The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Devan —

We all sat down once again. The city was right under, or rather, above our noses, but the walking trail was killing us. Cloud was walking on her own now, but it was already difficult tackling the mountain, even with both forelegs. The others had offered to carry her again, but carrying a pony on your back while trying to climb at what seemed like an increasingly steeper slope deemed very challenging.

I had asked them why we weren’t following the train tracks anymore. They reminded me that the tracks would start wrapping around the mountainside, and the typical tracks would turn into large wooden bridges without many places to step on. I, for one, did not want to play ‘ balance on the train tracks ’, where the punishment if you lost was falling down the side of the mountain. So we continued up the twisting, rocky path.

“Why don’t a few of us gallop ahead to see if the coast is clear?” Spark suggested.

“the coast should already be clear,” Flutters replied, looking back at Dash and me, “right?”

“Yes,” I said, “It hasn’t been long since Celestia sent that letter. She says it is safe there, and I don’t see how it couldn’t be.”

“They do have quite a few guards now,” Dash added.

“Alright alright, never mind,” Spark surrendered.

“Don’t worry,” Cloud said, setting a hoof on Spark’s shoulder. “You’ll see your dad soon.”

Celestia’s sun was still rising in the sky. It had not taken us as long as we expected, and we were set to arrive before noon. I looked up at her sun and started to wonder. From talks with Twilight, I had learned more about Celestia's ability to raise the sun. It took a special kind of magic to do so, so that had to mean that Celestia was either lying about losing her magic, or that she retained that special magic. I knew she wouldn't lie, especially at a time like this, so it must have been the latter. I was still curious.

“Hey, why doesn’t Celestia keep the sun up at a time like this anyway?” I asked.

“Energy,” Dash answered quickly, “It would be too exhausting for her to keep it up.”

“besides,” Flutters added, “it’s easier to rest at night. she knows we need it still.”

I nodded along. “Makes sense.”

“Let’s get back to it,” Cloud said, standing up.

We all stood back up and continued up the path. The wind was starting to pick up as we got higher until we eventually saw the path in front of us start to level out. We picked up pace briefly as we slowly climbed the ridge and saw Canterlot’s beautiful towers rise above it. I looked around to see smiling faces as we had finally made it. We could finally rest and start to figure out how to solve this new, massive problem.

“Hopefully they can let the drawbridge down for us,” Dash said.

The drawbridge that crossed the river flowing around Canterlot’s outer walls had been raised, which made sense at a time like this. However, there was no indication of guards in the windows of the towers that stood beside and above it. As we approached the river, I looked up at the waving flags, but still could not find anypony. The river and nearby waterfall to our right, which fed it, grew louder as we got closer to riverside. The others noticed the lack of guards as well.

“HEY!” Spark hollered across the river.

We waited for a minute, but there was no response. The only sound was the water below us. The water was not raging, but it fell into another, smaller waterfall by our left side. One wrong move would take us swimming off the edge of the mountain.

“what do we do?” Flutters asked.

We all exchanged unknowing glances, as we had not expected this outcome.

“HEY!” Spark hollered again, “HELP US!”

There were another few moments with no response. I leaned down by the river and stuck my fingers in the water, judging its flow rate. Despite looking calm, it was pushing on them more than I had expected. It was also a hell of a lot colder than I thought.

“We may have to cross,” Cloud mentioned.

Crap

“Well, now, why aren’t they guardin’ the gate?” Spark asked, “You'd think they'd want somepony to watch it, don't ya think?”

“Maybe they had to fortify further in the city,” I suggested, “This river would stop any of the undead from crossing, so they don’t really need to watch it.”

The others pondered this thought as we observed the moving water. I cautiously looked down to our left at the part of the river that curved before turning into a waterfall.

“You know, this is just a dangerous place for an entrance entirely,” I commented.

Cloud looked at me in contempt. “Really, Devan?”

I shrugged my shoulders before returning to the others. After another couple of minutes, it was clear that nopony was there to answer our calls. The others were starting to dip their hooves in to feel the water as well.

“It’s not too strong, but somebody should go with Cloud,” Dash suggested.

“Okay, who first then?” Spark asked.

“You can, if you want,” Dash said, “Then Fluttershy and I will help Cloud get across. Devan can bring up the rear.” She looked up at me. “Sound good?”

“Perfect.”

We all agreed on the plan, moving down the river a few pony-lengths to give us space from the waterfall. On the other side of the river, on the bank, the grass stood an arm's length above the waterline. This meant we would have to reach up after getting across and pull ourselves up. The bank did not look too intimidating from here, but Cloud would definitely need help climbing over it with a leg missing.

