The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Devan —

I could not believe my eyes. There was a flashlight pointed sideways toward the wall, shining bright enough to illuminate the three ponies in front of me. One of them was Twilight.

I had finally found her.

I could hear Derpy’s inpatient steps on the ladder below me, but what I saw left me in a frozen state. Twilight sat up next to Dash’s body, and even from here, I could see a blood puddle slowly growing around her head. More blood was splattered around the wooden floor of the attic, and an eerily bloody corpse of a chopped up zombie pony laid closer to me. Earlier, when Derpy met up with me on the rooftop, I thought it was a miracle. Now, it was looking more like a nightmare.

Finally leaving my frozen state, I climbed up into the attic and slowly made my way to Twilight, who was also frozen as she stared back at me. Next to her was an unmoving Dash with a large gash through the side of her head. Her body was pale, and blood and saliva seeped out of her open mouth to the ground. She was dead. An image of her riding the cart down the mountain flashed in my mind. A few more started to flash in my head until I closed my eyes and shook them out.

I opened them and looked back at Twilight. It was only when I approached her that I noticed blood trickling down her neck. She slowly touched her hoof to her neck when she saw me staring. She set her hoof out in front of her and broke eye contact with me to see the blood on it. She then glanced back up at me and squinted her eyes as tears slowly formed in them.

She had been bitten.

This sudden realization stabbed me in the throat, and with a flurry of emotions rushing over me, I leaned down and wrapped my arms around her. No words had to be said as we both let our tears flow in each other’s grasp. I tried to shake the thought of what I just discovered and the meaning behind it, but my mind was racing. Instead, I squeezed Twilight tightly against me as her presence eased my aching soul.

“I’m so sorry Twilight …”

“I am too …”

We detached a few minutes later, and I held her hooves tightly in front of me as we made eye contact again. I could hear Derpy behind me, but she was graciously giving the two of us space. Twilight saw her over my shoulder.

“Were … were you the one with the fireworks?”

“I was.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but dropped her head as a few tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.

“It will be alright, Twilight. I promise …” I said.

“No … Devan. My friends are dying one by one. Rarity is dead … Applejack is dead … and now Dash …”

She choked on her words, glancing down at her unmoving friend. It hurt to see Twilight like this. It also hurt to know that Dash hadn't made it either. I’d clung onto hope that both she and Dash were still alive when Derpy led me here, but it wasn't meant to be. As her head faced the floor, I looked deeply into her eyes. I could physically feel my heart ache as I realized what I had to tell her.

Derpy had led me to Town Hall before we made our way here, and we were greeted by Cloud, Cheerilee, and another pegasus. I was also greeted with the heartbreaking scene of Flutter's death. It hadn't been long since I witnessed Pinkie's death before having to see Flutters dead and hear about AJ and Rarity not making it either. It had taken me a few minutes to get caught up on the situation, but Cloud helped me until then. When I finally overcame my grief, I'd asked them where Twilight was. All three of the mares vehemently argued with me about going out to find her, but my stubbornness prevailed. So here we were.

“Twilight …”

She looked up at me. Her sad purple eyes hurt me emotionally, but I had to tell her.

“I wish I didn’t have to tell you this … but Pinkie … Pinkie is dead …”

Her eyes watered as her lips quivered. My mind was begging me to stop there, but I had to tell her everything.

“... and … so … so is Fluttershy …”

She shut her eyes, unable to stop tears from flowing down them. I squeezed her hooves tighter. It took her another minute before she could even respond.

“How?”

I described the scenes in only the details that had to be told to understand the story, hoping to prevent overwhelming her from grief.

Afterwards, she sat in silence, clearly having a hard time soaking in all this new, terrible information. It took a few moments before she finally did, and the floodgates burst open. Once again, I wrapped my arms around her to comfort her as she grieved for all of her friends. My tears continued to fall as well, while my mind struggled to come to grips with the fact that Twilight was the last remaining member of the Elements of Harmony. After a while, we detached again. She sniffed in her tears and glanced down at my legs.

“I … I thought … they said your leg got cut off …”

“It was, but Princess Luna came to me in a dream and brought it back.”

“She did??”

