It’s been two hours since a disaster hit the peaceful village of Ponyville, ending in the disappearance of two ponies and the injuring of many others caught in the deflagration. The ‘Immediate Threat Response’ squad of the Royal Corps of Canterlot arrived at the scene of the destroyed house within minutes after the explosion. Amongst them was none other than the Doctor, staring in disbelief at the spot where his house should have been. Many thoughts raced in his mind as he thought to solve this mystery, as to where had Tony and the captain of the Royal Guard disappear to.

A silvery armored unicorn mare approached the Doctor and saluted him.

“I have come to report our findings, Doctor.”

The Doctor merely nodded weakly, not breaking eye contact with the smoldering remains, still puffing smoke. The stench of burnt flesh and hair permeated the air around the site. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the guard and motioned for her to explain the situation.

Clearing her throat, the guard spoke. “It has come to our attention that unknown ponies entered the village very early in the morning and headed towards your house. We have identified them as zebras, but nothing else. From the debris, we learned that the house exploded when the fire reached well into the basement, where we found traces of explosives.”

“What about the girl… what’s her condition?”

“She was immediately taken to the Canterlot hospital and went straight into surgery. She lost a lot of blood and was gravely injured, but despite all this, she is stable right now. However…,” the mare lowered her gaze “the spot where she was impaled was directly above the uterus. It had to be completely removed…”

The Doctor sighed and turned around towards a carriage waiting for him. “To the Canterlot hospital, and make it fast!” he hissed at the pegasai in front of the carriage. They gave quick nods and flew off.

---

At the hospital, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy stood by the bed of Applejack, who was barely recovering from the concussion she received after taking a direct hit from flying debris. Applejack stretched a bit and sighed. Raising her head slightly, she noticed the three ponies smiling at her, their eyes brimming with tears of joy and relief. The pink pony gave a loud squeak and gripped the orange earth pony in a strong hug.

“Whoa there, sugarcube, Ah’m fine, ya can stop now…”

“Oh Applejack, dear, we were so worried about you! What happened, Twilight was barely able to give us any details of what happened.”

The information sunk in slowly, and Applejack gasped loudly when she realized why she was here in the first place. The burning house, Sundancer, the explosion…

“Wh-where is Sundancer?! Is she alright?”

“Hush now, dear.” Rarity pointed her hoof to her left.

Applejack followed the gesture and hushed a gasp when she laid her eyes upon the form of Twilight resting her head on Sundancer’s chest, slowly but steadily rising. Her body was completely covered in bandages, save for parts of her face. Her mane and tail were cut off to grow anew. Her wings were carefully tucked at her sides, covered in casts and bandages as well. Applejack could only stare sadly at the depressed expression on her face, seemingly crying.

Twilight raised her head and stared into Applejack’s own eyes, then lowered her gaze. She got up and trotted towards her bed and hugged her.

”Oh, Applejack, I’m so happy you’re awake. You scared us pretty good. I’m really sorry for what happened, I should have—“

“It’s okay sugarcube, don’t worry about it. How is she?”

Twilight sniffed and took a deep breath. “From what I’ve learned from the doctors, she is in a coma, after losing a large amount of blood. Also, her injuries were severe, third degree burns on her sides and back legs. She will make a full recovery, but I’m afraid she will never be able to conceive…”

Applejack stared dumbfounded for a minute before mumbling something. “Why… Why did this happen… did they find any trace of Tony in the rubble? And where is Dash by the way… I’m not seeing her here.”

“They are both on their way to Zandalari,” said the Doctor, who just entered the room, earning shocked expressions from everypony in the room.

“But… why? What’s going on?!”

“Settle down, Miss Pinkamina, I will explain everything I have learned so far.”

After everypony took a seat, he drew a breath and began. “It appears that Tony was ponynapped by the Atal-Hakkar of Zandalari. They attacked him earlier this morning and severely injured his marefriend, as you can see. As to how I’ve come to this conclusion, we have found traces of specific poisons that are only obtained in the south west regions of the continent, towards the savannas. And since we are at the beginning of a war with the northern Zebra tribes, they have set on acquiring all possible technologies to aid their warfare. Our scouts have detected a massive airship traveling towards Zandalari as we speak. There is no doubt that Tony is aboard that ship. As for Captain Dash, she is in pursuit and is attempting to save him by herself. I’m afraid the only thing we can do is take the ship down.”

“WHAT?!” a collective gasp from the group of mares present.

“We can’t take any risks! If Tony actually gives them the technology they need, we might soon face a second Equestrian War. Right as we speak, we have sent battle ships to take it down. As much as it pains me, Equestria’s survival comes first.”

“You can’t do that!!”

Everypony in the room stared in shock at the stirring form of Sundancer, who was whimpering in pain as she rose from bed and glared daggers at the Doctor. “I won’t allow you to kill him… not after what he endured to try and protect me. I won’t have it!”

“Sundancer, please, calm down! Everything will be fine, we won’t allow him to do anything. We will save Tony!”

”P-promise…?” she said with a faltering voice, fading into blackness again.

“We promise on our livelihoods that we will bring them back!” Twilight said with renewed strength as she grabbed Sundancer’s hooves and held them as she fell back into a deep sleep.

The Doctor cleared his throat to get everypony’s attention.

“I am really sorry girls, but you are to head back to Ponyville and continue your lives as until now. This operation has been approved by both Princesses and they clearly specified that you will not interfere.” The Doctor sighed, not enjoying what he had to do.

“We won’t do that! We will go and help Rainbow save Tony! Not even the Princesses can stop us.”

