Invasion and attempted regicideView OnlineThe Larson RebellionInvasion and attempted regicideThe Larson Rebellion Twilight stood outside the castle on the cold balcony, looking somewhat worried. A large storm had been approaching since the beginning of the day, and the weather ponies hadn’t scheduled it. Natural storms usually were a sure sign of trouble in Equestria. Of course, they had happened before, but while frighteningly powerful, and occasionally even slightly destructive, the damage was usually minimal and nopony had ever been hurt as a result of one. Nothing more than heavy rain and wind from the Everfree forest. Most of the time the weather ponies simply destroyed the clouds before they even reached a city, save for storms such as this that were too large and dangerous to fly near. However, the storm on the horizon this time seemed different than the other ones. It felt different. There was something off about it that Twilight could sense, but she couldn’t quite place what it was. She hoped that her intuition was off, and that it was just another natural storm. Nothing serious, she told herself. She left the balcony, not remotely reassured by her thought. She returned to her quarters, finding her book in the hope that it would calm her nerves. No sooner had she sat down to open the book than a loud knock came from the door. Twilight gave an exasperated sigh. “It’s open, come in.” The door was flung open by none other than Celestia herself, with an unusually serious demeanor. There was urgency in her voice. “Twilight, we have to go now. Please follow me.” Twilight looked at her, perplexed as to what could be so important. “Princess? What’s going on?” “Now Twilight. I’ll explain on the way.” Twilight hadn’t been expecting Celestia to be so serious. She was hardly ever that serious about anything. Twilight put down the unread book, stretched her wings, and moved after Celestia at a brisk pace. They quickly spiraled down the white stairways of the castle tower. “Celestia, what in Equestria is going on here?” “They’re coming Twilight. I never imagined they would be here so soon, I thought we would have more time to prepare. Our defenses aren’t ready, and frankly, neither are you.” “Who’s coming? Celestia, please just tell me what’s going on!” Celestia didn’t answer. Before long they had exited the castle, and were headed towards the city limits. The storm, which only moments ago had seemed hours away, was right on top of them. It didn’t rain. In the distance, Twilight saw a bright light come from the sky. First one, then many. Soon hundreds were streaking down from the clouds towards the borders of Canterlot. “Celestia please, I’m begging you, tell me what’s happening! I’ve never seen anything like this before!” Celestia didn’t look back at Twilight. She was transfixed on the streaks of lights falling towards them. “The Bronies.” “What?” “The Bronies Twilight. If they’re already here then that means we’re too late. We haven’t mobilized and the guards won’t be able to hold them off for very long.” “What in Equestria is a brony? I’ve studied every kind of astrological event and living creature you could imagine, but I’ve never even heard of that!” “They’re extradimensional creatures, members of a race known as the humans.” “Well why are they coming here? What do they want?” “They want you, Twilight. The Bronies are a splinter faction of their race because of their devotion to our world. Most of the time they watch over us from their own dimension, discussing our lives and finding the meanings of friendship for themselves. However, things began to change when you were coronated as princess. Bronies were incensed, saying that you were ruined by who you had become. Now I believe that they’ve come here to undo that by any means necessary. You have to get out of the city as soon as possible before they get to you, or they might try to hurt you, maybe even rip your wings off. I can’t let that happen.” Twilight stood with her mouth agape. She didn’t know what to say. Lights continued to stream from the sky, as the sounds of battle emerged from the distance. The sound of metal striking metal, peppered by occasional loud bangs or explosions. Twilight wasn’t sure what kind of technology the Bronies had, but she knew that whatever it was making those sounds couldn’t be good. “So are they all just a bunch of bloodthirsty maniacs then? Why do they even care about our lives if we’re in another dimension?” “Most of them are actually perfectly respectable people in their own universe. Even most of the ones that didn’t approve of your coronation were only mildly disappointed with my choice. It’s really just a small minority that is feverous enough to come here. There