12

Meteors

Pinkie scrubbed the blackened side of a building with an ever-deteriorating brush. She dunked it in a shallow bucket of solution and resumed her task of removing soot. A dozen other ponies were alongside her, all doing the same repetitive task.

Canterlot still smelled horrible, even weeks after the attack. Whatever oil the griffons had used made the hairs of Pinkie's nose curl. It was like no other fire they had seen before, equal parts blistering and enduring. It had its own name now: Griffish fire. Pinkie had heard stories of it sticking to ponies' coats, continuing to burn long after it had done its job. She shuddered.

She glanced at the sun. It barely kissed the mountains now. She dropped her bush into the bucket, shaking out her hooves. They trembled slightly, and she shook them a bit. She reached into the bucket for her brush and found the bucket mostly dry. With a sigh, she grabbed the handle with her mouth, stood, and began ambling towards a large trough of strong-smelling soap a few yards away.

A flash of azure caught her eye, and she dropped her bucket. Ponies around her gave her odd looks. Pinkie, ignoring them, looked up with a bright smile. "Dashie?! Is that—" She stepped in a puddle. Backing up, she realized the sky reflected in the puddle was the azure she saw. Her hair deflating, she picked her bucket up in her mouth again and walked to the trough.

"Luna! Are you gonna help me in here or what?"

Twilight's voice echoed through the halls and rooms. Luna sighed, setting the sun from the balcony. "I will be there in a moment," she called back. She finished the sun and started on the moon, closing her eyes. She shook her head and tried to wake herself up. She opened her eyes to find the moon much too high up. Annoyed, she hastily moved it closer to the horizon. She yawned and turned around, going into the hallway. She walked a few paces when she remembered the doors. Grumbling, she turned around, shut the balcony doors, and continued on her way.

The darker light of night turned the bright blues and purples of the castle interior into soft and cool indigos. Luna slowed upon seeing a long stretch of rug on the floor, her ear twitching. She smiled softly. "I could just lay down right here and... Oh, what am I thinking?" she muttered, passing over the rug.

She glanced back to the rug before making a turn. "Maybe I do need to sleep soon." She chuckled mirthlessly to herself. "If I think a rug to be good to sleep on..." She started to yawn, but cut herself off. "I need to stop, lest Twilight notices I..." The yawn escaped, and she stomped on the ground. "Confound it."

She walked a few more steps before she stopped. "Wait," she muttered. "Did I...?" She squinted out of a window and saw black clouds against a bright orange band on the horizon. She groaned. "Of course I did. I just did that." She shook her head again. Her brain felt heavy and thick, as if it were made of pudding. She could almost feel it slosh around in her skull. She held her head, waiting for it to settle. She closed her eyes again. "Now, what was I...?" She opened her eyes, seeing a door with bright light shining through the cracks. "Right." She walked towards the door and peeked through it.

Twilight sat at a table, scanning through three scrolls at once. In front of her were at least a hundred more. Luna sighed, put on a smile, and walked through the doors. Twilight flinched and glared at Luna. Luna waved a wing at her and sat herself down on the opposite side of the table. Twilight pushed a pile of scrolls towards Luna. She glanced over the table and found her three scrolls, opening them back up.

Luna picked one at random, broke the seal, and started reading. It piqued her interest when she saw it was from the Equestrian Air Force. Upon further reading, though, it just reported the railroad connecting Equestria to the Griffon Kingdom had been sabotaged. It didn't surprise her; the bridge was just north of the Griffish Isles, which were surely taken by now. She sighed, rolling the scroll up and tossing it to the side.

Twilight groaned, and Luna looked up. "Sure," she muttered to herself. She looked at Luna, irritated. "I've received official condolences from Yakyakistan to Maretonia to the Dragon Lands, but as far as actual help, no one seems to want to get involved." Luna shrugged and yawned, earning a glare from Twilight. Luna opened another scroll, only reading the first line or so before skimming the rest, and she slowly closed her eyes...

"All right, that'll do it for today. Get some rest now."

The last glimmer of sunlight finally faded from Canterlot. Pinkie wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead, slowly exhaling. She walked to the trough and set her bucket and brush down. She trotted away, scanning the crowds. She spied Applejack putting her tools away, and, putting on a smile, she hopped over to her.

"Hiya Applejack!"

Applejack jumped a bit, dropping a broom. She turned around, and upon seeing Pinkie's face, began chuckling. "Now, how's it that you're still jumpin' around? I'm beat." Pinkie shrugged.

"It really is quite remarkable," said Rarity, joining up with them. "I wish you could somehow give the rest of us some of your peppiness."

