Their Last Ride Before Their New Beginnings
Author's Note
This is the first of the CMC 10k what if series let me know what you all thought
Their Last Ride Before Their New Beginnings
The crisp morning air blew through Applebloom's red mane as she walked onto the porch of the Apple Family Orchards porch. She breathed in the fresh morning air through her nostrils. The smell of apples and metal was what greeted her. Her eyes scanned the field of white, orange, and red tents, and the remains of campfires from the night before. She tilted her to the left then the right producing a loud crack each time. She made her way down the stairs towards a certain tent.
She walked through the tents flaps to find one of her fellow Crusaders sleep with another mare in her hooves. She walked over to the sleeping couple. She put one of her front hooves on the top mares shoulder and preceded to try to shake her awake. The mare mumbled a few unintelligible words.
"Come on Sweetie it's time to wake up." Applebloom said.
"Mhm, a few more minutes Rarity." Sweetie Belle replied as her long grayish mulberry with pale, light grayish rose streaks mane fell over her face.
"I ain't Rarity ya big oaf, you and Babs get yer tails up, the spies are coming back with the information on Sombra's movements. I'll meet y'all at the clubhouse.
Applebloom, left the tent and headed towards Scootaloo's tent. She entered the orange tent to find it completely empty, and a mess. Scootaloo's bedding were all over the place. There were recently used tissues on the ground, and scattered pictures of her and Rainbow Dash. On some of them the glass was cracked. Applebloom picked up one of the photographs using the innate magic in her hooves. She remembered the day that this one was taken. Scootaloo had just got accepted into the Wonderbolts. Applebloom allowed a smile to form on her face. The smile immediately fell to a frown as she remembered what kind of world they now lived in. Her sister and the rest of the elements were corrupted by Discord, and we're now beings of chaos just like him. Just the fact that her sister and her friends are now monsters like that demon, it made her sick to her stomach. This is what her, her friends, and the army they gathered together were fighting for, to free every one from their transformations and their new Masters. It wasn't fair to them or to anypony who fell to Discords madness, or was forced to join Sombra's army.
With a sigh Applebloom left Scootaloo's tent and headed for the old clubhouse. She had hoped to spot the orange pegasus in the air, but it seems she was nowhere to be found. Applebloom climbed up the ladder and was greeted with Scootaloo's face on hers, it took everything she had not to punch her friend in the face.
"Dang nabbit, Scootaloo you scared the livin' apples outta me!" Applebloom said.
"Heh, sorry about that." Scootaloo said as she offered a hoof for Applebloom to grab onto. Applebloom accepted the hoof and was hoisted up into the clubhouse.
"It's alright, just make sure y'all don't do something like that again, ya hear?" Applebloom said in a serious tone.
"Yeah, yeah I hear ya." Scootaloo said not looking at Applebloom. "So where's Babs and Sweetie?"
"Probably still cuddling each other." Applebloom replied.
"Actually we just got here." Sweetie said as she poked her head over the ladder, her light gray fur blowing a little in the wind.
"You and Babs get yer flanks inside, the spies should be back any minute now." Applebloom said gesturing the inside the clubhouse.
"So, we just wait now?" Asked Babs Seed.
"Yup, we sure do Mudrops." Said Scootaloo as she took a seat in the floor.
"I keep telling you their not mudrops, their seeds, how many times do I havta remind ya?" Babs said referring to her cutie mark.
"Sure what ever you say Seedi." Scootaloo said rolling her eyes. Babs followed her example and rolled her eyes as well. She made her way over to where Sweetie Bell was sitting and placed her head on her shoulder, while yawning.
After about half an hour the spies had returned to camp. The leader and two others from the group now made their way to the clubhouse, and after a few minutes were sitting I'm front of Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Babs, and Scootaloo. Refreshments were brought by as soon as the three from the spy group got situated.
"Welcome back, Trixie, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, how was the mission?" Applebloom asked the three. Trixie, who was the leader of the group spoke.
"Trixie, believes that the mission went well, we were able to keep fed, and morale high. Everypony got home safe, and we have all the information we need." Trixie said with a bit of pride. "Sombra's forces have taken Baltimare, Fillydelphia, and are moving towards Las Pegasus as we speak. Also Cadence, or Crystalance as she now calls herself is moving with an army of 20,000 in our direction. She should arrive in 4 days time, 2 if they don't stop to rest, according to Silver Spoon. All Trixie can say is she's glad the train tracks are messed up."
