The "September" incidentby IxyXVIIIChaptersPart I: October...Part II: ApplejackPart III: Twilight SparklePart I: October...Part I: October… The big boom had echoed across all of Equestria, although for the unlikely citizens of Ponyville it was a simple flash of light, a flash of light that would be the end of their lives. The light echoed and seared its way across the land. This incident that transpired, was never supposed to happen. Unfortunately it did occur, the incident that would live in infamy known only as September. Well at least that’s what the seemingly only survivor called it. He was a young stallion. He was pale gray in color with a dazzling mane of blue and red. The only problem with this youngling was that he couldn’t remember what had occurred. At this moment in time he was standing up and looking around, a bit bewildered by everything. This stallion was standing all alone in the middle of what seemed to be a completely deserted, or better yet, ruined remnants of some sort of village or small town. The stallion was as confused as a bird that had just hit his head on the window of some person’s humble home. When he attempted to wiggle his ears, all he could feel were some strange things covering them. He looked up to see a pair of blue headphones atop his head. He shrugged and sighed, was he that into music? He really couldn’t remember much… In fact if he thought really hard then he couldn’t remember anything! ‘Whoa this is weird! I can’t remember anything! My name! Why I’m here… What day is it?’ He looked to the sky, but it was gray and clouded over so it yielded no answers as to the day. In fact nothing around him was yielding any answer. There were burnt leftover remains of trees. They were the blackened nubs of stumps. When he looked closer it appeared as if the trees had been incinerated in some way, and had burned for a period of time afterward. ‘Perhaps it was a dragon or some strange creature like that?’ he thought to himself and continued to investigate nearby objects. ‘This is terrible there is no one here!’ his mind screamed as he whirled around in a circle. ‘What happened here? Where the hell IS everypony?!’ It wasn’t the fact that he was alone that made him want to run so much, no. It was the fact that there was something deep in his brain that was nagging at him; something was disturbing the hell out of this young stallion. He just couldn’t figure out what could be disturbing him in this manner so much. Maybe it was the fact that there could still BE some creature running around here! Some creature that could burn him just as the trees had been incinerated. That was it right? Still no, the young stallion found absolutely no signs of life. The feeling was eerie; it seemed as if it was the end of the world. Is that what this was? Was it someone’s twisted joke to fake the apocalypse? He glared around icily. Still no answer. Only the whisper of the wind over the barren black earth. He wandered around for a bit, observing the hollowed out shells of once standing buildings. They were now burnt black as charcoal and he started to feel even more paranoid. His steps became a fast trot, and he started to breath more heavily as his feet carried him over the barren land. Still the more he looked around, the more frantic he became, until he realized he was running through the darkened village. He whipped his head back and forth, trying in desperation to find a way out. Then he saw it, written on the ground in the blood of other ponies. The writing only said one simple word, “September.” In a flash he was able to remember some things. He remembered that it was October the first, and he remembered something else. “An explosion!” he gasped and sank back on his haunches. The memory of fleeing ponies whirled through his mind, and of somepony crying out in pure psychosis, “It’s done! Finally it’s done!” followed by a cackle. “Stop him!” his own voice echoed in frantic desperation. “He’s trying to kill us all! Stop him!” “No I’m going to save you! I’m going to save you all! Don’t you try to stop me!” the psychotic voice responded through the thick fog enveloping his mind at a rapid rate. He was brought back to reality in a flash, and sat there panting. The young stallion felt more fear then ever. ‘An explosion happened in September!’ It was then that another voice echoed his thoughts, “What happened here?!” He turned and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw six different ponies and a purple dragon looking at him with a dumbfounded expression. “I’m only going to ask you one more time buddy! What happened?!” a rather angry looking pony flew down and in his face. She had rainbow colored hair, and a blue coat. The young stallion backed up, were these ponies the ones that caused the explosion?! He was a little scared, especially of the rainbow haired one. From what he could tell she was as crazy as she acted. Another one stepped forward from the group and looked him up and down with a microscope that came from who knows where. Her hair bounced around wildly and she spoke in a high pitched voice, “You caused this didn’t you?!” The young stallion was very frightened of these crazy ponies now. He backed away even further, turned around, and fled as fast as his feet would take them. Before he got very far, he realized that his feet were off the ground and churning through the air. His eyes widened and he let out a loud gasp. ‘Am I falling?!’ his mind whirled in panic and the world went to darkness. Part II: ApplejackPart II: Applejack “What in the name of Sweet Apple Acres is goin’ on here?!” Applejack exclaimed as she looked at the once beautiful town of Ponyville. “I don’t know Applejack,” Twilight Sparkle, her purple unicorn friend was looking around, a bit dumbfounded at everything. The town was an empty husk of the flourishing place it had once been. The dark that now surrounded the place was a spine chilling one. Applejack honestly had never been afraid of the dark, but now that she was looking around all she saw was the darkness. It had etched itself upon the walls of every house, every nook and cranny of the once flourishing town. Her orange hoofs were getting blackened from the ash that seemed to have replaced the lush grass with its evil blackness. Twilight was hunched over, what seemed to be, the only pony left in town. He was a pale gray stallion, but his coat was covered in burn marks and the darkness of charcoal. There were a pair of seemingly untouched blue headphones on his head, but upon glancing at the stallions cutie mark, it had nothing to do with music. “Well darn tootin! I’m wonderin why this young fella passed out. I’m guessing you gave him a mighty shock Rainbow!” Applejack tried to ignore the eerie cutie mark on the young stallions flank as she gazed at her quite eccentric friend. “I only gave him a little scare!” Rainbowdash complained rather loudly. “It’s not like I was the one who made him float in the air or anything.” “That may be true…but this young fella has had quite a shock here, and it didn’t quite help that Twi held him in the air like that…” Applejack said with all of her honesty oozing from her voice. Twilight Sparkle sighed loudly, “He seems to be the only pony left here!” “Th-that’s not t-true Twilight…” a very shy and quiet voice responded. Applejack glanced over at her friend, Fluttershy. The pastel yellow pony was shaking like a leaf in a storm and staring at the word “September” written in red liquid ooze on the ground. Fear, what was it? Normally the honest Applejack didn’t have much of it herself. She had always just been able to buck whatever was pestering her out of the way or fight off whatever was trying to get at her and her friends. This was a different case however, and cold crept into Applejack for the first time in what seemed like ages. Fluttershy let out a soft scream and turned. She was about to flee when Twilight used her magic to keep the extremely frightened pony from flying away and hiding in some deep place where no one would be able to get her out. “Aaaaah!” Fluttershy cried quietly and flailed her hooves around in the air as the magic suspended her. Twilight sighed, “Calm down everypony! I’m sure this has a reasonable explanation!” Though Twilight said that out loud, Applejack knew she was more reasoning with herself than anyone else. There was a sudden happy squeal from an excited pink pony next to her. Applejack jumped and reared as Pinkie Pie, one of her more excitable friends ran over to the red ooze. The crazy pink pony took one look at it and put her hoof down in the “P” of the word. Applejack gasped in horror as Pinkie Pie opened her pink mouth and put the foul liquid inside. “mmm hmm I thought so!” she said in a most satisfied way. Applejack felt her stomach turn and didn’t want to know the answer as Rarity asked, “Pinkie! What sort of vulgar substance have you put in your mouth this time?!” “Well at first I was hoping it was ketchup! No wait I thought it was cherry juice! NO! WAIT!” “Just get to the point!” Rainbow Dash said a bit irritated by her friend. Pinkie Pie sighed then brightened right back up, “It was blood!” The horror that struck everypony there was clearly visible on their faces. It hung in the air like a thick fog, and Applejack had to shut her eyes for a minute to keep from passing out. Twilight Sparkle shook a little, but Applejack could sense the uncertainty in her voice as she said, “Maybe it was from another creature… It certainly couldn’t be…. Couldn’t be…” she didn’t dare finish her sentence, there was no need to anyway as Rainbow Dash did for her. “Holy buck!” she screamed and flew back away from the foul substance, “Somepony has killed everypony in town! We need to get out of here!” Fluttershy would have been gone if it weren’t for Twilights magic keeping her suspended in the air. She was screaming loud now and crying as she tried in desperation to free herself. “Now wait a darn second here!” Applejack said to her friends. “This here pony was at Ponyville when that there explosion happened. Maybe we can get some infer out of him.” Twilight nodded solemnly, “I’m so sorry guys, and you may leave if you really wish, but I’m staying until we learn the answer!” Applejack blinked and nodded. She took a stand by her friend Twilight and stared at the other four ponies standing in front of her. Well with the exception of the floating Fluttershy who was trying her best to get away from it all. Pinkie Pie stared at them for a moent then bounced over with a huge smile on her face, “Weeee! Adventure! Let’s catch the killer!” Rainbow dash looked at them and sighed, “You know, you guys are right! We have to stick together and all. Besides if that punk wakes up who will deal with him if I’m not here?” Twilight smiled as she flew over to them and joined their side. “Rarity?” The snow white pony was looking around in horror, “Oh my coat could get dirty, but I simply must find out what happened to my home! What if my new fashionista hats are destroyed?!” Rarity gasped and joined their side. Spike the dragon was already over with them, he had on a moustache to suggested he was in his investigative state, “Fluttershy! Join us! We could be true heroes!” “O-or we could also die!” she squeaked out quietly. There was that… Apllejack sighed when something shot through her like a sharp bolt of lightning. “SWEET APPLE ACRES!” she cried out loud. No sooner had the words escaped her lips, and then she realized that her hooves were sending her flying in the direction of her home. It took her over blackened earth and the closer