The Elements Final Test

by BronySinc

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Sad, Dark, Tragedy
Length: 12846

War broke among ponies, will the Elements fix it or be destroyed in the process

In a present time Ponyville, the Elements are settled, they are getting on with their lives. They have no need anymore, that is until, the incident happened. War broke out among ponies, many were killed, some enslaved, during this all, the Elements are unable to do anything until nine months after the war, they are woken up. What happened to the Equestria they once knew, who are the strange ponies that are holding them, can they trust their captors, is it to late to help save Equestria?

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Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-04-05 23:11:47 UTC

A Rough Awakening

It was a slow day in Ponyville.  Most of the fillies were inside due to the storm outside.  A lavender mare was organizing her books when she heard a knock on her door.  She went to the door and saw a colt was standing in the rain.

She Said, “Come on in, its freezing out there!” and she pulled the colt inside.  The colt coughed a bit and looked dreary, he was a unicorn.  He looked like he had been through a lot in the last few days, she paid attention to how he moved.  He was swift in movement yet there was something about him, and she could not put her hoof on it.

She Asked, “What is your name, it’s a pleasure to have company in this weather.”

The Colt Replied In A husk Voice, “My name?  Well I am Bleak.  You may not know me but I know you Twilight Sparkle, I have been searching all over Equestria for you.  I bring news from a time of sorrow.”  She worried from what he was saying, it may be a lie she thought to herself, and she also thought he looked like the trustable type.

She bombarded him with questions, “What are you talking about?  Is there something I need to know about?  Where do you come from?  Why are you here?  Why are you looking for me?  How do you know me?”

Bleak, in a small voice said, “Please, listen first, we can answer questions later, you have to come with me now, we don’t have much time left, if I’m right, they should be here any minute and all hope will be lost.”  And with that he locked her in a green aura, she tried to escape but she noticed he was starting to glow a bright green.  Everything went white, she heard a crash and splinters, some ponies were entering her house, she could hear their hoovesteps all over the place, one yelled in an angry voice, “WHERE IS SHE!”  another replied in a brisk and crisp voice, “That green unicorn probably has already gotten to her…”  The angry one shouted, “I WILL FIND HER IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO!”  Before she fell unconscious, she heard spike wake up and say, “Huh? Twi, are you their?  Twi…  Who are you ponies? If you ca…  Umm can we work this out?  What ar… AGHH! TWILIGHT HELP!” and she heard a loud crack, a loud yelp, then nothing.

*****

She slowly opened her eyes.  There were ponies all around her.  They were none she has ever seen before, she was terrified.

“Look!  She is gaining consciousness!”

“Amazing, just amazing.”

A unicorn above her said, “Well, wakie wakie Twilight Sparkle, we have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re in a safe place now.”

“Who brought me here?”

“Bleak did, just about saved your life, few more seconds and you would have been executed in your home, you’re lucky he found you.”

“What happened to Spike?”

“Who?”

“My assistant, Spike?  He was asleep before we teleported out, I heard some ponies break in and…”

“I think you may already know the answer Miss Sparkle,”

“What do you mean?”

“Those ponies were mercenaries sent to find you and the other, how do I put this, Elements Of Harmony, we have sent dispatches to each and every Element and their all safely asleep, the yellow one put up quite a fight when she saw you unconscious on the table.”

“Wait, Spikes got to be here somewhere right?”

“Miss Sparkle, I do not joke in times like these, if he was in the house when you teleported out, odds are the mercenaries would have killed him to get rid of any incriminations against their crimes in your house.”

“So, Sp… Spik… Spikes, dead?  This can’t be, I must be dreaming, I must be, I’ll wake up any minute in my bed and find myself saying hi to him again.”

“Miss Sparkle, I hate to inform you but things are drastically changing in Equestria as we speak, you have set loose a fire that needs to be put out soon or it will destroy us all.  Miss Sparkle, when bleak used the teleportation spell, he was in a huge hurry, there was a, how do I put this, side effect to it since it was messed up, you have been asleep for about 9 months.”

“What?  But how, I remember everything that happened yesterday, I visited fluttershy’s cott...”

“Gone, it was destroyed in the battle”

“What battle?”

“Your friends are all under a sleeping spell, we had to put each and every one of them under it.  The plans would be ruined if we didn’t, you see, we had to hide you all, when all hell broke loose and our government fell, they had tracking spells for the Elements, the only way to hide you was to sedate each and every one of you, innocent ponies died to save you, Bleak had an honorable death saving you.”

“Wait, the green unicorn?  He is dead?”

“Yes, he was a good friend of mine,” tears welled up in his eyes.

“You see the others were sedated, you were actually knocked out and put in a coma from the teleportation spell, it was almost complete but the door had crashed on bleak and he died instantly when the mercenaries entered your house.  A very sad death it was.”

“When the other Elements arrived and saw you on the medical table asleep they went crazy, it was part of the reason we had to sedate them, they were giving abnormally large amounts of energy, enough for the tracking spells to pinpoint our exact location in a few seconds, the old facility is now gone, evaporated into oblivion, and any pony unlucky enough to not make it out in time.”

“Ok, this is what I want to know, what is this war about and who are we fighting?”

“Well this is something you will have to see for yourself, you will not believe who and what we are up against.  Ok here is where it started,”

*****

One month before you were put into a coma we have been in conflict with a slowly opening portal that we had no chance of shutting.  Inside the portal was something unimaginable, it was Celestia herself, from 2000 years in the future, you could see the differences in that Celestia, she had a fiery red mame instead of her colorful one.  She was cold, heartless, and powerful, she had figured out a way to kill the other Celestia without hurting herself in the timeline, when she killed Celestia, Luna had fought brave and hard but in the end, she was executed at the Royal Canterlot Garden, terrible site to see.  Soon she had put all the Royal Guard under a spell and they now obey her without question, she sent squads to cities and ordered the extermination of any pony that did not serve a purpose to her, the thing was, no pony served a purpose to her.  Soon majority of Equestria was either dead or about to die, we eventually formed a sizeable resistance, we have the advantage of surprise, nothing more, we are outnumbered, out trained, everything.  We hide in fear, there are a few other resistances in Equestria but they are small, we are the only real formed one able to combat her forces.  Our leader, Starkindle Kine, assembled us and formed a plan to save the Elements, he had foreseen it in a dream a month before the disaster, this is the reason why our resistance is formidable to her armies, and we had preplanned it.  Blood fell throughout Equestria, kids were left without parents and homes, and many starved to death after the first week.  Many ponies were killed by the guard if they were ever found, majority of them were.

*****

Fluttershy woke up.  Where am I, she thought to herself.  Ok, DO NOT freak out, your friends will be here to save you soon Fluttershy, you’re ok, just wait it out and you will be fine, oh no, Angel is home alone and if I remember correctly, something was happening, something important, but what.

“Fluttershy, is that you?” Fluttershy yelped in fear until she realized it was Rarity who said this.

“Umm, yes?  I’m scared, where are we? Where is Angel?” she was on the verge of breaking down Rarity saw, she had to comfort her friend, and fast.

“Fluttershy dearie, its ok, we will be fine, I honestly have no idea where in Celestias name we are though.  All I can remember is being teleported from my home from a strange pony I had just met.” Fluttershy remembered what happened.  I was at home, I was about to let the chickens go for a walk and then a strange unicorn walked to her farm in a rush, he scared me so I hid and he had eventually found me.  He did a spell and I saw a white flare, then I’m here.

“Same thing with me, I’m scared,”

A door opened and Fluttershy made a yelping sound running for a place to hide and ending huddled in the corner, Rarity felt sad for her friend.

