The Equestrian Takeover

Chapters

Part 1: The New Arrivals
Part 2: Colts in civilization
Part 3: A dark night.
Part 4: Downfall
Part 5: Discovery
Part 6: Discovery 2
The Prologue: The Equestrian Takeover

Part 1: The New Arrivals

Be sure to read that prologue first!

Chapter 1:
A New Hoof

The silhouette soon began charging out of the now white oval, at full speed, it stepped out completely bathed in light, and left streaks of white, wherever it went. It darted past the trees and avoided the moister parts of the swamps, looking for a flatland to regain its sanity.

The bunny, however, was more in tuned to the massive oval spiraling into an orb at its middle. The orb fell onto the ground and made a small shockwave of light radiate from it. The bunny examined it and soon even sniffed it. Then it nibbled at it. The bunny was fried, tail to head.

Far off, the light-bathed colt was still racing through the mangroves. Some light from its face had faded, showing a pair of deep blue eyes, darting everywhere, looking for the flatland he wanted. He felt the presence of other creatures looking at him, probably even planning to eat him alive. The clouds had cleared and the moon was once again flooding the swamps with its dim, calming light. This helped the colt, as he was following the north star, which was now shining bright in its place in the sky.

'The star had never looked that bright before..' the colt thought.

Soon, he found the field of grass he wanted. The light had already faded away, leaving only glowing tails of where he had been before.

'Its weird, why am I running on all fours anyway?'

The colt lifted one of its hooves and was shocked that it was a hoof.

' wh- whats happening?!'

the colt darted his head around, trying to see what his body had become. His white coat was, to him, quite dashing with his broad hooves. He soon got used to the fact that he was now some sort of a horse. His tail was quite 'bushy' as he put it himself. The only thing that bothered him was; the fact that he had a pair tucked wings at his sides. His eyes broadened at the sight. Wings. He would have never imagined.

He decided that the night so far had been to much action for him. He quickly got dizzy and began to wobble around, and soon fell to his side. He slowly reopened his eyes and thought,' what, how.. why? Where am I?'

Questions started ringing in his head as he began to miss his home. His first home, now starting to be erased from his memory. The fact began to tear him up. Still on his side, he looked up to the sky. He had never seen that many stars before, not by the thousands tonight. It made him creak a light smile as his vision slowly blurred and a tear broke from his eye. He fell asleep soon afterwards.

Chapter 2:
The Flight-ning Bolt

Hours later, the colt slowly opened his eyes. Stepped up onto his new standing position, on his hooves. He shook off his dizzyness and quickly remembered how he was stuck in the middle of a swamp. He noticed a small berry bush in front of him that he never noticed before. He walked slowly up to it and bit off a few berries from its twigs. While munching on the bright pink berries, he looked around and started to consider the fact of his wings.

'hmm... no way around. But, the skies are kind of cloudy, still good for fly-.. No! I don't even know how to use these things! But still..'

He rolled his eyes away from the bush and turned his eyes back towards his wings.

'Maybe I could try?'

Closing his eyes, he began to focus. His wings began to unfold. He creaked open his eyes and saw the twin wings broadening towards the sky. At his view, the wings were twice as big as himself. His mouth broadened into a wide grin as he saw for the first time in his life; so far; Wings. Then, the ground quaked.

He swung his head around and saw a huge flaming phoenix with its trademark infinite flaming wings. It let out a deafening screech as the colt's pupils contracted with fear. The phoenix's flaming eyes locked on to the colt. The only word blasting through his mind: Run.

And so he did. The phoenix let out another scream and began stomping towards him. The colt remembered that he did not refold his wings. He also knew that was slowing him down. Darting his eyes about, he knew the flatland he was at was coming to an end. Now, he had only one way to go: Up. He threw caution into wind and began to flap the wings, he lost touch with the ground on his hind legs. Another flap, he 'jumped' off the ground. Immediately with one powerful drop of his wings, he lift off. His hind right hoof touched the canopy of the swamp trees. His scared emotion transformed into bliss as he knew he had a talent.

His eyes were hooked on the clouds above as he heard a distant screech of a pissed off phoenix. He decided to pick up speed as he saw the phoenix's wings rise. He began to pick up speed as he felt the wind beneath wings feeling better with each passing second. The phoenix turned and flew in his opposite direction. Now he was safe, as long as he did not lose altitude. And from what he knew from his previous life, altitude needs speed. And did he have a need for speed.

On instant of that thought, he dropped from the sky and U-Turned back up, shooting through the atmosphere. He started to flap through the skies, zooming through the low laying clouds. And then, a light dome appeared in front of his face. The dome hurt his eyes, so he reached both hooves in front of him to push it away; but the dome now appeared on his hooves, he felt faster with each flap. The dome began to narrow and bend with the colts body, his tail flailing around behind him as the dome became a cone right in front of his face, and the point of the cone bright as the sun. He knew he was close to something epic. The Outskirts were going to be rocked.

The colt suddenly shot forward and the cone exploded as he passed it. He left a massive bright gold ring of crackling lightning behind him that spread out, leaving a large gap in the clouds, which began to flood the swamps with sunlight. His wings were pouring out electricity that tailed him wherever he flew, he was tearing through the sky, zooming through clumps of clouds, watching the forest below him disperse from a thick swamp to a sparse forestland. He then stopped his flapping and just glided through the sky until he drifted to the ground. He even forgot that he was still nowhere near.. Anywhere, But he didn't care; he had a talent, he could feel it.

Sure enough, he soon dropped to the ground and after that, onto his back again, facing the sky. He also realized that his wings were not able to refold because of the energy still pounding inside them. Quickly noticing how any civilization was still elusive. With the heat from the sun above him pounding his body relentlessly, he began his slow march to 'Progress'.

Chapter 3:
He Who Actually Has A Name

The young colt trudged through the seemingly endless grassland for the last few hours. Hunger and exhaustion has gripped him tight. His wings began to sag downwards and his eyes were never fully open. He was going to pass out anytime soon, but spirit kept him going. But not for much longer. The grass had reached his chest, the clouds were high above him and the noon sun was staring at him with no mercy.

He began to bend forward and his legs began to wobble. His vision began to blur as he caught quick glimpses of a big, shady tree. That was a wonder. He limped towards as he began to hear the grass around ruffle. That worried him and set him to a quick alert mode. As he entered the shade, three big sized weasels leaped out from their cover of the grass and flew towards the colt, he braced and saw a quick glimpse of a rock smashing the weasels in mid-air right before he collapsed onto the ground. The last thing he saw was a silhouette of a round face among the bright sky and shadows of the leaves, followed by darkness.

When he awoke, the moon was in front of him. The sky, no longer bright blue, was now a mixture of light purple at the horizon, and a light sapphire and Black combination. Stars dotted the night sky and sparkled in their positions of the night. A light breeze swayed the tree he was under and the infinite fields around him. he got to his hooves and began to walk around until he heard a voice.

“Hey! Look who's finally awake!”

The colt turned his head and saw another young colt, just as he was, sitting in front of a fire pit.

“You know, you really gave me a scare. Its like you've never rested for days! Heh, what am I doing, here, sit! Help yourself to the fruit and the veggies.”

Sure enough, The colt sat and began to munch on an apple near a pile of veggies near the fire pit.

“Well, My name's Hank, apparently a pony now” he giggled a little and noticed the other colt's wings “Hey, wings! I'm guessin' you can fly, right?”

The colt nodded. He tried to speak but ended up coughing violently.

“Hey, hey! Chill, don't strain... Were you the one who made all those energy bursts?”

Nod.

“So.. uh, can u squeeze out your name?

The colt darted his eyes left and right and raised his two shoulders.

“ No name, huh? How's about a temporary one? How's Alex?”

The now named Alex grinned.

“Sweet! Now i'm guessing we're gonna have to work together in this huh?”

Nod.

“Alright! So, I think there's a village around here. There were some signs near abandoned pathways and apparently its called 'Ponyville'. That's where he gonna head for the next few days.”

Hank and Alex shook hooves and they began to drift off to their much needed sleep. The following day, they began their long march to Ponyville.

As Hank turned towards a heap of stuff, Alex suddenly noticed a horn jetting out of Hank's head, parting his mane into two. It gave out a light, but clear light as hank used it's magic to pick up some wood. The thought confused but at the same time made him wonder what new world this was.

Hank awoke and quickly realized that Alex was gone. He snapped up on all fours and looked around, trying to find Alex's white flank anywhere. That's until he heard a zoom above him, in the clouds. Alex was twisting and bursting through the sky, passing through the clouds until it seemed to look like an ice cream cone. Alex hovered near from the sculpture, admiring it until he heard Hank's voice calling him.

“Dude! You’re awesome!!” Hank bellowed from the ground.

Alex smiled and replied, “Haha, I know, right?”

“Come to think of it, you shouldn't even be named Alex!”

Alex swooped down and landed right in front of Hank.”well, I still gotta have a name, right?”

“Ooh-ooh! I know!!” Hank jumped up and down looking like he had the most epic new name for Alex. “Joe!”

Alex smile faded as he heard it. “Uh.. Actually, I was thinking about something like.. Cloudwork.”

“Oh.. You know, that is pretty cool! But what does it even mean, anyway?”

Cloudwork stepped next to him and pointed to the 'cloud-cone' in the sky. “Dude, 'Work' made of Clouds. Thus, 'Cloudwork'.”

“Ohh..” Hank locked his eyes on the cloud cone on the realization.

“well, I guess we are starting that trek to Ponyville now?” Cloudwork said as he stomped out the tiny candle of a fire from the pit. Hank Snapped out of his daydream and nodded towards Cloudwork. They left all their stuff behind at the tree and began their long walk.

Chapter 4:
This. Is. Seriously bad luck.

