Resurgence

by Delta0mega

Rating: mature
Tags: Gore, Violence, Princess Celestia, Death, Alternate Universe, Human, Princess Luna, Thriller, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Horror, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, Profanity
Length: 5454

Cloning themselves in genetics pods created by the Snow Family, the humans work to make their way to Equestria

The final seconds of tension had been alleviated as soon as the Princesses were through the portal. With no way for the Dead Virus to follow after them, the four humans: Nate Schmidt, Raymond and Roland Seraph, and William Snow prepare themselves for death's cold embrace.

But when death came, they simply awoke again, alive and well, coming out of four particular scientific genetics pods.

Published 2020-11-26 22:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-11-26 22:10:00 UTC

Prologue: Reborn

The sounds of howling pain and ferociousness echoed throughout the manor's lab as the hellspawns of this decayed Earth spilled into the storage unit atop the roof, tearing down the last of the four survivors left on the planet. With his death, it marked the extinction of mankind. The planet was no longer teeming with the beauty of life, the joy of creation. Instead, the shambling steps of the damned walk among the streets, the planet dying with the humans and the world turning into the Christian's literal interpretation of Hell.

No one had survived. No one ever could. Neither mammal or plant. Everything was doomed from the second this disease was introduced.

Yet, as doomed and damned as they are, the souls still pass on. Their bodies may be consumed with the virus, but the hosts are not people. They pass on, going to either plain of flames or clouds to rest after their long nightmare.

But the ones that died the last, the four souls that stayed behind to save the rest and die fighting, didn't pass on like the others.

No. For them, it was like a flip of a switch. A flashing light. One moment, they either feel teeth or extreme heat, then the next, they felt the other extreme.

A coldness that can only be felt in the frozen temperatures, generated by absolute zero cryo stasis.

Hidden in the lower depths of William Snow's laboratory, a chamber's power system whirred to life, and the monitors and computers booted online. Machines and chemicals worked their magic, flowing throughout the room and assimilating upon four large, vertical containers on the far side of the room, aligned together to allow four experiments at once. Standing to the left in front of each one of these containers, there was a podium that held a single screen on its peak, flashing green as the exposed wires sparked and flared with electrical bolts of natural energy.

And as the four pods let out a steaming hiss, the screens all beeped loudly, their speakers blipping as a lone message adorned each of them.

[Incubation Process Complete - Commencing Genesis-Splicing Duplication...]

It has been three years since the events known as Apocalypse. With the return of the Princesses, society in Equestria began to run like normal again. The rulers were there to govern and steer Ponies and creatures in the right direction, and with the mourning of the humans passing the four Princesses by, they began to move on as well, keeping the humans in the back of their minds as an afterthought, something to come back to whenever they were either watching the sunrise, or the nighttime stars.

Twilight Sparkle had managed to bounce back with the aid of her friends, moving on to do wondrous things with her title as the Princess of Friendship. She's taken Starlight under wing, training and tutoring her in the ways of her namesake, and in time, the castle that Twilight ruled quickly converted itself into a school that taught the same lessons in friendship that Starlight herself was made to understand. It beckoned all creatures, big and small, malicious or otherwise, to attend; thus, giving way to a new group of six that took after their teachers: the Young Six. This sextet group contained younger creatures of all kinds, ranging from a Yak all the way to a Dragon. With the guidance of their teachers, they became the best known group around the School of Friendship, and were popular based around their connections to the leaders of the separate nations that surround Equestria.

As of right now, this young group of six were being led underground, below the school itself. The Kingdom was facing yet another incident. All magic in Equestria was fading away, draining from all Ponies similar to how Tirek leeched it off of everyone and everything. Only now, it seemed to be of a natural cause, as not even HE knew anything about the means. Though, he knew who was responsible, and as they descended towards the underground chambers of the School of Friendship, so, too did the Young Six.