she got, the more her horror had grown. The fear that chilled her was because she still saw no signs of life. The darkness. The death. And her family could be blown to bits! Her hooves carried her to their barn. The North orchard was completely obliterated by the blast of the explosion, but it appeared as if the South orchard had been saved. Her heart almost stopped when she saw the state of the barn. It was ruined, blackened like everything else. Her attention went to their home. Her heart DID stop briefly, for what she saw scared her horribly. Her hooves carried her against her will to the ruins of the destroyed barn and house. She dreaded what she would see inside. Applejack had once experienced some deaths in the family, and the grief almost overwhelmed her when she found Granny Smith. Applejack let out a wail and threw herself on her dead grandmother’s body. She had lost her parents, and now her grandmother as well. ‘Why?! Why Granny Smith?! You’re my fave grandmother! I can’t have lost you!’ Applejack was staring at the limp and burned body of her grandmother as her stomach churned. The only thing that made her come to was her friend, Twilight Sparkle. Her hoof was placed on Applejacks shoulder. There was grief showing in both their eyes, and they hugged. Applejack was wracked with sobs, everything she had was ruined! Rainbow Dash and the others soon followed, the somber looks on their faces showed that they could see what had happened. Everypony raced to their crushed friend and smothered her with hugs. It was all they could do to comfort their friend. Granny Smith was just one pony lost in September… And as the young stallion was trotting slowly up to the group, he stared at the dead body of Granny Smith, yet he did not feel the same grief as the other ponies. Nor did he feel shock, or sickness or seemingly any other emotion. Oddly enough the only emotion he seemed to feel was… ‘Am I satisfied with what’s happened to this poor soul?’ the young stallion asked himself in shock. He watched as all eyes fell on him, he just stared back at those accusing eyes. They didn’t bother him at all. These ponies hadn’t killed him before so who’s to say that they would now? Applejack sprang away from her friends. She was in such a state of rage that the young stallion was bound to be trampled if he didn’t sidestep away from this insane pony. He leapt away and before this crazy orange Technicolor pony threw herself at him again, she was frozen. “Lemme go Twilight!” the insane Applejack screamed loudly at her friend. “He killed Granny Smith! Lemme finish this bucker off!” Twilight looked at her friend fiercely, “Calm down Applejack! If you kill him then we won’t know what happened in the first place!” Applejack struggled fiercely for a few moments, and Twilight waited patiently for her to expend her energy before she released her. When Applejack finally went limp, Twilight turned her enraged, and yet surprisingly calm eyes on the confused looking stallion. “Now you are going to tell us what happened…” Twilight said calmly, “or you will be dealt with.” Part III: Twilight SparklePart III: Twilight Sparkle The young stallion was staring dumbfounded at the purple unicorn standing before him. He could see the power in her gaze, and knew that this was no mediocre magic trick unicorn. This purple monster meant business and if he didn’t cough up the answers she required soon, he would be minced meat. Twilight Sparkle stood there and repeated again with a bit more intensity, “What happened here?” As the stallion stood there dumbfounded, Twilight analyzed him. Her mind went racing as soon as he hesitated. To her, this was a simple mind trick game. She was able to analyze every single movement that this stallion made. From the way he nervously glanced at them, to the simple movement of his hooves. ‘Interesting. I am not even sure that this stallion knows a thing about what happened here. Considering the way he hesitates to answer one simple question, especially when I’m threatening him in such a manner.’ Twilight’s mind whirled and still there was no answer from the young stallion. ‘Or maybe he knows too much! Maybe he was the one that caused this and he doesn’t want to fess up to such heinous crimes!’ “That’s it! You better answer buddy! Or the Dash is going to force them out of you!” Rainbow Dash threatened and moved her hooves in a boxing manner, as if she was fighting her opponent. Twilight sighed, “Rainbow! Give him a chance to think! This stallion could be suffering from some sort of post traumatic stress!” “Yeah or he could be the one that caused this mess!” Rainbow Dash scoffed and crossed her hooves, angrily glowering at the young stallion. Twilight Sparkle sighed; Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and even she wanted justice to be brought upon this stallion, but what if he wasn’t the killer? The explosion appeared to have come from the very center of Ponyville. That’s what Twilight had at least deduced from the way that the trees were smoldered to charcoal. In some areas there were still whole trees left. The young stallion interrupted her thought processes when he answered, “I can’t remember much of anything! Just that there was an explosion and everypony seems to have gotten all caught up in it. Well at least that’s what I think, considering I haven’t seen any bodies yet.” His answer chilled Twilight to the bone. There hadn’t been any bodies lying around on the ground. Except for dear old Granny Smith who was lying so carelessly amongst the piles of broken up barn parts and burnt out wood. “He’s right,’ Twilight whispered and flicked her violet eyes over to her friends, “We haven’t seen any bodies…” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, but what made Twilight suspicious was the