The Equestrian Civil War

by Palibakufun

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rarity, Other, Tragedy, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6
Length: 9268

A terrorist attack by a group of robed unicorns sparks tension between the different groups in Equestria, threatening an all out war. Can Twilight and her friends stop all of the chaos, or will they also be roped in to the fighting as well?

Out of the blue, an attack on every major city in Equestria, and some non major cities, by an organized, secretive group of unicorns leads to some questions being asked by the non-magic wielding users of Equestria, and sparks high tensions between the different groups. These tensions threaten to start an all out civil war.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends are called upon to help stop this threat, but will they be able to come together, or will these tensions tear them apart as well?

(I sort of took this idea from another story I read once, but it wasn't well received and I can't find it again. Also, I don't know what to do for cover art, lol. One more thing, this story is subject to having its ratings and categories changed once I figure out a main direction for where I want to take this story)

Published 2013-02-18 19:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-07 21:55:33 UTC

Chapter 1

The sun hung high over Canterlot, shining over all the busy citizens who were going about their normal day routines. It was 2:00 P.M. exactly, and on one of the streets below, something was happening. Some screams could be heard throughout the city, coupled by a few explosions. Ponies hurried away from the scene as quickly as they could, fearing for their lives.

Some figures in dark grey robes all stood in the road, firing off magic missiles in every direction, not aiming for ponies in particular, but not caring if they did so happen to hit one. Buildings caught fire and explosions sent debris flying all over, causing even more injuries. In another part of the city, the same scene was being reenacted at the exact same time, more hooded figures firing off magic attacks at the citizens and surrounding buildings.

Princess Celestia heard the explosions and shouts from her room in the castle tower and went out to the balcony to take a look. In three different parts of the city, from what she could see, chaos was erupting. Alarmed, she raised the alarm and dispatched the royal guards to the scene. As she headed back into the castle to warn more ponies, she found that even some of the unicorn guards were attacking, assaulting other guards and servants, as well as citizens that so happened to be in the castle at the time.

Confusion was being spread, and Celestia didn't know what to do, if even part of her own guard were turning against her and everypony else. She made quick work of any bad unicorns she saw herself, and helped out other injured guards. Not all of the unicorns of the guard had turned, and she was sure that not all of the unicorn population had turned either. But there were a good number of bad ponies, and she had no idea where they had come from. Once the castle had been defended, and most of the situations within the city had been stopped, the citizens were all in an uproar about what had just transpired. None of the hooded ponies were able to be captured, for those who weren’t killed in the retaliation drank a liquid that killed them almost instantly, preventing any sort of questioning.

All of this happened within a thirty minute interval, and it left seventy to eighty dead in the city, five dead guards, and a whole lot more injured and thousands of bits worth of damage had been done. The citizens of Canterlot were angry, and were storming the castle, wanting answers for what all had happened. Celestia exited to her balcony outside of her room to address the city in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Please, citizens of Canterlot! Please, everypony calm down. Already I have my finest detectives on the case of what is going on! Nopony panic, for that will only cause even more civil unrest! Please, help collect the dead and wounded, and return to your homes. Rest assured that the royal guard is on full alert now, and that we will find out who is to blame for this attack!” The crowd was unimpressed by the speech, but could do little about anything. The ponies did as the princess asked, and several worked to collect all of the dead bodies and ID them and alert the families, and all of the wounded were taken to hospitals.

Celestia had immediately called a meeting to order in the war-room, which hadn’t been used for a very long time. Princess Luna had been woken and was there, as was Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, and all the heads of the Canterlot Royal Guard.

“I’ve called you all here to address the issue of the attack that happened about one hour ago. As you all know, three different attacks happened within the city, and several of our own guards even turned on us! What is strange, is that it was all unicorns.”

“Have the unicorns been planning an overthrow of the government under our noses?!” a Pegasus guard captain called out.

“Of course not! Had a wide-scale overthrow been planned, every unicorn would have taken part in the attack, and that obviously did not happen!” Another captain argued back.

“Please, stop arguing!” Shining armor yelled. “We need to figure out who is to blame for organizing these attacks, and arguing amongst each other like that won’t get us anywhere!. Now, Princess Celestia, do you have any-“ Shining was cut off by the entrance of a Pegasus scout, who came from Manehattan as his armor suggested.

“Please, excuse the interruption your Highness, but I bring urgent news from Manehattan: an attack from many robed Unicorns happened about an hour ago, starting at precisely 2:00.”

“So it wasn’t just Canterlot…” Celestia mumbled under her breath. The rest of the room let out a gasp, and the outspoken Pegasus captain spoke up again.

“See?! Unicorns all over the kingdom of Equestria are rising up against the country!”

“Captain, silence your tongue, lest I have it rendered useless by one of our own unicorns!” Celestia threatened.

“See? This is just as my fathered told me. You can’t trust a unicorn, with their blasphemous magic! Even our own princess makes threats to do harm by magic!” The room was starting to get uncomfortable, but another scout pony, this one from Cloudsdale entered the room.

“Your Highness-“ Another scout entered.

“Please, both of you. Have you brought news of attacks by robed ponies?”

“Yes, ma’am!” One of the scouts called.

“What, even from Cloudsdale?! How is that possible?” the Pegasus guard yelled.

“Cloudwalking spells, sir! Every single one of them had cast cloudwalking spells. How they got into the city in the first place is unknown at this time, but we’re currently looking into it.

Celestia put her hooves to her face, wiping some tears that were forming in her eyes. The entire room stood stunned, and she let out a soft sniff. “Please, tell me, were many ponies killed in the attacks on these other cities?”

