Black Sun

"Okay, it's clear this way!"

Peace Walker allowed herself a moment to breathe as she waved the rest of the ponies she had been with forward. While the fighting had been raging on the other side of town, she had been attempting to direct others away from the attack and to anywhere that might be able to bunker down. Right now she had a group of five with her, trying to get toward Sweet Apple Acres since it had been distant enough to avoid any stray hits. The same couldn't be said for the rest of Ponyville though. Fires were starting to spread through the streets rapidly and many buildings had taken heavy damage, resulting in ever increasing injuries from debris. All of the ponies behind her had taken knocks of varying severity and one mare had a sizeable gash across her forehead, leaving her face covered in blood. She was a giant of an earth pony though and it wasn't slowing her down at all.

As the rest of the group ran past her for their next safe spot, Peace looked back. They were a block west from Twilight's castle and she had seen Apple Bloom running inside when they had approached a minute before. Her ears twitched as she realised she couldn't hear any sounds of combat anymore, magical or otherwise. For some reason that only put her more on edge, more determined to make sure no pony was left behind. She looked back at the rest of the group and made a quick judgement call. They had kept it together well despite the panic permeating the entire town and by this point they were close to the edge of town.

"Do you think you can make it the rest of the way?" She asked as she rejoined them.

"I'll manage it. I work at Sweet Apple Acres so I know where everything we'll need is when we get there." The tall mare replied, wiping her eyes clean with a hoof. She was lucky the darkness and her brown coat helped hide the worst of the blood.

"You do, miss...?"

"Hayseed."

"Alright, stick together and don't stop for anything."

"Hey, I didn't plan on dying for at least another fifteen years." Little Hayseed replied, motioning for the others to keep going and following behind them.

Peace looked at her in confusion before spinning round at the sound of high-intensity magic screaming through the air behind them. Then she saw the beam, bright teal with sparks of black running through it, a good sixty feet in the air. Before anypony could react, it struck the east side of the castle and detonated. The east towers were engulfed in a fireball of energy, crystalline debris ranging from hoof sized shards to minotaur sized chunks being torn from the building and thrown in almost every direction by the blast.

"Go! GO!!" Peace roared the others, barely able to be heard as she started running for the castle while they took off toward Sweet Apple Acres. West was the only remotely safe direction since that side of the castle had withstood the attack. She rushed toward the base of the castle and threw herself against it for cover, flinching as she was almost showered by razor-sharp shards.

After half a minute the noise in the immediate area started to die down and she risked poking her head back out. The sky was almost completely blotted out by the mix of smoke and dust clouds caused by buildings being hit by the debris. It was impossible to tell just how far the damage was spread from here. There wasn't much she could do for it now though, she had to focus on what she could do. Helping others by putting herself in harm's way was what she did best as a soldier. With that settled, she steeled herself and ran round to the castle entrance, heading inside without hesitation.

"Apple Bloom?" Peace called as she ran through the foyer. The ground floor seemed to be largely unscathed by the attack, aside from a number of vases that had been shaken from their mounts. The map room was also intact, though some of the memory gems had fallen from their places above. "Apple Bloom? Where are you?!"

The second floor was similarly vacant yet intact, though a number of rooms near the blast site had collapsed walls. It was starting to look like the outer crystal wall had taken the worst of the damage while the interior had stayed in one piece. As she reached the third floor, Peace Walker's calls were met with a reply. Too distant to make out from the stairs but undeniably signs of life. She followed them quickly, concern starting to rise as she realised they were coming from the east side of the castle. The epicentre of the blast. She skidded to a stop outside the library and froze as she looked in.

Almost the entire exterior wall had been destroyed by the force of the impact, the ruined skyline of Ponyville visible beyond. The fighting outside seemed to have stopped entirely and a light rain was starting to fall, barely visible against the fires and night. The library before her had been utterly decimated as well. The ground was covered with fallen and shattered bookcases, crushing any furniture unfortunate enough to be beneath them. A pair of crystalline pillars at the edges of the room had also collapsed, one ever so slightly upright due to the carnage blocking its fall.