are just so many of them in their world that even small minorities can mean armies here in Equestria.” The sounds of explosions and shouting could be heard getting closer to their position. They were running out of time, and fast. A golden magical aura began to show from her horn. Evacuation sirens began blaring across the city. “Twilight, I’m going off the reinforce the Western flank. Find Shining Armor and get out of the city as soon as possible!” Celestia flapped her wings, and flew just over the buildings towards the front lines. Twilight was terrified. She began to run as fast as she could towards the barracks where her brother was stationed. She couldn’t think straight. The shouting grew louder as she approached the base. When she arrived, she found it was already too late. The base was enveloped in flames. Corpses littered the ground. She stared in horror. A young pegasus guard ran into view from around a corner and saw her. “Princess Twilight! Thank the sun you’re alive! Come with me immediately, your brother’s been waiting for you, and I don’t know how long our perimeter is going to la- AGH!” The unfortunate guardsman was cut short by an arrow piercing his armor. The arrow was black and thin, certainly not like anything used by Equestrians. He sputtered on the ground. “G-get out of here....” and closed his eyes. Before Twilight could even register this, a score of two legged creatures rushed around the corner. She could hear them shouting things that didn’t seem to make sense. “Down with M.A. Larson!” “This wouldn’t have happened if Faust hadn’t left!” “I want to cum inside Rainbow Dash!” Soon enough, one of them saw the terrified purple alicorn. He screamed to the others “There! Bring truth to the false princess!” They began to charge towards her. She turned around to run, only to find the same situation behind her. She was too frightened and unfocused to attempt a teleportation spell. She flapped her wings desperately, but she was still inexperienced at flying. They reached her before she could even get off the ground. Extending her wings had only served to allow the crazed Bronies to get a hold of them. Two humans flanked her head and grabbed her horn, preventing her from using any magic to escape. She struggled to get free, but the strength of the crowd of humans was too much for her. One particularly tall brony came in front of her. He wore long, dark robes, and a cardboard horn on a headband. Blue plastic wings protruded from his back. He began to speak to Twilight. “Twilight, we know that what you have become has destroyed who you are. We are sure that now that you are Princess, you will forget your friends. The show will become only about you. The dynamic has indisputably been ruined.” Twilight pleaded “But I’ve only been Princess for a few days! I’ve been so busy I haven’t even had a chance to talk to my friends! I was even planning to meet with them again next weekend! And what do you even mean by the dyn-” “SILENCE! We have come to bestow justice upon thy abominable form. We will return you to who you truly are. It is for your own good. This hurts us just as much as it’s going to hurt you.” He threw his dark robes into the heavens, revealing a long curved sheath. He drew out the blade, slightly bent and more than a little bit dirty. She made out the words “stainless steel” etched across the base of the blade. He stood in front of Twilight and raised the sword above his head, the blade pointed towards her left wing. He screamed “FOR FAAAAAAAAAUST!” and began to bring the blade down on Twilight’s restrained appendage. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. Suddenly, a blast of magical energy flew over her. the hands keeping Twilight in place were forced away by a wall of arcane power. The mass of humans flew backwards into a pile some distance behind her. She recognized the magical signature of that energy. She opened her eyes. Her brother stood before her, horn glowing furiously, drops of blood staining his face. “That should have immobilized them for now. Are you alright Twilight?” Twilight stared at her savior. Tears began to well up in her eyes. “I- the Bronies, they were going to...” She began to sob. Shining Armor ran over to her and embraced her. “Twilight, I’m so sorry, but we have to get out of here immediately. Our forces will hold out as long as we can, but it’s only a matter of time before they take the city. Once we lose Canterlot, it’s a sure bet that Ponyville will be next. A small town like that can’t possibly hold out against this kind of firepower. We’ve got to evacuate to Manehatten as soon as possible, and from there we can seek refuge in the Gryphon Kingd-” Twilight cut him off. She had stopped