“Come with me.”

*****

Dash woke up to Applejack shaking her.

“Rainbow! Wake Up You Lazy Tarnation!”

“Aghh, What is it?” Dash said in a dreary voice.

“Rainbow, we are locked up in this fancy cell, Ah just woke up and found you with me, any idea how we got here?”

“What are you talking about?  Where are we?  Wait, is this a joke Applejack?  Never thought you could pull a joke like this, sorry but it takes a lot more than that to trick the master!” Rainbow said laughing.  Applejack stared at her, Rainbow felt uncomfortable and then said, “This is a joke, right?”

Applejack said,” Rainbow do Ah look like Ah’m kidding?” With a stern and impenetrable face.

“Well, no you don’t, so how do we get out of here?”

“Ah, don’t know, Ah just woke up a few minutes ago and…”

A Blue Pegasus entered the room and said “Follow Me.”

*****

Pinkie woke up in a dark and scary place, she laughed at it since she LOVED to laugh!  She eventually started to worry, where is every pony she thought.  A unicorn entered through a door and said, “Follow Me.”

“Why?  Where am I?”

“I said clearly and am repeating myself, follow me.”

She giggled and said in a very Pinkie way “Only if you say please!”

The unicorn sighed, “Will you follow me, please.” He had to fight himself to say that last word.

*****

Operation Dis-Harmony

The Elements Of Harmony were all assembled into one massive control room.

Pinkie burst out saying, “OOOOoooo!!!  What do all these buttons do!” and jumped towards the computers staring at the thousands of buttons.  The ponies at the console were startled when the pink pony virtually smashed her face into the screen watching everything on it.  Pinkie then said, “Hey, why is there a destroyed house in this screen?”  She then got sad when no pony answered.  She asked again, “Why is this house destroyed?” This time her hair got strait and she started to look very sad.  The ponies at the console felt very awkward having this pony all of a sudden turn from a ball of energy to this sad depressed pony.

Some pony broke the silence, “Pinkie, please come to the table we have to discuss something of importance greater than you can imagine, I will fill in the gaps along the way.”

Pinkie Said, “What is your name then Mr. Smarty Pants!” and her hair sprang up again.

The Unicorn Said, “Well I am Korve.  Now Miss Pie please sit at the table please.” And pinkie sat down.

Korve had finally gathered all the Elements into one control room.  He had recently talked to Twilight and explained the plan to her first and what happened so her friends would have a better idea of what is happening, or what has happened and will believe me.

Korve Said, “Ok, we all know you are all confused, Twilight and I here have already discussed a few things together, since you do not know what happened in the recent months.  Ok here is the thing, you all have been asleep for 9 months.” All the Elements gasped accept Twilight.

Korve said, “War has broken up Equestria, a lot of our friends that we know and love, they are dead and we cannot bring them back, if they are not here then they are probably nowhere to be found.  I hate to break it to you but what I say is facts, we are getting this out of the way first so that we have no problems latter.” Fluttershy started to cry, Rarity just stood, jaw open, Rainbow acted like nothing happened but did show some worry, Pinkie turned into the sad form as she was earlier, Applejack just stood there as the words sank in, Twilight already knew what happened but she still grieved.

Korve continued, “Ok, now the reason why you were asleep was because we had to put all of you, Excluding Twilight, in a sedation spell due to the princess tracking spells.

Pinkie giggled hair back to normal and said, “Silly Filly, Celestia is probably looking for us right now to help us!”

Korve looked at her hair flattened again at his sight.  “Pinkie, Celestia is the problem, this was started because of a portal from another dimension and time.  Celestia, 2000 years older than ours, killed our Celestia and murdered thousands of innocent ponies.  This is the reason why we are here, this is the reason why our friends are dead, this is the reason why the Elements have to put things right.”

Twilight took over, “Ok girls, Korve and I have already talked, his story may seem outlandish but it’s true, I got to see some of the destruction with my own eyes, he took me to the surface of what is now former Fillydelphia.”

Applejack broke the silence, “Ah say Twilight, this is a mighty fine accusation you have going here, you sure this whole place isn’t a trap?  He could be planning against us.”

Twilight said, “Not like we have much of a choice, we can’t do anything about it, they are the only people we can trust, we have to put our trust in them and hope it gets us out of any situation.  Ok back to the topic, we have to stop the new Celestia.  She is cold, deadly, a pure murderer.  We have no hope of winning against her right now as it is, we have to recover the elements first.  They are in a large vault in Canterlot, heavily guarded by the Royal Guard, and even the Unicorn Guard.  The reason the guards fight for her is because they are under a strong spell that cannot be broken until she is defeated.  We are not the ones that will recover the Elements, our buddy Korve here is sending a special tactical squad into the vault to retrieve each one of the Elements.”

Korve said, “Yes, a squad will be inserted, they are all volunteers who are willing to lose their lives to help the cause, the thing is, are you willing to risk your lives to save Equestria?”

All the Elements nodded.

*****

“Tactical 6 In Position.”

“Watch Squad In Position.”

“This is Commander Korve, do we have an all clear?”

“Tactical 6 clear”

“Watch Squad clear”

“Then let commence operation Dis Harmony”

*****

Storm, “Cover our rear Liva.”

Liva, “Got it.”

Trip, “Think we will pull out alive Storm?”

Storm, “I don’t know, don’t care either, as long as I get those Elements I will be ready to die.”

Liva, “Agreed, if we fail then Equestria is doomed.”

Trip, “Ya, I guess you are right.”

*****

Blaze, “You have two unicorn guards around the corner Tac 6”

Radio Storm, “Gotcha, heading to engage now.”

Blaze and Rope watched as Tac 6 eliminated the two unicorn guards with ease, storm easily flew into the first and Liva had to snap the others neck with her magic.  War was never pretty, no matter how much they saw death, it never got easier.

Blaze, “Rope see anything?”

Rope, “Nope, just a couple of dead unicorns…  Hold on a second, is that?  This isn’t good,”

Blaze, “What is it?” He looked into the direction and saw, there was a pegasus guard that was patrolling the area, heading towards them.

*****

“Hey Captain, is that two pegasus on that hill?”

Captain, “I think so, we are heading in for a run, be ready.”

*****

Blaze, “Rope, get ready they spotted us.”

Royal Guard Captain, “What is your business here pegasi.”

Rope charged to the captain, his helmet sliced into his neck and blood spewed everywhere, the Captain fell to the ground, blood pooling the grass.  Blaze flew in the air and did a summersault before slicing another one of the slower pegasi.  They were now in a fight of 5-1, the guards soon after losing 4 men, not including the captain, finally subdued Rope, Blaze on the other hand, lie in a pile of blood.

*****

Storm, “Blaze, are you their?”

Response, “Static”

Storm, “Blaze? Respond Now!”

Response, “Static”

Liva, ”Storm, look up at their hill, there are pegasi up there, they were discovered, looks like they have Rope.  Oh no, Blaze, he is in the pile of bodies.”

Storm, “What!  This can’t be!  He was just a watch!  How could he have been killed!”

Liva, “Storm, they knew the risks when they volunteered for this assignment, they are now paying the price like we may later in this mission, now snap out of it and get back to work, we have to get the door opened before we are discovered,”

*****

Tactical 6 walked down a narrow corridor and found five unicorn guards talking and socializing like it was a club rather than a job.  Liva easily suffocated two of them, Storm and Trip easily slit the throat of the other three.

Storm, “So we are almost to the Elements, it’s a shame that the guards have to die here under a spell.”

Liva, “It’s not our fault that they are corrupted by Celestias spell, they are now harming other ponies that are innocent and we are the ones who correct it, to save some ponies you have to harm others in the process, the trick is figuring out who to save and who to harm.”

