Tsar Bomba II

King Haakim
Al Hoof, Saddle Arabia

King Haakim looked down from his throne in disgust at the pony trembling before him. He was currently sentencing subjects of his kingdom accused of treason, and the pony below him had been accused of selling secrets to the Changeling Empire.

He glowered down and his voice boomed as he said, "You, Anid, have been accused of treason against the King. What do you have to say for yourself?"

The pony before him blurted out, "I'm sorry, Your Highness, you must be mistaken. I would never do something as-" the pony trailed off, and realized his mistake all too late. Soldiers aimed their spears at him as the King's face turned red as a tomato in rage hotter than Celestia's sun.

"Do you dare accuse me, the King himself, of making a mistake?" he asked coldly, on the verge of screaming. Before Amir could answer, the King swung his gavel and proclaimed, "This pony shall be sentenced to death by the guillotine for treason against the peace-loving Kingdom of Saddle Arabia!".

Amir screamed and cried as soldiers hauled him out of the palace. King Haakim heard his screams, all until they were cut off by the inevitable banging and crunching sound of the guillotine.

The King sighed, took a drink from his coffee, and called on the next pony to be brought in. He was bored with the work. He considered simply having the treasonous ponies executed, but he decided eventually that seeing the king give the death sentence would intimidate those subjects that would do him harm. He saw the next pony dragged in, and nearly spit out his coffee.

"Hoofazad Yahk?!" he exclaimed. "What could my number one bomb expert in the Bomb Corps have possibly done against the Kingdom?"

The once-important stallion hung his head as a guard, holding a stone tablet, began to read off his crimes. "Hoofazad Yahk has been convicted of treason for assisting in the harm of an important ally of the peace-loving Kingdom of Saddle Arabia, specifically, advocating the use of the Big Bomb that destroyed Canterlot, killed thousands and destroyed most of Equestria's royalty."

The king looked at Yahk in shock, and murmured, "By Celestia, what were you thinking?". Hoofazad spoke up to the king, and cried out, "Your Majesty, I never thought the bomb could do something so terrible as to cause so much horrible destruction! Please, spare me from your wrath and have mercy on me!"

He looked at the king hopefully, as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The king was unsure of what to think. Hoofazad Yahk had forever been a faithful member of his inner circle, and his position as head of the recently developed Bomb Corps had in fact been a reward for his continued loyalty. Finally, the king spoke up.

"Since you have been loyal to me for many years, perhaps I can spare you." Hoofazad looked at the king gratefully. "Therefore, you will be granted twenty years of hard physical labor."

Hoofazad's grateful smile immediately dropped. Hard labor in Saddle Arabia had always been known as the Slow Death Sentence, and many that were sentenced often killed themselves in less than a year. He was hauled off by the guards as he screamed and cursed, all while crying hard.

King Haakim sighed. Just another boring day for him as yet another pony was hauled before him.

Queen Chrysalis
Chrysopolis, Changeling Empire

The Queen was in her garden when her messenger, Cellanost, rushed in with a big smile on his face. She looked at him angrily. Noone was supposed to interrupt her while she was alone in her private garden, so how dare this fool disobey her rules?

"Why have you disturbed me, Cellanost? There had better be a good reason, or your hide will be dumped into the ocean!" she snarled.

Cellanost pulled out a memo, recently received from the delegation from Maretonia. "Your Highness, we received this message from the Maretonians. Canterlot has been utterly destroyed!" he said cheerfully.

Chrysalis stood up immediately in shock, and then narrowed her eyes. "This had better not be a prank of some sort. If so, somepony will regret it." she muttered.

She levitated the memo from Cellanost and started to read. It said;

Queen Chrysalis,

As one of the only nations willing to maintain diplomatic relations, we believe it is our responsibility to share with you some news about the nation of Equestria. Our Duchess recently arrived back at Clopje, and reported that the Equestrian capital of Canterlot, and surrounding areas, were completely destroyed. The nature of the destruction indicates the origin was the bomb exploded as a demolition tool, and not of any magical origin. Our "associates" will continue to send data as it becomes available.