“Oh, but we disagree.”

“Wha—“ Twilight was interrupted by a sudden powerful light, forcing her eyes shut to prevent damage. Taking a few seconds, she slowly opened them to reveal the Rulers of the Sun and Moon respectively, standing in the middle of the room, with frowns on their faces. The Ruler of the Moon spoke first in a commanding tone.

“Thou are to return to Ponyville immediately, either by yourselves or under Royal escort, along with power seals, until we solve this problem.”

“We will not stand by and let out friend die out there! Princess Celestia, I always thought you cared about everypony under your rule!” Twilight cried out at the Ruler of the Sun.

Celestia scowled and raised her head, taking an air of authority. “My faithful student, of course I love my subjects as my family, but I cannot and WILL NOT sacrifice the lives of many ponies for one pony, no matter who it is. I am terribly sorry, but I’m afraid I will have to ensure that you will not attempt anything folly. Summer, Brighthooves, at my side!” Celestia barked.

Immediately, two heavily armored unicorn guards entered the room and bowed down to the Princesses.

“Take these ponies and escort them safely to Ponyville. They are not to leave the village in anyway without my permission. Did I make myself understood?”

“Yes, your majesty!”

Turning towards the shocked and confused ponies in the room, she closed her eyes and mumbled something under her breath. Immediately her horn shone bright. After several minutes, the spell faded out, leaving the Sun Ruler exhausted from over exerting.

“There, all sealed. Twilight, Rarity, you will not be able to use magic; Fluttershy, you will not be able to fly. As for you, my little earth ponies, you are now bound to the earth below your hooves. Should you leave the perimeter of Ponyville, the guards will know and will find you and send you back.

“You can’t do this! Princess Celestia!”

“I already did…” the Ruler of the Sun sighed and teleported herself and her sister away, leaving the guards to battle with the struggling ponies. As she was forced out of the room, Twilight could only look helplessly at the sleeping form of Sundancer and the shocked expression of Applejack, who sat in her bed, not being able to move.

---

Low rumbling and shaking had made sleeping difficult for the white earth pony, who opened his eyes slowly to reveal a metallic cage of sorts. He tried touching it, but found himself tied up by several chains and ropes. ‘What am I doing here… and where is—' he stopped mid sentence when his memories came flushing back, the attackers, blood everywhere, paralyzing agent, Sundancer lying on a pile of corpses. His eyes grew wide and his pupils shrank as he let out a blood curling scream of wail and agony, finally realizing he had failed in defending the ones he loved. A soft thud snapped him out of his trance. Turning around with fire in his eyes, he looked upon the confused form of Rainbow Dash, rubbing the back of her head after she seemingly fell.

“What are you doing here…” he spat at her. Looking around, Dash found his target.

“Tony! You’re safe! Quick, we have to get you out of here, before they come!”

“Don’t bother… There’s no reason for me to try and live anymore…” he lowered his head and cried soflty. Rainbow immediately understood what happened.

“I’m sorry… I truly am, she was my friend too. But you can’t let that get in your way! You must live! She would have wanted you to be happy. Don’t lose faith Tony, you hear me?”

Sudden explosions and loud rumbling snapped the two out of their conversation, as fire began to spread all around them. Rainbow panicked and started looking around for a way to get him out of the cage before the flame engulfed them.

“Save the cargo!” A yell came from above the deck, and suddenly seven zebras entered the cargo hold and went directly for the cage.

“HEY! Get away from there!”

Rainbow noticed them and looked around for a weapon to defend herself. Too late. The zebras charged the distraught Pegasus and managed to grab her by the hooves and pulled her off the cage. Pinned down, she let out a scream of pure agony, as one of the zebras swung his machete at her left wing, nearly severing it. In the meantime, 2 other zebras unlocked the cage and chains and pulled Tony out, only to get hit straight in the face, causing them to stumble on their backs, leaving them open for a rain of fatal blows, aimed at the vital organs and neck, rendering them immovable.

Tony then immediately shot towards the zebras that were beating Dash savagely and attempted to strangle one of them with the chain that was still attached to his front hooves. Rainbow didn’t have time to flinch, as another powerful blow struck at her other wing, completely paralyzing her in pain. She then felt somepony grab her and drag her towards the open windows, and before she could even scream, she was hurled out.

“Tooonyyy!!” she screamed helplessly as she fell towards the ground, gaining speed. She attempted to recover from the dive, only to scream in agony as her severed muscles and tendons pulsed with pain. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

Suddenly she felt two hooves that grabbed her and slowed her descent to a halt in mid air. Opening her eyes, she started tearing up when she saw the face of her savior.

“Soarin’… I-I’m sorry…”

“Shh, no need to apologize, Dash, you did what you had to…” She began to sob openly, lowering her head. Soarin’ landed with her on an opening in the woods, gently embracing her, careful to avoid her almost severed wings. “I will never leave your side again, Dashie…” She silently gasped at the nickname.

‘Only Pinkie called me like that…’

“Dash, I know this is the worst moment possible, but, I want to tell you something…” he gulped loudly and looked into her magenta eyes, as she stopped crying and listened intently. “I-I love—“ his confession was interrupted by a very powerful explosion and a loud rumbling. Glancing around, they both laid their eyes on the burning frame of the zebran airship.

“TONY NOOO!!” Rainbow cried out in anguish at her failed attempt to save her friend. Soarin’ hugged her again and turned her back towards the wreckage, to avoid further hurting the already-broken Pegasus. She dropped her head over his shoulder and sobbed loudly.