The Enemy's Arrival

Chapter 3 The Enemies Arrival

The next day, far away in the kingdom of Canterlot, a grey skinned humanoid walked up the steps to the throne room. In the rooms he had previous walked through were the bodies of fallen guards, barely alive. He wore a plate mail chest plate christened with an evil goat’s head, grey gloves and pants, black shoes, and bore a black wrist mounted cannon with a skull head as the mouth and a purple katana with a dragons head cross guard. The armored ponies standing guard at the doors to the throne room charged at him. But the visitor simply lifted his arm, pointed his cannon, and fired. As the guards fell to the ground, the stranger kept walking up.

Meanwhile, Celestia, Princess of the Sun, was sitting at her throne with her sister Luna, Princess of the Night, beside her, when suddenly the doors bursted open, and a battle damaged guard hurriedly limped towards the throne.

“What has happened?!” Celestia said in shock.

The guard spoke slowly, for he had endured many injuries in trying to get to the throne room.

“Your Majesty”, he said weakly, there’s a...Gaaaugh!!!!”

Those were his last words as a purple blast of energy struck him from behind, and he fell to the ground. A few feet away from him, the stranger, known as “Necroknight, son of the Lich”, blew the exhaust smoke from the mouth of his cannon. A wicked smile grew on his face, as he slowly walked towards the throne.

“Well well well, if it isn’t the great and magnificent Princess Celestia”, NK said sarcastically in a cold and crooked tone, “Many of your loyal guards spoke of you as I made my way here. I am humbled in your presence”.

He bowed with his knees and hands on the ground, and his head down, then slowly rose back up.

“Who are you”? Celestia asked sternly, “and why have you attacked my guards”? “Attacked is such a harsh term”, NK said in a fake innocent tone, “I prefer “exercising my right to defend myself”.

He glanced over at Princess Luna, and was immediately taken with her appearance.

“Me-yow”! He said in a smooth tone, “You must be Princess Luna. I must say, I found the stories of when you were Nightmare Moon, very entertaining”.

Princess Luna glared in disgust at the evil prince. Princess Celestia slowly descended from her throne.

“I insist that you leave”, She said in a firm tone. “Oh how rude”, NK said in the same fake hurt tone, “we were never even properly introduced. I’m Necroknight”!

Upon exclaiming his name, Necroknight aimed his cannon at Celestia and fired. Celestia quickly flew up above, instantly dodging his attack. Using her magic, she fired a bright beam from her horn right at NK, but the evil warrior blocked it with his sword. He then fired his cannon again, but it was once again dodged as the Princess barrel rolled out of the path of the beam. Celestia seemed to have everything under control.

But then, NK conjured up a long purple chain, twirled it around like a lasso, then casted it towards Celestia. Celestia was instantly caught, her powers slowly dissipating in the glowing manacle. Crying out in pain, she slowly descended, until she was kneeling before the Prince of the Dead.

“That’s a good princess”, NK said in a dark satisfied tone, “Bow before your new king”. “Not if I have anything to say about it”! Exclaimed Luna, who was getting ready to charge.

Instantly, NK drew his dragon katana, and then stuck the tip at Celestia’s throat. This made Luna instantly freeze with a look of horror.

“Ah ah ah”, NK warned, “Any attempt at rescue, and your kingdom’s gonna be short 1 princess”.

Luna gasped at the horrific notion. The midnight blue alicorn glared at NK, feeling her eyes fill with tears. Seeing no other option, the princess hung her head in defeat.

“That’s a good pony”, NK said, dragging Celestia to the throne.

As LP took his place at the throne, and sat down, he grabbed hold of Celestia’s horn.

“I desire a trophy”, he said in his dark tone, “As a reminder of this day”.

And with that, he drew his sword, lifted it over his head, and brought it down with blinding speed. The princess of night watched in horror as the katana sliced through her sister’s horn as if it were bread. Celestia cried in pain as the grey skinned usurper grasped the now cut horn in his hand. Celestia’s forehead looked like a tree stump where her horn used to be.