Spark then jumped in the water and kicked her hooves powerfully as she swam, making it all the way across while only getting pushed slightly to the left. She raised her forelegs up and grabbed the top of the bank, slowly pulling herself up on the edge. With a few kicks, she rolled over the top and stood up on the grass. She shook the water from her body and mane after standing up.

“How was it?!” Dash called across the river.

“It pushed!” she answered, “Just get ready to swim!”

“Get ready to pull her up!” Dash replied, gesturing to Cloud.

“Gotcha!”

Dash took Cloud’s left side and Flutters set up on the right. She looked back at me. “You ready?”

“As ready as I can be,” I replied.

I started getting nervous, but joined behind them as the three of them jumped in the water. As soon as I got in, I felt the pressure I had felt on my fingers earlier now push on my right side. I also felt like I had just taken a dip in the Arctic with water freezing my skin over. It was then that I realized the benefits of having a coat of fur.

We made our way across the freezing river, approaching the bank slightly left of where Spark had. She trotted toward us and reached down a hoof for Cloud. Cloud took it, and Spark started to pull her up. I kicked my feet against the current as I watched Cloud’s hips rise from the water. Right after they did, she somehow slipped, causing her to drop abruptly. This drop caused Spark to lose her footing and drop Cloud back into the water.

Dash, who was pushing her backside up, was pushed underwater by her weight. Flutters looked on helplessly as she lost grip of Cloud’s hoof and struggled against the current. For a second, my breaths stopped, until Dash’s head came back above the water. However, Cloud’s did not. Panicked, I looked around the water, but couldn’t find her. The longer I fought the current, the stronger it felt.

Cloud’s head finally popped up, but not in the same spot. She had lost the fight against the current for a moment and was now edging closer and closer to the waterfall. She was passing the lifted drawbridge now, and water was pushing her away from the bank and toward the curve that led to the waterfall I was just looking over. Water entered my mouth as I attempted to call out. Eventually, I quit my fight against the current and instead took sides, kicking my feet to catch up with Cloud.

“Devan!” Dash yelled from behind.

Despite Cloud’s intense kicking, she was still slowly losing the fight against a growing current. I was able to catch up to her right before the curve, where the current would grow far too powerful for anybody to beat. I grabbed her good foreleg with my hand and squeezed the absolute hell out of it as I swung my legs back around and started fighting the current with all the power I could muster. Cloud spit up water trying to say something. “N- No! Devan!”

Her body started moving down the bend, and I felt the current abruptly build as the river turned into a smaller, much more powerful one. The water was sending us downhill now, and I watched as the corner ahead gobbled us up and threw us around, sending us on the final stretch before the long waterfall. As we helplessly fought, I noticed rocks and a few trees hanging off the river bank to our right. Right before we approached the edge, I used my free arm and hooked it around the tree, flexing my elbow and locking it in a chokehold.

The tree moved slightly as the current pulled us. The weight from holding onto Cloud pulled against me, and my skin started ripping off my elbow pit. Frantically, Cloud and I kicked against the current, until I felt the weight loosen. I looked back to see her kicking on the rocks beside the trees, trying to get a hoofhold. After a few kicks, she finally planted a hoof on it to relieve pressure from the current. We were still stuck, however, but despite my palm turning red, I was not going to let go of her foreleg. When trying to think about what to do next, I looked up to see both Dash and Flutters climbing onto the small patch of grass in between the waterfalls, where the trees and rocks rested.

“Hold on!” Dash yelled, carefully trotting up to the tree.

Once Flutters caught up, she reached down and grabbed my chest while Dash grabbed Cloud. With their help, we all fought until Cloud and I were out of the water. I rolled over and laid on the rock next to the trees while I caught my breath. Flutters looked down at me and held my hand.

“my goodness, you’re freezing!”

I couldn’t find the energy to reply yet, so I just closed my eyes and rested. We all took a moment to do so until Cloud finally got up. I met eyes with her while I laid on the rock.

“See,” she said, smiling through her quick breaths, “Told you, asshole.”

I smiled as I blinked from Celestia’s bright sun.

“What?” Dash asked.

“Nothing,” I replied, still smiling.

“Thank you, Devan,” Cloud said.

Dash and Flutters helped me up. We all stood on the patch of grass, water flowing by both sides of us to a seemingly endless drop.

“Well shit,” Dash said, “What now?”

I looked down the river to see Spark by the gate now, looking back at us.

“HEY!” she hollered, “ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?”

“WE ARE!” Dash called.

“OKAY. WAIT THERE!”

We all exchanged confused glances as we watched Spark fiddle with the raised drawbridge. We then watched as she somehow started climbing the wall using the edge of the drawbridge. When she reached the top, she stopped, and we saw her back move around as she messed with something where the drawbridge met the wall. Suddenly, Spark fell down the wall and hit the ground a few pony-lengths below her. She fell on her hooves, seemingly unphased by it as she trotted back up to the wall.

