Why… Why is the sun up so early? What the hay? It’s six in the morning during the winter… today should be nice, cloudy, and the moon and Luna’s night should still be out. So it’s pretty odd that… the sun was out this early. Well, I suppose I might as well get up, since there’s no way that I’m going back to sleep with the sun shining so brightly. Like it was unusually bright, but I’ve yet to notice a temperature difference; thank you unicorns for your temperature insulating magic.

I hopped out of bed and made my way to the bathroom, quickly brushed my teeth, showered, and dried myself off. You know, today might be a good day, since I don’t need that annoying, heavy jacket, which was always a pain to get on. Pegasi get to be somewhat resistant to the weather, while not being as resistant as an alicorn, but to the point where they could go out in the middle of January with a normal sweater and be fine. Unicorns, while not being weather resilient, can easily magic on the necessary clothing to keep themselves warm, while I, an Earth Pony, have to struggle with putting a jacket on every morning during the winter.

Granted, my coat is thicker than most, but it still gets pretty darn cold in the winter, so I was pleasantly surprised, and concerned, when I looked outside… All the snow had melted. It’s the middle of January, there should still be snow on the ground! Well darn, there goes one of my side jobs: snow plowing. I may hate the cold, but I do enjoy being able to make things more convenient for my fellow ponies in Ponyville by plowing the snow off the roads. I grabbed a can of instant coffee, shook it up, and headed out the door.

Why was everypony out right now? Actually, why the heck was Princess Twilight looking concerned? She and the rest of the Elements of Harmony were standing with the mare, with Twilight discussing something to a worried Mayor Mare. I… I really don’t like how today is going to turn out if… the look on Princess Twilight’s face said anything. Oh sweet Celestia, why is your Sun so hot today? Like I’m sweating up a river and I haven’t been outside for much more than ten minutes.

“Yo, Honey Comb,” I called to a unicorn mare, somepony that has been trying to court me for a while. I know she has a crush on me. The poor gal just hasn’t found a chance to ask me out. So instead, Imm going to ask her out at some point! She turned around. “You know what’s going on? Twilight doesn’t look… happy.”

“Hey Oak…” I caught her eyes wandering a bit over my body. ”I think Twilight’s stressing out because… Princess Celestia is coming to visit Ponyville in a few hours.” Ah, that would get Princess Twilight wild up. She did make sure everything was perfect for when one of the other Princesses showed up. Even if it was for something as simple as hanging out with Princess Cadence, her sister in law. Everything needed to be perfect.

And with Princess Celestia visiting, today will probably go over just… fine.

(Shining Armor’s POV)

“Shiny, are you in here?” My ears flicked as I looked up from my paperwork regarding the Crystal and Royal Guard. Cadence, my wife, opened the door with a concerned look on her face. That was putting it lightly… Cady looked scared, even if she wasn’t showing it.

I know she’s scared of something.

“Have you been up all night?” She gasped, taking a look at what were probably some huge bags under her eyes. I… might not have gotten any sleep last night. You see, I had tons, and tons of paperwork, training schedules, list of ponies looking to get into the guard, those ponies’ test scores, and now this thing that had been dropped in on my desk.

For some reason, Auntie Celestia was mobilizing the Royal Guard… that almost never happens, in fact, the last time the Guard was mobilized was back when Auntie Luna had been consumed by the Nightmare… That was not a good sign.

“I got a message from Auntie Celestia… It’s completely off. The wording comes across as too aggressive, and the contents of the letter itself is completely uncharacteristic of what she would do under any circumstance.” I raised an eyebrow. Cadence came around the desk… She was demanding that everypony, not just everypony actually, everyone, griffon, zebra, and even dragons, must bow to her will, or suffer from her wrath… The scary part was that it had Celestia’s Magic writing down to the T, but everything seemed… so off.

It even had the Crown’s Signature on it. With Celestia’s own initials on it.

“Where is Auntie Luna in all of this, Cady? Is this some elaborate prank that she and Celly are pulling?”

“Shining Armor, Princess Luna is out of the country, she was going to meet up with the Griffons. Unless they both planned this at this exact moment, I doubt… I doubt it would be when Princess Luna would be out of the country.” That… did seem a bit off, usually if the Sisters were in on a prank, both of them were present. I continued to read the letter as Cadence peeked over my shoulder…

“Oh dear…” I pointed at a line on the letter.

