Equestria Aflame.

    Twilight galloped towards the center of town then slowed to a trot when she saw where everypony was gathering to. She was still far away from the town square, mostly due to the crowd, but what she did see is what appeared to be a unicorn up on a platform where everypony could see him and he was shouting about something. Twilight couldn't quite hear. There were also three other unicorns, but they were standing back and letting their supposed leader talk. Then she noticed Applejack in the crowd. She slowly but surely made her way towards her squeezing her way through all the ponies.

     "Applejack!" Twilight called out, making her way through the crowd "What's going on?" Twilight was still very confused.

     "Oh hey Twilight," Applejack replied in a solemn tone, "These ponies are organizing a protest against the new set o' laws made by Princess Celestia."

     Twilight was a bit stunned by what her friend said. She had heard of the new laws but they really didn't affect her, she technically was Canterlot royalty now. "Well, why are they protesting? Don't they trust the princess's wisdom?" The alicorn asked, eager for answers.

     "Because the new laws limit some of our basic freedoms!" AJ almost shouted back, a little angry, "Speech, Press, and new taxes!"

     "Wait, you agree with them?" Twilight was surprised.

     "You're dadgum right I agree with them! These new taxes are so high, especially for farmers like me. And all these new regulations. I might lose my farm!" Applejack was apparently not happy about this. But who could blame her?

     "I'm sure Celestia has good reasons for this." Twilight calmly replied, trying to sooth Applejack's anger.

     "I'm sure you're right sugercube, and sorry for lashing out." AJ said back apologetically. "It's just that you think she would give us the reasons for these changes."

     "Has she given any explanation at all?" Twilight asked.

     "Well, she did say something about maintaining harmony in Equestria, but if you ask me, it's doing the exact opposite!" Appljack slammed her hoof down at the last part for emphasis.

     Twilight thought about what her friend said, and throughout the conversation they weren't quite listening to what the unicorn was saying. Then they turned their attention to the speaker. He was a unicorn stallion with navy blue fur and a jet black mane.

     "Celestia is stealing our freedoms one by one!" The stallion railed "How long will it be before our liberty is gone! Before our freedoms are stripped away like winter strips trees of their leaves. How long!?" Don't you all see it!? Celestia is becoming a tyrant!" The stallion pounded his hoof on the podium he was standing behind.

     Twilight couldn't take it anymore, she spread her wings and took off. She hovered in the air and shouted, "How dare you speak that way of the princess!" She was furious.

     "How dare I speak the truth!?" Replied the stallion, more irritated than angry because somepony interrupted his speech. "She is robbing us of our liberty. If she isn't a tyrant then what is she!?"

     Twilight calmed down then turned towards the crowd, "Princess Celestia has ruled benevolently over Equestria for millennia! And protected our land from threats unimaginable! Is our trust too much to ask?"

     "And just who are you!?" The unicorn shouted.

     Twilight turned towards him, spread her wings and announced, "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle! And I have every mind to report you to the princess herself!"

     "Well of course you have nothing but good things to say about Celestia! You're royalty!" The stallion spat, "Hark to my voice everypony! Celestia is gradually oppressing us! Now who will you all listen to?! A common pony, such as yourselves, who only wishes that he and his fellow ponies have their freedom back? Or the princess's lap dog!?" He finished shooting his hoof in the now stunned Twilight's direction. And the crowd cheered. Much to Twilight's surprise. And she just floated back down in sheer shock. "Let's send a message to Princess Celestia that she will never forget!" the crowd started cheering louder and the unicorn powered up his magic and zapped a nearby banner of Celestia, bursting it into flames. The crowd went into mob mentality and they started to destroy everything that had to do with Celestia. Banners, posters, statues. The monument of Celestia in the center of town soon had ropes around it and it was slowly being pulled down. The unicorn who started the riot gathered his three companions and, using their magic in unison, blasted the foundation of the monolith with a multicolored beam. And it toppled over and fragmented on the hard ground. Some ponies had to quickly move to not be crushed.

     Twilight almost panicked. She quickly looked for Applejack but, she was gone. Lost in the crowd. Then she turned towards Spike who was standing next to her the whole time and commanded "Spike! write a letter to Celestia informing her of the situation! This is unbelievable!"

     "I already did it!" Spike announced, jumping on Twilight's back after she beckoned him.

     "We have to get to safety! There's no telling what the crowd will do." She said as she galloped away from the rampaging mob.

     "There she is! Celestia's pet! Get her!" Twilight heard being shouted and she saw at least a dozen ponies charging towards her, all with malice in their eyes, and snarling teeth. Twilight broke into full gallop for her life. She teleported herself on the other side of the charging ponies. They spun around and continued the chase.

     "Hold on Spike!" Twilight panted, she flapped her wings and rose into the air. A unicorn that was chasing her, groaned as she powered her horn then screamed as a narrow beam of magic shot from her horn and clipped Twilight's right wing.