From the Royal Family of Maretonia in Clopje

The memo was accompanied by some photographs, filched from Equestrian classified files, showing images of Canterlot after detonation, in which nothing remained of the city. Chrysalis knew the Equestrians had found a bomb in their desert, so she wasn't surprised that they had used it wastefully. What surprised her, however, was the scale of the destruction it caused. She smiled.

Her messenger coughed. Chrysalis looked at him, and he said, "Our general has asked whether or not we should attempt an invasion of Equestria, considering their newly weakened state."

Chrysalis thought for a moment, considering. On one hand, defeating Equestria was something she had been longing for a long time, and her predecessors had also longed for it. However, if she were to take Equestria now, she would have to deal with the wounded and blinded ponies that were likely to be a problem.

Finally, she told Cellanost, "Tell the general to hold off on an invasion. I won't rule it out, however, I believe we should wait for a period of time. But, I would like our spies to collect information within the bomb zone. Perhaps we could harness some kind of bomb power similar to what destroyed Canterlot." she grinned as she said this.

Her messenger nodded. "Right away, Your Majesty." he said before walking away.

Shining Armor
Crystal Empire, Equestria

Shining Armor was sitting at his desk when he received a knock on his door.

"Come in." he yelled.

Soarin' walked into the room, distressed. Shining Armor looked at him unhappily. "What's happened now?" he asked, grumbling to himself.

Soarin', taking no notice, blurted out breathlessly, "Your Majesty, Spitfire is dead!"

"What?!" Shining exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Her door was locked," Soarin' began, "so I kicked it in. She killed herself with a knife. She left a message, though.." he pulled it out of his saddlebag. "Sir, before she died, she resigned, then promoted me to her position in the letter. I am officially the Commander of the Wonderbolts, with your approval."

Shining leaned back into his chair, exhausted. An hour ago, reports of more ponies with some kind of sickness being moved into hospitals across the country were starting to come out. Doctors, medical supplies, etc. were running in short supply, and Shining had sent out emergency messages across the globe for assistance. On top of that, he was now in charge of the country, with his wife in labor and unable to fulfill her duties as Princess. He turned to Soarin' and nodded. "Soarin', give me the paper and I'll sign."

He signed the paper, and with that, Soarin' was the official Commander of the Wonderbolts. He stood up straight, and asked, "Sir, what are my first orders as Commander?"

Shining handed him a memo, which he had intended to send to Spitfire. Too late now. "Soarin', we need Wonderbolts to the Canterlot site immediately. Debris from the bombings is drifting out to the east, towards Fillydelphia and Baltimare. We need to get it in control, and soon." he said grimly.

Soarin' saluted the Prince, and with that, the new commander flew away to give orders. He had scarcely managed to sit back in his chair when he received another disturbance, in the form of Discord.

"Hello, my good chap, how are you doing on this lovely day?" he asked kindly. Despite Discord's cheerful demeanor, it was obvious to Shining that the draconequus wasn't so happy as he was showing himself to be.

He asked Discord bitterly, "Did you not hear? Canterlot's gone and my sister's dead."

Discord laughed. Before Shining could reach over and strangle him with his bare hooves, Discord said, "No, I believe you are wrong on that count, Your Highness. Twilight is actually alive and well. Okay, not well. But alive."

The Prince perked up. "Really? Twily's alive? But how?" he asked.

Discord snapped his fingerclaws, and suddenly, they were sitting by the end of a stopped train. Shining looked at Discord, confused.

"Alright, what are we doing here?" he asked. But before Discord could say anything, Shining's question was answered when a certain alicorn princess walked out of the cabin door of the train.

Twilight Sparkle was looking at her brother and Discord in shock.