Chapters Equestria, a thriving land for ponies everywhere. Protected by the elements of harmony, its impervious to any intruders. Nothing bad ever happens and all is nice, but it wasn't always this way. Years ago there was a dark time, a war that changed the future of the land, and made it the peaceful and perfect place that it is today.
It began one fateful day on the hills outside of Cheval City, one of the earlier settlements. Nova Sunshine, (OC) a young, intelligent mercenary with a red mane and tail, yellow body, and light pink eyes; hoof-picked by Princess Celestia herself for her resourcefulness and ability to track anypony and everypony she needed to. She was headed to Gallop Town to investigate the disapearences of some bunnies in the area. Nova was walking on her way when out out of the corner of her eye she saw a small orange motion in the woods to the left. She assumes it's nothing but a mind trick given that she was up all night tracking diamond theives across town. She continues ahead towards town, forgetting it ever happened. After a few minutes of climbing the hills of the beautiful meadow she saw an unusual sight, A bright red light source in the general direction of the town. She decided to investigate while making her way there.
As Nova got closer she saw more peculiar sights. Tall black structures stood eerily on stone roads like a ruins. There were no signs of life not even a plant. As she got closer to the main sources of light she heard loud, blood curdling screams that would make ordinary ponies quiver in eternal fear, but not Nova, for her father was slain in front of her very eyes. She was hardened and was not scared one bit, though she had much concern for the ponies making those screams. Armed with a PK-49 sniper rifle, and an NS-16 (not real guns) pistol, she continued on, not afraid to use them. It didnt take long for Nova to realize that she was in the middle of a burning city, and that city was Gallop Town.
She started searching frantically for survivors. She searched in almost every building she came across; lifting fallen chunks of walls, searching around every corner, and even inside of currently burning buildings. Despite her efforts she found no ponies, no life alive or dead. Nova was too late.
She decided to go back to Cheval City and report this the princess immediatly. She started running to get back as fast as she could but as she was almost out she saw a little purple foal, the only survivor of the blaze. it was standing there calmly like nothing happened. It was probably too young to understand tragedy, or life and death situations. Nova started to pick up the foal when she heard movement other than that of herself and the foal's. Nova turned around to the glare of a red creature, covered in bright red flames. there was no doubt in her mind that it alone reduced the city to ashes and embers.
Nova quickly swiped the foal off the ground and secured it tho the strap that she uses to hold her rifle, and began sprinting towards the meadow, she didnt want to fight something that she has never seen before, or ever even knew existed. Once she exited the city and started entering the meadow just outside she realized that if she ran into the meadow the creature would follow, and simply burn it as well. luckily there was a river nearby that would stop it cold, if she could lead it to it. Nevertheless she started running towards the stream. The beast never broke its line of sight with Nova in an everlasting leer.
Nova jumped over the river and looked back at the creature it was still following her, slowly. It walked down the bank, and in the river,still never breaking its line of sight. It walked straight into the river. When it was completely submerged Nova calmly turned around, placed the foal on the ground, and started guiding it back to Cheval City.
But the fight was not over.
Amazingly, the creature resurfaced from what should've been a cold end. Shortly afterwards it let out a ground-shattering battlecry, and charged at Nova faster than ever. This regained her attention, and she evaded the creature's attack barely in time, but not fast enough. The creature got close enough for its fire to burn her rear right leg. In addition, in her haste she left the foal, putting it in the mercy of the beast. Nova was down, and the creature, flames brighter than ever, started towards the foal. Nova knew that if she didn't do something, that foal would be dead before it could even strike it down.
As fast as she could she took her pistol and fired one shot in the air to get the beast's attention. It worked, but she still didn't have much time. Now the beast was charging Nova again, and she was still down, but now she was shooting to kill. With one hoof she fired her pistol multiple times, unloading the entire clip. This however was very inaccurate and most shots missed. The few that did had little effect on the beast, but it did slow it down. This gave Nova the time she needed to recover after a few more seconds, she was able to stand up again, just before the beast got close. She evaded the strike, and began to pull out her sniper rifle; the only thing left that could stop it. But the creature got smarter and started using its own projectiles. The beast shot a beam of fire at her. She evaded it but in exchange didn't have the time to pull out her rifle. The beast shot more fire at her, and it missed every time, but Nova still didn't have enough time to finish it.
The creature grew tired and returned its attention back to the foal. It knew that it couldn't fight back. Nova finally had her chance to end it all, but there was absolutely no margin for error, or the foal will die. She only had one shot
She pulled out her rifle,
Held it firmly in her hooves,
Held her breath,
And pulled the trigger...
She Missed
The beast shot its fire at the foal, and Nova could do nothing but watch and reload her rifle.
Suddenly, a field of energy surrounded the foal; saving its life. Only the foal was responsible for it. Nova was awestruck, but didn't hesitate and took the second shot. The bullet penetrated deep within its skull (assuming it has one) and the beast fell to the heated dirt below. after a few seconds its fire decreased; from red, to orange, to yellow, to blue, to nothing. She examined the metal shell it had for a body, cold to the touch. They began their journey back to Cheval City once more. She now took a closer look at the foal. It was a female unicorn with purple hair. Nova decided to raise the pony as her own, and named her Twilight Sparkle
See my OC and hear the dramatic reading at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_ZHnPFHy_M&feature=youtube_gdata_player
CHAPTER TWO IN PROGRESS
Don't worry that WAS NOT the " dark time,"or" epic battle I mentioned" this is only the beginning I AM MAKING MORE if you like it , follow me THERE'S MORE COMING SOON.
The Shadow Hooves Midnight Strike
It was dusk when Nova Sunshine an Twilight Sparkle got back to Cheval City. While walking towards the castle lots of ponies stared. Anypony who saw was confused at the sight. They thought
"What was the most deadly mercenary in Equestria doing with a mere filly, and what could've burned her leg so badly?" The continued to stare as the two ponies walked into the palace courtyard. The royal guards were awestruck as well. Nova could tell by the looks on their faces, but they didn't stare or say anything like the others in town as Nova walked up the long stairs into the palace. Even the princess of the sun herself was puzzled, but she knows that when Nova comes in unannounced, it has to be important. Celestia spoke first.
`"Nova Sunshine, my most loyal servant, what in Equestria happened to you!?!" asked Princess Celestia.
"It was terrible your majesty," Nova replied "Gallop Town is no more, It was burned to ashes by a mysterious, unknown beast. I had never seen any thing like it. It was a pony shaped being completely covered in bright red flames." Nova continued to explain every last gruesome detail to the princess. When she was finished the Princess couldn't believe her ears. How something so horrible could happen to an entire city with out anypony outside of the disaster knowing. Celestia questioned Nova once more.
"Who is the filly that you have brought with you? Is she from Gallop Town?" said Celestia looking curiously at the purple unicorn.
"Yes," Nova replied "She is the only survivor of the blaze that i could find. She has great potential to become a powerful spellcaster. I saw it with my own eyes, she cast a field of energy around herself at the very last second when the beast came after her." At first the princess doubted any possibility of this kind of thing happening, but she trusted Nova with her life, and knew that she wouldn't lie about a situation as stunning and horrifying as this one.
"I will act on this immediately, in the meantime you should rest and probably see a doctor about your leg," said the Princess.
"Thank you Princess Celestia," Nova replied. She turned around and started guiding Twilight Sparkle back into the city. Suddenly the Princess spoke again.
`"The path of a mercenary is a dangerous one, and certainly no place for a foal. I thunk it would be best to leave young Twilight here until her magic improves." Nova was slightly disappointed, but she knew it was the right choice. She knew that the young foal my die if she was around her with no way to defend herself.
