The Fall Of Canterlot

I.

The Fall: Part I

Space, as Twilight Sparkle would be quick to inform anyone willing to listen, was a vast, empty wasteland. While stars, planets, and nebulae may catch a pony’s eye or turn a griffon’s head, most of space was just that: space. Empty. So empty, in fact, that an object such as a comet or asteroid sent adrift for whatever reason might drift through space for thousands or even tens of thousands of years before impacting anything. That is why interstellar civilizations that used mass accelerator weapons took utmost care in ensuring accurate gunnery. But every once in awhile, they miscalculate. Or they simply miss. Or misfire. The result is the same: a slug of metal whisking through space at absurd speeds, off to hit some poor innocent world years down the line.

One such slug entered Equestria’s solar system just a few years after Princess Luna’s return. It was a small slug, as such weapons came, only twenty kilograms. It traveled at just over one percent of the speed of light, or three million meters per second. It had been traveling for tens of thousands of years, crossing thousands of light years in the process. The empire that fired it was long gone in some great cataclysm. It had passed through only a few solar systems before Equestria’s, though never close enough to be captured by the star’s gravity. Had Equestria’s solar system been a normal one, it might’ve passed right on by.

The Equestrian planet had an unusual orbit: a perfect circle around its sun. Equestria’s moon likewise held a perfect orbit around its mother planet. Even the planet’s rotation was perfect, exactly twenty-four hours in length, with nary a millisecond more. All were the results of pony society, magic exerted to control and perfect the environment to such a degree as to ensure perfect seasons and tides. But such perfection is not without its flaws.The Equestrian interference played havoc with gravity in the rest of the system.

Gravity is a harsh mistress. As it passed through the chaotic gravity fields, the slug’s course was altered, ever so slightly, just enough that it would directly cross the planet’s orbit, at the worst possible time.

Nothing lasts forever. The slug’s time--and Equestria’s--had run out.

Canterlot, five minutes before The Fall.

Celestia sat comfortably in her squashy armchair at the dining table of her private dining hall. A wonderful breakfast spread over the table. The air filled with delicious smells of pastries, fruit, and other dishes. A large mug of coffee swimming in cream and sugar steamed in her field as she raised it to her lips. Breakfasts were one of the few times every day where she could relax and let her mask of royalty slip away. It was also one of the rare times she got to spend with Luna on a regular basis. They had wonderful chats. Most of the time.

Luna sat across from Celestia in an armchair of her own, slumped in exhaustion. She nibbled at her eggs and hay hash browns with an unusual reluctance. Her lips were drawn back in the snarl Celestia knew she only ever made when she was angry about something. Which was often.

Celestia set her mug down. “Rough night?”

Luna growled a wordless noise of frustration. “Discord,” she seethed.

Celestia closed her eyes, letting out a tiny sigh. Of course. Discord had arrived last night with Spike and Starlight Glimmer. Why he had insisted coming along she couldn’t understand, because their visit wasn’t really about them. They had brought the book used to communicate with Sunset Shimmer. She dearly missed her former student, but she would never force Sunset to meet with her before she was ready. Luckily for Celestia, Starlight had recently made friends with Sunset and, after some cajoling, finally talked Sunset into at least making the first step in communicating with her former mentor. Celestia had been looking forward to this for a long time, but one doesn’t live for over a thousand years without learning the value of patience. Discord, however, had a habit of trying her patience like nothing else. “What has he done this time?”

Her sister grumbled, “He interrupted my Night Court in the early hours of the morning, claiming to be bored. When I dismissed him he acted like a spoiled colt. He’s still whizzing around the castle gardens. He thinks it funny to bewitch the statues to chase the staff around and demand pony rides.”

Celestia couldn’t help but titter a bit at the mental image. At Luna’s look of betrayal though she cut it off. “That is quite foalish of him. I’ll order the Guard to make him stop.”

“Don’t bother,” Luna groaned. “He won’t listen. Starlight will distract him eventually I am certain.” She dropped her fork to her plate with a clatter. “Sometimes sister I think we were too hasty in allowing his ‘redemption.’” She conjured up air quotes with her magic on that last word.

Some days, Celestia couldn’t agree more. Still. “He has been a valuable ally. Without him we would both be in a Changeling cocoon right now.”

“I am well aware of that, sister. It is the only thing that has kept me from putting him out of our misery for…good.” She trailed off, leaping to her hooves and casting her gaze around the room. Her horn lit, her field moving all over the walls.

Celestia stood. “What is it?”

Luna opened her mouth as if to speak, then shut it again. After a moment, she said, “I am… not certain.” She waved a hoof in the air. “Something is...amiss.”

Celestia inclined an eyebrow. Her sister was not normally so vague. Curiosity piqued, she lit her horn and sent out a probe of magic, seeking out anything unusual. Any strange magics, or an odd presence. At first she could sense nothing. She turned her attention to the sky above, where her Air Cavalry patrolled.

Then she felt it. Her eyes burst wide in shock. “What is tha--”

She never finished her sentence. The slug seared through the atmosphere in an instant, leaving a trail of fiery plasma in its wake as it plunged directly into and then through Canterlot castle, burying itself deep beneath the mountain. The force of its passage was like nothing Equestria had ever experienced, on a scale far outweighing the greatest of Celestia's army’s artillery pieces and the wildest dreams of her sorcerers, far exceeding even her own power. The explosion was equivalent to thirty-eight kilotons of TNT, three times the size of a nuclear weapon that, in the human world, had devastated the city of Hiroshima.

