Three months ago, Chancellor Neighsay came to inspect Twilight's Friendship School. He was displeased when he figured out that she had enlisted Non-Pony races as students, and that her friends didn't meet the standards of a teacher. He retaliated by closing down the school, which drove Twilight to tears. Allies fought back by arresting him for closing the Friendship School. Celestia's punishment was that she stripped him of his status in the EEA. Having been released, he is being watched by the allies that helped bring him to trial, but he doesn't know that. He plans to find another way to force Twilight to change her mind about teaching friendship to Non-Pony races. What will he come up with?
Finding his way to the library, Neighsay snuck into the restricted section and started looking through the books. Much of what was in the books did not help him very well, because it mainly referred to history and early wars in Equestria. After two hours of searching, he found a book that would possibly contain the information he was looking for. The book had texts of ancient artifacts and mystical devices that could supposedly bring peace to the land. He soon found a chapter about a device called the Morning Star. This was a dangerous device that could induce natural disasters. He figured that he could use this to destroy the Non-Pony races. This device would zap whoever you targeted, and burn them to ashes. Taking notes of its last known location, he left the library. Unfortunately, he didn't see a warning that the device was damaged and no longer worked properly. Due to the malfunction, the device was supposed to be dismantled, otherwise it could cause the world to come to an end.
Little did he know that the Christians had watched every move he made. Link sent the news to Twilight and had her visit the areas throughout Equestria where the races lived. She told the leaders to be on the lookout for anything that would pose a threat to them. They also informed Celestia that Neighsay had entered the restricted section of the library without permission. She flew into rage and tried to get after him, but he was already gone.
Arriving in a murky and muddy swamp, Neighsay looked hard for the device he was seeking. He soon found it half-sunk in the quicksand. Channeling his magic, he raised the contraption up and onto the level ground. The device immediately began charging with sunlight until it was ready. Before Neighsay could set spots to strike with the Morning Star, sparks began spewing violently from the controls. Neighsay began to panic as he tried to shut down the device. Alas, he had no success. Before he had time to signal for help, his cloak brushed the sparking terminal and he received a severe shock. His cloak burst into flames and he was knocked unconscious.
*Five miles away...*
"Celestia, this is a red alert. Neighsay's vital signs are no longer normal. He may be passed out.", Twilight called over her headset.
"I hear you, Twilight. I will send Brandon to extract him, but that device will cause several severe calamities in a heartbeat. Have the Non-Pony races get him clear first, then tell Brandon when to get him.", Celestia replied.
Celestia was correct, because the device abruptly exploded in a fireball. Twilight looked at her holographic map of Equus and felt a lump building in her throat. Natural disasters were breaking out everywhere. The Non-Pony allies began arriving in only thirty seconds. Sirens were already wailing to sound the evacuation alarm.
Rescuing Neighsay and Evacuating Equus
When the Non-Pony races reached Neighsay, he was covered by two massive burning tree branches. The smell of smoke had woken him up, but the huge branches had rendered him practically immobile.
"Please help me.", he coughed hoarsely.
Twilight, Ocellus, Yona, and Gallus struggled to get the branches off of him. They screamed in agony as the heat burned them severely, but they tried to ignore the pain. As they worked, Neighsay realized his mistakes and smiled at Twilight and the Non-Pony creatures. Soon they had freed him and got him up, but he had gone limp. Without hesitating, they carried him to a clearing and flashed a light. Brandon lowered the rescue basket from his helicopter and they all got in. Once they were on board, Link gave Neighsay an oxygen mask and he woke up slowly.
"Thank you."
Twilight explained that she and the others didn't care about anything except freeing him as Link began putting bandages on their burns. They dropped into sadness as they watched the fire and other natural disasters consume their home lands. In the frozen north, Fraaz rescued Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart from a monstrous snowstorm. All of them had hypothermia and severe frostbite. Flurry Heart had also caught a cold. They instinctively wrapped themselves in thick blankets to keep warm. Volcanic eruptions had destroyed the Dragon lands and Dragon Lord Ember had been killed when her wing clipped a ledge as she fell into a lava flow. The helicopters met up together on the Lemurian Star.
"Stephen, get us out of here.", Brandon radioed to his cousin who was Acting Captain while the rescues were taking place.
The engines roared to life and blasted the ship higher into the sky until she cleared the atmosphere. After leaving the planet, Neighsay met privately with Celestia and Luna in a conference room.
"I am sorry for breaking into the restricted section of the library. I should have known better.", he apologized.
The sisters forgave him, but said it was partially their fault as well.
"That device was supposed to be dismantled and destroyed, but we never did it. The device sank in the quicksand before we had a chance.", Luna explained.
Celestia and Luna met with Brandon later to discuss how they were going to bring back Equus. They were aware that it wouldn't be an easy task, but it only mattered that they were doing it. And so, they decided to build a device that could restore a dead planet to its former glory.