> The Plague of War > by Thunderclap421 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Whole New...Everything > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before we begin, I would like to point out that if Hasbro wants to use any of this in any episode(s), I will gladly say yes. The fall through the green vortex was very short lived. Not soon after I jumped through, I was pulled, stretched, and during that whole time, the shrapnel that impaled my arm felt like it melted into me. Not soon after it had started, I fell out from inside the vortex and looked down so I can catch myself when I hit the ground. Instead of hitting the ground, I hit the side of a steep rock face, heard a snap, and tumbled down the side of it. My leg had snagged on something, so my body whipped at the rock and hit the side of my head on the hard rock and I was out cold. I slowly came to, noticing right off the bat that my back was too the ground and that my arm was broken. "Gods...At least I'm not dead..." I said. "Um...Are you alright?" Asked a female voice from above me. A civilian! Maybe she can tell me where I am. "No, I think I broke my-" I had opened my eyes to see a cyan creature with rainbow hair and was looking down at me with a questionable face. "What in the mother of-!" I sputtered while flipping around, standing up, and falling right on my back. She giggled and moved closer to me, "You must have hit your head pretty hard." She looked at me with large, strong, dark pink eyes. "What in the worlds?" I said, looking down at my body. What I had saw shocked me so much, that even today, I still am doing my best to find ways of how that happened to me. Instead of seeing my black armor with faint red veins all around it and rainbow stripes around my arm and thigh armor to represent me, I saw a pitch black type of horse body and a rainbow tail. I even noticed black wings sticking out my sides (probably explains the odd feeling in my back at the time). My jaw dropped open while I lay there staring in awe at my new body. "What in Old Earth happened to me...?" I said still in awe. "Well, I was passing by when I saw you on the ground. Your not from here, are you?" The cyan horse said. I rolled over and noticed that she also had wings and a rainbow tail. "No. I'm not even a black horse with wings, I'm actually from a different planet," I told her. "What's a horse? were pegasus ponies, and your from a different planet? Cool!" She told me while suddenly becoming more interested in knowing about me. So I'm a pegasus PONY now? Oh gods..."Well, I'm really another species, but... Apparently my species changed when I got here. Come to think of it, that's pretty interesting," I said thoughtfully. I got up, but as soon as I did, extreme pain shot up through my left fore leg and I collapsed. "Oh my gosh! Your hurt, here, follow me. I know a place that you can rest in and I can help." The cyan pegasous helped me up and we started walking to a trail. "By the way, my name's Rainbow Dash, what's yours?" The rainbow maned pegasous asked. "I am Sergeant R.A.P. Thunderclap," I replied with my usual reply to that kind of question. "Sergeant? I never heard of that name before. Also, that's one of the first most complicated names I've ever heard," Rainbow Dash said questioningly. "Oh no, that is my rank, I am told to go by Thunderclap," I told her. We walked to what seemed like a house made of clouds and rainbows about one hundred feet off the ground. Lovely... "Um, Rainbow Dash? How do I use my...Oh, will you look at that," I said, looking at my flapping wings. How did I do that...? We slowly flew to the door, occasionally me falling a little or wavering, but got there without any more damage to me. "Well, this is my cloud home. If you want, you can sleep on my bed until I get back from my friend Twilight's library. I'll be grabbing a book real quick and I'll do my best to find help," Rainbow Dash said. We made it over to her bed and I plopped down on top of it. "Woa...I would have never dreamed of sleeping on a more fluffy bed..." And before Rainbow Dash could reply, I fell into the most restful sleep I have ever had in all my life. > Questions Need Answers > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke up to hearing the front door opening and whispered voices talking, "I let him sleep on my bed because he looked really tired," Rainbow Dash said. "I want to see what happened to the poor thing," a female voice said. "Well, I have to see how bad his injuries are," another female voice said. "So, what dose he look like again?" A heavy western american sounding accented female voice asked. "Oh! I know, Dashie said that he is black with red eyes and a rainbow mane like hers!" A very energetic female voice said quickly. "Um...I think we should be...Um...A little more quiet if he is asleep..." A very hushed female voice said. I sat up as soon as Rainbow Dash peeked her head into the room. "Oh, it's OK, he's awake" Rainbow Dash said while opening the door all the way. Five other ponies stepped into the room and encircled me. there was a purple one with a mix of a dark blue/purple/pink mane, a white one with a curly dark purple mane, an orange one with a blond mane in a ponytail, a pink one with a dark pink fluffy mane, and a yellow one with a bright pink mane that covered half of her face. "OK, Thunderclap, that's Twilight Sparkle, that's Rarity, that's Applejack, that's Pinkie Pie, and that's Fluttershy, everypony, that's Thunderclap." Rainbow Dash pointed while floating above me. Twilight came closer, "May I look at your arm?" She kindly asked me. I held out my hoof and she looked at it closely. While she was looking at it, I noticed that she had a horn sticking out of her mane. I also noticed that Rarity had one too and I noticed that Fluttershy was a pegasus like Rainbow Dash. "It's not too bad, all we need is a cast," Twilight said. "Oh, I knew I had brought this for a reason, here you go Thunderclap...Ah ha! Good as...Well, new!" Rarity said while fastening the white cloth to my arm. "Thank you for your kindness, Twilight, Rarity," I nodded to both of them. "Hey, ah just noticed somethin'...Whats your Cutie Mark Thunderclap?" Applejack asked while everypony looked at me. "Uh...My Cutie Mark?" I asked, What in the bloody hell is a Cutie Mark??? "It represents your special talent silly!" Pinkie Pie said while pulling off the blanket. All six of them looked at the sides of my thighs, so I looked down there myself. All the blood drained from my face when I saw my Cutie Mark. What I saw was a armored head with horns coming out of either side of the head and blood red evil eyes, it had two plates of neck armor above the head, the head and neck was all black but with faint red designs all over it. "Ooooooo, cool! What is it? Pinkie Pie asked. "It is the head of an alien race that slaughtered all of my friends and everybody I knew, destroyed the base I was positioned at, and nearly killed me," I said darkly. "What?!" All six of the ponies said, shocked. I told them my life story before I came to this land: when I was drafted, when I joined Bravo squadron, got positioned on the planet Eerost, did my duty, fell in love with one of my squad mates, she was raped and tortured by an alien general that we were at war with, got her back and she died days