A Pony's Tale: Equestria's Fall

The air was cold as ice. Twilight stood alone in the Canterlot throne room, exhausted from all that she had been through in her fight to save Equestria. Her friend's had all perished in their final stand against Queen Chrysalis and her army of Changelings, Celestia had passed from a mysterious illness, Luna was missing, and this time the magic of friendship had failed Twilight in her greatest hour of need. She was alone, and all she had left was the foal she had vowed to protect from harm, but some promises were impossible to keep.

The sinister laugh of Queen Chrysalis echoed throughout the throne room as Twilight struggled to breathe. She had not surrendered and refused to fall or bow before the demented being that stood high above her, eyeing her with murderous glee. A severe cut on her forehead bled, causing her vision to be obscured to a dark-red perspective, while her muscles twitched, barely able to support the alicorn of which they were attached to.

To suppress the pressure, she leaned against one of the many stained-glass windows. Through her blurry vision of crimson and the reverberation of her heartbeat in her chest audible in her head, she could make out the story that the glass window told. The defeat of Discord many years prior. Another laugh echoed, causing Twilight to gaze from the window to the Changeling Queen, staring at her with blazing green eyes.

Twilight didn't show her any sign of fear or defeat, refusing to give Chrysalis any victory in that moment of pure chaos and dread. The laugh was followed with a set of words that stained her pride, but again, she gave the queen nothing.

"Any last words, princess?" stated Chrysalis, her tattered horn aglow with a green aura.

Twilight stared at Chrysalis through her blurred vision, struggling to speak her last words.

"You'll never get away with this!," struggled Twilight. "Harmony will prevail!"

Chrysalis only chuckled, clearly not intimidated, as her horn continued to charge up a mass amount of magic, intending to finish Twilight off, for good.

"Your harmony is dead, my dear!" Chrysalis taunted. "Your hope is dead, along with all you once held dear! You're alone and helpless! Nothing can save you!"

Twilight continued to just hold her noble stature, not allowing Chrysalis to belittle her. She knew she was defeated, but she knew that one way or another, in the end, harmony would avenge all who had fallen in the battle. It just wasn't her destiny to do so, and the time had come to join the rest of her friends in death. She just stared at Chrysalis, remaining silen as the spell continued to charge up.

"Farewell, Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

Chrysalis fired a massive beam from her fractured horn, hitting and thrusting Twilight out of the window, shattering it in the process. The blast felt like the force of nothing she could've described, and the descent to her death seemed like an eternity. Twilight gazed upon the sky of both night and day, along with the shards of glass falling at what felt like slow motion, allowing the light breeze and the highlights of her short life flashing before her eyes take her. She spoke a pair of words in her head, closing her eyes and letting the tears built up in her eyes flow down her cheeks.

What I thought was right, turned out to be the last of myself. I look, as my final days pass. My final moments. I blink, yet all I see is darkness. We had lost. I had lost. All hope was lost. There was no winning. It was done

Twilight smiled in her defeat, as she felt the impact of something strike her entire body, and a calm feeling began to flood over her entire body like a waterfall.

It was over. She had lost.

Twilight's eyes burst open, nearly screaming from the nightmare she had just witnessed. Sweat soaked her forehead, as she struggled to catch her breath. She quickly came to reality, and slowly calmed herself, feeling her heart pound like a drum in her chest.

"Calm down, Twilight," she whispered. "It was just a nightmare. Nothing more."

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she gazed out her bedside window, noticing it was still nighttime, but she didn't dare close her eyes again. For some reason, she wanted to wander out into Ponyville just to make sure that her friend's were okay, and know for sure that her nightmare was only a thing of fictional events.

Something about it just didn't feel right. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced. Haunting even.

Not wanting to wake Spike, she did her best to go back to sleep.

She didn't sleep for the remainder of that night.