way Pinkie Pie was reacting to this whole thing. Her normally hyper friend was keeping her mouth shut and kept looking at the stallion intensely, as if she was saying, ‘I know you…’ The young stallion rubbed his head and murmured, “I can’t even remember my own name.” Pinkie Pie leapt up and pointed out his cutie mark, “Well it’s a Tombstone with arms! Ummm Army the Tombstone?!” Twilight rolled her eyes, “A tombstone hmmm?” The young stallion looked at his cutie mark and sighed deeply. A wave of frustration rolled over him as he tried to recall what his name was. It was on the edge of his memory, floating there, yet just out of reach so that he couldn’t catch it. The mention of the tombstone though jogged some of his thoughts into motion. It was as if the world blurred around him and he was falling into a large precipice as the name tumbled unwillingly out of his mouth, “I am the Living Tombstone.” Twilight looked at him as if he had just grown a second head. The name sent chills up and down the mare’s spine. The thing that seemed to unnerve her was the name itself. ‘He is the only survivor that I have seen! Could he have gotten his cutie mark by surviving this massive explosion? That is simply ridiculous, but logical and possible all at once!’ Twilight didn’t dare say anything about the name, but her mind whirled at all the possibilities hanging in the air. Her good friend, Rainbow Dash, brought her out of her twisted thoughts with a sharp nudge. “We should take this weirdo with us Twilight! We don’t know what he’s capable of! He could try to kill somepony else if we don’t keep a good eye on him!” Twilight was hesitant to agree. She didn’t like this young stallion at all, but knew that they should keep him with them or he might try something else. “Agreed we should make sure he doesn’t try anything else!” Fluttershy, the most skittish of all the ponies, shook her head as if she disagreed, but didn’t dare argue. Applejack hung her head and trotted back over to where her dead grandmother lay, whispering some words to her. Rarity looked disgusted and shook her head but didn’t say anything more to add to the group’s opinion. Twilight figured she was just worried about keeping her white coat as pure as snow. Pinkie Pie looked as if she was ready to go and leap into action, and Rainbow Dash was glowering at the young stallion. “Twilight we have to be careful…” Spike, her assistant murmured. Twilight sighed and shook her head, “He didn’t necessarily do this horrible thing. We have to keep an eye on him.” Pushing the fact that all of her friends seemed to strongly dislike this pony to the back of her mind; she turned towards Ponyville, or rather, what was left of her beloved town. “It’s getting pretty dark,” Spike commented looking around warily as if the darkness could swallow him whole. Twilight sighed and forced her horn to glow, acting as a sort of flashlight to help illuminate their way forward. The ponies walked in silence taking in the seen of desolation. The burnt out trees, the blackness of the scorched building, and the eerie feeling as to why there were no bodies around. This didn’t creep Twilight out as much as it crept out her friends. She was simply trying to deduce what event could of have transpired and wiped out every single pony. The bodies, surely the ponies were either obliterated where they stood, or some could have even escaped. Or was there something more sinister in the matter. When Twilight cast her violet gaze up to the clouds, she somewhat knew that Cloudsdale could not have been effected by such an incident as this one. Surely the explosion could not have reached such a height that it would have affected the very skies themselves. Twilight’s thoughts buzzed so much that she accidentally collided with the rump of her friend, Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie was walking unusually slowly and wasn’t trotting as fast or as furious as she normally would have before. The pony almost seemed in a state of a lost train of thought. Twilight figured that the explosion had even affected her pink friend in a way that had subdued her wild behavior. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when the young stallion beside her let out a small gasp. He was staring at what looked to be a blackened device of sorts. Rainbow Dash flew over to it, and examined it like it was nothing to her. Twilight was shocked for this rather large platform had to be the source of the explosion. It was centered in the very heart of Ponyville. Pinkie Pie bounced over to it and looked at it carefully, an inspector’s hat and magnifying glass had mysteriously appeared on her being. Her blue eyes glided carefully around when she suddenly squawked, “There’s an entrance here Twilight!” Twilight was too busy looking between the device and the young stallion. He was just sitting there with eyes that were as big as dish saucers. He was gasping for breath and finally came to a few seconds later. “I remember something, perhaps we should go down that hole on the device!” he exclaimed. Rainbow Dash sighed, “Alright braniac it’s up to you! Should we really believe this pony that was here with the explosion?” Though all of her senses screamed no, Twilight knew she wanted to know the truth. She wanted to know so bad it was eating her alive inside. She took a deep breath and said, “Alright everypony. Don’t be alarmed but we must know the truth and in order to do that. We must enter whatever place has been below our hooves this whole time. If you are not brave enough to follow me down there then I understand, but I must know.” With that Twilight entered the yawning darkness of the hole, ‘Whatever the cause is I must know… for the sake of Equestria!’ Author's Note Sorry I went to a con for three days and then got all caught up in school! Part III is now up though!
