Chapter 1: A Horrible Start

The entire sky through the whole land so far the eye could see, rain gushed down and lightning penetrated the dark clouds frequently, as Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie rushed away from their home. Canterlot stands in flames and Ponyville is in ruins, the fate of Cloudsdale is yet unknown but nopony hoped too much on its condition. The team had been fleeing for hours to the south and at one point, Rarity couldn’t take any more, she stopped and almost fell to the ground by exhausted and shouted out panting.
“I... I can't take... one more step... I need... to rest!”
All the other stopped too abruptly in a hard brake and threw their gaze over to Rarity who almost coughed in search of air. Twilight turned around to the group and even if she also like Rarity and the others was in high need of air and rest, she said and manages to hold her voice steady.
“No we can't stop... we need to continue no matter what!”
“But we have been running for hours!”
Rainbow Dash replayed which made Applejack immediately to turn her head towards her and say a bit frustrated in her fatigue.
“Says the one which has been flying the whole time!”
Rainbow Dash gave Applejack the evil eye and was just about to say something fitting, but before she had time, Rarity had finally caught her breath and asked with compassion in her voice.
“How... is Pinkie Pie doing?”

Everypony dropped everything and looked in a second over to Applejack, because on her back a extreme shocked and lost to mind Pinkie Pie was at. Slowly Twilight and Rarity closed in on Applejack and while they did that, Rainbow Dash landed next to Applejack and helped her put Pinkie Pie on the ground. They all formed then a circle around her and looked down with strong concern at her. Pinkie Pie's whole face was pale and she held up her front hoofs just like a bunny, she was shivering uncontrollably and her eyes were stuck in place to look only forward. Twilight waved slowly her right front hoof in Pinkie Pie's line of sight for a reaction but didn't get anything from her, she was just like a vibrating statue. But the worst was that her whole face, was covered in no one less blood than Princess Celestia.
“I don't think she ever will be the same after this.”
Rainbow Dash added in the silence with only the rain in the background while looking up on the others downhearted. They all gave her the same look, except Twilight, she harden up her facial expression and said just before she went a couple of steps up the road towards where they had come from.
“Neither are we.”
Twilight then sat down in the mud the road had become of the rain, away from the others and just stared down the road to the north quietly.

Applejack looked after Pinkie Pie as good as she could together with Rainbow Dash and Rarity did like Twilight and just sat down in the cold, wet mud in a deep sigh. Nopony said or did anything special, not much hope was left in their hearts and the weather sure didn't help the mood. Rarity just by a habit started to feel on her mane softly with one hoof as it was muddy and soaking wet.
But for once, she didn't care the slightest if it was in a mess. She then after a while looked at her dirty hoof she had been stroking across her mane and sighed once more.
“Where... are we suppose to go now?”
Rarity asked not to happy with barely raising her head up to get a good view of the others. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked over at each other with Pinkie Pie between them. They didn't know what to say and only gave away a depressed expression to the world in silence. But their words was not required because Twilight, with her back turned against everypony, she calmly and simply replayed.
“Nowhere.”
She of course got all the attention in her answer she expressed so dead and rough, but she didn't take long to stand up and walk proudly towards the others and then continue to speak.
“We're going back... we can't possibly leave our home as it is... and especially with Queen Chrysalis in its power.“
“But... what should we do?”
Applejack hopelessly said even if she couldn’t agree any more with Twilight. Twilight was just about to open her mouth and answer, but in that moment Rainbow Dash jumped in to the middle of everypony and said determined with a hard stomp in the mud.
“We fight!”
Everypony was quiet and had a bit of a surprised face first, but Rarity quickly rolled her eyes and said in a long sigh.
“Don't be silly... we could do nothing against an army of Cangelins... there is hundreds of them... maybe thousands and then you have Queen Chrysalis to deal with."

