Rarity gasped. Applestar screamed. The three stallions nearly shat their flanks. Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped and her eyes were open with shock and horror. They had just come up an old trail through the part of the forest bordering the northwestern reaches of Sweet Apple Acres, and when they stepped out of the woods on onto Apple territory, a hellish, grisly scene awaited them. The open pasture was dotted with spears that appeared driven up from the ground, skewering dozens of ponies. All had strange but serious burns all over their bodies and some appeared to even be rotting alive. Still many of them moved slightly, gurgling or groaning. Some of these unfortunate Apples were missing eyes, jaws, and even limbs.

Twilight Sparkle, as powerful as she was right now with magic from the magic plain, was just as mortified as the others. Tears streamed from Rarity's eyes. "I can't look for another second! Oh Sweetie Belle....why..." and she started sobbing. The foul stench assaulted their nostrils. Clover puked up his lunch and splattered it all over the crisp grass in front of him.

Twilight was just as revolted, and her stomach lurched and heaved, and she puked out more than the earth pony did. Thing is, she hadn't eaten for nearly a whole day. What did come out was some nasty blue-ish bile that reeked of ammonia. She horked two more times.

"Gosh, Twilight, what on earth is that?"

Twilight spat out the last of it, and caught her breath. "This is what happens when a unicorn goes through too much magic. The excess magic is stored in stomach acid and mucous. This accumulates in your stomach, and when there's enough it, you puke. A biological mechanism built into unicorns to curb their magic use. Takes alot to make me sick...and this..." she pointed a hoof at the bloody carnage infront of them, "...tops it all. Don't expect to sleep for at least a week after this is over."

Twilight scanned the magic from everything...and the readings she got were abysmal. It all came from Sweetie Belle all right. Her magic signature was plastered over every single object and victim here. She looked at Rarity, who was in tears. She was sobbing, yet hardly able to breathe without gagging from the stench of burning rotten pony flesh. She was probably losing her mind about how her precious little Sweetie Belle turned into an evil incarnate. Twilight figured even this would make Discord sick. She assumed who the real culprits were- some super pissed off unicorn mages from thousands of years past, remote controlling Sweetie Belle through time, and using her for their sick conquest. Then she felt the heart wrenching guilt for dropping that spellbook in the first place.

Princess Celestia would have intervened and put an end to this already, but she knew Celestia was in respite. Or on vacation as Sundowner put it. If Princess Celestia was on a mere vacation, she would have teleported to Ponyville already and set things right. Respite is a completely different story. As Twilight learned, Celestia and Luna are immortal beings. Celestia told her being immortal is no walk in the park. Immortal beings such as the Princess were subjected to illness, ailments on a quantum or cosmic level that didn't affect mortal creatures. So they go in respite for anytime between a few days to a few months. A few days if Celestia only needed a break, but a few months if Celestia really was sick with something or exhausted. Usually Celestia took a month of respite every two years. And Twilight already banged her head against the wall for forgetting that notice she got regarding the respite.

But enough of that, Celestia wasn't here, and Twilight was on her own. She checked the vitals of the skewered ponies, but couldn't even sense heart rates or breathing rates, her own magic was obscured by the magic surging through everything and the intense radiation. However, the sudden signals she began receiving through the radioactive smoky haze from Applestar were alarming.

Twilight looked at her. Applestar sat there shaking. Her eyes remained bulged, and her breathing became very rapid. She was on the verge of a panic attack. Twilight sensed the magic brewing up in the unicorn's horn, and the realization hit her: Applestar was about to teleport.
"I...I can't take it anymore...I can't...I can't...I gotta get outta here." Applestar paced around, and looked back to the woods. "I'm gonna die..."

"Applestar, calm down," Twilight barked urgently, "You're safe. You're not gonna die."

"Like hell I won't..." Tears streamed down the purple unicorn's face and got into her already sweat matted green mane. "I'm...I'm leaving!"

The unicorn turned to the woods, and bolted. Twilight took off after her and stopped her at the gate. "No! It's too dangerous! You have to stick with us! There's no other way!"

Applestar shot back a defiant glare. "Like hell there isn't. I'm leaving!" She tried to get around Twilight, but she blocked her access to the woods. Applestar then collapsed into a heap on the ground, and sobbed. She curled up and put her forehooves to her ears.

"Come on A-star, get your shit together! Now's not the time to fall apart on us," Quick Fix barked at her. "Come on, snap out of it! Get up already!"

"Uhh Applestar?" Orion asked, gently poking her with a hoof.

