//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: Love, Redemption and War 
// by Biker_Dash 
//------------------------------//

When the attacks came, nopony had been prepared. Nopony had a clue what was coming, and that was our downfall. 

Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Ponyville, and so many other places fell that day. The combined might of Changelings, Griffons, and Diamond Dogs proved to be too much for Equestria and her defenses. 

How was it that we never saw the signs that this was coming? How did we miss this? Equestrian Intelligence Services should have seen it. I mean, how can you miss such a buildup of forces?

I remember when the first attacks came. I was visiting Sweet Apple Acres to get a pie or two for me and Twilight. I guess I was fortunate that I was just coming up to the place when all those Diamond Dogs popped out of the ground. Three of them literally burst forth right in front of me. 

It was a bad day for them, because I was not the same little dragon I was when they had captured Rarity a few years ago. Time had made me bigger, stronger, and had even given me daggerlike claws on my feet. Between my claws, teeth, and fire, they went down quick. Still, one of them had a gun, and he got me in the leg. 

With dozens of them damn dogs popping out of the ground, I knew I had to get to Ponyville and warn the others. I can still remember the screams behind me as I ran away. At least the Apples went down fighting. I felt like a fucking coward.

When I got to Ponyville, the town was in shambles. Carousel Boutique was a mass of flame. Same with Sugarcube Corner. I don’t know whether Rarity even knew what hit her, but her body was later found in the rubble. Pinkie managed to fight, and from the destruction, I say that she put as much into her fight as she always did with her parties. 

Fluttershy was found in the middle of the Market Square. What the Diamond Dogs did to her will forever be burned into my brain. She was literally ripped apart. 

I found Twilight outside the burning wreckage of our home, fighting off Diamond Dogs and causing a ton of damage herself in the process. She had rage-shifted and was tearing through her opponents like a rabid beast. I called out to her in fear, not realizing that all I did was distract her.

I had never heard her use the Royal Canterlot Voice before, but being an Alicorn now, and being shifted as she was, I guess that was to be expected. “SPIKE!” she bellowed at me. “SEND WORD TO THE PRINCESSES IMMEDIATELY! THEY HAVE TO BE...” 

She never did complete that sentence. The sniper round took her in the chest. Once that happened, she reverted to her normal form and collapsed. 

I remember hearing a scream of terror. I think it was my own. Twilight struggled to raise her head and mouthed one word to me. Run. Then another bullet hit her just under her horn, and she collapsed, lifeless, like a ragdoll.

And that is what I did. I ran like a chickenshit coward. I should have stayed and fought alongside my friends. I should have been there for them. I failed them.

While hiding down in Froggy Bottom Bog, I received a letter from Princess Celestia stating that Canterlot was undergoing a major attack. She was ordering the girls to gather and assist in repelling the attack. I managed to scratch out a reply, telling the Princess what had happened in Ponyville, but I never received a response from her. 

How could this all happen? What will happen now?

Later on that evening, Rainbow Dash found me at the southern edge of the bog. It was then that she told me that not only had Ponyville fallen, but Cloudsdale and Canterlot as well.

We held each other, crying together all night. We also made a vow together. We will avenge our fallen friends.

That was one week ago today.