It all happened in a blink of an eye. One second Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Arcanus, and Quentin were in the chaotic ruins of the badlands and in the next second in a flash of light, they were landed on the ground in a new destination. Immediately, Twilight broke down crying, having just witness her teacher and princess mercilessly killed along with Luna.

"Twilight...it's ok darling...'' Rarity tried to console Twilight.

"No it's not!'' Twilight cried out. "We were there! We should've helped! We should've done something!''

Twilight wasn't the only one crying, all of Quentin's friends had tears streaming down their face, mourning the loss of their beloved princesses. Some of them had expressions as if they were trying to grasp what just happed. Arcanus had his back turned to the group, his head lowered as he hunched forward, he too mourning the loss of his students and friends. Applejack gazed her eyes upward, and immediately cried out in alarm.

'"W-what in tarnation is going on?! Where the hay are we?!''

At her outburst, the others all gazed upward to the most horrible sight. They were in some sort of field, or at least, what used to be a field. The eight were standing among a field of dead earth. The grass as if it was scorched to the very ground, black and lifeless. The skies were set aglow with an unnatural fiery red and orange as if the heaven's themselves were ablaze with flames and destruction. They looked behind them to see the entrance way to a vast forest of some kind, but the trees were black, burnt, and dead, not a single leaf on the branches. The friends had never seen a place like this before.

"Where...are we? What is this place?'' Quentin asked, disturbed by the lifeless environment.

"This field...the skies...what's going on? I-I don't like this!'' Fluttershy whimpered.

"I...I was meant to transport us back to Equestria. We should be just outside of Ponyville,'' Arcanus answered, he too troubled by the bleak scenery.

Pinkie Pie whipped her eyes and spoke, "If...if we're supposed to be outside of Ponyville, then that must be the Everfree Forest.''

"How can that be the Everfree Forest? It' looks nothing like it!'' Rainbow Dash said with a disgusted, tearful frown.

Just then, Twilight's eyes widened and before we knew it, she had galloped off down whatever path that used to be there. "Twilight! Wait, we should stay together!'' Rarity called and her friends took off after Twilight.

Twilight took off down the path at full speed, with us trailing behind her until suddenly she got stopped dead in her tracks. Twilight's eyes widened with sheer horror as her ears dropped and she muttered mortified.

''No...''

The rest of her friends caught up with Twilight, but it wasn't long after that until they too saw what she was gazing at and their faces became that of pure terror. Down the path in front of them where Ponyville once stood was now a destroyed town, as if it had been decimated relenting inferno.

"I-is that...Ponyville?!'' Fluttershy stuttered fearfully and horrified.

Applejack shook her head, not wanting to accept it. "No...no it couldn't be. Ponyville was right as rain we left it. This must be some different town!''

Before anyone else could speak, Twilight galloped forward, with the others following. "Applejack's right. This isn't Ponyville. Ponyville is beautiful and vibrant. This horrid place is dark, stoic and...'' Rarity began with denial but when they entered the town, she trailed off as they slowly came to a stop.

The eight gazed around, their hearts sinking as they saw the familiar buildings and houses that could only be found in Ponyville. "No...NO! This can't be happening! What the buck happened to Ponyville?!'' Rainbow Dash asked loudly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oTbyENpX58

No one said anything and after a moment, they began to walk around the seemingly deserted town. The group walked silently down the black dirt street. The houses and buildings looked completely in shambles, burnt, and corroding as if everything had caught on fire, the doors and windows busted from their places. The straw rooftops of the cottages were grey and cindered, some had gaping holes in them while others were completely burned off from the building. Like the field, the dirt roads were blackened but had a more craggy appearance. It was also strangely humid, with winds that blew occasionally, but were warm themselves and did nothing to help with the temperature. It was quiet, no sound that could be heard except the clopping of the group's hooves as they walked and the winds that blew. In short the environment looked like something out of a nightmare, a hellish dwelling, like a nuclear warhead had hit the village and devastated it.

Quentin and his friends looked around, bewildered, fearful, and horrified at what the bright town had become. "This is horrible...just horrible,'' Fluttershy whimpered, tears beginning to appear in the corner of her eyes.

"What in Equestria happened here?'' "Arcanus?!'' Twilight looked to the wise unicorn, tears filling up in her eyes again.

Arcanus shook his head solemnly, "I...I don't Twilight Sparkle. I really don't know.''

Twilight stared at him for a moment before lowering her gaze back to the dark setting of the town. "It's so quit. Where is everyone?'' Quentin asked as he drearily looked around.

However, his question was answered when they turned the corner and froze abruptly at that sight they beheld. They saw numerous, rock hard pony statues about, frozen in their places in what used to be the marketplace. The statues bore varying expression, but for the most were of shock and terror. Some were in positions as if they were trying to run away from something.

"What's with all the statues? They weren't here that last time we were in Ponyville?'' Pinkie Pie asked confused yet frightened.

They all cautiously approached the statutes. Quentin observed one statue and when he glanced at her cutie mark and mane style, his eyes widened and spoke with alarm, "Girls this is...Lyra!''

"Lyra? Lyra Heartstrings?!'' Applejack asked in disbelief.

The stallion nodded, and faced her sadly, gently touching her face. "Hey this is Bon!'' Twilight exclaimed at another pony.

"And here's Shoeshine!'' Rarity called out next to another statue. "And Berry Punch too!''

"They've been turned into stone!'' Twilight concluded with a horrified look looking around at the marketplace of cold statues.

Rarity spoke confused, ''Turned to stone? Then what about...'' Rarity's face suddenly widened with fright. "Sweetie Belle! My sister I have to find her!''

Before anyone could stop her, she galloped through the marketplace. "Big Macintosh! Applebloom! My family!'' Applejack exclaimed before galloping to the west of the marketplace.

"And Mr. and Mrs. Cake and the twins!'' Pinkie Pie too cried in alarm. "I need to see if they're alright!'' Pinkie dashed away at high speeds towards Sugarcube Corner.

Rainbow Dash looked towards the dark, fiery skies and exclaimed. "Cloudsdale! I need to check on Cloudsdale!''

In the next second, she was flying at high speeds towards the skies. Fluttershy gasped and placed her hooves over her mouth fearfully, "And Angel and the rest of my animal friends! I hope they're ok, they might be hurt!''

