> Rainbows of the Sun > by IBlitz2000 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canterlot, Equestria The moon shone brightly over the Equestria capital city known as Canterlot; as the stars sparkled in the night. The moon was raised by none other than Princess Luna, ruler of Equestria by night and co-ruler of Equestria by day. The city was lit with bright lamps in the streets and lights in the buildings that resembled medieval castles. The alleys are always tinted cyan and dark desaturated blue. It would occasionally have a cart or two to carry fruits or vegetables. Suddenly, a hooded figure of an Earth Pony peaked out in one of the alleys to see if anyone was there. When the figure confirmed himself that no one was here or watching him, he headed to a dilapidated building with a large steel box on a wheelbarrow. He opened the moss-covered door and carried the box into the building and closed the door shut. He took off the hood and spoke in a young voice. “Guys, it’s me…” Then, several more figures came out behind wooden crates with long and odd devices in their hooves. Their faces were covered with white blank masks. Most of them were Unicorns but some of them were Pegasus. The leader was another Earth pony, but he held a lot of power over the group given by his superiors from another world, far from their own. “Have you got it?” The one in front of the group, who was the leader asked. The stallion that came in to the building smirked and opened the lid of the box, revealing a couple of cylinder-like objects bundled together with leather straps. A strange symbol was shown on the strange cylinder objects. Wires were plugged around a strange rectangular device with numbers on the screen. “Excellent! You have done a good service to our cause young one and for that, we welcome you to our group.” The leader praised as he stared intently at the device while having a sinister look on his face. Copper turned to the group that had been loading their long devices, known as guns; specifically machine guns. He whistled to gain their attention to what he was about to say. “When the time is right, we will have our revenge that we dreamt for so long…” Copper spoke with determination in his voice. “… To blast our enemies into oblivion and overthrow the Princesses who ruled this land that we called home.” His voice suddenly turned into the voice of anger. “Then once that has been done, we will rule Equestria along with our ‘Human’ friends, who mercifully provided their full assistance in just the exchange for our commitment to their cause.” His voice was then filled with ambition and triumph. The group shouted in approval, while shooting their hooves up, facing the celling. No one heard or cared about these ponies, who were in fact about to overthrow the royalty and might have thought they were just some club, only formed to cause trouble. Inside the castle, Princess Celestia was in her room, reading a book about myths and legends about creatures that had never been proven true. It was written by her mentor and close friend, Starswirl the Bearded. One topic was about Humans, which fascinated her. According to Starswirl, Humans are adaptable and intelligent creatures that should never be underestimated. They could build structures that could reach the sky and contraptions, known as planes that could soar through it, faster than a Pegasus. They even flew to space and landed on the moon itself, all without magic! “Your highness!” a gruff voice spoke, which startled Celestia. She looked at the door of her room and saw a guard by it. The guard was a unicorn. The guard’s eyes widened and realized his mistake. He bowed with genuine guilt. “Forgive me, your highness. I never meant to scare you like that.” “Oh it’s alright; I know you wouldn’t intend to do that.” Celestia gave a warm smile. “What seems to be the problem?” She asked. “Oh, uh just wanted to remind you about Princess Cadence's arrival tomorrow.” “I almost forgot, thank you.” “Your welcome your majesty.” “Alright, you may go.” Celestia said with a smile of a mother would have. The guard gave a slight nod and walked off. She continued her reading, until going to sleep. The next morning, the sun was raised by Princess Celestia in an early part of the morning, maybe at the estimate time of four or five o’clock in the morning. When the sun rose, ponies from all types came out of their houses to start their day. The Pegasi were flying in the skies, doing their own daily routine or their job. The Unicorns were shopping with their lists and things they carry around, by using their magic. The Earth Ponies were mostly farmers, who brought their grown goods to the markets. Princess Luna had done her part in ruling Equestria, so she went back to the castle to rest as her sister took over. In Ponyville, lies a castle at the town’s borders. The castle had a resemblance of a tree, except the tree was made of crystal gems. A flag hung slightly horizontally and it bore a familiar symbol of a cutie mark of someone, who is the element of magic and an Alicorn princess of friendship, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight was reading her books again in her library, always filling her mind with knowledge, that she could spill out and talk for hours about the history of Equestria, which could send Rainbow Dash to boredom in just an instant. Suddenly, a call of her name caught her attention and she looked at her left and saw Spike, her dragon assistant at the door. “Oh, hello Spike. What’s the matter?” Twilight asked. “Princess Celestia sent me a message that Princess Cadence is coming to Canterlot.” Spike answered. Almost instantly, Twilight’s widened in excitement as it had been awhile, since she saw her sister-in-law. The last time