Twilight was panicking, and who could blame her? The sight that she beheld was worse than anything she could have ever imagined. Her one thought at what she saw, what have I done? Outside the cave that she had been hiding in was her one true love, DJ. He was lying on his side, facing the edge of the cliff. What had frightened her, however, was the glowing beam that sticking out from his back. The human wasn’t breathing, laying completely still except when the wind would blow his hair lightly. Before Princess Twilight Sparkle was a human that she loved more than anything and who was very much dead.

Twilight raced over to his body once she got her composure. She deactivated the lightsaber like DJ had taught her before and clipped it to his side. She ran her hoof over his body, trying to find some sort of life, ever avoiding the still smoldering hole in his chest where his heart had once been. Twilight couldn’t think, she was desperate to find some life still in him. Then a thought appeared in her head. Zecora! She should know if he can still be saved!

With her idea in place, Twilight lit her horn with her magic and grabbed tightly on to DJ. She activated her teleportation spell and an instant later they were outside Zecora’s hut. When she was still a unicorn, Twilight could never have performed such a feat as long distance teleportation. Ever since she became an alicorn, though, her magic was constantly growing, allowing her to perform all kinds of complex spells. And at this moment, she was very glad to have them.

“ZECORAA!!” the princess screamed. She didn’t want to leave DJ alone for a second, especially not since they were back in the Everfree Forest. A few long moments passed before she saw the door begin to open.

“Who calls me, this early? Twilight? Isn’t this a delight! And DJ, too; come I shall make you both a brew!” said the exotic zebra.

“Zecora I need your help! DJ, he’s…he’s dying, Zecora! Please help him!” Twilight screamed, tears falling fiercely, her eyes filled with hope. Zecora’s eyes widened with shock and fear and she urged Twilight to bring him into the hut. The shaman looked over her new patient, trying to find evidence of life and going through all of her journals, looking for something. After several long moments, Zecora stopped everything and grabbed a white sheet from her table. She slowly trotted over to DJ and began to speak.

“I am so sorry, my friend; I could not save you from your end. Forgive me Twilight; I could not do anything to end his plight.” Tears of her own began to fall as she draped the sheet over her human friend, covering him from head to toe. Twilight was too stunned to even cry. Then the door burst open, Discord floating on through.

“Ah, Zecroa, could I bother you for… a … favor?” he talking slowed as noticed Twilight. “YOU!! How could you say such things to him?! Do you have any idea how he must have felt when you said those things? Did you even notice the pain in his eyes as left? You have no idea what you were even saying! DJ never said he hated you; he hated the estrus consumed, lustful mare that was chasing him through the forest. You are all he ever talks about, you know that?! Every time we have time together, you always become a topic of heavy interest for him. How dare y—“

Twilight’s sobs were steadily growing louder as Discord scolded her for breaking DJ’s heart. Until they were completely unbearable and she took off out of the house, running towards Ponyville. She never even noticed her friends that had gathered outside the hut. “TWI?!” called Applejack, but Twilight was too consumed by grief, so she just kept running. Her friends just watched her go, not sure what they had just seen.

Back inside the hut, Discord was confused as well. “Well, that was just rude. Now Zecora about what I had come here for—,“ he looked over to see Zecora slowly stroking the white sheet, tears now fully falling from her muzzle. The chaos lord was filled with even more confusion, until he looked at the shape of the creature under the sheet; it was very familiar and it scared him. He floated forward and lifted a small part of the sheet and dropped it in fear. He had just enough time to see the face of the being under the sheet. Discord didn’t know what to say or think. His friend was obviously dead, and he had left him there to die. Anger roared inside the chaotic deity. He pounded his fist on the bed, tears threatening his eyes.

“NO! No, damn it! You promised you’d never do this. Why? Why did this have to happen?” A thought came to his mind and he knew he had to act, and soon. Discord trudged off and out of the hut.

“Discord! Do you know why Twilight took off like that earlier?” asked his dear friend Fluttershy.

“Yes, but I am not going to tell you. And I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. Trust me, you won’t like what you see.” He snapped his talons and disappeared. The girls all looked at each other in fear and confusion.

“What do you think he meant by that?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Ah don’t know, but Ah’m gonna find out!” proclaimed Applejack. With her going first, they all filed into the hut, surprising the zebra when they did.

“Oh no,” was all Zecora could say. The girls immediately noticed the white sheet, which caused Fluttershy to ‘eep’ in fear. She started to cry almost immediately. The others looked at her with strange looks. They had never seen anything like the sheet, so they didn’t know what it meant.

