Chapters 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!
The Four Apocalyptic Sisters
Breakneck Pace lead Twilight and her friends through the village where they didn't see any other ponies out and about with the exceptions of a few other Sleipnir ponies. They finally came up to a tattered wooden house, the wood rotten and crawling with termites and moss, making everypony but Breakneck Pace shudder in disgust.
"Y-You don't expect us to go in there, d-do you?" Rarity whimpered, slowing down her pace to the point where she's practically standing still.
"I'm sorry about my house, but ever since the Apocalyptic Sisters arrived, Mytholand quickly became destroyed and rotten," Breakneck Pace apologized. "We ponies have no place else to live, so we just suck it up and live with whatever we have or don't have." She approached the door and pushed it open, and almost immediately the door fell off the hinges and landed with a loud bang on the ground, making everypony jump. "I guess the rot finally made its way to the door hinges..."
"Oh, how awful," Fluttershy whimpered. "You ponies don't deserve living in this kind of environment."
"We don't, but we have to."
"Why didn't you ever try to move to Equestria?" Twilight asked.
"Besides the fact that ponies like you would look at all of us differently?" the Sleipnir pony grunted. "Well... The Apocalyptic Sisters won't let us leave."
"Who in tarnation are the Apocalyptic Sisters?" Applejack furrowed her brows in confusion. "They sound awful nasty."
"Believe me, they are. Now, I know there isn't much inside, but please make yourselves at home to the best of your abilities."
All six ponies winced as they slowly walked inside the small house. There were holes and tears in the wooden walls and they crawled with termites and moss. There was a very musty and rather unpleasant scent of dead wood in the building. The floor had no flooring, but rather was the same rough earthy ground as the outside, and the roof looked as though it were going to cave in at any second.
The furniture inside consisted of a firefly lantern; a rotten tree stump to hold up the lantern; clumps of pony hair stuffed in terribly stained and ripped fabric to make pillows; a few large wrinkly leaves sewed together with strands of pony hair to make a blanket on top of a pile of sand for a bed; a jug of dirty water in a corner of the house, and a few rotten apples in a basket next to the jug.
"Sweet Celestia..." Twilight murmured, her eyes widened. How could these ponies survive in these conditions? It's completely inhumane!
"I would offer you some refreshments for your journey, but I don't think you want any dirty water or rotten apples," Breakneck Pace mumbled. "Even though the food and water aren't nearly as bad as most ponies in Mytholand have. We're considered the lucky ones."
"No!" Rarity suddenly shouted, catching everyone by surprise. She turned to Rainbow Dash and glared at her. "Rainbow Dash, you must fly as fast as you can back to Macintosh Hills and collect as much fresh water as you possibly can for these poor ponies!"
"I'll be as quick as I can!" Rainbow saluted before flying out of the house.
"You don't need to trouble yourselves," the Sleipnir pony started.
"Nonsense!" Rarity retorted. "Nopony is supposed to live in these conditions! Applejack, do you have any apples you said you'd pack should the journey to Mytholand be so long it would take overnight?"
"You bet I do!" Applejack reached into one of her saddlebags and pulled out a large, juicy red apple, then handed it to Breakneck Pace. "Here ya go!"
"I-I can't accept this..." she tried again.
"We should give her cupcakes, too!" Pinkie chimed in, reaching into her own saddlebag and pulling out a tupperware of cupcakes.
"And at least a few feathers for your pillows," Fluttershy smiled. She flapped her wings a few times, allowing a few feathers to fall off, and she picked them up and stuck them in the pillow cases.
"And let's not forget about the blankets!" Rarity smiled. She pulled out a needle and thread from her saddlebag, as well as scissors, and snipped up her own saddlebag, along with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Twilight's when they offered their own. She then made four blankets, even if they were smaller than the wilted leaf blankets, out of the fabric of the saddlebags and replaced the leaf blankets with them.
"You'll also need some proper light," Twilight smiled. She charged up a light spell and cast it on the firefly lamp, making it glow brightly to illuminate the entire room.
Rainbow Dash flew in a few moments later with a large raincloud overhead, then she grabbed a large fruit juicer and pushed the cloud through it so that fresh water would trickle in a large barrel. She dumped out the dirty water in the jug and rinsed it out with the remaining rainwater, then scooped some clean water in it and handed it to Breakneck Pace. "Here you go! Fresh, clean water!"
Breakneck Pace looked at her room. It actually looked a little more like what a real house should look like: proper lighting, good pillow filling, comfy blankets, fresh water, ripe apples, and even a few cupcakes. She turned back to the six ponies, tears falling down her face, as she smiled thankfully. "You have absolutely no idea how much this means to me... I haven't known you for an hour and already you're being so incredibly generous and kind like a true friend... Thank you all!" She leaped out and hugged the six ponies, weeping loudly over their shoulders.
They all smiled and hugged back, and Twilight spoke up. "We'd do anything for a pony in need. We're just so happy we could help you."
"You look like you haven't had a decent meal in ages," Applejack commented after the hug was broken. "Why dontcha eat a few apples and drink some water before tellin' us about them Apocalyptic Sisters?"
"Okay, but first I have to fetch my friends," Breakneck Pace replied. "It's just three of them. It would be unfair if I had all this wonderful food without them, and besides, maybe they can help me in telling about the Apocalyptic Sisters. I'll be right back." The Sleipnir pony rose to her hooves and galloped out of the house.
When she was gone, Rarity turned to the others. "I think I speak for everypony here when I say these Apocalyptic Sisters must be stopped as soon as possible!"
"No doubt about that!" Rainbow Dash agreed. "Just look at the conditions these ponies are living in! I wouldn't even wish this upon the most cruel villain in all of Equestria! ...Besides the sisters, that is."
"I think it's clear that these new villains are very strong..." Fluttershy piped in softly, looking uncertain. "What if... What if the Elements of Harmony aren't strong enough to beat them?"
"What makes you say that, Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked, a frown plaguing her face.
"Well, I can't really explain it, but just look at how desolated this place is. These ponies are being left with barely anything to sleep on, contaminated water, and rotten food. Not even the harshest of villains we've faced before limited ponies with these awful resources."
"Be that as it may, the magic of friendship is still the most power magic of all. Remember Tirek?" Applejack argued gently.
"But that's in Equestria. This is Mytholand, outside of Equestria. What if the Elements of Harmony don't work in a place that isn't Equestria?"
"Well, the Elements worked perfectly fine in CHS when the counterparts of you and I defeated Sunset Shimmer and the Sirens," Twilight pointed out. "It doesn't matter where you go. The magic of friendship is still just as powerful in Equestria as it is anywhere else."
"Well, I guess you've had a personal experience with that, so..." The timid pegasus pony then smiled, feeling reassured. "Okay, I believe you."
"Sorry it took so long!" the six heard Breakneck Pace apologize. They turned and saw her walk back in, and following her were three of the most bizarre ponies any of them had ever seen.
The only stallion of the group was dark yellow with dark green hair and eyebrows, as well as golden eyes. He had abnormally long forelegs and sharp teeth with a forked tongue, and in place of hind legs there were two snake tails instead, in which he used to slither into the room. He also had bat-like wings and a cutie mark of a yellow caution sign.
Then there was a mare that looked like she was made entirely out of light blue fire. She had forelegs but no hind legs for in its place is a wispy tail. She also has hair that dances upwards like fire, and the inside of it is white. The scleras of her eyes are dark blue while the pupils are white, and her cutie mark is a pink will-o'-the-wisp light, though it looked more like it was in her rather than on her flank. She also levitated in mid air.
The last pony looked the most familiar for it's the same one Pinkie Pie accidentally insulted. It was the yellow and pink espony. When she looked up at the six, she immediately recognized them and hid behind the green snake-pony.
"Pinkie Pie," Applejack suddenly nudged her pink friend. "There's the pony you need to apologize to. Why dontcha go do it now?"
"Oh... Okay!" Grinning, Pinkie plucked a cupcake out of the tupperware and hopped over to the smaller pony. "Hi, there, I'm Pinkie Pie!"
