Chapter #1 - First Sparks {3/4 EDIT}
AUTHOR'S NOTE: PLEASE READ FIRST!
This chapter has been partially revised and edited to the point of virtually no grammar, punctuation or spelling mistakes. However, I have only edited about 3/4s of this chapter, and therefore, not completely finished editing. The finished version will come in time, however, I'm changing my main focus from revising this chapter to creating chapter two. So, you will probably not see the completely finished version for a week or two.
I'm going to start focusing on chapter two because I want to get this story moving, since it was only supposed to be a short story and I'm already pushing 5000 words per chapter, I'm really behind schedule for what I planned to write.
Editing this chapter ended up taking way too much of what little time I have to write.
Anyways, Enjoy Chapter 1 of Return of The Inferno!
*Sigh*
Back here again, am I?
…Not like it’s a bad thing, no. But I definitely have certain… feelings about this place. One could consider them happy feelings. Happy feeling that come from joyful and adventurous memories. Heck, some of my most memorable moments come from this colorful, crazy place. And what a crazy place this is… Filled with fascinating monsters, unexplained mysteries and magic as far as the eye could see. There was never a dull moment in this world; only cheerful, hyper or scary experiences ever passed this place.
I fly in south, observing the peaceful little town called Ponyville. Flapping my wings in place, I search for a hiding spot to make sure that all my preparations are complete. I spot a dark alleyway in the corner of my eye, and start to head down. I start to slow my decent, my wings blowing up dust and dirt until I land with a soft but noticeable *clop*. I check down the alley, just to make sure no pony is there to watch me. Once I feel safe, I begin to conjure my disguise.
I will my horn to churn the magic in the air and start to form a brown leather cloak. No pony will notice what the material is made of, so it won’t really matter what I make the cloak out of. After a few seconds, I have a perfectly tailored brown cloak for me to wear. But I’m not done yet. I then start to focus on my mind’s eye: the picture of a brown cowboy’s hat. I close my eyes while letting the magic condense and contract several times. I stop the flow of magic to see that I’ve created a perfect match to what I imagined. Then, I observe my complete costume: A brown cloak with a brown hat to match. I slip the cloak over my back, covering up my wings and cutie mark. Then, I place the hat on top of my mane, which did not stop my wild, pointy hair from stocking out everywhere, but it did serve it's original purpose: to cover my horn. I grumble, trying to flatten it to keep it out of my eyes.
I check to make sure everything’s in place, then check for any nosy ponies that could have been watching my private magic show. Finally, I head out of the alleyway and onto the local street while checking my mental map of Ponyville for where I needed to go next. A few seconds later, I look and observe the nearest street sign, trying to figure out where I am. "Hmm..." I hum to myself. I recognize this street name… And yet, I don’t. Like I’ve said, it’s been a substantially long amount time since I’ve been here, so my memory’s a little bit rusty. I frown, mentally telling myself to try and visit this place when I’m not on a mission.
I have to admit, this is one of the more pleasant and peaceful worlds that I’ve been to. Every day is sunny and virtually cloudless with a light south wind. The locals here are all the different kinds of friendly, kind, fun-filled, excited, hyper, crazy, and and many more adjectives that I could add on but would take forever. Makes them some of the most interesting folk I’ve ever meet. There's lots of exotic, fascinating locations around Equestria such as Froggy Bottom bog, Everfree forest, Whitetail Wood and Bubblegoop Swamp.
The rulers of this place are pretty nice too.
Anyways, according to my somewhat sketchy memory, I think that I’m at the west edge of the market district. Although now that I think about it, it’s kinda obvious that I’m somewhere in the market area, seeing as there are fillies and foal everywhere shopping for various fruits, vegetables, and other food items. Produce stalls littered around the street curbs, various ponies pulling carts full of different kinds of sell-able items, groups of ponies are bunching together at one particular stall: yep, this is the Ponyville market.
I start my trek through the market. Not surprisingly, everypony is focused on doing their own business and NOT paying attention at all to the strange stallion with a dark hat and cloak walking past the busy streets. Normally, I would think that I look very suspicious and peculiar, but I forget that I’m in the pony world now, where almost every sentient living being here's as innocent as a 4 year old, meaning that they wouldn't look at me twice. But that's just the nature of this place, happy and cheerful with sunshine and smiles everywhere!
