Equestria Girls: Cataclysm

This was not the first early morning on Earth that Twilight Sparkle had spent flying, but it was the first time that she hadn't been alone when she did so.

She flew low, barely a meter above the ground at times, her path keeping either directly above or directly adjacent to the road that her friends drove on below. The dark gray SUV with its curious blue squares on top followed a few meters behind the dark red, significantly more vocal car - she’d never have to worry about losing track of that vehicle, she reckoned, so long as she stayed in the general area, but even then, with as quiet as the world was, you could probably hear that thing for miles. Getting too close to it hurt her ears a little bit.

Twilight considered asking if cars were supposed to make that much noise, but she didn’t feel like yelling over the wind unless she had to. The vehicles weren’t going super fast, but definitely fast enough that the air had plenty to say and didn’t much feel like using its inside voice.

There was seldom much to do on flights like this, and Twilight wondered for the umpteenth time how someone like Rainbow Dash - notorious for not being able to sit still or go for long without stimulation - could handle this sort of thing. Maybe that’s the real reason she ended up devoting so much effort and energy to going as fast as she possibly could: less transit time meant less long periods of downtime with nothing to do or think about but maintaining a heading and failing to plummet out of the sky.

For someone like Twilight, however, these periods of downtime were welcome. With a monotonous task before her that she didn’t have to focus on, she could zone out a little and think in the background.

Chief among the many topics Twilight would like to devote brainpower towards was the most recent topic of fascination she’d witnessed: Rarity’s injuries, and the miraculous healing thereof.

Twilight had read on humans before, and she knew that among other living things in their world, humans were exceptionally hardy. Their endurance was the stuff of legends - she had read the tales about how the earliest humans would hunt by aggressively walking after their prey until they collapsed from exhaustion. Their fortitude could give earth ponies a run for their money, in some ways. The specifics of how far that endurance went was lost on Twilight, however; much as she would have liked to indulge fully in the knowledge of what a human was and everything that went into them, Twilight had spent only 3 days as one, and there had been a bit of a time crunch for her to be researching as much as she would have liked to. Equestria, sadly, did not have much reliable information for her to peruse once she got home, leaving Twilight generally in the dark about such things as what a human could take and how they worked.

That being said, Twilight wasn’t stupid. That injury of Rarity’s was severe; she didn’t need a lot of context to know that much. Similarly, she didn’t need to be able to write a paper on humans to have seen the confusion and fear on Applejack’s face when she saw how much Rarity had recovered in such a short time - hell, she’d seen Rarity’s confusion, even a bit of despair about it. Nothing about this was normal and not even the humans could explain it. It shouldn’t be, and yet it was.

What an incredibly annoying theme, Twilight thought to herself, briefly lapsing from her musing to sway to the right, bringing herself more directly over the road to avoid another oncoming wall of trees. This would make perfect sense if it was magic. It’s about the only thing I can think of that would explain it, but it can’t be magic. At least, I assume as much…I’m guessing Rarity isn’t secretly a life caster. Her aesthetic was always more crystals and gems than healing, and it’s not like sustained effects should be able to hold up in any semblance of long term anyway. But again: zombies! And giant bugs and big plant things. Gosh this is fun, I love not knowing what’s going on with no way to find out! It’s my absolute favorite! Wee!

Twilight needed a lab of some kind; somewhere she could perform tests and make detailed examinations and take notes. Cursory observation was not answering any further questions, just presenting more of them, and if there’s one thing that bugged Twilight, it was an accumulating stack things sitting there, unattended and unresolved, taunting her with their presence. Perpetual speculation was going to drive the Princess of Friendship mad.

Checklist start. 1: Get a lab, or a space of study. 2: …okay this will have to be a separate list, I think. You can’t just have a list inside a list, that’s annoying. Ok, 2: see list of queries. Checklist of queries start. 1: Make sense of the magic thing, and how the zombies can persist despite magic’s apparent unreliable nature…no, scratch that. 1: work out the nature of magic’s apparent unreliability. Wait, should this be numbered? No, okay, just keep those at the top, don’t worry about numbers - this is like science, it’s not going to present itself chronologically. Okay, so: magic’s unreliability, how zombies and everything else can exist in spite of it. Then, this healing thing. Then…hm…

Meanwhile, inside the van, all was silent, save only for the gentle hum of the road and the muffled grumbling of the car five meters ahead of it. From behind the glass of the rear passenger seat, two pale green eyes were as wide as could be, all but shining as they tracked the movement of the purple shape that flew just beside and above the vehicle, precisely close enough that Sweetie could take in all there was to see with relative certainty that she wouldn’t be seen back.