Pinkie opened her mouth to speak, but her entire body suddenly began to shake and just as suddenly stopped. She dropped to the ground, holding her ears, her eyes widening, her entire face falling. "No, no, no no no no..." she muttered. "Not again, not again..."

"What?" Rarity said. "What again?"

Applejack looked around the remains of Canterlot. "I got a pretty good idea." She crouched down to Pinkie. "A doozy?" Rarity looked between them, confused and worried. Pinkie slowly nodded. Applejack slowly took a breath. "Where at?"

"That's just it," Pinkie said, still quiet. She glanced up at them. "I don't know." She stared at the ground again, muttering. "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know..."

"Memento mori."

Luna yelped, flinging the parchment across the table and falling backwards, hitting her head on the floor. Twilight peered across the table, setting down a scroll and quill. Luna didn't bother getting up. She rubbed her head and closed her eyes, trying to remember to whom the voice belonged.

"What?" Twilight asked, getting up. "What did the letter say?"

Luna blinked away stars from her eyes. "The Crystal Empire Expeditionary Force has found nothing thus far."

Twilight levitated the letter to herself and began reading. She scanned down the scroll as Luna got up. Muttering something, she set the letter down, walked to her end of the table, grabbed her ink and quill, and started writing.

"What of your other scrolls?" Luna asked. "I can handle my own—"

"It's fine, Luna," Twilight said irritably. "I'll take care of them."

"I am perfectly capable of—"

Twilight pointed the quill at Luna, flicking a bit of ink at her face. "I got it, Luna! All of it! Just go!" Luna, wiping her face with a wing, was about to fire back when the door opened and Starlight entered, looking worried.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing," Twilight said, writing her letter again.

"Is it about Rainbow?" Starlight asked. Twilight growled and wrote more forcefully, ink beginning to splotch here and there.

"No," said Luna, "the Crystal—"

Twilight broke her quill and turned to them. "Could you two please get out if you're not going to do anything?"

"Twilight," Starlight said, "have you even heard from Rainbow?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes and huffed. "Why do you care?"

"Why do I care?" Starlight scoffed. "Why don't you care? You don't seem concerned in the least." She took a step towards Twilight cautiously. "I mean, we haven't seen or heard from her since that night, and her cutie mark disappeared from the map when she—"

"Look," Twilight interrupted. "I don't know why it didn't show up when we went to Canterlot. I don't have the slightest clue as to where she is now. The army doesn't use letters for individual ponies. I think she's with the Wonderbolts, but she could've just as easily died in Canterlot." She levitated a replacement quill to her, dipped it in ink, and resumed writing. Starlight awkwardly looked to Luna, who stared at Twilight.

Starlight cleared her throat. "How... how very blunt of you, Twilight."

Twilight set down her quill. "Just looking at the facts."

"But you're not worried about Rainbow at all?"

"Just drop it." She blew on the ink.

"Twilight," Starlight took a few more steps toward her, "I'm just saying—"

Twilight set the letter down, not even glancing at Starlight. "Drop it."

"But she's your friend!"

"Starlight," Twilight said ominously.

"You can't just—"

Twilight slammed the table. "Damn it, Starlight, I said drop it! I don't want to talk about her!"

"Twilight," Luna said threateningly. "I think that is eno—"

"Would you just shut up?!" Twilight yelled, silencing her.

"Now now, Pinkie," said Applejack gently, helping her friend up. "I want ya to clear yer head. Are ya sure ya can't tell where it's gonna happen?"

Pinkie shook her head. "It's like a bunch of different things are happening all at once, and my Pinkie sense can't make sense of any of them."

"So it could be more than one thing?" Rarity asked. Pinkie nodded. "Can you at least tell how many?"

Pinkie rubbed her head. "Two? I think two." She looked between them helplessly. "But I've never had a doozy like that before. For all I know, it could be twenty."

Applejack's pupils shrunk. "Twenty?!"

"B-but," Pinkie said, raising a clarifying hoof, "I think it's two. That's what I'm getting."

"Woah," somepony a few yards away called out. "What's that?" Ponies, curiosity getting the better of them, slowly began walking towards the edge of Canterlot. Applejack looked to the other two, shrugged, and motioned them to follow. After going around a few blackened buildings, they saw it—a tiny speck of light zipping across the sky.

"Huh," Applejack said. "A shooting star?" Pinkie quivered a bit.

Twilight stomped on the ground. "I am sick and tired of being talked down to when I'm the only one running this damn country!"

"You?" Luna said incredulously. "Alone? Hardly. I am leading us in the war."

"And you haven't done much there, have you? Most of the air force is still sitting at the coast!"

"Uh," Starlight said, "do you two hear—"

"Cyclone and Typhoon are still preparing!" Luna shot back.

