Along the Road to Chaos

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo slowly walked side-by-side through the empty streets of Ponyville, their hoofsteps seeming to echo in the quiet evening air. The unmoving sun cast long shadows over the shuttered buildings, giving the town an unusually somber feeling. The streets were empty, the residents of the town having all locked themselves away inside their houses, apparently hoping the world would go back to normal and the sun would rise as usual in the morning. Their futile hope that what was happening was only a bad dream could almost be felt in the air.

“Ah ain’t never seen the town so quiet before,” Apple Bloom said, the silence shattering at her voice like fine china. Her Crusader cloak flapped slightly as she walked, the special clasp Rarity had made for her appearing to glow slightly in the sunlight.

“It’s kinda creepy,” Sweetie Belle agreed, surreptitiously moving closer to Apple Bloom, the little filly seeking comfort in the proximity of her friends.

“Pbbbt,” Scootaloo blew her tongue at the other two. “Not really. The town’s always quiet at this time of night. Can’t really tell what time it is without the moon, but I’m pretty sure its nearly midnight.”

Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo over Apple Bloom’s lowered head. “How come you know what the town’s like at midnight?” she asked Scootaloo.

Scootaloo smiled easily, a hint of teeth showing out the side of her mouth. “Sometimes I have trouble getting to sleep, so I ride my scooter or go for a walk.”

“Wouldn’t your parents stop you?” A slight frown creased Apple Bloom’s face as she thought about the trouble she’d get into with Applejack if she tried to sneak out for a night.

“Well, I don’t tell them I’m heading out.” Scootaloo cut off any more questions by pointing at a pony shape crossing the street ahead of them. “Hang on, isn’t that Zecora?”

Apple Bloom turned to look in the direction Scootaloo indicated, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the figure. “Ah think you’re right. HEY! MISS ZECORA!!” The three fillies waved to the zebra as she turned, and even at this distance they could see her wave her hoof in return. The trio rushed to where Zecora waited, turning a simple run into a madly giggling scramble.

“Young Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom,” Zecora said, smiling down at the three fillies when they stood before her. “It is good to see you again so soon.”

“Nice to see ya too, Miss Zecora,” Apple Bloom said. “Thank ya ever so much for helpin’ Applejack. Ah really appreciate it.”

“It was my pleasure, little one. I will freely help all who walk under the sun.” The fillies noticed for the first time that she was wearing a pair of saddlebags, both of which looked full to bursting. Her favourite bamboo rod was also slung over her back, resting directly between her shoulderblades.

“Whatcha got there?” Sweetie Belle asked, the little unicorn innocently trying to poke at one of the bags with a hoof.

Zecora quickly stepped out of range, not wanting the curious filly to break any of the beakers within the bags. “Mixtures, potions, and many a tome. I feared to spend the night within my home.”

“How come?” Twilight asked, joining the group. Spike walked alongside her, his claws scratching tiny imprints in the dirt road.

Zecora shook her head, the bags on her back shifting slightly as she moved. Slight tinkling could be heard coming from inside the bags as various glass beakers lightly collided with one another. “I can hear the Everfree Forest trembling with fear. It dreads what is coming near.”

Twilight bit her lip, thinking about what Zecora meant. At her side, she could see Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders watching her silently. If anyone was going to ask, she would have to do it. “So then-” Her voice shook, and she had to pause a moment to compose herself before starting again. “What could the forest be afraid of?”

“I know not what it could be, but the idea makes me balk. But this is neither the time nor place for this talk.” Zecora slowly turned her head, her neckrings reflecting the evening light. “For now I must find a place to rest, so I may face the future at my best.”

“You mean you know what’s going to happen?” Spike asked, the little dragon’s voice quavering slightly.

With a slow shake of her head, Zecora released a slight sigh. “I fear that is beyond my sight. I don’t know what will come, only what might.”

“Enough, Zecora. Tell me, what do you think is going to happen?” Twilight asked. She was starting to get tired of Zecora beating around the bush, and just wanted a straight answer.

