//------------------------------//
// The Battle of Sweet Apple Acres pt. 1 
// Story: The P-Team: The Cider Wars 
// by NightmareDash 
//------------------------------//

Looking through her Canterlense Elite Binoculars, Gemstone saw a plume of smoke rising down the road, trailing towards them a breakneck speed.

"Starswirl! They're here!"

"It's about time. I thought they weren't going to make the party. Places, everypony!"

Less than a mile away from the gates of Sweet Apple Acres, a large train-like contraption chugged towards its target, owners and henchmen aboard.

"Listen up, fleabags! We want this land..."

"... and we want Head Honcho and his crew off of it. Understand?"

"He's failed to listen to reason, and now we're going to make him regret it."

"You all know what to do, so follow our orders and you might survive." 

The lead henchmen spoke up, in his high-pitched growl of a voice that most of us humans would connect with Gollum.

"Yes, bosses. But Diamond Dogs have saying: you mess with dog, you get bitten. My dogs could be doing many more important things right now. I call them up just to return favor to you, but we help you only because I say so."

"Shut up, you lousy excuse for a quadraped."

"Brother of mine, we've arrived."

"So we have, my brother. Let's get in and get this done."

"Indeed."

And so the SSCS 6000 plowed through the gates and pulled up to the barn. Flim, Flam, and the Diamond Dogs each grabbed gasoline tanks and began dousing the building. An odor of petroleum permeated the air, and at this cue of saturation, Flim and Flam sparked small, lime-green flares at the tips of their horns. They slowly bent down to the puddle of oil...

And the sound of smashing wood and squealing tires tore right through their ceremonial immolation. What appeared to be a battle wagon had shot out of the barn door, though any Apple could tell you it was a modified plow. Long, metallic spikes protruded from the plow head, and the entire machine was covered in iron plating. Behind several such plates was R.D., pushing the entire contraption through shear wing- and willpower. Above her, on the roof, was a metal turret, which Applejack was sitting safely inside. The turret had a one-foot slot cut through the center from the top, which supported a pipe barrel. Behind that barrel was a crossbow apparatus (made from spare wood and a wagon tire). Out from the wreckage of the wagon's explosive entryway came Starswirl and Gemstone, each with horns ablaze and ready to fire. They immmediately let off a stream of pulse bolts that sent the dogs diving for cover. Applejack began launching apples from her turret, one of which downed Flim with a clean headshot. Flam soon followed him to the ground. R.D. pulled her battle wagon around in a u-turn, pointed it at the SSCS 6000, then charged. The train-car never stood a chance. As the last few dogs jumped clear, the plow's front spikes drove themselves through the engine, shooting off electrical sparks. But it had also attached the vehicle to the SSCS 6000, which basically rendered it  immobile. R.D. slid out from behind the armor-plated cabin, and Applejack grabbed an armful of apples and leaped from the turret. The two began bucking the apples directly, but after a few shots, a group of apples surrounded by a sickly green aura came shooting back at them at twice the speed. Caught up in the apple storm counterattack, they were both knocked to the ground after taking a few hits. Their teammates weren't fairing any better: as R.D. looked up, she could see both Starswirl and Rarity pinned by Diamond Dogs. Flim and Flam were back up, and surveying the battlefield.

"Well, brother of mine, we weren't dealing with an apple baron after all, now were we?"

"No, we were dealing with The P-Team. In that light, I must say, this seemed a little bit too easy. Didn't it, brother?"

"Indeed. But who are we to look a gift horse in the mouth?"

"Let's take care of Miss Applejack and these mercenaries she's hired."

The brothers' horns began to glow, and a sharp spike of magical energy grew on each of their foreheads. They aimed downward at Starswirl, took a ready stance to charge, and...