"Yes we are very fortunate that the tracks have been messed up." Diamond Tiara said.
"Babs how many ponies we got that are trained and are ready to fight?" Applebloom asked
"About a good 6,890." Babs replied.
"And how many in training?" Sweetie asked.
"10,000." Babs replied.
"Talk to Starlight and see what she could do about speeding up their training. We'll need every pony available if we're gonna repel Crystalance." Applebloom said to Babs. Babs nodded her head and made her way out of the clubhouse and down the ladder.
"We have some other news, from the southern faction." Silverspoon said.
"From the southern faction!? What news?" Scootaloo said as she leaned closer to Silverspoon.
"Luna has been spotted."
"LUNA!" Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie yelled.
"Yes, she was spotted flying over the Drowned Mares Sea." Diamond Tiara said.
"What would she be doing in the Drowned Mares Sea?" Sweetie asked.
"Rumor has it that there's some kind of great treasure under the waves, in some kind sunken ship." Trixie replied.
"Secret Treasure?" Scootaloo said tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah it's supposed to be some powerful artifact that was being transported overseas. The ship ran into a storm or something and sunk to the bottom of the sea." Silverspoon explained.
"Send a letter to the southern faction, tell them that they are to try and get as close as they can to Luna, and if possible make communication." Sweetie Belle said.
"Yes ma'am." Silverspoon said standing and saluting. She left the clubhouse and went to write her letter.
"We got ta be prepared, their gonna be coming at us hard. What's our armor looking like?" Applebloom asked Scootaloo.
"We got leather, chain, and some iron armor ready. We have enough for both the trainees, and the ones that are ready to fight." Scootaloo replied.
"Is there enough for them to have two layers?" Sweetie asked.
"Yes, there is enough." Scootaloo replied.
"Make sure that they have their weapons sharpened, and all the traps set. We need to be ready, or we're all gonna be head'n to an early grave." Applebloom said with a serious tone in her voice.
4 Days Later
They were prepared, anything the twisted princess could throw at them, they were sure they had a counter for. Applebloom stood atop a tower in her iron and chain mail armor. The tower was recently built. Applebloom surveyed the land. Scootaloo flew down next to her, she was also wearing iron and chain mail.
"So you think we've got a chance against them?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yeah, I believe we got a good chance. All our traps are set, our soldiers are trained and disciplined. If we do end up losing, we'll at least take a good amount of Sombra's forces down with us." Applebloom said with a grim smile.
"Don't worry we'll be sending Crystalance back home to Sombra, with report of her failure." Scootaloo said giving Applebloom a punch on the shoulder. They both looked on the ground below them to see the soldiers running around making their final preparations.
"Did Starlight start leading the citizens, away?" Applebloom asked.
"Yeah, they left about an hour ago." Scootaloo responded. Applebloom nodded and looked towards the North, she could Barely see the outline of the flag that Sombra's forced used.
"Time to go get the soldiers ready." Applebloom said as she started making her way downstairs. She reached the ground floor of the tower and exited.
"Soldiers!" She yelled out. All the soldiers came to stand in front of her. "Today is the day that all of us fight fer our lives. Sombra's army is commin' ta knock on our doors, are we gonna let em come in and take us down or are we gonna give em hell and take em down!" Applebloom yelled.
The soldiers all roared and gave her their answer.
" WE'RE GONNA GIVE THEM HELL!
"That's right, now get to your stations, they'll be on our doorstep within the hour." Sweetie said as she appeared next to Applebloom, in a flash of a pale light harlequin magic.
The soilder's scattered in all directions, Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all made their way to the gates of Sweet Apple Acers.
"You ready girls?" Sweetie asked.
"Yup!" Scootaloo said with a smug smile on her face.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Applebloom said looking straight ahead.
On The Other Side Of Ponyville
Just a fraction of Sombra's army is what stood on the other side of Ponyville. Although they were regular ponies Sombra's black magic made it so that they loyal like no other. The 20,000 soldiers that were here were all elites, their tract record was 586 wins to 0 losses. Crystalance stood at the front of the army of elites, with binoculars floating in front of her with the use of her magic.
