Fireforge Destiny stood in front of his mothers army. It was his time to lead it. She was counting on him. Her strength wasn’t what quite what it used to be, which was why she was going to be spending this time practicing while he lead the attack on Maretime Bay.
“Stallions,” he addressed them. “Today we begin our takeover of the new Equestria! We were asleep for seven hundred years thanks to that Twilight Sparkle!”
He looked at them. They said nothing, being the mind-controlled pawns they were.
“Now we will take back what is my mother’s… and mine!” he ordered. “Cheer!”
“Yarggh!” they cheered and he smiled.
“Now, we have three objectives. First, conquer the city and bring it to complete submission. Second, capture as many ponies as possible, my mother will drain their magic… unless they bow to her and prove themselves useful with it. Only the gifted few will possess it and serve we alicorns. If any resist however, destroy them. Third, we will take the Unity Crystals, and when my mother is strong enough, she will absorb their power.”
He ended and watched. Then General Bloodheart and the Earth Pony Lietenaunt, whose name was Dirty Fighter, approached him. Dirty Figther was a light brown pony with the cutie mark of a dagger sticking in the ground, representing his special talent to be fighting with dishonor. His mane was a slimy shade of green and a scar from a previous battle lined his cheek.
“My prince,” General Bloodheart said with a bow. “We are ready to move out. I look forward to fighting alongside you once again. Even though it seems only a short while ago we were headed into battle against Twilight Sparkle.”
“Indeed General,” Fireforge said. He knew the aging stallion was his father but as his mother had taught him, he was an alicorn and too important to become attached to the mere unicorn. “But this time we will not fail. Twilight Sparke is not here to stop us this time.”
“I can’t wait to catch some helpless little ponies,” Dirty Fighter said with a sadistic grin. “Maybe I’ll them scream a little bit in the torture chamber.”
He chuckled. Fireforge shrugged indifferently, cold focus unwavering.
“Do as you please, as long as it doesn’t affect your service to me or my mother,” he said to the Lietanaunt before addressing the entire army once again. “Move out!”
The army of Opaline began their marching forward. General Bloodheart and Dirty Fighter walked in front while Fireforge spread his wings and took to the air. They had reportedly found a Pegasus who had willingly joined Opaline, and if he proved himself worthy he’d given a place among their command, as well as retain the right to use his magic.
…
Little did they know though, a certain alicorn was flying toward Maretime Bay with pair of dragons behind her.
…
Sunny and the others cleaned their dishes from breakfast that morning. Now they were getting ready to all go to work, Sunny to her smoothie stand, Zipp to the station with Hitch and Pipp at Mane Melody. Izzy would continue her artwork with Misty tagging along. They knew Opaline would be coming sooner or later but they couldn’t forget their businesses. They all left the Brighthouse and headed down Mane Street, all of them felt a chill running down their spines.
“You ponies have a feeling something is happening?” Zipp asked.
“Yeah, like everything is about to fall apart,” Sunny said.
“Its probably just nerves,” Pipp said nervously. “We know an attack is coming sooner or later and we’re all a little on edge. We just need to stay calm and not panic.”
“Lets just try and focus on our jobs and enjoy today!” Izzy said cheerfully. “Make art, blend smoothies, sing and investigate! Its no good if we stay worried all the time about the evil pony and her army!”
“Izzy’s right,” Sunny said. “Lets just try and enjoy today… assuming nothing happens and we’ll be ready for Opaline when she-
Suddenly a loud sound echoed through Maretime Bay. It sounded like a trumpet or horn being blown in the distance.
“What’s going on!” Misty asked. “Is that an alarm!”
“No that sounded like a…
A voice suddenly cut Pipp off. It was an unfamiliar aged but rough voice that seemed to speak in their heads.
Ponies of Maretime Bay, this is Prince Fireforge Destiny. I am the son of Queen Opaline Arcana. You have likely learned of her recently. She is your rightful ruler and owner of all magic. We stand outside your city. Surrender, you need not lose your lives. Pledge loyalty to her and she will spare you… those that prove gifted in magic and loyal in service to her will be allowed to keep theirs. Abide by our wishes and you shall not be harmed. Resist and not only your magic but your lives will be forfeit!