The espony whimpered and backed away, and almost immediately the snake-pony hissed in her face, causing her to yelp and stumble back.
"It's okay, Strike," Breakneck Pace said. "She's just trying to apologize to Future Sight the way she acted."
The supposedly named Strike narrowed his eyes at Pinkie suspiciously, then finally nodded, giving her permission to talk to the smaller pony.
Pinkie smiled and decided this time to take a gentler approach. She bounced over to the mare and bent down, lowering her voice a bit. "So your name's Future Sight? That's a really nice name! Listen, I'm really sorry for how I treated you, I didn't mean it. Paranoia just got the better of me for a second. I want you to take this cupcake as a gratitude of our friendship, because that's all I wanna be with you: friends!" She smiled brightly and handed her the cupcake.
Future Sight blinked curiously, then she took the bright colorful cake in her own hooves. She then looked up at Strike, who was still eyeing Pinkie suspiciously.
"What's in that thing?" Strike hissed, his S's emphasized and carried out for longer than usual.
"Happiness and smiles!" Pinkie grinned innocently. "It's really good, try it, Future Sight! If you want, I'll eat one so you can see it's safe to eat." She grabbed another cupcake and popped it into her mouth, and swallowed it almost immediately. "See? Perfectly safe! And delicious!"
Future Sight looked back down at the cupcake, then gave the icing a wary lick. She then gasped and ate the pastry quickly.
"Huh. Guess you're not all that bad after all," Strike commented with a bit of surprise in his voice. "All right, I guess I can trust you."
"Yay for new friends!" Pinkie squealed, bouncing up and down.
"This is Strike," Breakneck Pace suddenly introduced. "He's what's called a Typhon pony."
Strike said nothing, but he bowed his head in greeting.
"My other friend over here is named Flash Fire," the Sleipnir pony continued, gesturing to the spirit-like pony. "She's a wisp pony."
"Like will-o'-the-wisp?" Twilight gasped. "I thought that was only a Trottish legend!"
"Nope, we're all real!" Flash Fire giggled, floating around the ponies. Everyone - not including Future Sight, Breakneck Pace, or Strike - jumped when they hear a sudden squeal coming from Fluttershy, who leaped away from the wisp pony, giggling.
"She tickled me!" the pegasus pony tattled.
"Wisp ponies are very playful and mischievous, and Flash Fire's no exception," Breakneck Pace giggled as her friend floated back to them. She finally gestured to the small pony. "And this is Future Sight. You already know that she's called an espony. Esponies may look the size of foals, but in reality this is as big as they can get."
"Aww, how cute!" Pinkie cooed, and Future Sight blushed a bit.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves," Twilight smiled at the three foreign ponies. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm what's called an alicorn pony. Alicorns in Equestria - the land we're from - have the most magical power and are the monarchs of Equestria.
"These two are Applejack and Pinkie Pie. They may look like overgrown esponies, but in reality they're called earth ponies. They have the ability to tend to the land and grow crops. And Pinkie's little skill that nopony else has is... something nopony else can explain actually."
"I have what's called a Pinkie Sense!" Pinkie grinned.
"This is Rarity, and she's a unicorn pony," the alicorn continued. "I used to be a unicorn as well before I became an alicorn princess. We're both able to levitate objects and cast spells, and some can even teleport. Unicorns used to be responsible for rising and setting the sun and moon before Princesses Celestia and Luna - the highest alicorn princesses - came along.
"And finally, these are Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. They're called pegasus ponies and they have the abilities to change the weather, fly, and walk on clouds."
"We can also make things such as lightning and rainbows," Rainbow Dash boasted.
"Wow! Such foreign pony races!" Flash Fire commented in awe.
"Well, to us, you're the foreign races," Twilight giggled.
"Okay, I think that's enough with the introduction," Breakneck Pace said. "Let's eat first, and then we'll tell you about the Apocalyptic Sisters?"
"Apocalyptic Sisters?" Strike echoed. "What do you need to know them for? Do you plan on joining them?"
"Oh, don't be a feather-brain, we're here to drive them out for you guys!" Rainbow exclaimed defensively.
Strike's, Future Sight's, and Flash Fire's eyes widened. Flash Fire was the one to speak. "You're gonna drive out the sisters? How?"
"We'll explain that later," Twilight replied. "First, go ahead and eat up. You all must be famished."
The four foreign ponies crowded around the apples, cupcakes, and water and ate and drank to their hearts' content. It was obvious to Twilight and her friends that these ponies haven't had a decent meal in a long time, and it broke their hearts just thinking that ponies are being forced to live in these cruel and unusual conditions.
Future Sight was the first to finish since she had had a cupcake prior and her body was quite small. She waited for the others to finish, and then they all turned back to the Equestrian ponies. The espony spoke to them in a tone that was so quiet the six almost missed it, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, sugarcube," Applejack smiled warmly at the small pony.
"So, I suppose we should get down to telling you what you'll face once you confront the Apocalyptic Sisters," Breakneck Pace said. She turned to her three friends. "Who wants to help me explain?"
"Um... Not me..." Flash Fire whimpered. "They're too scary to talk about..."
"I'm good, thanks," Strike muttered uncomfortably.
Future Sight didn't answer, but rather whined a bit and went to hide behind Strike again.
The Sleipnir pony sighed before turning back to the Equestrian ponies. "Guess I'm the one who's gonna explain them. Okay, I'll start with Famine."
"Famine?" Rarity echoed in disgust.
"Famine is the youngest of the Apocalyptic Sisters," Breakneck Pace began. "She is a dark gray pony with a black mane and tail. She look a lot like a larger espony with a smaller head - what are they called again, earth ponies? - as do the other sisters, but they have devastating powers. Her power is to drain the nutrients from ponies to the point of starvation, and she can also touch a source of food or water and make it absolutely unsafe to eat. Even if you tried eating a mushy, gooey, rotten apple you'll probably end up throwing it back up. Mytholand lost quite a number of lives due to the Famine Period all because of her.
"The second youngest sister is named Pestilence, who has a white coat and gray hair. Her power is to spread disease which we Mytholanders called the Pony Plague. All she has to do is breathe in the faces of ponies to transfer her disease and the ponies will end up dehydrating from constant vomiting and diarrhea, losing their strength and powers, and grow many excruciatingly painful wart-like bumps all over their bodies. Once those wart things burst, they end up bleeding to death, but that's if the disease doesn't cause total organ failure first.
"Next is War, the second eldest sister. She has a red coat with a darker red mane and tail designed to look like fire, kind of like Flash Fire's mane. Her ability is to start fights and wars, and not those prissy little arguments the Sirens would make - before you ask, we have heard of Starswirl the Bearded as well - but real battles that would shed blood and destroy lives. She caused a war between Typhon ponies and esponies versus Sleipnir ponies and wisp ponies about a year ago, and that's one of the reasons why there's so little of us left.
"And the last is the most dangerous, the eldest sister..." Breakneck Pace hesitated and gulped nervously before speaking again, and the thing she said chilled everypony to the bone, "Death."
"D-Death?" Twilight whimpered, drawing her ears back in fright.
"Death has the power to take away ponies' lives. She's usually the one responsible for all the deaths in Mytholand when ponies were injured, sick, or starving. Sometimes she'll even kill a healthy pony just for the fun of it. She stares into your eyes with her pure white ones and sucks out your soul from your eyes. Legend even has it that if you look straight into Death's eyes without having your soul taken away, you can just faintly see the spirits of other ponies she claimed the lives of floating around and trying desperately to escape."
Nopony spoke a word or even dared to breathe for a few moments. All of them were far too stunned by what they had just heard. They had encountered masters of chaos, Tartarus and moon escapees, and even a swarm of bug-pony hybrids, but never in their life had they ever have to face villains who killed other ponies!
"Will the Elements of Harmony be enough to beat them?" they suddenly heard Fluttershy squeak, and the other five realized that she had voiced their same exact thoughts. The magic of friend was strong enough to deal with hatred, of course, but how could it ever compete with death itself?