Celestia and Luna, as alicorns, were virile, enduring creatures, each tougher than dozens of the average pony. They could withstand blows that would shatter the strongest earth pony with just a bruise. Their magic, tapping the power of the sun and moon themselves, leant them an ability only other alicorns--and Discord--could match. They had lived for over a thousand years with nary a sign of aging past young adulthood, and they seemed well on track for living thousands more. But they were not invincible. Celestia had been defeated in single combat before, against Queen Chrysalis. Both had nearly fallen in the winter storm wrought by Flurry Heart’s shattering of the Crystal Heart. Both had been captured by Discord’s plunder vines, and then again by Queen Chrysalis. And while they might have been able to weather the strongest spell fired by Twilight Sparkle on her strongest day with little more than a scratch, they were no match for an explosion of nuclear proportions. Their resilience only meant they took seconds to die rather than milliseconds.

Within the first second of the explosion, as the forces ripped her body apart, Celestia drew upon her magic to defend herself, tapping the sun. Luna and, out in the garden, Discord likewise drew upon their own power, instinctively raising it in protection. Any shields or energy fields raised collapsed in milliseconds. As their bodies unraveled, so too did their magic. By the third second, they were annihilated, the remnant magic spiraling out of control, feeding the explosion like spraying gallons of gasoline onto a raging fire. The explosion gorged on the magic, increasing from thirty-eight kilotons to an astounding sixty. The unstable magic changed the shockwave from a mere, if deadly, pressure wave into one of destruction at the molecular level, with a fireball to match.

The shockwave rippled through Canterlot, disintegrating ponies where they stood, ripping apart buildings as if they were tufts of cloud. By the fifth second, the Castle’s extensive wards, designed by Starswirl the Bearded and added to over the centuries by thousands of unicorns--not to mention Princess Celestia--had failed entirely, transforming the crown jewel of Equestria’s architects into little more than charred bits of rubble no larger than pebbles.

Canterlot had been built in a series of tiers. While only the Castle was visible from nearby Ponyville, the rest of the city sprawled across the mountainside and on the plateau of the Canterhorn in tiers descending from the Castle. First the Noble Tier, their residences and marketplaces, high-class restaurants, libraries, museums, and Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Then the Merchant Tier, so called because most of the real business in the city took place there. Most ponies resided there, as did Canterlot University. Finally, the Common Tier. This was where the lower income ponies worked and lived. Canterlot Castle itself had held the barracks for the armed forces, the airship docks, and the Canterlot Archives. As befit the nation’s capital, Canterlot boasted a massive population for its size of one hundred fifty thousand, all squeezed within just twenty-five square kilometers of precious little landspace.

The explosion hungrily ate its way through the Noble Tier by the seventh second, tens of thousands of self-important windbags and charitable ponies alike evaporated on the spot. By the ninth, the Merchant Tier had fallen, thousands of innocent tourists of all different species from around the globe dying just as swiftly as the locals. The ponies in the Common Tier had just enough time to scream in agony from the flash before they too ceased to exist. The fireball’s spread ended there.

By the twelfth second, the military airships around Canterlot overheated, their gasbags exploding, ponies mercifully only suffering from their third-degree burns for a few seconds before their broken ships careened into the mountainside or disappeared into the all-consuming fireball. In the thirteenth, the entire Wonderbolts team, training for their next big performance, were torn from the sky like an angry foal ripping her toys with her teeth.

The shockwave continued its spread, ripping apart the mountainside. Not all of the stones were obliterated. Much of it was flung kilometers away as far as Ponyville, just twenty kilometers from the mountain.. By the thirtieth second, the primary shockwave had finally spent its energy, after having atomized everything and everyone in its path. Secondary shockwaves manifesting as earthquakes spread out just as far as the ejecta, shaking Ponyville and any other settlements apart.The remnants of Canterlot, Equestria’s mightiest feat of engineering and arcane wonder, collapsed at one minute after the explosion. Any settlements at the base of the mountain, along with the entire rail interchange system, were smashed to pieces by the falling debris.

The flash was visible as far north as the Crystal Empire and as far south as Baltimare and Las Pegasus. Any pilots of airships on approach to Canterlot were flash-blinded, leading to hundreds more exterminated as the airships unceremoniously landed with far too much force. Those poor souls unfortunate enough to be looking directly at Canterlot when it exploded were rendered permanently blind. All others as far thirty kilometers suffered various amounts of temporary flash-blindness. Fortunately for the inhabitants of Ponyville, they were far enough away that nopony suffered burns. Unfortunately the sound following the flash still deafened many of them, a few permanently.

Within just a few moments, Equestria’s government, its diarchs, its most valuable collection of knowledge and lynchpin of its armed forces were erased from existence. The planet had lost its primary caretakers. All societies across the world would be upended in the days to come.

~*~

Ponyville, Ten minutes after The Fall.

“...wilight! Yo...ay suge..be?”

Twilight Sparkle groaned as she gradually resumed consciousness. The sound that awoke her was fuzzy at best, as if wads of cotton were stuffed in her ears right alongside the ringing bell that wouldn’t stop. Somewhere nearby somepony was screaming “My eyes!” over and over. Her head ached fiercely, pain beating a rapid tattoo in her skull. Blood ran down her forehead into her eyes, obscuring her vision. She blinked furiously to get it out, trying desperately to see anything at all past the spots in her eyes. “What happened?” she murmured, even her own voice distant and faded.

Applejack’s features emerged, indistinct but at least visible. She said something Twilight didn’t understand.

“What was that?” Twilight said.

Applejack increased her volume to something resembling audible. “Ah said, are you alright?”