that she saw her was when she was visiting her niece, Flurry Heart, which is Princess Cadence daughter. “Cadence is coming! Yay! It’s been a really long time since I saw her!” Twilight spoke in an overly excited manner. “Twilight, just come calm down, there is no need to be overly excited.” Spike advised. Twilight took a moment to calm down and regained her composure. “Whew! Sorry about that, just got a little… um excited.” Twilight then remembered something and spoke. “Um, Spike. Could you tell Starlight to come with us? It also had been awhile since she saw Cadence or the other Princesses. You can also come if you want.” “Alright Twilight” Spike accepted her request. Back at the building of the white-masked group, they were busy loading their equipment into wooden crates; the strange cylinder device that one of the members of the group had brought was still in its steel box. The crates and the steel box were disguised as presents and the members of the group had their masks removed, in order to reduce the risk of suspicion when they exit the building. The group looked young and had stoic looks in their faces. Copper was loading his AUG A2 Assault rifle, while his mind was someplace else. He kept thinking about his time in prison after the assault in town hall of Ponyville and demanded the guards to call Princess Celestia. He was holding the staff and the mayor hostage as guards failed to negotiate with him to surrender. At the time, he was so hungry for revenge that his father was imprisoned for doing unfair practices in politics. His father wanted to be the next in command, as ruler of Equestria. As more princesses emerged in the line of the throne, he got impatient. His father wanted to succeed to the throne so badly, that he tried to sabotage the other politicians' chances. He was eventually caught and was sentence to prison for life, which made Copper furious as he was quite fond of his father. Copper after that was filled with so much hate against the royalty that it drove him into madness. But, after he took the mayor hostage, he was later dealt by Princess Celestia, who used her magic to subdue Copper. He was sent to prison after that, but was released less than ten years later, as he did not actually harm the mayor and the staff. Copper then sent himself into isolation and resided in the mountains, due to rage-filled hatred and depression. Suddenly, out of nowhere in his life; a group of strange creatures, known as Humans found him wandering aimlessly through the forest. After a few introductions, He explained to them about his situation and his wanted vengeance. They brought him to their world and talked about their organization, known as the White Masks. They shared their ideals of making their world a better place, though, they had an odd way of communicating through their blank and white masks, they offered Copper their full assistance in exchange for his commitment in their cause, in which of course he accepted their offer, seeing that it was the only way to finally ease his hungry revenge. He was welcomed into their organization. From day one, when he first met them, he started his training, while the White Masks brought in more recruits from Equestria; mainly anti-royalty ponies, which had either grudges or extreme views against the royalty. Months later, Copper and his team of White Masks recruits were done with their training and Copper was given the role of squad leader of his squad. The White Masks shared their plans with him and told him that after the royalty have been overthrown, they wanted him to rule the land and use it as their ‘backup plan’ in case if their foes managed to get the better of them. Again, Copper accepted their request. The White Masks return Copper and his squad back to their home world to commence their first mission into operation. “Boss…” a voice spoke, snapping Copper back into reality. Copper looked up from his gun to a recruit who was standing in front of him. “What is it?” Copper asked with a stern look. “Uh, we are ready. We have loaded everything up for the mission. We had done our best to disguise the crates to prevent suspicion, or at least reduce the risk. We’re just waiting for your orders.” The recruit explained. “Good, now let’s go” Copper said to the recruit. Copper put his gun along with the others in the wooden crates and the squad moved out with wheelbarrows carrying their hidden gear out to the streets, where it was normally filled with Ponies, which could be used to their advantage to avoid curious ponies. Meanwhile… Twilight, Spike and Starlight were on the Pony Express train. Twilight was reading some book, while Spike and Starlight were eating some complimentary cupcakes. Suddenly, the train release its ear piercing horn, which cause them to jump out of surprise. Some of the cupcakes smeared their faces, giving them a whip cream moustaches or eyebrows. They wiped the cream off and looked outside from the window. From a distance, they saw Canterlot castle, which meant that they had reached their destination. They went out of the train and exited the train station. Twilight had the look of excitement, while Spike and Starlight were having smiles on their faces. It had been a long time since they visited Canterlot. When they went into the city, they saw an odd group of ponies walking with massively wrapped presents on wheelbarrows. “Those are big presents, must be somepony’s big birthday party.” Spike commented. “I don’t know how they could carry those presents. It must be heavy, judging by the wheelbarrows.” Starlight said. “Well, whoever it is, it must be either for someone being important, or someone who is very rich.” Spike replied to Starlight, while Twilight was still looking at the castle. “Twilight?” Spike