Days of Ruin

Memory

****When history witnesses a great change,

The Elements are lost.

While the world is being rearranged,

Ponies must feel the cost.

Until demons of the sky endure the race,

Only then will the world repair.

For one shall suffer death’s embrace,

And recall the Elements to end despair.

****

“Twilight, hurry!”

She could barely hear Applejack’s plea because her ears were filled with the painful whine of the air raid sirens. The shaking and rattling of the buildings and the ground itself made it seem as though an earthquake had hit Ponyville. Loud booms began to sound in the distance, almost powerful enough to drown out the screams and yells of the local ponies that were panicking and trying to escape. It seemed that with each boom, the frequency in the quaking ground and buildings intensified.

Equestrian regulars and Royal Guards alike were trying their best to rally the citizens and to reduce the panic as much as possible. It worked to a certain extent; they had managed to herd some of the citizenry towards the two aerial warships that had arrived minutes before. Both ships were parked on the edge of town and were taking in as many civilian ponies as they could.

The town was a flurry of frantic confusion.

“Everypony keep it together! The Borealis will be taking off soon enough! We can fit maybe fifty more ponies in there!” a Royal Guard advised, waving towards the entrance of the heavy cruiser.

Twilight noticed that there were too many ponies bunching up near the airships, they were scuffling and trying to fight their way onboard. She saw foals crying and looking for their parents that they got separated from in the confusion. All the while, the ear-shattering explosions in the distance were getting ominously louder. Soldiers and Guards were trying to retain order for the evacuation but didn’t have the numbers to quell the crazed citizenry.

The entire situation was utter chaos.

Twilight still had no idea where Applejack was taking her and her friends. After navigating through the unpredictable crowd of ponies, they finally happened upon a smaller ship than the Borealis that had only started to board ponies.

“Here we are gals. We better get aboard before it fills up!” Applejack said between gasps.

The cowpony wiped the sweat from her brow as she got in line for boarding. It wasn’t much of an actual line, Twilight noticed, but it would have to do. The rest of her friends filed in behind Applejack and tried their best to keep calm.

Tried…

“What is happening!? Has anypony seen Sweetie Belle!?” Rarity cried out, the situation setting her nerves on end.

“It’s all right sugar, Big Mac has already gotten all three of them on board. My poor brother, he’s tryin’ his best to get as many foals on the ships as possible, but I don’t know if he’ll be able to get on himself.”

Applejack began to tear up a little before Fluttershy comforted her by wrapping a wing around her. Equestrian fighter jets roared overhead, flying in formations towards the west. Twilight noticed that they were in a steep climb, which was unusual behavior for scrambled fighters.

“It’s okay. I’m sure everything will be fine. Besides, there are always the bunkers too.”

Twilight stepped up.

“She’s right Applejack, Mac knows what he’s doing. He’ll be fine,” the unicorn reassured.

Pinkie Pie grabbed and shook Twilight’s shoulders.

“But what about Dashie!?” she cried.

“She’s on the front lines! Probably scared and lonely! And you heard those explosions, they’re WAY too close! Has she already been hit?!”

Pinkie was frantic and nearly reduced to tears, worried about her best friend’s well-being.

Twilight couldn’t help but to feel the same way. Was Rainbow Dash okay? Most likely, whatever was causing these explosions had hit the warzones first. And Spike was still in Canterlot, but the princesses would protect him, right?

Twilight started losing her cool. Her eyes darted around the crowd, trying to understand what exactly was happening. The booms were getting even louder now, so loud that she almost didn’t pick up a conversation between two of the regulars.

“What were they thinking!? Launching an untested weapon that those idiots can’t control!? Is there any logic down there!?” one soldier complained.

“Something must have happened in the south, those ponies usually aren’t that stupid,” his comrade defended.

The two soldiers continued to talk but another explosion drowned out the contents. She looked up and saw pulsing purple lights in the distant sky, followed by large clouds of orange. The unicorn guessed that was what was causing the booms and all this panic. Another loud thundering after the orange cloud appeared confirmed her suspicion. She frowned as she saw another purple pulsing light streak across the sky, originating from the east, just like the last one.

“Whatever that is, it can’t be good. I hope we can take off soon.”

 Twilight’s prayers seemed to have been answered as she was yanked away by Pinkie Pie.

“C’mon Twilight! We have to get on the flying black thingy! Applejack said so!” Pinkie exclaimed, Twilight’s ear in her mouth.

Being dragged by the ear was painful and annoying so the bookworm got up herself and followed her friends onto the destroyer. The clanging from dozens of hooves hitting the metal walkway was almost loud enough to overpower the ever-audible explosions in the background. Ponies flooded onto the walkways, soldiers ushering the civilians onboard. A couple of Royal Guards were stationed by the doors, most likely to keep order.

