Dark Empire

The ceiling cracked as the doors turned away.
"Easy now..."Celestia breathed. The doors slid more, closing in on the walls. The ceiling above hung down, and small bits of debris started to fall through.
"Alright....push it the rest of the way!"Twilight and her mentor threw the doors back, and the ceiling collapsed, forming a mound that allowed them to get to the ceiling.
"Alright, what now?" a guard asked.
"I'll get the others, and we'll go find Luna."Twilight suggested. Celestia nodded in response.

~~~

Applejack heaved at the door again, and Rarity used her magic to try and move anything behind the door.
"I'm telling you Applejack, there is NO way we are opening this door!" Rarity reasoned.
"Yes....we....are!"Applejack almost threw herself at the door, and it ripped open, launching a rock across the room. A simple storeroom.
"How many darn storerooms does this castle have?"Applejack growled.
"Applejack! Look! Shovels! We can dig away some of the rubble!"Rarity grinned.
"Maybe, but it's hard to shovel large chunks. We'll keep it in mind."Applejack responded. The two jumped when they heard a crash elsewhere in the castle. They jumped back when the bookshelf they'd passed toppled over and crashed into the opposite wall. Most of the books were torn and dusty.

Applejack threw another few books away.
"Applejack, look at this!" Rarity held up a book in front of her friend.
"Why is there a book called Dark Empire?"Applejack asked.
"It's what the...creatures call themselves, is it not?"Rarity suggested.
"Oh yeah!"Applejack took the book and opened it.

'The Dark Empire first attacked the capital of Farda, collapsing it and slaughtering everyone who had not died by then. With the land's leaders gone, the people were unorganized in whatever resistance they made, leading to a swift destruction of the people. The Dark Empire proclaimed themselves as the land's conquerors to those they enslaved, before using them to claim anything of value from the land. They then appeared to leave, before fire rained down from the sky and burned the land, cratering it and ruining it beyond recovery. Now the land lies a dead, black shell, all life extinguished, the only sign of former inhabitants being the ruins of towns and cities and the thousands of skeletons littering the land. The Dark Empire moves on, and destroys all land wherever they go.'

"Um, Applejack?" Rarity looked to her friend.
"Yeah?"AJ responded.
"Think we should warn the others?"
"Yeah."
"If we don't things might go the same way."
"Seems to me like it's started already."
"Well lets not waste time dilly-dallying then!"

~~~
Celestia clambered atop the mound and peered at the ruined tower. It was severely damaged. Celestia was, in fact, surprised it had not fallen off.
"Guards! Station several men up here as lookouts." Celestia called.
"Yes, Princess!" one called back. A moment later and about five guards climbed up, stationing themselves around the edge, watching.