later, went to recover enemy intelligence and found a group of defector aliens, took them to base, the base being surprise attacked by the unknown alien race (like my Cutie Mark), my commanding officer telling me to save myself and sacrificing himself and a couple other friends, the journey through the Prototype Teleporting Device, and then the exiting of it and me getting knocked out. "Soooo, yah, that sums it up," I looked at everypony, still digesting my life story. "You poor creature, having lost your loved one to that monster," Rarity said. "And all your best friends to those savages," Twilight added. "But your in a better life now! One that isn't filled with war and death and loss, but filled with joy and love and happiness!" Pinkie Pie happily added. "Thank you Pinkie Pie, that has helped," I said, forcing a smile. "W-what is your special talent? Well...Unless you don't wanna tell..." Fluttershy asked while looking at me shyly. "I do not know what my talent is, odd, I never had a talent before," I said thoughtfully. "If you don't know your special talent, then how the heck do you have a Cutie Mark?" Twilight asked, really confused. I shrugged, "Beats me. Maybe it has something to do with something I did before I came here." "But that doesn't make any sense..." Twilight said, in deep thought. After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash left the room for a couple seconds and came back in. "Alright everypony, It's getting dark and Thunderclap needs his rest," Rainbow Dash said. I got out of Rainbow Dash's bed and followed the ponies out of the room and I stopped to say goodbye to everypony. After they left, I turned to Rainbow Dash and asked, "So, where am I allowed to sleep? I know I shouldn't sleep in your bed but if there is no other place to sleep-" "Are you saying you want to sleep with me?" Rainbow Dash said, cutting me off. "N-no! I mean, if there is no other place to sleep, I can sleep on the floor," I said, that was close, nice save. "Oh," Rainbow Dash said, looking down. "You can sleep anywhere you want Thunderclap," She added. With that, she left to her room, said ga' night, and closed her door. By the gods that was awkward... I walked over to Rainbow Dash's room door, lay down near it just in case it opens and hits me, and lay my head down. Now, how will tomorrow turn out to be..? Then I fell asleep before I could think of any more. > Corruption > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The morning of the second day with the arrival of Thunderclap, over in Canterlot Luna was very cheery that morning. She had asked Celestia if she can visit the colony on the moon. No, not all of the ponies there are banished, only a few are but they live separate from the colony. She was hopefully going to get a warm welcome from the residents. The only problem was that she had to wait until Celestia said when she can go...That was four hours ago. Luna knew how to keep calm and patient, but for some reason she was getting antsy. "Come on Celestia, finish up with whatever you are doing and let me go," Luna said to herself. "Do not worry princess, she will be done sooner or later," one of the handmaidens told Luna. "It is the 'later' I am worried about," Luna mumbled. Just then, Princess Celestia walked into the room and saw Luna sitting by her bed. "Ah! There you are Luna, I was just looking for you," Celestia said. "Well, may I go now?" Luna asked as kindly as she could. "Yes, I well help you with the spell you need to get to the entrance of the colony," Celestia answered. Luna Jumped up excitedly, caught herself, regained her posture, and followed Celestia to the teleporting room. When they got to the room, Princess Celestia showed Luna the spell on one of the scrolls. When Luna was done, Celestia looked at Luna and said, "Alright, I do hope you have a wonderful time up there and you may stay as long as you wish, but don't be gone too long," "I won't, goodbye Celestia," Luna hugged Celestia. "Goodbye little sister, be safe," Celestia said, letting go of Luna. Celestia and Luna started casting the spell, bolts of light shot everywhere and a bright white orb surrounded Luna, until it completely surrounded her, then a pop and she was off to the moon. There was a bright light all around Luna until it melted away to reveal the enormous dome that protects the colony from the vacuum of space. Luna walked over to where the building she had lived in was and walked up the steps to the front door. There stood a lone guard that looked at her with wide eyes. "P-princess Luna! how unexpected to see you here so soon!" The guard said, standing straighter. "Don't worry, I am only visiting," Luna said while walking into the building. It looked darker than usual, aside from the fact that it is mostly dark outside. She walked through the hall to the main gathering room and open the door to it. When she did, It was pitch black inside and she walked in, closed the door, and fumbled for the light switch. "Looking for something?" A deep gravely voice asked that came from the center of the room. Luna froze and tensed up, "Who's there?" She said, looking over to the center of the room. Her eyes fell on a large hunched over silhouette with blood red evil eyes on the head. Luna couldn't clearly see the thing, but saw a faint outline of it. It stood up to its full height and appeared to be about five feet taller than Luna, a hunched over head with horns and a long thick neck, large body, thick arms, and legs that had the thigh be down and forward, the shin be back and down, and the large foot coming back forward. From what Luna could see, it was an unusual creature. "What are you?" Luna asked. "I am a Y'kt Rra and my name Zn' Jija," The large alien replied while starting to pace around Luna. "What are you doing here?" Luna asked, doing her best to stay calm. "To help you, of course," Zn' Jija said. "With what exactly?" "Your pride, honor, and your respect," with saying that, something opened from below his palm and a mist surrounded Luna, which she could not see due to the pitch black room. Luna unknowingly inhaled the mist just like she would inhale oxygen. Just then Luna's mind was not her own, like somepony took over her mind and is saying things she wouldn't say. "Now tell me, what is your opinion on your sister, Princess...Ah, Princess Celestia?" Zn' Jija asked coolly. "She is the princess of Equestria," Luna said. "Do you think she is a tyrant? Ruling Equestria with an iron fist and not being fair to all the ponies she rules?" "Yes and yes," Luna said, staring straight ahead like in a trance. "Would you, if you had the chance, remove her from the throne and take her place?" "Yes." "If war was waged, would you lead its forces to bring down Princess Celestia?" "I will with my life." "Good...Very good...We will start now. But first we need an army." "I will call for the Ibex Empire, they have enough colts, filly's, Mare's, and Stallions for the army. Also, they never truly liked Celestia's rule." "I will provide the supplies you need to defeat her forces." "Her army goes by the name of The Solar Empire, and what kind of supplies are we talking about other than food?" "Weapons, war ships, fighters, armor for your soldiers. All advanced enough to best your current technology." "The New Lunar Republic." "Hmm?" "I want my