“Um,” she mumbled, blinking. Gradually, her sight returned, if fuzzy, revealing the Friendship Castle dining room around them. Or rather, what was left of it. Some sort of massive, still-steaming rock had torn a hole through one wall near the ceiling, smashing through the floor on the other side of the room. Crystal chunks and shards of glass had flown everywhere. Not a single window remained intact. The table was coated in dust and debris, the breakfast she’d taken an hour to prepare completely ruined. The debris spilled out into the hallway, one of the twin doors torn from its hinges, the other hanging loose. Dust clouded the air. Looking around, she finally saw it was Rarity who was still screaming, if quieter, her hooves clutched to her face. Fluttershy had one wing wrapped around her, and appeared to be cooing softly to calm her, though Twilight couldn’t make out anything through the ringing in her ears. Both sported numerous cuts, some bleeding lines of angry red that stained their coats. Applejack’s stetson lay discarded on one of the broken chairs. The strap holding her mane’s ponytail together had snapped, leaving her with long locks of blonde cascading around her face in a manner thoroughly unlike the rough and tumble cowpony. She looked down at herself and spotted the sizable chunk of crystal that must have hit her head and knocked her out, judging by the smear of blood. Her coat sported many trails of blood and she could feel plenty of bruises. And possibly a cracked rib, judging by her breathing.

Taking a breath and wincing at the sharp pain that came with it, she struggled to her hooves. “I’m not doing great, but I’ll be fine,” she answered. She looked at Rarity, who had thankfully quieted entirely. “What in the world happened, Applejack?”

Applejack’s voice came through more clearly as the ringing in her ears slowly subsided. “I dunno. There was the biggest flash of light Ah’ve ever seen in mah life; thank goodness I wasn’t lookin’ out the window like Rarity. Then there was the loudest roar Ah’d ever heard, and that rock came through the wall and everythin’ fell to pieces.”

Twilight had to think that through for a moment before responding. “An explosion?”

“Ah’d assume so,” Applejack agreed with a nod. “Bucked me harder than Big Mac applebucks trees. Ah blacked out for a sec and when Ah came to you were lying there all quiet.” Her eyes glistened with moisture as she raised a back hoof. “Ah was afraid for a minute that you were dead.”

Twilight quaked, her stomach twinging with nausea. While far from her first brush with death, it hadn’t gotten any easier over the years. “Thank goodness that didn’t happen.”

“Listen, Twi,” Applejack said, blinking away the dust in her eyes, “Ah’m gonna try to find a first aid kit for Rarity. You okay here for now?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, sure. Go ahead. There should be one in the lab. Head down the corridor, take a left, second door on the right.”

“Got it.” Applejack trotted away.

Twilight stepped gingerly over to Rarity and Fluttershy, trying to avoid stepping in the glass. “Hey girls. How’re you feeling?”

“Twilight? Is that you?” Rarity said rather loudly, her head whisking all over trying to find Twilight’s voice. “I can’t see you. I can’t see anything!”

Fluttershy continued cooing, little soft noises that Twilight found surprisingly soothing given the circumstances. “Ssh now. You’re going to be okay, Rarity.” Even as she spoke, though, she looked up to Twilight with tear-filled eyes and shook her head.

Twilight frowned, nodding. She understood all right. If Rarity had been looking directly into the flash, her chances were, well, minimal at best. Twilight shuddered again, fighting with her emotions to stay calm. “Yes Rarity,” she said to add to Fluttershy’s efforts, even if she didn’t really believe her own words. “You’ll be fine.” Rarity didn’t respond. She sniffled, sobbing in an unusually-for-her quiet way.

Twilight gave Fluttershy a pointed look asking if she was okay. Fluttershy waved a wing to say “Yes, I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

With more careful steps, she inched her way to the nearest window. The dining room squatted along the north wall of the castle. On most days the view of Canterlot was absolutely gorgeous, with the waterfalls cascading down the side of the mountain, the castle shining in the sunlight. Reaching the window, she took one look outside and her lower jaw almost detached from her skull.

Canterlot was gone. A giant mushroom cloud of oily black smoke tinged with sickening green and violet rose above the remnants of the mountain. A good third of the entire mountain was missing. A great cloud of dust obscured the base of the mountain. Here and there she could see other plumes of smoke from crashed airships. One wreck, less than two hundred meters away, burned with a smell of cooking meat that threatened to force her to void her stomach.

Twilight’s brain froze up. She sputtered wordless noise. “What-what I-I-I what happened?!” she finally screamed. Then her eyes widened and she took in a deep, shuddering, painful breath. “Spike,” she whispered. “Spike was in Canterlot.”

“Spike was in Canterlot!” she repeated in a shout. Her wings beat rapidly as she quaked, shaking her head back and forth repeatedly. “Spike… Starlight… The Princesses! My parents! No no no no no no!”

“Woah there, sugarcube, simmer down!” Applejack shouted in turn as she galloped back into the room, first aid kit snugly resting on her back. “Panic ain’t gonna help anypony.”

“B-b-but A-applejack, Spike was in Canterlot!” Twilight retorted, tears streaming down her face, mixing with the blood from the cut on her forehead into a red-stained mess. “He went there with Starlight! I… I… no...” Her whole body shook, knees knocking together. She collapsed into a limp heap and vomited, filling the air with a foul stench.

Hoofing over the first aid kit to Fluttershy, Applejack wrapped her forelegs around Twilight in a firm embrace. She picked up a piece of torn tablecloth and used it to clean Twilight’s muzzle. “Listen, Twi. Listen to me. There ain’t nothing we can do about that, ya hear?” Her eyes filled with tears. “There ain’t nothing.”

