Unknown Disturbance

Amber Star groaned as she got up off of her cot. She looked out the window in the guard barracks, noting that it was the early morning. She had to wait for her assignments, so she went to the main room and got a small breakfast. Most of the guards were on edge, as this was the day of the wedding. If anything went wrong, they would take the brunt of it.

Azure walked up to her table, plopping down on the bench, laying his head on the table. His eyes drooped slightly, showing how tired he was.

“Hey, Azure.” Amber said, shaking him with her hoof. “Are you there? Come on, wake up.”

His head shot up, Azure looking around rapidly, before his eyes settled on his sister, who was struggling to hold in laughter. He scowled, wanting to simply fall asleep on the table.

“Can’t you leave me alone for one minute, Amber?” He demanded.

“No.” She replied.

Azure sighed and buried his head in his hooves. “I hate you, sis.”

“I know.” Came the reply. “Just remember who managed to fly without falling to the ground their first time.”

“That was twenty years ago!” Azure complained, saying it into his forelegs.

“You know what they say, Azure.” She shot back. “Never too late to regret what you’ve done wrong.”

Azure grinned, the perfect reply forming in his head. “Like when I caught you with Dewdrop when you were ten?”

A mild blush formed on Amber’s face. “That was a one-time thing! And it was sixteen years ago!”

“Oh, but you were so cute together!” Another pegasus guard added. “I remember when you two would try to fly in the sky, away from your parents, and-”

“Story’s over!” Amber shouted, interrupting the guard before she could finish. Most of the guards on the tables surrounding them laughed, before returning to their conversations.

A unicorn guard came in and tapped Amber on the shoulder. She looked up at him, her eyes showing that he’d better get on with what he came to say.

“Luna wants you to check on the prisoner, and you should know which one. She also wants you to ask if it needs anything. Strange, though. When I talked to her, it was as if she had seen a ghost. This is an off-duty assignment, so don’t bother donning your armor.” He shrugged, and then walked away.

Amber quickly finished her meal and walked to her cot. She donned her armor, minus the helmet, and started her walk down the stairs to the dungeon – although nopony really called it the dungeon anymore, being replaced with words like ‘jail’ and ‘the cells’, it was still the dungeon to many of the guards.

She quickly reached the cell that held ‘Tyler’. Pretty much every cell was empty, the castle guards not having much a reason to hold onto criminals, most of them being transferred almost immediately to prisons either in other towns or the main one by the edge. The only reason he was here was because he really hadn’t been brought up on any charges, and was held here simply because of the risks of holding him elsewhere, and for convenience if nothing else.

The two guards at the entrance to the cell opened the door for her. ‘Tyler’ was apparently lying on his cot, using his device that Azure had briefly talked about last night. He looked up at her, apparently surprised by her visit.

“Hi, what are ya here for?” He asked.

“The wedding is in an hour, and I was asked to come and check in on you.” Amber said. “Luna is apparently concerned for some reason, so I need to ask; is there anything that you need?”

To her surprise, he nodded. “Actually, yes. If I could have a slice of cake from the wedding, that would be awesome.”

“Any particular reason why? I don’t even know if your kind has weddings – or cake.” Amber said.

“We have both, and wedding cake is always better than regular cake, for some reason.”

Amber sighed, shaking her head in a slight nod. “I’ll see what we can do. Anyway, I have off-duty during the wedding, and I’d rather not waste it.”

She quickly trotted out, making her way up the stairs yet again. Why the designers of every castle she knew of decided to make stairs instead of something easier, she didn’t know. At least the tower the stairs wound upwards in was big enough for pegasi to fly up in, if they so desired, a good twelve meters wide.

She finally arrived at the guardroom and joined Azure in an animate discussion involving, of all things, one of the Elements of Harmony.

“Did you see it?” One of the guards asked. “Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic and Shining Armor’s own sister, just came in and told off Princess Cadence! She said that she was ‘evil’ among other things.”

Azure shook his head. “I can’t believe it. They have enough guards on duty to tell everyone not to mess around with us. Anypony who tries to mess this wedding up will be very, very sorry they ever tried.”

From there on, the conversation drifted wildly. An hour later, however, several guards came rushing into the room in full battle gear, causing all conversation to pause.

“The Changelings are outside the shield!” One of them yelled. “Cadence got replaced by a Changeling queen, and we’ve got several thousand of them outside the city! Everyone get your gear on and get ready! They’ve got Celestia and the Elements!”

