Long live the princess

Chapter 3: Count Down

PonyVille, Sugar Cube Corner

31/12/4

10:12

“YO! Pinkie we need about 60 super special “Happy Hearths Warmings” Cakes, 100 holiday apple fritters, 400 Hearth shaped cupcakes and cookies, and 50 pies!” Yelled one of the cashiers from the other side of the bakery.

“Got it!” she yelled back giggling as she turned around to yell at her staff,

“Alright nancies! We got a big day ahead of us! Hearths Warmings day! One of the most stressful and second most loving time of the year! People are going to be stressed and what do you do when you’re stressed!” She said slapping on an army helmet and whip

“EAT TREATS MADAME PINKIE!” her staff yelled back, causing her helmet to fly completely off

“ALRIGHT AND WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO MOTHER BUCKERS!” She yelled back, floating 5 hooves off the ground

“MAKE SOME MOTHER BUCKING TREATS MADAME PINKIE!” they yelled back again

“That’s right. Now lets make the most super doper extra eeeeexra special treats this Hearth Warmings! DO YOU GOT THAT MAGGOTS!?” She yelled

“MA’AM YES MA’AM!” They yelled as they went into overhaul mode, making cakes and treats like nobodies business.

PonyVille, Sweet Apple Acres

10:25

“Big Mac, tell the others to meet up at the barn. I gota little speech ready for ‘em” Applejack said, whipping the sweat from her head.

“Eeyup!” he said as he galloped into the fields.

The medium sized crowd of farm ponies with a small pack of donkeys and a few broncos had gathered around the barn, which had gone through some major renovations, looking up at their boss questionably.

“Aright fellas, we got us a big day ahead of us, soon the snow will start to pour down and the trees will get covered. So by next… uh… Thursday? Yeah. By next Thursday we need all the apples bucked for winter. Got it!” and with a conjoined yeehaw, they went back to work, bucking trees and taking the apples to the barn. Applejack sighed as she went inside the barn, looking around, when she noticed a dark orange stallion waiting for her there. A multicolored apple on his flank, and a slowly spreading grin face.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said as he got up close to Applejack’s face, leaned in so that their noses touched. At this time Applejack started breathing faster and deeper, that’s when she lunged at him, landing on top of him as their mouths interlocked. They broke and Applejack leaned in next to his ear,

“And I’ve been waiting for you to sugercube” She said grinning…

PonyVille, Library

11:00

Twilight woke up screaming blood murder as she awoke from her long night of studying, a bead of cold sweat trailed down from her forehead. Spike ran in, carrying a stick with a sharp pointy emerald on the tip.

“What is it? Have the Zombies attacked!” He yelled at the purple unicorn

“Oh Spike! I had an awful, awful, AWFUL nightmare!” She said holding her head in her hooves

“What happened?” he said dropping the staff

“I dreamed that the girls had their cutie marks swapped after I accidently said a spell that was made by Star Swirl the Bearded, so I had to help the girls get their cutie marks back, and at the end I find out the what Star Swirl was missing and complete the spell”

“That… Sounds oddly familiar…” He said scratching his chin,

“Oh but it gets weirder! Once I complete the spell, Celestia teleports me to an unknown location, where she tells me that I have reached my true destiny! And once that happens I get teleported back to PonyVille an ALICORN and I get crowned a PRINCESS!!!.... Oh and Derpy was there, for some odd reason”

“Okay I know I’ve heard and seen this before, well anyway Twilight, you got letter from the princess.” He said handing her a letter,

“Okay, thank you” she said levitating it over to her side, and then unfolding it, “Alright what to does she want now?”

Dear My Faithful Student Twilight

It has accrued to me that your friends businesses have boomed as well as your once small town of Ponyville. So I ask that you and your friends to join me, my sister Luna, your family, and as well as some diplomats. However, I should warn you, of a certain guest that will join us as well. Since Hearths Warming is a time of peace, Discord will be joining, as well as the Griffin king Clawulus and Vladimir Pontin (oh the parodies), the newly elected leader of the Poviet Union, as well as the leader of New Order, Tether Wing. I sincerely need this to go well, so if you and your friends would come and join us it would be much appreciated.
P.S. Please bring the Elements of Harmony, I’ve felt a disturbance that has made me uneasy for quite some time now and I don’t want to take any chances.

Take Care

Princess Celestia

Twilight read over the note again and looked up,
“So Twilight, what does the princess want?” Spike said prepping a pot of tea.
“…She just invited us to a time bomb”

Canterlot, Canterlot Penitentiary
15:31

Okay, we are a go Blood money thought as he slid his way through the crowded prison yard, he made his way to the western wing. Plasmid remained seated on a bench near the southern side of the prison, watching as Arachnid used her charm to convince the
Pony Supremacy, then the Griffin Mafia and finally the Donkey Cartel.