The words caused everypony to freeze. They looked around and saw various ponies looking around in fright, knowing that their enemy was here at last.
“Oh boy, she’s here!” Misty said. “Or at least… her son is!”
“Where is she though?” Zipp asked. “Is she not leading the attack?”
“If we only have one evil alicorn to deal with that’s good right?” Pipp asked.
“Not so sure,” Izzy said worriedly. “Just one is probably bad enough.”
“And her son might be even stronger then she was at the time!” Sunny said.
“Eh who knows?” Izzy said. “Lets just try and save the day.”
At that moment, Hich came running down Mane Street.
“Everypony return to your homes and lock your doors!” he shouted into a speaker. “Any volunteers willing to fight follow me!”
He spotted his friends and waved. “Guys, this way!”
They followed him and made their way to the front of Maretime Bay with a handful of other ponies willing to fight. Sunny counted and estimated they had at least a few hundred. Other ponies like Posey, Windy, and Dahlia headed inside where it was safe. They soon reached the entrance to the city where they saw their enemies. Opaline’s army was dressed in purple armor, with an alicorn above them. Sunny recognized him from when she’d seen all the statues. His mane was the color of fire, befitting his name, and his coat was gray as smoke. His strong looking hooves carried the warhammer, and his wings carried him, his horn sharp and ready to produce magic that Equestria had no doubt not seen for hundreds of years. This was Fireforge Destiny, the son of their bitter enemy. Below him were who must have been the commanders of the enemy army that Misty had told them about. A unicorn who must have been General Bloodheart and the Earth Pony Lieutenant that Sunny didn’t know the name of.
The Mane 6 all prepared for the upcoming battle in various ways. Zipp narrowed her eyes defiantly as she flapped her wings, Hitch took a breath to avoid panicking, Izzy and Misty lit up their horns, ready to put their newly developed magic to the test, Pipp joined her sister in the air and sang a small tune of “We can do this! We are great! We’re gonna save Maretime Bay! Oh, that’s good! I’ll have to write a longer version later!”
Sunny would have smiled at her friend if not for the seriousness of the situation. Time for them to fight. She focused and called upon her alicorn abilities. Her wings and horn appeared and she flew into the air with Zipp and Pipp, while also lighting up her horn like Misty and Izzy.
“So, you’re the new alicorn,” Fireforge Destiny said. “Interesting you can transform into one from a lowly Earth Pony.”
Sunny’s only reply was a frown to the insult toward her kind, or one of her kinds. Hitch likewise frowned. The two sides stood facing each other for an instant, then Fireforge raised his hooves.
“Attack! In the name of my mother!”
The enemy ponies shouted and charged.
“For our magic, for our family, for our friends, for Equestria!” the Mane 6 all said together as they and all the defending ponies charged as well.
Both groups met with a clash of hooves. Sunny and Zipp went for the evil prince while Pipp and the other Pegasi tried to launch aerial attacks from above. The enemy ponies were at a disadvantage cause they lacked magic which Opaline had stolen, but unfortunately, they outnumbered the defending ponies by at least five to one. Pipp tried to land a kick to a brainwashed unicorn who couldn’t cast magic, but he managed to raise his and grab hold of her, pulling her to the ground.
“Arrgh! Help!” she screamed as she felt the mind-controlled stallions pin her down.
“Pipp!” Hitch shouted in concern as he managed to kick away the Earth Pony he was grappling.
He then put his hoof to the ground, vines sprouted from the ground and grabbed hold of the stallions holding Pipp. She smiled at her coltfriend and got back into the air. She saw her sister and Sunny dealing with Fireforge. They had risen up higher, Fire shooting magic at them which they both dodged. Sunny responded with her own magic and Zipp flew at Fire, being the fastest of them. Pipp saw the scene and was filled with admiration for her elder sister and friend, then turned her attention back to the battle here.
…
Misty and Izzy were locked in combat with General Bloodheart. They shot cyan and purple magic at the elder unicorn who blocked it with very little difficulty.