army to be The New Lunar Republic." "Nice touch, since it originated on your moon. You give the call to arms, I shale call forth my forces to start building your supplies needed to defeat The Solar Empire." Luna bowed her head and left the room to start a war. after she left the building, another Y'kt Rra appeared from another room, still pitch black. "I would have thought her mind to be strong enough to repel my Kaktn mist." "Well, you do have to remember that her mind was still healing from her last form," the Y'kt Rra said. "Nightmare Moon...Yes, at least her mind is now ours to control." "We will use her to start this war and when she merges victorious, we will enslave all. Their resistance will be futile." "Toh rh Y'kt Rra, Zijbinfu di yhl," Zn' Jija and the Y'kt Rra sang in unison. "Come on, we have a race to enslave," Zn Jija said wickedly. With that, they left out the back of the building, 'forgetting' about the three gagged, tied up, and whimpering handmaidens in the closet. > An Interesting Wedding > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next couple of weeks after my unexpected arrival, if I remember correctly, alright. Rainbow Dash taught me how to fly and I was getting better at it even though flying seemed to come to me instinctively. Rainbow Dash on some days seems to sleep in a lot, but I'm not really complaining. Whenever I pass by her room to go do something until she wakes up, she look's so cute sleeping there...Not that I'm stalking her or anything. Oh, no no no, I'm not that person or pony er...I'm still getting used to this whole pony, everypony, stuff. But I am managing (maybe the fact that I'm surrounded by ponies, hint hint.) Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie are introducing me to different things and ponies all over Ponyville and their hobbies. Like Rainbow Dash is, like I said before, is teaching me to fly, she introduced me to her craze about these group of fliers called the Wonderbolts, and she introduced me to this great series called The Adventures of Daring Do. Twilight Sparkle helped me catch up on the history of the land I am currently in that is called Equestria, I learned of all the species that are in existence (I would not have guessed that there would be fairy tale and mythological creatures in this land), and I also learned and compared with Twilight the well, what mother nature dose best back on Earth and boy what a lecture I received from having 'false', 'idiotic', and 'impossible ideas'...Rarity had me try on cloths she was creating and showed me how to cook, I bet you can tell which one I enjoyed the most out of those two, and she had me run errands for deliveries, which I did not mind due to the face that I constantly had to move all over the battlefield in the war. Applejack introduced me to the Apple Family and all I have to say that Applebloom is one of the cutest little things I have ever seen, but I didn't show it (soldier instincts bla bla bla), I helped her with her chores and with a lot of the apple bucking. Pinkie Pie seemed a little off the ball but she introduced me to the Cakes and the bakery where which she also lived, she also introduced me to all the ponies that lived in the town and I mean EVERYPONY. I tried to talk to Fluttershy and had asked her if she needed any help with anything, but she turned me down, oh well, That just left more time to Rainbow Dash's training lessons. To make my wings stronger and me getting better than the day before, of course. About a month after my arrival to Equestria when I was coming back from trying to mimic all my combat techniques in pony form (got to be ready for anything you know), and Rainbow Dash came speeding over to me form the area her and her friends were having a picnic together. "Thunder! You will not believe what we just got invited to!" Rainbow Dash said very haply. "And what would be that be Rainbow Dash?" I asked grabbing my towel and wiping my face. "We got invited to a wedding over in Canterlot for Twilight's older brother Shining Armor! And get this, I get to preform a sonic rainboom for Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!" Rainbow Dash said like this is the best information she has ever received. "That's fantastic! Just wonderful," I said. "You OK Thunder? You don't seem very happy," Rainbow Dash asked. "Yes I'm fine, don't worry about me," I said, setting the towel down. "Oh, by the way, you can come if you want, there will be cake, dancing, and well, who knows what Pinkie will make up." "I will make sure I will be there with you, don't worry." "Be with me huh?" Rainbow Dash said while giving me a lop-sided grin. Good job on that one you idiot! "I-I mean to see Twilight's brother and his bride get married and to hang out with you." "Well, lets get ready to go to the wedding, lets go!" Rainbow Dash then grabbed my hoof and we raced to the cloud home to get ready for the wedding. On the way to Canterlot, I talked to the conductor near the end of the ride because the girls would not stop talking about what they will be doing at the wedding. When we got near the Castle, I noticed a force-field surrounding the city and a lot of Royal Guard around, quite a lot even with a shield. When the train passed through it, a tingly feeling went through me and my heart felt like it pumped faster for a second. Interesting, that was a new kind of feeling. The train stopped and after everypony got out, I thanked the conductor for his time and exited the train. I saw a crap ton of Royal Guard patrolling the station and noticed the gold age looking armor and pikes they held. Woa, their THAT behind in technology? Geeze, and I thought the UNSC was behind in technology...I saw Rainbow Dash and went over to her, "Hey, I will be wandering around, so if you need me, well, look for me," I said. She giggled, "Alright, just meet me and the girls over there at that table, OK?" She said, pointing to a large round table by a civilian food and drink joint. Rainbow Dash went in her separate direction while I wandered around Canterlot. After a bit, I walked over to a group of guards in what seemed like a training area. "Halt, this is a restricted area civilian," a guard that stopped me said. "Oh, I just noticed that your guards defensive skills seem to be a little rusty, or not truly taught right," I told him. "Oh? and what dose a mere colt like you know about defensive combat?" The guard asked. "I used to be a Sergeant back at my home and I know well in both defense and offence," I proudly told him. "Wait, Sergeant Thunderclap? Oh, I had no idea what you looked like, sorry about that," the guard said. "You heard of me?" I asked, surprised. "Word around Equestria spreads like a wild fire. Please, follow me," the guard said, walking to the group of training guards. "If being an extremely talented soldier from a different planet means that you can be able to train the Royal Guard to be better in any combat situation, then we are honored for you to be here." The guard stopped and addressed the other guards, "Alright, Sergeant Thunderclap is visiting here for a bit and I will make sure he trains you well." The other guards stood straighter and saluted as soon as they heard my rank and nick name. "Alright, let's get down to business, I want to see what you do for your exercises," I said. The guards