I continue to trot briskly towards my destination. And what destination did I have in mind? Well, actually no specific location, however, I did wanted to see if an old friend of mine was still in town, because honestly, I missed her. And even though seeing her might put the spotlight on me with all the racket she would cause, I just can’t help myself. I haven’t seen her in such a long time! Skipping this opportunity would hurt my heart.
As I approach the edge of the market, I spot a stall that looks wayyyyyy too familiar. It had an red apple picture made out of wood that was hammered onto the front of the table that had the cash register. I tilt my hat downwards as I attempt to pass the stall without getting recognized.
“That’ll be 11 bits please!”
I frown. The southern accent coming from that pony sounds exactly like somepony I know. If she’s the pony then I’m thinking of, well then, I’m taking a huge risk coming across her stall like this. I try and keep my head down while trucking around her stall. Looking behind me, I realize that she didn't even notice me. That's good for me, but I guess I was kinda secretly hoping that she would notice me. After all, risks are supposed to be exciting, aren't they? Well, whatever. At least now I can just move on, knowing that I won't see her at the location I'm headed to.
After passing a few more shops and stalls, I finally exit the market district and continue walking towards my destination. I sigh with relief, the enormous weight of so many ponies watching me lifting off my back. Checking my mental map once again, I figured that I was about 3 blocks away from my goal. But then, I also remembered a certain building right beside my location. Turning my head to the right, I spot a large oak tree that had a front door, several windows, and even a balcony installed onto it. My guess was right: I was right beside the Ponyville Library. Checking my immediate area to make sure no pony was watching, I trot over to one of the library windows.
Looking inside the windows, I see books of all shapes, sizes and forms shelved against the inner walls of the tree. There were several scrolls and pieces of parchment scarred on random spots on the floor. That's strange. Normally the library's owner is more organized and tidy than this... It might just be an off day for her. Come to think of it, I don't see any living being in there, so both members of the library's staff must be out, otherwise that grumpy little assistant of hers would probably be cleaning up the place, as usual.
I start to walk away from the Library. Slightly disappointed, I hold my head up towards my destination. After traveling for a few more minutes, I finally reached my target. I make a small smirk as I observe my rest stop:
The main colour of the building was a white that you would see from a white chocolate chip cookie. The front door and windows were a matching pink colour, while the pieces of wood that were supporting the structure were painted a dark, chocolate brown. You could call the roof the main course of the delicacy; it seemed that it was made out of fudge. Fortunately, it wasn’t, or else it would melt right off on some of Ponyville's scorching hot days. The entire theme of the building was fitting for what it served. If my memory serves me well, then it must be a bakery of some sort, selling every kind of sugary treat you could get your greedy little hooves on. I vaguely remember the name of the place, but that soon changed when I read a sign above the door that I don't remember seeing there before. It read:
“The Sugarcube Corner”
I approach and enter the building, slamming the door forcefully to the side by accident. All the ponies in the room looked towards me. I added a quiet “Heh…Oops!” before turning around and closing the door with extra care to make up for the loud *BANG* I made a few moments ago. Everypony in the room went back to what they were doing before. I look around and take note of my surroundings. Man, this place is so much different then I remember! They’ve must have changed the layout since I was here! Has it really been that long since I’ve been Ponyville? So many good memories come from this place. Lots of adventures, lots of fun and intense moments…
Anyways, this place is certainly no longer a bakery; it looks to be a café of some sort. Tables and haystacks were set up all around the room, coloured and fitted appropriately to match the theme of the rest of the building. The main room was substantially larger, looking to be able to fit several dozen ponies (if crammed in) at a time. There was a front desk with a bit register and a bell (to order service). At the back of the room, I could clearly make out a green door, probable leading to the kitchen or something.
There were a few waitresses scrambling around the room, but I had no time to wait for them, so I just picked a table and sat down. As I was getting comfortable, I got startled by an unexpected high pitched greeting.
“Hi-ya mister!”
I jumped up a few feet in surprise, almost falling over. As my mind scrambles to get my thoughts in order, I looked up to see who was addressing me. “Welcome to the Sugarcube Corner! My name is Pinkie Pie, and I’ll be your waitress for today! Nice to meet-cha!”
