Whispers from the Future

The building continued to fall as the emergency ponies arrived on the scene. The Apple Family along with Big Macintosh, Braeburn and Applejack were helping get everypony safely away from the crumbling building. Covered in bruises, scratches and minor puncture wounds, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike and Pinkie Pie stood behind police tape with other survivors, away from the building watching in horror. Pinkie Pie stood there, her mane and tail deflated and the look of utter despair on her tear drenched face, while the water from her eyes still has not subsided.

The other survivors were either openly wailing because of the loss of their loved ones, curled up in a ball in shock, were getting medical treatment from the doctors, or were just watching; unblinking. Applejack walked over to her friends who ran from behind the police line to the orange mare and embraced her. They were openly sobbing as they embraced each other, their bodies trembling. Big Macintosh and Braeburn walked over, solemn expressions on their face. Braeburn took a deep breath and broke the silence.

"We have terrible news;" he began, his words getting caught in his throat, "Twilight--didn't make it." The look on their faces were of disbelief. Rarity walked over to Braeburn slowly, her eyes showing confusion and disbelief.

"You--can't be serious, she is the Princess of Friendship. She--can't, she can't be--." Rarity's bottom lip trembled as she spoke those words. She looked at Big Macintosh for reassurance, but all she got from the red stallion was;

"I'm so sorry Rarity."

Rarity fell to her rump and just stared at the ground, tears falling from her eyes and hitting the stone road, but no sound was coming out of her mouth. Her body was no longer trembling as she sat there in silence. Spike could not believe what he was hearing. The mare who hatched and raised him, the mare who, even though didn't listen to him at all, took care of him and was his closest friend; dead. He wasn't crying, his eyes were dry. He was trying to straighten his thoughts out, get them back in order. He was trying to think logically, not only for himself, but for his other friends. He looked up at Fluttershy who was sitting there, holding Angel Bunny and softly sobbing. To Pinkie Pie who was curled up in a ball and rocking back and forth, whispering; "It was all my fault." Repeatedly. Then over to Applejack who had tears running down her face but was standing there silent and strong, acting as the rock of the group in their time of need. His eyes soon fell on the love of his life, the white mare that means more to him than gems. He wished he could just take her in his arms and fly her away from here, but he knew he couldn't. He knew, he could at least be her friend.

Spike walked over to rarity and placed a claw gently on her back.

"It's going to be alright, Rarity. We just have to be strong and live on for Twilight. She wouldn't want us to wallow in despair too long. We may have lost our leader and our friend; our Princess. But we are not the only ones who lost someone. You're still the Elements of Harmony, even without Twilight. And the ponies of Ponyville need you." Rarity looked at Spike, then back at her friends. Applejack smiled a bit and the others soon came around to meet Rarity's gaze. Pinkie Pie stood up from her fetal position and took a few steps forward, her hair still deflated.

"You're right Spike; Thank You." Rarity said standing up. Spike smiled, taking his claw off of Rarity who looked over at the building.

The entire building, save for two walls and a few support beams, was completely destroyed. Emergency workers along with a few members of the Apple Family were wading through the destruction to search for any survivors who might have gotten trapped in the debris. A worker called over to the others as he was trying to push a large rock off somepony.

"I've found one!"
Workers and volunteers alike rushed to the scene including Big Macintosh and the remaining four of the Mane Six. Spike stayed back to watch since he was not physically strong enough to help. The ponies managed to dig out the pony, who was still conscious, but in tremendous pain. Pinkie Pie was the first to see who the pony was and cried tears of joy as she watched the mare get put onto a stretcher.

"Dashie!" Was all she could sob out, the tears blinded her and all she could do was sit there and cry. The other three were relieved their friend was alive, and they were trying to hold back tears. Rainbow Dash smiled at them from the stretcher.

"Good to see you too. I thought I was a goner." She said, tears falling from her eyes as she stared at her friends. Her eyes shifted from the four mares to the spot where she was.

"Where's Twilight? She was right beside me." She asked, her voice coarse from all the screaming she had done earlier. Big Macintosh looked at Rainbow Dash.

"She was retrieved ten feet from you. Something must have separated you two while the building was collapsing."
Rainbow Dash sighed as the stretcher was lifted up.

"I tried to push her out of the way. I tried to save her." She whispered, starting to cry. Applejack put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's mouth gently.

"At least you tried. We appreciate it." She said, smiling softly.

"Please Rainbow, get well soon." Fluttershy said as the medical team carried the stretcher away.

After they watched their friend get taken to the hospital, the four mares turned their attention to the ponies who were grieving for their lost. Pinkie Pie looked over at her friends with a worried expression on her face.