Part I: October...Part I: October… The big boom had echoed across all of Equestria, although for the unlikely citizens of Ponyville it was a simple flash of light, a flash of light that would be the end of their lives. The light echoed and seared its way across the land. This incident that transpired, was never supposed to happen. Unfortunately it did occur, the incident that would live in infamy known only as September. Well at least that’s what the seemingly only survivor called it. He was a young stallion. He was pale gray in color with a dazzling mane of blue and red. The only problem with this youngling was that he couldn’t remember what had occurred. At this moment in time he was standing up and looking around, a bit bewildered by everything. This stallion was standing all alone in the middle of what seemed to be a completely deserted, or better yet, ruined remnants of some sort of village or small town. The stallion was as confused as a bird that had just hit his head on the window of some person’s humble home. When he attempted to wiggle his ears, all he could feel were some strange things covering them. He looked up to see a pair of blue headphones atop his head. He shrugged and sighed, was he that into music? He really couldn’t remember much… In fact if he thought really hard then he couldn’t remember anything! ‘Whoa this is weird! I can’t remember anything! My name! Why I’m here… What day is it?’ He looked to the sky, but it was gray and clouded over so it yielded no answers as to the day. In fact nothing around him was yielding any answer. There were burnt leftover remains of trees. They were the blackened nubs of stumps. When he looked closer it appeared as if the trees had been incinerated in some way, and had burned for a period of time afterward. ‘Perhaps it was a dragon or some strange creature like that?’ he thought to himself and continued to investigate nearby objects. ‘This is terrible there is no one here!’ his mind screamed as he whirled around in a circle. ‘What happened here? Where the hell IS everypony?!’ It wasn’t the fact that he was alone that made him want to run so much, no. It was the fact that there was something deep in his brain that was nagging at him; something was disturbing the hell out of this young stallion. He just couldn’t figure out what could be disturbing him in this manner so much. Maybe it was the fact that there could still BE some creature running around here! Some creature that could burn him just as the trees had been incinerated. That was it right? Still no, the young stallion found absolutely no signs of life. The feeling was eerie; it seemed as if it was the end of the world. Is that what this was? Was it someone’s twisted joke to fake the apocalypse? He glared around icily. Still no answer. Only the whisper of the wind over the barren black earth. He wandered around for a bit, observing the hollowed out shells of once standing buildings. They were now burnt black as charcoal and he started to feel even more paranoid. His steps became a fast trot, and he started to breath more heavily as his feet carried him over the barren land. Still the more he looked around, the more frantic he became, until he realized he was running through the darkened village. He whipped his head back and forth, trying in desperation to find a way out. Then he saw it, written on the ground in the blood of other ponies. The writing only said one simple word, “September.” In a flash he was able to remember some things. He remembered that it was October the first, and he remembered something else. “An explosion!” he gasped and sank back on his haunches. The memory of fleeing ponies whirled through his mind, and of somepony crying out in pure psychosis, “It’s done! Finally it’s done!” followed by a cackle. “Stop him!” his own voice echoed in frantic desperation. “He’s trying to kill us all! Stop him!” “No I’m going to save you! I’m going to save you all! Don’t you try to stop me!” the psychotic voice responded through the thick fog enveloping his mind at a rapid rate. He was brought back to reality in a flash, and sat there panting. The young stallion felt more fear then ever. ‘An explosion happened in September!’ It was then that another voice echoed his thoughts, “What happened here?!” He turned and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw six different ponies and a purple dragon looking at him with a dumbfounded expression. “I’m only going to ask you one more time buddy! What happened?!” a rather angry looking pony flew down and in his face. She had rainbow colored hair, and a blue coat. The young stallion backed up, were these ponies the ones that caused the explosion?! He was a little scared, especially of the rainbow haired one. From what he could tell she was as crazy as she acted. Another one stepped forward from the group and looked him up and down with a microscope that came from who knows where. Her hair bounced around wildly and she spoke in a high pitched voice, “You caused this didn’t you?!” The young stallion was very frightened of these crazy ponies now. He backed away even further, turned around, and fled as fast as his feet would take them. Before he got very far, he realized that his feet were off the ground and churning through the air. His eyes widened and he let out a loud gasp. ‘Am I falling?!’ his mind whirled in panic and the world went to darkness.