Zecora frowned slightly and Twilight wondered for a second if she had pushed too hard, but the zebra’s words put the worry out of her mind. “If it is truly your desire to know, I will tell you. But it is not something to accept at face value. Meet me at the room where your friends rest, and I will explain everything to my ability’s best.”

Twilight blinked as the cryptic words sunk into her. Zecora was probably the wisest mare Twilight knew. After Princess Celestia, of course, she mentally added. If there was something that made the mystical zebra nervous, Twilight wasn’t so sure she wanted to know after all. But she couldn’t just back down. “Alright, I’ll see you there. But where are you going to sleep? I’d offer my place, but,” she gestured at the three fillies, “I don’t have enough room. Sorry.”

“Do not worry, my friend Twilight.” Zecora smiled as she shifted the bags on her back, trying to make them rest more comfortably. “I can easily find a place for the night. Since the ponies of this town think of me well, it should be simple for me to find a hotel.”

Sweetie Belle suddenly spoke up, surprising both adults. “You could stay at Rarity’s. Nopony’s home right now and I know Rarity would be happy to let you stay. Fluttershy’s taking care of Opal, so you don’t need to worry about her. Although you might not want to touch… well, anything.” Sweetie Belle winced slightly as she recalled what had happened the last time she had tried playing with her sister’s working materials. It was hardly Sweetie Belle’s fault that fabric was so flammable, right? That ponyquin would probably have fallen into the oven on its own anyway.

Twilight spoke after a few moments’ thought. “That doesn’t sound too bad, actually. She’s right, Rarity would definitely let you stay at her house. Does that sound alright with you?”

“Your friend’s generosity certainly shows,” Zecora said with a smile, “but I certainly do not wish to impose.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sweetie Belle said. “You can find a key to the front door- Oh!” Glancing around, she pulled Zecora’s head down to her and started whispering something into the zebra’s ear.

Apple Bloom saw Twilight’s questioning look and answered the question that was clear on the unicorn’s face. “She’s not really supposed to tell anypony about where Rarity hides the spare key. Me and Scootaloo know, but we can’t tell nopony.”

“I-I didn’t even know she had a spare key,” Spike said, looking like he was about to burst into tears. Twilight rolled her eyes at the reaction of her lovelorn assistant and turned back to see Zecora nod her head before standing up straight.

“Thank you for your generosity,” Zecora said gratefully down to the little unicorn. “The location of the key is safe with me.” Her earrings swayed as she turned her head, the expression on her face becoming serious as she looked at Twilight. “After your friends came to my place, I performed a divination about the one you did face. I saw from where the creature came from and I fear the worst is yet to come.” With the wind blowing through her mane, she turned and disappeared in the direction of Carousel Boutique.

“Just says what she likes and then leaves. That’s Zecora, alright.” Twilight exhaled, letting out a slight puff of air out her nostrils as she turned to look at the four youngsters. The three fillies looked up at her expectantly while Spike looked despondently in the direction Zecora had gone, looking like he wanted to follow after her. Twilight gave him a hard shove, nearly knocking him to the ground. “You can find out where the key is later. Right now, let’s just get home. This is too much for me to worry about now, and I need some sleep.”

Spike rubbed his claws together awkwardly before following after Twilight and the fillies. “Yeah, sure. Right.”

_______________________________________

Roughly shoving the door to the library open, Twilight tiredly staggered inside. She could feel the exhaustion of the day all the way down to her bones, and her hooves scraped along the wooden floor as she dragged herself towards the stairs. Her mind was starting to feel a little fuzzy and she knew that if she didn’t get to bed soon, she would be sleeping on the floor. “Spike, I’m going to head to bed now. Take care of those three. ‘Night.”

Spike nodded as she stumbled up the stairway, wondering if she would need some help. Thankfully, she made it to the top without incident, and he could hear her hoofsteps as she managed to get to her bed. Sighing in relief, he turned to the three fillies, wondering what to do with them. “We’ve got a guest room, but there’s really not enough room for three. What else…” He scratched the back of his head as he pondered where the trio could sleep for the night.

