The Downfall of Equestria, Volume 1: Conflict Uprising

by TheHylianBatman

Chapter 1: And So It Begins

AUTHOR'S NOTES:
READ THE DESCRIPTION, FOR GOD'S SAKE!
This story is intended to be read in Sans-Serif, Normal, Dark.
This story can take place anytime after Season 2.
However, I have no intention of following the storyline of Season 3, so that's technically non-canon, hence the AU tag.
Enjoy your read.

Tensions were as tight as a guitar string. Nopony knows how it started, or how it caught on so fast. All anypony knew was that all hell was about to break loose. This wasn't a little protest movement. This was something even the Elements of Harmony couldn't fix.

Princess Celestia began the day like any other. She raised the sun, attended the Day Court, then returned to her office for the daily paperwork. Some days, pillars of papers an folders as tall as the ceiling in her study would leave only a pony-wide gap that lead straight to her desk, resulting in nopony seeing her until it was time to lower the sun. Other days, a folder and a few papers would sit in a basket on the edge of her desk, leaving her with an entire day to do with what she wanted. Today was a pillar-esque day. When she pulled the doors open (Luckily, they were double-hinged, so, when she couldn't push them in, she could pull them out) and saw the ridiculously tall wood-pulp pillars, she decided that Luna just may have to do both their jobs that night. She sat at her custom-made mahogany desk with a thunk on the wool-carpeted floor and magically grabbed the first folder off the closest pillar to her desk. However, as she sat it on her desk and pulled out her phoenix quill, she noticed a big brownish folder under it. Replacing the folder, she inspected it quizzically. It was one of those big yellow-brownish folders used for business forms that couldn't be folded. The folder itself was non-descript; no return address, no sender name. She wondered why such a different folder would be in such an important place. Only the most important forms went right on her desk. She shrugged, and activated her magic. The folder was surrounded with a yellow-hued glow, and it lifted itself off her desk. She held it in front of her as she unclasped the pin with her magic and pulled the form out. She donned a perplexed expression as she pulled out a half-page with a single, blurry word on it. She squinted to make it out, and brought it closer to her face.

As she read the word, she tugged at the page, only to find out it wouldn't go any farther. She saw a hole punched through the bottom right corner with a string tied in it, which led to the inside the folder. She gasped as she realized just what the folder was, and pulled it back to toss it across the room just before there a flash, a bright sound, and then...
Nothing.

It had been a late night for Twilight Sparkle. She had been researching the estrus cycle of herself and her friends, and how they somehow all linked together. When she finally made it to her bed, she didn't even cover up; she just slipped into Dreamland.

She was pulled out of dreamland by a strange rapping sound... Kinda like a hoof hitting glass... except a really big hoof, she thought, as she battled to keep her slumber. She wasn't due to be awake for another hour. Suddenly, she heard the sound of shattering glass. She gasped, sat up in bed, and turned towards the nearest window in the library, the glass balcony door. Lo and behold, the middle pane was broken, and whose head should be in it but Derpy Whooves, with a red letter in her mouth.

"Oops, I'm sorry, Twilight! I'll pay for it, I promise!" Derpy said worriedly. Saying this, she dropped the letter. She gasped and leaned down to get it. At this, her head got stuck leaning down. Twilight used her magic and practically ripped the door off its hinges, let alone Derpy.
"Derpy," Twilight started, glimpsing at the clock, "it's 4:30. What is so important that you have to wake me up at 4:30?!"
"Oh, gee, I'm really sorry, Twilight, but this letter is an Emergency Palace Express Letter. The office makes it so I have to stay here until you personally get this letter. So here I am."

"Uh-huh... wait, Emergency Letter?! Let me see that!" Twilight's magic enveloped the envelope (?), yanking it out of Derpy's mouth and in front of her face where she could read it. Twilight read out the letter.
Dear Miss Sparkle:
We regret to inform you of this tragic event, but exactly 6 days, 3 hours, and 26 minutes ago (at the time of writing this letter), a bomb-
"A BOMB?!" Twilight shrieked, before continuing the letter,
- was detonated in the Office of the Royal Chambers of Princess Celestia. The reason for the attempted assassination is unknown, but the Royal Offices have been destroyed. Princess Celestia, currently booked in Canterlot General Hospital, is alive, but in critical condition. Before you ask, visitors are NOT allowed. The Doctor says that it's going to be a good 3 months before she completely recovers, and that it's a miracle she's alive. She has remained unconscious, borderline comatose, since the accident, only waking once, screaming in agonizing pain. The Doctor had to put her under to bring relative silence to the O.R. The extent of her injuries is... extensive, to say the least, but she's hanging by a thread, and that's all the surgeons need. Princess Luna has temporarily taken over her duties in the Courts, but, needless to say, she is quite overwhelmed. Therefore, I, as well as the other 349 members of the Emergency Parliament-
"A PARLIAMENT?! How long have they had THAT?!" Twilight yelled angrily, before once again resuming the letter,
of Equestria, would greatly appreciate it if you, as well as the rest of your fellow Elements of Harmony, would come to Canterlot to fulfill her duties until she recovers. Of course, if you accept, you will not be required to fill her role as the Celestial Goddess, merely to act in her stead as chairman of the Equestrian Day Court and as Princess of Equestria. Your fellow Elements of Harmony will each be appointed to a particular position that suits their separate talents, but you have been asked to take the highest position, due to your personal experience as a student of Princess Celestia. Please, Twilight Sparkle, we beg for your help.
With all due repect;
Tally Mark
Prime Minister, Equestrian Emergency Parliament
Twilight just stared at the wall, shocked. Derpy had long since flown away, earning bits for her family of 3. Twilight's mind was screaming, saying that if she flipped it over, there would be a Post-it that would say Haha, sorry for the joke, but Princess Celestia is fine, and you DON'T need to uproot your entire life for three months to replace her! She was a bit upset... she used her magic to grasp her least favorite book and flung it toward the nearest window; she had to replace the door, why not a window, too? Just hearing the glass shatter helped ease her. She wasn't sure of why this had happened, what she was going to do, or many other things. She just wished that she had never woken up this morning... then there would be no Derpy, no letter, no bomb...

No chaos.