Pinkie held out a friendly hoof. She was the same Pinkie Pie I remembered: Pink, energetic, friendly and poof-y. Her mane was a swirl of dark pink, as always. I couldn’t see her cutie mark from the angle I was facing her from, but I knew it couldn’t have changed since I saw her last. I remember that her cutie mark was three balloons that were coloured yellow, blue, and yellow, respectively. She wore a pink and white apron that perfectly matched the pearly white smile she was giving me.
I hesitantly shook her hoof in a return greeting. I was thinking to myself “Since when did waitresses wanted to befriend you?” But then I remembered that I was talking to Pinkie Pie, and social interaction (and other kinds of) rules don’t necessarily apply to her. Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve conversed with such an odd species. I’ve been to many places and have seen many things in my lifetime, but without a doubt, Ponyville is the most interesting and intriguing out of all of them. But, then again, that might just be my nostalgia speaking for me. Needless to say, I was excited to see my old pink friend again.
“So, what can I get-cha to drink first? We’ve got cranberry juice, apple juice, blueberry juice, Strawberry juice, pineapple juice, mango juice, fruit punch, milkshakes, chocolate milk and iced tea! Oh, and water.” Pinkie Pie added at the end of her list of quenchers. She grabbed a pencil and notepad out of nowhere and held both in hoof, ready to take my order.
“I’ll start with some two percent milk and some water.” I responded.
“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Chirped Pinkie Pie. I observe her with a studying eye while she scribbles down my order. Normally, I can read ponies like an open book; I can tell what they’re thinking, what they’re feeling at that exact moment, what they’re current desires are, ect. However, I have always found Pinkie Pie’s a tough one to crack. This disturbs me greatly, because as a close friend of hers, I should know what kind of thinking patterns and habits she has… And yet, I don’t. Have I forgotten who Pinkie Pie is? Have I ever known in the first place? I cannot tell.
Why am I trying to read her thoughts you ask? Well, I’m extremely nervous by the fact that Pinkie Pie is in fact the single most threatening pony to disrupt my plan. She has a tendency to place her nosey little muzzle where it doesn’t belong, so that means that I have to be extra, EXTRA vigilant and careful about what I say and how I act around her. I could have just avoided her altogether and instead go to a different restaurant, to save me the trouble of having to see her. However, I couldn’t carry out my mission knowing that I had the chance to see one of my friends again and I skipped it. It was just too much of an emotional weight to bear. That’s why I went to this particular café: to see this particular pony, as my waitress.
“Hey… Wait a second… Haven’t I seen you before or something?” Pinkie abruptly asks me, looking up from her notepad.
“Uhh… No. Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen YOU before, never the less MET you before, so that probably means that you haven’t seen me before. Maybe your mistaking me for somepony else?” I suggested, trying to drive Pinkie away from my personal information. I knew I was a good liar, and a very good actor, but I certainly recall that Pinkie Pie tends to ask a lot of questions. And I mean A LOT, of questions. And that of course means trouble for me.
“Hmm…” Pinkie pondered while tapping her left hoof on her chin, making an intense thinking face. “Well, I remember everypony that comes across Ponyville, so that means I have seen you before! But then again, I could be mistaking you for somepony else. Whatever! Since you claim to not have seen me before, then that must mean that you’re new in Ponyville! So, welcome to Ponyville!” Pinkie Pie said while scooping up my hoof to give me another hoofshake.
“Whoops! How silly of me! I never even got to learn your name! So what’s your name?” Pinkie inquired, stopping her hoofshake unexpectedly.
“Call me… Inferno.”
“Wow. That’s a cool name! Inferno… Inferno… It certainly suits your fur and mane colour!” Pinkie observed.
I look down at my front legs to examine my coat colour, even though I already know what I look like. She was referring to the fact that my body is reddish-orangeish, while my mane is a combination of red, orange and yellow. I bet if you were looking at me from a distance, you would think I was some kind of walking fire shaped like a pony. Now, I was using my fake cover-up name to Pinkie Pie, for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll tell you my real name. I still don’t trust you enough to spill my personal information, especially considering what’s at stake here.
“Well, nice to meet you Inferno! I really want to call you my friend right now, but I can’t do that if I don’t know anything about you! So, I want to know where you come from, what your cutie mark is, who your family is, what your house looks like, what your favorite foods are, what your favorite party games-“ Pinkie ranted on.