Though not nearly as fast as Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy flew off towards her cottage at a greater speed than Quentin had usually seen her. The only ones left were Twilight, Arcanus, and Quentin, surrounded by the petrified citizens of Ponyville. After a few, quiet moments, Twilight somberly began to walk through the marketplace, unsure if even she knew where she was going. Arcanus and Quentin said nothing, how could they in such a disturbing setting and the two made their way behind Twilight, but not before Quentin gave one, last saddened gaze at Lyra and forced himself to press onward. As the three trekked through town, they saw more and more ponies that were turned to stone. There were countless Pegasi statues that were broken in pieces on the ground, probably due to the Pegasi having been flying when they were turned to stone and fell down to terrifying results.

As Quentin and the two unicorns continued, Quentin saw more and more familiar ponies he'd come to know while being in Equestria. "Zecora...'' Twilight muttered depressingly as she glanced at the zebra in stone.

Quentin came to one statue and he gritted his teeth and winced as he saw the statue of Derpy, her eyes walled with a look of confusion on her face. "Derpy...'' he muttered, as he gently stroked her face.

Derpy and Quentin had especially became good pals. Though silly and forgetful she was a sweet, well intentioned pony Quentin had come to become fond of. Though hard, he managed to walk away and followed Twilight and Arcanus. After some time walking, they came to the library. Like other trees and buildings, the library was now a burnt, dead tree, the leaves vanished from the branches. The windows were busted gone, the balconies were practically falling apart. Twilight looked at her now demolished home and wearily with tear filled eyes walked inside through the half broken door. With sad frowns Arcanus and Quentin followed the purple unicorn inside. It was a mess, like a bomb had gone off inside.

Every book seemed to be scorched and countless littered the ground along with burned marks all over the room, no doubt the rest of the library. Twilight looked around the destroyed first floor of the library, she walked over to the podium where the book of the History of Equestria was opened. She gazed down on the page that depicted Celestia and Luna ruling together and her eyes fell upon her now late mentor and tears dropped onto the page as she gritted her teeth with pinched eyes. Arcanus and Quentin could see Twilight trembling along with her soft sobbing. Quentin gazed at his friend, completely hurt that one of his friends was in such pain. He began to take a step towards her, but he stopped in mid motion. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, fearing that nothing he could say right now could comfort her. The only thing Quentin could do was turn around and walked out the door silently, leaving Arcanus and the crying Twilight in the library.

Outside the demolished, quiet town, Quentin's only thought was to find the rest of his friends and started to venture towards Sweet Apple Acres.

"I told everyone that it'd be ok...'' Quentin muttered to himself, trying to fight back tears halfway through the journey, seeing more and more of the Ponyville inhabitants turned to stone. "I said that no matter what happens, this dark nightmare would pass for a brighter day…''

Applejack was running as fast as she could as she spoke to herself desperately. "Please be alright! Fer lord sakes jus' please be alright!''

Finally she ran along the now blackened fence leading to her home and when she came to the entrance to the apple orchard, she skidded to a halt with a shocked, horrified look on her face. "No...'' Applejack uttered in disbelief.

Where was once a bright and lively Sweet Apple Acres was now a dark and dismal land. The vegetation was black and dead, no sign of green that was seen for miles out, including on the rolling hills near the orchard. The fields were the corn and carrots grew had no life. Like the other buildings in Ponyville, the farm structures were burnt and in shambles especial the main farmhouse that now had a dark greyish complexion covered with cinder burns. There were numerous holes in the roofs with a large hole in the main roof as if the area had caved in, with the weathervane that stood at the very top of the house was now crooked with the tip snapped off.

Not even the livestock were speared, the pigs, chickens, and sheep too were turned to stone. The apple orchard, the cornerstone of Sweet Apple Acres of vast apple trees were now in the same state as the Everfree Forest, acres upon acres of trees that were burnt black with no leaves and no apples. Applejack couldn't believe what her eyes were gazing upon. Her home, the home that she'd work so hard on every single day with her family to keep afloat was now a decimated looking land. Instantly, tears started to well up into her eyes.

"No...no...no...'' Applejack spoke with a cracked voice before she took off into the lifeless farmland.

"Big Macintosh! Granny Smith! Applebloom!'' Applejack called out to her family, desperately trying to find them.

She ran passed the dead, blackened farm field towards the farmhouse. ''Granny Smith! Big Macintosh! Applebl-'' Applejack began as she ran inside one of the stables, but bolted to a halt with a horrified gasp.

Upon entering the ruined stable her eyes instantly fell upon the stone statues of Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, and Applebloom. Granny Smith and Applebloom where in a large wooden wagon as Big Macintosh was in the front preparing to pull it. It seemed they were about to head into town when they were turned to stone, bewildered, shock expressions etched on their faces.

"No...no...'' Applejack spoke softly, shaking her head in disbelief, raking her hat off with a hoof as she advanced towards her now stoned family, tears cascading down from her face.

. When she got to them, she tearfully gazed at each of them, muttering their names in grief. "Granny Smith...Big Macintosh...'' she gazed at her little sister and tears fell more fluidly. Applebloom...''

Applejack then broke down crying on the ground, having now lost her family. "First I lost Ma and Pa, and now I lost the rest o' my family...'' Applejack sobbed. "Why did I have ta leave?! Why couldn't I've been here with them?! If I was here, then...then...'' Applejack couldn't bring herself to finish and just continued to sob alone in the stable with her stone cold family.

Quentin stood outside the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres and gazed around at the destroyed farmland, completely mortified. "No...not here...'' he muttered in sorrow.

Upon seeing the dark sight, one thing came into mind. "Applejack...the Apple Family!''