He didn’t really want to separate them, since Apple Bloom would probably need the comfort of her friends to get through the night. He wasn’t very good at reading ponies, but even he could tell that Apple Bloom was just barely holding herself together, though she was doing a god job of hiding it. “Would the basement be alright? We’d need to clean up a little, but it should be big enough.”

Scootaloo grinned broadly, rearing back on her hind legs and striking a pose. “A little hoofwork’s no problem. I’ll move all that junk by myself if I have to.”

With a sweep of one of her legs, Apple Bloom knocked Scootaloo’s legs out from under her, knocking the tiny pegasus on her back. “Yeah, yeah,” she teased as Scootaloo glared at her. “I think watching you move all that stuff by yourself does sound- Oof.” The rest of her sentence was cut off as Scootaloo tackled her, and the two fillies were quickly wrapped up in their playful little brawl.

Groaning as he saw them crash into a bookshelf, the books falling all around them like leaves, Spike smacked his face with a claw. “Yeah, should have seen this coming. Sweetie Belle, could you…” His request faded out as he realized that the little unicorn was no longer standing beside him. A hasty look around of the room showed that she had leapt into the battle at some point, which was now raging stronger than ever. When did she even join them?

“Who?”

Glancing up to see Owlowiscious sitting on one of the ceiling beams, Spike winced as he heard the fillies take down another bookshelf. “I’m going to clean up the basement,” he told the owl. “Make sure they don’t break anything-” crash “-anything else,” he finished lamely. Hope whatever that was wasn’t important. Speeding for the basement doors at a breakneck pace, Spike tried to ignore the continuing sounds of wreckage from behind him.

“Who?” the owl said to nobody in particular.

_____________________________________________

Where… am I?

I see… This is a dream.

Who’s there? Wait. I know you…

Princess Luna? Is that you?

It is you! I’m so happy to see you! It’s been so long. Almost three months now.

What? How do I know how long it’s been? Um…  I dunno! I guess I just do!

There’s so much I want to tell you! I met a new pony, and…

What’s wrong? Why are you so sad? Princess Luna, are you crying?

Please don’t cry.

Please…

__________________________________________

Several hours later, Twilight’s bedcovers fell off of her as she sat up. Letting out a magnificent yawn, she stretched out her hooves as high as she could. Her spine popped and cracked pleasantly, and she groaned in relief. The groan became a sigh as she glanced out the window and saw that the sunlight was coming from the wrong direction. “Well, girl,” she said aloud. “Somepony’s gotta do something about it, and it might as well be you.”

Climbing out of bed and straightening the bedsheets, she turned and laughed as she saw herself in the mirror. “Wow. Beauty sleep is obviously wasted on me.” Picking up the nearby brush with her magic, she ran it through her mane several times until she no longer looked like something that would frighten small foals. Putting the brush aside, she leaned in and examined her horn in the mirror.

It looked much better, but the crack from when she had been struck with an axe was still very clear. She brushed at it gently, lightly trying to test out how firm it was. It passed. Whatever Zecora put on it is amazing, she thought. One of these days, I have got to find out how she does it.

Levitating over the bottle that Zecora had given her, she dipped her hoof into it and applied a little more of the goo to her horn. So long as nothing else went wrong, her horn should recover without any issues. Twilight knew she was lucky, and that it could have gone a lot worse for her. Like AJ and Dash…

Shaking her head, Twilight shoved those thoughts aside. No. She was done moping. Now she needed to be strong, and she needed to figure out a way to help her friends. To help all of Equestria. It was a daunting task, but so long as her friends were with her, Twilight felt she could take on anything in the world.

“That’s right,” she said to the mirror, trying to pump herself up. “Even you, Discord. Anything you can throw at me, we will overcome.” After a few silent moments passed, she sighed in relief. At least I know Discord’s still imprisoned. The last thing I need is to face him and the changelings at the same time. No way would Discord have been able to ignore such blatant provocation if he was free. His ego wouldn’t allow it.

