The Barrel Invasion of Equestria

by Lance Skyes


Episode 1: The Invasion Begins

The human walked carefully through the darkened room. His flashlight was on, but no matter where he looked, all he could see was darkness. He knew what was hiding in the darkness, too. His greatest enemies who kidnapped his best friend. “Stefano!” the human suddenly shouted when he saw his small statue friend lying in a small patch of light in the middle of the darkened room. The human ran excitedly to his friend and tried to pick him up. However, when the human reached for Stefano, the statue disappeared in a puff of smoke. “What? What’s going on? You give me Stefano, you barrels!”
”You really want your friend back, don’t you, Pewdiepie?” a dark voice asked from somewhere in the darkness. ”But if we said we’d give him to you, that would be a lie.”
“What have you done with him?” Pewdie asked, searching relentlessly for the source of the voice. “Where is Stefano?” Suddenly, a strange white cloud appeared where the fake Stefano once was.
”If you wish to save your friend, your human life must come to an end. Step through this portal and you will see... the barrel invasion of the world of pony.”
“Invasion? Forget it, barrels. I may not know much about what goes on in your minds, but one thing I do know is that you can’t go through this portal unless I go through first..”
”You can save that world if you don’t go, but you’ll never again see Stefano.” Pewdiepie stared at the cloud for the longest time as though trying to stare down Slenderman. ”If that is your choice, it is what we will respect. Just be sure it is that choice you will not regret.”
After a long pause, Pewdie finally spoke up. “You know what, barrels? I’m going to go through and save Stefano. After that, I’ll stop you as I have every time before.” Pewdie then turned and walked up to the portal. “You’re going to fail just like all the other times.” He then jumped into the portal and disappeared in a quick flash of light.
”Do not be cocky, little boy, for it is you we will first destroy.”

Meanwhile, in the magical land of Equestria, a purple alicorn named Twilight Sparkle was trotting relentlessly through her library, looking for a book that she seemed to have misplaced. (Again.) “Have you found it yet, Spike?” she asked her baby dragon assistant, who was looking for the same book pretty much against his will.
“Not yet,” Spike replied.
“Oh, we need to find that book on the differences between parallel and alternate dimensions before we get back to the Crystal Empire! Look harder!” The frantic alicorn galloped this way and that from shelf to shelf, looking for her book, when she suddenly tripped over something. “AHH!” she shouted just before she slammed her muzzle on the ground, prompting Spike to begin laughing uncontrollably.
“Ha! You seriously tripped?” the dragon asked between laughs. “How do you trip over something if there aren’t even any books on the floor over there?”
“I swear, there was nothing there when I looked,” Twilight said as she was getting up. She then looked over to find the object she had tripped over. It was a small gold statue that somehow hummed with a spark of life from deep within. “What in Celestia’s name is this thing?” Twilight asked as she picked the statue up and examined it with her magic. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it anywhere in Equestria.”

