When will it end?

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The rain fell. Tiny little droplets of insignificant moisture descending from the sky. They didn't matter as Twilight ran. Ponyville slowly burned down around her, but she didn't care. She had to find Artorias. As she ran through the town, she heard a faint sound, like a celestial ringing. She ran towards the noise, teleporting through every building in her way. Fire crackled around, singeing her mane. She burst into a clearing in the wreckage of Ponyville. Lying on the ground was Artorias. She could see blood slowly pouring out in a circle around him. Standing near him was a strange silhouette carrying his blade. It looked to be a stallion due to its size. He looked over, dropped Artorias' sword, and flew off. He dropped something behind as he flew away. It rolled over to Artorias, resting by his left hand. Twilight teleported over, surveying his wound. She knew it pierced threw his entire body due to the blood. It was pouring out at a massive rate, due to the need to pump faster. Twilight started to panic, she didn't know what to do. The rain increased in speed. It started to drop faster, pouring onto Ponyville. She looked around, trying to find anything to cover Artorias. Her eyes came upon the dropped object. It appeared to be some sort of a shell. It glowed an ominous green color. Twilight could sense the magic power coming off it. It wasn't a dangerous kind, and looked edible. She took a chance, and levitated it to Artorias' mouth. She forced open his mouth, and chomped it on the shell. It instintaniosly started to swell, and within a few seconds enveloped Artorias. It then shone with a bright light, and radiated a blast of dark energy outward. It knocked Twilight off her hooves, sensing her crashing into a wall. She slammed her head and lost consciousness.

When she came to, she saw that the fires has been put out. Nearby pegasi were flying in. She shot upwards, and dashed over to Artorias. He was inside a green cocoon, laying on his back. She gasped in surprise as she saw that his wound was gone, not even a scar remained. She was puzzling over this fact when she heard the beating of great wings. Turning around she realized that the Princesses had arrived. "Celestia!" Twilight ran over and hugged her mentor. "What are you doing here?"

"We saw the flames from the palace and decided to come over. What happened?"

"Me and Artorias were in the Everfree—"

"You were in the Everfree?" Asked Luna.

"Yes me, Rainbow, and Artorias were in the Everfree after the giant beast attacked—"

"The beast? You mean the one that came from the ground?"

"Yes, and Artorias was the one to kill it."

"Who is this Artorias, Twilight?" Asked Celestia.

"He's just over here, come on." Twilight led them over to the cocoon, where Artorias was held. "That's him inside."

"What happened to him?" Asked Luna.

"I fed him a strange plant that a mysterious stallion dropped. It morphed around him, and banished his impalement."

"Impalement!?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, he had a wound straight through the center of his chest."

"How did he come here?" Inquired Luna. Twilight proceeded to inform Celestia and Luna about everything that had happened over the night. As she filled them in, Celestia raised the sun, and pegasi directed the rain clouds to where they were needed. As Twilight finished her recap, the cocoon stirred. Twilight ran over, and breathed a sigh of relief to see Artorias stir from his slumber. He tried speaking to her, but she couldn't hear. "I can't here you." She said, and he realized it was soundproof . He laid back down, and took a few breaths. He looked through, and gave Twilight a quick nod. He started a bit when he saw Celestia and Luna look through the cocoon. He threw a quick salute to both of them, the laid back down onto his makeshift healer/prison. Celestia charged up a spell, and then the four of them found themselves in Ponyville hospital, one of the few untouched places. Celestia had the nurses prepare a stretcher, then had them carry him to an operating room. Twilight, Luna, and Celestia had to wait to see what could be done. As they sat there, the rest of Twilight's friends plus Daring Do burst into the hospital. They gathered around, asking Twilight where she had been. After they all sat own, she recapped everything that had happened.

As they waited for Artorias to finish with his cocoon removal, they all went around the hospital, looking at the wounded. Surprisingly, there weren't that many injuries. A few ponies had first to second degree burns, and a few scratches. Lyra, everyone's favorite anthropologist, had a broken hoof. She sat there with BonBon, her hoof in a sling. They came by and said hi, asking how she was. As she assured them she was fine, a doctor came by and whispered something to Celestia. She nodded, and whispered back. As Rainbow boasted about how easily she could recover from that injury, Lyra saw something and her jaw dropped. Everyone asked what was wrong, until they heard the sound of cracking joints. Everyone looked towards he doorway, where Artorias was popping his fingers. He looked in and saw everyone staring at the ends of his front joints. Now that Twilight wasn't in a constant state of adrenaline, she saw that Artorias had something that a certain someone had shown her before lots of times. She was in this very room, in that very bed, and was slowly filling with glee. "You...have...HANDS!" She grabbed him with her magic, much to his surprise, and yanked him over. She brought his hand over to her face, staring in awe at his five different appendages.

"So I guess you don't see many hands?" He asked.

"No." Was everyone's response. "There are no humans in Equestria." Said Lyra. It was very awkward as Artorias floated in the air, with Lyra staring in fascination at his hand. She slowly flexed all his fingers in a row, marveling at his muscles. "Excuse me miss?" Lyra looked up at the floating knight. "Could you please let me down?" With a slight blush from embarrassment, she slowly let Artorias to the ground. He touched down lightly, setting his hands on a nearby table. "Thank you, madam. Now would you be so kind as to let me know your name?"

"Oh, sure. My name's Ly—"

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Lyra was interrupted by a terrifying scream. It writhed through the hospital, shattering glass as it reached every room. Artorias stiffened, listening to the cry. He dashed out the door, followed quickly by Celestia and Luna. Everyone else shared a look of confusion, and followed, (except Lyra and BonBon). Artorias and the Princesses came upon a huge steel door, blasted open by the force of the wails. Artorias and Luna could sense sadness in those screams. They dashed through the door, quickly moving through the hospital. The new area was dark, and lit by tiny lights on the walls. They approached another door, this one made of obsidian, and twelve inches thick. With a nod, Artorias reached for the handle. Before he could open the door, it was blasted open by a fierce explosion. Once he dust settled, Artorias and Luna gazed upon the silhouette standing in its frame, eyes burning a sickening shade of red, with pupils like slits, except pure white. They readied themselves against the upcoming fight.