The Raid of Equestria

The six of us were standing near the library.  Princess Twilight were standing before us.  "Yes.  You were brought here to protect us from Moriarty.  He once lived here and knows magic.  He was exiled for trying to rule Equestria himself.  Now he wants revenge by destroying Equestria."

"But how are we going to take on a man with magic?" Raleigh asked.  None of us know any spells."  I was pacing the whole time.

"That's what we must figure out" Princess Twilight.  "I will head back to Canterlot and ask Princess Celestia about this.  I hope she knows how we can defeat Moriarty."

"Until then... I'm going to have to go to Appleloosa" I said.  "Before a soldier died, he warned us that Moriarty plans begin his destruction to Equestria at Appleloosa.  The assault here was just the beginning."

"You? Going to Appleloosa alone?" Ace asked.  "Oh no, I'm going with you."

"Well all of us can't go.  Who's going to stay here and watch Ponyville in case another band of soldiers arrive?" I asked.

Raleigh cracked his knuckles.  "I'm staying."

"Me too" Ferro said.

"I'm staying as well" Patton said with confidence.  Ronnie shrugged.

"I'm staying here."  I can tell he wants to protect Rarity.  I can read it in his eyes.  Princess Twilight nodded.

  "We'll calm the citizens of Ponyville down after what happened" she explained.  "The next train to Appleloosa is about to leave so you two have to get going."

"We'll be back in one piece" Ace said.  "I promise."  Our friends watched as Ace and I ran off to catch the train to Appleloosa.

Ace and I boarded the train and sat next to each other.  "Got a plan?" He asked.

"Yeah.  Get to Appleloosa before Moriarty and his goons do" I answered.

"I'm assuming they'll be there in the afternoon or at night.  That soldier wasn't very specific."

"Let's hope that we'll get there first.  I'll be mad as hell when we get there and the whole place is destroyed."  Just then, the train began to move.  "Ready for this?" I asked.  Ace nodded.

"I did promise them that we'll make it back in one piece."

"You haven't lied once have you?"

"Nope.  Every promise I make, is the truth.  Honest Ace."  He laughed at his own joke but I wasn't amused.  "Never mind" he said, looking out the window.  The train left Ponyville and began its somewhat long journey to Appleloosa.

I groaned groggily as the rays of the sun reflected off the window and onto my face.  I opened my eyes and saw that my head was leaning on Ace's shoulder.  I rubbed the sleep off my eyes and looked around.  Almost all the pony passengers were asleep.  Some had quiet conversations, and a few were reading newspapers.  As I got up to stretch, I heard a soft thud.  I turned around and faced the door to the car behind us.  I slowly approached the door and grasped the handle.  I heard a thud again and looked up.  I turned back around and saw that none of the ponies were watching me and Ace was still asleep.

I slid the door open and stepped outside.  I slowly closed the door and climbed up on the roof.  I saw a soldier crouched on the roof of the car.  I crept up behind and before I could throw him off, the soldier got to his feet, turned around, and knocked me over.

From inside, the sound of me slamming on the roof, startled everyone and even woke Ace.  "Travis?" He asked.  "Travis?" He asked as he got up.

Back outside, the soldier pulled out a tactical knife and began slashing at me but I kept evading his attacks.  I blocked one of his attacks, but when I tried to fight back, he retaliated by trying to slash me again.  He kicked me hard in the chest causing me to stagger back and  I almost fell off the roof of the train.  "Fuck" I muttered.  The soldier lunged at me again.  I grabbed his arm and wrestled the knife out of his grasp.  I stabbed him in the chest and threw him off the roof of the train.  I turned around and saw that we were approaching a tunnel.  I quickly dropped down low as the train entered the tunnel.

As soon as the train exited the tunnel, I steadily got to my feet and made my way back inside the car.  "Please tell me we're almost there" I said as I approached Ace.

"Almost.  And let me guess, there was a soldier on the roof."

"I fear that Moriarty is ahead of us" I said.  I returned to my seat and leaned against the back rest for the entire ride.

To Ace's relief, it didn't look like Moriarty or his allies had shown up.  He turned to me and shook me awake.  "Travis, we're here" he said.  I woke up groggily and stretched, cracking a few stiff joints, mostly on my back and sides.

"Thank God" I said as I stepped off the train.

"So what's the plan? Are we going to run all over Appleloosa and announce that more humans are coming?" Ace asked.

"And cause hysteria? Hell no" I answered.  "We'll just be calm for the time being and when Morairty does begin his raid here, then we kill every human Moriarty brings to this place."

