As the train continued its journey away from Manehatten, Babs looked back and saw the smoke continue to rise over the city. She could not believe what she had just witnessed. A foreign army had invaded and just began destroying her home and killed her family. She had never seen such carnage, and now she wishes she will never see it again. For now, all she could do is head for Ponyville to warn her family in that area about what happened.
“Attention passengers,” the conductor said. “We'll be arriving in Ponyville in two minutes.” He went on to the next coach as Babs got what little belongings she was able to bring with her ready. All she had was some clothes and some miscellaneous. She looked towards the front of the train and saw Ponyville coming into full view.
As the train stopped, she got out of her seat and walked onto the platform. The station was mostly deserted, with no one around the platform or Ponyville. A nearby sign read “Ponyville Market Day”. Realizing that everyone would be at the Market Square, she began the trek to Sweet Apple Acres. As she was walking, she looked around to see if any of her friends were walking around the town square. When she couldn’t find anyone, she continued on to Sweet Apple Acres.
When she arrived at the front gates, she saw her cousin, Apple Bloom working in the orchard, helping her brother and his girlfriend, Fluttershy, get some apples ready for the market. Applejack and Caramel were walking to the gate when they saw Babs.
“What are you doing here, Babs?” Caramel asked. The others stopped what they were doing when they heard Babs name and also went to the gate. Babs soon broke down crying as they helped her to the house. When they got her inside, Babs only spoke three words that will change Equestria, forever.
“Manehatten was attacked.” The others all gasped at what they heard. They had seen the attack on Canterlot before, but Manehatten being attacked when it was out of range from any army seemed unbelievable.
“We had better get the others before we hear anymore,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t think she wants to tell her story more than once.” Big Mac nodded and went over to the phone and called everyone to the farm. Pinkie was the first to show right after the phone call. She still seemed upset about her boyfriend, Pokey, but decided to be there to help her friends more than mope around.
The next to arrive was Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. They were getting ready to go flying in Rainbow’s new plane when Big Mac called. They immediately rushed over when they heard something bad had happened.
Not long after, Rarity, Twilight, Spike, Sweetie Belle, and Flash Sentry arrived, as Spike and Sweetie Belle were helping in the library when Rarity came in and told them about the phone call. Twilight was upstairs reading as Flash was fixing breakfast for everyone. When Rarity told them, they all stopped what they were doing and ran to Sweet Apple Acres.
When everyone was finally seated, Granny Smith passed out some Apple Fritters as Babs told her tale.
“I was in bed when around midnight, fire began to spread at the docks. All I heard was screaming and explosions. My parents rushed in and helped get me ready and got some stuff to take with us. We ran outside and saw everyone running for the station as the Manehatten police set up barricades, like someone was attacking us. When we looked back, we saw these people in bright red uniforms torching every building. When the police opened up, they stopped what they were doing and attacked the officers. The next thing I know, my parents shove me into an alley.” Tears fall from her eyes, remembering what happened next.
“My parents begged for those people to spare them, but they were killed anyhow. I saw their leader walk up and,” she stopped, unsure if she wanted to tell Rarity and Sweetie Belle about their parents or keep quiet to not cause trouble. Eventually, she chose the latter, hoping it wouldn’t come back to haunt her. “He said they were going to crush Equestria by killing the rulers.” As Babs finished, Rainbow began moving to the door, hands balled into fists. Everyone knew what she planned to do and held her back from leaving the house. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Spike went to their friend and held her, letting her cry from the memory.
“Flash, get a train ready,” said Twilight. “We’re going to Canterlot to warn Celestia and Luna about what happened.” Twilight also feared for her brother and sister-in-law, as they ruled over the Crystal Empire. For all she knew, they could be next for those people.
“Yes, Twilight.” Flash said, as he ran off for the station to get a train for Canterlot. The others followed behind, hoping they were not too late to warn the two sisters. They were able to secure a train and headed for the capital.
When they arrived, the saw Doctor Whooves, Derpy, and their daughter, Dinky walking towards them.
“Hey guys,” said Derpy. “What seems to be the problem?” After they explained what happened, the three of them went with them to the castle. They arrived after a long run, everyone exhausted, and went inside and saw Celestia talking with Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor. When they saw the look on their faces, they knew something was wrong.
“Twilight, what seems to be the problem?” Celestia asked. Twilight took a deep breath and spoke.
“Manehattan came under attack last night.” She said. Luna looked down.
“What time?” Cadance asked.
“Around midnight,” Babs said. “The attack was around that time.” Celestia looked grim, as Luna spoke next.