"Anypony..." A strained voice called from inside. Peace recognised it instantly and moved in, climbing over the wreckage to try and find her. She quickly found it, not anticipating the sight before her.

It turned out the pillar was being held back not due to the debris, but due to Apple Bloom. She was pinned on her back, back legs quivering as she held against the pillar while trying to reach for a section of broken bookcase with her forelegs. For a brief moment, Peace reflected that she really was Applejack's sister to be able to endure such a weight before realising what she was reaching for. She'd missed it in the initial chaos, but Pinkie Pie was wedged under the bookcase. She was breathing but looked heavily battered and completely unconscious.

"H-hold on!" Peace exclaimed as she moved in, training and reflexes kicking in. Any past animosity she had felt for her own selfish reasons meant nothing in the moment. "Let me just-"

"Get her out," Apple Bloom grunted as she was forced to use all four hooves to keep holding the pillar in place. "Nopony gets left behind."

Peace nodded and moved to the bookcase, working her way underneath. She lifted the section off Pinkie and onto her back before shrugging it aside. Just a few days ago she had told Pinkie that she'd only be happy when nopony had to go through what she had. That included losing a loved one to Tantabus' wrath. Time to practice what she preached.

With delicate precision she lifted Pinkie onto her back and moved her toward the door, struggling to pick a route. Apple Bloom was in no position to help, only to watch as she carried Pinkie back to the door and laid her down gently. One down, one to go. Just as she got back over the debris, Bloom gasped in pain as one of her hind legs gave out. With her strength and leverage crippled, the pillar started to come down again. Peace lunged forward without thinking, barely beating gravity as she tackled the two of them out of the way in time to avoid being crushed.

"You o-okay?" Peace coughed, unable to see through the dust kicked up by the falling pillar.

"Thanks t'you," Bloom replied, waving the dust away and pushing herself upright again. She couldn't stand on the damaged leg, but it was far better than the alternate. "I owe ya one."

"Not really, this is basically what I get paid to do."

"Still, we both owe...Pinkie!"

Peace looked back as Bloom scrambled over to her partner before standing up herself, biting back a yelp as she pulled out a few tail hairs caught under the pillar. She seemed to be alright otherwise though and turned her attention back to the others, rejoining them quickly. Pinkie was still unconscious and her pulse was starting to slow slightly. Apple Bloom was checking her over, doing her best not to become frantic.

"It's worse than it looks. She'll make it, but we should get her out of here quickly." Peace commented. Apple Bloom nodded and looked round for a moment before grabbing a lone book sitting by the library door.

"Okay...You'll need to carry her though."

Everything seemed to have slowed to a crawl. Her perception of the world, her senses, even her heartbeat.

Her home was being destroyed in front of her once again, with her friends possibly inside, and she could barely summon the willpower to stand up. Let alone do anything about it.

Twilight's ears fell back as she watched her castle being engulfed in the explosion, mounting horror flooding her heart. It was taking everything she had just to get to her hooves as the crushing thought that she had sent one of her oldest friends to die flooded her brain. Tantabus' cold, mocking laughter rang through her mind as her senses caught up with reality, everything speeding up in the blink of an eye. The world seemed to be shaking slightly as she blinked back into focus, mind still struggling to comprehend even the most basic thing at the moment. All she could see now was the unicorn in front of her, illuminated by the now burning town hall behind her, eyes glinting with a look of...Surprise?

Tantabus had no time to react before a huge figure thundered past Twilight's left side and tackled her. Before she could see who it was, Rainbow Dash landed in front of her and flared her wings out to shield the princess. As she saw Applejack rushing in to help as well, Twilight realised that all her friends had come in to save her, and Spike had been the one leading the charge. They were putting themselves in greater danger for a pony who was too deep in shock to even move right now.

"Twilight, look at me," Rainbow told her firmly from over her shoulder, doing her best to keep Twilight's focus away from the fighting. "We're here now and we're not gonna let her touch you."

"N...No..." Twilight replied quietly, starting to get some feeling back in her body now that she was looking at her friend instead. "Pinkie..."