Cloudwork and Hank had been walking for several hours and were feeling the strain on their trek. Occasionally stopping at any berry bush to munch on something or any body of water to drink. The dirt track they have been following becoming clearer with each passing hour. The grasslands have begun to end and the shade of trees came back. Mountains with snow capped peaks began to appear.

Hank knew they were getting closer to their destination. Cloudwork thought he was crazy. Birds were starting to be heard again while Cloudwork slowly lost his sanity to Hank's endless talks. On the bright side, or not, The sun began to set again. Stopping one last time to camp out for the night, Hank began to collect supplies. Cloudwork zoomed up to knock fruits down from the trees above them. All the while; Cloudwork had a bad feeling in his gut as the violet skies began to spread across the sky. Hank was still busy trying to find something to cover the ground of their camp. Cloudwork lowered back down with his arms brimming with fruit. He quickly noticed a small cone shaped thing on the ground next to some more resources.

“hey, what's that thing over there?” Cloudwork asked.

“That? Oh, its just a sparker gun I’ve been working on”, replied Hank while still looking over a 'tent'.

“but.. we left our stuff at that tree. How'd you get this?” Asked Cloudwork once more, examining the weird device on the ground.

“Duh, I Made it!”

“..Uh, now?”

“No..”Hank rolled his eyes to Cloudwork.”Just now, obviously!”

Cloudwork put down the device and looked into the deep, dark forest. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was there. Watching. He turned away and saw Hank standing beside a makeshift fire pit. The sparker gun was hovering in mid-air, in Hank's magic. Hank Flipped a switch and Grinding noises were heard. The high pitched noises blasted around the area and the forest, also made the two colts brace from the noise. But, indeed, sparks Flooded out of the nozzle of the sparker gun, igniting a flame from the pit.

Hours later, after a hearty meal of fruits, Hank hit the hay. Cloudwork on the other hand, found out he could literally stand on clouds! He brought a few down and lay on them; stared at the Moon. The feeling of something big on their way really kept him awake. In the far off distance, he saw small orbs of light. 'Ponyville' he thought. Maybe Hank was right. They just needed another day.

On that instance, He heard a soft, but clear roar. Now he hoped that day would come sooner. He dived from the cloud and frantically waked Hank up.
“C-Cloud! You crazy, dude! I don't hear anything..!” Hank exclaimed while shaking off the sleep left in his big eyes.

Suddenly, A huge lion like animal with a scorpion tail jumped directly behind them. It cracked the stones it stood on and left a clear hole in the trees it broke through. Its bloodshot eyes darted from Cloudwork to Hank as its legs started to flex under its massive, solid body. Its mane was slowly flowing through the soft breeze and from its mouth came a loud, soul sucking roar that blasted through their ears.

Cloudwork slowly backed up while Hank, still laying down, Tilted up to the creature's head said,”Okay. Forget what I said. There is SO something here.”

Cloudwork accelerated with his wings and grabbed Hank just before The creature swung his tail down and smashed the ground. Cloudwork to the skies, dodging the stuff thrown by the creature. Frantically thinking of what to do, he quickly remembered the distant lights. He took off in that direction. However, unlike the phoenix earlier, this creature was persistent. It leaped in and out if the forest's canopy, trying desperately to get Cloudwork. Hank quickly noticed the lights and shouted, “Look! Told you, Ponyville!”

“Not the time, Hank!” Cloudwork Shouted back as he barreled across the sky, trying to shake off the bounding beast. That's when he noticed, from a lake below, the creature had fired a ball of goo from its tail, and it was heading straight for them. To make things worse, The creature's final bound seemed powerful enough to reach them quickly. That's when something clad in gold struck the beast from its side, knocking it to the ground. Rocks flew around while the pony in gold yelled, “hey! Look out!”

A Rock broke and a small shard struck Cloudwork's right wing in the middle of a barrel roll. He never expected it to hurt that much. He and Hank shot through the air and crashed into the shallow end of the lake below.

As Cloudwork endured through the pain in his wing, he saw the gold-clad colt run towards them yelling, “Canterlot, Canterlot! Two colts, injured sighted. Send backup.. now..” He Blacked out.

End Of Part 1

Part 2: Colts in civilization

The Equestrian Takeover

Part 2:
Colts in civilization

Written by
Fariz 'The WaVe' Amir

Chapter 5:
New colts in Canterlot

CloudWork opened his eyes to see that he was out of the forestland. This time, completely. No trees, no mountains, no grass. He was even looking at a ceiling. He also noticed he was on a bed. An actual, soft bed!

He rolled off the bed and saw the room he was in. Elaborate, royal looking designs lined the room. The White tiled floor paired a gold painted wall. Opening the window of the room, CloudWork was awestruck at what he saw. More ponies crowded the streets. All of them, unique with different colored manes and coats. In the distance, more buildings towered, it made CloudWork Disbelieve that this was the same world that he was just in last night. From a Nature nightmare to this metropolis. A sign across the street, said: Welcome to Canterlot, Capital of Equestria! Visit our famous doughnut stores today!

Behind him, the door opened and a pony slowly walked in. she said, “Oh, you're awake. Here, come with me. Princess Celestia will see you know”

CloudWork followed closely behind her and asked, “Umm, Who's Celestia?”

She turned her head around with her mouth open with a few other ponies and colts around gasping to what CloudWork just said. “Princess Celestia is our dear ruler. She rules this land: Equestria. How can you not know that? Where are you even from?”

CloudWork, still surprised from the reactions he got, replied, “Well, I’ll be honest, even I have no idea. Let's just see this Princess, okay?”

The pony led him to a room a large hall that also had a massive Gate decorated with pictures of the sun and the moon. Hank Sat next to that Gate on a small couch. Hank flashed a quick, sheepy smile as the pony told them to stay quiet.

An awkward silence took over, but neither of them didn't seem to mind. They were to busy analyzing the place they were in. The hall boasted another massive gate at the other far end of the hall. Towering pillars with spiraling décor were paired with potted ferns around them.

Ponies and other colts walked around chatting with each other as others were rushing here and there. It almost seemed as though they didn’t notice the tall window panes showing the outside. The hall seemed to have four main features; the huge sealed gateway beside CloudWork and Hank, the large doorway opposite them, two redirecting hallways leading to other parts of the building, and a giant, gold and silver statue.

It featured a Unicorn Standing on its hind legs, with its head tilted towards the ceiling; its horn seemed to be glowing light blue. Beside it, a regular pony stood firm, its front right hoof up; it looked towards the Open doorway. Behind the two, A Pegasus colt was lifted slightly, supported by its tail; His Wings spread open and his head looking towards the ceiling.

As CloudWork admired the statue, a stallion wearing gold approached the gateway beside them. He stomped on a button nearby and Gears began to work. At the bottom, the floor folded away briefly, Gears on the side of the gate slowly creaked the gates open. A bright light Flooded down on the gold-plated stallion. He then turned and said to CloudWork and Hank; “Princess Celestia would like to see you now. You two may enter.” And enter they did.

Chapter 6:
Royal welcoming

CloudWork stepped in first and was surprised to see a wonderful sight. Hank stepped in and was glaring at the ground.

“Can somepony please turn down that light?” Hank complained.
“Um, Hank, Just... open your eyes... Now.” CloudWork said, His eyes wide open from what he saw.
“Pfft, No way!”

CloudWork, still staring, grabbed the top of Hank's head and forced it up. Hank at first complained again, but he began to see why CloudWork was so excited about it.

A tall mare with a beautiful, flowing mane stood at the top of a pedestal. She was wearing a gold Barrel plate, encrusted with emeralds and Sapphires. Her wings were folded, but still showed a picture on her flank. A small Sun. What really got their attention was that she also had a majestic horn atop her head. Behind that, a golden tiara was showed off. Cloudwork's and Hank's Eyes widened as they began to understand they were with Royalty.

“Gentlecolts, I am Princess Celestia. Ruler of this fine land; Equestria. And who, may I ask, are you two?” The Tall mare said from the pedestal.

“Umm...I am CloudWork. This is my friend, Hank” CloudWork said out loud, trying to sound as masculine as possible while he did.

“Yeah... Er, hi...” Hank replied lightly.

“Well, Hello, CloudWork and Hank of..?” Princess Celestia asked once again.

“Uh... I would answer that if I could, Princess,” CloudWork answered, cocking his head to the side.

Celestia leaped from the pedestal, landed right in front of the two.

“Hmm... you, CloudWork, look a bit like a Manehattan-nite. Are you?” Celestia asked. CloudWork shook his head. “And you, Hank?” Celestia asked once more. Hank shook his head too.

“Very well, then. In that case, how did you two wind up in the Everfree Outskirts, where my guards found you?”

CloudWork, now seeming confident with the Princess, replied, “I'll be honest, Princess. All I remember is a big, silver oval that I stumbled out of. Then, I knew I could fly, met Hank here, and then, a lion-scorpion thing, now I'm here. That’s... about it, actually”

“You seem like a noble colt, CloudWork. I will take your word for this. In the meantime, I presume you both do not have a place to stay?” The two of them shook heads. “Right. Of course. For now, well... It would be better if you stayed in the Castle. No offense, but you two did pop out from nowhere. Furthermore, it was from the Everfree!”

“No problem, Princess. We understand.” CloudWork said, trying to be as noble as he could again.

“Well, in that case... You two will be on your way to Ponyville now,” Celestia said happily with a wink.

“But... Why?” Hank asked, puzzled. “Because, understanding is a key principle of a good colt. You two seem good enough to be in a town, right?” Celestia said, bowing down slightly.

CloudWork and Hank nodded, happy that they have been accepted in the eyes of royalty. They smiled at each other and thanked the Princess.

