The Eternal Storm 2 - Eternally Devoid

by TDarkchylde

Seven - Downfall

Eternally Devoid - Chapter 7 - Downfall
"...I am responsible for actions that you'll never know...
...I am the instrument, when everything comes crashing down..."

Sweetie Belle and Vinyl Scratch remained huddled up together in Rarity's carriage hours after all of the chaos unfolded in New Harmony.

"...Do you think it's safe to go out there yet?" Sweetie asked, still curled up tightly in Vinyl's forelegs.

"...I'm guessing you'll make me check?" Vinyl asked, trembling.

Sweetie Belle simply nodded at her marefriend.

"Fine..." Vinyl said, donning her trademark shades. She went over to the door and opened it.

What she saw was unreal. The town was already desolate by most acceptable standards, but now the remaining ponies there were fleeing as if their lives depended on it.

"He has returned!" a stallion shouted as he ran onto the only road out of town. "We are all doomed!"

"My foals!" a mare cried, lost in the small crowd. "Where are my foals?"

"At least the Big Bad's gone..." Vinyl sighed as she indicated Sweetie could leave the carriage.

..:://=||=\\::..

Inside the ruined remains of Trixie's hut, two ponies stirred.

"Bandages?" Rarity asked, her grip on reality long since gone.

Pinkamena Diane Pie growled as she finally worked herself free from the chains, her strength having returned with the rest of the magic. "Rarity..." she said, seething, "...you're lucky we're friends, or I'd hurt you right now..."

Rarity, still completely lost, only responded, "Peanut butter and thread sandwich!"

"Maybe she is actually the only sane one left," Pinkamena sighed as she worked to free her friend from her chains. The invisible wall that was hiding them from the world was gone.

As soon as they left the hut, they saw another friend of theirs... but she was trapped in stone. "Twilight?" Pinkamena shouted as she saw the statue that was once her friend.

"Bluebirds," Rarity replied nonsensically.

"Twilight... how did this happen..." Pinkamena sobbed as she hugged the statue. "You... you always save us... are we really doomed now?"

"Record player!" Rarity shouted as she looked down from the hill, seeing Vinyl Scratch among the crowd. She quickly turned to Pinkie and started shaking her. "Record player! Record player record player record player!"

Pinkamena snapped. "WHAT?!"

Rarity recoiled in shock. "...Record player?" she asked between sniffles, pointing down the hill.

The sullen pink pony looked as if she was going to batter her friend into unconsciousness before she glanced down the hill. "...Record player... Vinyl? Vinyl's down there?" she asked.

Rarity looked at Pinkie with her eyes wide open. "Record player! Fuchsia zebra, building camera salvation!"

"...I'm gonna just pretend you said I was right..." Pinkamena sighed before looking over the hill. "Vinyl! Up here!"

"Hyperaktiv?" Vinyl asked from below. "Are you okay?"

"Aside from a slight case of murderous rage, yeah..." Pinkamena said, perhaps too calmly. "Rarity's not okay, though, and another friend of ours is up here in really bad shape. Is Sweetie down there?"

"Yeah! She's at the carriage!" Vinyl shouted back.

"Get up here, quick... tell Sweetie to get the carriage ready for us. We're going on a little road trip..." Pinkie said.

Rarity just gulped.

..:://=||=\\::..

As the sun rose over Canterlot, Applejack and her friends were making the long trek there. They had just reached the town gates.

Already, the city was under guard like it had never been before. Unusually, there were a pair of guards stationed at Canterlot's main gate.

"Well... this could be interesting..." Scootaloo said as she slowed from a gallop to a walk.

"Halt! State your business," one of the guards said.

"We ain't got time," Applejack said. "Equestria's in danger, an' we got urgent business with the Princesses."

"Identify yourselves, then," the other guard said.

"F-Fluttershy, Element of Kindness..." Fluttershy said softly.

"Applejack, Element of Honesty," Applejack said matter-of-factly.

"Scootaloo, acting Element of Loyalty," Scootaloo said, impatiently.

"Apple Bloom, manager of Ponyville Carousel Boutique and sister of said Element of Honesty," Apple Bloom said.

The first guard blinked. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" he asked, flabbergasted. "Go in, quickly! The Princesses are waiting, as are two of your friends."

The four ponies ran into Canterlot proper and made a beeline for the palace. "Two of our friends?" Applejack asked.

