//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Invasion of Canterlot // Story: MLP Movie: Equestria's side of the story // by tzening //------------------------------// The city is in chaos with the capture of the Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadance. The absence and/or incompetence of the Royal Guard has always been expected, but even the Wonderbolts desperately firing lightning thanks to already in the clouds when all this happened into the Storm Guard are the only ones that had any initial effect. The Friendship Council was last seen escaping to the bridge outside the main gate. In all this chaos, some ponies managed to stop panicking and fight back. The Earth ponies resorted to their vaunted strength, grabbing the biggest objects they can use as improvised weapons: clubs and projectiles or even horseshoes for bucking. The Pegasi cursed that there are clear skies, for it means that unlike the Wonderbolts there are no clouds in near vicinity for them to shoot lightning. They had escape to higher altitudes and rally around the Wonderbolts so that's all they can do while having to dodge the steel nets thrown by the Storm Guard. After realising that direct magic didn't work on the shields, some of the unicorns resorted to telekinesis on the biggest object they can find and throw it at the invaders. Others decided to use more unconventional methods... The sight of her friends being captured and muzzled being seared into her memory, along with their words: "Moondancer, run---mrrph!!" Moondancer ran to her house near the stadium, using Twilight's Bubble of Silence while sneaking through various stands. After managing to get into her house, she grabbed a tachi in the corner of her house. "And Minuette said that all my studying would not be any use. Looks like I got lucky coming across this Neighponese sword style manual when I was going through my foreign military studies. Learning Twilight's book surfing spell helped me to actually train with the figures in the book!! Still, this is a far cry from actual real-life training and a lot of the higher techniques seem to actually hurt a lot if actually used. I am not turning to a killer. Note to self: Return this to the local museum in it's original state after all this is over." "Now to add one last touch..." With a single spell, the tachi's edges became reversed, turning it into a sakaboto (Reverse-edged sword). After that, she made sure that the sword itself can conduct magic. "Seems that they have armour that deflect magic attacks, they didn't say anything about magic-buffed physical weapons. Seems that Twilight manage to escape with her friends and will be pursued judging from that Tempest's demands. This gives me an idea but I need help to pull this off. I better not be the only pony that isn't fighting back." As she stepped out of her house, she thought to herself as she faced the first Storm guard that saw her. "Minuette, Twinkle Shine, Lemon Hearts, Lyra...I'm coming for you girls. Please be okay." Moondancer draw the kept the grip on her weapon firm, ready to release like a loaded bow. "Pick on somepony that can fight back!! Eat this, Moonlight Slash!!" Canterlot Castle The thing about being a prince in Equestria is that you are either often the center of attention or a prop that wouldn't be missed. The latter situation happened to Prince Blueblood, who had no interest in the Festival and was planning on keeping to himself until Songbird Serenade's performance. After watching his family's capture from the window of his room, he ran to the castle vault while looking for Kibitz and Raven. "Ok, everypony capable of fighting back is down or escaped. Surely, there's got to be something in the vault that can be of any use." After passing by the bureaucrats office, he noticed a makeshift barricade made of the nearby bookshelves. "Kibitz, Raven? What happened? Has the Castle gate already been breached?" "Prince Blueblood? Is that you? Thank Celestia, I thought you got captured as well. Thankfully, the gates have yet to be breached as the invaders are busy...muzzling...the citizens who weren't able to fight back." "I need full emergency access to the vault. Auntie is captured and the second keys to the place are with the two of you." "Are you mad?!? We actually want a Canterlot standing after all this is over. There's a reason why Celestia stashed them away in the first place!!" "It's better than just sitting here waiting to get captured!! I can hear them breaching the gates!!" As the trio reached the vault, Kibitz and Raven each took out a horseshoe that was hung on a necklace hidden undernearth their clothes. Both of them wore their horseshoes on their right hooves and placed it on two of the inconspicuous horseshoe-shaped engravings on the door frame. With a click, the vault doors opened. The hidden vault of Equestria, a place where artifacts wielded by the greatest heroes of Equestrian history. It is rumored that even