“You must be the traitor who betrayed Queen Opaline,” Bloodheart said.
“She betrayed me first!” Misty said.
“She told you the secret to getting a cutie mark. “That should have enough of a reward. But it doesn’t matter, since your destiny was to oppose her… and I will crush all opposition to my queen!” Bloodheart said.
He fired a spell of incredible power at the two unicorns, they both put up their shield to block it but it still broke through and knocked them off their hooves. Bloodheart didn’t stop there, he shot Izzy with a follow up beam, knocking her against a nearby building. He then turned to Misty who tried to run behind and shoot him in the back, but he teleported away and appeared behind her, shooting her in the back instead.
“You will suffer for betraying Queen Opaline,” Bloodheart said.
Misty saw that the despite the defenders efforts, many of Opaline’s forces were making their way past them into the city. There were just too many of them, they’d try and captured ponies and bring them to Opaline to have their magic drained.
…
Posey, Windy, Dahlia, and the Pipsqueaks were all together in a house of Maretime Bay. They’d all been in the same area when the voice of the enemy spoke out. They’d taken shelter in the first place they could find. Now all they could hope was that everything would be okay.
“I hope Pipp and the others can win,” Seashell said.
“They have Sunny and Zipp,” Glory said. “Zipp’s the best flyer, and Sunny is the alicorn! They gotta win! They just gotta!”
Posey wanted to be able to reassure the little fillies, but she wasn’t exactly an optimist. She seemed to be the punch line around Maretime Bay as lots of unluck things happened to her, especially when Izzy was involved.
Windy however, was. “Don’t worry little ones, we’ll be okay. Just gotta keep faith in everypony.”
Unfortunately, as they heard the distant sounds of fighting, they heard hoofsprints getting closer and closer. Soon armored ponies appeared in the window, Posey cringed in fear as she realized they should have closed the drapes! The ponies banging on the door with their hooves.
“Get upstairs quickly!” Dahlia said fearfully.
They tried to run up but were too late before the door was broken down. The mares and fillies screamed as the intruders poured in and despite their efforts to get upstairs and lock another (which probably would only bought a few minutes at best) were captured and carried out.
…
Hitch knew he had to do something. The defenders were being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Opalines forces even though they had magic. He put both hooves to the ground and grew as much as he could to. He’d been practicing with his Earth Pony magic to be able to control more, but he was being stretched thin.
“Ooh you got some nice magic,” a voice called.
Hitch found himself face to face with the Earth Pony Lieutenant.
“I’d like to have some of that,” the Lieutenant said. “Perhaps I’ll ask Queen Opaline if I can have yours.”
Hitch frowned at him. “I won’t let you steal my magic you dirty thief!”
The Lieutenant smirked at him. “Dirty is right! I’m Dirty Fighter, pleased to make your acquaintance!”
Hitch could tell just by his name that this guy was a cheater, and sure enough before he could introduce himself, the stallion attacked him. Hitch managed to block though.
“You know its rude to introduce yourself and attack someone before they can do the same,” he said before countering and hitting the cheater in the cheek.
“Eh, doesn’t matter!” Dirty said as he took a hoof of dirty from a garden in front of a nearby building and flinging it at Hitch.
The Sherriff put up a hand to block the dirt and then got hit by Dirty… boy, this was be a mud-filled day! The stallion from olden times grabbed hold of Hitch and threw him over so that he landed he landed on his back, then delivered a kick between Hitch’s legs.
“Uggh!” Hitch let out a long pained groan. “Dirty. Trick. Dirty.”
The dirty stallion himself just smirked again and then tied Hitch’s hooves together with rope. Pipp caught sight of this as she and the other defenders did their best.
“Hitch!” she yelled in concern before flying over to help.
She was no match, Dirty Fighter leapt up and got on her back, she wasn’t strong enough to get him off and was brought to the ground where more of the mind controlled soldiers tied her up as well.
“Hey, you’re pretty!” Dirty said once he got a good look at her. “I think I’ll maybe take you for myself!”
