Equestria's Doom

Healing Hoof and Fluttershy were approaching Fluttershy’s house at a rapid pace.

The only light that guided them was the small, shaky radius of Healing Hoof’s lantern as she levitated it to her side while the pair walked through the woods. Its light cast eerie shadows around the two that seemed to take a life of their own in the depths of the night. There was no sound in the forest and the two walked in an inky, black silence that seemed to enshroud them.

Healing took a small breath. The silence around the two was nearly deafening. She thought of the times she had been alone by herself in nature before this and then shook her head. There was something different about this silence, something vaguely threatening about the way it stifled all sound around her. She thought at first that some evil spell had been cast, but dismissed the thought.

She turned to Fluttershy in an attempt to make some conversation to distract the two of them from the foreboding quietness. “So, any thoughts about earlier?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I’m just glad I was able to open up to you, Healing. And since I’ve told you so much already, there’s something else I want to bring up.”

Healing nodded. “Don’t let me stop you. I’m a friend.”

Fluttershy took in a deep breath before talking. “I hate this. All of this.”

“What do you mean?” asked a confused Healing Hoof.

“The adventures, the constant fighting and violence. I just want everything to...go back to normal.” confessed Fluttershy. “Ever since this started, ever since Dash brought me back from wherever I was, I just…”

Her lip began to tremble and Healing took her in a hug. “It’s okay, you can say anything you want.”

“Except I can’t.” said Fluttershy as she sucked in air through her teeth. “I have to be strong for them. I have to be strong for her.”

“You mean Rainbow Dash?” asked Healing Hoof as she looked at Fluttershy with eyes that swam with a genuine sense of worry.

Fluttershy nodded. “I know this isn’t easy for her, either. And with Twilight down and the rest of my friends missing…”

The mare went quiet and Healing waited for her response. Fluttershy’s lip began to tremble and her eyes grew narrow. Healing took a step back when she saw her eyes fill with a familiar rage.

“Are you alright?” asked a nervous Healing Hoof.

“I have to be somepony I’m not.” said Fluttershy in a voice that wasn’t hers.

“No, you don’t-” started Healing Hoof.

“Do you know what I want to do?” asked Fluttershy.

Healing Hoof felt a sinking feeling in her stomach at the expression in Fluttershy’s face. It was a mask of pure, barely suppressed rage. Her eyes had narrowed into slits and shot a look that would have made a grown stallion shake in his boots. Healing could see the sides of her face bulge as Fluttershy clenched her jaw together.

As soon as the wave of anger came, it fell away from Fluttershy. Her face fell and her jaw opened. All of the light and fire vanished from her eyes and they filled with tears. The mare fell to the ground and curled into a ball, her body heaving with sobs.

Healing took a moment to contemplate as Fluttershy cried beneath her hooves.

There was no question that she was intensely emotionally unstable.

Healing took a moment to think about things from her perspective, about how difficult it must have been to see her friends get hurt and sacrifice for her over and over again.

Then Healing searched her own heart and found only numbness and emptiness, the darkness only illuminated by a faint ember of hope that the sobbing pony in front of her was going to be her friend. Healing felt as if her entire self was retreating into an abyss of grayness and darkness.

She shut her eyes and felt as if she was lifting out of her body. Healing saw Fluttershy and herself in the forest, but felt no connection to her body, as if she had already died.

Healing Hoof’s trance of disassociation ended in a split second and she was back to the relative normal she had managed to achieve.

Fluttershy wordlessly clambered to her hooves. “Ready to keep going?”

Healing gave a silent nod and the two proceeded to Fluttershy’s house.

Healing took a moment to observe the cottage in front of her. It was a multi-story house, albeit covered in moss. The glass on the windows was intact to her relief. There was no sign of life anywhere surrounding the cottage, though the ground had long, dark streaks running over it. Empty cages lay scattered around the property. Healing wondered how many animals had once been captive within them and then looked at Fluttershy.

Once again, she had retreated into herself and gave no response to the scene.

“So you had a lot of pets?” asked Healing.

Fluttershy failed to answer her and walked up to the door of her house. Healing shrugged and followed the mare inside through a carved oak door.

The inside of the house was as curious and as empty as the outside. More overturned cages were inside of the cottage and the walls were filled with scratch marks. The furniture itself had been shredded by some mysterious force and books lay scattered all over the floor. Healing noticed how Fluttershy forced herself to remain stoic.

She trotted upstairs and Healing followed her.