     Twilight screeched in pain and began to plummet. She groaned and tried to stabilize her descent and a terrified Spike clutching at her mane wasn't helping things. She tumbled into a tree breaking and snapping branches in her fall, but at least the tree made the trip to the ground nonfatal. She and Spike fell from the crown and hit the ground hard and Twilight felt a snap in her left wing and sharp, excruciating pain. She shrieked for a split second then clamped her jaw and eyes shut, like a bear trap, and growled trying to will the pain to go away while tears were rolling down her face.

     Spike was rattled, but unharmed and he shouted "Twilight! they're coming!" while pointing in their direction.

     Adrenaline soon coursed through the alicorn's body, masking the pain. Twilight came to and saw the group still galloping towards her. The unicorn who shot her down, powered her horn again and another magic bolt blasted towards her. Twilight noticed the incoming blast and met it with a blast of her own. Naturally, Twilight's magic was much more powerful than the other unicorn's and it overcame her's and blasted her back unconscious. The alicorn struggled to get back up, she grimaced and shot another blast at a charging earth pony, knocking him unconscious. She shot another then another.

     "Run Spike! They don't want you!" Twilight ordered.

     "I won't leave you!" Spike barked, brandishing a clubsized stick, ready to defend his best friend whom he saw as a sister.

     There were about seven ponies left when Twilight saw a rainbow streak bolt from the sky and slam into the flank of one pony sending him into another and then into another. They flew about twenty feet and one crashed through the window of a store, the other slammed into a support beam, cracking the wood, and the other smashed into the wall of aforementioned store.

     Rainbow Dash skidded to a halt on the ground, smoke blowing from her nostrils. She was enraged. She turned towards the group of ponies that intended harm on her friend and they were stopped in their tracks. She had a look of pure rage on her face. She growled, gritted her teeth, and shot forward, planting a hoof on a pony's face, sending her to the ground. She went for the next and grabbed his head by the ears and smashed his face with her forehead. The rest galloped off.

     Meanwhile, Fluttershy came to Twilight's aid and explained that they saw what happened from the air and came to help as fast as they could.

     Rainbow Dash wiped the last pony's blood from her mane and joined Twilight and Fluttershy. "Let's get ya outta here." Rainbow Dash ordered, calming down from her rage.

     "Oh, we must be careful. She's hurt very badly." Fluttershy replied in her soft voice.

     "Yeah, I know what a broken wing feels like." RD shot back.

     "I can walk just fine girls." Twilight informed as she slowly stood up, her body shivering from mild shock. "I can't go back to my house, I'm a target now. They'll look for me there."

     "You can come stay at my cottage." Fluttershy suggested with a smile, "I can take care of you there and you'll be safe."

     "That sounds like a great idea Fluttershy. I'll do that." Twilight gratefully,but weakly replied.

     Rainbow Dash swiveled her head, "We better get moving, more will probably come. It's like everypony in town has gone crazy!"

     They trotted away towards the Everfree Forest.

     Hours later in the center of town, was a disaster area, smashed signs and crumbled statues could be seen everywhere, windows were smashed through and small fires were set, total destruction. The riot was still going strong. The four unicorns leading the revolt were talking around a crude fire made in a trash can. The leader, whose name is Bronze Buckler, was making plans to continue their crusade, then he heard a shout from above.

     "Bronze!" A pegasus shouted. "They're coming!" The pegasus turned and gazed out to what he was calling attention to. A military force about 100 strong. All adorning royal combat armor. Which is much different than in the show. Instead of being the brass colored bronze, it was gunmetal grey steel. The armor was spiked and it covered their entire bodies from head to hoof. The helmet, or shaffron, was the most defining feature, instead of a crest it had a long, thick blade running down the center of their face and outward. And Two blades that start behind the ears and run underneath their face and outward a few inches. Since ponies can't hold swords and shields in their hooves, they use their heads. They slice and stab at their opponents using their heads and their front hooves have spikes and small blades for kicking. Their last weapon is a lance that's connected to their flank that is raised up to be perpendicular to the ground when marching and dropped down to be parallel to the ground when ready for combat. It was designed to be used only once. The soldier would charge and run the lance through what he was told to stab then rear back and the spear would snap off at the base so the soldier can move around easier and not be encumbered by the long piece of wood. A royal soldier was truly an intimidating sight.

     "Everypony!" Bronze shouted, everypony listened, "The hour has come! Ready your hooves for battle! Remember, freedom comes with a price! Are you willing to pay that price?!" The mob acknowledged with a shout of affirmation. He continued, "I know I am. I am also willing to stand up for what I believe in! Even in the face of military power! Are you!?" The ponies agreed again with a shout. Bronze pointed his hoof towards the army and shouted, "Then behold! The army of our tyrant Celestia approaches! Now is your chance to fight for your freedom!"

     The mob cheered, and howled as loud as they could. The soldiers were already marching down the street, lances at the ready.

     "Something's wrong." A royal captain thought as he lead his soldiers down a street. "They usually scatter by now." He knew tonight would end badly.