The next morning, Twilight dragged open her eyelids, having had a restless night. Feeling the warmth of the sun's beams on her skin, she sat herself up slowly, placing all four of her legs on the cold floor. Attempting to shake off all that she had experienced, she focused on the day ahead. The day had a vibe to it; a positive feeling. Not to mention, it was also the day that Luna was scheduled to return from her trip to the Misty Mountains, and perform a special type of moon rising that was unknown to all ponykind. It was an event known as, "the Hallow Moon." An event that only could be performed every ten-thousand years.

Nopony had ever experienced an occasion as such, not even Celestia. Despite her restlessness, Twilight had a smile on her face, feeling good about whatever the day had to offer, despite the terrible nightmare she had woke up from only a few hours prior. Twilight fluffed her wings, noticing Spike enter the room rubbing his eyes. She looked at him with a smile, as the drake approached her.

"I've got a good feeling about today," said Twilight. "How bout you, Spike?"

Spike walked at a slower pace than usual, looking at Twilight with an expression that concerned the alicorn.

"I guess so," replied Spike.

Twilight's smile fell to a concerned grin, as she looked over Spike more. He didn't look like the usual baby dragon she knew, but more like one of Fluttershy's critters when they were first born. He looked pale, was breathing heavily, and even seemed to be shivering a little.

"You feeling okay?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah, I'm just a little slow this morning, that's all," replied Spike.

Twilight wasn't convinced and expressed her disbelief with a look that struck the young dragon like lightning. Spike caught on quickly, embracing the rant yet to come from his guardian.

"Don't lie, Spike. I can see that you are as pale as Starswirl's beard," Twilight sneered with conviction. "Now, I'll ask again. Are you feeling okay?"

Spike responded with a cough, which was enough for Twilight to reach a verdict.

"I'm just not feeling well, Twilight," said Spike. "That's all."

"Seems like more than that, Spike," replied Twilight.

Again, Spike was struck by that same lightning, standing with a fake smile cemented on his face. Twilight wasn't swayed the slightest.

"Why don't you stay here today, while the girls and I take care of Princess Luna's return celebration?" Twilight proposed sweetly.

"Are you sure?" replied Spike with a cough. "I'd hate to abandon you and the girls."

Another cough was emitted off of Spike's statement, causing Twilight not to even question her next choice of words.

"We can handle it, Spike." concluded Twilight. "Now, come on. I'll tuck you in."

Spike attempted to smile as Twilight led him back to his bed. Settling the baby dragon under the bed sheets and tucking the blankets tightly against the drake's body. Twilight followed her mother-like actions with some advice and a light kiss to his rough scales. Then with a mere wave good bye and reassuring smile, Twilight made her way out of the massive castle into Ponyville Center.

During her short-but-sweet trek, all Twilight thought about was the nightmare she had experienced the previous night. Without a doubt, it had scared her to death; it was unlike any other nightmare she had ever had. She had experienced nightmares of her dying before, but something about the one currently troubling her was different. Even the injuries sustained to her by Queen Chrysalis, along with the impact of the fall, had all felt too realistic for comfort.

Twilight usually didn't believe that such nightmares could exist, but at this time, she didn't know whether or not her suspicions were correct. To actually "feel" a nightmare seemed impossible, but could it be possible? Her thoughts were immediately put on hold, replaced by the overly-joyous greetings of the party pony, Pinkie Pie, bouncing her way over. Upon a second glance, Twilight noticed that Pinkie didn't look like, well, the usual Pinkie Pie that normally greeted her with a wide smile in a bubbly manner.

This Pinkie seemed frazzled and unkempt. Her mane was a mess, eyes baggy, and her smile forced, as if it were pasted on her face. Twilight raised an eyebrow, as the frisky mare bounced closer, eventually coming to a soft plop in front of the lavender princess.

"Morning, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed joyously.

Twilight wanted to smile but held a more concerned expression, hearing a stress-like tone in Pinkie's greeting.

"Pinkie, are you okay?" replied Twilight. "You seem a bit off this morning."

"I'm fine! It's just been a doozy-of-a-morning!" Pinkie spoke in between heavy breaths. "I skipped breakfast, Rarity hasn't shown up yet to help with the decorations, and the party isn't even close to being ready for when the main event is scheduled! Everything is just a messy mess!"

