Doomsday is coming.

That was the one single thought that ran through the Mane Five’s mind as they raced through Ponyville.

When word that a giant energy ball filled with a deadly magic was going to consume all of Equestria once it hit the town, Princess Twilight took action.

She ordered her friends and allies to evacuate everypony and creature in the land immediately and bring them to safety, all while she tried to find a spell that would hopefully stop the energy ball from destroying everything.

Out of all the missions the five heroes had been on, this was by far the most dangerous mission they’ve ever been on. But they still did what they could to save the lives of many civilians from the incoming danger.

And with the aforementioned danger looming above the sky, slowly coming down to bring destruction to the land of Equestria, the five ponies had to hurry and get every single pony to safety as fast as they could.

“How much longer do we have to keep running?!” A female earth pony said as her and her group were being led by the Mane Five.

“Ma’am, we already told you that we keep running until you and your group are at the train station.” Applejack told the mare.

“And this train will take all of us somewhere safe?” A male Pegasus asked.

“Yes! Now stop blabbing and keep running!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

While the Mane Five were stressed and freaked out at the whole situation, Rainbow Dash was by far the most worried and anxious that she has ever been.

Never in her entire life would she be so afraid about the fact that the world would possibly be ending. Yet despite that, she still had hope that things would turn out alright and that everything would be okay.

‘Twilight, I really hope this spell of yours works.’ Rainbow thought.

The Mane Five eventually made it to the train station, where a train was picking up passengers that were all heading to safety.

“Alright, now all of you need to board that train. Once you do, you will all be headed to safety.” Fluttershy told the group.

The female earth pony smiled. “Thank you all.” She said softly to the Mane Five. The earth pony and her group all headed towards the train and boarded along with all the ponies who were also boarding the train.

The five ponies all watched as the train doors closed and the train started rolling down the tracks and left the station until it slowly but surely became distant from the station itself.

The last remaining ponies of Ponyville were safely evacuated. Their mission was accomplished.

Rarity groaned. “I don’t know about you fillies, but I am so exhausted after all this back and forth running. I think I need to take a break.” She said, slumping into the ground.

“Well we don’t have time to take a break, Rares. We have to meet up with Twilight at the Town Hall’s rooftop.” Applejack told Rarity.

“Well, what are we waiting for?! Let’s go!!!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, racing straight to Town Hall.

