In a clearing in the Everfree, not far from the treehouse of one Element of Kindness, a break in the world came into being. It started as a quiet tear in the fabric of reality, barely big enough to squeeze a blade of grass through. Then, it started to expand. Slowly, at first, until it was big enough to fit a hoof through. With alien smoothness, a single black tendril made its way from the portal and gently descended to the ground. Rooting itself into the ground, it began to pulsate and flex. It shuddered before it started to sweat an oily tar from it's surface that quickly began to spread out to the nearby treeline. Over the course of several hours, it had consumed nearly the entire clearing in that horrible muck. Then, surprisingly, the ooze seem to leap upward of it's own accord, transforming mid-jump into a thick silvered barrier that mirrored perfectly the outside world.
The creatures of the Everfree had no reason to fear this strange turn of events and continued to go about the business of survival. Even after it had be present for many days, only a few curious squirrels that had lost their nuts to the barrier had tried to breach it unsuccessfully. It was only when Fluttershy, having been informed by one of her animal friends of this weirdness, went to investigate and touched it that it's seemingly benign nature became something more sinister.
It began to sing.
And it's song was terrified screaming.
"Sire, the beachhead is secured and the shield wall has been activated."
"Send the Reavers." Came the growl from within the huge suit of armor. "And have them prepare the suppression collars. I sense magic on this world."
"As you command, my King." The creature scuttled away.
"And now the game begins again."
Twilight Sparkle fidgeted with her tiara for the third time in the last ten minutes since the noise-dampening spell had gone up around that screaming barrier. The thing had been singing its dreadful song for nearly an hour, terrifying the Ponyville residents while she had searched for the spell to cut it off. The sounds had quickly woken Rainbow Dash and brought her and the other elements to the scene, aside from Fluttershy who had to be dragged by a combination of Applejack's strength and Pinkie's rather lackluster attempt at 'Giggling' at it. But even her usual bouncy personality had taken a sever decline after being subjected to this alien thing.
"Twi, what is that?" AJ asked as they all stared at it.
"I think it's a shield and whatever is inside is in pain." She shuddered before continuing. "but whatever is making it clearly doesn't want us to see it."
"You think it's h-h-hurt?" Came the timid response from Fluttershy. "Do you think I hurt it when I t-t-touched it?"
"I don't know Fluttershy. I don't think you could have hurt it through a shield bubble."
"Whoa, you touched it Flutters? What did it feel like?" Rainbow Dash interrupted.
"It was cold and wet. Then it started..." She hid behind her hair. "...Screaming."
"I'm gunna touch it!" Before anyone could react, Rainbow shot forward through the noise-dampening spell's barrier and gave the wall a tap with her hoof. Slowly, the remaining part of the group looked at the crazy mare before she turned and shrugged. Mouthing something, she walked back through Twilight's barrier.
".... Screaming." She said.
"What?"
"It's stopped screaming, now it's making some weird watery noises." Rainbow looked at the others as their expressions morphed into looks of horror. Frowning, she looked at each of them before realizing that they weren't actually looking at her but past her at the barrier. Slowly turning around, she saw but couldn't believe her eyes.
The silver was draining from the barrier, revealing the creatures inside. Each one was roughly the size of a pony, covered in midnight-black fur. Their legs each ended with vicious looking claws that dug into the Everfree mulch with ease. But it was their maws, each was covered in hideous grey tentacles that drooped down past their lower jaw. And their eyes, socketed into their wolf-like heads, stared back at with a predator's gaze.
They numbered around 20, surrounding a warping black portal that seemed to bleed the light from around it. As the remaining monsters turned to face the Elements, their horrific mouths opened like flower petals and they bayed so loudly that it even managed to get past the noise suppression spell. They seemed to be calling something from within the gate and in response, the portal shuddered and something stepped out.
It was as tall as Celestia, clad from strangely formed hindlegs to head in thick black armor. It's forelimbs ended in huge claws and it's fearsome helm held a pair of glowing sparks embedded deep past an obvious snout covering, leaving only a lower jaw visible that was pulled into a terrific mockery of a canine smile. With large steps, the monsters moved aside and bowed to this titan as it strode up to the barrier wall. It's grin grew larger as it using a claw to pierce a hole through the barrier and, with a wave of it's arm dispelled the noise suppression Twilight had so carefully put up. And then it spoke.
