Chapters It has been years since I have revealed this story. Years. The pain and anger; the resentment and bitterness that I have suffered are untold. I can only say that the past has haunted me for so long. So long. I will finally sit down and share it though. I will sit down to share it because it is finally over. The war that came to Armonia, and in my case, Equestria, over 112 years ago has finally ended. It is done. Finished. No more. I say this with joy in my heart. This is going to be my story. The story of how I met my wife, Cheerilee. This is going to be the story of sacrifice, pain, hurt, and suffering. It is not a pretty story. I should advise you not to read it. However, it is truth. It is what I went through in this present life. It is what my sister Apple Bloom went through in her present life. It is what happened to my cousin Braeburn and what he went through. It is what happened, I should say, to every living being who ever fought on that planet whether for us, against us, or whatever you're motives were. It is a story, a true one, but one that I will only tell once. I wait for my great grandchildren, grandchildren, and children to get here so that I may tell the story. The story of my war, Apple Bloom's war, and Braeburn's war. I await and eat my soup now.
"Honey", said Cheerilee from the living room across the way, "They're here now!".
"Okay then", I responded slowly moving to where I was going to sit to tell a story for the history books. Cheerilee, who went through this war with me has never even heard my story and she is my wife. That is how disgusting it was, how heartbreaking, but as I said earlier, Truth is truth and so it must be told.
My family walked in. Every pony had greeted each other and told of their lives while they were away. They shared things and we all ate a nice dinner prepared by all of the mares. It was a great time. I was glad that every pony else enjoyed it, however, I could not keep my mind off of what I had to reveal. I could not keep my mind off of what was soon to happen. What was soon to be revealed. It was devastating me. It was destroying me, crushing my bones and heart. I knew that I had to tell, No, I promised it, and what I promised, I did. Finally, after a little while longer, it was time to tell my story. Time to reveal.
"Okay everyone! Let's sit down and listen to Big Mac's story. To some of us, he is our father to others a grandfather and still to others a great grandfather. He wants to share something with us. This is going to be very important so every pony listen up and listen good. Okay, Dad, you may begin." One of my son's quieted every pony down, and then took his seat. It was finally time for me to reveal. I began with a speech.
"Listen", I paused, "Listen every pony it is so nice to have you. I am glad that you are here. However, I will tell you now that this story is sad, devastating. I will share it with you, but you all must listen, and you all must understand that... that what I saw was horrible. It was something that no pony should ever have to see. However, I saw it. I lived it. Listen, I may cry. I may. If I do, just please be patient, and wait until the tears have passed. Okay, let me begin." I paused for a very long while, and then finally began. I decided to begin with the history.
"My sons and my daughters, my grandsons and granddaughters, and even my great grandsons and great granddaughters, I say this with a heavy heart. Let me open up to you a background to what happened. I am sure that some of you have learned of the Universal War, well, I will tell you what happened. Let me share the background first. The Universal War, as these empires called it, was a war for the universe. Sadly, it came to our lovely planet Armonia. It came on the 12 of Celestius. The empire, the ferocious Dragononians, as they were called, swept us back within a week. Events transpired which I will share in the story. Finally, however, one empire took the planet. I will share who the first victor was at the end. Their rule lasted for a very long time. Now, however, they have been defeated. In fact, every empire except for the Brainiac Corps has been defeated. The Brainiac Corps has obtained victory. They have won the Universal war. I don't really care for that. I only care for the story of what happened to Armonia, to us. Now that I have given you some background, I will tell you my story. It seems the time has come."
On the 12 of Celestius in the Equestrian year, A.N. 23,945, something came to Equestria, even Armonia for that matter. I, Big Macintosh, was doing my early morning chores, when I heard a loud crash, and then an abrupt explosion. I went over to investigate. I will never, ever forget what beheld my eyes. It was the wreckage of some type of glowing, red sphere. I realized, it had hit the barn.I quickly forgot the sphere and ran to the barn to check out if anyone was inside. I will never forget it...her-- her body was lying their limp less and unable to move...Granny Smith was dead. I quickly ran to cradle Granny Smith's lifeless body within my arms, tears beginning to stream down my face when the red, glowing orb shot three almost claw-like arms into the ground. The orb then slowly opened on the sides, and four creatures slithered and skulked out of the orb. Two looked like Dragons like we had on Equestria, but bigger, and two were these creatures that walked on two legs instead of four. All the creatures were carrying these rifle looking weapons. Before I could search into this more, I Remembered that Applejack and AppleBloom were inside. I dropped Granny Smith, and ran to the house. AJ and Apple Bloom were already coming outside.
"Get inside!", I yelled to them, "Now!" I shouted with the most demanding voice I have ever used.
"What's the matter?", AppleJack returned. I ignored her, and continued to sprint to the barn.
When I was five feet from them, I again yelled to them to run into the house, and this time they listened without question. We all ran into the house, and I told them to shut all the shutters and doors. I then started explaining to them what I saw outside.
"Okay, listen, we are inside because something just hit the barn and--",
"The barn!!", AppleBloom shouted, "Granny Smith's in there, quick we need to--"
"Granny Smith is... dead." I told it to both AppleBloom and AppleJack straight. They cocked their heads at me and then started to sob. I needed to tell them about the orb, but it wasn't the right time. I waited.
Waiting, something in the distance caught my attention. Slowly, I started to pull back one of the curtains. Opening it, I had to shield my eyes from the blinding Equestrian sun. I gave them time to adjust, and noticed smoke rising out where Canterlot was. Something big was happening out there. Then something to my left recaught my attention. One of those Two legged walking things was heading back to that orb. When he got there, he pressed something on the orb, pulled some type of glowing green thing out which resembled a crystal, and then he again walked away. I decided to ignor him, and again went back to examining Canterlot. I saw a building, the Microrich building actually, collapse in a heap of fire, brick, and rubble. It was one of the most awesome, and fearsome sights, I would ever behold on Equestria. I continued to watch this scenario for a while until my sisters calmed down.
It must have been 5 hours before AppleJack and Apple Bloom finally started to stop sobbing for a moment. When they did, I knew it was my chance. I revealed to them all that I had seen, and then told them to go rest. While they slept, I stayed up to guard the house the rest of the night.I however had fallen asleep sometime during the night.
I awoke to a banging on the door. Getting up to see who it could possibly be at 6:00 in the morning, I walked over to the door. I was thrown back as the door was kicked open. Then two of these creatures, both Dragons, rushed in and yelled, "Where is the one named AppleJack!?"
"Get out of here!!", I yelled to one of them, but he just glanced at me. The other one though, with furious eyes, rushed over to me, grabbed me by the throat, and then through me against the wall, slowly pushing my neck deeper into the wall practically choking me. Then he pulled out one of his metal daggers, and put it up to my throat, ready to slice it.
"Hold it!!!", screamed one of the two legged walking ones, who was just now entering. He grabbed the Dragon's arm who had pinned me to the wall. "Do you not realize that we need these pesky vermin to work for us to supply all the resources we require for the Dragononian empire... And do not make me remind you of the artifact which we require which only these Equestrian scum can get... and need I remind you of what will happen to those who kill the relatives of this AppleJack?!" the two legged thing spoke all of this with an urgency in his voice. The Dragon one gave the Two legged one a nod, and then lowered his arm, dropping me to the floor.
"Yes, forgive me sir." the Dragon replied in apology.
"You liars, whatever you are," I shouted, "You killed my grandmother!". In rage, I rushed to the commanding one who swiftly dodged me, and let me run into a wall facefirst. Two other guards grabbed me, and held me down for a few seconds. I struggled, but could not get free.
"Now... where is that pony we need that is called AppleJack?... Search the House and find her!" he shouted. The two Dragon ones started to throw things all over the place. They were ruining my house. Then they went upstairs, and I heard screams.
The two Dragon ones came down the stairs only a moment later, grasping AppleJack in their vile clutches. Apple Bloom was behind them, attempting to do any damage she could. She did nothing, though, because these brutes were very huge, full of muscle mass, and they had tons of armor on. I felt sorry for Apple Bloom. The commanding one, unhappy with Apple Bloom's efforts, grabbed Apple Bloom, while the two Dragon ones dragged AppleJack to this aircraft. They then tied her up so she didn't give them any fuss. The dragons then got on board, and waited while the commanding officer turned to us.
"Thank you kindly for your services, and in letting us "borrow" your sister... Have a nice day, and, oh, yes, report to the center of town square tommorrow where you will be assigned your job in service to the Dragononian empire... Goodbye, and have a nice day". With that, he threw Apple Bloom to the ground, and signaled to the two legged ones, who still held me in their clutches. They too then threw me to the ground, and walked away toward the aircraft. They all got on, and left.
Apple Bloom started to sob. I realized that I had let Granny Smith, AppleJack, and now Apple Bloom down. Not only that, I had let my parents down. I had promised them so long ago that no matter what would happen, I would make sure to take care of my sisters. Now I had even failed them. I too realized that there was no point in trying to be strong. I just walked over to my sister, the only one I had left, and just fell to the floor, crying. I promised that, for AppleBloom's sake, I would protect her even if it meant death to me. Eventually, I took her to her bed, stroked her mane until she fell asleep, and then I finally collapsed onto the floor, to tired to continue.
When we awoke the next morning, me and Apple Bloom went down to the square like we were told. When we arrived we found it bustling with Equestrians. We also found it bustling with those Dragononians. This was apparently the name of their empire. They had apparently conquered all of this continent, and were fighting all over the rest of this planet, Armonia. Wherever they conquered, I had heard, they imposed their martial law, and with it their slavery.
Eventually, we were all quieted down by the mayor, before one of these Dragononians stood up, and began to read our occupations to us. The Dragononian would call out a name such as Lyra, and would then read his/her specific occupation. In Lyra's case, she was going to mine caves. In fact, many of us were going to mine caves. I wondered why they wanted all of us to mine caves, especially since the caves in Equestria have been barren for years. I mean if they wanted crystals, they should have had the Griffons mine caves especially since the continent Griffoni was rich in minerals and the like. Either way, there was no point in arguing with the Dragononians because arguing could cost you your life. In the afternoon, me and Apple Bloom returned home after receiving our occupations. For dinner, I did my best to make Apple Bloom's favorite dish. I wanted her to enjoy something in this harsh world. After supper, we went to sleep early. We were to immediately start on these new "occupations", and we both wanted to get a good night's sleep. I tucked in Apple Bloom, and before I myself went to sleep, I decided to do some research on this empire. I found out that they were an empire which coexisted with dragons and some other creature that was called a human. These humans were those two legged ones I saw. Eventually, tired form the day and the research, I collapsed to sleep on the materials.
Work began the next day, and me and Apple Bloom awoke just in time for our first day. My job was mining. It was an easy task for me because I was used to hard labor, but I felt bad for those ponies who were like Lyra. These types of ponies were week and feeble, and not only could they not do the work, but they were punished for not doing it. The law, in fact, was that any pony who did not mine at least 400 pounds of rock in a day was to be whipped 20 times. This type of punishment was very harsh and cruel, even worse than King Sombra's. Life went on though because no pony dared try anything.
Within the week, we Equestrians learned that the Dragononians had taken all of our planet Armonia, from the coldest continent, Griffoni, to the most tropical place which was called Changelore. Many of the Changelings were located here. I heard that within two days after their sudden victory, they were already enslaving all of the other Armonians. Even the Dragon Armonians were not spared.
The most enraging thing for me, though, was that I still had no idea what was happening to my sister, if she was even alive, or where she even was. I also noticed that her friends were all missing. I heard Spike say to Flower Wishes one day that Twilight had disappeared practically the same day as my sister, and Sweetiebell mentioned to Apple Bloom that Rarity was taken without cause the same day. It was so frustrating. I think it was worse than the torture the Dragononians dealt us. Maybe this was there way of torturing me and my sister. I was so enraged at our occupiers. I hated them, and I had never hated any one before.
