A Fear Worse Than Most Feared

by Josh Crapo

Rating: teen
Tags: Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Mystery, Dark, Changelings, Tragedy
Length: 7543

When Ponyville mysteriously disappears, nine ponies investigate, with the help of nine of an unlikely kind. Together they are looking for a cause for everything that's happened the past week.

Ponyville is mysteriously wiped off the map, dust rises over all of Equestria, the princesses die of dust sickness, and eternal day emerges. All seems lost until the ponies occupying the radohome in former Ponyville start to investigate why all of this happened.

Meet Dry Stone, Oak Quilt, Mud Stick, Aura Draft, Tingle Doo, Reprise, Air Wiff, Snow Flake and Cool Aid.

After meeting nine of an unlikely kind, collaboration and separation are underway.

This is a conversion of a play.

Inspiration from one of Kkat's works.

Rated Teen for light language, some heavy subject matter, and disaster scenes.

Published 2016-03-01 22:00:03 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-01 22:00:03 UTC

Prologue: Affected

..."Hey mom! First day at Ponyville Elementary! It was really fun. On the off hoof, I don’t usually get much homework. That’s a plus. I hear that a pony graduates a full school year after they get their cutie mark. Well, I’m off. I better get started on that algebra."...

..."Come in, Station Canterlot. Do y’read? Ah repeat. Do y’read? We’re gettin’ rumors that Ponyville is wiped off the map. Is it true?"

"Hear ya loud ‘n clear, Station Appleoosa. From the looks of it, Ponyville seems fine at the- wait. What’s happening?"...

..."I need to reach my daughter! S-she attends Ponyville Elementary! Every building in Ponyville looks to’ve collapsed! Perfect Pitch, if you hear this, please come to Canterlot. Come for me, okay?"...

..."Still getting word from all nearby towns that it seems Ponyville has somehow turned to rubble and dust. Somehow, no other city in Equesrria seems to have witnessed any effects from this. And now, let’s see what the ninth Princess of Friendship, Cloudy Glisten, has to say about this matter."...

"*Cough* Good, I got a signal. *Sigh* As some of Equestria may know by now, a few days ago, Ponyville was mysteriously wiped off the face of the earth *Cough* *Cough* Only select few from former Ponyville have survived up to this point. And since these past few days, Canterlot and Cloudsdale are the only safe places now *Cough* *Cough* Even in those places, dust has been getting very dense. And now, the weather doesn’t work properly anymore because of it… It’s quite a shock I’d be the last Princess of Friendship in Equestria *Coughing spell* Even the royal pony sisters are getting ill from the rising dus.t.. *Coughing spell* The only thing we could do for now is p- *Cough* plan for the worst *Coughing Spell* and exp...ct the bes…"

A natural disaster, that’s what this all is. A natural disaster. Equestria has witnessed quite a few natural disasters by other countries for well over a century ever since the first Princess of Princess started her three term reign. Every term as the Prince or Princess of Friendship is 527 moons, approximately five years. The point of this system is to ensure there’s more than one pony to go to for those who encounter in a friendship problem. Down the list of Princesses of Friendship, the ponies who’ve gained this title were as follows:

Twilight Sparkle, serving three terms
Starlight Glimmer, serving two terms
Diamond Tiara, serving three terms
Flurry Hearts, serving five terms
Blue Flow, serving three terms
Nova Blink, serving three terms
Flame Rush, serving two terms
Stellar Shine, serving three terms

Finally, as of today, it’s been one hundred and thirty two years since Twilight Sparkle began her first term as the Princess of Friendship. Cloudy Glisten has been on her third term for almost two years. Unfortunately, she’d died in throne as she’s succumbed to the risen dust. it’s been half a week and all of Equestria lays in heavy dust, sending ponykind on its knees. Ponies move underground and keep dust away from the foods they have left. And their supply is running out. All seems lost. This is the story of the last nine survivors of Equestria.

And So it Starts

A week after Ponyville mysteriously disappeared from the map, the nine remaining ponies in that area have moved underground, one of them, Air Wiff, having asthma. This cave is what these ponies call a radohome. Near the entrance, an earth pony of the group of nine monitors the air quality of the radohome with her radio on. Her name is Dry Stone. She has an apricot coat, blue eyes and a brown mane and tail to go with her three grey rocks that represent music notes as a cutie mark. Her mane is very banged but straight.

"...I know that it hurts to lose a friend, but it don’t mean your life will end. You’d be here with me, so we would live in harmony. So tell me when you are coming back. I will love every trait you have. I’ll see you here, like I was found again, my dear. I’ll see you here, like I was found again, my dear."

"And that was Found by Dry Stone, one of our last musical composers here in Equestria. Air quality above the ground overall is 418. Low point, Cloudsdale at 216, and high point, location of former Ponyville at 488. Looks like a term from back over five hundred thousand years ago is being used once again to describe the strange uprisings of the air quality of some of the radohomes as the result of- "

"Okay, AQI. Let’s see how high you are." Dry Stone presses the Air Quality Index Check button. "Today alone is at a 52. Okay. Not that bad."