Applestar didn't respond. She laid there hyperventilating. She was already gone, trapped in a full blown panic. She felt her world closing in on her. This was it. She was going to die, then burn in eternal fire. She let out an unnerving scream- then her magic system went off and she cast that teleport spell-

As Sweetie Belle stalked through the woods, she noticed more and more that Apple ponies were missing. She speculated they retreated somewhere. A bright white flash illuminated the orchards, followed by a series of shockwaves and thundering booms. She was surprised but not shaken. The filly looked to the west and picked up familiar magic readings. She now knew Twilight Sparkle was close by, and more powerful than the day before.

Sweetie Belle was determined to eliminate the entire Apple family and take her revenge on Applejack. And she was not about to let Twilight get in the way. But she felt a sense of urgency now, and kept to her first priority. Sweetie Belle sauntered northward. Towards the new village that centered around Applejack's house.

The explosion scared the living jeebers out of Applejack and her comrades. Some thought it was Celestia arriving to take them out, others feared it was another unicorn attack.

"We're gonna die, aren't we?" Apple Fritter cried as she sat with a bunch of mares beside a stack of supplies they had assembled.

"No, we ain't gonna die!" Applejack snarled. At least she tried to look stoic. Ponies were looking up to her afterall. "We's gonna fight these unicorn maggots, and we's gonna win! We can still show Celestia we's good ponies! Now quit yer whinin' Get workin' or get prayin'. Move it!"

From the western barricade, Big Mac saw the flash and the mushroom cloud rising in the distance. He had never seen that big of an explosion in his life. But the big red lug did have hope that the other ponies around him seemed to have lost: that Celestia would come in time, or that not all of the Apples (himself especially) would be killed by the unicorn or unicorns coming.

Casting teleport spells does not entail an explosion that would scorch everything within a 10-12 trot (75-90 ft) radius. The problem was that the moment Applestar cast that spell, her own magic reacted with the extremely volatile magic that saturated the land, causing the explosion. The whole group would have been blown to atoms, had Twilight Sparkle not reacted in time, and threw up a protective ball around them all, causing a more violent reaction and more colossal series of blasts. Twilight Sparkle would have still killed herself, but she used the magic from the infinite supply of the magic plane to neutralize the dangerous magic fields around them, thus saving herself and her friends.

The 30 or so ponies skewered on the pikes of magically petrified dirt were mercifully killed, and blown from existence.

Within her three trot-wide bright violet magic sphere, Twilight created a safe zone in which she could cast her magic without causing reactions from the surrounding hostile magic fields and radiation. She instantly cast spells to calm her team down, especially Applestar, and disable their sense of smell.

Applestar opened her eyes and looked up to see the shimmering glowing violet hue of the protective sphere. A loud ear piercing sound echoed within her mind, and she still saw colors. What the hell just happened?

The others looked quite shocked, except for Twilight, who stood there, pupils glowing a vibrant purple, and her horn shining brighter than a light bulb. Twilight looked down at her, but not with a hostile glare.

Then the shield dissipated, and they were now in the pit of the dust cloud left behind by the explosion. Twilight cast one last spell to bring in breathable air.

"What...what just happened? I thought we were all dead!" Quick Fix breathed.

"That's why none of you want to be casting any spells around here," Twilight said calmly.

"Wha...what happened?"

"Applestar's magic caused a violent and explosive reaction with all of the hostile magic around us. I used enough to neutralize the dangerous magic around us, but, now we can't cast any more magic or there will be more explosive reactions....great..." Twilight trailed off with frustration as she explained the details.

"Hey, where's Clover?" Quick Fix asked. Then he saw it and his jaw dropped.

Clover Grassblade never made it. He was too far out of Twilight's reach, and thus not encircled by her shield. He was blown to bits by the magic blasts. Twilight looked and gasped. She failed to encapsulate Clover Grassblade as well. Now his scorched remains were strewn about the mess.

Twilight saw it too and she gasped. She felt a painful surge of toxic guilt flood her heart. Another pony just died because of her.

"Don't worry about it, Twi," Orion assured her, "He was a moron anyway."

"How nice of you to think so fondly of your fallen fellow town guard member," Twilight shot back angrily, "I'm very disappointed in you two."

"Hey, what did I do?" Quick Fix protested.

"Isn't it obvious?" Twilight shot back impassively, "In the years I worked with the town guard, I found the lot of you didn't even make up a real guardian force. None of you showed any respect for yourselves or your fellow ponies, and you failed as a force to live up to your duties. It's no wonder the Apple ponies took over so easily."

The two unicorns' eyes widened. Twilight hit them where it hurt. "Hey, wait a minute-"
"Shut up!" Twilight snapped, "I counted on you to work together since you chose to come with me. I learned alot of the training the Royal Guards go through at Canterlot, I figured even a small town guard would be just as competent. I was wrong. You all acted as individuals, looking out for your own interests, rather than a team. And look where it got you. And once again, another pony is dead. We all would have been dead if it weren't for me. I told you not to worry about me. You all should have left Ponyville and ran off with the others when you had the chance."