"Well, Twilight lives in Canterlot now, so she'd have to be one of them... the other could be Spike..." Fluttershy said quietly.

"That just leaves Pinkie Pie and Rarity," Scootaloo said.

"Don't jump to conclusions yet," Applejack warned as she picked up the pace.

..:://=||=\\::..

It took several minutes for Vinyl and Sweetie Belle to load Twilight Sparkle's lifeless stone form into the carriage. Neither one alone was anywhere near a Twilight Sparkle as far as telekinetic capability was concerned, and even combined they were barely up to the task. Rarity's own mental shock rendered her useless as far as magic was concerned.

"Ugh... take off a few pounds, girl... please..." Vinyl said, exhausted. "You know, I usually don't move anything heavier than a record..."

Pinkamena looked back at her, her patience long gone. Make no mistake, there was murder in her eyes, and she was barely able to control where she wanted to aim it.

"...I'll be quiet..." Vinyl said, defeated.

Sweetie Belle held her sister gently and helped her into the carriage once she finished her part of the task. "Rarity... what happened to you?"

"Street overland verbiage less talent..." Rarity said, still making no sense.

"She hasn't been able to talk right for hours," the angry pink pony said as she strapped herself to the carriage. "We saw things... things nopony should ever see."

"Where are the guards?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"...Things. Nopony. Should. Ever. See," Pinkamena repeated, agitated even more. "Hang on, ladies... next stop, Canterlot!" With that, she took off in a sprint, carriage in tow.

"Wait... what?!" Sweetie and Vinyl yelled as the carriage started moving at unsafe speeds down the mountain road.

..:://=||=\\::..

As Applejack, Fluttershy, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom walked up to the palace gates, they were met with the flash of a teleportation spell. There was a bit too much flash to it, really.

While Apple Bloom managed to shut her eyes in time, the others were momentarily blinded by the pure brilliance of the magical output.

"Owwwwww..." Applejack moaned as she turned away. She was still seeing stars. "Ah guess that means the magic's def'nit'ly comin' back..."

Fluttershy squeaked in response, also blinded momentarily. She had shut her eyes just a split second too late.

Apple Bloom blinked. "Who're you?"

"You don't recognize the only pony who... sadly... has anywhere near the magic needed to save us all now?" a mare called out.

Applejack growled. "Y'all ain't Twi... Ah recognize that voice..."

The blue mare's horn glowed gently as a spell enveloped the eyes of the others, healing them from the blinding effects. "The Great and Powerful Trixie offers her apologies... she has never tried teleporting such a distance before. She fears she may have overdone the visual effects..."

"Less flash, more substance..." Scootaloo offered, annoyed. "I've heard of you... second-hand, mind. You came to Ponyville once when we were foals. Remember Snips and Snails, Apple Bloom?"

Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah... those two weren't much as little colts, but Snips is at least decent at helping around the Boutique nowadays."

"Well, they worshiped the dirt this Trixie here..." Scootaloo started to say.

"...Great and Powerful Trixie..." the showmare offered, annoyed."

"...This. Trixie. Here..." Scootaloo continued, not intimidated in the slightest, "...walked on like she was one of the Princesses or a real role model like Rainbow Dash or something. Those two wanted to see her vanquish an Ursa like she had lied about, so they woke up a baby one and it chased them into town. Woulda destroyed the place if Twilight hadn't stepped in."

Trixie sighed, defeated. "Unfortunately," she said, "our pasts are irrelevant. Your friend sent The Great and Powerful..."

"Can the 'Great and Powerful' hogwash," Applejack said, fuming. "Get to the point already."

"Fine," Trixie said. "A great evil has been unleashed upon the land like none of us have ever so much as witnessed, and it has already claimed its first victim. Your friend, Twilight Sparkle, has been turned into a statue."

The others were stunned by this news, to say the least. Scootaloo fell to her haunches, silent.

Fluttershy started crying. "Twilight... oh no, this can't be..." She squeaked sadly as she looked to the ground, tears streaming from her eyes.

Applejack responded by driving a hoof through the cobblestones lining the ground beneath her hooves. "...We've gotta stop this..."

Apple Bloom, for her part, jumped backward as her sister's rage became apparent.

"That's why The Great... that's why I was sent here," Trixie said, sighing. "Twilight wanted me to help you out in any way I could. This is bigger than all of us."

"An understatement if we had ever heard one," Princess Luna said as she and her sister walked towards the others from the Palace. "This threat isn't just Discord."