“Twilight! Come over here, I have a task for you,” Princess Celestia called into a distant hallway.

“Coming..!” A distant reply was heard. When a pony opened the door, Cloudwork's eyes widened once more.

Chapter 7:
Trip to Ponyville: The Express way.

A light purple pony stepped out of the hallway door. She was a unicorn with a flinched mane on her face. The rest of her mane curled halfway round her neck. She spotted a white and pink 6-point star on her flank. “Yes, Princess Celestia?” She said. Music to Cloudwork's ears.

“Ah, Twilight... I hope I am not intruding on any of your studies, but I was wondering if you could help these two gentlecolts ease into Ponyville,” asked Princess Celestia.

Twilight looked over Celestia's shoulders to get a glimpse of CloudWork and Hank. “Why, sure! I mean, why not? But... I don't think I've seen these colts before...” replied the now curious Twilight.

“Their arrival... well, let us just say that they are...’new' to the kingdom,” Celestia answered.

“Well, okay then! I'll get the Chariot Riders, okay, Princess Celestia?” Twilight replied.

With a nod, Celestia agreed to Twilight's idea. Celestia's horn gave a faint pink glow and a pair of Silver armored Stallion pegasi flew into the room carrying a Royal looking open carriage. Twilight signaled to CloudWork and Hank to get in, which they did. Hank turned and looked at Celestia saying, “take care, have a safe flight!”

“Okay you two, hold on!” Twilight shouted while she gripped the handlebar in front of her. CloudWork, who was beside her, did the same. “Pfft... why? Its not gonna b- WHAAAA!!” Hank cried as the pegasi Sped off out of the castle and into the Canterlot skies.

As Hank struggled in the Back of the chariot trying to get a proper hold, CloudWork was mesmerized by the sights. He could see multiple cities in the distance. All of them very much like Canterlot below them. His mane flowing in the wind and his face washing in the coming winds. His fascination was then blocked for a moment when Twilight's voice came out.

“Well, I guess we should properly introduce ourselves. Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, proud student of Princess Celestia. What's your name?” she gleefully asked CloudWork, who's face was beginning to redden at the sight of Twilight's warm smile. Hank was still struggling behind them.

“Well, I am CloudWork. And this is my friend, Hank. We both met when we somehow ended up in the Everfree Outskirts. Sorry, not much of an intro, I know,” Replied CloudWork, who was now comfortable at speaking next to somepony whom he thought, was an angel.

“Oh, probably that's why I never recognized you two.” Twilight Continued. “But, how did you end up here?”

“I'll be honest, all I remember was a giant silver oval that I ran out of,” CloudWork answered.

“Oh... I guess I get it...” Twilight said. “How about you, Hank-”

Hank's little activity (Gaping his mouth open, trying to gather wind and flailing his arms around in excitement) was quickly stopped when Twilight and CloudWork Looked back at him. Hank blushed a little and asked, “Umm... yes..? How may I help you two?” while darting his eyes from CloudWork to Twilight.

“Umm you know what? Never mind! We are going to reach our destination anyway!” Twilight exclaimed. She pointed a hoof to her right, and true to her word, she was pointing at a small town with a sparse forest around it. “CloudWork and Hank, Welcome to Ponyville!”

Chapter 8:
A warm welcome

As the pegasi lowered down to the ground of a large town square, other ponies began to look at the carriage. Twilight thanked the pegasi pair and they flew back off to Canterlot while CloudWork and Hank looked around. Not as complex and sophisticated as Canterlot, but they liked it! The town had a cozy atmosphere to it.

“Well, this is Ponyville... Our first 'destination' huh, Cloud?” Hank joked.
“Haha, I know right? Can’t believe we're actually here. Longer than planned, but... What the heck!” CloudWork exclaimed.

Soon, Twilight called out to somepony in the distance. “AppleJack! Come over here!” A light orange pony wearing a rather large hat looked over to Twilight and came towards her

“Well, howdy there Twilight! Who're your friends there? Never seen em' before..! Hey there, boys! I'm Applejack. Pleasure meetin' yall!” AppleJack said with a western accent. Hank smiled as CloudWork introduced him. “Well, Hey there, AppleJack! Pleasure meeting you too! I'm CloudWork, and there's my friend Hank over there... Erm... Oh, there!” CloudWork pointed to Hank, who wandered off to munch on an apple that he got in a barrel nearby.

“Erm...*munch-Munch* yeah... Hey..!”Hank said while munching on apple flesh.

“Oh, fancy apples do ya?” AppleJack asked Hank. Still munching, Hank nodded his head really quickly. “Well, why don't you two head on over to Sweet Apple Acres? We happen to have a few barrels extra! You don't mind do ya, Twi?” AppleJack Offered, happily.

“Well, it is still quite early... Okay then! Ooh, just let me grab Spike from the Library, he has to be starving! I'll meet you guys at the farm!” Twilight exclaimed. AppleJack nodded in agreement as Twilight Turned and headed down the street.

“Well, come on, you two! Let’s get our move on!” AppleJack Called from up street. Hank popped his head out of the barrel and galloped towards her. CloudWork followed from behind, “Sweet Apple Acres, here we come!”

On the way there, CloudWork noticed the lifestyle of Ponyville. Casual, maybe a little bit laidback, but really cozy. He loved the atmosphere; other ponies raised a hoof and a smile to greet him and Hank, showing their friendly sides to everypony everywhere! He loved it. The houses were sitting cozily next to each other, a very nice balance of nature and buildings. CloudWork also soon noticed a weird lack of other colts like him and Hank… Weird. He knew that wherever Princess Celestia told them to stay in, He really wanted it to be nearby. Maybe it was a little bit… Girly to his taste, but maybe his place could be more customized!

Soon enough, they arrived at the Acres. CloudWork and Hank met Hank Met Big Macintosh, AppleJack’s Big brother; He was the first stallion in Ponyville they met. He was really a stallion of few words. AppleBloom, her little sister and Granny Smith made them really feel welcome by offering them some apple pie! After a little chat with them, Hank Barraged right into some Apple-filled barrels to start munching away. CloudWork soon joined Hank in his apple eating, after more talking with AppleJack.

While eating in the massive mess of barrels, they didn’t notice Twilight come back with a little purple and green dragon, along with another one of her friends. CloudWork stopped after he noticed them trotting towards a table nearby. Apparently this pony was quite alike to CloudWork. She was blue, only more obvious… and she had wings!

Chapter 9:
So Much Speed, So many Ponies, So little Time…

“Haha, I see you and Hank are having a great time!” Twilight said, smiling at CloudWork. He secretly embraced those words while he replied,” Well of course! Sweet Apple Acres have the best Apples I’ve ever tasted!”

The Blue Pegasus turned towards him and said,” Well, You must be the ‘mysterious-Pegasus’ Twilight has been talking about just now! Name’s Rainbow Dash, The greatest flyer in Equestria!” CloudWork Replied, “Well, Rainbow, I’m CloudWork! Pleasure meeting ya!” A small, purple and green dragon called to CloudWork, “Hey! I’m Spike, Twilight’s faithful assistant! Good to see another guy around here, it’s about time!”

“Heya Spike! Name’s CloudWork, don’t worry, I’m probably gonna hang out with you... Erm… Ponies a lot! Can’t wait to get to get to know you better, Spike!” CloudWork Replied as he noticed a few other ponies coming from behind AppleJack’s barn.

They all quickly noticed CloudWork and began asking him where he was from. CloudWork also began getting nervous and started to hope that Hank would get out of the barrel he was in! But he managed to get to know the ponies anyway. There was Rarity, another Unicorn with a really awesome hair- umm… mane-do? She apparently owned the local dress store. Pretty cool for a boutique in a little town, CloudWork thought…

Soon afterwards, he met Fluttershy. A Pegasus just like he and Rainbow Dash, But way different. She was a very shy type, which Rarity quickly told him, but he already figured that from her name… She lived in a cottage a little distance from town, and took care of a huge variety of Woodland creatures. Fluttershy managed to get comfortable with CloudWork after a while after his fascination of animals got her attention.

Last, but most definitely not least, he met Pinkie Pie. A very exciting and hyper pony, she was! She was talking about how weird CloudWork happened to pop up and that he was a Pegasus. CloudWork knew she was the type of Pony who just loved Partying. He was obviously right. Pinkie came with a basket containing cupcakes and balloons, celebrating CloudWork’s arrival to Ponyville. Soon, she raised an interesting proposition.

“What? No way, Pinkie! I’m not racing this Colt!” Rainbow Dash snapped.

“Oh, come on, Dashie!” CloudWork Giggled at the nickname, “It would be fun!”

“Actually, I kinda like that idea, come on, Rainbow!” Twilight Chipped in to Pinkie Pie.

“Well, I must admit, I’m with Pinkie!” Exclaimed Rarity.

CloudWork soon said, “Well, come on, Rainbow Dash, Let’s have a go! You did say you were ‘The Best Flyer of Equestria!’ Let’s just have a go!”

Suddenly changing her mind, Rainbow Dash said, “Well, would be fun, anyways… You’re on, CloudWork! But don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

“Alrighty then! Here’s the plan, From the Barn, to the ends of the Farm, and back. Basically, a huge triangle over the acres!” Declared AppleJack.

Rainbow Dash and CloudWork shook hooves in agreement and took their positions and unfolded their wings. Instantly Everypony began looking at CloudWork’s distinctive Three-pronged Wing, Towering and poised to thrust him off. Rainbow noticed it too and began thinking about the wings. They seemed powerful, but were probably slow because of their size, anyway, she thought.

