Scorched Earth

by Shorty Sparkle

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Fluttershy, Adventure
Length: 12378

A pony must live a life in a world that falls apart around her

Celestial Darkness is a young filly when she comes to Ponyville for the first time. Being adopted by Fluttershy she starts to live a normal life after so many things had gone wrong in her life. She had been abused by parents that adopted her along the road. Her life seems to always throw her hard times but she manages to get away from them.

Little does she know the world is going to change into something that will cause her harsh experiences to help her along the way. With some of the only ponies that could help her gone. She must learn to fend for herself.

Published 2012-02-02 09:59:20 UTC
Last updated 2012-02-24 19:13:42 UTC

Chapter 1

Scorched Earth

Prologue

I laid on the makeshift bed. The rain pouring outside with an extreme vigor as I closed my eyes. I would be dreaming for some time. The dreams of those past few weeks blasting into my head with the force of a hundred bullets. I could feel the pain twinge in my flank even after I took those pain killers.

The bullet had lodged deep into my flank. It left a hole in my cutie mark, an easel with a brush. My normally blue coat was crimson red from the combat that had ensued just minutes ago. In all the years I lived I hadn’t thought that the world would come to this. The war that surrounded us and I had been at the center of the whole thing.

My name was Celestial Darkness. All those years I never really understood what my name meant. I would ask my parents but my mother died while giving birth and my father gave me away when I was too young to remember anything.

All those years I was lied to and never learned what it was like to be loved. I think it had an impact on where I was now. Although I would be lying if I said that. This was my own fault. I could blame it on somepony who abused me as a young filly. Or those bullies in my school. I could even blame it on the dad who didn’t love me. Doing that would make me a liar though and I wasn’t about to make myself one of those too.

Goddesses, what have I done to my life?

Chapter 1

The day was bright and the sun was well... Sunny. Nearly every day in Ponyville was like that from what I heard. Manehatten had nothing on the beauty of the country side. I stepped off the chariot that I had taken to get here. The big city still looming way off in the distance. I had only taken a few steps into the town when I got assaulted by almost everypony in the town.

“WELCOME!” Came the energetic voice of the pink pony leading the whole frenzy. “Be sure to enjoy your stay in Ponyville! I am Pinkie Pie and this is Berry Punch, and this is Lyra and Bonbon and...”

The voice trailed off as I began to look around the country side. This was going to be my new home. I would live here for quite some time. The home I would be moving into was not too far from here from what I was told. My new adopted parent was a Pegasus pony living on the outskirts of Everfree Forest.
“and this is Ditzy Doo and this is Vinyl Scratch!” Pinkie Pie inhaled a large gulp of air. I think it was the first one since she had started talking to me. Then she did something I didn’t expect as her hooves wrapped around my neck. “Welcome to Ponyville!” With those words balloons went everywhere and everypony cheered.

“Well thank you everypony!” I was happy to see all these people willing to be there to welcome someone they never met before. “I hope I fit in nicely around here. Anyway, I should be getting to my new home. Anypony around here know where that might be?”

A purple pony came out of the crowd. She, along with 4 other ponies, Pinkie Pie, a rainbow one, a cowboy looking orange one, and a stunning white one with purple hair. The five ponies introduced themselves.

“Hello, I am Twilight Sparkle.” The purple one extender her hoof to me. I put mine out to shake hers but before I had a chance the Rainbow one pushed her aside and took my hand.

“HI! I am Rainbow Dash, The greatest flier in all of Equestria!” She shook my hoof violently then walked away. I looked at the White one to get her name.

“Ah, right, my name is Rarity dear. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She was polite almost regale like.

The orange one looked at me and just tipped her cowboy hat. “Howdy do? I am Applejack and this is my brother Big Macintosh,” she pointed at a much larger red stallion next to her. He looked rather Menacing and kind of scared me.

I was slightly less scared of the big red stallion when he responded in a tone that just made her happy. “Eeyup!”

The purple pony was removing the dust with her magic after she had been pushed aside. “We can take you to Fluttershy if you like. Just follow us.”

She did so and followed the six ponies out of the town to a small cottage on the side of Everfree Forest. Outside was a beautiful garden and a very nice animal farm type place.

“So, what is your name?” The purple pony was asking.

“Oh, my name is Celestial Darkness. I don’t much like it and don’t really understand why I was given THAT name but I deal with it.” I looked at the purple unicorn expecting a response. No doubt she was trying to think of a reason that name would be given.

“Maybe it is after the princesses? Celestia and Luna. It makes sense if you think about it.” The response came from Pinkie Pie who managed to make even her questions sound fun.

We got to the door to hear a soft humming which was interupted by a squeal when we knocked on the door. Moments later a soft and obviously scared voice came from behind the door.

“Hello? Who is there?” The voice sounded like it belonged to a mouse. So tiny that it was threatened to be overpowered by the air.

“Fluttershy, it is us. We have that filly you ordered!” Replied Applejack making me sound like I was just some piece of cargo to be dropped off.

The door opened fast and the yellow Pegasus flew out and picked me up. I was tiny for my age so it seemed like I was much younger. I was actually 12 years old at the time but looked to be only 9 or 10.

“Oh she is so younger looking than I thought. You are just so cute aren’t you?” Speaking to me like a dog was quickly earning her points on the weirdness scale. She looked over at her friends. “Thanks for bringing her to me. I had completely forgotten that she was coming today!”

“No problem Fluttershy! You know we will always be here for ya!” Rainbow Dash had responded.

The six other ponies walked away with those words and Fluttershy walked me inside. “Oh I am so happy to finally get to meet you. My name is Fluttershy but you probably already noticed that. How are you today Celestial Darkness?”

The Yellow Pony with her pink mane was just throwing everything at me at once. “I am ok I guess...” I was really not in the mood. This was the third time I made this transition. It seemed like no one wanted me and most ended up just hitting me all the time.

Fluttershy looked over at my flank and I almost cringed before realizing she was just looking at my Cutie Mark. “Oh, an easel! You must be an artist! That is so sweet. I am sure you can find something to draw around here. We have so much for you here. I hope you like it.”

I almost wanted to say something to joke with her but something told me that this mare wouldn’t respond well to jokes. I didn’t really know what told me that though.

Fluttershy was staring at me as if looking for something to say. I started the conversation with “Where will I be sleeping?”

She jumped up and remembered the whole point of me being there was to live with her. She took me upstairs to a hallway with three rooms. “The door on the left is my bedroom so if you need anything at all just come over. The middle door is the bathroom and the one to the right is your room.” She paused and stood there expecting. “I will let you get settled.”