"I am King Worldbreaker and your defeat is at claw. Because before this day is through, you will bow to me or suffer endless torment at the ministrations of my Reavers. But before we begin, I would know the name of this world."
"This is Equestria you big jerk!"
"Equestria, yes, how fitting little horse."
"I'm a pony you big metal lug!"
"I will enjoy hearing your screams then, 'Pony'. REAVERS, ATTACK!"
With a gesture of his claw, the barrier spell fell almost instantly around the remaining Reavers and they raced forward to begin attack. Twilight began to summon up some magical bolts to throw into the fray as Pinkie pulled out her party cannon from somewhere and prepared to open fire. But it was Rainbow who rapidly pulled ahead of the group and managed to land a titanic blow against the snout of the first Reaver. The impact threw them both back towards their opposing sides and as she picked herself up from the ground she noticed something strange was happening.
The Reavers had stopped and were all looking at the downed one with looks of... Horror? Slowly the injured one wrapped it's claw around it's snout and whined quietly. Her eyes skipped over to the so-called 'King' only to find it's grin had faded to a look of annoyance and surprise.
"SHE HIT ME!" Said the downed one. "RIGHT IN THE FACE!"
"Err." She glanced back at her friends, only to see her confused expression mirrored on their faces. "Yea?"
"Cheater." Came a cry from the back of the pack. "Bundle."
"BUNDLE!" Cried the whole pack of Reavers.
Before she could react, the fearsome king lifted both his forelimbs and sparkling purple electricity raced at her and knocked her gently to the floor. She could only turned to look at her friends as they disappeared behind another bright silvery barrier, leaving her alone as 19 monsters charged at her downed form.
"RAINBOW!" Twilight cried as her friend disappeared behind that shield, furiously she began to pound on it as she heard the sound of Rainbow screaming from behind it. Then huffing. Then... Snorting? And then giggling. And laughing. And them screaming with laughter. "Err. What's going on?"
"Err. Rainbow's laughing?" Pinkie, mistress of the obvious, chimed in.
"Yes, Pinkie, I know." Twilight rubbed her brow. "What I want to know is why is she laughing..." She was interrupted by her friend's frenzied cry.
"STOP. PLEASE STOP. OH I'M GOING TO WET MYSELF!"
"You have the most delightful screams, little Pony!"
"....No seriously. This doesn't make any sense." Twilight hoofed herself in the face as Pinkie giggled.
"Say uncle! Say Uncle!" Came Worldbreaker's voice from the other side.
"UNCLE! UNCLE!" Rainbow cried, her laughter fading out.
"First screams to us! Prepare her a Suppression collar!"
A moment later, the silver of the barrier faded as a rather exhausted looking Rainbow Dash lay on the ground still breathlessly giggling came into few.. A thin band of silver ran around her neck with a small ribbon of black silk around it. Slowly, a Reaver gently dragged her back to the portal as cage large enough to hold a pony was pushed through to the Equestria side. As she eventually managed to regain some clarity, she peered out at Twilight and company with a moderate amount of surprise.
"And since your friend here decided she wasn't going to follow the rules, we aren't either! No more one verses ones, it's a free for all! GET 'EM BOYS!" Worldbreaker screamed as the barrier fell for the final time and the elements found themselves in the strangest battle of their lives.
Twilight quickly fell to the first wave of Reavers, her confused little head couldn't quite work out what level of violence to employ against them. Fluttershy managed to get airborne before getting gently returned to near the ground by a rather annoyed sounding Worldbreaker and fell under a single Reaver's tickle attack. Applejack used a similar attack to RD and was quickly bundled under a flood of fur and giggles. Rarity decided that she'd rather not be touched by the monsters and quickly fled the scene before any of them noticed.
But Pinkie, element of laughter, managed to take down ten in a blistering offensive that somehow transcended reason. Hooves reduced five of the stalwart Reavers to quivering piles, hair was used in some fashion or other to make another three roar with laughter. It was only after Worldbreaker himself lept into the fray, deploying the ancient technique of blowing on the tummy that the battle was won by the invading army and not the Equestrian defenders.
With the five elements now securely contained by both Suppression collar and the cage of losers that the assembled Reavers, aside the ones who were still recovering, roared their victory cry into the day. Even the King, normally far more reserved in his celebration, let loose a fearsome howl from beneath his helm much to the chagrin of the contained ponies.
"REAVERS! The first battle is over! But do not let yourselves become to cocky! We have won but one battle in this war!"