Like I’ve said in the past, I’ve planned for this kind of ‘interrogation’. However, I certainly didn’t plan this far back into my ‘backstory’ and there was no way in heck that I could answer all those questions without sounding like a total liar. She would be able to read through my disguise like a toaster made of glass.
…
Ok, so maybe that wasn’t the best anthology I’ve made. But, I’m getting my point across, right? If I start to screw up my acting in front of her, then I’ll probably end up in deep doo-doo! So, I just quickly need to think up a way to create a conversation detour…
“Whoa, whoa! Hang on a second! One question at a time!” I interjected Pinkie Pie before she could extend her checklist of what personal questions she needed to ask me. She stopped in mid-sentence and game me a curious look. Ok, now that I have her attention, I can take control of this wild ride…
“I’ll just start answering your questions from the beginning, so it won’t be confusing for either me or you. Is that ok?” I ask. Pinkie madly nods her head in anticipation.
“I think the first question you asked was where I lived, correct?” Pinkie nods her head again. “Well, I come from a cloud city that’s all the way up north. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it or not, but does the name ‘Skyrim’ ring any bells in your mind?”
“Hmm…” Pinkie began, putting her hoof to her chin and started turning her brain on. Before she got far into her thinking process, she blurted aloud “Wait! You said that you come from a cloud city! But you can’t, because you’re just an earth pony! And earth ponies fall through clouds!”
Then it hit me. “Oh! You don’t know! Oops! My bad, I guess I forgot to mention…”
I unravel my wing from underneath my cloak. The sudden gust of wind lifted the cloak in the air just enough for Pinkie to get a glimpse of my wings. She widened her eyes in surprise while I smirked in cocky bliss. It was so satisfying, seeing that purely shocked look on her pink, happy face. I furled up my wings again as the cloak fell down to my sides.
“YOU’RE a Pegasus?” Pinkie exclaimed.
I nodded my head. It took her a few seconds to process the information. “Well, that explains why you live in a cloud city! So what are you doing in a little Earth Pony café like this?”
“Well, I was kind of getting hungry from traveling, and I suddenly remembered that one of my friends told me about this great café that was in a small town called Ponyville. Since I was in Ponyville, or, in another sense, I am in Ponyville, I thought I would pop in to visit and see if it lives up to what my friend says.” I explained.
Her face lit up like she just won a big box o’ candy. “Wow! I can’t believe it! The Sugarcube Corner is getting a name for itself! I would have never guessed! Well, maybe I would have guessed some point in the future, but still! We’re known outside of Ponyville! And we have a fantastic reputation to boot! This is great news! Ms. Cake will be soooooo happy to hear this!” Pinkie squealed as she hopped around my table.
I smiled, glad to see the hyperactive pony so joyful. Well, I guess this visit isn’t going to be as bad as I thought. But I kinda need to move this conversation along…
“Hey. Uh, Pinkie?” I asked the delighted pink spring. She stopped and stood completely still as her hooves touched the wooden floor and stood completely still, except for the landing, in which she wobbled on spot like a bobblehead’s head.
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you supposed to take my order or something?”
“Oh, right! I’ll be right back with your drinks and a menu!” She said, disappearing into the Sugarcube Corner’s kitchen with such speed that I had to look twice to make sure I saw everything right.
I leaned back onto my chair, taking a moment to relax. I knew from my mental clock that the time to go was getting nearer, so I started to mentally prepare myself for the upcoming onslaught of enemies and monsters that I would likely have to face, defeat and purge from this dimension (not necessarily in that order). Like I’ve said previously, if my plan goes without any hitches or bumps, then no pony will get hurt, damage to Ponyville will be minimal and it would be as if nothing ever happened. Of course, based on my past experiences, none of my plans have gone perfectly straight, but that’s why I make back-up plans, just in case something goes wrong. And besides, if something does go wrong, well, I have complete confidence in myself that I’ll pull through and save this world.
Somehow.
Suddenly, the front door of the café slammed open. Everypony in the room (including me) turn their heads to see what the noisy entrance was about. I saw four ponies burst through the door, creating dust clouds behind them from their speed. I know these four ponies way too well, so I tilt my hat downward and try to make myself invisible (figuratively speaking, not using spells), cursing my luck that they would come to this exact place at this exact time. Of course, I was also hoping they wouldn’t recognize me.
“Pinkie! Pinkie, where are you?” Called out one of the four ponies, who was a purple unicorn with a pink star cutie mark. “We need you right now!”