Trip, “I hate to say it, but Liva is right on this one.”

They kept walking down the long hallway when a trap went off.

Trip Yelped and fell.  Storm and Liva had no idea what just happened, Storm checked his pulse, there was none, he was not even breathing.  He looked around his body and saw something, a small arrow has plunged strait into his neck.  Liva cried a little bit but regained her composure as she went on, she kept telling herself that they knew the risks when they joined, but somehow now, it seems different than just saying it on paper and words.

Storm, “Liva, its ok, things like this happen, just keep calm and we will come out of this alive ok?”

Liva, “O… Ok… It’s just that… that I… I never thought it would be like this… this may not be my first mission but this is my first real mission where I have seen death on our side.”

Storm, “Liva, I have seen it on and on again, it does not get easy, you say to yourself that it will get easier, it does not, sometimes you wonder why couldn’t it be you, don’t let those feeling get to you, the minute they do, you’re a dead pony.”

*****

They were running out of the vault with the elements at hoove.  Liva was holding the Elements while Storm bashed through any pony dumb enough to get in their way.

Storm, “Liva you holding out!?!”

Liva, “Ya!  I think were almost out!”

Storm, “I see the ex…”

Storm fell to his knees as a pony had tackled him, Storm fought bravely, he yelled for me to keep going, my training asserted and I followed orders against my own whim, I saw what happened, he had taken 3 of them out, but the third one, it got a hold of him and slowly carved his helmet blade slowly down his throat killing him slow and painfully.  I got out and started to return to Fillydelphia.  When I got there Korve asked where everybody was, I told him what happened and he seemed very disappointed.

*****

Liva, “Here, we lost a lot of good ponies to get these, I’m glad that I could finish my mission,”

Twilight, “I’m very sorry for your losses, your valor will be remembered and that of your squad.”

Liva, “It has been an honor and would gladly do so again,” But this time, Liva started to cry.  She slowly left the room.  Twilight felt bad and sorry for the mare, she does not deserve this.  Sadly there was nothing she could do to help her.

*****

The Elements Of Harmony were reassembled in the Command Room.  The room was different this time, it had a large map on the table, and it was ignored by the Elements.  Korve approached the Elements at the table and they all sat quietly.

Korve broke the silence, “Ok, this is the plan, you all now have your Element’s, we lost a lot of good ponies for them, it was worth the cost, you still do not know the proper way the Elements work sadly.  Luna left instructions on how to train you before she was off to fight her sister, you are to be subject to these tests and we will keep on until you finish.  These tests she instructed us to do are not the safest, it requires you to endanger yourself and others, you are going to be leaving your comfort zone, these tests are going to be survival, if you cannot pass them, you would never have survived a battle with Celestia.  The tests, it is, surviving on the outside world.”

Twilight Gasped and said, “You can’t be serious!”

Applejack said, “Ah don’t think this is a good idea Korve, we don’t exactly know this rodeo yet.”

Pinkie said, “EEEEeeeee It will be fun!  We can party with all the ponies on the surface girls!”

Rarity spoke, “Pinkie dearie, there are no ponies on the surface.”

Pinkie said, “What do you mean?”

Rarity was about to answer but Korve said, “Pinkie, every pony that IS on the surface, will want to kill you, not party with you, this is a test of how well you will cope when faced with a challenge.”

Korve said, “Like I said, it is not safe up there, there are little to no friends up there, they all want you dead, trust in only the Elements, do not become corrupted and stay true to your Element, if you follow your Element you will always prevail.  Deviating from this path will result in the death of all of Equestria, not just you.”

All the ponies at the tables just looked at each other and took in what he had just said, if one of us fails, all of Equestria is doomed.

Trust No Pony

The group slowly moved through the horizon, they were released on the outskirts of Fillydelphia.  They decided after a vote that they were to go to Ponyville, there may be supplies they need from their places, not only that but, they had to see what happened to there once home.

Applejack finally broke the silence, “Ah can’t believe that they just threw us out here to DIE!”

Rainbow Dash said, “Applejack, nothing we can do now, at least we are out of that facility, it was driving me insane.  I’m glad I can finally extend my wings again, it was cramped down there.”

Applejack said, “Ah suppose your right Dash, I have been dying to run around and get out of that nasty hole.

Fluttershy said, “Umm, Twilight?”

Twilight said, “Yes Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy said, “Well, I am scared and, I just don’t know, Angel is probably all alone right now, or worst.”  Fluttershy started to tear and was on the verge of breaking down, Twilight knew she needed to be mature right no to keep her friend sane.

Twilight said, “Fluttershy, look at me… Everything is going to be all right, ok?”

Fluttershy responded, “O…  O…  o…  ok, thanks Twilight.”

Rarity spoke, “Well this is just terrible, my mame is starting to frizzle in this heat, I do not need to be working this hard for this long in this heat.  I need a break.”

Applejack said, “Rarity we just keep goin for a few more hours and we will be home.”

Rainbow Dash said, “I’m going to fly ahead and scout, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Pinkie said, “Why is this so BOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRING!  We should be having fun parting, not stuck in this sun!”

Twilight spoke, “Alright every pony, we need to stop this fighting and actually work things out, these words are doing nothing for our situation.”

*****

When the Elements finally arrived in Ponyville, they first went to the library.  Twilight found a few restoration spells, nothing important, majority of the library was burned down sadly so she could only salvage so much.  After the library they went to applejacks barn, this was the place they were going to stay, it was relatively unaffected by the war, the only difference was that the crops were not growing.  All the ponies settled and decided that they needed to send squads out to see if there are anything good in the town.  Twilight and Fluttershy went to Fluttershy’s cottage.

*****

When Twilight and Fluttershy arrived at the cottage, they noticed it was mostly burned and all the once known life was gone, it had dead bodies of chickens and other miscellaneous animals everywhere.  Fluttershy could only cry as she saw the bodies, it was regular that she saw death due to how many animals that she tended to, but nothing like this, this was like a scene from something she could never imagine.  Twilight tended to Fluttershy and patted her on the back.  Fluttershy started to remember why she wanted to come here.

Fluttershy called out, “Angel, Angel, are you their?  Angel, come out Angel!” And do surprise, Angel did not come out, Fluttershy did not give up, she spent at least 2 hours calling for Angel around the house.

Twilight, “Fluttershy, we should really get going over to Rarity’s house, she has some fabric we can use.”

Fluttershy looked as if she was about to break down right in front of her and said, “Ok, I… I… I just… just thought that… Angel.” Twilight felt sorry for her friend, she put her hoof around her trying to cheer her up, it did help Fluttershy regain her composure quite a bit.  Fluttershy finally said, “Ok, let’s go.” And she drooped her head realizing facts.  They grabbed some medicine from what was not looted in the cottage.  When they were done grabbing what they needed they saw some pony in the distance, they could not see who it was but they seemed to have noticed them.

Twilight said, “Fluttershy, do you see that pony?”

Fluttershy replied, “Umm, yes but, didn’t that creepy Korve guy say that any pony on the outside is bad?”

Twilight said, “Fluttershy, he did yes but we don’t know if he was telling the truth, this may be our only chance to find out what really happened if he was being truthful.” And with that they started to walk up to the pony in the distance.  When they got close enough to tell feature Twilight noticed it was a Pegasus, she was covered in dirt and had red stains in her yellow coat.  Her cutie mark, it showed a hourglass, she had no idea who this pony was, then it hit her, it was Link Furrow from Ponyville, she was always at the library reading.  What was she doing here?