"This isn't a war." A rather tired looking Twilight said.
"Quiet. You're not allowed to speak in the loser cage."
"Hey, I'm not a loser!" Rainbow finally regained enough breath to start speaking again.
"You said Uncle, did you not?"
"Yes..." She replied sheepishly.
"Then you lost." He nodded sagely before turning back to his small army. "Reavers, prepare the shield wards for our next battle! And fetch the rations from my castle!"
"Erm, mr Worldbreaker?" Fluttershy said quietly.
"That's King Worldbreaker, little pony." She flinched.
"Erm, King Worldbreaker? I need to...." She mumbled the rest.
"You need to what?"
"I need to use the bathroom." He sighed and pulled his helm off.
Hiding beneath that helmet was a long, almost regal snout of a black wolf like creature. it's nose was a moist little thing that sniffed the air gently as he looked at her with expressive hazel eyes. His ears twitched slightly, the inner part of them a shimmering velvet like material that were on top of his head along with a short mane that was suffering from a bad case of helmet hair. Scratching his cheek with a long claw, he looked around the forest clearing before his eyes locked on a large pile of bushes not far from the site.
"There are some bushes over there, if you need to go." Even his voice had changed, no longer retaining a booming quality, but rather more how a slightly upperclass pony would talk.
"Erm, actually I only live about five minutes away, if that's ok." He sighed again.
"Ugh. Alright fine, but you'd better come straight back."
"Wait, you're just letting her go?" Twilight stared in horror as the wolf simply opened the cage. "THE CAGE ISN'T EVEN LOCKED?!" She yelled in surprise.
"Well, she needs to use the bathroom." He kneeled down near Fluttershy and made a gentle alteration to the collar around her neck. "There, now you can get past the boundary."
"This just doesn't make any sense." Twilight finally said, going back to lying down on the floor of the cage with her head in her hooves.
"Sire, the scouts have spotted a large group of troops massing on the border of the forest. They're being commanded by a large white horse which is being advised by a smaller white pony. Scouts also reports armored troops numbering 50." The reaver clawed the dirt for a moment, clearly reluctant to speak before he gestured for the king's ear. "They also said the large white horse looked..." He whispered something that made Worldbreaker blush.
"Who said that? Who's on scout duty?!"
"Bloodtooth, Sharpeyes and... Bob." The last name was said with a particular inflection that was none to kind.
"Well it's time to go to battle once more!" Worldbreaker returned his helmet to his head. "Reavers, the next phase of the game is here! Prepare yourselves!" They roared in response as the glimmering shield sparkled back into reality around the clearing.
Princess Celestia of Equestria, the monarch who raises the sun and who was generally considered by all to be the fairest pony of the land was currently so enraged that some evil tyrant had invaded her kingdom that she was very close to crushing her own teeth to dust. The element of Generosity had quickly sent her a message, detailing the invasion and the horrific force that had invaded her lands. But most of it was completely nonsensical! What invading army would balk at physical force when their beachhead forces and such a terrific shielding and were such terrible monsters?! Celestia quickly assumed that the element was simply traumatized by the horror of the alien invasion and had mobilized half her guard in response.
After scooping up Rarity from Ponyville, they all flew towards the shimmering shield bubble that lay just outside the border of the small town. Her alicorn senses already felt the prying eyes of scouts as they spied the coming carriage, but she paid them no heed as their chariots landed and her troops assembled. Rarity, the damaged unicorn, began to relay a story about tickling and a strange armored creature that called itself 'King Worldbreaker'. Her teeth managed to survive another attempt to powderise them as she silenced the element with a hoof and let loose with her Royal Canterlot Voice at the shield.
"WHO DARES INVADE MY KINGDOM, TORTURE MY SUBJECTS AND DEMAND MY SURRENDER?!" A quiet voice replied.
"Who's asking?" She fumed.
"I, PRINCESS CELESTIA OF EQUESTRIA, SHE WHO RAISES THE UNDIMMING SUN AND PROTECTS THESE LANDS!"
"FINALLY! A MATCH WORTHY OF MY SKILLS!" Came a booming voice that resonating from the shield which, strangely, didn't cause the Element any cause for alarm. "ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEXT PHASE OF THE GREAT GAME, LITTLE PONY?"
"PRINCESS!" She heard the voice of her student cry out. "PRINCESS WAIT!"