The other two earth ponies, Oak Quilt and Mud, Stick enter the room. Oak Quilt has a brown coat, green eyes and a white mane and tail, having a cutie mark as a long red blanket while Mud Stick has a yellow coat, purple eyes and a red mane and tail, having a cutie mark as a stick. Oak Quilt's mane has quite the curly mane as opposed to Mud Stick's perfect blown in the wind mane.

"What’re you talking about? That’s better air quality than I’ve seen before I moved here."

"Ugh! Why’re we checking this thing out anyways?!?" Mud Stick complains.

"Mud Stick, the air quality above the ground has been over 400 these past few days. The Princess of Friendship died on the first day Equestria’s overall air quality surpassed 400."

Oak Quilt jumps in response to the high number. "Geez! And I thought my hometown had low air quality. This must be a second Dust Ride."

"Still, I don’t see how we need to check the air quality over here when it’s only around 50."

Dry Stone facehoofs. "Ugh. The same thing may happen to us as it did to Ponyville."

"Plus, some radohomes across the remnants of Equestria experienced earthshakes that plummeted the air quality! It could happen to us too! Radohomes are ponymade caves, you know."

"But don’t they have oxygen masks? Goggles?" Mud Stick asks.

"Some do, but most don’t. We’re one of the lucky ones. They’re right over there." Dry Stone points to abundance of oxygen masks and goggles next to the AQI monitor.

"There’s no connection between Ponyville getting wiped off the map and those earthshakes though."

"I can’t think of one," Mud Stick agrees.

"Maybe there is, Oak Quilt. We’ll investigate. This is going to be one of the riskiest choices I’ve made in a while, so brace yourselves."

"What’re you talking about this time? The air quality outside is-" Oak Quilt starts.

"Wait a minute. You said we’re a lucky one, right Dry Stone?"

"Yes. That’s why we’re taking these masks with the nine of us," Dry Stone answers, still a little concerned on what may happen if her plan backfires.

"Wait, all nine of us are going to investigate?"

"Duh, masks? Goggles? How many do we have?" Mud Stick turns to Dry Stone.

"Ten masks, eleven goggles."

"Well, which of the three unicorns here is good at magic?" Oak Quilt asks, starting to stray off topic.

"Not sure any of them are."

"Sure they are. Let’s ask." Dry Stone directs the other two to face further into the radohome.

And with that, Mud Stick, Oak Quilt and Dry Stone all exit the room. Later, the three come back with one unicorn each in tow. Aura Draft, behind Dry Stone, has blue eyes, blue mane and tail, and a purple coat with a cutie mark of three colors of what looks like the Crystal Lights. Tingle Doo, behind Oak Quilt, has a cutie mark of a juke box. Her curly mane and tail are yellow with an aqua coat and brown eyes. Finally, Reprise is completely white with a flag and a flower for a cutie mark as well as pink eyes.

"Of course not, I’d never perform such a thing!" Aura Draft mysteriously answers in shock.

"But you can. You were friends with Perfect Pitch’s mother right?" Dry Stone looks back at Aura Draft.

"Yeah, she was," Tingle Doo says.

After a miniature glare at Tingle Doo, Aura Draft looks back at Dry Stone. "Yeah I was, but she never taught me magic."

"Well, do you, at least, know what Equestria used to look like last week?" Oak Quilt asks.

Everyone stops as Aura Draft nods. "Yes."

"Then think!" Mud Stick excitedly shouts.

"Okay." Aura Draft responds.

"Also, you might want to take these with you."

Dry Stone gives the oxygen mask and the goggles to Aura Draft, who slips both on. Finally, with great concentration, Aura Draft teleports out. With her outside, her oxygen mask and goggles almost instantly cover with dust. The visibility is already dreadful from the start, but dust covering the goggles just makes it worse. She stays silent from the mask covering her nose and mouth, afraid that it’ll fall out of her muzzle if she dares to move her lips. The only thing that’s actaully affected is the fur, beginning to matt and tangle. Clearing the dust out of her goggles, Aura Draft looks for a cellar door to walk in. Moving back in, she shakes the dust off her body. The result? The mask is still on. That’s a good sign. Finally, she notices the other five ponies.

"Okay. Who’s good at keeping nine goggles clear?"

"Well, I’m sure you’re glad we tested our equipment," Dry Stone jokes considerably.

"Yeah... I am. Congratu-pony-lations on your part, master!" Aura Draft snarks.

Looking for a back plan, Dry Stone turns to the other two unicorns. "Tingle, Reprise, are you two any good at magic?"

"Only with illumination and levitation." Reprise looks down to the ground.

"Tingle?"

"Levitation and illumination," Tingle Doo repeats.

Aura Draft shortly sighs. "Welp, if you insist. AIR WIFF!!! SNOW FLAKE!!! COOL AID!!!"

In an instant, the three pegasi enter. Air Wiff has a blue mane with a yellow coat, blue eyes and the cutie mark of speeding wind streaks. Snow Flake is all black with yellow eyes. Her cutie mark is, well, a snow flake. Finally, Cool Aid has a red coat with a blue and white striped mane, bearing a cutie mark that is a glass cup. "What is it, Aura Draft?" Air Wiff asks.