"I agree princess, it's what is best for her," Nova agreed. Princess Celestia cast her own magic on Twilight Sparkle levitating her towards the princess and on her back.
"Don't worry Nova, you'll see her again soon. Now go on and rest that leg of yours" Nova nodded, and left the palace, starting for her house.
When Nova exited the palace it was night time. She was leaving the courtyard when she noticed a large group of ponies just ahead. She was paranoid, and couldn't help following her instincts to spy on them. She climbed a nearby tree and used her rifle's scope for surveillance. They were a large group of stallions wearing dark purple cloaks. Nova knew who they were; members of a renowned assassin organization known as The Shadow Hooves. Now Nova knew who they were, but why they were here remained a mystery. The assassins walked down the street away from her. She kept watch until they turned left and were no longer in sight. She knew that they were looking for her. They probably weren't going to kill her, but instead they might try to capture and brainwash her. they've encountered her before, and probably think she would become a valuable tool of destruction if on their side.
Princess Celestia had already ordered any known member of The Shadow Hooves to be shot on sight, but there were too many of them to take out on her own. There were about thirty of them scattered across the streets and rooftops around the city. Whatever they wanted to do to her, they really, Really, REALLY wanted it done. Nova flew silently out of the tree and over the clouds to remain hidden. She landed a few blocks away at an ordinary house. She knew some ponies who could help, and that they would be here. She tapped her hoof on the door five times. Nopony answered, instead a trap door with a ladder opened to her left. Nova climbed down and shut it behind herself. This was the secret Headquarters of the Equestrian mercenaries. Many of them lived here excluding Nova. She was standing in the main surveillance room. Mares and stallions alike looked through telescopes that peered through fake chimneys on the roof above. Though many mercenaries were in this room, none of them were the ponies that she was looking for. she moved a painting on left wall of the room and pressed a button hidden behind it. This opened a sliding door that completely matched the texture and color of the dark wood walls.
When she entered the secret room, the door slid shut immediately behind her to ensure its secrecy and security. It was the HQ's barracks. The room was almost completely deserted because most mercenaries rested during the day, and went on their missions at night. There were only two stallions in the room facing the opposite direction, and they were the ponies that she was looking for. As Nova approached the two mercenaries one of them looked behind himself and turned back informing the other one of Nova's presence. by this time she was standing a foot away from the stallion and was greeted by a unicorn with green mane and tail and a cyan body with bright red eyes. He wore dark purple armor similar to the cloaks of The Shadow Hooves. He was equipped with a KC0-WQH bolt action rifle and a RG-21 high powered pistol. There was an insignia of a bloody dagger on his leg. That stallion's name was Recon Groove. (OC #2)
"Hey Nova! What's up?" Said Recon excitedly.
"Nothing good Recon, only the terrible," She replied.
What's terrible for you could be nightmare-ish for everypony else," said Recon Groove. After this the other stallion turned around. His body was light green with a red and black mane and tail, and dark green eyes. On his leg was a figure that resembled an explosion.Strapped to him was a CF-056 assault rifle and a 7-9. That unicorn's name was Camoflash. (OC #3)
"So what terrible thing happened then? " Camoflash asked.
Nova re-explained the tragedy at gallop town, the fiery beast ,and about how she rescued Twilight Sparkle. There was a moment of silence as the two stallions stood Completely stunned at what they had just heard. After a while, Camoflash broke the silence. "Did anything else happen?"
"Yes," Nova added "The Shadow Hooves are looking for me. right now they're patrolling the streets, waiting to ambush me. That's why I came here. There are too many of them, and i need you both to help me defeat them."
"We won't just defeat them," The two mercenaries said in unison."We'll crush their foolish, amateurish, un-tactical, spineless A................"
"Let me go, please, noooooooooo!!!!" screamed a mare on the surface. The three ponies rushed in response to the scream, Bursting through the sliding door and dashing up the ladder back to the city above.when they stepped outside the HQ the heard the helpless mare cry out again
"Don''t take me, somepony he........" The mare's screams were suddenly silenced, but she yelled loud enough for them to know the general area of where she was. The screams came from the northern part of town.
"Nova, you fly up and see whats going on," commanded Recon Groove. Nova spread her wings and soared up high above the dark clouds of the night sky. She used her rifle's scope to see clearly on the ground. she saw a large group of ponies rushing towards the northern end of town. She adjusted her scope so she could see more clearly, and identified the ponies as The Shadow Hooves. Nova also saw the defenseless mare at their mercy. The mare had been hog tied and gagged; completely immobilized. Nova couldn't determine any details about the mare other than that she had a pink body. Three of the assassins were rushing out of town, while the others stayed behind to ensure their escape.
Nova dove back down to catch up to Recon and Camoflash, who were also close to the assassins' location. They rushed as fast as they could to rescue the mare, only to be confronted withe The Shadow Hooves defense.
They opened fire on the three mercenaries, who took cover behind one of the shops nearby. Camoflash sprayed out cover-fire with his assault rifle while Nova and Recon moved up towards their flank. Recon and Sunshine rolled behind the three assassins hiding behind fruit stands in the middle of the street, swiftly killing the ones on the left and right on their own, and shooting the one in the middle simultaneously. The three mercenaries continued towards their objective. They were dashing through the streets when bullets whizzed by the from above. The assassins reinforced themselves with snipers on the rooftops above. Nova quickly leaped onto the roofs on the left and drew their attention, while Camoflash and Recon Groove went behind the buildings on the right side, Dashing across poles, signs, and even window shutters to reach the rooftop.
When they got up there they saw a struggling Nova Sunshine hiding behind a chimney, completely pinned down by sniper fire. Recon looked at one of the assassins. He judged the look on his face, and realized that he had a clean shot on Nova. With lightning speed he pulled out his rifle and held it in one hoof, looked into the scope, and shot the assassin right in his eye. The same bullet struck two other assassins behind him. Now blinded, the assassin turned around in pain,
They fiercely battled their way to the other side of the rooftops and destroyed all opposition they faced. All that stood before them now were the final three who where fleeing the town. Their only defense was to clumsily fire pistols behind themselves as they ran. The three mercenaries figured that each pony got there own final kill. Nova went first. Flawlessly shooting her rifle through the spine of the pony on the right paralyzing his hind legs. He crawled desperately towards the others trying to keep up until Nova executed him with a final, fatal blow to the head.
Camoflash aimed down the sights on his rifle targeting the unicorn on the left. He was lining up his shot when he saw something in his hands, a detonator. Camoflash looked down and saw the bases of buildings they were standing on lined with explosives. Without thinking he lept toward his left and the building that Nova was standing on. In mid-air he unloaded his assault rifle, striking the assassin multiple times in the back and legs. He was barely alive, but was inable to activate the detonator. Camoflash landed safely on the building that Nova was standing on. He turned around and laughed as he recklessly shot his pistol behind him.
The three mercenaries then heard the loudest cry of pain anypony could possibly make. The pistol round had traveled 500 meters and hit the unicorn above his head, shattering his horn in to pieces.
There was only one pony left, the lead commander.
Recon Groove was prepared to take the final shot of the encounter, but the commander was more prepared than his fallen comrades. Recon saw this, and told everypony to fire with every thing that they had when he realized that the assassin was an Alicorn. The leader cast a sphere of magic around him self and the defenseless mare. and it deflected every projectile that came into contact with it. All three ponies were completely out of ammunition. Using his pegasus wings he took off at break-neck speeds taking the mare with him.
Nova flapped her wings and prepared to chase after him, but Camoflash held her back, saying
"Calm down Nova, he's too powerful us! Think about it, we're completely out of ammo and his magic is strong enough to be compared with Princess Celestia!!!"