“Pinkie! Aw, gosh darn it! Where is that girl?” demanded another pony from the group, who was orange and was wearing a cowgirl hat. She was the same pony that I saw at the apple stand, with the same southern accent.
“I’m here girls!” Pinkie approached from behind the group of ponies, making them all jump and squeal in shock.
“What’s going on?” She asked.
“It’s terrible! Horribly awful! Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo all went into the Everfree forest! I can’t imagine what kind of dangers they could get themselves into!” answered yet another pony from the group. She was white with a purple mane, but unlike the others in the group, her mane shined with an extra brilliance. She had three blue diamonds as a cutie mark.
“Ah remember Applebloom talking about some kind of map back at the farm. Ah thought it was just some kind of innocent scavenger hunt, but ah would of stopped her right then and there if ah knew she would lead herself and her friends into the Everfree forest!” panicked the orange pony.
“Can you come help us find them?” inquired the purple pony.
“Sure thing! Let me just finish serving a few customers, tell Ms. Cake that I’m coming with you girls then we can be off!” Pinkie Pie replied, one again zooming into the kitchen.
I slowly tilt my head back up so I could clearly see all the ponies’ faces. Great. It looks like the C.M.C. has gotten themselves into yet another mess. But I know that Twilight can handle this. She’s been in worse situations before, and she’s got her friends to support her. It’s just another episode of Twilight’s life in Ponyville. I have no reason to interfere. Besides, I kinda hate to admit it, but there’s a more pressing matter than the C.M.C. getting lost in the Everfree forest.
Yes, I know all the ponies in that group. I counted four ponies, but I know that there are six in their circle of friends. Well, at one point there was actually seven, but I’d prefer to avoid that topic. I identified all the ponies in the group: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy were present and before my eyes. Adding Pinkie Pie into the equation, there were five of the six elements of harmony inside one building. “Now where’s the last one?” I muttered quietly voice to no pony in particular.
All of the sudden, I could hear a high-pitched scream coming from a distance. I swivel my head and look out the window to barely catch a glimpse of a light blue blur smashing through the window. I wince and shut my eyes as I heard a crashing sound, followed by a crumbling sound, and the feeling of the entire room shaking from the impact. When I opened my eyes, a large fraction of the room was in a mess. Dust was flung into the air, making everypony in the café cough. Where there used to be a clean, pink window was now a gigantic gaping hole in the wall. What used to be the brown chairs and tables of that part of the room are now piles of useless, broken furniture. The floor was cracked and damaged from the way the U.F.O. slid across it once it landed against the mahogany. All the ponies that were in the path of the disaster were either cowering in a corner or lying somewhere random in the room, dazed from getting smacked aside from the light blue object.
I looked over to where the light blue thing ended up. There was a pony with the top half of it’s body stuck in the wall. There were some muffled groans and yells as the pony in the wall frantically tried to pull itself out. I could already tell who just this nutbag was, with it’s coat being a light blue and it’s tail holding various colors of the rainbow. She placed her back legs against the wall and started to try and push herself out. After a few tries, she finally got out with a *pop* and rolled across the floor from the force she used to get herself out. She stopped rolling to a somewhat lying down position, looking very befuddled and out of it.
I just sat there and shook my head. Good old Rainbow Dash. Always getting into an accident with one of her new-fangled tricks (I intended to sound like an old timer there). But cheese-in*! This one was a real catastrophe, even for Rainbow! I wonder what the heck she tried to do in order to get this messed up… I shifted my eyes towards Twilight’s group. They were all standing there, jaws gaping open and speechless to what events just occurred in front of their eyes.
I saw some movement to my right. Rainbow was shaking her head wildly, trying to get used to the shock of the impact. She got up with a “Bububububu!” and an unknown cow bell rang loudly in the distance. She observed what she’d just done, and all she had to say for it was “Heh heh… Oops.” She sheepishly looked at the ponies that she knocked down. All of them gave her a dirty look. “Rainbow!” Called out Fluttershy, who was the first to rush to the rainbow coloured Pegasus.
“Are you ok? Are you hurt? Any broken or fractured limbs?” questioned Fluttershy, who was getting flustered searching for any injuries that Rainbow caused herself.
“I’m fine! It’s gonna take more than a little crash to bring me down!” Rainbow Dash reassured Fluttershy with a brash smile.
