15
News
"Oh, can't this train go any faster?"
Pinkie somehow managed to find tickets to Ponyville for the following morning, despite nearly every other volunteer in Canterlot wanting to do likewise. Applejack and Rarity were sitting together. Rarity was quickly tapping her hoof against the floor, looking out the window. Applejack had her hat next to her. She stared at the ground, shaking slightly. Fluttershy sat across from them, looking between the two worriedly.
"Rarity," Fluttershy said calmly, "I'm sure they're going as fast as they can."
"Well," Rarity looked at her, "it feels like we've been sitting here for days! Didn't the conductor say we'd arrive at ten?"
"Yes, and I think it's nearly a quarter to ten right now." Fluttershy looked out of her window, watching the trees pass by. "We'll be there soon enough."
Rarity continued to tap her hoof. She looked at Applejack, who still hadn't moved. She nudged Applejack out of her thoughts, and she snapped upright, blinking.
"Are you doing alright, dear?" Rarity asked.
Applejack looked down at the floor again. "I-I'm scared, Rarity," she said quietly. She grabbed her hat and held it to her chest. "You saw what happened to the farm. I don't know what to think. I can't bear the thought that they might've..." She whimpered.
"Applejack," Fluttershy said, "I'm sure they're okay—"
"And what," Applejack barked, making Fluttershy flinch, "exactly, makes you say that? Huh?" She twisted her hat. "How d'ya know that they're okay? How d'ya know that when we get there, they'll still be alive?"
"Oh," Fluttershy looked away, "uh, I-I don't." She quieted her voice. "Sorry. I was just trying to make—"
"I..." Applejack sighed. "No, I'm sorry, Fluttershy." She smoothed out her hat and put it on. "Shouldn't've snapped at ya like that. And you're right. The Apples're smart. They're probably... probably campin' out in the fields or... or somethin'." She stared at the ground again, lost in worry.
"I do sure hope Sweetie Belle's with them," Rarity said, "and Scootaloo as well. I'd hate for them to be separated."
"Um," Fluttershy looked around, "speaking of friends, where did Pinkie go?"
"Oh, well..." Rarity pointed behind Fluttershy towards the front of the cabin. She turned and saw a pink mane poke above the other seats and passengers. Pinkie looked to be staring out of the window. "She said she wanted some time alone," Rarity said.
"Oh," Fluttershy said, turning back around. "Okay then." She stared out of the window again. "I hope this whole thing is over soon."
Pinkie had been counting every tree since they had left; three hundred and seventeen had passed so far. She hadn't been able to figure out where the other doozy was yet, or if it had already happened. The tingling feeling in her gut still remained, and she had fretted about it throughout the night. She wanted to catch up on her sleep on the train, but pangs of anxiety and glimmers of epiphanies bounced around in her mind and prevented her from slipping into so much as a pleasant reverie.
"Three hundred eighteen," she muttered to herself. A thought sprang into her mind. She wasn't acting like her old self anymore. She laughed coldly. Fear and death kind of put a damper on parties. "Three hundred nineteen." Not only was her unsolved doozy worrying her, but she had taken it upon herself to fret about all in Ponyville. She started to regret she had made friends with everypony. How oddly at peace others must be, focused only on their own small circles and not an entire town.
There was only one pony Pinkie hadn't given much thought to until now: Twilight. She closed her eyes and sighed. She wasn't exactly excited to see her. Sure, she wanted Twilight to be okay, but she didn't want to talk with her so soon. She hardly spoke to her on that fateful day, and during their time volunteering in Canterlot, she hadn't written to her like the others had. She rested her head on the window with a thunk. "Three hundred twenty." The trees seemed to be thinning out now.
The door next to her opened. Pinkie looked over and saw the conductor drop a stack of newspapers and shut the door. Pinkie was about to count more trees when she saw a familiar face in the paper. It was Rainbow, and she was with the Wonderbolts. She read the headline, wondering why they were on the front cover.
WONDERBOLTS KILLED!