Rainbow Dash pulled a pair of angry eyes on Rarity, but before everything got out of hoofs, Twilight stepped in and exclaimed.
“Hey guys... don't you all understand... the Elements of Harmony is the answer... they have never failed us and they will continue not to!
“But they are not in our possession... and even if they were we still would need...”
Applejack added but she and the others got interrupted in their discussion by a terrifying series of howling that came from the north, far in the distance. They all got a bit jumpy in the screams that sounded just like a creature in agony with its throat cut open and the fear that stuck down on them all left them dead silence.
“We have delayed far too long here... Rarity... Rainbow Dash... help Pinkie Pie on to Applejack's back and let’s move... we far from safe”
Twilight said when the howling faded away in their echoes and only the rain and lightning was surrounding them. Everypony except for Pinkie Pie looked over at Twilight and without any defied, they determined and together clearly said.
“Aye!”
Twilight nodded satisfied and when everypony was ready, they all continued to run down the road further to south.
“Where are we exactly going Twilight?”
Rainbow Dash asked flying next to Twilight and before she got winded, Twilight swiftly answered.
“We continue a bit further until we reach the back of Everfree Forest... there we then enter the forest and search for a reasonably safe place to recover from everything... maybe we even get Pinkie Pie back to her sense."

With no more time to go to waste, they did just like Twilight had said and got back to working their way down the road. Night passed on quickly with a couple of more hours of running and just before the darkest hour arrived, they searched their way in to the Everfree Forest for protection. But in their luck, despite that no one of them ever had been in these parts of the forest, they randomly found a cave, far in to the surroundings of the trees that created a roof of leafs above their heads and that they took shelter in. The cave was far from deep but it's entrance was small and tight so the cave wasn't to exposed to be seen from outside, they just had the luck to notice it in their wandering.
Inside the cave the walls was filled with small, self glowing cave mushrooms in a light blue colour that lit up the whole area inside by itself. The cave didn’t exactly have a complete floor, except in the back for a small platform at an even level, because the whole cave was basically a hot spring. The water was up to their bellies and the feeling of the warmth from it was outstanding. Freezing cold and numbness had struck down on everypony's tired and small bodies and just the feeling to inhale warm steam that came from the water was comforting.

Rainbow Dash was floating around on her back and used her wings to paddle around while having her front hoofs rest behind her head. She didn't however have her relaxed smile on her face as she usually had when she was swimming around in her own little way, she instead held her eyes closed and her facial expression completely dead, while having thoughts she wished she could forget. Applejack was sitting in the water close to the platform further in to the cave and just rested her head on its upper level, her face was depressed and she just stared in to the wall while sighing once in a while. Twilight was laying on the platform next to Applejack, away from the water with her head hanging off its edge and just watching her own reflection, while thinking so hard that she looked angry and extremely tired. Last but not least, Rarity and Pinkie Pie was sitting away from the others and while they did that, Rarity tried to wash of Pinkie Pie. She still had some blood in her face that the rain hadn’t reached to wash off, and that was what Rarity tried to fix.

Pinkie Pie felt at the moment much better, but she was still far from the normal Pinkie Pie. Rarity also tried to clean of Pinkie Pie's mane from the mud and even if there was no way for Pinkie Pie to feel cold in a place like this, she was shaking. She had at least started to blink again properly, instead of having those pair of giant open eyes, staring into nothing, and while Rarity looked after Pinkie Pie, she couldn’t resist in feeling an extreme sympathy for her and in that say and ask.
“You poor thing... how are you feeling?”
Rarity continued to wash of the last of Pinkie Pie while waiting for her answer, if she even was about to give one at all that is. But Pinkie Pie actually spoke, she didn't say anything connected to the question, but she did slowly turn around to face Rarity and asked with the look of a scared pup.
“Where... where is Fluttershy?”
Time stopped for a moment for everypony when they heard Pinkie Pie's question, it created a cold bump that reached in to everypony's heart.