"What are the Elements of Harmony?" Flash Fire asked tilting her head in curiosity.
"The Elements of Harmony are powerfully magical artifacts that each represent an element of friendship," Twilight explained. She and her friends pulled out the elements from the pile of items dumped out of the saddlebags and pulled out the five necklaces and one crown, then placed them around their necks and on their head.
"I represent the Element of Loyalty!" Rainbow declared proudly.
"I represent the Element of Generosity!" Rarity added with a pose.
"I represent the Element of Honesty," Applejack chimed in, crossing a foreleg over the other.
"I represent the Element of Kindness," Fluttershy smiled sheepishly.
"I represent the Element of Laughter!" Pinkie squealed, sending confetti and streamers scattering to the ground that came out of nowhere.
"And I represent the Element of Magic," Twilight finished with a smile. "With these six elements, we were able to defeat every single villain we came across."
"Do you really think the magic of friendship can compete with death itself?" Breakneck Pace asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We can only hope," Twilight replied. "So, where are the sisters now?"
"They're in a cave on the base of the mountain on the edge of Mytholand," Strike replied. "It's called Apocalypse Mountain. It used to be called Olympony Mountain, but after the sisters came along..."
"We'll head down there as soon as possible!" Rainbow declared.
"Hold on," Breakneck Pace interrupted before the pegasus pony could fly out. "It's almost nighttime. Why don't you all rest here tonight? I know there's barely anything for you to sleep on, but at least it's shelter."
"Thank you, Breakneck Pace, we appreciate it," Twilight smiled warmly before yawning. "Okay, let's get some shut-eye. Tomorrow's a big day."
As the six ponies settled in for the night, a thin shadow whisked past the house and towards Apocalypse Mountain...
"Get away from me! You almost breathed in my face!" A red mare backed away from a smaller white one and snarled viciously. "I love you, but you can be so contagious sometimes!"
"I just wanted to play with you," the white mare whimpered sadly, hanging her head.
The red mare's gaze softened and she walked a bit closer. "I'm sorry for snapping. I just don't need the Pony Plague."
"But I obviously do..."
"Girls," a new voice said in a low and power tone, and a large dark green mare walked towards the two. "Calm down and prepare for your youngest sister's arrival. I have a feeling it's not very good news."
"There's never any good news with those stupid Mytholand ponies," the red pony growled. "They're all kinds of pitiful and stuff. I'm sick of it! I'm almost tempted to start another war between them just for some entertainment!"
"You know you can't do that just yet, War, but in due time you will."
"And I'll be able to spread my plague?" the white pony smiled before coughing harshly, causing War to leap away.
"Yes, Pestilence, you, too."
The three ponies suddenly heard the sound of hooves galloping against the rocky flooring and they all turned to see a dark gray mare approaching them. Once she reached them, she collapsed on her side and wheezed in exhaustion.
"Famine! Are you okay?" Pestilence exclaimed in worry.
"I-I will be..." the youngest mare replied with a gasp. She stood up, her legs trembling in fatigue.
"Do you need some food?" War asked.
"You know I can't eat food..." Famine sighed sadly. "My body isn't used to eating anymore; I'll just throw it right back up..."
"Oh, right..."
"Welcome back, dear sister," the eldest mare said warmly as she hugged her youngest sister. "What did you find?"
"It's terrible, Death," Famine reported with a nervous whimper. "Six ponies from the land of Equestria are in Mytholand now, and they seem to have a magical device of some sort capable of defeating us!"
Pestilence gasped in fright while War snarled furiously. Death, however, remained calm, and she even let out a little chuckle.
"That's what they think," she smirked. "No matter what trick anypony has up their sleeves, nopony can cheat death."
"I overheard that these things are called the Elements of Harmony," the youngest mare continued. "They said they were able to use these to defeat any other villain in their homeland."
"But this isn't their homeland," Death chuckled. "Who's to say their silly little elements will work here? And even if they do, do they really think harmony and friendship will be more powerful than illness, hatred, starvation, and death?"
"That's right!" War bellowed, rearing up on her hind legs and kicking out her forelegs triumphantly. "Nothing's more powerful than the Apocalyptic Sisters!"
"We'll beat those ponies and their silly little charms to the ground!" Pestilence cheered before turning her head away and coughing harshly again.
"Are you sure?" Famine asked nervously.
Death lifted up her sister's head with a hoof and smiled warmly at her. "Don't you worry, dear sister. Those ponies won't succeed. And we'll make sure of that." She trotted over to a jar on a shelf embedded in the wall and picked it up carefully with a hoof. She looked into it and saw the tiny white souls of miserable ponies whose lives she had claimed, and she grinned evilly.
"Pack your saddlebags, girls," she finally said before placing the jar back on the shelf and turning back to the other three ponies. "We're off to pay Mytholand a little visit. We'll show those outsiders not to play around with death."
"Yes!" War exclaimed excitedly. "Finally, I get to drive a rift between ponies again!"
"Should we tamper with the outsiders themselves, or just the residents of Mytholand?" Pestilence asked.
"We'll start with just the residents. We want to give those outsiders a good example of what the Apocalyptic Sisters are really capable of. Famine?" The black mare turned to the green one at the sound of her name. "Were there any other Mytholand ponies with these Equestrian ones?"
"Yes, four of them," she replied. "A gray Sleipnir pony, a pale espony, a blue wisp pony, and a yellow Typhon pony."
"In that case, don't touch them either," Death ordered before grinning evilly. "If these Equestrian ponies do decide to stay, I want to see their pathetic little attempts to defeat us. It'll do for some nice entertainment, don't you agree?"
"Yeah!" War cackled harshly. "Let's go give those ponies another welcome!"
The four sisters packed their saddlebags of the materials they needed to wreak havoc on Mytholand on trotted out of the cave into the darkness.
Author's Note
This is a much shorter chapter than the previous two, but it's just to set up the sisters' attack and to also show their relationships with each other. Despite being such horrible ponies, they still care a lot for each other.
Rainbow Dash grunted and rolled over, trying to get comfy again. She and her Ponyville friends had had to sleep on the floor since there were no other beds in Breakneck Pace's home, but at least they were able to gather some sand and stuff a few of their own feathers as well as some dried grass in pillow cases.
This was not comfortable at all for Rainbow Dash, especially considering she's so used to sleeping on plushy clouds. Oh, what she wouldn't give to curl up on the plushy softness right now...
Growling softly, the rainbow-maned pegasus rose to her hooves and gently flapped her wings so she could fly over her friends and onto the floor. She then shook out the sand in her fur and hair and walked over to the barrel of water she had filled earlier. She knew that she was not going to be able to fall back asleep for a while.
She opened the lid and scooped some of the fresh water up with a mug and drank its contents. She then walked out of the house quietly as to not disturb her friends or new Sleipnir pony friend before taking to the sky.
It was very dark in Mytholand, much darker than in Ponyville, for the blanket of dark clouds blocked out the moon's light. Curious, Rainbow flew up to one of them and poked it. It was hollow and had barely any moisture in it. These definitely weren't rainclouds despite the dark color.
"These ponies need to see Luna's beautiful night sky," Rainbow said to herself. Smirking, thankful for a change to fly around more and exercise, the pegasus pony flew through the cloud she was previously inspecting, causing it to dissipate and evaporate. She did the same to all the other clouds: flying through them, bucking them with her hind legs, and whirling up a miniature twister with her wings. In ten seconds flat, all the clouds had been destroyed and the land shone with silver lighting from the moon and stars.
"You're welcome, citizens of Mytholand," Rainbow grinned to no one in particular. She readied to fly back down to earth when something caught her eye. She turned her head to see four silhouettes creeping in the shadows.
Rainbow quickly zoomed to a dead tree and hid in the thicker part of its branches, then peaked out. She saw the four silhouettes, who looked like earth ponies, trot closer. Finally, they all stepped out into the moonlight, and Rarity could see a dark gray and very thin pony; a bigger, red pony; a white pony; and a tall green pony. The pegasus shuddered when she noticed the green pony's eyes were completely white.