“Looks like the attacks were two hours apart,” she stated. “Around 2 AM, Fillydelphia also came under attack and two hours later, our fleet in Boltimare also was attacked. It seems Equestria has been declared war on.” Everyone looked down, not sure what to think. They had heard about wars in other places, but never in Equestria. “We just don’t know what they are after.” It was then that Babs spoke up.
“They’re after all of Equestria,” she began. “They want you two dead.” Celestia and Luna were shocked that they wanted to do that. “I saw what they looked like and everything. They also took someone captive with them.”
“What did they look like?” Shining asked.
“They all looked the same, with bright red uniforms. Their flag was red and white strips and a blue corner. In the corner was stars that spelled out CL.” After she finished, Celestia motioned for all of them to follow her. They went to a different wing of the castle. When they entered the doors, they saw many flags that were not from Equestria. The flags all had a blue corner with a white oval and two crossed swords. Celestia went to a flag that had red and white stripes and said the words, “Imperial 2nd Army Freedom and Justice for all.”
“Does this flag match the one you saw?” Celestia asked. Babs nodded and Celestia took a deep breath. “It’s time you all knew more about what happened, especially you Spike. Back when you were still just getting used to living with Twilight, the city of Fillydelphia was being attacked by bandits. We tried to stop them, but every time we tried, our forces were defeated. It was a few weeks after it began that a massive storm hit, damaging an unknown ship anchored off the coast of the city. They were hit hard in the storm, as they were trying to get home. They were blown off course and ended up in the storm for a few days.” She paused, allowing the others to take everything in as she went over to a flag that had the usual corner like many of the others, but was all white for the rest of the flag.
“The ship had this flag on the mast. The crew was repairing the ship as some of the soldiers on the ship went to the docks. They landed and walked into the city, just as the bandits were raiding the city again. They saw the soldiers and ran right for them. It proved to be a mistake, as those newcomers all pointed what seemed to be spears, but when they were close to attacking, the soldiers let out what was described fire pouring from the end of the weapon. When the remaining bandits started running at the soldiers again, they got stabbed by what seemed to be a spear point. What was left ran to The Badlands, allowing the city to be free again.” She walked over to two more flags, one with a green background with a golden harp. In golden letters were the words “Emperor’s Guard”. The other was a bright yellow flag with a brown shield in the middle. In brown letters were the words “Guardian Force”.
“That same group soon began heading here to meet up with me. When they arrived, they didn’t seem like much, but some of the guard ran at the leader, only to find themselves defeated within a few minutes. The others were about to attack him, but I was able to intervene and prevent more guards from getting hurt. I told their leader to follow me to the main conference room. I asked him to take a seat just as Discord and I also took our seats across from him. I’m not going to bore everyone with the details of the meeting, but I will tell you that it was thanks to him, that we got many new things, such as phones. He was even nice enough to loan us some of their older planes to the Wonderbolts. Their planes were better than ours, so we immediately agreed. Spitfire was really impressed by the way they flew. The guns we have are from enemies they’ve conquered. They trained us how to use them. They even taught many of us about the horseback riding they use. In turn, we taught them how to be more in tune with nature and how to create beautiful gardens. Turns out, right after he returned home, he and his adopted son created the Imperial Gardens. You’d have to see it to believe the beauty of it.” Celestia stopped talking, allowing Discord, who had just entered the room to speak.
“Turns out, they were the ones to wipe out the same group that kidnapped Spike,” he said. “They had a 300 year rivalry with them which ended with their victory. This nation that we met with is called the Imperial Empire. Their leadership is very different from Equestria. While we have Celestia and Luna ruling with compassion, love, and friendship, their rulers are very different. The Emperor has all the power, while the Senate handles small issues like taxes. The Imperials also rule by the Military, making their word law everywhere. The main similarity, is that many also rule with the same ideas here.” He finished.
“So, both nations are alike?” Apple Bloom asked. They were all confused by what was going on, as they were having trouble understanding it all. Only Twilight seemed to take everything in with ease.
“Yes, they are,” Luna answered. “I never got to meet them, but I did hear about what they’ve been able to do. Equestria seems to be their main rival in many things. The Buffalo near Appleloosa could give their horsemen a rough fight, while our guards could even go toe-to-toe with their forces in melee.” At this, Flash and Shining Armor looked nervous. They were two of the best guards, but to hear that they could get beat by these unknowns before the fight could really begin?! Cadance and Twilight saw the looks on the faces and calmed them down as Celestia spoke again.
“You have nothing to fear you two,” she said. “You two would be fine, as long as you don’t do something that they consider criminal. Everyone here is fine.” Everyone relaxed, until they heard an explosion in another wing. They immediately rushed to the sound, worried about what had happened.