Rarity looked away immediately down in to the warm water with a miserable face on her.
Even the others raised their heads toward Pinkie Pie, but no one of them said anything, they felt just as dark on the inside like Rarity did and in their silence, Pinkie Pie pretty much got her answer. She didn't say anything or give away any notably reaction, she just kept her scared face and looked down like Rarity in the water and continued to shake. Rainbow Dash swam randomly and slowly pass Twilight and Applejack, and while she did that she turned her head to Twilight and asked concerned.
“Twilight... how are we even going to use the Elements of Harmony without Fluttershy... are we just... going to hope we five are strong enough?”
“I’m... I'm not sure.”
Twilight respond uncertain and with a sad looking face, but in everypony's depressed feelings, Applejack had enough of the feeling that tears wanted to be realised from her eyes so she stood up from the water in pure anger and shouted out at Rainbow Dash.
“If it weren't for you... Fluttershy would most likely be here right now!”
“What?!”
Rainbow Dash confused added and quickly rolled over and stood up out of the water.
“Yeah you heard me... you're more of a danger than help... always so naive and aggressive for anypony's good!”
Applejack continued to say without hesitate, which only of course added more fuel on to Rainbow Dash's already high temper.
“Aaah yeeeah?!”
Rainbow Dash simply said to Applejack with burning eyes of anger, Applejack then took a step forward and continued to scream out.
“You bet... you're completely useless in every way!”
The cave echoed in Applejack's shouts and when Rainbow Dash was forced to listen to the insults over and over again she had enough.
“That's it!”
She screamed and in the next second she leapt forward on to Applejack and both of them quickly got under the water’s surface.

No pony did really know what was going on, all that they saw was Rainbow Dash standing on top of Applejack and waving her front hoofs wild. But Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only one waving her hoofs, Applejack waved every single one of hers, desperately to get free so the whole area she and Rainbow Dash was at were a mess with water splashing all around the cave. Twilight and Rarity had since long jumped up on all four and started to scream that both of Rainbow Dash and Applejack would stop. But Rarity lost it early and fell apart in crying, it was simply too much for her, so incredibly much had happen the past couple of days. Pinkie Pie next to Rarity manage somehow to ignore everything going on in the cave just like she was deaf and blind, she only stared forward empty. Twilight jumped down in the water from the platform, scream even louder and especially to Rainbow Dash. She held Applejack in such advantage that she couldn't do a thing and before the situation got out of hoof even more, and before Rainbow Dash had seriously hurt Applejack, Twilight shouted in Rainbow Dash's ear.
“That's enough!”
Twilight than used her magic to grab Rainbow Dash's entire body and lift her of Applejack up in the air, but that wasn't the only thing she had to do to stop everything. Rainbow Dash still despite floating, tried to reach Applejack in anger and at that point, Twilight further used her magic and threw Rainbow Dash in to the wall of the cave, hard with her back first and held her stuck in place.

She tried to move but Rainbow Dash was completely caught in Twilight's magic and could barely move a muscle.
“Let me go!”
She exclaimed when she found out it was to no use to move free by herself.
“Not until you calm yourself!”
Added Twilight just before she looked over at Applejack that slowly got up on her hoofs again.
Her breath was on top of her lungs and she even had some blood coming from the corner of her mouth. She looked at Rainbow Dash that was stuck to the wall, but all her earlier anger was all gone, she only tried to catch her breath with a neutral face on her and wiped of the blood. Rainbow Dash was still struggling, but finally she gave up in a mad sigh, she looked up ashamed but kept her angry eyes. Twilight then yelled at Rainbow Dash, and there was nothing Rainbow Dash could do than listen to every word of hers.
“I can't say I total disagree with Applejack... you do let your anger out way to easy... even if some of what Applejack said is not true... just look at Rarity... she is completely...”