She kept watching, and she strained her ears so she could hear what they were saying.
"Okay, girls," the green pony said. "Time to get to work. War, do you have the picklocks?"
"You bet I do!" the red pony named War grinned evilly before pulling out four picklocks from her saddlebag and handing one to each pony, keeping the last for herself.
"Then let's go create some mayhem," the green pony smirked, and the four ponies all trotted off in different directions.
"Who were those ponies?" Rainbow asked herself quietly. "There were four of them, they came from the shadows, they have picklocks, and one of them was named War..." Her eyes widened with realization.
Of course! Those must have been the Apocalyptic Sisters!
The pegasus quickly flew towards the house her friends were sleeping in, but before she could reach it she was tackled to the ground by another pony. She writhed around and looked up to see who her attacker was. It was War.
"Going somewhere?" the pony sneered with a wicked grin.
"Get off me!" Rainbow shouted as she tried to lift the larger pony off. War pressed a forehoof down on her victim's head and buried her face into the dirt, causing her to let out muffled protests as she squirmed around. The shouts of protests soon turned into muffled pleas as she found she was unable to breathe, and her muzzle hurt badly as the larger pony just pressed further down, laughing menacingly.
"War!" a pony suddenly shouted. War looked up to see the green pony glaring at her. "I told you not to tamper with the Equestrian ponies!"
"But this one's a witness!" War retorted, not lifting Rainbow's head out of the dirt. "She must be dealt with!"
"If anything, just take her as a prisoner. Tie her up and place her in the cave, then come back."
"Well... So long as we get to interrogate her. I love interrogating ponies." War smirked as she lifted her hoof off of Rainbow's head, and the pegasus lifted it up immediately and began coughing and gasping for air. "You're coming with me back to the cave whether you like it or not."
"No!" Rainbow shouted as she squirmed again. She wasn't one to ask for help, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and this was definitely a moment of desperation. She inhaled and screamed out as loud as she could. "Help! Somepony, anypony, help m- " Her face was shoved into the dirt again by War, silencing her.
"Shut up, you!" the pony snarled. She lifted Rainbow's head up again, then smashed her forehead into the ground hard, knocking her out and causing her nose to break and bleed. She then picked the pegasus up on her back and galloped as fast as she could back to the cave, surprised that this foreign pony was so incredibly light.
Once she reached the cave, she threw the pegasus to the ground and grabbed some ropes, then tied her up in them, making sure to tie up her wings as well so she couldn't fly away. Nodding in satisfaction, War galloped back into town, and she and her sisters resumed their mission.
The sun rose and shone its morning light through the windows of the houses, waking everypony up. Twilight opened her eyes slowly and yawned as she stood up and stretched. She walked over to the barrel of water and scooped a half-mug full to drink, then she turned to her friends and softly woke them up.
"Girls, get up, it's time to start planning on how to defeat the sisters," she said, nudging the Equestrian ponies with her hooves. They all moaned and woke up slowly, yawning and stretching, and after having a drink and splitting what remained of the apples and cupcakes - saving some for Breakneck Pace and her other friends of course - they gathered around to talk.
"Has anypony seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, looking to see that there was no multicolored pegasus in the group of friends.
"Maybe she got up early for her sunrise exercises," Applejack yawned, rubbing her eyes to try and shake off her tiredness.
"Well, we can't start planning without her. Let's wake up Breakneck Pace and start scouring the town for her. Fluttershy, you and I will check the skies. Applejack and Pinkie Pie, you'll search the houses. And Rarity, see if you can find her walking along the streets."
The four mares nodded in understanding and began to file out of the house, and Twilight walked up to the sleeping Sleipnir pony in her bed. She gently nudged her. "Breakneck Pace, wake up."
Breakneck moaned and swatted her hoof away with a foreleg before rolling over. "Five more minutes..."
"Breakneck, this is urgent. We need your help finding Rainbow Dash. Without her, we can't start planning on how to take on the sisters."
"Okay, okay, fine," the Sleipnir pony grunted. She sat up and yawned, then crawled out of bed and helped herself to some water and apples. "I'll go get Strike, Future Sight, and Flash Fire. They'll be able to help us, too."
"Thanks," Twilight smiled. She and Breakneck both walked out of the house, but stopped to find Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy standing in place, shocked expressions on their faces. "Girls? What's wrong?"
Nopony said anything, but Rarity used her magic to turn Twilight's and Breakneck's heads to look in front of them. They both gasped at what they saw.
The place looked even worse than it had the previous day. Small fires were scattered around the town and ponies of all races tried to put them out with their contaminated drinking water. The few semi-rotten apples placed up for sale on the streets had all turned into complete mush, and many ponies were in coughing fits, some of them even vomiting right on the spot. There were even a few who were dragging other ponies out of their homes, but the ponies were unmoving. The six realized with a pang of fear that those ponies died overnight.
"The Apocalyptic Sisters..." Breakneck whispered, startling the other five. "They must have known you six came to help us and attacked the town last night. They must be trying to scare you all off."
"Well, I wouldn't be lying if I said they were doing a very good job at it..." Fluttershy whimpered.
"We... We have to keep our hopes of beating them," Twilight stammered. "We can't let anymore ponies suffer. Quick, let's find Rainbow Dash quickly and get on with our plan."
"If Rainbow Dash can't be found," Breakneck suddenly spoke, "chances are very large that she was captured by the sisters and brought back to their cave."
"Not Dashie!" Pinkie wailed. "We have to find her, girls! Now! I just hope she wasn't captured!"
"We all do," Applejack spoke softly. She and the others split up to look for their missing friend.
Unfortunately, none of them were able to find Rainbow Dash. They looked high and low, in and behind houses, and everywhere in between, but the pegasus pony was nowhere to be seen. They only clue they had were a few cyan feathers scattered next to a small ditch in the dirt a few feet away from Breakneck's house.
"Rainbow Dash's feathers!" Rarity cried out. At the sound of this, everypony gathered around the scene.
"This calls for Detective Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie declared before pulling out a detective cap, bubble pipe, and magnifying glass out of nowhere. She looked at the feathers and ditch closely, and next to the feathers she found a long strand of curved dark red hair. "Clue! I found a clue!"
Twilight levitated the strand and borrowed Pinkie's magnifying glass to analyze it. "What color hair does each sister have?"
"Death has dark green hair, Pestilence has light gray hair, Famine has black hair, and War has dark red hair," Breakneck answered as she trotted over to them with her three friends following behind.
"In that case, it looks like Rainbow was attacked by War," Twilight concluded. She looked at the tracks leading from the feathers and ditch and saw that they lead to Apocalypse Mountain. "And it seems that she was taken in captive to the mountain."
"Oh, no!" Rarity cried. "Rainbow's been captured by the sisters!"
"What do we do, what do we do?" Pinkie wailed, beginning to tear up.
"We go after her, that's what we do!" Applejack answered powerfully.
"But not without a plan," Twilight jumped in. "But first thing's first. Breakneck, are you and your friends coming along?"
"You six came to help us get rid of the sisters, and you're aiming to save our town," the Sleipnir pony said with a warm smile. "It's only fair that we do our best to help our friends."
"That's right!" Strike agreed.
"Yay, adventure!" Flash Fire grinned.
"You can count on us," Future Sight spoke softly.
"Thanks, everypony," Twilight smiled. She gestured for everypony to come closer. "Okay, here's what we'll do..."
Consciousness finally returned to Rainbow Dash. She slowly opened her eyes and it took a few moments before her vision swam into focus. She looked around and saw that she was in a dark cave, and when she struggled she found that she had been tied up to a chair. "What the hay?"
"Sounds like somepony's awake," a voice chuckled. She peered out into the darkness and saw four ponies approaching. The voice belonged to War, who was grinning evilly. "I can't wait to have my fun with you."
"Hey, let me go!" Rainbow shouted as she struggled again. "And stop terrorizing Mytholand! What's your problem, anyway?"
"We're going to ask the questions here," the green pony - Death - grunted. "Those annoying ponies must've told you by now of who we are and what we do."