crying. “They’re going to take Ponyville next?” Shining shot her a confused look. “Yeah, it’s within striking distance from Canterlot, and it’s important to your history as well. Why?” Tears still stained Twilight’s face, but they no longer fell. “I’m not going.” Her brother looked at her in shock. “What! Are you crazy? We’ve got to get out of here the first chance we get! This city is a lost cause Twilight!” “No it’s not. I’m going to stay and fight.” “Twilight this is no time for heroics! We’re already being overrun!” “That’s an order from a princess Shining Armor! If fighting here means saving Ponyville then I’ll do whatever it takes! After all, I’m an alicorn princess, and having me fight alongside your men would certainly give them a morale boost wouldn’t it?” Shining Armor looked skeptical. “Twilight, can you even defend yourself? You don’t have any combat training!” The conversation was interrupted by a beam of light crashing down not too far from where they stood. When the smoke cleared, the form of another brony revealed itself. It wore a yellow T-shirt with Fluttershy’s cutie mark, and carried a pitchfork. “You disgust me Twilight. How the hell am I supposed to clop to you if you have wings? Die!” It ran at full speed towards Twilight, pitchfork turned towards her chest. Twilight didn’t seem fazed. She was ready this time. Focusing on the ground under the human, she shaped her magic into a cone made of solid rock. Then, when he grew closer, she pulled the stone spear from the ground, impaling the human. He dropped his pitchfork, uttering a few last words. “I can’t... feel my... diiiiiiiiick...” He slumped over, motionless on the stalagmite. Shining Armor looked impressed. “Oh, nice death spike Twily.” “Thanks, I have studied some combat magic. I’ve even read up on a bit of swordplay, even though I never thought I would have to use it.” Shining Armor spent a moment deciding his next move. “Alright, fine, you can stay and fight. But my men are taking a beating. We need to fall back and regroup. Then we can plan a counterattack.” Twilight nodded understandingly. As the retreat order was given, ponies frantically left their stations with crossbows and swords in hoof. All of them had the feeling that it was going to be a very long war. The sky was stained black from the fires below.
Questions and DivisionsView OnlineThe Larson RebellionQuestions and DivisionsThree days had passed since the Humans were first sighted in Equestria. Equestrian forces had suffered terrible losses during the first hours of the surprise attack. Though the guards and Equestrian military were more disciplined soldiers than the humans, the humans had the advantage in strength and in dexterity. They towered over the average pony, often using household items as weapons, and overpowered ponies by forcing them into unfavorable positions. Their physiology gave them a unique advantage in close quarters combat. Some humans had also been sighted with weapons that they seemed to refer to as “guns.” These fearsome weapons could penetrate all but the best of equestrian armors, and could be completely fatal at ranges unimaginable in standard equine warfare. When they fired, the sound was loud enough to be heard all around a city. Their operation was a complete mystery to even the best of the surviving equestrian scientists. Nobody had any idea how these creatures who seemed to have no control over magic could have such fine control over the elements. Twilight paced around on the magic transit platform, fraught with worry. Of all the things she had ever expected to deal with during her long reign as princess, a war with an alien race was not among them. She wondered what it was that could make them, or anything, seem so exceptionally cruel. No, she thought, she mustn’t condemn them. Celestia herself had said that they weren’t all bad. After all, this was just a minority... right? She didn’t have time for such questions. The Bronies were in Equestria and they were wreaking havoc. That was what mattered. She refocused herself, drawing her attention to the mission at hand. Since the Equestrian forces had regrouped, Shining Armor had been planning a guerilla campaign to raid human encampments for supplies and intel. Their current target was one that had only been spotted recently, and was poorly defended. That where they were headed. Twilight and her squad finally reached their destination: the 3rd floor of an abandoned building, overlooking the Brony encampment. They all took their positions along the windows, crossbows pointed at any humans who were exposed. She felt an incoming stream of magic, the signature matching that of her brother. He was using the communication spell which they had