//------------------------------// // A Unicorn With No Horn // Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Storm of Friendship // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// All of a sudden, however, there came a clap of thunder. Everyone looked up and saw a batch of what appeared to be storm clouds materialize in the sky. "Wait just a darn minute here!" Shining remarked as he then angrily barked out. "Rainbow Dash, I thought I told you I didn't want any storm clouds during the festival!" "Uh, I don't think those are storm clouds. At least, none I've ever seen." Rainbow confessed. "Then, what are they? And where did they come from?" Shining wondered aloud. "I have a bad feeling we're about to find out," Twilight gulped. "Look!" Emerging from the clouds was a huge zeppelin of some kind, coated entirely in black. "Maybe those are the clowns Pinkie ordered?" Braeburn questioned, which prompted everyone to look at him as if he'd lost his mind. "What?" The stallion replied. "Maybe these clowns have a really weird sense of humor or somethin', can you blame a stallion for tryin' to be optimistic here?" Shining groaned. "Braeburn, I appreciate the thought, but now is really not the time. Whoever's on board that zeppelin, I get the feeling they're not here for a party," Then he proceeded to complain. "Why do these things always have to happen in the middle of a big event? Just once could something go off without a hitch?" The zeppelin touched down a moment later and a huge ramp slid down toward the ground, crushing a balloon animal that had ended up in its path. "Brian, no!" A voice cried. But all eyes were soon drawn to a much more unusual sight. A small hedgehog with a dark grayish cobalt blue coat, a puffy white mane, and brilliant opal eyes came rolling down the ramp. A device of some sort appeared beside him, and he tapped on it, as it slowly transformed into a megaphone. "Greetings, citizens of Equestria!" The hedgehog's voice echoed through the megaphone, breaking the tense silence. "The name's Grubber, but you can know me as your conquerer. For I, along with my little friends here, come on behalf of a higher power. His almighty badness, the Storm King!" Shining happened to glance in the direction of Princess Celestia, and saw her let out a gasp at the mention of the Storm King. "Sounds like another old threat the princess never mentioned." He thought, as the prince saw banners unfold. They depicted a strange, bipedal creature that looked almost like Lord Tirek. Except he had cold colors of blue and white, and wore a crown of some kind. "Now, the Storm King sends his regrets that he couldn't personally be here to oversee your destruction. But he has rather pressing engagements elsewhere," Grubber went on, clearly trying to instill a sense of fear in the crowd. None appeared to be even remotely shaken though. "Not to worry," The hedgehog went on. "His excellency has sent only the best to carry out his biding. So please put your hooves together and give it up for the one, the only, Commander Tempest Shadow!" The zeppelin's door slowly rose, and from a thick blanket of red fog emerged a rather tall and slender looking unicorn mare. Her coat was a noticeable dark orchid in color, and her mane and tail were moderate rose in stiff curls. Her moderate opal eyes seemed to coldly scan the crowd, silently judging them. But most noticeable of all, across her face was a huge scar, and where her horn should be there was only a broken stub. Tempest was silent for a moment, glaring down at the crowd from the zeppelin. Then she spoke, her voice sounding cold and almost void of emotion. "Listen up ponies, here's the deal. I'm not here for all of you, I only want the four alicorns who rule over you and who you hold in such high regard. If these four agree to surrender, I'll leave the rest of you alone. Or we can make it difficult for everyone. It's your choice." Luna glanced up at the unicorn clad in armor. "You come here with an army, poised for attack, and expect us to believe you'll do us no harm if we surrender? Why should we trust a word you say?" Cadence, meanwhile, was eyeing Tempest's appearance. Specifically her horn and scar. "What happened to you, Tempest? How did you end up in such a state?" "An unfortunate accident from long ago, that's all you need to know," Tempest coldly replied. "I expect you to cooperate, not to ask questions. Now, are you gonna do what I ask, or do I have to make you? Because I will." Celestia glared at Tempest and said to the unicorn. "You're making a mistake, Tempest. I don't know what could cause a pony like you to betray Equestria and side with the Storm King, but I suggest you surrender now if you wish to be shown mercy. Perhaps there might even be a way to heal those wounds and restore your horn." Tempest only shook her head. "It's too late for that, princess. I've pledged myself