Capping the bottle and putting it aside, she giggled to herself when she turned and saw Spike curled up in his little basket. His blanket had fallen off at some point during the night and she could clearly see him hugging his own tail, sucking at the tip like it was a giant purple pacifier. It was adorable. Half wanting to take a picture of him so she could embarrass him with it later and half wanting to draw a mustache on his face, she instead decided to leave him alone and let him sleep, covering him with his blanket and tucking him in with a fond shake of her head.

The floor creaking slightly under her hooves, she slipped out the doorway and shut it behind her with a quiet click. A faint smile adorning her face, she silently walked down the stairs. The smile slid off her face as she saw the disaster the library had become, instead being replaced with an irritated frown. Almost all of the books had been knocked off their shelves, and a valuable statue by Alexander Colter lay in pieces in one of the corners. It was only a replica – ponies crashed into the library far too often for anything irreplaceable to be kept here – but it had still been difficult for her to obtain it.

Well, at least none of the books had been damaged. It was too early in the morning to stress about the mess, so Twilight decided to just ignore it. Walking past the mess without stopping to clean felt like a physical pain stabbing into her heart, but Twilight persevered and managed to make it to the kitchen. There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Wiping a bead of sweat off her forehead, she quickly threw together a simple breakfast of lettuce, flowers, apple slices, and some good strong coffee.

Leaving enough of the salad for the still-asleep fillies for when they woke up – as well as three glasses of orange juice – Twilight also left a bowl of gems for her number one assistant. Her work finished, she stepped out into the library one more and tried to persuade herself to leave without cleaning the place. She had to get to the hospital. She had… to… get… I’ll just clean up the books a little. Just pile them up. That’s all. Actually, those stone shards are a little dangerous. I better clean them up as well.

Half an hour later, Twilight caught herself starting to sort the books and putting them back in their regular places on the shelves. Blushing slightly and privately glad nopony had seen her momentary loss of control, she hastily scribbled a note for the four still sleeping and left the building before she could clean up any more.

Once outside, Twilight had to blink at what she saw. The streets were crowded with ponies, more than she had thought lived in Ponyville. They moved listlessly among themselves, not appearing to notice her at all. Their eyes were almost all sunken and blank, like they had been unable to fall asleep all night, and they tiredly staggered through the streets. Occasionally, one would look up at where the sun hung in the sky before sighing and returning their gaze to the dirt road. Twilight knew what they were feeling. She had felt that way once before and she would never forget it. Have they given up?

Twilight’s thoughts were cut off as something suddenly slammed into her from the side, knocking her off her hooves and throwing her to the ground. Thinking quickly, Twilight rolled clear of her assailant and climbed to her hooves, her horn blazing threateningly as she turned to look at her attacker. Seeing a grey pegasus lying in a heap on the ground, Twilight sighed and released her magic, the glow around her horn fading and dying out.

“Hello Derpy.”

The klutzy mailmare of Ponyville staggered to her hooves, her blond mane and tail flapping gracelessly in the breeze. One of her eyes focused on Twilight, while the other one pointed aimlessly off to the side. “Morning, Twilight. Sorry about that. Just had a little accident. Ehehehe.” She laughed awkwardly before digging into the mailbag that hung from her side.

Twilight sighed again, sitting down as she waited for Derpy to find whatever she was looking for. No matter what happened, she never could stay angry at the clumsy pegasus. Nopony could. Derpy might identically cause enough damage on a regular basis to get her own classification on Ponyville’s disaster measurement system, but she was also one of the friendliest and open ponies in the entire town. She might not be able to hold a job for longer than a year, but that had never stopped her from trying.

Derpy, meanwhile, had her head deep in the mailbag, rummaging through it as she tried to find a certain letter. “No, no, no, nope, not it, ooh muffin.” She continued talking, but whatever she was saying was muffled, like there was something in her mouth. After a swallow, her voice continued to filter out of the bag. “Where could- Ah!  Found it.”  Her head popped out of the bag, a letter clenched between her teeth.

“Thanks, Derpy,” Twilight said, accepting the letter. Looking it over, she noticed something odd about the envelope. “No return address?”

Derpy shook her head, her wings already starting to beat, though they were slightly off time with each other. “No, sorry. It was just left at the post office when I got there. Good luck with whatever you’re doing.” Taking off, she narrowly managed to avoid running into the ponies that filled the street before promptly faceplanting into a nearby building.