The room spun in a flurry of action. Amber and Azure quickly went to the guardroom and grabbed their spears. Helmets would only restrict their vision in this fight, so Amber left hers, while Azure put on the light version, with improved sight. They ran to the landing/takeoff porch, where Pegasi could land or fly off from, and watched as the shield shattered into pieces. A black swarm began to pour into the city. Several dozen guards rushed past them and took off, beginning to engage individual Changelings in small fights.

Green fireballs began to race to the ground as the Changelings landed. Immediately, spells ranging from a sickly green to all the colors of the rainbow began to race across the Canterlot streets, as various ponies and guards noticed the invasion, and began to fight back. Amber and Azure winced as explosions began to rock the streets, and magical combat began to take place.

“We’ll get killed if we go out into that!” Azure yelled to his sister and several nearby guards. They walked away from the window, breaking into a run.

“Everypony follow us! We need to get to the throne room!” Amber shouted to the nearby guards, who began following them.

The guards quickly reached the staircase. The Pegasi, including Azure and Amber, started to fly up, while the Unicorn and rare Earth Pony guards began to run up the stairs. They quickly reached the top, halting when they spotted several Changelings running towards them.

Spear held tightly by her hoof, Amber took to the air, instantly catching one of the Changelings on it. Several more pegasi guards began to rush up with her, and the unicorns began to cast spells. She rolled to the right, missing a green bolt that was headed for her. She reached the ground and began to engage in combat. A Changeling to her left attempted to blindside her with its horn. She threw her hoof out, catching it in the bottom of its head and tossing it up, to land on its back. She quickly followed with a blow to its head, killing it.

Although she was sickened slightly by the deaths, she knew she needed to do this. Seconds later, all of the Changelings had been killed. More guards joined up with them as they ran down the halls. Only a minute later, however, some of the guards suddenly were enveloped in green fire, as several green bolts flew out from them, hitting several ponies.

“Infiltrators!” Azure yelled out as a column crashed to the ground. The formerly disguised Changelings were near the back of the group, so it was fairly simply to concentrate on them and kill them. More Changelings, however, began to come from where they had been, confirming that the dungeons had been overrun.

The guards quickly scrambled behind several large pieces of marble column as green bolts flew past them, impacting the walls around them. Several unicorns started to fire off shots when they could, trying to hold off the Changelings. It was a losing battle, as they slowly closed in.

Suddenly, several loud booms echoed through the hallway. The green bolts flying overhead suddenly stopped as they continued, several times. Finally, a unicorn raised its head over the column.

“What is that thing doing here?” He shouted. Amber and Azure continued to keep their heads down, glancing at one another.

“He was helping us clear a path to you. He also cleared the Changelings out, as in dead.” A voice responded.

The guard persisted. “How do we know you’re not one of them!”

A familiar voice answered that. “Listen asshole, I just got finished with that little massacre of those things back there, so I’m definitely not one of them. I know they aren’t because I saw them get knocked out by those things, so will you cut the shit out so we can clear this castle of them?”

Amber mouthed the word ‘Tyler’ to Azure, and he nodded in reply. Together, they rose from behind the column. Sure enough, the ‘Human’ stood there, along with two other guards.

Azure spoke up first. “Hey! It’s Azure, by the way. I lost my helmet in the fight, so don’t be surprised. Anyway, we need to fight our way to the throne room and take it back. Word has it that Chrysalis, the queen of this swarm, has captured Celestia and the Elements. We need to get them back, and we need you to do it. We don’t have the ponypower to take it by ourselves.” They had found that out the hard way.

“Yeah!” Amber shouted eagerly. “Let’s beat their flanks back to the Badlands!”

The ponies began to form up, with Tyler standing in the center. They started to move out, headed towards the throne room. The bodies of Ponies and Changelings dotted the halls, with many more of the latter than the former. The halls showed signs of massive battle damage. Apparently, many ponies had not been so lucky. They quickly reached the intersection leading to the throne room, four hundred feet away.

[url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0uBjrB\_gHw]Song[/url]

Azure signaled for the group to gather around, and he started talking. “Around the next corner is the throne room. There were most likely be a lot of Changelings in front of it, so remember to cast your spells correctly. Pegasi, take to the air, we will need the support. Ok, let’s do this. For Equestria!”

With that, they charged around the corner. The guards slowed for a moment upon seeing the hallway. There were several hundred Changelings in it, all turning to look at the dozen guards who charged forward. Amber looked behind her and saw about thirty guards charge out from a hallway a hundred meters away. Apparently, they had been waiting for the right time to attack.