"Yeah, so what?"
"So now it's only fair if we learn about you." Death suddenly stood on her two legs and slammed her nose into Rainbow's, not even flinching while the pegasus yelped in pain as her nose was still in serious pain. "Why did you come here and where are the Elements of Harmony?"
"Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow echoed. "How did you know about them?"
"Little Famine here we out to spy on you ponies," Death gestured to Famine, who was holding Rainbow's Element of Loyalty in her mouth.
"Hey! You have my Element! Give it back!" the pegasus bellowed, but she was silenced by a punch to the side of her head by Death.
"What are the Elements of Harmony?"
"Like I'll tell you!"
"If it's an interrogation you want, it's one you'll get." Death stepped back and let War walk forward, who was grinning wickedly.
"I've been waiting for a chance to beat somepony else," she breathed. She reared up on her hind legs and brought down a hoof to Rainbow's face, making her wail with agony as she struck her nose, making it crack and bleed even more. War then struck out at her eye, causing it to swell and blacken. "What are the Elements of Harmony?"
"I'll never tell you, you monster!" Rainbow spat in fury. She cried out when War grabbed her forelock in her teeth and yanked as hard as she could, reigniting the pain in her nose, and ripped out a large clump of red, yellow, and orange. She spat the hair on the ground and went for her crest, yanking out green, blue, and purple.
Next, she went for her wings. She plucked each feather off one by one, causing the pegasus to scream and try to flap her wings to escape the torment. War de-feathered the entire of her left wing and went for her right.
"Stop, stop, stop!" Rainbow wailed, crying in pain at this point. She screamed as the pony yanked out more feathers in larger clumps this time, making it hurt even more. "Please stop!"
"Tell us what we need to know and we'll stop," Death smirked evilly.
"N-Never!"
War finished Rainbow's right wing and grabbed her picklock. Grinning maniacally, she reared her leg back and jammed the picklock into her belly, puncturing her soft cyan fur and flesh. Rainbow screamed loudly and thrashed around as the pony began gliding the tool down, cutting through her, even though it was difficult.
After what felt like an hour - even though it was only two minutes - War stopped and pulled the picklock out, letting her victim to bleed through the deep wound. Rainbow panted heavily in pain, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Feel like talking now?" Death asked once again.
"I... I'll never talk..." the pegasus grunted. "I won't... let my friends... down..."
"Let's see how much pain you can take before you finally decide to talk," War sneered. She bit down hard on Rainbow's left wing and yanked as hard as she could, making the pegasus scream in agony. War pulled harder and harder, her clenched teeth tightening so much that it caused her wing to bleed, until finally a popping sound could be heard. Rainbow shrieked and thrashed around, but her left wing fell limp at her side. War had dislocated the bone from its socket.
"Talk or you'll never be able to fly again!" War spat before turning around and bucking her victim's chest hard, causing her to cough up blood. A few cracking noises could be heard as Rainbow's ribs were broken.
"St-Stop!" she choked through coughing and sputtering, fresh new tears falling down her cheeks.
Chuckling evilly, War went to Rainbow's right side and fastened her teeth into her other wing, then began to pull, making her scream and finally give in to the pain.
"Stop! Stop! I'll talk! Please stop! " the pegasus sobbed. Growling, War let go of her wing and stepped back, letting Death walk forward again.
"What are the Elements of Harmony?" she repeated.
Rainbow panted and wept softly, then sniffled and lifted her head to look into Death's eyes. She noticed that the green pony hadn't activated her powers to suck her soul out, and Breakneck Pace was right: she could just faintly see the souls of other ponies trying to escape through her eyes.
"The... The Elements of Harmony are six golden artifacts with jewels embedded in them, which contain the magic," the pegasus said, hanging her head in defeat. "They have a magic powerful enough to defeat any villain. My friends and I possess these elements and..." Rainbow trailed off to sob a bit more in pain and sorrow before continuing. "...and we were able to defeat every villain threatening Equestria... They defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Lord Tirek, and they'll defeat you four as well."
"What, this Element?" she heard Death ask. She looked up to see Famine placing her Element of Loyalty on the ground, and Death looked at War, giving her permission to do something. Grinning evilly, the red pony approached the Element, then reared up on her hind legs, and finally brought her forelegs crashing down on the Element. Her hooves bent and cracked the golden necklace, but the red lightning-shaped gem wouldn't break or even dent. "What the?"
"Those Elements are thousands of years old," Rainbow growled. "They'll never break."
"In that case... Pestilence!" Death turned to her younger sister. "Take that Element over the mountains and throw it in the abyss. Nopony will be able to find it in there."
"You got it, sis!" Pestilence picked up the red gem in her mouth and galloped out of the cave.
"Hey! Get back here! Don't do it!" Rainbow shouted as she struggled, a mixture of anger and fear rising in her chest. "We need those Elements!"
"Oh, boo-hoo," War mockingly pouted, gliding her hoof tip down her cheek from her eye like a tear.
"You won't be needing any of your precious Elements of Harmony after we're done with Mytholand and all the rest of your friends anyway," Death smirked. "As well as you. You'll have nopony else to save, and there won't be anypony left to save anypony else back in Equestria. Not only did you fail Mytholand, but you also failed Equestria, because after we're done with this pitiful land, guess where we're going next?"
Rainbow could only glare at her and growl, unable to retaliate. The green pony chuckled and walked off into another section of the cave with Famine and War. Once they were gone, she broke down began to sob softly. She had failed in living up to the Element of Loyalty. She had failed her friends and everypony else of Mytholand as well as Equestria. But most importantly, she had failed herself.
Everypony was doomed because of her.
"Okay, does everypony understand?" Twilight asked the others, who all nodded.
"Sure do!" Pinkie Pie grinned. "Rarity's gonna dress us all up in camouflage so we can sneak over to the mountains when night falls and sneak into the cave. Then Future Sight will check the surroundings with her third eye. After that, Flash Fire will light our way through the caves until we find Rainbow Dash, and Strike will bite through the ropes with his super-sharp teeth.
"If the sisters attacked, Fluttershy will use her Stare, Applejack will buck the smithereens outta them, Twilight will immobilize them with her magic, and I will use my trusty party cannon! Meanwhile, Breakneck Pace will gallop as fast as she can with her eight legs back to town with Rainbow Dash on her back and we'll follow suit later, and finally we'll all be present to discuss how to use the Elements of Harmony on her!"
"Yeah, she already said that," Strike grunted, rolling his eyes.
"Okay, everypony, let's get started!" Twilight declared.
Everypony ran out into the very thin woods, gathering as many sticks and dried leaves as possible. They all brought them back to Breakneck Pace's house and Breakneck and Fluttershy, both having the longest hair of the gang, lent strands of hair to Rarity so she could sew the materials together on large damp leaves, creating completely organic camouflage hats and shirts. She also used the ashes of the remaining houses and trees from the fire earlier that morning to paint everyone with to make them appear much darker.
This all took several hours, and by the time they were all finished, the sun was already beginning to set. Everypony put on their camouflage and trotted out of the house and towards the mountain. It was nighttime by the time they came up to the base of the mountain.
"Okay, Future Sight, you're up," Twilight whispered to the espony, who nodded and closed her eyes and opened her third eye.
She stood that way for a few minutes before closing it and opening her other two eyes back up. "There are only three of them in there. War, Famine, and Death."
"We'll need to find some way to drive them out," Applejack muttered. She grinned when she came up with an idea, then she inhaled and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Applejack!" Rarity shouted. "You'll give us away!"
"No, I won't," the earth pony retorted. "They'll come out to look for whoever made the noise, but thanks to our disguises they won't find us. Twilight can create a ball of light to lead the three ponies away, and then we can go in without running into anypony else other than Rainbow Dash."
"Great thinking, Applejack!" Flash Fire grinned, clearly impressed. Everypony gasped at the sound of galloping getting louder and louder from the cave and they all ducked behind the dead bushes, and meanwhile Flash Fire vanished from sight.