“Pinkie, wait up!” Rainbow yelled as her and the others ran after Pinkie Pie.

~~~

After dashing through the streets of Ponyville, the Mane Five found themselves on the rooftop of Town Hall. The spot where Twilight told her friends to meet her at.

But there was no sign of Twilight anywhere.

“Where the heck could she be?!” Rainbow yelled.

“Rainbow, there’s no need to yell. I’m sure Twilight will be here any second now.” Fluttershy said.

And right on cue, Twilight Sparkle appeared on the rooftop with a poof.

“Is everypony in Ponyville evacuated?” Twilight asked.

“Yup!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Did you find the spell?” Applejack asked.

And as soon as she said that, Twilight levitated a scroll from her saddlebags.

“Could this be the spell that will stop that energy ball from destroying our home?” Rarity asked.

Twilight simply nodded.

“Great! Now fire that spell and save the day! And then we’ll celebrate with a party!” Pinkie exclaimed, jumping up and down.

But instead of doing that, Twilight did something else. Something unexpected. Something shocking.

Twilight took one good look at the scroll that was going to save every living creature in Equestria…

And burned it down until it was nothing but ash.

The Mane Five were shocked. That spell was their last chance to stop the energy ball and save Equestria, and Twilight just burned it to the ground.

“TWILIGHT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!” Rainbow Dash yelled, angry and confused on why her dear friend would destroy a spell that would save their land from devastation.

“The spell won’t work.” Twilight simply said.

The Mane Five were confused on what Twilight said. But before one of them could ask what she meant by that, Twilight spoke again.

“It won’t work. Nothing will work. No matter how many spells I would cast on it or how much I believe things will work out well, it’ll not stop what will happen. All we’re doing is delaying the inevitable. So we just have to give up hope. Friendship won’t save the day like it always does. So it’s time to just stop fighting and let it consume everything.”

The five ponies all stared at their friend with confusion and worry. All of them were thinking about why their friend would say something like that.

“Twilight, you’re starting to scare us.” Fluttershy said, trembling in fear.

“Twi, whatever kind of daze you’re having, you need to snap out of it!” Applejack told Twilight.

The purple alicorn simply smiled.

“I knew you all wouldn’t understand. But it’s okay. Once it’s all over, we will no longer have to worry about stuff like friendship or harmony or magic any more. Because soon, we will all be consumed by it’s power and become nothing but ashes and dust.” Twilight said.

The Mane Five took a look at the energy ball. It was getting closer to hitting Town Hall, but for some reason it was glowing.

“Stop fighting it my friends. Just let it happen. We’ll have nothing to worry about once it’s over.” Twilight added.

The Mane Five all watched as Twilight flew in front of the energy ball, her smile being even wider than ever.

“A calamity is coming for us.”

Twilight’s body began to glow just like the energy ball.

“And we should all embrace it.”

Twilight immediately flew straight into the energy ball. The Mane Five would only watch in horror as their friend was consumed by the ball of deadly magic.

And the ball got closer and closer to impact.

But then, it stopped.

The five ponies were confused on why it stopped. They thought that maybe Twilight had something to do with it. But then Pinkie smiled.

“Welp, all’s well that ends well!” Pinkie said.

Then suddenly, the energy ball started to rumble and shake. It began to glow a really bright purple and it began to grow bigger and bigger.

Rainbow Dash knew what was going to happen next.

“RUN!!!” Rainbow yelled to her friends.

The Mane Five immediately jumped off the rooftop of Town Hall and ran as fast as they could. They all had to leave Ponyville as soon as possible before it was too late.

But that was when the energy ball began to blast magical shock waves that blew the five ponies away.

Rainbow hit the ground hard after being struck by the shock waves. She slowly looked up and saw that Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were right beside her. But there was no sign of Applejack or Rarity anywhere.

She looked back at Town Hall. The energy ball has grown tremendously huge and its purple glow was brighter than ever before. It looked like it was going to destroy the world at any moment.

And Rainbow Dash was truly afraid.

Then a voice came out from the energy ball. It sounded like Twilight, but it was corrupted by the magic that came from inside it, turning her voice into a voice of evil and despair.

“CALAMITY IS MAGIC.”

And just like that, the energy ball struck the ground with a powerful boom, destroying Town Hall in the process.

And as soon as it hit the ground, it exploded.

Rainbow Dash screamed but her screams were unable to be heard.

And everything went white.

Many Moons Later…

Rainbow Dash woke up to the scorching sun.

It wasn't easy to adapt to the blazing heat in the wastelands, but Rainbow was able to handle it. She couldn’t say the same for her two friends who apparently are having a hard time getting used to it.

Ever since The Friendship Apocalypse began, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy decided to stick together so that they could handle whatever the wastelands threw at them. (Rainbow thought that sticking with your friends is why the Friendship Apocalypse is named that way because it relies heavily on friendship.)

But even though she has Pinkie and Flutters, the rainbow pegasus still wonders if Applejack and Rarity were okay. Because if the three of them were able to survive in the apocalypse, they would have survived in it as well.

As for Twilight? Well…

She didn’t even want to think about Twilight.

“Are you done lying in the sand?” Fluttershy said, walking up to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow turned and looked at her friend. Her light pink mane and tail were both dishevelled and she had an eyepatch on her right eye. She also wore a brown scarf on her neck and her whole body was covered in scars.

“Come on Shy, can’t you let me lie in the sand for at least five more minutes?” Rainbow said, chuckling at her own joke.

Fluttershy giggled at Rainbow’s joke. “That’s pretty funny, Rainbow. But it’s really hot out here and I don’t want you to get a really bad sunburn out here.” Fluttershy said, now being worried about her friend.

Rainbow sighed and sat up. “Okay, just give me a moment to stretch and I’ll get back in the van.” Rainbow told her friend. “I was getting tired of staring at the sun anyways.” She jokingly added.

Fluttershy smiled. “Alright, I’ll tell Pinkie that you’re coming back in soon.” Fluttershy said as she trotted over to the van. Right before she entered the van, she turned to her friend. “I’m glad we have you, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said sweetly.

“Thanks, Flutters.” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy gave Rainbow Dash the softest smile she could give to her. She then entered the van and closed the door behind her.

Once Fluttershy entered the vehicle, Rainbow Dash got up from the sand and began to stretch her hooves and wings. With all of the things she's been through in the wastelands, stretching was the best way to get rid of all the stress she’s been feeling since the apocalypse began.

Once she finally finished stretching, Rainbow took one last look at the land around her and sighed. This whole apocalypse was really taking a toll on her mental health. Every day she’d get worried about her safety as well as the safety of her friends.

The wastelands are filled with danger. That is something Rainbow Dash knows all too well. And yet she’s afraid that she might lose Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to whatever might be lurking in the dusty sands. But worst of all, with all the pain and stress she dealt with, she’s worried that she might get herself even more hurt than before.

But she doesn’t have to worry about all that at the moment. Right now, she’s safe. And her friends are safe. And as long as they stick together, they can be able to survive in the apocalypse.

“Hey Dashie! Are you coming or not?!” Pinkie exclaimed from inside the van, snapping Rainbow Dash out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m coming. No need to get your tail in a twist.” Rainbow said as she trotted over to the van.

And as she stepped into the vehicle, Rainbow took one look at the sky. Even though she and her friends were in a dangerous land, the skies looked very peaceful with only a few clouds in the blue horizon above them.

She only wished that the wastelands themselves would be as peaceful as the skies. But she knew that would be impossible. After all, there never would be any peace in the wastelands.

Rainbow Dash then looked at her friends. Fluttershy was relaxing on the couch while Pinkie Pie was at the driver seat getting ready to start the van. Seeing her friends being right there beside her made Rainbow know that having her friends with her would make this apocalyptic world a lot better for her to deal with.

And that’s all that matters to her.

‘What a day.’ Rainbow Dash thought as she closed the van door. ‘What a lovely day.’

Author's Note

Well that was an intense way to begin a story. Wouldn’t you agree?

And if you’re confused about why Twilight just decided to let Equestria be destroyed instead of saving it from destruction, no need to worry. In due time, you’ll have your answer. You just need to be patient.

Also if you couldn’t tell, this story was heavily inspired by TMNT 2012’s Mutant Apocalypse arc. (It’s also one of my favourite TMNT 2012 story arcs)