“A little crash you say? You call that a little crash?” Rarity threw at Rainbow as the group of friends approached her.
“Gosh darn it, you’ve nearly brought the whole roof down just by your stupid, overly complicated tricks!” Exclaimed Applejack.
Rainbow started to defend herself when Twilight jumped into the scolding and said “Are you CRAZY? You could of seriously hurt somepony, or even yourself! I’ve already told you several times not to practice your tricks and routines over Ponyville! What the heck were you thinking when you attempted a trick that could bring so much damage?”
“I’m sorry, ok! I had an accident while doing one of my tricks and ended up bailing into the Sugarcube corner. I promise that I’ll pay for any repair costs, just get off my back, ok?” snapped Rainbow Dash, obviously crumbling from the peer pressure that her friends were giving her.
The entire room fell silent. Rainbow started scanning everypony in the room for some kind of support or understanding. Every eye she met with she only saw hatred and scorn. When she looked towards her friends, she saw disappointment and embarrassment (as in, embarrassed to be her friend). Even Fluttershy looked slightly annoyed at her. Suddenly, she looked towards me. I flicked my head towards an interesting piece of fluff on my table. When I looked back, I could see tears forming in her eyes, even though I knew she was a tough girl.
Well, at least she’s taking some responsibility for it. That’s some improvement from that Rainbow Dash that I used to know…
“Ok girls! Ms. Cake says that I can go help look for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I just have to be back by the rush hour and-“
While Pinkie Pie was re-emerging from the back of the kitchen, she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the devastation that was the inside of her workplace.
“Whoa, what the heck happened here?” she asked her group of friends.
“Don’t ask, let’s just go already and start looking for Applebloom and her friends…” Twilight mumbled as she started to walk towards the front door.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Yep, all of them are here, at this exact place, at this exact moment. Coincident? I think not! I really hate the situation that I’m in right now, but it seems to me that they are too distracted from Rainbow’s rude entrance to recognize anypony right now. Unfortunately, that’s a good thing for me. However, I’m still troubled by the fact that something big is going to happen in a few moments and the mane 6 are here, right in front of the pony who’s gonna save them all!
I prayed to Celestia, asking her what the heck I did to deserve this.
Suddenly, the entire building started to shake. It wasn’t like before when Rainbow’s crash landing shook the whole room, oh no. Instead, this kind of rumble shook the entire foundation of the building, and seemed to shake the outside world too. It was like a miniature earthquake, with the table condiments vibrating and the plates rattling off the tables. Everypony that was standing either fell over or almost lost their balance from the trembling floor underneath them. There was a loud cracking sound, followed by an even louder smashing sound. When the shaking stopped, Everypony in the room got to their hooves, looking around and looking quite confused.
“What the hay just happened?” asked Applejack to no pony in particular.
“Shit just hit the fan.” I muttered to myself, already out of my seat and leaping over the hole in the wall that Rainbow just conveniently placed.
Notes for stars:
*It’s a substitute swear word, where the words “cheese and crackers” replace “Jesus Christ”. Also, the line is cut short, just leaving a “cheese-in” remaining in the sentence.
Chapter #2 - Fire in The Sky {1/3 COMPLETE}
AUTHOR'S NOTE: PLEASE READ!
I highly suggest that you check out my latest blog post either before or after you read this chapter. It explains how I will be updating future chapters from now on, and possible future projects.
Anyways, Enjoy chapter 2 of "Return of The Inferno"
I was running.
The sound of my hoofsteps rang throughout the streets of Ponyville. I really wasn’t heading towards a specific place, but I was trying to locate a certain object that would be the center of my mission. While speeding along the cobblestone roads, it didn’t occur to me that my enemies may be located upwards. It took another miniature earthquake for my head to swing upwards and see the massive mothership above me.
Looming above Ponyville was a typical spaceship that you would see from any kind of sci-fi movie. Of course, that meant that it far surpass any technology that ponies have so far. It was completely made of metal, with several nooks, lights and cannons hanging out the bottom of the hull. It’s would take forever for me to explain the exact shape that the ship took, so I can basically summarize it by saying that it looked like a mixture of the U.S.S. Enterprise, the Millennium falcon, and any other kind of humongous spacecraft that you can think of. The only thing that can be certain about it is that it has arrowhead-like shape to it.
