Chapters The Day The World Exploded
The streets were flooded with other ponies like us as we fled from our crumbling homes. The earthquake that'd just hit, as well as the aftershocks, were noticeably stronger this time around, and I doubt that anyone else wanted to take chances at this point. The same carriage I repaired just minutes before rushed past, rumbling down the road in a crazed frenzy.
"Rusty, stop gawking and run!" Jewel yelled from up ahead. I shook myself from my daze and followed. Up above, pegasi hauled bulging clouds of rain into the city to combat the blazing fires that had already overtaken several buildings.
All around, Canterlot seemed to be crumbling. Buildings came tumbling down as the already-unstable land warped and buckled underneath. Higher up, the land itself appeared to shift-- slowly at first, but as seconds passed, it became clear what was happening.
Screams took to the air as the first stones from the landslide hit their targets. Jewel paused for a moment, her eyes wide as the entire mountainside began to crumble. Her horn lit up just as before, and another shield flickered to life above us. A pony-sized boulder smashed down on it immediately after, enacting a yelp from Jewel.
Coughing from the dust, we continued onward. A few other ponies around us had shields of their own. Some were magical constructs, like Jewels, but the majority of them were nothing more than flimsy bits of rubble that the others carried above their heads.
A burst of wind blew past as a Wonderbolt swooped down for the weaker ponies. In the distance, I could see entire families piling onto airships, and in some cases, even flat-out jumping off the edge .
The Wonderbolts had since refocused their efforts on the ponies taking a leap of faith. A net descended past the edge of the city to catch the jumpers as more airships arrived.
“Ack!”
Just ahead, Jewel’s shield shattered into nothingness as a fragment of a building clipped it. With a plaster-covered face, Jewel re-lit her horn, trembling as she attempted to re-cast the spell.
“Forget about the shield!” I shouted, grabbing her by the hoof. “We gotta catch an airship!”
Jewel nodded, bursting into a sprint as we rejoined the flow of ponies towards the dock.
We watched from the bustling deck of an airship as the city crumbled under us. Where much of the land used to be above the city, there was now only a smoldering caldera. Canterlot was specifically designed to avoid this kind of catastrophe, but in the end, I guess it’s pointless to fight a volcano anyways.
All around us, others bickered in a strange, half-dazed half-upbeat way, their conversation going one way before abruptly going in an entirely separate direction altogether. Though, one question seemed to rise above many of the rest: Where are the Princesses?
I watched as the pyroclastic flow rushed towards the city, only to be diverted by what remained of the cliffside above Canterlot and spilling over to the side in a flaming, orange-brown curtain of ash and rubble.
“Terrifyingly beautiful.” Jewel began, stepping up beside me at the railing. “It only took a couple days’ worth of quakes and a single eruption to level a city that was built with this exact event in mind.”
I nodded, my eyes still fixated on the burning city.
“It isn’t even the worst of it.” She continued, “I’ve heard that the volcano’s been overdue for millennia .”
“Meaning?”
Jewel didn’t answer. Similarly, most of the others on the airship fell into the same eerie silence. Then, it was my turn to feel it. A frightening shiver ran down my spine as my ears caught a low, rolling rumble from the direction of Canterlot Castle.
“Can we get this thing to move any faster?” A voice behind me asked, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“Pilot’s working on it already.” Another voice replied. “Said that everypony here probably feels the same.”
The rumbling noise from earlier returned with a vengeance. It was relatively low-pitched at first, but slowly grew in intensity until it was a shrill screech of tearing metal and crumbling supports. I watched with wide eyes as Canterlot Castle began to tip. The ancient stone ledge that held the castle jerked downward as a rift began to form between it and the rest of the mountainside, sending the uppermost tower of the castle crashing down.
Everypony around us fell into an eerie silence as we watched the rest of the castle crumble. Tower by tower, the more Canterlot Castle tipped, the more it broke. Soon enough, all but the courtyard of the castle was gone-- vanished over the edge of the cliff it was built on.
