her work. Twilight walked over to the sink and scrubbed her hoofs persistently after washing the chair. She didn’t want to chance any exposer, no matter how unlikely it was. “Hey Spike can you put this up please?” Twilight said as she smiled lovingly at him. Spike felt his heart grow warmer when she saw her sweet smile. “Of-of course,” he answered while trying not to studded, but he couldn’t help it, he was falling head over heels for her. Twilight levitated the bucket and towel over to him and said “Thank you Spike.” As Spike began to walk off Twilight stopped him by saying “Oh and Spike, this is going to sound weird but burn the towel and leave the bucket outside. I just don’t want to take even the smallest chance.” She then walked over to him and stroked the back of his head with her hoof. “Especially now that I have you,” she said smiling as she looked into his eyes. Twilight then leaned over and kissed Spike on his forehead. As she backed away Spike was in some kind of love hypnosis, almost drooling. “And Spike wash up very well when you’re done.” Twilight’s words caused him to snap out of his haze and get back to work. “I don’t want any of that stuff getting on you.” After Spike incinerated the towel he placed the bucket by the back door of the library and thought to himself “I wish Rainbow didn’t stop by. When Twilight started lighting candles I thought for sure we were going to have a candlelight dinner after what I told her, but no. Of course she had to stop by… Wait. What’s wrong with you Spike? If she didn’t stop by there’s a good chance she’d get sick because of the radiation, if not die.” Spike felt his stomach get a little sick because of his selfish thoughts. Then he realized something. “Rainbow sure has been in the shower for a while, a long while,” he said aloud. Spike then walked back inside and washed his claws as he was instructed, but he called for Twilight while he was doing so. “Hey Twilight, can you go check on Rainbow? She’s been in the shower for a long time.” Twilight stood up off the ground and replied “Sure Spike, but I think she’s just being thru.” Twilight knocked on the bathroom door three times. “Hey Rainbow Dash, are you ok in there?” The only reply was the running shower water. “Ok, I’m coming in,” she said as she covered her eyes. “Rainbow, are you…” “Oh my god! Spike!” she screamed. “Get in here now!” Rainbow Dash was lying on the floor, half way out of the shower, with a towel barely covering her flank, and soaking wet. It looked like she was getting out of the shower and about to dry off when something happened. Spike had just walked into the bathroom to see Twilight by Rainbow Dash’s side. “Spike, get the towel and help me carry her to the library room!” Spike picked up the towel with his tale and got under one of Rainbow Dash’s arms and so did Twilight. “One, two three,” said Twilight as they lifted her off the floor. They carried her down the halls until they reached the library. “Lay her down here,” ordered Twilight. As they laid her down Spike handed Twilight the towel. “Here,” he said. Twilight looked up and replied “Thank you,” as she took the towel. She then began to dry Rainbow Dash the same way she did the chair so that she wouldn’t just rub in any radioactive dust, but it looked as though she had already washed it all off. Despite that Twilight was taking no chances. Chapter Two: The Day Before25 hours before the blasts Twilight and Spike were sorting books in the library when, suddenly, Spike burped a green flame and out popped a letter from princess Celestia. Spike managed to catch the letter with one hand and started to walk over to Twilight. “Hey, Twilight,” he called as he wielded the letter. Twilight had her head buried in the bookshelf, trying to reach a small book in the back. “Twilight,” Spike called again, with a little more force. Twilight heard Spike this time, and pulled her head out. “What is it?” she asked. Spike outstretched his arm and replied “This.” Twilight reached her hoof out and grasped the letter. “Thanks Spike,” she said with a smile. Spike felt a sensation in his heart by just seeing her smile. “If only she knew,” he thought to himself. Twilight unrolled the letter and began to read it to herself. “My Most Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle I regret to inform you that you must attend an emergency conference in The Canterlot Castell, with other gifted unicorns like yourself. It is of critical importance that you attend; fore it is a matter of national security. I suggest that you use your teleportation spell as soon as you finish reading this. The meeting is at 11:00 AM Canterlot time. You will be informed of the details upon your arrival. Sincerely, Princess Celestia” Twilight was a little shocked after she finished reading. This wasn’t like the princess at all; there must be something very wrong. “Spike,” Twilight said with a slight quiver in her voice. “I need you to lock all the doors, windows, everything. Then shut the blinds and go to the basement. I’m going to be gone for a little while.” “What? Why?” “Something bad might happen, but I don’t know what it is yet.” “T-Twilight, what did the princess tell you?” Twilight handed Spike the letter and said “Here.” Spike quickly snatched it and began to read the letter. He had fear clearly visible on his face, yet neither of them knew what they were afraid of. It could very well be nothing. Despite this Spike told her “Go, now,” as he finished reading. Twilight looked to her clock and saw that it was 10:53. “Hey Spike,” Twilight said as she walked towards him. “I’ll be back soon. Ok.” Spike nodded, but seemed to be in some sort of daze. Twilight then hugged him and quickly kissed him on the cheek. “It’ll be ok,” she said in a comforting tone. Spike instantly snapped out of it and looked up at Twilight while trying not to blush. He barely managed to keep it all together enough to reply “ok,” but inside his heart was melting. Spike was now sure that he didn’t like Rarity one bit and was falling hard for Twilight. She backed away from him when her horn began to glow. Then there was a bright purple flash and she was gone. Once Twilight had left Spike walked over to a picture of her and stared at it for several minutes. Spike slowly reached out to the picture and lifted it off the small, wooden table. He held it up in front of him, and then hugged it tightly. “I love you, Twilight. I’m sorry it took so long for me to see that,” he whispered as a teardrop rolled down his cheek. Twilight appeared in the middle of Canterlot Castle along with a few other unicorns. One of whom was Trixi. “Trixi?” Twilight said in a confused tone. “Twilight?” Trixi replied in the same tone. “You’re one of Celestia’s students?” Twilight asked in disbelief. “You are t-“ Trixi was cut off there by one of the royal guards “Please follow me to the briefing room.” Twilight and the others did as the guard instructed and followed him down a hallway. It was lined with large windows that flooded the long corridor with light. As they walked down the hall Twilight and Trixi kept shooting quick glances at each other. The guard then quickly came to a stop and turned towards the group. He opened a steel door at the end of the hall and outstretched his arm towards the entrance. The group of unicorns entered into the darkened room one by one. There was a large white screen at the back of the room with a long table in front of it, and at the end of the table sat a majestic Princess Celestia. Once everyone was inside, the guard shut the thick, steel door. When he did so a metallic sound emanated from the door. Twilight assumed it was the lock. “Welcome everypony,” Princess Celestia greeted. “I wish we were all here under better circumstances, but I’m afraid not. You’re all here because you’re the best of the best in the field of magic and we need you talents to help us. On August thirteenth a maximum security facility in The Kingdom of The Griffons was attacked. All the guards across the facility were found dead.” Some of the ponies covered their mouths. “This facility held over one hundred nuclear warheads. Somehow the attackers managed to break in and steel fifteen of these weapons.” Everyone in the room gasped in horror. “We believe the group is only made of unicorns, because of the security pictures we have, and because only a unicorn can set off this type of weapon,” She then paused as her horn began to gleam and the white screen was illuminated with a picture. It was a picture of a cylindrical device with a small hole in the center, with lines running to both ends. “By placing a horn into the firing mechanism.” she continued. “This will either set it off, start a timer, or trigger some other device. If this port is glowing blue that means the bomb has been activated.” Then a second picture appeared replacing the first. It showed twelve unicorns with glowing white eyes next to a row of the weapons. “This was taken by a security camera inside the bunker. It shows what the bombs we’re after look like and what the terrorists look like as well,” she added. Then a third picture appeared showing the unicorns levitating the weapons and teleporting them somewhere else. “This was taken thirty seconds after the last picture,” Celestia commented. “And this is the final picture we have from the bunker,” she said as the screen displayed an image of a bright green-white flash encompassing all of the unicorns. “They pulled all of this off in a matter of ninety seconds. We still do not know how they managed to access these weapons, since there was a magic disrupting field in place. This means they couldn’t teleport in or out. Since this clearly isn’t the case, we believe they were using some form of new and very powerful magic in order to do this.” The princess looked back to the unicorns in the room and continued. “We believe they are part of a homegrown terrorist organization. We also believe that their motives are not driven by religion. They just simply wish to see Equestria fall.” One of the unicorns then spoke up and asked “Princes Celestia, What is the yield of the bombs?” The princess looked over to him and replied “The weapons are all five megatons.” A few ponies’’ eyes widened as others gasped. The rest remained silent, not knowing what that meant. Celestia saw this and decided to fill them in. “That means that the blast radius will be around twenty to thirty miles and fallout will probably reach out as far as three hundred miles.” The rest of the unicorns gasped. Princess Celestia then continued “This is where you come in. As of yesterday we believe these warheads have made their way into Equestria. At 9:35 PM Canterlot time, an Equestria-Griffin Kingdom border checkpoint was attacked. The guards were all found dead, as well.” Celestia’s horn lit up once more to display a white delivery truck on the screen. “There were fifteen of these delivery trucks shown crossing into Equestria. We are almost certain they have the bombs. However their targets remain unclear. So we have narrowed it down to these likely cities. Each of you is being assigned to one of them. The probable targets are as follows; Canterlot, Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Hoofington, Trottingham, New Saddle, Canterbury, Stalliongrad, Stableside, Ponyville, Detrot, Appleloosa, Hoofswell, Haliflanks, and Trampelvaina.” Twilight didn’t listen past Ponyville. She was just too fixated on that one word. But Princess Celestia was still talking. “All we know is that the bombs are probably in a large shipping crate near the downtown area of their targets.” Celestia then paused for a moment and continued. “Listen everypony, you have all been chosen to disarm these warheads. I’d trust you all with my life, and now this country is.” Princess Celestia walked over to a wooden table by the screen and lifted a few half sheets of paper off of it. “Please find your name on the cards and your city is on the back.” She said as she laid the stack of cards on to the table. The nearest pony took one card and passed it to the next. The stack soon reached Twilight. By chance her name was on top of the stack. She reached down and picked up her card. Before she flipped it she passed the stack to the next pony, but as she did so the door began to open. “Now once you have been assigned you your city please leave the room. And remember, this is all classified information. If you tell anyone it is punishable by law.” Princess Celestia added. Twilight stood and walked out of the room along with nearly every other pony there. As she stood in the hall she flipped the card over to see “Ponyville” in bold letters. “I guess the princess knew this one was personal for me.” She thought to herself. As the ponies stood in the hallway they began to teleport back to where they came. When the other ponies disappeared around her Twilight just stared at her little card. Oddly though she wasn’t as scared as you’d expect, she was actually rather calm about the whole matter. Princess Celestia walked out of the dimly lit room to see one pony in the hall. She walked over to Twilight and placed her hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll be. These are all very smart ponies,” she said warmly. Twilight looked up at her and replied “I pray that it will all be ok.” Celestia had one last thing to say before Twilight left. “Twilight, good luck and god bless you.” “God bless you too princess.” And with that Twilight vanished in a blinding flash of purple. Neither of them knew it at the time, but that would be the last time they ever saw each other again. If they had known this they probably would have had made the most of it, but of course none of us ever know when we’re about to lose someone we care about, and always find us kicking ourselves because of it. Spike was lying on the ground and holding Twilight’s picture when she appeared. “I’m home Spike.” She called. Spike was scared by her sudden arrival and almost dropped the picture. Twilight looked over to see Spike holding her picture and staring at her. “Um, Spike what are you doing?” she asked. “Oh, I didn’t see you there Twi. This picture fell over so I was putting it back up.” He lied. Twilight smiled and said “Oh, well thank you Spike.” Seeing her friend almost made her forget what she had just learned, and it was wonderful. But all good things must end, no matter how badly we wish they didn’t. At that moment Spike was imagining saying “I love you so much!” but instead he said “You’re welcome Twi.” And then he remembered why she had left. “So what happened at the meeting?” he asked. Twilight felt a little awkward having to reply “I can’t tell you. The princess wouldn’t allow it.” “Oh,” Spike said in a slightly disappointed tone. “Hey, I can tell you one thing though.” Twilight said to make him feel better, and because it was important. Spike looked up and was eager to know what it was. “What is it?” he asked. “Have you seen any white delivery trucks parked in odd places by downtown?” Spike was confused by the very specific question and replied “Uh no. why?” That was about the reaction she was expecting from him. “It’s very important that I know Spike. It’s about what happened at the castell.” Spike was starting to understand the importance and how it could possibly be a danger to them, but still didn’t understand why she needed to know this. “Did someone steel something from the princess?” he thought to himself. “Well, on second thought I did see a delivery truck down the street from Pinkie’s house. It was just parked there with no one around it, at least I didn’t see anyone.” “Spike when did you see it?!” Twilight almost screamed. Spike jumped when Twilight yelled at him and quickly replied “A few hours ago. I was out at the store getting something from Mrs. Cake and I saw it parked in an ally.” Twilight’s eyes widened “Take me now!” Twilight yelled. Spike was scared by her but didn’t let her know it. He just kept quiet and started walking towards the door. Once they reached it Spike outstretched a shaking hand and opened the door. Twilight followed him and was completely unaware of his fears. If she did know she’d be very upset with herself for scaring him like that. Spike walked down the street to pinkie’s house and kept looking in between buildings, but couldn’t find it. “Spike,” Twilight said. “Are you sure you know where it is?” “Yes, it’s- it’s uh.” Spike replied nervously as he looked down the alley where he saw the truck. “It was just there!” he exclaimed. Twilight looked down the alley as well and as she looked all color left her face. “It should be here!” Spike yelled. “Hey, maybe it was the wrong truck,” Twilight said trying to convince Spike, and herself, that this was true. “Yeah, because you need to deliver something to a vacant building.” Twilight didn’t even notice that until Spike mentioned it. That’s when it hit her. She had found the bomb; it was in one of the old buildings. “Spike let’s go home” He was a little confused “Why? Isn’t this what you wanted?” “Let’s just go.” “Fine.” The two walked back home and as they did so Twilight said “When we get home I’ve got something to tell you.” Spike’s face lit up. “Please say you like me! Please say you like me! Please say you like me!” he randomly thought to himself. As they approached the path to their home Twilight noticed that the sky was getting darker. Spike kept looking up at Twilight and then away every few seconds. She must not have noticed because she never did the same or said anything about it. When they reached the door and Spike ran forward to open it. “No no no, I’ve got it,” he said cheerfully. Twilight smiled and said “Thank you Spike.” Once they were inside he closed the door and asked “So what did you want to tell me?” Spike was almost completely prepared for her to say she loved him by now, or at least that’s what he was convinced she’d say. “Well it’s about the meeting,” Twilight replied. He could feel his heart plummeting. “Oh,” he said in a very disappointed voice. “Are you ok?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, go on.” “Ok, well if I tell you this you can never tell anyone else. Ok?” Spike was now very eager to find out what it was now. “Ok,” he replied. Twilight took in a deep breath and began to speak, rather quickly, “Spike the truck you saw has a bomb inside of it and all across Equestria other bombs just like it are getting ready to go off. Now the only reason I’m telling you this is because I need your help. And Spike if you tell anyone that I told you this I will be banished for treason. You will never see me again. Do you understand that?” Spike was in shock after hearing all that Twilight had to say. “I’ll-I’ll never tell.” He stuttered. “Well what do we have to do?” he said very nervously. This wasn’t what he was expecting at all. “Stop it from happening. I have to sneak in to the building and get the bomb then get back here.” “Well what do you need me for?” “Go to the store and get these.” Twilight walked over to her desk and picked up a quill with the glow of her horn. She quickly wrote something down and after she finished she handed it to spike. He looked down at the note and asked “A radio? Hey wait a second. Why didn’t we just get this while we were out?” “Did you really want to carry all of this stuff in broad daylight? We don’t know who’s a terrost and who’s not.” Spike started to look a little scared. “Ok. Do you really think we’ll need all of this?” “I hope not. But there are fifteen bombs and I don’t know if everypony will get them all.” Spikes jaw dropped. “Now go,” Twilight ordered. “We don’t have much time.” “Ok,” he said while trying not to cry in fear. Spike then walked out of the library and ran into Ponyville as fast as he could. Twilight hurried up to her bed room and found the black suit she wore when she was trying to break into Canterlot Castell. As she put it on she couldn’t stop thinking about what she was about to do and how dangerous it was. Twilight pulled the zipper up and looked in the mirror. “Ok,” she said to herself. “Let’s do this.” And with that she left the library. Spike kept getting weird looks at the pharmacy when people saw him carrying about twenty bottles of potassium iodine to the register. “I hope this is enough,” he thought to himself. Twilight had made it to the back of the building and was about to go into the window, when she heard a noise. She was horrified because she didn’t know where it came from. She thought it may have been one of the unicorns, but she turned around to see that a rat had caused the sound. Twilight breathed a great sigh of relief at the site. She then reached over to an old window and lifted it. It was just wide enough for her to slide inside, and she quickly did so. The room reeked of mildew and rot. She wanted to cough, but couldn’t, it was too risky. So she suppressed it as much as she could. She looked around to see the walls were moldy and falling apart. It was horrible. Then suddenly she heard a noise. It was definitely a pony this time. Somepony was talking and it was getting closer. Twilight was scared to death. She had to hide but there was nowhere to hide. But then she noticed something. The walls that had rotted away reviled a few support beams. Running out of time and ideas Twilight quickly climbed up the decaying wall. The boards were slick with mold and moisture, but she had no choice, fore it was her last hope for survival. Just as her hoof reached the rafters two unicorns entered the building. As she watched them she felt something crawl across her hoof and wanted to scream, but managed not to. She hoped that was the last