Scorched Earth, Frozen Skies

by Hyper Mind

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Random, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Zecora, Main 6, Original Character, Comedy
Length: 1231

A black unicorn who harnesses the power of steam and fire. Strange ponies with magical frost woven into their being. An insane stallion seeking forbidden knowledge. A stallion seeking to bring peace. And Equestria caught in the middle.

Much has changed in Equestria. A unicorn calling himself Kho-Dei has rebelled and formed his own fiefdom. From the north, beyond the Crystal Empire, a group of ponies calling themselves the Stormwind tribe emerge after centuries of isolation, claiming to be the ancestors of the Windigos.
And somehow, Every Pony is taken by surprise.
Who is Kho-Dei and what is he planning? Why would the Stormwind tribe reveal themselves? How did nopony notice any of this? Why would you know the answer to any of these questions? And what the hell does Zecora have to do with it? Find out in
Scorched Earth, Frozen Skies: the story that doesn't seem to know if it wants to take itself seriously!

Published 2015-09-27 18:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-09-27 18:00:02 UTC

Chapter 1: By Steaming Iron

It was a peaceful day in Ponyville. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The streets were clean. It made Twilight Sparkle so certain that everything was certainly fine that she felt like bursting into song herself.
But just like last time that happened, everything was about to go downhill.
The sound started quiet. A creaking of oiled wheels. Then it got louder and the clanking of metal joined it. Soon, everypony in Ponyville looked on in shock and fear as a black tank rolled into the town square. A black unicorn stood atop it, and then proceeded to use what could only be the Royal Canterlot Voice.
"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! I AM KHO-DEI! FROM NOW ON, I AM YOUR GOD AND MASTER!" He yelled.
"Now hold it right there!" A voice shouted from amongst the onlookers. Rarity took a step forward. "What exactly makes you think you can just waltz into town on your over glorified train car and declare yourself our God and master?"
"Yeah!" Called out another voice. Pinkie Pie glared at him. "I mean, Discord kinda did the same thing, but at least eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain! Do you come with chocolate rain?"
"...Well no, but-"
"See!? No chocolate rain!" She said, as though the rule of a tyrant being unaccompanied by some sort of confectionary precipitation was outrageous. Kho-Dei just looked confused. These ponies were supposed to be cowering in fear, not asking for chocolate rain!
"Enough!" He shouted, his reinforcements arriving at that moment, more tanks accompanied by ponies in blackened armor with spears that crackled with electricity. The ensuing battle was short and chaotic. Still, the townsponies put up a fight the likes of which the Elements of Harmony had never thought them capable of. But if one thought about it, it made sense; one couldn't rightly expect these mere civilians to challenge the godlike powers of Discord or Nightmare Moon, but a military takeover? That was mortal. That they could challenge. That was a battle they could win!
The key word there being "could", because they did not. However, their courageous, valiant, and, at times, viciously brutal, resistance would go down in history. Showing remarkable initiative for their age, the Cutie Mark Crusaders gathered up as many foals as they could and fled to Sweet Apple Acres. Time Turner ran around tampering with the massive war machines with incredible speed, while his faithful companion Ditzy Doo defended him. Octavia wielded her cello bow like a sword, to surprising effect. Berry Punch handed out bottles to anyone who didn't fancy fighting with their bare hooves. And, perhaps most memorably, Vinyl Scratch broke out the Bass Cannon. They say that if you look in the Everfree Forest, you can find the remains of a tank that was blasted there by the power of wubs.
Of course, that's not to say the Elements stood idly by. Quite the contrary. A lifetime of applebucking resulted in anypony who came too close to Applejack receiving a hoof to the face and a trip a good ten paces back. Pinkie Pie popped balloons next to the ear of anypony she could sneak up behind. Twilight did the obvious thing and simply blasted mana at any enemy that crossed her path. Rainbow Dash naturally entered fisticuffs(hooficuffs? Hoofticuffs?) with the opposition. Rarity and Fluttershy, both possessing neither exceptional skill in combat nor any desire to enter said combat, helped with the evacuation.
It was an impressive and inspiring sight. But there were too many, and they couldn't be held off forever. It didn't take long for Kho-Dei to gain the upper hand by holding the bakery hostage.
That's correct. They didn't hold the bakers hostage. They aimed a cannon at Sugarcube Corner and threatened to blast it to smithereens. Of course the Cakes were still inside, so that was likely a much more compelling reason. The residents surrendered.
Kho-Dei now ruled Ponyville.

Author's Note

First story, so it's probably not that good. Not sure how this is gonna play out. This is gonna be fun to write.

Chapter 3: Mechanical Gods

Rainbow Dash opened the door. "What's all this talk about revolution?" She asked. She was quickly surrounded by more light blue ponies. "Whoa, cool it guys, I'm on your side!"
"Cooling it can be arranged." A unicorn stallion with the same color coat as the rest approached. "I am Frozendew, head of the Stormwind Tribe. Who are you, kat-svir*?"
Rainbow looked confused. "I'm Rainbow Dash, only Pony to perform a sonic rainboom twice." She said, smiling.
Frozendew made a motion oddly similar to a curtsy. "Tesuni vir, Rainbow Dash."
"I didnt understand half of what you just said." She replied bluntly.
"My apologies. I am not as fluent in Equestrian as I would like."
"Are you not from around here?" She asked.
Frozendew nodded. "We are from very far to the north. We have lived there in seclusion for an eon. Though it shames us, over time, much of our tribe ceased to be mortal, instead becoming what you call 'Windigos'."He said. "We would not be here, were it not for the God of the Machines, Kho-Dei. His smoke is making the ice melt. This we cannot allow. So we are here to drive him back however we can."

Author's Note

:twilightsmile: Learning time!
Kat-svir: Coat-sister, referring to any mare with a light blue coat.
Tesuni vir: Well met/nice to meet you, literally "met at dawn"
Sorry I keep ending so abruptly.

Chapter 2: Ice Torn Asunder

Rainbow Dash walked warily through the Ponyville Square. It had been three days since the hostile takeover of Ponyville. With the Elements separated by the smoke belching terrors that Kho-Dei had erected-the names of which Rainbow Dash did not know nor particularly care about-And the Equestrian Military blocked by those same forces, any hopes of retaking Ponyville for Equestria were non-existant.
Or were they?
Rainbow Dash noticed a Cloaked Pony lurking around a nearby alleyway. The pony slipped in. Curious, Rainbow Dash waited for the guards positioned nearby to look away. Then she followed the sound of the pony's footsteps. She eventually reached the...Ponyville Post Office. The post office was shut down(no mailpony could get through enemy lines). Rainbow Dash looked through the window and saw three of the ponies she would be least used to seeing in a room together.
Time Turner, Ditzy Doo-Or "Derpy Hooves", as she was affectionately known- and...some light blue pegasus mare. Was it her reflection? No, this Pony had a lighter blue coat. She was listening to Time Turner.
"...rally the townsponies to revolution. With the help of your people, we can drive Kho-Dei out of Ponyville!"

Author's Note

Fun Fact: This fanfic is based on a comment war on youtube that escalated into an actual, literal comment war. Halfway through, we ended up nuking Canterlot. Kho-Dei is based on my opponent, who was (and I'm not making any of this up or using any hyperbole, these are all things he actually did or had been at least once throughout the course of the war) a godmodding American patriot Nazi F2P TF2 player space Fleet commander with a tank fetish and enough uranium to make Korea a nuclear power. I shit you not. The war goes on to this day.