She cringed in fear and disgust. Hitch struggled against his bonds, the implication clear in his mind.
“Stay away from my marefriend!” he shouted struggling against his bonds.
He did see it, but his cutie mark glowed as he thought of Pipp and was determined to protect her.
“Marefriend huh? She looks too good for you,” Dirty taunted.
Hitch lost his courage under that and stopped struggling.
“And what’s with that tiara? You supposed to be a princess?” Dirty asked looking back at Pipp.
“Yes, yes I am! Princess Pipp Petals!” Pipp shouted.
“Well, a real princess, or is a fake princess since only alicorns are real royalty?” Dirty asked.
“That doesn’t matter, they’ll be stripped of their so called royal status soon enough,” Bloodheart said as he brought Izzy and Misty over.
The defenders had all been rounded up, all except for Zipp and Sunny who were still flying above. They were the only hope now. If they could defeat Prince Fireforge Sunny might be able to use her alicorn powers to turn the tide.
…
Sunny and Zipp flew up high after the Prince as he fled. Not really a full retreat, he was just biding time, she thought.
Zipp then grunted impatiently.
“I’m gonna go ahead and catch him. See if you can hit him with magic once I do!” she said.
Zipp flapped hard ahead of her, but Sunny knew that was a mistake.
“Zipp wait!”
Fireforge was clearly trying to separate them, he was better at magic then Sunny but not as good a flyer as Zipp despite having wings his whole life (at least Sunny thought that was the case). Zipp was in better shape being an athlete. She charged at him but he shot a beam of orange magic down and hit her. She fell and Sunny managed to catch her knowing if she did fall all the way it would have been fatal. She looked for Fireforge and saw him charge at her. He grabbed them both and pushed them down toward the ground. Sunny grunted and Zipp opened her eyes, the brief stun only lasting a few seconds thankfully. Together they managed to free themselves from the wicked prince’s hooves and before they could hit. Sunny then fired a beam of magic at Fireforge who countered with his orange shield. He then reflected her own attack back at her and she was forced back but managed to remain airborne.
“Come on Sunny! Don’t give up!” Zipp told her.
Sunny nodded. Their friends were counting on them. Looking down she saw to her horror though that all of them were defeated and bound in ropes.
“We have to help everypony else!” she said.
Zipp looked and her mouth fell open. “You’re right! Come on lets finish this prince!”
They looked at the foe who grinned. He then flapped his wings and charged at them, sending a beam Sunny’s way. She blocked it on her shield but was still forced back, Fireforge then went for Zipp and aimed a hoof at her face, she dodged, but he grabbed her with his magic instead, causing her to yelp as she was brought in close.
Then he landed a precise hoof strike to the joint connecting her wing, breaking the bone with a loud crack.
“Aah!” Zipp cried out in pain.
She fell.
“Zipp!”
Sunny fired a bubble that caught her friend just before she could hit the ground and saved her. The bubble remained intact for a moment then popped to let Zipp land softly on the ground. She was in pain from her broken wing but still alive.
Unfortunately, Sunny in her haste to save her friend, forgot about the enemy. Fireforge Destiny flew right in front of her and struck her in the face with his hoof before taking her in his magic and shoving the rest of the way to the ground. She returned to her Earth Pony form in dismay. Things were looking bad. Sunny struggled to her hooves, the pain from the blow to her head was likely forming into a black eye. Fireforge landed and walked slowly toward her.
“You are not worthy of being an alicorn,” he taunted her. “A true alicorn knows that she is better then all other ponies.”
“Lies!” Sunny said. “A true alicorn doesn’t see herself as better then anypony. We are all the same, just with different gifts.”
He frowned back at her. “Soon you will all be the same, just ponies without any sort of magic. I’ll take yours myself, perhaps that will give me the same immortality as my mother!”
His horn lit up and light traveled to her into him slowly. She gasped as pain filled her and what remained of her strength began to leave her.
“Sunny!” she heard Izzy call.
