Chapters Unicorn Twilight Sparkle trotted through the town square, admiring the scenery. Ponyville was beautiful this time of year, as frost creeps onto the grass, and the empty trees begin to shrivel and die. Twilight was truly in awe at how the Earth ponies were able to manually change from autumn to winter. In her home town of Canterlot, the ponies changed the seasons using magic.
As twilight passed Ponyville General Bank, two masked Griffons entered the building. They went to the front desk, pulled out their pistols, and began their heist. Two Unicorn stallion guards pulled pistols from their desks, but were quickly shot dead by the griffon and his lackey. The one in charge of the robbery was larger than the other, and had a slightly artificial voice when speaking. His companion was small, but experienced with a gun. The larger Griffon did not ask for money. Instead he shot the teller, climbed over the barrier, and made his way to the vault. The lackey guarded the lobby. The Ponyville Police force quickly surrounded the Bank, and Twilight and her friends were gathered behind the police lines.
“Who do you think is responsible for this?” asked Twilight, not to anyone in particular.
“Probably those two beggars got too desperate, and decided to take up arms.” Replied Rainbow Dash, the Egotistical Pegasus, who was hovering in Mid-Air.
“What I’m wondering is how they got ahold of weapons in the first place?”
“They must not be from ‘round here.” Said Applejack, the Earth Pony workhorse.
Many Other masked griffons were appearing in the gathering crowd. One of them was right Behind Twilight and the others. Meanwhile, inside, the large Griffon neared the vault, but stopped in the last Corridor. He needed control of the crowd for the next portion, so he threw a smoke bomb out the open window, away from the curious ponies. At once, the masked griffons in the crowd pulled out pistols and rifles and began firing at the police lines. The Griffon behind the 6 ponies shouted at them to get on the ground, and put a gun to Rarity, the unicorn dressmaker’s head. All Twilight and the others could do was watch as officer after officer fell dead at the unexpected attack. Some vaulted over their carts, and began firing back at the Griffons. The Griffon threatening Rarity was shot in the head, and fell over dead. Rarity got up, only to see the officer who saved her get shot down.
Soon, the crowd was contained, the police were dead, and the Head griffon appeared in front of the bank with his lackey. “This,” said the Griffon, in a muffled voice, “is what happens when you Ponies try and mess with the griffons!” It was true. Equestria had recently declared war on the Griffon menace. “But, this is not just some bank robbery. I came for what’s in the vault. Mayor Mare!” Soon, two Griffons exited the crowd, and trudged through the field of corpses, dragging Ponyville’s mayor behind them. They dropped her in front of their leader. She could barely stand as the griffon began to speak, “I need the codes to defuse the infrared beams protecting the vault. And you,” He said, pulling out a pistol and pressing it against her skull, “are going to give them to me. And don’t try to ruse your way out, because if those codes are wrong, this lot will be painted with your head!” said the Griffon.
Mayor mare managed to muffle out a few numbers, “2…7…9…4…2” she said, obviously in pain.
The griffon nodded to his lackey, who ran into the Bank. “I suppose,” Said the huge menace still holding a gun to the mayor, “that you should know the face of your undoing.” The Griffon pulled off his mask, to show a face all too familiar to Twilight and her friends: Gilda. Twilight heard that Gilda had been killed on the Griffon warfront, which would explain the new black mask over her beak, and the scarred face.
The Lackey came out again, and said to Gilda, “The code is correct, the Infrared system is disabled.”
“Perfect” replied her boss, who then turned to the mayor. “Now to deal with you.” She said, continuing to fire her pistol, killing Mayor Mare. A riot broke out in the crowd, and a Pegasus flew out of the crowd, charging at Gilda. The griffon shot the Pegasus out of the air, turned, and walked back Into the Bank, leaving the rioting Ponies to be picked off by the armed griffons.
Once inside, Gilda walked back to the unprotected vault, and pulled out a small metal cylinder. A spike jutted from the end, and she planted it into the steel door. She pressed a button on the back of the machine, and a quiet whirring began to emanate from the cylinder. Soon, the machine dinged, and Gilda pulled the spike from the door, stood up, and twisted the vault door. The huge door opened, revealing the largest stockpile of gold in Equestria, stretching down a small room. Gilda walked down the room, paying no mind to the Gold, and pulled out her Vault hackler again. She stuck it into the wall, and soon the whole thing parted showing Gilda’s real goal: A bomb.
Gilda, accompanied by five Griffons holding the Bomb, exited the Bank into a firefight between armed Griffons, and ponies that had retrieved police weapons. A few ponies fired upon Gilda, only to be shot either by the boss, or the griffons behind them. As soon as Gilda and her Lackeys had reached the center of the lot, a cloaked airship appeared in the sky. The griffons flew onto the airship, and carried the bomb onboard with them. The ship cloaked itself again, and the rest of Ponyville rioted through the streets. Twilight and her friends ran back to the library, and barged through the door. Twilight locked the door behind them, and then turned to her friends. “Everypony here?” asked twilight
Rainbow dash said, “We lost Pinkie Pie!” Twilight ran to the window.