Wind rippled across Twilight’s fur and through her lavender feathers as she cut through the breezes that passed invisibly by, the wind rolling across her swiftly like water. Her mane trailed behind as she flew, and the way it stretched down her back made it align with and seemingly merge with her tail, giving her the appearance of streaking a trail of purple behind her like the tail of a comet made of the last moments of a sunset. As Sweetie watched, the wall of trees to her back parted suddenly - the rays of dawn shone across the alicorn with another flap of her wings, arriving as though on command, and Sweetie could have sworn that they emitted a shimmer of tiny sparkles as the sunlight struck them, like the feathers themselves were studded with stars.

She’s so beautiful.

A single finger stabbed in the middle of her spine like the beak of a bird. Sweetie nearly jolted out of her skin, twisting around and finding not a bird, but the outstretched hand of Apple Bloom seated beside her. The younger Apple’s expression was one of annoyance, but her words carried concern. “You alright there, Sweetie? Ya been sittin’ like that fer ages.”

Sweetie Belle nodded, swallowing her heart where it had leaped out of her chest. Suddenly conscious, she got off her knees to sit in the car seat normally. “Yeah.” Even then her gaze was pulled back out the window again, finding the winged shape out there where she sailed along in graceful flight. “I’ve never had a guardian angel before.”

“Me neither.” Apple Bloom leaned forward to follow her friend’s gaze. Her expression remained as it was, however, not so quick to broadcast the emotions the sight brought, if any. “Hey Rarity,” she called to the front. “What’d ya do to get an angel to follow ya ‘round?”

Hoarse chuckles came from the front passenger seat, punctuated by a rough cough. “Oh, I don’t know about angels, darling. I’ve never been one for prayer…”

Sweetie’s head swiveled around and blinked at the back of her sister’s seat, but it was Apple Bloom that pressed the issue. “Well ya obviously did somethin,’ or she wouldn’t ‘a come down from Heaven and saved y’all.”

“She’s from Equestria,” Fluttershy pointed out from the other side of Apple Bloom.

“And she’s an alicorn,” Rarity added. “Not an angel.”

Sweetie’s eyes narrowed. “She came out of the sky and performed a miracle! I watched the whole thing- you were glowing! You weren’t even touching the ground!”

“That was magic, not a mira…” Rarity stopped as she realized how hollow that argument sounded. “She isn’t an angel, is my point; she’s a pony. They’re not at all the same.”

“That’s a lotta hooey,” Apple Bloom informed her. “She came outta the sky, she blasts demons away, and does healin’ miracles, and she even got them big ol’ wings! That’s the most angel-like thing I ever heard! And yer tryin’ to tell me she ain’t?”

”And!” threw in Sweetie, now letting her outrage be heard, “She’s got a special symbol! It’s right there on her butt, she told me all about it! Like a cross, but it’s hers, so it’s like- it’s sparkles! For Twilight Sparkle!”

Rarity’s patience rapidly thinned. “Sweetie, Apple Bloom, she’s an alicorn. She’s told the three of us all about it, and-“ She coughed a few times. “-and you heard her yourself. She is not an angel!”

“Oh yeah?! Well howdya know alicorns ain’t just unicorn angels, huh?!”

“Yeah, exactly! Ponies can have angels too, right?! It makes perfect sense!”

“It d- no! No it doesn’t! That isn’t how this works!”

Apple Bloom crossed her arms like this case had been closed, declaring: “Angel. Gotta be.”

Sweetie nodded and sat back just like her friend with a triumphant grin. “Yup! Angel. Majority rules!”

Everything about Rarity’s expression read as protest, but turning back to look at the backseat like this was making her neck ache terribly, and her voice was raw from overuse. She braved the pain enough to find Fluttershy in the back, and when all she received for backup was a sympathetic smile, she let loose an offended huff and twisted back around to sit in her seat normally, which itself evoked another harsh cough.

