“WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA, REFUGEES”, a sign read at the border line.
Corbin and Jona were ecstatic to finally be into Equestria after years of war in their home nation, Zebraia. They both hugged each other very hard when they got over the border and were met by a kind refugee-helping government worker!
“Hello!” the government worker greeted. “We have a new, amazing house ready for you free of any charge smack down in the middle of an amazing neighborhood!” She smiled very well. “It’s in Ponyville! They will be happy to help all of you out because of the badlands you came from and the harshness of what you had to go through very much!”
Corbin was so happy as they rode the carriage that was lined with red silk to their new housing.
After a very, very, very long ride, they arrived at their new home and the government worker left them at the doorstep.
It was very hard in Zebraia and I’m so happy that they understand that we came here for a better life! Jona thought as her and her brother entered their new house.
It was an amazing house and it was just down the street from the market, the health clinic, and the town’s shops. Despite all of this, Corbin frowned as he rummaged through his fully stocked fridge.
“What’s wrong?” Jona softly bit her lower lip .
Her brother closed the fridge and turned to face her, “I know we just got here and I like it very much, but we don’t have a place to pray and the ponies of this town don’t know about our wonderful religion.”
Jona caught her frown as the realization that he was right hit her, but she forced herself to perk up, “Wait a second!” She said “This town will love to help us out, I’m sure of it! This is not our bad country brother! They will help us build the Mosque and will let us pray! Maybe even join us!”
Corbin was ecstatic at the possibility, “You’re right! Tomorrow we will go build it with all of the nice ponies help!”
In the middle of a dark room in a pony-only part of Ponyville, a masked mare connived with a dozen other ponies in similar garb.
“These zebras are bringing their filth over the border. Meanwhile, our government is just letting them corrupt our society!” Spit shot from between a stallion’s teeth as he bit down to lower his voice. He then slammed his fist on the table. “Their ideas are awful and they will ruin our pure fillies and colts.”
General consensus passed through the room. “We must attack them before they attack us, it’s the only way the pony race will survive!”
The crowd erupted in soft cries of cheers and celebration, knowing that they were right and they were about to save their whole generation from an awful invasion of new Muslim ponies.
Is was a bright day in Ponyville as Corbin and Jona both started the construction on the new Mosque. It was to be placed right in the middle of town, next to the market. They visited and received support from the Mayor, who was very kind to them by supply them with the supplies needed and promised to visit once it was completed.
What started out as a project with just his sister and him soon became a town wide project as a large number of the ponies assisted in the construction.
Jona, wearing the traditional burqa, wasn’t able to provide much help, but she was content with talking to the other ponies about the wonders of Allah, praise be upon him, and how she came to spread Allah’s word, praise be upon him, and to deliver peace to their homelands.
Twilight, hearing about the construction of the Mosque, decided to leave her studies behind for a moment to come outside her castle to check out what the buzz was about, and after finding out, to help out.
“Hey there! Are you the new ponies?” Twilight asked as she approached Jona, who was on the ground teaching a dozen fillies and colts the magic of the Quran and Allah, praise be upon him.
She smiled and put the Quran down before straightening her posture as she sat up. The children quickly began to fight over who’s turn it was to read the book before she even turned her attention to Twilight
“I sure am! Thank you for having us!”
Twilight smiled, as she knew the horrors they must have went through. “I’d be very happy to hear about your God and pray with you once the church is comp-”
“It’s called a Mosque,” Jona interrupted, “Also, if you enter the Mosque you must wear a Burqa like I am right now.”
“Oh?” Twilight raised an eyebrow as she looked over Jona. Only Jona’s eyes were visible through a slit in the dark fabric as the rest of her body was covered.
“Yes! It shows respect for our prophet, Allah, praise be upon him!”
“Oh, okay!” Twilight raised a smile once again, “It looks like you could use more hooves though! I’ll start helping!”
With that, Twilight helped finish the construction of the new Mosque. Even Applejack and Pinkie Pie came out for the occasionoccasion Pinkie handed refreshments as Apple Jack drew up plans to improve the Mosque in every possible way.
By the end of the day, the Mosque was completed. Everyone huddled together and marveled at the brilliant new building they all created… together.
It was still mid-day, so Corbin invited them all in for a first prayer session, which they all accepted the offer to join happily. Jona handed out Burqas to the mares and fillies as they all entered the new holy grounds, the Burqas made courtesy of Rarity.
“I’d like to thank you for helping us out with the construction of this new palace to Allah, praise be upon him!” Corbin exclaimed as he stood behind the podium. “We are so happy that we could get the whole town together for this…” tears began to run down his face as he tried to hold back all the emotions coursing through him.
“W-We really thought this place would be different - and it is. You ponies are the best friends we could ever have!”
The whole Mosque lit up with cheers for a solid five minutes as everyone congratulated each other for a job well done.