Part II: ApplejackPart II: Applejack “What in the name of Sweet Apple Acres is goin’ on here?!” Applejack exclaimed as she looked at the once beautiful town of Ponyville. “I don’t know Applejack,” Twilight Sparkle, her purple unicorn friend was looking around, a bit dumbfounded at everything. The town was an empty husk of the flourishing place it had once been. The dark that now surrounded the place was a spine chilling one. Applejack honestly had never been afraid of the dark, but now that she was looking around all she saw was the darkness. It had etched itself upon the walls of every house, every nook and cranny of the once flourishing town. Her orange hoofs were getting blackened from the ash that seemed to have replaced the lush grass with its evil blackness. Twilight was hunched over, what seemed to be, the only pony left in town. He was a pale gray stallion, but his coat was covered in burn marks and the darkness of charcoal. There were a pair of seemingly untouched blue headphones on his head, but upon glancing at the stallions cutie mark, it had nothing to do with music. “Well darn tootin! I’m wonderin why this young fella passed out. I’m guessing you gave him a mighty shock Rainbow!” Applejack tried to ignore the eerie cutie mark on the young stallions flank as she gazed at her quite eccentric friend. “I only gave him a little scare!” Rainbowdash complained rather loudly. “It’s not like I was the one who made him float in the air or anything.” “That may be true…but this young fella has had quite a shock here, and it didn’t quite help that Twi held him in the air like that…” Applejack said with all of her honesty oozing from her voice. Twilight Sparkle sighed loudly, “He seems to be the only pony left here!” “Th-that’s not t-true Twilight…” a very shy and quiet voice responded. Applejack glanced over at her friend, Fluttershy. The pastel yellow pony was shaking like a leaf in a storm and staring at the word “September” written in red liquid ooze on the ground. Fear, what was it? Normally the honest Applejack didn’t have much of it herself. She had always just been able to buck whatever was pestering her out of the way or fight off whatever was trying to get at her and her friends. This was a different case however, and cold crept into Applejack for the first time in what seemed like ages. Fluttershy let out a soft scream and turned. She was about to flee when Twilight used her magic to keep the extremely frightened pony from flying away and hiding in some deep place where no one would be able to get her out. “Aaaaah!” Fluttershy cried quietly and flailed her hooves around in the air as the magic suspended her. Twilight sighed, “Calm down everypony! I’m sure this has a reasonable explanation!” Though Twilight said that out loud, Applejack knew she was more reasoning with herself than anyone else. There was a sudden happy squeal from an excited pink pony next to her. Applejack jumped and reared as Pinkie Pie, one of her more excitable friends ran over to the red ooze. The crazy pink pony took one look at it and put her hoof down in the “P” of the word. Applejack gasped in horror as Pinkie Pie opened her pink mouth and put the foul liquid inside. “mmm hmm I thought so!” she said in a most satisfied way. Applejack felt her stomach turn and didn’t want to know the answer as Rarity asked, “Pinkie! What sort of vulgar substance have you put in your mouth this time?!” “Well at first I was hoping it was ketchup! No wait I thought it was cherry juice! NO! WAIT!” “Just get to the point!” Rainbow Dash said a bit irritated by her friend. Pinkie Pie sighed then brightened right back up, “It was blood!” The horror that struck everypony there was clearly visible on their faces. It hung in the air like a thick fog, and Applejack had to shut her eyes for a minute to keep from passing out. Twilight Sparkle shook a little, but Applejack could sense the uncertainty in her voice as she said, “Maybe it was from another creature… It certainly couldn’t be…. Couldn’t be…” she didn’t dare finish her sentence, there was no need to anyway as Rainbow Dash did for her. “Holy buck!” she screamed and flew back away from the foul substance, “Somepony has killed everypony in town! We need to get out of here!” Fluttershy would have been gone if it weren’t for Twilights magic keeping her suspended in the air. She was screaming loud now and crying as she tried in desperation to free herself. “Now wait a darn second here!” Applejack said to her friends. “This here pony was at Ponyville when that there explosion happened. Maybe we can get some infer out of him.” Twilight nodded solemnly, “I’m so sorry guys, and you may leave if you really wish, but I’m staying until we learn the answer!” Applejack blinked and nodded. She took a stand by her friend Twilight and stared at the other four ponies standing in front of her. Well with the exception of the floating Fluttershy who was trying her best to get away from it all. Pinkie Pie stared at them for a moent then bounced over with a huge smile on her face, “Weeee! Adventure! Let’s catch the killer!” Rainbow dash looked at them and sighed, “You know, you guys are right! We have to stick together and all. Besides if that punk wakes up who will deal with him if I’m not here?” Twilight smiled as she flew over to them and joined their side. “Rarity?” The snow white pony was looking around in horror, “Oh my coat could get dirty, but I simply must find out what happened to my home! What if my new fashionista hats are destroyed?!” Rarity gasped and joined their side. Spike the dragon was already over with them, he had on a moustache to suggested he was in his investigative state, “Fluttershy! Join us! We could be true heroes!” “O-or we could also die!” she squeaked out quietly. There was that… Apllejack sighed when something shot through her like a sharp bolt of lightning. “SWEET APPLE ACRES!” she cried out loud. No sooner had the words escaped her lips, and then she realized that her hooves were sending her flying in the direction of her home. It took her over blackened earth and the closer she got, the more her horror had grown. The fear