Applejack spared her friend a glance, then looked up into the rear view mirror to find the two girls who were grinning at one another. “As fer what she did,” she said, earning their attention, “the whole lot of us pitched in an’ helped Twilight find ‘er crown when it got stolen. Cuz a princess needs a crown, right?”

The reaction was precisely what Applejack was counting on: “PRINCESS?! She’s an angel princess?!”

“Yer pullin’ our legs!”

“Sure ain’t.” Applejack leaned over to find Fluttershy’s gaze and nodded her chin up at her. “Tell em all ‘bout it. You remember, doncha Flutters?”

“I could never forget!” Fluttershy then began to explain how Twilight was indeed the Princess of Friendship, and went on to regale the two enraptured young girls with the story of how they had helped reclaim the Element of Magic for Equestria, though pointedly leaving out details that might vilify Sunset Shimmer. She still was Fluttershy, after all.

Applejack grinned widely, then glanced back at Rarity - she tried not to flinch at the pair of Arctic knives aimed her way. “Twilight’ll set ‘em straight if she ain’t happy with it. In the meantime, if they wanna believe in angels ‘n miracles, let em.” Her eyes found the road ahead of them, steering wheel turning ever so slightly to keep their path straight. In a lower, quieter voice, she went on, “I know you ain’t much of a believer, Rares, but I know the look ‘a someone who’s seen God in somethin’. I ain’t seen much of ‘im myself these days, but if someone else has, I’m happy for ‘em. Let ‘er have this.”

Rarity opened her mouth, where it hung open for a few moments, then closed again, gaze lowering. Eventually her eyes lifted and found the rear view mirror between them. What little was left of her deliberating if mildly vexed expression melted back and was replaced by something Applejack could not easily recognize. All the while, Sweetie Belle was chattering excitedly away, pale green eyes filled to the brim with starlight and dancing with wonder.

Applejack wanted to continue this topic, but she didn’t know how to in that moment. Instead, she focused on driving.

The chatter of the girls in the backseat became pleasant background noise as she watched the road lay itself out in front of her, their guides never much more than a few meters out. Part of her was amused by the fact that even though they would freely swerve around anything in the way, the divers of both vehicles insisted on keeping in the right lane as they drove. It’s not like there were traffic laws anymore, so there wasn’t anything keeping them from simply going where they pleased, but something about that just didn’t feel right, even with no one around to see it or punish them for it.

Habits really do die hard, huh? Applejack’s eyes glanced at the dashboard, finding the fuel gauge. The needle was getting a bit uncomfortably low for her tastes - already dipping below the 25% point into the red. She was about to reach for her walkie-talkie to see how much longer this would be, but the car ahead of them suddenly jolted closer, brake lights flaring.

Applejack slammed the break pedal. Everyone lurched forward in their seat - they hadn’t been going super fast, not even clearing 20 MPH most of the time, but it was still fast enough that if seatbelts hadn’t been on, someone in the back was going to get tossed into the back of the seat in front of them. All conversation stopped instantly.

Applejack’s hands went two different places: one went straight to the revolver at her hip, and the other grabbed the walkie-talkie she had been reaching for previously, this time finding it. She couldn’t see immediately what was wrong, so she thumbed the transmit button. “What’s goin' on?”

It took two seconds for a reply to come through, and it was Alex’s static-wreathed voice that answered, sounding quite stressed: “The bridge ahead has a roadblock. I see a spotlight.”

Applejack couldn’t contain the ”Fuck” she spat out under her breath. She unlatched and then ripped off her seatbelt.

Rarity was no longer as relaxed in her seat as she was before, but otherwise appeared as calm as could be, pointedly so. Fluttershy had retrieved a fire axe from beneath the seats and had moved it to somewhere easily retrievable, expression blank and eyes alert. Sweetie Belle looked very nervous about the reactions of the others, and Apple Bloom’s eyes were bronze-ringed saucers for no other reason than because Applejack swore. Applejack never swore. That was always bad.

“Girls, stay in the car.” Applejack’s tone bore no room for argument, and she heard none as she opened the van door and stepped out onto the street.