“I know, that's what I wanted to tell you about… The first town that Celestia wants to ‘visit’ with the guard, is Ponyville. We… can’t even send a message in time if Twilight has yet to receive a letter from… Celestia in time to warn them.”

Ponyville is going to burn to the ground.

(Dark Oak’s POV)

I had climbed up a tree to get a better look at… Well, the town so I could see Princess Celestia’s private train or carriage. While Celestia’s visits to our town weren’t rare, or as common as Princess Luna’s, it was always pleasant to see either of the Royal Sisters arrive. And I wanted to know when they show up ahead of time, mostly so I can either go greet them first, or even ask to give them some little trinket. You see, I like to do wood chipping even if it isn't my special talent, and I’d like to say I’m decent at it. So every time a Princess visits, I try to make something for them, but they always leave town before I can give the things I make to them.

It was mostly as a ‘thank you for keeping Equestria safe’ thing. Okay, I do also have a crush on Princess Luna, but so did every stallion in town. We all love a mare that can kick our rear ends before we can comprehend what could happen… Also Luna was hot as fuck. Yeah, I’ll swear, because when I do, I mean it. Luna was very, very attractive… What was I doing again? Shoot, I knew I should’ve taken my medication, now I’m going to get distracted way more… What in the depths of Tartarus?

So there’s just a white, blue and golden wall of ponies marching towards Ponyville. That… cannot be good. That can’t be good at all. I’d assumed this was normal, because it’s Ponyville, and things get weird in Ponyville… But uh, everypony in the sea of ponies looked like they were a part of the Royal Guard and they all seemed to be armed to the teeth. Also, somepony as tall as Celestia, and looked like Celestia was leading the army.

Well, if Celestia pulled out her old battle armor, set her mane and tail on fire, and had black eyes, with glowing, orange pupils. Also from here, I could tell… Something was wrong and I need to get the fuck out of here. I slid down the tree and hopped down. I need to get the heck out of Ponyville this very instance, or… How did the army move so quickly? The Celestia look alike, I might get, since she had wings and could probably use them exceedingly well, but half of the Royal Guard was already in Ponyville.

Starlight Glimmer and Twilight were standing at the forefront of the crowd, along with the Elements… Okay, something was up, all seven of those mares were scared, and they saved Equestria numerous times in the last couple of years. This is bad, this is very bad. Where is Honey Comb? I’m gonna find her and drag her into the Everfree Forest if I have to. Judging from how quickly Twilight and the Elements went from scared, to scared out of their damn minds(Pinkie Pie included, and that was the scariest part), a fight was going to-

I had narrowly avoided being stabbed in the head by a spear. Standing before me were two guards, who did not look anything like the friendly, but serious stigma that the Royal Guards’ members usually had. No, they looked cold, cruel and serious now. The crowd and the Guard had broken… into what could only be described as a blood bath. The Elements were more than capable of defending themselves, but not everypony in town was physically fit, let alone strong enough to fight off numerous guards.

I side stepped a sword, which whistled as it barely avoided my ear, from one of my attackers, and I didn’t have a second to think, because I had to immediately dodge out of the way of a stray magic blast. Without focusing on anything but the two ponies in front of me, I snorted, before lowering. You know how I never stated my... Special talent? Well, it’s because it’s not very useful for anything except for if I wanted to work in the Royal Guard. You see, I was good at fighting, incredibly good at it if I must say so myself, and I am not going down without a fight. Ever.

Or until an opening arises for me to flee.

By no means am I a strong fighter, or highly skilled, but I was apparently ‘tactical beyond my years’ when I took a test to see if I was fit for the guard. And right now, I simply needed to buy some time, and slink off so I can go hide.

I caught a spear with my hooves and ripped it out of my attacker’s grasp, before twirling it around and stabbing somepony behind me, another guard. And there’s my opening. I ran past my attackers and back home to gather supplies.

I hopped slammed through one of my windows, as it would be faster than trying to unlock my door, and grabbed a suitcase in my teeth. I opened it up, grabbed a belt with several knives, a crossbow with six bolts, a few smoke bombs and some rope. I then ran back to the window I had shattered, hopped through it, and began booking it to the Everfree forest. I… wish I could find Honey Comb, she’s a good mare, but there simply wasn’t time. If I stuck around any- a flash of bright orange made me turn around.

