Dusk Village

Back in Ponyville, the citizens of the once quiet and peaceful town were in the midst of evacuating the town gathering themselves and whatever they can carry as they fled. Twilight was in her home packing with her friend and assistant, Spike. Over a decade had passed since Twilight moved here for the first time and nothing had changed more than Spike during those years.

Gone was the hatchling able to ride on her back, and in his place was a dragon already a head taller then Celestia and with a wingspan easily 15 hooves long. Twilight smiled as she remembered the modifications the libray had to undergo when he started growing, just to let him still fit inside it. She remembered the first time they had come here; when Spike had still just been a hatchling and she had actaully been forced to come here with him.

Back then, this move had been more than just inconvenient, she was homesick before she had even left Canterlot, and had no intention of getting attatched; no friends, no memories, no sentiment. She came here to do a job, nothing more, and she had every intention of going home to Canterlot as soon as it was over.

Fast forward to the present, as Twilight is preparing to leave Ponyville, and sick to her stomach over it. She had come to love this town so much. She met her closest friends, ponies she'd trust her life with, right here in this town, and she had become so attatched that it was physically hurting her to tear herself away. She knew that she was only doing what she had to do; even so, she couldn't help but mourn the loss of her home.

And the circumstances made it all the more miserable. It wasn't as simple as leaving Ponyville and going "home" to Canterlot. There was no Canterlot anymore. She hadn't heard anything yet, and she couldn't possibly know for sure, but she knew deep down what had happened. She could feel a hole in her heart, exactly the size of Ponyville, that mourned the loss of Canterlot as well. Her entire family: her mother, her father, Shining Armor, Cadence; not to mention Princess Celestia, were all there now. She could only guess what had hapened to them all. Paragon had no reason to harm her parents, but Celestia and Cadence were Alicorns; powerful potential enemies. Shining Armor was proud of his home and of his title, and even against a battle he knew he couldn't win, he'd fight. He'd fight because that was his duty, and he did it better than any other Royal Guard in Canterlot. As the surreality of her likely never seeing any of them again shifted into a nightmarish reality, Twilight fought hard against the urge to weep on the spot. She wanted to curl up into a ball and just cry, but knew she couldn't, she had to be strong. for Her family, for Ponyville, for Canterlot, for Spike, for her friends, for Maree. For everyone, she had to be strong.

"I can't believe we're really going to leave Ponyville... after all these years... it didn't seem like the day would ever come." Spike commented as they packed together.

"I know what you mean. It's all pretty surreal... but there's really no way around it. We need to prepare for the worst, and get as far away from here as we can." Twilight replied.

The town at this point was already underway with the evacuation. Twilight had mapped out a location far north that would work for their needs. It was in a mountainous area on a plateau approximately 1200 feet above sea level. The location was once a roosting area for dragons over a thousand years ago, until a vulcanic eruption had forced them to move; but the vulcano had been dormant ever since, making it a relatively safe place. It was a long trek, about 7 days on hoof, but it was well out of the way, making it easy to hide from Paragon's influence for the time being. It wasn't ideal, but then again, none of this was.

As per Twilight's advice, the evacuation had been staggered, meaning that only one group of several dozen ponies would be sent out every few minutes. Twilight's reasoning was simple; if they moved as group, and they were attacked as a group, they would risk dying in a group. They'd be less likely to lose individual members in a small group, and they would be more easily mobile. It would take longer, which was a huge risk with these time constraints, but it was ultimately the safest idea they could come up with.

In each group, a single pony was given a map leading to the new location for the town. They were under strict order that if anything should happen, and the chance of one of Paragon's soldier's finding one of the maps become dangerously high, the map must be destroyed at all costs. If Paragon disocvered their location, all would be for naught. Families had been sent out first, and next single parents with children would follow. Individuals with no immediate family would move last.

As Twilight packed, she thought about her friends; Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all alone, and would end up moving last. She would be going with Maree, which meant she'd be ahead of half of her friends. Applejack would get out okay, but Dash was still missing... Twilight had promised to go looking for her, but with all the things she had to do in preparation for the mass evacuation, there just wasn't time. Maree could sense it, Twilight knew. there wasn't going to be a search. There just wasn't time. She looked over at Maree, who laid quietly by a window looking out, perhaps hoping to see her mother walk in any minute.