The Mustang about a meter in front of the SUV also had its front doors open. Alex had stepped out of the driver’s seat, hat off monetarily as she ran a hand through her brown hair. Gabe, meanwhile, was out of the car on the other side with the visor of his motorcycle helmet raised, peering through what appeared to be a pair of binoculars held to his face. It was now that Applejack got her first good look at anything else below his neck, though it was all black motorcycle leather with a brown leather jacket thrown over the top, so honestly she hadn’t been missing much. Matilda had not seen fit to remove herself from the car, though it’s impressive that she remained invisible even with metal between them, seeing as she insisted on dressing up like a laser show.

By this time, Twilight'd had enough time to circle back around where the vehicles she accompanied had abruptly stopped. Her wings drummed the air a few times as she lowered down before there was four clops of hooves on pavement. “What’s wrong? Why’d we stop?”

Applejack looked to Alex, who was either quite distracted with the sight of the blockade before them, or had not yet come to terms with the purple pony to be able to answer her questions and retain her sanity at the same time. Applejack had that covered, and pointed ahead for her friend to see for herself.

The road went on about fifty yards from where they currently stood, beyond which the road smoothly buckled and became a raised bridge to continue the path over the river that carved its way through the landscape. Directly at the foot of the bridge, a deliberate blockage had been placed - large beige bags stacked up on top of each other, likely full of sand, formed a two large walls with space down the middle, positioned between which was a tall green pole that ended in a swiveling head that pointed a bright column of focused radiance that turned itself every which way, sweeping its brilliant gaze across the asphalt in orderly, carefully measured lines that slowly inched away from its current position.

In front of each sandbag barricade sat a stout, rounded dome of silvery metal, each about the size and width of a mini fridge, swiveling about on a pivot somewhere at its 'waist' along its bullet-shaped chassis. A long tube extended out of a slot at the top half of each device, roughly at the level where one might put a face, and near the base of this proboscis-like barrel sat a faintly visible glowing red sight that gleamed like a predator’s eye. Said eye of both automata were currently leveled straight at the group outside of their maximum firing range, burning calmly at them with a lethal kind of patience. A length of barbed wire sat out across the street two meters past both of these installments, as though the threat of a swift and brutal gunning down by automated weaponry was not sufficient deterrent to approach.

Twilight certainly didn't like what she saw, grasping that this was not a good thing, but still didn't know what it meant, looking at either human closest to her with a lost and increasingly fretful gaze. "What, what is that? What are those?"

"Turrets," Alex said, proving she could in fact hear the alicorn, though maybe because she was beginning to lose her own cool enough that she felt it didn't matter. "Military fucking turrets, exactly where they need to not be, god damn it!"

"There any way 'round?" Applejack asked, suspecting the answer already.

"I don't know! This could be the only place for miles to cross, and I don't have a f-" Alex reared her foot back like she intended to kick something, then spun around at the last second and began to furiously pace back and forth to vent off steam, mumbling and spouting off colorfully all the while. Gabe, by comparison, had silently put his binoculars down on the top of the car, and had out what appeared to be some kind of road map, likely searching for the aforementioned way around they did not know of.

Twilight continued to look on in confusion, ears back flat against her head. "Applejack, I don't understand."

Applejack took a breath, and heaved it back out in a sigh. "Whacha wanna know, sugarcube?"

Twilight cast her gaze back to the blockade down the road, at the devices laying there. "What are those? Why can't we go near them?"

"They're turrets. Guns, but...uh...robots, like we talked 'bout the other night. Ya remember that?"

Twilight nodded, motions jittery. "Yes, but, what's...what're guns? L-like, I’ve heard of them, but what are they?"

Right...pony. Applejack mulled over what she intended to say for a few seconds. "So a gun...uh...so imagine like, a little, tiny, bitty lil explosive, tiny as you can make 'em, an' it's designed just right so that when it goes off, instead of doin' any kinda damage, a little chunk 'a metal goes flyin' off in a straight line towards somethin' to punch a hole in it. That's what we call a bullet, an' guns are the things that make the lil explodin' bits do their work. They're lightnin' fast, can't even see 'em comin', an' some guns can shoot dozens of 'em a second. Those things," she pointed at the turrets standing sentinel at the blockade, "are military turrets, specially designed to do as much damage as ya possibly can with bullets. They'd probably poke more holes in these cars than a starvin' woodpecker that just found the world's most grub-filled last year's Hearth's Warming tree, and us with 'em."