Twilight was about to turn around to face Rarity and so Applejack, even Rainbow Dash turned her head to be able to see her but what the three of them saw, made their hearts skip a beat and they all entered a vision of nightmare. Because away from them, closer to the exit of the cave, Rarity stood up on her hind legs, held from behind by a Cangeling that had its enormous white fangs, driven in to her neck and ripped apart half of her throat. Rarity's face was just like stone, with her weeping eyes wide open and her mouth likewise. Not a muscle did she move, only a couple of nerves was twitching randomly and the Changeling, it was looking directly over Rarity's shoulder on to the three of them with its cold blue eyes. Pinkie Pie was surprising, still sitting in her exactly same place in the hot spring, and at the moment, the one closest to the Changeling. But she didn't give away any fear, she just sat there calmly, glancing at the Changeling while it was twisting its teeth in Rarity's flesh.
A large amount of blood had left Rarity's body and it looked like it never would stop. Her whole front side was covered and red in its liquid, it even had passed along her legs to the water that at a slow pace took its colour.

Then all the suddenly, Rarity's lifeless body fell forward in to the water right in front of them all in a big splash of water and blood. The Changeling then roared hatefully while escalating and kicking with its front hoofs wildly in the air. Before the creature landed back on all its four legs again from its display, Twilight quickly grabbed everypony with her magic and threw them and herself on to the platform together. No one did really get a soft landing, except for Rarity and Twilight herself, and when the Cangeling saw that, it screamed out its battle cry and rushed towards them all. But before it reached them, Twilight's horn exploded in small, purple fireworks and created in its explosion a thin, dark pink shield around them for protection. The Cangeling rammed the shield with its blunt horn first but it did nothing, it tried however again to repeatedly cut through the shield by thrusting its head again and again against it and when it realized it was in no use, it attacked the shield with its whole, sharp and edgy body. But it realize even there that it was just a waste of energy so it jumped down from it. Creepy it started to walk back and forward with a disturbing smile and all the ponies could do was to watch it frightened. Then after a moment it changed its form into Rarity, but it wasn’t a pleasant eyesight. It had change into her currently state with the throat open in a big wound and covered in blood, it even had its mouth covered in blood after the bite.

Wicket it smiled and even talked with Rarity's voice that they all were forced to listen to.
“Come on guuuys... let me in... I feel so... exposed out here!”
Twilight gave it an extreme unpleasant face while Rainbow Dash just stared at it from the side with her eyes field with rage. Applejack was behind Twilight and Rainbow Dash and was on the ground with Rarity right in front of her and looking how her condition was. The fake Rarity then all the suddenly started to laugh from the reactions it got from them all, and its disgusting true voice broke free in echoes. Twilight tried her hardest to look tough, but deep inside she just wanted to cry hysterical. Rainbow Dash then with her gaze stuck on to the Cangeling, pulled herself up on all her four legs and went up closer to the shields surface. She stared with her burning rage on it and then asked rather quietly Twilight.
“Twilight... how safe is this shield really?”
Confused and with almost tear leaping free from Twilight's eyes, she looked over at Rainbow Dash and said.
“Don't worry... nothing can break this shield from the outside... but from the inside everything can exit it easily”.
“Good.”
Rainbow Dash just added simply to what Twilight said, which only made Twilight even more confused.

Twilight asked Rainbow Dash something but Rainbow Dash didn’t listen to a single word, she was too busy focusing on to the Cangeling. Its laugh drove Rainbow Dash's head mad from inside and her fury grow larger for every second. Her body got slowly but steady tense to every muscle, every nerve and when her mind had left her consciousness, no fear was to be find in her and a wild instinct in her awoken. She leaped out of the shield, right at the Changeling just like she had on Applejack but this time, she didn't hold in to anything and no Twilight was going to stop her. The Changeling's laugh stopped abruptly as its lungs got a pressure on them by Rainbow Dash's body and once again she was struggling in the water. Twilight got so shocked by Rainbow Dash's act against the Changeling that she lost her concentration on the shield and let it fail unaware.
“Dash!”
Twilight shouted so worried that she believed her heart was going to burst. Applejack was still on the ground next to Rarity's blood stained body, but her head was turned to Rainbow Dash and she was so lost in her mind, she didn't believe what she saw.