As Twilight ranted, she also glared at Applestar as well as Orion and Quick Fix. They knew she was mad at Applestar for losing it, and at the two stallions for not talking her out of her panic.

Rarity would have said something, but even she was feeling more than unsettled around Twilight. She didn't want to know what kind of power Twilight could really pull up and use from the magic plane. But she did know Twilight Sparkle was not her usual self. If she was, they would have never made it here.

Nopony argued. Twilight stared them down, and that freakish glow from the pupils of her eyes deterred them from challenging or disagreeing with her on anything else.

"Now that our cover is blown, let's move."

"Wait, what cover?" Rarity asked.

Twilight replied, "I was hoping to sneak in under the cover of all this magic and catch her by surprise. Now lets go."

The other four nodded and fell in step behind her.

Sweetie Belle made her way through the part of the forest and apple orchards that weren't on fire. She magically scanned the area for heat signatures and picked up dozens of ponies to the north east, and she proceeded in that direction. Angry voices shouted in her mind, the voices of her masters in the pasts, lusting for vengeance. Sweetie Belle screamed in agony as they nearly drove her insane, and she cast a special spell they wanted her to cast. A spell that released these spirits from her and allowed them to roam free within a thousand trots. These ghosts of long-dead ponies materialized around her and looked just as real. Many were earth pony and unicorn soldiers who died in the wars of the past. And a great many of them looked like they were decayed. They could have looked perfect, but they opted for a more horrifying appearance.

Aura Belle materialized next to Sweetie. The others, whose faces were hardly visible, looked to Aura, who looked at Sweetie Belle.
"They are down that way," Sweetie Belle said, pointing a hoof down the dirt path. "Do what you want with everypony, but I want Applejack alive."

"Very well," Aura Belle spoke in a raspy voice. She then screamed a whinny that even sent shivers down Sweetie's spine. The ghosts all hollered and charged down the path, lead by her. Sweetie Belle stood and stared impassively as she watched the horde of 70-something spirits disappear into the dark. Then she proceeded to walk at her usual stalking pace towards the farm house.

"Who goes there!" Big Brick Applestone shouted, raising his pitchfork over the barricade. In the woods to the southeast, they heard rapid hoofsteps. Other ponies quickly joined him in pointing their farm tool weapons, and shotguns. The Sun had set and darkness quickly set in. Too quickly. Unnaturally quickly. The magic counter devices, crafted by Apple Sparker (the young stallion who was in charge of the battery charging barn), had been clicking all night, signaling magic radiation. And it was increasing. Then the Apples began to hear shouts, barks, shrieks and screams.

"Ready your muskets, men," Pomme-burn Applesmoke barked, and more than a dozen stallions and mares cocked their shotguns, ready to blast away whoever was coming. "Magic is evil and terrifying, yes, but nothing stands up against good old musket fire!" old Applesmoke snarled.

Applemend (Heal) walked around with some others chanting prayers and absolutions. Young mares and colts ran about, fetching supplies.

Applejack stood up on the barricade with some other ponies and glared uneasily into the dark. They heard barking, howling, and screeching, approaching and getting louder. Then they saw them appear, charging out of the pitch dark woods.

And they didn't look like ordinary ponies.

"What the hay.." Applejack breathed as she saw them speeding towards their base at unnatural speed. She even saw many flying. And they weren't pegasi.
"Oh shit! Bat ponies!" Old Applesmoke shouted, "Fire! Kill them all!"

The bat ponies, too many to count or even see in the dark flew over the Apples' barricades and buildings, hissing. Those wielding guns open fire. Mares and foals screamed and ran as the bat ponies swooped down on them. Many-a-mare was horrified to see the glowing red and yellow eyes these bat ponies had.
Other ponies brave enough to fight back swung flaming torches, pitchforks and rakes at the bat ponies who swung too low.

Applebread swung his torch as hard as he could; certain he's hit the bat pony coming at him, however, he completely missed, and he saw his torch go right through the passing bat pony- and his torch went out.
"Oh crap!" The young stallion jumped off of his perch on a stack of hay. The swarm of bat ponies swarmed around the Apples' base, and took more aggressive swoops, deliberately aiming for torch fires, and instantly extinguishing them.

Applejack's eyes widened in horror as she saw they were not physical but ethereal beings. Everytime something hit them, there was an explosion of black mist, and any damage instantly healed. All the bat ponies were dark, and almost invisible against the night sky and the darkened forest.

"There's more of them comin', and they isn't bat ponies!" a stallion shouted.

"Light the perimeter!" Applejack commanded. "An' when them demon freaks get close enough, blow up all that dynamite!"