“Yes! 115 reported dead in Manehattan!”

“45 dead from Cloudsdale.”

“254 dead from Hoofington!”

Celestia gasped at the numbers. So many ponies dead… They had to get to the bottom of this.

“Please, if you will excuse me, I need time to think…” Celestia quickly exited the war-room, sobbing quietly, and Luna quickly followed her, leaving the captains of the guard to argue and bicker amongst themselves.

Celestia hurried to her room, walking into one of the windows and looking out, trying to stifle her cries. Luna quickly followed her, and stood beside her to try and console the sadness the solar princess was feeling.

“Sister, I’m so-“

“No, Luna, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have stormed out like that. It’s so unbefitting of a princess to be so… unprofessional. It’s just… hearing the news of so many dead, innocent ponies disturbs me greatly. There’s no telling how many of these attacks have happened all over Equestria, and why they happened… I wonder… Twilight! I hope she’s okay!” Celestia hurried over to her desk, and pulled out a blank sheet of parchment and a quill, and began to write quickly:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I’m writing to check up on you and make sure that you and your friends and the rest of Ponyville are faring well. Canterlot has just come under attack by a group of dark robed unicorns, and it has left many ponies dead. Sadly, it seems the attacks are not isolated to Canterlot, but have also been reported in Manehattan, Cloudsdale, and Hoofington. I feel that these incidents have been mimicked in other places as well, though. Please, respond as quickly as possible to this letter.

Yours truly,

Princess Celestia

The Princess rolled up the letter as soon as her quill left the page, and sealed it and sent it off to Spike to be delivered. Luna approached her sister slowly, nuzzling into the white princess’ neck.

“Please, sister, don’t worry yourself too much on this. I know this is hard for you to deal with, losing so many subjects, but it pains me much to see you distraught. I only ask that you don’t let this issue affect you too much. The entire kingdom is going to be relying heavily upon your guidance in a time like this, and you’re going to need to be there for them.”

Celestia smiled as her younger sister tried to make her feel better. She was so happy to have her sister back; Luna was the best pony when it came to cheering her up. Though she wasn’t quite cheered up, it was good to know that Luna cared much for her.

“Thank you, Luna… But I’m afraid of what many ponies are going to think about this attack. Since it appears that only Unicorns are a part of the attack, unicorns everywhere are going to be ridiculed by the population and distrusted. I’m afraid this effect may even stretch to us, dear sister, and distrust is something we can’t afford right now, for as you said, Equestria is going to need me… need us.”

“We’re just going to have to show as much support for the kingdom as we can, to try and prevent a loss of trust, and hopefully avoid a big crisis.” Luna replied.

Celestia nodded. “I think we need to return to the war-room. We sort of left the captains there, and I fear more arguing might have sparked…”

The two princesses hurried back to the room where Celestia’s fears were confirmed, as they could hear yelling down the hall as they got closer.

“-because unicorns want to be the dominant race and rule over Equestria!”

“That’s stupid! Why should we care about ruling Equestria, when the princesses are already alicorns!” Another captain rebutted.

“Maybe the princess are in le-“ the Pegasus captain cut his sentence prematurely as the two reentered the room.

“Captain Steel Burst, might I remind you that the punishment for traitors is the casting away of any sort of positions of power?” Luna said as Celestia and she walked back up to the table.

“Bah! So our sad princess has returned! Give me one reason that we should have either of you lead us over any other pony in this room” Celestia beamed livid at him. Insulting her for being sad about losing so many innocent ponies…

“Captain, stand down!” Shining Armor called out.

“You would defend her, you-“

“I said stand down!” Shining Armor shot a spell at the Pegasus captain, catching him off guard and causing him to tumble over in surprise. When he got up to say something, his mouth was completely missing. He could make no sound.

“Maybe that will shut you up for a minute! Arg!” This royally pissed off the captain, so he jumped over the table at Shining, who caught him instantly in his levitation. “Captain, not only have you spoken out against the princesses
themselves, but also against a higher rank! As the head commander of the Equestrian Royal Guard, I hereby banish you from your command as a captain of the royal guard! Dismissed!” Shining dropped the captain and undid his spell, giving him back his mouth.

“Fuck you all!” He said and immediately ran out of the room. The rest of the occupants merely stood and watched the scene unfold.

“I’m sorry your majesty, shall we continue?” Shining said as he looked over to Celestia. She was staring at the map of Equestria on the table.

Celestia let out a sigh and looked over to Shining Armor. “Shining Armor, I don’t know what to do, truthfully, besides wait for our detectives to uncover what is going on. It’s a shame that even the upper ranks in our own military are turning against unicorns so quickly. That worries me for what it might be like everywhere else in the world…”

Author's Note

This isn't going to be too great yet, but if I can't force myself to upload some things I'm not happy with, I'll never get anything done. So please critique me! I want to get better! Also, this is probably my first REAL chaptered story, so this is probably going to update a bit slow, especially with college and stuff coming up, so yeah.

Chapter 2

Twilight Sparkle was writing on a piece of parchment with a quill while taking occasional glances over at a book to her side. She was studying and writing a report over the entire history of Equestria as a little project, and hoped to give it to the Princess by the end of the week. She already had twenty pages down, and only had to do one-hundred more. While writing, she stopped mid-word to yawn, finishing the sentence and putting her quill down. She looked out the window, seeing the sun high in the sky.

“Hmm, it’s such a nice day out… Maybe I’ll go for a walk. All this research is making me tired.” She got up from her desk and called to Spike, “Spike, I’m leaving for a walk! I’ll be back later!”