Canterlot, Royal Canterlot Train station
17:04

“Why hello there my little ponies, surprised to see me greet you here I see” Discord said as the 5 mares powered up their elements except Fluttershy, who went up and gently hugged the Draconequus, who greatly returned the hug. At the sight of this, the mares disengaged their elements. His long neck was wrapped in a multicolored scarf and a wool cap that was pierced by his two jagged antlers. “I am glad to see you all in a more peaceful setting, don’t you agree Twilight?” He asked folding his hands and leaning in.
“I guess… But if she isn’t worried about you. Then why did she ask us to bring the elements” she asked, Discord shrugged his shoulder, putting his claw on Fluttershy’s head, and then shrinking his size so that he was the same size and then his body started to morph. There was a large flash of light and an extremely loud clap, causing everyone to jump. When the light receded, a tall unicorn appeared in its place. His coat was a light brownish color and mane was grey as well as his tail. His cutie mark was a silhouette of Discord doing his trademark dance (The Running man if your wondering). Everyone on the station looked in astonishment at the once chaotic creature that now looked at felt like one of them, and then a foal started crying and every thing went back to normal.

“So, how do you like the new Discord? I change into this form when I travel around Canterlot and don’t want unwanted attention” he said whipping his mane at them.
“B-but that’s impossible! Only high-level unicorns and Alicorns can perform morphing spells!” At this Discord started to chuckle,
“Oh Twilight, when will you learn that your pony magic is nothing compared to those of a Draconequus. Many of us learn morphing spells when where just hatchlings” he said proudly boasting about his species,
“Wait, I thought that the Draconequus were wiped out in the Celestial uprising?” Twilight said pointing it out, suddenly the gloating look on the unicorn’s face faded. He just looked at the ground, scrapping his hooves against the stone walk way.
“Thanks for reminding me” he said looking up at the group. “Let’s just get to the castle, it’s been a long day and I just want to rest.” And the group trotted towards the palace, not noticing the zebra with a radio silently whispering
“They have arrived”

Canterlot Armory
19:32

“EY! Rumble, get yo bloody arse over er!” said the slightly drunk guard captain. At that moment, a young cadet stumbled in, crossbow in his hooves, an assault rifle on his back.
“Rumble reporting! What is you need sir!” he said saluting to the captain, and then he realized that the captain was to drunk beyond reason.
“I… I… I need you t… to take these r…reports to… Co.... Commander Armor! P… Pronto!” the captain mumbled as he struggled to grab the scroll. The cadet sighed as he trotted over, stumbling over a bottle of Apple Jack Daniel’s (Apples Cider for Only the Toughest of Stallions). Just as he grabbed it, the door to the office opened and two uniformed Pegasi bursted though, both of them wielding pistols and helmets. Before the young stallion knew what was happening, a bullet pierced his skull, the captain was too drunk to realize what was going on, kept downing his drink when another bullet was silently fired, breaking the bottle and sinking itself into the Earth pony’s thick head. The two stallions looked at each other, nodded and went to work cleaning up.
Minutes later the mess was cleaned up and both the bodies were being burnt in the fireplace that roared in the office. One of the Pegasi reached in his saddlebag and pulled out 2-forged scroll, and removed his helmet and placing it in his bag. He handed the other scroll to his fellow rebel,
“I’ll go and deliver this report to the Pegasus guard captain, you take this other letter to the unicorn guard captain. This should buy the ground teams some time while the captains try to deal with the miss info, and what luck.” He said turning his attention to the fireplace with the burning corpses inside, “That dumbass Earth pony captain, so full of himself left his guard down, ironic coming from the guard captain. You know when we take over Equestria, we should kill off those Earth ponies next, make Equestria a better place in my opinion,” He said slipping the scroll in his saddlebag. The green Pegasi said nothing as he left the office and flew away to the unicorn barracks leaving the brown Pegasi by himself, “Was it something I said?”