“The Princesses.” Jewel whispered, still staring at the carnage, “The Princesses must’ve known that this would happen. There hasn’t been a word from them for weeks .”
I shrugged, taking my eyes off the ruins of the castle. “Yeah, but we don’t exactly know where they are, or if they’re even alive still. You do realize that, right?”
Jewel nodded.
Strangely, even after the fall of Canterlot Castle, the rumbling noise from before continued to permeate the air.
“Jewel?” I began slowly, “Do you think you should--”
Jewel lit her horn again, a glimmering shield forming around us just seconds before Canterlot Mountain exploded. The ensuing shockwave rippled through the air, sending chunks of rubble in all directions, including the airships .
A horrific tearing noise met our ears as a shred of the mountain pierced the airship’s hull. One of the crew members ran past, unfurling his wings and spiraling up towards the main balloon. Moments later, he came back into view, clearly panicked as he rushed into the captain’s quarters.
“The main balloon’s been pierced!” his voice echoed from behind the door, “We’re sinking quickly, and based on the extent of the damage, the entire balloon might continue to tear from the puncture.”
I frowned, looking to the balloon following us. Or at least, was following us. It had seemingly absorbed much of the shrapnel that was heading our way, and was quickly sinking as their rock-studded hull began to pull apart.
“Jewel--”
“Can’t help them.” Jewel deadpanned, cutting me off. “I’m best at defensive spells. You’ve seen my levitation skills, remember?” She turned away. “And besides, they’re too far from us.”
“We’re going down.” The Captain’s voice rung through the air, “Brace for impact. We’re in for a rough landing.”
Jewel nodded as her shield dissolved. In its place, she cast a slow-fall spell over the center of the hull. With a jolt, the ship’s descent slowed to a crawl.
“Alright,” she hollered, “the spell I just cast will slow the ship’s fall for the next few minutes. I don’t have the energy left to hold it for any longer, but I want all able-bodied pegasi to carry the others off the ship and onto the ground below. Got it?”
The Captain stumbled from his cabin, still partially dazed by the sudden decrease in speed. “Hey, I’m the one in charge here, ‘kay?” he barked, pointing an accusing hoof at Jewel, “Your orders would only confuse the crew even more , and we’ve still got enough working landing gear to avoid a crash. Now, if you mind, I’d recommend that you save your energy and call off the spell.”
Jewel sighed, lighting her horn once again to recall the spell. With that, the ship continued its descent.
“Deploy the parachutes!” The Captain ordered, turning away from us. “Let’s show these ponies what a real landing looks like, eh?”
The Day The World Exploded
Airship Down
I watched in terror as airships around us crashed and burnt. Our own ship had caught fire in multiple areas as well, and the Captain seemed quite uneasy with the fact. The ship continued its descent, falling faster as it neared the rubble-coated ground below. The parachutes that were deployed minutes ago were already nothing but shreds of fabric-- pock-marked with little flecks of stone and singed all over.
“Brace yourselves.” The Captain’s voice boomed over everyone else, “With the parachutes gone, and most of the balloon destroyed, we won’t be slowing down ‘till we hit the ground.”
Jewel nodded at me, motioning to get closer as she once again lit her horn. Just as before, the center point of the hull became engulfed in a shimmering blue as the spell took effect. Immediately, the ship’s descent slowed to a crawl, sending nearly everyone tumbling onto the deck. The Captain of the ship glared at her for a moment but dropped the look as he noticed another flaming airship drop past us, landing in a fireball onto the ground below.
“Y’know,” I began, staring at the carnage beneath us, “that slow-fall spell of yours is pretty similar to teleportation. It shouldn’t be that hard to levitate objects, right?”
Jewel shook her head as the ship’s crew threw ballast overboard to lighten the load. “Levitation requires supporting the full weight of an object. The spell I cast only supports it partially.”
I snorted. “Yeah, okay,” I grumbled, turning away. “my guess is just that you’re not confident enough.”