“Spike…” Twilight stammered between sobs. “He’s dead, Applejack! Spike’s dead! So’s my parents, and Starlight, and--and--”

“Look.” Applejack let go of her body and took her head in hoof, looking directly into Twilight’s eyes. “We don’t know that yet, okay? We don’t. Know. A thing. We just gotta… Ah don’t know what but we shouldn’t fall apart.” She gestured to Rarity, then to the window. “We’ve gotta worry about what’s right here. Ponyville’s gonna need our help. We, we can grieve later.”

Twilight took a shuddering breath, gulping. She brushed away her tears, though a few still dribbled out. Not much she could do about that. “Yeah, yeah you’re right Applejack. Sorry, I just--” she cut herself off, taking the knowledge of her family and friend’s probable deaths and shoving it firmly into a box in her mind, locking it away. She wasn’t going to let herself think about that anymore for now. At least, she’d try anyway. It was worth a shot.

“S’allright, sugarcube.” Applejack let go of Twilight. “Hey Fluttershy, Rarity, let’s get to the hospital. Ya’ll need more’n just first aid.”

Rarity climbed shakily to her hooves, then took one step and promptly collapsed again. “I can’t see,” she mumbled with a sob.

Applejack blew out a sigh. “Right. Here, Ah’ll uh, Ah’ll carry you.” Normally Rarity would have fiercely resisted any such notion. With her sight gone however, she simply mumbled assent and, with the help of Twilight’s field, rested on Applejack’s back. Her grip on Applejack’s withers was weak and frail. “Ready? Alright let’s head on out,” Applejack said.

The quartet trudged through the castle towards the front gates. As they passed through the corridors, Twilight noted other damage. Glass was scattered everywhere from broken windows, plenty of books and knicknacks had been knocked off of shelves, and there were two more holes in the wall, complete with smoking rocks in the floor.

The entry hall, thankfully, was almost totally intact, with only the ever present glass to show any hint of anything wrong. That let Twilight relax a very tiny scosche, which lasted right up until the doors opened. For the second time her jaw dropped. Fluttershy let out a quiet gasp. “Woah, nelly,” Applejack muttered..

Ponyville was an absolute wreck. Most of the ejecta from the explosion had landed further out over the town, smashing plenty of houses and business to pieces. What the ejecta didn’t hit the earthquakes did. A small airship had crashed into Town Hall, the whole structure collapsing in on itself. Fires burned here and there, some roaring, others mild. The weather pegasi rushed back and forth with clouds to douse any flames, stemming the tide so they didn’t consume the rest of the town. Everywhere she looked she could see ponies helping other ponies up, bandaging wounds or helping them to a place to sit safely. Many were distraught; she could see at least four mothers bawling their eyes out over the shattered remnants of their homes, and there were certainly others she couldn’t see.

She looked in the direction of Ponyville General, and let out a curse. The hospital had taken no less than three direct hits, and flames--most likely from burst oxygen tanks--were swiftly taking care of the rest. She could see the patients had been evacuated, but how many were still in there? How many had died?

How many?

How many…?

~*~

Somewhere outside Ponyville, forty minutes after The Fall.

Rainbow Dash lay crumpled on some nondescript stretch of grassy plain. Her Wonderbolts suit was ripped to shreds, her right wing hurt like a rutting docksucker, and she was pretty sure bones weren’t supposed to stick out of her leg. She couldn’t see a damn thing past the spots in her eyes. The pool of blood under her probably wasn’t a good sign either. “Rutting Tartarus…” she cursed. A little part of her mind that spoke with Fluttershy’s voice urged her not to curse. She told that voice to shut the rut up.

She attempted to stand, but the instant weight was placed on her broken leg she belted out a scream. “Ooohkay,” she said shakily as she collapsed back onto her stomach, the taste of bile filling her mouth. “Not doing that again.”

She took a moment to blink away the spots. She raised her head as much as she could, glancing behind her at the devastation wrought on Canterlot. Or what she could see of it from the ground anyway; she mostly saw huge clouds of dust and smoke. She pointedly did not look at her tail, which had been burnt to a fleshy stump. Or her rump which was covered in burns. Or her messed up all to Tartarus wing. “What the hay happened?” she muttered. She didn’t remember a single thing other than some flash and sound, and then she was flat on the ground, coated in dirt. “Are we under attack?”

She scanned the sky, but didn’t see anything except more smoke. “Hope not, anyway.” Not like she could do anything about it.

Blowing out a sigh, she raised her good foreleg to her ear, poking at it. “Come on, come on, where’s that stupid--there it is.” She hit a button on her wireless earpiece. “Calling Wonderbolts, any Wonderbolts, this is Rainbow Dash, please respond.” She heard nothing but buzzing static. With a grunt of frustration she hit the too tiny dial to switch to the Equestrian Air Cavalry channel. “Calling Air Cavalry, anypony, this is Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash, please respond.” Still more static. She tried channels for the Royal Guard and Army but got nothing. With a muttered curse she flopped her hoof to the ground. Stupid portable earpiece was new technology anyway; the explosion had probably fried it.

Or, that little Fluttershy voice in her mind pointed out sensibly, everypony was dead. But she didn’t want to think about that. Definitely not think about that at all. No she’d rather just thank her lucky stars that she’d been racing to her home to get the folder with the new flight routines she’d been looking over. Never in her life was she more happy she’d left something behind on accident.

Okay, okay. She had to assess her situation. She was injured. Couldn’t walk. Couldn’t fly. No supplies. And her wireless either wasn’t working or couldn’t reach anyone.

Assessment: royally screwed.

“OHMIGOSHRAINBOWDASHISTHATYOU?!”