"You may need these masks and goggles," Dry Stone requests.

"But why?" Snow Flake widens her eyes.

"We’re going to be out of our Radohome. Just try to let me concentrate on this. I could be able to teleport. I don’t know what’ll happen, but you’ll have to trust me."

As everyone puts their masks and goggles on, Aura Draft gestures for everyone to close in on her so she could get everyone outside. Upon teleporting out, everyone disappears along with Aura Draft. Outside, Aura Draft performs an advanced form of levitation, one only unicorns as advanced as herself can do, one that keeps clear items clean of small particles including dust. As quickly as the dust clears on the goggles, it blankets them again. Suddenly, Aura Draft has an idea. She decides to conjure an anti-dust sensor shield, one that protects the nine ponies from the dust automatically. While it has to be started, the anti-dust sensor shield is self configured once it’s started. It actually lasts quite a while as well.

Dry Stone looks generally impressed. "Aura Draft… I knew you had a lot of magical potential, but how’d you know to use that air filter?!?" A long silence falls. "Oh. Right. I wouldn’t be that careful as to be 'Paranoid' of losing the mask when speaking. Today, we investigate."

Search in Chunks

The nine ponies walk around the low visibility that once was Ponyville. In what looks like nine shooting stars nearly aligned in the night-like day, the glow is a lime green, unlike the normal dandelion gold that most shooting stars have.

Aura Draft is astounded. "Wait a minute. A-are those..."

"What? Meteors?" Dry Stone asks.

Aura Draft shakes her head. "No. Meteors only glow golden when falling, not lime."

The realization hits Air Wiff first. "Oh, goddesses! Changelings!"

"What do they want?" Cool Aid curiously asks.

Suddenly, the first of nine shockwaves cause, by instinct, Air Wiff, Snow Flake and Cool Aid, all to leap. The three land after a few seconds in the air. About fifteen seconds pass as nine changelings sprint into view. Their names are Wrench, Jig, Hut, Lean, Node, Rep, Map, Loan and Will.

"Er... may I help you?"

The front changeling, Wrench, changes into a duplicate of Dry Stone. "Um. Yes. Well, actually, no. We want to help you. We’ve heard about your troubles, but this? Oh, you can barely see around here. Changelings, change into the pony you want to specifically help." In response, the other eight changelings change into the ponies they desire to help. "So, what’s your name?"

"Dry Stone."

"Dry Stone. Okay," Wrench responds. "So Dry Stone. Queen Shell has heard about the rising dust phenomenon. She’s actually sent us here to find out what happened. I see you guys were up here to investigate, so how about we collaborate?"

Aura Draft gets intrigued. "Really?"

Jig nods. "Yeah. We’ve been dying for answers for a few days now. Plus, it’s gotten unbearably hot over at Changico ever since eternal day has emerged. Would you want to move north if that happened to you?"

"Of course I would, and so would all of us. But I think it’d work especially for Air Wiff, with asthma and all. But hey, not only is it cooler up here by default, but I guess we have this dust to thank for keeping the heat away," Aura Draft starts to shudder at the thought of Changico during eternal day.

"So, what do you say?" Hut asks.

"A collaboration will definitely help us out. Dust is so heavy here, our goggles and our masks cloud up the moment we step out of our radohome." The thought of the dust clouding up Air Wiff's mask on her makes her also shudder.

"Well, lucky for you nine, we all can perform dust shields so your visibility isn’t further hindered."

Dry Stone smiles under Wrench's assurance. "Thanks. And since there’s enough ponies for each changeling..."

Aura Draft opens her eyes in realization. "Are you suggesting we should split up?"

Dry Stone nods in response to Aura’s question; at the same time, the changelings change back to their forms when they first appeared, afterwards charging up a dust shield for each changeling and pony. Hours of investigation around former Ponyville pass; yet, no unusual landscapes come across the ponies and the changelings with such low visibility. Now that the oxygen in one of the masks need to be refilled for the pony wearing it, Air Wiff, the groups come together in the entrance of the radohome via teleportation.

"Okay, we may need to investigate further within the next few hours," Aura Draft remarks, giving Air Wiff a different idea.

"Or maybe I could stay behind and watch over the radohome."

"Well, we have to search too, right? We need to see every bit of landscape of we can lay eyes on. And we need as many eyes as we can get to investigate," Hut points out.

"True. But if that’s the case, would you want that now, or at least, as soon as equinely possible?" Air Wiff's debunking is still in for a challenge.

"Yeah, but what I said applies for when we do," Hut says, trying to let the oxygen fill before she could get outside again, with the rest of the ponies watching over her. Suddenly, Air Wiff holds up another oxygen mask.

"But if you needed my oxygen mask to stay here to refill, could we just get a spare so I could use that?"

Dry Stone gasps. "Air Wiff, that’s a great idea! That way, while you use the spare as we investigate, yours will refill. Let’s just hope this one still works after a few days down here."