I walked into my room and put down the small bag I had been carrying. I didn’t own much. I had a picture of my mother and a Princess Luna plush toy and a few pairs of clothes. I ruffled out my wings in the room and found it to be large enough to spread them at full length. That made me feel a bit more comfortable I guess. I looked at the door to see Fluttershy just standing there.

“Oh, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your privacy.” The mare had serious social issues. “I made supper though and figured my might like some.” She disappeared from the door quickly and I could hear her wings take her down the stairs.

I starting putting my things around my room. The picture of my mother went next to my bed. The plush went on the window sill. I looked out into the sky not thinking that what would happen in the future. I sighed and went down the stairs. Just another day with a new mom.

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The next few weeks were pretty hard for me as I tried to fit in. I tried to make some friends but the only kids near my age were still a few years younger. Most of the older pony children went to specialized schools. Unicorns went to magic schools while Pegasi went to flying schools.

Most Earth Ponies went to learn different subjects or stayed home at farms or places to work. Although it seems that not many stayed in Ponyville. I did become friends with a group called the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were crazy as could be and honestly scared me with the stunts they kept pulling.

My new mother was a nice pony. She always looked after me and kept on trying so hard to make me feel better if I was sad. The other five friends would visit all the time and we became great friends. Rarity even took me to a spa one day.

Of course she did it because... “Your mane is absolutely HORRID!” I loved it though and felt it a good break from all the things I kept trying to learn.

Twilight Sparkle loved to help me find books on all different types of things. I was learning so much and was actually starting to get happy. I didn’t have many friends but that didn’t matter. I looked out the window with my Luna Plushie just thinking about how the first few weeks had been.

Fluttershy had just walked into my room to catch me looking outside at her pet bunny. Angel was just that. He was a nice bunny if you treated him right. He did have a slight temper though. “Angel really does like you.”

She had come up behind me making me jump when she talked. “Oh, I am sorry did I startle you. I didn’t mean to.”

“Oh, no it’s fine. I was just about to go down to the library to see if Twilight had a book for me to read.” And with that I got up and walked out the door. The walk to the town was rather long. Nearly a 15 minute one if you were just walking for the sake of walking.

When I reached town the Library was standing over the town rather proudly. Only the town hall stood higher. When I entered I was rather surprised to see another pony inside. I went over to great Twilight and she told me about this new arrival.

“He is here for the school I guess. There is some sort of thing going on down in Canterlot this next week and he wants to be there for it. He is reading up on some Canterlot informational things before he heads off.” She paused for a minute before continuing. “I think you would like him. You should go talk to him.”

I walked to the dark brown unicorn colt who was about my age. “Hello there, my name is Celestial. What is yours?”

The pony looked at me in surprise before responding. “Oh, my name is Stormbreaker.” He turned back to his book as if I wasn’t even there.

“Oh come on, you have to have more conversation in you then that!” I exclaimed. He wasn’t exactly being social. I looked over to his Cutie Mark which was two clouds with a sun shining in between them. “What about your special talent?”

He looked embarrassed and didn’t seem to want to tell me. I had asked him a few times and even told him mine before he finally responded (Much to his displeasure might I add.) with “It means I can control the weather.”

I looked at him expecting him to look at me and say “Gotcha!” or something like that. After a few minutes of waiting for the punchline I realized he wasn’t kidding. The special talent of his was something that was a normal thing for a Pegasus. Imagine, your special talent being something that was perfectly normal for the Pegasi.

He looked at me almost begging me to go away. I backed away slowly being as though he might have a slight grudge against the Pegasi for having his one special talent AND the ability to fly.

Later that day I was eating supper with Fluttershy. Homemade oats and grass. It was very good. “So Fluttershy, I heard that the school is having a trip to Canterlot to see the castle! Can I go please?”

She knew why I wanted to go. My dream was someday meeting Princess Luna. I figured this might be my chance. She looked at me and kind of chuckled. “Oh, I am sorry I didn’t mean to laugh.” I was kind of worried what the chuckle meant. “I am sure that would be a great idea for you!”

I was so happy. In just a week the world would open for me and I would finally get to meet the pony who filled my dreams. Princess Luna was so close to being with me! I couldn’t wait and started packing then. Continuously saying “Thanks Fluttershy!” making the yellow Pegasus almost blush.

Later that day we walked down to Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom was there to great me. “Hey’a there Celestial!” She was happy to see me. “How’r you doin’ today?”

I looked at her in excitement. “I get to go to the Canterlot Castle on the school trip!” At those words Apple Bloom looked a bit down. I realized that she wasn’t going to get to go and I walked up to her and nuzzled her neck. “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to rub it in.”

Apple Bloom looked up then smiled. “I’m just jokin’ you Celestial! You really need to lighten’ up ya know!” She laughed and ran inside her house as Granny Smith called her in for supper. Fluttershy was speaking to Applejack.

“So, what do you think we should do?” Fluttershy had responded to something that Applejack said. “When the little filly learns what we did she will never stop talking.”

Applejack just laughed. “Now listen hear sugar cube! Don’t you worry none. I am honestly surprised she didn’t already know!” I walked up to the two mares talking.

“Know what?” I asked

Fluttershy quickly responded before Applejack could, “Oh nothing! Nothing at all.” Applejack gave Fluttershy a look of disapproval for not telling me whatever it was.

With that we walked away from the farm with a bushel of apples that Fluttershy was pulling behind her. We walked to the Library on the way and stopped at Twilight’s. When we walked in I noticed Stormbreaker in the corner reading another book. I trotted over to him.

“Hey there Stormbreaker!” I had startled the colt out of his book and he looked at me a little bit angry. “What you reading?”

“I am reading about how the Pegasi control the weather. I like to know what I am up against.” He was taking the defensive approach again and it worried me a lot. He really did look like he hated Pegasi. “Can you please just let me read?”

I decided that I would hold my ground. “I am going to Canterlot Castle next week and I heard you are going too! Do you hope to get to meet the princesses!”

He looked at me almost in disgust then decided that an insult was a bad idea. “I hope so yes. But the chances of that happening are so slim because they are running a nation and don’t have time for fillies and colts.”

I nearly broke down with those words. He was being extremely cruel and it was obvious that he didn’t even want to be friends. I lowered my head and backed away. I had decided then and there that I would become friends with this colt in order to make him happy one day.

That day would have to wait though. We were heading home when Fluttershy asked me about him. “Well, his name is Stormbreaker and he hates Pegasi.” She looked at me shocked with those words.

“Oh I am sure he doesn’t ‘hate’ Pegasi!” She was faily alarmed that I thought this. “I mean why on earth would he hate a whole race of ponies?”