Pinkie's statement came out as deranged and psychotic, causing Twilight to take a couple steps back. She looked at her stressed friend with a concerned look, attempting to find words to calm down the party pony.

"Pinkie, I think you're stressing over nothing," Twilight stated, her voice calm and sympathetic. "Rarity probably just overslept, seeing she's not the early type of pony, and from what I can see, the party seems to be coming alone fine. The concession stands are set up, the activity booths are slowly coming along, and I'm sure the scheduled delivery carts of foods, beverages, and necessities for the party will be rolling in before too long. Why don't you calm down and, until Rarity arrives, have yourself a nice morning treat?"

Pinkie didn't respond at first, only put a hoof to her chin and emanated a small-but-audible "hmm." Then in a quick moment of action, Twilight sighed, seeing Pinkie's deranged and frazzled demeanor change to a much more stable and joyous manner. Her unkempt mane changed to her usual mane of curls and even patterns, and her frown rose into a real smile, causing Twilight to smile herself.

"You're right!" Pinkie beamed happily. "Thanks Twilight!"

Twilight giggled, eyeing her friend with happiness.

"Sure thing, Pinkie," Twilight replied.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a cake at Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie clarified, hopping off in her usual manner in the direction of the sweet shop.

"Same ol' Pinkie Pie," Twilight commented. "Now, I'd better get to Canterlot. Celestia is probably awaiting my arrival."

With that said, Twilight took flight in the direction of Canterlot, her previous thoughts of her nightmare now diminished to nothing but a mere memory.

Twilight's flight took a good twenty minutes or so, before she arrived just outside of Canterlot Castle. She landed with a plop, folding up her wings and groaning at a sudden surge of pain. She had not yet adapted to flying, but luckily, had remembered a few tips Rainbow Dash had taught her in the past few weeks, such as taking breaks in between flapping and gliding swiftly to keep herself airborne. Rainbow had also provided her an ointment to help with the aching, which really helped, numbing the wing stem and killing the pain almost instantly.

Planting her hooves on the soft ground, she was immediately met by two guards just outside of the castle.

"Who goes there!?" exclaimed one of the guards.

Twilight rolled her eyes, still surprised that the Royal Guard had not learned to recognize her, due to the countless times that she and her friends had saved Equestria.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle. I've come on business with Princess Celestia," stated Twilight.

The guards lifted their spears, granting her entry.

"My apologies, your highness. Please proceed," the guard apologized with a look of sincerity.

Twilight made her way past the guards, up the stairs, and into the castle. Knowing exactly where to go, she quickly trotted to Princess Celestia's private quarters, coming to a stop at a set of doors. Twilight gently knocked twice, not wanting to walk in on Celestia unannounced.

"Yes?" Celestia called from inside.

"It's Twilight, princess," Twilight answered back.

"Ah, Twilight. Please come in," assured Celestia.

Pushing open the doors, Twilight found Celestia in the middle of the room, hastily going through documents of some kind. Walking up to the matriarch, Twilight awaited Celestia to finish up her business before muttering another word. Being accustomed to dealing with a great amount of letters and documents, Celestia finished up her deed quick and swiftly. Twilight smiled as a response, eyeing her former mentor with glee.

"Sorry I'm late," Twilight commented. "I had some unexpected business along the way."

Celestia giggled in response, causing Twilight to raise an eyebrow.

"You are never late," complimented Celestia. "How goes the preparations for the celebration?"

"As scheduled, despite Rarity sleeping in on Pinkie Pie," Twilight replied.

"Excellent," stated Celestia. "Do you have the speech written out for the event?"

"Yes, but it's more of a rough draft, seeing it doesn't seem suitable for a historic event like this." Twilight sheepishly answered, presenting a scroll in her aura of magenta-colored magic.

Celestia sighed softly at her once-student's usual naivety. She knew her student well enough to have known that this was coming. The princess only smiled, taking the scroll in her golden magic aura, and unrolling the parchment with care. She studied the text with her eyes at a quick pace, uttering some "hmm's" as she did so. Twilight only remained still in suspense, awaiting the verdict.