“Anyway,” Corbin said, wiping his face, “Let’s get started with praye-”
A shrill noise rang out as a carriage came screeching to a halt outside. It had drawn silence from all within the Mosque. Twilight, who was at the time trying to adjust her Burqa to make it feel more comfortable, turned towards the double doors at the front with an brow raised in curiosity.
“Wha-?”
CRASH
The doors were ripped from their hinges, the massive oak construction splintering inwards, showering the ponies inside with splinters and chunks of wood. A horde of ponies wearing black masks and oddly shaped black symbols wrapped around their front left legs.
Twilight’s face turned to a mix of fear and shock as she saw the intruders wielding metal objects such as pipes and bike locks. S-she even saw one in the back carrying a gun…
“No pony move!” The one in the front screamed as she rushed to the front podium. Oddly, Twilight could swear she recognized that voice…
When the masked mare reached the front, she was met with a confused Corbin who only raised his hoof up to ask what was going on. But without a second to react, his face was slammed by a metal bar, causing him to spin away from his attacker and causing him to collapse onto the floor, bleeding from his skull.
The room gasped in unison, and Jona lept out of her seat only to be pushed back by one of the many attackers now guarding the exits.
“Dirty Zebra,” the mare said with a kick to Corbin’s stomach before she turned around and addressed the ponies in the Mosque.
“Fellow ponies of Ponyville, I know you are all scared of the Zebra menace as much as I am! They are an awful ideology and they LEACH from our money! Which is ours!”
Twilight wanted to stand up for what was right… but she couldn’t find the inner strength. She was too afraid of what might happen to her if she resisted against these ponies.
Jona began to sob as the lead pony of the assault kept talking.
“We are here to teach these vermin a lesson on what is the proper way to live in this country. If the government won’t do it, we must take it upon ourselves! We must secure the existence of our people and a future for pony children!” the mare waved her hoof and Twilight watched as the black masked ponies nodded in relative unison and cheers.
Before Twilight knew what was happening, a stallion in the dark garb dragged Jona out of her seat. She tried to fight back against him, but was met with a bike lock to the top of her head. Dazed, she was forcefully dragged out into the hallway.
“These Zebras cause many ATTACKS on our people every day and we must stomp them out once and for all!” The masked pony paused for a second with a short, “ummm.”
“And the reason - umm - you haven’t heard about one yet - ummm - is because, like, the government hasn’t told you, or something. Point of the matter is, pony race is the best and that’s not racist, it’s reality.”
Crying on the floor, Jona was forced to stand as four ponies brought her to her hooves. Her mind was spinning with pain and confusion as to of what she should do. She couldn’t run or hide like she did back in her home country - she could only take the abuse from these masked ponies.
The lead masked mare jumped down from the podium and marched her way to Jona. Without warning, she smacked Jona on the side of her head as hard she could. “That’s for the pony race,” the masked mare exclaimed before spitting on the beaten mare.
That’s it! Twilight thought with her teeth clenched together, I'm not going to sit here and let these monsters destroy this innocent family!
In the blink of an eye, Twilight spread her wings out wide and took to the the air above all of the ponies. With her horn charging a powerful magic blast, she screamed. “Let her go now, you pony filth!”
The masked mare was about to strike Jona again but stopped when she heard Twilight’s declaration. As the mare and her accomplices looked up, Jona was dropped down onto the floor.
“Wait, you up there!” the mare said shakily, “No need to bring violence into this… W-we’re the good guys! We’re ponies, like you!”
“No, you’re not,” Twilight said with red rage almost completely consuming her, “You’re MONSTERS!”
Twilight fired a powerful blast at the mass around Jona. The blast exploded in the air harmlessly, but it seemed to be enough to spook the cowardly masked ponies. They began sprinting for the door at the appearance of true danger.
The masked mare looked around, shocked as her followers abandoned her. Suddenly, Twilight extended her hoof and swooped down to attack the mare. The mare tried to dodge but was too late to avoid the full brunt of Twilight’s attack. She was sent careening down the hallway and into what remained of the doors.
Recovering, she stood up, her mask knocked off in the struggle. The room gasped as they saw none other than Rainbow Dash shakily bringing herself back to her hooves.
“Rainbow Dash, h-how could you?” Twilight said. She couldn’t even translate thoughts to words because of the shock and the confusion she felt. Her head was swirling with excuses and condemnations for her friend.
However, she never got her answer as Rainbow Dash quickly scurried away and out the door like a rat scared off by a predator.
The room was completely silent for what seemed to be hours before the sounds of sobbing replaced it. Turning around, Twilight saw Jona sitting near the podium, cradling her brother’s broken, bleeding head in her hooves.
His head was split open, leaking profusely onto the floor on and around his sister. She tried humming a old tune to him from their home country, but it didn’t seem to register in his mind. Drool ran down the side of his mouth as he muttered incomprehensibly.
Twilight approached, each step she took prodding her calm demeanor into a tighter ball of rage. The more she saw Jona’s tear mixing with the crimson blood of her brother, the more searing HATE she felt for Rainbow Dash. But for right now? Now she must help these poor refugees, as it’s the only thing, and the right thing, to do...