encounter with the six-legged kind, for the night. The two unicorns down below didn’t say anything as they walked by, thankfully they hadn’t noticed a thing. They kept on path and disappeared behind a corner. But Twilight still didn’t move, and it’s a good thing that she didn’t because they quickly came back. They came back with a large crate and something else, guns. They were apparently levitating it to another room. That’s when Twilight had an idea, but she only had one shot at it, or else she’d surly be killed. As they got closer Twilight closed her eyes and thought “It’s now or never.” She then quickly jumped down from the rafters, in a burst of bravery, and landed on the crate. The two unicorns immediately dropped it and each pulled out an automatic rifle. Twilight closed her eyes and encased herself in a bright flash, and with that her, and the crate, were gone. She appeared in her basement and at the moment she did so she heard a short burst of machine gun fire in the distance, which was soon followed by police sirens. She just sat there for a moment, still in disbelief of what she had just accomplished. Twilight looked down at what she’d taken and climbed off of it. Even though she assumed it was the bomb, she wanted to be sure. So with the gleam of her horn she popped the crate’s lid open with a loud creek, and there before her was a five megaton nuclear warhead. She looked at the firing mechanism and saw that it was still off. She then breathed a second, well deserved, sigh of relief. Spike went back to the library and dropped off what he could find, but he was having trouble finding the certain maps twilight had requested, so he was off to the store again. But unfortunately by this hour most were closed. It was rather frustrating for the young dragon. So as a last resort he decided to go to his friend’s houses. He started with Rarity, mainly because she was the closest at the moment. As he raced down the path to her house as quickly as his little legs would take him he tripped over something. He quickly stood back up to see a small rock protruding from the ground. In that moment he looked around and it looked as if Ponyville was a ghost town. It’s seemingly only inhabitant was a small, exhausted, purple dragon. No matter how much Spike liked it, his quick break didn’t last too long, and quickly he started running, full speed, in the direction of the white unicorn’s house. Soon after he started up again Rarity’s house came into view, and it’s a good thing too, Spike was dying of exhaustion. Despite this he dashed towards it and started banging on the door as loudly as a little dragon could. An exhausted Rarity opened the door and saw Spike standing there. Spike looked up and screamed when he saw her. She had some kind of green facial cream smeared onto her fur and with this lighting she looked like a zombie or a Frankenstein straight out of a horror movie. “Spike, it’s ok.” He then calmed down drastically after hearing her speak to him. “Now what are you doing here, at this hour?” she asked curiously. An out of breath Spike began to reply, in between the panting, “I… Need… Map... For…” He was almost about to hit the ground and faint from a lack of oxygen. His little lungs needed to be devoted to breathing, not speaking. “Come in Spike, you look like you’re about to pass out,” Rarity offered. Spike didn’t protest and followed her inside while still panting heavily. “Spike come sit down,” Rarity said as she brought him to the sofa. Spike did as he was asked and Rarity continued to say “Now let me get you some water ok.” Spike nodded while still trying to catch his breath. She walked into the kitchen for no longer than thirty seconds but as she approached him, with a glass of water in one hoof, she realized he had fallen asleep. She smiled a little while thinking the site was actually kind of cute and then set the glass down on a black table at the end of the sofa. The glass made a clinking noise as she placed it, but Spike was out cold. Not even an earthquake could wake him up. Rarity then walked off and returned momentarily with a blanket. She smiled while looking at the baby dragon sleep. She then gently placed the warm blanket on top of him and quietly walked back to her bedroom. Spike pulled the blanket closer to him as he dreamed, of Twilight. It was a peaceful moment for him at the end of a chaotic day, but of course it too wouldn’t last. 10 hours after the blasts Twilight was lightly slapping an unconscious Rainbow Dash as she prayed for her friend to awake. Tears rolled off her face as she stared at a seemingly comatose mare. “I’m sorry Rainbow,” Twilight said, as she reared back. Then with all of her strength she smacked the face of the pegasus. Rainbow Dash gasped as soon as the hoof struck her. Clinching her face in pain she exclaimed “What was that for?!” She was answered by a tight embrace from Twilight. “I’m so sorry Rainbow Dash!” She said with tears streaming down her face. “I just didn’t know what else to do. I was so scared!” Suddenly Twilight realized that she had just hugged Rainbow Dash once more. She then slowly backed away from her friend. As Twilight backed away Rainbow Dash saw the look on her face. “It’s ok,” she said assuring her that she was clean. “I washed as good as possible.” Twilight smiled and resumed her hug. “So why were you on the floor,” she asked as she finished the embrace. Rainbow Dash blushed slightly in embarrassment. “Uh, well I’m not used to your shower and I… uh, fell.” “You didn’t pass out because of anything else?” Twilight asked just trying to be sure this wasn’t radiation related. “No, I’m sure Twi. I just slipped and must have smacked my head pretty good.” Twilight became instantly worried after hearing that, but she was still much less worried about the possibility of radiation poisoning. “Just to be sure can I ask you a few questions?” “Sure.” “Have you had any nausea or vomiting?” “No.” “Any headaches?” “Nope.” “Do you feel tired at all?” “Not really. I had a good nap on the floor.” “Have you seen any flashes of light or blured vision?” “Nope, I can see just fine.” “How long ago were you near Canterlot?” “Nine or eight hours ago.” “In that case you should be fine. If you don’t have any symptoms by now you’re ok. It usually takes two to three hours for radiation poisoning to set in, if not sooner depending on your dosage. And it also sounds like you don’t have a concussion, thankfully.” Rainbow Dash was a little blown away from Twilight’s knowledge on the subjects. “Hey Twi, how do you know so much about radiation?” “Oh, you know. Books.” “Oh yeah, Egghead Twilight. How could I forget?” Rainbow Dash joked. “Yeah, well my eggheadedness paid off now didn’t it?” “Yeah I guess so.” “Oh I almost forgot. Which way was the wind blowing when you were near Canterlot?” “West. Why?” “Oh good. That means the radiation is getting blown away from us... I’ve just been really worried about that because the Canterlot bomb was the closest. Anyways, that’s probably why you don’t have any radiation sickness.” “Oh well that’s good… Hey Twilight, can I stay here for tonight?” “Of course you can.” Twilight said as she smiled kindly at Rainbow Dash. She understood her request perfectly fine and was a little glad that her friend was going to be staying here. After all that had happened it was nice to have more loved ones nearby. “Thank you.” Replied Rainbow Dash as she returned a smile. Twilight looked over to the clock to see the hands displaying 10:53. She then looked over to Rainbow Dash and said “Hey Spike and I should probably go to bed. It’s getting a little late.” “Oh ok,” replied Rainbow Dash. “I think I’ll catch up on a few Daring Do books before bed anyways.” Twilight stood up and began to walk away when she said “Ok, good night… ya egghead.” Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes as she smiled slightly and stood up herself, to walk over to a bookshelf. Twilight was getting ready to lie down when Spike walked in. He walked over to his small bed at the foot of hers and just before he laid down Twilight asked “Hey Spike, would you like to sleep in my bed… Now that we’re together?” Spike was a little surprised by her question and, despite what he wanted to say, he replied “No, that’s ok. I’m fine sleeping here.” Twilight lifted the sheets and slid underneath. “Well, ok.” She replied. Twilight’s horn began to glow and the candle that’s light filled the room went out. “Good night Spike.” “Good night Twilight.” A few hours later Twilight felt the bed moving, as if someone were getting into it. She opened her eyes to see Spike positioning the sheets around him. Twilight quickly closed her eyes so that he wouldn’t notice he had awakened her. But as Spike laid his head next to hers she couldn’t help but smile. Spike looked over at her as he quit shifting in the bed and then leaned over just a little to kiss her on the forehead. “I love you, Twilight,” he said as he smiled at her. Spike slowly rolled over, while trying to be quiet, and closed his eyes. As Twilight laid next to him she felt a teardrop roll off her cheek, a tear of happiness. Despite all that had happened today she was still happy, because she had found true love. Yet she was still saddened by the loss of her friends. But, as all things in life, nothing is ever truly perfect. Chapter Four: Out of the Light Comes the Dark38 Hours After the Blasts The five friends had a look of terror on their face when they heard the scream. “Oh my god that was Fluttershy!” shouted Twilight. The group then ran as fast as they could to the origin of the sound. Even Rainbow Dash and Rarity tried to run, however it was more stumbling around quickly. Apple Jack looked around and saw that the basement door was open. “Over here guys,” she called. Twilight, who was near the bathroom, heard this and could feel her stomach twist into knots. “Wait!” she yelled, but it was too late Pinkie and Apple Jack had made their way into the basement. The look on their face said it all; they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. There were maps plastered all over the walls, each with thirteen distinct red pushpins in them. Apple Jack’s mouth was agape. “W-What is this?” she asked as she looked around. She then looked over to the back of the room and saw it; Fluttershy was lying on the ground. “Oh my god!” screamed Apple Jack as she ran over to her friend. “Is she dead!?” exclaimed Pinkie. Twilight flew down the steps, but it was too late; they’d seen everything, everything but the bomb. Twilight didn’t want to protest; fore she feared it would just further incriminate herself. She just stood, silent, in the back of the room. Apple Jack looked at Fluttershy to see she was still breathing. “I think she just fainted,” she answered. Apple Jack then crouched and reached a hoof out to a motionless Fluttershy, but when she did this Pinkie looked into the open crate and said, with a fearful stutter, “W-What is that?” Apple Jack slowly stood up and peered into the crate as well. Her and Pinkie stared into the large box and saw a six foot long device; it had a few fins on the edge along with a small hole in the middle. The silver cylinder looked like it would fit perfectly on the top of a missile. Twilight, along with everyone else, was shaking. They were all just so scared. Then Apple Jack and Pinkie turned to Twilight, half expecting her to kill them. Twilight just stood there with tears beginning to well up in her eyes. “Twi?” Apple Jack began, “What is that?” Twilight sniffled a little and replied “It was the bomb that was supposed to go off… in Ponyville.” No one in the basement knew it, especially not Twilight, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash were at the top of the steps listening to the whole conversation. And, needless to say, they were scared too. Pinkie and Apple Jack didn’t know what to say. They were just so afraid. How could their best friend be a terrorist? How could she have done this? Pinkie then turned and threw up next to the crate. “How could you do this?” Apple Jack asked. “No,” Twilight said as she stepped forward. When she did this Apple Jack took a step back. “Apple Jack, I’m not one of them. Princess Celestia assigned me to get the bomb the day before the attacks. I stopped them. I’m not the bad guy!” exclaimed Twilight as tears ran down her face. Spike was looking around Twilight’s desk trying to find the princesses letter. He lifted a book and there it was. Spike took the letter and hurried to the basement. When he reached it he could hear the end of Twilight’s plea. Spike stepped past Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and said “It’s true. I knew about it too.” He walked calmly down the steps and over to Apple Jack. Spike lifted the letter and handed it to her. “See for yourself,” he said as she took it. Apple Jack looked at the letter and began to read. Pinkie, unknown to Apple Jack, was reading it over her shoulder. The fear quickly left their faces as they read over it. After they’d finished reading Apple Jack lowered the letter to her side and slowly looked back to Twilight. “I-I believe you,” Apple Jack said as she looked into Twilight’s, still tear filled, eyes. “I do too,” Pinkie added. Twilight smiled slightly and ran over to hug her friends. As they hugged a thought crossed Pinkie’s mind, “What about the bomb?” Once they had broken the embrace she immediately spoke up, “Twilight, we should help you keep the bomb safe.” Twilight looked over at Pinkie and said “No, you don’t want to get involved with this.” “The stakes are too high Twilight,” Apple Jack added, “If something happens to you or the bomb, it’ll affect us all. Twilight you must know we’re right.” Twilight nodded and Apple Jack continued, “Pinkie and I will take watch tonight. Everyone else should go home. They’ll be no good to us stone drunk.” Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash and Rarity, but before she spoke Apple Jack put a hoof on her shoulder and said “And you’re no good to us exhausted Twi. Go get some sleep. We’ll take care of things.” “Thank you,” replied Twilight. She then looked back up to them, again, and said “Ok guys, you heard her, head home.” The two ponies just turned away and did so. Around this time Fluttershy came to. “W-What’s happening?” she asked, still sounding incredibly drunk. Twilight walked over to her and called to Apple Jack “Come here. Help me lift her.” “No!” yelled Fluttershy, “I can do it myself.” The yellow pony then tried to stand, but fell down again. Apple Jack lifted Fluttershy’s hoof over her shoulder and said “No, ya can’t.” Twilight did the same and began to carry her up the stairs. As they laid her on the couch Apple Jack said “Ok, maybe almost everyone should go home.” Twilight smiled slightly and replied “Yeah, almost.” “Alright Twilight, go get some rest. Pinkie and I have it from here.” “Ok, thanks AJ,” Twilight said with a smile. And with that the Purple unicorn trotted off. As Twilight slipped into bed Spike walked into the room. “Where were you?” she asked. Spike sighed and replied “Pinkie. She would not shut up about us. You’d think she’d be more concerned with the bomb in the room.” Twilight smiled slightly and tried her best to hide a laugh. Spike saw this and shook his head, “It was not funny Twi,” She just tried even harder not to laugh and lifted the sheets, “Come here,” she kindly requested. Spike then walked over to the bed and slid under the sheets. Twilight leaned over the little dragon and kissed him, “I love you.” “I love you too,” replied Spike. Twilight rolled over and said “Good night Spike.” Spike did so as well and said “Good night, baby.” Twilight smiled a little and was soon asleep, but Spike wasn’t. He was thinking about what he’d just said. “Oh god!” he thought to himself, “Was it too soon! That just sounded weird when I said it! Baby? Really why did I say that? What have I done?!” As the little dragon played out the horrific scenarios in his mind, his eyes began to feel heavy and his thoughts started to slow. Within minutes he was asleep. Twilight was walking down the steps when she noticed something. There was a long streak of blood on the wall. It looked as if somepony was trying to hold onto it, but was being pulled away. As she followed it the amount of blood seemed to be increasing. Then it stopped at the basement door. Every bit of the door was clean, except for one thing; the handle. Twilight hesitated, but opened the door. The blood smeared onto her hoof and fur, but she didn’t care, fore what she saw next was much more horrifying. There before her were Apple Jack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy all mutilated. The smell emanating from the room caused her to gag and her stomach to feel sick. Twilight looked to her friends and saw blood gushing from their mouths, despite the fact that they were dead. You’d think she’d scream or be scared, but she didn’t care. Twilight stared at the sight and felt nothing. The blood had pooled in the middle of the room, as it poured from their entrails. Then one thing caught Twilight’s attention; their eyes were open and looking right at her. Twilight tried to ignore this and continued down the stairs. As she looked around she saw that the crate was open, and the bomb was gone. Then, suddenly, there was a bright flash from outside. The windows blew in and glass flew in every direction, but oddly none hit her. Then Twilight looked out of the small window to see a wall of fire rushing towards her. Her eyes widened as she was about to scream, but the flames choked her off as it singed away her fur and skin. Twilight awoke screaming and sobbing. Spike quickly sat up and yelled “What is it?! What’s wrong?!” Twilight reached over and pulled Spike in as close as she could. Tears were still streaming down her face when she said “Spike never leave me! Please!” He was a bit shocked by what she had said, but wrapped his arms around her and said “I’ll never do that Twilight. I promise.” Twilight pulled away from Spike and kissed him. “I just love you so much Spike,” she said with several emotions present in her voice. “I love you too,” he answered, “You’re the world to me Twi.” She had calmed down drastically after hearing Spike’s words, and started to feel slightly happy. Twilight and Spike then laid back down and stared into each other’s eyes for the next few hours, without saying a word. Twilight would occasionally sniffle, but was always smiling at the love of her life. After about two hours of this they, somehow, fell asleep again. Apple Jack was awoken by a beam of sunlight pouring through the basement window. “Oh, crap!” she exclaimed as she sat up. “It’s ok,” said Pinkie who was sitting by the crate, “I saw you fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake you. Trust me AJ, I’m a hyper pony, so I don’t nod off easily.” Apple Jack smiled due to her friend’s act of kindness and replied “Thank ya Pinkie. That was real nice of ya.” Then Twilight opened the basement door and descended into it. She couldn’t help but have a flash back of her dream. “Mornin’ Twi,” Apple Jack greeted. “Good morning Apple Jack,” she replied. Twilight looked over to Pinkie and said “Good morn…” She stopped talking when she realized she was asleep. Apple Jack looked over at Pinkie and laughed, “Yeah, real hyper,” she joked. Twilight then looked over to Apple Jack and said “Hey you can go home if you’d like. Spike and I have it from here.” “Alright. I’ll go ahead and get Fluttershy out of your hair too,” answered Apple Jack as she walked over to Pinkie. She poked her a few times and she finally came to. “Hey Pink our shift is over,” Apple Jack said to a barely conches Pinkie. “Ok,” Pinkie replied as she stood. She stumbled around a little, but soon found her bearings and began towards the stairs. The two half asleep earth ponies passed Spike as he entered the basement. Neither said anything to him, probably because they were so tired. Spike quickly reached the bottom step and walked over to the radio; he didn’t even notice Twilight standing there, so she decided to take advantage of the situation. Twilight walked over to Spike and kissed him, as he put on the headset. He almost yelped he was so startled. She giggled slightly and said “Good morning honey.” Spike smiled at her and replied “Good morning beautiful.” Twilight blushed and asked “What are you doing?” Spike turned a few dials on the radio as he answered “Checking the news.” “Oh,” remarked Twilight, “I’ll leave you to it then,” “Ok,” he replied as he tried to fine tune a signal in the static. Twilight looked over at him as she began up the stairs and said “I love you.” Spike turned towards Twilight and said “I love you too.” She smiled, then kept walking up the stairs and closed the door behind her. Spike turned a dial and heard a voice become clear. “This is Trixi Lulamoon, is anyone out there? I’m broadcasting from Appeloosa. Can anyone hear me?” Spike quickly picked up the microphone and said, rather excitedly, “Trixi!?” “Oh thank god,” she replied, “I’ve been talking to myself for two hours. Who is this?” “It’s Spike,” he answered, “I’m Twilight’s friend… Well we’re more than friends now.” “Twilight!?” Trixi exclaimed. “As in Twilight Sparkle?” “Yes, that’s her alright.” Trixi’s voice seemed to become shaky. “Was she the one who saved Ponyville?” Spike’s eyes widened after hearing this and answered “W-Were you-“ Trixi then cut Spike off “Yes, I was assigned Appeloosa, I stopped it too. Now Spike listen to me very carefully. Tell her to look out. I keep hearing noises around here, I’m probably just paranoid, but