Celestia finished her analyzation rather quickly, rolling the scroll back to its original state and turning her attention back to the purple alicorn standing in anticipation.

"Everything seems perfect to me," Celestia answered. "Very fitting for my sister, indeed."

Twilight stood in a slightly confused manner, looking at the princess with uncertainty at her decision.

"Are you sure?" Twilight answered quickly. "I thought the part of the speech where you-

Celestia interrupted, placing a hoof on Twilight's muzzle, hushing her instantly.

"It's fine, Twilight," Celestia spoke softly. "Everypony is going to love it. I assure you."

Pulling her hoof from Twilight's muzzle, Celestia eyed Twilight, smiling sweetly. Twilight blushed as a response to the princess's comment, smiling in both relief and happiness.

"Now that that matter is taken care of, shall we move onto composing the organization for the main event of the celebration?" Celestia inquired.

"We shall," Twilight answered.

Celestia bowed her head as response, using her magic to gather a large collection of neatly-stacked papers and documents of all sorts. Placing the tower of endless documents gently on the floor, Celestia directed Twilight to join her, gripping a single file in her golden aura.

"Let's get started then," Celestia commanded nicely. "We don't have all day."

Despite taking Twilight's advice of taking time from arranging the celebration, Pinkie Pie continued to struggle with the preparation regardless. Having no assistance with the decoration, a mountain of stress and pressure ascended in the party pony's mind, along with an invisible weight that continued to weigh upon her shoulders. She had gained some assistance in the absence of Rarity, but the "assistance" had turned out to be a lost cause, seeing the pony who had offered help was none other than the notorious pegasus, Derpy Hooves; aka the Muffin Pony.

Pinkie Pie had assigned Derpy with the simple task of hanging banners. Simple enough, right? Well, not when your vision is unstable. The party pony had done her best to guide the pegasus, but Derpy had struggled nonetheless, creating more of a mess than anything else. Pinkie had admired the pegasus's determination and had thanked her for her efforts, but in the end, it was just a waste of time.

"Where in Equestria is Rarity?!" Pinkie exclaimed with irritation, her mane once again a frazzled mess, and her demeanor unstable.

Pinkie had grown to the point of making a small visit to Carousel Boutique and giving Rarity a wake up call that she'd never forget. That wasn't necessary though, as she caught sight of a frantic Rarity rushing as fast as her hooves could trot into Ponyville Center. It wasn't hard to tell that she had just barely woke up, due to her mane being unkempt and her eyelids still half-shut. That mountain of stress seized from escalating any further, as Pinkie eyed the fashionista with a death glare.

Rarity came to a halt, looking at Pinkie with a sympathetic expression. She could clearly see Pinkie's frustration just from the look she was currently giving the unicorn. It spoke of irritation and slight insanity, but her frustration came to a seize, released in a long dragged out grunt.

Rarity breathed at a rapid pace from her long venture, attempting to utter an apology for her absence but failed to comply. Pinkie didn't care about that. She was more focused on the many tasks that were yet to be completed before the evening came.

"No time to apologize!" Pinkie exclaimed quickly. "We have LOTS to get done in VERY little time!"

"Very well," Rarity spoke inbetween heavy breaths. "Where should we start?"

"First things first, we need to get the banners hung! We are wayyyyyy behind schedule!"

No other response was given. All that coincided with that final statement was a hustle composed of fast work. Rarity worked quick to levitate the banners, while Pinkie directed her on where to position each one. This was only the start on what would be hours of work and playing catch up. It was utter chaos and surprisingly enough, Discord wasn't the cause of it.

"And... DONE!" Twilight exclaimed proudly, placing the final folder gently upon the monstrous tower before her.

Hours had passed of what seemed like endless tasks of organization for the grand event of the festival. Twilight let out a sigh of relief and exhaustion, turning to Princess Celestia, her eyes bloodshot and her mind ablaze with visions of the celebration yet to come. As for Celestia, her demeanor remained untouched by any sign of exhaustion or tiredness of any kind, causing Twilight to stare in complete shock.