Twilight winced, but since Derpy recovered and flew off apparently unharmed, she instead turned her attention to the letter in her hooves. Flipping it over, she only saw her name written on it. Twilight Sparkle. The words were black and crisp, like they had been burned into the paper instead of written. Pulling out the letter, she saw that it was composed of only six short words, each looking like they had been hatefully burned into the page.

I’m not done with you yet.

Twilight frowned at the threat, and tried to think who could have sent it. Discord was still imprisoned and it couldn’t have been the changelings. That creature in the forest could have done it, but that didn’t seem right either. Folding the paper and returning it to the envelope, she tucked it into her mane. She’d think about it later.

________________________________________

“Morning, Twilight. How ya doin’?”

Twilight only groaned in response to Applejack’s inquiry as she gently lowered herself down onto one of the hospital chairs. It had been a rough trip to the hospital, and she had been jostled, bumped, shoved, and otherwise roughed around by all the despondent ponies that filled the streets. It wasn’t like the ponies meant to hurt her, it was more like they didn’t even realise she was there.

“Goooood news, everypony,” Rarity’s melodic voice sung out from the doorway as she cantered into the room. Pinkie followed at her heels, the pink mare bouncing excitedly. “You’ll be happy to hear that both Pinkie and I are being released from the hospital.”

“That is good news,” Applejack said, a somewhat forced smile on her face. She was definitely happy to hear that her friends were well on the road to recovery, and she certainly wasn’t jealous that they were able to leave while she would have to remain hospitalized for a while longer. Her happiness was just a little tinged with guilt because most of it came from the fact that she wouldn’t be stuck spending another night in the same room as Pinkie Pie. She was just too polite to say so.

“Yeperoony,” said Pinkie. “The doctors say I have to keep these bandages on for a little while longer and that I should change them from time to time. But that’s just silly, isn’t it? You can’t change bandages. What am I supposed to change them into? I suggested a hat, but the doctor just looked at me funny and said I should have a talk with one of his colleagues. He had such a funny name, I think it was Psykia Trist or something like that. Ooh, I should totally throw a Released-From-the-Hospital Party! And then we can all sleep together and it’ll like a big slumber party!”

“No!” Dash wasn’t nearly as polite as Applejack, but she was quickly cut off before she could say any more.

“I’m pretty sure what Dash means,” Fluttershy said, frowning at the cyan pegasus, “is not yet. We should wait until everypony’s been released.  Doesn’t… doesn’t that sound like it would be more fun?”

Pinkie hmm'd, tapping her hoof against her chin as if she was deep in thought before breaking out into a beaming smile. “You’re right, that does sound more fun. We’ll just put it off a bit, but that just means it’ll be even bigger when I do throw it. It’ll be a super-mega-tastic ULTRA party! I’ve never thrown one of those before!”

“You might want to throw one for the whole town once we’ve got this mess sorted out,” Twilight said. “Everypony in town seems pretty depressed right now.”

“Well, that’s not really a surprise,” Rarity pointed out, the white unicorn taking a seat on the bed she had been sleeping on. “Princess Celestia’s gone, the sun’s not moving, and nopony knows what to do. It’s like the time with Nightmare Moon all over again.”

Twilight frowned at the reminder of Princess Luna’s return from the moon. Celestia’s younger sister had briefly overthrown the Solar Princess, proclaiming eternal night over all the land. Thankfully, Twilight and her friends had been able to harness the powers of the Elements of Harmony, stripping away the evil that had gripped the younger alicorn’s heart and giving Luna another chance to fix her relationship with her sister.

“Alright, I see your point,” Twilight said eventually. Her horn flaring brightly, she conjured up a large folding drawing board directly in front of her, complete with a blank scroll resting upon it. Her horn blazing again, she summoned an inkwell and a quill. Grabbing the latter in her telekinesis, she looked up at the others. “Alright, Zecora said she would stop by later, but I still think we should try to get an idea of what we can do before she arrives. Any suggestions?”