Dry Stone takes Air Wiff’s mask, using her mouth to grab the back of it, and hangs it on the soil wall with the edge touching. Grabbing the other the same way, Dry Stone approaches Air Wiff, who, in response, ducks to give Dry Stone room to put the mask on her.

"Thanks, Dry."

"No problem, Air Wiff. And we’re off!"

The changelings teleport the ponies back where each of them previously were. Thankfully, for the ponies, the dust shield is reactivated by the changelings. Half an hour later, something unusual comes upon one of the changelings.

"What the hell?"

"What is it?" Cool Aid turns to Lean.

"How’d this fence split in half?"

"Well, we haven’t been struck with anything yet," Cool Aid notes.

"Yes, I know, but how could this place have a split fence and not a single natural disaster happens that could cause this?"

Cool Aid tells Lean her thoughts. "Well, we’ve heard rumors about other radohomes getting struck with earthshakes. Not sure if that’s a connection to Ponyville’s mysterious destruction, but I do know it could hit here. And yet, even with the split fence over here, the ground looks in one piece."

"Who knows?"

Separated

"Hut!!!" Air Wiff belts out through a nice, long coughing spell.

"Air Wiff? Air Wiff!!!"

Hut charges at and teleports Air Wiff back to the radohome in reaction to hearing her asthma attack. Quickly, Hut levitates Air Wiff’s original oxygen mask and forces out the other. Placing the original mask securely, the asthma attack suddenly stops.

"You alright there?!?"

"I am now. Thanks, Hut," Air Wiff responds relieved of her asthma attack.

"Damn, I thought you were gonna choke to death."

"I thought I was too. Phew!"

Using her magic, Hut lightly removes the mask from Air Wiff’s face and hangs it on the wall. "Since you’ve just had an asthma attack, I’ll let you rest in the radohome."

"Alright. Thanks again."

"Nothing to it. Farewell?" Hut looks back at Air Wiff.

"Farewell."

Air Wiff walks to her room in the radohome and rests in her bed. After all these years, this is the fifth time that her dream has a one hundred percent chance of being uninterrupted in universe to a princess. And yet, Air Wiff misses her too much for the pegasus to handle. Ever since the dust rose all over Equestria, all the current princesses had suffocated severely due to the plummet in air quality. Air Wiff’s mind is all over the place, but very relaxed. It’s so peaceful. Too peaceful. Suddenly, Air Wiff snaps out of her dream to the sound of clattering all over her room.

"What is… oh, send me to Celestia. THE MASKS!!! I’LL NEED ONE!!!"

As quickly as she can, Air Wiff dashes over to the entrance of the shaking radohome and puts the mask on just in time for the dust to dissolve in the air of the radohome. Flying out of the radohome, Air Wiff’s already blurring goggles and mask cloud up even faster, where the dust finally passes through her mask, triggering a second asthma attack. She falls to the still shaking ground coughing and almost choking.

"HELP... ME..."

Meanwhile, the flying changeling next to a paralyzed Dry Stone hears some coughing and choking in what sounds like the distance. But thanks to the context clues of the rumbling and the dust, it isn’t as far as Wrench thought. In fact, they are right next to the entrance of the radohome.

"Dry Stone! Somepony sounds like they’re having an asthma attack!"

"Asthma attack?!? AIR WIFF!!! WHOA!!!" Dry Stone wobbles her way to the choking pony; however, her prediction is correct in which it is Air Wiff. It’s to the point where she may as well be unconscious. In fact, when Dry Stone does pick up Air Wiff, that is her state. "Wrench, I need you to get her to Yakyakistan!! It’s still somewhat cool up there!! Plus, the air quality’s so much better!!"

And with that, Wrench levitates Air Wiff off of Dry Stone’s back and takes her higher and higher into the sky. Putting up the dust shield around the two, Air Wiff’s oxygen mask and goggles instantly clear up. Now that Wrench and Air Wiff are higher in the atmosphere, the air quality albeit thinner to the changeling, is much higher than down on the ground. Using an E.A.Q. spell, pronounced by changelings, an “ech” spell, Wrench measures the air quality of the high sky.

"Okay. 61. That’ll have to do."

On the way to Yakyakistan, Wrench tries to circulate Air Wiff’s lungs by breathing into her mouth after removing and disposing of the mask and the goggles. Fifth breath in, something miraculous occurs. Waking up to small coughs left over from her asthma attack, Air Wiff sees nothing but clouds.

"Wha-where am I? Heaven?"

"You’re still alive."

Air Wiff turns her head up to see a changeling carrying her. "Hut?"

'No, it’s Wrench."

"Where are we?" Air Wiff asks.

"An altitude so high... it makes Cloudsdale look grounded. And, on our way to Yakyakistan. Glad to see you’re better."

"Don’t forget to add “again” to that."

Wrench raises an eyebrow. "What’re you talking about?"

"I also had an asthma attack before I was caught in the earthshake trying to get out."

"Well, that 'earthshake' is behind us now. Onward to Yakyakistan."

"What was the air quality up here?" Air Wiff wonders in curiosity.

"61."