practiced. “Twily, this is Shining Armor, do you read?” “I’ve got you Shining.” “Everyone is in position. We’re awaiting the order to open fire.” Twilight thought for a moment. “Negative, do not engage. I see two humans trying to confront each other. I’m going to cast a scrying spell to see if I can get any intel from them.” She giggled quietly. “I feel so important now, using all this military speak!” Twilight focused in on the two humans, apparently in some kind of argument. She targeted their location, and cast a discrete amplification spell. Their voices came through quietly to Twilight’s squad. “Man, you idiot, I can’t believe you brought that piece of shit sword as a weapon. A true Brony would use a gun, like the manly men we are.” “Hey, check your fuckin privilege faggot, this here is a goddamn katana and it’s the best fuckin sword ever. I heard it could cut European turd swords in half with one swing. I bet it could also cut European RACISTS like you in half with one hand!” “Watch what you say bitch, I’m the top sniper in the US armed forces! I have over 300 confirmed kills, and I’m also tr-” The rifle toting Brony was interrupted by a human crying out to all the others in the camp. “Heretic!” A bell began to toll from an unknown location. A fairly average looking human was dragged from a tent with his arms bound behind his back. He looked scared and confused. The human was dragged onto a wooden platform and kicked onto the ground. A tall Brony, wearing a robe with Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark on it, stepped up and began to speak to the gathering crowd. “Gentlecolts, we have found among us... a heretic!” The volume of the crowd raised suddenly. “He has committed the heinous crime of liking forbidden episodes! For it is written, The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well was the sin of Merriwether, the bane of writers. This animal has just admitted to the audacious and invalid opinion of thinking that it ‘wasn’t that bad!’” The crowd suddenly roared with anger. “And with any scourge, this idea that the opinions of those who disagree with us are valid must be... purged.” He pulled a pistol out from his robe. He put it towards the man’s head. Twilight had seen enough. “All, units, engage! Open fire on all hostiles!” Before the robed Brony had a chance to pull the trigger, the sound of a thousand strings and whistles filled the area. A rain of bolts descended on the camp, one finding itself squarely between the robed Brony’s eyes. The humans were in complete chaos, caught unaware by the surprise attack. Humans fell and scattered in every direction. When enough humans had fallen, Shining Armor rallied the ground troops and finished off what was left. By the end of the short battle, the ponies had only taken a few casualties, while the humans had suffered a major defeat. Shining Armor looked immensely satisfied. Twilight did not share his enthusiasm. There was something else on her mind. Her eyes turned toward the sole surviving human in the encampment- the one who had nearly lost his life at the hands of his own. Shining had also taken notice. “You go on ahead Twili, I’ll go finish this one off.” “No, let him live.” “What?” “You heard me, I want him alive. I want to talk to him.” “But he-!” Shining Armor gave an exasperated sigh. “Do what you want with him Twily.” Twilight seemed pleased. She trotted over the the human, curled up in fetal position. She actually felt a bit sorry for him. She resisted the urge to hate him for what his people had done. She lifted him onto his feet via telekinesis. “Hello, human.” The human looked weak and timid. The surprise attack, combined with the fact that he had very nearly been publicly executed, had taken their toll on his mental health. He looked downward when he spoke. “Please don’t kill me.” “We don’t want to kill you, we only need you to answer a few questions.” The human looked upward. His tear stained face met with Twilight’s. “T-Twilight Sparkle?” “That’s me.” “You w-want to spare my life, even though you’re a princess?” “Uh, yeah, I guess I do. Anyways, We need to ask you some questions. For starters, how ma-” “By Celestia, the rumors were lies! You aren’t a dictator after all!” “What?” “They said you were cruel now! That you would ruin the show, and you had to be stopped! I knew it couldn’t be true! I believed in you the whole time! Oh, you were always my favorite pony! Always!” Twilight blushed a little. “W-well I’m flattered but really-” “Twilight, can I ask something of you?” he looked extremely hopeful. “Uh... what is it?” “Twilight, would you please have sex with me?” Twilight could have sworn she heard her jaw fall through the floor. Her face turned bright