"If it wasn't for your stupid party Pinkie, everypony would be alive." A small whisper came, cutting Pinkie Pie's wounds open even more. She looked over at the one who spoke, and it was Octavia. The mare stood there, holding Vinyl Scratch's broken glasses to her chest. Pinkie Pie stared at the mare like a deer in headlights. She wasn't sure what to say.

"It wasn't Pinkie's fault! How was she to know the building would have collapsed?!" Applejack stated, stepping in front of Octavia. Octavia scoffed, staring Applejack in her eyes.

"Known or not, she was the one who had the party here. Her negligence is what killed everypony. Now because of her, Vinyl is gone. Because of her Twilight's gone!." Octavia's voice rose as she smashed Vinyl Scratch's glasses to the ground. She was glaring at Applejack with tears in her eyes.

"SHE'S A MONSTER!"

SHE'S A MONSTER!-- Octavia's words swirled around in her head, as did all of the voices of the ponies who agreed with her. Pinkie Pie looked at everypony who was looking at her, their faces soon molding into a blur.

"You killed everypony."

"You should be ashamed."

"BANISH HER!"

"BANISH THE MONSTER!"

"BANISH PINKIE PIE!"

"ENOUGH!"

Pinkie Pie snapped out of the haze as Mrs. Cake limped over to the group that was surrounding Pinkie Pie. She stepped in front of the pink mare, shooting glares at everyone.

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves! This mare had NO way of knowing the building would collapse. She did extensive research into the stability of that place. If there is anypony you should be blaming, it's the contractors who gave her the green light! This mare is not a monster, nor is she responsible for anypony's deaths." Mrs Cake lectured to the onlooking ponies. They started to disperse, leaving to go prepare memorial services for their lost ones. Octavia narrowed her eyes at Pinkie Pie before taking Vinyl Scratch's glasses and leaving. Pinkie Pie looked up at Mrs.Cake, the older mare looking down at her with love in her eyes. Pinkie Pie hugged her tight, sobbing.

"I'm so sorry--so sorry." She sobbed into the other's shoulder. Mrs. Cake stroked her back.

"There's nothing to be sorry about dear. Now, come and have some hot chocolate." Mrs. Cake said, leading her and the others toward the Cake's shop.

Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy were sitting and drinking their hot chocolate in silence. Spike was sitting beside Angel Bunny who was looking over at him with a tilted head, confused to what is going on.

"You don't want to know." Spike said to the white rabbit before looking over at the four mares. Mrs. Cake went around and refilled their cups. Pinkie Pie however, did not even touch her first cup and just sat there running her hoof around the rim of the mug supporting her head with her other hoof. She was deep in thought about what had happened leading up to the building falling. She bit her lip in frustration as she held back more tears.

"I should have cancelled the party." She stated abruptly.

"Or moved it dear." Mrs. Cake said, walking toward her.

"No, you don't understand. I never told you when it happened because I didn't want to bother you. But I had a couple hallucinations..no; visions. The first one was when blood started to pour out of the top of the cake when I tried to take it out of your kitchen. The second, a dragon skeleton burst from the cake and told me that ponies would die." Mrs. Cake stared at Pinkie Pie before speaking.

"Pinkie you had no way to know--"

"LIKE HAY I HAD NO WAY TO KNOW!" Pinkie screamed at the other, throwing her drink, the mug shattering on the wall and the luke warm liquid spilling onto Angel Bunny. Fluttershy gasped and rushed to get her animal friend cleaned up while Pinkie Pie continued.

"I WAS TOLD THAT PONIES WOULD DIE! IN THE MOST TERRIFYING WAY, BUT I WAS STILL TOLD! BUT I NEVER LISTENED TO MY GUT AND NOW TWILIGHT IS DEAD, VINYL IS DEAD AND CELESTIA KNOWS WHO ELSE! RAINBOW DASH IS IN THE HOSPITAL AND ALL YOU CAN DO IS TELL ME I HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING!" She screamed, slamming her hooves onto the table before leaving the small shop. Pinkie Pie slammed the door on her way out, leaving everypony and Spike in shock at the outburst.

On her way through the streets, Pinkie Pie noticed it was already dark. The street lamps were already on and the only souls in sight were stray animals and the odd pony working late. She passed by the building that had taken the lives of many, and stood there. She saw a bit of the remaining cake poking out from under the debris. She walked over and stomped on it, the food spraying everywhere. Pinkie Pie wiped the cake on the grass near by, her back to the building when she heard her name being whispered like it was on the wind.

"Pinkie Pie."
Pinkie Pie looked over her shoulder and gasped, jumping back away from the the building. Twilight Sparkle stood there as a spirit, looking at her friend.