Moments later, Pinkie Pie signaled the start and the Pegasi were off! CloudWork Immediately took first place as his wings propelled him forward. Rainbow Dash began frantically chasing him. CloudWork told himself not to be too overconfident, but Rainbow Dash immediately overtook him. Literally, She just glided over him. CloudWork’s wings began to flap a bit more smoother with each speeding minute. The first turn was coming up fast and Rainbow Dash was holding the lead pretty good. CloudWork began gaining altitude for a better chance at overtaking Rainbow Dash. The turn came up and Rainbow Flawlessly did a near 90- degree turn, leaving CloudWork behind in a rainbow-coloured trail. But CloudWork had his own cunning plan. He just needed more height.

Back at the barn, Twilight was asking everypony what they thought CloudWork’s Plan was, He seemed to be dragging behind more and more.

Rainbow Dash Spun to her back and began poking fun at CloudWork. “Watcha doin’? You know, to WIN, you’re supposed to be in front of me? Not ABOVE me, you know?”

“Heh, I know exactly how to win, Rainbow, You’ll just see, soon enough!” CloudWork Shouted as he Soared into the clouds, out of sight. Rainbow Dash Decided to focus more and sped towards the second turning point, taking her time, but keeping her speed high and constant. It was a very quiet but fast trip, and Rainbow Dash Turned into the final Stretch to the finish line. Everypony at the Barn began scanning the skies for CloudWork when Rainbow Dash hit the half-way mark of the stretch. At that second, Hank Emerged from the now empty apple barrels and Shouted: “FLIGHT-NING CLOUDWORK!! YEAH!!”

As Everypony turned in shock, a loud boom rocketed from the skies as Clouds were vaporized from sight and A massive shockwave of lightning pulsed through the skies. Rainbow Dash, along with everypony else was hypnotized by CloudWork’s Ability while Hank was cheering and screaming from where he was. Funnels of energy pulsed from behind CloudWork as he Rocketed past Rainbow Dash and flooded the air around him with pulses of electricity and strong yellow light. He began soaring to the ground to show off a little bit more. He crossed the finished line and made gusts of strong winds that tossed dirt and benches around. He immediately climbed back up to let the energy escape from him and to begin losing speed. The energy funnels spread from where CloudWork left them, charging the air all around it.

Rainbow Dash slowly trailed back to the barn to meet the rest and instantly exclaimed, “CloudWork! That was the most Awesome thing I’ve ever seen a Pegasus do! What do you call that Move there?!”

“Flight-Ning, My own Trademark! It’s my specialty!” CloudWork exclaimed, Beaming with pride.
Hours Passed while everypony talked and ate Apple crumble. Hank introduced himself and They became closer and closer as friends. In due time though, they would be putting it to the greatest test known to Equestria.

Part 3: A dark night.

The Equestrian Takeover

Part 3:
A dark night.

Written by
Fariz 'The WaVe' Amir

Chapter 10:
Hank’s Specialty Is Found!

The party eventually ended and everypony went to their homes. CloudWork and Hank quickly remembered how they were homeless in Ponyville. Rarity recalled an abandoned workshop in the fields near Ponyville. It was old and a little rundown, But CloudWork and Hank took it as a home anyway; knowing how they had no real choice anyway. Twilight, Fluttershy and AppleJack donated several small furnishings; Pillows, Blankets, Firewood and some food for the night.

The Workshop was big and still had a few working machines inside it. All the dust inside made Rarity stay outside with Fluttershy, who was a little afraid of the dark. Rainbow Dash and CloudWork set a few new lamps and torches around while Twilight and AppleJack cleared dust away. Rarity and Fluttershy finally came back in to help out after realizing the place wasn’t as ‘unsanitary’ or ‘creepy’ as before. They got the place a bit more homely after several hours of work. Rarity offered them to go shopping for more stuff for their new home the following day. CloudWork accepted and everypony else headed back home. CloudWork and Hank themselves were tuckered out after chatting on their own in the higher floor of the workshop. They eventually fell asleep, no thanks to weird noises outside.

The following day, CloudWork woke up to the sound of metal dropping to the concrete floors. His eyes burned at the sudden sight of sparks flying to the ceiling from the lower floor. Curious, he walked down the steps only to find Hank. In a welding mask.

“Hank? What the heck are you doing?” CloudWork naturally asked.
“Oh, this? Nah, I’m just inventing! Been doin’ it all night!” Hank Answered, his face still looking at the new contraption he was working on.
“Inventing? Inventing what?” CloudWork asked once more, instantly shielding himself from more sparks as Hank fired up the blowtorch again.
“That was exactly what I was waiting for you to say! Remember back in the Everfree, when I saved you with that slingshot machine?”
“Of course..?”
“Well, here it is again! Except now it’s improved, off the-charts!” Hank said, pointing over to a machine resting on a pony-shaped mannequin.

It was definitely a memory jolt. Instead of a held model, this new one was a back-mounted shooter. By the looks of it, it fired random metal bolts from twin barrels on the side of the saddle-like mount from a small magazine load on the top of the mount. CloudWork definitely had to get a deep examination of it. It looked a little big and bulky definitely has room for improvement, he thought. Soon Hank asked if CloudWork wanted to have a go at firing a few test shots. CloudWork agreed with massive excitement.

CloudWork stood on a painted red X on the floor while Hank Pulled levers with his magic. Metal chains creaked and shackled as they lifted the crossbow mount on CloudWork’s back.

“How did you even manage to get these things working? Twilight said this place was abandoned for 5 years!” CloudWork asked Hank nearby.
“Wasn’t easy, I’ll give you that! Took half the night just for restoration works, the rest of the night for improvements and some changes to the machinery and about… um… 3 hours for the mount?” Hank answered with pride. “Alright, Cloud, the mount may be a little bit heavy... And you gotta lower your neck down to activate the sights. Then fire by stomping your front hooves. Left hoof for left turret, right hoof for right turret! There we go, all set and ready to fire!”

It took some time for CloudWork to get used to a heavy metal contraption on his back. He fired the first bolt, aiming at a wooden plank. He missed, but the second bolt hit it dead on. On the third shot, though…

“Dammit Hank, what’s going on? Why is this thing shaking? Wait… OH NUTS—“CloudWork panicked as he fell while the turret just broke before even firing the third bolt. Metal plates and bolts rolled along the concrete flooring, making a mess of scrap and junk.

Hank walked slowly to CloudWork, who was still on the ground, recovering from shock and weariness. Hank had a very… certain look on his face; a combined look of disgust, anger, disappointment and sadness. Very much like the look a mare gives to a little filly when she failed a test.

“Whoa... Erm... Jeez… I’m really sorry, Hank… I didn’t know the turret was that fragile…” CloudWork said, His eyes shifting from the ground, to the metal on the floor, then to Hank. That’s when Hank completely freaked CloudWork out with a sudden grin and he started laughing out loud and began rolling on the ground. CloudWork, with his shoulders feeling a lot lighter, suddenly joined Hank in his fun, even though he had no idea what was going on.

In the two colts’ fun, they didn’t realize Twilight and Rarity come in, and they were instantly staring at them, questioning their motives and what the mess was about. Hank got up and explained to CloudWork that he already expected that exact thing to happen. He was already working on a second prototype, that one more secure… and safer than the first. He also quickly noticed Twilight and Rarity staring at them.

“Oh, well hey there, girls!” Hank said, still sitting on the ground but still having a warm smile on his face.
CloudWork, still on the ground, looked up and saw Twilight; with rays of sunlight behind her, making her eyes sparkle. Light blows of morning breezes flowed through her mane and tail, creating the perfect silhouette of Twilight, with parts of her body uniquely lighted. CloudWork didn’t notice that he was still looking really scruffy from the mess and how he didn’t even prepare his mane or anything.

“Umm… Hey, CloudWork! What’s up?” Twilight asked, feeling a little bit awkward while CloudWork laid there, staring at her with a huge interest.
“Nothing much, my beautiful unicorn angel of this great land… Uh... Shoot…I mean… Erm… Hey, Twilight!” CloudWork stuttered, secretly cursing himself for saying what he said at first.
Rarity nudged at Twilight and said, “Well, I’m guessing SOMEPONY here likes another certain Unicorn, hmm?” with a cheeky smile, She even winked at Twilight and pointed her horn towards CloudWork, who was helping Hank with the cleanup.
Twilight immediately disagreed with Rarity and stepped forward. “Well, what were you two doing?” She asked.
“Well, I was testing out this turret mount-“CloudWork explained, before Hank Interrupted him.
“A mount which I, Hank, invented myself!” Hank boasted.
“A little dangerous to our lifestyle, but that would probably explain your cutie mark!” Rarity said, smiling at how adorable Hank looked when he boasted.
“Umm... Cutie... Mark? What?” CloudWork quickly asked, his head cocked at an angle.
“A cutie mark, It’s a symbol that represents you’re… Super-special talent that makes you unique! Look, it’s on your flank. A metal bolt, two wrenches. You must be an engineer, an inventor even! My, I sound like Cherilee!” Rarity explained to them.
“Probably explains your ability, CloudWork. The Lightning bolt attached to a three- prong wing, your unique wings and your Flight-Ning ability!” Twilight said, excited at the idea of cutie marks.
Laughing, Rarity reminded everypony about their shopping trip at the market place. Rarity immediately changed the topic to shops, clothes and other girly things. Well, why not? Its Rarity here!

Chapter 11:
The Colt Who Defied Equestrian Science

Soon enough, the four ponies reached the market place. Wasn’t so crowded, which was quite normal for Ponyville. Hours were spent there, having fun, buying stuff, usual market activity! Pinkie Pie invited them over to the Sugar Cube Corner for some cakes and treats, along with a lot of other ponies that CloudWork met. Night very soon fell and the party soon quieted down and more ponies were walking back home, tired from the fun Pinkie Pie gave them.