“Okay!” He called back simply. Twilight exited the door into the cool breeze outside. It was warmer than it had been the past few days. She took a deep breath and let her mind clear itself of everything she had just got down writing down. The town was bustling with activity, for all the other ponies were enjoying the weather while it lasted as well. From the position of the sun, Twilight guessed it was about one-thirty in the afternoon, which means she had been writing for a good two hours.

“Man, I need to get out more.” She mused to herself, stretching her body out and making her way towards town square. She saw the faces of many ponies she knew, but none of her close friends. They were all probably busy working at this time of the day. Twilight loved working the library, because she didn’t have to have a strict work schedule, and even when the library was open, she could leave Spike to man it. It wasn’t like the library got very busy anyways.

As Twilight walked down the main streets of Ponyville, she noted that there were a few ponies dressed in dark robes with hoods that covered their faces completely. At first it was just one, and then two, and then she began to see several of them. She couldn’t think of anything going on that would warrant seeing so many ponies dressed in the same dark garments.

“Maybe they’re planning a flash mob or some sorts? I love flash mobs!” Twilight giggled to herself, wondering what it was they could be planning. She decided that she’d try and stick around town to see what would become of this. She guessed that if it were a planned flash mob, it would probably happen at two, since they’re already around so closely. A quick stop at Sugarcube Corner would be perfect to burn some time and grab a quick snack. The Sugarcube Corner was right down the road from Twilight’s library, so it was easy for her to stop by and grab something to eat without even Spike noticing.

She walked through the doors of Sugarcube corner, and a wave of sweet aroma greeted her nose, causing her to pause for a moment to take it in. Pinkie Pie was working at the counter.

“Oh, hi Twilight! How’re you doing?”

“I’m doing well, Pinkie. I think there’s going to be a flash mob outside in a few minutes, so I decided to drop in to grab a snack and wait around. Can you get away to wait with me?”

“Flash mobs? I LOVE flash mobs! Of course I can! Flash mobs are so fun and I love it when a bunch of ponies get together and sing all at once and it’s so random and so fun and AAAA!” Twilight ignored Pinkie’s spasm and walked up to the counter to take a look at what she might want to eat.

“Hmm… I think a cupcake sounds just about right, right now. I’d like one chocolate cupcake with cream cheese icing, please!”

Pinkie reached into the counter, never skipping a beat with her words, bagged the cupcake for Twilight, and took the bits and put them away.

“Thanks, Pinkie! So, you coming?”

“and then- Yes! Of course I am. One second!” Pinkie seemingly disappeared, poofing into the back room to ask Mrs. Cake if she could get away. The answer was obvious as Twilight heard Pinkie squeal in delight, and ran out to walk with Twilight out the door.

When they exited Sugarcube, Twilight noticed even more of the cloaked ponies walking around now. “See what I mean, Pinkie? With all these ponies dressed up alike, I figured a flash mob must be on the way!”

“I see what you mean! I’m so excited! Oh, I hope that they sing, because I love it when other ponies all sing together!” Pinkie continued to babble as the two made their way to town square, where they sat down and Twilight snacked on her cupcake. As soon as she took a bite, she grinned and murred happily to herself. Sugarcube Corner, as far as she was concerned, had the best sweets in all of Equestria: even better than any she’d had in Canterlot!

After a few minutes of listening to Pinkie converse with herself and finishing her cupcake, Twilight noticed all of the hooded ponies started to meander near town square, outside of town hall where they were. “Oh, Pinkie, I think it’s about to start!”

Twilight looked up at the sky, and the sun had just slightly eased into position, about two o’clock. A lot of other ponies were standing around, wondering what all the hooded cloaks were for as well. Finally, one of the ponies looked down at a watch on his left foreleg, and looked up to the crowd. He gave a small nod, and all at once, the ponies threw off their hoods.

Twilight’s first impression was one of happiness, because all of the ponies were unicorns, and that made her think that they were about to do a big magic show. But as soon as they all started to charge their horns, something just didn’t feel right. She saw one of the unicorns look right at Pinkie and her, and saw an evil look in his eyes. He grinned at her, and before he could react, Twilight grabbed Pinkie Pie and teleported ten feet away from the spot. Not a second later, a magic bolt crashed right into the spot where they were sitting. At the same time, all of the other ponies, about twenty to thirty of them, also started to shoot wildly into the crowd that was surrounding them.

Lots of explosions came, along with the screams of all the citizens. Twilight’s eyes widened, and she stood in shock, along with Pinkie, as they watched many of the innocent ponies being shot to the ground with magic. She was snapped out of her trance after an explosion went off right next to her and Pinkie, though, and grabbed Pinkie and teleported away again. This time, she took them back to the library, where she quickly proceeded to lock the door behind her.

Almost in complete shock, Twilight just stared into the library with Pinkie staring into the distance as well.

“T-Twilight? What just happened?”

“I-I don’t know, Pinkie. I really don’t know…” From inside the library, they could still hear the screams of pain and terror, along with many explosions. “Ponyville doesn’t have any royal guard, so there’s no one to fend off this attack!... Well…”

“What is it, Twilight? Are you thinking-“

“Yes! We can’t hide in here, Pinkie! We’re the only thing stopping these unicorns from completely destroying all of Ponyville! C’mon, let’s go!”

“Yeah! Let’s teach them who not to mess with!”

Twilight opened the door to the library and dashed out just as Spike ran down the stairs, just missing them. “Twilight? Twilight!”

She could hear Spike call, but she couldn’t stop. He would be fine in this part of town for now, as all the chaos was happening downtown. Twilight and Pinkie ran, but were stopped as a group of three unicorns stepped into the main road, facing them. They all wore the same robes, but the hoods were down. Twilight instantly recognized one of them.