This was, understandably, not comforting for Twilight. Mankind's ingenuity had a dark side, it seemed, and it was frightening to hear about. "Why would they hurt us?"

"Cuz that's what they was put there to do, I guess," Applejack said, with a shrug. "Don't really know what the military was thinkin', puttin' these things all over, but I guess it was cuz of all the riots and such, 'n the turrets are too stupid to know the riots are done with, cuz ain't no one left to tell 'em. Definitely ain't gonna listen to us, cuz they think we're rioters, 'n they're too dumb to figure it out themselves."

Twilight bit her lip. She cast a glance over at Alex, who by now had stormed over to where Gabe had his map, fervently trying to figure out some kind of path that would get them where they needed to go, but nothing about her demeanor suggested she nor the seemingly mute man were having any luck. She glanced back behind her, at the SUV, filled with her friends; Rarity was still calm-looking in the front seat, though Fluttershy had emerged from the vehicle, looking on helplessly from where she stood beside the now open door she'd emerged from. The window to the rear door had rolled down, and both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were crowded tightly together leaning out, trying to peer over and see what was going on. Applejack, meanwhile, had her hands on her hips, and though she did not make a show of it, defeat was written across her weary features at the sight of all this before them. None of them could deal with this. Not on their own.

Something about Twilight shifted. Her gaze returned to the blockade ahead, following the path of the spotlight where is traced vaguely geometric patterns across the asphalt with its shining light, then the turrets, whose steely gaze she returned in kind. "How close can I get to them before they attack?"

This made Applejack look down at Twilight suddenly. "...sugarcube."

"How close," Twilight repeated coolly, "can I get to them before they attack?"

"I don't want you gettin' shot," came the stern response. Applejack's expression and voice were both hard and getting harder all the time. "I ain't havin' you get shot. I ain't losin' no more friends, Twilight, I've lost too many already."

"Which is why it's important that I know exactly how close to those things that I can get." Twilight found Applejack's gaze, staring past that disapproval unflinchingly. "Closer is better for me, but if need be, I can stay where I am. I just don't know how they'll react if I miss."

Applejack visibly wrestled with how to respond to this, torn between wanting to assist her friend and rebuffing her willingness to put herself in harm's way.

She didn't need to decide, though - Fluttershy had come forward and had taken one knee next to Twilight, eying the sight ahead. "Robots aren't smart," she told the alicorn, whose gaze found her now. "If you hurt them, they don't actually care, because they can't feel it. We're out of range, so there shouldn't be anything they can do."

"'Shouldn't be?'" Twilight repeated, cautiously.

Fluttershy nodded. "I've, um...I've never tried to fight turrets before, because they're so dangerous, so I don't know what exactly they'll do, but they can obviously see us...if they were capable of shooting us, I think they would have by now. They're supposed to have soldier support with them to take care of something outside of their range, but..." She trailed off, teal eyes momentarily touching the barely visible shapes of crumpled humanoid forms lying near the base of the turrets, clad in greens and browns of weathered, tattered camo apparel. The story there told itself.

"How tough are they?"

Fluttershy shook her head uncertainly. "They're metal, and armored, but robots have sensitive insides...there isn't much we can do against them with what we have."

"Not with what you have." Twilight adjusted her stance, lowering her head and pointing her horn in the direction of the blockade. She raised her voice as she addressed everyone nearby: "I need everyone to move back. If these start shooting, I don't want anypony getting hit."

"Twilight." Applejack's voice was low with warning.

Twilight shook her head. "You don't need to be afraid for me, Applejack. I can handle this." She gave the farmer a look, the determination melting away enough that she could give her friend a warm smile. "You trust me, right?"

Applejack's jaw clenched and unclenched a few times. She looked angry, but Twilight could tell it wasn't truly anger. The farmer took one step back, then another, slowly at first but with increasing speed. Fluttershy joined her, scurrying back to the van with purpose. "Don't you dare get yerself hurt, Twilight."