Princess Celestia nodded. "Indeed... this is our two greatest foes united in a way we have never witnessed before."

"...Two greatest?" Scootaloo said quietly. "You don't mean..."

Celestia nodded sadly. "The Nightmare has returned, and has claimed Discord himself."

The four mares from Ponyville stood there in stunned silence.

"Unfortunately, it is true," Trixie said. "The... I saw it with my own two eyes."

"...That thing did a lot of damage when it had only Rainbow Dash under its control," Scootaloo said. "If we hadn't have stopped it, it would have flooded the world..."

"It would have done far worse when it had my power at its beck and call," Luna said. "If it would have used my magic to block out the sun, we wouldn't be here today."

"Unfortunately, now it has the powers of a reality-warping self-styled Chaos God at its command," Celestia said. "If what you said is true about Twilight... we don't have much time. A new Element of Magic must be found, and the Elements of Laughter and Generosity must be recovered. Otherwise, the fabric of space and time themselves could unravel."

"How're we supposed to find a new Element of Magic?" Applejack asked, flustered. "Unicorns with Twilight's power don't just grow on trees."

Celestia shook her head. "I don't have an answer for you, Applejack... I'm sorry," she said. "If we don't, though... this could be worse than simply all of us dying or Equestria being destroyed. Reality itself may never exist if the Nightmare learns to use Discord's power properly."

"...We don't have much of a choice..." Fluttershy meekly offered. "Trixie's the only one here with any kind of magical talent. She might have to step into Twilight's shoes... if that's a good idea, that is..."

Scootaloo sighed. "It worked before when I took over Rainbow Dash's Element..."

Applejack sighed also, her hat hanging low over her eyes as she walked into the palace. "Whatever. We still gotta find Pinkie Pie an' Rarity first, though."

Luna turned and looked towards the horizon. "I sense something... it's faint. It's not him. Sister, prepare the others, please. I shall investigate." She started to fly into the air.

"I trust you, Sister," Celestia said. "Do be careful, however. Even our nature is not enough to guarantee safety from Discord's power now."

Luna nodded as she took off in the general direction of New Harmony.

..:://=||=\\::..

Pinkamena seethed as she stood hitched to the carriage, now disabled. All it took was misjudging one turn to snap one of the wheels...

"Chill... please," Vinyl said, trying to calm her friend and sometimes touring companion. "I'm sure Sweetie will be back with a wheel from your carriage soon enough. We ought to be back on the road in no time."

"There's no such thing as soon enough," Pinkamena said. "If Spike gets to Canterlot before we do, we're doomed."

"Balloon toast," Rarity confirmed from inside the carriage.

"Rarity... my friend... please be quiet right now," Pinkamena begged. "I'm barely hanging on to myself right now as it is and I don't want to hurt you. I want to hurt a certain someone or two badly right now as it is, and it's only getting worse."

Silence was the reply from all involved. There was nothing for a few minutes until a cry could be heard from up the hill. "I found it!" Sweetie Belle yelled.

"About time... did you grab the spare also?" Pinkamena asked.

"Got them both," Sweetie confirmed as she trotted down to the carriage, both wheels in telekinetic tow.

Vinyl quickly snatched one with her magic. As she floated the damaged one away, she sighed. "Would you at least let us get into the carriage decently this time before you take off like a madmare again?"

Pinkamena turned her head back towards Vinyl. "I'll think about it if you shut up and get that thing on there fast."

Vinyl gulped as she put the new wheel on. It wasn't quite a match for the one on the other side, but at least it fastened on easily enough.

Sweetie floated the other wheel into the inside of the carriage as she climbed in.

Vinyl finished her work and climbed in as well. "It's done, we're good," she said as she hung on.

Pinkamena wasted no time in taking off down the mountain again. "You're going to pay this time, Nightmare... you and your puppets..." she growled as she pushed her body and the carriage to their limits and beyond once more.

..:://=||=\\::..

Spike was flying towards Canterlot as fast as his still-developing wings would carry him, clutching the body of Rarity in his talons while Pinkie was slumped over his back. "Pinkie... you really need to lay off the sweets..." he said, straining.

As he flew onward, he could barely make out a dark-colored pony in the skies ahead.

He blinked once or twice. "...Princess Luna?" he asked as her flowing mane came into view.