showed me everything, and it all looked clunky, other than the fact that their wearing golden armor. "OK, now let me show and teach you how I do it." For hours I trained the guards and even other guards that decided to come over and join. It had gotten dark when we had finished and when I left the training area, I had nearly forgotten to meet the girls at the table. I hurried over to where Rainbow Dash showed me the meeting spot. I rounded the corner and saw Twilight Sparkle storming off and everyponies drinks spilled on the table. "Woa, what did I miss?" "Twilight thinks Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is evil," Rarity said while helping cleaning up the mess. "Interesting," I said, helping. "Yah, well, aside from that, how was your day Thunder?" Rainbow Dash asked while gathering the glasses. "Well, I just helped with the training of the Royal Guard, nothing too interesting," I replied. "I just hope nothing goes wrong at the wedding tomorrow." After we were done cleaning up, I followed the group to the building they were sleeping in and they all got into bed and, surprisingly, there was no bed for me. I did not mind really, I just curled up near Rainbow Dash's bed and slept. The next morning went pretty well. I trained more guards and just waited for the wedding to start. After I saw ponies entering the building where the wedding would be held, I entered and stood around the edge of the crowd closest to the door but still near the middle and waited for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza to enter the room. Odd, why isn't Twilight standing by Shining Armor..? just then, the princess entered and walked down the red carpet. After the princess got beside Shining Armor and words were said, I started wondering, OK, Twilight isn't even here, why is she not-just then, Twilight burst into the room. "STOP!" Twilight shouted. "Ugh, why dose she have to be so possessive of her brother?" The princess said frustratingly, stopped, then said,"Why dose she have to ruin my special day?" she 'sobbed', wait a minute...She's faking it. "Because, it's not your special day, it's mine," a ragged looking Princess Mi Amore Cadenza said that just entered the room. Wait, WHAT? Now I am confused. "What? But how did you escape my bridesmaids?" The impostor said. Twilight and the princess explained how they threw flowers in front of the bridesmaids like a bone to dogs. "Hmm, clever. But you're still too late." "But, ah don't understand, how can there be two of em'?" Applejack asked in confusion. "She's a changeling. She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding on your love for them," the princess said smartly. Just then a green magical tube surrounded the impostor and she took on a zombie version of an alicorn. Woa-! Didn't see that one coming. The being laughed, "Right you are princess. And as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects." She walked over to the princess, "Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered-" I stopped listening and tiptoed over to the door and ran to the nearest group of guards, which were gaping in awe in the air. I looked up and saw millions of changelings bashing against the shield. "We need to stop them as soon as they break through," I yelled while gathering as many guards as I could and having them form a defensive ring around a group of civilians. Just then, the shield shattered and the changeling minions started rocketing to the ground and hitting with enough force to create a crater the size of themselves. "Stay in formation!" I yelled as soon as they bolted at our circle. The changelings darted in and out at the civilians and plucked one out occasionally. Now the changelings were now starting to come into the circle and the guards started panicking. There were too many of them and soon they broke our formation and tied us to the ground with green sticky goo. I hung my head in defeat, knowing I had let everypony and Rainbow Dash down... "Well well well, look at what we have here comrades," a voice hissed in front of me. I looked up to see a group of changelings with their mouths watering. "Just look at this one, he reeks of love. Ooo, I can just taste it." "And what makes you think you can have it all?" One of the changelings hissed. "Yah! We all want it too!" Another one screeched. "I found this one first, go get your own!" The first changeling hissed. Just when they started to push at each other, a wave of energy flew from the wedding building and tossed the changelings out of Canterlot and evaporated the green goo. Well, at least we can go on with the real wedding this time. Later, Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza were wedded and a party started in celebration. I leaned against one of the walls out side where the party took place and I hung my head with a smile. Ah, another happy ending... Hey, Mr. Hang-out-by-yourself, want to dance?" I looked up to see Rainbow Dash looking at me with her large, beautiful, dark pink eyes. "I-I-well uh...I can't dance," I said shyly. "Uh huh. Well, suit yourself, I will be over there if you need me." Rainbow Dash turned around and then added, "You are dancing with me later though." She trotted away and started to dance with another colt with a spiky dark blue mane and a light blue body. Dammit! Why do you always do that? Girl comes and ask's you to dance, you tell her 'oh I can't dance' then she makes off with another guy! Or in this case another colt! I hit my head against the wall in stupidity, then regretting it a minute after I did it. After a while everypony left and I stood alone, still leaning against the wall, hanging my head. Then I heard the soft hoof steps on the grass in front of me. "Hey, I'm back." I looked up and for the first time noticed how beautiful Rainbow Dash looked in her bridesmaids dress. "Y-you look beautiful," I said. Rainbow Dash blushed, "Thanks, now here's how you dance." She grabbed me and we started slow dancing. I was doing pretty well for a beginner, but the entire time my heart pounded. Deep down, ever since Rainbow Dash took me in, I loved her. Every day and night my love grew for her and it never stopped growing. Rainbow Dash rubbed her head under my neck and my heart exploded. After a bit, Rainbow Dash looked up and our eyes locked. "No matter what happens, if I am still breathing, no harm will come to you," I whispered. "I know," she said. Our eyes slowly closed and we started moving closer together. "Rainbow Dash, Thunderclap, are you two out here? Were heading ho-oops!" My eyes shot open and I saw Twilight standing at the entrance to the wedding building. Rainbow Dash and I let go of each other and backed away from each other, shyly looking away from each other and blushing deeply. "What were you two doing?" "U-um w-w-we were t-talking," I stuttered. Why is it whenever I'm nervous I stutter?! "Yah, what he said," Rainbow Dash said. "Oh, well lets get home you two," Twilight said with a smile. After Rainbow Dash and I got off the train and told everypony good night, Rainbow Dash went to her room and stayed in there. I lied down and gently hit my head on the ground, stupid stupid stupid stupid...That couldn't have been anymore awkward than it was...I closed my eyes and fell into a dream filled with Rainbow Dash. > What's Going On... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next couple of days Rainbow Dash and I didn't talk to each other. I don't blame her. By the gods, I thought those types of interruptions only happened in movies...Anyways, during lunch one day, I saw Twilight Sparkle alone over at a table reading a book. I walked over to her, "Hey Twilight? May I sit here with you?" "Yes you may," Twilight said while putting a bookmark in the book and putting it away. I pulled out my lunch and hesitated to take a bite of my sandwich. "Um, Twilight? Can I ask you a question?" "Certainly, what's on your mind?" "Is Rainbow Dash lesbian?" "A what?" "You know, a female that like likes another female." "Um Thunderclap, just because friends act different around each other, doesn't mean that they like like each other." Twilight chuckled at the thought, "What gave you that crazy idea?" "Ah, it's just that my imagination is acting up." For the remainder of the time, Twilight asked me to explain what Old Earth was like and I told her as much as I remembered. When I was finished talking to Twilight, I thanked her for her time and left to help Rarity with whatever she had asked me to help her with earlier that day. Along the way, I noticed that there was a group of ponies gathered around a shaking earth pony, with dark blue fur and a black spiked mane with a red stripe running through the middle. He had wild green eyes that twitched every couple of seconds. "I'm telling all of you, the end is near! They took my daughter from me and soon they will destroy us all! Please, I beg of you, save yourselves or you will all perish under their mighty evil iron hoof." The old stallion said. "What'g going on?" I said, walking up to the poor stallion. When he noticed me, he turned to me, grabbed me, and looked me in the eye. "They will come to make us fight each other, they will come to destroy our defenses, they will come to enslave us all. If we resist, we will be slaughtered," he whispered. "Who's they? Tell me what's going on." "I saw them in my dreams...I should have listened to the warnings. Now they have my daughter and soon all of ponykind. Toh rh Y'kt Rra, Zijbinfu di yhl. We the Y'kt Rra, Conquerors of all. Toh rh Y'kt Rra, Zijbinfu di yhl! We the Y'kt Rra, Conquerors of all!" He continually chanted, letting go of me. I backed away and started walking to Rarity's house, continually looking back at the crazed stallion. The Y'kt Rra...that name sounds familiar...Where have I heard that name before? Conquerors of all..."Oh, Thunderclap, your here! Thank you for dropping by dear," I heard Rarity say. I had been so deep in my thoughts that I didn't notice that I had walked into Rarity's house. "It's my pleasure," I said, snapping back into reality. "What is it that you need?" "I need you to go get me some silks over in Dappleshire that I need for a project I am working on," Rarity said while putting feathers in a headdress. "Consider it done Rarity," I said. "I won't be too long," I added. I exited Rarity's house and trotted over to the road that took me to Dappleshire, which I had heard that it is a long ways from here. Well, what are we waiting for?... Zn' Jija stood on the bridge of the New Lunar Republic's capitol ship, watching the last of the troops and fighters being loaded into one of the invasion battlecruisers, or dasu' hctt. It has been almost two months ever since Princess Luna first was poisoned and forced to start a war with her own beloved sister. Why? Because that is just what the Y'kt Rra do to break a planets inhabitants, or in this case, the planets most popular inhabitants. Zn' Jija was glad this war was being started now than later in the future, because the ponies current technology is not even at the gunpowder age! Zn' Jija chuckled, a memory coming to mind. It was filled with the destruction of that surprisingly resistant, intelligent, and powerful race of...Now what were they called...Humans. Zn' Jija felt bad about them having to obliterate the entire race. It was the t'uunku, or emperors idea anyway, he wanted to crush a race and it happened to be the human race. Those damned Humans, blowing up that precious technology and that Sergeant- Zn' Jija's thoughts were stopped when he heard hoofsteps on the floor of the ship from behind. "Yes?" he said, still looking at the invasion battlecruiser that just barley finished up loading up the invasion force. "Sir, the Demolisher is ready for ground operation: Dapple. Permission to lead the invasion force," the newcomer said. "Permission granted. I was just going to assign you to the task myself, due to the fact that I didn't want to appoint my own officers just yet," Zn' Jija said, turning around to look at the pony that just entered the room. It was a young mare with a yellow coat and a light blue flowing mane with stripes of purple. She had bright green eyes that twinkled in the glare of the sun. She wore the new armor of the New Lunar Republic, which turns out to be similar to the humans armor, but a pony version. It had dark/light blue striped patterns decorating it and the New Lunar Republic's symbol on the chest plate. "Star Hawk, are you up to this task?" "Yes, sir." "Suit yourself. Now go, we have a war to fight." With that, Star Hawk bowed, and left the bridge. It will take some time to get there, due to the fact that they can't use slip space to get to the planet. Ten minutes later, the engines fired up and the docking hooks holding the Demolisher in place gave way and the large ship slowly loomed over to the planet that will later be in the control of the Y'kt Rra, which Zn' Jija failed to inform Luna and the rest of the New Lunar Republic's forces. Zn' Jija smiled, but even if any of the crew saw him, his face couldn't be seen due to his face plate. I soared below the clouds so I could see the town of Dappleshire easily when I get to it. Eventually. I saw some large hills and flew to the top of the tallest one to rest for a second and get a good look of my surroundings. I landed at the top and folded in my tired wings close to my body. I sat down and looked around and was surprised at how fast I made it. Not too far from the base of the large hill, Dappleshire sat by a lake and just small hills and grassland that stretched as far as the eye could see. I sat there for a second and took in the view, calm and beautiful. Then a shadow loomed over the town and I looked up to see what it was. What I saw made my heart sink and all color drained from my body. It was the large battlecruiser that was used to destroy my life as a human, but this time it had large blue striped designs on it and a symbol on the side that of a hollowed out circle with a small star at the bottom. No...It can't be, not them, not here, not now. I watched as doors slid open from the bottom of the massive ship and fighters flew out the bottom and fired what seemed like blue darts at the town. What seemed to be troop carriers came out from the bottom, landed, and ponies with armor that looked like the kind the human marines used with weapons that also seemed to shoot blue darts as they hit innocent ponies. Tears stung my eyes as the civilians were slaughtered in front of me. I looked and saw a mother standing over her young fillies while a soldier aimed his weapon at her. It broke my heart when the soldier fired