Nova stopped trying., It was hard for her to watch him get away especially when she started thinking about the poor mare. They all jumped down from the buildings and said goodbye to each other, completely ignoring the civilians that had just watched the battle above, and left the unarmed explosives on the buildings. Recon and Camoflash went back to the mercenary HQ. Nova walked for a few minutes to get to her house. When she reached her house she went in side and bolted her door behind herself. She went up stairs, approached her dresser, and opened the bottom drawer. Inside were hundreds of clips of ammo. She reloaded both of her guns and locked her rifle away. She always slept with her pistol in her holster on her front left leg, and tonight just made her more paranoid. She collapsed on her bed exhausted. Nova blew out the candle on her dresser, and got some rest.
There' still more to come. if you like this story please comment , like , or watch me to see more please do it or Nova will kick YOU in YOUR Sunshine !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nova slept soundly, but not pleasantly. her mind was clouded with terrible thoughts; Images of her father, Gallop Town, the Shadow Hooves, things from her past, and the helpless mare kidnapped last night. The fiery beast haunted her thoughts , mentally battling her as she slept.
Nova awoke abruptly as soon as her tired body would allow her. She was glad to be up and out of that nightmare. She arose from her bed and looked outside her window which had a view of the palace. she saw hundreds of ponies. Almost everypony in the city gathered in the courtyard nearby, even a few zebras showed up. As she looked more closely at the situation, She saw Princess Celestia standing at the top of the courtyard stairs just outside the palace. She looked as thought she was going to say something important. Judging by the number of ponies there she knew it was. Nova grabbed her rifle from her dresser (with no intention to use it), and gave her mane a few quick brushes before exiting her house to get to the palace, which was only a minute or two away. Once there she saw Camoflash and Recon Groove in the crowd. She moved towards them and nudged their shoulders to indicate her arrival. They looked back, and were relieved to see her.
"What's going on?" Nova asked anxiuosly
"I don't know exactly either, but whatever it is it seems bad," Camoflash replied.
"I've heard rumors that somepony's gone missing," Recon added "Perhaps even killed."
"The mare who was kidnapped last night?" Nova suggested.
"Possibly," said Camoflash.
A herald started blowing a cornet to signify that Celestia was going to speak. She began shortly afterwards.
"Citizens of Cheval City, I have an announcement of terrible news. Disaster has struck at the city of Gallop Town. Mysterious creatures covered in flames have annihilated the city, reducing it to ashes. These dark beings clearly want nothing more than Equestria's end, but that wont happen. Starting tomorrow we'll go into hiding. Everypony will be evacuated to Cloudsdale. The creatures that I speak of can't possibly reach there. I assure that nopony else will lose their life this way."
Everypony was shocked and terrified at what they'd just heard, the same expression that Camoflash and Recon Groove gave when they first found out. The three gave one look at each other and knew Celestia's plan would fail. Nova looked up at the princess. She was looking down at the crowd in despair. She probably knew that it wasn't going to work either, but it was the best course of action that she could think of, but Nova knew a better way.
Without thought or hesitation she rushed to the top of the stairs, and beside the Princess of the Sun. Celestia thought that Nova would just have a few questions about her solution, but was awestruck a split-second later when Nova readdressed the crowd.
"Citizens of Cheval City, I know a better way to solve this. I say this with as much respect as possible towards the princess, but her plan will bring the end of Equestria. I've encountered these creatures before, and mere rainwater cannot douse their flames. Even if it did, earth ponies and unicorns can't live in Cloudsdale, only the pegusi would survive, and they can't grow food or raise the sun or moon. The only way for Equestria to survive is for us fight back."
Celestia looked at her guards, but they didn't act. They knew that trying to apprehend Nova would be suicide, and that siding with Nova could mean banishment.
"Equestria needs an army," Nova continued."It is the only way to defeat this rising threat. I may be gifted, but i'm not a warlord. Equestria needs everypony it can get to stop this new foe. The fate of Equestria and life as we know it rests in the balance..."
Celestia was angry at Nova for interrupting her, yet she knew that her plan would bring the certain doom of the land. While Nova's plan was extremely risky, it was better than inevitable destruction. The princess let out a sigh of relief
"You have a lot of work to do General Sunshine."
Nova went back to Camoflash and Recon Groove. The three then started recruiting as many ponies as they could. Most of the stallions and a few mares were eager to keep Equestria safe. At the end of the day about half of the population of the city had joined The Equestrian Army. The three mercenaries parted ways for the rest of the night. Tomorrow they would leave that title behind, and become generals.
Training started early the next morning. Nova took the pegasi and made them into the Equestrian Air Force. They would provide support for the infantry from above. She taught the multiple aerial maneuvers and strategies. They all progressed well and few got demoted to infantry. Their determination and Nova's inspirational speeches made their training relatively shorter than she thought. There was even a foal capable of flying in the air force among the rest. though she was young she stunningly had a wing power of 10.2! more than double that of some of the other recruits. The filly even had power superior to her own parents. She was grey with a purple mane, her name was Static (not OC). Nova put static and the other six fastest pegusi in a special scouting division, known as OP 115 With the air force's training going so well within the day nova also taught them a few sniper tactics. Pegusi can fly above clouds and remain hidden whilst picking off enemies from an unknown location. By the end of the day 99% of the pegusi were battle-ready. Nova gave them their rifles and guided them to the mercenary HQ, which was the new base of The Equestrian Army. She told them to stay there and await further orders.
Camoflash was in charge of the former mercenaries. They already knew how to fight really well, and would be an elite squadron of ponies. They would charge into battle first with brutal demolition tactics. With a blast first and ask questions later attitude. Camoflash would be in charge of The Equestrian Black Ops. The mercenaries had much combat experience, so Camoflash taught them the destructive, reckless, and precise brutality only he could teach. He lead them to a barren land far from town where he gave them several different kinds of high=powered weapons. They blew up several rocks with CFE-056 rocket launchers, and other explosive ordinances. They also trained with assault rifles and machine guns. Though they were automatic and usually clumsy weapons for a precision strike force, Camoflash taught them stabilization tactics that made a heavy machine gun about as accurate as a semi-automatic carbine. Camoflash trained them to use almost any existing weapon at anytime. After training he lead the recruits to a different wing of the mercenary HQ and told them to wait for further instructions.
Recon Groove was in charge of calvary and everypony who didn't qualify for the Air Force or Strike Team. This was almost 75% of the entire army. They upgraded standard chariots into armored machines of war, and regular carriages into semi-impenetrable personnel transports. Recon couldn't teach the ponies any more than what they needed to know. They used their time making sure that the vehicles were stable and functional. The majority of the infantry got standard issue rifles, while more qualified groups would get assault rifles. Recon ordered several hundred ponies to patrol the streets of the city. He wouldn't give them a chance to destroy his home, or the thousands of ponies that live there. The rest of the reruits went back to the HQ with the rest of the army awaiting further orders.
Even Princess Celestia helped the war effort. She taught several unicorns that didn't join the army defensive magic. in one day Cheval City went from a peaceful town to a war-ready fortress. Nova sent her scouting squad to monitor the area where Gallop Town once stood. They wouldn't be back until morning, The three generals knew that when or if they come back it wouldn't be good news. All they could do is sit, wait, and prepare for battle.
When Nova's scouting division returned the next morning, things were almost as they all predicted. It was bad news, though nopony had anticipated the severity to be this extreme.
Soarin, one of the seven ponies in the elite reconnaissance squad known as OP 115, entered the base and appraoched Nova. She and the other two leaders of the army, Camoflash and Recon Groove were standing around a table with a map of Equestria on it, plotting strategy against hypothetical situations.