“L-Lyra? Is that you?” Twilight asked. Lyra was the middle pony. She stared at Twilight, before giving her a smile and charging her horn. Twilight gasped, but took a defensive position and charged hers as well. The problem was, it was three on one, and Pinkie couldn’t help her… wait, Pinkie!

“Pinkie, get out of here!” She looked over at Pinkie, but turned right back as she saw three magic missiles come barreling towards them. Twilight summoned a shield just in time, easily stopping the weak energy bolts.

“No, Twilight! I’m going to help you!”

“You can’t do anything against their magic, Pinkie, get out of here!” Pinkie shook her head and ran forward. Twilight cursed, and ran forward with her. This was as reckless as they could get, but she couldn’t let Pinkie get herself killed. As they charged, the three unicorns were preparing their attacks. Before they could get them off though, Twilight and Pinkie met them head on, and Twilight shot a stunning bolt right at Lyra, hitting her dead on. Pinkie leapt forward and smashed another one right in the face with her front hooves, and Twilight bucked the last one in the snout. The duo stood, looking at the three knocked out unicorns. Twilight really wanted to ask them what they were doing, but there was no time to spare; the rest of the city was in turmoil.

The two had to fight off several more little groups before they made it to town square, and they were greeted with a tragic sight; lots of ponies lay dead on the ground, and many of the buildings, including town hall, had been obliterated. Twilight had to hold back tears, and Pinkie was completely stunned silent. Twilight looked over at her, and saw tears coming down from her eyes.

“T-Twilight… Who would do such a thing?!” She yelled, the tears beginning to pour heavily from her eyes. Twilight hugged Pinkie, a single tear running down her cheek as well. “I don’t know, Pinkie, but this needs to be stopped! C’mon!” Twilight was thinking of all of her friends, and remembered Rarity.

“Wait, the Carousel Boutique is really close to town square! We need to check on Rarity!” She and Pinkie rushed as fast as they could, and came across Rarity in the streets, growling as her horn glowed its majestic blue color. She was fending off two cloaked figures by herself. “You leave my little sister and I alone, you scoundrels! I’ll never allow you to lay a hoof on her!” Just as she was about to attack, and the other two unicorns were about to attack, they both fell over on the ground, knocked out by Twilight and Pinkie.

“Rarity! Are you and Sweetie Bell alright?” Twilight called.

“Yes, we are dear! What is going on?!”

“It seems there’s a group of unicorns that’s terrorizing the entire town! There’s so many ponies dead everywhere!”

“W-what? Ponies dead?!” Rarity’s eyes went wide in disbelief. She looked back behind her, seeing Sweetie Bell poking her head out the door, tears running down her face. “Sweetie Bell, get back inside this instant!” Sweetie did as she was asked, withdrawing back inside immediately. “Oh Twilight, what ever are we going to do?”

“We need to help defend the town! There were only about thirty or so unicorns in total, and Pinkie and I have taken out about ten on our way here. These unicorns aren’t trained; they’re all citizens of Ponyville itself!”

“W-what?! You’re kidding!”

“No, I’m not! Now come on, we need to help out the town!” Rarity joined the little duo, and they headed back into town. Rarity proved to be more of a fighter than she lets on to be, able to easily defend from magic missiles with her own shield spell, and was able to take out a good three unicorns. After ten more of the attackers were taken down, they decided to go look for the rest of their friends. The three rushed off towards Sweet Apple Acres, where they saw lots of apple trees on fire.

“O-oh no, that can’t be good!” Twilight thought out loud as they rushed down the road towards the Apple family barn. The barn looked still intact from a distance, and as they got closer, they saw why: Applejack was panting, standing over the knocked out bodies of about six different unicorns.

“Applejack! Are you okay?” Twilight called out as the trio reached her. She slowly straightened up and nodded.
“Y-yeah… I’m okay. That was a rough fight though, let me tell ya’.”

“As long as you’re not hurt, and the rest of your family is unharmed, it’s okay. But we need to put out your trees!”

“Nah… As much as it pains me to say it, the trees that are on fire are already too far gone. The fire won’t spread, thanks to the distance we keep between them. Can’t run the most successful apple farm in all Equestria without a little future planning.”

“Okay then, we need to go check on Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash should be fine, considering she can just fly away.”

“Okay then, let’s go!” All four ponies hurried as fast as they could towards the Everfree Forest, finding Fluttershy’s shack completely unmolested.

“Thank you Celestia!” Twilight yelled as they approached the shack. They opened the door without knocking, and saw a flash of yellow as Fluttershy shot to the roof of her house, clinging to the ceiling with a shriek.

“W-who’s there?!”

“It’s okay, Fluttershy! It’s just us! Are you okay?” Fluttershy slowly lowered down to ground level, seemingly confused with what was going on.

“I-is everything okay?”

“No, it’s not! A large group of unicorns attacked Ponyville just now, and we came to make sure you’re okay.” Fluttershy’s eyes froze.

“A-attacked?”

“Yes! The worst part, is that it was all citizens of Ponyville! There’s several dead ponies in the streets!”

“What?!” Both Applejack and Fluttershy exclaimed together.

“You didn’t tell me that!” Applejack yelled.

“Sorry, sorry. But yes, there was a large group of cloaked unicorns that attacked Ponyville at directly two o’clock. At first, Pinkie and I hid in the library, but then I realized that Ponyville has no defenses… None except us, that is. So we all need to go back into town and make sure everypony is still okay.”

“O-oh my gosh…” Fluttershy fell to the ground, her face stricken with horror. She began to sniff as some tears welled up in her eyes. “I-I can’t believe this… this must be some kind of nightmare!”