The ring of oil on the ground was lit, and a wall of flames furiously exploded, encircling the base. The fire instantly burned bright, and towered an easy two trots (15 feet) above the ground.
That did nothing to phase the bat ponies angrily swarming around the Apples, throwing the entire defense into panicked chaos. To make matters worse, the fire did nothing to stop the swarm of unicorns and earth pony ghosts from stampeding in. They passed through the barricades like nothing. Apple ponies everywhere literally pissed or shat themselves when they saw these half rotten risen dead materialize right around them.

The door to the Sweet Apple house was bashed open, and several foals ran out in all directions, screaming, followed by foalghosts.

Applejack couldn't believe it. These were the demons of hell come to take them all down. And it only got a thousand times worse from there. These ethereal undead spirits, half rotten, glowing eyes of different colors, began their attack. They started by biting Apple ponies, although no physical damage was inflicted, they assaulted the nervous systems, and poisoned their victims with sensations of sheer agony, powered by their own memories of their grisly deaths. Apple ponies screamed and ran as they were assaulted with sensations of agony, pain, fear, and despair they could have possibly imagined in their entire lives. Many hallucinated, their hallucinations comprising of things from their assailants' memories. Unicorn ghosts gave off powerful illusion and sensation spells, making their victims think they were being burned alive, or broken and shattered. Their minds and nervous systems, chemical balances, and adrenaline systems were put into overdrive. If anypony survived this, it would so mentally damaged it would never be able to speak, walk or do or even think normally again. Bat ponies joined in on this assault. Even the Apple foals were not spared.

"Oh Celestia, I beg of you, please fergive us and vanquish these demons!" Applejack cried out.

Old preacher ponies thought they were invincible, and in a brief period of seconds, Apples clustered around them as if mere religion could protect them. Then when these ghosts got the preachers and reduced them into the bowels of sanity, a terrifying despair came over them.

Applejack snapped, and went into a delusional state, thinking she could still win this. A bat pony ghost approached, and she swung hard with her pitchfork. "Get back! Git back, I tell ya!"
Before the bat pony could get to her, a powerful lightning bolt struck it, and it instantly vaporised.
Partially blind and deaf in one ear, Applejack spun around. For a brief instant she thought that was Celestia come to save her.

No. It wasn't Celestia, it was another ghost unicorn. This one wasn't dark like the others. She sported a white coat, and the familiar pink and purple mane. She had all her cuts and scars, and she glared menacingly at Applejack with her glowing green eyes.

Scared stupid, Applejack could only stare at this new foe. "...A-Apple Belle? Is that you?"

The mare shook her head. "No," she said in a raspy voice that pierced Applejack's mind.
"Agh, what' ya doin? Git outta mah head!"

"I am a long dead ancestor of the one you call Apple Belle. My name is Aura Belle," the ghostly mare said, "I bear the scars and the death delivered by earth ponies like yourself. Celestia never saved us. And neither you nor your earth pony family be spared. They will pay for what we have suffered, and so will you."

"Like hell Ah will!" Applejack roared as she charged at Aura Belle with her pitchfork. In a flash, Aura Belle teleported out of the way, and Applejack rammed her pitchfork into the parched dirt. She charged again, and the ghostly unicorn dodged. She re-appeared ontop of the roof of the Sweet Apple house.
"Dammit, git yer ass down here and fight!" Applejack shouted. "Ah'll make you pay, y' infernal witch!"

Aura Belle merely glared at her. Then fired a lighting bolt in Applejack's direction. Applejack ducked, but not before the hairs of her tail were burnt off. She felt the burning on her flank, and didn't see the three bat ponies get instantly obliterated behind her. She was terrified. Reality began to set in. There was no way she could win.

"You've been spared," Aura Belle warned her, "And you have been reserved. Your time will come, and you will be delivered by the one you've tormented and tried to destroy."

Applejack screamed and threw the pitchfork. Aura Belle vanished, and the pitchfork missed and smashed through a window. She knew what that threat meant. And she was determined to put up a fight and ram a pole through Sweetie Belle's heart, douse her in oil and set her on fire.

And as the Aura Belle unicorn ghost freak said, the pony demons did not touch Applejack and she was forced to watch as almost every single pony within her entire family was laying on the ground writhing and screaming. Many already began suffering extreme stress-induced sicknesses, and series of shock. She saw hairs on their manes and tales falling out. Then she spotted Applegem, one of the few ponies left standing. Applejack galloped over to her, leaping over ponies, weapons, tools, and other junk.

