Equestria's Doom

“So, let me get this straight. Twilight is in a coma, the World Nymph kidnapped our friends and we have a mysterious alicorn on the loose who kinda sorta seems like a friend.” said Dash in a single, breathless expression to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded without a word.

Dash paused her panic attack for a moment to take in her surroundings. The sky was beginning to turn pink with the rise of the sun and the waters of the lake before her reflected the coming light. The deck of the Majesty lay in ruins from Rainbow Dash’s struggle against the entity possessing Twilight and was there was simply no way she was going to be able to fly the damn thing now, even if she had the slightest clue as to how you were supposed to do that anyways.

Twilight lay comatose on the ground before Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Thankfully to them both, her bleeding had stopped after some mild treatment from Fluttershy and now the mare lay in a deep, dreamless slumber on the deck of the ruined Majesty. The stump of her horn occasionally flickered with purple embers of residual magic, as if the energies inside the unicorn were fading away like the ashes of a dying fire.

Dash noted that nopony had come to rescue them yet. There was no sign of Celestia’s guards, let alone the alicorn herself and nopony besides them had thought to check up on the scene at the lake.

“And nopony is coming to help.” said Fluttershy with a worried frown.

“Right, of course not.” sighed Rainbow Dash. “Why would anypony ever think to help us, the heroes of Equestria, right?”

“Well, maybe Canterlot is under attack from the demons and Celestia is too busy to help.” retorted Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I doubt that’s the case. If we were important enough to get this entire ship to ourselves, we’re important enough for a rescue mission. Either Celestia herself is dead or something so dramatic is happening back at the castle that they’ve forgotten we exist.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth as if to speak, but instead silently pawed the ground with an expression of anxiety etched on her face.

Rainbow Dash groaned to herself and turned away from Fluttershy.

After thinking for a moment, she turned back to face her friend. “Well, the most important thing we could take care of right now is to get Twilight some serious medical attention.”

Fluttershy nodded to agree. “And look into getting her horn regrown, too.”

Dash paused. “Can you, like, even do that?”

“I would assume you can. A very helpful pony brought an injured narwhal to me just last month and Zecora was able to whip up a potion to restore its horn, so I don’t see why you couldn’t do that to a unicorn.” explained Fluttershy with a helpful smile.

Dash aimlessly bucked at a loose board and sent it soaring off the deck. “So, I guess we need to track down Zecora.”

“Or we could stay put until somepony comes to help us.” asserted Fluttershy.

A lightbulb went off in Dash’s head and her eyes lit up. “What about the elements?”

“What about them, Dash?” responded Fluttershy with a quizzical expression.

“Well, if Twilight had the whole plan of us using them to contain the Nymph, then they’re probably on this ship somewhere.” said Dash.

Fluttershy extended her wings and then put them back down as she let out a yawn. “Okay, so we get the elements and then wait for Celestia to send help?”

“I don’t think we can wait around for Celestia to do something. This whole situation is seriously screwed up. Not to mention that demons should be attacking us any second now.” said Dash hurriedly.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both looked around nervously and each let out a breath of relief that the skies and forests surrounding them were devoid of demonic attackers.

Fluttershy put a hoof on Dash’s shoulder. “You’re right, with our friends in danger, it’s too dangerous to wait around and wait for anypony else.”

Twilight moaned, causing Dash and Fluttershy to look down with wide eyes.

To their shared disappointment, she simply rolled over and remained comatose.

“Her condition could worsen at any moment. We should really search the ship.” said Fluttershy.

Dash kicked around some broken glass and regretted it when Fluttershy hissed through her teeth. “Okay, so let’s start with searching the cabins. We need to find the elements and then a map to help us get out of this forest and preferably all the way to Zecora’s hut.”

Rainbow Dash paused for a moment. “Assuming Zecora is still alive, that is.”

“Of course she’s still alive!” said Fluttershy with a sudden energy buzzing in her eyes. “Do you think everypony is going to fall over and die because of a simple little demon invasion? This is Equestria, after all.” she finished with a defiant stamp of her hoof on the ground.