Twilight turned the corner and scanned the walkway, trying to spot her friends. She turned to Fluttershy who was going about between soldiers, supposedly helping them.
"Fluttershy! Have you seen where Applejack or Rarity went?" Twilight asked.
"Um, yeah, down those steps there." Fluttershy pointed to some cracked, dusty steps with obvious footprints in them.
"Thanks, I'll be back in a minute."Twilight nodded, making for the stairs.
"Be careful Twilight!"Fluttershy called. Twilight walked down them and peered around the corners. She spotted the duo reading an old dusty tome by a fallen bookcase.
"Girls, we don't have time! Come on!"Twilight called, using her magic to move a heap of books aside and lift the bookcase back up.
"Twi, you MIGHT wanna see this."Applejack called.
"Darn it girls."Twilight walked over and lifted the book up, reading the paragraph Rarity had pointed to.
"So? This looks REALLY old, that civilization might have been far less advanced than us." Twilight pointed out.
"So would that Dark Empire."Rarity added.
"Oh yeah."Twilight tapped her chin.
"And as of now we're goin' down the same path as that old civilization."Applejack took the book back.
"Anyway, what was it you came to tell us?"Rarity asked.
"We found a way onto the roof so we can get to the tower."Twilight answered.
"Awesome! Let's get up there then!"Applejack threw the book onto a pile behind her.

~~~

One of the rooftop guards, Flared Spear, heated a thump behind him. Turning to see, he saw a light orange hoof at the edge of the hole, shortly followed by another. Walking over, he peered over to see Twilight and two of her friends. The one with her hooves o. The roof was the one called Applejack. He grabbed her hooves and hauled her up, thumping down as he did so.
"Why thanks partner!"Applejack smiled before helping the white one up, and Twilight lifted herself up. Flared Spear got back up.
"Why are you here?"he asked.
"We're going to try and find a way into the tower."Rarity answered.
"To try and rescue Princess Luna."Twilight added.
"Right, of course, over there."he gestured to the tower. Applejack nodded before the trio headed towards the damaged tower.

Twilight gestured to Rarity to slowly step onto the tower's side.
"Ooooo, it's high up and, what if we fell?"Rarity breathed heavily.
"Don't worry Rarity, it's fine."Twilight gestured again.
"Yeah rarity! Come on and join the party!"Applejack grinned reassuringly.
"Party? I must say-"Rarity started.
"It's a figure of speech Rarity and you should know that, now come on!" Twilight moved to grab Rarity's hoof.
"Alright alright!"Rarity snapped her hoof away from Twilight. She slowly landed a hoof on the tower and then the other. Carefully stepping her hind hooves down, she shook slightly before realizing the rough tower side gave her a strong grip.
"Oh, we'll, you're right!"Rarity gave a mildly surprised humph. Applejack peered into a hole.
"This looks alright girls."Applejack called.
"Sure?"Twilight called.
"Weeeeell, looking at the fact the bottom beneath us has fallen away, it's our best bet of getting in."Rarity peered over the edge.
"Why not further up?"Twilight asked.
"Who said Princess Luna was at the top?"Applejack asked.
"Good point, come on."Twilight shrugged. Applejack dropped into the tower, followed by Twilight and then Rarity.
"I must say if you ignore the gaping hole behind us it feels a lot safer in here."Rarity noted.
"Let's find Luna."Twilight moved towards the top.

~~~

The trio jumped back as another step from what was now the ceiling dropped off.
"Are we sure this is safe?"Rarity asked.
"Rarity, ask yourself this:WHERE in Canterlot is 'safe'?"Twilight asked.
"Good point."Rarity shrugged.
"Girls! I can hear something!"Applejack raised a hoof. The trio listened. A moment passed and they heard a slight moan.
"Luna!" Twilight ran past Applejack, bounding over several steps on the floor.
"C'mon!" Applejack gestured to Rarity before making after her friend.

