Unbridled Power

Unbridled Power

Written by Nugget Pony

Chapter 1

4/23 3:25 PM – First Day of the Omega Crisis

Applejack backed away from the carnage, eyes wide.  Everything was wreathed in an unearthly purple flame.  How could this have happened?  Maybe Twilight had been right.  Maybe there had been something abnormal behind the meteor.  Gazing upon the smoldering ruins of Sweet Apple Acres, she noticed a small, yellow figure crawling among the wreckage.  Apple Bloom!  Applejack rushed forward to help her sister just as the second strike hit, flinging her backwards.  Her skull let out a resounding crack as she smashed into a tree and fell unconscious.

4/8 9:42 AM – 9 days to Omega Crisis

Twilight Raced through Ponyville.  She needed to get to the library as soon as possible.  The Canterlot Archives would have been better, but there was little time until fortifications began.  If her studies were accurate, then that strange light moving through the sky was not a star at all.  It was some object composed of pure Temerium.  Large reserves of Temerium could not be found anywhere in Equestria.  Rumors were arising around town that it was a meteor on a collision course with Canterlot, or that it might be the princesses’ response to the riots in Manehattan over the lack of clean drinking water.  Celestia had already claimed that the government was not involved, and that there was no sense in worrying when Equestria had perfectly good defense systems and blast shields in the major population centers.  Twilight wasn’t convinced, though.

Temerium had a special property that allowed it to deflect almost one hundred percent of any energy that it was hit with, thereby rendering both magical and physical shields nigh useless.  Luna, the more scientifically inclined of the two royal sisters, insisted that he idea of a Temerium object of that size was laughable, as the largest stockpile of the rare mineral was deep in the Canterlot vaults under maximum-security protection, and that was only a few pounds.  With Temerium being so uncommon, Twilight’s results could not possibly have been correct.  However, the young mare knew better.

4/8 12:05 PM – 9 days to Omega Crisis

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was busy trying to round up the critters of Ponyville to keep them safe.  “Over here, Mr. Snake, time to get in your burrow!” the gentle pony urged, a tremor in her voice.  She didn’t know whether to believe what Twilight had told her, but she needed to make sure that if something terrible was going to happen that could endanger her friends, she didn’t let it bring any creature, pony or animal, with it.  What she had grasped for certain was that the meteor was persistent, and it was getting closer.  When it reached Ponyville, she wasn’t about to let it catch her friends out in the open.

4/9 4:16 PM – 8 days to Omega Crisis

After all of her hard work, Rainbow Dash had secured Cloudsdale.  Celestia had put her in charge of the Cloudsdale defense squadron when news of the meteor hit Equestria.  The barriers were up and nothing was bringing them back down.  With no way into the city, there was also no way out.  Rainbow would have to wait out the next few weeks inside the shelter of the titanium shielding.  It was eighteen inches thick, and she was sure that it would hold.  Pretty sure.  “I just hope Twilight’s wrong this one time,” she muttered to herself.

“Miss Dash,” came a voice from behind, “The meeting is starting.”  She turned around.  There stood Thunderlane, a dark grey Pegasus who she had appointed Co-Chief of Defense with Cloudchaser.

“I’m coming, go on ahead.” she replied.  Rainbow looked up at the giant silvery dome, wondering how her friends were faring.  She had silently hoped that she wouldn’t get the position, nervous and afraid of what failure could bring.

All the leaders of the Cloudsdale defense team were present at the summit.  As Rainbow Dash entered the room, everypony stood up from the table.  When they had all seated themselves again, She began.  “All right, the first order of business is to make sure all of the preparations have been completed.  “Cloudchaser, has the dome been fully secured?”

“Every bolt has been checked twice, Miss Dash.”

“And the citizens?”

“They have all been warned to stay in their homes until further notice.”

“Good,” Rainbow continued.  “Now that that’s been taken care of, What are we going to do about that?”  She pointed to a picture of the meteor on the wall.

A tense silence fell over the room.  Nopony spoke a word.  A dusty-maned pony finally broke the silence.  “We could always keep a lookout outside,” he timidly ventured.

“That would mean opening the dome, and we can’t let that happen,” replied Thunderlane.  Seeing the idea shot down so quickly, others were skeptical to voice their thoughts.  The quiet air returned, and this time it stayed.