"mmmMMRROOOWWW-"
The first missile impacts well short of the town, the gray stone embedding into the grassy ground. Chunks of dirt and grass spew out of the hole, the gray stone half buried in the ground. The grass nearby starts wilting, turning brown and soon indistinguishable from the brackish mud, an area ponies had been playing in just an hour earlier.
The first of the nets is brought out, Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane taking it. Rainbow Dash announces to the assembled pegasi, "Alright, speed fliers; you'll need to do your best to match the speed of the missile, otherwise it'll tear right through your nets. Remember, you just need to get the missile off course; if you do manage to catch it entirely, Pinkie Pie will be assembling some cans to try to hold the material. If you don't make it, so be it, just return here after you use your net to get a new one."
The two pegasi fly their net up, a second missile launching in a high arc from the catapillt. The column of light from Princess Celestia, barely visible through the storm to begin with, goes out. A boom overhead signals the start of the rain over Ponyville, heavy sheets that soak the ponies to the bone. Many of the unicorns around the Carousel Boutique mill about, waiting on components the earth ponies will be bringing them before they can begin construction. Rarity, a grimace on her face, is at the door to the Carousel Boutique, bolt after bolt of fabric levitating out of her door, each one quickly unwinding and divvied up among the unicorns, the fabric rapidly being separated into nets.
Doug looks at the three fillies standing near him, nervously shuffling their hooves as they look around. Apple Bloom looks up, "Daddy? What can we do to help?" The three fillies huddle together, glancing at the commotion around them, tiny hints of regret that they got themselves into this situation.
Doug looks around the nearly deserted streets, most of the ponies already assigned a job or waiting for Spoiled Rich to assign them one. He points the fillies to a nearby house, "Alright, we're going to go into each house and find sheets. Try closets, beds. Just strip the sheets off, bring them outside the house. Once you finish with one, go to the next house. Try to keep a pattern when we search the houses."
The three fillies look at each other, nodding as a unit and quickly dashing to one of the nearby houses. The door opens and the four rush inside, shouting to each other about what they find, which rooms of the house are empty, and which ones they need help getting everything out of. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle work on stripping the beds of sheets, Doug emptying closets, and Scootaloo finds herself taking as many sheets as she can drag to the front doors.
The brilliant light from the Everfree comes back, now a deep orange, illuminating the rain still pounding down. The thunder rumbles almost continuously as lightning zigzags every which direction among the clouds high above. The yowling matches the thunder, missile after missile launching itself from the catapillt, none yet reaching the southern part of town but getting closer and closer with every massive step the beast takes.
Near the train station one of the earth pony teams are hard at work dismantling a warehouse. Bulk Biceps lifts a section of the wall off the ground, but his tiny wings are unable to lift both himself and the metal. Open Skies and Clear Skies fly over, the two of them able to clumsily fly the wall closer to a group of unicorns, soon to be fashioned into a mobile shield to block the catapillt's shots. High above them a team of pegasi intercepts one of the missiles aimed for the river south of Ponyville, able to slow it down just enough to land short, instead impacting the muddy banks.
The rest of the earth ponies, following Applejack's instructions, start jury rigging a large horseshoe design. The ends of the horseshoe hold straps, allowing four earth ponies to drag the makeshift vehicle around. The middle section is raised, a solid beam of metal attached to the center post. A second team has a scoop, constructed out of half of the water tower, that they are moving to the front of the assembly. A unicorn team commandeered from Rarity works on welding all of the metal materials together; from the looks of it, they are cobbling together an excavator they can drag around and remain far away from the material being dug up.
Another squad of pegasi takes off from the Carousel Boutique, paired off and carrying nets. Rainbow Dash flies down, seeing Fluttershy milling around, unsure of what to do, or where to help out. Rainbow starts to yell before taking a large breath, moving over and asking, as quietly as she can while still being made out in the rain, "Fluttershy? What's wrong?" Fluttershy's reply is drowned out by the hard rain, her attempts at raising her voice unsuccessful. Rainbow bellows, "Well, find somewhere you can help! Doug got the foals gathering sheets from the houses, maybe help with that!" Fluttershy gives a reluctant nod, flying off to help take the sheets from the emptied houses to the Carousel Boutique.
At the Boutique, a group of unicorns are working on welding hoofholds onto large, flat metal sheets. An earth pony charges over, yelling for Rarity. She quickly comes over, looking at a pile of metal scraps in a cart. She leads the two earth ponies to a group of unicorns, who take the largest sheet, roll it to a cylinder, and stuff it with as many of the metal scraps as it can hold, a large pole through the center. Rarity shudders at the unevenness as the unicorns crush the can as much as possible, leaving two rough wheels that the earth ponies race back to the excavator.
The light over the Everfree winks out again, the small blur diving back down. All over the town lights click on, doing their best to illuminate the area. The yowl of the missiles get closer and closer, more of the cats impacting against the ground just south of the river. A few more are aimed to the southeast of Ponyville, the pegasus fliers starting to be spread thin, though the majority of the missiles still fall short.
A shriek comes from a few ponies, hooves pointing at one of the missiles, barely visible through the pouring rain. It gets closer and closer, no pegasi able to get into the way and divert it. The missile lands south of the river, a direct hit onto one of the houses. It explodes as the missile impacts it; wood, thatching, metal bits sail through the air, a ring around the now destroyed dwelling. Spoiled Rich directs two earth ponies to the wreckage, nervous looks traded between them as they dash, whispered prayers that nopony was inside the house and that they would get back to a safe distance quickly enough.