“Oh thank Celestia,” she muttered. She tried to look but her gaze was abruptly filled with pink curls and pink coat.

“Oh my gosh it is you oh thank goodness I’ve been all over looking for you I was out on a walk cause sometimes I go on walks in the morning on my day off and then I heard the BIG BOOM and the earth shook all over and I fell over but I got up and I was all ‘Oh my gosh, Rainbow!’ but I knew you’d probably be coming back for that folder because I know you silly I knew you’d forget it so I looked for you at your house but you weren’t there and--”

“Woah, woah, Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow interrupted, doing her level best to shove a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth to stem the tide. “Ease up.”

Pinkie took a deep breath and let it out. “Right, right sorry, I was just so worried because I was afraid you might’ve died and--”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, Pinkie. I’m not dead. Yet.” She grimaced, trying to put on a brave face. “I’m just, you know, kinda banged up a bit. No biggie.”

Pinkie knelt down to look her all over, shock and disgust etched all over her features. “A bit?! Rainbow Dash you really need a doctor! Like right now!”

Rainbow winced as her various aches and pains reminded her they were there. “Yeah. That’d be nice. Maybe a bucket of aspirin too.” She shook her head. “Look, Pinkie, I can’t walk. Can you help me?”

With a wiggle and whirl of her flexible body Pinkie had Rainbow hefted up squarely on her back. “Can do! Let’s get you to the hospital!” After some fumbling and nearly falling off a couple of times, they were on their way. “So what’s going on anyway?” Pinkie inquired.

“Not a clue, Pinkie,” Rainbow replied. “I was hoping you knew. Did anything happen to Ponyville?”

Pinkie shrugged, almost bucking Rainbow Dash off in the process. “I dunno. I was outside it when Canterlot went boom. I’m kinda actually pretty nervous especially for the Cakes but I didn’t want to leave you hanging because I just knew you’d be around and you’d be hurt and I was right and I’m babbling again sorry.” She shut her mouth with a sheepish grin. She clammed up for the rest of the short trip.

Rainbow Dash gaped at the destruction wrought in Ponyville as they trotted through. “Good grief this place is a mess,” she said.

Pinkie, for her part, kept looking around, slowing to almost a crawl. “Ooooh,” she moaned. “This is so bad…”

“Focus, Pinks.”

Pinkie nodded, though she continued to move at a snail’s pace. “Right, sorry.”

Rainbow let out a string of curses that had Pinkie’s ears drawn flat against her skull when the hospital came into view, thoroughly ruined and on fire. “Rrgh, can’t anything go right today?” she growled.

“Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie!”

Rainbow glanced around, spotting Twilight and the others just outside the castle. She let out the breath she’d been holding since they entered town. “Hey girls. Nice to see you--ow, Twilight, watch it!” She weakly pushed Twilight’s attempt at a hug away.

Twilight’s cheeks bloomed red, then green as she realized the scope of Rainbow’s injuries. “Oh goodness what happened to you?”

Rainbow grimaced. “I think I caught the edge of the blast. I think. I dunno, it’s all kinda fuzzy. Can’t think. Every rutting part of me hurts too much like horseapples.”

She wasn’t certain but Rainbow thought she heard Fluttershy mumble, “Language.” Real or imagined, she rolled her eyes in amusement at real life imitating her imagination.

“There any chance I could, ya know, see a doc anytime soon?”

Fluttershy pointed to a pair of ponies a short distance away: Rarity, with Nurse Redheart. Redheart was given Rarity a thorough examination, or as much as she could with her spare medical bag. “She should be done soon, I think.”

Rainbow winced. “She was looking at Canterlot when it exploded, wasn’t she?” Rainbow knew from plenty of experience as a Wonderbolt how painful flash-blindness could be. Even she had caught some of it for a few moments and she’d been flying the opposite way.

“Eyup,” Applejack muttered. “Hopin’ Redheart can do somethin’ but Ah ain’t holdin’ mah breath.”

Nurse Redheart concluded her examination, asking Rarity to wait patiently. She trotted over to the others, only taking a brief moment to gasp at Rainbow’s condition before she rushed to examine immediately. “So what’s the story, doc?” Rainbow asked. “She gonna be okay?”

Redheart frowned as she poked and prodded Rainbow. Answering distractedly she said, “Honestly? No. She’s blind, permanently. Her retinas were completely burned out. There was an optometrist in Canterlot working on some experimental treatment that might’ve been able to do something about it, but, well. You know.”

Pinkie burst into tears. Fluttershy sobbed quietly. Twilight and Applejack exchanged sorrowful looks. Rainbow just grunted. “Figures. So who’s gonna tell her?”

Nopony spoke for several minutes. After she finished sobbing, Fluttershy said, “I-I’ll do it. She deserves to know.” No one objected, so she walked over and spoke quietly with Rarity. It didn’t take long for Rarity to burst into fresh sobs, collapsing onto Fluttershy.

“P-poor Rarity,” Pinkie said.

“Yeah,” Applejack agreed with a sniffle.

With a sigh, Redheart stepped back from Rainbow to rifle through her medical bag. She withdrew a bonesaw, to Rainbow’s horror. “Uh, doc, what’re you gonna do with that?”

Redheart didn’t respond. With a nod to herself she put the bonesaw back in the medical bag, closed the bag, and tossed it up onto her back. “Princess Twilight, do you have somewhere clean I can do surgery in? And antiseptics, anesthetic, and bandages, if you have them. The hospital supply was destroyed in the fire.”

Twilight took a moment to think. “My lab might work. It should have a large enough table. But we won’t need any antiseptics or anesthetic. I know a few medical spells that’ll cover those.”