Yona, the Yak of the group, kicked down a few rocks when skidding off of a large boulder, yipping in fright as she plopped down next to an orange Dragon named: Smolder.

"Ugh... Why Pony friend bring us back down here?"

The leading Pony of the group, a green stallion by the name of Sandbar looked back at the group, pointing ahead through the colorful caves as a Griffon named: Gallus, a Hippogriff/seapony hybrid named: Silverstream, and a light blue reformed Changeling named: Ocellus followed closely behind him.

"We obviously can't handle Cozy on our own, but we can't just sit around wait for help to come. So..."

He looked in through a crack into a hidden, underground chamber inside the School of Friendship, an empty space that was harboring the source that was vacuuming up all the magic in Equestria. Within the dome of blue energy was a magenta Unicorn, a reformed villain-turned counselor of the school. Silverstream hovered over Sandbar, seeing Starlight Glimmer in the field of magic.

"Whoa..."

"Counselor Pony!!"

Yona jumped out from the cave's entrance into the room, charging for the dome that encased Starlight.

"Come out, Counselor Pony! We need help with nasty tiny Pony!"

Starlight shook her head, unable to convey vocal speech through the interior of the magic. Just before Yona got too close, Sandbar stopped her, halting her foot before she stepped on the glowing emblem on the floor. Surrounding the dome looked to be various artifacts, all with a meaning of their own that appeared to be powering this... thing. The rune on the floor had to have been some sort of teleportation, or a means of transporting the magic away. Ocellus could recognize some of the symbols when getting a closer look herself. Sandbar, pointing up at the dome, looked around as he tried to eyeball a way to get Starlight out.

"She can't talk to us from in there! We have to figure out a way to get her out!"

Spreading out, the Young Six tried everything, even throwing pebbles in the way of the field to see what would happen. Magical grips ensnared the pebbles and drew them in, clocking Starlight as they were launched inside. Smolder winced as one hit her in the side of the head, rubbing the back of hers as she sheepishly apologized to the counselor. As she lowered herself to the ground, she took a good hard look at the relics as the others went to the five surrounding the dome.

Surprisingly enough, it was Gallus who spoke up about them first.

"Hey! This weird stuff is just like Chapter 12 in that Artifacts textbook in Twilight's class!"

Everypony stared at him as if he had a second head, making him deadpan as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, bite me. We had tests coming up, so I've been studying..."

Ocellus giggled as she nodded in affirmation to his claim.

"I remember that, too! Cozy must have linked all these different trinkets to act as artifacts themselves! They must be what's setting off this unusual, arcane magic that's sapping Equestria of its natural power."

Smolder rose an eyebrow.

"So, what? We can shut it down by pulling these things out?"

Ocellus' mood changed completely once she saw the feedback loop of magic.

"That's one result, but if I'm seeing this correctly, the disconnection will snap the feedback loop and cause a chain reaction. Such a thing might even destroy half the school!"

"Destroy the School of Friendship?"

The six young creatures perked up, turning their heads towards the entrance to the chamber, seeing not only Cozy Glow, a small filly with curly blue locks as a mane, but the entirety of the student body there with her. That is, all the Ponies, anyway.

"Oh dear. Chancellor Neighsay was wrong about a lot of things..."

The tiny pink filly gave a wicked grin as she kept her innocent tone, pointing at the six surrounding the dome of magic.

"But I guess he was right about all of you.~"

*HISSSSS*

*cli-clink-!*

"Ugh..."

[Duplication Process: Complete. Artificial Life: Created. DNA samples have been successfully spliced. Releasing test subjects...]

Four pods snapped open their locks as a haze of nitrogen went coursing throughout the room from them. The frozen bodies created within lumbered out of the four small casings, all stark naked and resembling that of humans... though with some odd changes.

One of them, a crimson-skinned boy with brown hair and green eyes pushed himself out of the pod, groaning as he staggered out and held himself up with the table in the center of the room. Three others followed in example as they left their respective pods, all colored differently, but stylized to resemble their originals.

