Silence.
Silence and darkness.
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"H-h-help! S-someone, please, help!"

"Is someone there? Keep talking, we need to hear you! Where are you?"

"I don't know *cough* I can't... I can't see!"

"Sit tight. We're on our way."

Suddenly, the blanket of darkness lifted. A stallion, middle-aged and wearing a heavy leather siut and oxygen mask. His face was hidden. All of him was hidden.

The filly didn't resist the oxygen mask strapped onto her muzzle. She took a long, deep breath, the pressure on her chest not yet subsided. The air was thick with smoke and dust. Small fires burned where candles had tipped over or lamps had broken. A team of ponies flew water from the pond, slowly putting them out.

This place... where was it? She couldn't remember ever seeing anything like it. All dusty and broken. Wait.

A giant cupcake.

THE giant cupcake.

Sugarcube Corner? Than this was...

Ponyville? Her Ponyville?

Her rescuer, the stallion was still standing behind her.

"My friends! My friends were here too! Have you found them?"

"We have four confirmed. Near the forest. They've been waiting for you."

A dirty blue Pegasus was collasped on the ground, rainbow mane in knots and good chunks missing. She was breathing.

A black mare, wings extended slightly in sleep. Also breathing.

Herself, dirtied but alive, pink mane in some state and pale yellow fur coated in mud.

A dragon, snoring almost peacefully, his bulk covering most of the clear ground. Also breathing.

Fluttershy sobbed to herself. The fourth found...

The stallion galloped up. He kicked off his protective jacket, keeping the mask on for safety. The dark red coat was met with a golden mane and a green apple cutiemark. Without a word, Big Macintosh led Fluttershy aside, past rubble and dirt and mud and fire, over to a small group of ponies.

As they approached, a small group moved aside. There was a matress, hauled out from the destruction. A blacket, thick and white and embroidered with small blue clouds. That was his blanket. or at least, it used to be...

Fluttershy spread her wings to hide the matress. Gently pulling back the blanket's edge, she saw a rounded muzzle, eyes closed in peace, young ears short and round.

She gently licked her son's head, eyes closed as tears ran down her cheeks and onto the scales below.

It was a long time before Ponyville recovered. Nopony commented on the beginning or creator of the turmoil. The subject was a delicate one... it would be for a long time to come.

Twilight Sparkle slaved over another book. The pages in front of where she had rechaed were empty. The ones behind were filled to the margins with text. The one she was on was steadily filling, muzzlewriting surprising elegant despite the length of the ink dip. The next word she wrote was 'Coronus'.

Rarity tightened the last stitch. There were many dresses like this one that she had made recently. She took a dark coal heart, wound it through a gold chain, and slipped it around her own neck. Wiping the tears out of her eyes, she looked at herself in the mirror. The black dress, despite it's dreary colour, was a symbol. Of what, she couldn't grasp.

Applejack whittled carefully, the knife in her jaw wobbling slightly. The sculpture was almost finshed. Dark red wood, with the curves of a dragon in flight, abstract but fully there. Setting the knife on the table, she lifted the wood ever-so-gently and placed it in her saddlebag.

Pinkie Pie swept out the last of the grime, dust and dirt flying out of the open gates. Their elegant, winding metal forms were old, but strong. The party pony sighed and pushed the broom back under the table. Her happy heart was soft.

Rainbow Dash dropped again, the wind bending around her. The trick was almost complete. She pulled up at the last moment, wings flaring into a matter-breaking sheet. The ripples of colour stayed in shades of orange and gray, with black, red and yellow streaks. She complemented herself on the presentation and landed.

Fluttershy sat in front of the rounded stone. She couldn't bear to read the words. Their letters were that of judgement. If she looked, their inscription was truth. It couldn't be truth. There was a dragon beside her but she felt no fear from him. Just the same sadness that she had.

Toothless set his jaw against his sadness. He could not cry. He was a reptile. They didn't cry. But he wanted to. He wanted to break down, to have tears streaming down his face, to have sobs wreching his lungs, to see evidence of his sadness on his cheeks. But dragons couldn't cry.

The assembled animals waited in silence as the Elements of Harmony, minus one, proceeded forward. The box they carried was almost too much to bear. Fluttershy felt her heart break again. She moved aside as the other Elements placed the box into the hole. She finally looked up at the stone.

And for nowhere near the last time, Fluttershy cried over the grave of her son.

And her heart was not the only one shaken.