“I already told you. I’m just not good at that. And just like I said earlier, you’ve seen what happens when I try to levitate even small things. I…” A splinter of wood shot between us from the balloon supports above, embedding itself in the deck. “…I just don’t have the ability to control the movement of an object. That’s why I can use my slow-fall spell but not levitate, okay? This spell just lets gravity do the controlling.”
“Enough yapping already!” The Captain yelled, marching up to Jewel. His face softened. “I’d say that you chose a fine time to follow your own orders. Now then, seeing how the ship’s still in the air and not in pieces on the ground, I want you to focus only on that spell of yours. Alright?”
Jewel nodded, her horn growing brighter as the ship’s descent slowed even more.
“Good.” The Captain mumbled in return as he turned away.
Another shockwave ripped past the airship, further shredding the flapping remnants of both the main balloon and the parachutes. With a lurch, the ship’s descent accelerated. The ship’s passengers grew quiet, their eyes fixated on the rapidly-approaching ground below.
“Hold on now,” Jewel murmured, a bead of sweat rolling down her face as her horn brightened even further. “we’re gonna be in for a rough landing, even with the spell in place.”
Moments later, a sickening crunch tore through the air as the ship plowed into the ground, its hull shredded as if it had gone through a cheese grater. The sudden halt sent ponies across the ship tumbling to the floor in dazed heaps, with some of the more unlucky ones even breaking a few bones.
I recovered with a groan, pushing myself up against the splintered remains of the ship’s deck.
“Jewel?” I asked quietly, “Jewel, where are—“ I felt a light punch to the side.
“I’m right here, doofus.” Jewel deadpanned, “What, did you expect the mare that literally just saved us from certain death to just up and vanish once we landed?”
“The Captain!” I heard a voice holler, “He’s pinned under his collapsed cabin!”
Jewel turned away as a group of ponies galloped past to aid the Captain. “C’mon.” She motioned, “There’s no use in staying behind to help any longer. The ash is going to settle soon.”
“But—“
Jewel cut me off. “Forget about the Captain, Rusty,” she began, pausing for a moment to stare into the darkening sky, “he’s not gonna make it in time to escape the ash.”
“She’s right, y’know.”
I spun around, jumping back from the sight of a small crowd of ponies approaching us, led by one of the richer-looking Canterlot elites.
The stallion halted before me, giving a nod of thanks towards Jewel before returning his focus to myself. “We’ll handle introductions later.” He cautioned, “Follow me. I know of a few hidden bunkers around here.”
The Day The World Exploded
"Hm?" Jewel hummed, turning in the direction of the stallion, "Oh, I didn't expect to see you around here, especially around this time."
I stared at Jewel in confusion.
"Don't worry, he's just a guy I know around town."
The stallion nodded.
"Yes," he continued, "once again, you're right." He paused, frowning at the looming clouds above us. "We must hurry. The ash will blanket us in a matter of minutes ."
He took off in a sprint, the small crowd that flocked him following suit.
"C'mon, do you wanna be a fossil?! " Jewel shouted, running ahead of me. "Catch up already before you do!"
"Y-yeah," I stuttered, running after my marefriend, "I'm coming!"
We passed many fragments of Canterlot Castle. Their dust-coated exteriors gleamed eerily in the darkening sunlight, echoing the dull rumblings of the oncoming armageddon. I caught up with Jewel and the others in the meantime, trailing just behind the stallion as he led us to our new sanctuary. We abruptly came to a halt before the ruins of what appeared to be a section of one of Canterlot Castle's towers. The stallion turned, a deep frown plastered across his face.
"Jewel," He began, "I've seen your abilities. Are you able to clear the entrance?"
Jewel groaned.
"Again, " she groaned, "I cannot levitate things even if my life depended on it ."
"Of which it currently is," I noted, earning a quick hoof to the cheek.
"Shut up," Jewel seethed, stomping ahead of me to the stallion. "I'll see what I can do."
"Better hurry, the ash is getting dangerously close," the stallion observed, squinting at the cloud descending upon us.