that chilled her was because she still saw no signs of life. The darkness. The death. And her family could be blown to bits! Her hooves carried her to their barn. The North orchard was completely obliterated by the blast of the explosion, but it appeared as if the South orchard had been saved. Her heart almost stopped when she saw the state of the barn. It was ruined, blackened like everything else. Her attention went to their home. Her heart DID stop briefly, for what she saw scared her horribly. Her hooves carried her against her will to the ruins of the destroyed barn and house. She dreaded what she would see inside. Applejack had once experienced some deaths in the family, and the grief almost overwhelmed her when she found Granny Smith. Applejack let out a wail and threw herself on her dead grandmother’s body. She had lost her parents, and now her grandmother as well. ‘Why?! Why Granny Smith?! You’re my fave grandmother! I can’t have lost you!’ Applejack was staring at the limp and burned body of her grandmother as her stomach churned. The only thing that made her come to was her friend, Twilight Sparkle. Her hoof was placed on Applejacks shoulder. There was grief showing in both their eyes, and they hugged. Applejack was wracked with sobs, everything she had was ruined! Rainbow Dash and the others soon followed, the somber looks on their faces showed that they could see what had happened. Everypony raced to their crushed friend and smothered her with hugs. It was all they could do to comfort their friend. Granny Smith was just one pony lost in September… And as the young stallion was trotting slowly up to the group, he stared at the dead body of Granny Smith, yet he did not feel the same grief as the other ponies. Nor did he feel shock, or sickness or seemingly any other emotion. Oddly enough the only emotion he seemed to feel was… ‘Am I satisfied with what’s happened to this poor soul?’ the young stallion asked himself in shock. He watched as all eyes fell on him, he just stared back at those accusing eyes. They didn’t bother him at all. These ponies hadn’t killed him before so who’s to say that they would now? Applejack sprang away from her friends. She was in such a state of rage that the young stallion was bound to be trampled if he didn’t sidestep away from this insane pony. He leapt away and before this crazy orange Technicolor pony threw herself at him again, she was frozen. “Lemme go Twilight!” the insane Applejack screamed loudly at her friend. “He killed Granny Smith! Lemme finish this bucker off!” Twilight looked at her friend fiercely, “Calm down Applejack! If you kill him then we won’t know what happened in the first place!” Applejack struggled fiercely for a few moments, and Twilight waited patiently for her to expend her energy before she released her. When Applejack finally went limp, Twilight turned her enraged, and yet surprisingly calm eyes on the confused looking stallion. “Now you are going to tell us what happened…” Twilight said calmly, “or you will be dealt with.”
Part III: Twilight SparklePart III: Twilight Sparkle The young stallion was staring dumbfounded at the purple unicorn standing before him. He could see the power in her gaze, and knew that this was no mediocre magic trick unicorn. This purple monster meant business and if he didn’t cough up the answers she required soon, he would be minced meat. Twilight Sparkle stood there and repeated again with a bit more intensity, “What happened here?” As the stallion stood there dumbfounded, Twilight analyzed him. Her mind went racing as soon as he hesitated. To her, this was a simple mind trick game. She was able to analyze every single movement that this stallion made. From the way he nervously glanced at them, to the simple movement of his hooves. ‘Interesting. I am not even sure that this stallion knows a thing about what happened here. Considering the way he hesitates to answer one simple question, especially when I’m threatening him in such a manner.’ Twilight’s mind whirled and still there was no answer from the young stallion. ‘Or maybe he knows too much! Maybe he was the one that caused this and he doesn’t want to fess up to such heinous crimes!’ “That’s it! You better answer buddy! Or the Dash is going to force them out of you!” Rainbow Dash threatened and moved her hooves in a boxing manner, as if she was fighting her opponent. Twilight sighed, “Rainbow! Give him a chance to think! This stallion could be suffering from some sort of post traumatic stress!” “Yeah or he could be the one that caused this mess!” Rainbow Dash scoffed and crossed her hooves, angrily glowering at the young stallion. Twilight Sparkle sighed; Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and even she wanted justice to be brought upon this stallion, but what if he wasn’t the killer? The explosion appeared to have come from the very center of Ponyville. That’s what Twilight had at least deduced from the way that the trees were smoldered to charcoal. In some areas there were still whole trees left. The young stallion interrupted her thought processes when he answered, “I can’t remember much of anything! Just that there was an explosion and everypony seems to have gotten all caught up in it. Well at least that’s what I think, considering I haven’t seen any bodies yet.” His answer chilled Twilight to the bone. There hadn’t been any bodies lying around on the ground. Except for dear old Granny Smith who was lying so carelessly amongst the piles of broken up barn parts and burnt out wood. “He’s right,’ Twilight whispered and flicked her violet eyes over to her friends, “We haven’t seen any bodies…” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, but what made Twilight suspicious was the way Pinkie Pie was reacting to this whole thing. Her