Another was a white-skinned male with hazel-blue eyes and black hair. He didn't fall forward like his friend. Instead, he opted to just double-over and throw up onto the floor, splattering bile across the cement ground.

A third figure revealed itself to be dark blue in color with brown eyes and black hair. He fell instantly upon exiting the pod, crawling out and bringing himself up to a sit.

The last with a light blue colored boy with silver hair and amber eyes. He was the least discombobulated out of all of them, only being disoriented for a moment before getting his bearings. He brushed his hand along the side of his head, squeezing his eyes shut before he realized something.

Drawing his hand away, he eyed its new color as he glanced around at the rest of his body. Blinking down at himself, and then up at the machines, he licked his dry lips.

"Unbelievable... It worked...!"

He turned back to the others.

"We're ALIVE!!!"

"After everything Twilight has done for you, why would you work to destroy her school?!"

The Young Six retreated from the approaching students led and spurred on by Cozy Glow, the manipulative little brat hovering over the crowd and ushering them forward with more and more whispers in their ears.

"WE don't!"

Gallus flew forward, getting in Cozy's face as he prodded her barrel with his talon.

"YOU'RE the one using these artifacts to drain magic from Equestria!"

Cozy innocently tilted her head.

"Me? We just saw YOU put your grubby little claws all over them!"

The Young Six glared at her as Cozy made a faux gasp.

"It all makes sense! These creatures want magic gone because it's the only thing Ponies have that they don't!"

Ocellus rose an eyebrow before ushering to everyone.

"Technically, there's a magical component when Silverstream and I transform."

Yona huffed as she stomped forward in defense of her friends.

"Yeah! And Yona's friends' friendship is magic! Twilight said!"

Cozy grinned once again as she kept the act up, riling up the crowd more and more as they were seeing her side more than the Young Six.

"And you repaid her by sending her to Tartarus on a wild goose chase so you could destroy everything she's built?!"

She gasped again when she spotted Starlight inside the dome of magic.

"Th-They've even trapped Starlight in that- that THING!"

She hovered back to the crowd as she pointed forward.

"We have to defend this school!"

The Ponies all roared out their agreements as they advanced on the six creatures, backing them up further and further into the field of magic that encased the energy that made up this Kingdom. Gallus, flying away from some of the Pegasi, got in range of the bubble, and was yanked inside by its grip. Seeing their friend being trapped inside the dome, the Young Six were quick to act, trying desperately to save one another from the bio-magnetic power, but it was all for naught. Each creature was pulled into the dome with Starlight one after the other, much to the pleasure of Cozy Glow and confusion of the Ponies around her.

As they were pulled in, the rune beneath the dome opened up, revealing a swirling vortex. It was familiar in both shape and color to the mirror that inhaled the Princesses into the Apocalypse Universe, and if the familiarity wasn't an indication, the howling creatures on the other side sticking their hands through was enough for anypony to realize that the other side wasn't a nice place to be sent to.

One of Pegasi mares trotted backwards as she looked up at the magical sphere, blinking at what had just occurred.

"They just sacrificed themselves to save their friends! Didn't Professor Dash say something about loyalty when it came to that kind of thing?"

Cozy Glow glanced at her, eyeing her with a malicious tint in her glare.

"Hey, they brought this on themselves! There's nothing more we can do..."

She crossed her hooves as she faced forward, earning more and more confusion from the students as another Pony spoke up behind her.

"That doesn't seem very generous... or kind..."

Cozy Glow rolled her eyes as she turned and hovered towards the exit.

"Yeah, yeah. The Elements of Harmony have been very important, in both past and future endeavors of Equestria. But, even they are not applicable in every circumstance."

The students began to follow Cozy out as she shrugged to them.

"Besides, without magic, I'm not even sure if the Tree of Harmony will be of any benefit to us anymore..."