Without another word, Jewel lit her horn. A faint aura materialized the crumbled remains of the tower, gently pulsating as she added more power to the spell. Slowly, small pieces began to fling off to the side, sending a shower of dust and pebbles in every direction as Jewel grunted, her horn growing ever brighter.
Another stallion stepped past me, his own horn lighting up as he added to Jewel's efforts. One by one, ponies trotted past, all adding their own strengths to the task of clearing the rubble.
"Rusty, get your plot over here and stop standin' around!"
I turned glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the rich-looking stallion pass by.
"You'd better help your marefriend, Rusty," he murmured as he brushed past, "doesn't matter if you're a unicorn or not."
I nodded, following the stallion to the ruins.
"Finally you decided to join," Jewel growled, "I nearly thought you were thinking of ditching us!"
"Well, I--"
"Just shut up and start pounding this wreck to bits. I can handle smaller pieces better."
I took a final glance at the approaching cloud and got to work.
I winced as another gust of wind blew ash between us. Nearly all of the rubble had been cleared, and it was becoming evident that we were digging into what appeared to be some sort of bunker entrance.
"Almost there, c'mon!" Jewel hollered into the dusty air, "Before we're buried alive!"
A wave of barely-audible murmurs spread across us as we doubled-down on our efforts. The wind intensified as we dug, sending troves of pebbles raining upon us.
"That's good enough!" Jewel yelled again, heaving as she lifted a final slab of rubble. She turned to the rich-looking stallion. "Is there a lock?"
The stallion shook his head.
"Just open it up, quick!"
The Day The World Exploded
Author's Note
Oh? I'm actually using a background pony as a recurring character for once?
4 | Wait it Out
The door shut with a heavy thud behind us. As we descended the stairwell, the flickering light of Jewel's horn guided the way, casting long shadows of our group onto the walls surrounding us.
We paused for a moment as we heard the door rattle.
"Probably more rubble," Jewel dismissed, continuing onward. "Or some poor sap who just got blasted."
Finally, we reached the bottom... and another reinforced door. Jewel raised a hoof.
"This one , however, has a lock."
"Oh." Jewel deadpanned, stepping back for the rich-looking stallion to unlock the door.
Click.
The hum of electric lights burst into our collective ears as he pushed the door open, Jewel once again leading the way for us.
"There should be enough rations in here for at least a couple months," the stallion began, shutting and locking the door behind him. "After that, we'll probably have to send out some scouts. I didn't expect to take in so many ponies at once, after all."
He walked past me to Jewel, giving a simple nod before continuing onward to who-knows-where inside the bunker.
"So," I grumbled as I cantered up to Jewel, "Who is that guy?"
Jewel shrugged. "He called himself Fancy Pants when we bumped into each other in front of the library. He seems pretty nice compared to some other nobles I've run into before."
"Blueblood?" I smirked.
Jewel rolled her eyes. "Yeah, him, " She groaned, "I swear, ask anypony around here and they'll agree that Blueblood's just a stuck-up little--"
"Okay, okay," I agreed, cutting off whatever profanity she was about to spew, "We get it, Blueblood's a jerk. Don't forget that I was next to you when that happened."
'Fancy Pants' returned right then, a trail of steel cans floating behind him.
"Rations," he mumbled, dropping two cans for myself and Jewel before continuing onward, "we must make sure these last us for as long as possible."
A wave of agreements rolled through the rest of the group as they waited for their own cans.
Clank. Clank. Clunk. Clank. The sound of cans dropping onto the concrete under our hooves echoed through the bunker.
"You'll have to excuse the taste, these were meant to be emergency rations for the Royal Guard to distribute in case of attack. They may be a bit... old ."
Another roll of murmurs from the Fancy Pants posse.
Far above us, we quieted as another rattle shook the trapdoor, its noise reverberating into the lower levels. It seemed as if a moment of silence had been decided upon while we listened, as if we collectively decided to mourn for Equestria.