to the Storm King and I don't intend to disappoint him. I won't ask you again, do you surrender?!" Celestia firmly shook her head, stomping her hoof down in protest. "No, never! We will never surrender to the likes of you! And you can tell his 'highness' that he will NOT have Equestria so long as my sister, niece, nephew-in-law, and I still draw breath!" "Too bad, I was hoping you'd pick the sensible option," Tempest sighed. "Why do they always insist on doing it the hard way?" Then she gave a whistle. "Okay boys, you know the drill. Rough up as many ponies as you have to, but bring the alicorns to me. And remember, I want them alive!" "Uh-oh, not good!" Was all Shining could bring himself to say, before a huge bunch of yeti like creatures with dark black fur emerged from the zeppelin. The battle for Canterlot had now begun! It took very little time for small groups of ponies to form out of necessity. All of them were united by a common goal, fending off Tempest's goons. Cheerilee surprised Big Mac by effortlessly grabbing one of the goons and flipping him onto his back! "My twin sister's a professional wrestler, I've picked a couple of moves just from watching her." She explained. "I knew there was somethin' I liked about you, Cheerilee," Big Mac smiled, bucking another goon with his strong back hooves. "I'm so sorry this all had to happen. I know you were really lookin' forward to this field trip." "Well, I said I wanted a change. Guess this is why they always say 'Careful what you wish for, you might just get it.'" Cheerilee commented, before she and Big Mac went back to taking on the goons. Elsewhere, Fancy Pants and Fleur formed a tag team to alternatively take down goons with their magic and their hooves. "Those self defense classes were a wise investment, Fancy Pants," Fleur declared. "Reminds me of when we first met, and I was your body guard." "Just like old times." Fancy Pants laughed. Soarin alternated between the Wonderbolts as needed, soon taking notice of a particularly frightening fact. "I don't like this, Spitfire!" He said to his captain. "No matter how many of these guys we defeat, they just keep coming and coming! It's an endless swarm!" "I think you might be right, Soarin!" Spitfire replied, as she swooped down and knocked a couple of goons aside. "If our odds don't improve soon, we're in big trouble! We weren't meant for this kind of long term combat, especially not against a foe with endless goons to throw at us." "Come on, there's gotta be an end in sight somewhere!" Rainbow firmly declared. "They're gonna run out sooner or later!" "Let's hope it's sooner, for our sakes." Soarin thought to himself. Already he could feel the constant battling taking its toll on him. While all this was going on, Shining Armor had his sights set on Tempest and Grubber. But a nagging thought kept lingering in the back of his mind and refused to let him be. "Just who or what is the Storm King? And why is Princess Celestia so terrified of him?" But a much more pressing concern quickly occupied the prince's every thought. Flash Sentry came swooping down, panting heavily and covered in bruise marks. "We're stretched to capacity, Captain! We're not making any headway against the enemy, and a lot of the guards are getting pretty banged up!" Shining growled and grit his teeth. "This can't be happening! This is a nightmare!" "This isn't a nightmare, it's real!" Flash replied, lowering his helmet. "I think it's time to face facts, captain! We're fighting a losing battle. And if we don't do something soon, we're going to lose our lives!" "Then there's only one thing to do," The alicorn reluctantly realized. "Tell all the guards to fall back and take as many civilians as possible with them. We need to fall back and rethink our strategy. Better to lose the city than to lose our lives." "Got it, Captain! What about you?! What will you do?" Flash asked his superior. The prince replied with grim determination. "What I always do, hold the line for long as possible. That way I can hopefully buy the others some time." "What?! Are you nuts?! I'm not leaving you behind, Captain! You'll get yourself captured or even killed!" Flash protested. "Let me stay and fight alongside you!" "I gave you an order, Lieutenant Flash! And I expect you to follow it!" The captain angrily barked out. "It's not up for debate! Go find Sunburst, Starlight, and my sister, and get out of here while you still can! I'll be fine, just go!" "But Captain-" Flash began. "Go, now!" Shining interrupted! Reluctantly, the pegasus obeyed his superior. But as he flew off he took one last look at his captain. "I sure hope you know what you're doing." He thought. Then he set off to locate Sunburst, figuring that wherever he was there was a good chance Starlight would be there too. While all that was going on, Cadence spotted an opportunity. Tempest was all by herself, seemingly