Canterlot Palace
20:01

“And so I went up to him and shot em right in the kisser!” the half boozed emperor of Saddle Arabia laughed out, taking another drink from his wine glass. The Empress let out a gentle sigh before taking a sip of her wine, unlike her husband, she was a light drinker that only drank of special occausions and even then she only drank drinks that were 10-20% alcohol. The horse ran her hoof through her mane and stared out into the ballroom of the Equestrian Palace, examining the enormity of it all. She had to admit; even though her feelings toward the Equestrians were a bit spotty she always loved their architecture and designs. The Saddlein Palace would soon look a bit like this now that migrant workers from Equestria moved into her nation. She took another sip before examining the other guests.
To her left was Clawulus, the gigantic griffon leader with a mug of ale in his claws. He was known to be quite a heavy drinker for griffon standards, and to have a very small temper. She gave herself a mental note to be wise upon her word choice if she ever makes contact with him.
Next to Clawulus was Señor José de Mulesica, the rather small donkey king of the country of Mulesica. He had a thin glass of his native alchol in one of his hooves, and he wore the most designed outfit she had ever seen.
To her right were the trio leaders, Queen Cadance of the Cristal Empire, Princess Luna of Equestria and Princess Celestia of Equestria. She had heard of the rebirth of the Cristal empire but had never really studdied or discussed it with Celestia. Cadance was sparkling, not because of her dress or coat, but because she had been entirley cristalized. Each beam of light that bounced on her was reflected in a rainbow of color. The Queen looked sad however and she relized why, Commander Shining Armor was missing, who was probably still on duty.
They were talking to six colorful ponies and a Draconequus. If she remembered the six ponies were the elements of harmony, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and… Wait were was Pink…
“HI THERE!
MYNAMEISPINKIEPIEWHATSYOURSOHIBETWEHAVEALOTINCOMMONIRUNABAKERYINPONYVILLEANDITSGOINGREALLYWELLANDIHOPEYOUENJOYTHEFOODGOTTAGOBYE!” a pink blur shouted at her from behind.

Well that was odd? The Empress thought as she downed the rest of her drink.

Now as for the Draconequus, well, it’s just her opinion, but she felt uneasy around him. It was either the fact that he’s the oldest being in this room (10000 years old, and that’s an estimate). He stood over one of the ponies, occasionally brushing her mane and to respond the mare would blush awkwardly. She raised an eyebrow at this, and then grinned a little. I guess even fossils can find love in this world she thought as a server poured her another glass of wine.

In front of her were the councilmen of the Zebriacan Nations as well as some other foreign dignitaries like the Stags and Llamas. But the ponies she really paid to were the ones chatting with her husband.

One of them was General and now President Vladimir Pontin, the most notorious general that lead the Poviet armies during the wars against Equestria. He was now their elected Presidents ever since the end of the dictatorship that plagued the communist government. She looked closer at the grey-coated president to see a nasty scar that ran across his eye that was covered by an eye patch. She shivered; only Celestia would know or would want to know how he got that. But then she noticed, not to far, two red stallions in black suits, and these stallions weren’t alone. Pairs of stallions in matching black suits stood at he parameter of the room. She made the conclusion that the general must have brought his own military. She sipped more of her wine, unknowingly downing this one a bit faster than the last. Why would Vladimir, a well-known killer (as in, can kill you with a baby spoon kind of killer) need an escort? What is he so afraid of? She pondered and then breaking out of unconsciousness when another waiter offered a drink. She accepted, and then started drinking the next glass.

And finally, and infamously, the leader of the “resistance”, Tether Wing. Of all the ponies Celestia could have invited, it had to be the leader the bloody rebels. She might as well have invited Queen Chrysalis, at least then you would know how to defend yourself, but this Pegasus was a bucking vault! He could’ve been a multibillionaire just for playing Black Jack because his poker face was like looking at bucking block stone! It was odd seeing him and Vladimir together in the same room though. It had been rumored that they have never come eye to eye with each other. After all Tether had fought for Equestria during the Poviet Wars. Tether laughed as Emperor Clyde retold the story of how he single handedly took down the Saddle Arabian uprising, with a wooden spoon and a pair of scissors.

However, besides the uneasy feeling of having four of the worlds deadliest creatures, protected by the worlds more fearsome military and with the most powerful ponies in the world as well. It was as if some sort of sick god was making a bomb but someone had already lite the fuse before it was done, but who?

Canterlot Penitentiary, Southern Wing, Security/Power Room

23:30:45

Plasmid trotted down the halls of the empty wing. For prison of such high population, a lot of it is very vacant He thought as he made his way to a metal door with a code lock on it. He snorted

“Please, a code lock really. They might as well have placed a lock and chain, would have saved them the money at least.” He mumbled as he pulled out a small bit a purple powder that he smeared on the panel. He stepped a few inches back before igniting it with a spark from his horn, causing a door-busting explosion. Plasmid leaped through the open door, looked at the two dazed guards before levitating them both and slamming their heads together with the force of a jackhammer. As both bodies fell to the floor, Plasmid went to work looking at the cameras and configuring the control panels. “You know what? To hell with this” he muttered to himself before pulling out the odd device out of his pocket. It glowed with this purple aura that made even him shiver at the thought of the destructive force of this homemade bomb. It was powered by the same powder used to blow open the door, except instead of an once of it there was at 20 or 30 kilos of it stuffed in that little time bomb. He quickly set the timer to 29 minutes and 12 seconds, shoved it into a mess of wires that was inside one of the control panels and galloped as fast as his legs could out of there, snickering a bit mad as he galloped away.