"Alright, alright," Jewel began, breaking our silence after nearly a minute, "if we want to survive , we're gonna want to check around the place. We're in an underground bunker during a volcanic eruption, so there's a good chance that there's some toxic gas or another seeping into our shelter this very instant ."
She lit her horn as she began to focus on another spell. This one began to balloon outward, passing through ponies and plastering onto the stony surroundings around us.
"While I cannot guarantee that this spell will be a hundred percent effective, it will at the very least keep us protected from the more notorious ones. It's essentially a sealing spell that binds itself to stone and concrete."
"Hey," I nudged her on the shoulder, "since when did you learn that spell? I thought the most you could do were shields and some levitation."
"I didn't ," Jewel shot back in a whisper. "It's just a variant of the slow-fall spell combined with some mass-levitation."
"I--"
"Just let me have this! " Jewel retorted, turning her focus back to the spell. Her body shook as she strained herself, struggling to conjure the energy needed to supply the spell. Her horn slowly grew brighter as the faint glow of her magic seeped into the surroundings, fading away into the hairline cracks.
"...There..." she panted, the last wisps of the spell drifting from her horn, "It's finished."
"So, what now?" a pony from the group asked, "For all we know, we're the last ponies alive!"
Jewel glanced at Fancy Pants, who set down the rest of the cans in a stack before gesturing for her to answer.
"There is nothing else for us to do," she responded, "So we wait ."
The Day The World Exploded
Author's Note
What? An update? For this story?!
5 | Scouting
"Over here!"
I looked up, wiping a bead of sweat from my brow. Jewel was pointing eagerly at an unassuming pile of tangled branches, likely flattened by the blasts.
"Jewel," I grumbled, "You can't just focus on whatever shiny thing it is that keeps catching your eye. We need to be on the lookout for any stragglers, and if possible, food . We haven't even factored in how much drinking water we have ye--"
"No, look! " Jewel interrupted, grunting as she struggled to move the branches out of the way, "This'll probably be pretty useful if you ask me!"
I turned my attention back to the sack of goods we'd scavenged thus far, only to be magically slapped in the face in response.
"Alright, fine, " I groaned, dropping the sack and trudging towards my marefriend, "What is it?"
With a grunt, Jewel finally shoved the rubble out of the way, revealing glimmering shards of shredded metal and twisted piping.
"Huh."
"I know, right?" Jewel beamed, "I didn't expect to find a wrecked train here, either! I already checked it for survivors, by the way, It was completely empty, so I figured it must've tumbled all the way down the mountain from a shed or something."
I scrunched my muzzle. "So... what do you want to do with it though?" I began, stepping closer to the exposed metal peeking from underneath the rubble, "It's not like we have any functioning railways anymore, y'know."
Jewel shrugged. "I was thinking that we could either scrap it for material or somehow convert it into a rail-less engine .
I snorted, brushing a layer of dirt off the mangled body of the engine with a hoof. "That'd take more resources than we could ever hope to acquire."
"Either way, Rusty," Jewel continued, "It would be a waste if we just left this here..."
"We'll figure it out later Jewel. Just help me carry these back to the bunker."
The sound of rustling and cans clinking hit my ears. I spun around, eyes widening as I spotted another pony making off with our scavenged goods.
"Jewel!" I shouted, taking off after the cloaked thief, "Jewel, c'mon , we can come back to the train later. We need to catch that pony!"
"Hm-oh! " Jewel gasped, following close behind, "I-I think I know something to get 'em!"
She lit her horn, the familiar aura of a shield spell flickering to life as she fired at the thief. With a very visible face-to-magic collision, the pony slammed into the side of the inverted shield, falling to their haunches in a daze.
Jewel and I finally caught up to the perpetrator. I stood back, inspecting the pony from afar as Jewel passed through her shield's boundaries.
I couldn't quite tell what they were saying on account of the shield being spellproof, but it seemed that some sort of agreement had been made.