Fluttershy lay down on a large bed that sat at the peak of a stairwell leading to the second story of the sizable cottage. A vase filled with flowers sat on a nightstand and Healing noticed Rainbow Dash’s picture in an ornate frame, a faded lipstick kiss pressed over the glass. Fluttershy let out a gentle sigh and Healing stood in the bedroom silently.

“So are we going to search for the potion ingredients?” asked Healing.

Fluttershy wordlessly stared at the ceiling for a few more moments. “I guess.”

Healing began to flip open cabinets and cupboards as Fluttershy lay on the bed. Finally, she clambered off and began to help Healing in her search. They overturned pantries full of rotten food and searched every drawer in the cottage.

Fluttershy let out a loud sigh and Healing looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Something else you need to open up about?”

“No, I found it.” said Fluttershy. She raised an orange bottle filled with crushed plants and Healing Hoof smiled.

“What is it?” asked Healing curiously.

Fluttershy began to explain. “Compressed dragon-claw. Its magical properties help to protect against possession-”

The entire cottage shook from the force of a great impact and both of the ponies let out a startled yelp. Fluttershy quickly stowed the potion bottle in Healing’s bags.

“What was-” started Healing Hoof.

She gasped as she saw a pair of red eyes in the woods through the window.

Fluttershy followed her look and let out a terrified squeal. “Healing, what is-”

“Oh no.” whispered Healing.

The red eyes walked closer to the pair and were on Fluttershy’s lawn, close enough for both of the ponies to see the outline of the beast through the moonlight.

It stood as tall as a bear on its hindlegs and its body was covered in a crude, green armor. Two massive horns stretched from its skull and curled upwards over its head. Its legs were covered in hulking armor that gave way to rippling abdominals and arms swollen with muscles and bulging with purple veins. A double-barrelled shotgun sat on its hip and the crude weapon swung as it walked.

"COME OUT.”roared the creature, sending icicles of terror through the chests of both ponies.

Healing noticed that the voice had a strange, almost radio-like quality to it. Every syllable the beast uttered popped and crackled like it had been spoken through the speakers of some olden-times radio machine.

“RUN!” screamed Fluttershy.

Healing and Fluttershy both scrambled out of a side-door and were out behind Fluttershy’s house. Healing took in her surroundings in a whirl of sights and colors that blended together in her panic.

She began to gallop for the woods, Fluttershy behind her. Both of the ponies were sprinting in a blind, thoughtless panic that gave them no room for actually planning their escape.

“Just fly away!” screamed Healing.

“I can’t-I’m not going to leave you-” sputtered Fluttershy.

"SERVANTS OF CELESTIA. I HAVE A QUESTION.” uttered the beast.

Healing and Fluttershy whirled around in terror to see that the beast had effortlessly matched their pace.

It had drawn an axe buzzing with red energy from its back. The two blades were each as wide and as long as a pony if not an alicorn and the air around the arcane weapon seemed to writhe and buzz.

“WHAT IS THE SLAYER’S LOCATION?” asked the monster. The crackle from the axe was deafening and they could barely hear the words of the beast over them, as loud as the creature was.

“We-we don’t know-” stuttered Healing Hoof.

The beast lifted Healing Hoof in the air.

Its grip was like a pair of twin mountains pressing against Healing Hoof’s side.

Her heart beat so hard she was amazed it didn’t explode inside her chest. First, her mind was blank from terror and then she locked eyes with Fluttershy.

“FLUTTERSHY!” screamed Healing. “FLUTTERSHY HELP ME PLEASE-”

The beast let out a terrifying roar.

It raised up Healing by her neck as she sobbed from terror.

With one stroke of its axe, it sliced the pony in half.

Her intestines and guts fell out of her corpse and a tidal wave of blood washed over the ground. The smell of the pony’s insides filled the clearing and Fluttershy vomited where she stood.

The beast crushed Healing Hoof’s skull in its hand and the gore of the pony streamed from between its fingers, as well as the jellies of her brain. A single, bloodshot eyeball fell to the ground and seemed to stare at Fluttershy.

“PERHAPS YOUR DEATHS WILL SUMMON HIM TO ME.”wondered the beast.

It swept up Fluttershy in the same grip it had taken Healing Hoof in. The monster pressed the axe to Fluttershy’s forehead and her fur began to smoulder from the heat of the axe.

Fluttershy locked eyes with the monster and narrowed her gaze.

All of her fear fell away from her and her chest filled with a steely confidence. Her lips raised into a smile.