The unicorn tried to get up but her beating from General Bloodheart proved too severe. Izzy, Misty, Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch all watched in dismay as they saw their leader about to be defeated for good. Then a faint sound entered everyponies ears and steadily grew louder.
“What now?” Fireforge asked in curiosity before the source of the noise revealed itself.
It was the Sproutimus Maximus. Sunny and the other (with the exception of Misty who had never seen the device) were shocked. They had thought it was destroyed after it crashed into the Brighthouse. But apparently Sprout had managed to repair it in his free time.
“Leave them alone!” Sprout spoke through the microphone of his robot then added. “Take cover!”
He activated the splat a-pults.
“Whoa!” Fireforge yelped as he flapped his wings and tried to get out of the way of the projectiles of green stick balls before they could get him.
The Mane 6 were fortunately not in the target zone, but the splats went on to hit many of the mind controlled ponies and trap them in place.
“Whoa,” Hitch said. “That could actually be useful in this situation!”
“Yeah, it will keep them trapped in place so maybe we can catch them without hurting them!” Zipp said.
“I never thought I’d be so happy to see that giant robot again!” Pipp said.
Sprout continued firing for a moment, but Fireforge flew up high. Hitch saw this and gasped.
“Sprout look out!” he shouted.
Sprout saw the evil male alicorn and tried to aim for him, but he was too late and the alicorn sent a powerful beam of magic down at the robot. Sprout screamed as the roof of his greatest (and worst) creation was blown open and his control panel was destroyed. He flinched, though it was lucky that he himself had avoided being hit. The robot froze and, the splat a-pults slowing down and soon stopping.
Sprout let out a scream of frustration. “Why can’t I do anything right?”
Fireforge smirked and looked back at Sunny, descending down and landing on the ground. “Now where were we?”
He lit up his horn and walked toward her, ready to finish draining her magic for himself. But as Sunny looked at him in terror, she saw something else approaching. It was somepony and… Sunny’s mouth fell open.
The pony flying shot a beam of yellow magic down at Fireforge, knocking him down.
“Prince Fireforge!” General Bloodheart yelled in concern.
Fireforge growled and looked over his shoulder to see his attacker. He gasped as he saw an alicorn with a purple mane with a blue highlight.
“Flurry Heart!” he exclaimed.
“Fireforge Destiny,” she said with a frown. “We meet again.”
The Mane 6 all looked in amazement at this new alicorn.
“Another alicorn,” Sunny said.
And that wasn’t all, with her were a pair of dragons, both of which were equal to some of the medium sized buildings in Maretime Bay. Sunny looked at the purple dragon and wondered if it could the same dragon she’d heard Twilight Sparkle had had for an assistant back in her day. What was his name? Spike?
“Uncle Spike, Aunt Ember! Help the ponies in the city!” Flurry Heart said.
“Right!” Spike agreed as he and the blue dragon who must have been Ember flew off.
Flurry, meanwhile, flew at Fireforge, her body light up in yellow magic that surrounded her with a shell. Fireforge performed the same move and they shot at each other like comets. They collided, their magic pressing against each other. For an instant it was unclear who would win, then Flurry’s attack sent Fireforge flying backwards, he recovered and shot a beam at her, but she dodged and fired her own, sending the wicked prince flying back. He hit his head on a building and fell to the ground.
“Prince Fireforge!” General Bloodheart said once again.
Flurry turned her horn toward him and he flinched in fear, knowing he was no match for a full grown alicorn. But he made a determined expression and looked ready to stand his ground. Another pony however, wasn’t.
“General we have to order a retreat!” Dirty Fighter ordered in a cowardly manner. “Grab what ponies you can and let’s go!”
The forces of Opaline that weren’t being detained by the dragons began running back the way they came, carrying what ponies they could. Posie, Dahlia, Windy, and the Pipsqueak trio among them.
“Help! Help!” Posey screamed as she was carried off.
“Somepony help us!” Dahlia called.
The two Earth Ponies were unable to touch their hooves to the ground while Windy’s wings had been tied to her back. Seashell was in the same predicament and Glory wasn’t strong enough to break free from her captors grasp, Peach Fizz was the only one who could access her magic from her horn, but she was too afraid to do so.
