Unicorn Twilight Sparkle trotted through the town square, admiring the scenery. Ponyville was beautiful this time of year, as frost creeps onto the grass, and the empty trees begin to shrivel and die. Twilight was truly in awe at how the Earth ponies were able to manually change from autumn to winter. In her home town of Canterlot, the ponies changed the seasons using magic.
As twilight passed Ponyville General Bank, two masked Griffons entered the building. They went to the front desk, pulled out their pistols, and began their heist. Two Unicorn stallion guards pulled pistols from their desks, but were quickly shot dead by the griffon and his lackey. The one in charge of the robbery was larger than the other, and had a slightly artificial voice when speaking. His companion was small, but experienced with a gun. The larger Griffon did not ask for money. Instead he shot the teller, climbed over the barrier, and made his way to the vault. The lackey guarded the lobby. The Ponyville Police force quickly surrounded the Bank, and Twilight and her friends were gathered behind the police lines.
“Who do you think is responsible for this?” asked Twilight, not to anyone in particular.
“Probably those two beggars got too desperate, and decided to take up arms.” Replied Rainbow Dash, the Egotistical Pegasus, who was hovering in Mid-Air.
“What I’m wondering is how they got ahold of weapons in the first place?”
“They must not be from ‘round here.” Said Applejack, the Earth Pony workhorse.
Many Other masked griffons were appearing in the gathering crowd. One of them was right Behind Twilight and the others. Meanwhile, inside, the large Griffon neared the vault, but stopped in the last Corridor. He needed control of the crowd for the next portion, so he threw a smoke bomb out the open window, away from the curious ponies. At once, the masked griffons in the crowd pulled out pistols and rifles and began firing at the police lines. The Griffon behind the 6 ponies shouted at them to get on the ground, and put a gun to Rarity, the unicorn dressmaker’s head. All Twilight and the others could do was watch as officer after officer fell dead at the unexpected attack. Some vaulted over their carts, and began firing back at the Griffons. The Griffon threatening Rarity was shot in the head, and fell over dead. Rarity got up, only to see the officer who saved her get shot down.
Soon, the crowd was contained, the police were dead, and the Head griffon appeared in front of the bank with his lackey. “This,” said the Griffon, in a muffled voice, “is what happens when you Ponies try and mess with the griffons!” It was true. Equestria had recently declared war on the Griffon menace. “But, this is not just some bank robbery. I came for what’s in the vault. Mayor Mare!” Soon, two Griffons exited the crowd, and trudged through the field of corpses, dragging Ponyville’s mayor behind them. They dropped her in front of their leader. She could barely stand as the griffon began to speak, “I need the codes to defuse the infrared beams protecting the vault. And you,” He said, pulling out a pistol and pressing it against her skull, “are going to give them to me. And don’t try to ruse your way out, because if those codes are wrong, this lot will be painted with your head!” said the Griffon.
Mayor mare managed to muffle out a few numbers, “2…7…9…4…2” she said, obviously in pain.
The griffon nodded to his lackey, who ran into the Bank. “I suppose,” Said the huge menace still holding a gun to the mayor, “that you should know the face of your undoing.” The Griffon pulled off his mask, to show a face all too familiar to Twilight and her friends: Gilda. Twilight heard that Gilda had been killed on the Griffon warfront, which would explain the new black mask over her beak, and the scarred face.
The Lackey came out again, and said to Gilda, “The code is correct, the Infrared system is disabled.”
“Perfect” replied her boss, who then turned to the mayor. “Now to deal with you.” She said, continuing to fire her pistol, killing Mayor Mare. A riot broke out in the crowd, and a Pegasus flew out of the crowd, charging at Gilda. The griffon shot the Pegasus out of the air, turned, and walked back Into the Bank, leaving the rioting Ponies to be picked off by the armed griffons.
Once inside, Gilda walked back to the unprotected vault, and pulled out a small metal cylinder. A spike jutted from the end, and she planted it into the steel door. She pressed a button on the back of the machine, and a quiet whirring began to emanate from the cylinder. Soon, the machine dinged, and Gilda pulled the spike from the door, stood up, and twisted the vault door. The huge door opened, revealing the largest stockpile of gold in Equestria, stretching down a small room. Gilda walked down the room, paying no mind to the Gold, and pulled out her Vault hackler again. She stuck it into the wall, and soon the whole thing parted showing Gilda’s real goal: A bomb.
Gilda, accompanied by five Griffons holding the Bomb, exited the Bank into a firefight between armed Griffons, and ponies that had retrieved police weapons. A few ponies fired upon Gilda, only to be shot either by the boss, or the griffons behind them. As soon as Gilda and her Lackeys had reached the center of the lot, a cloaked airship appeared in the sky. The griffons flew onto the airship, and carried the bomb onboard with them. The ship cloaked itself again, and the rest of Ponyville rioted through the streets. Twilight and her friends ran back to the library, and barged through the door. Twilight locked the door behind them, and then turned to her friends. “Everypony here?” asked twilight
Rainbow dash said, “We lost Pinkie Pie!” Twilight ran to the window.
