Author's Note

If you haven't read the prologue yet, please do so as it clears up a few things. You'll have more insight into some of the things that I'm talking about.

Chapter 1: Generosity's Gift

Town Outskirts
Ponyville

Twilight Sparkle sank to her knees, taking in the devastating sight before her. After she'd received that mysterious letter from her friends yesterday, she had gathered her things and booked the next train heading to Ponyville. Fortunately for her there was only one more, and thus she anxiously waited out the few hours of the ride, unable to get rid of the sinking feeling within her.

Her worst fears were confirmed as soon as she stepped out into the Ponyville train station and noticed the lack of ponies there - or anywhere, for that matter. The entire station had been abandoned, and an eerie silence had descended upon it, rendering everything so quiet that you could even hear a pin drop. "Umm... girls? Anypony?" she'd called out, only to be greeted nothing in response. Gulping, she quickly exited the train station and made her way in the direction of Ponyville. The entire walk was unsettling, mostly by the quiet that accompanied it; Twilight was developing a growing hatred for the ponies who'd thought that constructing Ponyville's train station a few miles away from the inital town itself was a good idea.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the edges of Ponyville finally came into view. Twilight could see the numerous orchards of Sweet Apple Acres to the far side of the town, noting how the apple trees appeared to be on the verge of death, which further accelerated her panic. It wasn't until she finally focused more on the main town, however, that a gasp of horror escaped her.

Ponyville was in ruins; debris were strewn everywhere, and what houses had once stood tall were now lacking a majority of their exteriors. The only building that seemed to fare much more better than the others was the Town Hall, whose glory was increased now that it was the only intact building amongst the town. Furthermore, not a single pony could been seen, as if they'd all disappeared suddenly. It pained her to see that Ponyville, a town most famous for its bubbling energy and friendly ponies, was doomed to such a disastrous fate. What happened here?

Forcing herself to stop panicking, Twilight took a deep breath as the gears in her head began to turn, trying to come up with something logical for her next move. My friends somehow sent me a letter that would have passed for a normal one if they didn't write that warning on the bottom. But what did they want me to do, calling me their "last hope"? Most importantly, what in Celestia's name happened here?

Twilight paused, carefully going over those last few thoughts again. There was something in there, something crucial that she'd failed to grasp the meaning of at first sight...

The letter! Immediately, her horn lit up with magic as said letter left the safety of her saddlebags and hovered in front of her face. Her friends had somehow tried to get a secret message through to her, even though it wasn't really that well hidden, so what could stop them from hiding another one in the letter itself?

Her eyes quickly scanned the letter as she read it once more, attempting to discover any additional secret messages if there were any. To her disbelief, there were none. What? My friends only left one message for me that wasn't even difficult to decipher?

My friends...

"My friends!" Twilight exclaimed. "Maybe they left clues in their respective homes!"

Filled with a newfound energy, Twilight shoved the letter back into her saddlebags before galloping off in the direction of Carousel Boutique. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but deep down she dreaded being about to see what Carousel Boutique looked like now that it'd been completely destroyed. Fond memories of Rarity surfaced in her mind, and she chuckled slightly as she imagined how the fashionista would have reacted if she'd seen the sorry state of her precious boutique.

Going at a steady pace, she soon approached the ruins of the Carousel Boutique, wincing as she saw the appearance it'd adopted. At this rate, I won't be able to find anything just because of the rubble! She carefully maneuvered around the debris-littered ground, avoiding any potential dangers.

"Ouch!" Twilight suddenly hissed, her now injured hoof throbbing with pain. She'd been so busy trying to find a possible hidden object that she didn't even notice the jagged piece of rock nearby, thus earning her a sharp stab. Fortunately for the alicorn, there was still some remaining gauze in her saddlebags, so she quickly magicked it out and applied it to her wound. A few minutes passed by before she stowed the bloodied gauze away, having survived the worst of the pain.

As she continued her desperate search, something flashed at the corner of her eye. Is that... the diamond ring that Rarity showed us all those weeks ago? And what's that carved into the diamond? Rarity would never do such a thing!

Twilight carefully inspected the ring, squinting as hard as she could in order to make out whatever was carved into the diamond. To her irritation, it was after a lot more squinting and stinging eyes that she finally managed to decipher the carving.

S. T.

"S. T.? Is this a joke or something?" Twilight grumbled, rubbing at her eyes with a hoof. "I did all of that squinting just to discover some initals?"

Sighing, she began to put away the ring... just as a shocking realization hit her. Wait! What if this is the clue? Maybe they're the initals of whoever's behind this! If Rarity sacrificed her most precious ring just so I could discover this clue, I can't treat it like it's nothing!

Twilight raised her gaze to the sky, cracking a slight smile. Thank you for this clue, Rarity. Even in the face of danger, your Element of Generosity will always come through.

Unknown
Unknown

"Elements of Harmony, why do you still refuse to give up? There is no hope for any of you! No matter what you do, sooner or later, the Element of Magic will join you in your suffering and I will destroy Equestria once and for all!"

"The magic of friendship will never die, you monster!"

"Twilight's smarter than you think! WE BELIEVE IN HER!"

"SILENCE! FRIENDSHIP IS NOTHING! ONCE I AM DONE WITH EQUESTRIA, FRIENDSHIP WILL CEASE TO EXIST FOREVER! YOUR SO-CALLED PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP WILL WATCH AS THE FRIENDSHIP SHE CREATED CRUMBLES TO PIECES ALL AROUND HER!"