The students all shared a look with each other, giving uncertain glances as they exited the chamber. As they did, the dome was slowly being pulled into the vortex, the Young Six and Starlight all looking down in fear as the ape-like monsters reached up at them, gnashing their jaws and screeching in a hunger-induced rage.

"What the hell...?"

Nate looked up at himself as he saw the white color in his skin. Turning his arm to and fro, he found it to be perfectly functional. Nothing weird about it aside from the color.

"My skin..."

He turned and looked to the others, seeing his friends not only naked, but doused in colors of their own. One was crimson, another was dark blue, and the last was a lighter shade of the latter color. All were equally disoriented as he was, but the light-blue human across the room was ecstatic.

"I can't believe it worked! The project was incomplete, so I wasn't even sure!! We're alive! We're here!"

Three of the four colorful humans turned to the light-blue one, which had the familiar voice of William. Nate narrowed his eyes as he stared at the blurry figure of his ally.

"W-William...? What did... What did you do?"

The silver-haired survivor turned to Nate as he ushered back to the pods they came out of.

"These pods! They're the oldest, and most complicated, project the Snow Family had taken on. These pods are meant to incubate and splice together two different DNA strands, effectively creating a new organism out of both species with the memories of the more dominant blood type."

The crimson-skinned survivor rose an eyebrow.

"W-Wait, what? Back that up a second because I did NOT understand a word you just said. What the hell's going on?"

William sighed as his feet patted against the floor, his disoriented self moving to a locker on the other side of the central table.

"Raymond, I used the blood of the Princesses and spliced it with ours inside these pods. Think of it as an... insurance policy when we died."

"So... you cloned us?"

"Eh, somewhat."

He dug through the locker, pulling out four pairs of similar clothing, which had four different colored shirts and four white sweatpants and black shoes.

"We are still who we were when we perished, but the duplication process copied the brain functions of our DNA, allowing us to keep our memories and cognitive thinking when our newer bodies were done growing."

"Growing...?"

Roland, the dark-blue human, looked back at the pods.

"How long were we in there...?"

William shrugged as he tossed him a blue shirt and a pair of sweats and shoes.

"Who knows? This was never really supposed to work, and the fact that it did has many unpredictable possibilities of its own. We could have taken years to duplicate, and the side effects of splicing our DNA with aliens could be... exotic. We need to be careful when we get our bearings."

William walked over to Nate after throwing him his clothes, handing him another pair of glasses to wear. Luckily, he guessed right on giving Nate 20/20 vision glasses, as his prescriptions were unknown to the Scientist. Getting dressed with the other boys, he went back into the locker, pulling out weapons the Snow Family had acquired after buying out their own quadrant of the police force.

The first was an Barreta 92, something he sat off to the side for himself along with the ammunition. The other weapons were a Remington 870, an M14, and a Heckler & Koch MP5. Setting them off onto the table with the clips provided, he picked his pistol back up as the others finally got themselves situated.

"Once we have everything we need, we have to act quickly."

Nate blinked as he picked up the shotgun, cocking it as he loaded in the shells for it, pocketing the rest.

"Quickly? Why?"

William strode to the door to the chamber the mirror was left in, putting his hand on the door as he looked back at his fellow reborn survivors.

"We have to get out of here before the infected know we're here."

After loading in the clips, the Seraph Brothers followed after Nate and William, the latter turning the lights back on after fiddling with the breaker. Jogging to the other side of the large chamber, Nate approached the mirror, seeing it was still cracked and unusable.

"Wait, you don't mean that we're actually using this thing, William?"

"That's exactly what I meant when I said we're getting out of here."

Raymond shook his head.

"William, we can't. If we go through, we could be carrying the infection with us."

"Correction, Raymond. Our OLD bodies could have been carrying the infection with us. We couldn't pass through as our former selves, but on the off chance that my plan worked, we could power the mirror back up and pass through before the undead break their way back in here."

He pointed to the side.