"T-Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked, slowly stepping forward. The ghost nodded, smiling at her friend.

"I've come to warn you. Do not sink into misery because of what happened. More ponies will meet their end if you do not have a clear head. In the morning go to the river, and you will see what I mean. Goodnight my dear friend, and thank you for being in my life." A ghostly tear fell from Twilight's eyes as she faded away, smiling at Pinkie Pie. Once Twilight was gone, Pinkie Pie lay on the grass, sobbing and soon falling asleep under the stars.

"Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie wake up. You're needed at the river."
Pinkie Pie woke up with a start after hearing Twilight calling her name. She opened her eyes and stood up, stretching. Her mane was back to normal for the most part and she looked around. The river? Pinkie Pie ran off toward the river, wondering what Twilight had meant. Once she got there, she saw Octavia and a few other mares walking across a makeshift bridge. Pinkie Pie ran over and stopped behind the pieces of wood. The river below was flowing very fast because of all the melting snow up on the mountains.

"Octavia get off the wood! You'll get hurt!" She called over the sound of the raging water. Octavia looked back, glaring at Pinkie Pie.

"I don't need your warnings, monster." She snapped at the other. She looked forward again, seeing her three companions had already made it across. Octavia continued on her way, ignoring Pinkie Pie who was screaming at her, trying to get her attention. Pinkie Pie looked to her right and saw a large rush of white water flowing toward Octavia. The pink pony rushed across the bridge and grabbed Octavia, throwing her across to the other side before being swept away by the water along with the makeshift bridge. Octavia looked over at the sudden rush of water and watched as Pinkie Pie was swept down river.

Pinkie Pie was pulled underwater by a strong undercurrent, her head and body being bashed against the logs that was swept with her, and against large rocks on the bottom of the river bed. Every Time she was able to emerge from the water, she was gasping for air and screaming for help. But soon after the words left her mouth, she was pulled back under. The rocks were getting larger and sharper as she was still being swept away. Her right hoof hit one of the large sharp rocks, cutting her skin. The cold water had numbed her entire body so she was not able to feel anything. With a few more pulls under the water, Pinkie Pie's head came into contact with a jagged rock, cracking her head open and causing her to go unconscious.

The water swept the still mare down to a small beach where she was washed up, the river slowing down. Blood poured from the large crack on her head as well as the cut on her right hoof. She was barely breathing, and her body had entered hypothermia from the icy waters. The mare started to gain consciousness, but then slipped in and out as the injury to her head was severe. She saw a silhouette of a pony standing over her, her vision blurry so she could not make out who it was. Pain shot through her head once more before she fully succumbed to the darkness.

Fluttershy heard Pinkie Pie's screams and she was running down the river, trying to find her friend. Angel Bunny was riding on her back, keeping an eye out for any movement. Fluttershy stopped running, breathing heavy from running.

"Pinkie Pie?" The yellow pegasus called out. She was looking around frantically, trying to see if she could spot her pink friend. Angel Bunny tapped Fluttershy on the neck and pointed to a log that had some of Pinkie Pie's hair on it.

"Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear." Fluttershy said when she saw the log. The water was calmer now as Fluttershy waded through the shoulder high water toward the piece of wood.

She heard a sudden rumble to her right and looked in time to see another rush of water coming toward her. She reached around and grabbed Angel Bunny. She kissed him before tossing him onto the shore, mouthing the words;

I love you.
The water swept the yellow pegasus away, her body being battered and cut underwater as Pinkie Pie's body had been moments earlier. However, the wood log that Fluttershy was inspecting had pinned her to the bottom of the river after it had gotten wedged between the river banks. Fluttershy struggled to free herself from the watery prison, her wings flapping and her body squirming. She was running out of air.

Futtershy managed to get her back onto the bottom of the river and got her back hooves under the log that had her wing pinned. She pushed with all of her might, the log coming loose. She felt herself start to pass out from lack of oxygen, her lungs screaming for her to breath, her chest burning. Her vision was going blurry as she still tried to free herself. She was not going to give up. Twilight wouldn't want her to give up, Angel Bunny, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack...Pinkie Pie. She still needed to find Pinkie Pie! Her friend needed her!

With one final push, Fluttershy freed her wing and she swam up to the surface, gasping for air. She swam to the riverbank and flopped down, gasping and feeling like she was going to vomit. She weakly looked over to the other side of the river where she saw Angel Bunny jumping up and down excitedly. Fluttershy smiled weakly before getting to her hooves and shaking off the water. She spread her wings and glided over to Angel Bunny who hugged her leg tightly.

"It's okay Angel, I'm okay." She whispered to her friend before putting him on her back. She trotted down the river, calling out Pinkie Pie's name again, hoping her friend was alright.