at the mother and she dropped to the ground and the little fillies crying over her. Ten minutes after the surprise attack started, the soldiers rounded what was left of the populace in the town square. The fighters that flew overhead swooped down and transformed into a similar version to the aliens that destroyed my human life and started walking around the city, making sure that nopony escaped the town. slowly one by one, the pony soldiers shot the civilians and when they got to one of the young fillies, they just killed her without mercy. That's when I lost it. Rage filled my heart and I felt like I was expanding outward. My hooves grew into claws and I saw tips of horn at the side of my face. A face plate formed around my face and my tail felt solid and felt like it had plate armor on it, as the rest of my body. My back felt all prickly and looked down to see my body to look just exactly like one of the aliens. Specifically the one that had its armor shrapnel wedged in my arm. After the shock, I looked down at what remained of the town and anger grew even more inside me. "They killed all of them...Even the foals. I-I'm going to kill them all!" I raged. I leaped with great force over to the town and landed on an unsuspecting fighter/transformer thing. I tore its head right off and smashed it on its companions head. Sparks flew and I pushed the headless companion over and got off of the first one. Soldiers whirled around and looked at me in shock and then I remembered how the aliens pulled out a blade from their backs or something. it felt like I had unhinged my back armor and I grabbed a hilt of a blade and pulled it free. The blade was longer than expected, it was as black as my armor and had the same pattern of red designs all over the ugly blade, also like my armor. Just then they open fired on me and all the blue darts, which were actually blue bullet-like crystals. I heard millions of little tinktinktinktinktink when the shards hit my armor. I expected to die due to all the firepower, but my armor was too strong. "Die you sons of bitches!" I shouted in rage. Then everything after that was all a blur, me cutting down every soldier I saw, demolishing every fighter/transformer thing I passed, and destroying all the troop carriers. I looked up in hatred at the looming battlecruiser and as if on cue, bat-like armored wings popped out from under my armor plates on my back and I shot up at the mass of metal. Again, everything was a blur as I destroyed the engines and had the massive ship crash in the grassland on the other side of the lake near Dappleshire. I flew to the top of the large hill I was just perched just an hour before. Still in my alien form, I looked at the destruction I caused to the unknown force that slaughtered everypony in Dappleshire. I hung my head and a tear streamed from my eyes, down my face plate, and dripped down to the grass. So much death...How did they get here? How did they get other ponies to do this? Why? I turned around and headed my way back to Ponyville, forgetting that I was still in my alien form and soaked with blue oil and blood. > Surprise! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Static* "What the..! How did-AAK!"*static* *Static* "It's wiped out half of our force! WE NEED REINFORCEME-" *Static* *Static* "Oh god no! Please no! AAAAGGGHHH-" *Static* *Static* "My legs...I c-can't feel my legs..." *Static* *Static* "It's breaching the hull! We need to get out of here NOW! *Static* Hundreds of different calls came in from the Demolisher's invasion force. The bridge crew did their best to an extent, but there was just too many radio chatter than they could handle. Zn' Jija burst into the bridge, fumed. "What's going on in here?!" He bellowed over the communication chatter. The nearest pony flinched, "We don't know whats going on, the Demolisher got to mission objective Dapple just fine. Just shy of twenty-five minutes after they landed at the town, this started up. That was five minutes ago." "What do you mean? I thought there would be slim to none resistance from the towns folk," Zn' Jija said angrily. "What we are getting out of this is that...Hold on...That can't be right. Sir, what I'm getting is that one of your warriors or officers, I can't tell, went rouge and is wiping out the Demolisher and its forces." The entire crew turned to look at Zn' Jija, and other than the radio chatter, an awkward silence filled the room. After about five minutes, the crew mate spoke up, "Sir?" "I never sent any of my officers or troops down to that planet. Not without informing the princess," Zn' Jija growled. With that, he stormed off out of the bridge and over to his brothers barracks, leader of the Dattr battle squadron. Even though it has only five Y'kt Rra warriors, the squadron is the deadliest Zn' Jija has to offer to the New Lunar Republic. Zn' Jija made his way to the sliding door of the barracks and pounded on it, [Guui Jija! Did I give you any authority to send one of your soldiers down to that planet and betray our only ally!] Zn' Jija said in the Y'kt Rra language.The sliding door slid open and standing there was Guui Jija standing calmly. [What ever do you mean Zn' Jija? All of my warriors are all here, their blades sharpened and ready for battle. Yes, they are going to get antsy soon if they don't get to shed blood, but they would never go out of line and disobey their superior officers. Or even betray our temporary ally's.] Guui Jija said calmly. [Then how is one of the most dangerous of our kind obliterating the Demolisher, by now it is a smoldering wreckage with the invasion force slaughtered. None of my warriors have that power other than you, your warriors, and I] Zn' Jija rumbled. [Then that warrior is not one of us, it is that simple. He or she is either a defector or a mutant. Remember that human, Sergeant R.A.P. Thunderclap? What did happen to him brother, think.] [By the goddess! That's him? Who would have thought...Wait, how? He is a human, isn't he?] [Human biology can not survive in this world, remember? The shrapnel that I saw in his arm before he jumped into the device must have been a piece of armor plating from an unfortunate warrior. His power is unreal though, it must be his combined strength of his human form, his current form, which is unknown to us at the moment, and his mutated form.] Zn' Jija processed the information given to him and just looked at his brother. Zn' Jija sighed, [It looks like we have some research and some snooping around to do hmm? Lets go find ourselves a mutant, it would be a shame to watch him destroy our forces if he could be along side them.] It had been about a day and a half since the massacre at Dappleshire an the entire time, I had been walking back to Ponyville the entire time. The scenes played throughout my mind like a broken record player. The slaughter of the townsfolk nearly broke me, I never got used to that kind of killing. All I say is, 'if somebody dose not have the ability to fight back, do not kill in cold blood'. Those monsters, why did they kill those civilians in cold blood? Those bastards deserved to die. They killed without mercy, so they paid in blood. I looked down at my claws, both covered in blood. Why did I turn into this monster? Is it because of the shrapnel that was wedged in my arm back in