Spike looked at her too, and sensed Twilight's feelings. "How do you think she'll take it?" He asked, not turning towards Twilight.

Twilight shook her head. "They're very, very close. It will be hard at first," she admitted, "but this is inevitably all for her own good. We just can't take the risk of waiting and looking to find Dash. Not with Maree. She's too important." Twilight sighed. "I hate to think of leaving a close friend behind, and the fact that we've gotten even closer over the years we've raised Maree makes it hurt even more, but I have to think of the greater good of our village." Twilight walked up to Spike, lowering her voice to ensure that Maree didn't hear. "Years from now, when she's older, she may be the only thing that can stop Paragon. She doesn't yet understand it, but her magic is phenominal; she's more powerful than Celestia, and probably even smarter than me. Someone needs to help her learn to use that power, and I'm the only one qualified for it. We're both too important to lose and I can't just ask somepony else to find Dash. The only thing worse than losing her is knowing that somepony else... died... looking for her."

Spike nodded slightly. "Yeah... that makes sense." He admitted. "Look Twilight, if it makes it any easier, you ARE right. This is what's best, and you're not doing anything wrong." Spike said, trying to comfort his life-long friend.

Twilight tried to smile a little. "Thanks, Spike." She gave Spike a hug, which quickly became more emotional than she had intended, as she pulled him tighter. "I've known you your whole life, Spike. You're my closest friend. So, if anything happens, I just want you to know..."

Spike stopped her. "Hey,Twilight come on, nothing's going to happen, okay? we'll be alright." He said assuringly.

Twilight smiled more genuinely. "I know, Spike. Just by hearing you say that, I know. but, anyway, I just want to say.. I love you, Spike." Twilight could feel a little shakiness in her voice. She was starting to get emotional.

Spike blushed a little. "Heh, that's not really the kind of thing that friends say to each other all the time, you know?" He said, a little embarassed.

Twilight laughed a little, something she hadn't expected to do in such dark time. "I know, but you're more than just a friend, you're a little brother to me and a part of my family."

"Yeah well..." Spike moved in for another hug, awkwardly at first, but became more comfortable as they embraced. "I... I love you too, Twilight." Spike finally replied.

A couple minutes later, the Mayor walked through the door, and looked around before quickly spotting Twilight.

"Twilight, I am here to let you know that the families have all finished evacuating. We're now accepting groups of singles with children. " She reported. She paused, before finishing her thought. "...That means that it's time for you to go. I hope you're ready."

Twilight met her by the door. "Yeah, I'm ready to go, I just need to grab Maree and we can head out. Thanks, Ms. Mayor." She went to grab her things, as the Mayor looked around.

"Say, where is little Maree, anyway?" She asked. Twilight looked over at the window she last saw Maree peering out of. She wasn't there anymore.

"She was just here a minute ago.." Twilight thought aloud. She started looking all aroun the house. “Maree!" She called into the space. Spike came out of his room now, helping to search. "Maree?" Twilight started to panic, as she started running out of places to look. "Maree!" She called over and over, each shout more scared than the last. She searched high and low, covering her entire house twice but Maree was nowhere to be found. "MAREE!" Twilight screamed, charging out the front door.

Maree looked high and low for Rainbow Dash. In the chaos of recent events, She had forgotten what direction Dash had been in. So, the only thing she could do was look in every direction there was. She felt bad about having left without Twilight; but knew that if she had asked, Twilight would have said no. She understood why, she just didn't agree with it. She wasn't going to leave her mother behind, and that was final. If that meant she had to sneak away to look for Dash herself, then so be it.

Maree eventually stumbled upon familiar land, and instantly remembered where she was. She wasn't very far away, she realized, and was more than half way back to her mother. She got excitied; they were going to make it after all! She climbed over the next hill... and immediately dove back down, her excitement replaced with fear. What she had seen shocked her so much, she wasn't sure if she'd seen it correctly. She cautiously peered over the rise again, and her eyes confirmed what her fears had alleged. Just a mile or two off,  straight in front of her, was an army like she had never seen, with Paragon at the helm. They were back.

Her legs refused to respond at first, but eventually Maree coaxed them into a full on sprint, bolting for better cover. She ran as far as she could at top speed, adrenaline taking her vastly farther than she thought she could go. As she ran, she sensed a great, creeping shadow roll over her. She risked looking over her shoulder, and saw a sun-blotting cloud of Pegasi taking off and going ahead of the rest of the group. They moved with great speed, and were closing the gap between themselves and Maree quickly, whether they knew it or not. If any one of the thousands of pegasi spotted her, she'd be at their mercy in moments.