"General Sunshine?" called Soarin. Nova turned around and addressed him.
"Good to see you back Sgt. Soarin, Did your squad find anything?" Nova asked.
"Yes General Sunshine, we observed from the clouds all night. There was much activity in the ashes below. We studied their movements and behavior, It seems that the Infernites (fiery creatures) are more intelligent than we had though." He handed her some surveillance photographs."They seem to be patrolling the area, anticipating an attack." Nova listened closely to the vital information that Soarin was telling her."There seem to be different ranks among them as well. The bright red one that you described to the princess was the most common and are probably the main infantry. They patrolled in units typically consisting of 15 Infernites. 14 red Infernites followed in a circle around a single yellow Infernite. These Infernites seem to be of higher rank than the red ones. There was an even more peculiar sight earlier this morning. We saw about 50 red Infernites circling around 14 yellow Infernites. The yellow Infernites were flying around a blue Infernite. For reasons unknown, this Infernite occasionally shot a beam of energy straight up towards the sky. After this discovery we decided to return this information to you immediately."
"Thank you Soarin, your squad can rest now. The rest of the army will handle it from here," Nova acknowledged.
"Anytime General Sunshine." Soarin saluted her then retired the barracks. Nova returned her attention to the other two leaders of The Equestrian Army, who were joking around about exploding cupcake launchers.
"Just got the intel back from OP 115. It seems as though the Infernites are a lot smarter than we predicted them to be," said Nova as she slid the pictures that Soarin gave her across the table.
"How much smarter?" Asked Recon Groove
"They have an effective chain-of-command, and patrol their territory with extreme prejudice," replied Nova.
"Any other known defenses?" added Camoflash.
"No other primary defenses have been Identified, but I highly suggest you keep your eyes peeled at all times. Our primary objective is to find and destroy the enemy, but we also need to know more about them and learn their strategies to fight them better, and hopefully bring this war to a short end." replied Nova. After the briefing Recon and Camoflash spoke at the same time.
"When do we get to kill things?!?" Nova chuckled at their eager and trigger-happy personalities, then responded to their question.
"We move out at 09:00 hours, OP 115 reported strange activity about a blue Infernite, and i don't want to battle it until we know its purpose. It should be gone by then." Nova finished briefing to Camoflash and Recon Groove, who then left to address to their own special squads. The entire army was to meet just outside the walls of the city. The three generals knew that they'd need every pegasus, unicorn, mare, stallion, and (with the exception of Static in OP 115) filly they'd recruited. Before they left, Princess Celestia arrived and motivated them before charging into their first battle.
"Today is a pivotal moment in all of your lives. Three days ago, you were all just ordinary ponies. Three days ago you were peaceful, nonviolent inhabitants of Equestria. But today, you stand before me, and your generals. Today you are the most dangerous force in Equestria. And today you'll charge into battle as ponies and come back as heroes!!!"
Everypony in the army was ready to do their best on the battlefield. They were so eager to fight they were practically cheering. The three generals gave the signal to begin marching. Their destination, Gallop Town. It was a long hike but the soldiers didn't tire. They were so eager for action that none of them stopped for even a second. at 10:05 hours they were standing atop the same hill that Nova stood on just five days earlier, and everypony saw the bright red glow coming from the city. The army was halted, as the three generals took a short surveillance time so they could fully plan an effective strategy.
Camoflash's strike force were to charge into battle first, then Nova's pegasi will cover them from the skies, Infernite reinforcements are expected to arrive after about five minutes from the first strike. Recon and the rest of the army will then launch a full scale assault to intercept and destroy the rest of the Infernites' defense. It was a good plan, but it's always more difficult when you're fighting an unknown and unpredictable force.
Camoflash's Black Ops charged into the remains of the city at 10:25 hours. They hit the first wave of Infernite defense with extreme prejudice. They sprayed belt-fed machine guns and charged as deep into enemy territory as they could without ensuring their own deaths. They began to get overwhelmed, as five of Camoflash's troops fell at the shots of a yellow Infernite that had gotten behind their lines. Suspicions were confirmed that the yellow leaders, were a lot stronger than the red infantry. They were more swift and had more strength than the inferior red counterparts.
Nova's pegasi moved into position atop a thick, low flying cloud that they'd made as the strike force charged into battle. She issued a command fire on the yellow Infernite on Camoflash's flank. Every pegasi on the cloud fired simultaneously at all parts of its body. It fell dead instantly just as it was charging an attack that could've killed half of the strike force. There was a bullet for every two inches of its body. Three pegasi at the rear of the cloud moved it closer to the city ruins. The soldiers on the cloud stuck their barrels through it and maintained increased accuracy by using thermal scopes, making the dark cloud into a floating tank. This got the Infernites' attention and they responded immediately by shooting fireballs simultaneously in their own command fire. The cloud was extremely vulnerable to the Infernites' attack, even thought it was a heavy storm cloud. It was a matter of minutes until the cloud completely disintegrated along with many pegasi that were on it. The rest of the air force continued to pick off the remaining yellow Infernites. They were restricted to the ground, and had no chance to inflict further damage on the agile pegasi above.
With the combined forces of Camoflash's strike team and Nova's air force, the remaining Infernite defenders faced quick annihilation as they were flanked from all angles. But The Equestrian Army didn't declare victory yet. As planned, hundreds of Infernite reinforcements charged ferociously into battle from the south entrance of the torn city. With them came a new variant of Infernites. They were dark orange and possessed the ability to fly. This left Nova's forces unable to help Camoflash's troops on the ground, they were too busy fighting off the new threat. Camoflash's strike force became quickly overwhelmed by the massive force left on the ground. Though there were few casualties, the Equestrian Black Ops were completely pinned and couldn't break cover to return fire. They were all outnumbered three to one.
Based on their general movements it was assumed that the Infernites were getting cocky. They broke their standard formation to surround the pinned pegasi and strike force. Instead of 14 Infernites guarding their yellow superiors, there were only 4. This flaw was soon advanced on as the final part of the Equestrians' plan was put into motion. The rest of the army led by Recon Groove charged from the northern meadow and into the war-torn ashes. Many soldiers were riding in armored personnel transports and chariots with mounted Gatling guns. The assault tore through much of the opposition, giving Camoflash's forces the chance to fight back. With the threat on the ground now being suppressed, Nova and her air force bolted back up and began to reclaim the sky. The sloppy formations of the Infernites took its toll as The Equestrian Army were once more in complete control of the battle.
Hours of brutal fighting passed as the two factions fought to the last hoof. There were no prisoners and nopony went MIA. It was an all-out war with absolutely no remorse the lives on the opposite side. Few ponies lost their lives in comparison to the Infernites. The Equestrian Army always dominated at the end of each fiery wave, but the Infernites never stopped coming. They charged at the city wave after wave until it started to take its toll on the ponies, At 20:00 hours many ponies began to give up. Morale was low as most of thought that the Infernites' numbers were simply too much for them, and that they would never stop coming. Ammunition and basic supplies were running out and being replaced with the bodies of dead or wounded ponies. The stench of decay and blood filled the battlefield as the Equestrians held their ground at all costs. Though nopony ran or surrendered, they feared that the war would be lost on the very day that it started.
Nova spotted a wave of Infernites half the size of Gallop Town approaching rapidly towards the their position. She knew that this was their final stand judging by the incredible number of Infernites in it. She dashed down from her storm cloud perch that she used to pick off high value targets from a distance to alert Recon and Camoflash of the coming assault. when she reached the ground she saw the two generals amazed yet terrified of something that they were looking at. When Nova turned around she also saw it, and it filled even her hardened heart with fear.