CloudWork and also soon decided the day was over for them too, after CloudWork woke up from a massive sugar hangover. Hank decided partying even had its end. Well, the night wasn’t exactly over, not for one more colt.

Far away from Sugar Cube Corner, at the Everfree forest, a square jawed colt with brown eyes popped up from the bushes. He eyed Ponyville, enjoyed the music blaring from Sugar Cube Corner and was looking at all the carts with food, being locked up by ponies who called it a night already. That’s when he realized that it was time. Raising his flank, he prepared for his own special talent. With a heavy kick back, he blasted from where he was to rocket to Ponyville with extreme speed. A loud, deafening Bass pound spread around. His rust-coloured coat left a trail of the same color. Ponyville was going to have a wake up call.

Back at Sugar Cube Corner, AppleJack Heard a loud boom.

“Yall hear that?” AppleJack asked.
“Yeah, what was it?” Twilight added.
“Hey! Over there!” Hank shouted, pointing to a herd of ponies running towards them. Everypony ran back inside the Sugar Cube Corner, while Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and CloudWork took flight and hovered above the panicking ponies.

“What’s going on?” AppleJack shouted to the herd.
A trio of ponies stopped to catch their breath, each of them having one thing in common, all of them having flowers as cutie marks.
One of them said breathlessly, “It’s a disaster!”
Another quickly continued, “It’s horrible!”
The last one screamed, “And He’s Back! Everypony RUN!!!”

All eight ponies turned around to see something rocketing towards them. They dove out of the way while Rainbow Dash quickly noticed it was not a thing, it was another colt! She signaled to CloudWork that she would try to subdue him and that he should Flight-Ning his way there to help her. CloudWork agreed with a nod. Rainbow Dash accelerated to catch up with the speeding bandit, While CloudWork took to the skies. Applejack called to everypony else, telling them that they should try and help out. Twilight teleported out of there to try and track the colt around Ponyville. Rarity and Pinkie Pie blocked certain streets, trying to limit the colt’s track. Fluttershy lifted AppleJack to the front of Rarity’s boutique, where they thought the colt would end up soon.

Rainbow Dash was racing and weaving around the streets and alleys, trying to gain up on the speeding colt, which just seemed to be zooming past each obstacle in front of him. He had the focus that Rainbow Dash was losing. She had to control herself, she couldn’t risk an accidental Sonic RainBoom in the middle of Ponyville, plus she was getting tired really quickly. That’s when the colt stumbled into a wide street leading to Rarity’s boutique, where AppleJack and Fluttershy awaited; they were behind bushes, hiding from him, waiting for the perfect moment. That was when a huge explosion rocked the skies. CloudWork blasted out of nowhere, blasting towards him from behind, but the colt had his own trick up his sleeve. With Rainbow Dash still on his tail, he hopped up and kicked back once more, blasting his own deafening boom and it catapulted Rainbow Dash back, onto the gravel grounds. CloudWork Barrel-Rolled out of her path and Flipped forward to kick the colt down, breaking his dangerous run. The colt’s speed stash immediately disappeared and he was tumbling towards the boutique, where AppleJack jumped out and bucked him right in his mid-torso. blood sputtered from mouth and a bone crushing noise was heard all around. He fell down unconscious, and AppleJack felt a mix of guilt, disgust and a slight relief. CloudWork rocketed up into a loop to get back to Rainbow Dash to help her out.

The colt’s path of destruction was really something. Breaking kerosene tanks and causing fires on the streets, stalls were smashed, wood and metal pieces scattered the dirt roads. Dozens of ponies and young fillies were injured, but thankfully none were… killed in the event.

It was a sleepless night, with everypony staying awake to help out with First-aid and putting out the fires. CloudWork carried the colt to the workshop where Hank welded an iron fence to contain him. Twilight sent a letter to Princess Celestia for some help on the aid and repairs. The rest of them rested in the Workshop, recovering from the sudden action. With the renegade colt behind bars (literally), they decided to help out after a quick rest.

Chapter 12:
The Invasion’s Start

Soon enough, Princess Celestia Arrived with a team of medics and engineers from the Canterlot Team. Princess Luna even tagged along to help out. On their landing, everypony, even the injured bowed to greet them. Princess Luna quickly called out that there was no need for the bow and that everyone should get rest. The medics immediately ran to the injured while the engineers built a makeshift hospital in a tent. Princess Luna went round comforting the ponies that were still in shock. Princess Celestia was quickly greeted by Twilight and the rest. They came over to the workshop to let Princess Celestia see the colt, which was still knocked out.

“What are these marks on his body?” Princess Celestia asked.
“Sorry, Princess, that’s my bad… he was just coming a bit fast towards Fluttershy and I… and I couldn’t tackle him…” AppleJack stuttered, guilt washing over her.
“So… by the looks of it, you bucked him?”
“… I’m terribly sorry, Princess” AppleJack said, her head down and voice full of sorrow.
“It wasn’t you fault now, AppleJack…” Celestia said to AppleJack, trying to reassure her; lifting her hoof to AppleJack’s chin, bringing her face up.
“Erm... Sorry to kinda ruin this ‘heart-melting’ moment here, Princess Celestia, But what do we do to that colt?” Hank said, trying to get everything back on track.

As Celestia walked off to wonder, Fluttershy and Twilight comforted AppleJack, with her eyes beginning to water.
“Of course… he does have his, abilities that are quite mind-blowing…” Celestia said, her mind wondering what to do.

Princess Luna’s Voice from the front of the workshop interrupted them, and made everypony turn their heads towards the main door in curiosity.

“Celestia!” she screamed, her face showing massive hints of fear and concern. “Philomena came with an urgent message from the Northern Sky Observatory!”
“Oh? Well then, come, everypony! To the main square!” Celestia ordered.

Rainbow Dash and CloudWork took off with Princess Celestia and Luna. AppleJack wiped off her tears and ran with the rest. On their arrival, Philomena was resting on top of the fountain, and Royal guards in their gold armor were taking formation. More engineers arrived to speed up reconstruction. Luna came back to Princess Celestia and the rest with a letter from the head scientist at the Observatory.

“Here is what he sent: I have reported sightings of very strange happenings in the Everfree forest. The Tower Canyons have been with what seems to be large silver rays-“Luna read before being interrupted.
“That’s where we came from!” CloudWork pointed out.
“Well, that’s one mystery sort of solved…? Anyways, back to the letter; that caused openings of what seems to be inter-galactic portals. Now a massive metal object has been spotted and it sent a coded transition. After decoding, it says that they are from another planet and they are here to take away our most valuable power source- And well... that’s when the message ended. Something terrible is going to happen, Tia… something bad!” Luna cried.
“Well, don’t panic… Maybe something can be don—“Celestia was interrupted by a bright light shining from behind them

From behind them, the mountain top that housed the Northern Sky Observatory exploded; its metal exterior was completely blown to nothing. Above it, a giant metal ship emerged from the dark, shadowed clouds, the mountains below it crumbled as Bay doors on the sides of the ship opened and smaller dropships sped off into the bleak, night sky. Nearby, Canterlot’s Force shields activated.

Everypony in Ponyville said nothing for the exhilarating 3 minutes. CloudWork and Hank were breathless. Twilight and the rest’s mouths hung open as they knew what was going to happen. Celestia said only one thing: “Prepare yourselves, Everypony.”

Part 4: Downfall

The Equestrian Takeover

Part 4:
Downfall

Written by
Fariz 'The WaVe' Amir

Chapter 12:
Terror among the happiness
Large metal aerial tanks flew around the skies, most heading towards the bustling city of Manehattan to the West. Several others were heading For Amareica and Trottingham south of Ponyville. The ships did not seem to notice Ponyville, though. The main, massive Battle ship slowly dragged over to the skies over the Canterlot castle. Dozens of beams made the force shield collapse in a matter of seconds. About eight dropships zoomed into Canterlot’s streets and lights began flashing. The stunned crowd in Ponyville’s main square could only stand where they were, awestruck and shocked at what they could see. Even the sunrise directly next to Canterlot didn’t seem to lighten everypony’s heart at all. The terror just didn’t seem to end.

Princess Celestia began walking away slowly, drooping her head down. Luna snapped out of her mystified trance at the destruction and ran towards Princess Celestia.

“Tia! Tia! Where are you going?” Luna cried, trotting towards her sister.
“Luna... Um… listen here, Canterlot needs me, but I can’t leave the ponies here alone, though… So…” Celestia increased her volume so the rest of Ponyville could hear her. “I hereby decree that the citizens of Ponyville shall be known as the combatants of The Lunar Republic Army. And Princess Luna shall be your leader. Guards, take formation. Canterlot’s going to need some help.”

Fluttershy soon raised her voice to ask, “Princess, what is going on?” everypony soon began making noise and agreeing to Fluttershy’s question.

“Well… If you all must know-“From behind them once again, three bright red flares fired into the sky, while four more zoomed across it. A large light on the top of the mountain Canterlot was resting began to light up the clouds above. A siren was also lightly heard from Trottingham. “Those signals… the flares, the lights… everypony, it is my sad and unfortunate duty now to inform all of you that Equestria is under attack. We are under siege by marauding invaders. I do not know who these invaders are or what their motive is, but we all must defend our dear Equestria.” Celestia said, with a heavy feeling in her gut. “Twilight and company, please follow me.”

Twilight nodded and signaled everypony to come and follow. They followed Celestia towards the workshop, where the Guards were waiting. The mysterious colt from the previous night already woke up, confused at where he was. Twilight and the rest continued to follow Celestia, but CloudWork called Hank over to the iron cage where they held the colt imprisoned. It was the first time they got to see him, without massive motion blur. His head was still resting on the concrete flooring, on his side. His torso boasted a big purple bruise that contrasted against his light bronze coat. His yellow and bright red mane drooped to the floor. His half-open eyes glared down to the ground, maybe he didn’t even notice CloudWork or Hank in front of him, looking silently at him, wondering if they could let him go, or whether Princess Celestia was going to leave him here to his doom, because they both of them knew that those invaders would eventually raid Ponyville… sooner or later.

