Commander Tempest Shadow was not having a good day, and on days like this, those around her suffered for it. But there was little she could do about it. She had orders, and one did not ignore the Storm King and live to tell about it.

Not for long anyway. And Tempest still had much to do. So she would do this. But that didn't mean she had to like it, so she took her annoyance out on Grubber. It was about the only thing he was good for.

Klugetown had gone dark a week earlier. And while the Storm King couldn't have cared less about the toxic cesspit he ruled over, that literally nothing had been heard from the city for so long had him annoyed enough that he had sent his best commander and her flotilla to investigate.

Tempest had free range to crack as many heads as she needed to, to get things moving again. A thought that made her smile. She liked cracking heads. Almost as much as she liked grinding others under her hooves.

So now here she was, flying to the last place on Equus she wanted to be right now. And couldn't the idiot at the helm fly straight, as she almost lost her footing, as the airship rocked back and forth?

She growled as she threw open the door and stepped onto the main deck. Right into the middle of a raging thunderstorm, the winds throwing even the well-built airship about like it was nothing.

"Where are we?" She yelled at the Yeti manning the helm.

He had to shout above the sound of the wind and rain to be heard, but it made the commander's mood darken even more. "What do you mean we're right over Klugetown? Where did this storm come from? This is a desert."

He only shrugged helplessly, which only made Tempest madder. "Take us down then. I want to see this pathetic excuse for a town."

The airships began to descend, but the storm didn't let up. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse. And why was the lightning golden? Unicorn though she may be, even Tempest knew that wasn't normal.

For a split second, as Grubber finally joined her at the railing, Tempest thought she saw something moving in the storm. A colossal shape with three heads, before the storm, swallowed it up again. She took no notice though, as the armada finally came within sight of the city.

All eyes widened in shock at what was revealed below them.

Klugetown wasn't just gone. It had been obliterated, and all that remained of one of Equss' most crime-ridden and despotic locations, was a black smudge where the city once lay. Very little if anything seemed to have survived.

Grubber whistled. "Now we know why they haven't been saying anything. Do you think the storm did it?"

Tempest smacked him upside the head. "Idiot. It would take this storm longer than a week to wipe it out like this. No. Something, or someone, did this. And they will pay for it."

"What do we tell the Storm King? He ain't gonna be happy when he hears about this," Grubber replied.

Tempest frowned. "Tell him nothing until we know for sure what happened here. I will not go back to him without an answer and the head of whatever did this."

Before Grubber could say any more, a golden lightning bolt struck one of the other airships. Commander Tempest and Grubber watched in shock as the entire thing exploded in a million pieces. Before they could say anything, every other airship was struck in the same way, all of them exploding and disintegrating all around.

Grubber gulped. "Now he's really not gonna be happy. We don't have lightning insurance on these you know."

Tempest growled as she scanned the skies. "Lightning doesn't do that. Not like that. That came from somewhere, and they will pay for it."

A huge shadow fell over the airship. The crew fell back in shock and terror, looking at something behind the ship. Tempest and Grubber turned to look at it as well.

An unearthly cackling was the last thing Commander Tempest Shadow, once known as Fizzlepop Berrytwist, ever knew, as she and the rest of the crew were consumed in the explosion that ripped the airship apart.

***

The Storm King was not having a good day, and that was seriously tarnishing his image. He had been having nothing but good days for some time now. This was totally not his style.

It had been a day since he had sent Commander Tempest Shadow and her armada to see why Klugetown had gone dark on him. He had no use for the cesspit in all honestly, but it was his, and that's all that mattered.

And nothing had been heard from them since. Not a peep, and it was grating on his nerves. This was impacting his time schedule for the invasion of Equestria, and he hated delays. If anything had gone wrong, then Tempest would pay the price.

So now here he was, on his way to some forsaken patch of land that even on his best days he wondered why he bothered to keep it around. And just to add to his misery, they were flying in a thunderstorm. He hated getting wet!