Twilight was about to pass through the door when she stopped. She turned around and got one last look at the place that had become her home. She witnessed the colorful and inviting buildings and the peaceful and innocent atmosphere that used to be here, drowned out by the constant booms and screams of ponies attempting to escape this beautiful place. She watched a posse of butterflies fluttering in the wind across her vision, oblivious to the plight of the ponies.

Twilight began to tear up.

She began to choke as an intense sadness swept over her. She couldn’t believe that she was leaving it. That colorful and joy-giving town, the peaceful nights of reading by the fire, the protective treehouse that she had grown to love,  Sugarcube Corner, Carousel Boutique, Sweet Apple Acres,  and the adventures that she had with her friends in that wonderful place, in this wonderful land…

And now she was leaving it all behind.

Her old life was over.

The gravity of those words had finally hit her. As her friends pulled her away from the entrance and into the ship so that other refugees could enter, she fell to the cold, unforgiving metal floor of the warship. She sobbed as she buried her head in her hooves as her friends looked on, tears in their eyes as well.

They all bore the expressions of understanding. After all, Twilight wasn’t the only one having her world ripped away from her. At least she could take comfort in knowing that she wasn’t alone, that her friends would be by her side.

"Why? Why is this happening? What am I supposed to do now?" she thought, wrapped in a cocoon of despair.

All of them.

All of them stood her up and embraced her, showering Twilight with the love of their unbreakable friendship in an effort to console her and themselves. They hugged and wiped away each other's tears and the doors began to close as the ship was filled to the maximum capacity for ponies. As the ship began to take off, they broke their embrace and smiled at each other. They were weak smiles, filled with a mix of sadness and hope.

Reality had returned as they felt the craft lift into the air and the military radio chatter that had been failed to be silenced, sounding over the intercom. Ponies began to gather their families and friends to explore the ship, military personnel guiding them the entire way. The engines began to rumble and the ponies felt the g-forces of the ship taking to the sky. The booms now sounded slightly muffled through the ship's walls.

The intercom beeped and static was audible for a moment before a crisp, professional voice spoke.

"This is your Captain speaking. Attention all passengers, crew, and air-defense fighters. Passengers, you are onboard the Equestrian Sky Destroyer Aurora and we have been informed that a weapon has been fired. We do not know what it is or what exactly happened but Equestria has been urged by our southern allies to take evasive action immediately. This is what's been relayed to us."

A renewed panic swept through the entire ship as the bad news came through the intercom. It was obvious that even though the captain was trying to be calm and keep his voice from quivering, he was rattled as well.

"Everypony is to either seek shelter in a magically reinforced concrete bunker or climb to an altitude above ten thousand feet."

All four of her friends looked to Twilight for guidance. She frowned as she saw their faces, and wished that this whole fiasco was just a vivid nightmare. She couldn't help them and it made her feel useless in this. But what could she do? She was a powerful unicorn but something like this was way above her.

Another boom sounded, this one sounding much closer.

Too close.

The rumbling shook with intensity as the floor shook, causing a few ponies to slip and fall.

Twilight stumbled around the open room and fell towards a black pegasus stallion looking around nervously.

"Ahh!" she called out to him.

He jumped at her voice, his eyes wide. The stallion looked confused and distressed, which in a situation like this, was not unusual. After fidgeting for a bit, he finally turned to Twilight and acknowledged her.

"Oh sorry!" he apologized as he caught her.

As she made herself stable she muttered a 'thank you' and started to return to her friends when he stopped her.

"You heard those booms out there right?" Thunderlane asked her.

"What about them?"

Thunderlane sighed, and then solemnly looked up at her.

"This just might be a rumor but..." he drifted off, not sure if he could say what he was about to say.

He bit his lip and turned away.

"What? Do you know anything?" she asked urgently, leaning in towards him.

"...Those were the sounds of Cloudsdale being destroyed."

Twilight froze. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. An entire city gone, just after a few blasts? All those who couldn't evacuate lost? So many thousands of lives...

...Gone, just like that.

"Impossible."

The airship seemed to be picking up speed as the intercom cracked again.

The captain sounded frantic this time.

"Ballistic shell incoming! It fires multiple warheads that separate in mid-air! All aircraft above Ponyville, get your altitude above ten thousand feet! Borealis, you're at five thousand feet! Ascend!" the captain yelled urgently into his radio.

The crew still had forgotten to disconnect the radio chatter from the intercom system.

"Currently at three thousand feet!" a pilot cried over the radio.

"Man, there's no way I can make ten thousand feet," griped another pilot.

Another explosion sounded, causing the ship's interior to rattle once again. Thankfully, this one was weaker than the last for unknown reasons. Ponies inside the ship all held their breath as they listened intently to the radio chatter.