"Gemmie!" Applejack shouted over the chaos.
"Oh Applejack! What do we do?"
"Stick with me! Them demon freaks ain't comin' near me."
"Oh Applejack, we are blessed!"
"No we ain,'t" Applejack breathed. "Apple Belle's back. She's the one who sent these...these...vermin after us."
Applegem gasped. "But-"

"No buts! Gemmie, Ah need yer help. When Apple Belle dares to show her face around me, we'll git her. Ah'll ram this right through her heart, and you douse her in oil and set her alight, just' like you said." Applejack grabbed a shovel and bashed it against the ground so hard she snapped off the metal spade, leaving a sharp end of the stick.

"Oh heaves, I hope we do this,"

"We will," Applejack said, her teeth clenched and her voice seething with rage. "I'll make that varmint pay fer what she did to all o' us! She'll be burnin' in hell by the end of tonight, you'll see. You and yer folks from Nimbuscait was right all along!"

The fires quickly spread and engulfed most of the tinder dry orchards. Flames burnt furiously and explosively as they consumed the zap apple trees. By now the flames had surrounded and swallowed the shack that contained the Flare. The old structure didn't last long, and the flames converged on the Flare itself. The Flare, a massive cannon built of brass and chrome, and enchanted with all the magic to make it invincible, resisted the flames. Not even the smoke stained the shining brass and chrome barrel-shaped device. However, now that white hot flames had touched it, they began feeding on the magic, heating it up as designed. Now it was only a matter of time before the Flare reached a thousand scales in temperature.

Seen from Ponyville, the flames towered over 20 trots in the air and lit up the night over Sweet Apple Acres. Townsponies watched from their windows and roof tops. Some already left town, mostly unicorns, scared off from the magic they felt coming from Sweet Apple.

The pegasi, rallied by Rainbow Dash all sat on a hill, watching the inferno. They had decided it was too dangerous, despite Rainbow Dash's ranting. They all felt the magic in their wings, and instinctively didn't want to get close, so instead, Rainbow Dash conceded and had them fly within a safe distance of the inferno and pick up anypony and fly them to safety. They all knew that water did nothing to stop magic fuelled fires.

Aside from the main base of Apple ponies, now out of action, other groups of Apples clustered around farm buildings and set up their own bases. Thinking the fires could be stopped by prayer, they sat and prayed. Not to say that some Apples escaped Sweet Apple and galloped to the hills.

Twilight Sparkle and her team trotted slowly eastward along the path. Twilight scanned the area in front and using her 'magic vision' in one eye, she easily spotted the magic death traps laid out. She stopped and moved her team, that being Rarity, Applestar, Quick Fix and Orion about, trying not to let them get killed.

"It's getting pretty hot and windy here, Twilight," Quick Fix said. "I'm not sure we can get any closer. We don't get burned, we'll suffocate or get smoked to death."

Twilight gazed at the approaching wall of fire as it towered over the trees infront of them. "Shit!"

She turned to look back at her team. She didn't want to bring them any closer to danger. She contemplated throwing up a magic field around them, and risk blowing everything around them to kingdom come. She could use enough power to keep the magic field active and them safe for half a day. She fully regretted bringing anypony along and wished Promontory let her go alone. She had his deaths and the deaths of the others on her conscience, as well as all the ponies who were killed at the Acres. A tear came out of her right eye and dripped down her cheek.

"Are you allright, Twilight?" Rarity asked.
Frustrated, Twilight grunted. "No, I am not alright. Quick Fix is right. Nowhere any of you can go. Great."

"Well shit, so I guess we die here, huh?" Orion muttered, instantly triggering another panic in Applestar. Her eyes widened and she began to shake. Problem with her was whenever she heard something about death or dying, she immediately went into a panic. Like most typical Apples, she was terrified of death and hell.
She began hyperventilating, and looking around. There was nowhere to go. Fire and smoke cut off the way they came.

"You happy now, Twilight?" Orion snarked.

"No, I'm not. But I have an idea-"

"Oh sure, you have loads of ideas! And you can't even cast magic without blowing somepony to bits!"

Buck it, Twilight thought. No sense in explaining this to them. Orion and Quick Fix stared at her with daggers, Rarity was scared, and Applestar was about to lose it again. She began working up the magic inside her, planning to throw up a five trot wide magic sphere around them fast enough so none of them would be wiped out when her magic reacted to the volatile magic fields surrounding them.

"What, you got nothing to say, Twilibitch?" Quick Fix snarled-

The bushes closest to them suddenly parted, and before they could react, a huge Apple stallion, Brassapple, covered in a net of leaves and branches and moss, roared as he leaped out of nowhere, pitchfork raised-

-and plunged it right into Quick Fix's chest, instantly destroying his heart and lungs!

Brassapple slammed Quick Fix into the ground, snapping the pole of the pitchfork under his own weight, shattering the unicorn's ribs. Quick Fix's eyes widened and blood instantly burst from his mouth. Brassapple slammed his hind hooves into him instantly crushing his head, splattering bones and brains everywhere. Then the magic in his body went off all at once and burst out.