I think-“ Suddenly there was a noise. It sounded as if someone had kicked in the door. It was soon followed by two gun shots. Spike covered his mouth and jumped in his chair when each shot rang out. “Trixi!” he yelled. There was no reply; just silence. “Trixi!” he called again, but there was still no answer. Then suddenly a loud hiss of static emanated from the radio’s headset. Twilight heard a knock at the door and walked over to it. She looked out the window to see it was rarity. Twilight opened the door and said “Hi Rarity.” “Hi Twilight,” she replied, “I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be taking my shift later tonight.” “Oh ok,” said Twilight. “I…” she stopped at the first word when she saw something in the distance. Her mouth was agape and a chill ran down her spine. “What is it?” Rarity asked. She then turned around to see a mushroom cloud rising over the mountains. Rarity covered her mouth and said “Oh my god.” Twilight moved out of the way and said “Get in here now!” “I thought it was ov-“ suddenly Rarity was cut off by a loud gunshot. Blood splattered all over Twilight’s face as Rarity dropped to her knees and then fell over. She screamed and jumped away from her friend. As she stared at the body she saw that there was a large hole in the back of Rarity’s head. There was so much blood gushing from it that it was already beginning to pool around her. Twilight was so scared that she fell onto her back, to see Rarity’s lifeless eyes staring at her. Twilight was too scared to scream or cry; all she was feeling, and could feel, was fear. Then suddenly a second shot rang out. The bullet hit the floor just behind her. This shot was soon followed by another and then another. Twilight ran as fast as she could to a sofa and hid behind it. She hoped that it would provide some sort of protection for her. This illusion was quickly dissolved when a bullet shot through it just inches from her head. Spike gave up on trying to reestablish a signal and took off the headphones. When he did this he heard something, something that gripped his very soul with terror. He heard several gunshots ringing out from just above him. Despite what Spike wanted to do, he ran up the stairs in a rush of bravery and burst through the door. He thought he could do something to help, but this was not the case. Twilight looked over to see him standing in front of the basement and thought “God no!” “Spike get down now!” she screamed. Spike began to do so, but when he did he saw Rarity. By now blood was everywhere. It just covered the once white unicorn. Spike couldn’t hide, he couldn’t run, he couldn’t do anything. He was just too scared. Twilight looked over to see this and knew what she had to do. Twilight leaped up and ran as fast as she could. Spike didn’t even notice this, he was just too fixated on Rarity. Twilight leaped forward and tackled Spike into the basement. The little dragon fell onto his back as Twilight landed on top of him, thankfully they hadn’t fallen down the staircase. “Are you ok?” she asked with fear still present in her voice. Before Spike could reply Twilight’s horn lit up and slammed the door behind them. Spike just looked into her eyes and said “Rarity.” Twilight looked down and said “I know.” That’s when Spike noticed the blood; It covered Twilight’s face. “Oh my god Twi! Are you ok!?” Spike screamed. Twilight lifted herself off of him and touched a hoof to her face. When she looked at the hoof again it was covered in blood, but it wasn’t hers. Twilight then looked back to Spike, who was now standing, and said “It’s not mine.” Spike turned around and puked. Just hearing that made his stomach do a backflip. All though he was happy to know Twilight was fine, he still found the whole matter extremely disturbing; as would anyone else in his place. The two then walked down the steps and sat down. Neither of them cried over the loss of Rarity. They both just sat there speechless. Then, as Spike thought, he realized Trixi’s words were more like a prophecy than a warning. Suddenly Spike and Twilight busted out crying. It took them a few minutes, but it finally hit them that they just saw their friend die. Rarity was gone, and she wasn’t coming back. They both looked over at each other and wrapped their arms around one another. The two just held each other and bawled for several minutes. They didn’t speak because there was nothing to say. Everything that needed to be said was already known by the both of them. As the couple embraced each other the basement door slowly opened. Neither saw it because they were blinded with tears and neither heard it because they were deafened with sobs. The pony stepped into the room and looked over at the two. They were close enough to be killed with a single shot. He then lifted a silver pistol and pointed it right at them. A single, deafening shot rang out through the library. Chapter Three: Truth to Be Told22 Hours After the Blasts Spike was awoken by a bright beam of sunlight shining down upon his face. As he slowly opened his eyes he felt something on his chest. After realizing this he fully opened them, rather quickly, to see Twilight’s arm lying across it. Then, all at once, the memories began to hit him. All the things he told Twilight, all the wonderful things she said, and one thing he wishes he could forget. Spike lifted his head slightly to look out of the window. As he gazed off into the distance he noticed something. Two large and rather distinct pillars of smoke were rising in the mountains. “Those are from Canterlot and Manehatten.” Twilight remarked. Spike almost jumped when he heard her. He had no idea she was awake. Spike looked over to her and simply replied “Oh.” Twilight then continued “It’s like taking a piece of the sun to Equestria for a fraction of a second. The light pulse alone would start fires several miles out. So I guess in this case it’s more like lighting a giant match in Canterlot.” Spike was a little surprised by her knowledge on the subject, but then again what doesn’t Twilight know? Twilight then leaned over and kissed Spike. “Let’s get our minds off of that. Ok?” Spike’s eyes lit up by the surprise kiss and replied “Sure.” Twilight smiled and laid her head on Spike’s chest. Spike couldn’t contain it anymore; he smiled too as his cheeks burned fire red. Twilight wrapped her arm around him a little tighter, and started to pull him closer. “I love you.” She said as she held him as close as she could. Spike just laid there unable to speak or move. This was the happiest day of his life, despite the hell that had unfolded the day before. But he did manage to say just four words. “I love you too.” Twilight smiled and nuzzled up against his chest a little more. Spike slowly lifted one arm and placed it onto her back. When he did this Twilight lifted her head, and kissed him once more. Rainbow Dash assumed that Twilight and Spike were both awake by now, considering it was a little after 10:00 A.M. So she decided to say thank you, to the both of them, before departing. As she climbed the stairs she thought “I really hope I don’t wake them up, but wouldn’t that be my luck?” Rainbow Dash quickly rounded a corner and was about three steps into the room before she saw it. Twilight and Spike were kissing right in front of her. “I… uh,” she barely managed to say. When they heard this Twilight and Spike quickly pulled their lips away from each other’s and turned to Rainbow Dash. They both had the same look on their face, as they looked at her; a look of fear, embarrassment, and love for one another. Twilight sighed and decided to explain herself “Uh, Rainbow… I guess now would be a good time to tell you. Spike and I are, um, together. We were going to tell everyone after things settled down a bit.” Rainbow Dash was still in a little bit of shock when she replied “Oh, ok.” Twilight decided to add something else to what she was saying. “Hey Rainbow, please don’t tell anyone until we’ve had a chance ourselves.” Rainbow wasn’t as stunned anymore, but was still in utter disbelief, when she said “Ok…. Hey I came up here to tell you guys thanks for letting me stay, and that I was going to head home.” “You’re leaving?” asked a confused Twilight. “Yeah, I need to check on a few things,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Well ok. Bye Rainbow Dash.” “Bye Twi,” Rainbow Dash said as she waved a hoof at them and turned. As she walked down the stairs she had a whirlwind of thoughts in her head. Once she had reached the door she outstretched a shaking hoof and slowly turned the cold knob. When she had stepped outside she thought “Holy crap,” to herself. Spike sat there next to Twilight without moving for a second, then he joked “Rainbow Dash is officially the best moment killer in history.” Twilight busted out laughing and replied, with a chuckle in her voice “Yeah, just a little.” Pinkie Pie was in Mrs. Cake’s shop, helping her move some things around. Her hair was as flat as it’s ever been; there wasn’t a single curl in it. Then suddenly Mrs. Cake came darting past her. She had a gallon of milk in one hoof and two cartons of eggs in the other. “Mrs. Cake.” Pinkie called, “What do we do when it’s full?” Mrs. Cake kept working, but replied “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Pinkie lifted two gallons of milk with her hooves and ran to the back of the store. As she sprinted Mrs. Cake passed her once more. Pinkie walked into the back room and placed the milk into a large icebox. Mrs. Cake came up behind her with several cartons of eggs and gently placed them next to the milk. “That’s the last of it,” Mrs. Cake said in a tired voice. Pinkie sighed and said “Good,” in an equally tired tone. “Hey,” Pinkie continued. “Where’s Mr. Cake?” Mrs. Cake closed the lid of the box and looked over at Pinkie. “He’s babysitting. After yesterday not many ponies could do it.” “Oh,” replied Pinkie. “How long do you think it’ll be before the power’s back on?” “Probably a good few months.” Rainbow Dash was walking along a small path and thinking of what she’d seen this morning. It was still shocking her. “Who’d have thought those two-“ Her thought was cut off when Fluttershy turned a corner and crashed into her. The two pegasi fell down after the collision. “Oh, I’m so sorry Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said in a regretful and shy voice. Fluttershy flapped her wings to pick herself up and outstretched a hoof to Rainbow Dash. “Thanks,” said Rainbow Dash as she grasped her hoof. “Are you ok?” asked a concerned Fluttershy. “Yeah I’m fine. Hey Fluttershy what are you doing here? I thought you’d be with your animals, after what happened.” “Oh, I will be. I’m just getting a few things for Angel. He’s really upset, so I was going to make him something to calm him down… Or at least try.” “Well, what about you? Are you ok?” “Yeah, I’m about ok as you can be after that” Fluttershy paused and asked “Did you lose anyone? But hey if you don’t want to say anything, it’s ok. I understand.” Rainbow Dash hesitated and replied “It’s ok… A few of my friends were in Fillydelphia and Manehatten. What about you?” Fluttershy started to panic when she replied “What! Fillydelphia got hit! My dad lives in Fillydelphia! How many others got hit?!” Rainbow Dash had no idea that she didn’t know. “I-I saw eight blasts.” Fluttershy was beginning to cry once more. “Oh god! I thought It was only Manehatten and Canterlot!” Rainbow Dash walked up closer to her friend and hugged her. She didn’t know what to say, she’d usually say its ok, but this was all far from ok. Fluttershy was sobbing much more than the first time. She was now certain that her father was dead, and probably her mom as well. A few ponies walking by stared, but understood why she was crying, at the same time. “Hey,” Rainbow Dash said in a caring tone, “Let’s go to your place. Ok?” Fluttershy nodded and broke their embrace. Spike was sitting in the basement, with a small wooden guitar. He’d occasionally go down there to sing, because it was the only place he could be sure Twilight wouldn’t hear him. Even though he’d done this several times prior, he was still pretty uncomfortable with a nuke in the room. The little dragon lifted his hand and began to stroke the strings of the guitar. He didn’t need a pick in order to play. His claws worked much better. After a moment of trying to get the rhythm right he began to sing. “Tick tock, hear the clock countdown Wish the minute hand could be rewound So much to do and so much I need to say Will tomorrow be too late? Feel the moment slip into the past Like sand through an hourglass In the madness, I guess, I just forget To do all the things I said Time passes by, never thought I'd wind up One step behind, now I've made my mind up Today, I'm gonna try a little harder Gonna make every minute last longer Gonna learn to forgive and forget 'Cause we don't have long, gonna make the most of it Today, I'm gonna love my enemies Reach out to somebody who needs me Make a change, make the world a better place 'Cause tomorrow could be one day too late” Twilight was in the library and was wondering where Spike was as she looked around. “Spike?” she called. There was no reply. She went upstairs expecting to see the purple dragon sleeping. “Spike?” she called out again. But once more there was no reply. Then it occurred to her that there was only one more place he could be, the basement. She walked down the stairs and over to the basement door, but she quickly stopped when she heard something. She could hear Spike singing. It was beautiful. She wanted to hear it a little better so she quietly, and slowly, opened the door. Spike kept singing and was half way through the song when he paused to take a breath. “That was beautiful.” said Twilight, who was sitting on the top step of the basement staircase. She had a look on her face that no one had ever seen before. It was a look of pure love. Spike was scared half to death when he heard Twilight speak. He didn’t want anyone to ever hear him, especially her. Spike was so scared that he dropped the guitar and froze in place. His face wasn’t red, as you’d expect, it was actually incredibly pail. He looked as if he was going to be sick. Twilight saw this and walked down the stairs to Spike. “It’s ok Spike,” she said as she walked over to his side. She hugged him and quickly kissed his cheek. “I never knew you were so talented.” Spike’s heart was racing for two reasons; someone had heard him singing and Twilight was with him. You’d think he’d be used to her seeing him this way, after yesterday, and this morning, but it actually still terrified him. “What do I have to be afraid of anymore?” he thought to himself. Spike then looked Twilight in the eyes and softly kissed her. “I love you,” he said as he began to wrap his arms around her. Twilight was a little surprised by his change in attitude and replied “I love you too,” as she embraced him as well. Mrs. Cake was in the back room and checked the thermometer on the Icebox. It was rising faster than she thought it would. She then lifted the lid to see a pool of water forming at the bottom. “Oh great,” she said to herself. Pinkie walked into the room, as well, and asked “What is it?” Mrs. Cake turned to her and replied “This ice is melting a lot faster than I thought it would.” Pinkie looked at the food and had an idea. “Why don’t we cook it?” “What?” Mrs. Cake replied with a confused voice. “Yeah, if it’s all going bad why don’t we? We could get everyone in town to come out, and eat. It’d be like one big party.” “Well I guess that might work.” “Great! I’ll get everyone ready.” As Pinkie said this her hair poofed back up slightly. The little pink pony didn’t waste any time, and quickly darted out of the door. Mrs. Cake watched as she ran up to one pony then another. “Oh Pinkie,” she thought to herself. Twilight was sitting on the ground next to Spike as she read a book. It was about radiation. The section she was in now talked about what a Gy was and how to use a geiger counter. “I wish we had one of these.” She thought to herself. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Spike and Twilight both stood and walked over to it. Twilight opened the door to see a half gloomy and half excited Pinkie at the door. “Hey Pinkie.” Twilight said kindly. “Hey Twi, Mrs. Cake and a few other stores are going to cook all their food tonight.” “What? Why?” “Well a lot of it is going to go bad so we decided to have a giant cook and bake out.” “Oh,” replied Twilight. “It’s at eight. Ok.” “Ok Pinkie. I’ll stop by. Thanks for the invite” “You’re welcome.” Pinkie then turned and walked off. Twilight turned to Spike as she shut the door and said “It looks like we don’t have to cook tonight.” “Good,” he replied. They both then turned and walked back to where they were sitting. Fluttershy sat with Rainbow dash and was still sobbing uncontrollably. Rainbow Dash held her friend closer and said “Hey, we don’t know he’s gone. He may have been out of town when it happened.” As much as Fluttershy wanted to believe that, she knew it was a lie. Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow Dash and said, while still crying “Go to the first cabinet and get the first bottle you see.” Rainbow Dash was very surprised, and asked “You drink?” Fluttershy shook her head and replied “No, they were my father’s. But I don’t see any better time to do so. Do you?” Rainbow Dash shook her head and went to get the bottle. When she opened the cabinet she saw eight or nine bottles all in a rack. She was pretty shocked to say the least; she never thought she’d see the day that Fluttershy would drink. As she was scanning the bottles she noticed one that looked different. The bottle just seemed to be prettier than the others, so she decided to take it. When she lifted it she could see that the label said Jack Daniel’s. Rainbow Dash walked back to Fluttershy and handed her the bottle. She took it and looked at it for a second. “This was his favorite.” Rainbow Dash sat down next to her as she popped the lid off. Fluttershy lifted the bottle and took a sip. She made a sour face and said “Man that’s strong.” Despite that she took another sip. Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Never in a thousand years did she expect this to happen. Fluttershy looked over at Rainbow Dash and asked “Do you want some?” as she outstretched the hoof with the bottle. Rainbow Dash thought for a second and replied “Maybe just a tiny bit.” She then reached out a hoof and took the bottle from Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash lifted the bottle up to her lips and took a small sip. She made about the same face Fluttershy had and said “Man you weren’t kidding.” Pinkie Pie placed a tray of cake batter into the oven and turned the dial. “How many more do we need to make?” she asked Mrs. Cake. Mrs. Cake looked up from her mixing bowl and replied “As many as we can.” As Pinkie looked at the cake through the small window she thought to herself “Thank god this thing is powered on gas.” Twilight looked up at the clock and saw that it was 7:45. “I guess there’s no harm in showing up early,” she thought to herself. “Hey Spike!” she called. The little dragon lifted his head off of the floor, when he heard his name, and quickly stood. He got a little light headed and almost fell over, but caught himself. Spike then quickly ran down the stairs. Once he reached Twilight he looked up at her and said “Yes, my love?” Twilight blushed slightly and replied “I thought we could go to Pinkie’s cook o… bake sa… baking thingy, a little early.” Spike tried not to laugh at Twilight’s words, and replied “Oh, ok Twi.” Spike reached out his hand and turned the door knob. The door swung open and Spike said “After you, beautiful.” Twilight blushed once more and asked “What’s with you tonight?” Spike smiled and said “Oh nothing, I just love you.” Twilight smiled, as well, and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you too,” she replied and then walked out of the library with Spike following behind her. They walked slowly as the couple kept looking at each other. Every time Twilight looked over at Spike he had the same love dazed look on his face, which she thought was pretty cute. “Who’d have thought it’d take a nuke going off to make this happen?” Twilight thought to herself. Eventually they reached down town. There were several tables out with a few lights strung about. “Looks like Pinkie found herself a generator,” Twilight thought. As they approached the tables she could tell that each had a table cloth and a few plates on it, but there were only about twenty ponies there. Twilight looked down at Spike and said “Maybe we came a little too early.” Spike nodded and replied “Eh, that just means no lines for the food.” Twilight smiled a little, thinking his remark was kind of funny, and walked over to the bakery. As she opened the door she and Spike were greeted by Pinkie. “Oh, hey guys,” she said happily. “I’m glad you could make it.” “Thanks Pinkie,” Spike and Twilight said at the same time. They then looked at each other for a second and back to Pinkie. Pinkie moved a few cakes on to the counter and asked, as she worked “So, how long have you and Spike been together?” Twilight and Spike both had a look of shock and disbelief on their face. They were not expecting this question at all. “H-How did you-?” Pinkie cut in and replied “Oh come on Twilight, you don’t need Pinkie senses to see that there’s something up with you two. It was almost screaming at me when you both answered the door.” Twilight was still stunned, along with Spike. Thankfully