Chapter 13:
The Grand 3 Begins

Meanwhile, outside the workshop, Princess Celestia wondered what was taking CloudWork and Hank so long. All of them decided to come inside the workshop to cut the waiting short; it wasn’t like the world was going to end or anything, now was it?

They were silently surprised to see CloudWork and Hank talking casually to the colt in the cage. Celestia had a mix of two feelings; Surprise, because they were talking to the colt as if he didn’t do anything to Ponyville last night. And also a slight anger, because it was like they completely forgot Equestria was being destroyed as they stood there.

Princess Celestia broke the silence with a stern sentence; “What are you two doing?”
Her voice instantly brought back the silence, but CloudWork spoke up, “Relax, Princess Celestia. Zip is fine!”
“Zip?”
“Yeah, that’s his name,” CloudWork said, stepping forward.
“Right. So what exactly makes you think that he is going to be off the hook after what he has done to these innocent ponies?” Celestia began marching past CloudWork; whose smile quickly faded into a concerned look; to come right in front of the terrified Zip. Hank was frozen in fear where he was, next to the iron cage.

Fluttershy began trembling at the stern Princess. Everybody else stood silent at where they stood, staring at Celestia and Zip, waiting for something to happen. Luna soon came in to see what was going on. “Hey, Celestia, what’s going on?” She then saw Zip in the cage. “Oh… I get it…” She then walked next to Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

Hank then broke the silence, “Well, If I could say something here… Zip, even though he did maybe break, or injure-“
Rainbow Dash interrupted, “Umm, try ‘destroy’, Hank.”
“Right. Maybe he Destroyed Ponyville, but he could make it up for us.” Hank said, trying to make both sides happy.
“How do you propose he do that?” Celestia asked.
“Easy. He teams up with us. We try and stop this Invasion.” CloudWork said, courage was filling his voice again. “We could use speed like that. Zip with his speed, Hank with his mechanical genius and me with Flight-Ning! Besides, think of it this way: For all three of us, it’s like our… ‘Payment’ for still being here!”

“Very well. For all three of you…” Celestia unfolded her wings and her horn began to shine. The Iron cage containing Zip disintegrated and CloudWork, Hank and Zip began to levitate into the air, their eyes were brightening up. They formed a triangle, with CloudWork at the front of them. Celestia fired a beam of light up and shined it on them. Celestia boomed, “The three of you will be know as the Elements Of knighthood, and you shall aid the Elements of Harmony in stopping this Invasion; with aid from The Equestrian Guards of Canterlot. CloudWork: the representative of the Element Valiance. Hank: The Element Ingenuity. Zip: The Element of Teamwork.” A final shine of gold on them threw them back.

Celestia landed back down on the ground and began walking out, as she stood at the doors of the workshop, she said on last thing to them, “To CloudWork and Hank; I chose your elements from what you have shown me previously. To you… Zip; I forgive you for what you have done, but I trust you can do more than stay sorry. Prove that you are worthy for that element. Show me what you are capable of, something that can measure up to your friends’ potential.” She then flew off, the Guard Formation speeding behind her.

The three of them soon recovered while the other six helped them up. CloudWork, supported by Pinkie Pie and Twilight immediately noticed a large, silver metal vest that was planted on his chest and went down to his barrel. It boasted his Cutie Mark on the front. Hank had a pair of golden gauntlets that had an engraving of his cutie mark. Zip had his own pair of sleek black Goggles atop his head.

Quickly, CloudWork asked, “I’m pretty sure Elements of Knighthood is a bit of a mouthful… How’s ‘The Grand 3’?”
Hank agreed with a very awkwardly loud “YEEAAAAHHH!”
Zip said, “I like It, It’s a lot easier to say, anyways…”
“Epic! So let’s go! Equestria need-“

A loud Explosion followed by a long barrage of bullets interrupted CloudWork. Rarity screamed when she looked out of the window. 2 Dropships were directly next to them.

Chapter 14:
The Powers of Friendship; Is Magic (And Weaponry)

Panic filled the workshop as all 9 of them rushed outside to a mass crowd of ponies scattering around, trying to avoid whatever danger was about to come. The dropships were huge, about the same size of a house, but stood still. It was noon, but the sky was gloomy. Not from clouds, but from smoke and ash from the multiple attacks that could have already been won by these invaders. CloudWork took off; trying to get a higher vantage point to see what was going on. AppleJack and Rainbow Dash tried to get everypony to settle down. Hank seemed to want to rush back to the Workshop.

CloudWork saw some activity behind the ships and snuck behind a chimney on a nearby house. He saw shiny metal cases being dropped out and weird beings that stood on only two legs. The other two had these weird prongs on them; seemed pretty good for holding things, though. They wore tight black masks, complete with big, shiny goggles. A thick jacket and vest covered their torsos; some of them had a belt that ran from their shoulders to their waists. They seemed to have large hooves. Silver gauntlets with attached gloves too. They had sand-colored baggy pants that went with a pair of huge, black boots.

CloudWork knew that whatever they came here for, it was definitely not good. Out of the shiny cases, they took some things out. They seemed to keep calling them ‘blasters’, ‘launchers’ and a big one they called an ‘Annihilator’. Soon, all of those soldiers; about 30 of them from the first dropship armed them. Something bad was going down, CloudWork knew it. Zip seemed to know it too; he began to start moving around, finding a perfect spot to start a strike. The Dropship began to rumble and boosters on its side blew green fires and it took off. That triggered a massive barrage of bullets raided the square. The Ponyville residents got out of control and scattered again. Zip, not knowing the powers of the weapons, ran off to take cover. The second Dropship then let out its own huge squad of soldiers. Now there was a force of about a hundred attacking. CloudWork ducked to cover and covered his ears. He never heard anything like it. Even the boom of his Flight-Ning was not as bad as this noise. That’s when he saw on pony drop to the ground.

She had a large scar on the side of her neck. Her deep orange mane was shocked back as the bullet cut her flesh. She seemed to want to run behind a rock, but her head was turned to look at the soldiers, which meant CloudWork had a clear look on her face. Her pupils dilated and she let out the most painful shriek CloudWork ever heard. Her jaw dropped as blood gushed from the wound, the bullet in it glowed a hot yellow. She began to trip on her own hooves as she fell to the ground, but as soon as she hit the gravel; her green eyes seemed to glance at CloudWork. She dropped dead at that moment. An innocent pony’s life lost. A flame in CloudWork’s heart ignited as he quickly unfolded his wings and got into a battle stance. He vowed to avenge the Pony’s death. Whoever she was.

He jumped up and swan dived down onto one of the soldiers and broke his back without a care, he was just out for revenge. He shot over towards another and smashed his hoof on his face. He turned to see Zip charging towards another soldier, smashing him into a wall. Soldiers from around starting shooting at the two, most of the bullets missing them, Zip zoomed away while CloudWork flipped and dived behind a rock. Zip rocketed to a squad of the soldiers, knocking them down and CloudWork soared around, knocking soldiers to the ground. Soon, the other six joined in with Twilight and Rarity’s horns glowing and firing energy beams at the soldiers.

Rainbow Dash and AppleJack came in throwing several of the soldiers around, dodging gunfire. Twilight picked up rocks and broken wood from around to launch them at the soldiers, while Rarity continued to blast energy. Rainbow Dash zoomed into the air to knock them down. Fluttershy, afraid of all the action, decided to stick with first-aid. Quickly, they realized that their attacks were just not strong enough. The soldiers just kept waking up and continued firing. They were even slowly losing stamina and morale. All eight of them were cornered at the corner of the Main Square. That’s when a loud battle cry was heard from a nearby street.

It came from a unicorn stallion wearing a large hat. His magic, he held one of the invaders’ weapons. His eyes squinted with anger as he saw the soldier. He said just one thing; “Buck off.” Then he pulled the trigger. A spray of glowing bullets pelted a few soldiers nearby. “Everypony!” he shouted, with a rough voice. “Its time! Charge!!” He bellowed, his voice booming with courage and anger. From the wrecked alleyways, dozens of other stallions and ponies charged out, each with weapons in their magic or on their back. Bullets fired and the battle really began. The stallion with a hat ran to the Elements.

“Are you guys okay? I’m Vulcan. Princess Luna elected me as the General of the Lunar Republic Army. Yall might wanna get up soon; this whole town is going crazy!” Vulcan shouted amidst the battles.
“Don’t worry, we got this!” Zip said, thinking it was time to show off some heroism. “The Grand 3 will handle this!”
“Well, hope you’re right, kid… Here come reinforcements!” Vulcan cried, pointing to three Dropships speeding towards Ponyville. “Unicorns and Ponies; follow me, we’ll get you suited up. Pegasi, join those other pegasi that are taking off. Try to take down those dropships first. Take care now! Come on you six, let’s move!” Vulcan commanded.

Rainbow Dash and CloudWork took off, and sped towards the large group of pegasi. Mid-air, they greeted Rainbow Dash and CloudWork. Rainbow Dash stayed with the Pegasi as CloudWork rocketed for a Flight-Ning attack. The power should stop at least on of them, he thought. CloudWork began to be able to control Flight-Ning; the way it works, even the speed he can accelerate from it. With a short, fast barrel spin, he launched into a small version of the Flight-Ning maneuver to hopefully damage the boosters on the dropships. He missed his blow on the first try, and was rocketing behind the dropships, figuring out how he could ever do some REAL damage to this hunk of junk. That’s when he tried something crazy.