Anyways, Armonia was under total Dragononian control for two months before some Armonian finally snapped. On the eve of the 13 of Lirast, I heard a distant rumble followed by explosions, and other such things, coming from the northeast where Manehattan was located. I only noticed them, and I didn't take much thought of them because, well, I had work to do. However, as I was sitting in the doctor's office the next week, I heard Daisy walk by and mention something about a rebellion which took place in Manehattan. I heard her say that the ponies tried to rebel, but failed, not miserably, however. Apparently, they were led by Twilight Sparkle's brother, Shining Armor. The last thing I heard was that he was taken captive, but not killed by the Dragononians. Why? well, I truly did not care I had my own things to worry about. Anyway, when Daisy got out of earshot, I sat there and meditated on the thought that perhaps a united Armonia could take back our planet.
The thoughts would not go away. Everywhere I went, I could not escape the possibility of becoming a free Armonia again. The possibility seemed, well, possible. I wanted to tell every Equestrian, but even before I did, I realized others had the same thoughts. I would hear random ponies coming from the chapels mention things like, "We need to rebel against these Dragononians", and I heard ponies who delivered mail write things like, "For Armonia...Fight for freedom, love, and harmony!". The reality seemed so real, so possible, all until Appleloosa.
The news spread fast. Things like, "Did you hear about Appleloosa" or "It was a massacre over on Appleloosa", were being gossiped about. All around me, all I heard was of the news of the rebellion of Appleloosa. News of suffering and death to the Armonians there. The story was basically that a group of Buffalo and Earth ponies united and stormed a Dragononian outpost, searching for weapons of any kind. They apparently got pretty far into the base, and actually started to rally the whole town to their cause. However, before the spark became a fire, water was thrown on it because Dragononian Tanks and Planes massacred every Armonian they could. They even massacred children. It was horrible, tear jerking in fact. At first it seemed that we might actually win, but we were not prepared for what the Dragononians had. Their technology was way beyond our own. We may have had spirit, but they had technology.
On the wake of the coming days, uprisings were stopped because of either the Appleloosa massacre or because the Dragononians found out about the uprisings. Not only did we stop our rebellious uprisings, but the Dragononians increased their martial law, made Armonians of all sorts be put to even harder slavery, and started to have planned massacres. The massacres were basically that one family a month would be murdered. The Dragononians then stated that if rebellions would continue, the massacres would be increased. All Armonians realized that the planet was not full of love and peace and harmony, but instead full of darkness, sadness, and outright murder. We had to do something, but what could we do? Armonians could not fight this far more advanced empire, and even if they did, others lives were at stake. Hope, however, would come, but as hope always is, it comes in the most ironic of forms.
Author's Note
Hope you liked it. God bless! Working on the continuations.
"Equestria has always been a planet of hope, peace, and love... and it shall always stay that way. From the great cease-fire between the Griffons and changelings to the the great truce during the Qinlar war, Equestrians always prevail into harmony"-Said by an anonymous Pony
Slavery...a horrible word, it is work without cause, it is the process by which one is forcefully subjugated, put into chains, and then strangled the life out of, for what, for someone else's gain. Slavery is a brutal system by which one is ordered to work until he can no longer work, and then he dies never making a dime in his life. Ponies had once experienced slavery before, it was under the Griffon's rule. It was a time of great sorrow and pain, but this, Dragononian slavery, was far, far worse than anything we had ever experienced before. The Dragononian slavery phrase was "Show no mercy!", and "Kill all Weakest Links". The Dragononians would whip with, as they called it, a "Flame Bleacher". The "Flame Bleacher" would spill a red hot liquid upon your back, burning right through, almost penetrating the skin. The liquid would then stay lodged into your back for a full day, and would even continue through the night preventing you from much needed rest, and then because of the sleep depravity which would certainly follow, suffering would follow the remainder of your days. I, myself, saw many a poor Armonian souls kill themselves, than work for these Alien Scum. The "Flame Bleacher" was only one of the many tortuous items used to keep Armonians in line. The highest price for not working truly beyond your limit was death. This would befall my good friend Caramel.
During the month, Herastus, Equestrian slavery became more intensified after an attempted rebellion in Griffoni . I heard that everyone who took part in the attempted uprising was brutally murdered, and that all surrounding areas were required to give up one innocent family who was tortured to death in front of everyone. The Dragononians did not stop there, however, because they also motioned that every scream which came out of the poor family was a whip to some other family. I heard that there were one hundred screams before each member died, and with it, one hundred whips. Nonetheless, we had to worry about our own problems in Equestria because the Dragononian massacres were stepped up because of the attempted rebellion in Griffoni. There was no hope in sight. Armonians actually started to commit suicide. Something had to be done, but what could we do?...what could we do? Well, as the old saying goes, we had to fight fire with fire. Where to obtain the fire?
The next week me, Apple Bloom, and Braeburn, who came to Ponyville on a visit before the Appleloosa massacre, and who was grieving the death of his dearly, beloved sister, Apple Fritter, among others, came to Granny Smith's funeral. At the end of the funeral, Spike slithered over to me and Braeburn, and whispered in my ear, with a voice as quiet as a door mouse that he had something very important to share with me. He also said it was for older Equestrians. I told Apple Bloom to go and play with SweetieBell and Scootaloo while me and Braeburn discussed something with Spike. Apple Bloom left and I gave Spike the go ahead.
"What is it, Spike... I don't want to leave Apple Bloom alone out there with those treacherous reptiles and humans by herself?"
"Listen", Spike half-hissed, half-whispered, "Princess Celestia, Don't ask me how or when, but she sent me a letter yesterday advising us to infiltrate this Dragononian outpost in the Everfree Forest."
"What does the letter say, Spike... would you quit wasting our time", Braeburn yelled in a whisper.
"Sorry, Sorry... The letter basically confirmed that the Dragononians are A: hiding something from us, B: They want all of our resources, and C: they are trying to locate the Elements of Harmony." Spike hissed his last few words.
"So Spike," I exclaimed, "Your telling me that they are hiding something from us, and that they want the elements... Spike that is totally stupid, not only do these Dragononians have us under their practically complete control, why in the name of Luna would they possibly want the elements, I mean what could it truly gain them?"
"Big Mac, if the Dragononians get the elements, they will be able to use them to completely control all of Armonia, they will literally have us under mind control... why do you think they wanted AppleJack, Twilight, Pinkie-Pie, and all the rest of them? Why do you think they need all of the princesses, princes, and so forth? They need them because they are the only ones who can operate the elements, and then they can take control of all of Armonia. Not just that, according to Celestia, the elements will point to something which has been located on Armonia for countless millenia. This, in turn, will give the Dragononians something else that they desperately need. Beside that, think about the other thing Big Mac, if the Dragononians have control over us, then why are they hiding something, unless that something can beat or give us, as Armonians, a chance to beat them! Look guys I am getting a team together, and you are two of the candidates that I picked to help me get this information."
"Alright, Alright", Braeburn exclaimed, "He is right Big Mac! We need to find out what this is because if we do, then we can stop these Dragononians... so, Spike when are we going in."
"Well" Spike leaned in close, and then he paused, "Tonight" he whispered this with a voice more soft than even Fluttershy's.
"TONIGHT!", I practically yelled, making the Chaplain Changeling stare at me.
"Shhhhhh" Spike let out a quick way to tell me shut up without saying it.
"Spike", I yelped back, "How do you expect us to pull this off, I mean we don't have any training, no weaponry, no nothing, and do we really want to cause another Appleloosa, I mean seriously we can't ju--"
"Listen, are you in or out Big Mac...Zecora will supply weaponry, and the operation commences in two hours, I have no time to wait plus we may have only a week or less before the Dragononians find the Elements, and then they can kill anyone off, including your sister."
"Wait," I replied, "She isn't dead?"
"No," Spike countered back," in fact, she is still very much alive." There was about a five second silence.
"Well, I for one am in", Braeburn broke the silence, "I want to give those Dragononians their fair share of pain".
"Awesome," replied Spike, "and you, Big Mac?"
I paused for what seemed an eternity, and then replied with a faint, "Yes." The issue was settled. We were to meet at 2:00 at night, and we would then proceed with the mission. I went home with Braeburn, we tucked in Apple Bloom, and prepared for the worst. My only concern was Apple Bloom,but Spike said that Mrs. Cheerilee would take any fallen's relative into her home,so I went with that.
At 2:00, me and Braeburn proceeded to meet our team at Zecora's spooky home which always did give me the creeps. When we arrived drenched in mud, twig pieces, and other undesirables, we found that our squad consisted of about 100 various Armonians. I only noticed a few. Anyways, we found Spike designating different Armonians to different tasks, and so we asked Spike ours. He told us that we would have one of the most important tasks, Covering Sniper fire.Spike told us to go over to Zecora, and ask for the weapons that we would be using. She gave us something called a Dragononian "Slither" rifle. The Rifle itself was composed of a green and black shining metal, and when fired made absolutely no sound, perfect for our mission. It wasn't the color or even the lack of sound that made the Rifle frightening, it was what it shot. The Rifle fired a round, which, when it hit the individual target, would make him go insane, and he would then start killing all that was around him. He basically hallucinated to death, except that he took others down with him. The Rifle was especially necessary because we needed a diversion to get where we had to go, inside the base.
When Zecora handed me my rifle,I eyeballed it very viciously and vicariously. The bar-code on the right side of the weapon read, ZZ78-23WE. The weapon had a button on the side which read, "Select Fire Breach", and in three areas were written, "Single Shot","Tri-Shot", and "Full Auto". On the other side of the weapon, there was a button which read, "Clip Release", but below it there was a warning which read, "Do not slam side when clip is engaged, Potential explosion". As I stood there examining the weapon, Braeburn said, "Hey 'cuz, we're heading out, come on lets move." I came back to attention and ran up to where the group was. The first fight of my life, besides the time I beat up Night Strength,was about to begin.
We marched for awhile. At around 3:00, a thunderstorm began to emerge. When our group finally got to its destination, we all read the map again, went over the plans for who was who, where we were to be stationed, what was to happen if something went wrong, and where the LZ meeting place was to be. Me and Braeburn then headed for a ridge to which we could see the whole base. Me and Braeburn set up. I was the spotter, and Braeburn the sniper. Finally, we cleared to "Luna" team that we were in position, and they gave us an,"OK!", and started to move.
"Here we go," I whispered to Braeburn, and that was that, the fight had begun, and there was no turning back.
I scanned the area, noticing guards, sentry turrets, and an assortment of other things Dragononian. I reported to "Luna" team when they were clear,and when they were not. I told "Luna" Team that they were clear to move to Point one after about five minutes of clearing. During those five minutes, I even got to see Spike assassinate a human Dragononian guard. It was very interesting. Spike came up from behind, and took the guard by his helmet. He then through the guard to the ground, hit him in the back of the neck, and went to crack the skull. However, out of nowhere, a Dragon Dragononian guard came around the bend, and rushed at Spike with his knife. Spike, almost instantaneously, grabbed the human Dragononian, and put him in front of his buddy like a meat shield. The Dragon Dragononian then stabbed his fellow soldier, and Spike ducked down as a fellow Changeling peppered the Dragon Dragononian with bullets and plasma fire from his own weapon. The whole scene was awesome. Anyway, Spike and them continued to move on to the point where we would mainly come in, the diversion. Finally, when it came our time to shine, I told "Luna" team to hold, as we waited for a guard who would create the diversionary scenario. "Luna" team held as me and Braeburn sighted in.
"The guard is about 280 pikes north, Braeburn," I relayed the intel as to where Braeburn needed to shoot.
"Roger that, 'cuz... sighting in...okay, ya I see him, standby for shot..."
I looked into my scope,ready to immediately relay reaiming information in case Braeburn missed his shot.He didn't.
"Pffft" Braeburn slowly pulled the trigger,and a silent whisper shot out. The streak of the bullet traveled over 2 miles before meeting its intended Dragon Dragononian target. The bullet hit the Dragononian dead on in the chest, and started exactly what was wanted, a diversion. The Dragononian started going insane, firing his weapon left and right in a blaze of glory, alerting all types of alarms. Many Dragononians rushed to the commotion. The operation was going well so far.
"You are clear to enter, Luna leader", I said.