Dash leaned over and pecked her cheek. “And that’s why I love you. It’s the outbursts that keep me around, you know.”

Fluttershy gave a kiss of her own back. “I’ll search the upper cabins if you want to take lower?”

Dash nodded. “Remember, at the first sign of zombies, scream my name and I’ll come beat them up for you.”

“What if I passed out and let myself get eaten instead?” retorted Fluttershy.

“Then I’d have to be in love with a zombie.” said Dash with a sly half-grin.

“Would you really? I mean, to a zombie-” started Fluttershy with a blush.

Dash dramatically widened her mouth into an evil grin. “Only if it looked like you. I’ve got a little bit of serial killer in me.”

Fluttershy shook her head and let out a nervous giggle. “Let’s meet back at this spot and share what we’ve found.”

The ponies shared a few more words and then parted ways.

A door left open led them both into the interior of the ship. Besides a few bloodstained rooms, neither of them encountered more zombies. A thread of sorrow enshrouded the experience and both ponies had to hold back tears as they encountered the corpses of soldiers they recognized. Some of them had been slaughtered on cots where they awaited medical treatment, while others had clearly died while putting up some kind of a fight, from the sight of bullet-holes in the walls and spent shell casings on the ground.

Though the nature of the attacker was unknown to either of the two ponies, they both thought of Twilight’s cruelty while possessed and came to the same conclusion regarding the murderer of the soldiers. Both agreed not to blame the possessed pony for what she couldn’t help and both of them adopted a newfound respect for how hard their friend had struggled to resist the possession, despite her shortcomings in the end.

Dash finally came to Seaworthy’s corpse as she wandered the ship in search of either the elements or a map. He was deep within a lower-level cabin, behind a door that had been bashed in by some great force. His medals had been torn from his uniform and he lay on the ground as naked as Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy. A revolver depleted of its ammo lay on the ground beside him and his eyes lay shut. Blood flecked his face and his fur was drenched in fluids from various sources.

Rainbow Dash spoke to the corpse in a gentle voice. “Even if you were kinda an asshole man, I still feel sorry for you.”

“Holy shit, is she gone?” suddenly exclaimed Seaworthy.

Rainbow Dash screamed and reeled back against the wall. “W-wha-I thought-”

“Yes, I’m very good at playing dead.” said Seaworthy with a dry cough. “I took an entire course in it during infantry training.”

“Wha-” sputtered Dash again. She prepared herself for a fight, then thought things out for a second and lowered her hooves.

“Are all of my men dead?” said Seaworthy in a low voice.

“Um, I don’t know how else to put it, but yeah. Pretty sure you’re the only survivor left from your whole squad or whatever you call it.” answered a dismal Rainbow Dash.

Seaworthy sighed. “I will mourn when I have the time. Meanwhile, can you be so helpful as to provide a status report?”

Rainbow Dash took several minutes to explain to him about the World Nymph, as well as Twilight. Seaworthy was informed of the events that took place at the bottom of the lake in the cyclone, as well as Twilight’s status within her coma. He listened with rapt attention. Rainbow Dash noticed that throughout her whole speech, a suspicious frown never quite left his face.

“I hear your report, but I know what I saw.” said Seaworthy.

“And what was that?” responded Dash.

His lip quivered and tears formed in his eyes. “She...ripped through my men. She laughed while she did it, too.” He furiously stamped a hoof on the floor of the ship. “They called my name, Rainbow Dash. And do you know where I was during all of this?”

Rainbow Dash took a step back. “Woah, calm down, we both want the same-”

“Lying on the ground, pretending to be dead. Whether she is a traitor, or possessed as you said, no crime should go unpunished in a just kingdom such as Equestria.” he muttered in a low voice.

Rainbow Dash’s brow furrowed and she stepped towards Seaworthy. “Now, what do you mean by that?”

Seaworthy turned away from Rainbow Dash. “I mean, when I am once again before my sovereign, I will report to her exactly what I saw and nothing less.”

“And you think that Celestia is going to believe that Twilight just went crazy and started killing soldiers?” retorted Rainbow Dash.