I sighed knowing very well that I would have to explain it. “His special talent is controlling the weather which makes him not special. So he hates us because we can do it too.” Fluttershy looked grim with that realizing I was probably right. We took his one special talent away from him.

I thought about it. It must be like getting a Cutie Mark for getting Cutie Marks (Which I figured the CMC were quick on their way to getting that one). I looked at the house I had lived in for nearly a month now. I loved the place and was happy that I finally found my home. I looked into the window and I could see my Princess Luna plush looking out at the moon.

When I got to my room I scooped up the Luna plush and did the same. The moon was just so beautiful and just made you want to rest. I was happy to see it just sitting out there. Looking down on Equestria keeping it safe.

Chapter 3

Chapter III

The castle was truly amazing. Canterlot had so many things that I had never seen. People were dressed so strange that I couldn’t stop staring at them. I looked over at the other ponies on the trip. Diamond Tiara was shouting her nonsense how one day she would be a princess just like Celestia and Luna.

Then there were the Cutie Mark Crusaders who where all arguing about the smallest things. They couldn’t seem to ever get along even though they were such good friends. Scootaloo would keep saying how the princess would see how awesome she was. Sweetie Bell was going to sing to the Princess and show her the voice she had. While Apple Bloom already had the plan to get the Apple Family’s farm noticed with all the Apples she brought with her.

Then there was that mysterious pony that came with them as well. Not many ponies knew anything about him. All I knew was that his name was Stormbreaker and that he hated Pegasi. Everything else was unknown about that pony. Nopony had any idea where he came from at all.

I was ready to meet Princess Luna however. She was such a great Pony who really did care about other ponies. Princess Luna worked so hard for everypony else but no one really cared about the Princess of the night. It made me sad to hear about it.

“So you see my little ponies.” Our teacher Cheerilee was talking that whole time. “That is how Equestria got our great princesses.” I had missed the whole lesson! I was about to ask what she said when I saw a familiar site in the distance. The Castle was looming in the distance. I just couldn’t wait to go there.

“So, ya’ ready to meet the princesses there Celestial?” Apple Bloom was talking to me while I was just staring out onto the castle.

“I really want to meet Luna. She is such a great Princess and just the thought of getting to meet her makes me so happy!” I had been so happy to meet those princesses I almost didn’t hear the response from Apple Bloom.

“I can’t wait to show her my apples!” I looked at her in amazement. Out of all the things she wanted to do with her time in Canterlot and with the princess was sell groceries to the princess.

We had grabbed a stagecoach and starting the trek up the mountain. On they way I took it to myself to try talking to Stormbreaker one more time. “So, Storm, what are you looking forward to here?”

He gave me this look like I wasn’t welcome on this planet! It took him a few moments but he finally gave in. “I just want to meet the princesses to see if MAYBE there is a way to find a place for me.” He sighed and looked off in the distance before continuing. “My family has been poor for so long. I just want to get a job so I can make them some money.” He looked at me expecting me to slouch off feeling bad for him.

Instead I responded. “I am sure they have something for you. A talent like that sets you apart from all other unicorns. I am sure there is a place that needs a unicorn to control weather.”

He glanced at me and smiled a bit. He was happy to hear that someone thought he was useful. I could only imagine that he hasn’t been told that for years.

It took us some time but we finally made it to the castle. When we got to it we found a group of guard ponies waiting for us. They escorted us into the castle and took us first to the royal archives. “So you see my little ponies. This is where all the information from everywhere comes in. Actually there is a spell that takes all things sent via magical spells. The items are copied and sent here just in case.”

Diamond Tiara raised her hand. “Ms. Cheerilee, if I wanted to send something to someone who I liked and the message was kinda,” She paused thinking about whether or not she should say it or not. After a second she raised her head and spat it out. “Graphical. Is it still kept here?”

Giggles jumped around the group of ponies and Diamond Tiara blushed a bit. Then Ms. Cheerilee slapped a huge smile and said. “How about we find out?” She walked over to the pony in charge of the whole archive. “So, can you give a demonstration?”

The pony broke out laughing and his horn started glowing. With that a box came down labeled Diamond Tiara. He sorted through them all the while Diamond Tiara had “Excused” herself to the bathroom. He pulled out a letter and showed it to Cheerilee. Who in turn blushed at the words on the paper. She decided to keep that particular message from being said in front of the ponies around her.

They kept walking down a hall and saw a lot of rooms. There was the Royal Dining room where the princesses ate with their guests. Of course they didn’t need to eat but they loved the taste of food. A rumor went around that Princess Celestia was a total pig at the table. No one who ate with her ever talked about it though.

Finally they went to the meeting room where the princesses met the public. There in the room where the two ponies that I had dreamed to meet all those years. Luna looked at the 13 ponies in front of her and smiled. Celestia was looking on us in a very regal manner. With them 6 other ponies sat smiling. I gasped at those six. It was the Elements of Harmony! Not just that. It was the 6 ponies helping raise me!

I went running to see them when the flash happened. A terrible light went throughout the room. The world remained dark. I could hear crying from the other ponies. I finally got my eyes open to a struggle. Stained glass had been broken. A fire was raging around the throne room. I looked around thinking that I should be dead when I heard his voice.

“Everyone calm down!” It was Stormbreaker who had used a burst of wind to clear out the flames around the ponies. I was looking for the princesses. Or the Elements of Harmony. My mother! They were gone. Screaming was coming from behind the door. Spells were being cast as the pegasi guards were fighting. I could hear the sounds of swords clashing on metal.

“Alright, let us get this all settled. Someone cast a fire spell into here and we need to get out of here now!” The chaos was insane and to make things worse the guards were dieing outside. Stormbreaker was leading everyone out through the door that the princesses normally used. Everyone there were either crying or about to cry.

That is everyone except Stormbreaker and I. We both realized that something was going to have to be done if our princesses would be okay. As we ran through the door though a pony was waiting for us. It was wearing armor so one of the little ponies ran up to him asking him what happened.

By the time I realized his horn glowing it was too late. The pony was fried to ash in front of us. I flew at the man in armor as fast as I could. Thanks to Rainbow Dash who taught me some skills when it came to flying. I clashed into the stallion and he went flying across the room into the horn of unicorn’s statue.

But rather than blood coming from the now dead pony he just evaporated. Darkness coming from the armor then all the armor fell to the ground. “Of course!” I said. “Nopony in their right mind would actually kill anypony!”

Stormbreaker countered “You did.” I gave him a shocked look when I realized he was right. Sure I didn’t actually kill anypony but I had no idea that pony wasn’t a pony. Right then I broke down. Another one of those dark things came in though and put a hoof on me. I looked up to the pony and saw a sword rise up.