Standing over several charred, dead ponies was the Celestia Look alike. “Where do you think you’re going, my little pony?” It sounded like Celestia, but much colder and more… sinister. “Are you going to bow down, or would you like to join the rest of your village in death? Hmmm, I suppose death would be a bit harsh for a dashing little stallion like you. Perhaps, perhaps I shall find another purpose for you, or even torture you until I break you.”

“What… Why the heck are you doing this?” I asked. “Aren’t you Princess Celestia?” What?

“Ha! That old hag could never compare to I, Daybreaker, the prettier, stronger form of Celestia. Your beloved Princess is dead, you little foal, but worry not. You will join her in Tartarus.” Daybreaker snarled… I reached for a smoke bomb and threw it while she continued to monologue, and quickly threw a knife before ducking into an alleyway to continue on my path to the Everfree. A shriek caused me to jump…

“You dare wound me? You insignificant, pathetic mortal? I will find you, and I will make you suffer for such a violation against your new Queen!” That… was almost as loud as Luna’s Canterlot Royal Voice, but with much more fury in it. Sweet Luna, where ever the fuck you are? And please come back and save our hides!

I didn’t turn back for Ponyville. No, I’m finding a bush in the Everfree, and I am going to stay there.

I woke up in a tree, the bushes simply weren’t safe from all the beasts inside this damned forest. I had only gone a couple hoofsteps into the Everfree so I wouldn’t get lost, and so I could keep an eye on Ponyville. The battle had… lasted a long time, almost through the night… But the Sun wouldn’t go down, so it was hard to tell how long it’s been since I had fled the battle.

I’m a fucking coward. I could’ve stayed and helped defend our home! This is Ponyville, the town I grew up in, the town where I had first fallen in love, where so many of my friends had been. And I ran at the very first sign of danger? How could I be such a fucking foal? Today’s gonna be a good day, yeah fucking right, Oak.

I am going to kill Daybreaker next time we meet. I sighed and turned to Ponyville. The entire village was… simply gone. Where buildings once stood, were nothing but ash, and not even that. The ashes were burning… Holy shit. If anypony survived yesterday, then that would be a miracle and a half. But I… have my doubts and there’s a pretty damn good reason. Daybreaker is a monster; I highly doubt that she’d even spared a foal that’s groveling at her hooves.

If she had children, then Daybreaker would behead them for sneezing too loudly.

I climbed down the tree and went to try and see if anypony was still alive.

I stumbled into town, or what was left of town, and… Sweet Celestia, there weren't even bones. It had been like everypony… had been wiped from existence, with no trace that there were once sentient, living beings with hopes and dreams.

Even Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville’s pride and joy, was nothing more but an empty, burnt field. Heck, I couldn’t even tell where the apple orchard was… everything was burnt to smithereens and then some. Again, like there was never life of any form here to begin with. No grass, no trees, not even weeds. There was simply nothing left. Just ashes.

Should I call out? Let somepony know that I’m here? I… doing that might attract some unwanted attention, but-

A rainbow blur slammed into the ground, sending up smoke and dust, making a step back. “Another survivor!” That was Rainbow Dash! Even without her being the Element of Loyalty, she was a celebrity in town… Thank fuck, there was somepony else that survived!

“Rainbow-“ the cyan pegasus zipped forward and covered my hoof.

“C’mon, everypony’s hiding out in a cave thanks to Twilight and Discord… everypony that survived at least…” Rainbow looked around town with a rare look of… Sadness. That was a rare sight to see on this mare, as she was always confident, always up for a fight… Did one of the Elements die? I know they’re very, very close friends, so…

The next thing I knew, something grabbed me and reality began to warp around me.

“And that’s the last of the survivors…” I blinked a couple times and shook my head. Before me, everypony that had survived, was sitting in a dark, dimly lit cave. The Elements and Starlight Glimmer were still alive, and unharmed. In fact, everypony here was unharmed… That battle ended in only two ways for everypony as it seemed. Either it killed you, or you lived unscathed. No in between, no broken legs, not cuts, you simply got killed, or lived to die another day. Even if everypony was covered in dirt, they were okay.