“Yes. Luna is still alive. We found her in the train wreckage. Those fireworks were to distract the mob so the others could take her to the hospital.”

“Oh …”

“Twilight, we can fix you. We can, we just …”

I took a second to think about a plan of action. Our time was running out now.

“How, Devan? It’s too late. I don’t know if they told you or not, or if you found her notes at Zecora’s hut, but Cheerilee found the spell to stop this. I finished it … but we couldn’t find out how to restore magic …”

I pulled off my backpack. When I was at Town Hall, Cheerilee showed me Twilight’s altered version of the spell Trixie and I found. Despite all the catastrophe happening now, there was a light at the end of the tunnel now. And it wasn’t that stupid train. I dug through my backpack and pulled out the folder they put the spell in, including her improvisations.

“This is the spell, right?”

“Yes …”

“And you’re sure it would work?”

“I am, but what does it matter?”

“Twilight … Trixie has magic.”

Her sad eyes lit up instantly. She looked up at me in shock.

“She ... she does?!”

“Yes! I’ve seen it first hand, not even half an hour ago. But there’s a problem we need to address first.”

Twilight closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“W ... What is it? Please tell me it’s not severe.”

“It isn’t … I don’t think …”

Now it was imperative that Trixie survived her heroic plan. Part of me wished Derpy had arrived before she leaped off the rooftop, but we had no idea the puzzle pieces were about to connect. Derpy’s ability to fly combined with Trixie’s ability to use magic was nothing short of a miracle at a time like this. However, Twilight had gotten bitten at the worst time possible. I continued my explanation of the problem at hand, describing what Trixie, Doc, and I had done.

“ … so, the plan was to meet up at the hospital once she drove away enough of the horde. From what Derpy told me, it sounds like any of the horde who isn’t drawn away by her and the motor- … the bicycle pony, will likely be hovering around Sweet Apple Acres for a while.”

Twilight sighed, reminded of the tragic barn collapse. She looked over at Derpy before looking sorrowfully back up at me.

“She … she told you about Celestia … didn’t she?”

“Y- … yes, Twilight.”

“You’re ... stuck here now …”

Her words caused me to chuckle unpredictably.

“I’m not. I don’t think stuck would be the right word anyway. Princess Luna knows how to send me back.”

“How do you know?”

The dream I experienced with Luna entered my mind. Since it happened, it had been burned into a special place in my memory.

“She told me in the dream when she healed my leg. She gave me the choice between healing it and sending me back. She only had enough magic left for one at the time.”

She stared at me blankly while she took this in.

“You … chose to stay?”

“Of course I did. I don’t think any of you understand how much y'all mean to me. I had to.”

A single tear rolled down her already wet cheek as she smiled, causing me to. We both hugged again. I embraced the warmth from her body, also comforted by the knowledge that we were likely to end this nightmare very soon. I just had to keep her alive. That was my only goal. When we detached, I continued my thought process to her.

“So, if the horde is cleared, we have a few options. If you are weak, we can leave you in here alone and come back for you once Trixie is back. I can’t begin to tell you how much I really don’t want to do that, so … do you think you can make the trip across town to the hospital? Derpy and I can keep you safe.”

I debated the possibility of Derpy flying her there, but with just Derpy, it might prove difficult to cross town. Plus, we didn't have any chariots to fly her with anyway. She could still keep us alerted of what's ahead, guiding us to the safest routes, and keeping us out of harm's way.

Twilight took a second to look down at herself, stretching out her hind legs and feeling how she felt.

“I … think I can. But, Devan ... it might be safer to just leave me.”

I sighed.

“Now … okay …”

I looked down at the folder before exchanging a glance with Derpy, who stood silently nearby.

“Derpy,” I called, raising the folder up in my hand. “Do you think you can deliver this to Trixie? If she gets it, she could make her way back here and maybe even stop Twilight from turning.”

“I can!” Derpy exclaimed, trotting up eagerly to help us. She reached for the folder, but I pulled it back.

“Hang on. I want to verify with Twilight that its right.”