Twilight yelled, “Link!  It’s me Twilight!” When Twilight said that Link looked in her direction and a horror spread crossed her face, she ran towards us and was yelling something, we couldn’t make it out until she was right next to us, which didn’t take long.

Panting hard Link said, “Twilight!  You have to get out of here FAST!  There coming this way, like RIGHT NOW!”  She started to pull me and Fluttershy away and we followed her since I knew I could trust her, she was always a great person to have a conversation with if you were bored.  She dragged us to the Ponyville Archives, one of the very few buildings left untouched by any of the destruction around it.  Sure it looked ill maintained but that was it.

She pulled us in and then said, “Be quiet, they will hear us, I’ll explain everything latter.”  And with that Fluttershy and I shut our mouths and heard hoofsteps outside. I heard a voice that I couldn’t figure out why I recognized it.  I just kept thinking, where have I heard him speak before.  That’s when it hit me, he was one of the ponies that smashed my door down that fateful day, he is the one who killed Spike, anger welled up in her and she had to fight it off, Fluttershy saw that Twilight was waging war inside her head.  I had unknowingly started to glow purple on my horn, I figured out when I saw Fluttershy had a horrified look on her face looking and me and Link was telling me to stop or we will all die.  When I realized it I calmed down since I didn’t want to put the lives of my friends at risk, I also wanted justice served to them, I could do nothing but wait it out.  We ended up waiting for 20 minutes for them to pass, they kept coming back talking about the pegasi that escaped them.

Link finally said when she was sure they were gone, “Twilight you don’t know how glad I am to see you, every pony has been looking everywhere for you and the other Elements of Harmony, do you have any idea of what is going on?  Rumor was that Starkindle Kine was housing you and the other Elements in a safe location.  Guess that is a lie seeing you turned up here.”

Twilight interrupted, “No, we were in his captivity in this strange looking vault near Fillydelphia, he had a commander named Korve instructing us on what was happening, we were all sedated for 9 months.” Link looked shocked, she wasn’t shocked for what Twilight thought though.

Link said, “Wait, you said Korve?  Korve was the… Co.. Com.. Commander…  That unicorn is a murderer.  He works for Celestia, one of her top Generals.”  Twilight gasped.

Link spoke again, “Did you ever get to see Starkindle Kine?  And wait, did you say Fillydelphia?  The resistance is in Manehattan.”

Twilight said confused, “Wait, we were released in Fillydelphia, it was a destroyed city, and no I did not see Starkindle Kine, do you think, we were set up?”  Link sadly nodded.  Fluttershy was crying in the darkest corner of the Archives.  Twilight paced back and forth.  She wondered, why would Korve be helping them?

Twilight said, “But how!  They sent a squad of ponies to Canterlot to retrieve the elements of harmony!  If Korve was actually working with Cel…”

Link said, “Wait, the ponies raided Canterlot?  Twilight, Canterlot is part of the rebellion.  About two months ago Starkindle Kine’s resistance liberated the city.  It was a costly victory, we raided to retrieve the Elements.  If they have the Elements back, then that mea…”

Twilight said, “Wait, we have the Elements with us, we are keeping them at Applejack’s barn, come with us, we will show you.”  Link looked a bit relieved to hear that.  She gladly followed us to Applejack’s barn.  During the walk Twilight wondered, what is going on in Equestria, she didn’t know what to believe.  Something about Link put Twilight off, she didn’t look like the Link she knew.

*****

When they finally got back at the barn Applejack and Rarity were waiting for them outside the barn doors.  They were on guard seeing that there was a third pony in this pack.  They walked up to Twilight and greeted the three ponies that just entered.  The third was one that they have seen before.  She was covered in dirt and had red stains on her yellow coat, Rarity was repulsed at how dirty she as.

Twilight said to Applejack and Rarity, “Were back!  We got some medical supplies from Fluttershy’s cottage.  Say hello to Link, we found her near the Ponyville Archives, there were some ponies looking for her so we brought her here.”  Link looked shyly at them, Applejack had a bad feeling about her, and something in her stare says that she is here for no good.  She kept her manners and greeted Link, Rarity on the other hand refused to stay within ten hoofs from her.

Twilight led link into the barn to the Elements like she promised.  Link gladly followed, she had something in her eyes that put Twilight’s mind in a race for figuring out her true intents.  Twilight did not trust her one bit.  Applejack and Rarity followed them to the Elements.

Twilight said, “Applejack, Rarity, Link says that Korve is actually one of Celestias top generals, we put hoof and hoof together and found out that they were planning on having us die in the world, luckily Link told us what was happening.”

Applejack said in Twilights ear, “Listen here Twi, Ah don’t trust this Link, she seems like there is something else than what we think on her mind.”  Twilight nodded.

Twilight said in Applejacks ear, “I was thinking the same thing.  I think she may be lying about this story of hers.  If Celestia had us in custody we wouldn’t be alive, it would be foolish of her to leave us breathing, keep a close eye on Link.”  Applejack nodded.

When they entered the room storing the Elements Link for only a split second had sinister look in her eyes, Applejack was the only one to see it but it confirmed her suspicions.  Applejack kept to herself until Link was out of the room.

“Twi, she had this evil look in her eyes the minute she saw them!”

Twilight responded, “I didn’t see, are you sure?”

Applejack said, “Positive!  We can’t believe anything she tells us, she is lying.  Ah think that Korve may actually still be on our side.”  Twilight nodded and agreed, she had been thinking the same thing to.

*****

Applejack woke up to hear a rustling in the night, she had her suspicions on Link, it sounded like it was coming from the room holding the Elements.  Applejack woke Twilight and Dash up.

Applejack, “Girls I think Link is stealing from us, let’s go check out that noise.”

Dash said, “That dirty rotten no good thief!  When I get my hoof’s on her!”

Twilight said, “Every pony quiet, we don’t want to alert her that we know what is happening.”

They slowly and quietly walked to the room holding the Elements, she saw three ponies in there, including Link.  One said something to Link congratulating her, his voice was one of the ponies from his house, the one who swore to find her.  She cringed at the sound of his voice.  Rainbow looked very angry and ready to charge them.  Applejack was also about to charge when Twilight spoke.

“Girls, when I say, we need to capture them before they get the Elements, so this is what we are doing, Applejack, take the big one on the right, Dash, take Link”  Dash had a grin on her face when Twilight said that.

“Now,”

Dash had flew strait into Link but she did a summersault over her and Dash flew strait into a wall, Applejack charged the big one and bucked him in the jaw, it sent the monster flying, he lay on the floor unconscious.  Twilight used her magic to subdue the leader, he struggled a lot but he was just a earth pony so there was nothing he could do to avoid being overpowered.  Link flew out of the barn before Rainbow could catch her.  Rainbow was about to fly after her when Twilight grabbed her tail and pulled her back into the barn with her magic.  Dash looked furious.

Dash screamed, “I can’t believe you let her get away Twilight!  I can still catch her!  Let me go!”

Twilight replied, “Dash, we have two of them, it’s more than enough, we don’t need more ponies being hurt around here, we can find her later but right now we need to figure out some questions so please calm down dash.”  Dash fought for a few more minutes but realized it was hopeless and started to calm down.  Rarity walked into the room and had her mame in a frazzled mess, she looked angry.

*****

Twilight put the ponies in a store room and tied them up with some of Applejack’s rope she always kept around the barn.  Twilight started to interrogate them.

Twilight, “So, you like to steal from ponies huh?  You like to break into homes looking for ponies?”

The slim one looked happy in an evil way and said, “Your already too late, Link is already reporting your location to Celestia herself, you have about a week top before she assembles the Royal Forces and captures you.”