"Ah! I figured that might be you!" Luna cried in the distance. "You have the Bearers of Laughter and Generosity? Fortune smiles upon us in this dark hour!"

"Yeah, but Pinkie weighs a ton... I don't know if I can get all the way to Canterlot like this..." Spike said. He was taxing his body and starting to slow noticeably as Luna got closer.

"Where is Twilight?" Luna asked.

"I couldn't carry her... she was still in New Harmony..." Spike said, gasping for breath. "Maybe she teleported away..."

Luna sighed, not wanting to reveal the truth to the young dragon just yet. "I can carry her just fine when I find her," she said. "Come to me, I shall speed your way to Canterlot. There is no time to lose!"

Spike descended slightly to meet the Princess. "Are you sure?" he asked, slightly hesitant.

Luna started to focus her magic. "Worry not. I have practiced this plenty of times before," she said as her horn glowed brightly.

Spike stopped in midair as he felt magic starting to grip him and the others. "...Practiced? You mean you've never actually..." He didn't get to finish his sentence as Luna's teleportation spell caused him and the others to disappear in a flash of purple light.

Luna chuckled. "You worry too much, young dragon..." she said as she resumed her flight. "Now to retrieve the Bearer of Magic and hope there is a cure..."

..:://=||=\\::..

Spike appeared almost instantaneously in the Palace just as the others were getting settled. "...done this before?" he asked, finishing the question he was trying to ask as Luna teleported him. He blinked, confused. At least this time he didn't feel like he had endured an inferno like he had with Twilight's teleporting. Luna spell was actually smoother, he silently noted.

His entrance caused Princess Celestia to turn around. "...Spike? Where did..."

"Ugh... your sister decided to use me as a field test for a teleportation spell," he said, trying to get his bearings. He looked underneath himself. "I've got Pinkie and Rarity!"

Celestia nodded and signaled a pair of unicorn Guards over. "They must be in shock from the teleport..." she surmised. "Get them to private rooms until they wake up, please."

The Guards each took a mare in their magic and made their way towards the VIP wing of the palace.

"No... they were unconscious when I found them..." Spike said, shaking his head. "Trixie... that thing controlling Trixie must have done something to them. Get them to the hospital ward."

The Guards looked to Celestia for orders.

She shook her head. "He is an honorary Guard of higher rank than you," Celestia pointed out. "Do as he requests, and quickly."

They saluted as they took the two unconscious Element Bearers to the palace infirmary.

"She... Trixie... ugh, I can't be mad at her," Spike said. "She's as much a victim of this Nightmare as Pinkie and Rarity and... and..."

"I know," Celestia said as she knelt next to the adolescent dragon. "She is here, she has told us everything she knows and has offered to help us out."

Spike stomped his foot. "I hate this. I couldn't carry Twilight out of there as well..."

"My sister will not fail her," Celestia offered. "Come. Rest if you can... we have bigger issues."

"You're telling me..." he said as he leaned against Celestia's body for support. "Discord's out, and now the Nightmare's bonded with him... it called him Father, Princess..."

"A story for later," Celestia said, trying to reassure the young dragon. "Specifically, when you have all recovered from your ordeals of today."

Spike sighed. "I'm not gonna argue that, Princess..." He slowly tried to make his way towards the VIP wing, but found himself exhausted to the point where he could barely walk.

Celestia sighed as well as she scooped the dragon up in her telekinesis. "I've got you, Spike. Just relax..."

..:://=||=\\::..

Within the Everfree Forest, specifically near the ruins of Celestia and Luna's ancient former palace, a force of nature appeared in the dark flash of a teleportation spell.

"This place... this place is where it all ended for us..." he said. "It is most fitting that this place will become the epicenter of the end of everything. History is written by the victors. We have won and the Princesses do not even realize it yet. We shall rewrite history in our own way, Father..."

The bulky black draconequus laughed diabolically.

"We shall rewrite history by erasing it entirely!"

Comments

[Starcat5]

Oh goody. Pinkie is half way to Cupcakes right now, Rarity is the new Derpy (Faust, I HATE that version; Give me klutzy but loving mother Ditzy Do anyday), there are two Trojan Ponies in the Castle, and Nightmare Discord has become an Omnicidal Elderitch Abomination (Firefox is NOT being helpful with ANY of these three words).

Oh, and the Element of Magic's name is a misnomer, as it runs off of Friendship, and as such Trixie is going to fail HARD.