Twilight stopped at the door, which was now diagonal but closer to being horizontal. She heaved at the door.
"Huh? Who's there?"Twilight heard.
"It's me, Twilight. Princess, we've come to get you!"Twilight answered.
"Oh, good. Is it just you?"Luna asked.
"My friends Applejack and Rarity are coming now."Twilight peered over her shoulder at the two mares approaching her.
"Where are your other friends?"Luna asked.
"Elsewhere, but give me a moment."Twilight answered. Her two friends skidded to a halt in front of her.
"What's goin' on?" Applejack asked.
"Luna's in here, but like every other door in Canterlot, it's stuck."Twilight answered.
"Frankly, I'm not surprised."Rarity blinked.
"Wait."Twilight tapped her chin.
"What?"Rarity asked.
"Rarity, use your magic with me to try and get this door open, Applejack, push against it." Twilight gestured.
"I would help but I'm stuck."Luna called.
"I'm really getting tired of heaving doors open."Applejack sighed. Twilight and Rarity's horns lit and the door started creaking. Applejack heaved hard. The door started moving.
"It's coming! Keep pushing you three!" Luna called. The three pushed as hard as they could and the door came loose, clunking on the floor. Luna was indeed stuck under a hunk of wall from the former wall. Twilight and Rarity lifted it while Applejack pulled Luna out from under it. Twilight and Rarity let go and panted as it smashed back on the floor.
"Thank you girls, really."Luna panted.
"We couldn't just leave you here Princess."Twilight smiled.
"Did you want to ask anything?"Rarity asked.
"You didn't really answer me. Where are the rest of your friends?"Luna asked.
"Fluttershy is still in the Palace, as for the other two. We don't know."Twilight answered.
"But we're sure they're fine."Applejack added.
"Applejack, we SAW Rainbow fall unconscious."Rarity sighed.
"Rarity..."Applejack put her face in a hoof.
"And Canterlot?"Luna asked.
"Look outside."Twilight gestured to a hole in the former ceiling. Luna walked over and peered out over the dark, dusty ruin.
"We've been trying to hold out in the Palace, so far successfully, as for anyone else in Canterlot..."Twilight informed.
"There were a lot of bodies."Applejack added.
"Very few of which were alien." Rarity finished.
"Alien?"Luna asked.
"The invaders, which did this, they're alien."Rarity answered.
"And you say the Palace is still intact?"Luna peered at the doorframe.
"More or less. Not in the same place but yeah."Twilight answered.
"I must say I'm surprised this tower hasn't fallen off."Luna tapped her chin.
"The other one did."Applejack added.
"Where are the aliens?"Luna asked.
"Either in Canterlot's ruins or up in their ship."Twilight answered. Luna looked outside again and at the large spacecraft.
"Well, I'd say most of them are in there." Luna scowled at the black vehicle.
"Probably."Applejack blinked.
"Well then."Luna started, her horn glowing.
"Time for payback."Luna growled.
"For destroying me and my sister's city, for killing my people..."Luna's voice was getting angrier and more vicious by the second, and the orb on her horn was getting bigger and more violent as well.
"...and for hurting Twilight's friends!"Luna roared, the blast of magic firing with such force the whole Palace jolted slightly.

The missile flew straight for the Shadowbringer. Aboard the bridge, the crew rushed about from console to console, trying to evade the missile.
"Crewman! What's the projectile made of?"The captain asked.
"Uuuuuh, the computer can't tell! If I guessed id say...magic?"a crew member answered.
"Magic? What in the Empire are you-"The captain started. Luna's missile hit the side of the ship, near the engines. A moment later and one of the larger engines exploded, sending the ship on a crash course.
"Status report!"the captain called.
"Major engine down. Multiple other engines damaged and weakened."
"And? What's going on?"
"I'm trying to keep her up but the ship's going down!" the helmsman called.
"Alright, abandon ship! Abandon ship!" the captain ordered.
"No time sir!"the helmsman called.
"How long do we have?" the captain called. The crew was less frantic and more horrified and panicked now.
"Estimated time to crash, ten seconds, sir!"the helmsman called.
"Darn it, hold on!" the captain braced for impact.

The black ship moved away from Canterlot and headed down, smashing into the hills near the ruin and bathing the city in sunlight. It was midday. The bottom of the ship burned as the ship ground to a halt, and even then bits of the hull were incinerated by small explosions every here and there.
"I think that did it Princess!"Twilight grinned.
"Wait. You're SMILING at that?"Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
"Applejack. They destroyed our city, have nearly killed everyone in Canterlot and if we don't do something they'll destroy Equestria. I think we can smile at their ship going down."Twilight responded.
"Twilight has a point. Did you not see that poor mare get her spine torn out, or did you just forget that?"Rarity asked.
"Right before you killed it."Applejack humphed.
"I had to! And you certainly didn't look like you were going to!" Rarity growled.
"Girls! We have no time for bickering! We must get back to the Palace!" Luna stamped her hoof.
"Luna is right."Twilight started for the Palace.
"I'm surprised the tower is still standing, after that attack Luna made." Rarity noted. The trio stopped when they heard a crack from further down the tower.
"It isn't."Applejack blinked. The tower jolted down. It was coming loose.
"Hold on girls! I can get us out of here!"Luna's horn lit up brightly. There was a flash, and they were gone.