Twilight and Rarity galloped as fast as they could through the dark unlit town. It was so quiet, even for nighttime, there was usually some pony about, or at least some sounds from reckless foals but in was deep in the night and some evil seemed to be hanging over them all, smothering any sounds.
The two unicorns had left the little filly at Sugarcube corner much to the delight of her friends. When they also heard Rainbow Dash was okay the fillies had been overjoyed. Twilight had however quickly insisted they leave and go to the hospital where Applejack and Pinkie had been going to ensure they were safe. The fillies were left in the safety of the bakery while the older mares ran at full speed to the hospital.
It was quite a scary building in the night with half of the lights not working. The large white building stood away from most of the town high and shrouded in the moon's light it was like an obelisk looming over the town preceding disaster. Twilight and Rarity both felt the dread in the pits of their stomachs but neither voiced their fears.
Twilight led the way to the doors and threw them open. "Hello?" She called to the empty waiting room. There was no one here, the lights were on and lighting up the room but there was no sign of anyone in the room or that they had been there. "Applejack? Pinkie Pie?" She yelled but only her echo came back.
"Where is every pony?" Rarity asked pulling closer to her lavender friend. "Something's wrong Twilight."
"It's ok Rarity, we-we just have to find some pony. A nurse or- or a doctor." Twilight said nervously. She led the way to the large set of double doors, the only doors that weren't marked for only the other doctors of the hospital. It was another large waiting room, this one was for the emergency room where there should always be some pony there in case of emergency.
Some pony was there.
Twilight saw the whole scene. The white floor and counters seemed wrong against the dark red pools flowing over them. The purple unicorn froze in place her body slightly trembling, she tried to scream but her voice was paralyzed, every part of her was frozen. Rarity came in right behind almost bumping into her but stepped aside and looked inside. Rarity managed a scream, a loud, screeching unladylike wail.
The once white body lay over the counter, blood spilling down the edge and onto the floor into the already huge pool below, spreading over the floor. Her head was hung back eyes wide open in terror staring blankly right at the pair of mares, blood matting her once beautiful white coat. Her throat was bare open for all to see while strands of red liquid made slow dripping trips over her face and onto the floor passing over her eyes with no reaction from the limp and still pony.
Rarity fell back and couldn't take it she turned and tried to stifle it back but her stomach finally betrayed her and she vomited onto the floor crying. She didn't dare turn around and face the blank eyes looking back at her. Those eyes! They would never leave her, those empty eyes.
Twilight however couldn't look away, the empty stare held her very soul making anything beyond breathing impossible. The blood, dried in some places but still dripping across her face and pooling into the floor was hypnotizing, nothing seemed to exist outside this room, this moment. The unicorn shook uncontrollably the tremors of her body growing the more she tried to steady herself. She had never seen anypony dead before, it was horrible.
Even above Rarity's sobbing Twilight could hear the steady drip of the blood as it touched the pool below. But something pulled her back; something allowed her to look away from the dead pony and to the fashion unicorn in a ball next to her. Whatever it was it gave her a single thought. Not again. She wouldn't break again, not like she did to discord, not like she did before. She would not let this happen to her friend.
"Rarity, come on." She said putting a hoof on the unicorn's shoulder. "We have to find Applejack and Pinkie Pie." She encouraged.
"We can't find them Twilight. They're dead!" She said turning to glare at her friend for a moment. "I don't want to see that too."
"Don't say that!" She yelled grabbing her friend's shoulders. "We don't know that, we have to help them!"
"We can't help them! We can't help ourselves!" She sobbed. "This monster's just going to kill us all!"
"Rarity stop it!" Twilight said shaking her friend.
"You stop Twilight!" She shoved the unicorn away. "I don't want to see what he's done to them, we can't win, we can't fight whatever this monster is! Discord, Nightmare moon , they never went this far!" She yelled gesturing behind her to the bloody body. "What can we do? We're just ponies Twilight; this is something worse!"
Smack!
Rarity stared wide eyed at the wall she was now facing before a hoof gently rubbed the red mark on her face. Slowly as she could she turned to face her friend, a purple foreleg still raised. "Enough Rarity." Twilight said firmly but without anger. "We have to help them, we need to be strong now." The purple unicorn gently laid a fore hoof over Rarity's. "We're going to be ok. We are going to Find Pinkie Pie and Applejack and then we're going to go and beat this monster just like anypony else. As long as we are together nothing can stop us."
Rarity couldn't speak but she wiped her eyes and nodded.
"Ok. Now go check the doors, I-I'll look over here." She said inclining her head behind the white unicorn. Rarity again only nodded and slowly stood and walked past Twilight never daring to look behind her. Twilight walked slowly over to the pale earth pony on the counter. She was crying still and her stomach was threatening to betray her. Still she muttered a quiet apology and used her magic to at least close the mare's eyes so the stare wasn't piercing her.