The foals made it out alive, at least, some of them were… The ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ were safe, and so were a few others, but all of them were huddled up and shivering. Those poor kids have to grow up into… this nightmare. Then I spotted a familiar face that I was more than glad to see.

Among those ponies was Honey Comb! She was alive! I quickly walked over to the mare, she looked dazed, paranoid, but she gave me a big, toothy smile when she found me. The honey colored mare hopped up onto her hooves and wrapped her forelegs around my neck, while nuzzling into my neck…

“Thank the stars that you’re okay!” Honey began to cry into my shoulders for what felt like hours.

“Course I would be, my special talent was useful for once!” I let out a humourless chuckle. As much as I wish I had another cutie mark, my current one did come in handy for once. Are you hurt?”

“No… I panicked and teleported out as soon as that… massacre had started! Did you see how many Royal Guards there were? We stood no chance in Tartarus in winning that… Then ‘Daybreaker’ went berserk and started burning ponies to ashes. She was… bleeding.”

So that’s… I stabbed Celestia/Daybreaker… I made that demon go berserk on Ponyville. I’m why our home got burnt to the ground.

We both slowly laid down, Honey leaned into my side, like we had been dating the whole time we’ve met each other… If only we had, because now we might not be able to. “I’m just glad that you got out, Honey. I wanted to come and get you but-“

“Don’t worry… you were focused on yourself, and that’s okay. Sometimes… You have to run away and save yourself. It’s okay to run away when things go… bad, or in this case, horribly,” Honey let out a humorless giggle. “You know, you look rather… sexy in all that combat gear, Oak. I love the belt, it accentuates your rear quite nicely.”

“Hey, I'm the stallion here, I should be admiring your rear end, not the other way-“ She had just spun around and kissed me… I laid my head over hers. No, I am not blushing. I wish we started dating sooner rather than now… at least everything, the world included, wouldn’t be burnt to the ground. Well, we both should enjoy this while we can; it might not last very long.

“You know, I like your mane while it’s messy and wild like this. It’s hot…” My voice went nice low, and I hope it was just as smooth as it was in my head. It probably was because Honey’s face had turned into a tomato! Score…? Why couldn’t we have fallen in love sooner?

“Everypony,” Princess Twilight was standing at the center of the cave, wings slightly dipped… Her assistant, a baby dragon, was not with her. In fact, he wasn’t in the cave at all. I didn’t know him, but I knew his name, and have heard of him. A hard working little fella with a big ol’ heart for something so small…

Holy shit… Spike is dead… What’s worse is that… Daybreaker left no bodies for even a funeral. We… can’t even give the fallen a proper farewell to the afterlife.

Daybreaker, I swear on your sister’s left leg, I will kill you.

“We… are fortunate enough that we are all alive, and I know… things seem to be tough right now, but we will stand tall. Surely there is a way to defeat Daybreaker and bring back Princess Celestia. If not… then we may have to kill Daybreaker, which is nigh impossible.” I wanted to speak up, but then everypony will know that I’m the reason why Ponyville was wiped off the face of Equus, but this might be the only bit of information we have that can help us.

It’s the only chance we got if Princess Luna isn’t present. I cleared my throat, and Honey allowed me to get up. We need all the help we can get.

(Luna’s POV)

I stepped off of my chariot, and to my horror, Canterlot was in ruins. The castle was perfectly intact, save for a couple of scorch marks here and there… and nopony, no, nobody could be found. What’s worse, Ponyville, which was usually within viewing distance of Canterlot, wasn’t even where it should be. Like it wasn’t even there to begin with…

“Sergeant Sky,” one of my two guards perked up. “Gather the Lunar Guard if you can. We are heading for Ponyville…” Or what remains of it. My sister wasn’t present, but only Tia had the fire power to cause such destruction, even if she preferred to be diplomatic rather than a dictator… Has she fallen like I had before?

If Celestia had succumbed to Daybreaker, then we are doomed.

I need to find the Elements and gather everypony I can. If Daybreaker is loose, then we must defeat her… at all cost. Even if I must succumb to the Nightmare to try and defeat my sister myself.

The worse part is, that may be our only, and least reliable option... Nightmare Moon would happily join Daybreaker in making everybody bow to them.

Author's Note

So, how was this for a first chapter? I’m currently working out how I can get the resistance.