Without hesitation, the human turned stallion ran full speed into the farm. Quentin called out Applejack's name as he came closer to the farmhouse, the first place he thought to begin his search. However, before he ran inside, Quentin heard sobbing coming from one of the stables and he quickly made way to the sound. Quentin was about to call out Applejack's name when he came to a stable and decreased his speed to a walk, gazing around with a blank, horrified face. The earth pony's eyes then gazed down on Applejack, still crying heavily on the ground in front of her family. Quentin's face fell into a deep sad frown as he approached his weeping friend, his heart aching for what was dreading when he saw the destroyed orchard. Quentin saw the Apple Family now turned to stone in the wagon. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The family that out of the kindness of their hearts took him in when Quentin didn't have a place to stay upon coming to Ponyville. The family that Quentin have gotten close to in a matter of weeks and became like a second home to him were now nothing but stone statues. Quentin sadly gazed at each of them as his vision starred to get blurry as tears formed in his eyes. Applejack heard the clopping of Quentin's hooves approaching her and she looked up at Quentin her eyes bloodshot and empty, large wet tears streaming down her face. Quentin fell down on his haunches as he and Applejack stared at each other tearfully for a moment. Applejack then let out another cry before she leap at and Quentin caught her as she broke into tears in his embrace. Quentin could feel her sobbing uncontrollably into his coat. He couldn't contain his emotions either and tears began to stream down Quentin's face and they just sat there together and cried in the dismal stable.

Rainbow Dash flew at ridiculous high speeds through the dark, fiery skies as she desperately ventured to Cloudsdale. "C'mon...faster!'' Rainbow Dash urged herself picking up even more speed.

She flew right into some clouds and in less than a minute emerged from the cloud and came to an abrupt halt. Rainbow Dash's mouth hung opened with a shocked, bewildered, and horrified expression as she stared at the massive cloud city that was Cloudsdale. However, the blue and white majestic city was now a massive, ruined city of black clouds high over a dark, dead valley. It's Greek like buildings were crumbling and broken. The water and rainbows that flowed down from the city to the valley were replaced by waterfalls of boiling lava. Rainbow Dash stared at her former home in horror. The once beautiful city of Pegasus was now a destroyed, lava spewing, dark cloud of destruction, with no doubt the Pegasi living there had met the same fate as the ponies in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash's jaw hung open for a moment before she gritted her teeth and pinched her eyes shut in a deep, angered frown as tears streamed down her face. She suddenly let out an angry cry and began to fly all around in fury, destroying clouds as she did so.

Quentin don't know how long Applejack and him have been crying. Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? Thirty? Time didn't matter to them. They both were grieving a terrible loss. Finally, Quentin decided to speak up.

"Applejack?''

Applejack didn't respond, just continued to cry in his chest. "I know it's hard, but we should regroup with the others. There's...there's nothing we can do for your brother, sister, and grandmother now.'' The stallion spoke wearily at those words, wiping some tears from his eyes, but Applejack nodded before raising her head and looked at Quentin with saddened, tear filled eyes.

"Yer right Quentin. We...we should be together with the rest of our friends,'' Applejack muttered, trying hard not to break down again.

Quentin nodded and helped his friend up. He then picked up her brown, Stetson hat and placed it back on her head. "Thanks Quen,'' Applejack sniffed, whipping some tears away.

Quentin nodded with a sad, tiny smile, "Anytime AJ. How about we get going?''

Applejack nodded and with heavy hearts the two earth pony's turned and walked towards the stable exit. Before they left, Applejack took one last, tearful look at her stone family and with a soft cry as tears once again fell down her face and spoke quietly.

"I love you all.''

Quentin had to swallow a lump in his throat and managed not to start crying again. To see his closest friend in pain like this ached his heart terribly, but Quentin knew that they could do nothing for them right now. Applejack forced herself to turn away and together she and Quentin left the stable, through the farmland and finally out the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres.

They walked drearily in silence through the darkened, fiery light bathed path toward the main town. It was a dismal, painfully silent trek. The two ventured through an opened area with numerous, tattered and falling apart tents were located. Like the rest of Ponyville, everything seemed like they were caught in a blazing wildfire, a few pony statues about in the area.

"This...this is close ta where Rarity lives,'' Applejack spoke up, after gazing around and realizing where they were.

Quentin widened his eyes slightly and replied, ''Hey your right. We should hurry and find her. We don't know what could be lurking in this town now in this state.''

Applejack nodded. "Yer right Quentin. C'mon!''

Without saying a word Quentin and Applejack galloped past tent houses until they've finally came to a burnt, falling apart Carousel Boutique. The once beautiful dress shop was now a dingy grey color that was heavily singed with numerous holes in the roofs, busted windows, and some of the ornamentations missing pieces. Applejack and Quentin both gasped at the terrible sight and they hurried inside to see if their fashion friend was there.

"Rarity?!'' Quentin called, inside the house which was absolutely a mess.

Her pony mannequins were in horrid condition while the beautiful dresses Rarity had made that were on them were now damaged, burnt, and tattered. Debris from the ceiling littered the ground along with various sowing equipment and fabrics.

"Rarity where are ya?!'' Applejack called. She headed into the kitchen, the destroyed, wrecked kitchen and found it was empty.

"Upstairs!" Quentin called, looking at the stairway.

They both quickly made way to the upper floor of that boutique. They ran through the shambled hallway towards the door that led to Rarity's room and bolted inside. "Rarity?!'' Applejack called upon entering, but the two froze on the spot. Rarity's once glamorous room fit for a queen was now in shambles, the ceiling with numerous holes and debris from the ceiling littering the floor.

But their gaze instantly fell upon Rarity. She was sitting on her haunches, her back facing them but she seemed to be embracing something in front of her, all while shuddering violently. Applejack and Quentin approached their friend, fearing for what they were about to see. "Rarity?'' Quentin spoke softly.

Rarity didn't respond, she just kept shuddering as they began to hear silent sobs coming from the beautiful unicorn. "Rarity, what's-'' Applejack began but was cut off by the weeping Rarity.

"M-My sister...'' Rarity sobbed, looking over at her friends. What a sad, terrible sight. Rarity had large tears streaming down her azure eyes as well as streams of black mascara running down her face with an extremely distraught look. "M-My d-dear Sweetie Belle! She's...she's...'' but before she could finish, she broke down into Quentin's forelegs as he caught her, which caused them to discover the stone cold statue of Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle was in a standing position with one foreleg halfway up with a confused and feared look upon her face. Applejack and Quentin tried to console Rarity the best they could.

"Don't worry now Rarity. Evry'thin's gonna be...'' Applejack said as she rubbed her friend's back, her voice cracking but when she gazed at the stoned filly, she was instantly reminded about her own sister and family turned to stoned and she hung her head, tears streaming down her face.

"It's ok Rarity...just let it out...'' Quentin spoke softly, with tears in his eyes.