The fight between Rainbow Dash and the Changeling was nothing than a complete mess. They roller over each other in the water, and regardless if Rainbow Dash took some heavy hits by the Changeling's hoofs to her head, it didn't hinder her to do the something. But she did get some nasty hits, especially to her ribs.
At one point, the pain in Rainbow Dash's stomach from a good hit by the Changeling was so serious, she couldn’t move a limb, and the Changeling of course saw a window of opportunity in that. It managed to kick her down in the water with her back first, and before she had time to react and stand up again, it placed its both front hoofs at her throat to keep her down and drown her. Rainbow Dash really needed Twilight and Applejack's help from the situation she was in, but they were stunned, frozen stuck in place and deep inside a total black out in their minds. But in the end, Rainbow Dash didn’t need any help regardless her grim state, because she somehow succeeded to pull up her hind legs and place them on the Changeling's chest, and then push its whole body over hers. In a big splash it landed in the water and before it had time to understand what just happened, Rainbows Dash rushed up standing, and in a quick reflex she jumped towards the Changeling with help of a fast push from her wings and with all of her hoofs close to each other. She landed brutally right on it and after that, everything went silence and not too much movement was left in the cave.

The Changeling lost all its life and was now only a rag doll under the water, its state was unsure but easily figured out, because when Rainbow Dash looked down at her hoofs, a massive cloud of extreme dark blood spread pass around her. First now Twilight and Applejack returned to reality and got their mind working as they should. Twilight wanted to ask if it was dead, but her tongue inside her mouth didn't comply and she just stood there with enormous eyes and a scared face.
But she did find out later what the Changeling's fate was without asking, but she did not know how awful it would be. In Rainbow Dash's heavily panting, she raised a shaking hoof from the water and on that hoof, a bloody piece of the Changeling’s broken head was at. She simply throw it of in a small shake and carefully walked away from its corpse without caring too much, and in her steps a disgusting noise from what was left of its skull passed through the water to everypony's ears. Twilight gave away a sick face immediately, and threw herself to the edge of the platform and vomited in to the water.

The whole hot spring started to turn more and more into a revolting hot soup from everything that had been mixed in to it. But Rainbow Dash did sincerely not care at all what was swimming around her, she was just so tired, exhausted and her body was filled with small painful cut and bruises that her legs gave away and she was just floated around with her head above the surface, breathing hoarsely.
“She's... she's dead.”
Then all the suddenly a sobbing voice came from the back from Applejack and that made Twilight quickly drop everything she had seen just a second ago. She wiped of her mouth and ran up to Applejack as fast as she could and on the way, her eyes were watery. Twilight throw her body down on the platform next to Applejack and with Rarity right in front of her. Rainbow Dash didn't move a muscle, she just leered at the others from the water but that didn't mean she didn't care about Rarity, she merely had no strength but she was in fact worried sick. But from all the crying from Applejack and Twilight and especially Twilight that also screamed out with sorrow, Rarity's fate was not difficult to figure out. After all, Rainbow Dash had seen with her own eyes everything happen right in front of her, and even if she was close to fall unconscious, she also had tears leaving her eyes. A short time passed with nothing than the sound of grief owning the caves echoes, but no from Rainbow Dash, she did instead notice something else while being quiet. Weakly she pushed up her front body out of the water slowly and stood halfway up while looking around the cave. In an extreme tired and lost voice, just like Rainbow Dash thought she didn't see correctly she asked dizzy.
“Where... where is Pinkie Pie?”
Twilight and Applejack turned around with both of them having red eyes from tears, but Twilight had a significant worse, almost like she had an allergic reaction to something. She stood up and went up to the edge of the platform and passed her gaze through the whole cave, she couldn’t understand at all the madness that was going on, and she asked openly in a dreaded sigh.
“Where... where can she have gone?”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack also started to slowly look around but only in vain, Pinkie Pie clearly wasn’t there with them, and nothing seemed to ever get better in this world.

Author's Note

Well here it is... my very first story or at least the first chapter of it... I hope you like it and that you can endure the English and with that said... enjoy!