Patriots of Equestria, Part 1

With the thoughts of restoring Chrysalis to her rightful place still fresh in their minds, Hopper and Thumper worked through the night putting together a pair of bombs that would be disguised like alarm clocks. Rather than keeping all of the interior parts of the alarm clock intact, the two Changeling brothers first put in two sticks of dynamite, a large black regular bomb, two firecrackers and three skyrockets that they managed to find all around the warehouse. The explosives that the Changelings had found were used for fireworks during holidays, implosions of city buildings, etc. However, they knew when put together, these devices would cause instruments of death.

Thus, once they were all placed, the interior parts were placed on top of them and the backs of the alarm clocks were sealed.

"We've done it, Thumper!" proclaimed Hopper, gleefully as he and his brother admired the bombs. "We've completed the weapons that will finish off the leaders of Equestria once and for all, then when they are dead, our queen can overthrow the traitor Thorax and claim her rightful place!"

"Yes, I am delighted to have completed our ultimate weapons, brother," remarked Thumper. "But, now that we have completed our weapons, where do we put them?"

To this end, Hopper trotted over to a map of the marathon's route and scanned over which location the bombs would be placed.

"Hmm, I am not sure, my brother," answered Hopper. "But, since we are changelings, we can assume the form of anypony and we can find out first hand where our targets are going to be. Remember, they must be in the same spot as our bombs for our plan to have any effect."

"Whom shall we transform into?" asked Thumper.

"We shall transform into the ponies who are coordinating the marathon," said Hopper. "Then, we shall seek out our spots in a much easier way. Then, once we find the spots, we place our bombs and set the timers."

Heeding his brothers' advice, Thumper then trotted back to the table where the bombs were and picked them up with his claw, carefully inspecting it. Still, he had his reservations and in the back of his mind, there was that thought of what would happen if their foolproof plan would backfire.

"Do you agree with this plan?" asked Hopper, who didn't get a response from Thumper right away. "There is no other plan for us to come up that would be the same as this."

"I do agree," replied Thumper, putting the bomb down. "But, it wouldn't hurt to at least have a backup plan."

"There is no other backup plan," countered Hopper, briefly scowling his brother. "No other plan will help us in getting rid of our targets faster and restoring our true queen to her rightful place. This is the only way we can rid of our enemies faster."

"But we have to remember," reminded Thumper. "That we could end up harming other ponies as well. Do you want us to be responsible for the deaths of innocent ponies that won't even have anything to do with us?"

But, Hopper ignored his brothers concerns. For it didn't really matter if other ponies were going to be at risk. All that he cared about was getting his true leader back.

"It doesn't matter," he said, flying over to a window looking out among the streets of Manehattan. "It wouldn't hurt to send a message to our queen's future subjects that anypony who stands in our way will suffer the consequences of defiance against us. Besides, we could use a little distraction to give us enough time to escape from the scene and start to seek out our queen."

"That's the other question," remarked Thumper. "We both know that our queen was able to escape from the princesses, but where exactly has she gone and how are we going to be able to find her?"

"How are we going to find her, you say?" chuckled Hopper, playfully flickering with his younger brother's nose. "They've taken the animal out of you, haven't they? Why with all the ponies focusing on the actions of our bombs, we can focus all of our attention on finding our queen whom will be much easier to find."

Thumper was still not totally convinced by his brother's words, but continued to remain loyal. They both had the same desires to restore Chrysalis to her throne, however there was always the thought of their plan falling through and Thumper wanted what was best for both him and his brother.

"Now," he continued, noticing that the sun was beginning to rise. "We must seek out the spots for our bombs while we still have a chance."

Using his magic, Hopper transformed into a light green pony with a pair of running shoes for a cutie mark. Thumper reluctantly followed suit and transformed into a light red pony with a trophy for a cutie mark. Once they were disguised, they left the warehouse and made their way along the route of the marathon, seeking out the location of where their targets would be during the marathon.

"This must be it," said Hopper, looking over towards a large podium that had four thrones with the princesses' respective cutie marks on top of them. "Where the princesses and their allies will be seated."

Hopper then looked back and saw another podium that didn't have any thrones, but had a pair of bleachers on them.

"And this must be where the bearers of the elements will be seated," added Thumper, joining his brother in looking over the location. "Do you think that the Prince of the Crystal Empire will be here as well?"

"If he is, then his lovely wife will have the honor of watching him go before her," chuckled Hopper evilly as he looked over the spots one last time. "If there are a pair of ponies that our queen would love to see eliminated for good, it is that Princess Cadence and her do-gooder husband, Prince Shining Armor, the two ponies who came together to cast us out of Canterlot and putting an end to our plan of conquering Equestria."

Realizing that ponies were going to be arriving soon, Thumper motioned for his brother to leave and return to the warehouse where they would lay low until the day would come when their plan would be carried out.

…

At the same time, little did the Changeling brothers know that they were being watched by a light yellowish gray pony with red, purple and violet highlights streaking through her mane and was dressed in a gray wool sweatshirt sweater. A pair of black glasses with tape in the middle sat on her eyes

"What's is going on?" the pony wondered to herself, inspecting the situation. "And what were those two ponies up to? If they are doing what I think they are trying to do…?"

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the pony darted away from the scene made her way over to the nearest police station to file in a report.

"You have to believe me, officer," pleaded the pony. "I saw two ponies saying that they were going to plant bombs at the finish line."

"Unless we have evidence suggesting an intimate attack, young filly," replied the police officer in a manehattan sounding voice. "Then, we cannot take your claim into consideration. Besides, the marathon is already under heightened security as it is."

"But, these ponies are up to no good," cried the pony. "I saw them plotting to kill the princesses at the finish line."

The officer merely chuckled and motioned for the pony to leave, much to the pony's dismay and annoyance.

"Good day, ma'am," he said, motioning for her to leave and the pony did leave with a loud groan. As she left the police station, the pony realized that there was no one in Manehattan who was going to listen to her. Trotting over to the Manehattan library, she took a quill and a piece of parchment and began to write a message to a pony who would listen using her magic.

"Twilight," the pony dictated to herself as she wrote on the parchment. "I am writing this message to you concerning something that two ponies are planning to carry out something at the Manehattan marathon and they are targeting you and the princesses. Please know that I am not discouraging you from coming, but as a friend, I want you, your friends and the princesses to be on guard. Something tells me that those wanted Changelings are here in Manehattan, but please be careful when you come to the Marathon. Your friend, Moon Dancer."

Once the letter was written, Moon Dancer left the library and dropped the letter into an express mailbox, hoping that the letter would arrive in Ponyville as soon as possible.