red. She stuttered incoherently. “W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w...........WHAT?” “Please? I’ll do anything, and I mean anything that you’re into. Even if it means getting...tender.” Twilight had absolutely no idea how to respond to this. She simply stared at him dumbfounded for around five minutes. “So is that a yes?” “NO!” “Ok.” By now, Shining Armor had taken notice of Twilight’s shocked state. He trotted over to her. “Hey, Twili, is everything going alright over here? Is the human giving you any trouble?” “H-he... he asked if...” “Hey, Shining, you wouldn’t mind if I fucked your sister would you? You could join in if you wanted! I’ve read all kinds of fanfics where you’re into that.” A second jaw dropped onto the ground. Something changed in Shining’s eyes. Before, he had met this human with mistrust. Now he felt something else. It was a feeling that he had known in some degree before in the heat of battle, but could never quite put his hoof on it. It was bloodlust. Never before in his life had he wanted to viscously end the life of a sentient being quite as much as he did right there. The very fiber of his being seemed to radiate violence towards this pathetic alien creature. He gritted his teeth together. “Twilight?” “Uh... yeah Shining?” “Permission to murder him where he stands?” Twilight considered the thought for a moment. With a sigh or regret, she responded “No, he’s more valuable alive. Tie him up and take him back to the base. I’ll talk to him again once we’re there.” The guards did as they were told. “Oh, is this some sort of bondage thing? Alright, I see where you’re going with this. I’m down. I’m down. See you at the base, sweetheart.” The guards then very casually threw him into a wagon and began to cart him away. Of all the things Twilight might have expected a human captive to do, asking her for sex was probably the least likely thing she would have guessed. It was almost flattering really. Nobody had ever even showed interest in her during her time in Ponyville, much less in Canterlot. He might have almost been charming had he struck her as having even the slightest notion of social graces. It was a shame that the human had been such a fool, but she would deal with him later. For the moment, she had other concerns. An Equestrian marine ran over and saluted her. “Princess! You might want to see this. We’ve captured enemy technology. We think it’s one of the ‘guns’ that have been reported around the battlefield.” Twilight followed the marine to the weapon in question. It seemed to match the descriptions she had heard before. A long, thin tube connected to a wooden frame at the end. “Do we know how it works? Or what it does?” “No ma’am, but now that we’ve got a sample we can try to reverse engineer it. We should have figured it out by the end of a day or two.” “Alright then. Start working on it as soon as you can.” Twilight raised her head to speak to the group. “We’re done here everyone! Grab as much as you can that might be helpful and then get back to the base! Move it!” The command was met with a synchronized “Yes Ma’am!” from the guards and soldiers. They began gathering items from their surroundings and moving in formation out of the area. Twilight turned and followed them, flanked by her personal bodyguards. For a moment, she had slightly regretted not letting Shining kill the human. She was ashamed of that. She didn’t like killing them. When she first became princess, she never had never thought she would have to kill anybody. Equestria had been at peace for nearly 900 years, since the Gryphon wars. Open conflict was nearly unheard of. The military the did have was only maintained out of ceremony. No. This was not the time for a leader to be conflicted. The humans had invaded and destroyed their city. It was kill or be killed. She hoped she could rationalize it to herself that way. Still, she wasn’t satisfied. There was one thing that had been bugging her for days. On the first day of the invasion, she had killed a human with her own magic. It was different than just ordering an attack. The act of taking a life, and watching him die thinking of nothing but his phallus was something else entirely. She had done it out of impulse mostly. The human had charged at her, so she panicked and killed him. It was perfectly justifiable, she thought. But it wasn’t. She had taken away someone else’s life. Was she really any better than they were, she thought? Perhaps these humans were j- “Yo Twilight, just wait till you get a load of my Chinese war tank! It’s a monster, lemme tell y- HADSASGHOGFYFDFHYBGOU” It was the human again. He had somehow gotten free of his restraints, so the guards were scrambling to re-tie him and replace the gag. Maybe the humans weren’t so misunderstood after all. Maybe they were just a bunch of annoying pricks. She decided to stick with that idea. Author's Note I am aware that these chapters are relatively short and come out with grave infrequency. I procrastinate a lot and have other things to do besides writing unpopular fanfiction. Sue me.