Pinkie felt as though she had been kicked in the gut, knocking away the lingering tingles. She stared at it for a few seconds, mouth ajar. She quickly snagged the entire stack, hiding it from view. She frantically freed a newspaper from the twine-bound stack, flipped it towards herself, and started reading the cover.
Tragedy struck yesterday evening. While searching for a missing member of their team after the first great battle of the war, the Wonderbolts were ambushed by a group of marauding griffons. In one fell swoop, Equestria lost its most prestigious squadron.
Pinkie caught Rainbow's name in a paragraph below and immediately turned her attention to it.
The captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire, was rushed to Thunderhead by Rainbow Dash, but she unfortunately succumbed to a stab wound.
Pinkie scanned through the other paragraphs, wincing at mentions of stabbings and maulings, searching for Rainbow's name again. When she finally found it, she yelped, covering both her mouth and the words. She sat for a while, trying to compose herself. She slowly uncovered it and continued to read, a hoof still over her mouth.
Rainbow Dash, the newest member of the team, flew Spitfire back to Thunderhead before collapsing on the cloud fortress. She had with her dog tags of four fellow Wonderbolts; Fire Streak, Fleetfoot, High Winds, and Misty Fly.
Pinkie's eyes began to water. This was it. This was the doozy. She stared at the paragraph, unbelieving. "Dashie... Dashie c-can't be dead," she whispered to herself. She began to shake, trying not to cry aloud. "She c-c-can't just... die." In a vain attempt to stifle her crying, not knowing what else to do, she continued reading.
The Equestrian Air Force is now reconsolidating its hoofhold in the northwestern Celestial Sea after this shocking loss. They have recently begun to push towards the Griffish Isles in an attempt to—
Pinkie didn't care anymore. She went back to Rainbow's paragraph and reread it a dozen times. She stared at the photo, tears occasionally splattering onto the black print. She looked at Rainbow's face, popping up from behind the other Wonderbolts.
She remembered that picture. It was Rainbow's first time flying in a show as an actual Wonderbolt. That was a happy day. Rainbow was smiling. She was happy. "Gone," Pinkie croaked. She looked at all the ponies standing with her. Everyone in that picture was gone. Those faces were alive yesterday. Pinkie looked back at Rainbow. Sniffling, she hugged the paper.
Anger slowly drowned out sadness. Why did she learn of her best friend's death through the newspaper? How did she die? What griffon had killed her? Pinkie thoughts slowly slid to the night Rainbow had left. Rainbow had wanted to go, but Twilight had kept her. For a while. Then she let her go. Why? Why would she let Rainbow do something so stupid? Did she not care? She didn't exactly let Rainbow go with the best of encouragement. This was her fault, Pinkie thought. If Twilight had stood her ground, Rainbow would still be alive.
The train abruptly slowed down, pushing Pinkie out of her thoughts. She looked around. "What in tarnation?" she heard Applejack yell from somewhere behind her. Pinkie looked outside and saw Ponyville station a ways off. The door opened again, and the conductor stepped out.
"It appears that the meteors," he said, "or whatever hit Ponyville yesterday," he added darkly, "have also hit the tracks. We apologize for the delay."
Pinkie, thinking quickly, grabbed the stack of newspapers in her mouth and bolted past the conductor, leaving the one she had read behind. She jumped off the slowly moving train and made a beeline for Ponyville, passing the crater in front of the train. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy stared after her.
"Now, really," Rarity said, "what's gotten into her?" With a small yelp, Applejack tore off her hat, held it in her mouth, and ran off the train as well. She seemed initially to follow Pinkie, but she then veered toward what was left of her farm.
Rarity grabbed the newspaper from off of the bench but didn't think to read it. She and Fluttershy slowly and awkwardly passed the conductor and walked off the train car. They looked between two vanishing dust trails and each other as the train lumbered to a stop behind them.
"Who do we follow?" Fluttershy asked.