How in Equestria does she manage all of this on a daily basis!? Twilight thought.

It truly was unbelievable that Celestia was able to handle to this amount of work each and every day, and in the aftermath, remain sane and civil. Twilight could read books at lightning speed with no complaints, but if this was the amount of work it took just to organize ONE part of a celebration, she didn't even want to think about the endless stacks of papers that came with organizing an event such as the Grand Galloping Gala.

"Is everything alright, Twilight?" Celestia questioned, startling Twilight out of her daze of horrid imagery of the endless towers of files and documents that she knew she'd dream about that night.

"Huh? Oh! Everything is fine, princess!" Twilight unintentionally exclaimed.

Celestia didn't question anything and just nodded her head, giving Twilight a smile.

"Everything seems to be in order for my sister's return," Celestia stated. "Shall we proceed to Ponyville to check up on the progress of the celebration?"

"Sure," Twilight answered simply. "I should probably check up on Spike as well. He woke up this morning with a small fever, so I gave him the day off to rest."

"Ah, I was wondering why Spike was absent when you first arrived," Celestia stated. "I am quite confident that his fever has passed by now. It would be a shame if he missed out on the rising of the Hallow Moon."

"If I know Spike, he's probably helping out the rest of Ponyville by now. I can never keep that dragon from assisting the girls and I, especially Rarity."

That comment had caused both of them to giggle, aware of Spike's feelings for Rarity.

"Alright, back to the task at hoof," Celestia said gently. "Do you have everything?"

Twilight nodded as response.

"Very well, then we should hurry to Ponyville. It's won't be much longer before sundown." Celestia concluded.

Twilight agreed, following the matriarch out of the private quarters. Their next stop, Ponyville Center.

Pinkie Pie let out a long sigh of relief, admiring the décor for the celebration. Rarity had sped up the process massively, her magic being the main key to their success. It had taken less than two hours for the party pony and fashionista to finish up the preparations; hanging banners and applying the decorations, which Rarity provided with the upmost amount of care and insight. All that was left to add to the celebration was ponies to run the concession stands, and the arrival of the main guest of honor. However, Pinkie and Rarity both knew that wasn't a worry, considering Luna wasn't scheduled to arrive until sunset.

Both were a mess, relaxing in celebration of their accomplishment.

"Phew! I think we got things done just in the knick of time, and Twilight and Princess Celestia aren't even here yet!" exclaimed Pinkie, feeling her stress drop into a dormant state.

"The décor looks marvelous if I do say so myself," commented Rarity. "I believe that Princess Luna will be awestruck by such a fabulous display!"

Pinkie agreed, fixing her mane back to its usual state.

"Again, I'm very sorry for being late this morning, Pinkie," Rarity proposed, surprising Pinkie, having forgotten about the whole ordeal in the midst of prepping the celebration. "I overslept for some reason that I cannot explain, and I feel terrible for putting you through much turmoil prior to my arrival."

"Awww, it's okay Rarity," Pinkie replied sympathetically. "I was just under soooo much pressure, and I tend to get easily snappy under lots of it. Let's just forget about it, and once Twilight and the others get here, have some super duper fun while enjoying the party at the same time!"

Rarity smiled sweetly at Pinkie's response, happy that her tardiness had been forgiven easily. The scene of forgiveness and relief was suddenly interrupted by the sound of flapping wings, which at first, was assumed to be Rainbow Dash, but upon further glance in the direction of the sound, it was found to be Twilight and Princess Celestia instead. Rarity and Pinkie smiled upon the two princesses arrival, hearing their hooves make contact with the ground, and emanating a clop sound upon impact.

Folding up their equine wings, the two walked forward, admiring the party decorations as they did. Rarity and Pinkie didn't bother bowing knowing that Twilight was their friend, along with Celestia, being less a ruler, and more a friend to them now. They practically became royalty after defeating Discord for the first time and had only evolved ever since.