"Just help me set this up. Those plugs need to be placed back into the generators, then the auxiliary power needs to be rerouted."

The three humans gave each other looks before working to help William set everything up. As he tampered with the machines and its many switches, Roland fixed up the plugs and put them back into the generators. Once the last one was inside, Raymond flipped the switch and activated the power.

A loud whir made them all tense, and a few seconds later, their fears were solidified.

"HHWWWWWWAAAAAAYYYYAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

William gritted his teeth as he typed on the screen rapidly.

"Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!!! They're here early! We need to work quickly before they get back in here!!"

The four worked faster as the screaming outside became louder and louder with each passing second. As they worked, the sounds of machines became louder in volume as well, the channeling electrical power hitting the mirror once more and forcing its dimensional properties back into working order. It wasn't a one-hundred percent guarantee, as the crack on the mirror messed with the worm hole's direction slightly. William redirected the power as needed to try and get the damn funnel to point towards the same frequency as the last one that sent the Princesses away. If they went through the same hole, they would, undoubtedly, end up in Equestria, too, but they only had one shot, and they needed to be perfect.

Shattering glass and wood being torn away could be heard from the front of the lab, making William grow frantic as he mumbled to himself.

"Let's see... Power is at 250,000 wattage. The administration's been overridden, and-"

He eventually just threw up his hands.

"OH, SCREW IT!!! JUST PRESS BUTTONS!!!"

He slammed down his fist onto the screen, punching the ON switch and hearing a message playback for him, signifying that it worked.

"That's right! It's on! Stay together! Get on the pad in front of the mirror!!"

Everyone gathered atop the metal slab as William twisted one of the knobs, and took a remote control to activate the teleportation sequence. As he got into position, the doors and windows were broken through again, the dead glaring at them with bright purple eyes.

"William!!"

"I'm on it! When I tell you, close your eyes and pray!"

The three boys bundled together closer as William followed his own instructions first. Once the machines beeped, he yelled out as he pressed the button.

"CLOSE THEM!!!"

*SWWWWWYYYYYYOOOOOOOOO-!!!!*

It came in an instant just before the dome of magic reached the vortex. As the group of young creatures, and their counselor, were about to be pulled through into a wasteland of death and decay with Equestria's magic, a new feedback loop pushed it back out, the funnel reversing and eradicating the reaching monsters from down below. Their flesh and bone fizzled away as the chamber began to glow various colors, all corresponding with the Elements of Harmony. Two different forces of magic were fighting the Artifacts' power. One being the output from the other side of the portal, and the Tree of Harmony yanking the group back out.

The Young Six and Starlight were confused, bewildered by what was happening, but it was obvious to see from above that the Tree of Harmony recognized their sacrifice as a representation of the Main Six's own attachments to the Elements. Hovering them out of the portal, the students returned when seeing the light, watching as their fellow creatures in tutelage were glowing either purple, yellow, pink, blue, orange, or white.

Cozy Glow shoved her way through them, gawking at what was happening. Her work was being reversed, and she didn't even know what was causing half of the force opposing her scheme. Gallus, smirking at the expression on the filly, pointed down at her in confidence.

"Guess our friendship is pretty magical after all, ain't it, Cozy?"

The Tree lowered them down to the ground as the funnel was rocketing energy pockets out into the dome Starlight was still trapped in, keeping it afloat above the inter-dimensional pocket for a longer period of time. As the young creatures landed, Ocellus pointed to the objects surrounding the dome.

"Quick! We have to grab the artifacts!"

The six creatures surrounded the magical sphere once more, each taking a relic in hand. Sandbar, just before he grabbed his, looked back at the students.

"All of you! Out of the castle, now! You have to get clear in case this goes bad!"

No longer doubting the students after seeing the Tree of Harmony save them, the Ponies that followed Cozy Glow turned tail and bolted out of the room, hastily making their way up as the filly sputtered after them.