"What about the Griffish Isles?" Twilight asked. "Was Trottingham supposed to just 'sit tight'?"

"You two don't hear that?" Starlight said, louder this time.

"We had to wait until our forces were sufficient! Thunderhead is heading to Trottingham right now!"

Twilight was about to retort when her ears perked up, as did Luna's. Starlight sighed. Twilight trotted over to a nearby window and saw a crowd pointing up towards the skies in the east. She craned her neck to look but couldn't see anything. Luna and Starlight turned to the door when the ponies outside started screaming. They ran to the window Twilight was at and watched as the ponies ran away from the center of town. Silence followed for a few tense moments. Then, an ear-splitting explosion rocked Ponyville.

The ponies gathered at Canterlot's edge all gasped. The supposed shooting star had struck the town hall, engulfing it for a split second in a yellow fireball before scattering the pieces upwards and outwards. Small dots of color scattered away from it. Moments later, the ponies at Canterlot all felt as though they were softly pushed away, and many looked around themselves for the cause. They all started chattering until they heard a muted thud, silencing them again.

Rarity's eyes were wide. "That can't have been a meteor, right? It was much too fast." She glanced at Applejack and Pinkie as though looking for reassurance, but they paid her no mind. They continued staring at Ponyville, too stunned for words.

Pinkie jolted. "Where's Fluttershy?" She spun around, hopping over the sea of ponies behind her. She looked at Rarity, who shook her head. Pinkie had a look of determination on her face. "I'm going to find her." She disappeared in a pink blur through the crowd, calling Fluttershy's name. Rarity looked at Applejack, who had sat down and begun to shake.

"There's another one!" somepony shouted over the hundreds of voices. Rarity and Applejack snapped their heads eastward and saw another streak of white. Applejack hid her eyes behind her hat, muttering softly to herself.

The blast had toppled the three ponies over. Bits of shattered glass covered the floor like fresh snow. Luna couldn't hear anything over the ringing in her ears. She saw Twilight stand up, shout something, and run towards the hallway in the castle. Luna realized with a sharp pain she had fallen on her bad hoof. She got up, stumbling a bit still. She looked to Starlight, who already was looking out the now open window.

"Are you—" Luna began to say, but she couldn't even hear herself. She peered out the window and saw ponies running around like frenzied ants. She glanced back to the hallway Twilight ran into, but she was gone. The ringing in her ears slowly subsided, being replaced by screams from outside.

"What was that?!" Starlight yelled, terror in her voice. "What the hell was that?!" Luna said nothing, not sure herself. A small pillar of smoke barely made itself known against the violet sky.

"Starlight!" Sunburst said, running into the room. He ran to Starlight and hugged her. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "I'm fine."

"Did you hear what Twilight said?" Luna asked.

"I think she said something about Spike, but," she shrugged. "I couldn't hear anything for a minute."

"I'm right here!" Twilight sped to them, Spike barely holding onto her back. "Is everypony alright?" The three nodded. Twilight, looking at the window, began to fly to it before Starlight, horn lit, stopped her short by her tail.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Starlight called. "You don't know what's out there!"

"That's the point!" Twilight said, kicking at Starlight's magic. She looked at her tail, then Starlight, and her eyes widened. She landed on the floor, the glass crinkling under her. "Sorry. I... got excited."

"I'll say," Spike muttered. Twilight glared at him.

"Well," Luna said, "I suppose we ought to see what transpired. See if everypony is alright." She sighed, nodding to the smoke. "See what was destroyed."

Another explosion. They fell back onto the floor, covering their ears. The rumbling was more subdued this time, as was the sound.

"No!"

Applejack stood rigid. The second streak had completely obliterated the Apple's barn. Nearby apple trees scattered like toothpicks, and dirt and rocks shot up and out like confetti. Once the smoke had cleared, all that remained of the barn was a crater.

Applejack collapsed, and Rarity tried to help her back up. Applejack continued to stare at it all, not saying anything. Her breathing became funny, and then she retched somewhat.

"That can't..." Rarity began. "That can't have just..."

"You guys!" Rarity turned and saw Pinkie practically dragging Fluttershy along by the hoof. "I found Fluttershy, you guys! She was—" Pinkie gasped, letting her friend go.

"Oh no," Fluttershy said. "Applejack..."

"Th-th-the barn..." Applejack whimpered. She shut her eyes tightly, covering her face with her hat, and collapsed again. The others all tried to help her up, but she wouldn't budge. Applejack began to weep, her shoulders heaving. Fluttershy and Rarity hugged and tried to console her softly. Pinkie opened her mouth to speak but seemed unable to think of anything to say. Applejack rolled onto her side and curled into a ball, muttering incoherently through her sobs.

