The Burning

Twilight woke and looked around suddenly, jumping to her hooves. She had no clue where she was, or if anything had been real. A light appeared on her horn, and she realized she was in a familiar house. "A-Apple Jack? Sweetie Belle? Anypony?" She called out in the darkness. What time was it? She didn't really know. She went to the window, but found it barred shut from the inside. She managed to peek through a crack between boards, and gasped. The entire farm was destroyed. The barn was torn to pieces, the apple orchards looked like they'd never been alive in the first place. As did all the plants. She backed away from the window, and bumped into some pony else. She froze for a split second and turned around, the magic on her horn turning red as she prepared to attack.

"Wait Twi! It's me Apple Jack!" Shouted the figure. Sure enough, as Twilight finished turning around, she saw the familiar face of her friend. But something was off....She looked like she'd been crying for hours. She had streaks going through the fur on her face, her hooves were completely covered in dirt and muck, and a red bow was around her left leg. Twilight looked her over once more, then it snapped. She looked down at the red bow and looked up into her face, shaking her head, and mouthing the words no. Apple jack hung her head and nodded. Twilight instantly brought a hoof to her own mouth in horror. Then her thoughts came rushing back. Spike was dead. Library was gone. Luna had taken over. Celestia was nowhere to be found.

"I....I'm so sorry Apple Jack. There's nothing I can really say.....H-how did it happen?" She asked her friend shakily.

"Well Twi.....While we were off at the Library tendin' to ya and hearin' 'bout what happened to Spike, those darned Unicorns attacked the farm and started destroyin' everythin'. Big Macintosh told me that Apple Bloom.....She was in the Orchard....And.....And he said she didn't have a chance....They burned her alive Twilight! They burned Poor Apple Bloom alive!!!" She started to cry once more. Sobbing nearly uncontrollably. She sniffed a moment, and looked her in the eyes,"Whats worse is she was alive when we got you here....But she was in awful pain....There was nothin' we could do....I...I had ta...." She couldn't finish speaking. Her words not wanting to come out, for good reason. Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder, then took her in a hug.

"I'm sorry....I'm sorry....This should never have happened....W...where are the others?" She asked her pulling back after a moment.

"Rarity...Fluttershy....Rainbow Dash....an Pinkie Pie are in the other room. We can't find Sweetie, an Scootaloo isn't doin to well. She had her Wings snapped, an it was all Rarity could do ta stop the bleeding." She told her. Twilight looked to the door behind her, then back to her.

"Come on, Apple Jack, lets go to them..." she said, putting a hoof around her friend again to assist in turning her around. they left the room, and made their way to the kitchen where most of the others were. "Where's Granny Smith and Big Mac at?" Twilight instantly asked, noticing they were missing from the group. Apple Jack looked at her and shook her head slightly.

"Big Mac...He's off buryin' Granny Smith.....She couldn't handle the loss of Apple Bloom....Her heart...It just broke...." She slunk over to a small mattress in the corner, and laid down on it, succumbing to the tears once more. Twilight took a moment then to look around the room. Rainbow Dash had a bandage around her torso, and a blood stain on the left side, Rarity's mane was a mess for once. Pinkie Pie wasn't smiling. Fluttershy lay in another corner, shaking horribly as she slept uneasily. A terrified look was across her face. Scootaloo lay next to Rainbow Dash, her wings twitching occasionally, and each time, bringing a wave of pain that brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes.

Twilight went over to Rainbow and Scootaloo and knelt next to them, looking at Scootaloo. "I'm going to try and help your wings, alright? I will try and make it as painless as possible, but I will have to re-break the skin and pull it across the bones, otherwise it won't heal right. Is that alright?" She asked her, allowing a very small, weak smile. Scoot looked up at her, pain and terror on her face. She looked to Rainbow Dash, and back.

"O-okay...Twilight...." She said quietly. Rainbow pushed a piece of wood towards Scootaloo, bite marks already on it from before. She picked it up with her mouth and buried her face into Rainbows chest. Twilight's horn started to glow again as she prepared the spell she intended to use.