“Very beautiful”, NK said inspecting it. “You won’t get away with this”, Luna said, her voice holding back a sob after what happened. “On the contrary my dear princess”, LP said, rubbing a hand across her face, “My rule has just begun”.

And with that, NK let out a triumphant and evil laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, the two unsuspecting heroes and their four pony companions walked down the forest path. To help matters and speed the finding of Ponyville, Rarity had given Jay a piece of cloth she had found at the bottom of her hoof. She assumed she had unintentionally picked it up when she ran out of the house. Jay was at the front of the company, sniffing the ground diligently.

“Still picking up Rarity’s trail Jay?” Finn asked. “Uh huh”, he said, not taking his eyes off the ground. “Are we almost there!?” Scootaloo called from the back. “Nope”! Jay called back, “Still got a good while to go!”

The CMC groaned.

“My hooves are killing me!” Sweetie Belle complained. “Would you like me to carry you?” Rarity offered. “That actually sounds nice”, Sweetie Belle said tiredly.

So Sweetie Belle hopped on her sisters back. Just then, Jay stood up. He was really picking up a scent.

“Hey I got something”! Jay announced.

Finn ran up to him.

“Whatcha got”? Finn asked.

Jay inhaled deeply.

“Smells like, Potions, Quill pen ink, and…Dragon scales”? “Sounds like Zecora and Twilight”, said Rarity, “and Spike must be with them”. “Well what are we waiting for?! Finn exclaimed, while hurriedly walking forwards, “Let’s find these guys so we can get out of here!!!!!” “Finn, don’t!” Jay exclaimed out of concern.

What Finn didn’t realize was that there had been another reason Jay stopped. He stopped because they were at the edge of a cliff. As soon as Finn got to the edge, he immediately lost his footing and started tumbling down the hill. Jay and the others watched as he rolled like a log down the slope. Meanwhile at Zecora’s hut, Twilight Sparkle was just finishing her check list.

“Thanks for the ingredients Zecora”, she said politely, “I had just ran out and am working on a new potion recipe”.

The ring wearing zebra smiled kindly.

“Your gratitude’s accepted”, she said, “I’m glad to help you with what needed to be collected”.

Twilight smiled.

“Spike is that the last thing on the list”? Twilight asked. “Yep, that’s about it”, Spike said, viewing the list.

Just then they heard what sounded like a log coming down a hill. Then, CRASH! Finn had landed through the roof, and landed on Zecora’s floor.

“Blessed me”! Zecora exclaimed, “What manner of creature could this be?!”

Finn groaned in pain, then slowly opened his eyes and saw the three of them standing in front of them.

“Cool! A zebra”! Finn exclaimed with glee, “and another unicorn with a dragon! You must Twilight and Spike”.

The Lavender Unicorn and her Dragon friend were surprised the strange creature knew their names.

“Finn the Human, Jr”, Finn said bowing, “At your service.”

Twilight and Spike exchanged a look of curiosity. Out of all the strange creatures Twilight had seen, this one had cracked the scale. But seeing as how he wasn’t a threat or frightening in the least, Twilight and Spike managed to smile.

“Pleasure to meet you Finn the Human Junior”, Twilight said trotting towards him. “It’s just Finn”, Finn said sensitively. “Ok, it’s nice to meet you, Finn,” Twilight said correctly.

The two of them shook hands, or appendages or whatever.

“A human”? Twilight said curiously, “I’ve never heard of such a creature”. “Well I guess were making history”, Finn said enthusiastically.

Twilight smiled. Finn looked over at Spike.

“Wow, this is actually my first time seeing a dragon”, said Finn. “Really?” Spike said surprised. “Well truthfully it’s been a while”, Finn said honestly, “I don’t see that many dragons, and even when I do, they’re not really this friendly”.

Spike smiled nonetheless. Finn then turned his attention to Zecora. He walked over to her.

“Please forgive me for what happened to your roof”, he said sadly, “I’d be much obliged to help fix it”.

Zecora smiled.