Twilight was in the middle of Ponyville, still frantically looking for Maree. She asked everyone she knew if they had seen Maree, but they were all too busy or too concerned with ther own safety to have even noticed Maree. She decided finally to head for Applejack's. It was the only place Twilight could think to find Maree in, seeing as it was one of the only places she'd ever spent a lot of time in. Though it was probably abandoned, now that she thought of it. Still, it was her only option. No sooner had she set her course than did she, too, see the cloud. Though she knew the very instant she set her eyes upon it what it meant, She couldn't help but stop dead and stare, utterly awe-struck at the sight. She'd never seen anything quite like it. It was even more terrifying than the changeling army she had seen at her brother's wedding. The formation in which they flew made it appear as though they were part of a gigantic claw, reaching out for the bite-sized morsal that was Ponyville, to feed it to an equally gargantuan mouth yet unseen.

Twilight was finally brought back to reality when she realized she could hear the terrified cries and screams of others who saw Paragon's army headed towards them. She suddenly became frightfully self-conscious of the fact that almost half of Ponyville's population remained, including both herself and Maree. A worse scenario could not be imagined and she knew she had to find Maree, and fast.

Maree was finally back in Ponyville, and not a moment too soon. Not 30 seconds after she entered the town limits, Paragon's first wave of attacks descended upon the city. People screamed and scattered as the armor clad pegasi, armed with bladed attacments at the ends of their front leg’s armor trimming, mercilessly attacked the innocent ponies of Ponyville. Maree was petrified at the sight. The scene she had witnessed the day before with the mare and her child being made into an example set by Paragon paled in comparison to the gruesome sight unfolding in front of her. Only when she locked eyes with one of the rampaging soldiers was Maree finally cured of he petrification, enabling her to begin sprinting once again. She had to get out of here now; she wasn't going to argue that fact any further. She had to find Twilight and leave as soon as possible. Trouble was, she'd never been to this part of Ponyville, and didn't know where her house was from here.

She made her own path as she went along, evading Paragon's army of terror as she moved. Blood was everywhere, and the sight and smell of it made Maree sick. She finally stopped and took temporary refuge behind an abandoned home. The fatigue of having been sprinting for so long and the atrocity being committed finally got to Maree, and she promptly threw up on the spot. As she finished throwing up, she realized she'd been discovered by a soldier who was now closing in on her location. She tried to flee, but with the soldier's far greater stride and far stronger wings, he caught up with her before she got up to speed, and pushed her back up against the wall. She was caught!

Maree was now crying out of sheer fear, knowing her life could end any second. Alone, tired, and confused, she would die miserably.

"Hm, well, look at this! An Alicorn, just floating amongst the common folk! You must be the one Paragon spoke of!" The soldier thought aloud, cackling at his discovery. "Oh, he wants you out of the picture really badly! If I bring back your corpse, I'm likely to get a promotion! Come here you!" He pressed Maree against the wall by her neck, brandishing his weapon.

"Why? Why is this happening?!" Maree asked, knowing there would be no answer. "I just want this nightmare to end!"

The Pegasus soldier got ready, rasing his blade above Maree's skull. "Let me help you with that. Just close your eyes, and before you know it, it'll all be over!" He reared back, and started the swing that would end Maree's life.

"MOMMY!" Maree screamed. One final image of her mother flashed through her mind, and then, there was an ear-spliting crashing sound. The soldier preparing to take Maree's life screamed in agony, and collapsed to the ground, releasing his grip on Maree, who collapsed as well.

Maree hadn't watched, and wasn't sure what had happened at first. One thing was very clear however: the pegasus soldier was dead. Maree was just as scared as she ever was, but now for an entirely different reason. As she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened, she heard a gentle rumbling of thunder over head. It had been a lightning strike! Though she begged fate to show her it had been a fluke, it clealy wasn't. Maree's horn was still warm from the spell she hadn't meant to cast, and she even felt weaker from it. She had killed her assailant.