"Sounds like a plan" Ace said as we both left the station.  Ace smiled and breathed in the air.   "Ah, smells like home!" He said happily.  I inhaled the scent of apples.

"Smells like Sweet Apple Acres" I said.

"Yeah.  I'm planning to live there.  After we deal with that Moriarty guy of course."  The two of us walked around Appleloosa and kept a lookout for any sign of Moriarty and his goons.

Standing about a mile or two away from the entrance of Appleloosa was Moriarty.  Behind him were a group of soldiers on motorcycles.  "I have sensed that our unfortunate operative have told our human enemies about us attacking Appleloosa last night but I know a way to turn the tables around so that we're on the winning end."

"What will that be?" One of the soldiers asked.

"You guys raid Appleloosa."

"And what will you do?"

"I'm taking a visit to Canterlot.  There's a certain Princess I want to talk to."  He teleported away.  The soldiers turned their attention to Appleloosa, revving their motorcycles.

"Let's give them hell!" One of the soldiers yelled.  They all began speeding towards Appleloosa.

Canterlot

Moriarty was standing in Princess Celestia's room.  "Trying to figure out a way to defeat me eh?" He asked.  Princess Twilight, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia were bound together with thick rope, and they were both gagged with a cloth.  They each had a ring on their horn to prevent them from using magic.  A few soldiers were standing in the room with them.

"Thanks for letting us use Canterlot as our base, by the way" Moriarty smiled as he looked out the window.  He smiled as soldiers began herding the ponies back into their houses.  All the unicorns had rings on their horns to prevent them from using magic.  "I assure the three of you... I will not destroy Canterlot yet because I plan to destroy it last.  But if I were you, i would be concerned about Appleloosa... And Pinyville right now.  He opened a portal outside of Canterlot.  "Raid Ponyville!" He ordered.  He watched as a group of 20 soldiers entered the portal.  "If you want all this to stop, just accept me as a resident to Equestria and give me the throne to rule Equestria like you have promised me so long ago."

Princess Celestia growled behind her gag.  "I'll take that as a 'no' then" Moriarty said, smiling.

Appleloosa

Ace grabbed a soldier and snapped his neck.  He looked around and even saw the citizens of Appleloosa fighting back.  They even brought some reinforcements.  "Who brought the damn buffaloes?" He asked me as a soldier got trampled by a buffalo.  Another buffalo rammed into another soldier.  I could've sworn saw his horns stab him.

"Beats me" I said with a shrug.  A soldier ran by me.  "Hey, get back over here" I said, pulling him towards me.  I unsheathed his knife and slit his throat.  I pushed the body aside and threw the knife, getting a soldier in the back.

"I think we should head back to Ponyville!" Ace yelled as he struck a soldier in the neck.  The soldier fell to his knees, choking, and Ace struck him in the side of the head.

"I think you're right!" I called.

"Go!" A stallion yelled as he used his hind legs to kick a soldier in the groin.  Another stallion used his hind legs to kick the soldier in the head.  "We got this!"

"Why can't Ponyville be like this?" Ace asked as he and each mounted on a motorcycle.

"I don't know" I said, revving the engine.  "But by the looks of things, I think Appleloosa got it covered.  Ace revved his engine and the two of us rode over to the train tracks and headed back to Ponyville.  Appleloosa was definitely on the winning end and a buffalo had just rammed into the last soldier, slamming him into a wall.

By the time we reached Ponyville, we were surprised to see the place still in one pice and the place just had dead soldiers scattered around.

"Oh man, you should've seen it!" Patton said with excitement as he hurried over to us.  Princess Twilight's friends fought with us and even the citizens decided to fight alongside us!"

"It was incredible!" Ferro added as he too arrived.  I saw a rather odd dent on the baseball bat he was carrying.  "And this was made by Fluttershy when she saw me pinned by a soldier who wanted to strangle me to death."

Applejack galloped over to Ace and wrapped her forehooves around him.  "Uh... Are you ok?" Ace asked.

"I'm glad you kept your promise" she said.

"Hey, I'm an honest guy."

"I'm noticing a pattern here" I said as the other ponies, or as Patton calls them, Mane Six arrived.  "Is it just me, or are you two honest?"

"Yep, I'm the Element of Honesty" Applejack said.  Patton gasped.

"Oh my God! Rarity is the Element of Generosity!"

"You know, that is so weird" Ronnie said.  "Because back home, I had a nickname.  Everyone calls me Generous Ronnie."

"Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness" Patton said, turning to Fluttershy.

"And I witnessed kindness from Ferro" Fluttershy said with a smile.  Ferro blushed and tried to say something, but couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

"Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty..."

"You bet I am!" Rainbow Dash said boastfully, not even bothering to ask how he knows.

"You're loyal too, aren't you?" I asked Raleigh.  The young man nodded.

"Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter...."

Pinkie Pie squealed and giggled.  "You guessed right!"

"Huh... I realized I haven't made anyone laugh today.  Pinkie Pie laughed.

"You're a funny guy, Patton."

"And how do you know all of this?" Rarity asked.

"To tell you the truth, I kind of know a thing or two about Equestria" he said with a blush.  "And that makes Princess Twilight the Element of Magic.  Everyone turned to me.

"Me? Magic?" I asked, taking a step back.

"Yeah.  You make very accurate guesses" Ace said.  "I mean, you took one look at us and immediately knew a thing or two about us."

"Doesn't make me magic.  And--" I looked around.  "Where's Princess Twilight?" I asked.

"She's still in Canterlot" Applejack answered.

"Shouldn't she be back by now?" Ace asked.  Just then, a letter magically appeared.  It startled me so much, I staggered back and landed on my ass.  Rarity used her magic to open the scroll.

"Oh dear...." Fluttershy said.

"It's a letter from Princess Cadance" Rarity said.  Patton's heart jumped.  "And it's addressed to Princess Twilight saying that she needs help right away."

"Probably that Moriarty guy is causing trouble" Raleigh said, cracking his knuckles.

"We got to save Princess Cadance!" Patton exclaimed.  Before he could run, I pulled him back.

"Will you calm down? We have to wait for Princess Twilight."

"But how do we--?" Before Raleigh could finish his question, Patton ran off.

"Hey! Come back here!" Ferro called.

"I'll be right back!" Patton called.  A few minutes later, he came back with a bottle of green liquid, and some powder.  "Now we just have to send this to Canterlot and I just know how to do it."  We watched as he sprinkled the scroll with powder and carefully added the liquid.  Just then, it burst into green flame and we watched as the scroll turned into smoke and billowed over to Canterlot.  "Like I said... I know a thing or two about Equestria."

Canterlot

The letter arrived and Moriarty got ahold of it.  "Should I forge your handwriting?" He asked Princess Twilight teasingly.

Princess Twilight began yelling into her gag.  Moriarty grabbed another scroll.  "Hmm... Maybe I should send your friends in Ponyville a little warning."  He began writing.

Ponyville

Just then, another scroll appeared.  "What did I tell you?" Patton asked.  "Princess Twilight replied.  He took the scroll and opened it.

'Dear Ponyville Friends,

Congratulations on making it this far.  I'm currently holding your precious Princesses hostage.  And yes, that includes Celestia and Luna.  As a matter of fact, I'm holding Canterlot hostage.  And tell Ace and Travis that I applaud their courage when they stopped my assault on Appleloosa.  I'll have you know that I plan to strike every location on Equestria.  I'm going to give Ponyville a break and I will come back to it later, but if you really want to know about bigger issues, I suggest you all head over to the Crystal Empire, now.  If you wait any longer, there will be really big consequences.

Moriarty."

"That no good dirtbag!" Patton exclaimed, crumpling up the letter and tossing it aside.  He was so mad, he dumped all the powder and the liquid onto the crumpled letter which went off like a fire cracker, burning it to a crisp and a heap of ash.  "If any of you guys need me, I'll be at the Crystal Empire." He sprinted over to the train station.

"Patton wait!" I called.  Moriarty probably has his goons surrounding the-- oh my God, he's going to get himself killed." I sprinted after him.

"Travis wait!" Ferro called.  He sprinted after me with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie running after him.  The others ran after us over to the train station.

Patton quickly boarded the train and sat in front.  "Ok, but I'm sitting behind you so I could keep my eyes on you just so you won't do anything stupid" I said, taking the seat behind him.  Pinkie Pie sat next to Patton.  I turned my head and saw that the Element was sitting next to the human that represents them.  I was the only one who didn't have a pony sitting next to me.

"Cheer up, Travis! We'll save Princess Twilight" Pinkie Pie said assuringly.

"I'm not sad" I said.  Pinkie Pie giggled and patted my head.  "If you need to bring that frown upside down, your Auntie Pinkie Pie will be right here."

"Thanks" I said.

Soon, the train left the station and went on its way to the Crystal Empire.