If he was in a better mood, the Storm King might wonder why it was raining at all in a barren desert-like this. But he was too annoyed to care about such things at the moment. And as he listened to what was being said, his mood darkened even more. "What do you mean this storm is growing stronger? It's a storm! Only a Pegasus could do that! Do you see any?"

The guard shrugged helplessly. He growled, and for a moment thought about frying the fool with the Staff of Sarcanas. But these guards were hard to come by as it was, and he wasn't about to waste the staff's power on them.

The Storm King and the rest of the crew were sent reeling as the entire airship tipped on its side. A few almost fell overboard but were able to hold onto the rails.

At that moment, the wind and the rain died down to nothing all around them. The storm still raged, but it seemed the fleet had entered a dead calm. But it did not seem natural. Not to anyone.

The Storm King turned to the one who was piloting the airship. "Where are we?"

The pilot only shrugged helplessly and said something that only made the king's blood boil. "What do you mean you have no idea?! This storm cannot have blown us off course!"

Whatever the pilot was going to say was cut off by an unearthly shriek that made all their ears ring, even as a shadow fell across the entire armada, causing all eyes to turn upward.

The Storm King had time to say only one thing before the entire ship around him exploded. "Oh come on! That just isn't fair."

***

Hard Knocks watched Mount Platinum with mounting concern. The mountain, which had become even more active in the last week, was now rumbling and smoking at an alarming rate. The ponies around her were just as concerned.

There was no doubt now that Mount Platinum was active again, even though everything up until recently had said that the volcano had been extinct for longer than anypony alive had known.

And the sounds coming from the crater had gone from concerning to alarming. It sounded like nothing more than something trying to dig itself out of the mountain. But that didn't make sense. Unless the stories of the Fire Demon were true. And Hard Knocks was beginning to think there was some truth to the old stories.

"What do we do now?" A stallion asked, looking at her.

Hard Knocks let her ears fall, her gaze falling as well. "I. I don't know."

***

Ponyville had grown used to the strange things that happened in and around the small town. But what was happening now, not even the most hard-nosed pony could make sense of.

Everyone in the town watched in shock, as the sky was filled with literally every kind of bird, all of flying at top speed northwards. Like they were running from something. But what, and why now?

"Anything sugarcube?" Applejack asked as Fluttershy landed next to the girls.

Fluttershy shook her head. "They wouldn't say. All they said is they're running as far away as possible." She looked at Angel on her back, who looked terrified of something, and they could all see that he was not joking either. "All of the animals are like this. I don't understand."

Twilight shook her head as she joined them, Spike at her side with a note in his hands. "It's not just Ponyville either. This is happening all across Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Nopony had any idea of what's going on."

"But why now?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight sighed as she watched the flocks swarming north. "I don't know. None of this makes any sense."

At that moment, the ground trembled, enough that ponies stood as tight as they could. The tremor lasted for almost thirty seconds before it subsided.

Rarity frowned at the ground. "That is the fifth one this week. And they're getting stronger as well. I didn't believe Ponyville was built on a fault line."

Twilight shared a look with Applejack. "It isn't. I checked every known record since the town was founded. There is no fault line anywhere near here that would be making these," Twilight replied.

"That what do you think is doing it?" Applejack asked, not at all happy with the recent tremors.

Twilight sighed. "I don't know. And I don't like it either. Something isn't right. I can feel it."

***

First Sea Lord Ivory Sparkle sighed, as she closed the book she had been reading and set it on her nightstand. Reading usually helped her to get to sleep, but this evening, it wasn't working. But that was nothing new recently.

The fleet had been at sea now for almost a month now. With nowhere in mind, she had lead them as far into Eternities Crossing as she dared. Few had ever been this far into the sea before, and very few of those had ever come back.

The month on gone by slowly. With no orders, the crews had been mostly occupied with training and maintenance. A diversion had finally come the week before as the whole fleet watched the meteor pass overhead. Ivory had ordered a fleet-wide party to watch the event.

