Chapters A soft knocking on the door quickly transformed into full-on, full force pounding. Twilight Sparkle rushed through her castle, residing in Ponyville, in a frantic to get to the door before it was busted down completely. The purple alicorn stepped back to allow a certain gray pegasus wobble into the foyer.
The pony bent over to collect her fallen mail and packages, and Twilight got a decent view of not only Derpy's bubbly cutie mark, but her nice round-
"Princess," Derpy squealed, bring Twilight out of her stupor. "I have news! Terrible news, oh Princess, I just don't know what to do! Is there anything I can do to help? I can get Dr. Whooves' flameless fireworks if you want!"
"Whoa there, Derpy. Slow your roll. What's the news?" The princess of friendship asked calmly, though her hooves were shaking slightly as she put a hoof on Derpy's shoulder. She felt chills run through her body. Knowing the delivery pony, there was a chance it was nothing. But she didn't want to take the risk.
Twilight pulled her hoof back and used the same hoof to motion for the other to wait. "I'll gather my friends. You stay here."
She grabbed her satchel and put it on her back, and prepared to rush from friend to friend's home.
Pinkie Pie was first.
Her hooves raced across the gravel and stone paths of her beloved Ponyville. As she gazed about, she realized-no pony was standing around and chatting like they usually did. It was regular to have ponies around at all times of the day.
First, 9:30 sharp, the elderly of the town gathered to gossip and giggle. Then they found a place to sit, most likely a bench, and began their knitting and sewing.
12:00 was lunch, and nearly everypony was out and about to eat and socialize.
2:30, the Ponyville Schoolhouse was let out. That could pretty much speak for itself as the fillies and teens of the village raced through the streets, occasionally stopping in at stores like Hoofin's or even Sugar Cube Corner for an after school snack.
Speaking of the famous sweet place... Twilight slowed down to a trot as she entered the store. "Pinkie Pie? Pinkie!"
"I'm finishing this cupcake, hold onnnn..." Pinkie's voice trailed off, seemingly coming from the kitchen.
"Pinkie, now! It's urgent!"
Twilight tapped her hoof against the floor agitatedly, then switched to biting her lip. This couldn't wait. She knew something was off. She could just feel it.
"But I'm not done!" Pinkie pouted.
"Pinkimena Diane Pie, get your ass out here right this instant," Twilight exclaimed, her frustration seeping into her words as she snapped. She did not have time for this.
The wide-eyed pink pony popped her head out and came out from behind the counter, not even bothering to take her apron off as she galloped full speed, side by side with Twilight as they rushed to the Carousel Boutique.
"Wow, this must be serious," Pinkie said aloud. "Oops, did I say that out loud? My bad. You know, I always do that while baking."
Twilight gritted her teeth. This was serious, and right now, she was not being taken seriously.
4:30 was time for performances, such as a school play, or some small concert.
Everypony had dinner around 5:30 and 6:00.
7:30 was relaxing time, which everypony did in usually their respective homes.
Rarity!
Breathe in, breathe out.
Rarity!
Had it occurred to Twilight that she was hyperventilating?
"Rarity!" This time she actually said it out loud, right as they burst into the boutique. "Rarity, meet me at the castle, just teleport, something!"
They left before the unicorn could utter a single word. Twilight teleported, Pinkie clinging to her, as they were whisked away to Sweet Apple Acres.
9:00, bedtime. Usually.
Agh, why was she still thinking about that? Twilight felt herself internally freaking out, something she did pretty rarely. However, this situation had bad news written all over it.
Fluttershy's cottage was next, and Twilight sent the pegasus off to Cloudsdale to get Rainbow Dash.
Twilight tried taking deep, slow breaths as she galloped into her home and into the Cutie Room. That's what she'd named the meeting room with their thrones and the cutie map. She figured, at least give it a name. She began to attempt to stay calm as her friends arrived and took their seats.
"Derpy, come in here please," Twilight called out. Her breathing was slowing, turning back to normal. Now that her friends were here, she could solve this.
The gray pegasus wobbled into the Cutie Room, flapping her wings but to no avail. "Oh Princess, something terrible has happened!"
"I know," Twilight responded evenly, trying to stay calm. She wanted to shake the pony's head and get her to tell them the trouble, but it was Derpy, and this wasn't her fault.