"U-um..." Rarity said, looking towards the farm. "I-I'm sorry, but..." She took a step away from Fluttershy. "I'm going to have to go with Applejack b-because—"
"Sweetie Belle?" Fluttershy suggested.
Rarity nodded somberly. "She might be there. Oh," she added quietly, "I hope to Celestia she's there." With a small wave, she too turned and ran for the farm, newspaper aloft, leaving Fluttershy alone.
"I guess..." Fluttershy looked at the town and slowly started to walk. "I guess I'll follow Pinkie then."
"Why did they have to hit the library?"
Twilight stared up at her battered castle. All across town, there were fragments of it scattered on the ground as if a giant had sprinkled pink and purple glitter everywhere. Twilight sighed as she picked up a pillow-sized piece and threw it. "How in Equestria are we going to fix this?"
"Well, I have an idea."
Twilight whirled around and saw Spike carrying a bucket of crystal shards. Twilight groaned. "Spike! I've told you not to sneak up on me like that!"
He laughed. "I announced myself, didn't I?"
"Not really," Twilight retorted. Spike shrugged and trudged past Twilight. He dumped the bucket onto a growing pile of crystal debris Twilight hadn't noticed before. "So, uh, Spike?"
"Yeah."
"What's your idea? Why are you gathering the shards up?"
"I was thinking that," he set the bucket down, "if we got all the pieces and put 'em back on, the castle could just kinda fix itself. That's pretty much what I've been doing all morning."
"Oh. What made you think of that?"
"The castle's magic, remember?"
She scowled a bit. "Yeah. Right."
"Where are the others?"
"Starlight and Sunburst are in the castle, checking around the rooms. Luna, I think, is going through town, seeing if anypony needs help with anything." She looked at the pile of shards. "So, what, are we just gonna put these in the holes and cracks to see if they fix anything?"
"Don't look at me, it's not my magic castle." He picked his bucket up. "I'll be out getting more shards."
Twilight groaned. "Alright. Don't get yourself cut!"
"Yeah, yeah." He waved and ran back into town.
Twilight looked around at the craters dotting the town, shaking her head. "I wonder how many shells, or whatever, they threw at us." Her ears perked up as she heard somepony galloping towards her. She turned and saw a pony in the distance with something in their mouth. Squinting, Twilight recognized Pinkie, but she couldn't tell what she had.
"Hey," she called out, "Pinkie! What're you doing back so early?" Pinkie didn't slow down. Twilight covered her face with a wing as Pinkie slid to a halt in front of her, kicking up a cloud of dust. Fanning it away and coughing, Twilight looked at Pinkie. She still held the stack of newspapers in her mouth. She was panting heavily through her teeth, and she looked furious. She stared at Twilight, not saying a word.
"Oh my gosh, Pinkie, what's wrong? And what's with the newspapers?"
Pinkie continued to stare at Twilight. She spat out her cargo. It flopped to the ground, kicking up more dirt. Twilight looked at the front cover as the dust settled.
"Huh? What about the Wonder—" she gasped, choking a bit on dust. "Killed?! How in—" Without warning, Pinkie delivered a right hook to Twilight's face, causing her to stagger. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision of colorful lights. She looked through them at Pinkie, who stood and watched her. She wiped her nose and was surprised to see blood on her hoof. "Pinkie, what's gotten into—"
"You did this," Pinkie said.
"What?" Twilight said. "How is this my—"
"Don't act like you don't know." The quietness of Pinkie's voice unsettled Twilight. "You let her go. 'Fine. Leave. Die then. See what good that does you.' You said that to her. You let her go."
Twilight's insides turned cold. "Wait, you're not saying Rainbow's—?!"
"Read the paper. You tell me."
Twilight took ahold of the top newspaper and yanked it free. She scanned it for a few seconds and looked back at Pinkie. She kept reading the same few lines over and over again, shaking her head softly and muttering to herself. She glanced up when she heard a pony walking towards them, but she continued to read upon recognizing Fluttershy without saying anything.