“I found her,” said Twilight, “but she needs help! Rainbow Dash!” the Pegasus charged through the window, and down into the alley below. Pinkie was backed into a corner, as two shifty looking stallions holding knives inched towards her. Rainbow landed, after she dashed under the leg of one of the muggers.
Rainbow wasn’t fast enough after disabling the first mugger, and got a gash across her left leg from the other stallion’s knife. She proceeded to punch the other mugger in the face, and brought Pinkie back into the library. “Twilight,” said Pinkie, “the whole town’s in an uproar because of Gilda killing Mayor Mare. It’s total chaos!”
There was suddenly a flash of light, and all six ponies ran to the west window to see. There was a huge wall of fire, at least 20 miles away, stretching from the ground to the sky and from horizon to horizon. This Firewall was getting bigger, and it soon engulfed the mountains. Twilight was decimated as she saw the wall of death spread over Canterlot, ripping towers off their bases, and throwing shards of debris all the way to Ponyville. The six ponies ran out of the library and to the train station, where the train had just arrived. Twilight and her friends managed to get onto the train, along with a few other refugees.
“Here, Rainbow,” said Pinkie Pie, “let me help you bandage that leg of yours.”
“What was that there explosion about, Twi?” asked Applejack with extreme worry.
“That must have been ‘The Bang’.” Replied Twilight, “A huge bomb held in the Ponyville General Bank, hidden in the Back of the Gold vault. I don’t know how Gilda knew about it, or why she decided to detonate it, but I’m convinced that it has something to with this whole war.”
Just then, the train started departing to Appleloosa, away from the impending wall of fire. Twilight continued her story. “‘The Bang’ was invented by famous scientist Galileo Galineigh to test his theory of never-ending firewalls. He made three bombs: ‘the bang, ‘the blast’, and ‘the blowtorch’. He tested his new bombs, by detonating ‘The Blast’ in the middle of Everfree Forest. It was a success. Soon after, Galileo was assassinated by the Zebras, who proceeded to take ‘The Blowtorch’. Equestria was soon at the scene, and decided to hold a contest, to see which City-State would take ‘The Bang’. Ponyville, Phillydelphia, cloudsdale, Manehattan, Baltimare, Las Pegasus, Canterlot, even Appleloosa and Dodge Junction all competed for ‘The Bang’, but in the end, Ponyville’s competitor, ThunderLane, was competing in the 1,000 meter free-fall against Cloudsdale’s competitor, Icy Winds. ThunderLane won by a nose, and Ponyville was chosen to hold ‘The Bang’. Obviously we failed, so we need to report the situation to Princess Celestia immediately!”
“Then why are we goin’ to Appleloosa?” questioned Applejack.
“We’re just heading there to bypass the Firewall. According to my calculations it should end after 50 miles, which is still only halfway between Ponyville and Appleloosa.” Replied Twilight.
Just then, there was a loud bang on the roof of the Train car. More, smaller, bangs followed, leading to the emergency exit leading to the roof. The hatch opened, and a Griffon fell in. This griffon was not wearing a mask, and Twilight was able to see the Ornate Tattoo on the Griffons forehead. “Everypony get down,” said the Griffon, “this is a Train heist!” He pulled a Gun out, and fired a few shots out of the hatch, and into the air. After a few moments, the door behind the Griffon opened, and the conductor stepped in.
“What’s going on here?” asked the conductor. The griffon turned, and shot the Grey stallion. The conductor made a final grunt of life, before going cold and falling backwards.
Without a driver, the Train immediately leapt off its right wheel for a few moments before crashing back down again. The Griffon stumbled and hit the wall, knocking him unconscious. Twilight jumped from her seat, “Does anypony here know how to drive a Train?”
A Purple Stallion with bright green hair stood up, “I can!”
“Then what are you waiting for?” yelled Rainbow Dash, “Get in there!”
The Purple pony ran into the conductor’s car, just as Twilight noticed something on his neck: the same ornate tattoo on the forehead of the Griffon. As the conductor’s car began unintentionally turning left, Twilight yelled, “Somepony stop him!” but it was too late. The traitor jerked the wheel left, and the conductor’s car snapped off of the passenger cars, turned horizontal, tumbled a few times, and finally came to a rest at an angle that would act as a ramp. It did just that. The rest of the train vaulted off of the ramp, and went in a huge arc, before crashing and shattering down upon the cold hard ground, in a fiery explosion of metal and glass shards, and mangled bodies incinerated by the gorging flames.