"Ponyville ran out of muffins and their ingredients!" Derpy exclaimed, tears leaking from her yellow eyes. "What a tragedy! Oh, woe!"
Twilight gritted her teeth together, back and forth. She summoned all her friends. Had a panic attack. Just. For. This?!
"Oh, yeah, also-"
"They're what ?!" Twilight yelled, frightening the poor delivery pony. As soon as she saw Derpy's terrified face, she immediately felt ashamed and profusely apologized.
"Lemme get this straight," Rainbow Dash said, loud enough to get everypony's attention. "So the weird bug queen is back, and so are her changelings? Easy, use the Elements of Harmony, bam, she's gone, along with her little minions!" The blue pegasus crossed her hooves, pleased with herself.
"That's not it," Applejack injected, with a glance at the alicorn. "They've... T-taken the princesses... And the elements are gone, remember?"
Pinkie Pie: "Let me get this straight. So no elements, no princesses, just... Us?"
Rarity: "Well, I suppose so..."
Rainbow: "We'll just take 'em out, no problem! We figured out that we don't need the elements for our friendship to exist, right? So bam!"
Twilight felt her head spinning and her panic attack returning. She could tell this was not going to be easy, not like the other defeats of evil and villains. "Shit," she muttered quietly.
She thought for another moment. "Well, Queen Chrysalis will probably come to Ponyville next, now that she has the other princesses. And they could be... Gone... Forever, for all we know..." Her voice shook. "So we should get the heck out of here. At least until we come up with a plan."
"This'll be a helluva lot harder than the rest," Applejack murmured. "Ah reckon that it'll be harder than when Nightmare Moon came along, when we had nothin' to do, and we were clueless."
Five nods came from the rest of the ponies.
"Pack your bags, girls," the princess said solemnly. "We're leaving."
Twilight felt the twigs and leaves poking out of the bushes scratching at her hooves and neck as she trotted on. The rest of her friends followed shortly after.
"Are yah really sure that the Everfree Forest is the best place to hide?" Applejack asked nervously, glancing nervously around their surroundings. "Ah mean, Ah'm familiar with wildlife an' all, but this place... It ain't tamed. Not one bit..."
"Applejack, darling, we'll only be here for a short while. Twilight here said we'll be resting here, then moving on to Nightmare's castle. The Castle of the Two Sisters." Rarity winked at Applejack. The orange earth pony flushed a brilliant shade of red at just the tiny gesture.
Twilight sighed. She shook her head slightly, exhaling as she did so. It wasn't like last time, when it was Princess Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding. There were ponies there to help them. They were on their own this time. "When we find the queen, I'll murder her," she vowed. Her gaze hardened. "Her, and every last one of her minions."
Fluttershy whimpered slightly, having once been friends with Thorax and his tribe... Before they were brainwashed and turned back into the creatures that they once were. She trembled, and Twilight knew that the yellow pony was terrified. But not just because of the changelings, but because the love energy she gave off was so strong, it would fuel the changelings enough to finish off the rest of her friends, before moving on to consuming the whole of Equestria itself.
Twilight herself shuddered at the prospect. "C'mon guys. We got this. Just keep it moving."
The six ponies made their way through thorns, ferns, mud, and many more unknown things that Twilight preferred not to think about. The squelching of the mud in the silence that followed sent shivers through her. She wasn't going to lie, she was downright terrified of the outcome of this. Sure, they had defeated many different villains and forms of evil before, but...
A rustle in the bushes to the right of Twilight set her on the alert. "Watch out, guys..."
A few more rustles sounded. The pack galloped faster, desperate to make it to the crumbling castle before whatever creatures-timberwolves, changelings, anything-got there first.
The bridge! The bridge to the castle! "Almost there, girls!" Twilight exclaimed, as enthusiastic as possible, given their situation. Their hoofsteps raced across the bridge noisily as they made their way to the castle.
Suddenly, a high pitched scream filled the air, shortly followed by another lower-pitched voice. Pure agony shot through the second scream.
"Rarity!" Applejack screamed, her voice cracking as tears already spilled down her orange cheeks. "Rarity ! No! You can't ! Rarity!" She wailed, before dropping onto the ground, hooves over her face, sobbing.