“Uh, Fluttershy? Why are you crying?” asked Rainbow.

“That sh-sheet! It-It means that somepony has…has died!” and her sobs picked up with intensity. The others stared in shock at her and then turned their attention back to the sheet.

Rarity focused on Zecora and asked the question that was on everypony’s mind. “Zecora, dear? Is that true? Has somepony died?” Zecora nodded solemnly causing a group gasp. “W-who, darling? Who is under that cloth?”

Zecora fumbled with her words, not sure exactly what to say. She went with the truth in the ends. “It is our human friend; DJ has met his end,” she said, unable to look at them. If she had, she would have noticed all of their eyes grow wide and their mouths fall agape, a few placing their hooves over their mouths.

“THAT CAN’T BE TRUE!!” yelled Applejack, with tears in her eyes. “HE AIN’T DEAD!” She trudged over to the body and lifted the sheet to prove it and dropped it soon after, her fears confirmed. “no,” she said in quiet whisper. “No, no, no, no. Not my brother!” She broke down next to him, and then placed her head on his chest as she cried.

Rainbow still couldn’t believe and flew above him. “I bet he’s just faking it,” she said in a not too sure voice. “Come on, DJ. Time to wake up, this isn’t funny.” She began to prod his chest, hoping it would be uncomfortable enough for him to give up the façade. That was until her hoof hit the whole in his chest and went through it a few inches. Her eyes widened when she did so, along with everypony else, their eyes full of horror. Rainbow backed away and landed on her haunches, her sobs growing as she realized the truth. Pinkie’s mane had deflated and gone straight, her eyes had rivers of tears flowing from them. She then took Fluttershy in her arms and the two cried in each other’s embrace. Rarity had walked over to her dead friend and began to stroke his legs, as the tears in her eyes began to flow. She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t find the words.

They all cried together for a ten minutes, until Applejack spoke. “We have to get him back home. Back to the library, we can keep a better eye on him there until we can tell everypony else what happened. Maybe Twi can tell us what happened to him.” They nodded in agreement, but Rainbow had a question.

“How are we gonna get him back home without him being seen?”

Applejack and the others had to think on that, until an idea came to her head. She didn’t like, but knew it was the only way. “I guess I have to get Big Macintosh’s cart. He’s the only one who can pull it, though. Which means…” she left that in the air, the others instantly understanding. They agreed that that’s what they would do. AJ headed off to find her older brother, trying to keep the tears from falling. She found him on his way back to the farm, his cart emptied after his delivery. “Big Mac! Wait! I need you to come with me. I need you and your cart for something,” she called to her brother.

Big Mac saw her and complied. Minutes later they were halfway back to Zecora’s and then Big Macintosh had to ask. “What are we doing in the forest, sis? What do you need me for?”

Applejack didn’t know what to tell him. She wanted him to know the truth, but she just couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. They arrived outside Zecora’s a minute later, then Applejack sighed. “Big Mac, both of us are going to go in there. I just need to warn you, that you are not going to like what you’re about to see.”

Big Macintosh looked at with suspicion. “I think I can handle it,” he replied calmly. Applejack looked doubtful, but pushed open the door anyway. The saw all of the mares huddled around the body, tears still present in their eyes. The siblings trotted over to them, and they parted allowing Big Mac forward. What he saw caused his eyes to widen and his mouth to drop. He roared. “NO!” His booming voice shaking the hut slightly. He rushed forward, hoping that his eyes were betraying him. He looked over the sight of his brother dead before him. His own tears began to form. “Who did this?” he asked in a quiet, but dark voice. He turned towards his sister, angry tears ever present. “Who took him from us?! Tell me!”

Applejack couldn’t look at her brother in the eyes. “We don’t know. Twilight’s the only we think who knows what happened. That’s why we need your help Big Macintosh. We need to get DJ back to the library, but we don’t want the town to know. Will you help get him back home?”

Big Mac turned back towards DJ and then back to AJ. He sighed and said, “Eeyup,” in a low voice. Minutes later, they had DJ piled into the cart, fresh tears falling from them as they took in his lifeless form. They draped the white cloth over top of the cart, so nopony could see him. Zecora promised to come by later, as she had other things to take care of and the six ponies trotted off with the cart in tow. They made it to the town and were headed towards the library, when trouble reared its head nearly halfway there.