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but it’s not. You can stay back here if you want, but we need to get back to town, and quickly!”

“No! I’m going!” She stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I-I can’t just sit here while other ponies are being hurt! Let’s go!” With that the group made their way back to town, hearing no more explosions. There was a still lot of screaming, though. They made it to town square and saw many citizens huddled around the bodies of the ponies that lost their lives in the initial attacks. When they approached, Mayor Mare came up to them, her face wet with tears.

“Mayor Mare, is the attack finally over?” Twilight asked.

“I- we think so. After you, Pinkie, And Rarity cleaned up most of them, a lot of the other ponies got the courage to fight back, and we cleared the rest out of town.”

“Very good… I-I’m really sorry about… About all of the losses.”

The mayor sniffed. “Don’t worry about me, Twilight Sparkle. If you must console somepony, make it the ones who lost loved ones. You might check yourselves, to make sure you lost no one.”

The group looked around the city, searching for the remains of any ponies that might have been left, and for any more attackers. They managed to bump into Rainbow Dash in the mess, who had tried to help put out some of the fires around town.

They found no casualties outside of the initial area. Apparently Twilight and Pinkie and Rarity did a pretty good job of slowing the attackers. They returned to town square, where all of the dead ponies were laid. Though it was a tragic sight, it was a blessing that so few had died in the attack. Twilight counted 13 total. Among them were Bonbon, Berry Punch, and…

“N-No! Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash called out as soon as she saw the body of the orange filly lying lifeless on the ground. She sped over to her, stroking the young pony’s mane with a hoof. “S-scootaloo, please don’t leave!” After the events with the camping trip, Rainbow and Scootaloo had really started to bond together. Rainbow had taken Scootaloo under her wing as a big sister, letting her live with her and even helped her with her flying.

The other five ponies stood around her, all of them shedding a tear for poor Scootaloo, and especially Rainbow Dash.

“S-she was so close to me… I loved her like my own sister!” Rainbow bawled, against her own nature, but this loss was such a blow to her.

Eventually, the entire town gathered in town square to mourn the loss of all of their friends and family. It was truly heart wrenching for so many, but it did serve to bring the community very close together. After the impromptu funeral, the mane six all gave each other a big hug and returned to their homes. Twilight offered to let Rainbow stay with her if she wanted, but she declined.

“I-I’m sorry Twilight, but I need to get through this on my own.”

“I understand, but just remember that all five of us are here for you, if you need us.”

“Thanks, Twilight…” Rainbow hung her head as she slowly flew off towards her house in the sky. Twilight had returned home with Spike, who had showed up at the services as well. As soon as the two walked into the library and Twilight shut the door, Spike started to grimace.

“Oh, not right no-“ he was cut off as a loud burp emitted from his mouth, spewing forth green fire, and a letter from Princess Celestia.

“Oh, the princess! She needs to know about this!... Or maybe she does, and that’s what the letter is about! I must read it quickly!” Twilight took the letter out of thin air and quickly opened it, scanning over the short message. All of the blood rushed from her face as she read, and she stood in silence.

“Uhm… Twilight? Is something wrong?”

“T-there… there were more attacks. All over Equestria, not just here! Spike, quickly, we must write the Princess back! No time, I’ll write the letter myself!” Twilight grabbed a quill and some parchment, and quickly sat at her writing desk, moving her research project. She began writing as fast as she could:

Dear Princess Celestia,

We have also had a run in with these robed ponies here in Ponyville. Every single one of them was in fact a unicorn, as you described. Something I happened to notice was that every single one of the unicorns involved in the attack was in fact from Ponyville. We killed none of the assailants ourselves, but it appears that the ones who didn't manage to run away took cyanide tablets and killed themselves on the spot. Whatever this is about, we need to get to the bottom of this.

Just to let you know, the other five elements and I are alright, but there are now thirteen dead ponies here in Ponyville. One of them was the young filly, Scootaloo, whom you might know Rainbow Dash now takes took care of (Twilight winced as she made such a horrible mistake on her part). As a community, no, a family, every pony gathered together after the assailants were finished with, and we had a memorial service for all who perished in the attack. With the quick work of my friends and I, we luckily managed to prevent almost any more deaths after the initial attack.

I feel that we may need to make arrangements to visit Canterlot in the very near future to all come and speak with you; this matter requires immediate action on the part of the elements. Please respond as quickly as possible.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight folded the letter up and sealed it and handed it to Spike who sent it away right away.

“Well Spike, now all we need to do is wait, I suppose… I’d start packing your things right away; I feel we have a trip to be made very quickly.”

Author's Note

Sorry guys... I don't know how to write Pinkie. Anyways, shit hit the wall now, and things are only going to get more dark from here. I hope you're ready for a ride.

(I edited Twilight's letter a little, fixing some grammatical issues and trying to make it sound more Twilighty).

Chapter 3

Princess Celestia was pacing back and forth in her throne room. The room had been closed off to the public, and no Solar Court would be held, due to the recent happenings; the royal guard was on the tips of their hooves with security, due to the fear of another attack. Celestia even felt it necessary to dismiss all of the unicorn guards on duty for the rest of the day. She hated to do that, for she knew that trust issues were bound to start rising up all over Equestria now, but the risk was too great at the time; some extreme cautions were going to have to be taken.

Celestia was the only pony in the court, but ample guards were stationed outside every entrance. No pony was to enter, for she was very busy thinking. Thinking… The sudden event of a terrorist attack on Equestria just seemed so far-fetched. It had been hundreds of years since anything even remotely like this had happened.