normally hyper friend was keeping her mouth shut and kept looking at the stallion intensely, as if she was saying, ‘I know you…’ The young stallion rubbed his head and murmured, “I can’t even remember my own name.” Pinkie Pie leapt up and pointed out his cutie mark, “Well it’s a Tombstone with arms! Ummm Army the Tombstone?!” Twilight rolled her eyes, “A tombstone hmmm?” The young stallion looked at his cutie mark and sighed deeply. A wave of frustration rolled over him as he tried to recall what his name was. It was on the edge of his memory, floating there, yet just out of reach so that he couldn’t catch it. The mention of the tombstone though jogged some of his thoughts into motion. It was as if the world blurred around him and he was falling into a large precipice as the name tumbled unwillingly out of his mouth, “I am the Living Tombstone.” Twilight looked at him as if he had just grown a second head. The name sent chills up and down the mare’s spine. The thing that seemed to unnerve her was the name itself. ‘He is the only survivor that I have seen! Could he have gotten his cutie mark by surviving this massive explosion? That is simply ridiculous, but logical and possible all at once!’ Twilight didn’t dare say anything about the name, but her mind whirled at all the possibilities hanging in the air. Her good friend, Rainbow Dash, brought her out of her twisted thoughts with a sharp nudge. “We should take this weirdo with us Twilight! We don’t know what he’s capable of! He could try to kill somepony else if we don’t keep a good eye on him!” Twilight was hesitant to agree. She didn’t like this young stallion at all, but knew that they should keep him with them or he might try something else. “Agreed we should make sure he doesn’t try anything else!” Fluttershy, the most skittish of all the ponies, shook her head as if she disagreed, but didn’t dare argue. Applejack hung her head and trotted back over to where her dead grandmother lay, whispering some words to her. Rarity looked disgusted and shook her head but didn’t say anything more to add to the group’s opinion. Twilight figured she was just worried about keeping her white coat as pure as snow. Pinkie Pie looked as if she was ready to go and leap into action, and Rainbow Dash was glowering at the young stallion. “Twilight we have to be careful…” Spike, her assistant murmured. Twilight sighed and shook her head, “He didn’t necessarily do this horrible thing. We have to keep an eye on him.” Pushing the fact that all of her friends seemed to strongly dislike this pony to the back of her mind; she turned towards Ponyville, or rather, what was left of her beloved town. “It’s getting pretty dark,” Spike commented looking around warily as if the darkness could swallow him whole. Twilight sighed and forced her horn to glow, acting as a sort of flashlight to help illuminate their way forward. The ponies walked in silence taking in the seen of desolation. The burnt out trees, the blackness of the scorched building, and the eerie feeling as to why there were no bodies around. This didn’t creep Twilight out as much as it crept out her friends. She was simply trying to deduce what event could of have transpired and wiped out every single pony. The bodies, surely the ponies were either obliterated where they stood, or some could have even escaped. Or was there something more sinister in the matter. When Twilight cast her violet gaze up to the clouds, she somewhat knew that Cloudsdale could not have been effected by such an incident as this one. Surely the explosion could not have reached such a height that it would have affected the very skies themselves. Twilight’s thoughts buzzed so much that she accidentally collided with the rump of her friend, Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie was walking unusually slowly and wasn’t trotting as fast or as furious as she normally would have before. The pony almost seemed in a state of a lost train of thought. Twilight figured that the explosion had even affected her pink friend in a way that had subdued her wild behavior. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when the young stallion beside her let out a small gasp. He was staring at what looked to be a blackened device of sorts. Rainbow Dash flew over to it, and examined it like it was nothing to her. Twilight was shocked for this rather large platform had to be the source of the explosion. It was centered in the very heart of Ponyville. Pinkie Pie bounced over to it and looked at it carefully, an inspector’s hat and magnifying glass had mysteriously appeared on her being. Her blue eyes glided carefully around when she suddenly squawked, “There’s an entrance here Twilight!” Twilight was too busy looking between the device and the young stallion. He was just sitting there with eyes that were as big as dish saucers. He was gasping for breath and finally came to a few seconds later. “I remember something, perhaps we should go down that hole on the device!” he exclaimed. Rainbow Dash sighed, “Alright braniac it’s up to you! Should we really believe this pony that was here with the explosion?” Though all of her senses screamed no, Twilight knew she wanted to know the truth. She wanted to know so bad it was eating her alive inside. She took a deep breath and said, “Alright everypony. Don’t be alarmed but we must know the truth and in order to do that. We must enter whatever place has been below our hooves this whole time. If you are not brave enough to follow me down there then I understand, but I must know.” With that Twilight entered the yawning darkness of the hole, ‘Whatever the cause is I must know… for the sake of Equestria!’ Author's Note Sorry I went to a con for three days and then got all caught up in school! Part III is now up though!