Twilight's smile brightened. "I won’t, I promise."

Both girls got back into their vehicle, and the gray SUV began to roll backwards away from the scene. The other human group did not have the same kind of faith in Twilight's words or capabilities, but they did appreciate how minimal safe distance appeared to be retreating away from them, and rather than ask questions or make a scene of it, Alex and her mute companion quickly got back into their own vehicle and followed the example of the latter half of their party, leaving the alicorn with about twelve more meters between herself and her allies to work with.

With everyone safely out of range, Twilight's gaze fell back on the blockade before her, head lowered and horn pointing straight ahead, trying to become as level as possible with the targets that were about to woefully lose this quickdraw match. Twilight did not feel she had anything she could lose here, even in the worst case scenario - in reality, this entire situation was quite simple, and her friends' fear was unfounded. Perhaps this would help them realize that.

Twilight kept her gaze focused intently on her relatively distant targets; pressure surged from her forehead to her horn, which blazed brilliantly for a moment before the energy accumulating there discharged in a magenta column of light.

The first shot did not hit its mark; the sandbag barricade was the first casualty, vanishing momentarily under a flash of pink light before it faded, revealing the shower of sand and the shreds of burlap that rained down around the half-leveled wall. The second shot missed entirely, spiraling off into the distance and into the sky. The third shot hit exactly where Twilight intended; the turret on the left disappeared under a tiny magical sun, reappearing a moment later just in time to be seen sailing through the air in three pieces: the top half with the gun that would swivel, everything below that joint, and the bits of jagged metal still firmly mounted to the brackets embedded into the road via bolts and tiny bits of rebar, which hung halfway out of their places like weeds midway through the process of being uprooted. The fourth beam blew second sandbag barricade in half, knocking over the spotlight that sparked and danced with arcs as its light shattered on the asphalt, and the fifth hit the topmost part of the remaining turret, the glancing hit still more than sufficient to completely behead the offending automaton. Black smoke belched from its exposed innards for several seconds, which continued to smolder and dance with sparks for about half a minute more before what little artificial life it had finally went out.

Twilight huffed a breath, allowing her head to fall and a hoof to find her temple, nursing the headache that had begun there. After a few moments of recovery, she perked back up, smiling brightly and trotting her way to where the vehicles had retreated. She called as loudly as she could to them as she approached, "Okay, it's safe! Way's clear!"

Rarity had a deliberating expression as she mulled over what she had watched, lips pursed for a few seconds before she sat back the rest of the way in her seat. She nodded what little she could comfortably. "Not bad. I'd give her a solid eight and a half, what do you think, darling?"

"Ten," Fluttershy replied, the ear-to-ear smile audible in her voice. "Twilight's amazing."

"TEN!" Sweetie all but shrieked, and was joined quickly after by Apple Bloom. The dam broke, and the two began to laugh and chatter wildly about the incredible thing that they had just witnessed, barely intelligible but just so darn excited that neither of them minded that they could barely make sense out of what the other was saying.

Applejack did not much move from her position in the driver's seat. Try as she may to look impartial, she could not stop the smile that had begun to very slowly spread its way across her lips. Over the sound of screaming excited girls, Applejack faintly heard the radio crackle at her, and she raised it to her ear, the other being plugged with one finger. "Say again?"

There was a long hesitation before the strained, slow voice of Alex met her ear. "Your flying...talking...purple horse...can shoot lasers."

"Sure can." Applejack did not fight the smile anymore, and all things joyful completely seized dominion over the farmer's face. "An’ she's a princess. Neat, huh?"

There was no response on the other end, save for the deafening silence of a woman having a mental breakdown. Just imagining that poor girl's face right now made Applejack laugh, and it would be quite a while before she could bring herself to stop.

Following the bust of the military blockade, the remainder of the drive was uneventful, though that is not say that nothing was out there; far from it. The seemingly empty countryside had quite a bit to see, and those traversing it had little else to do but to look.