"Ballistic shell strike in ten, nine..." the captain began to count down.

"Come on! Come on! Pull up! Pull up!"

"Borealis, you're at seven thousand feet! You need to climb NOW!"

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. It didn't seem real at all. It felt too much like a dream. Everything seemed to be happening so fast that she couldn't comprehend what exactly was going on. Her mind felt cloudy and numb. Her senses dulled, it was like she couldn't function right now. So she had no choice but to helplessly listen to the situation as best she could.

"Everypony, grab on to something!" a soldier in the room with them yelled.

This feeling...it wasn't right. Adding the chaos of the chatter just aggravated it. It was almost alien. She knew right then that she never wanted to have this sensation again.

"...three, two, impact, now!"

Right on cue, a brief screeching roared through the air so loud that it made the previous explosions seem tame. Directly after the screeching was the explosion. The bang tore through the entire ship, just the sound wave making ponies cry out in pain as they did their best to protect their ears. Ponies were tossed to the floor, some trying to dodge loose equipment that was skidding around. Pressure rifles were scattered across the metallic tiles as well, soldiers losing their weapons and helmets.

Twilight and her friends hit the deck immediately, covering their ears with their hooves as the unicorn instinctively formed a enchanted forcefield around her and her friends. She realized that it was harder for her to channel her magic now, which was not good. She never felt safe when her magic was affected negatively by anything, whether it was an external or internal cause. Hopefully the shield would hold.

She heard Pressure rifles clatter to the floor as the bodies of ponies soon followed. She heard many yelps and cries before a ringing in her ears took over her hearing. Twilight cursed silently as she covered them with her hooves, annoyed at the possible hearing damage. Boxes filled with small mechanical parts and tools where thrown to the floor as the ship began to tilt the ship ever-so slightly towards the front of the aerial giant.

The roar of the burst subsided after a few seconds. To Twilight, it had felt like hours had passed.

When she got up, she realized that the Aurora was largely undamaged, from the inside at least. Ponies, weapons, and equipment was scattered all across the silvery metal floor. Most of the occupants were trying to get back on their hooves, some assisting others, and  dozens of conversations began to fill the room. The foals were crying again. She turned to look behind her and confirmed that her friends were fine.

Applejack had already started picking Rarity off the floor and Pinkie had done the same with Fluttershy. Both Pinkie and Fluttershy were both close to bursting out in sobs now, she could see the tears welling up in their eyes.

She sighed in relief.

Another cracking sound.

"Gah! I've been hit!"

"I just lost the guy on my six!"

"Strikehoof three, respond!"

"What the hay was that attack? It was like molten steel raining down on us!"

"Allied squadron wiped out! What happened!?"

"The Borealis just burst into flames! She's taken severe damage!"

The ponies in the open room all glanced at each other in shock. All of her friends trotting up to her and hugged her tightly as they could. Applejack's face was dropped in disdain, while Rarity held a hoof to her chest in sorrow. She could feel Pinkie Pie shivering through Fluttershy's body. The shy pony was visibly crying now as she nuzzled Twilight's neck.

"I-I'm scared Twi-light. I really a-am," she sputtered out as the pegasus choked on her tears.

A set of tears went down both of her purple cheeks.

"Me too girls. Me too," she whispered in reply.

Twilight pulled them in closer, squeezed them even tighter. The collective body warmth soothed and reassured her. It felt like a protective cocoon of love had surrounded her, promising to keep her safe from the cruel world outside. She didn't want to leave it. Who would have? If she was going to get through this, she had to depend on them, just as they depended on her. She knew that she had to do everything she could for them, and provide them with everything she could possibly offer.

And that's why she broke the hug and galloped away.

"Second ballistic shell incoming! Borealis! Evasive action!"

Twilight scurried towards the upper decks, climbing a flight of stairs, her hooves clanging against the metal surface. Her friends all glanced at each other with mystified expressions.

"What's gotten in to her?" Applejack asked, pointing a hoof up at the hallway entrance that the stairs led to and that the unicorn had just vanished into.

Twilight had to know.

She had to see what was happening with her own eyes. There had to be a window in the command room. She had to see, not just for herself but for everypony else as well. They had to know what was really happening here. She owed it to them.

Twilight tapped a magical radar spell to learn the layout of the ship. The magic was coming in fuzzy again. She didn't understand why. Perhaps it was the stress or the emotional shock that she was going through.

Or maybe it was just a broken heart...

Her mind clicked in a familiar understanding immediately when she got the usual feeling that a spell had been successful. She now had a map in her head of the ship's infrastructure that would certainly help her locate the command room. When she saw the layout, she was momentarily surprised at the complexity and scale of the warship. But now wasn't the time for this. She sent her petty curiosities packing as she scanned the mental map for the command room. She gave a smug smile when she found it.