But the princess' fury had already built to magma-like levels as she began to utilize all the power she used to raise the sun and began to direct a beam of pure stellar energy at the barrier. Pulling it down from the solar orb, it split the mirrored barrier in twain from the very top and began to slowly work its way down towards the ground. It was only then that, of all ponies, that Rainbow Dash cried out.
"Time out!"
"Ok fine, TIME OUT!" Came the booming reply. "5 MINUTES NO RUSH!"
The shield immediately vanished and Celestia, in shock, lost focus on her beam and it dissipated. Inside the bubble she saw the collared and jailed elements of: Magic; Laughter; Honesty along with a rather sheepish looking Fluttershy who was just re-entering the horrible looking cage. Her fury peaked before her rational mind grabbed ahold of it and made it wonder: 'Why would anypony return to their imprisonment?'
It was then that she saw Rainbow Dash conferring with a heavily armored wolf-like creature. After a moment, they both seemed to nod and the pony returned to the cage. Then, after Twilight and RD conversed for a moment, the wolf creature let her pupil out and allowed her to come to the edge of the clearing.
"Twilight?" She asked carefully at the haggard looking pony.
"Princess." After sighing, Twilight continued. "You trust me, right?"
"Of course, but Twilight, these creatures..." She was interrupted.
"Surrender. Absolutely and totally. Surrender." She drew back, horrified.
"But..."
"They want to fight, Princess! They enjoy it! The only winning move is not to play!"
"Are you sure? I won't risk the security of Equestria and all of this world on simpl...." Much to her chagrin, Twilight interrupted again but had the decency to look sorry.
"If I'm honest Princess, for all their bravado and talks of victory, I don't think they've ever won a battle. They leave their cages unlocked and they even let Fluttershy go home to use the bathroom. Their primary attacks are tickling for poniesake! Please, trust me and just let them win." She nodded.
"Ok Twilight."
"KING WORLDBREAKER, AS PRINCESS CELESTIA OF EQUESTRIA AND RULER OF THESE LANDS, WE SURRENDER TO YOU."
There was a long pause as the towering wolf creature, surrounded by the tentacled wolf creatures with a cage full of ponies absorbed the words of that marble-white pony before a reaver called Bob finally broke the silence:
".....We won?" Worldbreaker pulled his helm off and frowned at his subordinate.
"....Apparently. No wait! We demand TRIBUTE!"
The collective reavers cheered as Worldbreaker raised his claw into the air, each one chanting 'Tribute!' over and over again.
"And what tribute would you like?" Celestia responded.
"Well!" Worldbreaker, now re-energized by his troops, "We want....Err...." He quickly turned and ducked down to confer with his reavers. She heard him whisper: "What in the seven maws do we ask for? Does anywolf know what is good on this world?!"
"Apples!" Came a voice from the cage. "Ah grow the greatest apples in all Equestria!"
Worldbreaker looked at the cage for a moment before turning towards his equal.
"WE DEMAND AN APPLE FOR EVERY REAVER! NO, MAKE THAT TWO! AND....ERR...."
"A PARTY!" The yell came from the pink mare in the cage.
"YES! A PARTY!" He paused before turning back to his troops.
"Does anyone know what a party is?" He whispered.
"SINGING! DANCING! GAMES! FUN!" Pinkie said as she bounced out of the cage, onto Worldbreaker's back, onto a shield ward post and then finally stopped on Twilight's withers spreading her forelimbs for some jazzhooves.
".....Right. We'd like some apples and a party." He paused. "And the secrets of the pink one." Briefly running a claw through his lower jaw fur, he considered something before saying: "And an Equestrian crown!"
Celestia almost immediately balked at the idea of handing over a symbol of royalty to some random alien invader until Pinkie slapped a plastic birthday crown on it's head with a picture of her cutie mark on it. Gently it reached up and removed it, before giving it an appraising eye, before returning it to it's head.
"Close enough." It said before chuckling. "WE WON!"
"VICTORY!" Came the cry from the reavers. "VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY!"
As the collected monsters began to hop around, their maws spread in hideous but obvious smiles, Celestia turned to her faithful student with a look of confusion only to be met by an equally confused one.
"So the tyrant wanted apples and a party?" She asked her as the heavily armored king released the remaining elements from their cage. "Seriously?"
Twilight sighed.
"At this point princess, I've given up trying to understand these creatures. They look horrific, but are actually incredibly mild. I guess we shouldn't judge a book..." She paused as Zecora walked into the clearing. "... I think I already sent you this friendship report."