The road hugged the river, and it became quite clear to everyone that the normally calm and peaceful waterfront was anything but safe. Enormous insects of every shape and variety could be seen all the way along their length and even across the surface of the water itself; water striders the size of dogs rabidly pursued smaller fish where they dared to swim into the shallow parts of the river, only to flee for their lives in turn as something snapped up from beneath the waves with harpoon-like claw and stingers. Waterfowl seemed inclined to avoid the water's edge, suddenly finding themselves on the wrong end of the food chain, though those able to predate on certain insects were rewarded with a lion's bounty. A foot-long grasshopper was observed being gleefully devoured by an entire murder of crows on the side of the road, and several other scavenger birds could be seen circling overhead, drawn to any signs of skirmish going on.

If the river was a lightly dotted battlefield, then the swamps that the path went past was a war zone. Twilight had heard about some of the rumored giant toads out there, and she saw more than just that out in the marsh that they passed by. A frog the size of a cow launched suddenly through the thicket, violently colliding with and completely swallowing a housefly the size of a cat, along with the entire bush that it sat atop. Mosquitos of alarming size flitted this way and that in a pale mockery of a flock of birds, descending upon anything that moved with proboscises like rapiers, only to be torn asunder and scatter before a meter-long dragonfly that streaked through the air like a missile, hunting down and shredding through anything unfortunate enough to exist in the creature's general vicinity, aggression teetering perilously past the point of berserking. Many trees bore bloodstains and signs of damage on their trunks, and several maimed, disemboweled creatures of various local species - oversized or otherwise - could be seen rotting where it had been left to sink back into the marsh, or left splayed out across the asphalt for the vehicles to have to navigate around.

Fluttershy watched yet another corpse pass by on the road from the backseat, the remains shredded to the extent that its species could not be determined. "It's not right," she muttered lifelessly. She shook her head, watching another scene of violence pass by with an emptiness in her gaze. "It's not right..."

Looks were occasionally exchanged between the remaining residents of the SUV, and everyone's expression bore the same thing: that they wished they knew how to help, but didn't know what they could say to make this any easier for the girl. The only one in a position to do this without words was Apple Bloom, who seemed to realize this, and rather than speak up, she took action.

There was a gentle click of a seatbelt coming undone. The smaller Apple shoved it out of the way, using her newfound ability to move around to scoot over and press up closely into Fluttershy's side, hugging her around the waist. Fluttershy's vacant gaze shifted from the world outside to the young girl, oversized ribbon obscuring most of the top of her head and her expression. Fluttershy's left arm shifted, extending around Apple Bloom's shoulders and holding her gently in place, and she smiled, just a little bit. Rather than look at the awful sighs outside the thin aluminum walls encasing them, Fluttershy's focus instead remained on the little girl that she'd been beside all this time, and who wanted her to be okay. That was a much nicer thing to think about, so she did.

The tension made the drive past the marsh seem significantly longer than it was, but it too was left behind. It was at this point that the SUV ran out of electric charge needed to keep the motor going, and the vehicle rolled gradually to a stop. Fortunately, this was anticipated; the Mustang backed up to the stopped SUV and some time was taken to secure a tow cable in place, all under the watchful eye of Twilight as she circled around overhead, ready to rain pink death upon anything that looked unfriendly and drew too close, though fortunately nothing did. Once this was done, the Mustang carried on, and all Applejack had to do was just keep the steering wheel pointed in the direction that they needed to go.

It was a two hour drive in total, mostly due to the slow speeds maintained during anything that wasn't a long and open stretch of road, and also to ensure that their flying companion could keep pace. It was in the lattermost expanse of field that their destination became visible.

At first, there didn't seem to be much to see except an extremely long barbed wire fence that stretched on seemingly into nowhere, though peering past it, the grasses within the border were much shorter, allowing the grounds to be much more easily observed. A large pond sat across the property in the farthest corner, and the road lead straight to its doorstep, a small one-bedroom house sitting beside a garage with a large unpainted wooden barn sitting behind the barbed wire, along with a tall silo beside a smaller, squatter structure.

A loud GASP made everyone jolt, but Sweetie Belle could not be happier when she cried out: "LOOK, LOOK! Dogs! There's dogs here- AND SHEEP! SHEEP!"