Four earth ponies move to the front of the excavator, two unicorns strapping them in. The ponies lift the front end, the two wheels being secured underneath. Applejack shakes her head, motioning to the back end. It gets lifted up, two curled sheets of metal roughly hammered to the back, making sleds. Applejack nods, motioning to the area where the first missile hit. The earth ponies, a grim look on their faces, pull their contraption through the streets, two divots etched into the road as they quickly move to the bridge leading to the southern outskirts.
Applejack slowly runs a hoof over one of her larger wagons; it has served the farm well, carting crates of apples to the town and many of their imports back. The solid apple wood construction, intricate designs carved into the walls during the long winter months. Clear varnish to show off the origin of the wood. She reluctantly nods as one of the unicorns moves over, quickly drilling four rough holes into the corners. A large tub of metal, the other half of the water tower, carefully dropped on top, metal rods shoved through the holes and welded to the half circle. Another sheet of metal, loosely secured to the back, serves as a door to the dump wagon they have made. Applejack sighs as two earth ponies strap in, quickly hauling after the excavator.
Rainbow Dash shudders; the missiles are getting close to the river, and they don't have nearly enough pegasi in the sky yet. What used to be thirty seconds between the yowling of the missile, the disturbing image of a cat sailing through the air, the bone crunching impact into the ground, is now closer to twenty seconds. And it still isn't fully in range, the shots being mere tests, maximum power blasts that hang in the air for a long time before plummeting back to earth. A third metal plate team flies up, Rainbow directing them to the east part, towards what is hopefully the furthest that the beast can reach once it gets to the edge of the Everfree. She signals the Skies team to cover the east part of Carousel, the other pegasus team in the air covering west Carousel.
Rainbow watches as the catapillt reaches the end of the Everfree, a few volleys launching off. She zooms to each team, rapid fire directions to the chaser teams to go after the highest arcs, the shield teams on the two missiles that they need to intercept. The pegasi fly up above their targets before diving back down to intercept. The missiles scorch the air, chaotic energy quickly eating through the sheets that the pegasi wrap around them. More than one team yells out as they brush a little too close, tips of feathers smoking from the chaotic magic. Another cry goes out as they return to the Carousel Boutique, the unicorns running out of raw materials to make more nets.
A second volley launches from the catapillt, the missiles easier to make out in the dawning light but more unnerving, the afterimage of a cat flying through the air, only to impact a shield. The pegasi holding it are knocked back, but their purpose is served, the missile no longer aimed at the river, instead dropping down to the ground below.
The scouring light from the center of the Everfree returns, a pillar of flame that reaches into the storms above. The base of the clouds begins bubbling, more and more of the inferno visible as the storm burns away. Finally the blue of the sky is visible out over the Everfree, the sun shining through the expanding opening. The rain continues in Ponyville but slowly lessening, the ponies able to catch a better glimpse of the monster assaulting the town.
Princess Celestia, her normally pink mane ablaze a brilliant orange, teleports next to Rainbow Dash, a brief exchange before the alicorn teleports again. To the south the royal guard can be seen beating a hasty retreat before a massive column of flame impacts the forest, the tiny white image above serving as the focus for the sun's energy.
The catapillt shelling Ponyville, however, has not been idle, a large mass of scat dropping just outside the Everfree. The beast takes a cautious step forwards, the yowling increasing as it gets near, before a second step, bringing the beast another thirty yards closer to the river. It bellows, a torrent of missiles flinging out in every direction.
"Oh dear Celestia," an indeterminate number of ponies cry out, watching the pegasi flit between the storm of projectiles, wrapping missiles just long enough to divert off course before speeding to the next, no chance to exchange their half dissolved sheets for a new set. The unicorns, working in tandem across the river, levitate an array of metal, wood, anything in reach to intercept the missiles, the makeshift bulwark hopefully holding as the last line of defense.
Every pegasus flies as high as they can, matching speeds with the incoming cats, and doing their best to divert the missiles down. Team after team pulls out as their sheets fully dissolve away, none of them daring to get any closer to the chaotic energy. The unicorn shield teams on the bottom manage to stop the last of the missiles from impacting the river, the thud of missiles burying themselves into the ground replacing the rain. A few of the extremely long shots, those ignored by the pegasi to instead focus on the shots aimed closer, impact into the streets north of the river, one of them impacting into a house, piercing through the roof and leaving a wide hole through the walls and floors.
Fluttershy gasps, flying over to the house as the Carousel Boutique is swarmed by pegasi, corrupted sheets hastily gathered and shoved into one of Pinkie's canisters. The ponies turn, looking up as a second wave of missiles erupt from the catapillt, a mass intake of breath from the crowd; there would be no intercepting this volley.
A collective cheer goes out as Princess Celestia teleports under the swarm of missiles. Her horn, still glowing a brilliant orange, directs a beam of light easily a hundred yards wide that lances from the sun directly into the catapillt. The few missiles that are outside the beam find themselves the targets of pinpoint flares, each impacting and blasting the missiles off course. The catapillt, the gigantic mass still visible through the searing flames, slows under the torrent of fire before reversing course, attempting to withdraw back to the Everfree before it collapses. The fire winks out, the beast now nothing more than a massive pile of gray boulders, stacked in a rough pyramid.