She raised her hoof and slapped the beast as hard as she could. It gave no reaction to her attack and raised her higher in the air.

Fluttershy felt her fur grow wet on her side and realized that Healing Hoof’s blood and gore was soaking into her body. Some of her confidence fell away and she felt a sense of nausea arise in her stomach.

The beast began to squeeze. Fluttershy wheezed as the air left her body and she felt her ribs pressing together, nearly cracking under the beast’s grip. Pain flooded her sides and her eyes felt as if they were bulging out of her head.

At once, the beast released her and she stumbled onto her hooves.

Fluttershy’s jaw opened as she saw a pony in black armor standing before her.

She realized it was Rainbow Dash from the colors of her mane and the blueness of her fur. Rainbow Dash turned towards her and Fluttershy noticed that her eyes shined with a supernatural, glowing redness. Dash’s face was fixed in a scowling expression of rage and anger that shocked Fluttershy to her core.

The beast let out a horrific scream and drew the shotgun from its side.

Fluttershy felt her hooves come out from under her as Rainbow Dash bucked her into some bushes.

The beast fired its gun with an ear-piercing crack and Rainbow Dash nimbly dodged the shots.

It swung its axe again and again, but each time, Rainbow Dash would dodge it with a nimble roll or leap.

“Twilight!” called out Rainbow Dash.

Twilight emerged from the bushes and looked at Fluttershy. She smiled as if to offer a greeting, but then saw the ruins of Healing Hoof’s corpse. The unicorn’s eyes went blank and she vomited on the ground.

The beast’s body was overtaken with purple magic as Twilight raised it in the air.

Her teeth ground together so hard that blood swam from over the edges of her lips and dripped down her chin, giving her a feral and terrifying look.

As the beast hung in the air, Dash rocketed towards it and a meaty crack rang out.

“Another one of those and it’ll-” started Rainbow Dash.

She paused as the beast began to howl in pain.

Rainbow Dash turned towards Twilight and wordlessly observed her actions with nervousness building in her chest.

Purple energy bulged and streamed from Twilight’s horn with a horrifying intensity. Sweat dripped from the unicorn’s body, mixing with the blood from her mouth and nostrils. Her tail swayed back and forth furiously and a loud cracking sound rang over the clearing.

At once, the beast exploded in a bloody cloud of guts, intestines and green armor.

The pieces of the beast’s remains drenched the clearing in a grim rain of blood and gore.

Rainbow Dash’s jaw hung agape and she was amazed she had managed not to release her bladder at what she had just witnessed.

“All this time, Twilight was holding back...this!” she grimly thought to herself.

Rainbow Dash realized a piece of intestine was stuck in her mane and brushed it off with a disgusted groan. Her armor was soaked in blood and she sighed at the thought of the hours she would spend later cleaning it.

Twilight wordlessly turned to Rainbow Dash and Dash in turn looked around for Fluttershy. The mare had climbed out of the bushes she was pushed into and trotted up to the pair without a word.

“So Healing Hoof is dead.” said Rainbow Dash in a steady tone.

Neither of the other ponies responded.

Rainbow Dash took a moment to observe.

Fluttershy’s entire face was blank and she eerily seemed to almost be at peace. Rainbow Dash thought of a stone statue and realized that would be a good comparison to make to Fluttershy’s current appearance. She thought of hugging the mare to give her some comfort, but realized it would come off the wrong way, soaked in gore as she was.

Twilight wasn’t much better off. She was soaked in blood from head to hoof and her eyes were wide and expressionless. Her mouth was slightly open and slow, steady breaths came from deep within her body.

“I’m gonna learn how to fight.” stated Rainbow Dash abruptly. “Now that I’ve got the talismans of pain, I don’t have to watch out for Fluttershy as much anymore and-”

“I don’t think she’s doing okay, Dash.” said Twilight in a low voice. “And neither am I.”

Twilight and Fluttershy both wordlessly turned around and walked away from Rainbow Dash.

“Guys, where are you going?” called out Dash.

“Dash, now that you’ve got the talismans, I think it’s best for you to go by yourself from here.” said Twilight in a low voice.

“What?” said Dash in shock.

“I think I speak for both of us when I say that we’re done with adventures.” stated Twilight calmly. “If you want to keep fighting, go ahead.”

Dash felt a sinking feeling in her chest. “Where are you guys going?”

“Back to the-” started Twilight.

A loud sound came from the forest and Twilight’s horn defensively lit up with a spell. Dash whirled around and crouched low to the ground, preparing to soar forwards.

