Crack!

The cocoon around Starlight Glimmer broke apart, spilling green goo onto the floor of the Headmare’s office. Twilight Sparkle reached down to pull her friend up.

“Thanks,” Starlight said, trying to clean off the sticky changeling fluid with her hooves. She grumbled to herself, “I’m gonna need the longest shower in Equestria to get this off.”

“Shower-s,” Spike muttered, recalling his own experience after being trapped in the changeling hive. He hovered next to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who looked on in concern. Around them, the office showed signs of the recent attack: scorch marks on the wall, broken furniture, and shattered, ineffectual pieces of black anti-magic stone.

The doors of the office swung open, and a pegasus stallion of the royal guard strode in, accompanied by Trixie and Sunburst. The guard saluted the three princesses and addressed Celestia, “Princess, all the students have been accounted for, but the teachers are nowhere to be found in the school.”

“Thank you, corporal. See to it that the students receive the care they need,” Celestia said. The stallion saluted the princess again and flew out of the office, shutting the door behind him.

Twilight hovered back and forth, holding her head between her hooves. “How could this happen?!! Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow have my friends! How did they escape Tartarus?! Where did they go?! Why are they working together?! How are we going to fix the school?!” She flew higher and higher with each question, starting to hyperventilate.

“Technically, Chrysalis wasn’t in Tartarus…” Spike pointed out.

Starlight shot him a look that said ‘not the point!’ and grabbed Twilight with her magic, setting her down in the middle of the group. “Twilight, we will find our friends.”

Twilight stood up and put a hoof to her chest in a calming gesture. She breathed out slowly and looked at her former student with a mix of gratitude and worry.

“And how are we supposed to do that?!” Trixie burst out incredulously. “We don’t even know how they disappeared! I know all about disappearing, and even I can’t explain it!”

“I’ve never heard of any magic like it before,” Sunburst said, tapping his chin. He pulled out a sketch of the villains dissolving into black smoke. “And I don’t think Tirek, Chrysalis, or Cozy could cast a spell like that without help.”

Luna stepped forth, her expression grave. “Indeed. It appears that some other powerful force is at work here. If Twilight Sparkle’s friends and these three villains were transported somewhere, it is imperative that we find them quickly.”

“We need to organize a search,” Twilight decided. “If there’s anypony who knows about this strange magic, it’s Starswirl. Spike and I will gather the Pillars and start looking.”

Spike raised a claw. “What about the school? Half the students got drained by Tirek, and the other half don’t have any teachers.”

“I’ll stay here,” Starlight offered. “I might have a way to restore magic to the students Tirek drained.”

“And The Great and Powerful Counselor Trixie will help!” Trixie declared, standing up dramatically with her hooves in the air.

“What about me?” Sunburst asked.

Twilight thought for a moment. “Sunburst, can you get word about my friends to Princess Cadence and my brother in the Crystal Empire? They can search the Frozen North.”

Sunburst nodded.

“We need to send messages to the other kingdoms as well: changelings, griffins, dragons,” Twilight counted them off on her wing feathers. “Everycreature. They’ll help us look too.”

“Leave that to us!” said a voice that Twilight recognized as Scootaloo’s.

Yona, Sandbar, Gallus, Silverstream, Smolder, and Ocellus entered the office alongside the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Yaks help search. Yaks best at searching!” Yona declared.

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders are ready for duty!” the CMC cheered.

Twilight smiled and made an affirming gesture to the students and crusaders. She flew up and addressed the room, “Thank you, all of you. I know that together, we can stop Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy and save our friends!”

“That’s the Twilight I know,” Celestia said warmly, placing a wing around her former student.

She started to say more, but the appearance of a fiery blue portal cut her off. An officious white unicorn stepped out of it, wearing a gold medallion that emanated magical orange energy.

Twilight’s smile became just a little uneasy. “Chancellor Neighsay?”

“Are you here because of the attack on the school?” Spike asked.

Neighsay looked around the destroyed office, taking in the cracked changeling pod, scorches, and overall disarray of the room. “No, though you have my deepest sympathies, Princess Twilight. I commend your students for once again acting in defense of this school.” He indicated the six non-pony students, who accepted the praise with gratitude. Neighsay continued, “I bring urgent news from Canterlot for the princesses.”

“Let’s give them the room,” Starlight said. She ushered the others out of the office and closed the door behind her. Only Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Neighsay remained.