"1....2....3" Twilight counted down, giving her a chance to prepare as much as possible. Once the count hit 3, she cut the skin with magic, and pulled the skin up and over the bones. Instantly Scootaloo let out a sharp cry through the wood and Rainbow's fur. Rainbow Dash put a hoof around her head, gently, and held her there. Twilight kept it from bleeding with her magic, and made a new incision up her wing so she could see the damage. The bones were shattered. Even the best doctor in Equestria could never give her her wings back. So, she did what she could. She started mending the bones as best as she could. She put blood veins back together, and even reattached muscle's and sinew. When she was done with the first wing, she looked to Scootaloo. She'd been screaming in pain for over 5 minutes until she had passed out from it. The others had looked over to them, wincing and quickly turning away, feeling her pain. Twilight worked on the other wing, and closed it up as well. She looked to Rainbow Dash then.

"Thanks Twi...." She croaked. Her voice had been worn out from yelling earlier. "She'll never fly, will she?" She asked her, examining Twilight's face. She shook her head.

"I don't think even the best Doctor in Equestria could make her wings work for that. But at least....at least they won't hurt as badly now, and there won't be internal bleeding either." She said to her.

"How ever did you know what to do, Twilight?" Rarity whispered, approaching and joining the two on the floor. "Even I couldn't do much more than seal the skin to keep her from bleeding to death. And the entire thing was simply awful for the both of us."

"I read about the layout of Pegasi wings once while I was still studying at the Castle. So I did my best to help her, but her wings are so small and under-developed so it was hard. Plus her bones are still softer than a full grown Pegasi, so they wouldn't heal right either, not with my magic." She explained. Rarity nodded and looked down at her, placing a hoof gently on her side, behind her wing. She looked at Twilight and stood, trotting away quietly. Twilight looked over to Rainbow a moment after Rarity had walked away. "Would you like for me to help your side, Rainbow Dash?" She asked her, looking at the bloodied bandage. She shook her head.

"Rarity managed to slow the bleeding, and wrap it up. I don't want you wearing yourself out. We may need your magic, and can't have you passing out on us for 2 days again like you did when you lost your control back in Ponyville." She told her.

"Lost my control? What even happened? Last thing I remember was killing.....killing that one colt in the Library...." She said, shaking at the thought that she'd killed.

"You went completely nuts and sent out a wave of energy that killed at least 20 of them, before you turned to the rest and just started to drop them like flies everyway you could. The last thing you did was what put you out for 2 days. Hundreds of them were coming in, we had already left town to get to safety. We looked back and saw you float into the air with electricity around you before a tower of light and electricity shot up, consuming you, and then consuming all of Ponyville. Thank Celestia no pony was there anymore, because all that's left is a crater and debris. We pulled Spike out before we left, and Apple Jack gave him a proper burial next to Apple Bloom and the others." She told her. "You can go see it...if you want....it's over in front of where the barn was. They are all named too." She told her. Scootaloo twitched and she looked down at her before hugging her gently, and laying her head down.

Twilight nodded and stood, going to the door, and going out. She closed her eyes before going out, and opened them as the door clicked shut. She was instantly hit with the smell of smoke and death. She looked around in the dim light of the moon, and saw the wreckage of the barn. She approached it and looked in front of it. There had to be 25 graves easy. She approached the graves and started to read them. The cakes; all 4. The mayor. Derpy. Spike. Apple Bloom. Lyra. Lily Blossom. And many others. She went to Spikes grave, and sat before it. She saw that he'd been given an Epitaph.

Here Lies Spike.

In life, a great friend, and wonderful family to us all. In death, a hero who gave his life to keep Rarity the

Unicorn alive. He will always be remembered and loved. And most of all, he will be missed greatly by his

closest family, friend, and teacher, Twilight Sparkle. May Celestia guide him into heaven, and may he

rest in peace.

Twilight broke down and started crying once again as she finished reading it. It was a touching epitaph. And a true one. She would never forget him as long as she lived, and her heart would never be whole again. There was an emptiness in her heart now. She felt it. Like some pony had put a cart of fruit on her chest. She didn't know how long she sat there crying, but it took Big Mac's touch on her shoulder to pull her out of her depression.

