//------------------------------// // Reuniting and Perils // Story: The Larson Rebellion // by bendelsohn //------------------------------// Sparks. A sound. A light. A clang. Sparks ever more numerous. A noise that grew ever louder. A light that grew ever more blinding. A voice drawing ever closer. Another chain, yet unbroken. Another circle, yet completed. Deafness. Redness. Darkness. Twilight’s eyes tore awake. Her face was cool, moist with sweat. Her body seemed to pause for a moment before gasping. It was dark. She looked around, remembering where she was. The dark confines of the royal blue tent met her gaze. An audible breeze rolled past from the outside. She fumbled around the cramped enclosure for her lantern. She found it quickly, giving a damp illumination to the fabric and floor surrounding her. She realized that her heart was still pounding from the dream she had just had. She shook her head, berating herself for being affected by something so simple. She poked her head outside. The cold night air flowed into her tent. The forest’s ambience echoed quietly throughout the encampment. She turned to the side. Just as she had predicted, the guards stationed to protect her has stood sleeplessly outside her tent throughout the night. She breathed a sigh of relief, and slid back into the tent. Twilight stretched her wings out a bit, drowsily looking towards the contents of her tent. The tactical map lay spread across the ground, containing the detail of their latest battle plans against the humans. The humans. Right, they were at war. Twilight’s mind slowly booted itself into it’s higher functions as she woke herself from her now ended slumber. Why were they even in the forest again? She couldn’t quite remember. It had been several weeks since the humans had first come. They were weeks filled with bloodshed and anguish, all because a bunch of creatures decided that what happened in another dimension was theirs to control. No, it was worse than that. She had heard the humans talk before. In their dimension, the lives of ponies were no more than a form of entertainment. From their perspective, they were being driven into a blood-rage because they thought that their TV shows, or whatever they were called, weren’t good anymore. Everything that had happened felt surreal. It was ridiculous. Aliens had invaded. Not just aliens, but aliens from another dimension, possibly with different rules, even different laws of physics. They were so strange that not even their best and brightest could understand them. Everything that had happened was impossi- “CHECK THIS 360 NO SCOPE FAGETS” A deafening crack sounded through the encampment. A shot ripped through her tent, missing her by a wide girth, but giving her quite the scare. “FUCK NEXT ONE HITS FOR SURE” Another crack, this time missing Twilight’s tent completely. “GODDAMMIT THIS GUNS SUCKS I QUIT.” Guards and other ponies drowsily rushed out of their tents and looked around to see what was going on. Lanterns flickered on, quickly illuminating the camp site. Humans, at least 200 strong, had surrounded their camp. Most of them carried pitchforks, glimmering slightly in the moonlight. A few of them carried what appeared to be Equestrian swords. The most obvious one was the Brony who had fired the first shot, who was then throwing his rifle on the ground in disgust, accidentally discharging it. He wore a fake blue horn with a bright light atop it, presumably to light the way in the dark forest. All of them wore the same fake blue wings blue wings. Everyone knew what they were dealing with- an elite group of humans who apparently called themselves “The Sonic Raindooms.” They had gained a reputation among both ponies and humans for their swiftness in battle and their insatiable desire to cum inside Rainbow Dash. One of them raised his pitchfork. He shouted to the others “DEATH TO THE FALSE PRINCESS!” The crowd roared to meet the call. “GLORY TO THE TRUE BLUE QUEEN, BEST PONY, RAINBOW DASH!” The crowd shouted in approval again. “IN HER GLORIOUS NAME, CHAAAAAAARGE!” In that moment, 200 spears descended on 150 ponies. Twilight's tent was in the center of the encampments, so she could be better protected. From this position, she stood, watching. To hear the cries for blood, to see the humans charge with such ferocity, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. It was a sobering moment. The sounds of battle coming from all directions confirmed that the humans had reached the camp. She couldn't move. She was terrified. She had never felt so sure that she was about to