Apocalypse

It was a gorgeous day in Ponyville. The dirt streets were alive with busy ponies. Six specific ponies, however, weren’t on their way to any shops or houses or even Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle, but to Canterlot.

And they did not wear any excited expressions on their faces. Well, except for Pinkie Pie, but then again, when isn’t she excited about one thing or another?

The six ponies boarded the next train to Canterlot as fast as they could and rode it to the capitol city of Equestria, then ran to the doors of Princesses Celestia and Luna’s palace before barging through.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight called out as she and her five friends galloped over to the large alicorn. “We came as fast as we could! You said there’s a new villain in Equestria?”

“Thank you for coming,” Celestia said softly, not answering the youngest alicorn’s question directly.

Luna, standing net to her older sister, stepped forward and spoke in her place. “Yes, there are. However, they are not yet in Equestria. They are in a land beyond ours, one that is called Mytholand.”

“Mytholand?” Twilight echoed.

“This land is inhabited by ponies as well as here, but these ponies are, to say the least, different. Therefore, they refuse to come to Equestria.”

“But Ponyville especially welcomes any race of pony, doesn’t it?” Fluttershy spoke up.

“Be that as it may,” Luna replied, “these ponies still insist on staying to their own land, even though they have no earth ponies to tend to the land or pegasi to tend to the weather.”

"So there aren't any pegasi, unicorns, or earth ponies in Mytholand?" Twilight confirmed. "What pony species are there?"

"We do not know for we have never traveled there, but we have heard from other ponies who were courageous enough to travel to these dangerous lands of ponies extra appendages and some made from shadows."

"That does sound like quite a fright," Rarity shivered, backing up a little closer to Applejack who stood beside her.

"And who are these villains we have to face?" Twilight continued.

"We know not of these new villains," Luna replied, bowing her head apologetically. "All we know is that these new villains are indeed ponies, and they are far more dangerous and threatening than even Discord during his time of being a foe."

"Will we need to get the Elements of Harmony from the Tree of Harmony in the Everfree Forest?"

"We do not know what you will end up facing, so it would be best to be overly prepared rather than not prepared enough." Celestia finally spoke up whereas before she had kept her head lowered as her younger sister told the six of their mission. "We wish you the best of luck on this quest, my little ponies, and please do be careful."

"Don't worry, Princess," Twilight smiled assuringly. "We've never let Equestria down before, and we aren't going to start now. Come on, girls, let's get the Elements of Harmony!"

"Before you go," Celestia quickly said before the six friends could gallop off. She levitated a scroll from a locked chest after unlocking it with her and Luna's horns and gave it to Twilight. "This is the map that leads to Mytholand. Please be careful on your quest, and ask the natives for a little more insight on the villains you will have to face."

"Will do, Princess Celestia. Come on, girls!"

The six ponies galloped out of the palace and rode the train back to Ponyville, then made their way to the Everfree Forest. They memorized the path leading to the Tree of Harmony from their previous visits and made it there in no time, and they looked up at the large majestic tree, the six Elements of Harmony embedded in the trunk and branches. They had also brought along with them the necklaces that once held the magical jewels in place around their necks and on their crown.

Twilight spread out her wings and flew up in front of the tree before, with the use of a lot of magic, plucking each Element one by one from the tree. Once she plucked out her element last, she flew back down in front of her friends and placed each Element in the respective pony's necklace, then finally placed hers in her crown.

"Right, we got the Elements of Harmony back," Twilight said once she finished. She then took out the scroll she carried in her saddlebag and unrolled it, revealing the map of Equestria as well as a hunk of land on the lower left corner of the map beyond San Palomino Desert and Macintosh Hills. "Now we're off to Mytholand!"

The six ponies boarded the train to ride to Macintosh Hills, and that was the closest stop they could make to Mytholand for the train doesn't go beyond the hills. They exited the train and made their way to the borderline between Macintosh Hills and San Palomino Desert, and within about a few hours they found a large metal gate, and beyond it looked to be a land with dark skies and loads of black clouds, brown grasses, rotten wood of houses, and a few dead trees scattered here and there.

The gate itself was really brown and rusty and the stone wall surrounding Mytholand was cracked and broken in a few places with small patches of moss and some old brown splotches on them. The brown splotches looked somewhat like paint, and it had a red tint to it.

"This place really gives me the creeps..." Applejack gulped, feeling her body tremble nervously.

"Tell me about it," Rainbow Dash agreed with a shudder. "I'm getting all kinds of bad vibes from this place."

"This place looks even worse than Our Town," Rarity commented with a look of disgust.

"Well, I guess we should go in now," Twilight spoke with a gulp of her own. She slowly lit up her horn with her magical aura and transferred it to the gate handles, then slowly pushed it over, making it squeal as the rusty metal scraped against one another.