"Come on missus Twilight. Let's git you inside now." He said to her. His voice seemed the same as ever, but his face showed true pain and loss. Twilight looked up at him, her fur soaked from crying. She looked back to Spikes grave. Her horn illuminated for a moment before the headstone, which was a plank of wood vanished, and was replaced by a marble slab. As was every pony else's. She stood and slunk slowly towards the house. Big Mac looked at what she had done, and put a hoof on her shoulder, stopping her for a moment. She looked back to him, and he nodded weakly, showing his approval for her spell. It was after that, they went inside.

The sound of hooves running across a tiled floor echoed loudly in the halls of Canterlot Castle. Guards were running all over the place. The castle was in complete chaos, as was the city, and everything around. Luna had launched an attack from someplace unknown to Celestia, so she could only defend from the unending onslaught. The front doors of the castle cracked....They would soon be inside. A guard made note and quickly turned, running to inform Celestia who was currently in the center of the massive building. It took him a few minutes to get to her location, but once he found her, he relayed what he had seen, and what he knew.

"If what you say is true, then it seems we may need to vanish for a while." Celestia replied to him. She looked down to the ground in thought for a moment before looking back to him. "And have we any news from ponyville?"

"M'lady! According to scouts and spies across the city, a large tower of energy was seen coming from ponyville...That is all we know." He saluted as he finished speaking. Celestia dismissed him and turned from the door going into a second room with seating where Cadence and Shining Armor were already present.

"I have some dark news, Cadence and Shining Armor. They will be breaking through the front doors soon, and will be inside the castle. There is nothing from Ponyville except information that says a large tower of energy was seen at the site of the town. So as far as I know and am able to tell you now...Ponyville was destroyed. I'm sorry you two." Cadence brought her hooves to her mouth as she started to tear up.

"Twili....." Shining Armor couldn't form words. Twilight had lived in Ponyville, and the town was gone....did that mean she was gone as well? "I...I have to go find my sister. I have to. If I don't at least try, then what kind of older brother am I...." He said to Celestia and Cadence. Cadence put a hoof around his shoulder.

"I-I don't want you to go, but if you must go, then go. Just make sure you return safely....and find Twilight. Please find her." Cadence said to him. He looked at her and nodded, and looked to Celestia.

"I swear, with you here as my witness, that I shall find Twilight, and will return here with her, safely." He announced, saluting Princess Celestia before turning towards the door. "I know I may not see either of you for a while, but I will go as fast as I can so I can return to you both as soon as possible." He quickly ran out the door. Cadence turned to Celestia for a moment, and back to the door.

"Do you think he will be alright?" She asked her worriedly.

"He will be fine, Cadence. You need not worry as he knows what he is doing. Lets just hope he finds her as she is important to all of us." She finished and returned to the other room without the chairs, and continued pacing.

"I want her now!" Luna demanded. "Bring me Twilight Sparkle! She is the ticket to getting those three from hiding." Her tone was filled with irritation and anger. She'd heard nothing from her battalion she'd sent to Ponyville, and even the few scouting groups hadn't returned. She expected results from her soldiers, but when all she got was nothing, it was especially vexing. "If I don't have Twilight Sparkle in the prison within one hour, I will be forced to take much, much more drastic measures." Every word she spoke, she meant, and the soldiers knew it. They saluted and left, going to their mission. "As for you, Mephisto, I am displeased that our original plan had to fail because of you and your incompetence. If not for you waking the dragon and alerting her, we would instead have the baby dragon, and her, and her friends would now be losing their faith in my sister. Instead, we had to just start the assault, and hope when the time comes, that I will be strong enough to kill Celestia." She finished, turning towards the window and looking down at the rest of Canterlot. She'd taken the tower with ease, so she might watch her forces take the city.

"I'm sorry for my failure Princess Luna. I had not planned on the dragon being awake and making the bed. But if you must punish me for it, then I understand." He told her, bowing to her.

"Punish you.....yes. That is exactly what needs be done. And it will make the others see just how much trouble they can get in for failure." She turned to him and lifted him off the floor. A sharp crack resounded followed by a scream of pain. She'd snapped his horn off, jaggedly for effect. "There is no such thing as simply being 'punished' by me, Luna. Everypony gets one chance." She told him. As he was held in the air, he kept flailing, trying to put a hoof on his broken stump of a horn, hoping to make the pain go away. Tears were streaming down through his blue fur, staining it darker. Luna turned towards the balcony and ventured out onto it. The city was starting to burn down on the farther side. "We shall use the Royal Canterlot voice for what we are about to say!" She announced. "Anypony who does not meet expectations for their duties shall be dealt with. Here is your warning!" She went silence, and turned away, returning inside. She quickly flicked Mephisto off the tower as she went inside. His scream lasted only a few seconds before a thud sounded below.