“Your guilt can now end”, she said warmly, “For I am now happy to call you my friend. And as for the roof, the damages can be mended. But come back any time, your company would be splendid”.

She slowly extended her hoof. Finn smiled and shook it.

“I’m guessing your Zecora”, Finn said. “Although how you know me is odd, I’d suspect, but in this case, however, you are correct”, said Zecora.

Just then, Jay and the others walked in.

“There you are man! Are you ok”?! Jay asked concerned. “I’m fine”, Finn said reassuringly.

Finn took Jay aside, and introduced him to his new friends

“Jay, this is Zecora, Spike and Twilight”, Finn said.

Jay smiled at Twilight. She smiled back. Immediately, his heart started beating like a drum.

“H-Hi”, he said nervously. “Hi”, she said enthusiastically.

After exchanging salutations with the other 2, Jay explained how they got there, and how they were lost.

“Well you’re in luck”, Spike said happily. “Yeah, you guys can tag along with us”, Twilight added. “Oh thank goodness”, Rarity said in exhaustion, “I don’t think I could’ve spent another night in this horrid forest”.

Everyone shared a laugh. Later, Finn, Jay, Rarity, and the Crusaders followed Spike and Twilight back to Ponyville. It took a moment for Finn to take it all in. To him, everything there was…beautiful.

“This place is awesome”! Finn exclaimed. “I gotta admit”, Jay confessed, “The new perspective is pretty intoxicating”.

As they walked down the street, they were met with looks of curiosity from the passerby’s. It didn't bother them though, and they showed their contentedness by waving at all the ponies who passed them by.

“I really think you boys are gonna like it here”, Sweetie Belle said happily. “Adventure may not happen here as often as it does where you come from, but there’s still plenty to do”, Rarity added. “That’s all well and good, But where are we gonna find a house?!” Jay exclaimed. “We’ll settle all that later, I want the two of you to meet the rest of my friends”, Twilight said.

Jay sighed.

“Alright”, Jay said reluctantly, “But there better be food. All I had to eat was marshmallows last night and they weren’t as filling as I thought”.

The CMC’s shared a laugh, while Jay blushed a little. Twilight led them to Sugar Cube Corner. As they entered, Finn and Jay marveled at the large selections of cakes and sweets, Well, Finn marveled, Jay drooled. They were soon introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

“Finn the Human and Jay the Dog, meet Carrot Cake and his wife Cup Cake”, Twilight said. “Pleasure”, Jay said nodding. “Nice to meet you, sir and madam”, Finn said bowing slightly. “Please, the pleasure is ours”, Cup cake said humbly. “It’s not every day you meet a human”, Carrot Cake added happily, “then again, we don’t get many humans here anyway”.

Just then, a pink pony with pink frizzy hair carrying 2 foals, one a boy Pegasus and the other a girl unicorn, walked in through the saloon doors. The fillies’ name was Pinkie Pie, and the babies’ names were Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake.

“Oh and that’s Pinkie Pie”, Twilight said, pointing over to her.

Pinkie Pie lifted her head after hearing her name. And after seeing the 2 boys, she looked quite surprised.

“Hi there”, they said in unison.

In an instant, she gasped, handed the babies to Mrs. Cake, and then ran out the door.

“Oh-kay”, Jay said confused. “Hey you never introduced us to the little ones”, Finn said, referring to the babies. “This is our son Pound Cake and our daughter Pumpkin Cake”, said Mr. Cake. “Awww they’re so cute”, Finn said sweetly.

The 2 foals looked at Finn curiously, and then started giggling. Finn smiled.

“So what was Pinkie Pie’s deal back there”? Jay asked Twilight, “Was she being ‘telepathically’ paged’ ”? “No”, Twilight said snickering, “you’ll soon see”.

Just then, 3 more ponies, one a regular and the other two pegasi, walked in through the doors.

The blue Pegasus with the rainbow mane, and whose name was Rainbow Dash, was the first to speak.

“Hey Twilight, we heard Pinkie Pie shouting about 2 newcomers, and thought we’d be check ‘em out”, she said.