The six ponies walked slowly through the open gate into Mytholand, looking around. Everything was dead, dark, and rotten, and there weren't any ponies in sight. This made a shiver travel down all six mares' spines.

"I don't like this place..." Fluttershy whimpered. "It's really scary..."

"I've never seen anything like it," Rarity muttered in disgust. "And it's most certainly not anything good..."

"I feel so terribly sorry for whoever has to live here," Applejack sympathized, taking off her hat and holding it close to her chest.

"Me, too," Twilight agreed. "But right now we need to be more concerned about finding a resident and asking them about these new villains we have to fight."

"Hey, look!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, leaping up on Twilight's back and pointing out. Everyone followed the party pony's hoof to see a few ponies running very fast in the distance, sending up dust behind them.

"Whoa, they're pretty fast," Rainbow commented. "But not nearly as fast as me obviously."

"What about them, Pinkie?" Twilight asked, levitating her friend off her back.

"It looked like they had more than four legs," she replied with a grin.

"That's preposterous!" Rarity retorted. "There are no such things as ponies with more than four legs."

"But I saw them..."

"They were far away, their bodies were covered in dust clouds, and their legs were practically in a blur," Twilight argued. "There's no way you could've been able to clearly tell. Now come on, girls, stay on task. We have to find somepony who can help us."

The six ponies walked on through the broken town, looking around for any inhabitants, until suddenly they heard Rarity scream. They all whipped around to her friend, panicked.

"What's wrong?" Twilight exclaimed.

"What in Celestia's name is that?" the fashionista cried out, pointing at a small filly-sized earth pony mare. She was pale yellow with hot pink hair, which barely covered her abnormally large head. She stared out into the distance with black cat-like pupils, no irises seen.

"Whoa, that pony looks pretty creepy..." Rainbow grimaced.

"I know, right? That mane and tail of hers is absolutely horrendous! She obviously needs a serious makeover!"

"Yeah, because I obviously wasn't talking about her giant head and weird eyes..." The rainbow-maned pegasus rolled her eyes.

The pony blinked a few times, still staring out into the distance, then she closed her eyes. What happened next struck each mare with terror.

She opened a third eye on her forehead. It glistened brightly in the dim light and was light blue. On contrast of her other two eyes having no irises, this eye had no pupil.

"Triclops pony!" Pinkie shrieked in horror. Her screamed caught the smaller pony's attention and she flew her two eyes open, her third eye still open, and she stared at the six ponies. Pinkie yelped and leaped in front of her friends to block their vision and looked away from the pony. "Don't look into her third eye! She'll read your mind and rid you of your color and personality!"

"Pinkie Pie!" Applejack snapped, stomping a hoof in fury. "she may seem a little off compared to other ponies, but fer cryin' out loud, girl!"

They began to hear the sound of whimpering and sniffling, and they all turned to see the triclops pony beginning to cry, her third eye closing. She then galloped away, weeping softly.

"Nice going, Pinkie," Twilight growled. "We could've talked to her about the villains we have to go up against. And Applejack was right, that was incredibly rude, especially for somepony like you."

"I-I'm sorry, she just startled me..." Pinkie apologized guiltily, tears bordering her eyes. "Granny Pie always told me tales of triclops ponies who could read minds with their third eye and steal your color and personality. I didn't want that happening to me."

"Sweetie, that's just an old foal's tale," Applejack spoke, her gaze softening on the sad party pony. "Should we end up meetin' her again, you're gonna have to apologize."

"Okay..."

"Come on, let's find somepony else," Twilight said. She turned back to the road and walked on, and she ended up almost colliding into somepony else. "Oh, pardon me, I didn't see you there."

The mare didn't respond, just glared at her with her light gray eyes. She had a darker gray coat than her eyes and black long hair, as well as a cutie mark of a red-tipped spear. She also had black hooves.

"I saw what you did," she spoke in a low, hostile tone. "You humiliated that espony."

"Espony?" Applejack echoed.

"You treated her like a monster, but esponies are no monsters. Nopony in this town are monsters. For treating that espony like one, I will give you one minute to get out of Mytholand."

"Wait, what?" Rainbow exclaimed. "But we just got here! And it's not our fault she looked weird!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight scolded, making the pegasus fall silent. She then looked at the gray mare before her and dipped her head. "We apologize for our actions, and we already decided to apologize to the, er, espony once we meet her again."

"There will not be another chance for you to meet her, for I just demanded for you to leave," the pony growled. "I am the captain of the guards of Mytholand's gate. I was just away grabbing a bite to eat and ordered that foolish Stampede to watch the gate, but I suppose he wandered off and then you managed to get in."

"Please, you've got to listen to us, we come in peace," Twilight urged. "At least allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Twilight Sparkle-"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," Rainbow interrupted, receiving a growl and being pulled away by magenta aura.