Rarity took long, deep breaths as she cried and she looked over at her sister. "Just look at her, she looks so frightened!'' Rarity cried. "I know there were times when she would get on my nerves, but I...I...'' Rarity then broke down in Quentin's arms once again.

Applejack sniffed, whipping away a tear. ''It's alright Rarity. She's yur sister an nothin will ever change that. It's the same way with Applebloom.''

At this, Rarity gazed at Applejack tearfully with shock. "You mean...''

Applejack said nothing, just nodded silently and she buried her face in a hoof and cried. Almost instantly, Rarity embraced Applejack and they both cried over the state of their younger sisters. Quentin could just watch tearfully and he gazed at Sweetie Belle. Out of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she was perhaps the sweetest of the trio. The stallion looked away and pinched his eyes shut. A few moments of silence passed, save for the crying of Applejack and Rarity before Quentin spoke up.

"Rarity, I know you're grief stricken right now over Sweetie Belle, but I really think that we should regroup with the others.''

Rarity looked over at him, tears and mascara streaming down her face. "But Quentin...I just can't leave my sister like this...'' Rarity replied, trying not to break down again.

"Quen's right Rare,'' Applejack agreed whipping her eyes." I hate ta leave too, but we can't do nothin about her now. We should regroup and pray ta Chiron we can think of somethin.''

Rarity looked at Applejack and Quentin a few times before bowing her head in defeat and began crying again. Her human friend immediately went over and embraced her and stroked her mane.

"You're right...'' Rarity finally muttered through sniffs. "We must reconnect with the other girls. We should all be together in this...horrible hour.''

Applejack and Quentin nodded sadly and they helped their creative friend to her feet. As the trio turned to leave, Rarity then turned back to her sister and tearfully kissed her on the head as tears streamed down her face. Applejack and Quentin looked on sorrowfully as Rarity came towards them.

"Alright...I'm ready,'' Rarity spoke reluctantly

Quentin nodded as he rubbed Rarity's back in comfort before finally leaving the room, down the stairs and out the demolished dress maker shop. They walked in silence as they came to the marketplace, the stone statutes of ponies still decorating the dark town. "Do ya know where Twilight is Quentin?'' Applejack asked with a melancholy tone.

"She was with Arcanus at the library when I left. What happened to Ponyville, and to Celestia and Luna...I...'' At the mention of Luna Quentin's voice cracked and he tried to keep himself from crying. "She's...in pretty bad shape now,'' was all he could say.

Applejack nodded sadly, ''I think we're all in pretty bad shape now.''

Rarity muttered as she let a few more tears escape her, ''I'm more than just in a 'bad shape'.''

No one said nothing else as they walked through the market place, maneuvering passed statues when all of a sudden a thought came to Quentin's mind. "Hey, Sugarcube Corner is close by.''

Applejack and Rarity seemed to remember too and Rarity spoke with a slightly surprised tone, ''Oh my your right. We must go there now. No doubt Pinkie Pie's there!"

Applejack agreed, ''Yer right Rarity. With what happened here, an' knowin' Pinkie...we need ta get over there now!''

Rarity and Quentin nodded in agreement and quickly made way to the bakery. The three had no hindering other than the grim and dark environment of the new Ponyville and they finally arrived at Sugarcube Corner. Like everything else, the bakery was an absolute wreck. It had a burnt, grey appearance, with its colorful, candy like features almost unrecognizable. A couple large holes were in the roof with the windows busted out. In short the once gingerbread house looking store looked like a dessert that was left in the oven and burnt.

"Oh my...just look at this place,'' Rarity spoke dismally.

Quentin gritted his teeth as the workplace where he would volunteer to work sometimes was now destroyed. "C'mon let's find Pinkie quick,'' he spoke to which Applejack and Rarity agreed and they proceeded in.

The inside was no better than the exterior, with everything looking ransacked. Tables were blackened and charred with stone ponies sitting at them. Any desserts that were on display were now burnt to a crisp. The two earth ponies and unicorn looked around in horror at the grim bakery.

"Good lord, was anypony spared?'' Applejack asked in distraught.

Rarity's ear twitched and she hushed her friends, ''Wait a minute...do any of you hear that?''

Applejack and Quentin stayed silent for a moment and listened intently until something caught their ears. "Yeah...yeah I do hear something,'' Quentin spoke, slightly looking around for the source.

It sounded like someone was humming, or possibly singing a song of some sort. Applejack agreed, "I do too. It sounds like it's comin' from the back.''

Without another word, the three ponies made way behind the counter and to the double swings doors, the singing getting louder as they did so. They entered the confectionary of the store and immediately were faced with Pinkie Pie, singing on her haunches and swaying back and forth. Her back was towards them, but something was wrong. From the back, Quentin, Applejack, and Rarity could see that Pinkie's mane and tail had become straight and that she had lost some of her light coloring and was now a more slightly greyish pink color. They walked slowly to her as Pinkie Pie sang in a surprisingly cheery tone.

When you're rife with devastation,

there's a simple explanation:

you're a toymaker's creation trapped inside a crystal ball!

Though the beat of the song was bouncy and cheerful, the lyrics were somewhat depressing. Quentin, Applejack, and Quentin looked at their pink friend sadly, puzzled when Quentin turned to his left and saw Pinkie's bosses Mr. and Mrs. Cake turned to stone and at they're feet were their baby twins Pumpkin and Pound Cake who like their parents were tuned to stone. Applejack and Rarity too saw them and immediately their faces fell with a deep sad frown and they looked back at Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie Pie?'' Applejack spoke softly with a sad tone, but Pinkie Pie didn't seemed to hear her and kept on singing.

And whichever way he tilts it,

know that we must be resilient,

we won't let them break our spirits

as we sing our silly song!

The three approached Pinkie Pie and Quentin tapped her on the shoulder. "Pinkie...'' he spoke.

At his touch Pinkie Pie hipped her head around and Quentin couldn't help but jump at the sudden motion. Strangely despite the dark situation of things, Pinkie Pie had a bright smile on her face, but there was something not right about it. Her smile seemed not genuine...like she's forcing it. It was rather unnerving…disturbing…scary.

"Oh hiya guys what's up?!'' Pinkie Pie greeted with a cheerful tone.

