"WE'RE SAVED!" the crowd of ponies chanted, shouting their thanks to Applebloom as the Earth Pony smiled.

"It has been found that with the Elements confiscated, we can create an avatar large enough to escape the planet before the Moon hits" Applebloom continued, neglecting to mention that it had only been possible with the help of Celestia. The alicorn had agreed to help and was currently overseeing the delicate process of creating a strong enough shell so that the raw energy didn't burst apart. Applebloom was merely breaking the news. She couldn't deny that there was a sense of pride in knowing she would save Equestria. It was enough to let her forget about anyone or anything else.

The escape ship was to be a master piece, a massive, rainbow colored ship that hearkened to the designs of a comicbook. Powered by energy from couples(Applebloom figured that she'd get a bigger boost from romance than friends), it made even Tirek's shell look like an ant in comparison.

Celestia overlooked the energizing of the ship, the shell having been created with dragon scales and skin from the mutants(Twilight had manipulated their genome so they were magic resistant). This was to be her penance. Her contribution to pony kind. She knew she was the perfect one for the job. Even if she hardly embodied the elements in any way, she knew more about them anypony else. She could do things with them that no other could even dream of, provided she was allowed to work more freely. But she understood the security. She had after all been a mad tyrant, she reminded herself bitterly. Feeling her joints stiffen, she began to walk about the underground garage that made up the construction site. It was oblong in shape and had been created by herself in order to house Chrysalis's hive during her period as the Solar Queen. The honeycomb still existed in the wall, but it was used for a different purpose now. She heard moans of passion emanating from the holes and looked into a few of them curiously. She saw ponies mating, sometimes four per hole. She nodded to herself as she understood Applebloom's thinking. Love sounded stronger than friendship and would make for a better charge in the escape ship. Celestia wondered though, was love so different from friendship? Lost in her musings, she stumbled into one of the cells, shocking a pair of ponies who seemed to have been interrupted mid-climax.

"No, no, carry on. I just wanted to see if you were doing well" Celestia said with a weak smile. She didn't expect ponies to forgive her, not after what she had done. But she had to hope, hope that they would. The mare gave her a suspicious look, but the stallion whispered some words in her ear and her expression calmed. The couple gave one final stare before returning to their job of providing power to the ship, more stiffly than before. Celestia sighed and walked off, her head low. At the very least she could save her subjects, even if they wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.

"So, the evacuation's going well?" Spitfire asked, alighting on a stone gargoyle near the window of Shining Armor's humble apartment. The old captain had been put in charge of directing the evacuation, while Applebloom's children currently held military power. There was a sense Applebloom was getting too cocky, but not too much. She did come up with a way to save them, after all.

"Yeah. Tch, not much of a job though, just checking the lists to see if everyone's going in. Not much else for washouts like us, eh?" the unicorn chuckled, checking off on some boxes on the schedule. Spitfire smiled at the joke, comforted in the knowledge that something hadn't changed. They had both gotten older, that was true, but it would be a long time before their coats would gray, that was fore sure. The pair of military ponies flinched as the sky ripped open, crackles of lightning sparking as the cloud shifted. It was the same rift Twilight had created. And just like before, out came the horrific mutants, different ones this time. They had faces, but no eyes, these burlier ones.

"Not again!" Spitfire snapped, flexing her wings and preparing to take off. "I won't let these creeps destroy any more lives!" she swore as she flew off, forming her own avatar and bisecting a smaller one of the eyeless monsters. Shining Armor looked back at Cadence, the pink alicorn holding ultimate judgement. She walked up to her husband and embraced him.

"Go do your job"

"What is happening?" Applebloom demanded, as her headquarters were rocked by a creature that looked more like a boulder than an animal.

"Twilight's creatures are back. They're trying to dig underground!" Lyra reported, dodging a falling piece of pottery.

"Underground? Did they notice our escape plan?!" Applebloom snapped, her teeth gritted.

"It would explain the lack of eyes. But fear not, I have a surprise" Zecora added, the wizened zebra still a top advisor. As a vile slug attempted to reach further down, it let out a hideous screech as it was electrocuted, tumbling onto its back and wriggling wildly. "Celestia can shape the energy into shields. We won't yet yield"

"I see. But they won't hold out forever, I know enough about magic to say that" Applebloom hissed, mentally struggling. Could she throw aside what she wanted to do for what logic said was right? "We're taking off in one minute. We don't have time to load everyone in. Let out an alarm to warn everyone who's dawdling to pick up the pace" Applebloom finally commanded, walking was regally as she could to the elevator that would take the staff inside the mountain bunker down to the ship.

A malformed bird beast, its feathers gone and wings little stubs, sniffed around eagerly, sensing the energy of the Elements. It wasn't as pure as their mistress had said, it felt as if it was a cheap copy. He had no more time to ruminate on this as the ship he was looking for burst out from the ground below him, ramming into him and sending him across the city with a pained squawk.

Canterlot began to cave in, the ground structures that formed the mountain city collapsing from the massive hole that had been gouged in the earth. Neighborhoods were swallowed into the mud and rock, the remaining buildings just islands among the rubble and destruction. Applebloom turned away from the destruction, closing her eyes even after she looked away.

"We've got enough energy from couples to fully power this thing. What should we do?" Lyra asked, flipping through a file of energy volunteers just in case she had miscalculated.

"Tell the navigator to take command of the avatar, we're going up" Applebloom sighed. Next Chapter: Prison Break Estimated time remaining: 14 Minutes