said, breaking Twilight’s state of trance. “Yes, spike?” Twilight replied and looked at him. “You miss this place a lot, huh.” “Yeah, I’m so happy that I get to see this place again, you know seeing Celestia, Luna and Cadence.” Twilight said while experiencing nostalgia. “I understand. You wanted to see those you care about.” Spike nodded slightly. Twilight smiled at Spike for his acknowledgement. They reached to the castle and went inside, only to find Princess Celestia and Cadence talking to each other. This scene causes Twilight’s eyes to widen and smiles from Spike and Starlight. Cadence noticed Twilight and smiled radiantly. Cadence excused Celestia and went over to Twilight as they do their little friendship song and dance. The song ended with giggles from the two Alicorns. Then they embraced each other as Celestia, Spike and Starlight beamed with happiness at the two. “It’s so nice to see you, Twilight.” Cadence spoke jovially. “What are you doing here anyway?” Twilight asked. “Oh, I just came here for a visit. It has been a long time since I saw this place.” Cadence said, while looking at the place. “It’s still nice to see you, Cadence, or Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Twilight said with a grin. Cadence laughed a bit at that small joke. Earth, Team Rainbow HQ Glaz, the Russian sniper was checking his HDS flip sight on his OTs-03 sniper rifle to ensure that he could get a big and clear picture from a long range in any operations. He still had his military clothing and face paint on as he recently came back from an operation to infiltrate a White Masks underground base. He and his team of rainbow operators had found several weapon crates, but that’s not all they had found. They had also found a strange arch-like shape machine plugged in by wire cords. They couldn’t figure out what it was, but they do know that the White Masks were doing something with it to benefit their cause. “Hey Glaz!” a voice called him by his call sign. The source came from his friend and former Spetsnaz, Kapkan. “I’m here!” Glaz replied back. Then Kapkan appeared at the door of the locker room. “How is the mission?” Kapkan asked. “Successful as always, my friend.” Glaz answered. “By the way, did you notice that strange machine that my team brought in?” Glaz asked. “Yeah, it’s strange alright. Kind of abstract when you think about it, since you have an artistic view of the world.” Kapkan answered. “Yes, you're right.” Glaz replied with a chuckle. Then a call for both of their names was heard at the corridor near to the locker room. The source was from a German operator and attacker, Blitz. Blitz came in and saw them with a sigh of relief. “There you are, I have been looking for you two.” “Heh looks like we have Kapkan number two over here.” Glaz chuckled again. “Very funny, komik.” Kapkan remarked sarcastically. “Alright, that’s enough. All the operators are needed in the main room right away.” Blitz said. “Alright.” Kapkan replied as he stood up and walked past Blitz. Blitz looked at Glaz quizzically. “Aren’t you gonna come?” Blitz asked. “I will, just wait for a minute. My flip sight has issues at the moment.” Glaz lied as he pretended to fix his flip sight. “Alright, but don’t take too long.” Blitz shrugged and walked out of the locker room. Glaz smirked as he aimed his rifle. However, his smirk faded as he couldn’t stop thinking about the arch-like shape machine and why did the White Masks risked their lives so much for that machine. Whatever it was, the White Masks were not to let that machine fell into anyone’s hands, but themselves. Glaz put his rifle on a bench and walked out of the room and towards the main room. Later, in the main room of the HQ, All available operators, like IQ, Thermite, Sledge, Jäger and the others gathered to see what was going about from the recent mission in the underground White Masks base. They sat around a large rectangular table, filled with various items; photographs, documents and blueprints. A middle aged man stood in front of the table. He wore black clothing and a bulletproof vest. On the left side of his arm showed a union jack patch, representing his nationality. He also had a gas mask, but was taken off to reveal a face full of moral conviction and wisdom. His name was Mike Baker or known by his call sign, ‘Thatcher’. “Alright, you guys might have known about the strange machine that one of our teams had brought back from an underground base, occupied by White Masks, is that correct?” He solemnly looked at the other operators, only to receive nods from them. “Currently, the director and I do not know what to make of this, but we do know it’s important to the White Masks seen as they actually rushed in to attack rather than using more intelligent tactics from what I had been told. Whatever this thing is, they did not want us or anybody to have it.” “If I may, what do you think we should do with it? I say we should study it, in order to find out what it really is and to prevent any unknown dangers that might be a threat to us or anybody.” Jäger suggested. “It may be tempting, as you are so far the most curious operator in Rainbow. I advised that we do not make any physical contact with it, as you said that there are dangers that we are not aware about, I think its best not to make contact with it, just to be safe for all of us.” Thatcher spoke in a voice of concern. Jäger nodded in acknowledgement as he knew well not to argue with the oldest operator in Rainbow. “Alright you all are dismissed.” Thatcher said with a gesture. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Did you saw one of the targets?” A recruit in Copper’s group asked. “Yes, and they seemed suspicious of us. However, they have not said anything about us that would blow our cover.” Another recruit answered. “We must remain undetected then; one wrong move could trigger havoc for the team.” Copper said with narrowed eyes looking at the castle of Canterlot, where the targets are currently there. “Keep moving, the sooner we take control of the castle, the sooner it is to take over Canterlot, then Equestria.” Copper urged the team to keep moving, if they wanted to fulfill their goals. The team quickly carried the equipment, while the other ponies unintentionally masked their every move… Back at the castle, after Cadence and Twilight celebrated their little reunion, Celestia guided all of them to a dining hall, where they were having a grand feast for Cadence’s arrival. On the table, there were a number of cuisines and dessert all laid out in an organised manner. They were chatting about what has been going since the last time they saw each other. Apparently, nothing much has been happening in the Crystal Empire, except, some major royal duties or meetings and taking care of her family. Then Celestia announced something that excites Twilight. Apparently, Cadence would be staying for two nights as part of her visit to her old home. “Cadence is staying! La la la!” Twilight exclaimed in a sing-song voice, due to her excitement. Twilight received stares from Spike and Starlight, and then she immediately changed back to her normal state with sheepish smile. Cadence and Celestia were not disturbed by Twilight’s child-like behaviour since they knew her very well. “Twilight, please show your sister-in-law to her room.” Celestia requested. “Alright, follow me!” Twilight grinned and rushed through the castle’s corridors, while Cadence followed her by walking. Honestly, she could just teleport ahead of her, but she wanted to look around the castle interior more, since it brought back many memories, like her wedding day, when the Changelings invaded Canterlot and when Queen Chrysalis almost took control of her husband, Shining Armor only to regain his mind, because of Cadence’s love for him. The royal guards were patrolling the castle perimeter with bags under their eyes. Being a guard wasn’t easy as most ponies thought it was, until they got into their first training as being one. Some yawned as those who stayed awake all night to be aware of suspicious activities, but their energy would drain quickly as they had to withstand the cold nights. The white Masks group were carrying their massive wooden crates of gear for their mission. They had successfully avoided suspicion from the citizens of Canterlot. Now they had to be even more careful than before, in order to get through the guards to make their move. They reached to the castle gates, to be greeted by several guards, including the squad leader of the patrolling squad. The guards had their neutral look on their faces, as if that they weren’t surprised. But despite the innocent appearance of the strange group that made their way to the castle gates, they were indeed suspicious. “What is your business here? It’s not the Princesses’ birthday. I believe you have the wrong location of where you would deliver these massive gifts.” The squad leader spoke coldly, but it did not faze the mysterious “delivery ponies.” “I’m pretty sure this is place. Would you like to see the address?” Copper asked with a small grin on his face. “Hmpf. Very well then.” The squad leader agreed with an irritated tone as he looked closely at the crates to find the address. Copper then gave a signal and suddenly, the whole group brandished knives from a wheelbarrow and stabbed the guards with hooves covering their mouths to prevent alerting the other guards that were around the castle. Blood seeped out from the guards backs, as their life faded. Their eyes were frantic at first, but they shut them due to blood loss. Copper’s group took off the armor from the guards and put them on, as disguises. They also dragged the bodies into the bushes. They also covered the drops of bloods, by rubbing sand to make the bloodstain blend in with the sand’s colour, to avoid raising an alarm. They managed to reach the castle grounds without being detected, as they blended in and silently took out the guards with their knives and brought in their gear. They headed to the castle’s basement, where they would set their plans into motion. Now all they have to do was to wait for the perfect moment… Earth, Team Rainbow HQ Gunshots could be heard along corridors of one particular room of the compound, the training room. Several Rainbow operators; Blitz, IQ, Pulse and Castle, were shooting moving targets with various weapons like, machine guns and handguns. They unloaded full magazines on their respective targets and then reload, then they unload them again. Once they were done, they practiced hand-to-hand combat. They were also chatting with each other at the same time. “That thing is still in my head.” IQ spoke as she tried to punch Castle, but he blocked it. “Yeah, ever since I saw it with my own eyes, it gives me the creeps just by thinking what it could do and what would it benefit the White Masks.” Castle said, while “retaliating” towards IQ, with a kick to her gut, forcing her to exhale sharply and let out a small but audible ‘oopf’. “Whatever it is, at least we kept it out of those suckers’ hands.” Pulse countered Blitz and put him in a headlock, however Blitz did not seemed bothered by it and counter back. “Why don’t we put this topic aside and continue with our training.” Blitz suggested, while the others nodded. Suddenly, a shout was heard and the four stopped their practice and rush to the source. It was coming from the testing chamber, where the mysterious machine resided at that time. When the four reached there, they were shocked at what was happening. The