at that moment Apple Jack walked into the bakery. “Hey AJ did you hear about-“ Twilight let out a loud grunt and gave Pinkie a certain look. Pinkie immediately interpreted her signal and stopped talking. “Oh,” Pinkie said in a slightly disappointed tone. “Hear about what?” Apple Jack asked. “Nothing.” Twilight replied rather quickly. “Okaaaay.” Apple Jack said sounding rather confused. “Well anyways,” she went on, “Pinkie do you have any apple cakes or cupcakes?” Pinkie bent down and pulled out a big green and red cake. “Yup, right here.” Apple Jack smiled and walked over to her. As she took the cake from her she said “Thank ya Pinkie. What do I owe ya?” “Oh it’s on the house tonight.” “Oh! Well thanks again Pinkie.” “Hey Apple Jack, while you’re here could you come over in a little while?” Twilight asked. “Sure thing Twi. What’s it about?” Apple Jack asked. “Oh, I just need to tell everyone some news.” “Oh, ok Twi. I’ll see ya in a bit.” And with that the earth pony left. Twilight looked out of the window to see a lot more ponies were there than when she had arrived. “Hey Pinkie you may want to get the cakes out there.” Twilight suggested. “Oh good they’re here. Hey Twi can you help me with these?” Pinkie said as she lifted a few boxes of cake. “Sure,” Twilight replied. She walked over to the counter and began picking up boxes herself. She stacked about five on top of each other and started towards the door. Spike saw the two approaching the exit and quickly jumped to action, by opening the door for them. “Thanks Spike,” each said as they walked past him. Within seconds they were back to repeat the process. And again they carried out more boxes, and again, and again, and again. Eventually there were no more boxes left. “finally,” said a tired Twilight. Pinkie looked behind a counter and pulled out one more box of cake. “Surprise!” she said as she held it out to Twilight. Twilight took the box and asked “What’s this?” “Oh it’s just a little something for the new couple,” she said with a smile. Twilight reached her hoof to the front of the box and lifted the lid. Inside was a red and pink heart shaped cake. “Do you like it?” Pinkie asked. Twilight looked up at her friend with a smile and replied “I love it. Thank you Pinkie… Hey, even though you know, would you like to come over when I tell the girls about us?” A smile broke across Pinkies face. “Yes!” she replied excitedly. Twilight turned towards the door and said “Ok, see you later Pink.” Rarity was outside of the store when Twilight and Spike saw her. She had a plate with a slice of cake in one hoof. Spike felt a little awkward just being around her, but Twilight needed to tell her something and he was not going to leave her side. “Hey, Rarity we need you to come over in a little while. We have something to tell everypony.” “What is it?” Rarity asked. “Trust me, you’ll all know soon enough.” Rainbow Dash was sitting next to Fluttershy with a bottle of whisky in one hoof. Fluttershy was lying on the ground with a bottle in her hoof as well. “Hey, y- you know what I think happened to Canterlot?” Rainbow Dash asked with very slurred speech. “Wh-What?” replied Fluttershy sounding equally drunk. “I-I-I think it was aliens,” replied Rainbow Dash as she lifted the bottle to her mouth. “Oh my god! Dude! That would be so cool! Bu- but I’d be scared man. Don’t scare me like that Rainbow!” “What? You mad? You wanna fight about it!?... Bah I love ya.” “Dude that is deep. Like really,” replied an emotional Fluttershy. “I know flutterby I know.” “Hey y-you know what we should do?” stuttered Fluttershy. “W-What?” stuttered Rainbow Dash as well. “Let’s go prank Twilight and Spike.” “Oh my god yes!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “I know right!?” “Right. Hey maybe she’s got s-some more boos,” stuttered Rainbow Dash. “Th-That nerd better!” “Come on futershy, let’s do this!” The two then stood and began to walk to the door. “This is gonna be awesome!” exclaimed Fluttershy. Pinkie, Rarity, and Apple Jack all sat down in the library as Twilight and Spike walked in front of them. Pinkie had a little grin on her face as she waited for Rarity and Apple Jack’s reaction. “Well everypony you’re probably wondering why you’re here. The answer is that Spike and I have something to tell you. Spike and I-“ Spike then cut in and blurted out “I love Twilight!” Apple jack just smiled and said “I knew it!” But Rarity, on the other hand, was completely shocked. The look on her face was just utter disbelief. “Wha-What?” she asked. “It’s True,” replied Twilight, “We’ve been together for a few days now. And we just wanted you to know. Pinkie was staring at Rarity and covering her mouth, trying to hide her snickering. Her face was just priceless. Then, without warning, Pinkie jumped up and yelled “Who wants cake!?” “Me!” said an excited Apple Jack. The two ponies didn’t spend too much time thinking about it and quickly trotted off into the kitchen. But Rarity, though, didn’t move a muscle. She was just too blown away. “A-and you like him?” she asked Twilight. Twilight was a little confused and replied “Well of course I do. That’s how relationships work right?” Rarity nodded and said “Yeah… I guess so.” Rarity didn’t want to say anything, but she had a crush on Spike too. Unfortunately, for her, it was far too late for that. “I knew I should have said something!” she thought to herself. Apple Jack stuck her head into the library and asked “Hey Twi, where’s the champagne? This is a very special occasion after all. Ain’t it?” Twilight thought for a minute, and finally replied “It’s in the first cabinet, but I… Eh forget it. It is the apocalypse after all.” Apple jack smiled and went off to get the bottle. Twilight then stood up and said “Here let me show you where,” wanting to make sure Apple Jack didn’t find anything she didn’t want her to. Spike and Rarity were left alone in the library as their friends worked in the kitchen. There had never been a more awkward moment in their lives. Spike occasionally looked up at Rarity and she occasionally looked up at him. Spike just tried to stare at the floor and twiddle his thumbs, but each time Rarity looked at him he could feel her glare burning into his skull. Spike cleared his throat and said “So…” “So,” replied Rarity. “Well this is awkward,” continued Spike. “Yeah,” she replied. Then without warning she asked “Why do you like her?” Spike was a bit shocked at her bluntness, but replied “Because she’s sweet, she’s caring, she has always been there for me, and she notices me.” Rarity felt awful after hearing him say that. “I-I-“ Rarity began, but was cut off by Twilight, who walked into the room with two glasses of Champaign. “Who wants champaign?” she asked. Rarity instantly raised her hoof and was given a glass. “Here ya go,” Twilight said with a smile. Rarity lifted the glass to her mouth and began drinking rather quickly. Within seconds the small glass was nearly empty. Twilight had a stunned look on her face as she watched Rarity drink. “Whoa, slow down man,” Twilight said. Rarity finished off the glass and stood to go get some more. Twilight sat down beside Spike and asked “What’s up with Rarity?” Spike looked down to avoid eye contact with her, and replied “I think she likes me.” Twilight didn’t know if she should laugh or be worried. “Oh joy,” she said sarcastically. As Pinkie cut into the cake, she heard a noise at the back door. She ignored it and finished cutting out the slice for herself. Then she heard it again. Pinkie laid the knife down and looked out of the window, to see nothing. “What is it?” asked Apple Jack, who was refilling a few glasses. “Oh I just thought I heard something.” Then there was a loud bang on the back door. “What in tarnation was that!?” exclaimed Apple Jack. She and Apple Jack walked over to the door and opened it to see a yellow flank and pink tail before them. Fluttershy laughed and started to run off, but tripped over her own hooves. “Ah!” she yelled as she hit the ground. At that moment Pinkie had the same thought anyone in her position would “Is this really happening?” Then suddenly Rainbow Dash jumped out from behind the corner and busted out laughing. “Epic face plant Fluttersmash!” Rainbow Dash then walked over to Fluttershy, who was still trying to get up, and said “Aw man ya mooned Pinkie and AJ not Twi.” Fluttershy finally stood up and turned to see an utterly confused Pinkie and Apple Jack staring at her. “Dang it!” she yelled. “What’s going on out here?” asked Twilight as she walked up beside the two, confused onlookers. The three ponies just watched their two friends stumble around for a second, when Pinkie finally broke the silence. “Are they high?” she whispered. “I don’t know,” replied Twilight. That’s when Rainbow Dash noticed the glasses they were holding. “Hey Fluttershy, looks like they’re having a party too,” Rainbow Dash said rather loudly. Twilight looked down at her, second, glass and said “Uh…” Despite the fact that they’d all had a few, there were nowhere near as bad as those two. Apple Jack looked over to Twilight and said “Eh, screw it. This looks like it’ll be fun,” Apple Jack then turned to the two pegasi and said “Come on in guys,” as she waved a hoof. The two did as they were told and stumbled into the library. That’s when Rarity walked over to the two ponies. “W-what are you two doing here?” she asked in a less than sober voice. Fluttershy instantly noticed that she was drunk as well and said “Oh cool. Rarity knows how to party too!” “No,” exclaimed Rarity, “I’m not partying. I’m mad.” “About what?” asked Twilight. “Nothing.” She replied. Spike then walked into the room with the rest of the group and instantly noticed how far gone three of his friends were. Even though he was pretty shocked by it, he found the sight a little amusing. Then, at that moment, Fluttershy leaned over and whispered something to Rainbow Dash. “Ok,” replied Rainbow Dash to whatever she said. “I’ma go use the bath room. Ok Twi?” announced Fluttershy. “Ok,” replied Twilight, with a hint of confusion easily noticeable in her voice. Fluttershy then staggered past Spike and into the library. As she passed him she, drunkenly, smiled at him. “That was weird,” he thought to himself. But Spike didn’t think too much about of it after looking back to his drunken and tipsy friends bicker. Fluttershy opened the basement door and said quietly, to herself “Ok, where’s the good stuff?” She staggered down the stairs and almost fell, but somehow managed not to. Once Fluttershy reached the bottom of the steps she looked around and saw a large crate against the wall. “I bet that’s where she keeps it,” she thought to herself. She slowly walked over to it, trying not to stumble again, and outstretched a hoof to the lid of the crate. Then with little effort she lifted the lid. Suddenly, as the friends talked amongst themselves, an ear splitting scream rang out through the library. IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S UPDATEHey everybody, I have some bad news. Since this story was written so long ago and so poorly I've decided to rewrite it. My new story is of the same name and can be found here: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/82848/ponyville It is a thousand times better in my opinion. The plot is constructed much better, it follows multiple characters, and has an interesting and varied environment. Please go check it out. I promise it will be much better than this one.
Chapter One: A New Day It began as any other day. The birds were chirping happily, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was just a perfect day. Fluttershy was walking through the streets of Ponyville, happily looking at some birds that were flying overhead. As she walked down the street she saw Spike, he was carrying something and almost running with it. It looked like scrolls. “Hi Spike,” she said as she waved a hoof at him. Spike didn’t look up at her and just kept running, but he did hear her. “Hi Fluttershy,” the little dragon replied sounding a bit out of breath. “Spike sure is in a hurry,” Fluttershy thought to herself. “I hope everything’s ok,” Spike flew through the door of the library and called out “Twilight, I’m back.” Twilight ran down the stairs with a look of fear and exhaustion on her face. She quickly ran up to Spike and took a few rolled up papers from him. “Let’s get these to the basement,” she said with great terror in her voice. Spike walked over to a door and opened it for them. When they entered the room Spike was shocked. Maps were plastered all over the room; each had a few red pushpins in them. “Twilight?” Spike said rather worriedly. As Twilight unrolled the papers, that Spike gave her, she explained. “Spike, it’s happening today. We’re out of time.” Spike’s face ran cold. “We have to warn the others!” he exclaimed. “Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow!” Twilight looked over at spike and replied “They’ll be fine.” “But it’s happening today! We have to get everyone out of here! Now!” Spike was in an all-out panic by now. “No, we don’t… I got it.” Twilight said in a slightly warm tone. Twilight then pointed to a crate on the other side of the room. They both began to slowly walk over to it. “Is- is that what I think it is?” Spike stuttered as he nervously twiddled his thumbs. “Yes, it is.” Twilight lifted the lid of the crate and they both peered into it. Spike covered his mouth and gasped. “I-I-I can’t believe you did it.” Twilight looked over at spike and replied “I hope the others did too.” Fluttershy was walking back to her cottage when she decided to pay Twilight a visit. She knocked on her door and waited for a minute or two. Just as she was starting to walk away an exhausted Twilight opened the door. “Oh, hi Twilight.” She said softly. On second glance she realized just how bad Twilight looked. “Wow you look awful Twi. Are you sick?” “No no no,” Twilight replied. “I’m just doing a lot of studying. That’s all.” Twilight then looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder and asked “Hey, Fluttershy would you like to come in?” “Oh, no. I don’t want to be a burden.” “Please, come in. It’s no problem at all. I insist.” Fluttershy was a little surprised by Twilight’s persistence, but decided to come in anyways. “Well ok.” She replied softly. Once she had entered the house Twilight closed the door behind her somewhat quickly. They began to walk into the main room when Twilight’s clock began to chime. She froze as all color left her face. Each chime made her even more terrified than the last. Then the twelfth chime finally came. Fluttershy looked over to her and asked “Are you ok Twilight?” Rainbow Dash had just woken up from a little nap and was lying on a cloud just outside of Cloudsdale. She stretched her arms and yawned slightly. She then looked around to see where her cloud had taken her when she was sleeping, but right when she did this something happened. There was a small flash of light to the south. She couldn’t quite see what it was, it was just so bright. Then there was another flash, this one defiantly came from Canterlot. Then another from what looked like Manehatten. Rainbow Dash looked back to where she saw the first flash and saw a large mushroom cloud beginning to form. Then another two flashes emanated from the south east. “Hoofington” Rainbow Dash thought to herself, but she couldn’t recall what the other one was. Then suddenly she had a horrifying thought. “Cloudsdale.” Her eyes widened and she didn’t spend too much time thinking about it. Rainbow Dash instantly shot up into the sky as fast as she could, trying to get away from the nearby city. Rainbow Dash flew so fast she actually created a sonic rainboom, but she could care less at the moment. She was higher than she’d ever been in her life, and more horrified than she’d ever been as well. Then once she was several thousand feet in the air she saw it. Across the mountains there were three more mushroom clouds forming with an orange sky to highlight them. Rainbow Dash covered her mouth and sobbed in terror and sadness as she looked around her. Equestria was under attack. Twilight was still standing in the middle of the room as Fluttershy stared out of the window in shock. They could only see two of the bombs, but Twilight knew there were more. Many more. “Twilight!” Fluttershy called frantically. “What’s happening?!” she screamed. She’d never been this scarred in her life, neither had Twilight for that matter. As Fluttershy looked at the blasts she started to get light headed. Suddenly Fluttershy hit the floor. She had fainted. Twilight was too in shock to even notice. Spike walked out of the basement with some papers, but when he saw it he dropped them all. Canterlot and Manehatten were nothing more than clouds of dust rising off the ground. Twilight’s eyes were fixated on the site as well. The cloud seemed to rise forever. Then Spike finally broke the silence, “T-Twilight, how many do you think are left?” Twilight didn’t stop staring at the cloud, but replied “I don’t know,” in an emotionless tone. “Spike, go to the basement.” Spike didn’t protest one bit and slowly walked away unable to take his gaze off of the mushroom clouds. Twilight snapped out of it and saw Fluttershy lying on the ground. “Oh no!” she said as she ran over to her. Spike must have not seen her when he walked in earlier, and who could blame him, the site out of the window was almost hypnotizing. But Twilight wasted no time and threw Fluttershy onto her back and quickly descended into the basement. As she walked down the steps to the basement she saw Spike on a large radio. “Who’s left?” Twilight asked as she laid Fluttershy down on the other side of the room. Spike had a grim look on his when he answered her. “Us and Appeloosa.” He said with a slight quiver in is voice. “All the other targets have been hit,” he continued. Spike was in too much shock to cry or scream. Twilight did the only thing she knew to do, work. So she went over to a map and unrolled it. “Spike where are the push pins?” Twilight asked. Spike didn’t notice her question and just sat there. “Spike! Where are they?!” she snapped. Spike looked up rather suppressed and asked “Where are what?” “The pushpins!” she yelled angry. He pointed to a desk and calmly said “On top.” Twilight grasped a few and started placing them into the map. Spike was a little concerned with Twilight and asked “Twi, are you ok?” Twilight ignored his question and continued placing the pushpins. “Are- are you ok, Twi?” he asked again. Twilight placed the last pushpin into the map and stared at it. Spike arose from his sitting position and walked over to Twilight. He hugged her and said “It’s going to be ok, Twi.” Twilight looked down at him in surprise and started to cry on him. “We did our best!” she managed to say in between the sobbing. Spike began to cry as well. “It’s ok Twi. You still saved so many ponies.” Twilight managed to stop the uncontrollable sobbing, but still continued to cry. “Thank you, Spike” she said as she looked down at him. Twilight looked at Spike for a second and leaned forward a little to kiss him, but quickly backed away. She blushed slightly and walked away. “We need to find something for the radiation,” Twilight said trying to cover up what had happened. But her efforts were pointless Spike knew what she was about to do. “Over there,” he said pointing to a shelf with a bottle on it. Twilight levitated the bottle with her horn down to Spike. The label read “Potassium Iodine.” Spike wasted no time and quickly took two pills. He handed the bottle to Twilight and she did the same. Twilight was putting the pill bottle up when Spike said “Hey, Twilight.” She turned to look at him and was met with his lips against hers. The pill bottle hit the floor, and when it did it woke up Fluttershy. She looked around trying to see what had made the noise and saw Spike kissing Twilight. Spike then pulled back and said “Just encase I don’t get a second chance.” He then smiled at her while blushing slightly. Twilight was completely blown away. She then turned away and looked over to see Fluttershy staring at them. “Fluttershy,” Twilight said still a little shocked in her voce. “We need you to get every pegasi to create a big wind storm for the next few weeks.” “What? Why? And what was that? You two were just-“ Twilight cut her off. “We have just a few hours before the radiation gets here! We don’t have time to talk.