"Did you hear that?" one of the ponies asked.
"Yeah, I did. But where did it come from?" another pony growled.
Twilight hid her horn under her hooves and lit it up to cast a spell, and she created a small ball of magenta light, looking much like a will-o'-the-wisp. She then made it drift away from them, but not before she made it noticeable by the sisters.
"Hey, that must be a part of a wisp pony foal!" the second pony shouted. "Let's follow it!"
"Okay. The captive won't be able to escape and Pestilence will be back soon, so one of us have to stay behind," a third voice said. "Famine, will you be willing to stay behind?"
"Okay," the first pony agreed.
Cursing silently, the Equestrian and Mytholander ponies waited for the other two ponies to gallop off and out of sight, and they saw Famine walk back into the cave.
"Now what do we do?" Fluttershy whimpered.
"Perhaps we can all take her down quickly," Twilight replied. "I can cast a soundproof bubble in the cave so none of the other sisters can hear. Now come on, let's go. Flash Fire, where are you?"
"I'm still here," the wisp pony replied. She then appeared again next to Twilight. "Ready?"
Twilight yelped, not expecting the mischievous pony to be behind her. Flash Fire giggled and floated into the cave and the others followed, Twilight rolling her eyes in half amusement, half annoyance.
The ponies walked through the cave and came up to a fork in the road. Future Sight closed her eyes and opened her third eye to detect where Rainbow Dash was, and she found that she was in the right cave while Famine was in the left one. They all moved on and before they knew it, they came across a small clearing in the cave where a red and cyan pony lay head lowered and tied up in a chair.
"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie squealed loudly, causing a loud echo through the caves. Everypony clamped her mouth shut and shushed her, but it was too late. They heard another pony approach from behind and they turned to see Famine staring at them wide-eyed.
"Intruders!" Famine cried out.
Twilight quickly cast the soundproof bubble spell that covered the entire clearing. Famine cried out again, but no noise could be heard outside of the bubble. This gave the ponies the chance to attack.
"You can attack her, but make sure she doesn't touch you!" Breakneck instructed. "If she touches you, she'll steal your strength and leave you in the same state she's in!"
"C'mere, you lil' varmint!" Applejack growled as she approached the now trembling pony quickly.
"Watch out!" Twilight called out. "She might be trying to pull a fast one on you by looking scared!"
"I don't care if she's downright horrified, I'm givin' her a piece of my mind!" Applejack reared up on her forelegs and tried to buck the pony, but she quickly rolled out of the way and leaped back up on her hooves. She then darted at Applejack and placed a hoof on her, draining out her energy. The earth pony let out a cry as her legs lost their strength and she fell over on her side.
"Get away from her!" Rarity bellowed before headbutting the pony away. She looked down at Applejack, whose ribs were just barely showing, and helped her to her hooves. "Are you okay, dear?"
"I...I dunno..." she replied shakily, finding it hard to stay standing.
Famine growled and leaped at Rarity, but a magical blast from Twilight kept her at bay. She slammed into the magical bubble and collapsed to the ground.
Pinkie Pie leaped out of the bubble and grabbed another rope, then leaped back in and tossed it to Strike, who tied Famine up with it. Finally, Twilight cast a spell causing a zipper to appear on the side of Famine's mouth, and she zipped her mouth shut to keep her quiet. Once she knew she wouldn't make anymore noises, she subsided the magical bubble.
"We've got to get out of here now," Twilight whispered. "We don't have much time before the other three sisters come back. Strike, can you bite through Rainbow's binds?"
"You bet I can!" he replied. He flew over to the pegasus pony and bit through the ropes with ease, untying her. Breakneck trotted over to them and let the Typhon pony place the unconscious mare on her back, and he used what remained of the ropes to tie her to the Sleipnir pony's back.
"Okay, she's secured," Breakneck reported. "Now let's get the hay out of here!"
The ponies all galloped out of the cave, thankful that they didn't end up running into any of the other sisters, and made their way back to the town.
The red lightning-bolt shaped gem clacked in echoes against the stones as it fell into the abyss. Nodding in satisfaction, Pestilence turned back around and trotted down the mountainside. She had successfully gotten rid of one of the Elements used to defeat her and her sisters. Now they'd never be able to find it, and thus they'd never be able to defeat them!
Pestilence leaped off of the last rock and landed firmly on the grassy ground. She made her way to the cave she and her sisters lived in and walked in, and almost immediately she heard the sound of muffled cries. It didn't sound like their captive. No, instead it sound a lot like...
"Famine!" the pony cried out before leaping into a gallop down through the cave. She ran into the clearing where their captive usually was - who was now gone - and at the corner was a tied up gray and black pony.
Pestilence rushed over to her sister and unzipped the zipper on her mouth, which then vanished instantly. She tugged on the ropes to try and untie her, and she spoke through clenched teeth. "What happened here? Are you okay?"
"Th-The ponies..." Famine whimpered, shaking too vigorously in fear to make out any other words.
"What ponies? Famine, what happened?"
"They... They took her..."
"Who took who?" Death's voice asked. Famine and Pestilence turned to see her and War walk into the clearing. Her eyes widened when she saw her youngest sister tied up and she and War both helped Pestilence untie her. They finally managed to break the ropes and help the youngest pony to her hooves. "What happened?"
"The... The ponies..." Famine whined with another fierce quiver.
"Where were you two?" Pestilence asked her older sisters. "You should've heard what happened to Famine and our captive!"
"We were chasing what looked to be a stray wisp pony filly," War replied with a snarl. "Turns out it was all a trick to lure us away from the cave."
"The ponies came... They took our pony..." Famine finally managed to stutter.
"Those ponies are quite clever," Death credited with a small chuckle. "Taking on the youngest of the sisters and luring the strongest two away. Well played, Equestrian ponies." Her gaze suddenly turned dark and an intimidatingly evil grin stretched across her face. "But two can play at that game. Nopony cheats Death and gets away with it."
Numerous hooves pounded against the ground, riding the Equestrian and Mytholander ponies back into town. They stopped and panted heavily from the harsh run once they reached it, and they made their way in a slower pace to Breakneck's house.
Twilight and Rarity helped untie Rainbow Dash from the Sleipnir pony's back and placed her on the pile of sand the ponies slept on before. Twilight approached her unconscious friend and inspected her wounds.
"It looks like Rainbow took quite a beating from those ponies," she announced after she finished analyzing and dressing the pegasus pony's wounds. "She has many cuts and bruises that will heal, but the gash on her belly had to be wrapped. A few chunks of hair were yanked out, too, and her wings had been plucked clean of their feathers. Her left wing had also been dislocated, so I had to pop it back into place and wrap it with bandages, as well as her chest; a few of her ribs are broken."
"This all looks like the work of War," Strike hissed. "It's just like her to beat another pony up this badly."
"I also noticed that she no longer has her Element of Loyalty," Twilight went on. "I'm guessing that the sisters took it and hid it somewhere."
"I know where it is," Future chimed in very softly, almost missing Twilight's attention and having her carry on. "When I was checking the cave, I also noticed somepony walking up the mountainside. It must have been Pestilence. I also sensed a powerful magic from her."
"That must've been Rainbow's Element!" Applejack exclaimed. "Where did that good-fer-nothin' pony take it?"
"It looked like she was heading towards the Annihilation Abyss. That's where the sisters throw any valuables belonging to any Mytholander ponies into. Nopony who's tried to go down there to retrieve anything the sisters threw in every came back out, not even Typhon or wisp ponies."
"So that's it, then!" Applejack shouted in defeat, exhibiting fury. "We're done for! We lost the Element of Loyalty forever and now Equestria and Mytholand are gonna pay!"
"Calm down, Applejack," Rarity tried to reason with her upset friend. "Maybe somepony of another species can fly down there and retrieve it."
"Oh, yeah? Like who?"
"Like an alicorn!" Pinkie squeaked, leaping on Twilight's back.
The princess' eyes flew wide open in surprise and teleported out from under the party pony, then reappeared next to Fluttershy and Future. "What? But I can't fly down there!"