The mixture of emotions all neutralized one another, and she felt utterly drained. she sat there, unmoving for a long time as she came to terms with her actions. She had, although unintentionally so, ended someone else's life. She thought way back to the freak thunderstorm 5 years; ago her first indication that her mother was in trouble, and she had been right about it. She also remembered when Paragon struck down that poor child, no older than herself, with a bolt of lightning. Both times it had been Paragon, and now she had done just the same. Exactly the same. It frightened her to know she not only had the power, but even the capacity to do such a thing. She really was Paragon's daughter. The realization of that fact scared her more than any other. She had just seen evidence of it for the first time and it scared her.

Twilight was running through the town, protecting herself and anyone she could find against the waves and waves of Pegasi. As she ran, she managed to spot Maree, and immediately headed in her direction.

"Maree! Maree, oh thank Celestia I finally found you, I've been looking everywhere!" Twilight called out to her with relief. She received no reply. "Where have you been? What were you thinking taking off on your own?" Again, there was no reply. Twilighted growled in frustration. "Alright, look we don't have time for this, we need to get out of here, now!" She started to run, but realized Maree wasn't following. She was completely stationary. "Maree! Come on!!" Twilight went back and pulled Maree to her hooves, who finally started to follow along.

The duo were now in a full retreat together trying to escape this nightmarish scene. Twilight started to lead them back to her house to see if Spike had made it out alright, but she was cut off by the arrival of the remainder of Paragon's forces. The ponies of Ponyville were utterly overwhelmed, and althought Twilight worried greatly for her friends' safety, she had no time to check on any of them. With Maree in tow, they fled the town as quickly as they could, just as many other ponies did.

It was not as simple as that however, as many Pegasi soldiers tried to follow stragglers. It was vital that these hunters be evaded, and many in their efforts to illude or fend them off were killed or captured. By the time Twilight had put a respectable distance between herself and Ponyville, only a few ponies had managed to find and team up with her. They looked back at their forsaken home now, a scene of chaos and destruction. Twilight could even see smoke coming from some of the homes; the town was burning. Tears in the eyes of most, and hearts limp as corpses, the long, long trek to the one place they could call safe began.

In Twilight's group, there was about 9 others, excluding herself and Maree. Groups were normally closer to 40, and so their group was quite unusually small. Twilight could honestly say she didn't recognize any of them. They ought to consider themselves lucky, she thought, since she was the only one of them all who knew specifically where they were going; as they hadn't had time to be assigned to a group. Twilight possessed no map, but she knew excactly how to get there, having made the maps herself. This made their journey slightly less stressful, and slightly less dangerous as well.

Maree was quiet for the entirety of their journey. The events that transpired had left her visibly scarred, despite not having suffered any physical injuries. She ate very little, did very little, and didn’t speak at all.

Days passed, and with food limited to what they could find (understandably, no one really had time to bring any food with them) they were drastically limited on energy. By the third day, it took it's toll. While they were walking, one of the younger memebers of the group, a colt named Phoenix, stopped, collapsing from exhasution. His mother, a Mare named PyreFly, stopped to tend to him. The group halted, but only Twilight came back.

"Is everything alright? We should keep moving. Traveling by day, when we can see, and resting at night, when we are harder to spot, is the only way we can keep Paragon's troops from catching up to us." Twilight stood over the two.

"My son is exhausted. He can't keep walking like this. We have to stop." Pyrefly stated.

Twilight replied, gently but firmly, "We can't stop. Out in broad daylight, we're sitting ducks. We have to keep going..."

"I didn't say the group had to stop. All I said was that my son can't keep going, and that we need to rest." Pyrefly said, cutting Twilight off.

Twilight understood right away. "I see... I'm sorry, then, but you know what I have to do. For our people."

Pyrefly nodded solemnly. "I wouldn't ask you to do any differently. I wish you good luck on your journey." She said, dismissing Twilight, who rejoined the group ahead.

Mare looked concerned. "What's wrong? Why are they stopping?" She asked. It was the first time she had spoken the entire trip.

"They're tired. They need to rest. They'll catch up to us later, now let's go." Twilight ordered, and the group quickly mobilized- all except for Maree, who continued to stare at the two left-behinds. The look on their faces told Maree everything she needed to know.

she's lying Maree realized.

"Maree!" Twilight called back at her. Maree looked to see that the group had stopped yet again, waiting for her. Maree looked catching one last fleeting glance at Phoenix and Pyrefly, before following behind the group.

Phoenix and Pyrefly were never seen or heard from again.

End of Chapter 5.