the legendary 8 Enchanted Items of Mage Meadowbrook are locked away in here which explains why none of them were ever found. Aside from them also lie the items Blueblood is looking for. A set of white barding that with a helmet of the same colour that had a hole in it for the horn which shone with the sun's brilliance. Beside the armor, a sword that is half the length of Blueblood's body where the handle has the ability to turn into a mouthpiece which makes carrying it in the mouth much easier when it is not carried by magic. Both of them glowed with intense heat and power. "The armor of Sir Gawain Blueblood the 1st and his sword, Galatine. You are planning on using this!? You spent your entire life pampered with no training and now you expect to wield your greatest ancestor's armaments? He was the rival to the greatest of Celestia's knights!!" "I know I'm under qualified but somepony needs to step up!! I'm not standing waiting for them to capture me!! I have been doing some light reading on the history of my family. I know all of the armaments' hidden functions and the best time to use it is now while Auntie's sun still shines through!! You two, get back to your barricade or try to find a secret passageway, surely there has to at least one in this castle. I will stop the invaders from breaching the main gate!!" "This is the pinnacle of recklessness. I can't stop you considering that we literally have no other options left. Try be a little dignified when you lose, ok?" "Gee, thanks for believing in me...not that it was unfounded though." As Blueblood ran to the main gates of the Castle, a squad of Storm Guards were just planning to breach them. As they are about to break the gates open, the doors voluntarily opened up and a massive inferno came roaring out, burning the invaders to a crisp. As Blueblood stepped through the doors after having them close behind him, he casted the Royal Canterlot Voice out to the city: "I am Prince Blueblood!! But today, I am the Knight of the Sun, Sir Gawain Blueblood the 10th!! Foul trespassers, come and face the might of Galatine!!" The sword proceeds to ignite with flames and with a single swing, fire is sent hurling towards it's foes. For Trixie and Starlight Glimmer, this is not a good day. In other words, an average day. "The city is getting conquered for like what, the 2nd or 3rd time?" mused the stage magician. "You would think Canterlot would had cannons and better lookout posts aside from Luna's room by now..." said the ex-cult leader. "This is will be the greatest performance of the Great and Powerful Trixie yet!! They may block magic, but let's see if they like my personal stash of fireworks!!" "You sure about this? I remember I had to trap you in a Bubble of Silence for 5 minutes while hiding the two of us in an alley when you freaked out seeing the Princesses get captured. We already lost the chance to help Twilight and her friends with whatever mission they may have been assigned to when she and her friends got sent down the waterfall." "So what do we do now? We can't serious hope to hide in this alley until this whole thing blows over. What's your biggest teleportation range? We need to get out of here and contact all of our friends: Thorax, Ember and the Pillars!!" "We need Spike for that and he left with Twilight. Let's just hope this idea crosses their mind. I could really use a magical notebook like Sunset's right now. We need to find and establish communications with anypony else that are might be fighting and organize a secret resistance in the city." "Yeah, but we need to be careful. We just need to teleport and quickly bail to a set place that will serve as our hideout as it can't definitely be this alley. All the while explaining to them what is happening. There's also the question of where can we find them in this chaos..." One sound suddenly permeated the noise and reached the ears of the duo. "...come and face the might of Galatine!!" "Would that be a start?" Galatine's flames, even when magical still comes with searing heat that can ignite the air to create actual physical flames. This fact alone bypassed any anti-magic defenses the Storm Guard could use, sending them packing away in terror. The problem? The flames couldn't distinguish friend from foe and the wielder himself until now has never wielded a weapon in his entire life. This made him a danger to his fellow ponies as well. It doesn't help that Canterlot is attacked from all sides. Even if Blueblood saved his people, they have nowhere to run to and standing near Blueblood's vicinity is just as unsafe. When Starlight and Trixie got to him, they had to immediately duck avoid getting bisected. The prince couldn't help but stand down to avoid friendly fire. "Who are you?" "Starlight Glimmer and Trixie. Are there any other ponies with you?" "Thank Celestia!! I thought I was alone in this fight! Please tell me you have a plan. On a side note, now I know how Auntie Celestia and Luna