Everypony saw the massive beam of concentrated blue fire that poured from the sky like a tornado from the underworld. The majority of troops were terrified as well, but also stood their ground an prepared for the coming fight. They all knew that at the end, one shall stand and one shall fall.
The blue flames that rained down were summoned by a dark blue Infernite that was no doubt the most powerful element on the battlefield. The flames that it cast were almost as bright as Celestia's sun. There was no time to waste. Nova commanded all of her pegasi, even OP 115, to follow her as she flew as fast as she could in a straight line towards the clouds. Recon Groove moved all of the armored vehicles towards the front of the line in a defensive position, and Camoflash's forces reinforced it with the heaviest and most powerful weapons in their arsenal. The rest of the army entrenched themselves in basements and cellars of barely standing buildings. The army was ready for the final assault and whatever the Infernites could throw at them.
Nova's air force got to their location miles above Equestria. She had commanded everypony to fly as high as they possibly could. If high enough, a bullet fired downwards from such a height would continue to increase speed even after minutes from firing. The Infernites' pillar of blue fire was a beacon that told them where the army was. They then were instructed to fire at the beacon as rapidly as their bolt-action sniper rifles would allow them. Most of the pegasi made it high enough for her plan to work. Their bullets caused individual sonic booms, and caused catastrophic damage to anything within five feet of impact. It was like watching a meteor shower for the infantry on the ground. The shells had gained so much speed that they exploded when they hit the ground. Most of the basic Infernites fell victim to this .50 caliber hailstorm, while the more intelligent and agile ones stayed out of its way.
Nova's pegasi continued to fire, but had no idea of what was going on almost two miles below. As soon as they were in range. The rest of the army began their strike. They picked off the remaining Infernites that weren't caught in the sonic explosions of the air force's meteor shower. The entire army began to fire from their fortified position at the incoming wave of Infernites. This finished any and all red Infernites that were left standing and a number of yellow and orange ones. Camoflash knew that this wasn't enough to stop the onslaught. He commanded his entire force to use nothing but explosives on the heavily resistant yellow Infernites. The orange Infernites dodged these generally slow firing rockets and simply flew out of the way. Every inch of the battlefield was covered with explosive, shattering the metal shell that they had for bodies. With exception to the nearly invincible blue Infernite, all of the Infernite ground forces were eliminated by the onslaught of missiles.
Now the only forces that the Infernites had left was a single blue leader and and its orange air force. With Nova's sharpshooting pegasi practically in space, there was no force accurate enough to hit them from a great distance. Recon Groove knew if they waited for them to get closer, the blue Infernite would unleash the fiery apocalypse contained within the spire of fire that it carried. If they could get close enough to take out the flying threat and still avoid the blue beast, it would surely surrender, and Recon Groove knew a way to accomplish this. He had every vehicle in his command charge at the incoming beats. Once in range ponies on top of them with mounted machine machine guns opened fire on the flying Infernites. Most of them were killed in a few shots, while others got their wings clipped and the blown to embers by Camoflash's rocket launchers. In minutes the Infernites were down to nothing but a single leader. Every pony watched the reaction to the lone Infernite as it was sure to surrender.
The blue Infernite kept walking slowly towards its objective. Its determination was similar to the one Nova fought a few days earlier. It never broke its line of sight with the city as it crept slowly. It didn't seem to notice or care that it was the only thing left standing on that field. Against all odds, the lone beast continued its march towards Gallop Town.Its pillar of fire that it carried left a trail of charred dust. Ideas simultaneously struck each of the three Equestrian generals. They all had found out a way to stop the blue threat dead in its tracks.
Nova's pegasi had all run out of ammunition, and ceased to continue the meteor shower. Nova looked down and saw that the pillar of fire remained, which must have meant that the blue Infernite was still alive. She put her plan into motion by soaring down back towards the ground at top speed. She kept going straight down until she caused her own sonic boom. With a mile still between her and Equestria, she fired her rifle once, still going straight down. Since the gun itself was already travelling at the speed of sound, the single bullet exited the barrel at twice the speed. Nova then pulled up slowly from her fall so she didn't break her wings and ultimately kill herself. With about a mile left for the bullet to travel, it would surely have enough impact to kill the blue creature.
Camoflash had his own way to kill the final beast. The commander of the most explosive force in Equestria had one more trick up his sleeve, one more weapon that he hadn't used yet. He had only used it once before back when The Shadow Hooves made their first appearance in Cheval City. He looked at his troops and gave a single order. He shouted dramatically towards the sky,
"BRING ME 115!!!" (Elena Seigman reference)
The basic infantry were confused as they tried to puzzle together what their general meant. 115 is the codename for an experimental W.M.D that was simply too powerful and expensive mass produce. The mercenary weapons developers gave it too him years ago. Minutes later one of his troops brought Camoflash the very weapon that he wanted. It was a saddle mounted weapon. On both sides there were two massive cannons loaded with an unstable compound known only as Element 115 (C.O.D zombies reference). The weapon had so much recoil that it could only be used when the user was already backed into a wall, other wise he would be crushed against whatever was behind him. Before he took the shot he noticed a yellow sonic boom in the sky. He only wondered what Nova was up to when he fired the unstable weapon directly at the last Infernite standing.
(Minutes before Camoflash fired "115") Recon Groove had his own idea to destroy the blue Infernite. The heavy assault vehicle that he was driving had enough power to kill the beast eventually, but time wasn't something that they had, they only had a few minutes until it unleashed that pillar of flames on the entire army, Recon wasn't going to let this happen. He plotted a risky maneuver that would surely destroy it. Though he wasn't a master at magic, he was a unicorn and he knew a single spell that would ensure its success. He started driving as fast as he could toward the lone monster. Recon didn't apply any brakes. He wanted his vehicle to collide with the creature. His assault carriage was packed with 500 tons of missiles, and the intense heat of the Blue Infernite was well beyond what was needed to detonate them. With seconds until impact Recon stood on top of his vehicle, and prepared his magic. He saw Nova's sonic boom above. He then turned around and saw a blinding flash coming from Camoflash's position.
Individually, any of the three ponies' plans would have completely obliterated the final threat, but the three didn't have time to coordinate a plan and took matters into their own hooves, The three projectiles all hit the blue Infernite at the exact same time. Recon Groove cast his spell, and folded his purple body armor into metallic wings. He glided away from the battle field riding on the shockwave from the ground-shattering explosion. He barely escaped the Equestrian M.O.A.B. but had little injury but a few burns.
Nova flew back down to the remains of Gallop Town and witnessed that the Infernite's pillar of fire had collapsed and vanished. The battle was won!!. She flew over to Camoflash and Recon Groove, who had just glided in from the battlefield. The three were all speechless but they all knew that the fight was finally over.
The three prepared their troops to go back to Cheval City when they marveled in front of a new discovery. They were standing in front of a house that was actually standing. It was almost untouched by the chaos that surrounded it. Camoflash sent five of his stealthiest Black Ops into the building to investing this strange finding. Moments later they all came back unharmed, but there were more than five ponies exiting the building. One of Camoflash's troops was holding a struggling filly. and the other four escorted a Mare and Stallion. they were ordinary ponies who were lucky to have survived the five days of terror that they faced since Gallop Town was first destroyed. The filly seemed to be deranged as her struggling was actually an attempt to fight the ponies who saved her. The young foal probably thought that she was being abducted rather than saved. The others seemed to be the filly's parents. The mare was a unicorn and the stallion was an earth pony. The parents seemed know what was going on, yet they had an aggressive look in their eyes, almost like they didn't trust us. Camoflash walked over and addressed the survivors in a kind reassuring voice.