* * *
Twilight regained consciousness in the mangled remains of the passenger car. She saw a few other survivors trying to set up a camp in the hostile desert. Twilight looked back west, trying to find the firewall. It was there, rapidly approaching the Train wreck, but still about 20 or so miles away. Twilight immediately thought back to Ponyville, wondering if it was still intact. Then she thought of her friends, and almost involuntarily yelled, “Fluttershy?! Rainbow Dash?! Rarity?! Pinkie P-“her mouth was clasped shut by an unknown force. It had a cold central mass, with five warmer extremities extending off of it. Twilight was in shock, and after her temporary incapacitation, she fainted. The last thing she saw before her vision went black was a huge creature towering over her. It resembled a Biped, like a chicken or a bird, except standing strait. She could not make out the details as the silhouette blurred, and finally disappeared.
Gilda entered the large silver hall, home of the Griffon king, Protor. Gilda and her Lackey approached the King, and she began to speak, “Your mission is complete, my King. We have stolen ‘The Bang’, and detonated it on Canterlot.”
Protor’s expression went from stern to angry. “You were supposed to bring it back!” yelled the King. “For this failure, I have no choice but to do this.” He pulled a Pistol from his end table and aimed it at her Lackey. He fired the gun, and Gilda’s companion slid across the floor, a bullet in her ribcage.
“No!” shouted Gilda, as she ran to her friend.
“It’s fine. The wound isn’t fatal. If I wanted to kill her, I would have shot her in the head.” Replied the King, not caring about the situation and gingerly putting his gun away. Gilda, festering with anger, leaped at Protor, and pinned him to his throne by the neck with her claw.
“Listen, you,” Said Gilda in her artificial mask voice, “Griffinium has had enough of your tyranny, and now I have to do what no one else has the guts to do.” She lifted the king, and threw him across the hall. Protor recognized this as a formal duel, and stood at the ready. Gilda soared into the air, and landed on three legs, with one claw in the air forming a fist. Protor hovered, before charging his opponent. Gilda leaned out of the way, and as the king’s head passed, she delivered a crushing blow to Protor’s left Temple. He skewed out of flight, and landed in a heap of his own limbs on the other side of the hall. Gilda inspected his body, but he grasped her back left leg, spun around onto her back, and put Gilda into a chokehold. He now understood that this was a fight to the death, and he had a secret weapon. He jumped into the air, kicked the back of Gilda’s head, and flew to his end table. Gilda saw that he was reaching for what was on the end table, but after that blow to the head, she was doing her best trying not to fall over. Protor grabbed his gun, and pointed it squarely at Gilda’s head. He fired the gun, just as Gilda’s Lackey jumped in the way. The bullet sliced through the air, and embedded itself into the Lackeys skull. She fell in a heap on the floor. “No!” Gilda shouted again, “Sister!” she faced Protor again, her eyes deadly daggers, digging into the king’s mind. She leaped, but Protor was quicker on his feet, and pulled the trigger on his gun. Nothing happened. Gilda smashed into the king with such force that his ribs broke, and he impacted the far wall of the hall. Gilda pinned him once again to the wall, but this time, she pulled out her claws. She stabbed them into Protor’s stomach, and threw him on the ground again. He got back up, determined not to lose this duel. Gilda delivered a crushing left hook, followed by a right hook, and finished off with a deadly uppercut. Protor hit the ground, and slid a few feet on his back, before trying to stand up again, but Gilda was already on top of him. She forced her claws down on the King’s windpipe, and a violent kicking from her opponent occurred. Eventually the kicking stopped, and Protor went limp. Gilda stood again, checked his pulse, and confirmed her suspicions: He was dead. Gilda immediately rushed to her sister.
“Sister? Are you okay?” she asked, already knowing the answer, but too afraid to embrace it.
“Yes,” Replied Gilda’s sister, “yes. My soul is at rest, knowing that I helped you become queen of Griffinium.”
“But-“Gilda began
“No.” replied her sister, “No; I’m not going to make it. Just promise me one thing, alright?” she asked.
“What? Anything?” Gilda pleaded. If she did not fulfill her sister’s last wish, Gilda would forever live with a guilty conscious.
“Do you remember your old friend from flight camp?”
“Rainbow Dash? Yes. How could I forget that she just shunned the one person who knew her since birth, for a few lame ponies? What about her?”
Her sister only managed to get out two weak words: “…..Kill…..Her…..” Gilda’s sister let out a final sigh, before going completely cold.
It was on. No one would get away with killing the sister of retributor Gilda. She would kill Rainbow dash, no matter what. She dawned the crown of Griffinium, took the king’s pistol (with a few extra magazines) and set off, on course for Appleloosa, where she expected Dash to be.