Twilight asked, “What is your name then, seeing you don’t have much to talk about.”

He looked at her and said, “My name?  Well I guess it won’t hurt me telling you, I’m Debis.”  Twilight looked in shock, she has heard that name before, Debis was one of the colts who worked in Celestias kitchen, he looked nothing like what he looked like the last time she saw him.

“Surprise?  It’s amazing at what new Celestia can do to a pony willing to help her in a plot to overthrow the old Kingdome, she put a spell on me and I grew more powerful, quite painful change but it was worth it, after we finally took Canterlot she appointed me the task of finding,” He stopped talking there and started to laugh.

Twilight yelled at him, “WHO!”

He replied with an evil grin, “You, she wanted me to kill you.  I almost had you, that dumb dragon of yours didn’t put up a fight, cried your name a lot, and had to put him down personally.”  Twilight looked in horror, she started to cry.

Applejack entered the room and pulled Twilight out, she looked at the colt and said, “You monster,”

*****

A Link To Celestia

Link had just arrived at Canterlot, she had to fly a long and harsh journey to get there, she narrowly escaped her encounter with the Elements, she was not the pony she once was, before the war she was a shy pony, she always was on her best behavior, she loved to read and have conversations with friends.  She had changed after that rueful day, now she was a cold blooded murderer.  She cared for no pony but herself.  The guards at the gate moved aside when she arrived, she was one of the high ranking Commanders for Celestia.  She walked up to the palace entrance and entered.  Celestia was standing atop the staircase, she slowly made her way up to her.

Celestia, “What news do you bring me?”

Link, “The Elements, there back, I had just encountered them,”

Celestia, “And where is Debis and Trog?”

Link, “They were captured, we were recovering the recently stolen Elements, I narrowly escaped, they had us by surprise.”

Celestia, “Pity, Debis was a good soldier, remind me to have him punished for failing.  Now for you, since you actually returned, you’re to lead your own squad, pick anypony you want from the academy.”

Link bowed and said, “Yes you your highness.” After saying that she left the room.

*****

Link walked into the academy, even though Celestia put all the guards under her spell, they still have to be trained, they have free will, they just have to do exactly as Celestia says, this was the flaw in a all of their plans, it seldom happened but when it did it could end disastrous.

Captain, “Welcome Commander.”  Motioning her towards the top academy soldiers.

Link, “I’m looking for two ponies, the best of them, what all do you got?”

Captain, “What is your preference,”

Link, “Assassination, anything that is able to slit a throat in a few seconds without hesitation.”

Captain, “Well follow me.  Pill! Shark! Get over here!”  Two ruthless looking ponies walked up, they looked confident in their abilities, Shark was a big pony, he could be used to break doors down, he was a blue earth pony, and his mark was a led weight.  Pill on the other hoof was slim, agile, and he looked like a thinker, his mark was an encoded letter, he was a red unicorn and that would be useful later in her journey.  She nodded to the Captain and took them from the academy.

Shark spoke to confidently, “Why are we being pulled by a cute little mare?”  Link did not like that one bit, she hated being called cute from any pony, and it undermined her abilities.  A few seconds after he said that she bucked his knees from the front and they broke at the joint sending them buckling in the wrong direction, after his face was a hoof from the ground she bucked his face leaving imprints in his snout.  Pill laughed silently to himself watching Link teach Shark a lesson, he has heard of Link before, he was not nearly dumb enough to say something like that to her, Shark on the other hand was an idiot, he only served as a tank to him, it amused him to see Shark beet up for a change.

Link, “Never, ever, call me cute.” And after saying that she bucked his face into the ground.

Shark tried to say, “Aren’t you going to help me to the infirmary?”

Link looked at him, “Why don’t you ask the cute mare down the hall to help you?”  Pill let out a small chuckle.

Link looked at Pill and he shut up.  Shark crawled to the infirmary.  Link and Pill started to walk again.  In about ten minutes they arrived to the private training room Link had.

Pill, “So, what do you need of us, something important I assume?”

Link grinned and said, “You will soon find out, if you survive training,”  Pill didn’t like what Link had in mind so far, he despised training, they were usually too easy for him or they were not designed for his abilities, most trainings were brute force, something Shark was built for, he was a small and agile pony.

Link as if read his mind said, “Don’t worry, unlike the guard training I design my tests for each pony, it’s not a brute force facility.”

*****

Shark arrived to the training three hours after it started, it was a big mistake Pill thought.

Link yelled, “Shark, get your flank here now!”  Shark rushed to her limping still.

Shark said, “Yes great Commander?” Trying to win Link’s favor over, she had no intent on giving him mercy, she enjoyed other pony’s misery.

Link said in an aggravated tone, “Shark, where were you?”

Shark replied, “At the infirmary Commander, I had broken my joints, I had to go through magic surgery to fix them, I just got out a few seconds ago.”

Link sighed, “There are no excuses to skipping training!” Shark cringed at her shear command in the tone.

Shark said, “I’m sorry Commander, you said go to the infirmary earlier,”

Link yelled, “No!  I said why don’t you ask that cute mare to help you to the infirmary, I did not give you any permission to go to it nor skip training!”  Shark started to realize something, Link wasn’t a normal guard pony who is obsessed with their rank.  She was the type of pony to kill in a heartbeat.

Shark gloomily said, “Commander, I’m sorry and accept any punishment you have,” Link smiled after hearing that.

Link, “Your punishment?  Well let’s get started, three hours of missed training is about, five hundred laps around the training court?” Shark cringed and started to shake at the mentioning of how many laps.  Pill simply grinned, Link saw it and knew Pill was the type of pony she needed to keep this mess Shark in hand.

*****

Shark had just completed all five hundred laps, when he finished it was nearly midnight, Link and Pill already left, there training was over.  Link told him if he did not complete all five hundred she would make him run a thousand the next day, he had no idea how she would know but he did not want to find out so he ran the full five hundred.  When he started to leave he heard a noise, he was scared thinking it may be Link.  He hid behind what he could, there was a lot of things in the room but nothing his size to hide behind so he ended up behind a crate half his size.  He heard a whisper, it sounded like Pill.  Something smacked him behind his head and he fell over and let out a small yelp.

Pill, “Get up you blundering idiot, listen.  You are really screwing any chance we have with Link, if you didn’t realize she isn’t the same Captain from the academy,”

Shark, “Ya I know, she is our ne…”

Pill, “Listen Shark, she is one of Celestias TOP Commanders, I did a bit if investigating through the guard and found out she is an assassin for her, her mission is to kill the Elements,”

Shark sat and took in the words.  He then said, “Wow, I didn’t know…  Just how did we end up getting in this mess then?  Not like were any good.”  Pill looked at Shark as if he was an idiot then said, “Shark, if you didn’t notice, we ARE the best of the best in the academy.”

Shark said, “Why did you meet me here anyways?” Pill looked at him and grinned then said, “To make sure you finish all five hundred laps, I know how you hate running.  I’ve been watching you for about an hour or so?”  Shark scowled at that and they left to their newly assigned quarters together.

*****

Link awoke around four in the morning.  She walked around and gathered her items.  She first walked to the armory.  When she got there she requested some custom gear built for Shark and Pill, she ordered Shark some full body armor since he was more of a tank than a thinker, for Pill she ordered a unordinary spell book, this one had ways to conjure metallic items at will.  No guard was ever shown this since it is very risky having a unicorn be able to conjure anything they want at will, even if it is temporary.  When she left she went to the training room.  She may not have told them that training was every day at four but she would enjoy seeing their faces when she had to go to their room and punish them for it.  When she got to the training room she was shocked to see what was, Shark was already breaking through row after row of concrete walls, Pill was using his magic to break through her top of the line unicorn deterrent cage.  The way to get out of it was to unlock a series of locks, pull hundreds of levers, push multiple combinations of buttons, it was proven impossible to unlock via magic on the inside, until she heard a *Clink* and it opened.  She grinned at what she saw, in most eyes this was an impossible training that almost no pony could do, in her eyes this was two perfectly disciplined and trained soldiers.