"Roger that", Spike, who was Luna leader, proclaimed. The first squad stacked up to the door, Spike in front. I could see he was worried, and I could already imagine what was going through his tiny dragon head.Spike then drew a large metal container from his jacket, the words on it reading "Dragononian Flasher". He took in a breath, his heart pumping at a million beats a second as he stepped out, turning the corner into the first entrance area. Two Dragononian guards stood idly by when the grenade flew in, each armed with powerful battle rifles that could rip apart a pony in seconds. Spike saw their eyes go wide when they saw him and the canister flying in, the world stuck in slow-motion as their weapons slowly rose toward him. His blood ran cold as he shielded his eyes with one claw, soon about to be riddled full of bullets.
"The first area is cleared", Spike exclaimed back, "We are moving into the first room now", he finished. Me and Braeburn's new jobs were to make sure no one else got in.
"I got a target on your left, Braeburn, between those two vehicles there", I told Braeburn.
"I see it 'cuz, hold on", he exclaimed back. He pulled the trigger of his gun, and, Boom, hit the Dragononian dead between the eyeballs. The Dragononian fell backward in a pile of oozing, maroon colored blood. Then, turning to my right on the scope, I noticed three Dragononians, who had figured out what was happening start to prance to the entrance where Spike and his team were. Braeburn fired a shot, and hit and killed one. He then aimed for the other, and fired but missed. Braeburn popped the clip out, and started to reload when the weapon jammed of all times. I knew something had to be done.
"The grenade!!", I screamed in my mind. I had just remembered that I had a Dragononian "Live-wire" grenade, which I could use. However, there were two problems, One: I wasn't sure if I or the grenade could make the throw, and Two: I forgot how to use it. I quickly put the first thought in my mind away, but the second thought was still there.
"Was it pull pin, push top, and squeeze and then throw or was it Pull pin, squeeze, and then push top?", I thought to myself. Finally, I told myself that I had only one shot and that I was wasting time. I went with the first option, threw the buzzing canister, and hoped for the best. The grenade skidded and glided down the mountain. It hit the ground and blew up, but it only killed one Dragononian, the other one was still trying to rush inside. I thought I had let the team down, when I saw the Dragononian's knees collapse, as he buckled and flew into the Equestrian soil. Braeburn had reloaded in time, and colt was I joyous. Other Dragononians continued to try to enter,but finally after about 30 minutes, Spike and his team rushed out.
"We got some intel you colts aren't going to believe", Spike half-talked, half-shouted to us.
"Great", returned Braeburn, "Now let's get out of here". We immediately sprung up, and rushed for our meeting point, when we heard a loud !BOOM!
"Help!" I heard someone on the other line shout with a piercing pain in his voice, "My leg, my leg!" they continued to yell.
I turned to Braeburn and said, "We have to go back!", but before Braeburn could give his answer, Spike, who had been listening, we were connected com-wise, exclaimed to us that we had to continue to the rally point, with or without them. Spike went on to tell us that he would make it back.
"Spike, we both know how that will go down!", I exclaimed
"You colts know the deal!", Spike shouted, "we go to the LZ with or without some Armonian".
"Ya,but Spike if you Equestrians die, what was the point of this whole operation?".
"GO!", Spike yelled, "You know the deal!", he again yelled before yelling to someone to help him carry some changeling out.
"Big Mac, he's right,we have to go."
"NO,Braeburn, I will not let this and their lives go to waste... We have to do something!"
""Well, I wi--"
Braeburn was interrupted by some very close by machine-gun fire. Me and him turned to where the sound was originating from, and saw that three Dragononians had set up one of their heavy machine-guns. Me and Braeburn turned to each other realizing that this was our chance. We got just close enough to where we could see them. Braeburn aimed and fired, and the "Shrieker" round accomplished what it was suppose to. The Dragon Dragononian turned on his two comrades.He killed one of the other Dragon Dragononians, and turned to kill the human one. The human one, however,was able to destroy him,and so I then pulled out my Dragononian "Richter" submachine-gun, and launched a whole arsenal of fire rounds his way. He died instantaneously.
Me and Braeburn rushed to the Dragononian heavy machine-gun, re-cocked it,and began to fire in, as the Dragononians did, short bursts. It was super effective. I peppered away with the machine-gun while Braeburn fed me more ammo. I could tell that we were doing damage because I saw Dragononian soldiers drop like flies. The gun, however, was over-heating, and I did not know how to cool it. I could feel the searing heat slowly crawling up my arms, and reaching ever so carefully into my legs. The heat was becoming unbearable, and I could feel the shaking of something in the gun,but I just continued to fire. The RATA RATA RATATATA of the gun was almost, in this instance, a lovely sound. I could tell that by disobeying these orders, I was saving the squad, and the information which we required. I was overjoyed. As I continued to fire, heat blazing up my body, I heard a faint rumble followed by a quick chink. Then It went dark.
I slowly came to my senses, my eyes coming in and out of the eerie Equestrian night. I was being dragged away, slowly. Looking up, I saw that Braeburn was dragging me away, then I saw another explosion, I was dropped, and everything went dark again.
I awoke the next afternoon in my bed. I heard faint laughter and looking outside, I saw my sister and her two friends playing outside. I turned around, and walked into the other room. As I came into the kitchen, there standing there was Mrs, Cheerilee.
"Good morning honey", she said, "have a good sleep?"
"Honey," I thought in my mind, "Why is Mrs. Cheerilee calling me honey?"
"Hey dear," Mrs. Cheerilee started to talk to me,"could you go check on Big Mind? and while your at it could you also check on Love Heart?"
"Big Mind? Love Heart? who are these ponies?", I asked
"Why our son and daughter of course... you feeling alright hon'", Mrs. Cheerilee asked.
"Son? Daughter? Mrs. Cheerilee? Was I married? Did I just have a bad dream? What is going on? I-I just don't kno--"
"Hey, hon'!... Do you want to die?"
"What?",but it was too late Mrs. Cheerilee jumped on top of me, pinned me to the wall, and roared, except that she had gruesome teeth.
I opened my eyes, and the reality hit me. Standing on top of me was a Dragon Dragononian, and he was roaring with his sharp teeth bare, drooling right into my face. I thought I was dead, but that is when Spike jumped on top of the Dragononian, pulled out a Scyt knife, and plunged it into the very heart of the Dragononian. The thing died instantly. Spike ran to me, started to drag me away, and out of shock, I went out cold again.
This time I really did awake in the afternoon in my house. I looked outside to find my sister and her friends playing, and I went downstairs, but I did not find any Mrs. Cheerilee. Instead I found Braeburn with Spike.
"Big Mac... come here, lets show you what we found, but listen do not tell anybody about this info...if the Dragononians find out we have it, it could be the end of us"
"I know", I said.
With that Spike held up a Dragononian document which read, HIGHLY CLASSIFIED (DRAGONONIAN EYES ONLY). Spike then want on to tell me about how the document described a war that the Dragononians were fighting known as the Universal War, against 42 other empires, which all had one goal in mind, Universal Conquest. Spike shared the names of these empires and their specific goals which was important because we needed to know which empire gave us the best chance of freedom, and, if not freedom, which empire gave us the chance to live how we wanted to live. Spike finally went on to say that what was needed next was the decision of which empire to pick, and how to do it. He also told us that the Elements, if in the order of too much chaos and destruction, would actually reset giving only Armonians true control over them again. This meant that war was required to make sure only Armonians could use the elements, and to get rid of these evil, Dragononian scum. The question then became, Who will fight for us?
"To all empires fighting the Universal War, This is the Planet Armonia. We ask for your services, your services to defeat the Dragononian menace which has so quickly befallen our Armonian races. If you come to our aid, and protect us, and give us freedom, then we will gladly join the name of your glorious empire, helping you to victory. Please come quickly, we need your aid."- Message to all 42 major empires
It had been 11 months since the Dragononian occupation. Eleven months of slavery, death, and suffering for all Armonians, but with this-- this Dragononian intel, it seemed that Armonia might become the loving planet it once was. With this intel, it seemed Hope had risen, Hope had come once again, Hope.
After acquiring the intel from the Dragononians, Armonians immediately started to spread the word, with secrecy and intelligence. All over, Armonians were getting the news of the Dragononian's war with over 42 separate empires, which, for some reason, was a good thing. The one situation which had to absolutely get settled was which empire. There were over 42, giving Armonians a really good list, but this also gave Equestrians tons of options which meant particularly more time. All Armonians know that no matter ever gets settled in a day, especially in Armonia. It was quite ironic, a loving land could never seem to agree. I digress, however. Each day that we, as Armonians, waited would mean harsher and harsher punishments on our planet as a whole. The punishments were getting harsher and more enforced too. One punishment for the Pegasi Pony Equestrians was to be tied by the wings to a tree, and then to have a Dragononian slowly pull the Pegasi down until their wings were practically pulled off, and then they would waterboard the Equestrian until the Equestrian could no longer breathe, and finally, to finish the punishment up, they would burn the poor thing alive slowly. Something had to be done quickly, but Armonians did not want to bring upon themselves an empire the same or even worse as the Dragononians.
As time passed, our group, True Royal Army of Armonia, decided upon a deadline for the choosing which would be up within one month. The deadline went basically like this: the top three choice empires at that time, would be chosen as the empires to send the Armonian invite to, basically, come to war. From there, fate would decide. To the True Royal Army of Equestria, the plan seemed perfect.
Twelve days into the plan, something horrible happened. Me and Braeburn were going out to mine the mineral fields in Ponyville. Just as we were heading out, we noticed a commotion building up in the center of the city. This was very unusual because normally if any Equestrian did this, they would be, well, punished. Me and Braeburn knew something very important was taking place today. Getting lost in the crowd, we looked up to see the dreaded hanging and burning posts. Upon them were two human Dragononians and one Dragon Dragononian who was the Firemaster (the name given to the Dragononian executioner). Immediately the Firemaster spoke, and immediately every Equestrian shut up.
"The Dragononian Empire does not take kindly to traitors", the Firemaster barked with a horrendous, maniacal voice. "Nor do we tolerate them...You see when someone breaks the law in the Dragononian Empire, there is normally no mercy" he stammered with a voice that could rip the flesh from your measly bones. "First we give you kindness...IS NOT THAT WHAT YOU EQUESTRIANS BELIEVE IN!!!!!" he screamed, and every Equestrian flinched. He paused letting his words sink into our souls so deeply we almost drowned. "If you will not be thankful to us..." he spoke again after what seemed like eternity, "Then you will see what will happen..." he finished, and then stopped again. "Bring up the traitor!" he squealed.
Me and Braeburn looked up to see who this so called "Traitor" was, and we noticed, through all the torture and vile things that this poor Armonian had gone through, that it was one of the squad mates who had gotten shot in the leg when our squad was making our heroic escape. Me and Braeburn turned to each other...horrified.
"Tie him to the stake" the Dragon Dragononian barked to his two human Dragononian comrades. The two human Dragononians immediately did what was asked, but they did it in the roughest way they could. "Now... this is what happ--"
"You villainous losers...I hate you!!" some girl changeling yelped from the crowd. No Equestrian in the crowd said anything, but you all knew what they were thinking.
"GRAB THAT OTHER TRAITOR!!!!!!!!!!!" the Dragon Dragononian fused with anger, and the two human Dragononians rushed to the Changeling girl, and hit her so hard, you could hear the villainous crack of the skull. They then dragged the poor thing up to a hanging pole, but were stopped. "WAIT!!! Tie that girl to that pole right there!" he barked, and then he whispered something to the one of the human Dragononians after which the human Dragononian left. The Dragon Dragononian then grabbed the changeling girl by the chin and whispered just loud enough for the crowd to hear, "I'm going to make an example out of you." He then went to the first prisoner and said, "This is what traitors deserve!", and then he pulled out his pistol and shot the prisoner. Simple as that. Blood started to ooze from the penetrated skull of the now dead prisoner, and the entire crowd fell ghastly silent. It seemed like an eternity before the human Dragononian came back with something which read "flammable". The human Dragononian then gave the Dragon Dragononian the canister, and walked back to his position near the new, poor changeling girl, now secured in her bonds. The Dragon Dragononian then said, "Gag this one so that we don't have to hear her annoyingly, incessant screams". The two human Dragononians gagged the changeling girl, and moved back to their positions near the pole. "Now", crackled the Firemaster's voice, "Do it... Show Equestrians what happens to traitors". With that, the two human Dragononians poured a liquid from the canisters, and then they lit a match...and----and they burned this hero...to death.