"That sounds like an acceptable air quality. I think I should be able to fly now too." And out of Wrench’s front holey hooves, Air Wiff ascends further into the sky, feeling the air quality richen. "Oh, goddesses does this feel good! Wrench, you’ve got to… Wrench? Wrench?" Air Wiff looks for the changeling.

"I’m down here! I can’t go any higher because of the thin air!"

Wrench's echo gets Air Wiff to nervously chuckle at the higher flight. "Sorry about that. I guess I’m just that desperate to get good air as to just soar higher and higher into the stratosphere. Even the stratosphere feels warm."

"I understand. I had to separate from Dry Stone in order to save you."

The pegasus looks down onto the layers and layers of dust, depressing her. "Will my friends be safe?"

"I have no idea. I don’t even know if the changelings that’re with your friends will be alright."

A tear starts streaking down Air Wiff's cheek, getting her to shake her head, forgetting the fact that this changeling saved her. "Thanks for saving me. I don’t know where I’d be without you."

"Heaven probably? I couldn’t tell by your wake up call."

"Now that the radohome’s gone in former Ponyville, I don’t a have a place to sleep until we get to Yakyakistan."

"Not to worry. We’ll be there in a few hours." Wrench wraps Air Wiff in her hoof getting her to smile.

Meanwhile, Dry Stone tries to recover from being shaken up by the powerful jolt, turning on her radio to see information on it. The result? It seems there isn’t a single station to be had. Dry Stone checks the FM stations. None. AM stations. None. "Nrr. Ugh. Rrgh! Come on, where’s a station already? I know 92.5 was running earlier today! AM?!? Please tell me there’s a talk show, sports event, SOMETHING international! 820?!? 850?!? Dugh! Why isn’t anything working?!?"

Suddenly audible words come onto the radio other than static like "and", "it", and "by". "Wait, what?!?" Dry Stone turns the knob back to where she heard the words from.

"...in time- ...on dust over in Equestria."

"Thanks Prince Rok. And now, on to the weather."

"Yes, why it’s another day of mild temperatures here. The snow’s been melting the past few days. And now, the snow will be finally gone after four days straight of sun..."

Dry Stone turns off the antennae on the radio then the radio itself. "Real spring in Yakyakistan… is happening at the end of summer. How’ll I tell the others when everypony’s scattered around Ponyville ruins?" Dry Stone hangs her head in defeat.

Memories

Further down Air Wiff and Wrench's flight, Air Wiff plays the name, Yakyakistan, in her head all over. It's something about it that sticks. "Yakyakistan. Hmm... Y’know Wrench, the more I think about it, the more it sounds familiar, like I heard the name a long long time ago, in a land far far away."

"Who knows?" Wrench elbows Air Wiff in response.

"I don’t know if I’ll know my way over at Yakyakistan though."

"Well don’t worry about finding your way over there. You’ll have the yaks to guide you."

"So how recent was Rok’s election as prince of Yakyakistan?" Air Wiff asks.

"Five weeks ago. He’s addressed the disappearance of Ponyville once. And that was the day Ponyville turned to ruins."

"Life in Equestria used to shimmer and shine before Ponyville was wiped off the map. Everything would’ve been fine if not for that disaster." Air Wiff looks at what faintly looks like the Crystal Empire while Wrench starts up his rant.

"That he knew from what I heard. But did he ever address the dust that’s risen across Equestria? Only once. And that’s what he said would happen when he addressed the disappearance of Ponyville. He’s been all speech and no action about this matter."

"He’s been on 930 a few times this past week. It was just a couple interviews, but that’s it. If the lack of address of a serious issue is considered illegal in Yakyakistan, what I can interpret from you is that he should be impeached," Air Wiff assumes.

"I have no idea if that exists or is even constitutional in Yakyakistan, but if it was passed, yeah, he’d be impeached for doing such ignorant things."

Air Wiff nods. "Well, I agree. We can’t pay attention to absolutely everything. But at least Rok tries. Same applies for Shell. She may not’ve paid attention to what Yakyakistan is going through, but she knew to send you and the other eight to investigate why all of this is happening."

"That’s the thing. Us changelings are actively doing something to find a cause to all this madness instead of having our heads up our asses like the yaks! They know about their effects of eternal day up there and so do the changelings of Changico. But we have to move up north into the dust in order to cool off from the heat of eternal day when they can stay damn put and not break a solitary sweat from their thick coats!"

"Well, the yaks would shed their fur if it got warm up there," Air Wiff points out.

"That’s a bodily function, not a forced decision. Bodily functions don’t take any effort to do, let alone take any purpose. All we have for warmth during the colder months is our wings, and that’s it. Plus, I don’t ever dare to change into a pony when it gets excessively hot like it is in Changico now."

Air Wiff suddenly sees a gate past the mountain. "Oh! Is that it? Past those snowy looking mountains?"

Wrench nods. "Yeah. I see it. That entrance has been left open for about a hundred and thirty two years as the story passes down from generation to generation. From what I heard, Equestria was about to go to war back just before the borders opened."

"So what’s the air quality now?"

