Equestria was dying. Slowly strangled from the inside out, it’s once happy citizens now slaves of not just one, but two viciously parasitic foes. The changelings had tried twice before to convert the peaceful ponies into their personal food source, only to be foiled at the last minute by first the niece of the one-time diarchy and her betrothed’s love, and then by that same couples baby sister and her five friends.
Now the changelings were back, bearing weapons of war that had been unheard of in the world of Equestria; weapons accompanied by alien, bipedal “military advisors” carrying yet more devastating weaponry. This second enemy race were instantly characterized by the symbol blazoned across both their armor and weaponry, a single stylized cobra, mouth yawning open in preparation to strike. With over a thousand years to stagnate in unbroken peace, the Royal Guard was completely overwhelmed within the first week of the engagement, the royal sisters once more imprisoned within changeling pods while their subjects found themselves offered one choice; submit to the occupying forces or face death.
It quickly became apparent that submission was no guarantee of survival. Those who surrendered were rounded up into concentration camps, with most pegasi and earth ponies given up to the changeling queen to sustain her hordes, while the unicorns found themselves at the less than tender mercies of the alien forces known as “Cobra”. Many died before the invader’s chief scientist discovered the most efficient method of extracting each unicorn’s personal manna supply, thus providing the Cobra leadership with a stockpile of raw magic to power yet more terrible weaponry, while leaving those ponies who survived the procedure in a near catatonic state.
The Elements of Harmony, those six incredible ponies who personally defeated such deadly foes as Nightmare Moon and Discord, were at first able to escape the enemy forces set upon them, fleeing to the north with as many refugees as they could save to seek asylum within the as yet untouched Crystal Empire. There Twilight Sparkle, the solar princess’ personal student and Element of Magic began a desperate attempt to seek help from beyond Equestria. Divining the point of origin of the alien invaders, she gathered her fellow Element Bearers to craft a spell to seek out their most deadly foe, figuring that any force as ruthless and cruel as Cobra must have spawned enemies to resist their rule. Twilight’s spell succeeded in piercing the veil between the two worlds, but only had enough power to pull one being through to Equestria. Worse, the spell was tampered with by changeling spies within the empire, so that when Twilight’s chosen warrior finally came through, his body was badly battered.
This did not prevent the warrior from befriending the ponies who had pulled him from his world, and pledged his support for their increasingly desperate cause. During his weeks of convalesce, his friendship with the Avatar’s of Generosity, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty and Magic grew and strengthened until he came to consider them as important as his own friends back on his world.
But the ponies’ enemies were not satisfied with the conquering and enslaving of the fertile lands to the south, and all too quickly mobilized to bring the Crystal Empire beneath their heel. Utilizing their harvested supplies of magic, the enemy was able to devise a machine that enabled mass teleportation to any point on the map, and the Crystal Empire was caught unprepared for the day that the enemy forces appeared within the heart of the city, completely bypassing the defensive force field protecting the ponies inside. The Element Bearers were captured, and the warrior was left for dead within the ruins of the hospital he was recovering in. It seemed once more that hope was dead in the once magical realm.
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The sun beat down on the lone warrior’s back, lashing him with unforgiving rays. The land’s weather had gone feral, following days of rain with months of drought. Dust rose from beneath his boots, the dry land reflecting the suns heat back into his face. In the distance, seeming to dance within the distorting effects of the heat waves was one of the largest pony concentration camps; this pit of despair mockingly placed on the site of what was once the happiest town in Equestria, the former home to the now missing Element Bearers.
They had thought him dead, when their magic bolts and rocket launchers leveled his hospital around him. This was not the first time death had tried to claim the warrior, and once again that grim figure had passed him by. The fetid jungles of Vietnam and the shrieking bullets of an unseen enemy ambush. The arid wastes of the Middle East and a flaming helicopter brought down by an insurgent’s rocket. Countless missions into the most dangerous parts of the world against the most fanatic and well-trained of foes. Each time the warrior, though scarred beyond recognition, his ability to communicate torn from his shattered vocal cords, survived. Now he had been brought from his world to a new, alien planet filled with kind, friendly equine creatures that had tended his wounds and begged his help. He had come to care for the ponies known as the Elements of Harmony, and had gladly promised his aid after discovering that they were under attack by some of his oldest enemies.
Now they were gone, with no way of knowing if they even still lived.
The warrior had been known by many names in his life, with his own buried by his government beneath layers of security. The secretive martial arts clans of Japan referred to him with respect as “The Silent Master”. A certain balaclava clad Army Ranger preferred “That Damn Spook”. One of the deadliest men on the planet called him “Sword-Brother”. These names were all secondary to his official military codename, the name terrorist cells the world over had come to fear and hate, “Snake Eyes”. Snake Eyes, the losing roll of a dice game, considered bad luck to those unfortunate gamblers who were forced to watch their life savings trickle away into a casino’s pocket. Terrorists, criminals, and mercenaries quickly came to know and fear their own losing throw in the game of life, many of them never to play again after facing the mute commando. Yes, he was known and feared on his home planet, and would soon come to known by yet another name by the changeling race; “The Black Demon”.