The unicorn disappeared into the abyss. The only logical explanation was that she slipped while crossing the bridge, but nopony had seen, due to that Rarity had been last in line.
"Oh, Rarity," Twilight whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. "She's gone..."
"We were almost to the castle," Applejack cried. She shook her head frantically, her yellow mane swinging back and forth. "No. No, no, no no nonono."
"Even if we were in the castle, somepony would have probably gotten us. Like the changelings. We're never truly safe anywhere..." Twilight trailed off. A moment of silence announced their profounded grief and sorrow after losing their best friend.
"She was pretty," Fluttershy murmured, almost too soft to be heard. Her barely audible voice rose as she carried on. "She was amazing at making dresses. And she made sure she and everypony she cared about were fabulous inside and out."
"She was so generous," Pinkie added, no smile in her voice or on her face. Just more tears.
Rainbow's brow was furrowed. "How can we be sure she's gone? She only fell... What if she caught on to the cliff? Actually, she prolly just teleported somewhere."
Twilight shook her head in disagreement. "Magic doesn't work out here. See?" She demonstrated her attempt to use magic, and it sputtered out after a mere second of forming.
Rainbow sighed and flapped her wings just enough to propel her over to Applejack. She put a hoof on the earth pony's shoulder and looked down at the devasted mess of her friend. "It's okay, AJ. S-She's in a better place now..."
Applejack's face contorted in hurt and disagreement but held her tongue. She looked as if she wanted to argue, but didn't.
"C'mon," Pinkie added. She bounced up and down, though there was no joy in the motion. "We're nearly to the castle. Rarity wouldn't have wanted you to stop now."
"Ah loved her..."
They got Applejack to her hooves and continued trudging through the mess of the Everfree Forest until they reached their destination, one pony short. Twilight tried blinking the tears out of her eyes. Rarity is-no, was-her best friend. She was always there for her. And now...
Fluttershy had remained quiet this whole time, and now let out a huge sob, her shoulders shaking. Slowly, the tears stopped flowing and she whimpered a few times before becoming silent again.
Their grief only lasted about five minutes though, for they had their lives on the line as well, what with Chrysalis and her changelings anywhere and everywhere. It was safe to assume a changeling had somehow pushed Rarity off the bridge. The unicorn was careful and wouldn't have just tripped .
The purple alicorn took lead as they walked through the remnants of the castle and up to the room where they had defeated Nightmare Moon. It felt like they had done that last week to Twilight...
"Alright. We have to form a plan," Twilight muttered, more to herself than her friends.
"We could... Maybe disguise ourselves as changelings?" Fluttershy asked in her soft, tentative voice.
Pinkie Pie interrupted with, "I HAVE THE PERFECT COSTUME!"
Rainbow face-hoofed. "Seriously? I hated those things!"
All ponies looked at each other and let out a laugh. The hysterics were getting to them. Everypony was laughing a bit. Except for a tortured orange pony.
The others glanced at each other, helpless, and unable to console Applejack at her lost crush.
"Ah was gonna tell her today, before the news came," Applejack whispered. "Ah was working up to it, and Ah decided today was the day. Until it wasn't."
"Applejack, I'm so sorry," Twilight said sincerely. She was just as sad as well, but she couldn't allow that to show. She needed to be strong for her friends. And for herself. And for Rarity.
As dusk turned to night, Twilight instructed the rest of the ponies to rest, and she kept watch. But she didn't exactly do as planned. She fell asleep about thirty minutes in. If only she'd stayed up...
Twilight woke up, and immediately reprimanded herself for falling asleep. She was supposed to keep her friends safe, not fall asleep for them! She blinked away the bleariness in her eyes the best she could, and saw that Applejack was already up, slumped against the wall, but definitely awake.
"Girls, wake up," she called, weaving in and out of the ponies, making her way to the grieving pony. "You all right, AJ?"
"Mhm..."
Twilight managed a slight smile, at least glad Applejack was improving. Honestly, it was the best she could hope for at the moment. But they still hadn't come up with a plan!
"Alright, guys. Let's get down to business," Twilight announced after they all were in a seated circle. Not as nice as the circle in the Cutie Room, but what could she expect in a falling apart, old, abandoned castle? "We gotta come up with a plan."