"Well?" Pinkie mused, looking at Twilight with worry. "How does everything look?"

"It looks amazing, Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed with happiness. "You two make a great team!"

"Indeed you do," Celestia added. "I'm certain that my sister will feel warmly welcomed."

Pinkie, along with Rarity, expressed smiles as a response. The matriarch only continued to admire the decorations, consisting of moon-based props. The celebration had the appearance of a Nightmare Night party, rather than a historic event, but Celestia shrugged the "appearance" factor aside, focusing more on it as a way of the ponies of Ponyville expressing their love and gratitude towards their beloved Princess of the Night.

The night was composed of darkness and mysteries beyond the imagination; things that only Luna herself could experience and understand. Nightmare Night was a holiday of similar things and spooky fun amongst the civilians of Ponyville. If you really thought hard about it, the night itself and Nightmare Night were nearly identical. Therefore, the decoration matched well with Luna's personality and appearance in the end.

"By any chance, did Spike ever assist you two?" Twilight asked.

"Not at all," Rarity replied simply. "Though, now that you mentioned it, where is the dear?"

"Oh, he woke up this morning with a small fever," Twilight answered. "I figured it would've passed by now, but seeing he never showed up to help, he's probably still resting up in the castle."

"I do hope he's alright," Rarity cooed. "I would hate to see poor Spikey-wikey miss the main event of the evening."

"I'm sure he's fine," Twilight replied sweetly. "Seeing things are fine here, I better go fetch him. I'll catch back up with you two and the other girls soon."

"Okie dokey lokey!" Pinkie replied with a contagious amount of happiness.

"Very well, dear. See you soon!" Rarity followed up.

Twilight waved in return, quickly turning and making haste to the Castle of Friendship just outside of Ponyville.

Upon entering the castle, Twilight was met with a silence, but not just an ordinary silence. It was eerie and somewhat scary, as if she had just entered, unwelcome by something she couldn't describe. She shrugged off the eerie greeting as an overreaction, and navigated past the foyer. Continuing onward to the top floor of the castle, the eeriness of the quiet didn't leave her, noticing something very odd. The top floor was much darker than usual. So dark that Twilight had to resort to a light spell just to navigate herself through the halls.

It was as if a massive shadow had covered the entire inside of the castle, and she was travelling through the maw of an endless black. She wrote it off in her mind as some sort of set up that Spike had done as a way to scare her in a playful way, but at the same time, she knew that Spike could not have done such a feat. Doing her best to smile, she came to Spike's bedroom, and opened it slowly.

The creaking of the door did her no justice as she eyed the room with all her might. Spike was in his bed, wrapped tightly in the blankets. Twilight let out a long exhalation of breath that she had unintentionally been holding in, taking steady steps towards the bed.

"Spike, how are you feeling?" she asked in a motherly tone.

No answer came, causing Twilight to stir slightly. Returning to reality, she came to an explanation of why Spike had not replied; he was just in a deep sleep. She walked to the bed, turning the baby dragon to face her. The sight that befell her vision would forever be burned in her memories. Twilight gasped in absolute horror at her discovery; in the bed was a grey and pale baby dragon. She didn't have any sort of response, except tears. Spike's eyes were slightly open, revealing dilated pupils with no color, and upon touching his scales, Twilight was met with a piercing coldness.

Spike was dead.

Twilight searched for words, but none came, feeling her heart drop like a stone. Tears escaped her eyes, as she continued to stare in disbelief at the corpse before her.

"No... No...

The alicorn could only mutter, as reality slowly began to seep into the pores of her mind.

"No... T-This.. can't...

All disbelief left the Princess of Friendship, and she broke into a fit of dread and sadness.

"NO! S-SPIKE! Y-Y-YOU C-CAN'T B-BE...

Her words coalesced into a burst of maddening emotions. She had no idea what had just happened. Just moments before, she was giddy with pride and happiness of joining her friends in the celebration, but now, she was broken and unable to process what and why this had happened. She wept on the bedroom floor, holding the pale body of the deceased drake in her hooves.