"Fools." She said as she saw the Crusaders little rebellion army."They really think they could beat us, they've got some big balls, I'll give them that." She turned and looked at her troops and nodded to the commander at her right.
"RELEASE THE HOUNDS!" He yelled, immediately after saying that the sounds of heavy doors hitting the ground was heard. Out of the cages came huge dire wolves with black crystals all over their body. The crystals and their dark magic made the wolves grow 8 times the size they were originally, which was almost as tall as a normal adult pony. The wolves gave a quick howl and started making their way towards Sweet Apple Acres.
The dire wolves were able to clear long distances in a short amount of time, and could take a lot of punishment before they could be brought down. The wolves were almost to the gates of the Orchard. The soldier's standing on top of the towers caught sight of them coming.
"DIRE WOLVES!" One of them yelled. Scootaloo flew over and saw the wolves running towards them.
"Unicorns , prepare your bows!" She shouted the unicorns on the wall gripped their bows in their magic.
"Ready....aim...fire!" The unicorns released their arrows, the volley of arrows rained down from the sky and most landed on the dire wolves backs. The wolves kept moving as if they were unfazed by the hundreds of arrows in their backs.
"Those are some tanky bastards." One of the unicorn soldier's said.
"Ready more arrows!" Scootaloo commanded. The unicorns prepared more arrows for release, but we're never given the chance to fire them. The wolves, due their increased size they were able to jump over the wall. The wolves started tearing into any soldiers that were on the ground and in the way.
The unicorns tried to use their magic to hold the wolves still, but the wolves were too strong, and were able to break free in a manner of seconds. After what seemed like an eternity the rebellion was able to take down the duo. It took over 80 arrows, and hundreds of lucky sword slashes before they went down.
"How many casualties?" Sweetie asked.
"800 ponies." Said one of the commanders.
"Injured?" Applebloom asked.
"200 minor, 500 major." Said the same pony.
"So we lost 1,500 ponies." Sweetie said.
"And the only thing they lost was two dogs, dammit!" Scootaloo said slamming a hoof down on the table they were sitting at. One of the soldiers ran into the tent.
"Crystalance and her army are moving up!" The soldier yelled. Everypony in the tent ran outside.
"Archers prepare your arrows." Said Sweetie
The archers knocked their arrows, took aim and were ready to fire when the order was given.
About 20 meters from orchard stood Crystalance and her army.
"They look to be preparing another barrage of arrows." Said Crystalances right hoof in command.
"Hmph, they really think some wood and metal can pierce our crystal armor.” Crystalance said with a smirk. She turned around and looked towards her army. “My soldiers now is the time to show these rebels why our emperor is supreme, and the rightful ruler of this country. Vanguard forward! " Crstalance yelled, and the front of the army started marching their way to the walled off orchard. "Firing squads ready up." A row of soldiers made their way to stand next to the corrupted princess. They knocked their arrows and aimed. "Fire!" The row of soldiers released the arrows and they began to fly their way to the wall.
On the other side of the wall the rebellion solders were still recovering from the battle with the dire wolves. The ponies standing on the wall with their arrows knocked saw the flurry of arrows that were coming their way, "Enemy fire take cover!" One of them yelled. Taking their own advice they decided to abandon their positions and find cover. The enemy arrows flew over the wall and were not able to hit any target. One of the soldiers came form cover and walked over to an the arrow,
"It looks the the bastards didn't try to aim." The stallion said with a smile. Sweetie Belle examined on of the arrow in the ground. She scanned it with her magic, and ran back from it.
"Everypony get clear, the arrows are explosive!" She yelled, but it was too late any being that was standing next to an arrow was instantly eviscerated. The crater left by each arrow was at most a five meter radius. Another 500 soldiers were lost.
"Everypony alright?" Scootaloo asked. There were a multitude of groans.
"We suffered another huge loss." Said Babs as her hearing finally came back fully.
"Their at the gates!" One of the soldiers yelled, and the gates groaned a bit after it was hit by the battering ram that the enemy had.
On the other side of the wall Crystalance's forces were steadily moving towards the gate, and the vanguard were working on bringing down the gates.
"The gates shall be down shortly your grace." Crystalance's general said.