Me and Braeburn stood there for a while,watching the poor heroes body become a mass of charred ashes. Eventually, we were all forced to leave by the Dragononians. We went to work in the minefields where we met Spike. He told us that there was going to be an urgent meeting tonight. We replied that we would be there, and remained silent for the rest of the day.
When night fall came, me and Braeburn with Apple Bloom snuck out of the house after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting. First, we headed to the corner of Bon Bon's house. I peeked my head over the corner to tell everyone to be ready to move. Turning my head slowly, so as not to be seen, I saw two guards waddling over to a stationary Dragononian Tank. The guards then started talking to the Top machine gunner. Both of them started to laugh, none of them noticed us. We sprinted over to Silver Gold's house. As we rushed into the alleyway, I heard some very loud footprints, followed by a loud thud. I then heard someone start to say, "Please stop hurting me. Please." Then, two others said, "Hush now, Hush... we're only going to kill you." At this, I thought that it must be Dragononians, but as I turned the corner, I found that there were two Armonians, one a Changeling, and one a Pegasus Colt. They were both hurting a poor Griffon girl. I was furious. I wanted to charge in there and attack them, but then I remembered I had Apple Bloom, and so I couldn't. I remembered those two Dragononians though, and I must say that it was at times like these that I was glad for this empire and their martial law. I turned to Braeburn.
"Braeburn, watch Apple Bloom, while I go over and get those two guards we saw."
"What? Are you crazy? Big Mac, we are trying to sneak out of here, why would you do that?"
"Look! That girl over there is being robbed, and might even be killed! I have to go, and risk it."
"We can take them... let's just do tha--"
"No! I can't risk that on us, Apple Bloom, or anyone else... Look, I know you're worried, but we will think of something, now let's go". At this, I quickly rushed to the guards, and yelled to them for help.
"What is it?", one of the guards snapped back, "Why aren't you at home?" he finished.
"Quick! Some Armonian is being beat up over there... a griffon... I think the culprits are going to kill her...Quick!" I shouted with a demanding voice.
"Quick, Someone is being hurt let's go", the Dragon Dragononian snapped to his human Dragononian companion. He then turned to the machine gunner on top of the tank, and told him to be ready in case they needed back-up. We all rushed to the site, where we found the Changeling and the Pegasus holding the Griffon to the wall, about to slice her throat.
"Stop right there!!", The Dragononians shouted, "Right Now!!". Immediately, the two dropped the Griffon, and started to run.
"Stop or we will shoot!", the human Dragononian shouted. The two didn't stop.
"Go silent and aim", the human one said to his comrade. They both flicked something on their weapons, aimed down their respective sights, and fired. The Changeling and Pegasus dropped, blood spurting out of their bodies.
"Alright, Lets go collect those bodies and get out of here". They started to go, but turned around to us. "As for you, you need to go back to where you live, and don't let us catch you out here again". They then turned to go collect the bodies, and we turned around and started to jog out of there. As we neared the house where we originally started, we again saw that tank, still plopped there waiting for anything big to happen. It had one spotlight at the front, but the spotlight was not moving...yet.
"Okay, listen up", I turned to Braeburn and Apple Bloom. We need to rush past that tank, but we need to do it quick, so when I say go, we run got it.", I turned to them for a reponse.
"Got it", said Braeburn. I nodded, and waited.
"Ready...set...". Just as I was about to say go, a Dragononian helioplane flew by with a spotlight brighter than the sun. My heart started to pace a million miles a minute. The thing continued to fly by, again out of sight. I wasted no time this time. "Go", I said, and we went. We made it all the way to the Everfree Forest the rest of the way without any other mishaps. We dodged a few guards, and nothing else major happened. We entered the Everfree Forest.
The Everfree Forest was a specially dangerous place at night, and especially now with the frequent Dragononian patrols which happened because the forest was a perfect hideout. I believe there was something else, though, that the Dragononians were hiding. Anyway, at first, the way there was going smooth. Except for the faint howl of Timberwolves, which Apple Bloom was terrified of, we made it without a scratch. When we made it to Gorshen Bog, an area infested with Dragononian Snipers for some reason, things really got close. As we passed Zorin Pond, a faint bark started up. Then I heard a growl. Looking into a bush where the growl was coming, I saw two glowing eyes open up. "Timberwolve", I thought, but it was to late.
The Timberwolve tackled me to the ground, trying to dig its razor-sharp claws and teeth into my neck. I only held it back with my hoofs, but the thing was way too strong for even me. Apple Bloom started to scream, as Braeburn went to help me. We both knew this was bad. I would rather take a Timberwolve than a Dragononian sniper anyday. Braeburn, then, had to rush back to Apple Bloom, and quiet her. The Timberwolve raised its claws and thrashed at my muzzle. It hit me one time, leaving a gash across my right side of my face. I felt the blood trickle down my face, but the adrenaline kept me going trying to fight this beast.
Again, it tried to attack me only this time it tried to dig its mouth into my neck. It was only an inch away from digging its foul smelling mouth into my neck when Braeburn hit the thing upside the head, knocking it back in a whimper of emotion. It regained its strength quick though and rushed back, this time at Braeburn. Braeburn, however, was prepared, and hit the thing right in its stomach, and then using his wrangling skills, he threw it into the mucky water near us. It was angry.
Full of mud, and other things which lurk in a bog, it started to climb back up to us. Then it looked at Apple Bloom. "NO!", I thought, "Not her". I started to scramble over to AppleBloom to protect her with my life. The thing, knowing this was my weakness, laughed. I swear it laughed. It was just at the edge of the pond, just about to leap to try to kill me and Apple Bloom, when a tentacle from the pond, grabbed it by its legs, and dragged it deep, deep, deep into the mucky beyond. The thing started to sink, and then it was gone, eaten by whatever grabbed it.
"Okay... let's get out of here... I have had enough of this", I said. I picked up Apple Bloom, turned to Braeburn who was fine, and we started to get out of there. Just as we were about to penetrate back into the final area where we were only a few miles off from our meeting place, a bullet whizzed into a tree not two feet from Braeburn. Splinters went flying out of it. Then another bullet knicked a piece of my mane straight off. I ducked for cover.
"Sniper!", Braeburn yelled.
"Obviously", laughed Apple Bloom. This was not a time to laugh.
"Braeburn keep your head down, and when I say rush... we rush. As for you Apple Bloom, do not, I repeat DO NOT lift that head of yours up for one second, do you understand?", I finished. They both gave their respective yes, and, as bullet particles, and tree parts, and muck was flying everywhere, I screamed RUN!
We all sprang up, and sprinted so fast to the cover of the woods, that I thought my heart was going to explode. It didn't. Just as we were two feet from the cover, I heard a loud KABOOM! Turning around, I saw the place we were not ten seconds ago blow up in a flash of heat, shrapnel, flames, and cordite. The Dragononians really didn't want anybody up there. Anyway, we made it nonetheless. The rest of the trip was smooth. It was smooth.
Finally, after who knows how long, we saw the building we were to meet at. It was an old, abandoned emerald mining facility used during the great Pony-Griffon War. It was nice for being really ancient. I'm surprised it still stood. Anyways, we went inside.
When we entered, after revealing the passcode which was "SUN" spelled with your hoofs or claws, I brought Apple Bloom to a spare room, and let her sleep. I then went over to where Spike, and a few others were discussing sudden events.For a while we discussed the matter of the event which had just recently transpired today. We also learned of many other executions which took place all over the planet not just in Ponyville. We must have discussed for what seemed like an eternity before some one brought up the intel.
"Listen up every Equestrian!! Why are we arguing about this topic of the executions when we should be arguing about what to do about it, and what to do about the intel gathered a few months or so ago." Doctor Hooves suggested this.
"Listen, Dr. Hooves... we can not decide upon an event as humongous as that, without first deciding who to pick. Now lets get back to the exe--"
"What the executions!? Listen, if we continue to babble like this, then so many others will be executed, we need to decid--"
"To decide?! Doctor Hooves, I don't believe you realize the shear statement to which you are trying to undertake... WE KNOW NOTHING...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about these other empires, except for the fact that they want planets... Do you seriously think that we should just go out, and invite everyone hear... Think about it, would you invite someone you didn't know to your home? Of course not, and so we must not make this decision too hastily."
"Oh really," replied Dr. Hooves, "and what will happen if we never try, we are discovered, and then we are all executed... or what if the Dragononians really do get the elements? What about then? WE ARE WASTING TIME!! We must act now for the sake of all of Equestria!".
Out of the boiling argument, my cousin Braeburn interrupted.
"I, for one, agree with Dr. Hooves. I mean it is true... do we seriously want to waste time, what if our time is almost up, and we don't even realize it... I mean Celestia never told us where she was hiding the elements just that she was. We must act now." After Braeburn finished, Lyra jumped in.
"Braeburn, that's crazy... do you not realize that if we do this, we are inviting empires to which, if they win, they could enslave all of us or worse... I mean what if those empires called the Wreckless win, what then?"
"Yes, but you saw their goals... they only destroy/infect those planets who do not supply ample supplies or who rebel against them, and their government seemed alright in all of our sights plus what if someone like the Brainiac Corps win? Then we will really be in for a great, healthy thriving empire... and what if somehow we are able to take our planet back, then we will rule, and be safe from these outside forces... We need to act now!"
The argument continued. Doctor Hooves and those that supported him were pushing their ideas against Lyra and those that supported her. We were practically getting another full grown war on our hoofs, and we hadn't even finished this one. This argument had us practically choking each other, and, if not for the random interruption of Spike's letter, we probably would have killed each other.
"BURP!" Spike broke the uncalmness with the receiving of a message from Twilight herself. He opened it and read.
"Dear Spike, You must act quick. The Dragononians are doing horrendous things over here in Canterlot, and they are torturing Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, and a heap of other dignitaries. We believe they found the elements recently because they are moving all of us to somewhere in Griffoni. Spike, if they get the elements it is over, I really hope you are doing well over there, because it is not so good over here."
Spike ended his reading, and said, "So who still wants to wait it out?" No Armonian raised there hoof or claw. The issue was settled. The message would be sent to every empire, and there would be no turning back. We drafted a message, sent it, and me and Braeburn collected Apple Bloom, and in the stillness of the night walked home. We all went right to bed, and hoped for the best. I even prayed, something I had not done in a very long time.
Author's Note
You do not have to read about these empires but feel free to if you need a quick guide.
Welcome to Equestria, Universal War
"I was thrown upon the balcony, and I hit the ground with a loud thud. "Get up!" the Human Dragononian, who was the Firemaster, screamed. I looked to my left and saw AppleBloom, and a tear ran down my eye. I had realized I was about to die.... I was going to leave AppleBloom in this alone. At least, she will have Braeburn I thought, but in reality I knew that was no excuse. My thoughts were interrupted when the Human Dragononian Firemaster kicked me in the side. He then yelled to two Dragononians (one a human, one a Dragon), and told them to tie me to a pole, which he pointed at. They then picked me up."
I awoke the next morning to find that AppleBloom had made, with Braeburn's help, a nice little pony breakfast. On the table was laid lettuce on toast. There was also a nice little apple sitting by my seat. I swear that after I noticed that apple a tear ran down my cheek because I immediately thought of my sister AppleJack, who was still in the clutches of these evildoers, these slave drivers. I was happy, though, that finally this message had been sent. I sat down and me, AppleBloom, and Braeburn had a nice little meal.
When breakfast was done, Applebloom asked if she could go see her friends, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo. I told her it was fine, but I also told her to be very careful, and to stay near our house. After she went, I asked Braeburn what we should do on our one day off during the week. The Dragononians at least gave us one day of rest. He said that we should go down to the square, and play that old game that me and him played when we were young, before there was AppleJack or Apple Bloom, and when my parents were still alive. I then told Braeburn that we would look silly, but if he truly wanted to go and play that game, then so be it. Truthfully, in my heart, I knew that we basically had nothing to lose. We then left a note on the door for Apple Bloom to meet us when we were done, and we went down to the square.