Fluttershy looked cautiously between the two. "Twilight," she said quietly, reaching toward her friend. "Why is your nose bleeding?"
"Rainbow's dead," Pinkie said callously.
Fluttershy retracted her hoof with a gasp and snapped her wings to her sides. She looked between Pinkie and Twilight, who was still engrossed in the paper. "W-w-what?" Fluttershy whispered, shaking.
"Dead." Pinkie repeated. "Killed. Gone. Passed. Kaput. Whatever. Thanks to her," Pinkie pointed at Twilight. "She let her go."
"Wh... w-wh..." Twilight couldn't speak. Tears were steaming down her face. She shakily took a breath. "D-d-do you r-really think it's my f-fault?"
A tremor ran across Pinkie's face, but she otherwise stood completely rigid. She stared at Twilight, who looked from her to Fluttershy. Pinkie pulled back and punched Twilight in the same spot again. Twilight stumbled and fell to her side.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy said. She flew between Pinkie and Twilight, helping her up. "Are you alright?" Twilight shook her head and stood, still unbalanced.
Pinkie took one step towards them but only stared at Fluttershy. "Move."
"W-what?" Fluttershy turned to face her. "Pinkie—"
"Move." Pinkie raised her voice slightly and took another step.
Fluttershy cowered. "P-Pinkie, this i-isn't like you—"
"Move!" Pinkie crouched slightly.
"N-no!" Fluttershy held out her wings but took a step back. Twilight looked uneasily between the two.
Pinkie stared at Fluttershy, seething. She took a half step towards her before stopping. With a huff, she straightened up and looked past Fluttershy at Twilight.
"All you had to do was say no." Tears now spilled over her cheeks, and her voice broke. "All you had to do was say no!" Openly weeping, she ran off into town.
Twilight and Fluttershy stood in stunned silence for a few moments as the dust settled. Fluttershy's voice was barely a whisper. "O-oh-h-h... S-s-she c-can't be d-dead, Twilight, she c-can't be... dead... d-dead..." Fluttershy collapsed onto the ground and sobbed. Twilight stood, still wrapped in her own thoughts.
"What is going on here?" Luna dove down towards the two, who barely seemed to have acknowledged her. Luna looked between them. "What happened?"
Twilight didn't look at her. "P-paper." Puzzled, Luna levitated a tossed paper to herself. She first saw the many tear marks on the paper and made to wipe them off. Then she read the headline.
"What?! How did—" She scanned the paper. "How was I not told of this?!" She scanned the paper, furious. "Who wrote this?!" She began to tear through the paper.
"Luna," Twilight said quietly, looking at Luna. "Rainbow Dash was in the Wonderbolts."
"Rainbow Dash?" Luna flipped back to the front and looked through the names. "Oh, oh, my goodness, I..." Luna looked between the two again, her ears flattened. She set the paper down gently. "Pray forgive me. I knew not she was... I thought, perhaps..." She sighed. "I am deeply, truly sorry for your loss. Pray excuse my... my oversight."
Twilight whimpered. "You're okay."
Applejack finally made it through the meandering ponies and random craters and out of town. She began sprinting along the lone dirt road, hoping against hope. She slid to a halt at the gate and gasped, dropping her hat. It was as if the barn hadn't existed. All of it was gone. The only clues left of it were the bits of wood, glass, and apples which covered the disturbed ground. Applejack whimpered, put her hat on, and tread carefully around the debris.
"Applebloom?" she called out. "Big Mac? Granny Smith?" She strained her ears but heard only her echos from the hills and trees. She slowly made her way to the crater's edge and stared into its center. There was nothing left. Absolutely nothing. Applejack sat, or rather stumbled back onto her haunches, and looked around herself again. It was so still, so quiet. There wasn't so much as a bird chirping or a breeze making the leaves shudder. Applejack looked back at the cold, empty crater. Gone. All gone.