machine was working as a large bright light was in the middle of the arch. Turns out, the machine was in fact a portal. The portal was emitting a loud and continuous noise, similar to a plane taking off. “SHUT IT OFF!” the voice came from Thatcher, who was on the ground; so as Jäger, who was unconscious. Blitz was the first to respond and rushed towards the machine and ripped the wires away from the portal to shut it. The bright light flickered then it disappeared into thin air. The structure of the portal was still there though. Pulse and Castle carried Jäger out of the room and to the infirmary. IQ and Blitz aided Thatcher to get up on his feet. “Are you alright?” IQ asked. “I’m alright.” Thatcher answered with a groan. “Are you sure?” Blitz asked to confirm. “Yeah, just a little headache, but it won’t stop me from moving.” Thatcher assured Blitz. “We need to be careful around this thing. Although, I don’t believe in these futuristic sci-fi things, at least not yet, but this thing is really a portal and something we must not mess with. Blitz and IQ gave Thatcher a “Yes Sir!” as they saluted. Later, Jäger was revived by Doc, who advised him not to move too much, so that Doc can give Jäger the full treatment. Thatcher was also got checked up by Doc, to ensure that there was no major injuries or side effects from the portal, as the light that was emitting from it could give out a significant amount of radiation. Doc asked Pulse and Castle what happened, they told him the same story, about when they rushed into the testing chamber and realized that the machine was actually a portal. Doc was surprised and at the same time could not believe it. But, with all of what was happening, plus Thatcher was there, so he had to believe it. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cadence, Twilight, Spike and Starlight were at the castle garden in a gazebo that faced the entire garden. The garden was filled with greenery, like trees, grass and bushes that were trimmed to shapes of various animals, like birds, rabbits and etc. There were flowers too, that covered most of the garden. Celestia went out, to visit the Changeling Kingdom to discuss the changeling/pony relations with the new leader, Thorax. Cadence and Starlight were getting to know each other better. “So, how is your life in Equestria now, after what you did was… unacceptable.” Cadence spoke hesitantly. At the same time, she also spoke in an apologetic tone. Clearly, she did not want bring back bad memories when Starlight tried to change the future, which could have ended with a huge impact upon Equestria. She felt sorry for what Starlight did, because of her disdain for cutie marks that was a consequence of losing her youth companion, Sunburst when he picked up his, giving her a contorted origination of "equality". “I’m really sorry for being rude for asking that question, which you are not satisfied in answering. I understand if you do not want to tell me.” Cadence had a remorseful look on her face. “It’s ok; I understand and respect your sympathy, but now, everything is fine.” Starlight spoke with a smile on her face, which warmed Cadence’s heart. Twilight and Spike smiled at both of them, seeing how they bonded quickly. “I’m happy for both of them.” Twilight whispered to Spike. “Yeah, they are already friends.” Spike whispered back. At the other side of the castle, Copper and his White Masks group were roaming around the castle with the armor they had acquired as disguises. Their main guns were still in the crates as they wanted to take over the castle strategically. However, they hid handguns and knives in the armor that they were wearing just in case, if they somehow got caught. They also had learned that Princess Celestia went out of the castle, from eavesdropping the guards’ conversation, which is exactly what they wanted to know. Plus, there were remaining royalty in the castle, which could be used as a bargaining chip to pressure Celestia into heeding their demands. As they came across guards, they took them out and hid their bodies in any room, where no one usually goes into without any trace of blood, due to how precise and quickly they managed to hide them. Once they had gotten rid of the guards inside and the outside, they proceeded to the gardens and saw four figures in the gazebo. Copper smiled with delight that everything so far has been going according to plan. The imposters hid their knives and approached the four figures. As Cadence, Twilight, Spike and Starlight were about to go back into the castle, Cadence noticed a large group of guards seemed to head towards her. All of the sudden, she felt a bad vibe coming from these guards, as if she knew that they were not who they actually are. “Your highness, may you and your friends follow us, please?” Copper step forward in front of her, as Starlight, Twilight and Spike turned their face at the guards. They also felt the same bad vibes about them. “Why? Is there a problem?” Cadence asked with a suspicious look on her face. Suddenly, she felt a metallic object thrusted behind her head. “Do as he says, or I’ll put a hole at the back of your head.” A gruff voice spoke threateningly. Cadence took a glance behind her and saw a “guard” pointing a small and black object at her. Twilight, Spike and Starlight also had a barrel behind each of their heads. Their eyes widened with surprise in them. “What’s going on?” Spike asked with a confused and terrified voice. “Shut up, dragon, unless you want to have a hole at the back of your head!” another impostor snarled, while cocking the hammer of his gun, to insert more fear into Spike. Cadence faced Copper that was speaking to her from the start. Her eyes narrowed in anger. “What do you want and who are you? Leave them