Thinking faster than lightning, Twilight Sparkle instantly cast five second invincibility spells on herself and the other three, before the magic explosion went off, violently throwing them all and slamming into trees and rocks.

Brassapple, also saved by Twilight's area of effect spell, was violently thrown back and went through the fence, and his heavy ass made a huge dent in the side of a nearby shack. Quick Fix was blown to nothing.

Twilight hit the ground and violently tumbled about before she regained herself and stood up. That hurt like hell. She looked up could see nothing but dust. The dust cloud cleared, blown away by air being sucked in to fuel the encroaching fires.

She spotted Rarity, Applestar, and Orion lying slumped about, completely dazed. Rarity was out cold. Twilight gasped and ran over to her. No, it couldn't be. She cast that protection spell on her too. "Rarity!" Twilight shouted, shaking her fallen comrade with a hoof. "Rarity!"

Rarity grunted and opened her eyes, much to Twilight's relief. "Wha- what just happened?"

Twilight helped her up. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

Applestar and Orion stirred.

"Quick Fix!" Orion shouted-

Brassapple, and the other stallion, Great Pommer, both royally pissed off and enraged like nopony could believe, came charging at the unicorns again, galloping after Applestar and Orion.
"Oh shit!" Orion bolted. He tried to zig zag down the path, but Great Pommer was too quick, even for a massive earth pony stallion.

"I'm coming!" Twilight shouted as she ran after them.

Panicked to flee the raging Apple stallion, Orion ran like hell. He looked back and felt a cold sweat when he saw the stallion gaining on him-

His forehoof struck a root, got caught, twisted and his pastern snapped. He instantly went down, and hit the dirt face first. Before he could react, he felt a violent blow to the back of his head from the huge Apple stallion. The blow came with so much force, it snapped his neck and crushed the back of his skull, burying bone fragments deep into his brain. He was alive long enough to feel another violent hoof stomp break off his horn. His whole body shuddered from the impact. Then Great Pommer reared back, then with all his weight, crushed the unicorn's head into mush.

Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped and she stopped dead in her tracks. She saw the magic about to be released from Orion's body. The Apple stallion also jumped and took a few steps back. Twilight ran back expecting the explosion.

But that never came. Orion was so low on magic, he didn't explode like Quick Fix just dead, his body merely lit itself on fire and burned to a crisp.

Twilight couldn't take it anymore. She was going to put Applestar and Rarity in a protective sphere and keep them safe until this was all over-

Great Pommer leaped over the fire, materializing through it like an unnatural beast, hit the ground with a thud and instantly charged after the lavender unicorn.

Twilight ran for all she was worth. She still couldn't use any spells because she'd blow her last two allies to kingdom come. Great Pommer roared as she charged after. She came running back and saw Applestar and Rarity, both cornered by Brassapple and a bunch of other stallions. Twilight quickly thought it through: She'd throw up her shield, and use the explosive magic reaction to take out these enemies.

But, as panicked and scared stupid as she was, she slipped on the magic saturated oily gunk that remained of Quick Fix's corpse, and her hind hooves went out from under her. She hit the ground on her stomach, looked back, and watched as the great hulking Apple beast closed in on her, ready to destroy her like he did Orion-

Then the most bucked up shit Twilight couldn't even see coming just happened, and it happened so fast she didn't know what the hell just happened:

Great Pommer's face suddenly exploded into a burst of bone, teeth, blood and chunks of flesh, eyeballs, and brains. Both his knees, hocks, canons (upper forelegs), flexor tendons, ergots, pasterns, and well, his legs entirely, were instantaneously shattered, along with his head. The sheer force of whatever just destroyed him threw the huge stallion off and he hit the ground right next to Twilight. Bucking scared out of her mind, she could only think: What the shit, what the shit, what the shit?!!

Rarity's jaw dropped and Applestar's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, as they saw it happened. The Apples surrounding them turned to look and reacted with shock and terror at what just happened to their comrade. But they were already marked for death, and it came swiftly. Not as brutal and spectacular, but it came none the less. They were each struck in the head, and their brains were instantly gouged. Others were nailed right in the hearts and they, too, dropped dead.

"Dear sweet Celestia, I beg of you, help us," Rarity breathed. Applestar simply collapsed into a heap on the ground, curled up and began holding and stroking her own tail. Twilight was almost too scared to even get up, thinking the three of them would be next, then she remembered she could still use her magic against the enemy magic and blow-

Damn it, Twilight thought, the volatile magic here was just burned up. There was silence, give the roar of the nearby fires, then the three of them heard a mare's monotone, bored voice say,

"I find it entertaining that five unicorns, capable of using magic to fight, can't even put up a fight."