"What plan is there to be made, Twi?" Rainbow asked sullenly. "There's nothing we can do. Magic doesn't work, princesses are gone, so is Rarity, don't have elements... There's really nothing we can do but wait this out. It's the smart thing to do. Since we don't have anything." She began pacing on the blue-ish stone bricks. "Maybe we should just... I don't know. We can't really attack them with physical strength. Again, no magic or elements... And our smarts probably wouldn't work because we're still out-numbered by a whole damn lot."
"Well fuck," Applejack said, her only contribution to the conversation. "Now we can go join Rarity. Yippee."
Fluttershy and Pinkie collectively sighed together. As they sighed, a slight buzzing sound could be heard over them. A quiet buzzing noise. But... Why was it growing louder? Twilight turned at the last moment to come face to face with a changeling. Lots of them.
Within seconds, they were all pinned down, taken by surprise. Twilight managed to wriggle out of the changeling's grip before flipping over him and kicking him in the ass. She quickly leapt to the next changeling in an instant, dealing with each creature in a different way. Soon, Twilight wasn't the only one kicking ass. But that was until more changelings arrived.
Twilight glanced over at Rainbow to see how she was holding up. She watched as Rainbow jabbed and punched and upper-cutted. Kinda sexy. She refocused on her own demons. Kicking and flipping and leaping usually did the trick.
Pinkie was busy defending Fluttershy and herself, as Fluttershy was... Shy. And caring. And she couldn't bring herself to harm the creatures trying to kill her. At least Applejack was holding up well.
Not too much fighting went by before they took out the whole squad which seemed to be the last of the ones nearby. There were about twenty of them, and they all lay on the ground, twitching or unmoving.
"I guess physical strength does work," Rainbow Dash said in the silence that followed. She scratched her head awkwardly. "Well, we should keep moving. Maybe to the Crystal Empire? Because they probably suspect we're going to Canterlot to look for Princess Celestia and Luna or something."
"That's a good idea, Dashie," Fluttershy said quietly, blushing. The yellow pegasus seemed to have developed a slight crush on the blue one.
"Let's go then," Pinkie exclaimed with a look at Twilight.
The five ponies traveled on in silence, having nothing to say as they were still grieving for their long lost friend. Twilight swallowed her cry. She missed Rarity so much. She was always there for her, and Twilight knew she could always count on the other and vice versa.
This time there was no warning, no buzzing. A shriek louder than the fallen unicorn's sounded. Twilight whipped her head around to see Fluttershy grabbed by her wings. "No!" She yelled, springing into action. A split second too late.
The changeling holding her grinned as two more appeared and... Twilight screamed with Fluttershy even louder than last time as the pegasus turned earth pony as her wings were ripped away from her, leaving two small yellow stubs, quickly turning red with gushing blood.
"Fuck you!" Rainbow screeched, flying at the changelings.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie called with a strangled cry stuck in her throat. "Fluttershy... No... Not another friend... You can't die... We already lost Rarity!"
"A-Am I g-g-gonna be okay?" Fluttershy whispered, her voice croaking.
All ponies except for Applejack turned to Twilight. She sighed in pure defeat. "Y-you'll b-be..."
The friends stood there in the clearing in the forest in quiet as they looked at each other, finishing the sentence in their heads. Dead . It was in the silence that Fluttershy breathed her last breath. Too much blood lost. Another life gone.
Applejack seemed to be the only pony not crying or grieving for the fresh death of the yellow pegasus. The farm pony just ignored the situation, as if nothing had even happened.
"We can't just leave her here," Pinkie said softly. "We have to bury her."
The three of them found a patch of dirt and began digging a hole in the ground, right next to where the elements were found. They finished in silence and all shared a saddened glance before carefully lowering Fluttershy down into the hole. They covered up the hole with dirt until they couldn't see her.
The only thing remaining from the battle was blood and sadness.
"We should be at the base of the Crystal Mountains right now," Twilight announced. "Once we get over these guys, we should be at the train station, which isn't too far from the actual empire."
Pinkie Pie yawned loudly. "Can it wait? I'm sooo tired right now."
"Same," Rainbow agreed, sitting down on the cold snowy ground.