He cut off all the spare energy to let the dropships zoom ahead. He then threw himself into a quick Flight-Ning blast. Rainbow Dash and the other pegasi took down one of the dropships with a lot of breaking. Soldiers fell out of the dropship like ragdolls as explosions rocked it. CloudWork rocketed past them, starting to lose his focus and getting dizzy. The other two dropships were nearby, and he squeezed through them. Once he reached the point of being just in front of the two dropships, he quickly stopped flapping, his wings still showing, he spread out his legs and blasted all the energy from his body, obliterating the dropships in a strong, glowing radiance of yellow energy. CloudWork, elated from his new feat, began dropping unconsciously to the fields below, from ten thousand feet in the air.

Rainbow Dash, being the hero she was, zoomed in and caught CloudWork on her back, avoiding the electrifying ball of energy Cloud Work created. The other pegasi caught up and helped in supporting CloudWork. They landed back in Ponyville. It was a lot calmer than before, but war still raged in the town.

Chapter 15:
Equestria: Code Red

The battle raged on as Fluttershy and Twilight carried the unconscious CloudWork onto a bed. Hank recently busted out of the Workshop, boasting twin gattling guns and a mortar launcher, all supported by a suit of armor. His new invention really helped to recapture key places in Ponyville. The most important was Sweet Apple Acres; they needed those apple trees for nutrition and firewood. Dozens more ponies got injured but continued fighting, for the sake of freedom and justice. Also mainly because those invaders were really pissing them all off. Three very long hours later, Ponyville was recaptured and a stone wall was being built by Unicorns. CloudWork woke up to something he never thought Ponyville could become. All around, houses were filled with medics and injured ponies.

In a far corner, holes dug in the ground were filled with corpses of the deceased. CloudWork saw tears of ponies and stallions alike. It was painful seeing these innocent ponies were getting mixed up in all this mayhem. So far, twenty-five lives have been lost. Stallions were hauling carts with vegetables and fruits to everypony. Food was limited, but there seemed to be a surplus of weaponry, so that was the silver lining on this dark cloud. He walked over to the Workshop where he met Twilight and the rest. Vulcan and Hank were setting up a radio station. They quickly received messages from Canterlot, saying Equestria has entered code red in war. They were also expecting convoys from Trottingham; apparently only a quarter of the city could be recaptured. The rest was taken by the Manics, whom CloudWork learnt was the name of the invading armada.

Canterlot was still under a strong attack and the Elements of Harmony had to work with the Grand 3 to get there to help Celestia. Their mission: Takedown a factory that seemed to have been erected in a matter of hours in the rock plains near the Everfree Outskirts. Vulcan gave them supplies for their long trip. After an hour long lesson on the weapons they looted from the Manics, they received their proper equipment.

AppleJack received a shotgun that could fire in full automatic, and it was mounted on her right shoulder.

Rarity and Twilight Received Sniper Rifles, each powered by a mini nuclear reactor, to give the weapons that extra Kick.

Pinkie Pie and Spike, who tagged along, each got grenade launchers, and were specifically told to be careful by Celestia.

Zip got a rapid fire crossbow that fired just about anything you put in it. For Zip’s speed, accuracy was the only problem.

Rainbow Dash and CloudWork got magnum mounts on their backs, it was a powerful weapon, enough to kill and kick back an enemy in a single shot.

Fluttershy had a raygun that could heal wounds and jolt energy into a pony instantly. She even had a gun that fired health potions through syringe ammo.

Hank stuck with his ‘Armor of Mayhem’, he figured all he needed was enemy ammunition.

And with that, night fell. The fully armed heroes began their journey with caffeine injections. CloudWork Looked at his eight friends and said, “Guys, let’s do this for everypony out there.”
And with that, Twilight, Rarity and Hank’s horns collaborated and the teleported off in a shine of pink light and smoke, reappearing somewhere in the Everfree.

Vulcan, still standing and watching the heroes’ teleport, saluted them and saw the bright flash.

“May Celestia be with you, heroes. Good Luck.”

Part 5: Discovery

The Equestrian Takeover

Part 5:
Discovery

Written by
Fariz 'The WaVe' Amir

Chapter 15:
The Vault

Hundreds of miles away, in the middle of a large wooded area, a pinkish-purple bubble exploded, revealing nine ponies (and a little dragon). Twilight and Rarity nearly collapsed from exhaustion, but Rainbow Dash and AppleJack supported them. “Take it easy, girls. Journey just started. Hank, Can you see where we are now?” AppleJack called.

“Gimme a minute,” Hank replied. He spread his hind legs and steadied his position. His eyes and horn glowed yellow as he tilted his head up towards the eyes. Hank was using a ‘Satellite spell’ and was surveying the surroundings, getting the proper bearings and where their destination was. “Right,” His eyes darkened back to normal while he turned to a certain direction. “That way; there seems to be some kind of a cave. We’ll stay there for the night and then it’s a direct hike north to the Outskirts.”

“Alright, we’ll follow Hank’s plan, besides… we’ll be sitting ducks if we continue on in the dark. Come on, lets go,” CloudWork called out. “AppleJack and Fluttershy, Is it okay if you girls look after Twilight and Rarity? They look pretty worn out already.”

Both Fluttershy and AppleJack agreed and supported the ponies. Suddenly, the bushes around rustled and leaves fell from the trees around them. “Everypony get cover!” Zip shouted. Everypony except for CloudWork, Hank and Zip and Spike took cover behind boulders while they flipped out their weaponry. Aiming round, they prepared for anything to come out. But what DID come out took them by surprise. Three Manic soldiers dressed in full black suits leaped from the canopy. CloudWork fired his first shot. The Magnum Slug tore through the air, but missed the ninja Manics, and hit a branch. In a panic, Spike launched three grenades into the trees above. “Fire in the- uh, Trees! Argh!!” He screamed as he jumped behind a tree, joining Rainbow Dash. The Grand 3 weaved around, dodging bullets from the Manics and at the same time, trying to predict where those grenades were. Hank was able to shoot one of the Manics right in the middle of its chest, and it fell from the canopy all the way to the ground with a loud bone crack. Hank Got another Manic directly in the neck as red blood gushed from the brutal wound. The bolt fired through the neck and landed on a tree. The action rocked the canopy and finally revealed the three rogue grenades as they fell above AppleJack, Twilight and Rarity. They let out screams while CloudWork leaped onto a boulder nearby and then back-flipped off it to kick the grenades away.

One of them landed on the face of the last manic who was directly in front Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. It knocked him down and Zip ran in to kick him further back. The grenade, along with the other two, exploded, rocking the area with heat waves and light. Without a doubt, that was close and deadly. The ten of them wasted no time in making it to the cave. As Hank said, they found the cave, but it seemed… weird. Metal surrounded it and at the entrance, was a large door, made of solid Iron. In the middle of the large metal door, a huge hole that looks like it was from a powerful explosion. Strange carvings surrounded it and the inside of it was very dark, Manics could come out and ambush them.

Zip lit a wooden plank and threw it inside. The light glowed and revealed a lack nothing inside. All of them walked inside, rainclouds began to rumble, thunder boomed and rain indeed fell. They made the fire grow into a proper campfire and made makeshift beds from crates they found inside the large Vault. From inside, they found that it was like a giant cube about 4 meters high and wide. The insides were a very dark beige color, they could feel markings, but it was too dark too see what they were.

The drizzle outside turned into a full downpour. Countless bomb drops and explosions could be heard far away, even with the thunder booming above. CloudWork was the last to fall asleep; he could not stop thinking how he could stop the Manics and the takeover.

Chapter 16:
Underground Activities

The next morning was just as chaotic as the night before. The sun couldn’t shine as properly because Princess Celestia could not raise it fully. Ash and smoke flooded the skies. The trees in the woods dripped rainwater as light shockwaves rocked the ground. Twilight and Rarity Woke up last, but were thankfully recovered completely. The rest were beginning to pack up their supplies, Rainbow Dash passed them their weapons. Hank was busy looking round the Vault, looking for some kind of mechanism. CloudWork and Zip ignored him and readied everypony else.

As they were about to step out of the huge cube, CloudWork Called; “Hank! Let’s get outta here!” CloudWork’s loud voice thundered in the enclosed place, and shocked Hank into bumping into a hidden button on the wall. “Uhh… Cloud?” Hank called.

The carvings and other symmetrical lines began glowing bright aqua green, and the vault door was covered in a translucent energy field. Zip tried to break it, but to no avail. More and more carvings were glowing, and some mechanics and computers showed themselves from nowhere. Hidden metal contraptions creaked, more platforms… formed until everypony realized that the vault was being dragged underground. CloudWork darted around, trying to find some sort of escape, but quickly found that the cube was completely sealed. The vault continued to rumble underground. The symbol of the Manics shined on the opposite wall of the vault. After five crawling minutes, the vault seemed to stop and large doors creaked open in front of them. Beyond it showed a long, large tunnel leading to somewhere quite far away. Realizing that there is no other way to go, they slowly stepped forward, expecting the worst… again.

Steam hissed and escaped through several vents around them. Gigantic silvery pistons pumped around them above concrete blocks, generating some kind of power into giant black cables that hung from the ceiling. Clouds of vapor hung from the ceiling, and fogged the surroundings. It was very chilly but felt strangely humid and the air was dense. The only light source around was a few dim light bulbs that were built into the walls. Everypony was stressed on whether or not this was safe; heck, they were thinking how was all this machinery was built. The Manics only invaded yesterday; maybe they were here far longer than they thought?