About five years after Luna had been banished to the moon, a group of cultists that worshipped the moon solely mounted an offense against the castle, but that had been put quickly down. The intentions of those ponies were obvious: they were angry about Luna being banished. But this… Hundreds of unicorns all around Equestria, attacking and killing random, innocent civilians at the exact same time… There was obviously a head to all of this. Discord had nothing to do with it…

“Arg!” Celestia yelled out loud to herself. So many thoughts were rushing through her head that she was having trouble thinking straight. Suddenly, a flash of green light startled her, and a letter appeared off to her left. She grabbed it with her magic and unfolded it immediately, not bothering to read who it was from. She knew it was from Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia read the letter, her eyes quickly darting over the page. As she read, her heart began to sink in her chest. All of the assailants were known citizens… That didn’t sound good at all. She continued reading, and was glad to hear that all of the elements were safe. But when she got to part about Scootaloo, she had to hold back a gasp. A young filly… A young filly was dead at the hands of these unicorns. Celestia’s eyes shut as she tried to hold back a tear. Celestia knew all about the situation with Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. The two of them had been sending her letters about how much they loved having each other’s as sort of sisters… She shook her head and forced herself to continue reading. The news about the community coming together was at least a nice thing, but the reasons behind it weren’t good.

As Celestia finished the letter, she nodded her head, agreeing with what Twilight had said: a trip was in order. The elements would probably be the best bet at investigating the entire situation. This was so dark though, she worried for their safety. This could turn up to be a dangerous cult. But normal guards wouldn’t be as effective as the elements. Their friendship together is what made them such a powerful fighting force. When they join forces, they’re nearly unbeatable. But that doesn’t mean that they’re immortal. She sighed and laid the letter over to the side. She retrieved some parchment and a quill from the table by her throne and began writing a reply.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I am extremely saddened to hear about the death of the young Scootaloo. I know how much she meant to Rainbow Dash. It raises my heart, though, to hear about the coming together of all of Ponyville after this tragic event. Please, don’t let this demoralize you or your friends too much, for you are correct: a visit is very much so in order.

I am writing you to let you know that I have arranged for a special carriage, flown by my own personal guards, to pick up you and your friends tomorrow morning at 9:00 A.M. It will arrive in town square of Ponyville. I expect you all to attend, for we have many issues to discuss when you arrive. Just as a forewarning, I am planning to send you and your friends to investigate this issue, so please relay a warning to them as well when you gather them.

When you arrive tomorrow, please go directly to my personal quarters. I have instructed all guards to allow you unhindered access, so don’t worry about being stopped. If you are stopped, raise some sort of alarm, for I am worried about the safety of even the castle at this point. One last thing, Twilight; please be careful.

Yours truly,

Princess Celestia

Celestia quickly rolled the letter up and sent it off to Spike. Celestia hoped that it would reach Twilight immediately, even though there was no need for a response, and they wouldn’t be coming until the next day. The entire situation had her in in a state of near-panic.

As soon as the letter disappeared, Celestia sighed to herself, but her ears twitched at a sound coming from the main hallway. It was a low hum… But what was causing it? The hum slowly got louder and louder, and Celestia could eventually make out voices.

“Oh dear, this can’t be good…” Celestia ran to the main door and opened it enough to poke her head out, looking at the two guards that were standing there. She looked down the hallway, seeing a massive crowd of ponies heading towards the door. “Guards!” She said, “Please, come in here. There’s no need to leave you two out here with a mob coming. Quickly, come!” The two guards dropped their still stance as soon as she said that, rushing quickly inside. The three retreated back from the door.

“I’m going to sit in my throne, you two take position on either side of me.” The two did as they were asked, and stood staring forward next to the princess. The mob reached the door after a bit, and there was lots of banging and knocking and shouting, “Let us in!”

“The door is not locked!” Celestia called to the door. Some of the ponies heard, and the door quickly swung open, and the mob burst into the room. Celestia took notice, that there were no unicorns among the crowd. Not a single one.

“We demand-“

“You demand? YOU demand?!” Celestia called out loudly, almost slipping into her Royal Canterlot voice. “You burst into MY throne room, and still have the audacity to DEMAND? All of you SILENT!” Celestia’s voice echoed through the courtroom. The crows shut up immediately, and the two guards flinched.

“I clearly said to the whole city that there will be no court today, so what makes you all think you can burst in here?”

“We are outraged that you are letting an uprising happen right under your nose and aren’t doing a sing-“

“DON’T you DARE finish that sentence! It has been approximately two hours, and you want me to fix something that’s over? I have spies and detectives sent out all over the city and every other city!”

“That’s not what we mean!” Another pony called out. “We mean that you’re not dealing with the unicorns! Some ponies went through the bodies of the unicorns that died in the attack, and they were all well-known citizens of Canterlot!”

“Yes, I know. The royal guard and I are looking into it! You are going to have to give us time!”

“Why do you need time?”

“Yeah, just lock all the unicorns up!” The crowd all began talking extremely loud over each other, forming into a muddy sound.

“SHUT UP!” Celestia yelled in her full Royal Canterlot Voice. Not just the room, but the whole caste, and possibly the whole city shook with her anger. “How can you all possibly turn on your fellow citizens so quickly?!”

“You mean like they did to us?!”

“What about the unicorns that didn’t participate in the attack? Not every unicorn was a part of what happened!”

“But what if they are just waiting?”

“Can you stop for just a minute to think about what you are saying? You’re asking me, half unicorn myself, to erect laws that discriminate against an entire breed of ponies? Can you not see how silly that sounds?” Celestia was really started to get frustrated with the crowd. They weren’t stopping to think, and were just reacting on a whim.

