Unbridled

The Cataclysm. That is what many ponies have begun to call the horrid and mysterious event that ended our world. They still knew not why or how it had all happened, they only knew the loss and sorrow it had wrought to us. The following days went by at a grueling rate. After bringing Princess Luna and the others back to Cloudsdale, the full ramifications of what had happened started to kick in. Eighty percent of all of Cloudsdale's food supply had been destroyed in the Cataclysm, Making it so that they would not have enough food for the following week. Worse yet, there is nothing that grows upon clouds, so a farm within Cloudsdale itself was out of the question.

Lilly wiped her eyes, there was no time for crying now. She needed to do her part to help rebuild what was left of Cloudsdale. Of Equus. Brilliant Spark, Thunder's father, had taken the news just as hard as Lilly, but he remained strong and had comforted Lilly in her tears. Trinkling Wind, Thunder's mother, had taken a vow of silence. She would speak no more, the loss of her dear son heavy upon her heart.

As Lilly walked towards the center of town, she hung her head low, her heart still aching. She tried to push it out of her mind, but that scene of finding his body kept repeating itself over and over in her mind. How will she ever---

"Hey!" a voice called out to her from behind. Lilly jumped, startled out of her thoughts. She turned to see a brown and white spotted pegasus with a short blonde mane approach her.
"Whoa! Sorry there, i didn't mean to scare you. You heading to the town hall? Mind if i tag along?" he said with a friendly smile.

"Oh....you are that pony from before..." She recognized him as the pegasus from before who had asked her what she had seen when she had peeked over the edge of Cloudsdale to see what had happened to land below.

"Yeah, the name's Reed Shallows. You can just call me Reed."

"Um, sure. I-I'm Shaded Lilly. Nice to meet you. Most people just call me Lilly."

"Sweet. So what are you heading up there for?" he asked, taking a casual stride next to her.

"To help," Lilly replied.

"How so?"

"Any way that i can."

"I guess i can't blame ya there. I'm on my way to put forward a petition. I heard the that Princess has finally awoken, and who better to make it happen than the princess of the moon herself?" Reed said, his voice holding an optimism she couldn't explain.

"What? The Princess is awake? It's been three days! This is wonderful news!" Lilly exclaimed, her eyes lighting up once more. Many ponies feared she wouldn't make it. For the past three days, both the Sun and the Moon had sat still in the sky, unmoving, unchanging.

"Yeah, i thought so, too. Things may be messy here, but we'll pull through, you'll see," he said smiling.

"So....what are you petitioning for, exactly?" Lilly asked, now a little more curious with her mood now in a better point.

"Well, since we can't grow nothing here in the clouds, i figure that, after we finished burying the town's dead, that we should think of starting a farm down on the surface, to preserve and keep our food supplies up. It'll be months before we get our first harvest, but at least it would be better than nothing."

Lilly nodded in agreement, "That does sound like a good idea."

"Let's hope they think so too."

The plaza of the town hall still looked like a half-way destroyed mess, though it looked a lot better than it did three days ago. The debris that was in the streets had been cleared up, and reconstruction of some of the buildings were on the way, but it was slow going. There was quite the crowd of people there. Apparently word had been sent that every pony left in Cloudsdale was needed at the town hall. The Princess had wished to speak with them.

Lilly looked around, "So....where's the princess?" Lilly asked, not seeing her anywhere.

Reed merely shrugged. "Give it a moment, i think there are still a few ponies arriving."

They waited a few more minutes as a few more small crowds joined in. Lilly frowned. "Is this really it? Is this really all that is left of us? There's probably not even a thousand ponies here!" Lilly said in a hushed whisper, panic gripping her voice. This was her first time seeing what was truly left.

Reed grimaced, "I know. That worries me too. But that does make the food situation a little better..."

"How can you say that?" Lilly asked, anger swelling in her voice.

"Hey, i'm just looking ahead, okay? I ain't anymore happy about this than you are," Reed said with a frown.

Lilly fought back a retort. She wanted to argue with him, but in her heart, she couldn't. In a way he was right, but she still hated it. She hated that this had happened. She hated that they had lost so much. She hated that there was so few of them now. And she hated that it could even be considered a positive thing.

Suddenly there was the sound of a horn blowing and the crowd went silent. A Guardpony, (a pegasus, of course,) began to speak. "Pay heed! The Princess wishes to speak!" It was then that the ponies watched as the Princess emerged from the town hall, with another pegasus at her side, supporting her weight.

That is when everyone gasped at the sight that they saw. Princess Luna was missing her right two legs. In their place were two wounds, stitched together with magic, bandaged, and still in the process of healing. As the ponies continued to gawk in horror, Luna laid down in front of them, dismissing the pony who was helping her walk. With a bow, the teal pegasus took a stance by the town hall door, ready to aid if need be.

Many ponies began to whisper among themselves, but were silenced when Luna began speaking. "I know..." she began slowly, gazing across all the ponies within the plaza, "....that my appearance frightens you, but worry not. I will survive. The fact that i still have my life is something i am grateful for, even if it did come at the cost of a few of my limbs."

A few murmurs were heard before she spoke again, "I know that everyone is confused, frightened, and mourning the loss of their loved ones, and that you do not know what caused all of this. I will tell this: It was a creature who did this. A creature who appeared out of nowhere. Why, how, and for what purpose, i do not know. I only know this simply because i caught a glimpse of it before it destroyed Mt. Canterlot. We also know that the creature is gone now. With no trace of where it went or where it had came from."

There were several frightened gasps, followed by a growing number of angry voices from the crowd, but Luna silenced them with a raise of one her wings. "But now....Now is not the time worry of such things. Now is the time to bury our dead and rebuild what has been lost. It will not be easy, but as long as we work together, we will survive. We will rebuild, and we will have our vengeance."

Reed and several others in the crowd cheered, but Lilly's mind had wondered back to her memories of Thunder at the moment. However, she looked back up when she heard Luna begin speaking again.

"The rumors are true. Cloudsdale has lost eighty percent of its food reserves, but worry not. We will begin sending teams to the surface to scavenge for food. We will find away to endure. And perhaps we will even find more of our brethren who have survived as well. Celestia, Twilight, and the others are still missing. Their bodies have not been found. There is still hope."

Lilly caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash making a determined face. Lilly could feel a well of confidence filling her own chest. There was still hope.

"Now, we need to take an accounting of everypone who remains. I would like to ask for all of you to seperate into three groups. Unicorns on the left. Pegasi on the right. Earth Ponies in the middle." Without a complaint, the crowd complied. There was a few minutes of shuffling about. A few foals wondering in confusion before being brought to their proper groups. There was a few murmurs of chatter as everyone set into place.

Then, the crowd went silent. The full gravity of the situation now baring its ugly teeth. Even Luna gazed upon them in horror.

There were only 738 pegasi.

5 unicorns.

And absolutely no Earth Ponies.