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Twilight shouted as she got up.

"Here I am," the earth pony mare said, appearing behind the shattered fence. She sported a gray coat with a dark purple mane. She had dazzling aqua green eyes, and was wearing a strange green suit that covered her flank and her hind legs as well. She also had two saddlebags strapped on. She looked like she was bored.

"Did...did you...." Twilight stuttered, then waving a hoof indicating what the hell just happened.

"Yes, I did," the mare said in her flat monotone voice.

"But...you're...you're just an earth pony...how did you..." Rarity began to ask.

"I can throw rocks."

Rarity and Twilight looked at each other, completely puzzled.

"Take a look at that asshole over there. There's a rock in his brain. And another one in his nasal cavity, and another one where his tongue is supposed to be. And look, see those blood stained rocks?"

Twilight and Rarity looked and pieced it together in their minds. Then they looked at the corpses of the other six Apples, including Brassapple, surrounding Rarity and Applestar. Then the fact hit them. This pony just killed seven Apples by throwing rocks at them. Very, very hard..

"H-holy shit, you really did a number on these guys," Twilight said, her voice shaking. Even though her magic would have protected her, she really thought she was about to die back there.

The mare didn't respond, but quickly jumped over what was left of the fence and quickly trotted over to Applestar.

"H-hey, what are you doing?" Rarity demanded, but quickly stepped back upon catching a stern glare from this mare.
"Your friend here is in a full blown panic attack, must calm her down," the mare said, gently placing a hoof on Applestar's shoulder.

"Shhh. Calm down. I won't hurt you. You're perfectly safe. I'm going to need you to breathe deeply and slowly."

Applestar was in tears, but strangely found comfort in the mare's monotone voice and her hoof pressing gently on her shoulder. The mare rubbed her cheek with her other hoof. Applestar's breathing shot up, then slowed down.

"Rocks. These are my rocks," the mare spoke softly to Applestar. "Sediments make me sedimental, smooth and round, asleep in the ground, shades of brown and gray."

Rarity and Twilight looked at each other in confusion, not sure if this mare was friend or foe, or what she wanted from them in exchange for their lives.

As the mare continued speaking rock poems softly to Applestar, Twilight scanned the unicorn and saw that her breathing and heart rate slowed.

"There. Please get up. This area won't be safe for long."
Applestar got up, feeling somewhat calmed, if not hypnotically calmed by all the rock poems the mare just recited to her. Tears still streamed from her eyes.

"It's okay, we'll get through this," the mare said, putting her hoof on Applestar's shoulder and staring into her eyes.

"Okay, hold on a minute, just who exactly are you? And what are you doing here with these light-awful Apple ponies?" Rarity demanded, pushing Applestar aside.

The mare took a deep breath and sighed, as if totally oblivious to the imminent threat of fire approaching them.

"My name is Maud. Maud Pie. I'm the older sister of Pinkie Pie. You know her?"

Surprised again, Twilight and Rarity only nodded.

"Then you must know her whereabouts then?" Maud Pie presumed.

"Uhh...actually...not really..." Twilight said, scratching her mane. Great, Ms. Killer Rock Thrower could take off their heads if she wanted to and now-

"You have no idea what happened to her? Pinkie Pie disappeared and I have been looking for her. She's been gone for months. I got a letter from the Cake family saying she disappeared after she lost her job. Last I heard, she was brought here by the Apple family. Applejack wanted to 'set her straight.' You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Twilight and Rarity shook their heads. Maud looked at Applestar who also declined to give an answer. Maud pierced through her with that look, and walked right up to her.

"Now hold on, Miss Maud, she can't possibly know-"

"Applestar is a member of the Apple family. She's lived on this farm just as long as I stayed here. And she's worked for the town guard. Tell me, where is Pinkie?"

Applestar started sobbing. "I'm....I'm sorry....I....she...Pinkie....oh please don't kill me..."

Maud gently placed a hoof under Applestar's chin and lifted her face so she could look her in the eye. "Pinkie is my sister. I need to know where she is."

"...okay, I'll talk...Pinkie disappeared after she lost her job. Then the town guard arrested her after the Apples took over....they...they..." Applestar broke into tears again. Maud knew all that, and now she knew that the Apple unicorn witnessed what happened to her sister.

"They brought her up here, right?" Maud asked.

Applestar nodded. "I have no idea where she is though...town guard chief Anna Pomme said Applejack would take care of her... Applejack hates her guts, and she...she..."

"That's good enough," Maud said in her monotone voice. Then she turned to Twilight and Rarity.

"It seems you three need my help. You can't cast magic without blowing yourselves up."