out of this!” Cadence growled through her gritted teeth as Twilight and her friends are in serious trouble. She was about to draw her breath to call out the guards, until the impostor raised a hoof. “Don’t even bother calling for the guards. We already took care of them.” Copper’s face was calm. “And don’t even bother using your magic, or do you want your friends’ heads to be blown up, as quickly as a blink of an eye?” a White Masks Unicorn added. “Now, don’t make me ask another time. Please, follow us.” Copper narrowed his eyes this time. Copper’s group guided their hostages roughly, to what seems like a living room with various kinds of furniture and wall decorations, like the twin swords that were hung above a fireplace. The room has limited windows, meaning that it would be difficult for any pony to enter the room during a lockdown. They tied Cadence, Twilight, Spike and Starlight, while barrels were still behind their heads. The same White Mask Unicorn walked in front of them with venomous eyes. “Now, three of you…” he pointed at Cadence, Twilight and Starlight. Twilight and Starlight were unsure what this unicorn wanted, but whatever it is, it’s not good. The Unicorn also nodded at the others and they took out several devices that looked like headphones with a siren LED light on top of it. They placed the devices on the heads of Twilight, Cadence and Starlight. “Alright, if one of you uses your magic, that device would let out a loud, high-pitched sound that will interrupt your concentration in your magic-casting. Furthermore, the LEDs would also flash. If it does… well, let’s hope you could handle some… intense pain.” The White Masks Unicorn grinned sinisterly. Twilight, Cadence, Starlight and Spike looked at each other with worried faces as if any traces of magic was detected by the devices on their heads, it would mean that pain and suffering would be inevitable no matter how powerful their magic could be. It’s true that Alicorns and Unicorns need to concentrate when using their magic. If they did not concentrate and using their magic at the same time, it would end up being less effective or it doesn’t work at all. In serious cases, their magic would backfire. “Ahem, thank you for that lecture. I’m sure they will heed your warning, isn’t right?” Copper asked rhetorically as he looked into his hostages’ eyes. “Good. Well then, time to make some big demands…” Copper smirked. An hour later, Celestia and her guards were standing outside of the castle gates, looking solemnly at the castle. The citizens of Canterlot were evacuated to Ponyville as their safezone, as it was heavily guarded. She was alerted by the news of armed ponies that have invaded the castle. She was thankful that her sister was not in the castle as she went out on other political issues with other species, but she was worried by the sudden news and she hurried back to settle the matter. Before she arrived, the guards outside the castle gates negotiated with the armed ponies, but there was no progress to be made as they made big demands, like abdicate the Princesses’ of Equestria and handing the power to them. They also said that if none of these demands are fulfilled, they would terminate the hostages. “I want full progress on the situation at hand.” Celestia ordered sternly. “Negotiations are not working. We need to change our methods.” The captain of the strike team said grimly. “We have to attack.” “We must not have a direct assault on them; they might hurt or kill the hostages, which I do not want that to happen.” Celestia said with a glare imposed on the castle. “Your highness, couldn’t one of us teleport into the castle and attack?” The captain said. “It might be tempting, but we do not have any information about the armed ponies. We must not underestimate them at all cost, even if we have magic. They might a Unicorn among them.” Celestia spoke thoughtfully. “Moreover, if they are fully armed and have numbers at their advantage, I’m afraid we have to think about it for now, until we have the information we need to counter them.” “Yes, your highness, I’m afraid so.” The captain answered solemnly. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earth, Team Rainbow HQ It had been an hour since the accident in the testing chamber. The chamber had been sealed off from anybody in the building until further notice. Ever since then, all the operators in the compound had been talking about the portal. Thatcher and the director had been debating for a long time, whether to destroy the portal, or to keep it for later research after what Thatcher had told the director what he witnessed. The director was a middle-aged man with Black and grey hair. He wore a black suit and glasses. The man rarely smiled and being stoic was his usual look on his face. Jäger was feeling slightly ill, which was the first sign of side effects from the portal, but it wasn’t harmful. Jäger managed to get back on his feet after treatments that were given by Doc. However, he was still suffering from a throbbing headache, but it won’t disrupt Jäger’s thoughts and focus in what was about to happen in the main room. The director called all the operators in team rainbow to discuss the incident that took place earlier. Thatcher had briefed some of the operators, who were returning back from their missions, of what had happened in HQ earlier. In the main room, the director, Thatcher and most of the operators in Rainbow were present. The operators who came back from their missions were Hibana, who was Japanese and she was a part of the Japanese counter-terrorism unit, SAT or Special Assault Team; Montagne, who was a part of the GIGN and Fuze, who was a Spetsnaz and one of the most destructive operators in Rainbow, due to his cluster charges that