"My name is Camoflash, and these are my friends, Nova and Recon. We were sent here by the princess to eliminate the threat that has been patrolling this city. Our forces have already cleared this area and the entire town. We'll escort you to Cheval City where it's safe." The two ponies were still unsure of whether to trust him, but Camoflash holstered his weapons and extended a hoof. The stallion shook hooves with Camoflash while his wife burst into tears. Nova comforted her as they began their return home. The three generals knew that this war was far from over.
For many of the soldiers, returning to Cheval City was the longest journey they've ever taken. Many of them were W.I.A at their recent battle, making it difficult and painful to march back. Some ponies could no longer stand, but most of there wounds were temporary 3rd degree burns that didn't do any permanent damage. The special squads like the Black Ops or the Air Force didn't have many casualties. The majority of wounded and dead came from the main army infantry, who almost had no primary defense against the Infernites' ever-burning flames. The three generals of the Equestrian Army were travelling in front of the rest of the army. Beside them were the three survivors of the battle at Gallop Town, and surrounding them were the most elite of each of their squads. They were comforting the survivors, trying to gain their trust and more importantly, see if they remembered anything about when the Infernites first arrived. The mare finally stopped crying and began to talk.
"It all happened so fast. The entire town was destroyed literally in a few seconds. It was a massive wave of blue fire. It covered the entire town, including our house."
"But if your house was caught in the wave, how is it still standing?" Camoflash asked, with an astonished look on his face.
"I can't explain it either, but whenever the house or one of us were in danger we were surrounded by a purple aura that seemed to deflect anything that could do us harm. Though my daughter and I are both unicorns, we didn't cast the spell. Our magical auras are a light blue color, completely different from the ones that saved us."
When Nova heard this information, there was only one unicorn that she could think of that would explain the phenomena. They arrived back at Cheval city early the next morning. The survivors and the generals headed for the palace while the rest of the army was instructed to go back to base so they could rest.(except for the wounded went to hospital) Nova left Soarin from OP 115 in charge of basic commands until they returned. The six ponies walked up the courtyard stairs and into Celestia's palace. The princess was standing in the middle of the main room, frantically pacing herself. She was relieved to see Nova and the others alive again, in fact she was waiting for their return.
"I can't explian it, Twilight has been having magical surges all day yesterday, But nothing in the palace or even the city has been affected by them. It's so mysterious. Unicorn foals don't have magical surges without them causing an effect on something," Said the princess, still walking all over the room. She was practically panicking, but not quite. Nova had never seen the princess not know something about magic before, but it wasn't surprising to her, because she knew that the princess (other than discord) had never dealt with combat, especially unicorn foals in combat.
"I think I know what's going on princess, where's Twilight?" asked Nova.
"She's in the library. My servants have been watching her closely there," Celestia responded, reassuring herself that everything was under control. The princess then turned her head to the survivors and wondered who they had brought with them. Recon Groove noticed the look on her face and began to explain.
"These three are survivors from Gallop Town. It's been chaotic for them these past few days. When we found them they couldn't even fully trust us. We knew that there would be no sight as reassuring as the princess herself, and Nova believes that there is something else going on with them."
"I'm honored to meet the three of you." Celestia said with her usual encouraging voice."But I thought that Twilight was the only survivor?"
"We all did, but for whatever reason all three of them remained completely untouched by the chaos," Camoflash added.
"And i believe I think I know why!" exclaimed Nova "Everypony follow me to the library." Nova led them down a hallway to the palace's massive library. She had been here a few times before when she was just a recruit, studying in the very small combat section. There was a main area in the middle of the library that branched off into the many sections. It was where one would typically read. Celestia's servants were looking at almost every magic-based book in the entire library and closely watching Twilight, who was lying in the very center of the area. She looked exhausted, as if she had been casting frequently for days. The group of ponies made their way over to Twilight, still keeping a safe distance away from her. One of Celestia's servants also came over, and told them what they had found out.
"We have analyzed her technique and confirmed that she is using protection magic, thought we do not know that she is casting on. Recently we also found out that Twilight's magic isn't affecting anything in or around the city, but of course we still don't know what she's casting on or why. But whatever she's doing she has enough power to match Starswirl the Bearded!" Everypony except for the servants were puzzled by that statement.
"What could a filly want to protect so badly?" Celestia said to herself as she started pacing again.
"Don't worry princess, some of that information actually confirms my theory, but there's only one way to know for sure," Nova reassured her while turning to the survivor stallion."If you don't mind sir, my friend here is going to kick you, and I want you not to defend yourself at all."
"Well I don't see why not. If it's for matters of national security I'd be happy to help." Responded the white earth pony.
"Camoflash would you like to do the honors?" Nova asked already sure of his reply.
"I'd never turn down the chance to hit somepony," replied Camoflash as he approached the the stallion. He attacked him without hesitation. He didn't do much, just a simple forehoof kick, and the survivor didn't even flinch. Just as his wife had described earlier, the stallion was protected by a lavender aura. It didn't just protect the stallion, but the mare and filly as well. This also forced the release of the filly from the grasp of Camoflash's soldier. Everypony turned around and saw Twilight levitating high in the air. Her horn was glowing so bright that the entire library seemed darker by comparison. Only Celestia had seen magic on this level before. The sight of Twilight casting the protection spell on the civilian family answered everypony's questions, but several more mysteries quickly replaced them. There was a moment of silence as everypony stared in awe at both Twilight and the shield that she had cast. The spell lasted for minutes, and was as effective as it looked. Nopony could even begin to put the slightest dent in it. It was probably powerful enough to withstand one of the final attacks that the three generals used in the battle at the ruins of Gallop Town. The shield slowly disappeared after a few minutes and Twilight fell hard to the ground.
The three generals and Princess Celestia rushed over to the lavender unicorn. She put a hoof to her neck and looked for a pulse. She found a faint heartbeat and the slight movement of her breathing within a few seconds. Once she confirmed that Twilight Sparkle was still alive, she moved out of the way and allowed for Celestia to cast healing magic. The spell had drained Twilight's energy down to nothing. She could barely summon the strength to blink. Twilight probably wanted the spell to continue, but simply ran out of power.
"That's incredible! How could a mere filly harness such energy!?!" Recon Groove said as astonished as the others.
"I don't know," said Camoflash "But for whatever reason she REALLY wants to keep those three alive." Celestia had finished restoring Twilight's energy. Surprisingly she didn't recast her spell, instead she ran off playfully into one of the larger sections of the library. The princess turned back towards the group and spoke.
"I still don't know what is going on with that filly." She looked at the survivors."Perhaps we'll find out later, but for now I would like you three to stay in the palace. I need you all close by in case we discover something important. I'm sure that you wouldn't mind."
"Not at all princess," replied the pink mare. "We couldn't possibly stay in our home, being the only ones there. It's safer for my family this way."
"Very well then, one of my servants will escort you to your room."
"Right this way." said a pegasus guard who was motioning towards a nearby hallway. The family followed him and were soon out of sight as they turned a corner in the corridor. Nova, Recon, and Camoflash each saluted the princess and left the palace. They had just exited the courtyard when they nearly ran into Spitfire, who was in a hurry to find them.
"My generals! We have discovered the location of a small Infernite force southwest of Gallop Town."
"Why are you telling us this soldier? Send a group to take them out!" Recon Groove responded with a slight anger towards her and Soarin, who was in charge of commands at the time.
"We're informing you of this because of other mysterious sightings around the area."
"What exactly Spitfire." said Nova.
"We saw what appeared to be electric trees in a defensive perimeter to keep the Infernites at bay. Reports also confirm other ponies in the area."
"Tell all the troops in my command to report to me in ten minutes," ordered Camoflash.