The light gold Pegasus with the Cotton Candy Pink mane, whose name was Fluttershy, stared curiously at Finn and Jay. She then quickly turned away when they returned eye contact, which made them curious. That’s when the light orange pony with the blonde mane and the cowboy hat, and whose name was Applejack, walked up to the bows.

“Y’all will have to excuse Fluttershy”, she said apologetically, in a southern accent similar to Apple Bloom’s, “She’s not used to meeting new folk, unlike me. I’m Applejack of Sweet Apple Acres; I already see you met my sister Apple Bloom, and the other Pegasus over there is Rainbow Dash”.

Apple Bloom smiled at the mention of her name. Applejack started shaking their hands rapidly. As she shook, Finn exchanged a smile with Jay, who also smiled.

“I like her”, Finn said enthusiastically. “Me too”, Jay replied.

Applejack smiled at the comment. Jays smiled soon turned into a frown as he turned to Twilight.

“Ok so we met your friends”, he said firmly, “but what are we gonna do for a house”? “We could give you guys the guest room”, Spike offered. “Actually we would like to see your house”, Finn said.  “Yeah, we would”, Jay added.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finn and Jay stared, mouths gaping open, at Twilight’s house made from a tree. And even more taken by the inside. Shelves and shelves of books, different kinds and different genres. Living in a tree of their own, they had thought that their house was the most impressive. Seeing Twilight’s Library quickly put the vision of their own tree house on the scale.

“Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library”, Twilight said. “You live in a library”? Finn asked. “I love to read”, Twilight replied. “I had actually wanted to live in a library when I was 7”, Jay confessed. “That’s cool Jay”, Twilight said. “You did not, you told me you wanted to live in an ice cream shop”, Finn hissed. “Shut up, she doesn’t know that”! Jay hissed back.

Finn and Jay forced a smile when Twilight turned around.

“It’s all nice Twilight, but I don’t think it would be right”, Finn confessed sadly. “It’s totes awkward sleeping in a house with someone you hardly know”. “Well what do you suggest”? Jay asked. “I actually had an idea a few seconds ago”, Finn confessed.

As Finn whispered his idea to Jay, his face slowly began beaming with delight. A few moments later, the 2 boys located a vacant spot outside of Ponyville, and after a few moments of construction and thumb hitting, the boys had made a large barn looking house with red walls, a large dark brown front door, and a black roof.

“We did a good job didn’t we”? Jay said half exhausted. “Aunt Lady and Uncle Jake would be proud Jay”, Finn said confidently.

Jay sniffled, holding back a sob. The five ponies, along with Spike, stood behind them. Finn and Jay turned around to them.

“We’d like to thank you all for your help and support”, Jay said gratefully. “We really appreciate it”, Finn said honestly. “Shoot, that’s what friends do for each other”, Applejack said humbly.

Finn slightly winced at the word “friend”.

“I’ll do anything to keep anybody from living on the streets”, Rarity said proudly. “We were glad to lend a hoof”, Twilight said happily. “It’s a lovely home”, Fluttershy said softly. “I, err, we designed it after my parents’ house”, Jay said, “We actually live in a tree house like Twilight, but we decided to hit a little closer to home”. “And what better place to build than one where you ran around in diapers”? Finn joked. “Shut up”! Jay exclaimed.

Everyone but Jay shared a laugh. Later that evening, Pinkie Pie threw Finn and Jay a party the likes of which they had never seen before. The party was extravagant, upbeat, and all around, a hoot and a half. Just as the party neared the end, Spike felt a feeling grow in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly, he belched a large amount of flame, and with it, came a scroll.

“He can produce scrolls from his fire”?! Finn exclaimed out of surprise, “That is totally math”! “What’s math got to do with anything”? Rainbow Dash asked confused. “It’s his own way of saying its cool”, Jay explained”. “Oh, I get it".

After closely examining the articles in the parchment, Spikes eyes grew wide and he became very petrified. He slowly turned to Twilight, handing her the paper.

“Twilight”, he said worriedly, “I think you need to read this”.