//------------------------------// // Chapter 31: Fire to Fillydelphia // Story: Logic and Friendship. Roger! Roger! // by Anaylze //------------------------------// Night began to fall as OOM-340 oversaw the rounding up of prisoners from the train in Manehattan.  Ponies of various ages, genders and types marched across the bridge towards the droid occupied city, being prodded and pushed along by various Battle Droids. All of them shared the same expressions of fear, sadness and hopelessness.  His radio buzzed in and TA-175 spoke.  "Lieutenant, the next city on our list of priorities is the City of Fillydelphia. You are to escort MTTs through the city and capture it. You will have support from Hyena Class Bombers. Burn through the brush that stands between the city and us. The task should be completed by morning. Destroy the city if necessary. Do NOT fail me." He said in his monotone voice "Roger, roger!" He replied, turning to see a line of 4 MTT's, 8 AATs, and a DDT, also known more commonly as a Defoliator Tank.  OOM-340 began to chuckle as he walked towards his new convoy.  OOM-340's convoy neared the city of Fillydelphia, its tall buildings appearing in the distance lit up the night sky.  The retreating Equestrian forces had created barricades on the way to the city, placing many fallen trees, large boulders, abandoned carriages and pieces of farm equipment along the main road to slow the process. OOM-340 ordered his troops to take a route across the farms and fields to the city, as it would allow them to arrive more quickly. Squads of Droids marched ahead of the convoy, investigating the area head in the tall fields of crops and in the abandoned homesteads, ensuring there were no ambushes prepared.  The convoy neared a large, seemingly infinite cornfield.  OOM-340 peered through his macro binoculars from the command hatch in the Defoliator Tank, located directly under the cannon.  He switched on the night vision mode, and the environment was illuminated by a bright green hue.  The cornfield ahead was tall and densely packed, but the tanks should be able to push through it easily. However, that wasn't his concern. What was his concern was whether guard's ponies were hiding in it.  "Squads 1 and 2, investigate the cornfield. Annihilate any resistance encountered."  A loud series of Roger Rogers came in response from the droids, who began to march into the field.  There was silence apart from the droid's mechanical feet marching across the dirt, before the sound of B1s yelling and blasters being fired was heard before most of it fell silent.  He lowered his macro binoculars and turned to the gunner.  "Fire the defoliator." He ordered  "Roger, roger!" Replied the gunner, pressing buttons and aiming the cannon upwards.  There was a loud boom, and the tank shook as the cannon fired the shell. The shell arched through the air, leaving a white trail behind it. The shell landed in the middle of the field and exploded. Immediately, fire began to spread rapidly, as the corn stalks and all the ponies waiting in them burned and turned to ash.  Screams rang through the air and guard's ponies ran out of the field, many on fire, only to be blown away by tanks and other battle droids.  There was silence again for a moment aside from the crackling of the fire as it burned away at the field, clearing a path.  "Nice shot…" he said, before pointing his hand to signal them to begin moving forwards, to the edge of the city to begin their late-night assault…  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night fell in Canter lot as it did everywhere else in Equestria, but the halls and rooms of the Canter lot Castle were still lit by Candlelight, especially the Throne Room.  Inside the Mane 6 and the Princesses stood around the map of Equestria. Manehattan, and the Crystal Empire had been crossed off with big red X's Signaling their fall to the droids.  The doors of the Canter lot Castle's throne room opened, and a single guard stepped inside.  He bowed before the Princesses; his body lit up by the candles revealing his identity of Flash Sentry.  "My Princesses, Appleloosa and Rockville have fallen. We were able to evacuate most of the residents of Rockville, but Appleloosa was completely destroyed… along with most of its inhabitants.  Celestia and Luna nodded sadly and crossed the locations off on the map.  Applejack spoke up, a feeling of severe worry in her voice as she asked the question, she already knew the answer to.  "Did… did any of Mah family make it out?"  Flash Sentry shook his head.  "No but rest assured Braeburn and the others fought to the end. Their sacrifices held off the enemy long enough for Rockville's residents to evacuate. Braeburn, the residents of Appleloosa and the Buffalo tribes will be remembered as Equestrian heroes."  Applejack closed her eyes and removed her hat, placing it against her chest as she silently wept (and cried internally) for her lost family.  "It has become apparent sister that this is not a war Equestria can win alone." Luna said  Celestia nodded in agreement  "I will write to Thorax and his Changelings, the Yaks and the Griffons for aid in this time of crisis." she said, walking over to her letterboard and beginning to write with her quill.  Luna turned to Princess Cadance and the Mane 6.  "May I suggest that you get your rest, we will need you strong and well rested tomorrow."  They turned and left the throne room, embracing Applejack in hugs to comfort her as they went.  Celestia and Luna were left alone in their throne room, with only their silent royal guards for company.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kraken walked through the door into the hanger bay, meeting with a group of 3 HMP Droid Gunships, which hovered nearby a Sheathipede Class Shuttle.  The HMP Droid Gunships were equipped with droid deployment racks in addition to their missile launchers, enabling them to act as dropships. 2 of the Gunships were equipped with B1 Squads, and the other was equipped with B2s.  Kraken turned to face a squad of BX-Series Commando Droids, led by a Captain.  "Are you prepared for your mission?" Kraken asked  "Yes Commander."  "State your mission orders" Kraken said, wanting to ensure they understood their vital mission.  "Orders are as follows. 1. Infiltrate Canter lot Castle. 2. Deploy droids as decoys. 3. Retrieve TF-1726. Are these orders correct?" The droid asked  "Affirmative Captain. Proceed to the shuttle and complete your mission" Kraken ordered  "Roger, roger." the Commando droid said in its deep voice.  The squad walked up the shuttle's boarding ramp and the door closed behind them. There was a hum as the shuttle's engines came to life and it lifted off, being followed by the Gunships and 6 Vulture Droids as they whizzed through space towards the planet below. Kraken headed back to the bridge.  Gazing through his macro binoculars, OOM-340 analyzed the defenses of Fillydelphia as his tank approached. Fillydelphia had obviously gained defensive information on the droid's style of attack from retreating forces from Manehattan. All entrances had been barricaded, and the police force stood at the ready, along with what seemed to be small and medium sized dragons.  OOM-340 activated his radio  "Uh sir, I think we have a problem."  "State issue, Lieutenant." TA-175 replied  "Fillydelphia's seems to have some kind of local military. made up of Dragons"  "Impossible. The Dragon species was presumed completely eradicated when their nesting zones were destroyed"  "But… we had to have missed some! I'm looking at them right now! What should we do?"  "Proceed with the attack."  "Roger roger…" he said nervously and shut off his radio.  He pointed his left arm forwards  "Battalions 1 and 2, charge!"  The groups of B1s and B2s in front of his army began to pick up speed as they sprinted towards the defended city.  Bright flashes lit up the scene as Unicorn Police ponies and Dragon Fire contacted the droids, whose red blaster bolts accompanied the light show.  "We need to clear that barricade" OOM-340 reasoned, still gazing through his macro binoculars. The barricade appeared to be built from carts, kiosks, furniture and sandbags, and was for the most part flimsy put together.  If they could eliminate half the threat, they would have only half of the enemies to deal with.  Then he had an idea, something that battle droids very rarely have.  He turned to face the gunner of the defoliator tank, which he was still riding in.  "Fire the defoliator tank! We will burn through their barricades and police and blast those dragons to pieces!"  "Roger, roger" the droid replied, as 2 B1s hoisted a shell into the loading chamber.  The gunner began to press several buttons, angling the gun so the shell would hit the barricade precisely.  OOM-340 looked through his macro binoculars once more, the first wave of droids was already depleted.  "Hurry! Hurry!" He shouted  "Almost ready…" the gunner said, "okay… there! Ready!"  "Fire!" He shouted  There was a loud boom of the defoliator's cannon launching the shell. The shell arched through the air before landing at the Fillydelphia barricade and exploding. The ring of fire typically produced by the shell was smaller, as when it hit the pavement the fire ran out of fuel to spread. However, the barricade (and all the police ponies in it) were quickly incinerated as the fire consumed the barricade. All the nearby droids, however, were unharmed, as the weapon had been specifically designed to do so.  Unfortunately, in addition to the droids being unharmed, the Dragons fireproof scales surged off the heat as well.  The dragons charged out, fire spewing from their mouth as they melted droids and tore them apart with their claws, almost as if they were cardboard.  "Where are those bombers when I need them!" OOM-340 grumbled and turned to the nearby tanks  "AATs 3&4, target those dragons! Maximum firepower!"  "Roger, roger" the AAT Droids said, "firing main cannons!"  The tanks began to pelt the dragons with shots, blowing many of the smaller ones apart entirely. The defense force began to retreat deeper into the city.  "Pursue!" OOM-340 ordered, before he lowered himself inside the defoliator tank before closing the hatch and opening the exit ramp.  "Uh, sir, where are you going?" The driver asked  "I'm going to supervise the battle personally. This tank is only good against organic targets, and the city's material won't burn easily."  OOM-340 stepped out of the tank and closed the exit ramp.  "Well, I guess I'm in charge now." The driver said to himself before lowering a periscope to his faceplate to aim the tank's side cannons.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Inside of the Canter lot Castle's many guest rooms, the Mane 6 settled in for the night. Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity were fast asleep, but Dash, Flutter shy and Twilight still sat awake in their beds, staring at the high ceiling. Dash flipped through the pages of the latest Daring Doo book, before yawning and setting the book down to sleep.  Twilight sighed  "You can't sleep either?" Fluttershy asked  "No…" Twilight said, sniffling as she held a photograph of her and her with her brother as a filly in her hooves.  "Me neither, all that violence today has left me spooked, I'm scared." Flutter shy said, before she took notice of the tears running down Twilight's cheek.  Fluttershy stepped out of bed and quietly walked over to Twilight and hugged her friend  "I'm so sorry about your brother" she said, remembering her tragic loss.  Twilight sniffled again and wiped her tears.  "I can't… I can't believe he's gone." She closed her eyes to try and hold back the tears  "It's okay, let it out Twilight."  Twilight opened her eyes and began to cry quietly into her hooves and Fluttershy squeezed her in a hug, also shedding a few tears for their lost friend.  Suddenly there was a loud boom and the castle shook, and the rest of the sleeping mane 6 all jumped out of bed.  "What in Equestria was that?" Spike exclaimed  They rushed over to the window, where they saw a large smoking hole in the wall of the throne room, many of the stained-glass windows shattered.  3 circular disk-shaped objects leading a one of the droid's shuttles raced towards the hole, the 3 disks landing inside while the shuttle simply extended a ramp, several small shapes rushing inside the castle…