unaware of the danger she was placing herself in. The princess of love carefully charged forward, hoping to catch the broken horned unicorn by surprise. Shining, witnessing the scene from afar, smiled. His wife had the right idea. Capture the leader, and with any luck the rest of the invading army would surrender. However, Tempest spotted the princess as she began to close in on the unicorn. Realizing her mistake, the unicorn tried to run! But before long she could see the shadow of Princess Cadence closing in on her! Running away was futile. So she turned around and skidded to a halt. Then she took out a green colored pellet of some kind, holding it firmly in her hooves. "This has to work!" She thought, and bucked it hard with her hooves! Cadence, spying the fast approaching projectile, swerved out of the way! It whooshed past her without fanfare, and the pink coated alicorn breathed a sigh of relief. "You missed me," She taunted at Tempest. But then suddenly, some kind of green mist emerged from the pellet. To the princess' horror, her body started to be encased in solid crystal! "What is this?!" Was all she had time to say before she was encased entirely in crystal, and fell to the ground! Her husband had seen the whole thing from afar, and he had watched with horror! His mouth dropping wide open in shock! "Cadence, NO!" He cried at the top of his lungs. Then he felt something snap inside of him, and a great anger began to rage! "You'll pay for your heartless act, Tempest!" He shouted, as he quickly closed in on her and struck her hard with a blast to the chest! Tempest's armor observed most of the shock wave but she was still pushed back a fair deal. "That wasn't a smoke bomb?!" She commented, as though surprised at what had transpired. A look of shock appeared to be registered in her eyes. "I don't care what it was, you're going to undo what you've done this instant!" Shining demanded. "You're not just messing with a prince, you're messing with the captain of the Royal Guard! I've had training the likes of you which you couldn't begin to imagine!" "Ooh, royal guard training," Tempest taunted. "Most impressive. But compared to the training I endured at the hands of the Storm King, your 'royal guard training' is mere child's play!" "I'll make you eat those words!" Shining growled, bucking Tempest hard in the chest and firing off a magic blast. Tempest instinctively fired off a blast of her own from her stub, the spark managing to match the fury of Shining's assault. Princess Celestia came swooping down upon the scene a moment later, quickly stepping between the feuding ponies. "That's enough, Shining Armor! Stand aside! As the princess of Equestria, would be traitors answer to me!" She threw up a shield to protect herself a moment later. The prince was still in a state of seething rage! "Let me go, princess! Let me at her! She has to pay for what she did to my wife!" He bellowed, stomping his hooves down as smoke billowed from his nostrils. Celestia shook her head. "Anger won't bring Cadence back. Besides, Tempest is not the one we should be worried about. If what she said earlier is true, a much bigger threat is probably on the way as we speak." "The Storm King?" Shining wondered, to which Celestia confirmed with a nod. "I will deal with Tempest," The sun princess insisted. "You need only worry about getting everypony else to safety," Then she dropped her shield and began to charge at Tempest as she called out. "Luna, quick! Time is of the essence! Flee south, beyond Equestria, and seek help from Novo, Queen of the Hippo-" But the rest of her speech was cut off, as she was suddenly struck by the same magic pellet that ensarned Cadence. "Sister!" Luna cried. Tempest, meanwhile, began preparing another pellet. "You're not getting away that easily!" She thought. "Luna, watch out!" Shining warned, flying towards the night princess in the midst of fleeing. Alas, the warning came too late for Luna to escape! In vain, she tried to vaporize the incoming projectile with a blast from her horn! But all it did was unleash the mist, and in seconds the dark blue coated alicorn also fell! Realizing the situation he was now in, the sole surviving alicorn began to dart about! He knew he needed to find a way to flee, but he also wanted to find a way to lure Tempest away from the countless ponies still trying to escape the attack on Canterlot! "Twily?! Flash?! Sunburst?! Anypony?!" The prince called out, hoping not to hear any replies. Unfortunately, his friends overheard. "Shining's in trouble!" They all realized at once, and all of them dropped what they had been doing to rush to his aid! But before the six stallions could even think of uniting, Tempest called out above the chaos. "Wait!" Shining spun around, and his eyes widened once again! For he saw Starlight Glimmer being held by one of the goons, struggling in vain to