My life had flashed before my life as the blade came down. Actually, it didn’t. The bolt of lightning that struck the dark pony on the other hand DID flash before me. I looked over at Stormbreaker right as his horn died down. He was panting then looked at me. We both knew what we had to do.

The other ponies with us were still scared and cowering in the corner. I walked to them. “Everypony! We have to get out of here. This castle is under attack! Whoever is doing this is killing a lot of ponies right now and wont hesitate to kill us on sight.”

Cheerilee spoke up. “She is right. Come on Ponies let us get you all home right now.” She looked at me and Storm who had walked up next to me. “You two will need to help us.”

The next few minutes were total hell. A battle was going on in the courtyard with ponies dying a lot quicker than the dark ponies. So much death going on and still no word from the princesses. We were running to the stagecoach that we had ridden up.

I hooked myself up to the front of it with Scootaloo who had just gotten her wings grown out enough to fly. We started running and flapping our wings. We wouldn’t get the coach in the air but that extra speed was just enough to dodge a massive bolt of fire that soared behind them.

They got to the hill and started gaining speed very fast. The coach soared down the mountain gaining speed at an alarming rate when the Dark Pegasi Ponies flew up behing them. Storm launched another bolt of lightning on one of them but didn’t have enough time to get the second one. Which slammed into the coach making it shake very fast.

He had hit his head against the wall and was knocked out. I didn’t see what happened after that. I just heard the scream from the teacher. “YOU WILL NOT HURT THESE PONIES!” followed by the sound of glass breaking and children screaming. According to the others Cheerilee jumped out the wagon and grabbed the Pegasus. It took them both to the ground killing them instantly.

When we reached the bottom we just kept going. When we reached the gates of Canterlot we just kept going. We didn’t stop until we made it to Ponyville. Already under attack as well the village was in just as much chaos as Canterlot was.

I knew what they were after however and untied myself as we got out from the wagon. I rushed into the library and grabbed a book. After Discord happened Princess Celestia had decided to keep the Elements of Harmony with their owners. I had seen them but thought they were just accessories that Twilight used.

I ran out biting on the book. It was then that the first spell from that dreaded creature hit Canterlot. The dark figure with both a horn and wings. An Alicorn flew over the ponies standing in shock.

At first I thought it was Luna. That was quickly dashed as the spell launched from the creatures horn. A large black sphere went flying. It had gone far out of sight by the time it hit Canterlot. Fire competely engulfed the whole city. It destroyed everything. Everyone screamed as the destruction rocked the whole country side.

Stormbreaker looked defeated almost right off the bat. I gave him a wondering look and he just shook his head.

I looked as the fires destroyed the landscape where Canterlot had once been. I almost started crying when the Alicorn came back. “Hello ponies of Ponyville!” She shouted with a voice that rocked the town. “I have been given a second chance by the stars to do what I failed those three years ago. I, Nighmare Moon, will take this land for myself.”

Chapter 4

Thanks for reading so far. I am sorry it is taking longer to pump out chapters then I would like. I am going to start writing them longer so just wait a little while and I will have them easily at 10 pages by the next chapter. Also, I am looking for somepony to draw me a picture for EQD. I don't want to submit it until I have one. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks everypony!

Chapter IV

The next few years were hell on Equestria. It took years for the fires in Canterlot to stop burning and even longer for us to attempt to rebuild. Nightmare Moon was always there now watching over us. She controlled both the moon and the sun which should have taken up large amounts of her magic. By the way she murdered ponies and set fire to places that opposed her. It didn’t seem to affect her at all.

People got scared pretty quick. Those dark ponies that helped with the attack had been conjured from the souls of ponies that long ago fought for Nightmare Moon. It was one of the things that was never taught to anypony. Over a thousand years ago Nightmare Moon infested Luna by planting the idea of hatred in her mind. This caused the fair princess to stop trusting her sister thinking that she was trying to betray her. All her paranoia led to her making an army right under Celestia’s nose.

The chaos that had erupted was amazing. Nightmare Moon had withered down Luna until the young Princess had nothing left but the shell of her body. Nightmare Moon took that moment to take over her and use her power to fight. The only thing that stopped her was the still conscious mind of Luna who did all in her power to stop Nightmare Moon. The fight inside her own body was enough for Celestia to defeat Nightmare Moon and banish her to the moon knowing it would take her sister a thousand years to fight Nightmare Moon out of her body enough for the Elements of Harmony to finish the job.

Now she didn’t have that restriction. The stars made her a body that she didn’t have to share. Her power became limitless almost instantly. She used the power to raise the souls of the dead army she had commanded. Now she was unstoppable.

It took me and Storm a long time to travel now. Travel was forbidden but we managed to find our way away from the Nightmare Army. The Everfree Forest was our best bet to keep away from them because not even Nightmare Moon’s magic could affect that place. It also became to hub of our resistance.

“So Storm, what do you think is going to happen?” I have asked that question many times but I loved to hear his answer. Instead he just sighed.

“I don’t know anymore Celestial. We already lost so much and the resistance is falling apart.”

I almost lost hope right there. It wasn’t the answer I had expected at all. After all those years of fighting and now he was starting to give up? Why would he do that.

I wasn’t a filly anymore. I had become far stronger in my years of fighting the Nightmare Army. The only thing was that flying was forbidden. Not just by Nightmare Moon but by the leader of the resistance. This was because Nightmare Moon would be able to detect us in seconds if we flew.

I looked at Storm again in that armor that just made him shine. It was because of him that we lived through everything that was thrown at us. He was known as the Storm Bringer because of his amazing manipulation of weather. It both allowed us to hide our new home and control the weather without the dangers of flying. He was finally needed, but under what circumstances?

“Wait, I hear something.” He started walking forward very slowly. I could hear something too but I just couldn’t pin the sound.

“Probably just another bear. Let’s go.”

He froze as he looked around the large trunk of a tree. “Celestial, you might want to start running.”

At that we both turned tail and ran. I didn’t even know what was chasing us but I could tell by the screams it was emitting. I didn’t want to know.

We kept running away as fast as we could go. The high pitched scream was following us though and I knew that it was coming from whatever that monster was. There was a loud crash as something hit the monster behind us.

I almost turned to look at it but Storm stopped me. “Don’t look at it. You don’t want to see it.”

I heard another voice in the background. I couldn’t quite make it out but it was getting closer.

“-amn monsters are evolving every day. What in Goddesses name is making these... Things anyway?”

I heard Storm respond. “I have no idea. But this is the fifth time this week something that hasn’t been seen before has attacked us. I think we need to lock up the base while we still can.”