“I found her,” said Twilight, “but she needs help! Rainbow Dash!” the Pegasus charged through the window, and down into the alley below. Pinkie was backed into a corner, as two shifty looking stallions holding knives inched towards her. Rainbow landed, after she dashed under the leg of one of the muggers.
Rainbow wasn’t fast enough after disabling the first mugger, and got a gash across her left leg from the other stallion’s knife. She proceeded to punch the other mugger in the face, and brought Pinkie back into the library. “Twilight,” said Pinkie, “the whole town’s in an uproar because of Gilda killing Mayor Mare. It’s total chaos!”
There was suddenly a flash of light, and all six ponies ran to the west window to see. There was a huge wall of fire, at least 20 miles away, stretching from the ground to the sky and from horizon to horizon. This Firewall was getting bigger, and it soon engulfed the mountains. Twilight was decimated as she saw the wall of death spread over Canterlot, ripping towers off their bases, and throwing shards of debris all the way to Ponyville. The six ponies ran out of the library and to the train station, where the train had just arrived. Twilight and her friends managed to get onto the train, along with a few other refugees.
“Here, Rainbow,” said Pinkie Pie, “let me help you bandage that leg of yours.”
“What was that there explosion about, Twi?” asked Applejack with extreme worry.
“That must have been ‘The Bang’.” Replied Twilight, “A huge bomb held in the Ponyville General Bank, hidden in the Back of the Gold vault. I don’t know how Gilda knew about it, or why she decided to detonate it, but I’m convinced that it has something to with this whole war.”
Just then, the train started departing to Appleloosa, away from the impending wall of fire. Twilight continued her story. “‘The Bang’ was invented by famous scientist Galileo Galineigh to test his theory of never-ending firewalls. He made three bombs: ‘the bang, ‘the blast’, and ‘the blowtorch’. He tested his new bombs, by detonating ‘The Blast’ in the middle of Everfree Forest. It was a success. Soon after, Galileo was assassinated by the Zebras, who proceeded to take ‘The Blowtorch’. Equestria was soon at the scene, and decided to hold a contest, to see which City-State would take ‘The Bang’. Ponyville, Phillydelphia, cloudsdale, Manehattan, Baltimare, Las Pegasus, Canterlot, even Appleloosa and Dodge Junction all competed for ‘The Bang’, but in the end, Ponyville’s competitor, ThunderLane, was competing in the 1,000 meter free-fall against Cloudsdale’s competitor, Icy Winds. ThunderLane won by a nose, and Ponyville was chosen to hold ‘The Bang’. Obviously we failed, so we need to report the situation to Princess Celestia immediately!”
“Then why are we goin’ to Appleloosa?” questioned Applejack.
“We’re just heading there to bypass the Firewall. According to my calculations it should end after 50 miles, which is still only halfway between Ponyville and Appleloosa.” Replied Twilight.
Just then, there was a loud bang on the roof of the Train car. More, smaller, bangs followed, leading to the emergency exit leading to the roof. The hatch opened, and a Griffon fell in. This griffon was not wearing a mask, and Twilight was able to see the Ornate Tattoo on the Griffons forehead. “Everypony get down,” said the Griffon, “this is a Train heist!” He pulled a Gun out, and fired a few shots out of the hatch, and into the air. After a few moments, the door behind the Griffon opened, and the conductor stepped in.
“What’s going on here?” asked the conductor. The griffon turned, and shot the Grey stallion. The conductor made a final grunt of life, before going cold and falling backwards.
Without a driver, the Train immediately leapt off its right wheel for a few moments before crashing back down again. The Griffon stumbled and hit the wall, knocking him unconscious. Twilight jumped from her seat, “Does anypony here know how to drive a Train?”
A Purple Stallion with bright green hair stood up, “I can!”
“Then what are you waiting for?” yelled Rainbow Dash, “Get in there!”
The Purple pony ran into the conductor’s car, just as Twilight noticed something on his neck: the same ornate tattoo on the forehead of the Griffon. As the conductor’s car began unintentionally turning left, Twilight yelled, “Somepony stop him!” but it was too late. The traitor jerked the wheel left, and the conductor’s car snapped off of the passenger cars, turned horizontal, tumbled a few times, and finally came to a rest at an angle that would act as a ramp. It did just that. The rest of the train vaulted off of the ramp, and went in a huge arc, before crashing and shattering down upon the cold hard ground, in a fiery explosion of metal and glass shards, and mangled bodies incinerated by the gorging flames.
* * *
Twilight regained consciousness in the mangled remains of the passenger car. She saw a few other survivors trying to set up a camp in the hostile desert. Twilight looked back west, trying to find the firewall. It was there, rapidly approaching the Train wreck, but still about 20 or so miles away. Twilight immediately thought back to Ponyville, wondering if it was still intact. Then she thought of her friends, and almost involuntarily yelled, “Fluttershy?! Rainbow Dash?! Rarity?! Pinkie P-“her mouth was clasped shut by an unknown force. It had a cold central mass, with five warmer extremities extending off of it. Twilight was in shock, and after her temporary incapacitation, she fainted. The last thing she saw before her vision went black was a huge creature towering over her. It resembled a Biped, like a chicken or a bird, except standing strait. She could not make out the details as the silhouette blurred, and finally disappeared.