When we made it to the square, our plans changed. Me and Braeburn decided to put on a show with an instrument which the Dragononians called the Sarp Tus. It was very easy to play, and had so many different parts that you could make a song sound so beautiful. Me and Braeburn each picked up one, and we started to dance and sing. As we were singing and dancing, we noticed that tons of Equestrians were gathering around. Me and Braeburn just continued to sing and dance our hearts away because, in all honesty, the world didn't even exist at that moment. We had this fine tune going, and I even noticed two of the Dragononian Guards bumping to our song. I actually whispered to myself, "Well, at least, they have some type of heart". We must have played for hours before finally going home, but it was one of the most enjoying things I have ever done. When we finally made it home, we started to make dinner, and when AppleBloom, who had decided to bring her friends to dinner without asking either me or Braeburn, came home, we all sat to dinner and enjoyed the meal. We were all happy, until Braeburn mentioned the day we had being a rare occasion. This one sentence made Sweetiebell start to cry.
"Rarity...My sister Rarity, where is she? Where is anyone!? Where are my parents? My sister? Where is even Opal? I miss them so, Where are they? Where are they?", Sweetiebell sobbed so hard, I thought there might be an ocean in my kitchen within ten minutes. No one could comfort SweetieBell until finally my cousin Braeburn opened his mouth.
"SweetieBell... I-- I know you are upset about this occupation, but listen...WE WILL GET YOUR SISTER, PARENTS, AND EVEN YOUR CAT BACK!" Braeburn said this so strongly that Sweetiebell ran up to him, and hugged him without a care in the world. I smiled a little bit, but also in my heart knew that Braeburn could not possibly promise this. War never bows down to promises.
I decided to allow Sweetiebell and Scootaloo to sleepover since I did not want my sisters last memories to be of me never letting my sister have another sleepover again. Eventually, Braeburn went to sleep in Granny Smith's old room, I went to sleep in my room, and the CMC went to sleep in AppleBloom's room. As I lay down, I was happy, at least for the moment, that in this terrible occupation, there was still a small amount of love and kindness. My eyes even started to water, and I eventually cried tears of joy and sorrow right to when I fell asleep.
I awoke late the next morning, which I knew could cost me and arm and a leg literally, but, thank God, I was not caught getting to work late. I immediately went to my job of mining. It was a normal day, the crack of the whip, the "Get moving!", and the DING DING DING that came from breaking through rock. At 12 o' clock, I was called into the office of the main Dragononian Slave Commander's Quarters. The commander was a Dragon Dragononian. I walked into the office, and immediately, the Commander spoke.
"Big Mac, that is your name, is it not?" the Commander asked.
"It is", I replied back.
"Let me ask you a question, Big Mac." he exclaimed, "Where were you about two or three nights ago?" he finished.
When the commander asked me this question, I was nervous, but I replied with, "I was sleeping in my bedroom, where else would I be?"
"That is interesting", the Dragononian commander replied, "because according to my reports, someone saw you sneak off with another Equestrian, a pony apparently".
"Sir, I do not know what you are talking about" I replied.
"Oh really?", the Commander asked, "Then what are these?"
With that the Dragononian Commander threw down some pictures the street cameras had taken. He then screamed at the top of his lungs, "DON'T YOU LIE TO ME!!!!!!!!!". I actually did flinch a little. "I know that you were going somewhere, and I want to know where!! Now tell me the location, and the Equestrian you were with, and if you reveal to me this information, I will not harm you or any of your family members!" he snapped.
When he finished speaking, I told him right back, " I will not tell you anything! I can not and will not, and even if I did tell you, you would probably just go and kill me after I told you", I retorted back to him.
"Very well" he said to me, "I will have you killed in front of every Equestrian possible, and I will then make it a goal to kill off the rest of our family including AppleJack... Oh and yes Mr. Big Mac, she is still alive."
"YOU MONSTER", I screeched at him, "I will kill you". I immediately lunged for his throat, but was quickly jerked back by the two guards near his offices' door. I could see in his eyes that he showed no fear, but I wanted so bad to try and kill him for all that he would and was going to do.
"Take him to the poles, and... and make sure that the Firemaster is... is Trywha Hardinoas, tell him his old buddy, Grenaz Careqy sent for him".
"Yes Sir!", the two guards snapped in unison, and with that they dragged me away, but at least I knew the name of this evildoer.
It took ten minutes before they got me to the jail cell, where I would await further direction. I sat in that cold, dark, and damp cell for two hours before the guards would come back. I thought to myself the whole time. "Why was I seen? Why was I so stupid? How could I have let myself forget about those cameras? I just put us all in danger. Why? Why? Why? Why?! Why?! Why?! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY!". I must have asked myself that same question a million times. Each time, I got angrier at myself for being so stupid. I actually didn't want to live. I almost wished I was never born. No, I did wish I was never born. Why did this have to befall Equestria? Discord was one thing, but he could be stopped. The Changeling Queen was another, but she could be stopped. King Sombra could be stopped. Nightmare Moon could be stopped. They all could be stopped, but not these monsters. They couldn't be stopped. NO! In fact, they only brought shame to us. Then again, what if they were right? Maybe we weren't acting how we should have? No! I told my self, Don't let them do that to you. What were they doing to me? I was falling into chaos. I didn't know what to believe. I-I- I--. I was interrupted. CREEEK, the cell doors opened, and I saw two Dragononian guards, both Dragon Dragononians, standing there. Then out of the shadows came a human Dragononian, he introduced himself.
"Hello", he said sinisterly, "My name is Trywha Hardinoas, and I will be your Firemaster for this afternoon", and then he started to laugh sinisterly. "Take him to the posts and deliver him to the two guards there!" the Firemaster commanded to the two Dragon Dragononians, "And also make sure every Equestrian is present!". He then skulked slowly away.
On the way, the Dragon Dragononians mocked me, and dragged me ruthlessly to a gathering crowd. They then told me to look to my right where I would see cameras which were broadcasting all over Equestria. I was disheartened, if this was going to be all over Equestria, then the whole rebellion could mess up or be too frightened to fight for any of the other empires beside the Dragononians. I was furious at myself, and I hated that Dragononian Slave Commander, I swore to myself that I would kill him if I got out of this. My thoughts were interrupted.
I was thrown upon the balcony, and I hit the ground with a loud thud. "Get up!" the Human Dragononian, screamed. I looked to my left and saw AppleBloom, and a tear ran down my eye. I had realized I was about to die.... I was going to leave AppleBloom in this alone. At least, she will have Braeburn I thought, but in reality I knew that was no excuse. My thoughts were interrupted when the Human Dragononian Firemaster kicked me in the side. He then yelled to two Dragononians, one a human, one a Dragon, and told them to tie me to a pole, which he pointed at. They then picked me up. They through me hard against the pole, and then put my arms behind it. One held my arms, while the other tied them together. They then tied my legs together, and one of them, the Dragon Dragononian, hit me upside the head. Then they backed away.
"Let me start out by saying what a worthless piece of junk this traitor is to all of Equestria!" the Firemaster shouted. "This traitor lied, stole, and murdered others... He--"
I yelled out so that the whole world could see, and would stay strong, "You liar, I never murdered anyone, YOU ARE THE LIARS! You--" The Firemaster slapped me, and then screamed at me.
"Quiet you!" he looked up to the guards "gag him, we don't need to hear his lies, and neither does this beautiful planet!" he barked to the guards. They quickly gagged me, although I resisted. "Now... to show that we will not tolerate traitors or that we will tolerate any thief, liar, and murderer, we will make a public example of this evildoer... we will shoot him in the head so that we may quiet his thoughts of evil!". With that, he pulled out his pistol, cocked it, pointed it at my head, and...
"WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", some Equestrian yelled from the crowd. Everyone cleared, and when I met my eyes with this Equestrian, it was none other than..."Oh No" I thought to myself because this was Equestrian was Apple Bloom.
"Well, Well, a rebel... get that girl" he yelled to no Dragononian in particular, "and bring her to me". Almost instantly, some Dragononian grabbed Apple Bloom, brought her to the Firemaster, and then walked away. The Firemaster then spoke, "What is your name?" he asked Apple Bloom.
"Apple Bloom" she replied.
" Now why is it?," the Firemaster asked, "that I have to wait for you?".
"Because" Apple Bloom replied, "because that is my brother, and I-- I have no one left sir... my granny is dead... my sister.. well I don't know where she is, and my parents died a long while ago...and-- and-- and i just don't have anypony... Please let my brother live!" Apple bloom begged. I slowly cocked my head to the Firemaster who, I could have sworn, even though he had a helmet on, shed one tear. The Firemaster didn't respond for about five minutes. Then finally he talked.
"We--We--We can't have a poor li--a poor little sister go wit-- without a brother now can we?" the Firemaster asked stuttering, which I was sure was because he could not bear what he was about to do. No answer came from the crowd, but the Firemaster answered the question. "No" he said, "This means that-- that we will just have to-- we will just have to kill them both...(he paused) tie her to the pole as well" he finished, "And put her on... nicely" he told the guards. The guards then grabbed AppleBloom, who gave no resistance, tied her to the pole, and gagged her, and then they backed away.
"Now!" exclaimed the Firemaster, "Here-- Here is what happens to...to traitors". With that he repeated the process he had done earlier by cocking his gun, pointing it at me first, and just before he pulled the trigger, I looked to my right where I saw Braeburn who was partially sobbing and Cheerilee, who I secretly loved. I then looked up to the Firemaster, and he looked at me, pointed the gun at my head, and BOOM!!!...something fired. I was still alive. I looked up. Then, I noticed the crowd yelling and screaming, scrambling every which way. Then I looked down to the Firemaster, who was lying there, motionless. His blood was everywhere, and if his blood was everywhere, then who killed him? Where did that shot come from? I was immediately shaken from my thoughts because I heard another explosion, looked up, and saw a fighter jet of some sort whoosh by. Then out of the sky came a hail of those glowing things which I had seen when the Dragononians first came. I then saw two Dragononian tanks move down an alleyway firing their guns, and then heard machine gun fire and small arms fire and bullets whizzing every which way, and then it hit me... The other 42 empires had gotten our message... The Universal War had come to Equestria.
The Battle of PonyVille: Part I (War!)
"I rushed to the side of Carousel Boutique with Apple Bloom and Braeburn. Turning to my right, I saw a small firefight between three Wreckless and three Dragononians. I told Braeburn and Apple Bloom that we had to keep moving. We ran near Sugarlump's house, and when I looked to my left, I saw a Rogue plane get hit by a Dark Knight fighter. The Rogue plane then slammed right into Sugarcube corner. Hopefully, the Cakes were not inside. Sugarcube Corner exploded in a pile of debris, flames, and metal parts. Me, Braeburn, and Apple Bloom moved on."
As it hit me that the war had finally come to Equestria, I realized that me and Apple Bloom were still bound, and we could not yell for help because we were both gagged. I thought to myself how ironic it was that we were going to be saved by these empires, but that we were now tied up and could not move. I was angry with myself. However, Braeburn did not forget us because he immediately ran to the deck. He was only halfway up the steps, when a drop pod of some sort landed right between us and him. Braeburn was thrown back, hitting the ground with a thud. I closed my eyes, so as not to get hit by any splinters from the wooden steps. Opening my eyes, I saw a poof of air shoot out of the pod before something emerged. The thing was a bulk of muscle, technology, and just plain fearsomeness. It had steel blades three feet in length proceeding out of its hands. The alien creature had to have been over eleven feet tall. It looked like something out of a movie which I saw once. It turned around, and saw Braeburn getting up. Braeburn looked straight into the creature's eyes. The Creature returned the gaze. Then, the creature protruded a red laser targeter from its helmet. It pointed the light right at Braeburn's neck. I thought it was going to fire something. It didn't. Instead, the mass of terror walked away continuing the battle that had befallen Ponyville. Braeburn, partly in shock, rushed over to Apple Bloom's side. He pulled a knife that he carried everywhere out of his satchel, and cut Apple Bloom's bonds. Apple Bloom removed her gag. Braeburn then ran to my side and freed me. He then told both of us that we had to get out of Ponyville, and I could not agree less. I ran to the now dead Firemaster, and picked up his weapon. Braeburn ran over to a dead Dragononian guard and picked up a Dragononian Assault Rifle. We then started to run away from this area.