"H-Hey, wait! Where are you going?! STOP!!!"

Ignoring the pink filly, the sextet grabbed each relic, ripping it free from the connections that held the dome up. As if pulling a pin on a grenade, the magic compressed in the bubble became unstable, and retracted in on itself around Starlight. Expanding outwards quickly, the magic that belonged to the nation exploded outwards, doing no damage to anypony or the structures that they resided in. Instead, the magic flowed through the walls and out into the skies above, reaching every last corner of the Kingdom in seconds and returning the magic that was stolen from the creatures that lived within the border.

With the students of the school having retreated outside, Starlight had managed to get the Young Six out of the chamber just before the explosion engulfed them, taking them back out into the courtyard and dropping them into the walkway.

The young counselor rubbed her head as she stood up, jumping as an eager Yak made a mad dash for her.

"Counselor Pony!!!"

Starlight's ears flattened as she quickly halted the Yak from tackling her in a hug, holding her up in the air and gently setting her down.

"Eheh, it's, eh, nice to see you, too."

Yona was sat back with her friends once she calmed down, the Changeling beside her having a bright, albeit slightly shy smile.

"I guess magic is back-"

"YOU!!!"

They all turned to the school's entrance, seeing a frazzled and smoking Cozy Glow storming towards them.

"You ruined everything! Now, Twilight and her stupid friends can escape from Tartarus and-"

*FLASH*

Though, she was quickly stopped when the Headmaster herself appeared before her, the five friends that accompanied her to Tartarus all glaring daggers down at the filly. Cozy, seeing them, quickly shifted her attitude.

"U-Uh, I mean... Yay! All my friends are safe!"

None of them bought it. In fact, they were even more livid that Cozy was attempting to trick them again. Applejack, the mare who was pissed the most out of all of them, huffed at the filly.

"Y'all can drop that there act, ya little varmint. Yer pen pal: Tirek told us everything!"

Twilight ushered Applejack back as she came forward, giving more of a concerned, disappointed stare rather than an extremely angry one.

"He told us how he helped you come up with the plan to suck up all the magic in Equestria and warp it someplace else, but he never told us why."

She leveled her eyes with the filly.

"Care to fill us in?"

Cozy's faux smile slowly faded, turning into a demented and scrunched up manic scowl.

"Oh, you want me to fill you in?! I'LL fill you in! Friendship is power! You might be the Princess of Friendship, but as Headmare of this school, I can collect even more friends than you!"

Cozy was given more awkward and odd stares from everypony involved, her plan seeming both off in logic and in purpose. Twilight, shaking her head, looked down at the pink, misguided filly.

"You're the one who doesn't get it, Cozy Glow. Friendship may be powerful, but it isn't power that should motivate you to HAVE friends in the first place. If that were the reason we all came together, the magic of friendship would have been a lie, and this Kingdom would have died years ago."

She rounded the filly as her mind was brought back to very specific friends.

"In fact, the power of friendship wasn't what saved me and my fellow Princesses when we disappeared for a day three years ago. It was what came with friendship, what made it strong for everyone, that allowed us to survive. Even our friendship with the deceased heroes that saved us gave more of a purpose than the power that came with the connection between us and them."

She stood in front of Cozy Glow again, glaring at her with a newfound steel that even shook the stone-hearted filly.

"THAT kind of friendship is one I don't trade, nor forget... and I'm sorry I couldn't teach you the true magic that came with having friends."

She closed her eyes as she stepped back, unaware of the Young Six approaching her from behind. Gallus, flying above the Headmare, crossed his talons.

"Well, hey, you taught US."

Silverstream zipped up beside Twilight, hugging her from the left as she nuzzled the Princess.

"You can't let one bad egg make you think you've failed!~"

Sandbar nodded, coming up on Twilight's other side.

"Were it not for your lessons, we wouldn't have been able to do this."

Cozy rolled her eyes as they prepped for a group hug, interrupting it as she waved her hoof about.