"Twilight! Look at this!"
Twilight bowed her head briefly before turning and running to join her friend. Rarity had her eyes closed and her horn glowing the light circling a set of chains around the door in front of her. "Look here Twilight. They must have gone this way but I . . . can't . . . get the lock . . . . off!" She grunted as she pulled at it with her magic and then with her hooves but the glowing chains refused to budge.
Twilight took only a moment to size up the situation. "Rarity, move." She commanded.
"I'm sorry twilight. I lost control before, I-I-I don't know what came over me. . ."
"Rarity, move. Now." Twilight's tone drew the unicorn's attention this time and she willingly stepped aside taking a place next to Twilight.
The lavender unicorn took one deep breath and closed her eyes, her horn glowing with magic before overflowing with power sparkling and shining in the hospital room. Beads of sweat dripped on her brow but went unheeded until she shot her eyes open. A thunder like roar shook the room as a blast of power struck the doors ripping the chains to bits and fragmenting the doors off their hinges into the dark hall beyond.
There was a moment of silence as the last of the chains hit the ground and Twilight caught her breath. Rarity stared slacked jawed at the tremendous force that had all but obliterated the doors, chains and even part of the wall before them. "My word! Twilight w-what . . ." Before she could go any farther, Twilight had started running ahead into the dark halls. Without a word Rarity fell in pace behind.
The halls were darker than the other part of the hospital, it seemed as though none of the lights were working leaving the unicorns in darkness lit only by the moonlight through the spaced windows until Twilight's horn glowed lighting the way with a glow of purple light from the end of her horn. The two unicorns ran, some force guiding them down the long hall, glancing only briefly into the rooms they passed, calling out to their friends as they went.
The first sign of trouble they noticed was the streaks on the floor. They had dried mostly but both mares saw the streaks of red on the floor but they were small and random so they merely traded worried glances and followed the sporadic trail they left behind. The next problem that made them both skid to a stop was the dislodged door sitting against the far wall where it had once been set, it seemed something had torn its way out of the room tearing part of the wall with it. Rarity was shaking but there was nothing in the room to be worried about.
"What could have done this?" Rarity asked.
"I-I don't know. A manticore, a unicorn could I suppose." Twilight said glancing at the door. "Come on we don't have time for this, we have to find . . ."
"Applejack!"
Both unicorns felt their blood freeze in their veins. The loud unnatural wail carried through the whole hospital making them both freeze and turn down the hall, terror gripping their hearts.
"Pinkie Pie!" They both screamed back and bolted down the hall ignoring the broken door. Both of the unicorns heard the pain in their friends voice, neither had ever heard the party pony scream in such a horrid way. Crying and screams could be heard from down the hall carrying all the way as more tortured screams tore through the female ponies' hearts.
Twilight was the first to see it, Rarity immediately afterward. The screams and cries were coming from beyond a large door they had found labeled as a supply closest, what Twilight saw first though was the blood. It was sprayed across the floor, on the walls, the ceiling, the mess was everywhere. When Rarity stopped and took notice she gagged and fell back, but managed to prevent herself from repeating the incident from earlier. Twilight couldn't look away. Her eyes followed the smears of wet and dry fluid on the ground and walls somehow all of it drew her back to one thing sitting rudely out of place in the hall. A hat
Applejack's hat. In the middle of the floor with blood on it.
Maybe it was the hat, maybe it was Pinkie crying but something brought her back from the haze Twilight was swimming in and made her run to the door ignoring the blood across the floor. "Pinkie! We're here!" She tugged on the door with her magic but the lock was set. "Pinkie open up!" Twilight called panic taking over her body as she pulled harder at the door.
"Twilight," Rarity began from behind but the lavender unicorn paid her no heed. Pinkie pie was still crying within the room and didn't even seem aware of her friend's presence outside. There was no other sound, no sign of Applejack beside- beside her hat, there was no time to be calm.
Twilight planted her hooves and her horn glowed brightly again. The purple light surrounded the door as she tried to concentrate. It took more than she thought but she found the lock and with a burst of magic and a loud slam the door unbolted and she pulled it open. Rarity used her own light spell to light the room.
"Oh dear. . ." was all she could gasp.
The tiny room was coated in glass and tiled in blood, the two ponies were lying together on the floor near the door. Pinkie's mane was flat and hanging over her, her normally bright pink coat was faded and matted in places with blots of blood and bits of glass. Several bad cuts marked her face and side sending rivers of blood wet and dry across her body. Her head was buried over the other Pony, who she was lying on, head buried in her chest, hooves wrapped tightly around the orange pony holding her close while she cried into the orange coat.