“Good,” Redheart said.

“Hey, hold it, doc!” Rainbow interrupted, shoving her good hoof in Redheart’s way as much as she could from her position on Pinkie’s back. “What’re you going to do?”

Redheart blew out an exasperated sigh. “Look, Rainbow Dash, I’m going to be blunt. I can’t do anything about your leg or your wing without a hospital, nevermind your burns. Canterlot’s gone, Ponyville General’s gone, Cloudsdale is near Vanhoover right now, and no train’s getting to Manehattan or Fillydelphia with the tracks out. If I don’t do something--and soon--your wounds will turn gangrenous and you’ll die. Horribly. I’m going to have to amputate. The wing and the leg.”

“What?!” everyone shouted in unison. “No way, nuh uh,” Rainbow added. “Not happening! Not in a million years!”

“Then you’re dead,” Redheart said plainly. “I’ve got about a thousand other ponies I could be seeing to right now, Rainbow. Only two other medical staff from the hospital survived. So either you come with me, get on the table, and I save your life, or you can die. Your choice.”

Applejack scowled. “That’s mighty cold of you, Redheart.”

Redheart’s stern demeanor lasted a second more, then cracked. Her ears flattened against her skull and her cheeks bloomed. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just, I… I knew so many ponies who’ve…Anyway, I’m just trying to stay calm and do my job.”

Applejack’s scowl faded. “Yeah. Ah hear ya.”

Rainbow screwed her eyes shut. “Is there really no other way?”

“There’s gotta be!” Pinkie added with a wave of her forehoof. “I mean everypony from here to the Crystal Empire must’ve seen the big boom so somepony’s going to send help maybe Princess Cadance will send help I mean the military’s gotta do something right this is a national emergency!”

Fluttershy returned to the group with Rarity by her side at every step. “I agree with Pinkie,” she said.

Redheart’s mouth twisted into a half frown. “But we don’t know how long that might take. All our telephone lines ran through Canterlot and the only wireless we had was in the hospital. We’re cut off.”

“No, wait, we’re not!” Twilight said with the first smile, if tiny, she’d had all morning. “I have a wireless set in my lab. It’s not the latest model, but it’ll do.”

Applejack raised a hoof, her face grim. “Uh, Twi, is the wireless doohickey some kinda black box with little light bulbs and wires all over it?”

“Vacuum tubes,” Twilight corrected, “but, yes. Why?”

“It was on the floor,” Applejack replied. “Ah saw it smashed to pieces under some of your textbooks.”

Twilight’s smile vanished. She sank to the ground. “Oh. So much for that.”

“But, um, surely Princess Cadance will still send help.” Fluttershy pointed out.

“She’s gonna have to,” Rainbow said. “Look, Nurse Redheart, no offense, but I don’t want you cutting me up if the Army or Air Cavalry are gonna swoop in with paramedics. Twilight, you can put me under till they show up, yeah?”

With a sigh, Twilight stood. “I think so. But it’s risky. You look like you’ve lost a lot of blood.”

Rainbow gritted her teeth. “Just do it, damn it.”

Twilight glanced to Redheart, silently asking her for her opinion. At Redheart’s hesitant nod, she said, “Fine. Pinkie, can you take her to one of the guest rooms?”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said.

“Um, Twilight, darling?” Rarity interrupted before Pinkie could leave.

Twilight started. She’d almost forgotten Rarity was there. She looked to Rarity, her stomach and heart twinging at the sight of Rarity’s burnt out eyes. “Yes, Rarity?”

“May I request to live here in the castle for the next while?” Rarity inquired in a quiet tone. “I… I don’t think I could find my way in the Boutique without being able to... see.” Tears streamed from Rarity’s eyes as she said the last word.

Twilight took a moment to think before answering. “Yes. In fact, I’d like all of you to, until further notice.” She tilted her head with a twisted frown. “I’m going to need your help. Ponies are going to be looking to me to lead in this time of crisis. I don’t like it, but they will anyway. So, with that in mind, Applejack, do you think you can go around and round up your family, the Cakes, and Sweetie Belle?”

“And Scootaloo,” Rainbow pointed out. “Don’t forget Scootaloo.”

Applejack drew herself up, nodding. “Will do, Twi. Ah’ve been itchin’ to check on mah family anyways.”

“Thank you,” said Twilight. She turned to Pinkie. “Pinkie, after you drop off Rainbow, I’d like you to work together with Nurse Redheart to organize the town, get everypony who needs it medical help and shelter. We can probably set something up in the castle ballroom, after it’s cleaned up. Try to find the Officer Blue Badge, if she’s still alive. And the mayor too.”

Pinkie grinned, tossing off a jaunty salute. “Yes sir ma’am sir!”

Twilight let a bit of her smile return to her features. “Fluttershy, can you please look after Rarity and Rainbow?”

Fluttershy gave a shaky nod. “Sure. I can do that.”

“Right. Okay ponies, let’s get moving.”

~ * ~

Crystal Empire, three hours after The Fall.

Cadance’s day so far sucked.

It wasn’t a phrase she liked to use, or even thought most of the time. But now and then she just had to let loose with the profanity, at least in her head. And this situation called for it.

Her day sucked.

She slumped at the desk in her study, not trusting herself to be in public at the moment. The Empire was on the verge of mass panic. Everyone had seen the flash from the south, like a new sun rising before slowly fading out. Everyone had heard the distant rumble that went on for far too long. She’d had her Crystal Guard try raising Canterlot on the wireless straight away, but there was no answer, from anyone. The channels had been completely scrambled in static. It took Shining Armor a good hour before he finally contacted somepony, the Air Cavalry’s 64th Tactical brigade stationed at Fillydelphia Aerodrome. They’d relayed a few scarce details; as she had suspected the flash came from Canterlot. They promised to dispatch their fastest scout airship straight away.