"Honesty, loyalty, generosity? Blah-blah-blah-- I can make more friends without using any of them! And if I can't do it here, then I'll... do it... somewhere... else..."

She slowed her sentence upon seeing not only the students, but the population of creatures around the school had multiplied ten fold. With magic returning to Equestria, EVERYPONY was here, including the other Princesses and Chancellor Neighsay. The Canterlot Guards were the first to swoop in and take Cozy Glow, apprehending her and holding her down on the ground as they chained her, the thrashing and protests of the filly ignored and easily manageable as they cuffed her. Twilight and her friends watched, the former more and more disappointed that one of her best students had fooled her so well. Closing her eyes again, she let out a sigh as she watched them take her away.

*spark-!*

*c-crackle-!!*

Her ear flicked as she opened her eyes again, tilting her head up as her ear directed her towards the center of the schoolyard, right where the fountain was. The water inside the said fountain was beginning to grow restless, splashing and spilling over the edges as the wind swirled around the structure.

Twilight backed away as the same magical essence that was down in the school's underground chamber reappeared above the fountain, slowly tearing at reality itself and causing a thundering shroud of lightning that buzzed and zapped at its surroundings. The howling wind grew stronger as the sparks grew more powerful and ferocious. With her voice barely audible above the wind, she pushed back her friends as she retreated from the fountain, the other figures and creatures all around doing the same, setting up shields and barricades to protect themselves from whatever else Cozy Glow had cooked up for them.

*SWWWWYYYYYYOOOOOOOOO-!!!!*

*CRACKLE-!!!*

One last clap of thunder shook the campus entirely, a shockwave of dimensional power and magic throwing everything within range back.

The windows of the school were shattered. Furniture and tables inside were thrown about. The fountain was shattered and sent in all directions, toppling over arches and pillars in the schoolyard and even a statue Twilight and her friends had set up with the aid of Starlight. A series of dust-kicking explosions and impacts sent everypony into a frenzy, dodging rubble and particles of stone shrapnel as the large ball of sparking magic raged on.

This sphere lingered for no more than a few seconds, but those few seconds were infinitely destructive to anypony nearby. Once it passed, a cloud of smoke and dirt was in its place. With a quarter of the school destroyed, the guards were swiftly picking anypony up, attending to any injured in the blast while Twilight pushed a piece of rock off of her. Blinking her eyes, she stared forward into the cloud, unable to make out what had just happened, or what Cozy Glow did. Summoning her magic, she redirected the breeze towards the dust and grime, swishing it away and allowing the new potential threat to unveil itself.

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence all joined her, ready to defend their ponies from the next immediate danger.

But when the smoke cleared, they saw the opposite. Laying there, all in different positions, were... Ponies. Four stallions, in fact, that all had an air of familiarity around them. Pieces of clothing lay scattered in pieces around them, and weapons only the Princesses knew of were at their sides. They knew who they were, even with their new quadrupedal bodies.

Luna's extended wings fell to the ground when she recognized them, her eyes widening and her pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks. Celestia mirrored her sister's expression while Cadence sat back and put her hooves up to her muzzle. Twilight just... stared, her eyes flicking from each figure slowly as she stepped forward. They were unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. Approaching the nearest of the four, she rolled him over, letting the shoulders of a dark-blue Pegasus hit the ground beneath her. Shakily touching his chest, and eventually his cheek, she sat on her haunches, her eyes welling with tears as she tapped her hoof against her own cheek.

"Sweet Celestia..."

"Nngh..."

Twilight turned to one of the others as he began to awaken. His light blue fur and silver mane was enough to identify who he was, especially when he made eye contact with her. Staring at each other for the longest of time, the colored human looked around, his amber eyes examining everything, especially the other Ponies around him. When he returned his gaze to Twilight, he finally registered where he was, and what was happening.

"Hello... Twilight Sparkle..."