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “That wasn’t a dream?!” she said with utter terror in her voice. “No, now hurry we don’t have time for this.” “Oh my god they’re all dead!” Fluttershy said with tears beginning to run down her face. “Fluttershy! Now!” Twilight exclaimed. “Ok, ok. I’ll do it” “And Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she threw her the pill bottle. “Take two. There’s more radiation up higher.” Fluttershy did as she was asked and took the pills. “Now hurry!” Twilight said frantically. “We can’t have any wind blowing into Ponyville.” Twilight was rather good at hiding the shock in her voice as she talked to Fluttershy despite all the thoughts racing in her head at that moment. When Fluttershy left, with tears pouring down her face, Spike walked over to Twilight and held her hoof. “Are you ok?” he asked. Twilight looked over to Spike and replied “Wh- Why?” Spike chuckled a little and replied “It’s the apocalypse. I think it’s about time I let you know.” Twilight was still a bit shocked and said the opposite of what she wanted to say. “B- but I don’t….” Spike’s eyes widened at her words. “Oh god I’m so sorry I just thought that-“ “No, it’s ok I’d have done the same thing if I were you,” she cut in. Spike looked rather disappointed after Twilight spoke. “Hey, it’s going to be ok. But we really don’t have time for this. Now come on we have to see what’s left up there.” Spike nodded and started up the stairs. “Hey, we’ll talk about this later ok.” Twilight said warmly as she walked up the steps beside Spike. He just nodded again and opened the metal door. Instantly they could hear the screaming ponies running around. As they looked out the window they could see the fear on their faces, some were carrying things, things she knew weren’t theirs. The mushroom clouds that engulfed the horizon had dissipated by now. Twilight placed her hoof into Spike’s hand to somewhat hold his hand. “Ok, let’s go get a better look.” She said as she jerked her head in order to motion to the balcony. Twilight stepped out of the library with the little dragon by her side and saw the chaos unfolding before her eyes. Discord couldn’t hold a candle to this. This was true and utter disorder. Twilight felt the wind blowing around her and looked up to see all of Cloudsdale flying around Ponyville. “Thank you Fluttershy,” she said to herself. She then stepped to the front of her balcony with Spike and knew something had to be done to stop this chaos. “Hey!” she yelled, but it was to no avail. “Hey!” she yelled even louder. Everyone looked up at her and she continued. “Now listen everypony. We have to stop this. Stealing from your neighbors? What’s wrong with you? This isn’t the Ponyville I know and love. David, yeah I’m talking to you. Stop that now. Now, everypony I know something happened in Canterlot and Manehatten, but nothing happened here. So are we going to fall apart and die together or work together to rebuild our lives? We need to stop this now! Just stop and take a look at yourself and everypony around you…” Everypony did so. “Now everypony don’t you dare do this again.” She continued. As soon as she finished speaking the yelling and screaming ceased. Twilight felt a minor sense of accomplishment, in that moment. Twilight stepped back inside of her house with spike and walked over to the bookshelf. “What are you doing Twi?” Spike asked. “I’m looking for a book on radiation or nuclear weapons,” she replied. “Do you need any help?” “No, it’s ok Spike.” Twilight pulled out five books and set them down on a table, but when she did so the tower of books fell over revealing a book with the title “Dating Advice.” Spike looked up at her with a confused expression and picked up the book. Twilight’s face was now burning red. “What’s this?” he asked. “I uh uh I- I uh uhh… um….” She then leaned in and kissed Spike quickly. He was shocked to say the least. “Twi, I thought you didn’t-“ Twilight then cut in “No, I’m sorry I lied to you. I just didn’t know what to say. There was so much happening then, but now that I have a minute… and you caught me I thought I’d tell you the truth. I do like you too, but we just got attacked Spike. Did you really expect me to be all there when you told me?” “I uh. Uhh.” “What is it?” Twilight asked curiously. “Nothing, never mind. It’s nothing.” “Hey, wait a second. I’m a little confused. What happened to Rarity? I thought you liked her.” “LikED,” Spike said putting emphasis on the ed. “Well uh, It’s pretty obvious she doesn’t like me, so I gave up on her, besides I kind of started to see that I uh… Only seemed to like her for looks,” Spike said rather embarrassed. “… And that’s when I realized… I liked you for your heart… And looks” Spike then smiled and began to blush. Twilight blushed as well and tried to hide a smile from Spike, but failed at doing so. Suddenly the lights went out in the library. “Great.” Twilight said sarcastically. She quickly walked over to a shelf and lit a few candles, and then repeated the proses in the kitchen. Even though she could still see perfectly fine, she didn’t want to be thumbing around in the dark later, with only her horn to light the way. Just after she finished lighting the last candle she looked over to see Spike standing behind her, just staring at the ground by her feet and nervously popping his fingers. “What is it, Spike?” she asked. “Uh… Um… Twilight… Uh… I love you,” he said very quickly. Twilight was shocked, but very happy to hear those words. She then walked over to Spike and hugged him. “I love you too,” she replied. As they hugged she noticed how quiet it was. “I guess my speech worked,” she thought to herself, but that wasn’t the only thing she noticed. After a few seconds of hugging Spike she could feel a warmth in her hart for him. After a moment or two they reluctantly broke their embrace and looked into each other’s eyes. Spike leaned forward slightly at the same time Twilight did. Their lips were only inches away from each other’s, and just before they kissed something startled them. There was a loud knock at the door causing the new couple to back away from each other. They both looked at the door, and were both a little startled, as they made their way to it. As they approached the door, completely oblivious to the other, Twilight and Spike both had the same thought. “Wow that was a moment killer.” Once they reached the door Twilight reached a hoof out and opened the door to see a trembling Rainbow Dash. The moment she opened the door Rainbow Dash hugged her. “There were so many,” she said while crying on Twilight. “Come in,” Twilight offered as she moved out of her way. Rainbow Dash did so and sat down in the main room, and then she continued what she was saying, while still crying a little. “I was sleeping near Cloudsdale when it happened. I think I saw five of them. Then I got scared and flew up higher encase Cloudsdale or Ponyville got… I actually flew so fast that I accidentally made a sonic rainboom, but the explosions… And screams hid the noise it made. That’s when I saw the other three clouds over the mountains. The first city was Fillydelphaia, then Canterlot or Manehatten. I can’t remember exactly. I was just so scared.” Rainbow then continued sobbing once more. “Hey Rainbow, I’m so sorry you had to see that. But it’s going to be ok.” Twilight said as she placed a hoof on her back. Then she just had a weird feeling come over her, about Rainbow Dash. “She said she was near Cloudsdale, which isn’t too far from Canterlot,” Twilight thought to herself. “Hey Rainbow, where were you after the blasts?” “I-I flew towards Canterlot to get a better look, you know, to see what was left” Twilight’s eyes widened as her suspicion was confirmed. “How close were you?” “About twenty miles away, Why?” “Spike get me a bottle of potassium iodine now!” Spike was frightened because of Twilight’s tone, but quickly complied with her demands. “Rainbow, how long were you there?!” “About five minutes.” Rainbow Dash replied. “Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed. “Don’t touch anything. You may have been exposed to the fallout!” “What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Radiation. It’s radioactive dust particles.” “Yeah so what?” “It will kill you in large enough doses!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened after Twilight spoke. “Spike!” Twilight called. “Where’s the potassium iodine?!” “Here!” Spike said as he ran out of the basement, while waving a brown bottle. He then tossed the bottle to Twilight. She caught it with her magic and immediately unscrewed the top, then three pills floated out of the bottle, which was encompassed with a purple hue. “Here, take these!” she said frantically as she levitated the pills over to her. Rainbow wasted no time and quickly swallowed the pills in front of her. Twilight then began to speak again, “Rainbow, I need you to go take a shower now. You may still have some in your fur.” Rainbow Dash understood and walked to the bathroom. Then Twilight had a thought. She hugged her when she entered. “Oh god!” Twilight exclaimed as she leaped up. She then quickly ran into the other bathroom. Spike was a little confused by what had just happened and just stood there. Then he had an idea. Neither Twilight nor spike knew if the princess was still alive or not, so he thought of a way to find out. He was also a little surprised that neither of them had thought of this until now. He quickly pulled a sheet of paper off of Twilight’s desk and began writing rather frantically. He was hoping by some miracle the princess could reply to a letter, letting them know she was ok. Spike had just finished writing when Twilight stepped out of the bathroom, still with a towel around her flank. “Hey Spike, what are you doing?” she asked. Spike held up the rolled up paper and incinerated it with a green flame. He then looked over to Twilight and replied “Hoping for a miracle.” Twilight looked to the place where Rainbow Dash sat and then looked over to Spike. “Hey, go get a brush and a bucket of soapy water. I don’t want to chance getting any radiation particles on us. Especially you Spike, dragons don’t have fur so you’d get radiation poisoning easiest.” Spike understood and walked into the kitchen. Twilight then heard a loud ruckus in that room. “Are you ok?” she asked in a slightly worried tone. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied. “I just knocked over the broom… Among other things.” Twilight was a little annoyed, but really didn’t care, fore that wasn’t the focus of her attention at all. Spike walked back into the main room, carrying the items Twilight requested. He walked over to her and set them down at her feet. “Thank you Spike,” Twilight said kindly. She reached a hoof into the bucket and pulled out a cleaning brush. Twilight then dipped it into the soap and water mixture and began to scrub the chair. She was scrubbing in a downward direction in order to get off as much of the possible radiation as she could. She repeated this prosed at least six more times. She then reached around her waist and pulled her towel off so she could wipe the chair one last time. By the time Twilight had finished it looked like a brand new chair. “There we go,” she said happily as she looked at her work. Twilight walked over to the sink and scrubbed her hoofs persistently after washing the chair. She didn’t want to chance any exposer, no matter how unlikely it was. “Hey Spike can you put this up please?” Twilight said as she smiled lovingly at him. Spike felt his heart grow warmer when she saw her sweet smile. “Of-of course,” he answered while trying not to studded, but he couldn’t help it, he was falling head over heels for her. Twilight levitated the bucket and towel over to him and said “Thank you Spike.” As Spike began to walk off Twilight stopped him by saying “Oh and Spike, this is going to sound weird but burn the towel and leave the bucket outside. I just don’t want to take even the smallest chance.” She then walked over to him and stroked the back of his head with her hoof. “Especially now that I have you,” she said smiling as she looked into his eyes. Twilight then leaned over and kissed Spike on his forehead. As she backed away Spike was in some kind of love hypnosis, almost drooling. “And Spike wash up very well when you’re done.” Twilight’s words caused him to snap out of his haze and get back to work. “I don’t want any of that stuff getting on you.” After Spike incinerated the towel he placed the bucket by the back door of the library and thought to himself “I wish Rainbow didn’t stop by. When Twilight started lighting candles I thought for sure we were going to have a candlelight dinner after what I told her, but no. Of course she had to stop by… Wait. What’s wrong with you Spike? If she didn’t stop by there’s a good chance she’d get sick because of the radiation, if not die.” Spike felt his stomach get a little sick because of his selfish thoughts. Then he realized something. “Rainbow sure has been in the shower for a while, a long while,” he said aloud. Spike then walked back inside and washed his claws as he was instructed, but he called for Twilight while he was doing so. “Hey Twilight, can you go check on Rainbow? She’s been in the shower for a long time.” Twilight stood up off the ground and replied “Sure Spike, but I think she’s just being thru.” Twilight knocked on the bathroom door three times. “Hey Rainbow Dash, are you ok in there?” The only reply was the running shower water. “Ok, I’m coming in,” she said as she covered her eyes. “Rainbow, are you…” “Oh my god! Spike!” she screamed. “Get in here now!” Rainbow Dash was lying on the floor, half way out of the shower, with a towel barely covering her flank, and soaking wet. It looked like she was getting out of the shower and about to dry off when something happened. Spike had just walked into the bathroom to see Twilight by Rainbow Dash’s side. “Spike, get the towel and help me carry her to the library room!” Spike picked up the towel with his tale and got under one of Rainbow Dash’s arms and so did Twilight. “One, two three,” said Twilight as they lifted her off the floor. They carried her down the halls until they reached the library. “Lay her down here,” ordered Twilight. As they laid her down Spike handed Twilight the towel. “Here,” he said. Twilight looked up and replied “Thank you,” as she took the towel. She then began to dry Rainbow Dash the same way she did the chair so that she wouldn’t just rub in any radioactive dust, but it looked as though she had already washed it all off. Despite that Twilight was taking no chances.
Chapter Two: The Day Before25 hours before the blasts Twilight and Spike were sorting books in the library when, suddenly, Spike burped a green flame and out popped a letter from princess Celestia. Spike managed to catch the letter with one hand and started to walk over to Twilight. “Hey, Twilight,” he called as he wielded the letter. Twilight had her head buried in the bookshelf, trying to reach a small book in the back. “Twilight,” Spike called again, with a little more force. Twilight heard Spike this time, and pulled her head out. “What is it?” she asked. Spike outstretched his arm and replied “This.” Twilight reached her hoof out and grasped the letter. “Thanks Spike,” she said with a smile. Spike felt a sensation in his heart by just seeing her smile. “If only she knew,” he thought to himself. Twilight unrolled the letter and began to read it to herself. “My Most Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle I regret to inform you that you must attend an emergency conference in The Canterlot Castell, with other gifted unicorns like yourself. It is of critical importance that you attend; fore it is a matter of national security. I suggest that you use your teleportation spell as soon as you finish reading this. The meeting is at 11:00 AM Canterlot time. You will be informed of the details upon your arrival. Sincerely, Princess Celestia” Twilight was a little shocked after she finished reading. This wasn’t like the princess at all; there must be something very wrong. “Spike,” Twilight said with a slight quiver in her voice. “I need you to lock all the doors, windows, everything. Then shut the blinds and go to the basement. I’m going to be gone for a little while.” “What? Why?” “Something bad might happen, but I don’t know what it is yet.” “T-Twilight, what did the princess tell you?” Twilight handed Spike the letter and said “Here.” Spike quickly snatched it and began to read the letter. He had fear clearly visible on his face, yet neither of them knew what they were afraid of. It could very well be nothing. Despite this Spike told her “Go, now,” as he finished reading. Twilight looked to her clock and saw that it was 10:53. “Hey Spike,” Twilight said as she walked towards him. “I’ll be back soon. Ok.” Spike nodded, but seemed to be in some sort of daze. Twilight then hugged him and quickly kissed him on the cheek. “It’ll be ok,” she said in a comforting tone. Spike instantly snapped out of it and looked up at Twilight while trying not to blush. He barely managed to keep it all together enough to reply “ok,” but inside his heart was melting. Spike was now sure that he didn’t like Rarity one bit and was falling hard for Twilight. She backed away from him when her horn began to glow. Then there was a bright purple flash and she was gone. Once Twilight had left Spike walked over to a picture of her and stared at it for several minutes. Spike slowly reached out to the picture and lifted it off the small, wooden table. He held it up in front of him, and then hugged it tightly. “I love you, Twilight. I’m sorry it took so long for me to see that,” he whispered as a teardrop rolled down his cheek. Twilight appeared in the middle of Canterlot Castle along with a few other unicorns. One of whom was Trixi. “Trixi?” Twilight said in a confused tone. “Twilight?” Trixi replied in the same tone. “You’re one of Celestia’s students?” Twilight asked in disbelief. “You are t-“ Trixi was cut off there by one of the royal guards “Please follow me to the briefing room.” Twilight and the others did as the guard instructed and followed him down a hallway. It was lined with large windows that flooded the long corridor with light. As they walked down the hall Twilight and Trixi kept shooting quick glances at each other. The guard then quickly came to a stop and turned towards the group. He opened a steel door at the end of the hall and outstretched his arm towards the entrance. The group of unicorns entered into the darkened room one by one. There was a large white screen at the back of the room with a long table in front of it, and at the end of the table sat a majestic Princess Celestia. Once everyone was inside, the guard shut the thick, steel door. When he did so a metallic sound emanated from the door. Twilight assumed it was the lock. “Welcome everypony,” Princess Celestia greeted. “I wish we were all here under better circumstances, but I’m afraid not. You’re all here because you’re the best of the best in the field of magic and we need you talents to help us. On August thirteenth a maximum security facility in The Kingdom of The Griffons was attacked. All the guards across the facility were found dead.” Some of the ponies covered their mouths. “This facility held over one hundred nuclear warheads. Somehow the attackers managed to break in and steel fifteen of these weapons.” Everyone in the room gasped in horror. “We believe the group is only made of unicorns, because of the security pictures we have, and because only a unicorn can set off this type of weapon,” She then paused as her horn began to gleam and the white screen was illuminated with a picture. It was a picture of a cylindrical device with a small hole in the center, with lines running to both ends. “By placing a horn into the firing mechanism.” she continued. “This will either set it off, start a timer, or trigger some other device. If this port is glowing blue that means the bomb has been activated.” Then a second picture appeared replacing the first. It showed twelve unicorns with glowing white eyes next to a row of the weapons. “This was taken by a security camera inside the bunker. It shows what the bombs we’re after look like and what the terrorists look like as well,” she added. Then a third picture appeared showing the unicorns levitating the weapons and teleporting them somewhere else. “This was taken thirty seconds after the last picture,” Celestia commented. “And this is the final picture we have from the bunker,” she said as the screen displayed an image of a bright green-white flash encompassing all of the unicorns. “They pulled all of this off in a matter of ninety seconds. We still do not know how they managed to access these weapons, since there was a magic disrupting field in place. This means they couldn’t teleport in or out. Since this clearly isn’t the case, we believe they were using some form of new and very powerful magic in order to do this.” The princess looked back to the unicorns in the room and continued. “We believe they are part of a homegrown terrorist organization. We also believe that their motives are not driven by religion. They just simply wish to see Equestria fall.” One of the unicorns then spoke up and asked “Princes Celestia, What is the yield of the bombs?” The princess looked over to him and replied “The weapons are all five megatons.” A few ponies’’ eyes widened as others gasped. The rest remained silent, not knowing what that meant. Celestia saw this and decided to fill them in. “That means that the blast radius will be around twenty to thirty miles and fallout will probably reach out as far as three hundred miles.” The rest of the unicorns gasped. Princess Celestia then continued “This is where you come in. As of yesterday we believe these warheads have made their way into Equestria. At 9:35 PM Canterlot time, an Equestria-Griffin Kingdom border checkpoint was attacked. The guards were all found dead, as well.” Celestia’s horn lit up once more to display a white delivery truck on the screen. “There were fifteen of these delivery trucks shown crossing into Equestria. We are almost certain they have the bombs. However their targets remain unclear. So we have narrowed it down to these likely cities. Each of you is being assigned to one of them. The probable targets are as follows; Canterlot, Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Hoofington, Trottingham, New Saddle, Canterbury, Stalliongrad, Stableside, Ponyville, Detrot, Appleloosa, Hoofswell, Haliflanks, and Trampelvaina.” Twilight didn’t listen past Ponyville. She was just too fixated on that one word. But Princess Celestia was still