Since then, with the wireless cleared and phone lines rerouting through Manehattan’s emergency backup hub, she’d fielded call after call from mayors and duchesses and barons throughout Equestria, all demanding answers they couldn’t get from Canterlot and that she couldn’t give them. She told them all the diplomatic version of the same thing: sit down, shut up, and wait.

She eyed the telephone on her desk with suspicion. She’d never liked them very much when she first saw them in Canterlot, as a filly. They hadn’t gotten any better since. Telephones thrived on making ponies miserable, something that she as the Princess of Love couldn’t stand. Today’s experiences had only cemented her feelings. Mercifully it hadn’t rung in at least fifteen minutes.

Of course as soon as she thought that it fired off a loud briiiing! Briiing! With a sigh she took the phone in her field and lifted it to her ear. “Yes, Chartreuse. Who’s calling now?”

Chartreuse, her secretary in charge of screening her calls--a thankless job that Cadance wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy--answered with her dulcet Trottingham tones, “Brigadier General Arend Vogel from Fillydelphia for you, mum.” Chartreuse liked using ma’am, or mum as she pronounced it, rarely if ever using Cadance’s official address of your highness. Cadance was grateful; she heard enough of that from everypony else as it was. “He says he has news.”

“Thank you, Chartreuse. Please put him through.” She held the phone away from her ear for a moment, taking a deep breath. She raised a hoof to her barrel and pushed it away as she exhaled. Her practiced Royal Smile graced her features as she placed the phone back at her ear and said, “Hello, General. I understand you have news?”

“Yes, your highness,” he answered in deep, kindly voice with a clipped Germane accent. She could feel the salute he was surely giving right through the telephone wires. “Colonel Avalanche just filed a report over the wireless a few moments ago.. I-I’m afraid it’s quite shocking, your highness.”

She repeated her anxiety-soothing gesture. “Please, go ahead.”

She heard him gulp. “W-we must report Canterlot has been completely destroyed.”Even though she’d expected to hear that, from everything she’d seen and heard, those words still caused her heart to race. “Destroyed how?”

“Unknown. Avalanche only performed a cursory examination. An entire third of the mountain was totally obliterated, and there was a massive mushroom cloud fading above the site. The city may have collapsed to the ground below. He was unable to approach close enough to determine that for certain; the site was far too hot. A basic thaumic reading indicated massive amounts of unstable thaumic radiation. How much of that has spread and how far, we don’t know, but it’s strong enough to be lethal on its own.”

Bile rose in Cadance’s throat as her whole body shook from icy fingers of fear running down her spine. It took her a couple of moments to recover enough to inquire, “Was there any sign of the Princesses?”

“N-no y-your highness,” General Arend responded, his voice aquiver. “Colonel Avalanche speculates…”

“Speculates what, General?”

“He speculates the Princesses are dead. Your highness.”

If Cadance wasn’t already sitting down she would have fallen into her chair. As it was she collapsed onto her desk, only barely still clutching the telephone in her field. General Arend’s words, in prior centuries, would have been taken as outright blasphemy by many who worshiped Princess Celestia as a goddess. Though worship of the Princesses had fallen out of practice save for fringe cult groups a century before Cadance was born, the notion of the Princess’s immortality still held sway. Celestia especially. She was the Unconquered Sun, to quote one of her many lofty titles she so rarely used. She had lived for a thousand years and more, as Cadance hoped to do. She couldn’t die. It was impossible!

But Cadance knew all too well, more than anypony alive save for her sister-in-law Twilight, just how alicorn life was no less fragile than any other life. When the General said the Princesses were dead, she knew, deep down in her heart, it was true. They were in the Summerlands now, enjoying the endless plains of sweet grass.

“Your highness? Are you still there?”

Cadance started. She lifted herself from the desk. “Yes.” She paused a moment to think. “General, do you know off hoof who is the highest ranking officer not stationed in Canterlot?”

His reply was immediate. “That would be Major General Stoneborn of the Army in Los Pegasus, your highness. If she wasn’t in Canterlot at the time.”

“Thank you.” She took a deep breath, then performed her anxiety-soothing gesture. “I need you to spread the word to everyone under your command, General: until further notice, Prince Shining Armor will be assuming command of the armed forces.” She didn’t like saying that without Shiny’s approval, but in this case she knew he’d agree on the spot.

“Yes, your highness! Any other orders?”

She nodded, forgetting for a moment he couldn’t see her. She rolled her eyes at her own silliness. “Yes. As soon as you can I need you to take your brigade to Ponyville and place yourselves under Princess Twilight’s command. Ponyville is likely in desperate need of medical supplies and doctors, so take as much emergency stores and medical personnel from Fillydelphia as you can. Once you arrive, please ensure Princess Twilight is put in contact with me straight away.”

He coughed, clearing his throat. “Um, with respect your highness, Ponyville is not equipped to support us. The rails were destroyed, and there’s no aerodrome, no barracks, not even a berth tower.”

Cadance drew herself up and put all her Princessly authority into her response: “Then build one. And rebuild the rails while you’re at it. Do what you have to, General. If the Colonel is correct and the Princesses are dead, then Twilight Sparkle is the only other Princess of Equestria, and that makes her the number one priority. Is that clear?”

“Yes your highness,” he answered immediately.