They began walking through the dense mist of steam, carefully looking out for any potential threats. None of them said anything, until they came across a huge challenge. A massive crevice was in front of them, and it looked as if the chamber was built that way; the cables snaked down into the darkness below. On the other side of the massive chasm, dim lights shined, but they were definitely out of reach. Twilight told Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and CloudWork that it may have been dangerous to fly about because there may have been some sort of security system that could have just…. Obliterated them.

Pinkie Pie highlighted that it looked like something huge (and really, REALLY shiny) was hiding in the darkness below. Unfortunately, she was right, and it began to rumble, and shaking the whole chamber, making Rarity nearly fall off the edge, but was thankfully held back by Rainbow Dash. The Unknown object began to rise, and revealed a massive pod-like titan object. Lightly tinted glass on one side of the eclipse shaped pod revealed hundreds of sleeping Manics. Massive gun barrels with chains of ammunition hid under panels of steel, threatening to open fire and release millions of bullets or missiles, wreaking more havoc on Equestria. The ponies (and Spike) were way too awed by the sight and was each having their own imaginations on the destructive possibility of all that concentrated power. Pinkie Pie then shouted to snap everypony out of their trances.

She spotted a strange opening big enough for ponies to pass through. Could have been a little building fault, but it had potential for them to hitch a ride and get out of there. More importantly, Pinkie Pie had a plan (Yeap, really!) Maybe this could be some sort of ‘deployment drop pod’ and it could transport them to a vital spot in the Manics’ plan, for them to destroy! As pinkie said, everypony rushed to jump into the hold, except for Fluttershy, who had to be pushed in by CloudWork.

The Pod Began to rocket out of the hidden chasm and everypony saw that ‘building’ that they were supposed to check out, it seemed to be wrecked already, which was good; because apparently it was destination: Canterlot.

Part 6: Discovery 2

The Equestrian Takeover

Part 6:
Discovery (2)

Written by
Fariz 'The WaVe' Amir

Chapter 17: Flight of Disaster

The Pod flew across the ash filled skies, at a rather slow speed. From the opening, the 9 of them had a birds-eye-view of Equestria from their position in the Everfree Outskirts. It definitely was not a pretty sight.

The former cities, now ruins, bellowed towers of smoke in the air; sheltering hundreds more dropships hidden among the black clouds. The only light came from infernos of fire in the multiple cities and villages. Manehattan, Trottingham and Fillydelphia were now shells of their former glory. The Mare of Liberty now only stood on its hind legs, its front now in the ocean, struggling to stay in existence. The skyline of Trottingham now completely ruined from countless destroyed skyscrapers. In the far distance, in the desert, Appleloosa was missing from its former position; nothing but a black smudge and burning wood left, a train was burning on its side, waiting for oblivion to come. Manehattan, formerly the most popular destination in Equestria, now can’t even support a single life. A single skyscraper was left standing, alone in the midst of complete annihilation. Other buildings were not spared, nothing but rubble stood.

The Calm, pleasant villages were now improvised fortresses. They now served as Army placements to support whatever was left of ponykind. Large stone walls surrounded every town, including Ponyville. Metal convoys of trucks dragged along, each carrying valuable supplies. Suddenly, from the now blood-red sky; came a large, blue energy beam slammed into the desert, wiping Dodge Junction off the face of Equestria. A few seconds later, a speeding dropship launched hundreds small missiles into the forest that covered the land near Trottingham, releasing a loud crack of seemingly endless explosions and sparked an even bigger forest fire. Thousands of birds and other smaller creatures scurried as fast as they could from the inferno that struck their home; but met with a very gruesome fate. Tesla towers erected in seconds and fired crackles of green electricity at the small bodies of the creatures. Some of the lucky ones managed to escape, but majority fell back down into the flaming forests below. Utterly speechless at the evil she saw, Fluttershy spun her head around towards Rarity for comfort and shelter from the sheer terror her eyes saw. She could practically hear their little screams of help. Tears began rolling as Zip could only stand where he was, unsure of what to do; but wanting to do whatever he could. Anything.

As Fluttershy continued sobbing, the other 8 of them began to rethink what they had gotten themselves into. The destruction they just witnessed was now an irremovable stain on their tired minds. They exchanged glances as they tried to think of anything to say. More gunfire and explosions fired. A red bulb lighted and a siren blared. A pipe above their heads suddenly glowed orange and heat radiated. The opening, their only window; quickly shut, and darkness engulfed the small room. Hank turned a small light bulb on the barrel of his armor that revealed some mech- transforming in the back wall. The room they were in began to shrink, and they ran into the adjacent chamber. Rows and columns of smaller ships and pods of Manics stood, and they seemed frozen. It seemed like the only material used was solid Iron, white steel and glass, but it was like it aged for a few dozen years. Streaks of red lights suddenly blared and the pods began shuffling around. Rarity screamed at the sight of it and the 9 ponies began scrambling for cover, fearing that the Manics may suddenly came alive and bullets would fly again.

Unfortunately for them, massive bay doors opened behind them and the air immediately began trying to push them out of the craft. Pinkie pie lost footing and began flying out, but was saved by Hank, who then grabbed AppleJack, who then grabbed CloudWork, who grabbed Fluttershy, and she grabbed Rarity who grabbed Twilight who grabbed Spike and all of them were then depending on Rainbow Dash. Massive robotic arms extended and Manic dropships on the end of them began blasting their afterburners and they zoomed out of the baydoors. They did not seem to notice them dangling for dear life.

“I… I can’t hold on for much longer!” Rainbow Dash cried. Her hooves were slowly releasing grip.
“Come on, Rainbow! Just hold on!” Pinkie Pie screamed. She was already flailing outside the aircraft, having a deathly clear sight of the far away ground; which seemed harder than normal now that she’s 20,000 feet in the air.
A dropship caught sight of them and it fired a single bolt of energy. From shock, Rainbow Dash immediately lost her grip and that sent all of them flailing out of the pod. They quickly stopped grabbing each other and began their screaming. Well, what did you expect?

Chapter 18: Surprises

Their fall was long loud. From the single pod, CloudWork estimated that 30 dropships rocketed. Rainbow Dash And CloudWork were able to save AppleJack and Pinkie Pie; while the rest were saved by an anti- gravity spell by Twilight. Their descent revealed more painful destruction scenes. Mountains now crumbled from shockwave after shockwave of bomb raids. Equestria’s first real offence attacks launched as they fell. Flying carriages were launched from Cloudsdale, which seemed to be Equestria’s main Command hold.

They landed near a large crater, which used to be an abandoned gold mine, but now bomb shells and battles carved the mine into an enormous hole of stone. The little remaining gold glistened, but whatever it was worth could not save anything. Fluttershy fainted as she fell, and now Zip and Rarity tended to her, trying to recover her using any supplies Spike was able to carry. Pinkie Pie, contrasting from her usual self, was now in complete shock from the skydive. She buried her head into Twilight’s fore legs; while they lay down. AppleJack tried to calm poor Pinkie Pie down. CloudWork and Hank stood, thinking what they could do next.

“Should we camp out here? Heck, is it even night time yet?” Hank asked, staring at the blood red skies.
“Good topic, better question; But isn’t it better to get some cover? This place is a giant stone field… not exactly the best cover. Screw it, it’s the worst!” CloudWork replied, his mind already stressed from the chain of events.

In the distance, 3 stallions watched them through binoculars. “Yes. It’s about time.” One of them said.
“Better late than never, right?” Another said. “Yeah… But we’ve been waiting for hours! I’m tired, hungry… and I wanna take a…”
“Dude. MAN UP.” The third spoke up. “…Im sorry.” They then Sped off towards The unsuspecting 9. And Spike.

“Maybe… we get diamonds…. And some sticks… and then we diggy diggy..” Hank mumbled.
“Wait, what?” CloudWork replied right before three stallions in Blue armor with yellow streaks. They spread smoke bombs that flashed and smoke flooded the air. Because of how tired they were, all of them fell where they were.
“Ma… Manics… you bunch of…” CloudWork slowly said, losing conscious as he fell to the ground with a thud.

“No My friend, we are Starswirl’s Crusaders.”

The Prologue: The Equestrian Takeover

Epilogue:

The clouds hung low in the outskirts of the Everfree forest. Nopony has ever set hoof in this part of the Everfree, for there were creatures here. Creatures that could never be seen again for what they have done to ponykind. But, despite the odds, two young souls; banished from their original worlds;
get a second chance to mend their ways. And will help all of Equestria in its darkest hour.

Fogs settled over the muddy swamplands of the outskirts as darkness regained its power of the sky. The moon soon started its own crawl on its trek across the sky. As the swamp's soundtrack started, as did something for the first time in over a thousand years: two young stallions are about to enter the outskirts. On accident, that is.

The clouds gathered across the Everfree outskirts. All the little furry animals scurried back to their homes as the moon was beginning to disappear from sight. Rumbles of thunder rocked the swamps. All was suddenly quiet as a light silver glow suddenly appeared in the clouds. The shadows around the swamp began to evaporate away as two huge beams slowly descended from the sky.

The two beams appeared to be aiming for the two opposite mountains on the west and east end of the swamp. A little bunny hopped towards a nearby mountain, its curiosity getting the better of it. Silence fell for the entire time of the massive beams' descent. Time nearly stopped at the Everfree Outskirts, more and more animals peering out to see what was going on.

After what seemed like an eternity, the beams finally touched the faces of the mountains, with a loud roar of crumbling rocks mixed with the crackles of electrical currents. The noise deafened every animal and forced them to scurry back to their dens. All but the little bunny. It narrowed its beady little eyes as the light from the beam started to create a flood of powerful light onto the mountain and the swamps.

The light soon dimmed down, revealing a massive blue oval on the side of the mountain. Once again, the blue oval started to brighten to the point where only white could be seen. Except this time, a silhouette of a colt could be seen.