"Another one?!" Twilight yelled, standing up. She opened her mouth to speak, but a look of frightened revelation crossed her face. She turned to Luna. "You don't think..."

Luna nodded, staggering to her hooves. "Like Manehattan." Then, without hesitation, she ran past the others, leapt outside, and began gliding. She scanned around. A crater had replaced the town hall, but Luna couldn't find the second one. Herds of various sizes stampeded throughout Ponyville, their yells of confusion and fear only barely masking the thundering of their hooves.

"Look!" Twilight said, catching up to Luna and pointing at the edge of town. "Sweet Apple Acres was hit!" Turning, Luna now spied a flattened grove of trees at the edge of town accompanied by more smoke. Twilight gasped in horror, falling a few feet. "Where's the barn?!" She immediately sped off, muttering to herself.

"Twilight!" Luna called after her. "What am I—?"

"Meteor!" somepony cried from below. More cries of meteor echoed out, and more screams followed. Luna spun around wildly, trying to find a white streak. She finally found it hurtling from the east, and she instinctively lit her horn and shot a beam at it. She underestimated its speed, and the white streak passed by long before the blue beam could meet it. The meteor touched down on the other side of town, where the train tracks lay. A bright orange flash blinded Luna for a brief moment, and the thud hurt her ears.

Luna looked eastward, and her insides grew cold. She counted three streaks of light growing closer. She thought of attempting to shoot them again but dismissed it. Remembering the wedding in Canterlot, she lit her horn, guessed how large Ponyville was, and focused on conjuring a large bubble around it. A bright blue beam shot from her horn and stopped a hundred feet above; it then split, cascading like a glowing fountain until it touched the earth.

Luna looked back to the three streaks and waited. They were getting closer, going faster. The hysteria below continued—though, either out of good faith or morbid curiosity, a few ponies stopped to watch.

"Come on," Luna muttered. "Please work, please work..."

A split second before they hit, Luna realized there were four—two had been right next to one another. The shield became a shower of blue glass. One right after another, the meteors effortlessly punched through the bubble, causing it to collapse and dissipate slowly around them. One meteor dug itself into a row of homes before detonating, ripping apart a dozen others. Another found a group of ponies in the town square, obliterating them in an instant, a dark red crater in their place.

The two tandem meteors struck Twilight's castle simultaneously. One hit the very top, decapitating the spire, and it landed in a far off hill, blowing half of it away. The other hit lower, punching deep into the castle before exploding. Shards of various purples and pinks scattered across the sky, raining down everywhere. The spire slowly leaned to one side, and with a loud crack, tumbled down, digging into the earth with its star.

Luna faltered, dropping a dozen feet from the sky as bits of her failed shield and the castle rained around her. The meteors struck so close in time that they might as well have been an earthquake. The screams resumed below, more frantic and chaotic now.

For a bewildered moment, Luna stared east, trembling. What now? They couldn't be stopped. She could try shooting them again, but at what cost? If she missed again... she couldn't afford to miss. She looked to the Everfree, an idea unfurling in her mind. But the meteors could miss them.

Luna looked down at the churning crowds below. She took a deep breath. "CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!" she commanded in her royal voice. A few ponies looked up and got the attention of others to do the same. Luna lit her horn and shot a blue flare over the forest. "GO TO THE EVERFREE! GO TO THE CASTLE RUINS!" Many reluctantly looked between Luna and the forest. Luna groaned. "DO YE SEE NOT THAT IT IS THE ONLY PLACE OF SAFETY?" She cast a spell on herself, making herself glow like a bright blue phoenix. "NOW FOLLOW ME!"

Rarity shook her head slowly. "I thought the shield surely would have worked."

The other three refused to watch. Applejack continued to cry softly, her head buried in her hat. Fluttershy and Pinkie hugged her, no longer attempting to assure her verbally.

Rarity gasped, pointing a shaking hoof. "Twilight's castle! It's—"

"Rarity?" Fluttershy asked. "Could you please stop?"

"Sorry," Rarity mumbled, putting her hoof back down. "It's just... I can't believe..."

A voice hit their ears, echoing from Ponyville, indiscernible but recognizable. Ponies around them began turning to one another, all saying one name, both as a question and an answer. Pinkie and Fluttershy looked up, squinting at Ponyville. The three saw the blue flare arc and hover above the forest. Luna began to glow and fly towards the flare. Ponies gathered underneath her and followed, disappearing among the trees.

Dozens more meteors continued to pummel Ponyville for another hour, but most of the tension had eased both there and in Canterlot. Applejack refused to move until long after the shells stopped and darkness completely swept over the landscape. Rarity and Fluttershy stayed with her while Pinkie searched desperately for seats on a train to Ponyville for the following morning.