* * *
Applejack and Rarity climbed over a golden hill, to look out at Appleloosa. Rarity complained, “I still don’t see why WE have to go out for help from Appleloosa.”
“Cuz, Rarity,” said Applejack, “Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight are all missin’, and no one in camp is fit enough to go all the way to Appleloosa in the blistering heat. Also, I needed a partner.” Applejack stated smugly.
“Ugh, I can see why no one is fit enough for this. My hooves are killing me, and the dust has settled so deep in my coat that it’s going to take weeks of grooming to get it all out.” Complained Rarity some more.
“Ah know, you’ve been whinin’ about it the whole time.” Applejack sighed, as they went down the last plain into Appleloosa.
“And to think, I’m still going to have to walk all the way back to the camp.”
“Would you forget it, Rarity? Listen, why don’t you stay in Appleloosa while I go back to the camp. When we find the other four, we’ll come back for you, kay?” queried Applejack.
“Fine. But don’t forget about me, okay?” said Rarity.
Applejack’s cousin Breaburn suddenly appeared in front of the two ponies as soon as they entered town, “Howdy, there!” he said, “Welcome to Aaaapleloosa!” he shouted standing high in the air and waving his hooves.
“Hey, there, cousin.” Said Applejack.
“Hey, to you, too, cousin! What brings you and your friend here to Aaaapleloosa?” He said doing his standing thing again.
“Let’s talk in Private, Breaburn. Rarity, you go enjoy yourself.” As Applejack walked off with Breaburn, Rarity stepped into the local saloon, ‘The Salt Block’.
Breaburn and Applejack entered the office of Sheriff Silverstar, where Applejack began the conversation, “Ah’m sure you’ve heard about that Train Crash out of Town.”
“We sure have, but we thought nopony survived it.”
“You were wrong. Me and Rarity were only two survivors. There are about seven more that have started to make a camp, but we’re low on food, so they sent us to see if Appleloosa would be kind enough to take us in.”
“We sure are!” said Sheriff Silverstar, who was also in the room. “We’ll have a caravan of Ponies there in a jiff. Would ya’ like a ride?”
“Sure. Let’s get moving fellas.”
* * *
Rainbow Dash soared through the Air alone. It was one of her favorite things to do. But this time, she wasn’t doing it for fun; she was doing it to find the Train crash. When she woke up, she was in the middle of the desert, with no train in sight, and the only thing to see was the huge Firewall only a few miles away. She was forced to watch in her incapacitated state as Ponyville was ripped apart. Soon after, she got feeling in her wings back, and started to fly down the tracks. But she’d been flying for hours, and still no train wreck. Suddenly, Dash smelled smoke and looked behind her to see a huge airship with smoke coming out of one engine coming straight for her. She dodged the airship, and watched as it shattered across the desert, in a huge fiery torrent of destruction. Dash looked up to see an epic battle between three more airships. Two were smaller, and carried the symbol on the train griffon on their balloons, and the third was a larger, longer, purple airship with Zecora’s Cutie mark on its Balloon. Rainbow flew up for a closer look. On the two smaller airships, there were Griffons, and one of them had Gilda on it, but wearing the crown of Griffinium. On the larger airship, several zebras were battling griffons, and others were manning the 50 guns, including cannons, explosive cannons, harpoon Ballistae net guns, and precision sniping rifles. Gilda spotted Rainbow, and ordered the helmsman to redirect the airship to go straight towards rainbow. Before her vision was obstructed by Gilda’s airship, the cyan Pony watched the other griffon airship be ripped apart by explosions, cannonballs, and harpoons. Rainbow realized that the Airship was following her, and she decided that she wouldn’t run away from a fight. The thought to herself, what would Daring Do do? She soared onto the airship, and incapacitated two Griffons immediately with her kicks.
She delivered a crushing blow to another Griffon, who ran up to her, and when one air-Charged, Dash swung with her left hoof. Her blow connected, but Rainbow felt immense pain, until she remembered that her left hoof had been cut by a mugger. She was still able to expertly disable Griffon after Griffon, paying no mind to why they wanted to kill her. Eventually, the airship was empty, except for Gilda. She charged Rainbow, and tackled her over the edge. Both could fly, so being off of the airship made no difference. Gilda wanted this to be quick, so she pulled out King Protor’s gun, and fired at Rainbow. She was able to Dodge most bullets, but when one finally connected, it connected with her wing, sending her in a free-fall into the desert below.
* * *
Twilight woke again in some kind of constraint. Her hooves and neck were attached to a metal plate via shackles. “Wha-“she said, “Where am I?”