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the town of Ponyville, a yellow pegasus named Fluttershy was picking flowers with her animal friends near the edge of the Everfree Forest. “Ohh, Princess Cadence will love this one,” Fluttershy said, picking a bright pink flower and placing it in her saddlebag that was already full of other flowers of assorted colors. Just then, she felt a sudden gust of wind from the Everfree Forest which blew some of her animal friends backwards and blew some flowers out of her saddlebags. “What’s going on?” she asked, bracing herself against the wind.
Just as Fluttershy asked this, small yellowish sparks (dark yellow, not the same color as Fluttershy’s coat) began flying out from thin air. As the sparks increased in number and intensity, a small ball of constant white light appeared at the epicenter of where the sparks were originating from and began growing in size until it seemed large enough to fit an entire pony inside. After a while, the light began dying down and standing in the middle of where the light once was stood a green unicorn stallion with a bright yellow mane, (a little brighter than Fluttershy’s coat) and some strange device that looked like it was supposed to go on your head as a cutie mark. He got to his hooves slowly, but almost lost balance doing so. “Woah,” the stallion said. “I guess I should have paid attention when those barrels said ‘world of pony’.”
“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy said, flying up to the stallion. “Are you alright?”
“I think so,” the stallion replied, still examining his new pony body. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Fluttershy. What’s your name?”
“My name... is Peeeeeeeeeewdiepie... or at least I think it still is.” Suddenly, Pewdiepie began looking around frantically. “Wait... where’s Stefano?”
“Who?” Fluttershy asked as Pewdiepie began frantically galloping around, looking for something.
“My friend, Stefano,” Pewdiepie replied. “The barrels kidnapped him and said he was around here somewhere. Wait. Oh no, the barrels! We’re all in serious danger!”
“Danger? From barrels? You’re starting to really confuse me... Powdiepie?”
“Pewdiepie. Now, take me to your military leader as fast as possible. I need to warn everyone here about a powerful threat that’s coming to this world.”
“Uh... I can take you to my friend Twilight if that’s what you need.”
“I guess,” Pewdiepie reluctantly said. “Lead the way... can I call you Roger? I give weird names to all characters and inanimate objects I encounter that I’m sure I’ll see more of in the future.”
“You can call me Fluttershy. Now if you don’t stop acting crazy, I’m not going to take you to Twilight.”
“‘Stop acting crazy?’ DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?”
“No, not really. You’re starting to scare me, actually.”
“Well then I’m doing my job. Now, are you going to help me save your world from the barrels or not?” Fluttershy began silently tearing up before turning away and starting to silently cry. “Great, I made Roger cry.” Pewdiepie then looked over to find a rock lying next to him. “‘Why did you make Roger cry, Pewds?’” he asked himself in a girl’s voice. “Shut up, Jennifer!” he replied to himself in his normal voice. Just then, there was a loud boom from behind Pewdiepie. He turned around quickly to find the last thing he expected to see and the last thing he wanted to see standing at the mouth of the forest behind him. It was Slenderman, only as a pony. “WAHHHHHHHHH! IT’S SLENDY!” He then grabbed Fluttershy’s hoof and began pulling her with him as he ran for his life from Slendermane. He did his best to run on just his hind legs, but he was unable to keep his balance. He didn’t have much better luck running on three legs, either.
“What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked from behind a fountain of tears.
“I’m trying to save your life!” Pewdiepie shouted back. Just then, he was sure he could no longer run on just three legs. “I’m sorry about this, Roger.” He then let go of Fluttershy’s hoof and began galloping on all fours. However, when he turned to look behind him to try to see if Slendermane was behind him like he always did, he found Fluttershy somehow floating and flying in the same direction as Pewdie was going, though she wasn’t flapping her wings. Instead, she was being levitated by some dark yellow light. Pewds looked up to find that his new horn was glowing the same color. “Huh? Am I doing that?” Just then, Pewds stopped abruptly, nearly sending Fluttershy flying into a wall. “How do I turn this off?” Without an answer to his question, his horn stopped glowing and Fluttershy fell to the ground. “First the barrels, then Slendy following me here, now this weird glowing horn I have. Ordinarily, this would be a good time for an ‘It’s raping time.’, but with Stefano still missing, I have to stay focused. Are you with me, Roger?”
Fluttershy got up slowly and shook her head a little. “I still have no idea what you’re talking about, crazy pony, and I’d really prefer it if you stopped calling me Roger, but at least we’re here.” Fluttershy indicated for Pewdiepie to look upwards at the tree/library they had stopped at.
Just then, Twilight Sparkle, hearing what was going on outside, opened the door and peaked outside. “What in Equestria is going on out here? Who is that pony, Fluttershy?”
“I honestly have no idea,” Fluttershy replied, “but he wanted to see you for some reason.”
“Oh really? And who might you be?”
“My name...” Pewds started, “is Peeeeeeeeeewdiepie, and I’m here to warn you about the barrels.”
“Barrels?” Twilight asked. Just then, she gasped with a sudden realization. “I know who you are. I read about you somewhere before. You’re some kind of hero on Earth.”
“Guilty as charged,” Pewds said. Just then, he noticed another rock near him. “‘Hey Pewds,’” he said to himself in a girl’s voice. “‘Why don’t you cut the chit-chat and tell her about Stefano, already?’ Shut up, Jennifer! I thought I left you to die from Slendy!”
“Stefano?” Twilight asked. “That’s what I tripped over earlier! I have him inside if you want him back.” Before Twilight even had a chance to react, Pewds galloped into the building and found Stefano standing on the center table.
“Stefano!” Pewds shouted, running up and hugging the statue. “I’m so glad I found you! ‘I’m glad you found me too, Pewds, but don’t you still need to warn those horses about the barrels?’ You’re right, Stefano!”
“Is that guy... talking to himself?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yeah,” Twilight replied. “Apparently, that’s something he does. Now, what about barrels, Pewdiepie?”
“Oh, right.” Pewds set Stefano down, but somehow picked him up again with his magic. “First off, can you tell me what that is that I’m doing? It’s kinda weird even for me.”
“That’s magic. It’s completely normal for unicorns.”
“Ah. Makes total sense. ‘No it doesn’t, Pewds.’ Shut up, Stefano.” Pewds then turned back to Twilight. “Anyway, my greatest enemies, the barrels, are plotting an invasion of this world, and I’m the only one who can help you stop them.”
“Is he seriously enemies with barrels?” Fluttershy asked Twilight.
“Yes he is,” Twilight replied. “But his barrels aren’t normal barrels. They’re filled with nothing but pure evil. And if they’re coming here to Equestria... then we have a battle on our hooves.”
“And it isn’t just the barrels,” Pewdiepie added. “Earlier when I arrived here, another enemy of mine appeared in that forest.”
“Untrusted Statue?” Twilight asked.
“Worse. I think it was Slenderman, but he was a pony like us... only without wings or a horn.”
“Slendermane,” Fluttershy said, surprising Twilight and Pewdiepie. “What? I know my forest creatures. What’s so wrong with that?”
“And if Slendy is here...” Pewdie continued, “then some of my other enemies must be coming here to this world as well.” There was a dramatic silence after Pewdiepie said this. “‘Looks like you’re screwed, Pewds,’” Pewdie said to himself. He then turned around violently and glared at a chair in the back of the room that Spike was unlucky enough to be standing near. “Shut up, Mr. Chair!” After Pewdiepie said this, Spike got a surprised look on his face and began slowly backing away.
“Are we going to have to put up with this for long?” Fluttershy asked Twilight.
“If we want to stand a chance against the barrels,” Twilight said, sighing, “then the answer to your question is yes.”