"Pinkie Pie, sweetie are you ok?'' Rarity asked sadly but with concern.

"I'm just great Rarity!'' Pinkie Pie answered, jumping to her feet. "I mean, Ponyville is destroyed, Sugarcube Corner the best place I've ever worked at is in shambles, and everypony we knew are turned to stone, but I'm just peachy!'' Pinkie Pie responded with her big, tight smile.

Applejack, Rarity, and Quentin just looked at their friend sadly. It was clear she was in denial, and seeing how the party animal pony of smiles and laughter was torn up inside just killed them. "Pinkie...'' Applejack said, tears beginning to for in the corners of her eyes.

Pinkie Pie then suddenly looked at her employers and their infants and ran over to them. "Oh and look, Mr. and Mrs. Cake are turned to stone along with the babies! You know I had this wonderfully terrific game I came up with to play with the twins them we got back from beating Chrysalis. And I also had a big party planned to throw when we had won, but obviously things didn't go according as planned. I guess I just need to come up with a plan B then, hehehe!''

Pinkie Pie fell back on her haunches and tapped her hoof against her head as if in deep thought.

"Pinkie Pie, it's ok darling,'' Rarity spoke gravely, she too beginning tear up as she took a step towards the pink pony. However, Pinkie Pie suddenly got up and began to pace the room as she continued rather quickly.

"I mean I guess a regular pony would ask why would something terrible like this happen. Or completely loses it and starts crying. Not me, I still have a smile on my face!''

Quentin approached Pinkie Pie with a forlorn expression and said, "Pinkie Pie, you don't...'' but he was cut off by Pinkie suddenly grabbing his face and pulling him close to her's, her smile just borderline frightening at this point.

"And don't forget about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I mean, not one but both of the princesses went up against that big bully, but he wiped the floor with them and killed them both...just like that!''

Quentin said nothing just looked at Pinkie Pie with a sad stare. "Dontcha see?! After all this time we believed that everything would be just fine, and all of a sudden this happens. The moment 'ol Chthon appeared, nothing would've stopped him! Who knows, if we'd stayed he might've killed us too. After all these things happened, I thought and finally figured out that nothing we did up until this point didn't matter. We're all just leaves at the mercy of the winds of fate!''

At that moment, Quentin bit his lip and spoke with a hurtful tone, ''You don't really believe that, do you Pinkie?''

At his words Pinkie Pie's smile faded to a shocked expression as the stallion continued.

"Do you really believe that with all we've been through, that with everything that happened, that we couldn't stop what you see around us from just happened?''

Pinkie Pie gazed away at Quentin and answered, her voice beginning to crack, ''Uh...well...I...''

Quentin then spoke, ''Or...do you just want to believe it wouldn't matter?''

The three all looked at their friend in a painful silence until she started to shake and as tears formed in her eyes and began to fall down her face and she answered, ''No...''

Pinkie Pie fell back on her haunches and closed her eyes as tears flowed. "I...I wanted to believe that...no matter what happened *choke* that no matter what horrible things I've heard or seen that everything would be ok. I...I wanted to believe that if I kept putting a smile on my face and be optimistic, we could...but...look what happened. Everypony's turned to stone and Ponyville's a barren wasteland. We failed...we really failed!''

It wasn't even a second after Pinkie Pie finished that Quentin threw his forelegs around her and brought her in a comforting embrace. Instantly, Pinkie Pie's eyes shot open, stunned and confused as tears streamed down her face.

"You don't have to smile...'' Quentin spoke, his voice cracking and tears beginning to fall down his own face. "It's ok to cry when it hurts...and if you want, I'll be here to cry with you. I'm not afraid to cry with my friends...''

There was a brief silence for a moment or two until finally Pinkie Pie suddenly wrapped her forelegs around Quentin's neck, her head went limp on his shoulder, and just broke down crying, shaking violently. Quentin rocked her as he rubbed her back and spoke.

''Even the Element of Laughter needs to cry once in a while...''

As Pinkie Pie continued to cry in Quentin's embrace, Applejack and Rarity looked on with hurt, sad glances, tears trailing down their faces. The two came to them and joined in the hug. "C'mon y'all, I think all o' our friends should be in this hug,'' Applejack finally spoke up, whipping her eyes.

"Applejack's right, we must regroup with the other girls,'' Rarity agreed with a sniff.

Quentin nodded and whispered to Pinkie Pie, ''You ok Pinkie?''

Pinkie Pie nodded silently and they broke apart. She gazed at Quentin with tear filled eyes. "I...I don't know about ok, but I just want to be with the rest of our friends now,'' Pinkie Pie sniffed.

"Then let's go find them,'' Quentin spoke, helping Pinkie Pie up. "Let's go girls.''

The others nodded and they made their way out of the confectionary and out the bakery. The four decided to head west of the dark town. Applejack and Quentin walked in the front while Rarity and Pinkie Pie trailed behind them, with Rarity comforting Pinkie Pie.

"It pains me to see Pinkie Pie like this,'' Quentin muttered, glancing over his shoulder." I mean, she's always bouncing around like nothing ever bothers her.''

Applejack sighed sadly and nodded. "Yea I know what ya mean Quen. Pinkie hardly ever gets depressed, but when she does, it aches everypony's hearts.''

If was relatively silent during their venture through Ponyville, and the stone statues of the citizens didn't help matters. After an unknown amount of time, the four ponies were now passing through a familiar, open meadow, or at least was a beautiful meadow that was now blackened and barren that led to Fluttershy's cottage. Before they knew it, they had stop dead in their tracks and gazed up in shock and terror. The cottage that was home to Fluttershy was now like the other buildings in town, greyish black with a burnt look to it and in shambles. The grassy rooftops were blackened, the windows busted out, and the door was charred and almost coming off of its hinges.

The small bridge that led to a path towards her home was also darkened and the brook of crystal water that ran underneath was now replaced by brook of scolding hot lava. The few trees that were near the home were now black, leafless and dead, the various birdhouses that decorated them were almost completly incinerated. It shocked the friends to see the once beautiful cottage on the meadow was now lifeless and dead.

"No...Not here too!'' Pinkie Pie whimpered.

The rest of the friends just stared in disbelief before Rarity suddenly spoke up, ''Oh my, Fluttershy! If she had seen this, then...we must get to her now!''