Anyways, the size of the spacecraft was so gigantic that it blocked the sun’s rays. I quickly shot a glance down the streets around me. All the houses, streetlamps, carts, shop stalls and ponies were underneath a veil of shade. Speaking of other ponies, the ponies on the streets had dropped what they were doing and stood still to look up at the massive metal vehicle in the sky. Some ponies had their jaws wide open, some ponies had their pupils shrunk to the size of a walnut, and some ponies immediately ran towards the nearest shelter in fear.
“Alien Invasion!” screamed a certain green pony with an apple pie cutie mark.
All the ponies in the area suddenly started to panic. They ran in a confused frenzy, trying to decide whether to wither look for cover or search for their loved ones. In a matter of seconds, the streets around me became a cluster of chaos. Ponies were running into each other, carts of hay and other goods were being knocked down, some of the nearby building got lit on fire somehow. But to top it all off, the invasion didn’t even start yet and already the ponies in Ponyville were wetting their pants in anxiety and fright.
“Stupid Granny Smith…” I muttered to myself. “Why did you have to go and create a riot just by saying two words? And by Celestia’s horn, Discord would be having the time of his life if he was here right now…”
I turned my attention to the Runite Battleship. Squinting and mentally zooming in, I could barely make out tens of hundreds of smaller ships dropping down from the docking bay. Based on the shape and general design of the ships, I’m guessing that they’re deploying transportation ships, probably to transport infantry from the mothership onto Ponyville. Obviously, they were planning to capture this place by sheer violence and force. I was pissed, even though I predicted that this would happen. Not only is this in violation of inter-dimensional code ATA-416, but if the princess saw this, she would probably consider this an act of war.
The infantry ships were slowly descending onto Ponyville. Instead of organizing some kind of defense, the citizens of Ponyville were running around like a bunch of nincompoops, scared and distraught. Obviously, no word of this event has reached Canterlot, or else Celestia’s royal army would probably have been here already. I didn’t even get to start part A of my plan it was already falling apart. Man, I was sure mad.
But what could I do about it? Nothing, that’s what. All I could do is just grit my teeth, and move on to the next part of my plan. So, that’s what I did; got ready to get my hooves dirty.
Swinging my wings out as far as they could, I flapped my wings downwards as hard as I could, easily lifting me up and giving me a 10 meter distance from the ground. I continued to soar upwards until I felt satisfied with my height. Then, I did a quick but sweet dive bomb to get some momentum and instantly pulled upwards, giving me a steady momentum to handle. By using this method with a little bit of Pegasus physics and unicorn magic, I not only can uphold an appropriate flying speed without flapping my wings, but I can increase my velocity tenfold in a blink of an eye.
However, I still need my wings to steer me in the right direction. I tilt the edges of my wings so that I’m pointing towards the enemy ships. Reviewing part one of the plan, I will my magic to zoom me off towards the advancing enemy. Additionally, I start to conjure a flame spell mixed with a shield spell. This will protect me from any laser fire or falling ship parts that try to hit me. Further stocking up my spells, I place a solidifying and sharpening spell on my wings, thus, making my wings as sharp as a diamond blade. These two spells allow my wings to cut any substance that I want; wood, clouds, cake, and even that strong metal armor that the transport ships have attached to their hulls.
Increasing speed, I target and head towards one of the transport ships. My speed is so great that the gap between me and it shorten within a matter of seconds. Not to brag or anything, but if my calculations are correct, I’m pushing Mach 6 right now. Soon, I can see the great detail in the armor of the outer hull of the ship. I further widen out my wings in preparation for contact. As I hit with the thick steel that is the center of the ship, I only had one thought on my mind:
“This ship doesn’t have one damn of a chance.”
I zoom right through the armor, causing it to explode in a fiery display of red, yellow and orange lights. Because of the spells that I placed in preparation, there was not a scratch or bump on my shiny yellow coat. Even though there were bits and pieces of the decimated ship flying everywhere and pelting me, I couldn’t a thing because of my shield spell deflecting every single scrap of metal. Even my cloak and hat were protected from any debris that may try to hit me. I could tell that I was already making quite a show for the onlookers below.