Eerost? Questions filled my head and I did my best to answer them, most to no prevail. Then I noticed where I was standing. Oh gods! I didn't notice that I got here so fast! I heard gasps all around me as I stood in the middle of Ponyville's square. I looked around, and saw almost everypony and the Mane Six staring at me in shock and horror except Rainbow Dash, her expression was a mix of shock, horror, and curiosity. For a couple seconds, she looked into my eyes, and then I backed away to the main road exiting Ponyville and ran down it, ashamed. "Hey you! I want to talk to you!" I heard Rainbow Dash's voice from behind me. "No you don't want to Rainb- I mean miss!" I shouted quickly. "How do you know my name? Almost got- Woa!" Suddenly, I unfolded my wings from under my back armor and shot down the road and took a sharp left to the Everfree Forest. "Geeze your fast! Fine, you wanna race? Then lets race." I dodged to the left, then right, then down under the canopy of the Everfree. Still, Rainbow Dash slowly caught up to me, so I made one last push in the direction of her cloud home. when we cleared the forest, I suddenly stopped when I opened my wings all the way in the direction I was going. That move took Rainbow Dash off guard and she sped by me. Now I trained behind her but she did the same move but this time, slammed into me and when I was about to crash to the ground, I cocooned around her to protect her from the impact. We hit the ground hard and I bounded a few times before I slid across the ground about 100 meters, which happened to be a little past the cloud home. I was on my side when we came to a stop and for a couple seconds, I held onto Rainbow Dash, making sure she wasn't hurt "Um...You can let go now." "Sorry," I said, letting her go. She flew, grabbed my horns, and looked me square in the eye. "Who are you? What are you? What are you doing here? Why do you know my Name? Tell me." I sighed. I was afraid it would come down to this... "Rainbow Dash...It's me, Thunderclap." Now Rainbow Dash was surprised, "Your not Thunderclap, Thunder is a pony, not an alien like you." Rainbow Dash landed on my chest plate and at that moment, I forgot about all the suffering and death I had witnessed over a day ago. My body started to shrink and in about a minute, with Rainbow Dash still on top of me, I was my old self again. "Surprise." I said sheepishly. Tears welded in her eyes and she hugged me tightly, which I gladly hugged back. As soon as she hugged me, she got off of me and wiped her eyes quickly "So um, what's going on?" Rainbow Dash said, doing her best not to tear up any more. "Well, I think I found my special Talent...That alien you saw a second ago." Rainbow Dash looked down and nodded. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that..." I started walking away, but she stopped me. "It's OK. It looks cool anyways," we looked at each other, smiling for a few minutes. "Oh, Rainbow Dash, I need to talk to everypony. Now. There is an evil force that will kill us all if I do not find a way to protect Ponyville." We made our way back to Ponyville and Rainbow Dash gathered all the residents of the town. I stood in front of all them standing still until they settled down. "Alright everypony, listen up! If all of you want to live, then please listen to everything I say for now on." There was a surprised murmur around the crowd and then everypony was silent. "Thank you. An evil has come to us to kill us all and I was the only survivor in the Massacre of Dappleshire. Now, I need to find a way of how do defend Ponyville and other towns." "And that is?" Mayor Mare said, beside me. "By turning you into the best military forces in all of Equestria. We will start by salvaging what armor and weapons that is left at Dappleshire. I need volunteers to go with me, please, for all of the innocent lives of Equestria." Almost all of Ponyville raised their hooves and we started our long journey into a great war: the war with the Solar Empire, the New Lunar Republic, and the Militia of Equestria. > The Creation of The Militia of Equestria > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Almost a day after the group and I set out to salvage what was left of the invasion force that I demolished a couple days ago, we reached the clearing through the large hills and before we continued. I stopped them and said, "Alright everypony, before we go in there, remember that there are things that you may not want to see. Continue at your own cost." We made our way to the town and as soon as we made it to the first bunch of dead bodies, I heard somepony vomit. In the town square there were a huge mass of bloody civilian bodies. All around the town were shredded, be-headed, cut in half, and disembodied soldiers, and fighter/transformer things. "Thunderclap...How are they like this?" I heard Twilight said from behind me. "I did this to the soldiers and the machines on the ground. But they slaughtered the civilian ponies. I would never do something like that. Ever," I said darkly. We grabbed all the intact weapons and armor we could find and moved on to the wreckage of the battlecruiser. After hours of searching, I told the group to stay behind at keep looking while I went and looked around. What I actually wanted to do was find the bridge to see who lead the attack. I went outside of the cruiser and flew to the bridge, or what was left of it. I flew through the view ports, which were shattered, even though they looked to be about a foot thick. I walked around, checking the crew's helmets to see their rank imprinted on them. Then I noticed one of the bodies chests barley rising and falling. I quickly walked over to it and pulled off the piece of metal off the pony. As soon as I lifted it off, I looked down and noticed that the pony was female with a yellow coat, a light blue flowing mane and tail with purple stripes, and had a captain's insignia on her helmet. I grabbed and held her while I checked her heart beat. Doesn't seem like it's beating wrong...Breathing normal...Looks like she just was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. A few seconds later, the young mare slowly opened her eyes and blinked up at me. "My head...W-who are you?" The mare said. "My name is Thunderclap. Don't worry, your in good hooves now." After I said that, I continued to check her for more damage. "H-hey! why are you feeling me up?" I blushed "I-I'm not! I'm checking if you have any more damage than just bruising......There, you seem to be fine other than a couple cuts and bruises." "Well...It felt like you did...Why are you here?" "Scavenging supplies for a defense force that I am creating. By the way...Why are you doing this? All this slaughter, you are accomplishing nothing." I said, ignoring her comment. She stood up and looked me in the eye, "I am Commander Star Hawk of the New Lunar Republic, loyal to Princess Luna and her ally: the Y'kt Rra." When she said the words Y'kt Rra, memories flooded in and my emotions took over and anger grew inside me. "So...That's how you got that technology...From those...Monsters." I said angrily. "Their not monsters, their...Um...." She was suddenly lost for words. "THEIR BLOODY SAVAGES. Before I came here, those allies of yours slaughtered everyone I knew and destroyed my human life, THAT'S why I came here. To