//------------------------------//
// Recruiting 
// Story: When the Earth Ponies Rule 
// by Faith Everlasting 
//------------------------------//

	Super Star is dead. The idiotic mare went too far with her 'love-struck yearling' bit, so I had to take care of her. And believe it or not, it was quite simple to do. All that I had to do was simply push a button and wait. Sure I destroyed over 1/3 of Cloudsdale, but it would help in the long run.

Now was the time to act. Now Cloudsdale was weak and undefended. Rainbow Dash has fallen. Spitfire has been killed. My synthetic wings work. My synthetic horns work. 

Now is the time... to begin.

Everypony was dressed in black from their heads to their hooves. Veils shadowed the faces of every mare, covering their glistening tears. Above the silence was a single sound of crying made by a small mare in the center of the crowd. She gingerly placed a bouquet full of fragrant flowers on the ground next to a large slab of stone. 

"I'm sorry that I couldn't save you, Perfect," she whispered, tucking a stray piece of pink mane behind her ear. A large red stallion walked up behind her and gently placed his hoof on her shoulder. She smiled slightly at the gesture, but then dropped once more into a frown. 

Even the happiest mare in Ponyville was crying at this event, her flattened magenta mane fluttering softly in the afternoon breeze.

There was one pony, however, who watched this from a distance. She couldn't bear to read the writing on the stone slab in the ground for fear that it would bring tears to her eyes as well.

She watched as her two best friends sat on the ground near the stone, rocking each other back and forth while sobbing into each other's manes. 

She could look at it no longer!

She ran. Away from the graveyard of her friend and back to the comfort of her own house in Sweet Apple Acres. Once there, she galloped inside the barn and slammed the door shut behind her. She gasped in exhaustion, trying to bring the air back into her lungs and trying to calm down. 

Then she snapped.

"How the HAY could this happen?!" She kicked a large bale of hay with her hind legs, sending it smashing into the wall. "My best friend!" She karate kicked a support column over and over again until the wood gave way beneath her blows. The roof above her started to sag and creak, but she payed no attention to it. 

"An iron horseshoe killed Rainbow Dash," she pondered aloud. "then they find another one where Perfect was presumed dead," She loosened the bow in her mane and tossed it carelessly to the side. Her dark red mane cascaded down her back and covered her neck as she wiped perspiration from her forehead. Then she started sobbing. Long and hard. The tears soaked into her mane and coat, staining them. 

She thought that she was alone. She thought that nopony was watching.

Somepony was.

"Excellent," the ominous shadow said to itself. "She's perfect,"

"Who's there?" Apple Bloom gasped, immediately rising to her hooves and frantically searching for the voice she had just heard. "Who are ya?"

"A lowly earth pony like yourself," it responded. 

Apple Bloom's eyes darted back and forth to try and find the source of the noise, but was stopped by the darkness of the barn. She began to hyperventilate, tears flowing down her face and pupils shrinking to almost nothing. 

"I have a proposition for you," it said.

"Wha-? What do ya mean?"

"Too long have unicorns and pegasi ruled over Equestria! Too long have they looked down on us like filthy pigs!" the voice continued to grow louder and louder, so Apple Bloom followed the noise. "But no longer!"

"Who are ya?" she asked, coming close to where the stranger was.

"You will find out soon enough," it responded, starting to move away from her. "I will send for you," 

"Wait!" Apple Bloom shouted as the voice began to dissipate.

"Wait for my word. Then we'll begin," silence soon followed. 

Apple Bloom started to relax and she felt her pulse slow down to a steady beat. She had no idea what had just happened, but she was determined to find out. 

Maybe this has to do with Perfect and Rainbow Dash. She thought to herself. Whatever it is, I aim to figure it out!