ASF-X Shinden II

"Teams are in position. Do it."

It was another boring day for Twilight Sparkle. Besides the 'patrols' on the opposite side of the mountains her brother told her about, there really was nothing going on, as well as nothing to do. She's read every book in the entire library at least three times from cover to cover, all her friends were busy with something else, and there were no ponies who came by to check out a new book.

"Ugh, I really need to order new books from Canterlot...again."

She decided to kill some more time by rereading Daring Do and the Gryphon's Goblet again for the fourth time, until she was startled by a ferocious knocking on the door as somepony cried her name. Quickly, she ran downstairs and opened the door to find Lyra in a state of panic, carrying a small, leather bag with conspicuous drops of blood.

"OHMYGOSH TWILIGHT, YOU GOTTA HELP ME!!! SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAS HAPPENED AND I--" Twilight interrupted her with her hoof.

"Lyra, calm down! Take deep breaths and SLOWLY tell me what happened."

"We were walking near the forest when suddenly something jumped out at us and took Bon Bon! So I ran here as fast as I could for your help!"

"What thing? Can you identify the--"

"TWILIGHT, WE HAVE TO GO NOW, THERE'S STILL A CHANCE THAT WE CAN CATCH HER, C'MON!" Lyra begged, and began to sprint away towards the forest. Not knowing what else to do, she ran after her to catch up.

After about two minutes of running, they went into the Everfree Forest and continued until they reached a clearing in the woods, the sun beaming down upon them as they stopped in the middle of it.

"Lyra, what happened? Were you guys attacked here?" Twilight asked as she scanned the area for any sign of a predator or Bon Bon. When she turned back to her friend, she saw Lyra holding a hoof out, her face carrying a serious expression, unlike a few minutes before. A strange device was strapped on the limb, and before she could react, she suddenly felt sharp, stinging sensations on her neck and chest, which suddenly became hot as her entire body was completely electrified with pain. She was unable to scream, as her entire body tensed up and suffered, nor could she concentrate to use her magic. She wanted nothing more but to tear away whatever was responsible for her torture. She heard the unmistakable crackling of electricity as she was zapped, which ended several seconds later as she collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

She holstered her overclocked tazer, and took out a syringe, injecting Twilight with a nullifying solution that would keep Twilight in the state she was currently in for several long hours, as well as prevent her use of magic for an even longer period of time. Once the syringe was empty of every last drop, she activated a beacon and radioed in.

"Package secure, extraction team proceed to target point alpha and get me outta here before they come!"

"Hey, has anypony seen Twilight?" Spike asked, patrolling the town in search for the lavender librarian.

"Oh hey Spike, what's up?" Spike turned around, and saw Bon Bon, as well as her roommate Lyra trotting together.

"Have any of you seen Twilight? I just heard some commotion outside while I was in the kitchen, but when I went to see what was going on, Twilight was gone."

"Oh that's strange. Do you know where she went?" Lyra asked, followed by a facehoof from Bon Bon.

"If he knew where she was, would he be out here looking for her?" She said annoyingly.

"Lyra? What the heck are you doing here? And how'd you get here so fast?" The group turned their heads towards the new voice, and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders running towards them.

"Uuuuh, what do you mean?" She asked confusingly.

"We saw you running into the forest with Twilight! Something about Bon Bon getting attacked by a nasty monster or something like that!" Applebloom said.

"I was never attacked! Where in Equestria did you hear that from?" Now it was Bon Bon's turn to be confused.

"Yeah, I was with Bon Bon the entire day! I was never with Twilight!"

"Wait, you guys saw Twilight?" Spike said.

"EXCUSE ME." Two Royal Guards in full sets of golden armor trotted towards them.

"We've spotted a changling entering the town, and we overhead your conversation about duplicate sightings of the same pony."

"Changling? Wait, then that means..." Lyra began.

"Twilight's been KIDNAPPED?!" Spike yelled, biting his claws in worry.

"Where was Twilight last seen?!" The guard commanded. Sweetie Bell responded.

"We saw Twilight with Lyra running into the entrance of the Everfree Forest! Or at least the changling Lyra..."

"C'mon, we need to tell the others!" One of the Guards said, and ran off to deliver the news. The other one turned back to the group.

"We thank you for your assistance, but you need to stay put and--" They heard the crackle of a radio come from his helmet, followed by words they could not make out. The guard tilted his head to listen, and his face suddenly turned from serious to shock and horror. The radio went silent, and the guard stood on shaking hooves, his eyes wide.

"Canterlot..is under attack by enemy fighters." He said gravely. As if to emphasize his point, deep rumbles followed by a series of echoing booms resonated from the distant mountains.