Reuniting and PerilsView OnlineThe Larson RebellionReuniting and PerilsSparks. A sound. A light. A clang. Sparks ever more numerous. A noise that grew ever louder. A light that grew ever more blinding. A voice drawing ever closer. Another chain, yet unbroken. Another circle, yet completed. Deafness. Redness. Darkness. Twilight’s eyes tore awake. Her face was cool, moist with sweat. Her body seemed to pause for a moment before gasping. It was dark. She looked around, remembering where she was. The dark confines of the royal blue tent met her gaze. An audible breeze rolled past from the outside. She fumbled around the cramped enclosure for her lantern. She found it quickly, giving a damp illumination to the fabric and floor surrounding her. She realized that her heart was still pounding from the dream she had just had. She shook her head, berating herself for being affected by something so simple. She poked her head outside. The cold night air flowed into her tent. The forest’s ambience echoed quietly throughout the encampment. She turned to the side. Just as she had predicted, the guards stationed to protect her has stood sleeplessly outside her tent throughout the night. She breathed a sigh of relief, and slid back into the tent. Twilight stretched her wings out a bit, drowsily looking towards the contents of her tent. The tactical map lay spread across the ground, containing the detail of their latest battle plans against the humans. The humans. Right, they were at war. Twilight’s mind slowly booted itself into it’s higher functions as she woke herself from her now ended slumber. Why were they even in the forest again? She couldn’t quite remember. It had been several weeks since the humans had first come. They were weeks filled with bloodshed and anguish, all because a bunch of creatures decided that what happened in another dimension was theirs to control. No, it was worse than that. She had heard the humans talk before. In their dimension, the lives of ponies were no more than a form of entertainment. From their perspective, they were being driven into a blood-rage because they thought that their TV shows, or whatever they were called, weren’t good anymore. Everything that had happened felt surreal. It was ridiculous. Aliens had invaded. Not just aliens, but aliens from another dimension, possibly with different rules, even different laws of physics. They were so strange that not even their best and brightest could understand them. Everything that had happened was impossi- “CHECK THIS 360 NO SCOPE FAGETS” A deafening crack sounded through the encampment. A shot ripped through her tent, missing her by a wide girth, but giving her quite the scare. “FUCK NEXT ONE HITS FOR SURE” Another crack, this time missing Twilight’s tent completely. “GODDAMMIT THIS GUNS SUCKS I QUIT.” Guards and other ponies drowsily rushed out of their tents and looked around to see what was going on. Lanterns flickered on, quickly illuminating the camp site. Humans, at least 200 strong, had surrounded their camp. Most of them carried pitchforks, glimmering slightly in the moonlight. A few of them carried what appeared to be Equestrian swords. The most obvious one was the Brony who had fired the first shot, who was then throwing his rifle on the ground in disgust, accidentally discharging it. He wore a fake blue horn with a bright light atop it, presumably to light the way in the dark forest. All of them wore the same fake blue wings blue wings. Everyone knew what they were dealing with- an elite group of humans who apparently called themselves “The Sonic Raindooms.” They had gained a reputation among both ponies and humans for their swiftness in battle and their insatiable desire to cum inside Rainbow Dash. One of them raised his pitchfork. He shouted to the others “DEATH TO THE FALSE PRINCESS!” The crowd roared to meet the call. “GLORY TO THE TRUE BLUE QUEEN, BEST PONY, RAINBOW DASH!” The crowd shouted in approval again. “IN HER GLORIOUS NAME, CHAAAAAAARGE!” In that moment, 200 spears descended on 150 ponies. Twilight's tent was in the center of the encampments, so she could be better protected. From this position, she stood, watching. To hear the cries for blood, to see the humans charge with such ferocity, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. It was a sobering moment. The sounds of battle coming from all