The shield dematerialized within seconds. Jewel helped the cloaked pony to their hooves. Behind them was the bag of things we'd scavenged from earlier, its contents spilled out onto the ash-dusted ground.
"So. " I growled through my teeth, "Anything they had to say?"
"He's just a scout like we are," Jewel quickly responded, "His group's been camping out in one of the more intact pieces of Canterlot Castle that tumbled down here."
She paused for a moment, waiting for my response.
"Eh, whatever." I dismissed, silently hoping that my actions came across as cool .
Short to say, it didn't work.
"Rusty, stop it with the facade. Don't you understand our situation right now?" she scolded, "Now is not the time to try impressing me, or anypony else for that matter. We're literally living out the apocalypse right now. Don't you think it'd be better for our survival if we built up our connections with others?"
The cloaked pony beside Jewel slowly backed away, seemingly unsure of the situation they were just dragged into.
"Fine," I sighed, dropping the act. I glanced towards the other pony. "Hey, if you want, you could stay at our place for the night."
The cloaked pony shook his head, pulling off his hood.
"Hey..." Jewel began, catching sight of his face as she turned, "I know you... yo-you're that guard who had the hots for Princess Twilight, weren't you?"
Oh. It's this guy.
The Day The World Exploded
I wiped a bead of sweat off my face as I tightened the final bolt. "There ya go," I grinned, rolling out from underneath the carriage, "all fixed... and you already prepaid for the job, so you're pretty much set!"
Without another word, my final customer of the day grinned, and set off with his carriage.
"Jewel?" I yawned, wiping my face with a towel hanging by the garage door as I entered the house. "You feel like eating out somewhere, or should I heat up yesterday's leftovers?"
Jewel turned to face me, standing up from her office chair. "Let's go out and eat today." she replied, "Just something quick today, 'kay?"
A low rumble rippled through the house, followed by a tremor as dust fell from the cracks across the ceiling.
Jewel froze, slowly turning her gaze to her desk. "Rusty, do you think--"
All thoughts of dinner vanished from my mind as I dove for Jewel. "It's another earthquake!" I hollered, tackling my marefriend to the ground. "Get low!"
Jewel and I crawled underneath her desk as the shaking grew more intense. Her horn lit up as a shield spell flickered to life over us. Somewhere in the kitchen, the sound of porcelain shattering rung through the air.
"...And that's reason number three for why we should've gotten those magnetic cabinet doors instead." Jewel mumbled, rolling her eyes as she intensified the spell.
Just as suddenly as it began, the quake subsided. I sighed, throwing a hoof out to pull myself from underneath the desk. Jewel's foreleg blocked my path.
"Aftershocks, remember? " She snapped, pulling my hoof back under the desk as she pumped even more energy into the shield. "There's a good chance that the one that just hit was only the weakest of the bunch."
The desk creaked, swaying as Jewel's prediction came true. Another rumble tore through the floor, accompanied this time by the clatter of whatever else it was that had fallen loose. In response, she winced as the shield lit up in a brilliant blue. She'd been bragging to me about that second layer of the spell for quite a while now, but never before had I actually seen it myself .
A hissing noise took to the air as a pipe ruptured somewhere nearby. My ears swiveled to the noise of something detaching above the desk. I could only watch as the desk above us was torn open by a chunk of ceiling, the rubble bouncing off Jewel's shield. There wasn't really much else I could do besides that. No horn, no wings. I turned back to Jewel's pained face as she struggled to hold the spell.
"Eh... I guess those spellbooks you bought paid off in the end?"
Jewel shot a glare in return for my joke.
Once again, the shaking halted. With a grunt, Jewel tore down her shield as plaster began to trickle through the cracks. Slowly, we emerged from the remains of her desk, the aforementioned spellbooks now littering the floor around us. I stared upwards, blinking in the sunlight that now flooded through the new rift in the building.
I turned back to Jewel. She'd already dispelled the shield and was at the moment packing her books into a saddlebag. "We need to go." She began, her back still turned to me. "It's becoming too dangerous to live here."