*****

After six days of training she deemed them fit and ready to be in her squad.  She immediately called for a chariot to take them to Ponyville.  It was a long ride and she could not stand being in the same chariot as Shark, it was designed to hold 6 ponies but he was angered when Celestia said she could not spare another.  The whole ride Shark had a foul odor to him, he was quite thank Celestia but it was the worst four hours she had in her life, she was tempted to fly to Ponyville herself.  Her first mission, get Debis and Trog, Celestia ordered her to kill them for failing her, not only that, but they had valuable information that if the Elements found out could end the war.

*****

They finally arrived and shortly after landing the chariot returned to Canterlot.  Link already explained the plans to Pill and Shark, they are to go to her old camp and salvage what they had there.  After that was finished they would soon create their own camp, after that is finished Pill would scavenge for food while Shark goes around town looking for anything they can use, she only assigned Shark that so he would stay away from her, she knew he would find nothing.

*****

They had just finished setting up camp.

Link, “Pill, go harvest some food now, Shark, make yourself useful and find something we can use around town, I don’t want any of you back for another three hours.”  And with that they were off.  She started to relax at their new camp, at the old one she had to deal with Debis, she may be higher ranked in Celestias army, but she was ordered to follow anything Debis told her, it annoyed her since Debis would demine her every time he got the chance, she would enjoy taking his life.  To some ponies, taking a life is the most selfish thing any pony can do, to her, it was something to do daily.  She then carefully planned out how they would assault the Elements.  Her plan was something that only her and Pill would be needed, it was a stealth operation, something that Tank would not be good at.  The plan was this, first, when all the Elements are asleep she would slowly infiltrate the barn with pill, she would trot in with Pill and then Pill would use his magic to pick put a silence spell around them keeping any noise from escaping where they are at.  After the silence spell was cast they would have to stay close since it was a radius spell, not an attachment spell.  They would walk around the barn carefully and try to locate where her old team was in, once they found them, she would interrogate them, figuring out if they leaked any information, after that she would have Pill muzzle their mouth while she slit each ones throat.

*****

It was time, Link called for Pill to follow her, he gladly did, she explained the plan to him already and he was ready and did research on the silence spell while they waited.  It took them about thirty minutes to get to the barn, when they reached it Pill cast the silence spell on them.  The big barn door was locked so he simply picked the lock, it only took twenty seconds tops.  When they were in the barn they saw Rainbow Dash asleep on a haystack, probably fell asleep during her watch shift, this was going to be easier than she thought.  It only took about ten minutes to find out what room they were kept in, Debis and Trog were tied to the ground, she then started the interrogation.

Link, “Debis, is there anything you would like to tell me before we get you out of this mess?”

Debis, “I kept my mouth shut, don’t know about that idiot Trog over there.  Might want to ask him.”

Link, “Debis, I hope you know what will happen if you said anything to them.”

Debis, “I already know, Celestia gave you your own squad?  What a shame, now hurry up and get me out of here,”

Link, “In a second, have to check Trog.”

Link walked to Trog and he replied no as she expected.  Debis said, “Are you going to get us out of here or not?”

Link smiled and said, “Pill, now.”  And Debis’s  mouth was shut tight along with Trog’s, they were also thrown against a wall and had a magic aura around them, Link slowly walked up to Debis and said, “I’ve been waiting a long time to do this,”  and she slowly used a small blade she had to slit Debis’s and Trog’s throat.  When it was over Pill and Link was walking out of the big barn door when they heard a, “Hey!  Where are you going?”  Link turned around and saw Rainbow Dash has woken up.  She grinned knowing that Rainbow was out matched and outnumbered.  Pill said, “Should I finish her off?”  but Link said no.  Link flew into the air and told Pill to return to camp.  Dash then flew into the air and they had an air dual, Dash was flying at an immense speed and they smashed head first together, Link had a helmet on so it hurt Dash much more than it hurt her.  She grinned seeing Dash fall to the ground unconscious.  She slowly flew away and returned to camp.  Behind she heard the other Elements stirring up.  She knew it was only a matter of time till they found the bodies.

The Crusaders Appearance

        *****

        Rainbow woke up to hear a noise, she looked up and saw the barn door was open, outside of the door was two ponies, one of them she had never seen before, the other was Link, the very link that tried to steal the Elements a week ago.  She flew up and yelled at them, the red unicorn looked around and said something she could not understand, he turned back and started to walk away while Link flew into the air facing her, Rainbow knew a challenge when she saw one, she noticed a helmet on Link but neglected it since she would not wimp out, not now.  She flew into the air and in a couple of seconds doubled her speed towards Link, she didn’t do much damage, Rainbow was knocked unconscious from the blow.

        *****

        Twilight heard shouting outside and woke up, she was still very sleepy so she thought it was nothing, when she made out the words she instantly got up, she awoke all the girls, they ran to the barn door and found Rainbow Dash unconscious near the entrance, she had a huge bruise on her head. They pulled her in and Twilight told Applejack to check on the Elements.  It took about ten minutes for Rainbow Dash to wake up.

        Rainbow Dash said slowly, “Wha?  Where am I?”

        Twilight responded, “Just relax Dash, you were hit pretty hard in the head.”

        Rainbow got up quickly and said, “Wait!  That dirty rotten, are the Elements ok?!?”

        Applejack returned and said, “Twi, the Elements are all in place.”

        Twilight said, “Rainbow what happened?  How did you get this on your head?”

        Rainbow returned, “Twi that dirty rotten Link!  She returned for who knows what, I saw her walking out the door and she challenged me to a dual, so you know, umm, we collided, she had a helmet on so I kinda went a bit far didn’t I.” Twilight grinned nodding yes.

        Twilight said to them all, “Girls, we have to find out why she returned lets ch”

        “AGHHHHHHHHhhhh!” All the Elements in the room ran where they heard the scream, it was Pinkie.  Applejack bust down the door and what they found was something they could not comprehend, the two ponies they had captured were killed.  Pinkie was in the the corner shivering, she had a flat mane and was crying.  When the rest of the Elements walked in all they could do was stare, they had no idea how it happened, it took a few minutes for the Elements to realize that Link must have done this, they were puzzled beyond belief, they had no idea why she would murder two of her fellow comrades.  Applejack felt uneasy, Rarity felt repulsed, Pinkie was in shock, Fluttershy was crying quietly, Twilight was speechless, Rainbow was jittery while trying to keep calm.

        Applejack finally broke the silence, “Twi, what in tarnation are those ponies up to?”

        Twilight looked at her and said, “I don’t know, I just don’t know Applejack, what reasons could they have for killing two ponies, they may not be innocent but they still are living, it just seems so, pointless, it feels like we are walking around in a circle.”

        Rarity broke in the conversation and said, “Just how horrid can these ponies be to murder two other ponies in cold blood like this.”

        Fluttershy squeaked, “Maybe... Maybe they knew something?” They all looked at her in surprise, even Pinkie.

        Twilight said, “Fluttershy your genius!  They must have known something that they didn’t want us to know.  But what could it be?  Why didn’t they just take them instead of murder them though?”