One down, approximately nine hundred and twenty-six to go…But that’s not a problem. By my calculations, if I destroy at least 3 ships a second, then I’ll be finished this part of my plan in less than 30 minutes! It will probably be a record time of the Equestrian books! Although, they may not record the amount of alien ships destroyed within an allowed time, but they should make some kind of record anyways! Well, I better get started…
I head toward my next target. The following moments of my life were spent slicing, stabbing, exploding, and totally annihilating the infantry ships. I rocketed through ship after ship, leaving a wake of brunt metal and destruction behind me. I bet that my mane and coat look perfect for a colourful pyrotechnics show like this one. Even though I had to keep my eyes on my targets, I could imagine my yellow and red tail, swaying with the speed behind me while my mane danced in the gusts of my flying. Combine that with multiple explosions on a dark green background, then… Well, you get the idea.
Even though my speed was increasing with every kill I got (Combo X 291), there were still a sizeable amount of transport ships in the sky, but at the same time, that was working out for my favor. There were so many ships in the sky that not only was it impossible to miss, but I could get ‘multikills’ off of ships that were lined up in perfect synchronization. Barrel rolling, loop-de-looping and U-turning, I managed to increase the runite’s KIA number by the hundreds in a matter of minutes.
But to top it all off, I found it a lot of excitement and joy doing so. Sure, destroying these jerks has always been a fun pastime, but just the pure speed that I have achieved combined with the wind whistling in my ears had created an experience for me that I haven’t felt for what feels like forever. A smile of joy and excitement grew on my face as I continued to foil my enemy’s plans.
While preforming a double-backside barrel roll with an inverted vertical loop, I take a moment glance over at the ponies below. Some of them were gawking at my feats of acrobatics, speechless to make any comments about the alien invasion or the mysterious Pegasus currently pwning them. Others were still running in in panic from the entire situation, but yet still confused and befuddled at what to do next. While some of the younger ones were cheering me on like I was the star of the Hoofball team or their next favorite sport. I started to get that fuzzy feeling, knowing that I was fighting for these kind, caring and peaceful ponies and also knowing that they were cheering me on to fight for the fate of their planet.
I returned my focus back to the battlefront. For somewhat reason, there were several Pegasi (presumably from Cloudsdale) trying to join the fight and were doing everything they could to the transport ships. They flew around, rammed into and tried to electrify the ships using clouds. Of course, Runite ships are built to withstand attacks much, much stronger than that, however, that doesn’t mean that the Pegasi’s efforts were meaningless. They were still managing to annoy the ship pilots to some extent. It was a good distraction for me to execute some kind of plan that I haven‘t thought out yet, but it was also utterly stupid, flying into a warzone like this one with no organization, teamwork or plan. I needed to get them out of the area so I could continue to destroy these ships without having to worry about others getting in my way.
Although the Pegasi weren’t in any real danger, because it seemed like the transport ships had no weaponry installed to them, I was more worried about the Pegasi getting themselves hurt! Seriously, they could be sucked in and burned to a crisp by the ships’ thrusters! Or, they might try something stupid like head-butting the hull of the ship! I’ve seen ponies so idiotic things before, so it isn’t a new concept to me. But, this is no laughing matter, so if any of these ponies make one wrong turn or misjudge the distance between themselves and a ship, it could get messy. One of my personal goals for this mission was to make sure that no pony and I mean NO PONY, got hurt during this entire ordeal. So, I turned my attention to the danger at hand and started forming a plan on how to get these Pegasi out of the battle-zone.
I change my direction so that I’m heading towards one of the many groups of Pegasi. Currently, they were harassing a poor transport ship by ramming into it on multiple sides. I had an Idea. If I could just scare them out of the war area, then they might just think twice before returning to fight once again. So, I will myself to increase speed and rush towards the group of ponies.
“Gang way!” I yell at the top of my lungs.
The flying Pegasi look towards me and scatter without a second thought. They just barely get out of my wing’s range as I stab through the transport ship. I loop around, checking to see if I got my message across to them. So far, they were nowhere to be seen. I’ve forgotten how fast those little buggers can be in a pinch. After looking around for a few seconds, I give up the search and hope that they have enough sense to hide in a much safer place.
While I turn my attention back to the task at hand, I spot a few more flocks of Pegasi trying to deal some damage to the enemy. Aw crap, I forgot! I’ve seen those ponies before while I was flying, but I was too busy dealing with the first group of Pegasi that I completely forgot about the rest of them.
“Gah, I guess that I’ll have my hooves full for the next minutes or two…”I mutter to myself.
