Tsar Bomba II

Twilight Sparkle
135 miles northeast of Canterlot

Twilight Sparkle's head jerked up when she heard the massive explosion. She looked in the direction that the sound came from, but all she noticed was Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer. Starlight had fallen on the floor after she glimpsed the nuclear fireball, and she was holding onto her face and screaming "MY EYES! I CAN'T SEE! IT BURNS!". Fluttershy had fainted as soon as Canterlot exploded into nuclear oblivion, so she wouldn't realize she had been blinded until she woke up in a few hours.

Twilight looked around her in shock, because there were other ponies blinded by the blast. Many were panicking, and running about, bumping into things, or other ponies. She looked out towards Canterlot, where a massive mushroom cloud had just finished soaring into the sky higher than anything she had ever seen.

"Dear sweet Celestia!" Applejack shouted. "What in tarnation just happened?"

Twilight gestured to the blinded ponies. "Applejack! Pinkie Pie!" she called.

Both ponies turned their attention to her. "What should we do to help?" Pinkie Pie asked tentatively. Applejack nodded to show her support.

"I need you to gather these blinded ponies and sit them down, calm them. I'm gonna stop the train." Twilight said, now determined and taking charge of the situation at hand. Applejack and Pinkie Pie nodded, and rushed past her to the other ponies.

Twilight rushed out of her seat and started for the front of the train. She passed the food car and two other passenger cars, where both showed the same story as her own cabin.

"I'm stopping the train, everypony. Sit down and be careful!" Twilight commanded as she ran through. She walked into the front of the train, where she let out a horrified gasp.

She was looking into the coal burner, where the conductor lay, still burning and lightly moaning. He had been blinded like so many other ponies, and he stumbled around in a panic. He fell into the fire, unable to get out. He died just as Twilight noticed him.

Twilight gagged at the burned corpse, and turned her head away. She then noticed the emergency brake, a rope hanging on the wall in front of her. She reached out, and pulled the cord.

The train halted with a sudden screech. Ponies throughout the train were thrown about as the train stopped without warning of any sort. Twilight grabbed onto a hoofrail that was bolted into the wall, and so avoided falling onto the floor. After the train finally stopped, she sat down on the floor anyways, and started to cry.

"What in Equestria am I gonna do without Celestia or Luna......and Rarity, Rain-" she stopped thinking about it, as she realized in horror that there were too many ponies she knew to name.

Princess Cadance
Crystal Empire

Princess Cadence was sitting on her balcony discussing matters of trade with the Duchess of Maretonia when the nuclear bomb went off in Canterlot. She immediately stood up, and recoiled in horror when she saw the enormous mushroom cloud soaring high in the sky. The Duchess had already fainted.

"DEAR SWEET MOTHER OF HARMONY, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?"she screamed.

The Princess watched the scene unfolding before her in stunned silence. Down below, ponies were in a panic, running around in no distinguishable pattern. Suddenly, a new noise befell the Crystal Empire: the sound of windows shattering. All across the Empire, old and poor-quality windows broke as the shock wave hit the city. The Duchess lifted her head, but fainted once more. The Princess picked her up and lifted her inside with her magic.

When she walked in, two Royal Guardsponies walked in at the same time. One of them stepped up and said, "Prince Shining Armor is calling an emergency meeting of our military leaders in the Belowground conference room, Your Majesty."

Cadence winced. The Belowground conference room was a room that was originally built as a rendezvous point for the Equestrian government in the event of a changeling invasion, or some other disastrous calamity. It had never been used up to this point, and disasters that had befallen were so it couldn't have been reached. The destruction of Canterlot would see it's first use.

"Alright, but make sure to keep the Duchess safe." she ordered. "In fact, prepare a chariot to send her back to Clopje. I'm sure the Maretonian royal family must be worried sick about her."

The soldiers nodded. "As you wish, Your Majesty." they said together, and they bowed low in respect.

Cadence walked out into the hall, where more soldiers were there to escort her. She was led down the stairs to the ground floor, and was then taken to a small office.

"Why did you take me in here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "Aren't we going underground?"

A uniformed Royal Guard general walked into the room. He stood up respectfully and saluted her. "Your Majesty, I will serve you as you please. Do you have any orders for me?" he asked while saluting.

"At ease, General." she chuckled lightly. Even in the face of danger, she couldn't be unpleasant. "Show me to the Belowground conference room, if you will?" she now asked of him.

The general nodded, and led the princess down the staircase. It took a few minutes, but they soon reached a door at the bottom. The general grimaced as he opened the door.

"Here we are, Your Majesty." he gestured to the other ponies sitting in various chairs. They all turned around and stood up respectfully as she walked into the room. Shining Armor, who was at the podium in the back of the room, let out a sigh of relief. He had been under immense pressure, and seeing his wife helped soothe him.

Cadance sat down, and Shining Armor looked at the table. Some of the generals weren't here, either because they were sick or were radioactive ash. He started to speak out to the group.

"Today, we face a crisis greater than anything Equestria has ever faced. Several minutes ago, Canterlot erupted in flame. From what we saw, Canterlot is likely completely destroyed." The group of ponies gasped, even though the news didn't surprise them.

"The cause of the bombing is likely to be the Big Bomb that was to be detonated at noon, around the time Canterlot exploded." Shining Armor continued. Spitfire stood up, with a look of fire in her eyes.

She shouted at Shining Armor, "Captain, I don't believe you! Taking a tragedy and using it for your own political gain? You're a sick monster!" she turned her head to the other military ponies, some Wonderbolts, and some Royal Guardsponies. "The explosion could have been any number of things. Just because the Captain hated our decision doesn't mean he can blame us, now does it?"

Shining Armor said quietly, "My sister died in the blast, Spitfire."

Spitfire turned and faced the Captain. "What did you just say?" she asked, slightly apprehensive.

Shining screamed out angrily, 'My sister, Princess Twilight Sparkle, died when Canterlot did! Our sources show she was in the city when it burst into flame! It was because of you, Spitfire, that thousands of ponies are dead! Three princesses are dead because of your
arrogance!"

Spitfire looked stunned at the vicious attack handed down by the Captain. She hung her head low, and spoke up,"I'm so sorry. I didn't know that-"

"GET OUT OF THIS ROOM!" Shining Armor bellowed. Spitfire flew out of the room in a hurry, wanting to face the Captain's wrath. Shining then spoke up to the group, "We will meet again in a half hour. Please, leave."

The group dispatched quickly, intent on sending out orders. Shining looked at his wife, and asked her, "You know what the worst thing is about this?"

She shook her head. "What is it?" she asked him.

He spoke morosely, "Twilight was gonna go to a concert in Manehattan with her friends, but her train never arrived. We had to assume she got held up back in-", He couldn't go on, as he started to cry.

Cadance walked over to him, and pulled in into a hug. When he had started to settle down, she murmured into his ear.

"We'll get through this. By Celestia, we'll get through this."