“She’s right!” Celestia sighed at the one pony who- “she IS part unicorn! Why would she help us?!” The crowd went into a complete uproar at that statement. The mob started to move closer and closer to Celestia, who sat in her thrown, unflinching.

“EVERYPONY OUT!” her voice boomed. “I WANT YOU ALL GONE, OUT OF MY CASTLE! IF YOU CAN’T SHOW ME THE COURTESY OF ALLOWING ME TO FIX THIS IN A NON-VIOLENT, NON-DISCRIMINATORY WAY, THEN I SHALL NOT SHOW YOU THE COURTESY OF STAYING IN MY THRONE ROOM! NOW EVERY PONY GET OUT OR I WILL HAVE YOU FORCEFULLY REMOVED!” This last speech was broadcast over the entire city. Besides being so angry to yell that loud, she wanted the entire city to just leave her alone long enough to think.

The crowd stood still and silent, staring at the fuming princess. One of the ponies spoke up. “We’ll be watching you Celestia! If this issue isn’t resolved quickly, we’ll take the matters into our own hooves!” The crowd began to file out of the throne room, mumbling among themselves as the door slammed shut behind them. Celestia stood, breathing in deep and staring at the door. As the ponies disappeared though, she sighed, and her eyes closed, tears forming in them. The angry panting turned into sobs as the princess broke down right there, dropping to the floor and crying into her front hooves. The two guards broke attention to tend to her.

“Princess, are you alright?”

“No I’m not alright! One single incident occurs, and now the entire city, maybe the entire kingdom, is threatening to revolt and inquisit all of the unicorns in Equestria! Peace for the past hundreds of years has spoiled the citizens, and they don’t know what pain feels like anymore, and now that one bad thing happens, they’re losing their minds because of it. This is really bad… I hope Twilight and her friends hurry as fast as they can tomorrow…” Celestia slowly stood up and sniffed, her face now wet with tears. Her legs were shaky.

“I-I need to write a letter to somepony who needs more love than I do, right now…”

***

Twilight was finishing reading the letter Princess Celestia had sent back to her. For a good minute, she stared at the last line on the page: “Please, be careful.” It made Twilight really think about the situation. How often did she have to worry about her own safety when traveling in Equestria?. “Are we all packed, Spike?” Twilight called when she snapped out of her little daze.

“Yes, we are! So we’re leaving for sure?”

“Yes. The princess has arranged for a carriage to shuttle us directly to Canterlot. It will meet us in town square at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning, so we need to make sure to get plenty of rest tonight.”

“Getting any sort of good sleep tonight will be hard…”

“Yeah. I know what you mean…” Twilight sighed. The day’s events had affected her greatly, but she was too tired by it all to be too sad about it. She was luckily to personally not have lost anypony that was close to her, but just thinking about poor Scootaloo… “Okay, Spike, I need to go tell the girls the plan for tomorrow. I’ll try and be back as quickly as possible, okay?”

“Okay. Please hurry home Twilight.”

“Don’t worry, Spike, I will.” Spike looked like he was about to cry himself. Twilight smiled sympathetically at the young dragon, walking over to him and giving him a small kiss on the forehead. “Everything is going to be okay, Spike, don’t you worry. You, me, and the girls will get this all straightened out.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m positive. Do you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you!”

“Good. Then I’m going to make a promise to you right now. We will make it through this whole thing, and no one is going to get hurt anymore. Understand?” Spike nodded. “Good. Now, I will be back as soon as possible.” Twilight kissed Spike again and then quickly trotted out the door towards Sugarcube corner. Pinkie was the closest, so she might as well start there.

Twilight burst into the door a bit louder than she meant to. “Mrs. Cake!” Mrs. Cake shrieked and ducked behind the counter.

“Ack, the unicorns are back!”

“No, it’s just me, Twilight Sparkle! I need to speak to Pinkie right now, it’s an emergency!”

Mrs. Cake slowly peaked out from behind the counter. “Oh, okay then. She’s upstairs, but I think something is wrong with her. She hasn’t come down since she got here…”

“I’ll talk to her and see what the issue is then. Thanks.” Twilight went up the stairs and found Pinkie’s room and knocked. “Hello, Pinkie?” Twilight put her ear to the door. Pinkie didn’t answer, but she was in there. Twilight could hear sobs coming from in the room. “Pinkie, please open up!”

“I’m sorry Twilight, I’m really not in the mood to talk right now!” Pinkie was obviously trying to hide the fact that she was crying from Twilight, but it failed miserably. She broke into more sobs after she finished her sentence.

“Look, Pinkie, please let me in. You sound horrible, and I have something important to tell you!” Twilight could hear a sigh, and then hooves walking, before the door cracked open, and an eyeball looked at her.

“What do you need?”

“I just need to talk to you.”

“Fine, come in, I guess…” Pinkie opened the door the rest of her way. Pinkie was revealed, and her normally poofy mane and tail fell flat to her sides, and the pink color in her coat seemed dulled.

“Pinkie, you look horrible right now. I think we need to talk.”

“I’m sorry Twilight, but you can’t do anything to fix it…”

“No, but I know what you’re sad about, I bet. And I can at least try to make you feel better. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“I guess so…”

“So are you sad about what happened today?” Pinkie nodded slowly. “I know what happened was a tragedy that never should have happened to us, or to anypony in the kingdom. I mean, why would anypony kill another?”

“I don’t know! And it makes me so sad to think that ponies like that exist, and so many of them! It just happened right out of the blue, just like that! So many bad ponies…”

“But Pinkie, we have to be strong. The elements of harmony are what Equestria needs right now. You, me, and the rest of the gang. Princess Celestia has called us to Canterlot tomorrow morning, and we need to be packed and ready in town square at 9 o’clock in the morning.” Pinkie flinched at the mention of town square.