"A-Applebloom?" she croaked. "Big Mac? Granny Smi...?" She shakily took off her hat, placing it over her chest. She closed her eyes and tried holding it all in. She peeked at the crater through tears, and, with a sputter, she began to cry openly. Her hat slipped from her hooves and tumbled into the crater. She made a grab at it but fell, catching herself at the edge. Tears now mixed with the dirt and clung to her cheeks. She covered her face with her hooves, coughing and weeping.
"N-no... No, they c-can't be... They can't be.. C-can't... No, no, no, no..."
A flurry of barks interrupted her grief. She looked up and saw Winona bounding towards her from the treehouse, her tail wagging. Applejack half smiled, wiping away some muddy tears from her face.
Winona nearly crashed into her, yipping all along the way. Applejack hugged and pet Winona, but she glanced around herself one last time. She looked at her dog, her smile gone. "Y-you're all that's left?" Winona licked her face happily, and Applejack hugged her again weakly.
"Applejack!"
Applejack snapped up and looked to the treehouse again. Applebloom was running towards her, followed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Winona barked once and ran to them. Nearly laughing in relief, Applejack stumbled upright and shakily walked over. Applebloom, herself in tears, jumped onto Applejack, hugging her tightly.
"Oh!" Applejack cried. "I'm so glad y'all're alright! I was afraid that those... those things..." She felt Applebloom crying softly. She looked at the others, who wore defeated expressions. Even Winona quieted.
Sweetie Belle stepped forward, speaking quietly. "We... uh..." She pawed the ground. "We don't think that..."
Applejack nodded, a hot tear rolling down her cheek. "I know."
Scootaloo cleared her throat. "We were playing in the treehouse last night, and Winona came in whining, trying to find a place to hide. We didn't know what was going on, and then the first meteor hit. It was so loud and bright. We were about to leave and run to the house when..." She grimaced and looked at Applebloom.
"We were all too scared to do anything at first," Sweetie picked up, "but then we heard Princess Luna tell everypony to follow her. Scoots and I tried to get Applebloom to go, but she didn't want to. She was just... holding Winona and... crying."
Applejack pointed to the treehouse. "Y'all stayed up there?" The two nodded. "The whole night?" They nodded again. Applejack shook her head. "Oh, you poor things." Applejack hugged Applebloom more tightly, and the other two joined. Everyone was quiet.
There was a soft gasp behind them, and Applejack looked at the gate. Rarity, who looked to have been crying herself, had stopped just in front of it. The newspaper was floating next to her, crumpled into a ball. She stared at the farm in horror. Applejack set Applebloom carefully on her back and began trotting over to Rarity, Scootaloo following. Sweetie zipped past both of them wearing a wide grin.
"Rarity! Rarity!" She hugged her sister's trembling leg, and Rarity bent down and hugged her quickly.
Rarity looked at Applejack grimly, pointing to the crater. "Is...?"
Applejack nodded her head solemnly. "Granny Smith and Big Mac." Applebloom stifled a sob and hugged her sister's neck. Rarity closed her eyes and muttered something. Applejack shakily took a breath. "What is it? What happened?"
Rarity sat down, holding her sister. "It's—" She stopped, glancing at Scootaloo quickly. She cleared her throat. "I-I don't know how to say it." Her eyes glistened. "It's... it's about Loyalty."
All at once, all too clearly, Applejack understood. "No," she breathed. "No, you d-don't mean...?" Rarity nodded once. Applejack took a step backward, shaking her head, her eyes on the balled-up paper. "No." Her lips trembled. "No, no, not her. D-damn it, no! No, not her!"
"Who?" a small voice asked.
Applejack and Rarity both looked at Scootaloo, who stood by herself. Her eyes darted between the two, desperate. "What happened?" she quietly asked again. "It's not about... not about Rainbow Dash... right?" She looked at Rarity. "R-right? It's not her, right?" She looked at Applejack, and her ears flattened. She grew quieter. "R-r-right? Sh-she's not dead, right?" Nopony replied. Scootaloo trembled and sat, her wings drooping. She stared at the far white clouds in the horizon, lost.