"Okay," Twilight said. "But I want you all to keep a weapon on you, just in case something attacks while you sleep. I stored these here long ago, just in case something were to happen." She trotted over to where the mountain started its incline and began to dig. Knives and clubs were shortly revealed. "Choose one or two," She added after selecting two of her own.
After the ponies had divvied up the sharp objects, they all found a spot near by to sleep. As usual, Twilight fell asleep, but she really wasn't planning on staying awake anyways. She doubted the changelings had followed them this far, and now they had weapons.
If only...
Applejack was slumped against the mountain base when Twilight opened her eyes. She would've been worried, but AJ woke up like that yesterday, too. "Applejack!"
No response. Twilight went over to the earth pony and began talking to her. "I know it's been really hard for you because... Rarity... But we're almost to the Crystal Empire. We almost made it. We're almost safe. You can make it, AJ. I know you can."
No response. "AJ..?"
She turned to face her completely and let out a small yelp before covering her mouth with her hoof. Two cuts. Right on her wrists. Gone. Wasted. Dead.
Why the hell did her friends keep dying?! Tears slid down her face. She was the Princess of Friendship, and yet there was nothing she could do to keep her friends safe, to protect them. She was utterly useless. She now understood why Applejack had took it upon herself to end it. She just wished the pony hadn't. She could've used the regular AJ's enthusiasm and help.
"You alright, Twi?" Pinkie asked, her voice groggy. She had obviously just woken. She trotted over to the alicorn. "Hey, we almost made it!"
Twilight turned AJ's body over for Pinkie to see her blank unseeing eyes. "She slit her wrists," she said numbly. This couldn't be happening. There was no way that three of her friends were gone. Nope. No way in hell. She rose to her hooves shakily and went over to Rainbow to wake her and tell her the most recent death of their best friend.
After explaining and tears were shed, the three remaining ponies began the steep incline of the mountain and the journey to safety which was so close. After they made it to the tip of the mountain, Pinkie nearly fell to her death, but Rainbow grabbed her just in time. Twilight didn't know if she could handle two deaths in a mere few minutes. Death was... Not a stranger to her, but rather a long lost friend she'd nearly forgotten about. And it was here to remind her.
"Let's keep moving, guys," Twilight said to the two and began a very careful descent. When they reached the train station, only a few steps away from the wall of mountains, it was clear that the trains weren't running, and there was no ticket pony in the booth. They carried on, careful to avoid snow holes. The holes were covered with a thick layer of snow, but if somepony were to step on it, they'd fall into the far North, otherwise known as what was under the ice and snow. 'It isn't even North though,' Twilight told Celestia many years ago when learning about it in her studies. 'It doesn't make sense!'
She smiled a bit at the memory before grimacing, remembering of the fate of the other alicorns. Even Flurryheart, the precious young foal. The alicorn that never got to live up to her title and power. She briefly closed her eyes and imagined the foal being murdered before Cadence's own eyes and shuddered, letting out a quiet squeal. They crossed the border to the empire, prepared for the snow and cold to leave, but Cadence was no more, and the Crystal Heart did little to protect its ponies. Speaking of ponies... Were the Crystal Ponies still alive?
"Hello?" Twilight asked, politely knocking on the door of one of the crystal houses, but her heart was practically jumping in and out of her chest.
"P-P-Princess Twilight?" a glittery blue earth pony with silky purple hair tied up in a bun asked nervously, stuttering a lot.
"That's me," Twilight replied warmly. "Are you okay?"
"T-T-The C-Crystal Heart isn't w-working," the pony responded in terror. "A-And we can't survive w-w-without it!"
With that, she slammed the door, sobbing loud enough so the shivering ponies standing outside could still hear.
Rainbow was sent off to look on the third floor; Twilight and Pinkie looked on the second.
"You think anything's here?" Pinkie asked her partner.
Twilight shook her head. "I'm just hoping for something. Anything!" She collapsed onto a nearby couch in sadness and frustration. "We've lost three of our friends!"
After a while of searching, Twilight turned around and muttered, "I think I can use my magic up here," she exclaimed in excitement. Her magic flickered and sparked until it stayed glowing around her horn. She turned back to Pinkie, grinning.
"Twi-" Pinkie shouted, aghast. "Help!"
Pinkie plummeted into a portal that had spawned.. She was on her way to the human world... All Twilight had to do now was find Rainbow...