With that Rarity galloped towards Fluttershy's home and the others quickly made pursuit. They climbed over the bridge and up the path to the cottage and quickly made their way in the demolished cottage. Immediately upon entering the shambled cottage, Quentin, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie gazed at the sight of Fluttershy sprawled on the couch, her face buried in her forelegs while taking long breaths. They frowned sadly and quickly observed the room. Of course, it looked like it'd been through an explosion, burnt and charred and just a mess. However, what was more was that the animals that would come in and out of the cottage were turned to stone. Chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, and mice were sprawled over the floor in stone while numerous different birds perched frozen in stone in their birdhouses happened here. Even animals weren't spared from what happened here. Having observed enough, the four slowly, sadly made way to their weeping friend and over hangings that hung down from the ceiling.

"Fluttershy?'' Applejack spoke softly, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

Fluttershy tensed up at her touch and lifted her head. What a sad sight. Tears flowed down her face with bloodshot eyes. Her eyes seemed to have lost some life, empty and sorrowful. "M-my animal friends...just...just...'' Fluttershy began but suddenly broke down as she held out her forelegs to reveal the stone statue of Angel bunny, her beloved pet.

Quentin and the others gazed down sadly at the bunny as Fluttershy sobbed, ''W-Why did this have to happen?! To them, to everypony else?! They didn't do anything...anything to deserve this!''

Rarity quickly made her way to Fluttershy and embraced her in hopes to console. "We know sweetie...we're just as devastated as you are,'' Rarity whispered a few tears rolling down her face.

"Everything's...ruined. Everything's destroyed! I...I don't like this. I want everything to go back to normal!'' Fluttershy sobbed.

"I know ya do sugarcube, we all do,'' Applejack sniffed, rubbing her back.

Quentin glanced to his side and noticed that Pinkie Pie had begun to cry again and he put a foreleg around her shoulder. "Come on girls, we still need to find Rainbow Dash and get back with Twilight,'' the earth pony said with tear filled eyes.

"Quentin's right. Twilight…sniff...Twilight's smart, she would know what to do right now,'' Pinkie Pie said while sniffing softly.

Applejack and Rarity nodded with agreement. "Fluttershy, I know it's hard to leave your animal friends behind, but-' Rarity began softly, but was cut off by Fluttershy.

"I don't want to be here. I can't bear to see my friends like this. I just want to be with you guys right now,'' Fluttershy wept softly.

Rarity nodded and helped Fluttershy to her feet. "Thadda girl 'Shy, ya being pretty brave right now,'' Applejack said with a comforting tone and a slight, sad smile.

Fluttershy said nothing, just sniffed and nodded. "Let's go girls,'' Quentin spoke and the rest agreed.

With heavy hearts the five exited Fluttershy's home and made their way back to Ponyville. With no other place in mind, they decided to head back to the library to regroup with Twilight.

The five, distraught ponies had no hindrance on our journey to the library and they finally approached the worn down home of Twilight. Before they could made way to enter, the broken door opened as Twilight and Arcanus walked drearily out. Twilight looked as if she hasn't stopped crying since Quentin left and Arcanus, though his eyes were hidden behind a blindfold, could easily tell he had an extremely forlorn expression.

"Twilight?'' Quentin spoke out softly, taking a sort of half step towards the intelligent unicorn, but she just closed her eyes and shook her head as tears streamed down her face.

Before anyone else could speak, a rainbow colored blur flew across the fiery skies and Rainbow Dash made a sudden landing near them. She was breathing heavily, with a furious look on her face.

"Rainbow Dash? Where have you...'' Fluttershy asked, only to be cut off by Rainbow Dash.

"Cloudsdale!'' Rainbow spoke aggressively, causing her friends to jump slightly.

"What about it?'' Pinkie Pie asked puzzled.

"It's bucking destroyed that's what!'' Rainbow Dash answered loudly.

Most of the group gasped. "What?! Cloudsdale? Even all the way up there?!'' Rarity asked horrified.

Rainbow Dash began to pace around, her anger fuming. "It's like a floating hell up there! The buildings are destroyed, lava's spewing out of it. But that's not all!'' Rainbow Dash then whipped her face towards the others, tears forming in her furious eyes. "I saw Scootaloo, she was turned into a statue!''

At this Quentin and the others all frowned sadly as Applejack spoke up drearily, ''We know Dash. It would seemed like everypony's been turned to stone.''

"I mean, she looked up to me, she asked me to take her under my wind and become like a big sister to her. Some big sister! Where was I when she turned out like this?! Where was I when she needed me?!'' Rainbow Dash then whipped around with her back towards her friends and fell on her haunches as her head bowed.

She then began to tremble as she gritted her teeth and pinched her eyes shut, trying to keep her emotions in. They all looked at the bold Pegasus sadly. Her friends knew that someone as tough as her would never want to be seen crying.

"Rainbow Dash, it wasn't your fault,'' Twilight spoke sympathetically. "It wasn't anypony's fault.''

"Twilight's right Dash. No pony could've possible known that this would happen,'' Applejack added sadly, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

"Then why do I feel like it is? Why do I feel like cud?!'' Rainbow Dash argued through gritted teeth.

Quentin walked over beside her and wrapped his forelegs around her, shocking Rainbow Dash greatly. "The reason you feel so strongly about this is because that's how much you care about Ponyville and Scootaloo, Dash,'' he spoke softly with wet eyes.

Rainbow Dash said nothing as tears began to form in her eyes. "I know you established yourself as a tough, hardcore pony, but we will never think different of you if you were to cry. You can believe that I won't,'' Quentin added tenderly.

After a few brief moments after his comment, Rainbow Dash then hung her onto Quentin's shoulder, pinched her eyes shut as she began to cry silently, taking quiet breathes as she did so. The others watched on, tears streaming down their own faces as they were together in the dark new world around them. After what seemed like hours, Rarity asked Twilight.

''Twilight, we were hoping if you had any idea what to do. Please tell us that you do.'' Rarity looked at Twilight with pleading, tear filled eyes as everyone turned and fix their gazes on the purple unicorn.

At first Twilight looked as if she didn't know what to do. She glanced around thoughtlessly when her gaze locked onto the silhouette of familiar looking fortress alongside a mountain. "Canterlot...Canterlot! I almost forgot about it!''