"Well now," Twilight said, trying to hide the embarrassment, "there's-"

"Hostile magic fields and radiation everywhere, left by an enemy unicorn out for vengeance, set on destroying the Apple family," Maud finished. "I'm aware of such hazards. Back on the rock farm, and in the mines, I came across rocks rich with radioactive magic. Unicorn miners had to be careful or they would blow the entire mine and kill everypony in it."

"But, you're in danger," Twilight argued, "You're receiving too much radiation. I have plenty of magic. I can have you, Rarity, and Applestar in a protective shield, and I'll go find Pinkie Pie, get her to safety, find Applejack, get her out of the way, and then I can go after-"

"That is not happening," Maud said with a serious edge to her flat voice. "I'm here to find and rescue Pinkie Pie. I know these Apples have been tormenting her, and they have her locked up somewhere. And I'll be taking my revenge on Applejack Sweet Apple for what she did to my sister. By the way, Pinkie and I grew up in the presence of magic radiation. We are immune to it."

"How do you know all this?" Rarity asked.

"Because I am an Apple pony," Maud replied, "A very distant relative, and so is Pinkie. I sent letters back and forth to Granny Smith and Applejack to check on Pinkie Pie when she stopped responding. Then, after Granny Smith died, Applejack informed me she was planning to reform Pinkie. I asked her to send Pinkie to me and she refused. I came back to Ponyville months ago and used my relation with these Apples to get in here so I could investigate this matter and find her. It infuriates me knowing only now that while I searched everywhere for her, Pinkie had been locked away in the town guard's dungeons."

"You don't seem angry..." Twilight pointed out.

"I don't show my feelings or emotions much," Maud replied flatly, "But believe me, I am royally infuriated right now."

"but still, how did you find out she-"

"I have ways of making ponies talk as you might have guessed," Maud said. "The fires are getting closer, we must go."

Twilight looked around. Every path was cut off. "Shit..."

"Twilight," Maud suggested, "Use your magic to ward off the flames."

"No, it will react with the-"

"Then just blow as much up as you can and clear a path."

Twilight nodded. She was fighting fatigue. Though she still had access to the magic plain, she was still extremely tired. If she had the choice, all she wanted to do right now was sleep.

"And can her," Maud instructed, pointing a hoof at Applestar. "Put her to sleep."

Twilight looked at her and understood. Maybe Rarity could carry on, but Applestar was out of commission. Put her to sleep so she didn't have to witness anymore horrors, and have her in a shield ball so the fires would pass over her without doing any harm.

"You coming, Rarity?"
"You're damn right I'm coming. I want to stop Sweetie Belle, and rid her of those demons who've possessed her! and I want to have a word with Applejack about all this!"

"I'll let you have your chat with her before I blow her brains out," Maud said. "Now let's go," she added with a slight edge of impatience.

"How do you know my name?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Pinkie told me all about you two, and sent me pictures. Very helpful of her," Maud answered, "Now let's go. You clear a path and I'll take out any pony who dares cross our path."

Twilight nodded. She wanted to comfort Applestar, who seemed to be losing it again. "Please don't leave me behind!" the Apple unicorn cried.

With a tear and no words, Twilight cast the sleep spell on her. With all the magic in the air neutralized, there was no explosive reaction. Twilight then charged up her other spell, and encased Applestar in a magic ball that would protect her and maintain oxygen supply for a full day.

The pinkish-violet ball glowed and Applestar seemed to sleep soundly, and for a moment Twilight wanted to jump in there with her, but then the-

Twilight's eyes widened. If Sweetie Belle found her.... Without thinking, Twilight powered up another expensive spell and sent the ball containing Applestar shooting into the sky, northward. It disappeared above the smoke and flames.

Twilight panted. Her headache returned and was pounding. She groaned, and turned to the eastward path. She walked up, took a breath, charged her magic, and shot a powerful beam down the direction of the path. She broke it into several pulses to prevent magical combustion from racing back along the beam and setting her on fire.

A series of bright, and powerful explosions rocked the burning Acres. After the heat died down and the smoke cleared, Twilight lead Maud and Rarity through the peril. As Twilight took magic readings, she realized with a chill that they were closing in on Sweetie Belle. She gulped, not knowing what to expect.

Author's Notes:

Because Maud Pie is my new favorite, and f*** background ponies. Remember this all takes place before the end of season 3, so in this alternate universe, I thought Twilight and Rarity would meet her sooner. What better ally to have than a pony who can throw rocks at bullet speed? (ok I am totally basing this on the strength and force Maud Pie exerted when she threw that giant boulder and chipped apart the rock that almost crushed Pinkie Pie).

And the critics are right, the edgy townguard oc's were a little too much >.<

I am REALLY hoping i can end this in 1-2 chapters.