“Ah, good. You’re awake.” Said a mysterious voice. Twilight could see nothing but a bright white light being shined upon her. A silhouette stood in front of the light, and twilight recognized it as the monster that attacked her on the train. She could now make out its figure, and its face was even more disgusting than she could have imagined. It was covered in wrinkles, and instead of a snout, it had just a mouth across its face. Its nose protruded from its face, standing alone, and both of its eyes face forward at her. As the beast started examining her, she could see that its upper hooves were not hooves at all, more log arms with odd creations at the end of them. A center that resembled a hoof, and five smaller legs coming off of it. What was this creature? Was it from another dimension? Another universe? Twilight had no Idea. She could only ask, “Who-and what-are you?”
The creature chuckled, and said, in an odd male voice, “You’re so naïve, my little pony. I’m Damian, and I come from a land very different from this. Me and my army were teleported here from our world, Earth. You see, magic exists in only your dimension, and in ours, science replaces magic. And now, since I’m here, I’ve decided to conduct a bit of research on you. I’d like you to meet your fellow test subjects.
The room lights came on, and Twilight could see the two other Ponies in the room with her: Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy…
Rainbow crash Landed in the sand, followed by Gilda’s graceful landing. Gilda grabbed Rainbow’s head, and began to speak, “Rainbow Dash: greatest flier in all of Equestria! Well, now, isn’t that a laugh. I remember back in flight school, when it took you seven tries to get off the ground.” Gilda began chuckling as she dropped Rainbow’s head. She may not have wings to fight back, but she had brute force. She Leaped onto Gilda, forcing her onto the ground. Then she began giving Gilda’s face a flurry of fists. The Griffon pushed the maniacal pony off of her, and proceeded to pull out her gun again. She fired twice more, neither connecting with Dash, before having to reload. In this time, Rainbow charged herself into Gilda, forcing her onto the ground ten feet away. As soon as Gilda recovered, Dash attacked again, managing to fly for a bit before flopping on the ground. Gilda took this offensive chance, and brought her fist down to Rainbow’s spot, but the pony rolled away slyly, continuing her attack. She bucked Gila in the face, sending her back at least 15 yards. Gilda looked back to the west, and saw the Firewall beginning to dissipate. She leaped into the air, and soared back onto the zebra airship. Soon there was a rain of both zebra and Griffon corpses falling to the ground. Eventually, the Griffon airship returned to its opponent, and Gilda, along with the surviving Griffon attack force, and ‘The Blowtorch’, crossed the plank back onboard. She fired a cannon at the Zebra’s engines, and soon there was another airship in free-fall. Dash could not fly out of this one’s way, so she had no choice but to run. Quickly, her leg’s injury acted up, and Rainbow was immobilized, leaving her vulnerable to the crushing force of the Zebra airship.
* * *
Applejack returned to the wreck camp with Breaburn, Sheriff Silverstar, and a few ponies pulling carts with enough guns for the whole camp. Everyone was eager to arm themselves and rush out, leaving the desolate wreck behind them. Before they were halfway to Appleloosa, however, Gilda’s Airship soared overhead. Many refugees began to fire at it, but with no Effect. A few Griffon fighters came down from the ship, and began firing at the convoy. Soon, a firefight broke out between the Refugees and the Griffons. Two refugee militiaponies, Caramel and Daisy, were killed in the gunfire, whereas every Griffon in the attack group was picked off. The caravan looked back to salvation just in time to see 25 cannons all fired at the city. Immediately, buildings began to fall, and dust rose from every street. Applejack’s eyes widened as a small bomb was dropped on Appleloosa, creating a dusty mushroom cloud. Every pony in the caravan knew that the entire town of Appleloosa was destroyed, especially Applejack, who knew that Rarity was still within city limits.
Everypony looked to the west, where they expected to see the firewall, but instead only saw small remnants of it, which were quickly disappearing. They decided that the safest thing to do was to head back to Ponyville, still mostly intact.
* * *
The Doctor kept remedially examining each of the three ponies, until he decided that there was no difference in endurance between the three species. Instead, he began unlatching each pony, one at a time, to examine their racial ability, such as Twilight’s magic, Fluttershy’s ability to fly, and Pinkie’s incredible ability to do things neither of the others could do. He introduced himself as Doctor Damian Been, leader of the equestrian movement.