Wrench uses the E.A.Q. spell again. "Right now, the AQI is 31."

"That’s the best I’ve come across in a week."

"Come on. Let’s get down there and find you a place to stay." Wrench offers a hoof bump which Air Wiff accepts.

The two swoop down into the border seeing the many yaks over there.

"What the-"

"What is this?" Wrench puts the larger of two shocked expressions on she and Air Wiff lets out.

Air Wiff bumps into one of the yaks. "Oof! Excuse me."

"No problem... Air Wiff?!?" The yak instantly recognizes her.

"Who are you?" Air Wiff asks.

"Air Wiff! It’s me! Endless Riches!"

"What? Endy?"

"Don’t you remember me?" Endy asks.

Air Wiff thinks back to her fillyhood, when she was at the same snowy mountain. In the flashback, Air Wiff and Endless Riches hug for the last time before the pegasus departs on the snowy slope.

"I know it’ll be a while before we meet again. But I’ll always remember you when I remember the lessons you taught me."

"Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine in Equestria. I bet you could take on Mill Spin if you wanted to."

"I hope we can meet again sometime soon."

Coming back to reality, Air Wiff shakes her head. "Holy slip! I forgot the entire reason why I loved one of Dry Stone’s songs!"

"What song is that?"

"Found," Air Wiff responds.

"How does it go?"

Air Wiff starts to sing the song he mentioned. "It’s been awhile since you were here, trotting with me, now nowhere near."

That's when it clicks with Endy. "Hey I heard a song with those lyrics on 92.5 yesterday. I think that was the song."

"Good news, I guess."

"What is it?" Endy asks.

"I’m gonna stay in Yakyakistan for a while." Air Wiff lifts her front right hoof to help convey the news.

"Perfect! You could stay with me!" Endy hugs Air Wiff tightly.

"I guess."

A gasp exits the yak's mouth. "Oh my gosh! Is that a changeling?"

"Why yes I am. I’m Wrench. Nice to meet you Endless Riches."

"Please, call me Endy. Care to stay with the two of us?"

Wrench shakes his head. "Actually, no. I have some friends to check up on down in former Ponyville."

Endy's eyes spark up upon hearing the city name. "Ponyville? I heard about it during Prince Rok’s address back a week ago. Hadn’t heard anything else from him after that. Mostly from surfing radio stations. There’ve been less and less around this past week."

"Like I said before, I can’t stay here because I have to check up on Hut and the others."

"I guess this is goodbye for now," Air Wiff salutes.

"Yes. Farewell." And with that, Wrench teleports out leaving Endy and Air Wiff to their matters, who move out of the crowd of yaks further into the springlike Yakyakistan.

Could it Be?

"Are you going to be alright?" Node asks.

"Yeah. I’ll be fine. *Cough* It’s getting a little 'dusty' in here, but I'll be fine."

"Why don’t we go check on the others. Surely some of them will be in paralysis over the jolt."

"Probably. I don’t know. I hope not." Mud Stick starts to get a little scared at the thought of Aura Draft, Oak Quilt, Dry Stone, Tingle Doo and Repise all in paralysis because of, as the changelings call it, the jolt until Lean and Cool Aid suddenly comes through the dust, Lean being the first to speak.

"Node! Mud Stick! You have to come with us! Now!"

"What is it Lean?" Node looks a little shocked by the sudden entrance.

"You’ll find out when we get there!" Lean shouts, ahead of the group.

Lean shows the split fence to Node and Mud Stick. "Earlier, before the jolt, we examined a fence that was split in half. We took a measure of it before and after."

Node closely looks at the distance between each end that matches. "Hm... it looks to be about 25 inches,"

"That’s what I measured just now. Before, it used to be about 18 inches," Lean says.

"Oh, goddesses! Does that mean...?!?" Node starts.

Cool Aid nods. "Yes. It means that there was already an earthshake here that caused this fence to split apart."

"But what does that have to do with the disappearance of Ponyville? Plus, it could’ve been multiple earthshakes that caused the fence to go quite the distance. I mean, the one that just happened is the biggest one that’s occurred since millions of moons," Mud Stick points out.

"Mud Stick, they looked brand new to me before the jolt. Look at some of the cracks next to the fence compared to the ones straight in between the ends." Lean points her hoof to the fence for everyone to see.

"I must admit, both parts look brand spankin’ new. I will say that the ones in between the fence halves look fresh compared to the ones on the ends of the halves. According to what I can detect from my horn, these cracks only date back to eight days ago."

Mud Stick looks confused. "So, does that mean the earthshake hit a week ago? But I didn’t feel any shaking when my house collapsed out of nowhere."

"But there was one. It was so strong, nopony felt it. The structure code in Ponyville used to be so poor, anything could hit a building hard enough and it would fall," Cool Aid says, helping Mud Stick out.

"Wow. So that means my house collapsed because of an earthshake that nopony felt."

Cool Aid nods. "Yup."

"And the worst part?" Node asks.