Everyone there treated me like I was a filly. Sure I was small but come on. I have already seen some of the other things that attacked us. Then I remembered the blood curdling scream that came from that thing. I decided against looking.

“Well, let’s head back then. No reason to stay here anymore. That scream could be heard from miles and no doubt that will draw some attention.” I could recognize the voice as Sword Strike. He was the best swordsman we had. No doubt he killed whatever that creature was.

Storm came and grabbed me taking me with them back to the base. I looked back and just saw the strange tentacle coming from behind a bush. It caused me to shiver.

There was some worry as we got back to the fort that we were all dead. That scream had awoken everyone in the fort including the people living in the underground area. The fog was thicker than usual because the cloud generators got pushed into overdrive to keep the whole place hidden.

Those generators were amazing. In the last few years many earth ponies had started making things in the fort. They had been given their own area to work in as well. The things that they created were normally things to replace abilities we lost from the pegasi not being able to fly.

There was one thing though that really did stand out. It was the gun. This small thing could fire a bullet at a higher speed then Rainbow Dash could fly! I was given one for protection and it was holstered onto my saddle bags. It was very easy to get to and it did a huge number on any living (and nonliving) thing that attacked us.

The best part was that some guns were better than others. Mine was smaller and didn’t do very much. But when you looked at ones for people like Big Macintosh your muzzle would swing open. His gun was massive and tore holes even in Ursa Majors! It was explosive too.

“Storm, when are we going to deliver those supplies to Ponyville.”

He cringed and looked worriedly at me. “No one told you did they?” I shook my head. “Ponyville got hit yesterday. The damn Nightfire Bomb spell hit it. I guess that Nightmare Moon learned they were helping us.”

I stopped walking. “Storm, can you take care of reports? I-I think I need to go lie down.”

He nodded and I walked off. When I got back to my room I went straight to the bathroom and puked. Ponyville was our refugee camp for the children. “They killed them all.” I looked out the window into the fog.

This wasn’t the first time children had been killed. Heck, I saw them kill many kids in my time. I even saw them kill one when I was just a filly. But killing hundreds of them in seconds without any warning at all.

I walked to my bed and threw my head into my pillow. And I wept.

The next day was hard. Everypony was on alert as the Nightmare Pony Troops were close by. They had come just as we suspected. Looking for whatever made that loud scream. It was a long day as we all just waited.

When the sun went down however it was even worse. The scream returned. This time followed by another and another. More of those... ‘things’ were out there and they were killing everything.

It was after the moon was halfway up that the caravan came in. At least what was left of it. Our supplies that were supposed to last us days were completely gone. The guys looked at us in horror. It was then that I noticed not a single mare was with them.

“They... oh god... They did things to the mares. GOD! They... OH MY GOD!” One of the ponies screamed as he tried to recollect what happened. He obviously didn’t want to. Storm looked at me and I quickly realized that he had saved my life.

The stallions were taken away to the hospital section. Something was happening to the animals in the forest. God knows what was causing it though.

It had been a few days since the creatures attacked our caravan. The stallions have been getting antsy in the forest saying that we are no longer safe here. Something about the Darkness seeping into the landscape.

I don’t really understand any of it myself. I always figured that no one ever saw all the creatures here so maybe we are just finding new ones. That was until I saw the Medusa.

The creature had jumped the gap to our base of operations without us even noticing. The alarm had sounded only after 3 people had been turned. I ran outside to see people scrambling. I grabbed my pistol from the holster.

“Where is everyone going?” I asked. No one could hear me though because of the gun in my mouth. I decided to run into the crowd. Maybe I would find out what was happening. I was pushed and shoved. I fell to the ground and got mud pounded into my face. I got up already bleeding.

That was when I saw the creature. It was turning someone to stone as he looked at it. I looked away quickly worried I might have the same fate. I remembered the Cockatrice and realized that the creature here looked a lot like it. Only much bigger and had snakes growing out of its head. I took my pistol and closed my eyes. I used that moment to run up to the creature.

I heard the hissing from the snakes and blew that creature’s head right off. I felt a sting on my leg short after and opened my eyes. One of the bastards was biting me! “GET OFF ME!” I screamed as I shot my gun. I hit its head but realized fairly quickly that shooting something in the head that is biting you.... Not a good idea.

I doubled over in pain and blacked out.

When I woke up I heard a council member talking. “She might be dangerous. We saw what happened to people bitten by that thing.”

Someone else answered him. “Sir, she is lucky as hell. When she shot herself the venom hadn’t gotten a chance to spread. She shot the entire chunk right off her body. Her stupidity saved her life.”

“I don’t want to take the chance. She is still dan...”

The voices faded as I started blacking out again.

I slightly woke up again and heard Storm screaming. “YOU CAN’T DO THIS! THEY ALREADY CLEARED HER!”

“I am sorry. I have no choice. She might still be infected and I wont wait to find out.”

“WHERE DO YOU EXPECT HER TO GO!?” Storm took a second to calm down. “There is no way she can survive out there.”

“She will have to figure that one out herself.”

“So, this is what she gets for saving all your sorry asses. I wont leave her. If you get rid of her you get rid of me.”

“That will have to be a sacrifice we are willing to take for the safety of this base.”

I felt the darkness coming for me again. I fought it. I didn’t want to leave and if I could just show them... I couldn’t though. I fell asleep again.

I woke up to the rattling of a cart. I had no idea who was pulling me. But I had a guess of where I was going. I could hear the hushed whispers as people watched me being pulled away. I felt the tear before I realized I was crying. “I don’t want to go” I said. I couldn’t be heard though. No one could hear me.

Every time I settled down somewhere... It was the same every time. My mother dies and my dad couldn’t take care of me. The three foster homes I stayed at each with its own abusive family. Fluttershy’s home. Now here. Everywhere I went I lost the people I trusted. Every time I lost everything.

I could feel the ground change to wood as the cart rolled over it. It was cold outside. The winter was starting again. I could hear the crunch of snow as the other ponies pulled me outside. I heard Storm’s voice as his head got close to mine. Not realizing I was awake.

“Everything will be fine. We will find a home... Something... we will do something...” I could hear the tears. “God dammit we will think of something!”

They didn’t even give us the cart. I felt it tip over and plop me on the ground. The cold snow quickly got me wet and I heard Storm yell at the guy. “Are your kidding me?!”You couldn’t even let me just pick her up you just have to drop an unconscious pony on the snow? You people are a disgrace.”

I felt his muzzle as it bit down on the clothe I was wrapped in. He put me on his back and started walking. I still couldn’t move with the pain seeping through my body. I started crying silently. I fell asleep again.

I woke up to warmth. I opened my eyes to a roof. I sighed. “It must have just been a dream.” Then I realized that the place was not our base. I looked around and realized we were in a hut. I had never seen anything like it before.