die. The morning sun was slowly beginning to rise above the forest. She decided she would accept her fate. This was as good a place to die as any. "TWILY!" Twilight looked around. She saw her brother, sword suspended by magic, calling out to her. "What are you doing! Get behind me!" He ran to Twilight, taking a defensive stance, waiting for anyone to break through the line. “Don’t worry Twilly, we’ll protect you at any cost.” Twilight stared at him for a moment. He had left the front lines just so he would be in a better position to defend her. Every one of the ponies there was there to protect her. They were fighting and dying for her. She felt different then. She changed her mind about accepting fate. She was the goddamn Princess of Equestria! She should have been protecting them! She was tired of sitting scared. It was time to act. She muttered to herself “You bastards want my throne?” “What, Twilly?” Twilight’s horn suddenly flared red with magic. “Well then... COME AND TAKE IT FROM ME!” Twilight suddenly flew into the sky. She picked out a human from among the fighting. She focused on him, sending a bolt of red energy into his chest. He was blasted into the ground instantly. Several ponies and humans looked up from the fighting to see her. She didn’t seem to notice. She began to target more and more humans. “YOU BASTARDS WANT TO CUM INSIDE RAINBOW DASH?” A human was blasted to dust. “WELL YOU CAN’T!” And another. “BECAUSE THAT” Another. “IS” Two this time. “DISGUSTING!” A headshot. “I” Another. “WON’T” She began to swoop downwards. “LET YOU!” She telekinetically pulled the pitchfork away from one and impaled him on her horn. “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” The magical aura began to surround her entire body. She stamped her hoof on the ground. The forest began to shake. One by one, spears of rock burst forth from the ground, piercing through each human. They began to retreat. “The witch has called forth her black magic! Show her that you can run for your life 20% faster!” The surviving humans quickly evacuated the area with haste. The magic surrounding Twilight began to fade away. A drop of blood dripped from her horn onto her face. She suddenly felt more exhausted than she ever had in her life. She fell to her knees. She noted ponies seemed to be surrounding her. Before she passed out, she managed to say one last thing. Weakly, she muttered “The Sonic Raindooms is such a stupid name...” ************************************************************************* Twilight's restfull unconscience was interrupted by a line on bright light cutting through the darkness. Murmurs and voices seemed to surround her. Everything seemed far too bright. A more familiar voice pierced the low din. "Twily? TWILY" The white unicorn stallion ran to her side. "Twily, are you alright? Twilight opened her eyes completely. It was apparent that she was in a hospital. It was run down, rubble from bits of the ceiling littering the ground. Several ponies in medical jackets moved around the room. She saw two guards standing motionlessly by the door. Then she remembered how she had gotten there. Her face dropped. "How many did we lose?" "67, and 19 were wounded." Twilight felt like a weight had fallen on her chest. 67 Ponies were dead. And they were dead because others wanted her dead. They died protecting her. No matter how she tried to think about it, she couldn’t see their deaths as anything but her fault. Her face seemed to drop. Shining Armor spoke up. “Twilight, it was a surprise attack. there was nothing we could do. I wasn’t your, or anyone’s fault what happened. We still don’t even know how they found us. The whole reason we were in that damn forest was to find a place where they weren’t likely to find us in the first place, to buy us time to regroup. It’s anyone’s guess as to how they got through.” Twilight didn’t respond. She plopped back onto her pillow. The stress was too much for her. She decided what she would do in the hospital. She would mentally compose a letter to celestia. It had always helped to calm her nerves when she was a student. She thought about what she would say. Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned that I absolutely detest humans in Equestria. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle It didn’t sound quite right. Her brother’s voice interrupted her again. “Hey, Twilight, it looks like you’ve got a visitor.” She turned towards the door. There stood Pinkie Pie and Rarity, smiling from ear to ear. Rarity was first to speak. “It’s... been a while, darling.”