feels every time they have to fight in urban areas." "Get every pony that can fight back and organize the local resistance. The element of surprise meant that we can't take back Canterlot as we are now." "Such a great plan, too bad it's not going to work. You are right about losing Canterlot though." Starlight, Trixie and Blueblood's heart stopped when they realized who said that sentence. "Tempest..." "Will you give me a decent challenge? Or like the others fold like a house of cards in a storm?" Tempest proceeded to fire a lightning bolt right at the trio. Starlight and Trixie barely managed to put up a barrier before the impact blew the trio back, crashing them to a nearby stand. "Your flames are effective against my army, but I can tell from your movements that you are just a greenhorn. I'll will be more than happy to open up your eyes from your delusions of heroism. I'll give you credit for actually fighting back though." "We need to get out of here!! Try to find the next fighter in this hot mess!! We will be back for Round 2!! We are just making a...tactical retreat that's all! Disappearing act!! Go!!" A massive smokescreen appeared and when it cleared, the trio is gone. "Finally, for a second there considering the lack of it, I thought the teleportation spell disappeared from unicorn spellbooks while I was gone!!" mused Tempest Shadow. Canterlot, the vicinity of Canterlot Stadium Moondancer walked past the carnage she committed. When you have a weapon that can go through armor like wet paper, you can be surprised how quickly enemies can flee from you after the first few suddenly became naked in an instant. "Ok, that's the 15th guy I had to fight. I'm going nowhere with this and I can't find my friends anywhere." Starlight, Trixie and Blueblood popped in front of Moondancer. The spooked mare nearly took their heads off in reflex. "Who are you and how did you find me?" "Long story short, we ran into the commander, got our flanks kicked and I had to teleport us to a place that should be far enough from the Festival grounds. We are gathering all the ponies that can fight back and organizing a resistance. After we landed in the Stadium, we heard the sounds of ringing metal and decided to drop by." Starlight explained. "Judging from Tempest's actions, she is still looking for Princess Twilight. She doesn't know Twilight has already escaped Canterlot." Trixie observed. "Good, I have a plan that at the very least make sure Tempest wouldn't go after Twilight." Moondancer suggested. "And why would that be so?" Blueblood inquired. "You are a stage magician right?" Pointing at Trixie. "Because we will bring 'Princess Twilight' to her." "And I have a few spells that I know of may make things easier for us is this went sour...." Starlight said. Occupied Canterlot Castle "...Prepare my ship!! Besides, how far can one little pony go?" "Ehh Tempest, you might want to look outside." Grubber observed. Upon noticing that there is a team of misfits fighting back the invaders and liberating the captives notably the Wonderbolts, Tempest is actually ecstatic. "Finally, looks like those idiots are back for Round 2!! As much as I want this to be easy, so far this is just too easy. Such power being wasted on parties, looks like I spoke too soon. Well, well, well...what do we have here? The Princess of Friendship has returned to save her people with reinforcements." Tempest ran outside the palace to face the resistance comprised of Starlight, Trixie, Blueblood and 'Twilight' in clothes covering her supposed wings. She ordered one of the Storm Guards for his spear, effortlessly wielding it to the extent that the disadvantage that should come with having no fingers and standing on four legs is practically non-existent. She then proceeds to fire her lightning arcs into the spear after chopping of the pointed end with another spear, proceeding to 'enchant' it with lightning, turning it into a lightning staff. Her army realized what was going to happen and immediately got clear. "As much as I want a fight, actually ending lives would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Never liked the whole slavery part either..." "If you truly believe you can protect your home...Let your actions speak for themselves!!" As Tempest charged towards the quartet with blazing zeal, they are shocked at how fast she can be without the aid of magic. "Everyone, Accelero!!!" The quartet split up with amplified speed. Tempest went after the Trixie first, intending to knock her out first so that she doesn't have to worry about any stage tricks later on. Starlight, Blueblood and 'Twilight' immediately fired their beams at her, only to have her use her staff to block them. "Watch your fire!! You are going to hit me!!" Trixie yelled while secretly slipping a rope loop right under Tempest's legs. When Tempest resumed attacking her, she pulled the rope with her left fore and back hooves, effectively binding 2 of Tempest's legs. "Abracadabra!! This