"Now....Lets hope those foals I sent after Twilight Sparkle return. Otherwise, I shall do much worse than this to them..."

The only noise in the house was the sounds of it settling, and the sounds of the others breathing. An occasional whimper escaped Scootaloo's small form near Rainbow Dash. But aside from that, nothing moved. Twilight had passed out in a corner after returning inside, having used a large amount of magic making the headstones. The others had been worried at first, but they had decided that she needed the sleep, regardless of what she had done. It was about halfway through the 'night' when a loud clanging sounded outside the farmhouse. Immediately at the door was Big Mac. Ready to defend what was left of his home, and his family. Twilight slowly came to as he unbolted the door. He prepared to open it when the sound of frantic knocking and clattering came at the door. Big Mac quickly threw the door open and looked out.

"Whoever's out there y'all better show yerselves right now!" He yelled. The small sounds of crying tore his attention to the ground where Sweetie Belle lay. Her horn was cracked, her fur burnt in a few spots, and even a few minor cuts were noticeable. "Sweetie Belle! Where in Tarnation have you been? Your sister has been worryin about you." He quickly pulled her in with a hoof, keeping an eye out around the area until he pulled the door shut. Rarity had woken up during the event, and before Sweetie Belle could even stop crying to say anything, she was taken into a hug by her sister.

"Oh Sweetie Belle! Whatever happened to you?! I looked everywhere! But I simply could not find you and had to stop. We came back here, and ever since all I had been thinking about was your safety. I was worried sick! Never do that to me again Sweetie Belle! Now lets get you cleaned up." She started in immediately wanting to put her sisters looks over her well being.

"Rarity..." Twilight approached her, putting a hoof onto her shoulder. Rarity smiled weakly and looked to Sweetie Belle, hugging her gently again and sitting quietly. "We are glad you are still alive Sweetie Belle, but there is somepony here who needs a friend, go to her." She told her, motioning towards Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle nodded and ran past her, going to Scootaloo. It took her a few minutes, but after finding out what had happened with Scoot, she looked around then spoke out.

"W-wheres Apple Bloom? Apple Jack? Where is your sister? She's alright isn't she?" She looked to Apple Jacks eyes, waiting for the answer, but when all she got was a somber head shake, she started to lose it. "Apple Bloom can't be gone! She can't be! We never found her cutie mark! You're lying to me! She's upstairs and sleeping is all!" She ran towards the stairs and went to look for Apple Bloom. She came sprinting down a few seconds later. "Come on! Please tell me where she is! Where is Apple Bloom!?!" She had tears overflowing from her eyes as she tried to deny the truth. Twilight motioned for her and went out the door heading to the barn, and the row of Headstones. She led her to the one stone she knew the small pony did not want to ever see. Sweetie Belle looked at it once...twice...three times....and finally she gave in. She let the tears take her. "Apple Bloom....APPLE BLOOM!!!!" she fell to the dirt and started to bawl.

"I'm so sorry Sweetie....We all have lost alot to this war....but this is just the start. You just have to keep trying. Lets go back inside, ok?" She laid next to Sweetie and looked back to the house. As she started to stand, she used a spell to lift the small crying pony towards the house. She made it four steps. As she started to take the next step, a massive black Pegasus landed in front of her.

"Twilight Sparkle! By order of Princess Luna you are to come with us immediately. Failure to comply will result in us forcing you, and killing the others." He waited for her reply upon finishing his missive. Twilight slowly placed Sweetie Belle on the ground and leaned down towards her.

"I want you to go hide. Hide and don't come out until they are gone. If something happens to me, or the others, stay hidden." Her face had taken on a hardened appearance as she showed no emotion for the Stallion. Sweetie nodded and moved away slowly, wiping her eyes. She moved out of sight. The large pegasus flapped his wings once but did nothing more. Twilight stood straight and faced him. "I have a better idea. Leave. Leave before I am forced to make you." Twilight threatened him. He started to laugh. "I wouldn't be laughing in your state....I was the one who stopped them all earlier. That tower of energy and magic you may have seen? That was me." She tried to intimidate him. His stopped for a second then took his original stance.