"The front of the ship! Of course!"

"Ten, nine, eight..."

Her hooves skidded across the floor as she almost slipped and fell while turning a corner. After Twilight recovered, she dodged regulars as her way to the command room. Two aerial sailors shouted at her to halt but she paid no heed. Most of the personnel only saw a flash of purple rapidly zip by them in the hallways. She darted through hallway after hallway, navigating the corridors like a maze.

"...Three, two, impact, now!"

The screeching returned again, this time giving off a dreadful siren-like effect. The detonation of the shell couldn't have been to far away as its power was felt within the Aurora once more. It was like an earthquake had taken within the craft itself. Everything was shaking, and there was a deep rumbling sound emanating from the warship.

Twilight was thrown off of her hooves, her body going airborne until it violently slammed into the side of a wall. The sensation of being flung into the air almost felt like she was flying. The pain in her side was sharp as it hit the wall, causing her to let out a yelp. The metal interior rattled as the shockwave from the burst shell reverberated throughout the entire sky destroyer. The lights above flickered and the vibrations from the strike drowned out the yelps of the crew that had lost their footing once more.

"-the captain of the Borealis! This is my last order! Abandon ship!"

Twilight threw herself up immediately, galloping to her destination like a crazed maniac. She had to know the truth. She had to make sure that her friends knew the truth. She had to see what was happening to Ponyville with her own eyes.

After traversing several hallways and automatic doors, she finally had come to what looked like just another door.

The mare burst through the door, shocking some of the personnel inside. She opened her eyes and saw a huge display of consoles and information systems decked on each side of the walls. The captain was frantically addressing his subordinate officers over a holographic map table in the center of the room, the only ones who were too locked in discussion to notice Twilight Sparkle bursting through the entrance.

But that was nothing compared to what she had come here for.

A wide window, at the end of the room, gave an excellent bird's eye view of what had transpired outside.

Twilight broke into a quick gallop, teleporting past a couple of guards that tried to block her way, and rushed up the window and immediately cast her gaze downward, onto her home below.

She gasped.

****

Beyond the pillar of smoke, was not her hometown but a pit in flames.

There was no town.

There was just a massive fire.

She could see the few skeletons of what had once been homes and businesses, surrounded by an inferno of death. Orange flickering spots were visible all across the outskirts of the town. Nothing living was visible. Flames filled the newly-made crater.

All of those ponies, still trapped in that town...

The attack came without warning, there was no way they could have gotten to the bunkers that fast.

Through her watery eyes, she could see the Borealis off to the left. It was significantly lower than the Aurora and was descending fast. It was trailing smoke with embers jutting out of its black armor. Twisted metal and loose parts were hanging precariously from the main body and it was at this moment when Twilight realized that the Borealis had nearly been split in half. Chunks of the once-mighty heavy cruiser were falling to the scorched landscape below as the destroyer's sister ship was losing its integrity.

Then, an explosion ripped through the entire vessel as a fire had struck the magic-filled powder magazine. The ball of fire ripped through steel and gave off a bluish sparkle. The raw magically energy tore through what was left of the structure, effectively slicing the cruiser in two. Both pieces nosedived and let gravity take hold as they plummeted to the earth below.

The shortness of breath had started to make her huff as her chest tightened up. It felt like a towel that was being wringed out. Her thoughts became scrambled and incoherent as she felt nothing when her body dropped to the ground with a loud thud.

Her supercomputer brain was unable to process anything. Her magic felt almost nonexistent. She couldn't even hear herself wail and scream in despair. She had never felt so alone.

Truly and utterly broken.

****

Twilight gasped awake.

Her breathing was out of control and her head was pounding. Her coat was covered in sweat, and she felt sticky.

She threw off her blankets and sat up on her haunches, planting her flank on the soaked bedsheets under her. After a couple of seconds of slow, deliberate deep breaths, she regained control of her psyche.

Or at least Twilight hoped she had.

She sat there in the darkness for a few seconds, her mind blank and clear. The metronome of the clock on the wall ticking had settled her nerves. She could hear muffled speech and laughter from the other side of her door across from her bed. She looked down and noticed the only source of light besides her alarm clock, funneling in through the crack below the door. The inside of the captain's quarters was built and designed like an ordinary bedroom, or at least, as close as they could get it.

An eerie bluish glow enveloped the entire room, thanks to her digital alarm clock. It was making the normally white walls appear like...

Well she didn't know exactly, but this atmosphere did wonders calming her down.

Always has.

This was the third time she had had that dreadful nightmare, every encounter exactly the same, so vivid.

She sighed as her gut wrenched.

She knew that was because it wasn't a nightmare, although she had wished with all her heart that it was.

It was a memory.