"Who else can fly and use powerful magic?" Rarity challenged, catching on to Pinkie's proposition.
"But didn't you hear what Future Sight said? Nopony who's ever gone down there has ever come back out!"
"Just like a princess to care more about herself than her pupils," Strike growled, glaring at the alicorn hostilely.
"That's not what I meant!" Twilight snapped back. "I mean if I go down there and I don't come back-"
"Then what?" the Typhon pony interrupted. "Mytholand is doomed? Or better yet, Equestria is doomed? Because that's all that you ponies care about: your homeland!"
"We care about everypony and every place!" Rarity shouted in Twilight's place. "We aren't greedy or cruel unlike somepony who yells at a princess and accuses her of not caring about her friends when she clearly does!"
"Well, if she doesn't go down there, then we're all doomed!"
"Can't you think about nopony else but yourself?" Applejack growled. "You have no idea how difficult this is for Twilight! She doesn't want to disappear from existence because she doesn't want to leave her friends behind!"
"Friends this, friends that, we're all such wonderful friends!" Strike mocked, venom literally spewing from his mouth. "Friendship doesn't stand a chance against death itself! We were all doomed from the start!"
"Please stop!" Fluttershy suddenly cried out, her shrill voice causing everyone to halt their fighting. A single tear fell down her cheek as she glared at them. "If everypony's going to make such a big deal out of all of this, I'll go and get this all over with!"
The ponies all widened their eyes, and a few of them gasped in disbelief. Rarity was the first to leap to her side. "Fluttershy, sweetie, you can't!"
"Somepony has to," she replied, her voice quivering. "I'm not doing this for just Equestria or just Mytholand. I'm doing it for everypony I care about, which includes you." She looked at the Mytholander ponies.
"But Fluttershy..." Pinkie whimpered. Tears began to fall down her cheeks as she launched herself at her friend and hugged her tightly. "I won't let you go, not by yourself! I'm coming with you!"
"So am I," Applejack chimed in, holding her hat to her chest. "If one Element goes, they all go."
"This will be such a risky mission, but I'll come as well for Rainbow Dash and for everypony else," Rarity declared, wiping the wet mascara from her cheeks.
Twilight looked down guiltily. "I can't believe what I did... I was more concerned about myself than I was for my friends... Some Princess of Friendship I am..."
"It's okay, Twilight," Fluttershy spoke softly, lifting her friend's head up and smiling warmly. "There's nothing wrong with trying to protect yourself. You should never try to throw yourself out in the face of danger for your friends may end up paying the consequences. But you can count that your friends will still always be by your side no matter what."
"We were foolish to try and single you out," Rarity admitted shamefully. "As close as we are to one another and to Rainbow Dash, we all should have offered from the get-go to go together."
Twilight smiled and wiped her own tears away. "Thank you, everypony. Okay, let's go and get that Element for Rainbow Dash!"
"Not without me, you're not," Breakneck suddenly interrupted before the ponies could walk out. The Sleipnir pony walked over to their side. "We're all friends here, so we all should help you retrieve the missing Element."
"Yay for adventure!" Flash cheered, floating to their side.
"I'm coming, too," Future smiled, walking up to them.
Everypony then turned to look at Strike, who looked back. He glared at them all for a while, then suddenly he softened his gaze and smiled. "I'm coming, too. I'm sorry for all my accusations. I should really learn how to trust my friends instead of accuse them."
"Thanks, Strike," Twilight smiled. "Okay, let's go!"
The ponies all galloped out of the house and towards Apocalypse Mountain, leaving Rainbow Dash to sleep in her sandy bed and regain her strength.
The pegasus pony's eyes flickered open.
Everypony galloped towards Apocalypse Mountain, eager to get this mission over with. It was a very dangerous one, and it just could be life-risking, too. But they all knew that it had to be done, and they were willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of all of Mytholand and Equestria.
The ponies quietly snuck past the cave where the sisters lived and, with Future Sight to guide them, they climbed up the mountainside. About an hour later, when the moon was at its peak, they made it up to the Annihilation Abyss and looked down to see nothing but pitch blackness.
"It looks even scarier in person," Flash whimpered, backing away from the ledge a little.
"Flash Fire, I know you're scared, but could you please light the way down the abyss?" Twilight asked gently.
The wisp pony gulped down as much of her fear she could. Nodding, she floated a little ways down into the abyss, then intensified her bodily lighting. The ponies could see a little farther down now, and they noticed that there was what looked like a staircase made of ledges leading downward.
"I guess somepony before us made that to try and make their way down into the abyss," Breakneck guessed.
"Okay, everypony, let's go. And mind your footing." Twilight was the first to step onto the small ledge. It crumbled slightly, but it stayed strong enough to support her weight. She carefully walked along the ledges downwards with the other ponies following, Fluttershy and Strike flying downwards.
"Whatever you do, don't look down," Applejack hissed nervously to everyone else. She yelped at the sound of a squeal and turned to see Pinkie trembling, hugging onto the wall of the abyss for dear life. "Did you not hear what I just said?"
"I-I couldn't help it," the party pony replied. "Whenever somepony tells you not to do something you do it anyway."
The friends all walked further and further down into the abyss until finally Twilight stopped, holding out a wing and gesturing everyone else to stop as well. The ledges had disappeared.
"Do you see anything else we can use to climb down?" Twilight asked. Flash floated around the walls of the abyss, but she shook her head when she couldn't find anything.
"What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked nervously.
"How far down is the rest of the abyss, Flash?" Twilight asked the wisp pony. She floated down until she was just a small flicker of blue light, and she called back up, "There's another staircase down here!"
"How do we get down there without breakin' somethin'?" Applejack asked.
"I guess we have no other choice but to carry the others," Twilight replied before turning to Fluttershy and Strike. "The three of us will need to carry everypony down to where Flash Fire is. Make sure you have a good grip on them so you don't drop them. We'll take one pony at a time."
"But I'm not very strong," Fluttershy reminded the princess.
"Then carry Future Sight. She's the smallest and lightest."
Fluttershy nodded and turned to the espony. "Are you ready?"
"I think so," Future replied, trembling in fear. She climbed up on the pegasus pony's back and rode her down to where Flash was still floating.
"I'll grab Rarity," Strike said. "That is if it's okay with you."
"I trust you won't drop me," Rarity smiled as if trying to convince herself more than the Typhon. She let out a whine of discomfort as Strike wrapped his viper tails around her torso, then he carried her down further into the abyss.
"Ready to go, Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie responded by bouncing on Twilight's back with a squeal. "You bet I am!"
"Don't worry, you two, we'll come back for you," the alicorn told Applejack and Breakneck.
"No need," the Sleipnir pony replied. "I've been training how to work my legs so fast I can glide downward a bit slower than free fall. I'll carry Applejack."
"Y-Ya sure about that?" the earth pony asked in uncertainty.
"Would I really risk the life of one of my friends just to show off or anything? I thought you were the Element of Honesty, therefore you should know what's the truth when you hear it."
Applejack smiled warmly, then climbed on Breakneck's back. "You got me there. I trust you."
Twilight ignited a magenta light from her horn and flew downwards, making sure to stay next to Breakneck as she worked her legs into a literal blur, having her glide a little slower down. Once they reached the bottom, Breakneck stuck out her legs and tensed them up, then landed firmly on the ledge. Unfortunately, her landing caused the stone to crack, and the ledge began breaking away from the abyss wall.
Breakneck and Applejack cried out as they both began sliding over the edge. Strike and Fluttershy had to pick Rarity and Future back up so they wouldn't fall over, but now no one could grab the Sleipnir and earth ponies.
Flash tried to grab Breakneck by the tail in her teeth, but she wasn't nearly as strong as she had hoped. The two ponies were now dangling over the edge by their forelegs, and Applejack clutched onto Breakneck's chest for dear life, screaming.
"They're gonna fall!" Pinkie cried. "Somepony do something!"