"Good, when the gates are down slaughter every single one of them. Leave the commanders to me. Their very close friends." She said with a devilish smile. The gate was starting to show cracks, it would not be long before it collapsed. Due to the loud banging of the battering ram, the soldiers did not hear the clop of hooves hitting wood as the rebels on the other side climbed up ladders and were preparing to drop good sized rocks on top of the soldiers heads. They dropped the rocks, and started asking for forgiveness as the rock fell on and crushed the helmets, and no doubt broke the skulls of the opposing soldiers that they landed on. The crystal soldiers on the ground started to raise up shields to block the rocks, and the magic casters in their group used enhancement spells to strengthen the shields and the soldiers bodies.
The gates finally gave way, and the army of crystal soldiers rushed in and started slaughtering any one in sight. The resistance put up a good fight, but in the end it was all in futility. The brave resistance soldiers all laid motionless on the ground, some with twisted features on their faces, others with their faces in a pool of their own blood. In the middle of the camp Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom were surrounded by the crystal soldiers. Crystalance walked up through the middle of the circle of soldiers as they parted for her. "That was quite the nice show you and your little resistance put on, but unfortunately for you play time is over." She said with a sinister smile plastered to her face. One of the crystal soldiers came up to her. "What is it?"
"It seems some of the resistance soldiers have escaped, along with the civilians that were in the camp." He said in a flat tone.
"Hmmm, that is unfortunate. I guess these three are our only prisoners." Crystalance said with a sigh. Sombra wasn't going to be happy that these three were the only ones they were able to catch. "Prepare them for transport. " Crystalance said as she walked away. The three commanders were placed in chains and in separate cages.
The Crystal Empire
The Crystal Empire, once a shining example of beauty was now a dull example of the past. The many crystal homes that once shone with life were now nothing more than black ugly spires of crystal that protruded from the ground.
The once blue sky was now nothing more than a red mist that filled the air. The once white crystal clouds were now black and filled the sky with darkness. The sky covered the sun and little warmth was found in the once prosperous Empire. The near constant rattling of chains could be heard throughout the streets. Umbrum soldiers patrolled the roads looking for runaways. A large group of turned crystal guards marched three carriages each carrying one of the one of the members of the cmc. They were paraded through the streets to show the already hopeless crystal citizens that nopony can escape Sombra's hoof.
The three prisoners were brought before the Emperor and Empress of the Empire. Cyrstalance stepped up and presented the three prisoners.
"Your majesties, I have bought the leaders of the resistance, we slaughtered most of the resistance soldiers. A few did many to escape unfortunately." She said bowing to the two rulers.
"Yes how unfortunate, that is for you." Sombra said in a deep almost soothing voice, as he stared down in disappointment at his slave.
"My lord, please have mercy on this failure of a soldier." Crystalance said with sweat dripping from her brow."
"Leave us. Your punishment shall be handed out later." Sombra said.
"Thank you my lord." Crysatlance said as she stood and left the room. Once she left the room Sombra ordered the guards to release the three prisoners form their cages. The three resistance leaders stood before him and Empress Crystalestia.
"What have you say for yourselves? " Sombra said calmly to them. The three ignored his question."Ah the silence treatment, you still are those little foals aren't you. No matter I have many ways to get you talking." He said menacingly as his horn and eyes glowed. Crystals came form the ground and surrounded the three of them. The Crusaders stayed calm through it all.
"You still refuse to talk. Very well this will hurt." He said as his eyes glowed brighter and the crystal started to enclose them, until they looked like mosquitoes stuck in amber, the three Crusaders screamed in pain and anguish. Sombra placed all his focus onto the three crystallized ponies shaping them into what he desired, while doing so he searched their minds learning all that they knew. Once he finished the surface of each crystal started sporting cracks. After a couple minutes three fillies stood before the two rulers. They all opened their eyes and they were a sickly green. All around their bodies were dark crystals that protruded from their hides. Sombra smiled as the three mares turned fillies all looked up at their ruler.
"My King." They all said as they bowed. Crystalestia looked at the three new fillies with confusion.
"What is the point of turning them into fillies?" She said looking towards her husband.
"That's easy, my dear. These are the three new heirs to the throne." Sombra smiled.
"Huh?" Crystalestia said dumbfounded.
"Allow me introduce Crystalbloom, Crystaloo, and Crystalbelle, our daughters of evil."