talking. “All we know is that the bombs are probably in a large shipping crate near the downtown area of their targets.” Celestia then paused for a moment and continued. “Listen everypony, you have all been chosen to disarm these warheads. I’d trust you all with my life, and now this country is.” Princess Celestia walked over to a wooden table by the screen and lifted a few half sheets of paper off of it. “Please find your name on the cards and your city is on the back.” She said as she laid the stack of cards on to the table. The nearest pony took one card and passed it to the next. The stack soon reached Twilight. By chance her name was on top of the stack. She reached down and picked up her card. Before she flipped it she passed the stack to the next pony, but as she did so the door began to open. “Now once you have been assigned you your city please leave the room. And remember, this is all classified information. If you tell anyone it is punishable by law.” Princess Celestia added. Twilight stood and walked out of the room along with nearly every other pony there. As she stood in the hall she flipped the card over to see “Ponyville” in bold letters. “I guess the princess knew this one was personal for me.” She thought to herself. As the ponies stood in the hallway they began to teleport back to where they came. When the other ponies disappeared around her Twilight just stared at her little card. Oddly though she wasn’t as scared as you’d expect, she was actually rather calm about the whole matter. Princess Celestia walked out of the dimly lit room to see one pony in the hall. She walked over to Twilight and placed her hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll be. These are all very smart ponies,” she said warmly. Twilight looked up at her and replied “I pray that it will all be ok.” Celestia had one last thing to say before Twilight left. “Twilight, good luck and god bless you.” “God bless you too princess.” And with that Twilight vanished in a blinding flash of purple. Neither of them knew it at the time, but that would be the last time they ever saw each other again. If they had known this they probably would have had made the most of it, but of course none of us ever know when we’re about to lose someone we care about, and always find us kicking ourselves because of it. Spike was lying on the ground and holding Twilight’s picture when she appeared. “I’m home Spike.” She called. Spike was scared by her sudden arrival and almost dropped the picture. Twilight looked over to see Spike holding her picture and staring at her. “Um, Spike what are you doing?” she asked. “Oh, I didn’t see you there Twi. This picture fell over so I was putting it back up.” He lied. Twilight smiled and said “Oh, well thank you Spike.” Seeing her friend almost made her forget what she had just learned, and it was wonderful. But all good things must end, no matter how badly we wish they didn’t. At that moment Spike was imagining saying “I love you so much!” but instead he said “You’re welcome Twi.” And then he remembered why she had left. “So what happened at the meeting?” he asked. Twilight felt a little awkward having to reply “I can’t tell you. The princess wouldn’t allow it.” “Oh,” Spike said in a slightly disappointed tone. “Hey, I can tell you one thing though.” Twilight said to make him feel better, and because it was important. Spike looked up and was eager to know what it was. “What is it?” he asked. “Have you seen any white delivery trucks parked in odd places by downtown?” Spike was confused by the very specific question and replied “Uh no. why?” That was about the reaction she was expecting from him. “It’s very important that I know Spike. It’s about what happened at the castell.” Spike was starting to understand the importance and how it could possibly be a danger to them, but still didn’t understand why she needed to know this. “Did someone steel something from the princess?” he thought to himself. “Well, on second thought I did see a delivery truck down the street from Pinkie’s house. It was just parked there with no one around it, at least I didn’t see anyone.” “Spike when did you see it?!” Twilight almost screamed. Spike jumped when Twilight yelled at him and quickly replied “A few hours ago. I was out at the store getting something from Mrs. Cake and I saw it parked in an ally.” Twilight’s eyes widened “Take me now!” Twilight yelled. Spike was scared by her but didn’t let her know it. He just kept quiet and started walking towards the door. Once they reached it Spike outstretched a shaking hand and opened the door. Twilight followed him and was completely unaware of his fears. If she did know she’d be very upset with herself for scaring him like that. Spike walked down the street to pinkie’s house and kept looking in between buildings, but couldn’t find it. “Spike,” Twilight said. “Are you sure you know where it is?” “Yes, it’s- it’s uh.” Spike replied nervously as he looked down the alley where he saw the truck. “It was just there!” he exclaimed. Twilight looked down the alley as well and as she looked all color left her face. “It should be here!” Spike yelled. “Hey, maybe it was the wrong truck,” Twilight said trying to convince Spike, and herself, that this was true. “Yeah, because you need to deliver something to a vacant building.” Twilight didn’t even notice that until Spike mentioned it. That’s when it hit her. She had found the bomb; it was in one of the old buildings. “Spike let’s go home” He was a little confused “Why? Isn’t this what you wanted?” “Let’s just go.” “Fine.” The two walked back home and as they did so Twilight said “When we get home I’ve got something to tell you.” Spike’s face lit up. “Please say you like me! Please say you like me! Please say you like me!” he randomly thought to himself. As they approached the path to their home Twilight noticed that the sky was getting darker. Spike kept looking up at Twilight and then away every few seconds. She must not have noticed because she never did the same or said anything about it. When they reached the door and Spike ran forward to open it. “No no no, I’ve got it,” he said cheerfully. Twilight smiled and said “Thank you Spike.” Once they were inside he closed the door and asked “So what did you want to tell me?” Spike was almost completely prepared for her to say she loved him by now, or at least that’s what he was convinced she’d say. “Well it’s about the meeting,” Twilight replied. He could feel his heart plummeting. “Oh,” he said in a very disappointed voice. “Are you ok?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, go on.” “Ok, well if I tell you this you can never tell anyone else. Ok?” Spike was now very eager to find out what it was now. “Ok,” he replied. Twilight took in a deep breath and began to speak, rather quickly, “Spike the truck you saw has a bomb inside of it and all across Equestria other bombs just like it are getting ready to go off. Now the only reason I’m telling you this is because I need your help. And Spike if you tell anyone that I told you this I will be banished for treason. You will never see me again. Do you understand that?” Spike was in shock after hearing all that Twilight had to say. “I’ll-I’ll never tell.” He stuttered. “Well what do we have to do?” he said very nervously. This wasn’t what he was expecting at all. “Stop it from happening. I have to sneak in to the building and get the bomb then get back here.” “Well what do you need me for?” “Go to the store and get these.” Twilight walked over to her desk and picked up a quill with the glow of her horn. She quickly wrote something down and after she finished she handed it to spike. He looked down at the note and asked “A radio? Hey wait a second. Why didn’t we just get this while we were out?” “Did you really want to carry all of this stuff in broad daylight? We don’t know who’s a terrost and who’s not.” Spike started to look a little scared. “Ok. Do you really think we’ll need all of this?” “I hope not. But there are fifteen bombs and I don’t know if everypony will get them all.” Spikes jaw dropped. “Now go,” Twilight ordered. “We don’t have much time.” “Ok,” he said while trying not to cry in fear. Spike then walked out of the library and ran into Ponyville as fast as he could. Twilight hurried up to her bed room and found the black suit she wore when she was trying to break into Canterlot Castell. As she put it on she couldn’t stop thinking about what she was about to do and how dangerous it was. Twilight pulled the zipper up and looked in the mirror. “Ok,” she said to herself. “Let’s do this.” And with that she left the library. Spike kept getting weird looks at the pharmacy when people saw him carrying about twenty bottles of potassium iodine to the register. “I hope this is enough,” he thought to himself. Twilight had made it to the back of the building and was about to go into the window, when she heard a noise. She was horrified because she didn’t know where it came from. She thought it may have been one of the unicorns, but she turned around to see that a rat had caused the sound. Twilight breathed a great sigh of relief at the site. She then reached over to an old window and lifted it. It was just wide enough for her to slide inside, and she quickly did so. The room reeked of mildew and rot. She wanted to cough, but couldn’t, it was too risky. So she suppressed it as much as she could. She looked around to see the walls were moldy and falling apart. It was horrible. Then suddenly she heard a noise. It was definitely a pony this time. Somepony was talking and it was getting closer. Twilight was scared to death. She had to hide but there was nowhere to hide. But then she noticed something. The walls that had rotted away reviled a few support beams. Running out of time and ideas Twilight quickly climbed up the decaying wall. The boards were slick with mold and moisture, but she had no choice, fore it was her last hope for survival. Just as her hoof reached the rafters two unicorns entered the building. As she watched them she felt something crawl across her hoof and wanted to scream, but managed not to. She hoped that was the last encounter with the six-legged kind, for the night. The two unicorns down below didn’t say anything as they walked by, thankfully they hadn’t noticed a thing. They kept on path and disappeared behind a corner. But Twilight still didn’t move, and it’s a good thing that she didn’t because they quickly came back. They came back with a large crate and something else, guns. They were apparently levitating it to another room. That’s when Twilight had an idea, but she only had one shot at it, or else she’d surly be killed. As they got closer Twilight closed her eyes and thought “It’s now or never.” She then quickly jumped down from the rafters, in a burst of bravery, and landed on the crate. The two unicorns immediately dropped it and each pulled out an automatic rifle. Twilight closed her eyes and encased herself in a bright flash, and with that her, and the crate, were gone. She appeared in her basement and at the moment she did so she heard a short burst of machine gun fire in the distance, which was soon followed by police sirens. She just sat there for a moment, still in disbelief of what she had just accomplished. Twilight looked down at what she’d taken and climbed off of it. Even though she assumed it was the bomb, she wanted to be sure. So with the gleam of her horn she popped the crate’s lid open with a loud creek, and there before her was a five megaton nuclear warhead. She looked at the firing mechanism and saw that it was still off. She then breathed a second, well deserved, sigh of relief. Spike went back to the library and dropped off what he could find, but he was having trouble finding the certain maps twilight had requested, so he was off to the store again. But unfortunately by this hour most were closed. It was rather frustrating for the young dragon. So as a last resort he decided to go to his friend’s houses. He started with Rarity, mainly because she was the closest at the moment. As he raced down the path to her house as quickly as his little legs would take him he tripped over something. He quickly stood back up to see a small rock protruding from the ground. In that moment he looked around and it looked as if Ponyville was a ghost town. It’s seemingly only inhabitant was a small, exhausted, purple dragon. No matter how much Spike liked it, his quick break didn’t last too long, and quickly he started running, full speed, in the direction of the white unicorn’s house. Soon after he started up again Rarity’s house came into view, and it’s a good thing too, Spike was dying of exhaustion. Despite this he dashed towards it and started banging on the door as loudly as a little dragon could. An exhausted Rarity opened the door and saw Spike standing there. Spike looked up and screamed when he saw her. She had some kind of green facial cream smeared onto her fur and with this lighting she looked like a zombie or a Frankenstein straight out of a horror movie. “Spike, it’s ok.” He then calmed down drastically after hearing her speak to him. “Now what are you doing here, at this hour?” she asked curiously. An out of breath Spike began to reply, in between the panting, “I… Need… Map... For…” He was almost about to hit the ground and faint from a lack of oxygen. His little lungs needed to be devoted to breathing, not speaking. “Come in Spike, you look like you’re about to pass out,” Rarity offered. Spike didn’t protest and followed her inside while still panting heavily. “Spike come sit down,” Rarity said as she brought him to the sofa. Spike did as he was asked and Rarity continued to say “Now let me get you some water ok.” Spike nodded while still trying to catch his breath. She walked into the kitchen for no longer than thirty seconds but as she approached him, with a glass of water in one hoof, she realized he had fallen asleep. She smiled a little while thinking the site was actually kind of cute and then set the glass down on a black table at the end of the sofa. The glass made a clinking noise as she placed it, but Spike was out cold. Not even an earthquake could wake him up. Rarity then walked off and returned momentarily with a blanket. She smiled while looking at the baby dragon sleep. She then gently placed the warm blanket on top of him and quietly walked back to her bedroom. Spike pulled the blanket closer to him as he dreamed, of Twilight. It was a peaceful moment for him at the end of a chaotic day, but of course it too wouldn’t last. 10 hours after the blasts Twilight was lightly slapping an unconscious Rainbow Dash as she prayed for her friend to awake. Tears rolled off her face as she stared at a seemingly comatose mare. “I’m sorry Rainbow,” Twilight said, as she reared back. Then with all of her strength she smacked the face of the pegasus. Rainbow Dash gasped as soon as the hoof struck her. Clinching her face in pain she exclaimed “What was that for?!” She was answered by a tight embrace from Twilight. “I’m so sorry Rainbow Dash!” She said with tears streaming down her face. “I just didn’t know what else to do. I was so scared!” Suddenly Twilight realized that she had just hugged Rainbow Dash once more. She then slowly backed away from her friend. As Twilight backed away Rainbow Dash saw the look on her face. “It’s ok,” she said assuring her that she was clean. “I washed as good as possible.” Twilight smiled and resumed her hug. “So why were you on the floor,” she asked as she finished the embrace. Rainbow Dash blushed slightly in embarrassment. “Uh, well I’m not used to your shower and I… uh, fell.” “You didn’t pass out because of anything else?” Twilight asked just trying to be sure this wasn’t radiation related. “No, I’m sure Twi. I just slipped and must have smacked my head pretty good.” Twilight became instantly worried after hearing that, but she was still much less worried about the possibility of radiation poisoning. “Just to be sure can I ask you a few questions?” “Sure.” “Have you had any nausea or vomiting?” “No.” “Any headaches?” “Nope.” “Do you feel tired at all?” “Not really. I had a good nap on the floor.” “Have you seen any flashes of light or blured vision?” “Nope, I can see just fine.” “How long ago were you near Canterlot?” “Nine or eight hours ago.” “In that case you should be fine. If you don’t have any symptoms by now you’re ok. It usually takes two to three hours for radiation poisoning to set in, if not sooner depending on your dosage. And it also sounds like you don’t have a concussion, thankfully.” Rainbow Dash was a little blown away from Twilight’s knowledge on the subjects. “Hey Twi, how do you know so much about radiation?” “Oh, you know. Books.” “Oh yeah, Egghead Twilight. How could I forget?” Rainbow Dash joked. “Yeah, well my eggheadedness paid off now didn’t it?” “Yeah I guess so.” “Oh I almost forgot. Which way was the wind blowing when you were near Canterlot?” “West. Why?” “Oh good. That means the radiation is getting blown away from us... I’ve just been really worried about that because the Canterlot bomb was the closest. Anyways, that’s probably why you don’t have any radiation sickness.” “Oh well that’s good… Hey Twilight, can I stay here for tonight?” “Of course you can.” Twilight said as she smiled kindly at Rainbow Dash. She understood her request perfectly fine and was a little glad that her friend was going to be staying here. After all that had happened it was nice to have more loved ones nearby. “Thank you.” Replied Rainbow Dash as she returned a smile. Twilight looked over to the clock to see the hands displaying 10:53. She then looked over to Rainbow Dash and said “Hey Spike and I should probably go to bed. It’s getting a little late.” “Oh ok,” replied Rainbow Dash. “I think I’ll catch up on a few Daring Do books before bed anyways.” Twilight stood up and began to walk away when she said “Ok, good night… ya egghead.” Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes as she smiled slightly and stood up herself, to walk over to a bookshelf. Twilight was getting ready to lie down when Spike walked in. He walked over to his small bed at the foot of hers and just before he laid down Twilight asked “Hey Spike, would you like to sleep in my bed… Now that we’re together?” Spike was a little surprised by her question and, despite what he wanted to say, he replied “No, that’s ok. I’m fine sleeping here.” Twilight lifted the sheets and slid underneath. “Well, ok.” She replied. Twilight’s horn began to glow and the candle that’s light filled the room went out. “Good night Spike.” “Good night Twilight.” A few hours later Twilight felt the bed moving, as if someone were getting into it. She opened her eyes to see Spike positioning the sheets around him. Twilight quickly closed her eyes so that he wouldn’t notice he had awakened her. But as Spike laid his head next to hers she couldn’t help but smile. Spike looked over at her as he quit shifting in the bed and then leaned over just a little to kiss her on the forehead. “I love you, Twilight,” he said as he smiled at her. Spike slowly rolled over, while trying to be quiet, and closed his eyes. As Twilight laid next to him she felt a teardrop roll off her cheek, a tear of happiness. Despite all that had happened today she was still happy, because she had found true love. Yet she was still saddened by the loss of her friends. But, as all things in life, nothing is ever truly perfect.