"Well then, you are the reason why the Princess is not happy then. So you can know that there will be consequences for what you did." He started to pace around her, trying to push her into a corner as he moved. He had not expected her to remain motionless and watch him. "I can see then, that you would prefer the second option. Very Well then." He brought a heavy hoof to the dirt, stomping loudly once. Fifteen of the batwing ponies with the horns landed around her, waiting. "Take her alive. The rest, kill them. Start with the white one under the wagon." Twilight's eye's widened as she turned to face the wagon where she saw Sweetie Belle. She looked up and found flying above were two of the unicorns both holding rocks large enough to destroy a small house. They let them go.

Twilight looked down at Sweetie Belle again. Sweetie saw the look in her eyes and sat up. She put a hoof out towards her, more tears starting before she vanished under the weight of the two rocks and the wagon. A very miniscule scream was heard, but nothing more. Twilight remained in her spot, looking at the dust settling where the wagon had been. All she could think about was the small pony she'd seen there only a second earlier. She still had to be there. She had to! Twilight prepared to run, but realized her thinking was very irrational. Sweetie was dead now. She'd watched her get crushed. Why hadn't she stopped it? More questions started to flow through her head. Why hadn't she saved Spike? Apple Bloom? Ponyville? There were many more but a scream of terror brought her to reality. Rarity had been watching through the window. So she'd seen the entire thing.

"SWEETIE BELLE!!! NO!!!!" Rarity cried out, trying to bash her way through the window and over to the rocks. Big Mac kept her inside, but it was obvious he would have preferred to let her tear them apart. "SWEETIE!!!!" Rarity cried out again, going into full body tremors as the pain and the emptiness inside of her grew to consume her and pull her down. Twilight looked to the house, hearing her friend cry out in agony. A mistake. The stallion in front of her laughed and leapt at her, a barrier materializing before him as he slammed into Twilight, sending her through the air into the wall of the barn house. The wall cracked, but did not give. Twilight, dazed laid there a moment. She hadn't expected him to do anything so suddenly.

Before Twilight even had a chance to regain herself, he was standing over her. Using his magic, which was a dark red like the darkened skies above, he grabbed her by her rear left hoof, and flung her headlong into the house the others hid inside. Twilight felt a crunch as she slammed into. But thankfully the crunch wasn't from her neck, face, or horn....But it was from her front forehoof. She'd tried to stop herself from hitting it, and had only succeeded in breaking her front ankle. She screamed out in pain as she fell to the ground and held her hoof close to herself. She looked up, still dazed, and saw him approaching her slowly, an evil grin on his face. "You know, she never told us we couldn't have a little fun~" His grin became darker, more menacing. He obviously had needs he wanted to relieve, and he planned on doing so with Twilight. She could see it in his eyes. And all she thought about was how much she didn't want it.

Slowly Twilight stood, balancing on her left front leg, the right raised off the ground. "You won't get any such thing from me..." She breathed out raggedly.

"Oh I don't think you have a say in it. Look at you. You're a mess. You can barely stand, and so far, you haven't done a thing to stop me. So I doubt you even can." He was getting closer. Twilight's mind was racing. What should she do? She couldn't risk losing it again and destroy the farm. But she couldn't let him hurt her, and have his way with her either. She looked past him and saw the large rocks that lay on Sweetie Belle, and the slabs of wood around it. Many containing nails, or having broken sharp edges....Thats it! She looked to him and let her magic start to flow.

"I can't do anything? I can't stop you?" She asked him. Her magic collected the planks. The other soldiers around them watched on to see what he would do before they went about their task in killing the others. The boards all gathered by the rocks, and each aimed in different directions. All had sharp edges. The ones that did not vanished as the remainders had nails jutting out from multiple areas. "Then I guess I should just give up, shouldn't I?" She said to him. "But I can't....Because if I give up... I give up on my friends, on Celestia, my brother...and Equestria!" As she yelled out the boards shot out through the air, all aimed for different ponies. Some were able to dodge, but a few fell from the sky with the boards sticking out of them. Most dead on impact. The other boards appeared around the stallion before her, and all slammed into his sides, face, flank, and legs, pushing the nails on them into him. A cry of pain, anger and astonishment came from him as he felt the nails sink in...but that wasn't the end. The boards started to pull back and slap him everywhere, continually impaling him with nails. He fell to the ground, his cries getting quieter until they were no more. As for the remaining ponies who had dodged the boards, they looked on with rage, but flew off before she could kill them.