At that the others all widened their eyes slightly as they turned towards the mountain that spired the majestic city. "Oh my, Spike, Princess Cadence, and Shining Armor are still there! Do you think they're alright?'' Fluttershy asked fearfully.

"Let's pry ta Chiron that they're are!'' Applejack added.

Twilight immediately turned to Arcanus. "Arcanus, do you think you can teleport us to Canterlot?'' Twilight asked desperately.

The powerful unicorn nodded and replied, ''Of course Twilight Sparkle. Everypony get close.''

The friends did as they were told and gathered close together. Arcanus' horn began to glow a billowing bluish white light and in a flash of light they were gone. It was in a blink of an eye and in another flash of light, the eight found themselves in the center of a demolished looking Canterlot. They gazed wearily and horrified at the once proud, elegant city that now stood in ruin around them. Many of the white and purple buildings were run down and corroding, much like Ponyville. Rooftops were damaged heavily with gaping holes, windows were busted from their frames, and the streets were darkened and craggy. The city was now spired against a black mountain. But the most disturbing aspect was the sight of the upper class inhabitants of Canterlot littered the streets as they stood frozen in cold, rock hard stone.

Just like the ponies of Ponyville, most wore expressions of shock, fright, and alarm as they stood in their places. Some stood frozen as they were seated at cafe tables, others were frozen where they had walked. Things were just as bad here like the lifeless dwelling of Ponyville.

"No...not here too,'' Twilight said in despair, on the verge of tears.

"It's jus' like Ponyville, everypony's a statue,'' Applejack added bleakly, looking around the dark environment.

They all looked around, trying to process what they were seeing. "Just look at this place,'' Rarity spoke dismally with tears in her eyes. "This used to be the most beautiful city, the city of my dreams...now look at it.''

Arcanus gazed around and spoke with a downhearted tone, ''Dear Chiron above...was there anypony spared of this disaster?''

The group began to walk around, wearily gazing around the destroyed city. Like Ponyville, all the statues that scattered the streets along with the shambled buildings and dark, fiery skies gave the environment a brooding, creepy feeling.

"As vain, ritzy, and uptight the lot of these ponies were, even they didn't deserve such a horrible fate,'' Rarity voiced sympathetically as she looked around as she and her friends continued to venture through the city.

Pinkie Pie, her main and tail still straight with her coloring still faded, spoke in a very un-Pinkie Pie like tone, ''It...it feels like there's absolutely no joy left anywhere. Is everything like this? Is everypony like this?''

That's when Twilight froze and a look of sheer horror formed on her face. Pinkie Pie's words seemed to have triggered a thought as she muttered mortified, ''No...Shining Armor, Cadence...Spike.''

The others noticed Twilight's sudden behavior and Applejack asked with concern, "Twilight? What's wrong sugarcube?''

Instead of a response, Twilight galloped at full speed through the town. "Twilight wait up!'' Rainbow Dash called and they pursued after her.

"Twilight, where's she going?'' Fluttershy asked as they followed the unicorn.

Arcanus answered somberly, "I think I know where she's going. And I fear for a horrible discovery.''

Quentin, Applejack, and the rest followed Twilight through Canterlot as the followed a path that led to the very outskirts of the city. It wasn't long before they passed through an entrance and stopped dead in their tracks as they came to a horrifying sight. The grassy lawns were now scorched earth, lifeless and black. The waterfall that poured down from the side of the mountain to the right was now a waterfall of lava, filling a basin before passing under the drawbridge and down the side of the rest of the mountain, but it was the palace that had the group terrified. The once beautiful, majestic castle now looked like it sustained massive and extensive damages from some sort of epic battle.

The roofs and spires were crumbling with numerous holes. Some parts of the palace had completely gave in and were numerous holes in the body like the areas had been blown up as the whole palace gave a look as if it had been caught on fire, with the windows either completely busted from the frames or had holes in them. The eight all stared in disbelief as the now dark castle was now adorned by a fiery skyline.

"Holy...fuck...'' Quentin muttered under his breath, can't believing what they were witnessing.

"The palace...it's...'' Fluttershy began as tears began to form in her eyes.

"No...no...No...'' Twilight uttered in disbelief before she took off toward the destroyed palace.

The rest of quickly followed her down the path. They crossed the drawbridge over the flowing lava and through the large doors and the group soon found themselves in the familiar large room with a stairwell up ahead. The inside of the palace was just as horrible to look at like the outside. Everything were in ruins. Debris and rubble littered the room, the red carpet that led up to the stairwell was faded and tattered. The overall look of the room was of charred, destroyed, remnants of a room destroyed by a fiery maelstrom.

"Just look at this place...'' Pinkie Pie said glumly.

"This sucks...it sucks so much. It feels like we're in Hell,'' Rainbow Dash added with a disturbed tone.

Twilight looked around frantically before dashing of towards the stairs with her friends just behind her. They ventured through the ruined castle. Like Ponyville and Canterlot, they discovered the ponies that dwelled in the castle were turned to stone, the guards, staff, everypony that they came across were stone. It's unknown how long the eight ponies went through the castle until they finally forced their way through some large doors and found themselves in a large destroyed room that led to the spacious corridor of windows and stained glass windows. It wasn't long before they noticed three stone statues that stood atop the staircase before them, the statues of a familiar unicorn, Alicorn, and baby dragon...the stone statues of Shining Armor, Cadence, and Spike. Quentin and the others all looked at their petrified friends with completly and utter shock and horror.

"No...NO!" Twilight cried, tears immediately forming and streaming down her face as she ran up the stairs and to the statues.

Twilight approached the first statue that depicted her brother Shining Armor and brought a shaking hoof to his face. "Shining Armor...''' Twilight uttered tearfully.

She turned her gaze at her sister-in-law as her crying became harder, "Cadence...''

Twilight then shifted her tear filled eyes to her dragon friend. He stood with an alarmed, sad expression, his mouth hanging open slightly. At the sight of her beloved assistant and friend, Twilight broke down crying as she gently embraced Spike. "Spike...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...'' Twilight cried into her stone friend.

The rest sadly climbed the stairs as they approached Twilight. "Oh my...Shining Armor and Cadence too?'' Fluttershy whimpered with tears streaming down her face.