“Pipp help!”
Pipp saw them and tried to go after them, but her strength failed her as she tried to fly. They watched as their enemy retreated. They’d managed to hold Maretime Bay, thanks to the unexpected reinforcements but they could not call it a victory since some ponies had been captured and were on their way to Opaline. But they in turn had captured Opaline’s son. That might be worth something.
“We’ll save you! Somehow!” Pipp called after them.
She watched as the three mares, fillies, and others were ferried away. Flurry shot beams at them and managed to one or two ponies back but none of them. Once the last of Opaline’s forces retreated or got captured were cuffed, Flurry used her magic to untie the Mane 6 along with Sprout using his hoofs.
“You okay Misty?” he asked.
“Yeah,” the blue unicorn said. “Just wish I could have beaten them!”
“Me too!” Izzy said angrily. “That rotten old unicorn was bad news! That’s one piece of trash I’ll never unicyle!”
“Zipp!” Pipp said seeing her sisters condition.
Zipp was still wincing and holding a hoof to her broken wing. Flurry Heart approached her and her horn lit up.
“Here, this will allow you to heal fully in a couple days,” the ancient alicorn said.
The light traveled to Zipp’s wing joint and she felt the pain already lessening. She took a breath of relief.
“Thanks,” she said. “You’re… Flurry Heart?”
“Yes,” the alicorn said. “Niece of Princess Twilight Sparkle and the daughter of Cadance and Shining Armor.”
The Mane 6 had heard of Twilight Sparke having a niece, but never thought they would actually meet her. Sunny looked at her in amazement. This was an alicorn that that could perhaps teach her to use her power to its fullest extent, an alicorn that could mentor her. So she could defeat Opaline and protect the magic of Equestria.
The alicorn looked at her and smiled.
“You must be Sunny Starscout, I thought I might see you here,” Flurry said with a smile.
“You know me?” Sunny asked.
“Yes. It has been many years,” Flurry said before turning to Hitch. “Is the young dragon alright?”
“Uh, yeah. Why?” Hitch asked. “I left him locked in a secret room in the station. Oh no! What if it was broken into?”
They quick made their way to the station, rounding up the handful of mind controlled ponies that Opaline had sent against them. Some of the unicorn traps had been triggered as well, but still, the attack had done quite a bit of damage to the buildings, many of which had been broken into. The doors and windows were broken down. Izzy and Misty carried Fireforge Destiny together in their magic, praying he didn’t wake up before they got him in a cell. Would it be able to hold him though?
They got to the station and Hitch checked the secret room in the station where he’d told Sparky to hide. He let out a sigh of relief as the baby dragon appeared with a smile.
“Phew,” Hitch sighed before turning back to Flurry. “He’s here.”
“Good,” Flurry said.
“But how do you know about him?” Hitch asked.
“It was I who flew him to Maretime Bay,” Flurry explained. “The two dragons with me, Spike and Ember, are his parents.”
Hitch gasped in surprise, while a feeling of dread filled his heart. He might have to let Sparky go soon. He looked down at the little dragon sadly as Sparky hugged him, while looking up at Flurry.
The alicorn sighed and then turned to Sunny. “But he’s not the only one who will be reunited with a parent today. Sunny, it is good to see you in pony after so many years.”
Sunny looked at her confused. “What do you mean? When did we meet?”
Flurry smiled. “You would have been too young to remember, but a mother never forgets.”
Sunny let the words sink in and gasped.
“You’re my mother!?”
The others gasped as well, and Izzy fainted.
This was impossible, Sunny thought. Her mother had given her to her father and then left. Argyle had never told Sunny her mothers name… but Sunny had always assumed she’d been an Earth Pony.
Before she could question the pony claiming to be her mother any further, Fireforge Destiny’s eyes opened. He groaned and rubbed his head with a hoof.
“Quick get him in a cell!” Hitch yelled running to one nearby.
They threw him in as soon as it was open. He then came around.
“Ah, what happened! My head, where am I?” he then looked at them. “Who are you ponies?”