is the power of stage magic!! Now everyone hit her!!" On cue, the rest fired on Tempest. "Nice try!! But I wouldn't be a commander if I lost to such tricks so easily!!" With overwhelming strength on her two free legs, Tempest pulled on Trixie's ropes and pulled her straight to the path of the beams. Trixie was unable to put up a barrier in time due to the suddenness of the move and was sent flying into a side of the field, unconscious. Starlight upon realising what happened, went ballistic and fired a barrage of stone prison spells like the ones that was used on filly Rainbow Dash in the time travel incident while attempting to teleport behind her. Now free thanks to the owner no longer being conscious, Tempest quickly dodged the spells while using her staff to parry the sword blows coming from both Blueblood and 'Twilight'. No matter how many times Tempest hit Blueblood, the blows have no effect. "I hit it with all my strength, there's no way the armour should still be undamaged. Wait a minute, why is it always under direct sunlight and glowing like it reflecting the Sun's rays...Of course." Utilizing her combat experience, something which Blueblood is lacking in, she managed to break out of the triple attack swinging her staff around like an electric hurricane. This isolated her opponent to just Blueblood after sending the other 2 reeling to avoid getting hit. "Taste Galatine's steel!!" After dodging the amateurish sword swings, the lack of experience in fighting crowded close quarters is clear, as the flames were more subdued to avoid friendly fire. Tempest immediately ran around to block the Sun's rays before laying about a barrage that sent the poor stallion flying. "How did you figure it out?" inquired Blueblood. "I noticed that your armour had an enchantment on it. After all, how else could it be so tough after so many blows that would had destroyed conventional armour on the first hit. I also noticed that it always had sunlight shining on it. So I took a gamble, left myself open and blocked out the light while I was making a break for you." "Now for the Princess of Friendship, let's see how you still fare with your friends already beaten!!" 'Twilight' immediately took to the air, silently thanking Starlight for teaching her the self-levitation spell. Not planning on letting this turn into an aerial shootout, Tempest sprung into the air with just her back legs with such astonishing speed that she caught up to her opponent before she even realised it. One unavoidable "Whack!!" sent her flying to the ground. Thankfully, 'Twilight' wasn't finished. She drew her sword and fought Tempest for 25 exchanges. The resounding clashes of steel reinforced by unicorn magic rang throughout the field. However, the difference in prowess is clear. Tempest exceeded the Princess of Friendship in combat experience while being able match her power, speed and endurance. On the other hand, the latter's magic reserves that came with being an Alicorn are the only thing that allowed her to keep up with the battle-hardened commander and it won't be long before that advantage is lost. 'Twilight' soon realized that there is only one method to win this duel. A single-stroke battle. "Secret Art, Lunar Echoes!!" After deflecting the lightning staff, she then proceeded to withdraw her tachi into the scabbard as hard as she could near Tempest's ear. The resultant din temporary deafened both combatants and threw them off balance, with only Tempest suffering more due to her opponent jumping back at the last second. "Aggrh!! If you think this will leave me open, think again!! I've been through worse motions on turbulent airships!!" Tempest stated. Instead of jumping forward to deal Tempest a heavy slash, her opponent instead placed herself into a battle stance, charging up her magic to the fullest extent in her body to perform a quick-draw slash amplified by Accelero!!! "Going all in? Very well, so will I." Tempest responded. She got herself into a battle stance holding up her staff, charging it up with her lightning. The audience, both pony and non-pony alike are silent and unmoving, knowing very well that this is a fight that is out of their league and dare not interrupt. Both combatants pawed their forehooves on the ground, a signal of threat which was a carryover from their days as non-sapient animals, buried deep into their own subconscious. On the third tap, both mares struck. "Lightning Flash!!" "Secret Art, Crescent Moon Severance!!" A resounding CLANG rang the air, and both combatants now have their backs to each other. A deafening silence followed. To the horror of the inhabitants of Equestria, the Princess of Friendship fell. Some even started bawling their eyes out as their last hope was snuffed out both figuratively and literally. Tempest however, was surprisingly winded and had a massive gash along her entire chest area. She would have bled if it wasn't for her quick thinking to use her own lightning