"Let's head to Sweet Apple Acres", I yelled to Braeburn and AppleBloom, "Then we can head to the Everfree Forest from there!" I finished. They both agreed, and we started to head in that direction. In my mind, I secretly prayed that no one would get hurt because chaos was everywhere. Running past Colgate's house, I saw a griffon get hit dead on by a stray rocket. The poor griffon then imploded in a fury of guts, feathers, and bones. This image would play on my mind for the rest of my days upon Equestria. It was, in fact, the most horrible image for me of the whole war, even though I would see worse. We began to turn into an alleyway when I saw a squad of what I later found out to be FEAR Stalkers. These units, who belonged to the Fear empire, could tear you to shreds, took 15 bullets averagely to kill, were expert in stealth, and worked in packs of 3. Immediately, and I mean immediately, we turned around, and headed for a different direction. We still had no evidence that any of these empires were friendly, just that they wanted territory. Coming back out of the alley, I saw three Monsterian Tanks roll down the street, firing as they went. BOOM BOOM BOOM was the noise that these tanks made pulling back from something bigger which they were trying to fight. They were within 30 feet from us when a barrage of rockets blew two of them up. Then, a huge monster came within view from the hill that was covering it. The monster was a Dragononian Rock Lizard. The Rock Lizards were some of the most feared Dragononian creatures when the Dragononians first came to Armonia. I heard that in Griffoni alone, one of those things could kill an entire company of Griffon fighters, if not more. I could see why the Monsterians were pulling back. I quickly forgot, however, the war, and, as the final Monsterian tank was coming within ten feet from us, the Dragononian Rock Lizard opened up its 300 MM Fire bullets. The Monsterian tank blew up in a fury of heat and shrapnel, one piece just skimming my ear. I recoiled mildly in pain. My ears then started to ring from the mild flesh wound.
"Watch out!!", Braeburn shouted as he jumped on top of me pushing me to the ground. Almost immediately after I hit the ground, a WHOOSH sound flew by me, and hit a nearby building blowing part of it to smithereens. I looked up and realized that I had just narrowly escaped death, just narrowly. I wanted to think about that, but I had no time... It was too dangerous to think at this moment. We moved on.
As we were running, I realized that Apple Bloom could not keep up with us. I stopped and told her to get on my back. She immediately listened. As if out of nowhere, a huge green energy blast went BUBUUUUUUUUSH, and tore into practically all the houses of Ponyville. I looked up, and saw a towering, humongous mechanical Spider shaped looking thing. Later, I found out it was a type of Brainiac Corps walker. I could not believe it, this thing looked like it was going to crush everything, it was just so huge. It fired another energy beam from its huge cannon, and tore up practically every shop on Business Square. It started to move, and one of its iron, mechanical legs crashed into the Dragononian check point D. The check point collapsed with one step. Then, from the skies, a huge laser blast pounded the thing. I realized that the laser blast from the skies must have been one of the empire's space fleets. The blast continued to come from the heavens, until the humongous walker started to implode, and its spree of green energy blasting stopped. It then started to sway back and forth, and eventually came down crashing into a nearby field, Sweet Apple Acres.
"We can't head over there now, 'cuz!" Braeburn shouted at me. I knew he was right. He asked me, "Where should we head now?"
"I- I don't know, Braeburn, I don't know", I shouted back to him. Before finishing, a Zombrian Benign came crashing through SilverSaddle's house. It roared with anger and hatred, and then it looked at us. It started to come rushing to us, wanting to tear every piece of our measly existence to shreds. I thought we were going to die. In fact, I was just about to throw Apple Bloom to the side, and yell to her to run, when, all of the sudden, out of nowhere, came a Revolutionary Shredder. The Revolutionary Shredder was like a huge lizard, and it was practically an equivalent to a Zombrian Benign. The Revolutionary Shredder jumped on top of the Benign, and started to claw and rip at the thing's body. The Benign then retaliated by whacking the Shredder upside it's head. With this, the Shredder sunk it's razor sharp teeth into the Benign's left shoulder, and the Benign roared in an anger so furious, it seemed to have stopped the battle. Watching this spectacle made me so oblivious, that I was only "awoken" from my trance, when Braeburn jumped on top of me again, knocking me to the ground.
"What was that for?", I asked.
"If you were paying any attention, you would have seen that rocket that just flew right by your head, and crashed into that building over there.... Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he asked me. I realized Braeburn was right, I had to pay more attention if I wanted to stay alive, and keep everyone else I loved alive. "Now, lets move!" Braeburn shouted again.
We left the fight between the Benign and Shredder, and started to rush to the side of Carousel Boutique. Turning to my right, I saw a small firefight between three Wreckless and three Dragononians. I told Braeburn and AppleBloom that we had to keep moving. We ran near Sugarlump's house, and when I looked to my left, I saw a Rogue plane get hit by a Dark Knight fighter. The Rogue plane slammed right into Sugarcube corner. I just hoped that the Cakes were not inside there. Sugarcube Corner exploded in a pile of debris, flames, and metal parts.
"We need to go in there", Screamed Apple Bloom.
"We can't", I said back, "I need to get you to safety, and--"
"Big Mac!! The Cakes are in there!! We have to go! What if they are still alive?"
"No! No, Apple Bloom! I will not risk your life like that! I already failed to protect Granny Smith and AppleJack, and I will not fail to protect you! The answer is No!!" I gave my answer and I would not change it. We moved on under much resentment from Apple Bloom.
Looking up and down and all around, the only thing I could see was death and battle. While we were running at one point, I saw a Sanctum tank attacking a Rogue 74 Droid. The Rogue 74 droid then unleashed its arsenal of missiles, which blew not only the Sanctum tank up, but also blew two poor young Armonian Dragons up. I was furious, but there was nothing I could truly do, so I moved on. It was true that right now, I could only look after me, Apple Bloom, and Braeburn, as hard as it was to think.
"Let's cut through the Quill and Sofa store!", Braeburn shouted, "We can then head to the Everfree forest from there!".
"You're right Brabeurn", I returned. We headed into the Quill and Sofa store. Before going up the stairs to see where we would make our next move, I quickly peeked back to see what was going on. I saw two Pegasus ponies in the middle of the street under a hail fire of intersecting machine gun bullets. One of the Pegasi, a poor filly about two years younger than Apple Bloom, was hit in the head. The projectile killed the poor thing instantly. The mother, in pure despair, lifted up her head just for a second, sobbing. It would be her fatal mistake. She was instantaneously hit square in the center of her nose. They were both dead. Seeing this made me think, but for a moment, that Armonia was not the loving, peaceful planet she once was, but was now instead a battleground of evil and death. I thought that maybe we were wrong to have brought these empires here, but then I thought about what we had before hand. None of it made sense, all I wanted to do was cry, but there was no time for crying. Instead of crying, we turned into the receiving and shipping department of the store.
Running up the stairs inside the now destroyed, burning out building, I heard a faint crash of glass, but took nothing of it since the battle was raging everywhere anyway. We came to the top of the stairs, and Braeburn told me to let him go first. I agreed and Braeburn charged in. Braeburn swung the door open and just as I was about to follow him, Apple Bloom still hanging on to my back, I saw Braeburn crash into the side wall where once he hit, he made a faint grunt. Quickly, I turned to my right, and that is where I saw a Darkron, his dagger claw-like weapon drawn, and his fierce looking gun pointing right at Braeburn's face. The Darkron started to cock his miniature mini-gun like assault rifle weapon. He aimed down the sights.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!", I yelled as i quickly put Apple Bloom on the floor. The Darkron turned around, shocked, already firing his weapon. Bullets whizzed past my head, and met the wall, and door. One clipped my mane. I slammed my cranium right into the side of the Darkron's horrifyingly dark armor. The Darkron, still firing, flew back into a wall, but quickly scrambled to his feet. The thing looked at me, and then said, in one of the most horrifying voices I ever would hear, "You will die by my blade tonight, you foul beast, and then that one, he pointed at Braeburn, and that one, he pointed at my sister AppleBloom, will follow".
"NOOOO!", I screamed with a voice full of rage. I charged the Darkron, and just barely dodged his strike from his plasma dagger claw on his arm. The Darkron then pushed me to the ground, kicked me in the side, and turned me over. I just rolled out of harms way when he started to fire his weapon again. The bullets were so close, that I could hear them whisper of my death. I ducked under the Darkron's knees, but he kicked me on the flight past him. The Darkron again spun around, and pointed his gun at me. I was too quick, however, and pushed him away before he could fire that weapon of his again. He was enraged. He hit me, and knocked me out, but for the moment, giving him enough time to grab me by the throat. He pinned me against the wall, and put his dagger to my throat. Then, he just barely touched my face with it. I could feel the burning energy spiking and stinging my face. I could see the joy of the Darkron's eyes as he was about to kill me. He didn't. Apple Bloom charged him just enough to make him recoil, dropping me to the ground. It was all I needed. I butted him again in the stomach knocking him back against the wall. I then ran at him again, and smashed him ever so deeper into that wall. I did it again, and again, and again. I was angry, full of hatred. I was enraged, mad at everything. I was mad at this beast, the Dragononians, and the rest of the empires. I was enraged at myself, my parents, everyone. I was mad at every thing there ever was. I let my anger get to me, though.
I went to butt the Darkron again in the stomach, but in my anger, I was confused and just missed him. The Darkron used this opportunity to grab me by the mane, and throw me hard against the opposite wall. The Darkron then skulked and stumbled over to where I was, and again picked me up, and again through me into the wall. He did it again, but this time through me into a couch which was so destroyed it collapsed. I had a massive headache. Coming in and out of darkness, I saw the Darkron getting closer and closer until he was right above me. He put his massive boot upon my neck, and began to speak.
"Oh, I will enjoy this", he hissed as he slowly started to push his blade into my stomach. I wanted to get up and hit him or at least run, but he had his huge boot upon my neck, and I could not move because I was so dazed. I started to scream in agony because of the pain, but also because I knew I would die, and I knew there was nothing I could do to save Apple Bloom. A tear started to proceed down my cheek as the Darkron continued to push his blade deeper into my side.
Just then, Braeburn, who had finally regained his strength, tackled the Darkron forward, and hit the thing in the head so hard that I heard his helmet actually crack. The blade, which was partly lodged into my stomach, broke apart. I writhed in agony. I started to scream even louder. While screaming, I still absorbed the fight. The Darkron, after Braeburn punched it in the head, spun around in a fury of pain and rage. He through Braeburn right into a wall. I heard Braeburn's back make a small cracking sound. Braeburn, the stubborn mule, slowly got up, still ready for a fight. The Darkron laughed, and went to grab Braeburn. Braeburn dodged his attacker's lunge, and came into the Darkron's side with the knife he always carried. The knife did nothing, but instead broke. Braeburn looked up at the Darkron, and gave him a faint laugh of, "Well, this was interesting". The Darkron took the stab more seriously. He pointed his weapon at Braeburn's face. Braeburn ducked the shot just in the knick of time. The chair behind where Braeburn just was blew up into a pile of wood. Braeburn lunged again into the Darkron, and began to try to push him into a window to give us time to leave. The Darkron saw his plane, and waited for the next lunge. When Braeburn lunged again, the Darkron ducked out of the way, throwing Braeburn into the floor. The Darkron ran over to where Braeburn lay, and spun him around. The Darkron then grabbed Braeburn by the throat. He slammed him against the wall. Braeburn's hat flew off, and Braeburn himself made a grunt. The Darkron pointed his weapon at Braeburn's head, and I could see Braeburn's eyes fill with fear. The Darkron pulled the trigger. Nothing came out, the Darkron's weapon was out of ammunition.