I turned to Twilight, who nodded approvingly at my decision. I then laid out the folder in front of us as Derpy grabbed the flashlight and hoofed it to me. With its light glaring on the pages, I pulled them out. Sitting across from me, Twilight separated the pages and spread them across the floor. I waited patiently as she sifted through the pages, but suddenly, she grew a very worried expression. She picked up a couple of the pages laid out and flipped them before setting them down. She then lifted the folder and looked underneath it.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?”

“One of the pages is missing! One of the ones with my writing!!”

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“NO!” Twilight cried, looking up at me worriedly.

“Where do you think it is?!”

“I DON’T KNOW! Did you miss a page?!"

"No! That's all there was in her saddlebags ... I made sure of it."

"Fuck!! Then they must have lost it at the barn or something!!”

I started to grow anxious as well. We both sifted through the pages again to make sure we had not missed it, but we hadn’t. I even stood up and ran around the attic, searching Dash and the other pony’s bodies, but it wasn’t there.

“Well, do you remember it??” I asked her.

“I do … I do ... but I need something to write with!! And on!!”

“W- Can’t you just tell us?”

“There is no way you two will remember! Don’t you remember when I tried to teach you about magic?”

I did. Just a month into my stay, and when I was growing a bond with Twilight, I grew very curious about magic. From the first day, I was already intrigued. After I grew close with her, I asked her about magic day after day. It had been a daily routine that annoyed the hell out of her, which inspired me to continue. Eventually, she sat me down one day and helped me read a simple spell from one of her books. I still remember when she first spoke in magic, and the strange, foreign-sounding speech it had.

While it was a good memory, as we had lots of laughs at my attempts, I had gotten nowhere in learning. Magic was too difficult for me, and seeing as though I was not a teacher or a unicorn, I didn’t feel the need to continue learning. I already had Twilight as a best friend, and if I had any questions about something in particular, I could always ask her. Now this was backfiring on me.

“Fuck. Alright, just hold still, we’ll look for something you can write with!”

“Wait!” she hollered, “what about the zombies in the house?! What happened to them?”

“We lured ‘em away, Twilight,” Derpy answered.

“Oh … wow, alright then.”

For the next ten minutes, I frantically busted down every door of the house in search of paper and a quill. However, there was none to be found. I cursed the unavailability of pens and pencils in this world, wishing that Celestia had at least accepted that if nothing else. Stupid lawn mowers.

While I was searching, I almost collided with Twilight as I ran through a doorway. Despite her holding onto her neck to prevent blood from trickling out, she seemed to be fine for now.

“I can’t find anything, Twilight! Can you like, carve it on the wall with a knife or something?”

“Really, Devan?”

“I don’t know what else to do!”

"I wish I could! But it is an entire page's worth. Two, actually! Front and back. It is grossly unsimplified ..." she sighed.

Derpy came rushing down the hall to meet with us. She had not found anything either.

“We might need to look elsewhere,” I stated.

Twilight took a deep breath before shifting her eyes between the both of us.

“Devan. We are running out of time for that. Plus, most of the homes and businesses in the town are likely to be barricaded or locked shut. Ink has been a fine supply recently, so our chances of looking elsewhere are slim.”

“What … do you suggest?”

“I … I don’t know.”

Despite the air looming with uncertainty, I thought of a plan. It was the only plan we had left. I looked at Derpy for a moment, observing the mare intently.

“How are your wings doing?” I asked her.

“Uhm … they’re fine, Devan," she replied, shaking them open. "Yeah, all good.”

“Alright. We need to get Twilight to Trixie.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as if I had suggested the most outrageous plan I could think up. But it was all that we had. There was no better way for Twilight to express the magic to Trixie than to bring them together. She knew this too, mentioning how much easier it would be to explain the missing page through words. It was still risky crossing half of the town like this, especially when the horde just swept through, but it was riskier losing Twilight’s knowledge. After debating, more so arguing, with Twilight for a minute, I eventually got her to reason with me.

With the folder of the incomplete spell held securely in my backpack, the three of us ran out the front door. Derpy took off for the skies, ready to shoot across town and find Trixie past the horde. I just hoped she could find her fast enough.

The street was clear now. I looked down at Twilight. She looked back up at me worriedly.

“We need to hurry.”