Applejack was in worse shape, her foreleg was bent and broken the bone just visible in the fluctuating light, her own coat matted all over from blood and some other fluids. Glass was ground into her coat and mane which was no longer tied as it always was and instead lay sprawled around her, bits of the blond hair tainted red. One of her eyes was completely blocked out by a gash and blood that obscured it from sight. Her head was on the ground, her eyes closed and whole body limp under Pinkie's. Applejack didn't seem to stir at all, only Pinkie looked up to see her friends open the door. She didn't smile, she didn't even seem happy to see them, she looked . . . scared, and so alone.
Neither Twilight nor Rarity had ever seen Pinkie truly scared, she had her moments when something would frighten her but never had they seen the absolute fear and despair in the happy Pony's face. She opened her mouth to speak but only a weak whimper fell out. She fell back down patting Applejack's head mumbling something incoherent.
Rarity was the first to recover stepping closet to the pair. "P-pinkie, w-what happened?" She asked.
Pinkie didn't respond, she only shook her head. "I-I-I-I didn't m-m-mean it!" She finally choked out between her sobs. "A-a-AJ was just. . .just . . ." The party pony couldn't finish anything she only fell down and kept crying. ""I'm sorry Applejack!" She screamed.
Twilight brushed past Rarity and kneeled by her friends. She didn't need to in order to know what she already saw. Applejack wasn't breathing, she had a sizable hole in her chest and had bled out a lot. She wasn't breathing, her heart wasn't beating. Applejack was . . .
"No!" She stomped as tears burned her eyes. She closed her eyes to try and force the tears back but it wasn't helping. "Applejack . . . Pinkie, w-we have to get help." Twilight stuttered stepping closer and patting the party pony's back.
Pinkie Pie didn't seem to notice her and kept crying. "I-I-I don't k-know what to do!" The pink pony cried into her friend's chest. "S-s-she's gone cause of me!" Pinkie screamed.
Rarity came and sat next to Pinkie careful of the bits of glass she gently wrapped her forelegs around the pony and hugged her tightly. She didn't try to pull Pinkie away but simply sat there holding her while she cried. "I'm so sorry honey." She cooed quietly. "S-she's somewhere better now." Rarity whispered as she too began to cry.
Pinkie shuddered and turned to return the embrace crying into Rarity's lavender mane and wetting her white coat in a fountain of tears. "I-I-I d-didn't m-mean it." She sobbed shaking.
"I know dear, I know." Rarity reassured. She didn't know exactly what had happened but whatever it was it had clearly hurt Pinkie. At the moment all that mattered was comforting her poor friend. The one she still had.
Twilight looked on Applejack and gently nudged her but the pony was limp and didn't react at all. This wasn't right. This wasn't how things were supposed to work. They were supposed to win, they were the elements of Harmony! Applejack can't be dead, it-it just didn't seem possible.
"Applejack," Twilight whispered under the crying of her friends. Tears dripped out of her eyes. "Come on Applejack, you don't lay down on the job like this." She continued to gently shake her orange friend. "Applejack . . ." She breathed falling down and letting her head fall on AJ's side.
How could this happen? The princess, Big mac, Applejack, Nurse Redheart, they didn't deserve this, no pony did. It wasn't right, it just wasn't right! "This wasn't supposed to happen." She cried quietly to herself as he friends sobbed near her. Lloyd didn't warn us about this, he didn't warn us we might have to . . .
Lloyd.
Twilight's head shot up so fast the others stopped crying and worried their friend was hurt. "Twilight?" Rarity asked.
"Lloyd!" She yelled trying to wipe tears from her eyes. "H-he saved the princess, he can save Applejack!"
"Twilight dear, Applejack is. . . she's . . ." But Rarity couldn't bring herself to say the words.
Twilight shook her head. "We have to try something!" She yelled stroking Applejack's mane. "I-I can't just let her go, we have to try!"
Pinkie pulled away looking at white unicorn. Without a word she trotted outside the room despite Rarity's calls. In a moment she returned with the bloody hat from the hall in her teeth. "AJ's gonna want this." She said not happily but she was no longer crying. Twilight blinked back tears and nodded.
"Can you get us back there Twilight?" Rarity asked stepping next to her friend and gently lifting Applejack onto her own back. Her white coat was now marked with blood but for once Rarity didn't care about her appearance.
The lavender unicorn narrowed her eyes and nodded. "I'm going to bucking try!" She hissed and closed her eyes. The mares huddled close and pressed against their friend. Twilight's horn glowed again the ball of light grew brighter and brighter as she strained to control the power. The lavender unicorn gave an almost scream and let the ball engulf her and her friends.
The sensation of teleporting was always a little disorienting especially over long distances but this time it took everything out of her. When her hooves touched ground Twilight never opened her eyes but her legs failed her and she hit the ground. The hard floor of the library felt familiar as did the smell of the books so she knew they were in the right place.
She could feel her mind fading the last thing she could catch was voice a familiar deep voice.
"What the hell . . . . oh shit."