Azure charged into the fight, taking to the air as magical bolts began to fly. He heard several loud bangs, most likely from Tyler’s weapon, and watched as the armored Changeling in back dropped to the ground. Azure spun in the air and kicked a Changeling passing him, knocking it to the ground, He turned in a tight bank as he landed next to it, quickly delivering a strong hit with his foreleg when it tried to rise, smashing its head into the ground. Suddenly, he felt himself being tacked to the ground, and he looked up now to see a Changeling about to deliver a hit. Azure quickly used his greater strength to roll over, kicking the Changelings chest in.

Several loud bangs sounded from his left. He looked over to see several Changelings fall in front of Tyler. The Human gave a nod, and Azure returned it, as they went back to their battles.

The ponies were slowly being pushed back as more and more Changelings entered the room from the sides. Fighting went on all around Amber, as magical bolts streaked across the room to impact targets, and pegasi battled in the air and on the ground. She froze as one of the massive Changelings entered the room. It charged its horn and fired, the blast literally vaporizing a pegasi in the air, as well as several Changelings, and blowing a large hole in the wall behind her.

She felt herself being knocked to the ground. Amber quickly got up, finding herself with no damage except some dented armor. She looked out the window, and was slightly horrified at what she way.

The entire city of Canterlot was shrouded in fighting. Pegasi and Changelings wheeled through the air in combat, and magical bolts crisscrossed the streets. The city was in open warfare, no doubt about it. So far, the Changelings seemed to have the upper hand. Everyone, on the streets, and in the castle, they were pushing the ponies back.

Suddenly, a pink wall came flying from the throne room. Amber recognized it as a magical wave right before it passed over her. The Changelings, however, were not so lucky. They were tossed back by the blast, many impacting the walls and instantly dying, but most being pushed out of windows. Within thirty seconds, the wall had pushed the black swarm out of the city, and formed a new shield, the magenta barrier ready as ever. Cheers began to erupt from the city as ponies started to celebrate their victory.

Amber formed up with her brother, walking towards Tyler, who stood, staring through the hole at the city.

“So,” Azure said. “We did it. We beat them.”

Tyler nodded. “We managed to fight them off. Can we go check on Celestia so I can go to sleep?”

Amber nodded, and together they began to walk to the doors. They were suddenly thrown open as Celestia, followed by Shining Armor, the real Cadence, and the Elements of  Harmony, walked out of the room. They froze, however, when they saw Tyler.

Celestia was the first to speak. “What are YOU doing here? Were you aiding them? Answer me!”

“Calm your tits, woman.”  Tyler said. “I was the guy who got your guards as far as here. I nearly died several times so we could save your sorry ass, so don’t go around and act as if YOU’VE had a bad day.”

“You’re the thing that stole mah apples from my orchard!” Applejack said. Amber sighed slightly as she remembered Applejack’s panicked visit two weeks before.

“So? You try to survive when an entire town is hunting for you, and see if you need to eat. I’m not sorry for it, so don’t try to guilt-trip me.” Tyler replied.

Cadence spoke up next. “Who are you? I heard Celestia and Luna talking about you, but I haven’t managed to see you yet, what with being foalnapped by Chrysalis.”

“I am Tyler Maddox.” The Human responded.

“Why are you here?” She asked.

Tyler sighed. “Well, on my world, I found a portal…”

Azure and Amber listened in rapt attention as he delivered his version of how he had gotten here, from walking through the portal, to Amber’s capture, and on through the time to that moment.

“…Then, a gigantic pink wave comes at me and knocks all the abominations of nature away, which leads us to right now. Happy?” He asked.

“Interesting…” Cadence whispered to herself, before looking up at Tyler.  “Well, I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Cadence. Thank you for making your attempt at helping us, and I hope you have luck in returning to your home.”

Celestia walked forward. “Let us not forget why we came here. Shining and Cadence, direct the recovery efforts. All of you, we need to prepare.”

“For what?” Tyler asked, causing Azure to mentally facepalm.

She smiled at him. “Why, for the real wedding, of course. For now, though, you can simply rest with the rest of the guards. The events of today have not forgiven you, but I do trust you now.”

Tyler quickly tagged along as Azure and Amber led him back to the barracks, along with the rest of the guards. They walked past the former scenes of battle, including the column they had hunkered down behind. Amber shivered. They had almost died there.

Upon reaching the barracks, the ponies, and the human began to collapsed onto benches and cots. Azure walked over to his cot, along with Amber. They jumped in and almost instantly fell asleep, the stress from the day prompting their bodies to beg for sleep.

As she lay in her cot, Amber smiled. They had survived the invasion.

They had won.