“I assure you that I can brew something that will proved a good healing. Something that will give her a good feeling.” I heard a mysterious voice. It sounded familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“Thank you Zecora I am glad you were here to help. I don’t think we would have-” Storm gestured to me and saw I was awake. “Celestial! Thank the goddesses you are awake.” He came running to my side and started telling me what happened. “The monster you killed. It kills in two ways. It will either turn you to stone or poison you with its snakes. You got it before it could turn you to stone... But I bit you.” He sighed with a tear running down his face. “If it wasn’t for the point that you shot yourself in the leg you would be one of those... Things right now.”

Zecora came over to me and gave me a bowl. “Drink this little one. And you will be better so you can run.”

I drank the potion and started drifting off again. More sleep for me. I started crying again. The pain was too much. Not the physcal pain from shooting my leg. Everyone I knew abandoned me to die. And Storm was good enough to help me in my time on need. He gave up his safety to save my life.

I was drifting too fast. I didn’t want to sleep again. I wanted to go back to the base. I could show them that I was ok and they would let us back in. I just wanted to have my home back again.

I dreamed about Fluttershy again. How she raised me for that short time I had been with her. I loved her like a mother in such a short time. She taught me so much.

Chapter 5

Chapter V

I looked outside to the snow which had covered most of the ground even under the trees. All the snow here was caused by the extended nights. Everypony in all of Equestria were scared of what was happening. Everypony always was, but the reports of strange creatures coming from Everfree forest wasn’t isolated.

Animals outside of the forest began changing too. The most notable of these were the dragons. I could see a young dragon walking around outside. We had the lights out and were waiting for the thing to pass.

“Remember ponies that the dragon you see is not what it seems to be.” Zecora was talking in her rhyming scheme again. “The dragon you look upon now is only a fraction of what he is becoming. The world is making these dragons so stunning.”

I looked at her confused. Why stunning? That dragon didn’t look that good. It was becoming deformed and... With that thought the dragon saw a mouse running in the snow and opened its mouth. A spark of electricity came out stunning the mouse. Then a burst of fire roasted it.

“Oh, that just isn’t fair. The fire was bad enough but they can stun us too?” Storm didn’t look very happy about the whole ordeal. He sighed then looked at me. “I think that after this dragon is gone we can safely say you aren’t turning into a monster. So I think we should try going back to the base.”

I hadn’t smiled since I was bit but hearing him say that we will go back. I can’t say I didn’t get a little bit of a grin. “That’s great, but we walked so far...”

“It doesn’t matter how far I walked.” He said putting emphasis on the I, “All I know is that we need to have shelter and even though Zecora here was nice enough to provide shelter for us.” He gestured to the Zebra’s house “I think we should get going as to not eat up her supplies.”

The Zebra nodded. “You see young filly. I need the food here to fill my own tummy.”

I didn’t argue. Not because I thought she was right. I just didn’t want to hear another rhyme. “So we will head out once the dragon leaves?”

“That is the plan.”

We didn’t have to wait long. The dragon had lit fire to a tree when trying to kill a bird and the tree actually killed the dragon. Storm and I were amazed at what just happened and we decided that the murderous trees be kept alone.

We started walking almost right afterward. The trek was long and we ran into some issues. The snow was melting somewhere as it fell and caused some flooding on the river. We had to go all the way around it. “Snow is still falling and something is already melting it.” Storm shook his head. “The world is getting really screwed up.”

We heard the fire before we saw it. And when we turned the corner I broke down crying. The base was gone being replaced by a wall of flame easily 20 feat high. “Dear goddesses. The whole place is burned to the ground.”

I looked over to part of the rubble of what was left of our town. The dragon’s wing was poking out. Our guys must have killed it after it hit. At least I thought that until the wing moved.

“Storm, we need to run right now.” He looked at me as if I was crazy.

“Why exactly to we need to run.”

I was about to answer him when the roar came out. We both looked to see the dragon had gotten completely out of the building it was in. We started running before we even told our legs to go.

The dragon chased.

The fire was breaking out all around. The forest was fighting back the best it could but the full grown dragon was too much. There was no way even the vastness of the forest could fight this dragon.

I was gasping for air already. My black and Purple mane becoming charred by the fire. “Storm! Where. are you?!”

I could hear a coughing but it wasn’t coming from Storm. As I moved closer I saw the elder.

“You!” He was standing with a knife in his muzzle. “You did this to us! You brought this down on us!”

I shrieked as he stepped towards me not knowing what he would do. He grinned. “You have not known what you have done and I will take solace knowing your demon filth will be killed by my hooves!”

He thrust at me trying to kill me. I dodged the knife by a fraction. The elder was not as lucky as I. He crashed head first into a tree and the knife had spun around cutting his mouth open. The blood pored out. I could hear the muffled moaning as he gargled his own blood.

I started feeling light headed when Storm came to help me. He looked in disgust on the elder. “Damn fool never knew what was right...” Storm put his body against mine to keep me up. “I know what you just saw is hard. I know what it is to lose your home.”

“I do too.” I looked up to the stallion standing over me. I hadn’t even realized I fell. “I lost far too many homes to count even before this.” I looked down at the limp body of the elder. “He was right. I did bring this. I always bring this.”

Storm sighed. “Don’t tell yourself that. This was caused by that dragon and the point that we are alive is a miracle!”

He bit down on my mane and pulled me on my hooves. “Now get up! We have to keep moving.” We stepped out and away from the fire. The destruction around us had spread across the forest at an alarming rate.

We made our way back to the base and found the dragon gone.

“Alright, I vote we go and search the place. Somepony may still be alive and I am not about to leave them all behind.” I nodded in agreement.

We started into the base to see the destruction had been far more then we originally assumed. A massive hole had formed in the center of the old courtyard making its way down into the depths where the base had been constructed.

Down into the catacombs of our base we found many useful items. My pistol wasn’t going to do us much good against anything other than a cockatrice. I put it in my saddle bags since it did save my life. I found a weapon that automatically pulls the trigger repeatedly when being fired. Causing bullets to come out so much faster. The Earth Ponies called it an Assault Rifle.

I went down and found some barding. Nothing special but it kept enough room around my flanks to put my saddle bags. The barding wasn’t military grade but it would work. Actually I think it was used by the technicians working on the guns. It wouldn’t save you many times but it would save you enough to not screw up again.

Most of the weapons we found were still being built at the time making them useless. Storm went with a gem device that increases his magical stamina and also filters that magic into a beam of raw energy. It does a lot of damage and if it doesn’t kill it will paralyze.