"There wasn’t anything you could’ve done to prepare. Nopony was as daring as to investigate the cause of an entire city getting wiped of the face of the earth, much less days after the dust has risen because of the jolt. Even after there were clearly remnants that could’ve been examined immediately after Ponyville got destroyed," Lean explains.

Mud Stick walks up to Lean. "So, do you want to tell Dry Stone about this?"

"Of course we do."

"Tell me what exactly?" Dry Stone unexpectedly appears behind the four.

Lean turns around facing Dry Stone. "Oh, hey Dry Stone. We pulled in Node and Mud Stick to help us with finding the ultimate cause of Ponyville’s mysterious destruction."

"Yes, and what was the cause?"

"Ponyville was destroyed by an earthshake that was so strong, it was undetectable by the average pony."

"Isn’t that paradoxical?" Dry Stone asks Cool Aid in response to her explanation.

"Actually, no it isn’t. It’s just like if something gets colder overtime, it’ll actually feel hotter and hotter. Same applies for earthshakes. If an earthshake’s magnitude continually increases, at a certain point, it’ll go unnoticed. Equestria had feared that “the big one” may hit someday. But what few know is that the big one already happened when Equestria didn’t know it."

"And now that we’ve learned what happened, let’s gather the group, right Node?" Lean nudges Node who nods.

"Of course. Let’s find everyone."

Solved

Wrench and Dry Stone lead the other fifteen of the ponies and changelings walk to a spacious area. "Jig, Hut, Lean, Node, Rep, Map, Loan, Will... you ready?" Wrench asks.

Jig nods. "Sure are."

Wrench turns to the three unicorns. "Aura Draft, Tingle Doo, Reprise?"

Aura Draft also nods. "Yup."

"Then let’s do this," Wrench says with confidence. All at once every other changeling, in addition, the three unicorns, light their horns up as Wrench stands in the center of the circle of eleven. "May our queen be with us and may we be with her. And now, may we hear the wings of her purr."

Time passes as the three earth ponies and the three pegasi stare weirdly at the changelings.

"Um, nothing happened," Mud Stick remarks.

Suddenly, teleporting in is Queen Shell, herself. "You rang, subjects?"

"Greetings queen." Wrench bows her head.

"Is your call about your investigation I tasked you with?" Shell asks wrench.

"Of course. We’ve successfully found the base cause of the rising dust all over Equestria. And the ponies here know about what caused eternal day already."

Shell puts on a small smile. "So, what is this base cause?"

"Come with us. Lean, will you lead way?"

"With pleasure," Lean answers to Wrench.

"When Cool Aid and I saw this fence that was split in half, I originally saw that it was split in half where one side shifted by a drastic 18 inches. Just after that, we had a large jolt, afterwards seeing that it shifted 7 more inches."

"Are you describing the cause of the dust rising in Equestria?" Shell asks.

Lean nods. "Yes. It’s because of a jolt that happened back a week ago that dust had risen over here."

"Okay. So now about the part with eternal day?"

Cool Aid steps forward. "That was because of the dust rising here. Princess Celestia and Luna controlled the sun before this whole incident arose. And because practically no city was safe anymore, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had gotten increasingly sick from the dust."

"Practically, they died about fifteen to twenty hours after they started getting sick," Mud Stick adds.

"Well, that shall be easy for me. First, we must get Cloudsdale moving over to Yakyakistan. (I haven’t been in touch with that nation in years, so now will be my chance to catch up.) Secondly, by getting Cloudsdale over to Yakyakistan, the weather factory will work properly once again. And by having working weather, making it rain will diminish the dust in Equestria as well as getting life here back on track. Thirdly, I shall be in charge of day and night from now on and kindly rule both Changico and Equestria. You ponies deserve better than this dreadful Dust Ride. And I shall change that."

And with that, over the final hours of the ongoing day, the two groups of nine, of changelings and ponies, minus Air Wiff, but plus Queen Shell, all work together to push the entirety of Cloudsdale north. The three unicorns and the ten changelings levitate the entire city as the two pegasi push the combination of a whopping thirteen auras around the entire city north. Over at Yakyakistan, Cool Aid and Snow Flake find Air Wiff, who is out with Endless Riches.

"There you are!" Snow Flake hugs Air Wiff.

"Hey Snow, Cool Aid."

"We’ve moved Cloudsdale all the way over here."

Cool Aid's statement astounds Endy. "Really! That’s impressive! Was it only you two?"

"No. We had some assistance from Aura Draft, Tingle Doo, Reprise and the changelings we met." Snow Flake points to the ponies and changelings nearby.

"You’ve met one of them."

"Oh yeah! Wrench! How could I forget?"

"Did Dry Stone, Oak Quilt and Mud Stick come along too?" Air Wiff asks.

Cool Aid nods. "Uh huh."

"Cool! Then let’s replace the cobwebs with activity in that old abandoned factory! We have weather to produce!"

And with that, the pegasi get to the weather factory in its dusty glory, opening the door as the dust blows over the three, unleashing a coughing spell out of one of them. After ten to twenty seconds, the dust clears and the coughing stops.

"Okay ponies! Let’s test this molly!" Air Wiff leads the two pegasi with a cloud each in tow.