“What in Equestria is she doing?” Dash asked.

“Whatever it is, that is one tough mare,” Cloud said.

When she fell, the top of the drawbridge had edged forward slightly, allowing a crack to form where it met the wall. We watched as she leaned in closer to it. She dug inside before turning from the wall with something shiny in her mouth. As she trotted up to the river bank, I realized it was one of the chains that held the drawbridge up. The other end was still attached to the top of the gate, coming out of the crack between it and the drawbridge. She then spit the chain out in her hoof, and turned sideways to us. With a powerful swing, she used her foreleg and launched the end of it across the river. The shiny chain splashed in the water in front of us, and Dash quickly grabbed the end of it before it could drift away from us.

"Awesome," she commented, jumping back in the water and pushing against the current as Spark reeled her in. Once she was up, Spark tossed the chain back. This time, both of them held onto it. I picked up the chain and started wrapping the end of it around Cloud's belly.

“Devan, I got i-”

“I know. I’m not taking any more chances.”

She looked at me and smiled defeatedly as I looped the chain around her two more times before handing her the end. I signaled to the others and they started to pull her in. We continued this a few more times until all of us were finally across the menacing river.

“Fuck that river,” I stated.

“Agreed,” Cloud said.

“now how do we get inside?” Flutters asked.

The gate and its walls stood high above our heads, with the drawbridge still stubbornly holding upright despite Spark ripping off one of its chains. She had noticed that the chains were loose and used a special technique with her teeth to rip off it's connection to the bridge itself. Honestly, this only made her look even more badass in my eyes, and I grew a new respect, partly out of fear, for her.

Dash looked up at me.

“What?” I asked her.

“Somebody has to climb over,” she said, “and you are the only one tall enough to get to that window.” She pointed to a window on one of the small drawbridge-sized towers right beside the gate. With a small jump, I could easily grab onto the ledge and pull myself through.

“Okay. What after that?”

She shrugged and turned to Spark and Cloud. “Are either of you familiar with Canterlot?”

They both shook their heads.

“Well,” Dash said, “I’m guessing the lever is in there somewhere. If you can find it, the drawbridge should come down.”

“Alright,” I replied. With one small jump, I grabbed hold of the window sill. I then used my feet to propel myself up and over. It was uncomfortably dark inside the small room, so I grabbed my flashlight from my soggy bag and shone it to reveal a door on the opposite wall. There was also a lever on the wall to my left that, I assumed, lowered the drawbridge. I stuck my head out of the window.

“Hey! I found it. Watch out!”

The others, already clear of the drawbridge, backed up a few steps more. I walked up to the large lever and pulled it down. There was a sound of chains moving briefly before stopping abruptly. I stuck my head out to see the drawbridge had barely moved. It had started to drop, but the remaining chain stayed tight, showing it got stuck. There was a little room, at least on the top half of the drawbridge, where a pony might be able to wiggle her way in. I looked down at Dash.

“Think you can make it through?”

“I don’t think so. Try it again.”

I pulled up on the lever, but it wouldn’t budge. Yanking on it again yielded the same result.

“It’s stuck!” I yelled, “Let me try the gate!”

No more levers were in this room, so I opened the door. Outside was a set of stairs that led back down to the ground behind the gate. A taller, wider tower stood to the right of the path ahead, watching over the backside of the main entrance. Its base stood tall, with many windows lining the outside. I tried to see inside, but Celestia's sun beamed on them, reflecting its light. After walking down the steps, I observed the gate. The purple wooden doors were almost as tall as the drawbridge behind it, towering over me at twice my height.

The first thing I noticed was the unevenness of the doors. The left door was wedged slightly against the top half of the right one. There were also three tall, cylindrical hinges connecting it to the tower I was just in, but the top one sat at an angle instead of straight like the rest of them. I tugged on the right door’s handle, but it would not budge. The left handle was the same way. Starting to get frustrated, I yanked hard on the left door until it unexpectedly pulled with me. I was sent to the ground after I lost grip of it, and a menacing creak sounded from above.

I started backing up on my ass, realizing the large door was coming loose. The tall door quickly got larger in my vision before landing straight on my left leg with a loud crash. I felt its very heavy weight crush my kneecap, causing me to cry out in pain. Blood began pumping through my thighs as the blunt pain seared through them. I attempted pulling my leg out despite the pain, but the door was so heavy that it would not budge. I was trapped.

“DEVAN!” Dash shouted behind the drawbridge.

It took a second for me to reply through the pain, “I'M OKAY! ... BUT I’M STUCK!”

“Fucking shit,” she muttered, “HANG ON!”

I grimaced from the pain shooting through my legs. Suddenly, a distant sound from down the path drew my attention. I looked down it, and saw something I really didn't want to see.

Fuck ...