“What? So soon? I don’t know if I’m up for it, Twilight…”

“Please, listen Pinkie. What is it that you like to do, more than anything else in the world?”

“Make other ponies happy.”

“Right! You are probably the friendliest pony in all of Equestria. I mean, what job can be more important than making others happy? Not much.”

“D-do you really mean that, Twilight?”

“Yes I mean it!” Twilight leaned in and hugged Pinkie tight. “You’re probably the best friend that anypony could possibly as for! You’d give your life for anypony, I bet. That’s something to really be admired in you. I know it’s going to be hard, but if you want to make anypony happy, we’re going to have to get to the bottom of this mystery, and find out why that attack happened, before another one is launched.”

“Another attack is planned already?”

“Well, not necessarily, but if a terrorist group like that attacks once, they’re not going to stop there. They probably have even more grand schemes planned than that.”

“That scares me to think about…”

“It scares me too. But us and our friends together can tackle any obstacle! I know we can!”

“Y-you’re right, Twilight!” Twilight saw the sheen start to return to Pinkie’s coat, the colors seeping back in. “We need to stop those bad ponies from hurting anypony else!” Her mane and tail slowly began to curl back up, until she looked like her old self again. She wiped her wet face with a hoof and sniffed, a smile finally back on her face.

“Yes! I’m glad you’re feeling better, Pinkie.”

“Thank you so much, Twilight! I really needed that pep talk! I don’t know how I can thank you! Maybe a party?”

“The party will have to wait, Pinkie. We have work to do.”

“Right!”

“Hey, do you want to come with me to let the other girls know? I came to you first.” Twilight walked to the door and opened it, looking back to Pinkie.

“Yeah, I’ll come with you!” She followed Twilight out the door and down the stairs into the main room of Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie waved to Mrs. Cake as the two passed her.

“I’m leaving for a little bit, Mrs. Cake! I’ll be back as soon as possible!”

“Okay, then! I’m glad you’re feeling better, Pinkie!”

“Me too, thanks!” She and Twilight walked from the building out into the open air. The town had an air of silence and sadness to it. There were no ponies out and about. It could be because of fear, or possibly just no will to really do anything. Pinkie and Twilight made their way to the outskirts of town, where Rarity’s boutique was. They walked up to the front door, and Twilight knocked. They waited for a few moments, before hearing, “One moment, please!”

They stood for longer than a few moments, but Rarity eventually made it to the door and opened. “Oh, Twilight, Pinkie, how are you two?”

“We’re fine right now, thanks. We need to talk to you about something?”

“Uhm, w-what could that be?”

“Princess Celestia has requested that us six visit Canterlot tomorrow. Can you be in town square by 9 o’clock tomorrow morning?”

“Of course! I can do that, yes.”

“And Rarity, please pack light.”

“W-… Yes… Yes, of course.” Rarity seemed disappointed at the request, but nodded. “I will be ready.”

“Great, we’ll see you then.” Twilight and Pinkie bid goodbye and left Rarity to pack. Now they had to let the other three know.

***

The sun shone low in the sky over Ponyville, and six multicolored mares stood with their saddlebags on their backs, waiting for the Royal Guard to arrive, along with one lone, purple dragon. They all stood silent, most of all Pinkie. Pinkie stared at the ground, no smile upon her face.

“Hey, Pinkie, somethin’ wrong there?” Applejack questioned, taking note of the non-bubbly Pinkie.

Pinkie snapped out of the trance she appeared to be in. “Oh, no, I’m fine and dandy, heh!” Her answer was nervous, though, and Applejack didn’t buy it.

“I don’t believe that. You’re just not acting like yourself. Normally you’d be taking our ears off right now.”

“I dunno, I guess I’m just not in a super-talkative mood right now.” Before the conversation could continue, though, the sound of beating wings could he heard. Just as it reached 9 o’clock, a flying chariot, which Twilight recognized as the princess’ personal one, appeared with two white pegasi guards pulling it at the front.

The two landed gently with the chariot, and the six elements and Spike all gathered wordlessly into the chariot. They all fit fairly easily with a little bit of movement room left for each of them. As soon as they were ready, the guards ran forward and began to flap their wings, and the chariot seemed to lift effortlessly into the air.

The ride to Canterlot wasn’t much better than the wait for the guards. It was completely silent, and no one looked at each other. All the ponies were lost in their own thoughts, thinking about obvious things. What exactly did Celestia want them to do? This was a very big issue, and they themselves had no idea of how to stop whatever from happening. After about thirty minutes of flight, the castle came into view, and ten minutes later they landed in an open courtyard right outside of the castle doors. There was a massive crowd of non-unicorns outside the doors that began to yell as the chariot landed. The guards had to avoid some pedestrians as they landed, and had to plow through a few more before the chariot landed. When the elements jumped out, they were berated by the crowed. Twilight and Rarity especially received most of the hate. They quickly ran through the doors, which then shut tight behind them.

“That’s not a good sign at all…” Twilight said, taking a moment to collect her thoughts.

“Yeah, all the ponies are already in an uproar about all this! They were calling you and Rarity all kinds of bad things!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“We need to see the princess now, y’all.” Applejack stated, and they all trotted down the hallway and up a stairway to the princess' personal bedrooom."

Author's Note

Bleh, I feel like I wasted too much time writing this chapter. I took breaks, and my writing sort of got worse over that little time period. Also, I feel I'm not very good at writing Pinkie, lol. Oh well. Please tell me how I'm doing!