Before anypony could react, the ledge finally broke off and Breakneck and Applejack were sent plummeting into the abyss. The sudden movement caused a clump of hair to be ripped out of Breakneck's tail, the clump Flash was holding on to, and everyone cried out as their friends plummeted into the darkness.
Suddenly, an explosion was heard from above and everyone looked up to see a giant sonic boom of colors erupting overhead, turning the night sky clear blue for a split second. They all winced as a stripe of rainbow zoomed downward into the abyss, and seconds later it zoomed back up, carrying Breakneck Pace and Applejack.
"Rainbow Dash!" everypony cried out in delight and disbelief.
The pegasus pony slowed down and placed the Sleipnir and earth ponies down on the ledge staircase, then landed next to them, panting heavily in pain.
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack exclaimed before leaping off of Breakneck and hugging her tightly. "How in Equestria did you manage to rescue us in the condition you're in?"
"You ponies all seem to keep forgetting that the feathers on a pegasus pony's wings grow back rapidly," she replied, wiggling her newly feathered wings a bit. She then turned to them all looking irritated. "Why did you guys go off without me? Don't forget, this is my Element."
"We're sorry, Rainbow," Twilight apologized. "You just seemed too injured at the time to come along."
"I'm still in a lot of pain, yes, but I won't let that get in the way of doing the best I can for my friends."
"You really are the most loyal pony I've ever met," Breakneck smiled thankfully at the pegasus pony. "Thank you for saving our lives."
"Don't mention it! Anything for a friend!"
"Well, I guess we're all moving on all together now," Twilight smiled. "Come on, everypony!"
The ponies all walked down the staircase deeper and deeper into the abyss. A few of them looked up and saw that the night sky was now blended in with the darkness of the abyss, making it look as thought they were all trapped in a large cave.
There was another end of the stairs and Flash floated down again to find no more staircases, but rather the floor of the abyss. It was just a hop, skip, and a jump away, according to Pinkie Pie.
Once they all made it to the floor, they all looked around, using Flash's body and Twilight's horn for lighting. They walked around in search of the missing Element, and soon enough they saw the glistening of something red.
Rainbow Dash zoomed towards it and grabbed the red object, but found that it was liquid rather than solid. "Eww, what is this? It can't be my Element, it can't melt!"
Future walked up to inspect it, then she gulped nervously. "It's fresh blood."
"Blood? " The pegasus pony cried out as she tried to shake off the scarlet liquid from her hooves.
"It's fresh you said?" Breakneck asked. "That must mean that somepony recently fell in here or something. Who-" She trailed off as Flash floated over to them to look. Her blue light shone on the body of the pony the blood belonged to. It was a Sleipnir pony colt, and he had a slightly darker shade of gray than Breakneck's fur. The Sleipnir pony mare teared up and fell to her knees. "No... No!"
"Who is it?" Rainbow asked urgently after removing most of the blood from her hooves.
"I recognize him," Flash replied quietly. "That's Stampede. He's Breakneck Pace's younger brother."
Breakneck began to weep as she nuzzled her dead brother's head, covering her face in his blood. She picked him up and hugged him tightly, breaking into loud sobs, getting his blood all over her gray fur.
"How could this have happened?" Twilight asked sadly. "We didn't see anypony fall in, and we were on our way down for about an hour now."
"Take a look at his wounds," Applejack suddenly pointed out. She gently gestured Breakneck to put Stampede down, and she pointed to many gashes in his body. "No broken bones, only deep cuts. He didn't fall do his death, he bled out."
"Who would murder another pony?" Rarity breathed in horror. She gasped when she heard the sound of hooves clacking against the stone ground, echoing eerily throughout the abyss. Everyone turned and saw four ponies approaching them, all four of them mares. The leader had glowing white eyes.
"You..." Twilight gasped, her eyes widening. She then narrowed her eyes. "You! Why would you do this to an innocent pony?"
"You attacked our sister, now we killed that Sleipnir pony's beloved brother," Death replied apathetically.
"Were you ponies looking for this?" Pestilence asked, reaching behind her and pulling out Rainbow Dash's Element of Loyalty.
"Hey!" Rainbow shouted. "Give me my Element back!"
"I'm surprised you recovered from my beatings so quickly," War sneered. "Perhaps I didn't a thorough enough job. I'll be sure not to make that same mistake again."
"You killed my brother!" Everyone turned to see Breakneck standing up, her brother's blood smeared on her fur, and glaring at the sisters with malice. She reared up on her hind legs and flung herself towards them.
War leaped up immediately and slammed into the Sleipnir pony's side, knocking her away and into a wall. She snarled viciously, warning everyone else to stay back, in which they did.
"I see I've been playing nice a bit too long," Death spoke coldly, glaring at the Equestrian ponies. "You ponies are such thorns in my side. We were all doing just fine until you all came along and ruined everything. But now you are going to be taught a lesson you won't forget in a hurry."
"You're the punks who are gonna learn a thing or two!" Rainbow roared. She flew at the green pony, only to be grabbed by War, her teeth fastened in her wing. The red pony yanked back as hard as she could, dislocating her wing once again, and flung her to the ground in front of her friends. The pegasus pony screamed in agony and slammed a forehoof in the ground, finding the new pain to be unbearable. "Come on, not again! "
"You leave everypony alone!" Applejack shouted in anger. She galloped towards the sisters and skidded to a halt before whipping around quickly and kicking out her hind legs into War's chest, bucking her over her sisters and sending her crashing into the wall. Almost immediately War was replaced with Famine, who placed a hoof on the earth pony and began to drain out all her energy. Applejack managed to escape and retreat, but she was incredibly feeble now, almost unable to stay up on her hooves.
"Ready to give up?" War sneered with a wicked grin.
"Not in a million years!" Strike spat. He leaped out for the red pony, only to be knocked away by Pestilence.
Meanwhile, through all the battling, Death calmly walked through, smiling evilly. She had her eyes glued to Twilight, who was trying to blast the sisters with her magic. Unfortunately, she didn't see the eldest sister approach and she was tackled and pinned down.
"Ow! Let me go!" Twilight exclaimed as she struggled.
Death turned to her three sisters, still keeping the alicorn in place. "War, Pestilence, Famine! Keep those ponies away! It's time I teach them all a lesson!"
The three younger sisters broke away from their brawls and stood in front of Death and Twilight, snarling and spitting at anyone who tried to come closer.
"I didn't want to have to resort to this," Death spoke to Twilight once the chaos died down, "but you simply gave me no other option. You're all much stronger than we thought, and we underestimated you quite a few times. But now you will never be able to defeat us, for what are the Elements of Harmony without their precious Element of Magic?"
"You'll never prevail, Death!" Twilight retorted acidly, glaring at her but making sure not to look directly in her glowing white eyes. "You villains never learn, do you? Bad guys always finish last!"
"But you are finished for good." The green pony used a hoof to lift up Twilight's head and she looked straight into her eyes. Her eyes glowed a piercing bright light, and the alicorn found that she couldn't look away no matter how hard she tried.
What everypony else saw made their hearts skip a few beats. There was a wispy, transparent purple gas being sucked out through Twilight's eyes, and with a jolt of realization they saw it was her soul. The ponies tried to stop Death, but her sisters made sure to keep them at bay. All they could do now was watch helplessly as the eldest Apocalyptic Sister took away their best friend's soul.
Death flung her head back to yank the remaining of Twilight's soul out, and the purple ghostly pony was sent flying into the air. She stopped in midair and was then sucked downward into Death's glowing eyes. She struggled to escape, flapping her wings as hard as she could, but it was no use.
"Twilight! " the Equestrian and Mytholander ponies cried out as they tried once again to save their dying friend, and this time the sisters let them pass, knowing alongside Death that no matter what they did it was too late to save their friend.
"Even after death," they all heard a soft, echoing voice, and they recognized the voice belonging to Twilight, "you all are still my best friends. I'm sorry I failed everypony. This is good-bye. I love you all!" Before anypony could even think of replying, the last of Twilight's soul was sucked into Death's eyes and they glowed purple for a split second before fading back into white.
Twilight Sparkle was gone.