One day, when being examined by Dr. Been, Twilight figured out a way out of her prison. She charged her horn, and blasted Damian against a wall. Then she used her levitation to unlatch Pinkie, who then went to the computer to override security, and Fluttershy’s shackles. Soon, the yellow Pony was free, and Damian was nowhere to be seen. The doctor tackled Pinkie away from the computer, pulled out a syringe, and thrust it down towards Pinkie Pie. The syringe was blasted out of Damian’s hand by Twilight, who proceeded to fix the doctor in place with Twilight’s own shackles. Pinkie returned to the computer, and finished off the last code into the mainframe. Once there, she began disabling the defense mechanisms. During all of this, Damian was silent, and only a smirk lay on his face. As soon as Pinkie was done, a loud wailing sound surrounded them. The windows opened, to show the Everfree forest on one side, and the mostly broken remains of Ponyville on the other. A few minutes later, a squad of armed guards appeared in the room, and unlatched Dr. Been. They were armed with rifles, but the looks on their faces suggested that they never had any real experience with them. Pinkie spontaneously pulled her Party Cannon out of thin air, and blasted a quarter of the squad unconscious, and while Fluttershy curled, cowering, in the corner, twilight blasted the rest. Damian escaped, however, much to everypony’s disappointment. As the three turned out of the room and into the corridor, they saw, much to their dismay, an army of what Damian calls ‘Humans’ marching towards Ponyville, along with a large group of Zebra warships, and a larger group of Griffon airships. The ponies turned around to see Damian Been standing there with a strange looking gun. He fired a rod out of his gun, which hit Twilight. She wasn’t dead, nor even wounded. She looked like she had just fallen asleep. Pinkie pulled out her Party Cannon again, and knocked Damian unconscious. The two Ponies had no choice but to abandon Twilight, as she seemed to be changing.
* * *
Gilda returned to Griffinium, where she and her comrades took ‘The Blowtorch’ into the King’s hall. Two statues stood erect in the hall, each with an urn underneath. One Statue was of King Protor, and the other, of Gilda’s sister. Gilda set the huge bomb in front of her throne, and waited for the arrival of the Griffon battleship…
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy slyly hid behind a supply crate, with the symbol of Doctor Been, a rectangle containing a smaller, blue square with stars in it, while the ambiance of the bigger rectangle was striped with red and white. Pinkie realized the danger of leaving Twilight behind: the only weapon between the two ponies was Pinkies party cannon, and it wasn’t lethal; it would only incapacitate some people, but that’s with a small amount of luck. They were in a large building, which they both assumed to be their boat workshop, but the only boat there was partially sunken. The room was filled with armed guards, these ones not afraid to shoot on sight. Pinkie was still at a loss for a plan to get out, but the exit, a huge open door into the Ponyville River, seemed to taunt them with every failed idea of escape. They had no choice but to run out the clock, and wait until the entire Human army was on top of Ponyville, but the attack seemed to have been delayed with the recent developments.
Pinkie was right in the middle of thinking out a plan, when something caught her eye. How could she be so naive? The boat! She saw some troopers entering through a hatch on top. Pinkie looked inside the open crate in front of her, and saw another strange-looking gun. She picked it up, and fired at the large group of soldiers. The gun sent out an ion wave across the entire room, and the soldiers’ battle-suits began spouting electricity. Pinkie and Fluttershy galloped to the sunken ship, opened the hatch, and found that the inside was covered with metal and high-tech computers, including radar, something called an altitude gauge, and a periscope. Pinkie fired the ion gun again, and the humans inside the vessel spouted electricity, and fell onto the ground. Fluttershy assumed herself at the helm, being the only pony who knew how to pilot a ship, and Pinkie took charge of the segment labeled: submerging.
Soon, they began to move, and they could only assume that the preset destination was the Ponyville dry-docks. However, halfway through their voyage, a human stepped out of the back room, where he would have been Impervious to Pinkie’s ion gun. He pulled out his standard-issue plasma pistol, and pointed it squarely at the back of Fluttershy’s head. Pinkie caught sight of the shooter out of the corner of her eye, and yelled, “Fluttershy!”
The Yellow Pegasus turned around to Pinkie and said, “Yes, Pinkie?” the Human fired his gun, and there was an explosion of sparks right next to Fluttershy. Pinkie vaulted at the enemy, and tackled him to the ground, but the monster pulled out a small container with two spikes jutting out of it, and dug it into Pinkie Pie’s ribcage. Instantly, a current of over 10,000 volts ran through her body, and she fell over, locked up. Fluttershy managed to get the ion gun during all of this, and fired it on the man. He locked up like Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy was left to care for the wounded pony.
* * *
Applejack led the caravan down the beaten railroad tracks into Ponyville, and when she arrived she heard an odd clanging and exhaust sounds. She looked over to the town square, where she saw a huge machine being guarded by two ponies. The ponies were related, each a tall, pale stallion unicorn. Applejack recognized them immediately as the two swindlers who tried to take sweet apple acres from the apple family: the Flim Flam brothers. They guarded their invention, which appeared more advanced than the one Applejack saw originally, the Flim Flam Brothers Super Speedy Cider Squeezey 6000, and she assumed that it was one of their later models. The entire caravan rushed to meet these new ponies, whereas Flim and Flam regarded them as intruders, and said that they would, “Protect their Flim Flam Brothers Super Speedy Cider Squeezey 9000 from any wanderers.”