But with that now gone, things had become quiet again. A few were beginning to even wonder why they were even out here in the first place. A feeling Ivory shared as well. And there was something else as well.

For a week now, a black spot had been growing on the horizon. Some of the Pegasi among the fleet said it looked like storm clouds, but that didn't make sense. They were near the southern coastline of Equestria, but it was barren desert, and the storm didn't seem to be moving at all.

Ivory didn't like it. Not one bit. Something didn't feel right about any of this. But it wasn't her place to disobey orders. But that didn't mean she wouldn't question them. It was how she had become what she was. Unthinking and unoriginal idiots had run the fleet for far too long.

She had kicked them all out the first chance she got. The Royal Equestrian Navy would not become the laughing stock joke the Royal Guard was. Not on her watch. And with outright approval from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the old guard did not have much choice.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Ivory was thrown from her bed and onto the floor with a resounding thud, as she entire ship around her rocked back and forth.

Ivory growled as painfully made her way over to an intercom. "Bridge! What the bucking hay was that?! Did something hit us?"

It was a moment before somepony answered. "Mam. We don't know. But something's going on, and you need to see this."

Ivory frowned. She knew the voice on the other end. She was never this panicked. Unless something big was going on. She finally sighed. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Try to keep us in one piece until I do."

***

A few minutes later, Ivory stepped onto the bridge, even as another wave rocked the ship. No one paid her arrival any mind, their eyes focused on something happening next to them, and Ivory couldn't blame them as she saw what it was.

The sea was boiling, waves crashing against every ship within sight. The sky was clear though, and nothing seemed to be causing this that anyone could see.

Ivory trotted onto the Main Deck to try and get a better view of whatever was going on. Several other ponies were already there, including her Flag Captain, who saluted her, as she walked up. Ivory returned the salute before looking at the boiling sea. "What happened?" She asked.

Celestial Rose shook her head. "We're not sure. One minute the sea's calm, and the next thing we know, this is happening. It just came out of nowhere."

All around them, ships tried to keep on an even keel, but it was proving harder and harder by the moment as the crashing waves became worse. Ivory swore that she could see a huge mass just beneath the water, rising to the surface. But that couldn't be right.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, something finally broke through the boiling sea. Leaf-shaped spines rose higher and higher, as all eyes widened in shock at what they were seeing. At the base, the spines grew from a charcoal black skin, and just beneath the sea, all could see an even bigger body still underwater.

Celestia finally found her voice. "The Black Iceberg. It's real."

Ivory nodded mutely, still stunned by what they were looking at. She watched as what looked like a head finally broke the surface. Draconic was the first thing that came to mind. But this was no dragon. Not even close. She had no idea what it was.

Celestial turned to the Radio Officer. "Give the order to the whole fleet. No one is too fire unless the First Lord gives the order. Anypony who does can swim back to Equestria. Got it?!"

The pony only nodded before rushing off to get the message off. Ivory only half heard it as she locked eyes with the leviathan. In those eyes, she saw an intelligence ancient beyond comprehension, a power that had once ruled Equus long ago. In that gaze, Ivory Sparkle felt small and utterly insignificant.

They held that gaze for a moment before the leviathan turned its head away from her and began to swim away at a rate that surprised everyone, its spines finally dipping back below the waves as it swam under the fleet.

Celestial turned to Ivory, a look of horror on her face. "If it keeps on that course..."

Ivory's gaze fell. "It'll make landfall in Equestria in four days." She rushed back onto the bridge, turning to the Radio Officer. "Get me the direct line to Canterlot, now!"

Author's Note

Ah, and now the clock has begun to tick down to the finale of the Downfall Arc. Yes, I did just do that to just about all the new characters from the Movie. I'm not sorry either.

As for the Ponyville tremors? There is a huge reason for that. And it is tied to the Everfree Forest, and why it acts as it does as compared to the rest of Equestria.