Chapter Four: Out of the Light Comes the Dark38 Hours After the Blasts The five friends had a look of terror on their face when they heard the scream. “Oh my god that was Fluttershy!” shouted Twilight. The group then ran as fast as they could to the origin of the sound. Even Rainbow Dash and Rarity tried to run, however it was more stumbling around quickly. Apple Jack looked around and saw that the basement door was open. “Over here guys,” she called. Twilight, who was near the bathroom, heard this and could feel her stomach twist into knots. “Wait!” she yelled, but it was too late Pinkie and Apple Jack had made their way into the basement. The look on their face said it all; they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. There were maps plastered all over the walls, each with thirteen distinct red pushpins in them. Apple Jack’s mouth was agape. “W-What is this?” she asked as she looked around. She then looked over to the back of the room and saw it; Fluttershy was lying on the ground. “Oh my god!” screamed Apple Jack as she ran over to her friend. “Is she dead!?” exclaimed Pinkie. Twilight flew down the steps, but it was too late; they’d seen everything, everything but the bomb. Twilight didn’t want to protest; fore she feared it would just further incriminate herself. She just stood, silent, in the back of the room. Apple Jack looked at Fluttershy to see she was still breathing. “I think she just fainted,” she answered. Apple Jack then crouched and reached a hoof out to a motionless Fluttershy, but when she did this Pinkie looked into the open crate and said, with a fearful stutter, “W-What is that?” Apple Jack slowly stood up and peered into the crate as well. Her and Pinkie stared into the large box and saw a six foot long device; it had a few fins on the edge along with a small hole in the middle. The silver cylinder looked like it would fit perfectly on the top of a missile. Twilight, along with everyone else, was shaking. They were all just so scared. Then Apple Jack and Pinkie turned to Twilight, half expecting her to kill them. Twilight just stood there with tears beginning to well up in her eyes. “Twi?” Apple Jack began, “What is that?” Twilight sniffled a little and replied “It was the bomb that was supposed to go off… in Ponyville.” No one in the basement knew it, especially not Twilight, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash were at the top of the steps listening to the whole conversation. And, needless to say, they were scared too. Pinkie and Apple Jack didn’t know what to say. They were just so afraid. How could their best friend be a terrorist? How could she have done this? Pinkie then turned and threw up next to the crate. “How could you do this?” Apple Jack asked. “No,” Twilight said as she stepped forward. When she did this Apple Jack took a step back. “Apple Jack, I’m not one of them. Princess Celestia assigned me to get the bomb the day before the attacks. I stopped them. I’m not the bad guy!” exclaimed Twilight as tears ran down her face. Spike was looking around Twilight’s desk trying to find the princesses letter. He lifted a book and there it was. Spike took the letter and hurried to the basement. When he reached it he could hear the end of Twilight’s plea. Spike stepped past Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and said “It’s true. I knew about it too.” He walked calmly down the steps and over to Apple Jack. Spike lifted the letter and handed it to her. “See for yourself,” he said as she took it. Apple Jack looked at the letter and began to read. Pinkie, unknown to Apple Jack, was reading it over her shoulder. The fear quickly left their faces as they read over it. After they’d finished reading Apple Jack lowered the letter to her side and slowly looked back to Twilight. “I-I believe you,” Apple Jack said as she looked into Twilight’s, still tear filled, eyes. “I do too,” Pinkie added. Twilight smiled slightly and ran over to hug her friends. As they hugged a thought crossed Pinkie’s mind, “What about the bomb?” Once they had broken the embrace she immediately spoke up, “Twilight, we should help you keep the bomb safe.” Twilight looked over at Pinkie and said “No, you don’t want to get involved with this.” “The stakes are too high Twilight,” Apple Jack added, “If something happens to you or the bomb, it’ll affect us all. Twilight you must know we’re right.” Twilight nodded and Apple Jack continued, “Pinkie and I will take watch tonight. Everyone else should go home. They’ll be no good to us stone drunk.” Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash and Rarity, but before she spoke Apple Jack put a hoof on her shoulder and said “And you’re no good to us exhausted Twi. Go get some sleep. We’ll take care of things.” “Thank you,” replied Twilight. She then looked back up to them, again, and said “Ok guys, you heard her, head home.” The two ponies just turned away and did so. Around this time Fluttershy came to. “W-What’s happening?” she asked, still sounding incredibly drunk. Twilight walked over to her and called to Apple Jack “Come here. Help me lift her.” “No!” yelled Fluttershy, “I can do it myself.” The yellow pony then tried to stand, but fell down again. Apple Jack lifted Fluttershy’s hoof over her shoulder and said “No, ya can’t.” Twilight did the same and began to carry her up the stairs. As they laid her on the couch Apple Jack said “Ok, maybe almost everyone should go home.” Twilight smiled slightly and replied “Yeah, almost.” “Alright Twilight, go get some rest. Pinkie and I have it from here.” “Ok, thanks AJ,” Twilight said with a smile. And with that the Purple unicorn trotted off. As Twilight slipped into bed Spike walked into the room. “Where were you?” she asked. Spike sighed and replied “Pinkie. She would not shut up about us. You’d think she’d be more concerned with the bomb in the room.” Twilight smiled slightly and tried her best to hide a laugh. Spike saw this and shook his head, “It was not funny Twi,” She just tried even harder not to laugh and lifted the sheets, “Come here,” she kindly requested. Spike then walked over to the bed and slid under the sheets. Twilight leaned over the little dragon and kissed him, “I love you.” “I love you too,” replied Spike. Twilight rolled over and said “Good night Spike.” Spike did so as well and said “Good night, baby.” Twilight smiled a little and was soon asleep, but Spike wasn’t. He was thinking about what he’d just said. “Oh god!” he thought to himself, “Was it too soon! That just sounded weird when I said it! Baby? Really why did I say that? What have I done?!” As the little dragon played out the horrific scenarios in his mind, his eyes began to feel heavy and his thoughts started to slow. Within minutes he was asleep. Twilight was walking down the steps when she noticed something. There was a long streak of blood on the wall. It looked as if somepony was trying to hold onto it, but was being pulled away. As she followed it the amount of blood seemed to be increasing. Then it stopped at the basement door. Every bit of the door was clean, except for one thing; the handle. Twilight hesitated, but opened the door. The blood smeared onto her hoof and fur, but she didn’t care, fore what she saw next was much more horrifying. There before her were Apple Jack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy all mutilated. The smell emanating from the room caused her to gag and her stomach to feel sick. Twilight looked to her friends and saw blood gushing from their mouths, despite the fact that they were dead. You’d think she’d scream or be scared, but she didn’t care. Twilight stared at the sight and felt nothing. The blood had pooled in the middle of the room, as it poured from their entrails. Then one thing caught Twilight’s attention; their eyes were open and looking right at her. Twilight tried to ignore this and continued down the stairs. As she looked around she saw that the crate was open, and the bomb was gone. Then, suddenly, there was a bright flash from outside. The windows blew in and glass flew in every direction, but oddly none hit her. Then Twilight looked out of the small window to see a wall of fire rushing towards her. Her eyes widened as she was about to scream, but the flames choked her off as it singed away her fur and skin. Twilight awoke screaming and sobbing. Spike quickly sat up and yelled “What is it?! What’s wrong?!” Twilight reached over and pulled Spike in as close as she could. Tears were still streaming down her face when she said “Spike never leave me! Please!” He was a bit shocked by what she had said, but wrapped his arms around her and said “I’ll never do that Twilight. I promise.” Twilight pulled away from Spike and kissed him. “I just love you so much Spike,” she said with several emotions present in her voice. “I love you too,” he answered, “You’re the world to me Twi.” She had calmed down drastically after hearing Spike’s words, and started to feel slightly happy. Twilight and Spike then laid back down and stared into each other’s eyes for the next few hours, without saying a word. Twilight would occasionally sniffle, but was always smiling at the love of her life. After about two hours of this they, somehow, fell asleep again. Apple Jack was awoken by a beam of sunlight pouring through the basement window. “Oh, crap!” she exclaimed as she sat up. “It’s ok,” said Pinkie who was sitting by the crate, “I saw you fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake you. Trust me AJ, I’m a hyper pony, so I don’t nod off easily.” Apple Jack smiled due to her friend’s act of kindness and replied “Thank ya Pinkie. That was real nice of ya.” Then Twilight opened the basement door and descended into it. She couldn’t help but have a flash back of her dream. “Mornin’ Twi,” Apple Jack greeted. “Good morning Apple Jack,” she replied. Twilight looked over to Pinkie and said “Good morn…” She stopped talking when she realized she was asleep. Apple Jack looked over at Pinkie and laughed, “Yeah, real hyper,” she joked. Twilight then looked over to Apple Jack and said “Hey you can go home if you’d like. Spike and I have it from here.” “Alright. I’ll go ahead and get Fluttershy out of your hair too,” answered Apple Jack as she walked over to Pinkie. She poked her a few times and she finally came to. “Hey Pink our shift is over,” Apple Jack said to a barely conches Pinkie. “Ok,” Pinkie replied as she stood. She stumbled around a little, but soon found her bearings and began towards the stairs. The two half asleep earth ponies passed Spike as he entered the basement. Neither said anything to him, probably because they were so tired. Spike quickly reached the bottom step and walked over to the radio; he didn’t even notice Twilight standing there, so she decided to take advantage of the situation. Twilight walked over to Spike and kissed him, as he put on the headset. He almost yelped he was so startled. She giggled slightly and said “Good morning honey.” Spike smiled at her and replied “Good morning beautiful.” Twilight blushed and asked “What are you doing?” Spike turned a few dials on the radio as he answered “Checking the news.” “Oh,” remarked Twilight, “I’ll leave you to it then,” “Ok,” he replied as he tried to fine tune a signal in the static. Twilight looked over at him as she began up the stairs and said “I love you.” Spike turned towards Twilight and said “I love you too.” She smiled, then kept walking up the stairs and closed the door behind her. Spike turned a dial and heard a voice become clear. “This is Trixi Lulamoon, is anyone out there? I’m broadcasting from Appeloosa. Can anyone hear me?” Spike quickly picked up the microphone and said, rather excitedly, “Trixi!?” “Oh thank god,” she replied, “I’ve been talking to myself for two hours. Who is this?” “It’s Spike,” he answered, “I’m Twilight’s friend… Well we’re more than friends now.” “Twilight!?” Trixi exclaimed. “As in Twilight Sparkle?” “Yes, that’s her alright.” Trixi’s voice seemed to become shaky. “Was she the one who saved Ponyville?” Spike’s eyes widened after hearing this and answered “W-Were you-“ Trixi then cut Spike off “Yes, I was assigned Appeloosa, I stopped it too. Now Spike listen to me very carefully. Tell her to look out. I keep hearing noises around here, I’m probably just paranoid, but I think-“ Suddenly there was a noise. It sounded as if someone had kicked in the door. It was soon followed by two gun shots. Spike covered his mouth and jumped in his chair when each shot rang out. “Trixi!” he yelled. There was no reply; just silence. “Trixi!” he called again, but there was still no answer. Then suddenly a loud hiss of static emanated from the radio’s headset. Twilight heard a knock at the door and walked over to it. She looked out the window to see it was rarity. Twilight opened the door and said “Hi Rarity.” “Hi Twilight,” she replied, “I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be taking my shift later tonight.” “Oh ok,” said Twilight. “I…” she stopped at the first word when she saw something in the distance. Her mouth was agape and a chill ran down her spine. “What is it?” Rarity asked. She then turned around to see a mushroom cloud rising over the mountains. Rarity covered her mouth and said “Oh my god.” Twilight moved out of the way and said “Get in here now!” “I thought it was ov-“ suddenly Rarity was cut off by a loud gunshot. Blood splattered all over Twilight’s face as Rarity dropped to her knees and then fell over. She screamed and jumped away from her friend. As she stared at the body she saw that there was a large hole in the back of Rarity’s head. There was so much blood gushing from it that it was already beginning to pool around her. Twilight was so scared that she fell onto her back, to see Rarity’s lifeless eyes staring at her. Twilight was too scared to scream or cry; all she was feeling, and could feel, was fear. Then suddenly a second shot rang out. The bullet hit the floor just behind her. This shot was soon followed by another and then another. Twilight ran as fast as she could to a sofa and hid behind it. She hoped that it would provide some sort of protection for her. This illusion was quickly dissolved when a bullet shot through it just inches from her head. Spike gave up on trying to reestablish a signal and took off the headphones. When he did this he heard something, something that gripped his very soul with terror. He heard several gunshots ringing out from just above him. Despite what Spike wanted to do, he ran up the stairs in a rush of bravery and burst through the door. He thought he could do something to help, but this was not the case. Twilight looked over to see him standing in front of the basement and thought “God no!” “Spike get down now!” she screamed. Spike began to do so, but when he did he saw Rarity. By now blood was everywhere. It just covered the once white unicorn. Spike couldn’t hide, he couldn’t run, he couldn’t do anything. He was just too scared. Twilight looked over to see this and knew what she had to do. Twilight leaped up and ran as fast as she could. Spike didn’t even notice this, he was just too fixated on Rarity. Twilight leaped forward and tackled Spike into the basement. The little dragon fell onto his back as Twilight landed on top of him, thankfully they hadn’t fallen down the staircase. “Are you ok?” she asked with fear still present in her voice. Before Spike could reply Twilight’s horn lit up and slammed the door behind them. Spike just looked into her eyes and said “Rarity.” Twilight looked down and said “I know.” That’s when Spike noticed the blood; It covered Twilight’s face. “Oh my god Twi! Are you ok!?” Spike screamed. Twilight lifted herself off of him and touched a hoof to her face. When she looked at the hoof again it was covered in blood, but it wasn’t hers. Twilight then looked back to Spike, who was now standing, and said “It’s not mine.” Spike turned around and puked. Just hearing that made his stomach do a backflip. All though he was happy to know Twilight was fine, he still found the whole matter extremely disturbing; as would anyone else in his place. The two then walked down the steps and sat down. Neither of them cried over the loss of Rarity. They both just sat there speechless. Then, as Spike thought, he realized Trixi’s words were more like a prophecy than a warning. Suddenly Spike and Twilight busted out crying. It took them a few minutes, but it finally hit them that they just saw their friend die. Rarity was gone, and she wasn’t coming back. They both looked over at each other and wrapped their arms around one another. The two just held each other and bawled for several minutes. They didn’t speak because there was nothing to say. Everything that needed to be said was already known by the both of them. As the couple embraced each other the basement door slowly opened. Neither saw it because they were blinded with tears and neither heard it because they were deafened with sobs. The pony stepped into the room and looked over at the two. They were close enough to be killed with a single shot. He then lifted a silver pistol and pointed it right at them. A single, deafening shot rang out through the library.
Chapter Three: Truth to Be Told22 Hours After the Blasts Spike was awoken by a bright beam of sunlight shining down upon his face. As he slowly opened his eyes he felt something on his chest. After realizing this he fully opened them, rather quickly, to see Twilight’s arm lying across it. Then, all at once, the memories began to hit him. All the things he told Twilight, all the wonderful things she said, and one thing he wishes he could forget. Spike lifted his head slightly to look out of the window. As he gazed off into the distance he noticed something. Two large and rather distinct pillars of smoke were rising in the mountains. “Those are from Canterlot and Manehatten.” Twilight remarked. Spike almost jumped when he heard her. He had no idea she was awake. Spike looked over to her and simply replied “Oh.” Twilight then continued “It’s like taking a piece of the sun to Equestria for a fraction of a second. The light pulse alone would start fires several miles out. So I guess in this case it’s more like lighting a giant match in Canterlot.” Spike was a little surprised by her knowledge on the subject, but then again what doesn’t Twilight know? Twilight then leaned over and kissed Spike. “Let’s get our minds off of that. Ok?” Spike’s eyes lit up by the surprise kiss and replied “Sure.” Twilight smiled and laid her head on Spike’s chest. Spike couldn’t contain it anymore; he smiled too as his cheeks burned fire red. Twilight wrapped her arm around him a little tighter, and started to pull him closer. “I love you.” She said as she held him as close as she could. Spike just laid there unable to speak or move. This was the happiest day of his life, despite the hell that had unfolded the day before. But he did manage to say just four words. “I love you too.” Twilight smiled and nuzzled up against his chest a little more. Spike slowly lifted one arm and placed it onto her back. When he did this Twilight lifted her head, and kissed him once more. Rainbow Dash assumed that Twilight and Spike were both awake by now, considering it was a little after 10:00 A.M. So she decided to say thank you, to the both of them, before departing. As she climbed the stairs she thought “I really hope I don’t wake them up, but wouldn’t that be my luck?” Rainbow Dash quickly rounded a corner and was about three steps into the room before she saw it. Twilight and Spike were kissing right in front of her. “I… uh,” she barely managed to say. When they heard this Twilight and Spike quickly pulled their lips away from each other’s and turned to Rainbow Dash. They both had the same look on their face, as they looked at her; a look of fear, embarrassment, and love for one another. Twilight sighed and decided to explain herself “Uh, Rainbow… I guess now would be a good time to tell you. Spike and I are, um, together. We were going to tell everyone after things settled down a bit.” Rainbow Dash was still in a little bit of shock when she replied “Oh, ok.” Twilight decided to add something else to what she was saying. “Hey Rainbow, please don’t tell anyone until we’ve had a chance ourselves.” Rainbow wasn’t as stunned anymore, but was still in utter disbelief, when she said “Ok…. Hey I came up here to tell you guys thanks for letting me stay, and that I was going to head home.” “You’re leaving?” asked a confused Twilight. “Yeah, I need to check on a few things,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Well ok. Bye Rainbow Dash.” “Bye Twi,” Rainbow Dash said as she waved a hoof at them and turned. As she walked down the stairs she had a whirlwind of thoughts in her head. Once she had reached the door she outstretched a shaking hoof and slowly turned the cold knob. When she had stepped outside she thought “Holy crap,” to herself. Spike sat there next to Twilight without moving for a second, then he joked “Rainbow Dash is officially the best moment killer in history.” Twilight busted out laughing and replied, with a chuckle in her voice “Yeah, just a little.” Pinkie Pie was in Mrs. Cake’s shop, helping her move some things around. Her hair was as flat as it’s ever been; there wasn’t a single curl in it. Then suddenly Mrs. Cake came darting past her. She had a gallon of milk in one hoof and two cartons of eggs in the other. “Mrs. Cake.” Pinkie called, “What do we do when it’s full?” Mrs. Cake kept working, but replied “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Pinkie lifted two gallons of milk with her hooves and ran to the back of the store. As she sprinted Mrs. Cake passed her once more. Pinkie walked into the back room and placed the milk into a large icebox. Mrs. Cake came up behind her with several cartons of eggs and gently placed them next to the milk. “That’s the last of it,” Mrs. Cake said in a tired voice. Pinkie sighed and said “Good,” in an equally tired tone. “Hey,” Pinkie continued. “Where’s Mr. Cake?” Mrs. Cake closed the lid of the box and looked over at Pinkie. “He’s babysitting. After yesterday not many ponies could do it.” “Oh,” replied Pinkie. “How long do you think it’ll be before the power’s back on?” “Probably a good few months.” Rainbow Dash was walking along a small path and thinking of what she’d seen this morning. It was still shocking her. “Who’d have thought those two-“ Her thought was cut off when Fluttershy turned a corner and crashed into her. The two pegasi fell down after the collision. “Oh, I’m so sorry Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said in a regretful and shy voice. Fluttershy flapped her wings to pick herself up and outstretched a hoof to Rainbow Dash. “Thanks,” said Rainbow Dash as she grasped her hoof. “Are you ok?” asked a concerned Fluttershy. “Yeah I’m fine. Hey Fluttershy what are you doing here? I thought you’d be with your animals, after what happened.” “Oh, I will be. I’m just getting a few things for Angel. He’s really upset, so I was going to make him something to calm him down… Or at least try.” “Well, what about you? Are you ok?” “Yeah, I’m about ok as you can be after that” Fluttershy paused and asked “Did you lose anyone? But hey if you don’t want to say anything, it’s ok. I understand.” Rainbow Dash hesitated and replied “It’s ok… A few of my friends were in Fillydelphia and Manehatten. What about you?” Fluttershy started to panic when she replied “What! Fillydelphia got hit! My dad lives in Fillydelphia! How many others got hit?!” Rainbow Dash had no idea that she didn’t know. “I-I saw eight blasts.” Fluttershy was beginning to cry once more. “Oh god! I thought It was only Manehatten and Canterlot!” Rainbow Dash walked up closer to her friend