Applejack insisted that the caravan was not of wanderers, rather refugees that made it out of Ponyville and survived the Train crash. Flim and Flam still needed convincing, but before an argument ensued, a Zebra airship appeared overhead.
“Flim?” asked Flam.
“Flam?” asked Flim.
“I think it’s time to activate Stronghold mode. Don’t you?”
“You bet I do, brother of mine.”
Flam pressed a button, and the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey 9000 turned into a fortress surrounding the ponies in a magical barrier, while creating powerful cannons to shoot up at the zebras. A hostile attack party dropped to the ground, only to be shot down by the caravan. And so another battle ensued, with the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey 9000 firing massive shots into the purple airship above, while refugees shot down the zebra ground parties. Not one dared to leave the Barrier, for they knew it would mean utmost certain death. Instead they fired out of the shield, at the zebras. However, this luxury was not long lived. The Zebra airship was shot down, and as everypony, even the zebras, turned to see the shooter responsible, they witnessed the Griffon battleship, ‘Endeavor’ leading a huge group of smaller airships. Applejack could see Gilda standing on the helm of the ‘Endeavor’, and recognized it as the head ship. The zebra warship above them came crashing down, so hard that, after shattering against it, it destroyed the Magic barrier. “Flam? I think it’s time we convert to ‘offensive’ mode.”
“Agreed, brother.” Flam pressed a second button, and the machine became a moveable wall, with 15 small cannons jutting out. The brothers got behind the wall, along with the caravan, where they made their last stand. The massive line of cannons fired at the griffons over and over, grounding many airships, and causing quite a bit of damage to the ‘Endeavor’. Applejack thought the Caravan was doomed, until the submarine came down the river. The top hatch opened, and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie jumped out. Fluttershy was infuriated, and wanted to cause death to the Griffons. She pulled out a Grenade launcher, shotgun, and two revolvers from the sub, and Pinkie with a semi-automatic sniper rifle. Fluttershy fired grenade after grenade onto the ‘Endeavor’ while Pinkie shot down the Griffons who decided to come down onto the ground. This battle continued for a while, until the Zebra air force arrived, and caught the Griffon’s attention. The caravan and Flim and Flam decided to make an escape, and converted the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey 9000 into a huge unmanned cart, capable of transporting everypony. Applejack, Breaburn, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Flam were chosen to be the generals of their force, which they nicknamed, the ‘New Equestrian Alliance’, and Gave the Super Speedy Cider Squeezey 9000 a new name: the ‘New Equestrian Caravan’, or the NEC. The NEA moved out of Ponyville and onto the road to Canterlot.
Applejack began the discussion with Pinkie and Fluttershy, “So, where’s Twilight?”
Pinkie spoke up, “She was captured by these weird monsters called humans! What about Rainbow Dash and Rarity?”
Applejack hesitated, “We haven’t heard from Rainbow, and Rarity,” a small tear ran down Applejack’s face, “Rarity didn’t make it.”
Suddenly, Gilda entered the NEC, and was faced with the five Generals. Gilda broke Breaburn’s leg and Flams ribs without effort, and Pinkie and Applejack stood back, to let Fluttershy take care of Gilda. Gilda pulled out King Protor’s pistol, and Fluttershy pulled out two revolvers. Gilda fired the first shot, and Fluttershy stumbled back. That was the last straw. “You…” she said, “Do… NOT … Hurt … My … FRIENDS!” she screamed as she riddled Gilda’s body with revolver bullets. The other four ponies stared wide-eyed as Fluttershy brutally murdered the Griffon queen. Once she had run out her bullets, she bucked Gilda hard enough to throw her out the open door, and into the street in front of them. All anypony heard of Gilda ever again was the crunching of her bones as the New Equestrian Caravan flattened her into a pulp…
The New Republic of Canterlot
Doctor Been examined the new Twilight. She had changed from a pony to a human, and had lost her horn. She was incredibly disgruntled. Twilight had tried to escape a few times, but had been disciplined. Now the Doctor had brainwashed her, and turned her into another human soldier. “Now,” the Doctor repeated, “repeat after me: Dr. Been is my superior.
“Dr. Been is my superior.” Said Twilight.
“Equestria is our domain.”
“Equestria is our domain.”
“We will take it from the Equestrians.”
“We will take it from the Equestrians.”
“You are Supercommander Twilight Sparkle.”
“I am Supercommander Twilight sparkle.”
“Now move out. Find the New Equestrian Alliance in Canterlot, and kill them all.”
“Yes, sir. I will kill them all. I will leave none alive.”
Supercommander Twilight Sparkle took her forces of 1,000 super soldiers into a Human Warship, and flew it to Canterlot.