The Darkron screamed in anger, and resorted to his next option which was punching Braeburn in the face till he died. I couldn't believe it. The Darkron threw a punch in Braeburn's direction hitting him square in the face. Braeburn was knocked out immediately. The Darkron threw another punch, and another, and another. Each one made Braeburn bleed a little more. I was too weak to do anything about it, and I still had the blade in my side. I couldn't let Braeburn die though. It was at that moment that I remembered I had picked up that Firemaster's pistol. I slowly took the pistol out of my satchel, partly in pain. Slowly, I raised the weapon up till I was aiming at the Darkron's head. I aimed, took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger. BOOM! the Darkron's neck exploded, leaking an ocean of blood. Braeburn's knocked out body dropped to the floor. I rejoiced but a moment before remembering there was still a problem. The problem that neither one of us could move from our injuries. The only Equestrian who could do that was... oh no.... Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom came running to my side, crying. "Big Mac... Big-- Big Mac.. are you-- are ya gonna be alright?" she sobbed. I could not lie to my sister, but I told her that, for the moment, I was fine. She didn't buy it, she was to smart for that. "Big Mac, don't lie to me like that! Please don't lie to me like that... you need help.. I-- I'll go and find you some" she started to head away.
"NO!", I screamed to Apple Bloom, "No... Look Apple Bloom, I-- I can't lose you like I lost Granny Smith, and I can't lose you like I lost AppleJack". I finished partially crying.
"I don't want to lose you either Big Mac" AppleBloom sobbed, "Please let me go... Please let me try." When Apple Bloom finished, I looked at her straight in the eyes, and knew she was right so I told her...
"Yes, Apple Bloom...just--just make sure that you stay alive--that you make it through this... promise me that...promise me." I finished looking deep into the essence of her soul.
"I promise", she said. With that she gave me a hug, and ran out the door looking for help. I closed my eyes and prayed for her safety. Eventually, I was knocked out from the pain, but all I could think about was what was happening to Apple Bloom...
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The Battle of Ponyville: Part II (A Good Empire)
"I was AppleBloom, fearless adventurer seeking her cutie mark, but what was I kidding, death was only a bullet away. "How will I get through this", I thought, but then I remembered that i was doing this for Big Mac, and for my cousin Braeburn. I needed to remain strong. I needed to push on. I needed to for Big Mac and for Braeburn."
Immediately, I ran out of the shop, seeking help for my injured and dying brother, and for my poor injured cousin, Braeburn. As soon as I got to the door, I slowly propped it open to see what awaited me outside. I pulled the door shut with an earth-shattering quickness because as I opened the door, a red, glowing plasma bolt crashed into the side of the door where my head just was. I realized how close death was. I almost was going to go sit down in the corner, and cry my heart out, but, I didn't, I didn't cry my heart out because I knew that I had to save my brother and cousin. I, at least, had to try. I slowly regained my courage, and again crept up to the door. Pushing it open, more cautiously this time, I looked outside, and had to shield my eyes from the blinding Equestrian sun. I looked out to see what was going on. I saw, practically within two seconds, two enemy fighter aircraft of one of the empires fly by being pursued by four other enemy fighters. BOOM! One of the four enemy fighters blew apart one of the aircraft they were pursuing. The plane then went down in a heap of molten, hot metal and crashed into the nearby library. I gasped as I realized that Twilight's house had just been hit, and was now burning to the ground. All of those precious books were burning in a fury of flame. It was kind of selfish, though. I mean, while books were burning, there were billions of Armonians dying by the hands of these ruthless empires. Not only that, my brother was bleeding to death, and my cousin was knocked out. My sister also, and her friends were all being tortured. I realized how selfish this was. I was caring about a few books, whilst millions were dying. War does this to you, I guess, makes you forget about the world, about people, and think only of yourself. Then, I rethought about it. At the same time, war also brings you closer to together. I concluded I would forget the books, and just think that war was ironic. I decided to leave it at that.
Turning to my right, I saw a huge Black creature. I later found it to be a beast used by the Bloodthirsters. The creature was fighting a huge, robotic droid, which belonged to the Rogue. The Black creature hit the robot very hard, and the robot stumbled backward. The Black creature then fired from a horn on top of its head a huge, green ball of acid which not only started to corrode the robot, but parts of the projectile hit other areas of the battle. The huge robot then came into the stomach of the black Bloodthirster creature, and fired a volley of its rockets from the inside. The Black creature started to spew green acid everywhere. Apparently, the Bloodthirsters had an acid-like blood substance. The big black creature fell to its knees before the huge robot droid sliced off its head with its huge energy dagger like weapon. The big black thing fell to the ground, acidic blood spewing every which way, melting the very ground that it landed on. The droid robot started to walk away, when it was hit by a stray missile. The droid blew up in a mess of shrapnel, and crashed into Twist's house, collapsing the whole structure underneath. I was worried for Twist, when I remembered that she went on a vacation to Changelore, but then I thought, "What if Changelore was under attack?". I had to put this thought aside from me, and move on.
I knew that I should not go the way of where those two monstrous things just were, so I instead went left. I started to gallop as fast as I could to anywhere where there might be help. Turning down one alleyway, I realized that I truly did not know who to trust. I mean it seemed so far that all of these empires were trying to kill every last one of us, except for that random one who came out of a pod at the beginning. I was frustrated. My brother was dying, and my cousin was knocked out. I couldn't do anything. I almost was going to scream. I did. I screamed and screamed until I ran out of breath. I took another gulp of air, and started screaming again. I stopped. Tears started to overpower my eyes. I was just screaming, and crying. I collapsed. I was just lying there now. Not screaming anymore, but only crying. Crying at the loss of AppleJack, of Granny Smith, of my cousins, my friends, my everything. I was angry. I hated everything, and everyone. I couldn't stand it anymore. I began to scream again. I screamed so loud that I couldn't even hear the battlefield anymore. I couldn't hear myself think. I couldn't hear anything but screaming. Then, as I was screaming, I heard another scream. Only the other scream I heard was getting louder and louder. I stopped screaming thinking maybe it was just me going crazy. It wasn't. The scream continued, and then it was within two feet from me. And then, I went out...Cold.
Slowly, my eyes started to open. I looked all around, dazed, confused. Then, I found myself on some sort of carrying thing. It was a stretcher. We learned about those once with Mrs. Cheerilee. She told us that they were used during the Equestrian Civil War to carry out Celestia's wounded royal soldiers. This one was different from the ones Cheerilee described though. It was metal, and it had blue glowing wires coming into my arms and legs. I cocked my head to my left, my eyes still coming in and out of reality, and I found myself staring into about five, six, or seven things in armor. I quickly realized that they were from the empire called the True Mafia/ Black Market. Braeburn had told me once that the True Mafia/Black Market was one of the top choices to come to Ponyville because of what they believed and fought for. Even though Big Mac had told me that the True Mafia/Black Market was most likely going to be friendly, I still thought they were going to kill me. I realized quickly, though, that they were trying to help me. If they wanted to kill me, they would have done that already. I came back to my full senses about two minutes later, and remembered Big Mac and Braeburn. I sprung up.
"Wait!!!", I yelled, "My brother, my brother you have to go rescue him!", I screamed in a fit of tears and sorrow.
"What are you talking about?" the sergeant asked realizing I was awake.
"My brother, my brother...you have to save him, and my cousin they are both wounded in this department store... Please, we need to go back and rescue them...Please?", I pleaded.
"Ok men", the sergeant started to speak to his men, "We will get this little girl's brother." He then turned to his right, and told one of his men to go and fetch a Capone Squad and a Kilo squad who were held up on some street corner. They left and we waited. While we waited, the sergeant started to ask me questions.
"What's your name, little one?", the sergeant questioned.
"I'm Apple Bloom."
"Okay, listen I need to ask you only a few questions to make sure you're alright? Is that okay?"
"Yes...umm... what is your name?"
"You can just call me Sergeant Linello, Now how old are you in Armonian years?"
"I'm 15, sir" The sergeant turned to a medic, and told him to check my vitals, and check the age. The Medic responded instantaneously. He put a little metal device to where my heart was. Next, he stuck a small needle into the back of my neck. It stung. Finally, he gave me this little pill. I was wary at first, but decided to trust them. We waited about 30 seconds before the Medic got a little ding on his little device. He turned to Sergeant Linello.
"She checks out fine sir", the Medic confirmed I was alright to his sergeant.
"Okay!" the sergeant said, and he turned back to me., "Alright, you check out filly. That's good. Alright, listen to me. We will get your brother, but we need you to be our guide. Now listen, We aren't going to lie to you... You have to understand that if we go back out there, there is a risk that you can be killed or someone else. Do you understand this?"
"I-- I do sir, but I want to go out! I have to save my brother!!"
"Okay, Thanks for cooperating. We will head out when those guys I sent out come back, Okay?"
"Okay sir." Our conversation finished after that, at least until the two squads got back.
A few minutes later, the squadmate who the sergeant sent out returned. He came back with two more squads. My guess was that one was Capone Squad and the other was Kilo squad.
"Okay!", snapped the sergeant, "We will follow this filly, get her brother and cousin, and then we will proceed to get them to a secure base of operations... You (he shouted to one of his men), Go and fetch us a radioman, and tell him to get us a transport out of here...tell him... tell him, we got civilians over here who need rescuing." With that the sergeant finished. The man replied a "yes sir!" to him, and left to go and get a transport. The sergeant then turned to me, and again asked me to guide his squads. I gave him a loud "Yes Sir!", to which some of the other soldiers laughed. Besides that, we were off to save my brother and cousin.
We started to sprint to where I last was, when I got knocked out by the shell blast. On our way, we came to an obstruction. Somewhere during this battle, a huge spaceship, apparently Macaranian Wolf, had crashed into Laredo Square and Unicorn Avenue. This obstruction meant that we had to go around. This, in turn, meant a much longer journey to find Big Mac and Braeburn. This in turn meant that they could bleed out before we got there. I was again getting frustrated, but realized that I had to keep my cool. Otherwise, the True Mafia/ Black Market might think I was going insane, and would bring me back for sure. Basically, for now, I held in my anger.
"We have to go a different route. Its going to take a little longer, but its the only way", I mentioned this to the squad.
"Why?" the sergeant chimed in for his squads.
"Well, this whatever it is wasn't here earlier, so the only other way is around. Unless we cut through Harmony Mall?", I chimed back. I also realized that Harmony Mall could be a great place to cut through. It offered a perfect little shortcut.
"Alright, well listen, that transport is on its way so we have to take the quicker route! Can you get us through that Harmony Mall?" the sergeant questioned.
"Yes, but I will need you to protect me.", I said this with a little laughter, knowing that the troops would obviously protect me.
"Okay", said the sergeant, "You take us there, and we will think about protecting you", the sergeant retorted with a little laughter. I must admit that I did like this empire already. They seemed kind, and they were funny. I truly thought we would have it good.
"Okay, follow me this way! The mall is just over this hill!". I ran up the hill, and saw one of the most truly amazing spectacles that I would ever see. In front of me, I saw smoke billowing and rising in various distances. I saw cannons, set up in the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, firing and volleying away their thunderous applause, before their respective artillery fire came raining down on unsuspecting enemies. I also beheld all manners of tanks, vehicles, and aircraft whizzing, firing, and just burning every which way. I saw lakes and rivers of red, which I came to realize was blood spilled, and being spilled by all manner of God's creatures. I beheld bullets going everywhere like a severe thunderstorm. I beheld destruction, death, suffering, pain, and many other harsh words everywhere in Ponyville, and my only wonder at that moment was: Who was dead? and Was Ponyville the only battlefield? I was interrupted.
"Are you alright, Apple Bloom?" the sergeant woke me to the fact that I was leading people somewhere.
"Oh--a--ya I just got lost in the moment. Okay, lets go over here, and cut through the mall", I started to head down, but then I heard some soldier say something.
"Dude, this place looks deserted. Sure hope there aren't any Fear Stalkers or Bloodthirsters in there or anything stealthy for that matter". The soldier was just having conversation with his buddy, but I wondered why he would be so worried about whatever he mentioned. Truthfully, I put it away because I honestly didn't care. I just wanted my brother.