Canterlot Penitentiary, Western Wing, Barracks

23:45:19

Blood Money peered out of the air duct to the sleeping quarters. He unscrewed the bolts on it and bucked the grate, letting fall down on the floor bellow. He crawled out of the grate, and onto the cold wooden floors. He stood up, dusting off his shoulders and shaking his wings. He looked around, about three dozen bunk beds and 6 storage lockers. He grinned at the sight of the lockers as he trotted over to them, he quickly scanned them quickly. Two were for personal items of the guards, which were manly, a bunch of PlayColt and Horssler magazines. The other four were uniforms, at which Blood released a small grin, and quickly opened them. After looking at each piece of clothing he found a one that matched his size. He slipped it on and looked at himself in the mirror, and as he looked something reconnected in his head.

You look great honey a mare’s voice said from behind him causing him to whip back to see if anyone was there. But all that stood before him was an empty room.

When will you come back daddy another voice said, this one a bit younger than the first. Blood shoved his hooves in his face,

“No… No… Nonononononono not now” he whispered to himself

Make your old man proud

Be safe dear

You better come back alive

You’re coming back right?

When you come back, I’ll serve you a round on the house

“I’m sorry” he whispered, head hanging low

You weren’t there for us

You let us die

You Failed

“I SAID I’M SORRY!” he yelled slamming his hoof into the mirror, causing glass and dots of blood to fall to the ground. He breathed heavily before getting his cool back, cleaning up the mess he made and wrapping his hoof in some wraps before leaving, and as he left. He swore he heard something say

Don’t be…

Canterlot Penitentiary, Western Wing, Wardens office

23:50:00

“Would you mind telling me why am I filling in for Sergeant Iron Curtain on the night of New Years Eve?” Shining Armor asked the secretary that sat to his side. She was a young mare with a light-red coat and chocolate mane and tail; an office with a stack of papers was her cutie mark.

“Like I said, the sergeant’s sick tonight and couldn’t make it. Said it was Hay Fever,” she responded filling her hoof nail.

“I call griffon shit and say he must’ve been drinking like an animal again. Probably only sober enough to call in sick today” Armor mumbled to himself. He had just finished a five-page report and had been waiting for hours for the delivery pony to come and pick it up. But when he remembered that it was a holiday he groaned and started to fumble with the radio on his desk.

Canterlot Palace

23:58:32

Twilight stood at the edge of the balcony, a Celestia Sunrise cocktail in one hoof and an empty glass in the other, which she carelessly let fall to the ground below, unaware of the rebel leader trotting up to her.

“Its strange” he said, looking out onto the balcony of the palace, looking at all the ponies bushel to and fro “I’ve lived in Canterlot nearly all my life. And yet I’ve never met you, Miss Sparkle. If I may call you that” Twilight just giggled as she sipped more from her drink,

“Well I wasn’t very quote on quote social. You’ve probably seen me, but my heads either on a pillow on in a book” she quipped, causing the former commander to let out a brief chuckle.

“I guess” he said lighting a Mulerican Cigar with his lighter, which he slipped back into his saddle bag. “Oh, my manors” he said, holding the cigar to Twilight, “Care for smoke?” he asked. But the Purple unicorn denied,

“I heard those things are pretty bad to your body… I mean for your body. Whoops, might’ve had a bit to much to drink.” She said giggling “Hey… I have a question for ya” she said swinging her right foreleg, causing the other glass in her hand to slip right out and smash on the grounds below.

“Ask away” Tether responded, still puffing on the cigar.

“Well, you’re a cool guy, I mean from what I read you were more than that. You had so many medals and ribbons and even got the Equestrian Medal of Honor. And to just threw that all away? For what I ask you?” the now tipsy Twilight asked. Tether said nothing, just stared down the balcony, looking at the tiny ants galloping around to get to their homes, their families, their wife and kids. His concentration was broken when he heard a loud boom.

Have they started the attack already he thought looking up to see an explosion of firework, bright green stars rained down showering the city with green light. More and more started to shoot up, the New Year was now a few minutes away. As well as a new age…