She had no idea of how long she sobbed, but to her, it felt like an eternity. Spike, her loyal assistant for life was dead, and she no idea why. At first, she blamed herself, wondering if the "fever" she had suspected had been something more lethal and could've been prevented had it been diagnosed sooner. Had her own assumption gotten one of her closest and trusted friends killed?

She couldn't tell.

The blankets that wrapped the corpse were stained with Twilight's tears, as she came to a stable state of mind, anger clouding her judgement.

"Why did this happen!?" she barked in rage. "Was I really that oblivious to assume!?"

Her rage was met with an unexpected conclusion, hearing a chuckle amongst the darkness of the room. Twilight quickly got into a defensive stance, her horn alight with a magic aura.

"Who's there! Show yourself!" Twilight demanded.

Strangely enough, she was met with an answer, the voice being deep and raspy.

"So weak and vulnerable you ponies are," responded the unknown voice in an insulting manner, causing the walls of the castle to rumble. "One loss able to break the mind and fracture one's own sanity. You can assure that you will become aware of who I am, soon enough. Just know this, princess. You will regret your words. I am the beginning of what will be your worst nightmare."

That exclamation caused Twilight's anger to peak, and the room became alit with fiery magical light from endless blasts of magic, intending to destroy whomever had spoken to her. Drunken with nothing but rage and sadness, the blasts became so rapid, the room had become littered with debris from the ceiling and gaping holes that had been formed in the surrounding walls.

The light show had caught the attention of Rainbow Dash, currently airborne above the growing crowds of ponies in Ponyville Center. Flashes of magenta light lit the windows of the upper rooms of the Castle of Friendship, and beams of enraged magic escaped the structure. While other ponies may have seen this display as some form of a gimmick for the celebration, Rainbow knew otherwise.

Twilight had continued her useless assault, unaware that she was unintentionally destroying the castle slowly but surely. The threat that had spoken to her before had long since disappeared, its task now complete, leaving the mentally fractured alicorn to fight empty space. The assault had continued, until a familiar voice stopped her at long last.

"Twilight! Stop!" spoke the voice of Applejack, standing just outside of the doorway to the room that Twilight had mindlessly wandered into, searching for a lost cause.

The onslaught ended, and for a moment, nothing happened. Twilight just stood still, exhausted, and broken beyond repair. The room was still and silent for a long moment, then Twilight collapsed to the ground, emotionally exhausted and defeated. The group of five were completely clueless on what had just occurred and why Twilight had resorted to such a violent demeanor.

Fluttershy rushed to Twilight's aid, only to find her friend unconscious. The pegasus resorted to performing some of the usual first aid steps, first checking for a pulse. Luckily, she found it quickly, the pace being rapid at first, but depleted back to normal after a few seconds. Upon first examination, she noticed the massive tear streaks that ran down Twilight's face, causing her to immediately question what had caused her friend to become an emotionally-driven mess.

"What's wrong with her, Fluttershy?" asked Rainbow Dash, having grown impatient.

"She's emotionally exhausted," Fluttershy clarified. "Twilight's fallen into a state of shock, but she's not physically injured in any way. Something major has put her into this state."

"Any ideas?" Applejack added in.

"No, but whatever it was, it emotionally drained her," Fluttershy replied.

Applejack huffed, unsure of what to do next, until she noticed something out of place.

"Wait, y'all said that Twilight was comin' here to get Spike, right?" Applejack questioned.

Looks were exchanged, as the obvious came to fruition. Rarity was the first to rush out of the room, into Spike's bedroom down the hallway, only to discover the grim truth of why the recent events had come to pass. Fluttershy stayed with Twilight, while Rainbow Dash rushed after Rarity, alongside Applejack and Pinkie, attempting to alert her of the potential danger. The discovery had sent the fashionista into an emotional state, while the others were able to keep their composure.