“I will speak no more of it, now go away from me.” answered Seaworthy.

Rainbow Dash noticed tears on his face as he turned away.

“It’s okay, you can tell Celestia whatever you want. Just, you know, don’t lie or anything.” answered Rainbow Dash.

“You would never understand a soldier’s burden.” hissed Seaworthy. “Struggling your entire career, just to shine brightly for your Princess, only to be overshadowed by...by...civilians.”

“Is this what this is about? So you don’t feel that bad about your men after all, you’re just insecure because we look better than you or something?” argued a now frustrated Rainbow Dash.

His nostrils flared. “What must I do to make you go away?”

“Look, I really don’t want whatever stupid little argument you’re starting, dude. But I swear, I’ll never talk to you again in my life if you show me where some maps are so we can get Twilight medical attention.” explained Rainbow Dash with flared nostrils through gritted teeth.

Seaworthy nodded and led Rainbow Dash across the bowels of the Majesty into a grand central cabin. Rays of light streamed through portholes to illuminate a green carpet and wooden walls. Rainbow Dash took a moment to let out a whistle of appreciation. In golden letters, over an oak desk that sat against a back wall, the name of the ship was spelled out. Several of the letters had fallen away and lay on the ground in pieces.

Seaworthy confronted the sight with an angry glare. “My legacy, the very name of my ship, destroyed by this fruitless quest.”

“Okay, I get it, now gimme the maps.” said Dash.

Seaworthy grimaced at the sound of her voice and rummaged around in the desk, retrieving several bound scrolls of parchment. Dash unfurled them and chuckled at the pleasant surprise that greeted her. A full map of Equestria, complete with her current location marked with a magical symbol, greeted her. She greedily surveyed the map and took careful note of her current location relative to a small line of text that denoted Zecora’s hut.

She bounded across the room and noticed the symbol on the map marking her location shift slightly. With a smile on her face, she looked up to greet Seaworthy, only to notice that the pegasus had left the chamber. The joy left her face and she retreated back to the deck of the ship where she found Fluttershy waiting for her with a small, locked box.

“So those are the elements?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy nodded. “I had to tear Twilight’s room into pieces I’m afraid, but I found it nonetheless.”

Dash nodded. “Okay, great. Any sign of Seaworthy?”

Fluttershy’s face twisted in confusion and then her eyes illuminated with understanding. “I saw a pegasus run past me and take flight just a second ago. But I assumed it was one of the surviving soldiers.”

Yeah,” answered Dash. “Kind of. I don’t know what he’s up to, though. Kinda seems pissed off at Twilight.”

“Well, that doesn’t make sense, it’s not like she could help it.” said Fluttershy.

Dash groaned and paced around in a nervous circle. “I know, I know. But if you saw a unicorn rip your best friends into pieces, even if it wasn’t technically her doing it, wouldn’t you hold a little bit of a grudge?”

Fluttershy grimaced at the rawness of Rainbow Dash’s words and looked down at Twilight. “Well, if it truly wasn’t her, then no. You did make sure to explain to him, right Rainbow Dash?”

Dash nodded.

“Then I’m sure he’ll do the right thing.” said Fluttershy in a gentle, hopeful voice.

“He said he’s going to Celestia, but he took off without these maps.” said Rainbow Dash. “So he’ll have a hell of a time getting back, I’m sure.”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy concluded their conversation and then turned their attention towards the maps. Zecora’s hut was about a day’s journey away and the two had a brief dispute amongst themselves before concluding that it was best for Twilight to be carried without flight. Fluttershy noted that Twilight’s head injuries could get more serious if subjected to the strain of rapid flight and Rainbow Dash begrudgingly agreed.

Rainbow Dash tore planks from the deck and rope from the riggings to fasten a crude sort of stretcher for Twilight. She made sure to secure her head with tightly bound lengths of coiled rope and jostled the amateur contraption several times to ensure its integrity. After gaining confidence in the sturdiness of her creation, she fastened it to her back with Fluttershy’s help.

With her comatose friend on her back and her lover at her side, Rainbow Dash proceeded through the deep depths of the forest to Zecora’s hut.