        Applejack, “Twi, I think this will lay unsolved, we really should move the bodies out through, the back of the fields would be a good place to... Dump them.”  She had struggled saying the word Dump.  Every pony went silent staring at her, eventually Twilight nodded.  Rarity refused to touch it even with her magic.  Twilight didn’t want to traumatize Pinkie more nor make Fluttershy help, it ended with Twilight and Applejack and Rainbow dragging the bodies to the field and bury them, the big blue earth pony was a huge task, he was probably more than quadruple their weight.  After the task was done they all went to sleep without any words left to say.

        *****

        They woke up in the morning, Applejack felt weird every morning, there was no rooster to wake her up, they all were tired from the day before, there was a lot to take in the other day.  Rarity has been complaining all week that her mane was freezing and she always cried about doing work, today was the day Applejack and Rainbow would go to Rarities house, the trip was delayed due to the other ponies who tried to steal the Elements, they were extra cautions for the last week.

        Applejack said, “Rainbow, we need to get goin to Rarities place, she’s got all that fancy fabric we can use.” Rainbow grunted knowing she could not avoid it.

        Rainbow said, “Do we have to?  Can’t we send Twi or Rarity out there?” Applejack looked at Dash stern and eventually Dash finally decided it was officially hopeless.  Rainbow and Applejack started their long track to Rarities house, it wasn’t quite far from the farm but it was still a long way out since they had to avoid all the rubble.  The streets were void of any life, they didn’t even hear the small sounds that animals would usually make, it was scaring them a bit.  When they finally arrived at Rarities house it was partially burnt down and it had blood marks all over the wall, it was a horrific site.  They heard a noise in the house and they were instantly on guard.  Applejack slowly walked towards the boutiques door and bucked the door open, the inside of the house seemed empty, all of a sudden they heard a smash in the boutique and knew somepony, or something, was in there.  Rainbow slowly flew in ahead of Applejack, she was curious on what was inside the building, she knocked over the furniture all over the place looking for the noise.  Then they heard a loud, “YOU’R OK!” and Rainbow was tackled by Scootaloo.  Sweetie Bell also walked out from behind the curtains on the other side of the room with a huge smile on her face, Applebloom walked out of the curtains with an even bigger smile.  All of the fillies looked taller, they also looked hungry, they were so thin that you could see their ribs.

        Sweetie Bell broke the silence, “We missed you all so much!  Where is Rarity?”

        Applejack looked at her and said, “Sugarcube, Rarities at the farm, come help us get yer stuff together and we can get back to the barn.”  Sweetie Bell smiled at the sound of seeing Rarity again, she thought of how she would think of her when she sees how much she has grown.

        Applebloom looked at Applejack and said, “Ah knew you would be ok I just knew it!”

        Applejack smiled and said, “Sis, I’ll always be there for ya.” Applebloom felt warm to the heart at her sister saying that, there was much grief on her since the loss of Big Mac and Granny Smith.

        Applebloom looked sad all of a sudden and said, “Sis, Big Mac and Granny Smith are gone, Big Mac and Granny were killed tryin to keep me safe from the guard ponies that were attacking everywhere.” Applejack looked deeply hurt after hearing that, she started to cry but eventually regained her composure and went back to business.

        Rainbow said, “Scootaloo!  You don’t know how relieved I am to see you all!”  Scootaloo blushed at hearing that, her hero actually missed her even after all that has happened.

        Scootaloo said, “Rainbow, you won’t believe what we have been through!  I can fly!”

        Rainbow said, “What?  You can?  You gotta show me some time!” Scootaloo never noticed but Rainbow always acted as if she was her own sister, she always enjoyed Scootaloo’s attention and greatly enjoyed her company all the time.

        Applejack said, “All Right fillies, sorry to interupt, but we need to get back to work, help us gather up some stuff to bring to the barn, things that will help us.” After saying that the filly's started to gather their things in a bag, it wasn’t much, just a few sentimental items they had from after the day it all fell apart.  Applejack and Rainbow gathered a bit of purple cloth, it was one of the few colors left, they also got some white cloth with red stains on it.  Once they had as much as they carried they were back on their way to the barn.  All the filly’s were happy they had somewhere to go, they knew the food was out and it may have become disastrous.

        *****

        They were walking through town when they heard a small chuckle, Applejack and Rainbow immediately dropped the things they were carrying and went into a defensive stance around the filly’s.  As they were preparing they heard a noise around the corner, they only knew of one group of ponies in the town so they were in a ready stance.  Rainbow knew that laugh anywhere, it was that dirty rotten unicorn that had accompanied Link the other day.

        She yelled out loud, “You dirty rotten unicorn!  Show yourself!”  And at the end of the street a red unicorn walked out into the open with a smirk on his face.  Rainbow being stubborn as ever charged him while Applejack yelled for her to stop, Rainbow obviously ignored her.  The red unicorn started to laugh as the distance between him and Rainbow was cut in half, all of a sudden Rainbow was trapped in a red aurora, she started to smash into the walls in hope of breaking the barrier, little did she know he was stronger than the average unicorn.  All of a sudden the barrier started to push her towards him and she saw a huge blue pony behind him looking at Applejack.  Applejack knew better than to charge into battle but she also didn’t want to leave Rainbow behind, she decided that it would be safer to get the filly’s home and get the rest of the girls to help save Rainbow than for her to charge into this battle alone.  Rainbow couldn’t believe what she saw, Applejack ran with the filly’s to the barn, she had no idea what to think of it.  A tear crept down her face, she knew she had made a mistake.  She started to get very sleepy and everything went black.

        *****

        Applejack and the filly’s could see the barn in site, Applejack heard a loud “Whoosh” sound and readied herself for what came next, she was smashed from the group of filly’s, it was Link, she tried to get up but she was being held down.  Applejack yelled for the filly’s to run, she promised she would be alright.  Applebloom cried as she knew she couldn’t help, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell had to drag her away since she refused to move.  Applejack had a tear for Applebloom, putting her through all of this.

        Link said, “Now now Applejack, you're supposed to be honestly, you shouldn't lie and say everything will be ok,” and with that she smirked.

        Applejack responded, “Ah think we need to settle things, fine, take me where you need to, just leave the filly’s alone.” With that Link frowned.

        Link said, “Now Applejack, I will leave the filly’s alone, for now, eventually their time may will come, they pose a threat if I don’t, wouldn’t want that happening now would we.” Applejack had started to well in a river of tears when she said that, Link got sick of it and knocked Applejack out ending it right there, she picked her up and flew her to the camp they had built.

        *****

        The filly’s ran to the barn as fast as they could while dragging Applebloom.

        Applebloom cried, “I want ma sister back!  Don’t let her die like Big Mac!  You gotta help her, you just gotta!” These cries really hurt Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell, they knew their friends pain, they lost many of their loved ones to.  They also knew they were outmatched in that fight so they didn’t dare charge in, it could have ended disastrous for them.  When they finally reached the barn they were out of breath, they had dirt all over them, and they were covered in tears.  Rarity was the first one out, she was breathless at what she saw, she started crying tears of joy, little to know about the news she was about to receive about her friends.

        Rarity said, “Sweetie Bell!  I’ve missed you so much!  Where have you been?  Oh forget about that just give me a hug!” And with that Rarity embraced Sweetie Bell, while she grabbed her Sweetie Bell tried to tug away and yelled, “Rarity!  Dash and Applejack are in trouble!  Some mean ponies got them on the way back!  We have to help them!”  Rarity only looked at her in confusion, it then started to set in, Rainbow and Applejack were in trouble, she immediately let go of Sweetie Bell and ran back in the barn, she came out with Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie.  They were all in confusion on what happened, Rarity told Sweetie Bell to tell them what had happened.