The mystery had been solved, but the question remained; who or what had killed Spike? At that time, the only pony who had any clue as to the real threat was Twilight, currently unconscious and unstable. It was clear that there was a new danger amongst their midst, and none of them were safe.

"We need to alert Princess Celestia about all this," Applejack stated, her voice stern and fearful. "We can't afford stayin' here. The killer could still be hangin' around in the shadows."

"AJ's right," Rainbow agreed. "For now, we need to get to safety. Until Twilight wakes up, we won't know for sure what exactly happened here."

"And what about Spike?!" Rarity barked, her eyes ablaze with tears and smeared mascara. "We can't just leave his body to rot!"

"We'll come back for his body when it's safe," Applejack answered calmly, not letting her emotions corrupt her mindset. "I know it seems wrong, but right now, unless we want to end up like him, we need to get out of the castle."

Rarity sniffled in her state of raw emotion but came to reason, standing up and wiping her eyes. The four rushed back to the room where Fluttershy continued to monitor Twilight, alerting the pegasus of their temporary retreat. Being sensible enough to understand, the shy pony quickly agreed.

"Rainbow, since you are probably the strongest of all of us, you're going to have to carry Twi,'" Applejack quickly directed.

"Sure thing," Rainbow answered, causing the others to act quickly, working together to lift Twilight onto the pegasus's back.

Once Twilight was secured, the six quickly made a hasty retreat out of the castle, rushing to alert Celestia of the grim news that they had become aware of.

It didn't take long for them to spot Celestia just outside the perimeter of Ponyville Center. All five quickly approached, hoping that nothing else had gone awry in their absence.

"Princess!" yelled Applejack, immediately catching Celestia's attention.

She turned to all of them, quickly noticing Twilight unconscious upon Rainbow's back and looks of fear on all of their faces. Celestia didn't waste any time, knowing something was wrong.

"What is going on?" questioned the matriarch.

"Spike's dead," confirmed Applejack. "We don't know who or what killed him. All we do know, is that Twi' has been put into a temporary state of shock."

Celestia's face fell to horror, but she kept her demeanor stable for the sake of the five ponies before her.

"Details," stated Celestia. "Were there any physical wounds?"

"No. He had no injuries," Applejack inquired. "But Twilight wouldn't have been firing magic blasts for nothin.' Somethin' antagonized her to do it."

Celestia nodded in agreement.

"It would be best to await my sister's arrival before we do anything," Celestia stated. "For now, I suggest you six take refuge elsewhere. I will take care of keeping the situation under control for now."

"Understood," replied Applejack. "Where do you suggest we take refuge?"

"I'm afraid, that's something you'll have to figure out yourselves," replied Celestia. "I must get back to the celebration. The last thing we need right now, is for everypony to panic. It's best we keep this as classified as possible while also keeping an eye open for any further actions this killer may have in mind. Good luck to all of you, and stay safe."

With that, Celestia turned and flew off. Applejack quickly followed up with the other five ponies behind her.

"Well, we'd best do what the princess says," stated Applejack. "Anypony got any suggestions?"

The refuge had to be a place where this killer wouldn't even think to look for Twilight, so all five thought hard of the places that their currently comatose friend didn't normally occupy. That was the challenge. Library's were a no go, nor Sweet Apple Acres, Carousel Boutique, Fluttershy's Cottage, Sugarcube Corner, or Rainbow's Cloudominium. She was also a princess, so she accompanied many different places. What should've been an easy task, turned out to be a real headscratcher.

The only pony of the five able to come up with even one suggestion was Rainbow Dash. Seeing nopony else had anything, they listened to reason.

"What about the flower shop?" suggested Rainbow Dash. "Twilight's not much of a florist pony. She's more an egghead than anything."

That actually wasn't a bad suggestion, seeing Twilight rarely visited the flower shop. The other five agreed that it was better than nothing and decided to go with Rainbow's suggestion. Hastily, they trotted to safety, hoping that this newfound situation would be all summed up by the following day. Little did they know, that this "situation" was only the start of would become their greatest challenge, and the beginning of what would become an endless nightmare for all of Equestria and beyond.