"Holy cannoli, sheep?!" Apple Bloom joined in the excitement - Fluttershy was squished under the two girls who all but slammed against the right-hand door to get a better look, her squeaks of discomfort drowned out by the chatter. "Applejack, lookit! Lookit all them farm critters out there! How'd they get sheep?! I ain't seen no sheep since Sweet Apple Acres!"

"Are there any cows?!"

"Look fer cows! Anyone see any cows?!"

Applejack and Rarity both exchanged a knowing look, smiling at one another and sighing as they buried their annoyance for the sake of their younger siblings' unadulterated glee at the simple sight of a bunch of animals. Sometimes it's the little things that matter the most.

The Mustang pulled up into the driveway, bringing the SUV along with it. It was not quite able to pull the van off the road before it ran out of driveway, though with no one else to traverse these roads, this was a non-consideration. The engine cut out and the rumbling stopped.

Everyone spilled out of their respective vehicle. Alex stepped out of the driver seat of the old brick-red car, adjusting her baseball cap and quickly assumed command. "Alright, let's sweep the place and make sure it's safe. When we're done with that, I want the windows boarded up and the house locked down as much as possible. Matilda, you take stock of the kitchen and whatever else is in there that might be useful once we're done with that. Applejack, you and yours I need for the extra muscle, help Gabe wipe the place clean of whatever freaky crap lives here. Chop chop people, the day is still young and we have a lot to do out here. Let's not waste any time."

Twilight listened as she circled around overhead, pulling out of her leftward curve to push straight ahead towards the house itself. She beat her wings several times to slow down, hooves coming into contact with the farmhouse's shingled roof and finding purchase there. She peered out over the whole of the property that she could see, inspecting all there was to find - there were perhaps half a dozen sheep scattered throughout the field, all generally hugging the left most fence. There were a bunch of dogs scattered about, perhaps a dozen in various color and breed; it was unclear if they lived here previously or were strays that had all cobbled together a pack of their own without the attention of their old masters, or a combination of both. Something large and muscular vaguely resembling a pony stood out in the field, fur and mane both a chocolate brown, currently lounging in the shade of one of three trees that punctuated the otherwise perfectly level grazing field that extended out for an amount of distance that Twilight was not sure how to quantify, just that it was a lot. There was certainly no shortage of space to build in here; you might be able to fit an entire castle in this area, possibly two, and that was just inside the barbed fence, never mind the relatively level land around this property that extended out for miles.

There was, indeed, a lot to do, just like their expedition leader had said, but in more ways than she intended. Twilight still had a list of things that needed her attention. She had found some of her friends, but several others were still unaccounted for - the fates of Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Sunset Shimmer were chief among those she was worried about, but the third member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was also high on the list of people she was afraid for. She had been lucky to find those she had, luckier still to meet up with more. She was going to have to keep a very close eye on the refugee center to see if any of her other friends showed up while she and the friends she had found were away, lest they wander off thinking there was nothing for them there.

There was also the matter of Canterlot. Without knowing where it was, she wasn't going to be able to find that portal, which meant that she wouldn't be able to return home...a consideration that was, admittedly, more distant now than it had been. Things were so much worse in the human world than she ever could have imagined, and with the safety of those she loved not certain, Twilight did not much favor the idea of leaving any time soon. How could she think about that when her friends here were still fighting for the lives and trying to survive?

No, there would be no returning home yet, not soon, but Canterlot was important for more than just the location of the portal. It was also the only place she knew of to look for the friends she could not yet find. She had no other leads besides sitting around and hoping that they showed up at the refugee center, and that was not something the Princess of Friendship found especially attractive. She couldn't sit on her hooves while there were lives on the line...or graves to dig.

Twilight shook her head at that thought. No, don't think like that. They're out there, somewhere. They have to be. I just have to find them.

There were many other considerations on her mind, of course, but as many as they were, they all could wait. Her friends had to get settled in first.

"Hey Twilight, ya mind comin' down fer a bit?! Wouldn't mind having yer flashy magic tricks while we're lookin' for nasties down here!"

Twilight called back, "Coming!" and leapt off the roof, circling around to join Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity on the ground, where they were collecting tools and weapons to protect themselves with for their next task.

Until all of her friends were in her embrace, safe and loved in a home that they belonged in and deserved, nothing else mattered.