The Slayer walked out from the woods.

All three ponies in the clearing fixated their gaze on him.

Rainbow Dash stepped back in surprise when a furious Fluttershy shot from behind them. She wordlessly screamed and began to smash her hooves into his armor.

“WHERE. WERE. YOU.” she screamed, each one of her words punctuated with a punch.

The Slayer ignored her and walked up to Healing Hoof’s corpse without saying a word. His gloved hand reached into the gaping cavity that her chest had become and withdrew Healing’s heart. He looked at it in the palm of his hand for a moment and stowed it in a pouch on his side. He also picked up the Marauder’s shotgun and fixed it to his waist, also taking the beast’s ammunition.

Fluttershy continued to pound his armor and both Rainbow Dash and Twilight gasped when he removed his helmet.

Tears stained the face of the Slayer and his lips were drawn into a narrow frown. His massive hand reached out to Fluttershy and he gently stroked her mane. She began to sob into his chest and he drew her closer with his wide reach. He gently shut his eyes and pressed his face into her mane.

“Wait!” said Rainbow Dash, eagerly trotting up to the Slayer. “That alicorn I saw you with on the beach, that must have been Swordsmane from the legend, right?”

The Slayer wordlessly nodded.

“Well I wanna track her down because I need to learn how to fight!” exclaimed an excited Rainbow Dash.

The Slayer stood up and thought for a moment before speaking. “She’s probably in Ponyville right now. I was just at the library there, actually. Neat place.”

He withdrew a book and dropped it on the ground in front of Dash.

Rainbow Dash nodded and turned to Twilight. “Did you hear that? We need to go there right now and-”

She stopped once she saw Twilight throwing her a furious glare.

“What?” asked Rainbow Dash.

She took a look back to the Slayer, only to see that he was already gone. Rainbow Dash trotted up and looked at the book. It was titled ‘The Flight of the Songbird’. She flipped through the pages and came to a dog-eared page containing a poem. Her eyes scanned it quickly.

‘When last hope dies and the fires of grief extinguish
When suffering is at its apex and happiness has gone away for good
From the ashes of future’s hope will a phoenix arise from a true friend’s heart
And all the land will ring with joy when the Songbird takes flight.’

Rainbow Dash frowned as she struggled to comprehend the meaning of the poem. Giving up on understanding it, she turned back to her friends.

Fluttershy had stopped crying and returned to her blank-faced state. Twilight sighed and stepped in front of the listless pony to confront Rainbow Dash.

“I’ll do what you won’t and try to help her get better. But it’s okay, you can go on your adventure.” said Twilight in a bitter voice.

“I-Twilight-it’s not that I wanna just go on an adventure, but-” sputtered Rainbow Dash.

“Just go have fun, Dash.” said Twilight as she turned her back to Rainbow Dash. “Me and Fluttershy will be praying to Celestia, if she’s even alive, that you don’t get hurt.”

“Of course I’ll be careful! Wait-” exclaimed Dash.

Her words fell on deaf ears as Twilight and Fluttershy trotted away from her and into the dark woods.

Rainbow Dash stood still as a hurricane of emotions overtook her body.

On one hand, she thought to herself, it would be more responsible to follow her friends back to the camp. With all of her friends injured in some way at this point, it was simply irresponsible to go adventuring. Twilight was making a good point, thought Dash to herself and it was also true that Fluttershy needed her lover for comfort.

Going off on another quest would essentially be an act of betrayal against her friends in the eyes of Twilight and Fluttershy, she realized with a start.

She looked down at her own face in a puddle of blood. The moonlight above illuminated the scene just enough for her to see the redness of her eyes in the reflection. The talismans of pain had changed her in a lot of ways, realized Rainbow Dash. She had noticed that her strength was many times what it had once been and her instincts were much quicker than before. Additionally, the armor she had borrowed from a soldier back at the camp provided her with ample protection from threats.

She made up her mind in an instant.

Learning how to fight and how to protect her friends was the best way to keep them safe in the long run, even if she had to leave them alone in the short-term. She knew they would thank her later down the road, even if there was a conflict with them at the moment. Regardless, she thought to herself, she knew that Twilight would be enough to protect Fluttershy for the time being and she had no concerns there.

But she couldn’t let anypony else get hurt. Healing Hoof had already died because she couldn’t be there for her and Fluttershy had been seconds away from her own demise.

Keeping in mind the Slayer’s words that Swordsmane was likely in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash flew off by herself into the darkness of the night.