directions confirmed that the humans had reached the camp. She couldn't move. She was terrified. She had never felt so sure that she was about to die. The morning sun was slowly beginning to rise above the forest. She decided she would accept her fate. This was as good a place to die as any. "TWILY!" Twilight looked around. She saw her brother, sword suspended by magic, calling out to her. "What are you doing! Get behind me!" He ran to Twilight, taking a defensive stance, waiting for anyone to break through the line. “Don’t worry Twilly, we’ll protect you at any cost.” Twilight stared at him for a moment. He had left the front lines just so he would be in a better position to defend her. Every one of the ponies there was there to protect her. They were fighting and dying for her. She felt different then. She changed her mind about accepting fate. She was the goddamn Princess of Equestria! She should have been protecting them! She was tired of sitting scared. It was time to act. She muttered to herself “You bastards want my throne?” “What, Twilly?” Twilight’s horn suddenly flared red with magic. “Well then... COME AND TAKE IT FROM ME!” Twilight suddenly flew into the sky. She picked out a human from among the fighting. She focused on him, sending a bolt of red energy into his chest. He was blasted into the ground instantly. Several ponies and humans looked up from the fighting to see her. She didn’t seem to notice. She began to target more and more humans. “YOU BASTARDS WANT TO CUM INSIDE RAINBOW DASH?” A human was blasted to dust. “WELL YOU CAN’T!” And another. “BECAUSE THAT” Another. “IS” Two this time. “DISGUSTING!” A headshot. “I” Another. “WON’T” She began to swoop downwards. “LET YOU!” She telekinetically pulled the pitchfork away from one and impaled him on her horn. “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” The magical aura began to surround her entire body. She stamped her hoof on the ground. The forest began to shake. One by one, spears of rock burst forth from the ground, piercing through each human. They began to retreat. “The witch has called forth her black magic! Show her that you can run for your life 20% faster!” The surviving humans quickly evacuated the area with haste. The magic surrounding Twilight began to fade away. A drop of blood dripped from her horn onto her face. She suddenly felt more exhausted than she ever had in her life. She fell to her knees. She noted ponies seemed to be surrounding her. Before she passed out, she managed to say one last thing. Weakly, she muttered “The Sonic Raindooms is such a stupid name...” ************************************************************************* Twilight's restfull unconscience was interrupted by a line on bright light cutting through the darkness. Murmurs and voices seemed to surround her. Everything seemed far too bright. A more familiar voice pierced the low din. "Twily? TWILY" The white unicorn stallion ran to her side. "Twily, are you alright? Twilight opened her eyes completely. It was apparent that she was in a hospital. It was run down, rubble from bits of the ceiling littering the ground. Several ponies in medical jackets moved around the room. She saw two guards standing motionlessly by the door. Then she remembered how she had gotten there. Her face dropped. "How many did we lose?" "67, and 19 were wounded." Twilight felt like a weight had fallen on her chest. 67 Ponies were dead. And they were dead because others wanted her dead. They died protecting her. No matter how she tried to think about it, she couldn’t see their deaths as anything but her fault. Her face seemed to drop. Shining Armor spoke up. “Twilight, it was a surprise attack. there was nothing we could do. I wasn’t your, or anyone’s fault what happened. We still don’t even know how they found us. The whole reason we were in that damn forest was to find a place where they weren’t likely to find us in the first place, to buy us time to regroup. It’s anyone’s guess as to how they got through.” Twilight didn’t respond. She plopped back onto her pillow. The stress was too much for her. She decided what she would do in the hospital. She would mentally compose a letter to celestia. It had always helped to calm her nerves when she was a student. She thought about what she would say. Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned that I absolutely detest humans in Equestria. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle It didn’t sound quite right. Her brother’s voice interrupted her again. “Hey, Twilight, it looks like you’ve got a visitor.” She turned towards the door. There stood Pinkie Pie and Rarity, smiling from ear to ear. Rarity was first to speak. “It’s... been a while, darling.”