"Yes sir!" saluted Spitfire. The reconnaissance pegasus proceeded back to the army headquarters to carry out her orders. The generals waited at the city gates until Camoflash's forces arrived, taking a brief rest there. They arrived 10 minutes later as ordered. and were ready as ever to battle once more. At 07:58 hours they all boarded motorized carriages proceeded towards their location. Spitfire flew ahead of them, leading the way to their objective. Recon and Camoflash briefed the strike force while Nova closely examined surveillance photos. She was sure that the ponies in hiding were unicorns casting multiple lightning spells on surrounding trees. She was also puzzled at why lightning would provide a great defense from creatures that were made of fire.
They came into visual range at about 8:27 hours. Most of the ponies watching were surprised to see the the electrified trees were an effective defense against the Infernites. This led them to theorize that whatever was within the Infernites' metal shells was somewhat organic in nature, and was prone to normal forms of damage. The enemy outside the perimeter didn't seem to have any specific strategy to breach the electric barriers. In between the bolts of lightning that reflected rapidly between the trees they could see the ponies inside, and they walked slowly towards them no matter how lethal the hazards in front of them were. The electrical circle of trees stood out against the flat plains around them. The ground behind them seemed to be burned, no doubt from Infernite footsteps.
The carriages stopped thirty meters from the nearest enemy. Every pony checked their equipment and weapons before deploying into their second conflict. The Infernites quickly changed their attention to the small task force, choosing to battle an enemy that they had a chance to defeat. The ponies were greatly outnumbered. and had no cover but the vehicles that they came in. The Equestrian Black Ops fired first, concentrating most of their fire on the three yellow Infernites that soon responded with their own rays of fire. The heavily resistant leaders were feet away from the ponies position when they fell. With the main threat out of the way all that remained were about 80 reds who were also danger-close to the 35 ponies. Still, the Black Ops tactics proved too much for the generally weak red infantry. Despite being outnumbered, the small strike force broke cover and quickly eliminated all targets in the immediate area. Within two minutes the ground was littered by the cold shells of the dead Infernites.
The ponies proceeded to investigate the electric barriers before reinforcements came. When they got within a few feet of the perimeter they could also see several ponies inside. They couldn't confirm anything about them specifically except that they were ponies." Recon Groove and Camoflash both tried to remove the barrier but couldn't control the lightning. Their magic wasn't strong enough. They instead signaled for one of the ponies inside remove the barrier.
"Hey! Over here! Were ponies!! Let us in!!!!" Camoflash yelled towards the center of the enclosed area. One of them must have heard him because a light pink mare with a green mane ran over to them. She jumped up and held onto a small grey apple growing on the strange tree with her mouth. It took half a minute of in-air tugging and pulling, but the grey fruit finally fell out of the tree. For whatever reason this shut off the electrical current between it and the two trees next to it, allowing the army ponies to safely enter the area. After they all were past the trees the mare kicked the tree with her hind legs, almost as if she were trying to shake the other apples off of it. This reactivated the electrical current between the deactivated trees. This shocked the young mare as well, but it was more of a jolt rather than a lethal electrocution.
"Thank Celestia help has finally arrived! I don't know how much longer we could've survived here by ourselves." The pink mare said, leading the task force to the center of the defended area.
"It seem's like you have the situation under control here. In the long run this electric defense will probably keep them at bay until you run out of basic supplies." Nova added. She noticed that Infernite reinforcements had arrived and were walking into the current as usual.
"But we can't keep this up forever and we already are running low on food. Damn creatures burned our orchards to the ground, but we're pretty fortunate that you came when you did. Judging by how fast you took out those things, you must be part of some sort of specially trained military force."
"Yes we are ma'am, blessed by the princess herself." They reached the center of the closed off area. About 30 ponies had gathered there, and were watching the electric walls closely. Nova looked though the crowd and tried to find the unicorn that was casting the electrical magic, But she was surprised when she soon realized that other than Recon Groove, Camoflash, and a few others in the strike force, there were no unicorns, only earth ponies. One of them was standing on a barrel of cider giving orders. She was older than the rest judging by her mostly whitened mane. The generals approached her as she was obviously in charge of the regiment of earth ponies. The cactus-green earth pony hopped down from her position and addressed the mare that had let them inside.
"I'll handle this from here. Get back to you're position Red Gala."
"Yes ma'am," replied the lime-green mare. She rushed back to the northern side of the crowd taking a watch position.
"Now who are y'all military ponies comin' here in yer fancy automatic carriages"
"Simply put, we are The Equestrian Army. We were deployed here to eliminate the Infernite threat in the area, but it seems as though you have that under control here," Camoflash replied.
"What's an Infernite? Are y'all referring to them ponies made of fire over yonder?"
"Yes ma'am, and if we may speak with the unicorn in charge of your....."
"Unicorn? Why y'all is the only unicorns i've seen in days. This defense is 100% earth pony maintained."
"But that's impossible! Earth ponies can't channel magic, there's no way!"
"This ain't regular old magic that you cast through yer fancy horn. It's all in them trees over there."
They looked back at the oddly shaped and colored trees. There was still doubt in their minds that these earth ponies had harnesses the powers of magic, but this was a strange time, and almost anything could happen.
The skies turned from the cloudless blue usually seen in the equestrian summer into a dark cloudy sky in seconds. It began to pour an intense rain that angered the Infernites on the other side of the barrier. Additional lightning struck the trees and arc'd off of them in random directions. Recon Groove looked in the distance and saw that the storm only had a mile-wide radius, and beyond that point was normal sunny weather.
"It's a comin'! EVERYPONY GET DOWN!!!"
"What's coming?" yelled Recon. The older mare didn't answer, and ran behind a hay bail. All of the earth ponies hid behind whatever was closest to them. The strike force stood there puzzled at what they were fearing. A little thunderstorm was almost nothing at all compared to the living hell that they faced yesterday.
The storm continued for a few minutes before slowly fading away. Before it ended completely lightning struck each one of the trees simultaneously and then shot back up into the sky. An ear-shattering thunderclap followed seconds afterwards. A single bolt of white lightning came down in an almost straight line from the center of the storm. About midway towards its descent, the arc refracted off of a single drop of rain, splitting it into 7 bright colors. The bolt of lightning had become a falling rainbow that spread in size as it descended. When it touched the ground it was massive enough to cover the circumference of the magical trees. The rainbow ended the storm like all rainbows do and the sky became its usual blue color, but in a way it also began another storm.
As the rainbow poured out of the sky and on to the electric trees, it changed their fruit from tiny grey apples and they became infused with the rainbow itself. They became bigger, 7-colored apples, matching the colors of the rainbow that had changed them.
"I don't know what they're hiding from, this is so... awesome." Camoflash said, totally awestruck.
"What's there to be scared of, its a miracle how a dangerous bolt of lightning became the biggest rainbow that I've ever seen." Recon Groove added.
"What could possibly go wrong?" Nova said, gazing at the vivid sky. Everypony in the army stared at the rainbow, forgetting about the situation that they were in and why they were there. They were soon reminded of it when the rainbow suddenly disappeared, vanishing into the once again cloudless sky. The rainbow had changed the properties of the fruit on the mysterious trees. Lightning no longer flowed through them or the trees, and the barrier disappeared. The only thing left was a horde of ticked off Infernites, still in rage from getting wet.
The strike force quickly returned their attention to their mission, rushing to intercept the attacking enemy. The ponies were in a major disadvantage. While there were randomly discarded objects in the area to hide behind most of them were either barrels or hay bails which were flammable and ineffective against the enemy's' endless flames. It was vital that they hold this position until they had killed them all. They managed to take position behind the trees, and took them out as they tried to rush them in small groups.