Rarity gasped softly as she put a hoof to her mouth, tears cascading down her face as she looked at Spike. "Spikey Wikey...no it can't be...''

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Quentin all had tears either in their eyes or flowing down their faces as they looked at their friends turned to stone. Arcanus just stood by and watched on with an extremely sorrowful expression. Quentin looked at the weeping Twilight as she embraced Spike. The sight of her so...devastated was too much for him and he looked down and pinched his eyes shut. Applejack tearfully looked at her human friend and rested her head on his shoulder and closed her as and let tears roll down her face. Though as dear as his friends are to him, the situation before Quentin unnerved him tremendously and almost immediate after his farm pony friend rested her head on his shoulder, Quentin moved from her touch and proceeded to glumly walk into the corridor of windows.

Applejack looked on after him, tears still rolling down her eyes as Quentin walked alone in the corridor. In the large hallway thoughts kept racing around in his head. Why did this happen? Did this really happen? Is this just some sort of bad dream, a nightmare? If so he just wanted to wake up so badly. Quentin let a few tears escape as he opened his eyes and looked upward. Upon shifting his gaze, he instantly noticed a significant change in the corridor. Like the rest of the palace, it looked as if it had been heavily damaged by some great battle, but the stallion's gaze scanned the large windows that decorated the hall. All down the corridor, all the regular windows were completly destroyed while the stained glass windows remained intact. However, it was these stained glass windows that caused Quentin to look grief stricken and he called out to the rest of his friends.

"Girls!''

The six ponies and Arcanus looked over at him. "Quentin, dear what's wrong?'' Rarity asked, whipping tears from her eyes.

Quentin just shook his head and repeated. "Girls, come here. Y-you all need to see this!''

With dishearten spirits, the six mares and Arcanus quickly made their way in the corridor and to their. "Quentin, what's up?'' Rainbow Dash asked as she landed next to him.

Quentin said nothing and pointed to the stained glass window close to them. Everyone tuned their gaze to where he was pointing at and their eyes widened with shock and their mouths dropped open at the sight they beheld. The stained glass window, the brilliantly designed window that depicted a past history now had a dark and sinister look to it. The main color scheme was now mostly red, black, and white and it depicted Chthon defeating Celestia and Luna just like the battle they had just witnessed.

"W-what's going on with the windows?'' Pinkie Pie asked frightened, her ears lowering.

Applejack gazed sadly at the window and spoke, ''It's...it's jus' like what we saw back in the ruins. Why does there have ta be a paintin' about it?''

Twilight couldn't bear to see a reminder of her mentor's death and looked away tearfully, but then opened her eyes to see that the other stained glass windows had also changed. "L-look at the other windows. They've changed too!''

Her friends fearfully, bewilderedly made way down the corridor as they examined the new windows with horrified glances. Like the first window, all the new stained glass windows all had a black and red color scheme, but each one depicting a different prophecy of some sorts. One depicted towns catching fire while another depicted balls of fire raining down on ponies. One window had an imaged that depicted ponies falling from what looked like a cliff to their supposed deaths in fire.

"That's just...sick. This is beyond evil,'' Rainbow Dash spoke with a disgusted tone.

Fluttershy buried her face in her hooves as she curled up into a ball and began to cry after observing a window that depicted ponies being killed by flying, dragon like monsters. "I don't want to look anymore!'' the timid Pegasus wept "It's too horrible. I just want to...want to...'' Fluttershy continued to cry.

Pinkie Pie looked at a window depicting ponies being impaled by large spikes as a pair of large evil, red eyes observed from the skies, in a way as if they were enjoying what it was seeing. Pinkie Pie shook her head in disbelief as she fell onto her haunches and buried her face in her hooves. Applejack's eyes feel upon a window that had Chthon slaughtering ponies, one hand covered in red black energy while the other hand held a sinister looking sword as he laid waste to the ponies.

"Mother of Celestia...'' Applejack could only mutter as she looked away from the graphic design and her eyes fell upon another window.

This one had the image of Chthon, apparently in the air. His body was slightly bent with one hand outstretched downward while the other arm was bent to his side. A stylized image of a rather large fireball shot from Chthon's outstretched hand and fired downward at some unknown target, Chthon giving that evil grin. Rarity looked around and spoke tearfully.

''These windows are just...please I want to leave!''

Arcanus walked up to a window that depicted a partial view of the world. It was red with yellow lines as if it was burning and flaming meteors were hurling towards its surface. "Dear God...are these stained glass windows...are these prophecies trying to tell us what we so dreaded?'' Arcanus spoke gravely.

Twilight gazed frantically around at the windows, each one depicting a story that is worse than the last. Finally at the end of the corridor, Twilight gazed up at the ceiling and her heart sank. Tears formed and fell fluidly as she shook her head and broke down as she fell on her stomach and cried.

"No...no...''

Seeing this, Quentin quickly ran over to her side, soon followed by the rest of their friends. They looked down at their weeping, shaking friend and looked upward to see what she saw and their faces fell at the horrifying sight they were seeing. High on the wall was the largest stained glass window. Unlike the others, it was round, but the color scheme was the same, it was the depiction that was unsettling. The window had the etching of Chthon, rigged in appearance, dark purple with those evil red eyes that seemed to glow. The four winged god had his arms raised with clutched fists rather victoriously with the most evil, triumphant smile on his face. Behind him was a background that depicted space with numerous planets and stars shooting about. However, the planets were set ablaze as the space background was a deathly red color with white stars. In the center in front of Chthon was a burning, doomed planet.

Quentin stared at the stained window, he felt his legs becoming weak and he fell onto his haunches, racking a hoof through his dreadlocked mane as he looked down with a confused, disbelieving, horrified look. Celestia and Luna were dead, Ponyville and Canterlot were basically decimated, and everypony they knew and loved were nothing but stone statues. It was at that point Quentin realized what these windows mean. It had been done. Despite all of their struggles, despite all of their fights they failed to stop this living nightmare from happening. The solar eclipse had signaled what they had so desperately tried to stop. The dark prophecy that they read had come true and the warnings Discord gave them had been brought to pass. The six Cosmic Gems united and in effect revived Chthon. By Chthon's will he accomplished what they had failed to prevent. The world of Equestria was now a world of chaos…the world had ended.