"That is Rainbow Dash," Twilight continued with a glare at her brash friend. "And the others are Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy."

"Okay, you introduced yourselves," the pony grunted. "Now get out of Mytholand."

"You've gotta at least let us explain why we're here!" Rainbow shouted.

"I am the captain of the guards of Mytholand," the mare repeated harshly. "Therefore, you have no choice but to listen to my commands. Get out of Mytholand!"

"Well, Princess Twilight has more authority over you!"

"She's not my ruler!"

"Doesn't matter!"

"Rainbow Dash, cut it out, you're not helping!" Twilight snapped. "If you don't hush, I will make you hush myself!"

The pegasus pony didn't say anything, but just growled and turned away.

"If you don't leave, you will face serious consequences," the mare warned.

"Please, you have to let us tell you why we're here," Twilight tried again. "We're here to help."

"We don't need help! You've been warned! Prepare for battle!" To everypony's surprise, the mare rotated in a fighting stance. However, that's not what startled them. The pony had not four legs, but eight!

"Ha! I knew it!" Pinkie exclaimed with a smile. "I told you those ponies before had more than four legs!"

"What, you're planning on making fun of me, too?" the pony hissed, narrowing her eyes.

"Of course not!" Twilight replied, a little panicked. "We're just surprised to be honest."

"What, you've never seen a Sleipnir pony before?"

"Sleipnir pony?"

The Sleipnir pony groaned impatiently and rolled her eyes. "Sleipnir ponies are ponies with eight legs. They have incredible speed, strength, agility, and stamina. We are the strongest and fastest ponies alive."

"I doubt that," Rainbow scoffed. "I'm the fastest pegasus pony in all of Equestria!"

"In that case, you ponies must be pretty slow with those small bird wings," the mare grunted.

"How dare you? I'll show you how fast I am! Let's have a race! If you win, we'll leave, but if I win, you'll let us stay and tell you why we're here!"

The eight-legged pony huffed and rolled her eyes, then glared at her. A small spark of excitement could just barely be seen passing through her eyes.

"Okay, fine. You see that broken tower over there? You and I will race around it and back here."

"Aw, yeah!" Rainbow grinned competitively. "Let's do it!"

The two ponies crouched down in the line Twilight drew in the dirt with a stick laying around and she held up a cloth with her magic between them, ready to drop it.

"Is everypony ready?" she asked.

Rainbow cracked each joint in her legs and wings, then crouched down, wings splayed out as far as they could go, ready to take off. "Ready!"

The Sleipnir pony scraped the ground with her four front hooves as she narrowed her eyes in concentration. "Ready."

"On your mark... Get set..." Twilight subsided her magic, making the cloth drop. Once it dropped, she flew up into the air to avoid being run over by the ponies.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as hard and fast as she could, sticking out her forelegs to glide faster through the wind. She looked down to find that her opponent was directly under her, her legs in gray and black blurs as they worked hard to push herself forward as fast as they could go. To her surprise, the pony was running a bit faster than Rainbow was flying, causing her to be in the lead.

Grunting, Rainbow flapped her wings faster and tilted to the side so she could easily zip around the tower, then straightened out as she flew back towards her friends. The Sleipnir pony, however, was still ahead of her by a few feet now.

"H-How?" Rainbow exclaimed.

"C'mon, Rainbow Dash, you can do it!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"Come on, Rainbow, you have to win!" Twilight called, a splash of panic in her voice. "If you don't win, we won't be able to help them get rid of the villains here!"

"Wait, what?" the Sleipnir pony gasped. Out of surprise, she skid to a halt, and Rainbow dashed past her and across the finish line.

"Yes!" the pegasus pony cried out in triumph. "I won! And that means you now gotta let us stay!"

"Did you just say you're here to get rid of the villains here?" the pony echoed, trotting over to them quickly. "A-As in the Four Apocalyptic Sisters?"

"The Four Apocalyptic Sisters?" Twilight echoed.

"You've been sent here to help us... Why didn't you say so from the beginning?"

"Well, it's not like you would let us..." Rainbow grunted.

"I'm sorry about that..." the Sleipnir pony apologized, bowing her head. "I just assumed you ponies came from the large country of Equestria just to take over this land as your own since we were so weakened."

"Of course not," Twilight replied with a look of sympathy in her eyes. "We came here to help you. The ponies of Equestria would never leave others, pony or otherwise, to suffer in the wrath of an evildoer."

The eight-legged mare stayed quiet for a few moments, then she finally spoke. "My name is Breakneck Pace. Please follow me." She turned around and started walking off further into town.

"Well, she most certainly lives up to her name," Rarity commented as she and the other five ponies followed the Sleipnir pony.

They were over the moon with relief. They were allowed to stay in Mytholand and help the inhabitants fight off whatever villains they're being pitted up against!