“What news?” Twilight asked.

The chancellor looked grim. “Perhaps it’s best you see for yourself.”

He tapped his medallion, and it projected an image of the throne room of Canterlot Castle. Dozens of diplomats crowded inside, arguing intensely.

“Canterlot was built by unicorns and belongs to unicorns!”

“Earth ponies hoard all the food!”

“Pegasi are airheads!”

“I’m never talking to her again!”

“With friends like you, who needs enemies?!”

Twilight gasped, and Celestia put a hoof to her mouth in shock. Even the normally stoic Luna looked troubled.

Neighsay touched the medallion again, and the portal faded. “Across our land, there are reports of pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies fighting amongst each other, as they once did thousands of moons ago. Friendships ended, alliances crumbling, and old feuds restarting. My own duties as overseer of the Equestrian Education Association have become far more difficult as ponykind ceases to cooperate with each other. As you can see, things have reached a boiling point.”

“But I don’t understand!” Twilight exclaimed. “We were just in Canterlot! When did everypony start fighting?!”

“This transfer of power has kept us so occupied that we have neglected our royal duties! Now Equestria is under siege!” Luna said, scowling at her sister. “I told you this retirement was premature!”

“Premature?” Twilight repeated in shock.

Celestia glowered. “Now is not the time for this, Luna.”

“Oh, you’re right, I suppose there’s never a good time for you to listen to me,” Luna grumbled.

Celestia ignored the quip and turned to Neighsay. “My sister and I will return to Canterlot to deal with this crisis.”

“Ah,” Neighsay said hesitantly, “we had all hoped Princess Twilight would come, seeing as she is about to take the throne. Ponies asked for the Princess of Friendship specifically. But I suppose she has one of her friendship trips to attend to?”

Twilight threw a hoof out. “Wait! Maybe I can—”

Celestia locked eyes with Twilight. “There is no doubt that Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow are somehow responsible for this disharmony in Equestria. Twilight, you must find your friends and stop this scheme at its source.”

She teleported, taking Neighsay along with her. Luna’s horn charged up to teleport as well.

Twilight called out, “Luna, wait!”

The spell dissipated on Luna’s horn. She sighed and spoke softly, “Twilight, I apologize if my disagreement with Celestia gave the wrong impression. I stand by what I told you before. You and your friends have faced innumerable trials and have grown into true leaders. I would not be here if it were not for you…”

Twilight hesitated. “But you sounded upset about retiring. Are you and Celestia arguing about something?”

Luna paused, looking away as she considered how to explain herself. “You know that my sister has ruled Equestria for a thousand years in my absence. Celestia has been eager to retire for a long time, and for a while, I got swept up in the idea as well. But I always believed that we placed this burden on you too hastily, without considering the consequences.”

“Consequences? What do you mean?” Twilight pressed.

“At every turn, you’ve proven yourself strongest when amongst your friends, not apart from them.” Luna said. “But being a ruler is different from heroism, Twilight Sparkle. There are difficult choices… like choosing between saving ponies you care about and the needs of your subjects.”

“You’re saying that I should go with you instead of saving my friends?” Twilight asked in shock.

The older princess shook her head. “Today, Celestia and I shall hold Equestria together. But when that responsibility falls to you, will you be ready?”

“I… I’m not sure,” Twilight admitted.

Luna nodded, lighting her horn. “Fear not, Twilight. Your heart has always been true. When the time comes, you will know where your duty lies.”

The princess of the night vanished in a burst of dark blue magic.

Twilight was left alone with her thoughts. She levitated the picture on Starlight’s desk of her and her friends in front of the school, studying it sadly before setting it down.

“I can’t let my friends down,” she resolved. “Equestria just has to wait.”

Across Equestria, ponies bickered and fought as wanted posters of the three returned villains went up in all the major cities. Ponies fortified their houses with boards over windows and doors. Pegasi migrated in large groups towards Cloudsdale. Unicorns cast shields around their schools and libraries, sheltering inside. Earth ponies built barricades around Appleoosa, preparing for an attack.

Far from civilization, in the freezing wastes of the north, a raging blizzard roared across the landscape. Amongst the wind, the faintest ethereal whinnies and howls rang out.

Author's Note

And that's a wrap on The Ending of the End Part 1! After each episode I plan to add some of my favorite ending credits music from the show.

The other three episodes are fully written and one chapter will be published weekly.