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of somepony teleporting into the battlefield, followed almost instantly by an almighty crash of a collapsing building and somepony struggling nearby. Even as she tried to look at what was happening, a bolt of white magic ricocheted off Rainbow's right wing and was sent skyward. As Rainbow momentarily tucked her wing in and flinched away, Twilight could see what was happening. Despite the sights and sounds, things weren't as bad as she'd feared. The teleportation had been from Aurora arriving in Ponyville and he was firing on Tantabus while Applejack fought to restrain her. Something had hit town hall hard, roughly a third of it had collapsed in on itself and the rest was reduced to an inferno.

Just as AJ managed to pin her to the ground, Tantabus jerked her head back and lit her horn, stabbing at her captor's leg. Applejack was forced to recoil to avoid being impaled, leaving an opening Tantabus used to teleport away. Everything momentarily went silent as everypony realised what had happened. Tantabus had completed her objectives and for the most part, they had failed in theirs.

"Rrrgghh, darnit!!" Applejack snapped, punching the ground in frustration.

"Sorry, AJ. I should have stayed closer to her," Aurora said as he helped her up before moving over to his aunt. "Oh no...Twilight?"

"I'm fine," Twilight grunted, even as she kept struggling to stand. "Is she...?"

Aurora's eyes paled as he looked round, his horn glowing brightly for several seconds before they faded again.

"Wherever she fled to, she's not in Ponyville anymore."

"Then...Need to get to the castle...Pinkie..."

Twilight looked back toward the castle as Rainbow moved to her side and put a wing out for her to lean on. It had taken less damage than the initial blast had indicated. Though much of the crystal walls on the whole east side had been burned or broken away, it was still structurally sound. It was too much to hope that anypony that had been inside would be unscathed though.

"Alright, if it's clear then," Aurora said to himself before firing a beam of his magic skyward, piercing through the smoke and dust above. "Help's on the way now."

Twilight just nodded, too drained to wonder what he meant. Her legs shook with every step as she slowly started making her way toward the castle, Rainbow and Aurora helping her along. Applejack had rushed back to the wreckage of town hall and was attempting to clear away any rubble that wasn't close to the flames. It took Twilight a moment to realise, but then it struck her. Spike. Even as she stopped and looked back she could see him attempting to dig his way out of the damaged section near Applejack, partially buried by detritus. Despite the severity of the situation, he actually looked no worse for wear.

As they resumed moving again, rain started to fall through the smoke above. It was light over them, but more concentrated over the fires and any impact sites where parts of the castle had landed. Rainbow glanced up at the skies and shot a glance over at Aurora.

"This have something to do with why you were gone so long?" She asked.

"Yes. Princess Celestia and I were preparing some damage control for when the fighting ended." Aurora told her. Even as he said it, they could make out a number of pegasi flying into the area. Some were carrying unicorns and earth ponies that they landed across Ponyville before joining the others in putting out fires and assisting in search and rescue efforts.

"But, where were the rest of you?" Twilight asked. Rainbow looked up at her sympathetically before replying.

"We knew you'd want us to make sure as many ponies as possible got away first."

Twilight managed a small smile at that. One that quickly faded as they moved deeper into town. Now that the fighting was over, ponies that had remained were starting to come out from their hiding places. Few were unhurt, though the vast majority only had minor cuts, bruises or burns. Far too many had more serious injuries however, struck by debris, taking glancing blows from Tantabus' magic or caught in blasts from stray fire. A number had been caught in building collapses or taken more grievous hits, rescue efforts underway for the former and medical attention being administered to the latter. The idea that such scenes were happening across Ponyville had Twilight on the verge of tears.

She looked down a side street as they passed into the northwest of town, her heart stopping at the sight. A house partway down the street had been destroyed completely and Trixie was clearing rubble away from Quick Fix and a mint green unicorn mare while they worked on a pair of ponies trapped in the collapse. Quick was performing CPR on a silver earth filly while the other medic checked a cream pegasus mare for any signs of life. All of them looked under a lot of stress as they worked, an indicator that the situation would largely be getting worse before it got better.