He also went with a heavier barding which would keep him safer than me but slow him down a bit too much if you ask me. We grabbed a few canteens and filled them with water. There wasn’t much left in the kitchen except for a few cans of food that we quickly grabbed.

We set out fully stocked and ready for a battle with just about anything save a dragon or one of those screaming things. We realized quickly that the amount of dead ponies was a lot less then the amount of ponies in the facility.

“Where do you think they went?” Storm asked throwing me out of a daydream about Fluttershy. I had been caught in a lot of those recently. The mare who helped me realized I could trust ponies... I missed her so much.

“Well, I would say Ponyville but that was destroyed.” I thought for a minute. “Not many other places we can get away from the Queen’s magic. Maybe Manehatten with all its population. It might keep her from tracking us down.”

“No, we go there with these weapons we might as well be walking into a dragon’s cave with a gem extractor 3000.” I gave him a look before we both burst out in laughter. When we finally calmed down I gave the big unicorn a hug.

“Thanks for that. I needed a good laugh.” He smiled and we moved on. Walking through the snow wasn’t the greatest idea but the best we had. I brought up going to Zecora’s but the moan from the trees put us against that idea. It was rather odd now that I think about it. That moan didn’t sound like something from trees.

We decided on the outskirt town of Appleloosa. It was a rebel town but it was so small that the idea of it actually made Nightmare Moon laugh. We figured it was our best bet though and headed out to the south.

It was a days train ride and a weeks walk. We didn’t have a train though and the lack of supplies would keep us from making it. Content on having a place to go Storm didn’t seem to care. We set out to get out of the Everfree forest.

I couldn’t help but think of the things I had seen out there before. Death had followed so quickly after the first attack on Canterlot. The Nightmare Army moved out across the land killing anypony who fought back. The most ironic of the battles was the Manehatten Massacre. A group of ponies fought back and were all killed. The whopping 7 ponies killed was somehow called a massacre. Before it had made sense though. Ponies had never been in a war and didn’t know how much death was excessive. Ironically the name stuck though and the Manehatten Massacre became canon.

So much death had followed that nopony knew what to do. Shock was followed and Equestria went into a year of almost complete silence fearing that any speaking at all would give you a rope and a pole to hang yourself from. The darkness was a new thing as well. The sun only remained out for a few hours a day. Just enough to keep the planet from freezing but provide the land with hours upon hours of darkness every day.

The walk to the edge of the forest was rather uneventful. I had been thinking the whole time and not even noticing anything going on. When we finally reached the edge of the forest we saw some light. I rushed to the light thinking about how it must be somepony from the base. I got out of the trees to see a bunch of mangled and beat up stallions. I pulled out my rifle.

They smiled at the sight of me picking up weapons of their own. The weapons were from the base but... These ponies were not. A unicorn’s magic flashed and hit my weapon away and locked me to the ground. Three stallions now loomed over me. I spread out my wings to fly away only to get pinned down by magic once again. The first stallion stepped out. His mane was black and his coat a dark brown.

“Well what do we have here?” He said while making his body look as big as he could get it. “Somepony has gotten lost.” He chuckled and looked to his friends. The green unicorn that was holding me down broke into a laugh. His blue mane swinging around.

“So, Archer, is it your turn or mine? I hope mine cause this is the cutest one to come out of that forest today! And there have been quite a few.” This pony was a sickly dark green with a brown mane. A large scar running down his face.

“I don’t know Scar, you had the last one.” The unicorn looked at both of them and they all laughed. “I think this one is a fresh one too if you know what I mean.”

A flash of light came flying out from the forest knocking the unicorn on his side. I did a roll onto my belly and pulled out my pistol. The bullet range through the air and I heard a grunt and a plop. I had killed many monsters with my gun before. Cockatrice were not problem and the Medusa was just as fragile. A pony though was even more fragile. The bullet ripped into the dark green stallions head. Brains went flying out and splattered onto his light green buddy.

Another flash of light launched killing the light green one. I stood in sheer shock as the dark green pony fell on the ground. Already being dead before hand. Storm ran out almost in tears. He put his legs over my eyes blocking my view.

“Just close your eyes Celest... You don’t need to see this.” He didn’t have to tell me what he saw. As we walked I could smell and hear just fine. The pile of dead bodies had flies all over it and the stench had already become large. I heard Storm whisper to himself. “All of them...”

It was apparent that the world was falling apart far too quickly. Ponies were taking advantage of the chaos to do things that we wouldn’t have done otherwise. So much death had changed us in such a short period of time. It was hard seeing all that we loved fall apart like it did. We had to soldier on though.

Storm was doing much better than I was. He didn’t have any issues will killing anypony that stood in his way. Yet another person changed by this horrid time. I wondered if Equestria would ever be the same even if we found a way to stop it.

We had stopped for the night to rest. We were out in the middle of no where. The heat was still there though keeping the ground from collecting a lot of snow. It was also making the snow rain instead. We were being pelted by rain when we found the cave.

I wanted to start a fire. The warmth would feel great after the cold of the snow and the rain. We didn’t have any wood though so we would have to go with just they dry of the cave. I was shivering so hard that Storm gave me a worried look.

“Are you sure you are ok?” He asked “I am sure I can find some way to warm the place up.”

“No, we can’t waste your energy. If you run out of strength for magic we might as well surrender ourselves to those ponies...” I shivered again. This time out of the memory of those three stallions.

We had been chased after the fact. The gunshots had caught the attention of another group of people who chased us until the rain came. I guess they didn’t much care for getting wet.

“Right...”

The storm outside was getting worse quickly. I was almost asleep when the first lightning bolt struck. The forest wasn’t the only thing changing. The lightning had changed as well. Darkness had enveloped it causing it to be darkness itself. Nopony had any idea what was causing these things.

After that I couldn’t sleep. The thunder had kept me up almost all night long. Another long storm and a long night to top it off.

When I woke up again forgetting that I have even fallen I asleep. Something was wrong and I didn’t exactly know what. I looked around expecting to see Storm gone but he was laying there. It seemed like everything was actually fine. Then I saw it.

It had fallen asleep curled up right on my flank. I couldn’t help by scream. I spread my wings and flapped as hard as I could. The snake was faster though. It bit down before I could move. With my past experience with snakes I almost shot myself right then. Storm intervened taking the snake off.

He shook his head at me. “Don’t you worry. Its just a garden snake. Nothing to be worried about.” He have the slithering thing a good look over. The snake looked to have smiled at him. “I used to have one of these as a pet. They are a great weapon.” He chuckled. This was the first time I had seen him lighten up in months. “I don’t even remember how many times this thing kept me from danger. It is amazing how much ponies freak out when they see a snake.”