We came into the vicinity of the parking lots, and started to creep down. I saw all manner of creature and machine dead, destroyed, burning out, and whatever other words describe death and destruction. I was starting to get a little frightened at all the death I was seeing. It was starting to play on my mind. For example, at one point I looked over and saw a, I believe it was a Knight soldier, who was torn in half, his entrails leaking out of his ripped apart stomach. He had blood all over his body. He was practically a sea of red. Next to him was a thirteen foot Trierg creature who's face was half gashed out. The creature was just lying there looking into an empty vastness. These images played on my mind. I also saw tanks, and vehicles which had bullets hole strafed across them. Some were still sizzling away, their metal hotter than an Equestrian summer. I even saw one tank which had a Psychic burning apart. The Psychic thing was literally melting away. I turned my face, unable to bear the site. Anyway, we finally made it the mall's entrance. We couldn't get the door open, so one of the squad members just kicked right through the glass. We entered the mall.
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The Battle of Ponyville: Part III (Harmony Mall)
"Chaos was everywhere. Shadows were flying every which way before a scream would come followed by an abrupt crack. The squads I was with were firing everywhere. I don't even think they knew what they were firing at, just that they were firing. One guy stopped to reload, and from the darkness behind him, two monstrous claw-like hands came out sucking him into the unending blackness. 'Watch out!" someone yelled before I hit the ground. I lifted my head to see what happened, and saw fear itself staring into my eyes. I screamed before it grabbed me."
The mall was dark. Very dark. There were lights flickering on and off. The stores and shops were practically all wrecked. There were dead Armonians everywhere, mainly ponies though. It was sad. I began to shed tears, but I had to withold them I had to be strong. There were some dead empire soldiers, but I didn't care as much about them. They were the monsters who came to our planet. They were the monsters who came to destroy us. I hated them. I hated their guts, and everything about them. I wished that they would all be killed. That they would leave. My wish didn't come true, at least not right now, because I could still hear the booms and bangs of gunfire and cannon fire. I could still hear the innocent screams of everyone outside. I could still hear and see the dead and wounded crying for help, wishing that they were still alive, still had breath. It was not to be. Sadly, it was not to be.
The True Mafia/ Black market continued to protect me. They had encircled me so that I would be safe in case anything happened. I was glad that they wanted to protect me, but even them. I couldn't even trust them. They could easily have turned on me, just as the other empire, the Dragononians did. They could have easily turned right now and shot me. They also could have been backstabbers. for all I know, this empire could win and then turn on us. Truly, I didn't have trust for any one, and especially not these empires. In fact, right now, I only trusted me, and me alone. That was all. That was all that i cared about because if I cared for any pony else, then they might get killed and then my trust would be lost and would just turn to pain and anger. I had to only trust myself.
We continued to walk through the mall. It was creepy. There was an eerie silence except for the battle that was raging out side. As we passed my favorite store, Aeropony, I felt like I was being watched. In fact, an eerie tingle began to creep up my back. Then it began to turn into a frostbite. I had some of the worst chills in my bones that I have ever had. I don't think I was that nervous since the time I first took one of Ms. Cheerilee's tests. This one was different though. I could feel it. It was almost like a flea or something was crawling up my back, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. Nothing. I almost said something, but told myself that it was nothing, that it would be alright. I was wrong.
We passed Aeropony with no incident. In fact, nothing happened. I was right. my body was just acting up, just being frightened. I would have to stop that. From now on, I would have to shut my body off, and listen only to my thoughts. I didn't need instinct, at all. We continued to move. We moved past Scootaloo's favorite store. It was called Jet Hawk's extremes. It had all manner of extreme items that Scootaloo loved. They had scooters and skateboards and all that stuff. It was wonderful. We passed that store with no further alarm.
When we were nearing the end of the mall, we were passing a fashion store actually, I heard something move. I looked to the left where the sound came from. I peeked very hard into the darkness from where it came, but saw nothing. I didn't take much care for it. No one else heard it, so neither did I. We passed Sweetie Belle's favorite store. It was a music store. A nice one actually. I thought about how many times Sweetie Belle had to drag me and Scootaloo in there. I chuckled a little bit. I didn't mind the store. It was nice, but Scootaloo hated it. Personally, I think that Scootaloo only hated it because it was near one of Rarity's favorite fashion stores. I laughed because whenever Rarity came to the mall with us, she would always go in that store. It was always funny to see Scootaloo get so upset and not want to go. It was hilarious. Actually, I turned around to see what had become of the store. I saw it, but it wasn't what it used to be. The store was a mess now. A heap of rubble and death. It had collasped upon itself. I felt bad that Rarity would have to wait to go in there for a very long time. I knew Scootaloo would be happy. Then, I began to tear up. I remembered, or at least it finally came to me, that I didn't know where my friends were at all. They could be dead for all I knew. It made me sad. It made me cry. Well, I started to tear up. I started to lay down. I started to remember, but then, I was interrupted.
"CONTACT!!", someone yelled from around the circle. Immediately, bullets started to fly every which way. The sergeant grabbed me, and then yelled to his squad.
"Quick, let's move to that music shop! We'll take cover over there! Briggs, Leonardo you too cover us while we move! Everybody else, LET'S GO!!". As quickly as the sergeant said it, we moved. The sergeant fired about ten shots blind fire from his rifle, and then charged into the shop with his men. Briggs and Leonardo, who had huge machine-gun weapons, opened fire covering us as we moved into the shop. The sergeant, who was still holding me, skidded to a halt near some drums. He put me down and then motioned for two of his squad members to protect me at all costs. He went back out into the fray to tell Briggs and Leonardo that they should come back. Both Briggs and Leonardo began to head back, but just as Briggs was about to make it in, he was hit in the back with a stray acid bullet. He screamed in agony and pain, as two of his squadmates, one of them Leonardo, pulled him back into the shop. The fight was now a full-blown fair firefight. It was going to be a good one too.
I laid down trying to make myself into a practical ball. I was so scared. Bullets flew, whizzed, and cracked every which way. When one of the soldiers near me came down to reload, I asked them who was firing at us.
"Bloodthirsters!", he replied before jumping back up and pounding a whole wall of lead right back at these Bloodthirsters. I was extremely scared of these ones. I never wanted to get hut by their bullets. I knew that Bloddthirsters used acid bullets. It made me so scared because I had heard about acid before, and I knew that it was a substance that could melt the fur,skin, and hair right off your bones, and then could melt your bones. Bullets continued to whiz by when someone yelled...
"Briggs is dead, sir! He's dead!" I know not who yelled this. I just know that the words hit me in the heart. It was funny. I never knew this Briggs man. I didn't know what he had done with his life or what he was, but those very words that he was dead pounded my heart to the core. For some reason, even though I had seen death all around me, but for some reason those very words had made me come to the reality of death. I peeked up to see where this Briggs had died. I jumped right back down as a soldier who as near me pushed me down, and protected me from an incoming acid bullet which would have struck me square in the face. Again, Death was right around the corner.
"You have to be more careful!", he yelled to me, "You're going to get yourself killed!". He turned away from me and fired another wad of bullets in the general direction of the Bloodthirsters. They apparently had the high ground. Instead of looking up, I decided to look through a small hole in the part of the drum. I saw basically only flashes. I peeked up to the balcony where the Bloodthirsters were firing. They had one Bloodthirster who had a heavy machine-gun firing down at our position. The machine-gun was laying waste to everything it touched.
"Grenade!!", I heard someone yell. Then I was jerked away as one of the soldiers who was guarding me pulled me back, and jumped on top of me. It went dark for a second before a loud BANG!! Acid flew everywhere as the grenade exploded. The acid began melting through both flesh and material. Two men died because of the grenade explosion, one of them was the man who jumped on top of me to save me. He was hit with a sea of acid. He screamed as the liquid melted through him. He got off of me so that the acid wouldn't seep through and kill me. He died for me. This scene made me tell myself in my heart that no matter what, I was not going to give up on this empire. I, by this one act, realized that this empire truly cared, that they really wanted to help us. It brought another tear to my eye. However, the battle still raged and I was again jerked away into a place of more cover and safety.
"Stay here!", the sergeant told me, "No matter what!". He then ran away back into the fray. I peeked only partially out, and listened to the chaos and confusion of the battle.
"Keep your head down, Glacius!", someone yelled before he was hit in the throat. This man went down instantly.
"Glacius is down!", someone yelled, "He's dead!"
"Listen", began the sergeant, "We need a rocket up here! Leonardo Give me your rocket!"
"Yes sir!", said Leonardo before rushing over to where the cash register is. Then, Leonardo took off his rocket which he was carrying on his back. He gave it to the sarge who opened it, and aimed. He yelled something first.
"Clear Backblast!", the sergeant yelled. Everyone in turn then yelled, "Clear Blackblast!". Everyone then got out of the way. The sergeant asked, "Backblast clear?" to which everyone replied, "Backblast Clear!". The sergeant then aimed and fired. The rocket went out and hit the balcony with a bang. The whole balcony began to collapse, but a few Bloodthirster's tried to bail by jumping down. The True Mafia/ Black Market were ready. They opened fire slaughtering every single Bloodthirster who tried to bail. The balcony came crashing down with a thud, and broke into a heap of rubble and ash. The sergeant ordered his men to finish off any survivors, and then he came back to me.
"Alright Apple Bloom, you can come out now.", he grabbed me out, and we walked outside of the store. I saw all the men standing there. Miraculously, no one was wounded. However, they had lost five men... five good men. We had to continue on. We neared the final part to the exit of the mall. We could literally see the exit, and the rest of the battle that awaited us outside. This was going to be a bumpy ride. I began to sprint to the exit. The sergeant told me to stop. I didn't listen. I just kept running.
"Wait!", yelled the sergeant, "WAIT!!!!". I didn't listen. I just kept running. It happened.
"Leonardo! Watch out!", someone behind me yelled. I quickly glanced back and saw Leonardo. Actually, I saw what was left of Leonardo. He was torn apart. He was ripped open, actually, he was being ripped open.
Chaos was everywhere. Shadows were flying every which way before a scream would come followed by an abrupt crack. The squads I was with were firing everywhere. I don't even think they knew what they were firing at, just that they were firing. One guy stopped to reload, and from the darkness behind him, two monstrous claw-like hands came out sucking him into the unending blackness. 'Watch out!" someone yelled before I hit the ground. I lifted my head to see what happened, and saw fear itself staring into my eyes. I screamed before it grabbed me.
The big black beast was standing over me. Drool and saliva were dripping from its now bare teeth. It had two mouths both of which scared the living daylights out of me. I fainted.
When I came back too, I saw the sergeant standing over me. He was applying something to my chest. I coughed and awoke completely.
"What--What happened?", I asked.
"We were ambushed", the sergeant replied, "We were ambushed".
I looked around to see where all the men were, but, for some reason, there were only ten.
"What happened to the rest of the men?", I asked.
"They're all dead... All dead", that's all he said.
I stared up at him, at his helmet anyway. I couldn't see it, but I knew that he was crying. I knew that he was sad. That he was angry. I began to cry. I began to scream and yell for my mother, father, Big Mac, sister, anyone. He just looked at me. Finally, He said that we had to move on. He picked me up, and asked me where we had to go.
I just looked at him, crying, but finally, I pulled myself together. I told him where we had to go. "We-- We have to go through here. From there, we just keep going straight down to the quill and sofa store." I finished.
"Alright", he said, "Lets head that way". Before we went I asked him how I was saved. He told me that one of his men rushed over to the beast and pushed him off just as the Bloodthirster was about to stick its mouth into my neck. Instead, however, he bit the soldier who had pushed him off of me. The soldier withdrew his pistol and put his whole clip into the Bloodthirster. He died, however, because he bled out. I meditated over this and didn't say anything. Finally, I turned to him again and said, "I'm so sorry! I should have stopped when you told me too! I-- I just--"
"Listen", the sergeant said, "It doesn't matter now. Just take this to consideration. Listen to those who know more about war than you, and don't worry, I forgive you." The sergeant turned away and didn't speak again until we made it to the quill and sofa store. We left the mall finally. We headed straight ahead to finally rescue Big Mac and Braeburn.