start a new life. But then they showed up and, what, talked you into killing each other?" I raged. She looked taken aback, "They did that? So that means...They lied to us, we took the bait, and now they will kill us all when they get the chance, correct?" "Yes. That is precisely what I think. But they might want more than just killing us all, don't you think? Think about it: they could have wiped everypony out already...It is possible that their playing with us." "I.......I think they will try to enslave us." "That is another possibility....Come on, lets get out of this pile of rubble." We found our way out of the bridge and down the body of the ship, due to the fact that Star Hawk was a unicorn. I helped her down until we met up with the rest of the ponies, which were just about to go looking for me. "This is all we could find intact. Is this good enough Thunderclap?" Twilight asked. "Actually, I think that is more than enough. Thank you so much everypony." I said, looking at the large stacks on carts that we brought. "By the way, this is a survivor of the massacre." The group looked at Star Hawk and an awkward silence filled the valley other than natural sounds. Then Star Hawk broke the silence, "I am Star Hawk, formally a commander for the New Lunar Republic and now currently a defector. Thunderclap told me the untold truth behind my allies that are supplying the New Lunar Republic. Never again will I trust somepony I had never met." "Then we will gladly bring you into our group of defenders," Mayor Mare said from beside Twilight. "What is this group called, if I may ask?" Star asked. "The Militia of Equestria. We are looking forward to stopping this, and I am assuming, war and all the slaughter. Everypony will stand together and fight. Don't worry, I will train all of you so you know how to defend and attack against the onslaught of the New Lunar Republic." I said before either Twilight or Mayor Mare could reply to Star Hawk's question. Twilight and Mayor Mare nodded with approval. Then the group made their way back to Ponyville where the rest of residents were waiting for their training into becoming a very defensive but deadly soldier. After hours of walking and pulling the carts, the recovery group made it back to Ponyville and stopped in the middle of the town. I flew to the top of the pile of armor and weapons and announced, "Alright, we have more than enough armor and weapons for everypony. Find the pair you wish to have, clean them up, put on the armor, and Star Hawk will show you how to wear the weapons. Let's get a move on!" I flew off of the pile and flew over to Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, where is Rainbow Dash? She didn't come with us to recover the items and she isn't out here." Fluttershy winced as soon as she heard my voice. "Um......She's at her house. I don't know why, but she told me to tell you to meet her there after you came back....And Thunderclap? Can I not stay here? I can't stand the sight of...Blood." Fluttershy said with a shiver. "Thank you Fluttershy, I will go there now and yes, go meet with Nurse Redheart for later instruction." Why the heck is Rainbow Dash not out here and instead, lounging inside her house...? I flew up and over Ponyville, arched, and flew straight to Rainbow's sky home. Honestly, I would have thought that she would think this as cool, the weapons, the armor, the- My train of thought were stopped after I open the door to her house and heard Rainbow's voice suddenly cut off, like she was humming something. "Rainbow Dash? Where are you?" "I'm in my room. Come in here, I want to play a game with you real quick." She sounds like she's...Naw, not possible. nopony is here other than her... I walked into her room and saw her alone, yes, but she was on her back on her bed and her haunches were spread out. "Now, can you please close the door..." Rainbow Dash and I flew back to Ponyville square and right off the bat, noticed that everypony had armor on and had the weapons strapped to their sides while Star Hawk was demonstrating how to wear them, fire them, and keep them ready at all times. "Good, here he comes, I will leave the rest to Thunderclap." Star Hawk said. Everypony stood at attention and in almost perfect rows. "Rainbow, grab some armor, a weapon, and go to," I pointed over to where Star Hawk stood, "Star Hawk. She will show you how to wear and use the weapon and answer any question you have for her." I said. Rainbow Dash flew to the pile and did what I told her while I landed in front of the left-most pony in the front row and started slowly walking down the row. "Now, there is a war going on between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Princess Luna was apparently corrupted and now has an evil alien race as allies. To take control of a city or town, the New Lunar Republic will kill all of its residents. After I train you, we will make sure that will NOT happen to us, or anypony. We are the Militia of Equestria, we will not back down, we will help all those in need, and we will rid this galaxy of the alien filth: the Y'kt Rra!" I announced. "Yes sir!" Everypony said in unison, except Big Macintosh, who just said, "Eeyup." And a pony at the end of the row that was HUGE due to his ripped muscles. All he just yelled, which carried past the rest of the ponies, was, "YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I walked over to him and looked him up and down. "You ready to be one of the best fighters in Equestria big guy?" I asked. "YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Was all replied. I softly hit him in the shoulder, "That is the attitude I'm looking for!" I walked over to the center of the row and stood back a few meters to see all the ponies and the rows behind the front row of ponies. "Now, lets get started!" For almost a month, I trained the residents of Ponyville and taught them everything I knew. I put them through mental exercises, physical, exercises, and after yesterday, I was sure they were like a disciplined marine but in pony form. I had showed them my Y'kt Rra form and they were fine with it, now that they know what to avoid and let me handle if we had ever run into one of them. The ponies stood in perfect rows in front of me and were looking to the left while I shouted out commands, which were words that sounded alien, which made me guess they were apart of the Y'kt Rra language. "Vros!" I shouted and they turned to me. "Yatut!" They stood straighter. "Uiio!" they took out a clip of ammo from where they had it stashed on them. "Gutt' toh!" They pushed the clip into their weapon and loaded the shard into the chamber. I put my hands behind my back and smiled behind my face plate. "Your ready." I said, "dismissed everypony. You all deserved a break after today. Remember to shift every few hours on the defenses." I added. I walked over to where Twilight stood, put my arms behind my back, and looked down at her while she was cleaning her weapon. "Twilight, are you afraid to do what we must do to stop the New Lunar Republic's Onslaught?" She didn't look up, "As in killing? If they shoot first, then yes, I will do what we must." I nodded and looked up at the sky and did my best to calculate when the New Lunar Republic will attack Ponyville. I guessed two days. They got here in two and a half.