break free. "Let me go! I want no part of this!" She protested, kicking her legs about. "Let her go, Tempest! She's done no harm to you!" Shining firmly demanded. "I'm the one you want, don't drag my student into this!" A smirk formed on the broken horned unicorn's face. "Gladly," She coldly replied. "Surrender to me now, and I'll let your prized protege go free. That is, unless you're willing to risk her life on the off chance I don't consider her part of my mission." The alicorn prince reluctantly flew over to Tempest. "Alright, alright, you've got me. Now let Starlight go," And he was quick to add. "Don't try any funny business. If you lay so much as one hoof on her or anypony else, I'll never forgive you!" "Relax, I'm a mare of my word. Your student is free to go." Tempest replied, motioning for the goon to release the captured unicorn. "Starlight, listen to me very carefully," Shining instructed. "Get out of here, now! Find Sunburst, Flash, and my sister, and get somewhere safe. And no matter what happens, don't look back." "W-what's going to happen to you?" Starlight asked her teacher. Shining refused to say anything, he just motioned a hoof for his student to flee. Reluctantly, Starlight obeyed. The broken horned unicorn eyed her captive with delight. "Now see, prince? All this trouble that could've been avoided had you just surrendered when I gave you the chance." "What are you gonna do to me?" Shining asked Tempest. Tempest grinned. "Like I said before, I need you alive. The same goes for your fellow alicorns, including your wife. Don't worry, those crystal prisons won't hold them forever. Eventually they'll break free, and they won't remember a thing. It'll be like they went to sleep." But then suddenly, a green pellet came whizzing through the air! Headed straight for Shining! "Shining!" Soarin cried, quickly swooping in to snatch the prince up! A sickly green cloud of smoke soon covered the spot where the prince had been standing. And when it finally faded, Tempest saw that instead of a crystallized prince, the blast had trapped a wall-eyed pegasus mare with an ice cream cone on her head instead. The mare's eyes narrowed in anger as sparks ominously shot out from the stub on her forehead. "Who threw that pellet?!" She demanded! "He was of no threat to us, he'd already surrendered!" "It was him!" Two random Storm goons pointed at each other. Tempest merely growled and stomped her hooves down in frustration! "You nicompoops! You're going to ruin everything! After him, now! Don't let him get away!" Meanwhile, Soarin brought Shining down in front of his friends, breathing a sigh of relief. "That was too close, just a few more seconds and you'd have been a crystal statue like the others." "What are we gonna do now, Shining?" Thunderlane asked. "The only thing we can do, run!" Shining instructed, and the stallions immediately bolted for the nearest exit. They hadn't gotten far though, when Storm goons surrounded them on all sides! Then, to make matters worse, the bridge they were standing on gave way! Without warning, the six stallions were plunged into the waters and swept away by the raging current! "B.B.B.F.F!" Twilight cried in horror! "There's nothing we can do for him now, Twilight!" Sunburst shouted. "He risked his life so we could escape! If we don't go now, all his work will be for nothing!" Reluctantly, the unicorn mare agreed. "Okay," She unhappily sighed. "Is everyone ready?" "Ready." Came a chorus of voices that included Sunburst, Trixie, Starlight, Flurry Heart, Flash Sentry, Fleur, Cheerilee, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. With a flick of four horns, the group vanished from Canterlot. Grubber and two Storm goons quickly rushed to the last location the stallions had been spotted. But they discovered that the river under the bridge led to a waterfall. It seemed very likely that the six stallions had been swept over it, though whether they'd made the trip down was another question entirely. "Okay, who's gonna go down there and check for 'em?" Grubber asked the goons. The goons exchanged glances, then looked at Grubber as if they seemed to be suggesting they wanted the hedgehog to do it. Grubber immediately threw up his paws. "Oh no way! You know me, I'll sink like a rock the moment I step one foot into that water. You guys caused this mess, you've gotta clean it up." The goons only insisted. "Oh that's cool," Grubber sarcastically quipped. "Make the midget do your dirty work. Like I don't get enough of that from Tempest," The hedgehog then sighed. "I'm not going down there and you can't make me. So either one of you takes the plunge, or you can both tell Commander Tempest how you let the enemy get away." "We'll take our chances with Tempest." One of the goons spoke up. "Poor choice." Was all Grubber decided to say, and then he and the goons left to inform Tempest of the bad news.