“Good. Dismissed.” She hung up. After a moment to think, she picked up the phone again. “Chartreuse, can you please have Shining Armor sent to my study at his earliest convenience?”

“Right away, mum.”

She hung up the phone and waited. Shining arrived a few moments later, panting just a bit from his gallop. “Yes, Cadance?” She told him about the call. Upon hearing the news, he managed to pale beyond the white of his coat. “Are you sure, hon?”

“I’m certain, Shiny.” She nuzzled his barrel, letting herself sink into him, drawing support and strength. “It’s just me and Twilight now.”

“Twily’s going to love that,” he said dryly. He sighed. “Goodness, Cady. This is a disaster. How’s Equestria going to hold together without Canterlot? The stock market’s going to crash overnight, if it hasn’t already. If we’re not careful it’s going to be every city and duchy for themselves.”

Cadance snuggled deeper into his chest. “I know, Shiny, I know. I can’t govern from the Crystal Empire forever either. Not by myself. It’s just too distant from the rest of Equestria.”

Shining snorted. “Yeah, and if I know Stoneborn, she’s going to fight us every step of the way. She’s a diehard Celestia fanatic, total old school. She hated Princess Luna for daring to be an alicorn like her sister. And you. And Twilight. Same reason.”

She made a disgusted face. “I know. I met her once. She looked at me like I was some scum she had to wipe off her hoof. Do you think she might attempt a coup?”

Shiny raised his eyebrows. “No. Like I said, she’s a Celestia diehard. She favors the monarchy. She’ll probably be ecstatic that the Council and the National Assembly are toast. That’s assuming she doesn’t just keel over upon hearing Celestia is… dead.” He shook all over as he spoke the dreaded word. “No, she’ll follow you, in the end. She’ll just be a complete dockhead about it the whole time. If we have anyone to worry about from the military, it’s Admiral Typhoon.”

She blinked. “Who?”

“Typhoon. She’s the admiral of the ERN Princess Celestia carrier group. She’s based out of Baltimare.” His expression darkened. “Which means she’s fiercely loyal to Duchess Seafoam, and you know how she is. She’s gone on record with the Council dozens of times in protest of every decision Princess Celestia’s made since Luna’s return. She especially hated Twilight’s ascension. She’ll follow you if you govern alone, I’m sure, but if Twilight joins you she’s going to be a huge problem. Especially since Typhoon commands Equestria’s only squadron of naval airships.”

“Wonderful,” Cadance groused. “As if Twilight wouldn’t join me. I can’t run the government on my own, Shiny. I need her.”

“I know, I know,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to leave Twily out either. We’ll just have to be prepared for Seafoam to make a move, is all. And about a million other things.” He squeezed his eyes shut in a wince. “Ugh, like the yaks. Or Maretonia. Or the zebras. Or the minotaurs. Or any number of other countries that might take Equestria’s weakness as a sign to attack. We’re going to have our hooves full, hon.”

Cadance nuzzled him, planting a kiss on his cheek. “That’s why I’ve put you in charge of the military, Shiny. I know I can count on you.”

He grinned cheekily. “Well, yeah. I was Captain of the Royal Guard. How much harder could the whole military be?” He gave her a kiss of his own, slow and lingering. “Listen though, you’re going to have to address the nation. Everypony in Equestria’s either panicking or worse. They need to hear from their Princess or there’ll be complete chaos.”

Her lips twisted into a heavy frown. “Riots?”

Shining nodded grimly. “Yup, at the very least. I hate to say it but we’re going to have to enact martial law, and soon.”
“Martial law hasn’t been used since the last great war with the minotaurs hundreds of years ago,” Cadance retorted. “Most ponies won’t even know what it means anymore.”

“I know, hon.” He cast his eyes to the floor. “It’s not something I’d suggest lightly. But we’ve got to face the facts. Canterlot was everything, Cadance. The phone lines, the rail lines, the primary wireless hub, the home of the government, of the military! We’re damned lucky the economy is primarily run through Manehattan or else we’d be in a state of total collapse.” He slammed his hoof on the floor. “A lot of hard decisions need to be made. Now I’ll be there with you and Twily, every step of the way, but we need to act. Fast. Or else Seafoam and who knows how many others will act for us.”

Cadance sighed, plopping her rump on the floor. She ran her forehoof along her temple, to ease the growing headache drumming in her skull. “Right. No, you’re right, Shiny.” She gave him a wry grin. “I already knew that. I just, just needed to hear it from you. It helps.”

Shiny wrapped a hoof around her, holding her close. “I love you, Cadance.”She chuckled. “Love you too.”With a final extra squeeze he let go. “Alright, like I said, we’d better move. I’ll get Stoneborn on the horn and start organizing the Army and whatever’s left of the Royal Guard. You should get started on that address.” He gave a wan smile. “Gonna have a lot of sleepless nights.”

“You and me both, Shiny.” She blew him a kiss. “Good luck.” He gave her one last peck on the cheek and left the room.

She slunk over and sank into her cushioned arm chair. Good luck indeed. She turned her eyes up to the ceiling. “Aunt Celestia, wherever you are, I… I hope you rest in peace. Please, wish us luck.” She sighed. “We’re going to need it.”

Author's Note

Hello, and thank you for joining me on this ride! This inspiration for this story, as some of you may have suspected, came from this amusing conversation you can overhear in Mass Effect 2. The idea just struck me one day out of the blue while I was listening to the clip, and grabbed on tight. I've had a blast writing this story so far, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it. Thanks a bunch.

Also, if you're wondering whether or not I enjoy putting characters I love(and I do love them all) through pain and misery? The answer is oh hell yes.