he used to decimate defence groups of the White Masks. Thatcher was the first one to speak and he did not look happy. “Alright, first off, someone has some explaining to do…” He looked at Jäger with a glare through his gas mask. Everybody looked at Jäger with ‘question mark’ looks. “What did he do?” Castle asked. “Something that… he was curious about.” Thatcher answered enigmatically while the Director kept a calm, but stern look as what a father would do when his son did something he was not supposed to do. Jäger spoke in his own defense. “Forgive me, sir. I didn’t know what I was thinking-“ “What were you thinking?!” Thatcher shouted at him, cutting Jäger’s sentence midway. “I gave you an order and you disobeyed. I expected more from you, soldier.” Thatcher said coldly, which could intimidate, even a hardened-soul Navy SEAL, like Blackbeard. “Please sir! Hear me out!” Jäger shouted. “And we’re listening.” Pulse said matter-of-factly. “Back there, that wasn’t me. I would never disobey an order, unless if it’s necessary…” Jäger said. Before Thatcher could retort to that statement, Blitz backed his teammate. “I’m with Jäger on this one.” Blitz said. “What happened back there?” the director asked with a hint curiosity in his tone. “It all started like this…” Jäger began. Earlier... Jäger was walking through the corridors of the compound and was about to join the others for sparing. “I want full progress on the situation at hand.” A stern female voice spoke. It slightly startled Jäger, but he responded anyway. “Yes ma-“ Jäger stopped after he turned around, where he heard that voice. He was surprised and confused, that nobody was present, when he heard the voice. Jäger then called out whoever made that order. “Hello? Is anybody there?” Jäger called as he head towards the direction where he heard it when another voice spoke up. This second voice this time sounded more masculine than the first. “Negotiations are not working. We need to change our methods.” Now Jäger was starting to get irritated but curious at the same time. “All right, who’s there? This is not funny, come out and show yourself.” Jäger said sternly to whoever he thought was messing with him. Nobody responded to his command. “Am I going insane? What’s going here?” Jäger thought. Then he heard the same masculine voice. “We have to attack.” “What the-“Jäger was shocked and pissed at the same time and pulled his pistol out and flip safety off. “Alright, come out!” Jäger shouted furiously and quickly headed towards the testing chamber with cautious steps. When he went inside it, he was shocked at what he was seeing. There was a small but bright light in the middle of the arch-like shape machine. This sight made Jäger more cautious and put up his weapon, in the case of something were to pop right out of the strange machine. Suddenly, disembodied voices found its way into Jäger’s mind and he cried out in pain as the voices spoke in various tones. Then the spot of light in the middle of the machine became larger and brighter every split second and the next thing Jäger thought, before falling unconscious. “Scheisse!” Present time… “And that, my friends is what happened…” Jäger finishes. The main room was silent after Jäger had told his perspective of the accident. The other operators have blank or surprised expressions and so as Thatcher and the director. Jäger was feeling nervous at how they would react to such an out of this world and ridiculous tale. The director was the first one to speak first. “If what you say is true, then we have a big problem that will jeopardise our safety.” The director turned to everyone, including Thatcher. “You are dismissed.” The operators walked away from the main room and back to their own quarters. The director signalled Jäger to come with him. Jäger complied and joined the director to a journey to the Director’s room. While everyone talked about the tale, Jäger had just told them. It may seem ridiculous, but seeing that the director believed Jäger’s story, they have a big problem that will send things into chaos, if not contained. Meanwhile, in the testing chamber, the portal suddenly powered itself; the same small bright light that Jäger had witnessed appeared at the center of the portal. The portal also emitted a bright and mysterious purple aura. The light then widened itself to take the shape of an arch-shaped doorway… > Chapter 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canterlot, Equestria Back at Equestria, in Canterlot castle, the White Masks ponies were setting up ‘camp’ in the castle itself. They had covered the whole place and captured all of the maids and guards that occupied the castle and placed them in the same room, where Cadence, Twilight, Starlight and Spike were held hostage. The guards, of course asked if they’re ok and if anybody was injured during the capture. They also apologised to Cadence and Twilight for not keeping the castle fully protected, but Twilight assured them that it’s not their fault and that these ponies were efficient in the execution of taking over the Castle. The maids of the castle were comforted by Cadence. “So what will we do to get out of here?” One of the maids asked innocently, which was obvious since she was not used to the situation. “I don’t know, but what I do know is that Celestia and the rest of the Royal guards will do something about this.” Cadence spoke in a calm and soft voice, in order to not attract any attention from some of their captors, who were busy setting a strange cylinder-shape device with a warning symbol stuck to it and a screen with the numbers all zero. (This means that the timer wasn’t set yet.) Cadence and the others had no idea what it was… or what it could do. “If I may your highnesses, I do remember correctly