A sudden cry from the opposite side of the street drew her attention immediately afterward. Compared to this side street, the other side was intact with only a single beam having punched through the houses on the opposite sides of the street. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were there as well, the pegasus standing over a pair of bodies with a look of pure despair on her face. The fallen pony on the left was an older, amber coated earth mare, the one on the right a gray coated pegasus mare. Both of them had burn marks on their sides indicating they had been caught in the line of Tantabus' attack.

"No, no no nonono!" Scootaloo said quickly as she dropped down and cradled the lifeless earth mare, clinging to her as if the pressure would bring her round. "Come on mom. You went through eighteen years without me, you're not gonna go less than a year after finding me again right? Come on! Please!"

"Scootaloo..." Sweetie told her quietly, sounding pained from being the one to break the news. "I was here when it happened...She-"

"Don't say that! She's not...They're not...!" Scootaloo snapped, tears welling up in her eyes as she kept trying to rouse either of the bodies. "Come on mom, please...Derpy? T-this isn't funny!! I'm not losing a friend either, not now!"

"Your mother was blindsided by a stray attack," Sweetie continued, voice cracking in grief. "Derpy tried to put herself in the way but, it just went clean through..."

"D...Dad?" Scootaloo whimpered, suddenly forcing herself up and grabbing her friend's shoulders in desperation. "Y-you saw him right? Brown pegasus stallion, dark mane. Tell me I didn't lose him too!"

"I saw him at the time, flying toward the hospital. I don't think he knows either..."

Scootaloo finally gave up trying to fight the denial and dropped onto her haunches, staring in wide eyed realisation. Nopony had time to react before she buried her face in her hooves, wrapping her wings around herself as she broke down completely. Sweetie Belle sat down next to her and held her close, starting to tear up herself at the sound of her friend's grief-wracked sobs. The sight stung painfully at the three ponies watching, adding another layer of grim reality to their already heavy hearts. Rainbow Dash fidgeted slightly at the sight, clearly torn between keeping supporting Twilight and going to comfort Scootaloo. Aurora picked up on it almost instantly and discreetly alerted Twilight to their friend's dilemma.

"Go to her," Twilight said after a moment's thought. "She needs her big sister right now."

Rainbow hesitated slightly but nodded, covering the gap in moments. As soon as she was within hoof's reach, Scootaloo opened her wings up and latched on, clinging onto her sister like her life depended on it. Rainbow looked down at her sadly and wrapped her hooves around her in turn, bringing her wings out to shield them from the rain. With little they could do to comfort either of them at the moment, Twilight and Aurora continued onward.

By now the pegasi had done their job and the worst of the fires were coming under control. Some were working on clearing the skies, allowing the night light to shine once again as the rain eased off, while others joined the rescue efforts. The streets were steadily becoming more active as a second wave of medical teams arrived and started on triage for the wounded while earth pony squads moved to assist the pegasi. With every step she took, every new pony that came into sight, Twilight knew in her heart that this was her fault. She could have not held back when it matter. Or she could have moved to intercept Tantabus before she reached Ponyville. Or figured out what was happening in time to evacuate everypony. Or just been smart enough to figure out the spell needed to safely separate Tantabus from Sunset. Or...

"Twilight," Aurora spoke up as they approached the castle. "I know things are bad, but if you hadn't stood up when you were needed then we all would have been caught out by Tantabus. You know there was very little chance of us saving everypony, but your decision saved thousands of lives that would otherwise be gone..."

Twilight shook her head slightly, wincing as a faint thudding sensation in it became more pronounced. The damage she'd taken was starting to catch up with her as the adrenaline filtered out of her system. But she refused to stop yet. Not until she'd seen if her fears were true. A few moments later, she made out Peace Walker coming out of the castle, Apple Bloom limping after her. Her blood froze as she realised that Peace was carrying an unconscious Pinkie Pie on her back, moving toward the hospital as quickly as she could. That was it then, she really had sent her friend to her potential death over a few measly scrolls.

The weight of all her pain, stress and guilt hit at once and she froze up, shutting out everything about the world around her.