        Sweetie Bell said, “Applejack and Rainbow were taken by a group of ponies, they must have knew that we were walking that way since they looked pretty well organized, there was three of them.”

        Twilight looked intrigued and said, “What color and what type of ponies do you think they were, do you remember?”

        Scootaloo said, “One was a big buff blue earth pony, he made sure Applejack couldn’t help Rainbow, another was a red unicorn, he was the one who trapped Rainbow, the last one was a Pegasus, we didn’t get a look at her color since we were dragging Applebloom, she had tackled Applejack when we were almost here,” The Elements all looked shocked to hear that Applejack and Rainbow were not only gone, but they were trapped.

        Twilight said, “Well it’s too dangerous to get going out there now, we will just have to wait and see what happens, they may have another trap planned for us.”

        Applebloom cried, “But we gotta save um now!” And everybody felt bad, they knew they could do nothing to help the inevitable but not doing anything bad to.  Applebloom cried throughout the whole night, she wanted her sister back more than anything else in the world, why does she have to lose her sister the day she got her back, she wanted to show off all the new things she has learned.  Scootaloo griefed the whole night over Rainbow Dash, she had missed her with all her heart, she knew that they had a special bond together, she always thought of her as a big sister, her family that she had was a very odd one, they lived on the ground instead of Cloudsdale and they always ignored her, they were always busy and had no time for anything, they never met her friends, never went to anything at school, they were never even home.  She did mess them but Rainbow was the only pony to ever really take care of her and enjoy her company, most ponies always hated her company since it usually had to do with being covered in tree sap, having their things destroyed, or anything that they would try but fail at to get their cutie marks.  Sweetie Bell was with her sister the whole night, she was so happy that she could see her again, she had a feeling that she was never going to see her again so this was one of the few things she wished for, when everything happened she was left alone with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were some of the school children who were to try to help out the guards, they were killed in the end since they served no use.  The rest of the children were weeded out and eventually were killed or left to starve to death.  It was a terrible sight to see, the survivors after the guards left looted stores, homes, they were so desperate they killed other ponies for things they had, the Crusaders had all hid in the boutique since it was already looted and Sweetie Bell wanted to stay there since it helped her cope with the situation around them.  The morning hit and slowly they all awoke, immediately it was obvious to the Elements that the kids have not eaten in days, they didn’t notice it last night since it was so dark, they fetched some of the apples from the basement that had survived the long wait, most were rotten but some were still good.  Twilight finally got the nerve to ask, “What happened that fateful day girls?” The Crusaders all looked in unison, they started to cry, Scootaloo took the lead.

        *****

        It was a dark and stormy day, me and the Crusaders were hyped up about another attempt at our cutie marks, we were near the school when it happened, we were trying to see if we could be guides in the rain, it failed a lot.  We were guiding ponies around when we heard a loud scream, then more screams, we looked in the direction and saw Canterlot was actually deploying hundreds of pegasi all over, some were heading towards their town, the ones that have gotten to the town were stained red, we had no idea why.  We also saw lots of ponies running our way, we wondered what was happening then we saw it, a guard pony came into the crowd and actually was killing the ponies, his helmet sliced through at least four ponies in the first run alone, me and the girls started to freak out, we started to run away from the group.  The group that we ran from all of a sudden all dropped dead, there was a pony in front of them, it was one of the smaller unicorn guard ponies, he was glowing bright pink, any pony near him just dropped, no marks on their body.  We ran to the Everfree forest and hid there.  We heard the screams for at least two days, lots of crashes, metal on metal, helmet on helmet, some ponies started to rebel but it died down after the fourth day.  After the fourth day the streets were littered with bodies, some were of the Royal Guard, majority were of the ponies, some had helmets on to, they looked as if they were rebelling but merely fell to the shear strength of the guard.  We saw most of the town burned down, we started looking for you all, you were nowhere to be found, we saw the occasional roamer, they were a lot more common in the first few weeks, eventually majority of them died of or were enslaved.  We hid in Rarity’s boutique.  We survived off of what was left for about two months, after that the food ran out.  We then started roaming the town trying to scavenge whatever was left, it was hard and it gave little to reward, but it kept us alive.  Sugarcube Corner was looted before anywhere so anything there should be gone by now.  I tried to fly constantly and had many failed attempts, eventually I got the hang of it, it helped us alot so I could fly around town looking for things, it may have saved our life since were were about seven months in, we have had no food for about a week now, it is all just about gone, thats pretty much our story, well other than you all came back.

        *****

        The Elements all gasped from the horror of the story Scootaloo had just told, they had a idea on how bad it was, but this was far worse that they could have imagined, it’s a miracle that they survived.  The room stood silent for about ten minutes, they had to absorb the story, it hurt the Crusaders to relive the story, it was something they did not want to repeat.

        Twilight finally broke the silence and said, “I’m so sorry girls, if there is anything we can do, just say it.” Forcing tears from her eyes.  The other Elements nodded to that statement, the Crusaders were starting to cry.  They were just happy they were able to see them again, all that was left was to save Rainbow and Applejack.

        All of a sudden a little green fire popped up in the middle of them, a scroll fell out of it.  They all just stare at it, doing nothing.  Twilight finally picked it up and opened it.

Dear Elements,

This is Korve, we found a bottle of dragon fire and sent it to you, we were able to locate you since you’re giving off strong magic signatures, we fear that there may be more than just you in Ponyville, we got readings of a strong magic being used in the least twelve hours, it did not match any of yours so we are informing you before it is too late, remember, you’re our only hope.  Your best bet would be to try to get out of Ponyville, and soon.  If one of you are separated, you have to reunite, your strongest together, use the Elements, wear them all the time, they are what keep you safe.

        The ponies all looked surprised after hearing the letter.  Twilight said, “Girls, we need to put the Elements on and find Dash and AJ, Korve is right, its our only hope.”

        The Crusaders all of a sudden burst out saying, “Korve!  The Commander of the resistance?  You know him!  Where are they?”

        Twilight said, “Girls, first of, yes we know Korve, he kept us safe for the time we were absent, second, they are somewhere near Fillydelphia, third, we really must not focus on him, they sent us here to survive, I doubt we will receive any help.  It’s good to know for sure that he is on our side now though.”  The Crusaders were all hyped to know that the resistance were helping them, or were at least.  The Elements all started to walk into the barns main room where the Elements were held, they slowly put on their Element, Twilight put Dash’s and AJ’s Element in her bag so she could give it to them when needed.  She announced that they were going after the group of ponies that took AJ and Dash.

        *****

        Rainbow woke up in this small cage, just barely big enough for her to stand up in, she had a bowl of food scraps in front of her, she kicked it aside, she saw a big blue pony just outside of the room, he looked as if he was guarding the room, to his right was Applejack, she was still asleep.

        Rainbow said, “Applejack wake up!  Were trapped!”  Applejack slowly got up and looked around, she refused to talk, Dash knew why, she wanted to see her sister again.  Dash got mad and started yelling at the blue earth pony to come over here and face her, obviously he ignored her.

        *****

        Link, “Good job guys, you may not be a pathetic lot of imbeciles like I thought you were.” Shark and Pill smiled, they are used to her calling them names.  The cyan pegasus in the cage was screaming at them yelling nonsense words about when she gets out.  The orange earth pony was sitting quietly in her cage, refusing to talk at all.

Shark said, “Link, what are we gonna do with them?”

Link responded, “Well we can’t kill them yet, we need to get them all.  We need to be on constant watch to make sure they don’t escape or their friends don’t try and rescue them, I can almost guarantee you they will try.”

Shark said, “I guess you're right,”

        Link glared at him and said, “I always am right.”

        *****