that you have the power to run through those disgraceful ponies.” A guard spoke with distaste towards the hostage takers... Cadence, Twilight and Starlight sighed, leaving the guards and the maids confused. Although they noticed the devices on their heads, but they had no idea what they are or what they do. “Even if we’re able to do that, we couldn’t…” Cadence said with a soft but grim voice. “Why is that?” The guard asked. “These things on our heads are preventing us to do so, as those ponies said that if we do use our magic, a piercing, high pitched sound would be produced and would disrupt our concentration in magic casting and not only that, The lights on it will flash brightly, which would disrupt our concentration even further and alert the ponies, who are keeping us hostage. I do not want that to happen, not right now.” This answer shocked the guards and the maids as their only hope of escaping this situation would be Celestia and the other Royal guards. Then several ponies came into the room with wooden crates. They opened the crates and pulled out an assortment of guns like the M4s, AUGs, AK47s and even a few military-issued sniper rifles were taken out and were placed near the windows. One of the ponies, who was a unicorn, was loading the guns with his magic, while the others armed themselves. One of the armed ponies came towards Spike with a scroll between his teeth. He dropped it on the ground in front of Spike and ordered him threateningly. “Send this to your leader or do you want your head remain… intact…” His voice was gruff and vile, earning a scared and confused look by Spike. “Wh-what d-do you me-“ “DON’T PLAY DUMB WITH ME!” The stallion yelled with irritation, which scared the maids and Spike. It also angered Twilight, Starlight and the guards. Cadence was stoic, while she maintained her anger towards the evil stallion. “Hey! Don’t talk to him like that! Besides he’s a just a baby dragon!” Starlight practically shouted in fury. The whole situation attracted the other armed ponies while Twilight and the others glared at the stallion, who was irate at this point. “THIS IS AN ORDER! YOU DON’T GET TO DECIDE WHAT IS RIGHT!” The stallion yelled again while aiming his gun at Starlight, which silenced her, but did not deter her as she looked at the stallion with hateful eyes. He turned to Spike with a deadly glare. There was a moment of tension in the atmosphere until… “Now send it…” The stallion hissed. Spike then quickly grabbed the scroll and used his flames to send the message to Princess Celestia. “Good…” The stallion smiled sinisterly as he pats Spike’s head lightly. He then trotted out of the room. “Are you ok, Spike?” Starlight asked softly as she glared at the other hostage takers  “I’m ok” Spike answered softly. This as a result, intensified the anger that was boiling within Twilight. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Twilight asked for confirmation with seriousness in her tone. “Re-really, I’m ok…” Spike answered again nervously, which obviously did not assure Twilight or anyone in the group, but decided not to push him. “…I just need to rest…” Spike said as he closed his already-teary eyes. He placed his head on Twilight’s body. Twilight then stroked Spike’s head soothingly to make him fall asleep peacefully. Cadence was watching Spike fall asleep as well. Cadence prayed that Celestia was going to get them out, the sooner the better as Cadence and the group felt the ever presence of hostility and danger in the atmosphere. Meanwhile… Princess Celestia was in one of the large green tents, served as the ‘War Tent’. The Royal Guard had made base camp outside Canterlot. They stockpiled crossbows, spears and had several siege machines to bust open heavily reinforced doors. Celestia and Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard were discussing plans on how to rescue Princess Cadence and the others. The best possible attack strategy would be sneaking into the castle, grab the hostages and move out. If they succeed, they could focus on how to capture the armed ponies with minimal casualties as possible. The Royal Guard were not reputed to be a violent army; they would swoop in, defuse the situation with little to no casualties and then send the perpetrators to the castle dungeons for trials and hearings. “Princess, would you think Cadence and the others would be all right?” Shining Armor spoke with concern. “I can assure you, Captain. Everything would be settled eventually. But, I could not guarantee you, 100% that they would be completely unharmed, but I can only guarantee that they would be alive after this.” Celestia responded with a half-truth answer. “It’s just that… I just want everything to be ok. I can’t bear to lose both Twilight and Cadence…” Shining Armor said worriedly. “Everything would be better as time goes.” Celestia soothingly spoke. Suddenly, several ponies appeared from the tent “door” from the outside. They were revealed themselves to be the remaining Elements of Harmony: Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. They had worried looks on their faces. Pinkie Pie was also showing a bit worry, which was quite rare for her to express this kind of emotion. “A-are they gonna be okay, Princess.” Fluttershy spoke first, yet the voice was soft as usual for her. Princess Celestia flashed a grim look on her face for a moment, and then retained back her composure. “Don’t worry my little pony… I’m certain they’ll be ok.” Celestia doubted her own answer and felt like a big liar. But sometimes, a lie is much more assuring than the truth. However, eventually she had to open up to them with the truth. Despite, Celestia’s convincing answer, Applejack saw through her lie, which was expected from the Element of Honesty…