staff to cauterize her wounds. After gritting her teeth through the pain, she had this to say to her fallen opponent: "I never had to use my best until now, not even Queen Novo of Mount Aris warranted the use of a lightning staff and my best technique. Congratulations on being the first pony-no mortal to do so." As she looked over to the crying populace, she only had this to say: "Dry your tears!! Your Princess will live and we will make sure she does!! A worthy opponent who earned her crown, I would expect nothing less from a being with the might of 25 armies. Now it's just a matter of making sure that power is put to greater uses..." As Tempest approached the defeated 'Twilight', "You are a credit to your fellow Princesses. If your colleagues fought back alongside you, I will actually be the one sitting in a cage while you all ponies would still have your party. Be honoured that your magic is used for the ownership of the world instead of a silly celebration." She them proceeded to look at the final combatant who just regained her senses, Starlight Glimmer, who was casting spell after spell in her arsenal only for them to be evaded or deflected by her staff. "You lost. Guards, put them in their cages until we finished looting the rest of the country. As a 'reward' for actually putting up a fight, those other three are to be left alone their cages, not to be muzzled nor sold to Klugetown's markets and to be set free before we finish and leave. Is that clear?!?" Tempest ordered. "Understood!! Nice try, ponies. But you guys have a long way to go if you want to actually beat Commander Tempest in a fight. She dropkicked better guys than you." As Grubber and the Storm Guard placed 'Twilight' in her cage, he noticed that underneath the holes in her clothes that was damaged in the fight, he saw that there are no wings. "Wait a minute, you're not the princess!!" "Looks like she saw through it. Plan B!!" Moondancer yelled, dropping her disguise. Moondancer, Trixie and Blueblood spontaneously disappeared. "Huh?!?" "Similo Duplexis, when combined with Accelero in just the right way, you can be in two places at once." boasted Starlight Glimmer. "What?" exclaimed an angry Tempest. "Do you really think we will give ourselves up to you on a silver platter? The real us have escaped Canterlot a long time ago!!!" After that was said, Starlight disappeared. "Tempest, should we look for them?" "No, they earned their reprieve. The Storm Guard will run into them sooner or later. Not to mention, with the beatdown I gave them, they are too injured to fight back. Even without the feedback, the magnitude and duration of the duplication spell from what I can tell, the inflicted strain should make them easy pickings." In the vicinity of Canterlot Stadium, the hidden Resistance's hideout "We are totally stuck here." said the real and very exhausted Starlight Glimmer. "Let's just hope what we did here made a difference. Twilight better be off getting an army and actual help for Equestria this time. Even if we didn't succeed at tricking Tempest, the time we bought for Twilight should be enough to bury her tracks." Moondancer said before collapsing from the exhaustion from all the spells cast. "Trixie, you had the least damage from the fight. Escape to Ponyville and holdout in the castle. We are too exhausted to even move." Blueblood stated. "Very well, the Beaten and Bruised Trixie shall do so." Unbeknownst to her, three fillies who managed to slip though the cracks in all this chaos followed her to Ponyville. Spitfire along with her colleagues Soarin, Fleetfoot and Thunderlane are the only Wonderbolts that weren't captured at the end of the day. They flew towards Cloudsdale, hoping to rally the Wonderbolts reserves and the rest of the city into action. "Blaze, High Winds, Lightning Streak, Misty Fly, Rapidfire, Silver Lining, Surprise, Wave Chill. I'll be back for you guys, (sniff) I promise." "It's alright, we'll rescue them and everyone else too. That's what's being a Wonderbolt is all about." Unbeknownst to them, a green coated pegasus with a yellow mane that also flew out of Canterlot in the confusion is following them as well. "Tempest, disappointed that it really wasn't the Princess meaning that you still can't have your horn back?" "Definitely." "That's not the only reason. If it really was her and not some poser, she would had earned her crown, the respect of her subjects and even mine. People like those four are too good for a coward who can only run away and squander her powers on trivial pursuits instead of actually helping people." Tempest thought to herself. "All hands, prepare for departure!! We have a princess to get." "Let's see what the real deal is capable of if the faker is willing to go through such lengths for her." 1000 hours-Arrival of Tempest's ship and the Storm's King's vanguard 1045 hours-Total occupation of Canterlot 1110 hours-Tempest's ship leaves Canterlot to pursue Princess Twilight Sparkle