Twilight stood panting as the effort had taken a lot from her, organizing the boards and shooting them off, and turning the others invisible and putting them around him, all without getting noticed. She stumbled a little and shook her head. She stood there a minute, waiting to see if any others would appear, but when none came. She let her head fall low. She looked to the large rocks again and limped over to them. As she got closer, she saw a small white hoof. She stopped and fell to her flank. Once again, a flood of emotions overcame her, and she turned her attention to the dead stallion only a few yards away. Her rage for him having Sweetie Belle killed came back as she turned and limped to him.

"She was a little filly. Scared. Homeless. Parentless. Her only family was just over in that house. She had her entire life ahead of her. She hadn't even gotten her cutie mark....You...you bastard....." Without a second thought, she brought a rock the size of her head over, and started to bash the dead stallion. The more she did, the angrier she got. Blood started to spray everywhere as she continued to crush him. Within a few strokes, she was covered in it. She started to yell in anger as she continued to flatten him. She brought it down on his head with a sickening crunch, and continued to do so. She felt tears start to flow. After a moment, the rage was replaced by complete sadness. The rock started to slow, then finally stop as she broke down and cried in the bloodied dirt around her.

From the window, Rainbow Dash watched on. When she saw Twilight start to break down, she went to the door, and kicked it open, going to her friend. At first, she didn't want to touch her, as she would get blood on her coat, but once she got close enough to hug her, she had already stopped caring. She took Twilight into a gentle hug. "Come on Twi....Lets....lets go inside and get you cleaned up...There's nothing you can do...not about her..." She looked to the small hoof and started to feel sick. She turned back to Twilight,"Twilight....I know you tried all you could. I know you did. And if there was anything you could have done, or could do now to save her, then I know you would have done it already. But we have to keep going on. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom...All of them would want us to keep trying. I know that. And so do you." The words struck Twilight. Hard. She stopped crying for a second and looked her friend in the eyes, before a fresh wave of tears washed over her and she pushed her face into the cyan fur of her best friend, staining it red from the blood that coated her own purple coat. She cried heavily. She put a hoof around her as well, but kept the other tucked against her side.

Before she knew it, the others were there as well, except Rarity who stood by the rock, holding her sisters small, lifeless hoof. She'd lost everything that was dear to her except her friends. She'd lost her Boutique, her family, even her pet, Opal. She released her sisters hoof as it fell against the ground, and lay her head on the rock. Her cries were soon echoing across the barren farm. The cries were filled with emptiness and sorrow. She muttered something nearly incomprehensible,"Dumb rocks...." The others slowly made their way to her, even Twilight who still cried herself. The 5 took Rarity gently and pulled her away from the rocks, facing her away from the small hoof. Now it was Rarity's turn to cry. She buried her face into all of them, and let the pain out.

"How dare you return here without her! I told you not to return unless you had her! And it had to be within one hour! Since you cannot handle this one little task you are of no use to me for anything!" Luna roared in rage at the few who returned from the attempt to capture Twilight. She stomped her hoof, and tendrils of magic snaked from the ground and held them in place. They struggled against them, but could do nothing. "Your punishment for this failure is death." The magic tendrils punctured in through their legs and reappeared from their chest, tearing their hearts from their bodies. They were dead in seconds. Still in her rage, Luna stomped again, and crushed the hearts before tossing the bodies from the tower as she had done with Mephisto.

Luna went to the balcony and looked out towards Ponyville. "I will deal with this in my own way then." She growled to herself in a menacing tone. Her horn started to glow as she charged a powerful fire spell. "I will burn the entire Everfree down, along with everypony in it, and every town along it. Nopony will escape." The fireball shot forward towards the forest. It sailed through the air and became smaller and smaller as it went further away until it vanished in the center of the mass of trees. At first, it seemed like nothing had happened. But only after it vanished into the tree's a flash lit the landscape up as a tower of flames hundreds of feet tall exploded into view. Within seconds, thousands of tree's were burning, and fast. The fires, being fed by magic were hotter than any normal flame, and were spreading at about five miles a minute. They would reach the remains of Ponyville in just ten minutes.