and hugged her. She didn’t know what to say, she’d usually say its ok, but this was all far from ok. Fluttershy was sobbing much more than the first time. She was now certain that her father was dead, and probably her mom as well. A few ponies walking by stared, but understood why she was crying, at the same time. “Hey,” Rainbow Dash said in a caring tone, “Let’s go to your place. Ok?” Fluttershy nodded and broke their embrace. Spike was sitting in the basement, with a small wooden guitar. He’d occasionally go down there to sing, because it was the only place he could be sure Twilight wouldn’t hear him. Even though he’d done this several times prior, he was still pretty uncomfortable with a nuke in the room. The little dragon lifted his hand and began to stroke the strings of the guitar. He didn’t need a pick in order to play. His claws worked much better. After a moment of trying to get the rhythm right he began to sing. “Tick tock, hear the clock countdown Wish the minute hand could be rewound So much to do and so much I need to say Will tomorrow be too late? Feel the moment slip into the past Like sand through an hourglass In the madness, I guess, I just forget To do all the things I said Time passes by, never thought I'd wind up One step behind, now I've made my mind up Today, I'm gonna try a little harder Gonna make every minute last longer Gonna learn to forgive and forget 'Cause we don't have long, gonna make the most of it Today, I'm gonna love my enemies Reach out to somebody who needs me Make a change, make the world a better place 'Cause tomorrow could be one day too late” Twilight was in the library and was wondering where Spike was as she looked around. “Spike?” she called. There was no reply. She went upstairs expecting to see the purple dragon sleeping. “Spike?” she called out again. But once more there was no reply. Then it occurred to her that there was only one more place he could be, the basement. She walked down the stairs and over to the basement door, but she quickly stopped when she heard something. She could hear Spike singing. It was beautiful. She wanted to hear it a little better so she quietly, and slowly, opened the door. Spike kept singing and was half way through the song when he paused to take a breath. “That was beautiful.” said Twilight, who was sitting on the top step of the basement staircase. She had a look on her face that no one had ever seen before. It was a look of pure love. Spike was scared half to death when he heard Twilight speak. He didn’t want anyone to ever hear him, especially her. Spike was so scared that he dropped the guitar and froze in place. His face wasn’t red, as you’d expect, it was actually incredibly pail. He looked as if he was going to be sick. Twilight saw this and walked down the stairs to Spike. “It’s ok Spike,” she said as she walked over to his side. She hugged him and quickly kissed his cheek. “I never knew you were so talented.” Spike’s heart was racing for two reasons; someone had heard him singing and Twilight was with him. You’d think he’d be used to her seeing him this way, after yesterday, and this morning, but it actually still terrified him. “What do I have to be afraid of anymore?” he thought to himself. Spike then looked Twilight in the eyes and softly kissed her. “I love you,” he said as he began to wrap his arms around her. Twilight was a little surprised by his change in attitude and replied “I love you too,” as she embraced him as well. Mrs. Cake was in the back room and checked the thermometer on the Icebox. It was rising faster than she thought it would. She then lifted the lid to see a pool of water forming at the bottom. “Oh great,” she said to herself. Pinkie walked into the room, as well, and asked “What is it?” Mrs. Cake turned to her and replied “This ice is melting a lot faster than I thought it would.” Pinkie looked at the food and had an idea. “Why don’t we cook it?” “What?” Mrs. Cake replied with a confused voice. “Yeah, if it’s all going bad why don’t we? We could get everyone in town to come out, and eat. It’d be like one big party.” “Well I guess that might work.” “Great! I’ll get everyone ready.” As Pinkie said this her hair poofed back up slightly. The little pink pony didn’t waste any time, and quickly darted out of the door. Mrs. Cake watched as she ran up to one pony then another. “Oh Pinkie,” she thought to herself. Twilight was sitting on the ground next to Spike as she read a book. It was about radiation. The section she was in now talked about what a Gy was and how to use a geiger counter. “I wish we had one of these.” She thought to herself. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Spike and Twilight both stood and walked over to it. Twilight opened the door to see a half gloomy and half excited Pinkie at the door. “Hey Pinkie.” Twilight said kindly. “Hey Twi, Mrs. Cake and a few other stores are going to cook all their food tonight.” “What? Why?” “Well a lot of it is going to go bad so we decided to have a giant cook and bake out.” “Oh,” replied Twilight. “It’s at eight. Ok.” “Ok Pinkie. I’ll stop by. Thanks for the invite” “You’re welcome.” Pinkie then turned and walked off. Twilight turned to Spike as she shut the door and said “It looks like we don’t have to cook tonight.” “Good,” he replied. They both then turned and walked back to where they were sitting. Fluttershy sat with Rainbow dash and was still sobbing uncontrollably. Rainbow Dash held her friend closer and said “Hey, we don’t know he’s gone. He may have been out of town when it happened.” As much as Fluttershy wanted to believe that, she knew it was a lie. Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow Dash and said, while still crying “Go to the first cabinet and get the first bottle you see.” Rainbow Dash was very surprised, and asked “You drink?” Fluttershy shook her head and replied “No, they were my father’s. But I don’t see any better time to do so. Do you?” Rainbow Dash shook her head and went to get the bottle. When she opened the cabinet she saw eight or nine bottles all in a rack. She was pretty shocked to say the least; she never thought she’d see the day that Fluttershy would drink. As she was scanning the bottles she noticed one that looked different. The bottle just seemed to be prettier than the others, so she decided to take it. When she lifted it she could see that the label said Jack Daniel’s. Rainbow Dash walked back to Fluttershy and handed her the bottle. She took it and looked at it for a second. “This was his favorite.” Rainbow Dash sat down next to her as she popped the lid off. Fluttershy lifted the bottle and took a sip. She made a sour face and said “Man that’s strong.” Despite that she took another sip. Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Never in a thousand years did she expect this to happen. Fluttershy looked over at Rainbow Dash and asked “Do you want some?” as she outstretched the hoof with the bottle. Rainbow Dash thought for a second and replied “Maybe just a tiny bit.” She then reached out a hoof and took the bottle from Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash lifted the bottle up to her lips and took a small sip. She made about the same face Fluttershy had and said “Man you weren’t kidding.” Pinkie Pie placed a tray of cake batter into the oven and turned the dial. “How many more do we need to make?” she asked Mrs. Cake. Mrs. Cake looked up from her mixing bowl and replied “As many as we can.” As Pinkie looked at the cake through the small window she thought to herself “Thank god this thing is powered on gas.” Twilight looked up at the clock and saw that it was 7:45. “I guess there’s no harm in showing up early,” she thought to herself. “Hey Spike!” she called. The little dragon lifted his head off of the floor, when he heard his name, and quickly stood. He got a little light headed and almost fell over, but caught himself. Spike then quickly ran down the stairs. Once he reached Twilight he looked up at her and said “Yes, my love?” Twilight blushed slightly and replied “I thought we could go to Pinkie’s cook o… bake sa… baking thingy, a little early.” Spike tried not to laugh at Twilight’s words, and replied “Oh, ok Twi.” Spike reached out his hand and turned the door knob. The door swung open and Spike said “After you, beautiful.” Twilight blushed once more and asked “What’s with you tonight?” Spike smiled and said “Oh nothing, I just love you.” Twilight smiled, as well, and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you too,” she replied and then walked out of the library with Spike following behind her. They walked slowly as the couple kept looking at each other. Every time Twilight looked over at Spike he had the same love dazed look on his face, which she thought was pretty cute. “Who’d have thought it’d take a nuke going off to make this happen?” Twilight thought to herself. Eventually they reached down town. There were several tables out with a few lights strung about. “Looks like Pinkie found herself a generator,” Twilight thought. As they approached the tables she could tell that each had a table cloth and a few plates on it, but there were only about twenty ponies there. Twilight looked down at Spike and said “Maybe we came a little too early.” Spike nodded and replied “Eh, that just means no lines for the food.” Twilight smiled a little, thinking his remark was kind of funny, and walked over to the bakery. As she opened the door she and Spike were greeted by Pinkie. “Oh, hey guys,” she said happily. “I’m glad you could make it.” “Thanks Pinkie,” Spike and Twilight said at the same time. They then looked at each other for a second and back to Pinkie. Pinkie moved a few cakes on to the counter and asked, as she worked “So, how long have you and Spike been together?” Twilight and Spike both had a look of shock and disbelief on their face. They were not expecting this question at all. “H-How did you-?” Pinkie cut in and replied “Oh come on Twilight, you don’t need Pinkie senses to see that there’s something up with you two. It was almost screaming at me when you both answered the door.” Twilight was still stunned, along with Spike. Thankfully at that moment Apple Jack walked into the bakery. “Hey AJ did you hear about-“ Twilight let out a loud grunt and gave Pinkie a certain look. Pinkie immediately interpreted her signal and stopped talking. “Oh,” Pinkie said in a slightly disappointed tone. “Hear about what?” Apple Jack asked. “Nothing.” Twilight replied rather quickly. “Okaaaay.” Apple Jack said sounding rather confused. “Well anyways,” she went on, “Pinkie do you have any apple cakes or cupcakes?” Pinkie bent down and pulled out a big green and red cake. “Yup, right here.” Apple Jack smiled and walked over to her. As she took the cake from her she said “Thank ya Pinkie. What do I owe ya?” “Oh it’s on the house tonight.” “Oh! Well thanks again Pinkie.” “Hey Apple Jack, while you’re here could you come over in a little while?” Twilight asked. “Sure thing Twi. What’s it about?” Apple Jack asked. “Oh, I just need to tell everyone some news.” “Oh, ok Twi. I’ll see ya in a bit.” And with that the earth pony left. Twilight looked out of the window to see a lot more ponies were there than when she had arrived. “Hey Pinkie you may want to get the cakes out there.” Twilight suggested. “Oh good they’re here. Hey Twi can you help me with these?” Pinkie said as she lifted a few boxes of cake. “Sure,” Twilight replied. She walked over to the counter and began picking up boxes herself. She stacked about five on top of each other and started towards the door. Spike saw the two approaching the exit and quickly jumped to action, by opening the door for them. “Thanks Spike,” each said as they walked past him. Within seconds they were back to repeat the process. And again they carried out more boxes, and again, and again, and again. Eventually there were no more boxes left. “finally,” said a tired Twilight. Pinkie looked behind a counter and pulled out one more box of cake. “Surprise!” she said as she held it out to Twilight. Twilight took the box and asked “What’s this?” “Oh it’s just a little something for the new couple,” she said with a smile. Twilight reached her hoof to the front of the box and lifted the lid. Inside was a red and pink heart shaped cake. “Do you like it?” Pinkie asked. Twilight looked up at her friend with a smile and replied “I love it. Thank you Pinkie… Hey, even though you know, would you like to come over when I tell the girls about us?” A smile broke across Pinkies face. “Yes!” she replied excitedly. Twilight turned towards the door and said “Ok, see you later Pink.” Rarity was outside of the store when Twilight and Spike saw her. She had a plate with a slice of cake in one hoof. Spike felt a little awkward just being around her, but Twilight needed to tell her something and he was not going to leave her side. “Hey, Rarity we need you to come over in a little while. We have something to tell everypony.” “What is it?” Rarity asked. “Trust me, you’ll all know soon enough.” Rainbow Dash was sitting next to Fluttershy with a bottle of whisky in one hoof. Fluttershy was lying on the ground with a bottle in her hoof as well. “Hey, y- you know what I think happened to Canterlot?” Rainbow Dash asked with very slurred speech. “Wh-What?” replied Fluttershy sounding equally drunk. “I-I-I think it was aliens,” replied Rainbow Dash as she lifted the bottle to her mouth. “Oh my god! Dude! That would be so cool! Bu- but I’d be scared man. Don’t scare me like that Rainbow!” “What? You mad? You wanna fight about it!?... Bah I love ya.” “Dude that is deep. Like really,” replied an emotional Fluttershy. “I know flutterby I know.” “Hey y-you know what we should do?” stuttered Fluttershy. “W-What?” stuttered Rainbow Dash as well. “Let’s go prank Twilight and Spike.” “Oh my god yes!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “I know right!?” “Right. Hey maybe she’s got s-some more boos,” stuttered Rainbow Dash. “Th-That nerd better!” “Come on futershy, let’s do this!” The two then stood and began to walk to the door. “This is gonna be awesome!” exclaimed Fluttershy. Pinkie, Rarity, and Apple Jack all sat down in the library as Twilight and Spike walked in front of them. Pinkie had a little grin on her face as she waited for Rarity and Apple Jack’s reaction. “Well everypony you’re probably wondering why you’re here. The answer is that Spike and I have something to tell you. Spike and I-“ Spike then cut in and blurted out “I love Twilight!” Apple jack just smiled and said “I knew it!” But Rarity, on the other hand, was completely shocked. The look on her face was just utter disbelief. “Wha-What?” she asked. “It’s True,” replied Twilight, “We’ve been together for a few days now. And we just wanted you to know. Pinkie was staring at Rarity and covering her mouth, trying to hide her snickering. Her face was just priceless. Then, without warning, Pinkie jumped up and yelled “Who wants cake!?” “Me!” said an excited Apple Jack. The two ponies didn’t spend too much time thinking about it and quickly trotted off into the kitchen. But Rarity, though, didn’t move a muscle. She was just too blown away. “A-and you like him?” she asked Twilight. Twilight was a little confused and replied “Well of course I do. That’s how relationships work right?” Rarity nodded and said “Yeah… I guess so.” Rarity didn’t want to say anything, but she had a crush on Spike too. Unfortunately, for her, it was far too late for that. “I knew I should have said something!” she thought to herself. Apple Jack stuck her head into the library and asked “Hey Twi, where’s the champagne? This is a very special occasion after all. Ain’t it?” Twilight thought for a minute, and finally replied “It’s in the first cabinet, but I… Eh forget it. It is the apocalypse after all.” Apple jack smiled and went off to get the bottle. Twilight then stood up and said “Here let me show you where,” wanting to make sure Apple Jack didn’t find anything she didn’t want her to. Spike and Rarity were left alone in the library as their friends worked in the kitchen. There had never been a more awkward moment in their lives. Spike occasionally looked up at Rarity and she occasionally looked up at him. Spike just tried to stare at the floor and twiddle his thumbs, but each time Rarity looked at him he could feel her glare burning into his skull. Spike cleared his throat and said “So…” “So,” replied Rarity. “Well this is awkward,” continued Spike. “Yeah,” she replied. Then without warning she asked “Why do you like her?” Spike was a bit shocked at her bluntness, but replied “Because she’s sweet, she’s caring, she has always been there for me, and she notices me.” Rarity felt awful after hearing him say that. “I-I-“ Rarity began, but was cut off by Twilight, who walked into the room with two glasses of Champaign. “Who wants champaign?” she asked. Rarity instantly raised her hoof and was given a glass. “Here ya go,” Twilight said with a smile. Rarity lifted the glass to her mouth and began drinking rather quickly. Within seconds the small glass was nearly empty. Twilight had a stunned look on her face as she watched Rarity drink. “Whoa, slow down man,” Twilight said. Rarity finished off the glass and stood to go get some more. Twilight sat down beside Spike and asked “What’s up with Rarity?” Spike looked down to avoid eye contact with her, and replied “I think she likes me.” Twilight didn’t know if she should laugh or be worried. “Oh joy,” she said sarcastically. As Pinkie cut into the cake, she heard a noise at the back door. She ignored it and finished cutting out the slice for herself. Then she heard it again. Pinkie laid the knife down and looked out of the window, to see nothing. “What is it?” asked Apple Jack, who was refilling a few glasses. “Oh I just thought I heard something.” Then there was a loud bang on the back door. “What in tarnation was that!?” exclaimed Apple Jack. She and Apple Jack walked over to the door and opened it to see a yellow flank and pink tail before them. Fluttershy laughed and started to run off, but tripped over her own hooves. “Ah!” she yelled as she hit the ground. At that moment Pinkie had the same thought anyone in her position would “Is this really happening?” Then suddenly Rainbow Dash jumped out from behind the corner and busted out laughing. “Epic face plant Fluttersmash!” Rainbow Dash then walked over to Fluttershy, who was still trying to get up, and said “Aw man ya mooned Pinkie and AJ not Twi.” Fluttershy finally stood up and turned to see an utterly confused Pinkie and Apple Jack staring at her. “Dang it!” she yelled. “What’s going on out here?” asked Twilight as she walked up beside the two, confused onlookers. The three ponies just watched their two friends stumble around for a second, when Pinkie finally broke the silence. “Are they high?” she whispered. “I don’t know,” replied Twilight. That’s when Rainbow Dash noticed the glasses they were holding. “Hey Fluttershy, looks like they’re having a party too,” Rainbow Dash said rather loudly. Twilight looked down at her, second, glass and said “Uh…” Despite the fact that they’d all had a few, there were nowhere near as bad as those two. Apple Jack looked over to Twilight and said “Eh, screw it. This looks like it’ll be fun,” Apple Jack then turned to the two pegasi and said “Come on in guys,” as she waved a hoof. The two did as they were told and stumbled into the library. That’s when Rarity walked over to the two ponies. “W-what are you two doing here?” she asked in a less than sober voice. Fluttershy instantly noticed that she was drunk as well and said “Oh cool. Rarity knows how to party too!” “No,” exclaimed Rarity, “I’m not partying. I’m mad.” “About what?” asked Twilight. “Nothing.” She replied. Spike then walked into the room with the rest of the group and instantly noticed how far gone three of his friends were. Even though he was pretty shocked by it, he found the sight a little amusing. Then, at that moment, Fluttershy leaned over and whispered something to Rainbow Dash. “Ok,” replied Rainbow Dash to whatever she said. “I’ma go use the bath room. Ok Twi?” announced Fluttershy. “Ok,” replied Twilight, with a hint of confusion easily noticeable in her voice. Fluttershy then staggered past Spike and into the library. As she passed him she, drunkenly, smiled at him. “That was weird,” he thought to himself. But Spike didn’t think too much about of it after looking back to his drunken and tipsy friends bicker. Fluttershy opened the basement door and said quietly, to herself “Ok, where’s the good stuff?” She staggered down the stairs and almost fell, but somehow managed not to. Once Fluttershy reached the bottom of the steps she looked around and saw a large crate against the wall. “I bet that’s where she keeps it,” she thought to herself. She slowly walked over to it, trying not to stumble again, and outstretched a hoof to the lid of the crate. Then with little effort she lifted the lid. Suddenly, as the friends talked amongst themselves, an ear splitting scream rang out through the library.
IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S UPDATEHey everybody, I have some bad news. Since this story was written so long ago and so poorly I've decided to rewrite it. My new story is of the same name and can be found here: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/82848/ponyville It is a thousand times better in my opinion. The plot is constructed much better, it follows multiple characters, and has an interesting and varied environment. Please go check it out. I promise it will be much better than this one.