"You ready?!?" Mud Stick asks.

Air Wiff nods. "We are! Fire away ponies."

Where Mud Stick stands is next to a patch of dirt newly eroded as a mole hill. At zenith is a large cloud that Cool Aid lands on. Bouncing on the cloud, she causes it to shed water droplets. On the mole hill sprouts a small bud. "SUCCESS!!!"

All the while, Shell checks her watch, finding out when to set the sun and bring out the moon.

"8:21 A.M. Sheesh! And I thought I would have to wait a while."

Wrench comes up to Shell. "So, will you rule both Equestria and Changico?"

"Yes. Do you know how you took leadership of taking the other eight over to investigate?"

Wrench thinks back for a while, brainstorming exactly what she remembers.

"Promise me you nine will call me when you find the cause to the heat and eternal day down here?" The room fell silent. "Well?"

"We’ll do it Queen Shell."

"Oh?"

"And we will not fail to keep our promise. Us changelings will investigate to the best of our ability. And we will never rest until we find the cause."

"Wrench, how bold of you to say that."

"All you need to concern yourself with is our call to you. I’ll take the investigation from here."

"I’ll be awaiting your call Wrench."

"You won’t be disappointed. Now, come on changelings! Let’s move out!"

After the flashback plays, Wrench nods. "Yes."

"Not only were you bold enough to lead the other eight, but you kept your word about contacting me when you and your party found the cause of all this calamity in addition to that. That’s an admirable feat you accomplished. And for that, I’m promoting you as right hoof mare of Changico."

"Queen Shell, I’d be honored to be your right hoof mare."

"Whenever I’m needed in Equestria, you’ll be the first changeling I’ll turn to to take over for me."

"I won’t let you down, Queen Shell!"

"You’re my right hoof mare now, Wrench. Just call me Shell."

"Thank you so much."

Shell and Wrench hug in genuine happiness and pride.

A tear rolls down Shell's eye. "Things will be different in Equestria. No more putting the lives of ponies in danger under Princesses Celestia and Luna."

Over time, heavy rain pours all across Equestria, efficiently dwindling the dust that plagued the landscape. The New Dust Ride is over. And the battle for survival has come into the advantage of the last of ponykind. Equestria has come to its former glory.

Epilogue: Future

"Is this thing on? Okay good. Hey Aura Draft. Air Wiff. Wrench. Hope any of you are seeing this. This message is being recorded because I have become an alicorn. Yes, complete with the horn and wings. I know, it’s insane. This is what I’d woken up to this morning. The sun’s out, such a beautiful day. I bet it’d be a perfect day to go flying. I have no idea how to fly yet. Air Wiff, I hope you can teach me flight. I hope Aura Draft can teach me at the very least levitation. The more I think about it, the less I take pride in using my mouth. Wrench, thanks for your help. I probably wouldn’t wake up to this if it weren’t for you. Well, I have to go now. Don’t want to stay in here too long."...

..."Hello? Dry Stone? Air Wiff? I know it’s been awhile since we’ve talked. But I’ve got some news for y’all. I woke up to wings on my back. Yes, I’ve become an alicorn. Air Wiff, do you think you can teach me how to fly? If yes, then thank you so much. Dry Stone, thank you for encouraging me to show what magic I’m capable of. We probably couldn’t have gotten out of this mess if it weren’t for you. Well, it’s a fine day outside. I think I’ll take a walk. See ya!"...

..."Alright. Lens is clean. And recordings not on- wait. Oh, darn it! Might as well. Whoever watches this, hello. Dry Stone. Aura Draft. Wrench. Endy. Hut. Wrench, thanks for saving my life during that earthshake. I don’t know where I’d be today if you didn’t do what you did at that time months ago. Also, the reason why you can only see up to my muzzle is because I woke up to this. Yeah. I’ve become an alicorn. Things will be crazy in the next week so, so I won’t be able to update anypony on my stuff yet. Endy, I hope you’re watching this. You won’t be disappointed to what I have to say. Thanks for supporting me when I needed it most. Last week I heard a new song from Dry Stone. I think it went something like this. (Singing) The tide of travel always keeps you movin’, hoping you would see me once again. I welcome your travels far and wide, because the limit passes skies, of our lovely land of companions. (Talking) Thanks everypony. I’m gonna go for a fly outside. Bye!"...

..."Hello everypony. How’s it going in Equestria? Things doing fine? It’s been so much cooler ever since Shell ever took control of the sun and the moon. I’m glad Equestria’s back to its former glory. I hope the ponies that have survived that rough week several months ago have warmed up to Shell ruling both Equestria and Changico. Whenever she needs me to take over, I’ll be there. Shell, I cannot thank you enough for your promotion. I know I keep saying this, but I will not disappoint you. I keep that as a promise every day. And I’m proud of it. Signing out for a little while. See you around."...

Months after the investigation, everything has turned relatively normal. The nine ponies have separated to run cities spread out across Equestria, three of which have turned into alicorns. Queen Shell regularly visits the ponies as she’s been ruler of both Equestria and Changico for months now. And now, all is fine at last.