* * *
The New Equestrian Alliance left the NEC behind them as they entered Canterlot. As soon as they entered, they saw a dead Mare lying in the street, being devoured by wanderers. Wanderers were deranged ponies, mutated as by-product of ‘The Bang’. In other words, Wanderers were essentially pony zombies. These Wanderers appeared to be from Canterlot, going off of the frayed suites they wore. The Alliance wasn’t prepared for Wanderers, and were not able to pull out their rifles. The wanderers lunged, but fell short, dead on the ground. The Alliance looked up, to see Fancy pants, leading a Militia of Canterlot police forces and SWAT.
“Jolly good,” said Fancy Pants, “It’s Rarity’s Ponyville friends. They appear to have formed a Militia in their own city, as well. Welcome to the new Republic of Canterlot!” he swung his arms out towards the Ruined city. The entire downtown area was leveled, but Canterlot Castle still barely stood.
“Is Princess Celestia still alive?” asked Flim.
Fancy Pants got a suspicious expression, and said, “Both princesses are well, but Celestia has told me not to let anyone into the city, under penalty of death. Canterlot has become a quarantine zone. Wanderers are let free in the streets, but we’re not letting anyone enter or leave. I’m sorry, but if you do not comply, I will have no choice but to kill you.”
“But we have to talk to Princess Celestia. The griffons have the final bomb, and they’re planning on detonating it on the night of the eclipse! They’re going to wipe out existence!” yelled Flam.
“I’m sorry, but you’re not complying. Militia, ready your guns.” Fancy Pants ordered. The militia raised their rifles against the New Equestrian Alliance.
Fluttershy (in Flutterrage mode) vaulted over the NEA, and pulled out her grenade launcher, and shotgun. She one-handed her shotgun, as she shot down four police officers with it. The grenade launcher set three explosives behind the New Republic of Canterlot, and threw them down the road towards the NEA. They didn’t want to kill Fancy Pants, so they took the militia prisoner.
They began walking down Main Street, making their way to Canterlot Castle. Wanderers attacked them from all sides, until the New Equestrian Alliance teamed up with the New Republic of Canterlot in the Town Square, shooting down Wanderers as quickly as they sprung up, which, by the way, is apparently incredibly fast. As the dust settled, all 450 wanderers were dead, the NRC lost three SWAT troopers, 15 Police enforcers, and the NEA lost two militiaponies: Roseluck, and Blues, and commander Silverstar. The New Equestrian alliance let the New Republic of Canterlot go back to patrol, and they continued on to the castle. However, before they could make it there, they heard a loud whirring noise in the sky.
The human warship soared overhead, going to the gates. A few squads of Super-Soldiers dropped in front of the NRC, and slaughtered all of them with ease. Applejack couldn’t help but feel sad as she saw the Supercommander slit the throat of Chief Fancy Pants. More squads dropped as the existing squads were being shot down by the NEA. But plenty of them were already past the main square.
Suddenly, there was a huge flash of light, as Princess Celestia dropped down to ground level. She vaporized two entire squads with the full heat of the sun. She proceeded to do this again with a few more squads, and then the last one standing was the Supercommander, who fired a blast of shots out of her Plasma destroyer, and Celestia fell over, wounded. The Supercommander walked up to the Princess, and said, “Princess Celestia. As soon as I kill you, I will be rightful ruler of Equestria.”
Applejack recognized that voice, and she shouted one word: “TWILIGHT!”
The Supercommander didn’t even look up as she lifted Celestia’s Head, and pulled out her knife. She placed the knife on the brink of Celestia’s throat, until she was knocked back by an unknown force. Everyone turned to see Breaburn, with a smoking sniper rifle, and back to Twilight, lying in a pool of her own blood. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, all ran to the body of Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie lifted off her mask, to see her pale face. Her hair and her eyes were the same as her pony state, but she had lost her coat, and her face was deformed. She still had a bit of life left in her, and she clasped her hand around Applejack’s throat. Pinkie and Fluttershy immediately heard snapping sounds as Twilight’s grip strengthened. And in an instant, it was over. Twilight lay dead, her face covered in blood from Fluttershy’s revolver, Applejack lying on the ground, panting, and Princess Celestia mourning the death of her best student. Pinkie Pie slid her hoof across Twilight’s eyes, as a sign of respect for the dead. And so, another casualty plagued the New Equestrian Alliance.
But, then, the NEA jumped out of the frying pan, and into the fire. Everypony looked to the east, as they saw the dust settling over Ponyville. Out of the Fog of War, the massive zebra fleet came blasting in their direction. Everypony readied themselves: Fluttershy pulled out her grenade launcher, Pinkie with her semi-automatic sniper, Breaburn’s sniper rifle, the NEC in offensive mode, and Celestia harnessing the full power of the sun.
And so it began: the end of the world…