"Let this be a lesson, Twilight Sparkle. Do not go against my will." She said looking at Ponyville once more, before turning herself away from it forever.

Twilight had just closed the door of the Farmhouse behind her when she heard a rumble and felt the ground shake. She was on the verge of breaking and just giving up. The events were tearing at her like a pack of starved wolves would tear at a deer. She knew she couldn't give up, but every fiber of her being told her to. She turned slowly, and looked towards the window. She knew whatever had happened, she didn't want to see it. She slowly approached it, and closed her eyes as she got to it before lifting herself up with her good leg, and looked out. Out across the farm, above and beyond the thick black wall of tree's she saw a bright orange glow. Was it the sun?! She looked closer. "Somepony help me upstairs!" She called out, limping towards the steps. Pinkie ran over to her and carried her up to the second floor. "Quick Pinkie get me to that room!" She pointed to a room that faced out towards the light she had seen.

Pinkie ran to the door and pushed it open and dropped her friend on the floor. What Twilight saw when she got to the window was not what she had expected or even wanted. She had a hope that the sun was rising and Celestia was taking control again...she was horribly wrong. What she saw were flames. Massive flames from the forest. And the worst part was they were heading directly towards them, and fast. "Oh no....no no no no!!!! We need to get out of here! We need to find somewhere to hide or somewhere to run!" She was joined in second by Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash as well. Fluttershy had remained downstairs to comfort Rarity.

"What you yellin' 'bout Twilight?" Apple Jack asked her, looking towards the glow from the window, but not paying too much attention to it at the moment.

"The entire forest is burning down! We need to get to someplace we won't be burned alive!" She exclaimed. Apple Jack looked at her and at the window before going to it. She looked out and stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over the others.

"Sweet Apple crisps she's right! But I think I may have me an idea. Come on gals, we need to get to my apple cellar!" They took off leaving the room, Pinkie carrying Twilight. Apple Jack ran through the house, grabbing her hat, her rope, and a saddle bag to bring into the cellar. She also grabbed a few blankets as well, tossing them inside the saddle bags. When she got downstairs, the others were there helping Scootaloo and Rarity out of the house towards the Cellar by the barn. "Gosh dangit! You go on without me. I can't find Granny Smiths Apron!" She yelled out. She was trying to find an item from both members they had lost to hold as keepsakes. But without even a care, Big Mac grabbed her and flung her out the door.

"Dangit Apple Jack we don't got time! Move!" He demanded. Apple Jack looked inside with a longing stare, as if she was leaving someone dear. But she didn't get long as Big Mac grabbed her by the tail and dragged her quickly to the Cellar. The flames were only a couple miles out by the time they got to the cellar door, and would soon be at the farm. Apple Jack and Big Mac were the last ones in.

"Everypony! Get back away from the door! Get to the back of the Cellar quick!" Twilight yelled out. All did as they were told. They moved to the back and huddled together, Big Mac huddled in front of them to block any heat that might get in.

"Uhm...Apple Jack? I have just a teeny tiny little question...that is...if you don't mind...." Fluttershy whispered.

"What is it Fluttershy?" She replied looking at her friend, some fresh tears falling from her eyes as the imminent burning of her home approached.

"Well...will the cellar hold? I mean...it is under the Barn." Fluttershy asked.

"I sure hope so, Fluttershy....I hope so." She replied.

The room started to heat up, and a roar was heard as the flames reached the edge of the forest. Then he ground started to shake as it ignited the barn above them. The door to the room started to glow as the flames washed over it before igniting it as well, and burning it off the hinges. All eight of them closed their eyes and hugged each other, even Big Mac. The sound of the flames grew louder, and the heat continued to rise. Twilight tried to speak, but the heat was overwhelming, and after only a few moments....all but Twilight were unconscious from the smoke and heat. She did the only thing she could think of before she too fell unconscious, and put a bubble around them. As her vision blurred and blackened, she thought of one thing. At least she would be with her friends in death...