Eventually the enemy got smarter and attacked a single position with larger numbers. Everypony rushed to keep the Infernites at bay, but in turn left their trees unguarded. They eliminated the hostile crowd and returned to their positions, only to find half of them practically overrun again. The cycle continued for several minutes until the basic Infernite infantry broke through pony lines. Fortunately the red grunts didn't use their fire breathing capabilities. They charged at the defending force still enraged from being rained on. It was fairly easy for the ponies to defend them selves given that they had ballistic weapons and attacked from a distance while the berserking enemy simply ran at them, practically awaiting to be shot in the process. The strike force stayed in a large group in the center of the area, picking off Infernites from every angle.
After a few waves of basic Infernite infantry were taken out they began sending in more specialized units. A few yellow Infernites came into battle, firing at the large group of ponies. They evaded the flames but got split up in the process. It took longer than usual to kill the leaders, only one pony could fire at it at a time while the rest held off the swarm. Some ponies began to fall in the process they were starting to get overwhelmed with the limitless Infernite numbers and such little cover.
"CHARGE!!" yelled the older earth pony in a western battlecry. The earth ponies emerged from their hiding positions , and charged into the wall of fire that was the Infernite assault. They ran fearlessly and rather recklessly into battle and aided the
One of the earth ponies was unstoppable, and ran directly through the lesser Infernites with ease. The red stallion was a force to be reckoned with on his own.The armor that he wore was nearly indestructible. He ran directly through their lines, charging at the leaders. He got close, and then obliterated them with a shotgun. He didn't need to shoot though, he could simply crush them with pure power, bending their shells as if they were made from aluminum and not an unknown alien alloy. Nothing slowed him down not even a direct hit from a fireball, he just kept going like a juggernaut until his body began to become vulnerable after taking so much damage. The rest of the ponies took defensive positions that matched their skill set. The persistent Infernites continuously tried to take the ponies' position and ultimately kill them all, only to extinguished every time. Wave after wave after wave they attacked with more numbers each time, but they were simply outmatched by the army's training and experience combined with the power and stamina of the earth pony resistance.
The battle began to end a few hours later. Infernite numbers began to decrease slowly with each attempt. It seemed as though they were also suffering from loss of morale. Still they all fought to the death, never truly giving up even when only one remained. Eventually a single squad of Infernites remained. They were in a different formation than usual with the yellow leader at the front. They were all charging with the same speed as usual, and the leader was charging an attack. It was drawing power from its followers to make it even stronger at their expense. It released its energy just as the massive earth pony was about to strike.
The ball of fire went into the center of the ponies' position, then emitted a blinding flash as it slowly burned out like a miniature star. Almost nopony could see and the ones who still could couldn't see much. Nova, Recon, and Camoflash were right next to each other disoriented from the ongoing blindness. Nova and Camoflash couldn't see at all, but Recon Groove was more fortunate and could see blurs from the approaching Infernites. They went for the generals first, they must have acknowledged their importance and skill on the battlefield and wanted them out of the way first. The only thing Recon could see were a few faint blurs of red. Though his vision was impaired he picked up his rifle and fired blindly at them assuming them to be the approaching Infernites. He saw that they faded away as he shot at them they must have died. He didn't see the yellow one, it's color was difficult to see against the blinding white light. Vital seconds passed and his vision improved slightly he could now barely see a yellow figure that was getting larger in size. It was approaching him. By now Nova and Camoflash began to get their vision back, and searched for the target with no success. Recon was firing at the enemy but the yellow Infernite always was an enemy that couldn't be faced alone without explosives. His attack was effective but he couldn't shoot the creature fast enough to kill it before it reached him. He also saw a small orange motion behind the Infernite. It must have been another Infernite leftover from the battle. It approached Recon as the yellow Infernite knocked him to the ground with a blow that would have killed him if he wasn't wearing his armor.
Recon's vision was now back to normal and he could see his foe perfectly, charging an attack to kill all three of the Equestrian leaders. Recon Groove kept shooting trying to prevent it, but the heavy Infernite simply had too much ballistic resistance. The orange motion behind him also became clear, and Recon could see it perfectly too, but it wasn't a stray Infernite.
It was an earth pony filly, with a double-barreled shotgun in her hooves.
With one shot she gained the enemy's attention. It turned around angered, and directed it's attack at the filly instead. She evaded over it, flipping in mid-air. She landed behind the Infernite facing towards it. The enemy turned around and faced the filly once more, but as soon as it did she unloaded the second shot at point blank range. The Infernite was blown onto it's back,killed instantly (only because Recon shot it like 10 times before). It's bright yellow flames extinguished, revealing the gaping hole left in it's head.
The effects of the Infernite attack wore off and everypony could see again, but many of them couldn't believe what they saw. The earth ponies (not in the army) were more stunned than the rest. Recon got back on his hooves and helped his friends up. The three then looked at the filly who had saved them, all amazed at her incredible feat. They weren't ashamed that a foal had saved them. They were truly lucky to be alive, and didn't care as long as they made it out unharmed. The heavily armed earth pony ran over, throwing off his helmet. He was followed by the older, green pony who was using her weapon as a cane.
"Applejack!",shouted the red stallion as he embraced the filly."Howd y'all do that!?!"
"I sent y'all with your aunt and uncle were you were safe, How did ya get here so fast?" said the older earth pony, still shocked from previous events.
"I don't really know what happened. One minute i'm moping around Manehatten, and the next i'm shootin' fiery critters over here.", answered Applejack. The filly looked around and took in her surroundings. Her eyes bacame wide with concern and sadness, as she turned back to her family.
"W-What happened to the apple orchard?!? And the.. Barn??!?"
"It was all lost to them varmits. The only thing left are the Zap-Apples. Everything else is gone,"replied the aging green earth mare.
"That's n-not p-p-possible. It can't be!"
"It's true lil' sis. It's all gone," confirmed the red stallion." Tears began to well up in Applejack's eyes, but none fell. It was devastating to her that she had not only lost her home, but what she had loved the most other than family. She looked at her flank, her cutie mark of three red apples. She had just earned it before she was sent to be with her relatives, but now she didn't know what it meant if the orchards were destroyed.
"Big Macintosh, tell me everypony's alright,"Applejack asked, hoping that it was the only thing that didn't go wrong.
"Eeyup, we're all fine. Thinks to those ponies,"replied Big Macintosh, pointing a hoof at the Equestrian strike force.
"Thank y'all so much. I don't know what i'd do without my family"
"Actually you saved us all kid. If you didn't step in when you did we'd all be goners,"added Camoflash.
"Yeah, you came from nowhere, and you executed that Infernite so quickly!,"added Nova also.
"I guess that strange lavender aura got me here just in time to........"
"Lavender aura??!?" Interrupted the three generals
"Yeah, I was teleported here by a lavender field of magic." clarified Applejack.
"Are you sure?" Recon asked.
"I'd never lie." reassured Applejack "Why do y'all need to know so badly."
"We need to report to Celestia right away, everypony come with us.", said Nova pointing towards the carriages that they arrived in. The strike force followed her without question, but the earth ponies had second thoughts.
"Don't worry we're going to evac you to Cheval City were it's safe." assured Recon. The earth ponies shared glances at each other before deciding to follow them, figuring that they had nothing to lose. They all climbed in the carriages and started the short ride back into town.
(Just an FYI. I had to modify when Applejack got her cutie mark because it wouldn't have worked out if she got it the way the show described it, because the apple orchards were destroyed when she got back from Manehatten she can't have her cutie mark then or it would make no sense. So i know that's not how Applejack really got her cutie mark, but i kept it as show accurate as possible.)