Snake Eyes squinted through his visor at the encampment. He was Ninja, and as such should be approaching the enemy at night, taking advantage of his uncanny skills to slip in unseen and free the inmates. But not this time. He wanted the parasites and their human allies to see him coming. He wanted them to learn firsthand why taking his friends was a grave error. They were going to pay in blood, and the survivors would be allowed to limp off to spread the message; under pain of sudden death, Equestria and its citizens were henceforth off limits.
He was finally close enough to see the individual guards making the rounds of the hastily erected fence. He watched as one of the changelings flew up into a guard tower, only to reappear with a human in tow. The human guard raised a set of binoculars to his masked face, and began shouting orders at his predominantly changeling force. Suddenly the air seemed to come alive with bolts of sickly green changeling magic, supplemented with tracer rounds from the less numerous Cobra troopers. Snake Eyes broke into a run, dodging magic and rifle rounds with almost supernatural grace and ease.
Forty yards, thirty, fifteen, ten. A glint of light off of twin gun barrels, and Snake Eyes began surgically mowing down the enemy with carefully controlled bursts from his trademark Uzi Sub-machine guns. Emptying his clips, he dropped the now useless firearms and leapt to the top of the camps perimeter fence. A flash of shuriken, multi-tipped throwing knives, spun from his hands into the horns of the nearest three changelings. Not a lethal blow, but enough to sever them from the changeling hive mind and leave them crippled with psychic feedback. Then his sword was in one hand, a wickedly serrated combat knife in his other, and he was among the enemy forces before they could bring gun or horn to bear on him. The fight quickly devolved into a slaughter, as panicking Cobra troopers began firing indiscriminately in a vain hope of hitting the fast moving ninja master, often raking their own underlings in their desperation to bring Snake Eyes down. Soon the last human enemy had fallen to the vengeful warrior’s blades, with those changelings still alive to either flee in terror or die themselves in a desperate attempt to bring Snake Eyes down.
Finally the sounds of combat faded and died. From every hut and building still standing within the camp, ponies looked on in awe and not a little fear. Some of the bolder ones had taken their chance to strike back at their tormenters, and now cautiously began approaching the last living human, wondering whether he was truly an ally. Suddenly a cyan and rainbow blur shot past the others, throwing herself into the ninja with a jubilant shout. Snake Eyes staggered backwards, clinging to an ecstatic Rainbow Dash who began alternately thanking the princesses he had survived, and punching and demanding what took him so long. She was soon joined by an exuberantly bouncing Pinkie Pie, throwing confetti from who-knows-where and shouting about a “Snake Eyes-Survived-and-Freed-Ponyville-From-the-Changelings Party”. Fluttershy clung to his knees and began sobbing in relief, while Applejack tipped her hat from where she had been leading the resistance in rounding up the unconscious and injured enemy.
Snake Eyes managed to free himself long enough to scribble out a message detailing his escape from the ruins of the Crystal Empire, then began to scan the crowds of ponies for the two missing unicorns of the group. Noticing his search, Fluttershy broke down into fresh tears, this time of sadness and worry while Pinkie visibly deflated. Rainbow and Applejack were forced to explain for their sorrowing friends. As a unicorn, Rarity had been loaded into a vehicle bound for the Cobra processing plant to the south, while Twilight had been claimed as Queen Chrysalis’ personal trophy and taken to Canterlot.
Snake Eyes hand clenched around the hilt of his sword, and he quickly began sketching out two messages. He then picked the least injured of the changelings and Cobra prisoners, and sent them on their way with his declarations of war against the Changeling-Cobra alliance. Messengers dispatched, he began attempting to assist Rainbow Dash and Applejack with comforting their remaining two friends, while simultaneously directing the former captives with organizing themselves into a position of defense for the coming retaliation. With the rest of the ponies set to the task of turning Ponyville into a defensible position, the remaining Element Bearers had a chance to inquire as to the contents of the notes Snake Eyes had sent out. He obliged, and quickly produced a fresh copy of the messages in the dirt before them. Confused, Rainbow Dash demanded to know how a picture of a pair of dice amounted to an oath of vengeance. Snake Eyes simply withdrew a whetstone from one of his equipment pouches, and began putting a keen edge to his blades. Applejack studied the crude drawing before them, and finally took it upon herself to answer for the silent commando; “Seems ta me, sugercube, that our friend Snake here figures on those Cobra fellers knowing exactly who he is. If’n that’s true, ah reckon they’ll know jes’ what that there message means. I got a feel’n those varmits had best start hunting their holes, cause ole’ Snake Eyes here jes’ declared open season on snakes and bugs.”