“Rescue the Wonderbolts?” Dash said immediately, cutting in before any of the others could even open their mouths.

“Alright, there’s that,” Twilight said, writing it down. “I’ll also add ‘Rescue Shining Armor and Cadance’ as well. If we can get them free, they should be able to help us throw the changelings out of Canterlot.”

“Use the Elements?” Applejack asked from where she lay on her bed, her eyes staring at something outside the window.

“I’ll add that with the other two and classify it all under ‘Sneak into Canterlot,’ since the Elements are still being stored there.”

“Ooh, how about finding wherever Luna went? She could help us.” Pinkie said, sticking her head over the top of the drawing board to see what Twilight had written.

“Alright, I’ll add that with a question mark since we don’t have any leads to where she is.” Twilight’s quill scratched its way along the paper as she continued to try and organize what needed to be done. Putting a period on the end, she looked up at the two that hadn’t said anything yet. “How about you two?”

“We could try to capture that creature in the forest once more,” Rarity said after a slight pause. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to seeing it again, but we might be able to figure out something about what Discord’s planning.”

“Mmm,” Twilight grunted as she wrote the suggestion down. Truth be told, she wasn’t looking forward to dealing with that thing again either. The last time they had tried had left the group with the injuries that put them in the hospital in the first place.

“We could try to dig out Princess Celestia,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I mean… she’s not dead, right? Right, Twilight?”

Twilight hesitated before finally adding the last suggestion. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I think… all we can do is hope.” Her quill stopping, she looked down at what she had written. Frowning slightly, she tried to figure out a way to deal with everything that had happened. Simply keeping track of everything was going to be difficult enough, but trying to fix it? This was going to be a nightmare.

“Umm… Twilight?” Applejack said from where she was looking out the window. “Not to pressure you or nothing, but d’ya think you could plan fast?”

“Now Applejack, why would you even ask that of her?” Rarity asked with an upraised eyebrow. When Applejack’s only response was to point out the window, Rarity walked over to see what the cowpony was referring to. “Oh…” she said quietly when she saw it, her voice almost a whisper. “Oh, that’s not good.”

The three others, not counting Rainbow Dash, crowded around the window. Each of them muttered in dismay at what they saw down there on the streets below. Dash, still confined to her bed, was unable to see out the window. “What?” she asked impatiently. “What is it? What do you see?”

Twilight turned to looked at Dash, the purple unicorn’s face paling until it was almost white. “We’ve got a problem,” she whispered.

___________________________________________

On the streets below, a large crowd had formed, surrounding the train station. A train had just come in from Canterlot, bearing two very unwelcome passengers with it. The pair stood side by side, openly watching their hostile surroundings with a disinterested air, as if there was nothing the ponies could do to hurt them.

Mayor Mare forced her way through the crowd, eventually managing to break through them and stand before the interlopers. Hiding the fear that she felt tearing at her heart at the sight of the arrivals, the amber earth pony bravely cleared her throat. “What do you want?” she asked them. Her voice quivered slightly, but she was mostly able to keep it under control.

The two figures turned to look at her, their black eyelids slowly coming down over their compound eyes as they blinked at her. The nearer one stepped towards her, the entire crowd collectively backing up a step as his hole-riddled hoof struck the dirt road. His wings buzzed slightly, and the side of his mouth curled back in what could technically be called a smile, a pair of sharp fangs glinting in the evening sunlight. Its twisted horn blazed a sickly green as it cast a spell to make its voice heard throughout the entirety of Ponyville.

“We know the bearers of the Elements of Harmony live here,” the changeling boomed, its deep reverberating voice somehow still managing to buzz slightly. “You will surrender the six mares, or face the consequences. So commands the new ruler of Equestria, Queen Chrysalis. If you know what is good for you, you will submit.”

“And…” Mayor Mare’s legs were shaking, but she refused to back down. “And if we refuse?”

The second changeling grinned broadly, his eyes twinkling merrily as if the idea of the ponies fighting back amused him. “Then I suppose,” he hissed in a voice meant for the mayor’s ears only, “we’ll just have to burn this town to the ground.”