I laughed at the thought. Him just dangling a snake in front of somepony just to get them off his back. “I do miss those days. I used to think my life sucked... I almost want to go back in time just to slap myself for thinking that.”

We gathered the supplies we had and moved out. The snake seemed adamant on following us. Something I was none to happy about. I sucked it up like a good pegasus though and we kept walking.

It was breezy today. The air wasn’t stiff like it normally was. The breeze was a fairly new thing as well. It happened in Old Equestria, as I have come to call it, but normally only during storms. Now the breeze would be constant and it felt pretty good. It felt good to spread my wings when walking against the breeze. The wind against my wings made me feel like I was flying again. I hadn’t done it in so long. Even in the Everfree Forest, where Nightmare Moon’s magic couldn’t reach, I wasn’t allowed to fly. I wouldn’t have wanted to either. Manticores and Wyverns had almost completely taken the sky making it far too dangerous to fly.

Pegasi were unable to do much. There are rumors of a group of pegasi that have been fighting back. Saying they are based in the Northern Mountains. I knew better. The Griffins lived to the north and I wasn’t about to believe that they would help us at all.

The tug on my tail brought me back to the real world. I shrieked as I fell. I hadn’t been paying attention and the wind had picked up. While I was day dreaming my wings caught the wind and I lifted off.

Storm shot me a glare. “We don’t need the Nightmare Army bearing down on us thank you very much.” His horn glowed and wind died down.

We heard it before we saw it. A whistle off in the distance. It was getting closer though and the whistle was soon joined by a low rumbling type noise. We rushed to the top of the hill that we had been walking to. When we reached the top we both gasped at the sight.

The train was going fast. VERY fast. Belting across the landscape and heading quickly to a turn that would surely De-Rail it. Dark figures chased it from the air. The Nightmare Army soldiers were firing crossbow bolts at the train in what looked like an attempt to stop it.

We took a chance. If the train De-railed then it didn’t matter. The Dark Forces wouldn’t notice us in the carnage that would follow. But if it didn’t then we wanted to be there to jump on. We ran to the tracks and watched as the train neared the turn. The magic that enveloped it startled me at first. It grabbed the train and the whole thing moaned as it made the bend. Saved by the magic pull. Storm’s horn glowed and a gust of wind launched up.

“How confident are you in your flying skills?” He asked without taking his eyes off the train.

My throat tightened. I knew what he was about to propose. I didn’t reject it. We both knew that we wouldn’t make it to Appleoosa with the supplies we had. The train was our best bet. I grabbed him and flapped my wings. I didn’t match the trains speed as it caught us but it would be enough to get in while it passed.

I felt the strain on my wings already. It was hard enough flying alone after the time I spent without it. But storm was heavy and the weight was quickly becoming too much. I let off some speed to let the train catch up some more. Finally it reached us. I threw Storm into the first car that passed us. I would have to wait for the next one. As it got closer I readied myself to jump in. I almost didn’t hear the scream through the wind and sound of the train. I did hear it though.

“Watch out!” It was a pony on the train. In fact, there were a lot of ponies on the train. I didn’t have long to ponder this as I got hit in mid air. A dark Pegasus crashing into me flailing his hooves at me. I was glad that the dark remnants of the army that followed Nightmare Moon those thousand years ago were still the same personality as the one before. This one didn’t have any fighting skills.

The fight was short and the ending was gruesome. The dark magic that was now a Pegasus got thrown against the ground. It was crushed underneath the wheels. I saw the other Pegasi coming at me as well. I doubted I would be as lucky with those. I dove into the train and pulled out my weapon.

The first of the Pegasi flew in to be quickly shot by my gun. That didn’t do nearly enough though and I had to throw that one out the door. Another flew up alongside the car and was blasted away by a beam of light. Three more beams flew passed no doubt killing more of those things. Storm sure had good aim. The Pegasi stopped coming after me quickly and I heard the screams from the car behind. I grabbed out my rifle and flapped my wings. Flying out the door of the car and straight into an already broken window of the next.

I picked out the shadowed targets and fired. The magic holding them together falling apart as the bullets tore through them. Nothing happened. I cursed the flesh they didn’t have and realized why storm had picked that energy weapon. I had wished right then that I had magic of my own to use. The door behind me blasted open reminding me that there were doors. I spun around just in time to have an energy blast whisk by my face.

Storm was in the doorway and was already panting. The magical energy the gun required was too much. He fired off another shot killing the last dark pony in the car. He collapsed to the ground losing the magical grip on the gun. It clattered to the floor only to be quickly picked up again. The unicorn that replaced him was already panting furiously. Her white and purple striped mane flowing and her horn glowed. Two more of the Dark Ponies filled the room and the gun jolted off the ground. The blast of light that came from it was far brighter than what had come when Storm was holding it. Not only did it kill the two in the room but it blasted through the whole train.

The Unicorn collapsed to the ground. I took a quick look at her cutie mark and saw exactly what I expected. Her mark was for magic just like Twilight. The train was slowing now as the brakes were applied. I learned later that the blast from her gun killed a lot more than just two of the dark Pegasi. It had killed almost all of them in the train. The rest of them fled at the show of magic. A few ponies were killed by the blast too but no one seemed to care all too much. Even the family of those few knew that the blast saved far more than what was lost.

The train slowed enough to make the turns without magic. Which was good because the pony keeping it on the track was lying unconscious on the floor. I recognized Nurse Redheart when she stepped into our section of the train.

“Nurse! I thought you were dead!” I screamed. I ran over to her and nuzzled her neck. “You were supposed to be in Ponyville. I figured that when the firebomb came that...” I stopped talking there.

She looked down on me and smiled. “Well, thanks to that pony right there most of us got out.” She gestured to all the ponies in the train. “These are all the ponies we saved from the town before it got burned down.”

Lyra chimed in, “Yeah, we all hid in Big Mac’s basement. That place is HUGE!”

Her companion Bon Bon entered the conversation as well. “It was also reinforced just in case a stamped came. Amazingly enough it held against the spells.”

Scootallo jumped out of her seat. “Then a unicorn teleported in and helped us clear the fire to get out!”

The conversation went back to Nurse Redheart “Who is the pony now unconscious on the floor so if you wouldn’t mind.” I jumped out of the way and she ran up and started doing nursy stuff.

I took a good look at the Unicorn which had saved so many lives. I noticed a strong resemblance to Twilight Sparkle. I’ll be it much older.

The train kept going without the threat of the Dark Army. The long walk combined with the interesting finish to the day put me right asleep. That night I dreamed about Twilight Sparkle. One story had jumped out farther than the others. The one about her mother. About how much she did to help anypony out there.