"Rainbow!" Twilight screamed frantically, racing up the stairs. "A-A portal just appeared underneath Pinkie! And s-she fell through it! To the human world!"
Rainbow struggled to comprehend this, and when she did, her face was a mirror to the face on Twilight. Shocked, horrified, tortured.
"There's a special way for each pony to go, isn't there?" Twilight asked softly to Rainbow. "Rarity falls, Fluttershy bleeds out, Applejack committed suicide, Pinkie went through the portal-which is sealed now. But which way do you go?" She tapped her chin, thinking.
"Uh... Twi?" Rainbow asked nervously. She didn't like the edge on Twilight's voice that was growing.
"Let's see. Decapitation? Dismemberment? Old classic slitting the throat?"
The blue pegasus began to tremble as Twilight advanced.
"Or... Magic. "
"B-But you said your magic doesn't work here!" Rainbow exclaimed, petrified.
Twilight smirked. "Oh, I said that, didn't I? Did I mean it, though, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow could only stare in horror as Twilight went on. She was already backed up against the crystal wall as much as she could.
"Oh Rainbow ," Twilight whispered, right in her ear. "The princesses are still alive. They're waiting for you. Because they get to kill you." She ignited her magic, sparkling, evil green colored and teleported the both of them to the caves.
"Here she is, princesses," Twilight said smoothly.
"B-But Twilight! Why would you do this?!" Rainbow cried.
"She's all yours." Twilight winked and with her glistening green magical aura, unlocked the cages holding the princesses.
The pegasus put two and two together a moment too late. As if under a trance, the princesses walked to her and began tearing her apart, slowly. Turning her inside out. Removing her very soul.
"My queen, what do you want us to do now?" Luna asked Twilight.
"Oh, you just be my loyal, compliant subjects."
Everypony bowed down to Chrysalis and she loved it... As for the real Twilight, however... She was disposed of many, many years ago. And now, finally, the world was ripe for taking. And she didn't need anypony's help doing it. The fall of Equestria was complete. The rise of the changelings was now happening.
"The world will forever be mine ."
By the time they reached where the heart was supposed to be, Twilight assumed they all had frostbite considering how cold it was. It had to be in the single digits, maybe even negatives. The heart was still there, but it wasn't crystal-y or bright blue. It was a dull, flat gray. And it didn't give off any aura of love or anything else. The Crystal Empire had-or was going to fall.
"I can't believe it," Twilight heard Pinkie say to Rainbow. "The Crystal Ponies... I thought they were safe!"
Rainbow answered with, "Well, Cadence is like... Not here anymore... So it does sort of make sense."
Twilight put her head in her hooves. She didn't know what to do. There was nothing left to do. Looking around, a lot of crystal homes were destroyed.
Twilight suddenly jerked her head up and strode over to the heart and began to try using magic, but nothing happened. She tried to amplify the heart with friendship, but it was no use. Friendship wasn't its fuel, and no magic still. Whatever. It was worth a shot, she supposed. She decided to examine the palace and told the others two remain downstairs and try to coax the Crystal Ponies out of their homes.
Queen Chrysalis stalked around the cage holding the pink Princess of Love. "Did you put out the Crystal Heart?" she hissed at Cadence.
"Y-yes, Chrysalis," the weakened alicorn replied.
A glare and a growl from the changeling queen made her correct herself. "M-My queen. My apologies."
Cadence had no idea where she was, and that was fine with Chrysalis. But the changeling was indeed surprised that the princess didn't remember the caves beneath Canterlot. Two voices whispering distracted her from Cadence. "Shut up," she growled at the two previous rulers of Equestria. "Or I'll through you into the abyss just like I did Rarity."
That shut them up. They had been forced to watch everything that happened to the Mane Six. Until they were all wiped out. She cackled before adding another protection spell to ensure they didn't disappear and teleported away.
"Nothing upstairs," Twilight said to the two as she arrived back under the palace. "Any word of the ponies?"
Both Rainbow and Pinkie shook their heads in defeat. Pinkie looked up. "You think it's time to throw in the towel, Twi?"
"No!" Rainbow and Twilight shouted immediately together.
"Let's just look upstairs again," Twilight said. "I probably missed something."