“Oh, there you are Big Macintosh, Applejack. We were just on our way to your farm!” greeted Cheerilee with her entire class in tow. Big Mac and AJ then realized what she meant. They had agreed on a class field trip for that afternoon. They shared a panic look and then Big Mac spoke to Cheerilee.

“Apologies, Miss Cheerilee, but we’re gonna have to postpone that field trip. Something important has come up suddenly and it requires immediate attention,” he said, trying to be very inconspicuous. Cheerilee wasn’t falling for it.

“Oh, but we have had this planned for weeks and the children were very much looking forward to it.” Cheerilee then turned her head to the right of Big Mac and spoke again, “Oh, Nyx you shouldn’t be looking through Mister Macintosh’s cart without permission.”

As she spoke, Big Mac turned his head in fear. He saw her, little Nyx, lifting up the tarp over the cart and looking down. “NYX, NOOO!” but he was too late. Nyx suddenly jumped away from the cart, fear and tears in her eyes. He knew immediately; she had seen him, her father, dead in the cart. Tears welled up in her eyes, she closed them and ran off, Big Mac calling after her. “NYX!! WAIT!! COME BACK!! Horseapples,” he cursed.

He turned back to the teacher who was displeased. “Big Macintosh, why did one of my students look in your cart and run off? What do you have back there? A dead body?” His eyes grew wide at the accusation. The others mares with him were too grief stricken to talk. Apple Bloom approached her sister from the class.

“Big sis? Why did Nyx run off like that? Do we have something scary in the cart?” Applejack stared at her sister in fear. Tears filled her eyes as she picked Apple Bloom off the ground and embraced her. Big Macintosh knew what she wanted to do, and followed by talking with Cheerilee.

“Miss Cheerilee, what I have to say is very hard for me, much harder than anything I’ve ever said before.” She looked at him with interest. “Today has been very hard. We…we lost someone dear to us early and it’s hit us all pretty hard.” Cheerilee lifted her hoof to her mouth as she gasped. The class behind her were straining to hear. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were the closest and were hanging on every word. “Earlier today, our brother, DJ, passed away. So please respect our wishes and allow us to postpone the trip.” Everypony couldn’t believe what they had just heard. Sweetie ran over to her sister, eyes filled with tears. They stared at each other and then hugged, tears falling immensely. Scootaloo trotted over to Rainbow Dash, her own eye wet. Their eyes met and they too embraced. Apple Bloom over heard and looked right at her sister, finally comprehending what was going on and began to sob into her sister’s chest.

Cheerilee stared in fear at what she had just heard. “Oh my Celestia, that’s awful! Oh, Big Mac I am so sorry. I understand, we will reschedule. But, may I ask, can I come by later and visit with him? He was a good friend of mine.” Big Mac nodded. “Thank you, come on now children; let’s get back to the school.” The children complied, not wanting to cause any more of a scene. The CMC were told to go back to the school with their classmates, but promised they could come back later. Applejack also had Apple Bloom promise to have Granny Smith come by, too. The group arrived at the library not long after.

Spike greeted them as they walked in, but after he was told what had happened, he broke down in tears. Not even a sixteen year old dragon can prevent themselves from breaking down after learning they had lost a dear friend. Spike told them that Twilight was locked in her room and refused to come out. They set DJ’s body on the dining room table, still draped in the cloth, and they mourned their friend.

***Canterlot Castle***

Princess Celestia was sitting down to tea this afternoon. Princess Luna had joined her after her rest and they both watched as Pixel Berry worked on her lessons at the table, chewing on a quill as she focused. She really had a hard time understanding politics. Then they heard a ruckus coming from outside the door. It sounded like her guards were fighting some monster.

The door then burst open, revealing a very angry Discord trudging his way in. He flicked away the guards, not even bother with them. They all stared in fear of him. Celestia was the only one able to speak. “Discord! What is the meaning of this?”

“I need you Princess,” he said. “I need you to open a portal the mystical plains. I need to go there, but with my emotions going haywire, I can’t open the portal right. And I need it NOW!”

Celestia was too worried about what he may do if he didn’t get what he wanted and she didn’t want anything to happen to her sister or her daughter. So she complied and a portal appeared off to her right. Discord smiled and approached the portal, but Celestia had a question. “Discord, what has you so upset?”

He sighed and answered her question as he stepped in front of the portal. “I’m sure that you will find out soon enough.” He stepped through it and he said one last thing in a deep whisper, “Let’s hope I’m not too late.” The princesses were left alone to wonder at what he meant and what could possible going on.