CHAPTER III
Shining Armor escorted his sister and her friends into Celestia’s castle and down the lavishing corridors. All the while, Twilight continued to think about what that pony with the attitude said regarding the perpetrator behind Equestria’s military massacre. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. His retort to her brother, as rude as it was, was too specific to be considered random. She tried to recall an adversary she and her friends had fought before that matched this brief and vague description but nothing came to mind. At least that wounded pony was going to be okay, though she still thought about the nurse’s earlier comment regarding the wound, how strange and unusual it was, as if he was stabbed by a giant booster shot needle. It sounded like a cruel weapon meant to inflict pain and nothing else.
They were lead into a large room where a giant circular table stood in its center, Celestia and Luna already standing at it. Twilight was delighted to see her mentor and her sister again but the serious expressions the two royal mares wore on their faces further illustrated to Twilight that they may be faced with a serious problem. Celestia didn't even regard her star pupil with so much as a smile as Shining Armor closed the door behind them.
“I’m so glad you were able to make it, Twilight,” Celestia opened, her voice pallid in emotion. “I wish that we could see all of you on better circumstances, but I’m afraid that Equestria is in danger.”
“Princess, before we begin, I have to know,” Twilight began and added, “what became of the village our soldiers were sent to?”
Princess Celestia sighed. “I’m...I’m sorry, Twilight, but we have overwhelming evidence to suggest the village was destroyed by the same perpetrators who attacked our soldiers.”
Twilight gulped, her eyes became heavy again, and she lowered her head.
“Beggin’ your pardon, princess, but ah really hope this ain’t nothin’ serious.” Applejack stated as Pinkie Pie finally stopped bouncing and stood next to her at the table.
“I’m afraid it is, Applejack.” Princess Luna answered for her sister, also up to speed on the danger. “It appears that an enemy my sister and I have fought many years ago has returned. This is a force that was at its peak of evil even before Discord’s time.”
This silenced the ponies as Celestia’s horn illuminated and threw an image of Equestria above the table for all of them to see. She started: “Thousands of years ago and not too long before Discord’s arrival, a new species appeared. They weren’t ponies, griffins, or any other creature we had encountered before. Not even they had a name for themselves.” Celestia’s horn changed the image of Equestria to an image of a creature that struck all of them as horrifying. Its image even made Fluttershy cower behind Rainbow Dash, who also wore an expression of shock. Rarity’s alabaster coat greened in color as she put a hoof to her mouth to halt a spew. Twilight on the other hand saw only two things that were familiar in her mind. The glowing image of the creature had a jagged body with a brown, scaly hide. It was a creature that stood on two feet with two front toes tipped with razor claws and a third toe behind each foot, also clawed. The legs were skinny but long and jagged at the knees. The bodies were covered in brown scales that looked like jagged knife points, each one looking like a deadly weapon. A strange symbol resembling a bizarre skull wearing a five-pointed crown standing on two fangs seemed to have been embedded, almost edged into the abdomen. Their arms were thick with the same hide with three fingers resembling their toes, including a spike on each elbow while long wings also comprised their backs. Their faces triggered Rarity to faint and fall to the floor with a loud thud, her friends too distracted by these creatures to assist her. Their faces were also scaly with bright eyes, antennas sticking out of their heads like insects, and tiny tentacles covering the beaks that comprised their mouths.
“Wh-what the heck are these things?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“As I said, not even they had a name for themselves, so the local ponies started calling them the Blattarians. They were an unusual species of creatures that mainly kept to themselves on the far end of Equestria which is now Sweet Apple Acres.” Celestia said, making Applejack look up. “For the next hundred years, there was still peace between us all...until one day. One day, the Blattarians attacked without warning, invading Equestria and pillaging the land. They massacred families of ponies, burned villages, destroyed crops, poisoned the land, everything you could think of. Luna and I fought long and hard against them, but at first not even we could stop them.”
“Why did they invade?” Twilight asked.
Twilight had known Princess Celestia for many years. There wasn't a single time they met when Twilight remembered the first time she met the princess after she was able to hatch Spike and she welcomed her as her protege at her school. Celestia had put Twilight through so many trials and tribulations and each time the latter came out on top, the more the two respected each other. Celestia had become like a second mother to Twilight in all those adventures. Maybe it was this bond they shared that prevented Twilight from seeing the grimace in her teacher’s face. A brief but obvious flash of deep emotions layered her face, as if she wanted to say something that was bothering her, but in the end she kept her response simple.
“To this day, we don’t know, Twilight.” Celestia answered. “It all started with the same way the village in the desert. Some things would be missing from stores, ponies would start disappearing, and ponies would report seeing strange shadows and movements at night before the attacks started. Sometimes even ponies’s pets would start acting strange. All we know is that when they attacked, they moved fast and they showed no mercy. Now...it appears they’re back.”
This relevance to Applejack skipped over her head.
Celestia cleared her throat and turned the image above the table to a closeup of the emblem on their chests. “Their hides act like a suit of armor. Almost nothing can penetrate it...but they have one weak spot. Right in the center of their emblem, a swift blow to that spot stuns their powers. My sister was able to discover this weakness and when they were weakened, I cast a spell that buried them deep beneath Equestria’s surface. They were so far down that in theory, the pressure of the ground on top of them should’ve been enough to hold them there forever. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Now they’re back and as far as I can tell, they want revenge.”
Rarity suddenly came to and didn’t like what she was hearing. “I’m sorry, princess, but are we actually talking about fighting these creatures? I mean surely there’s got to be some way we can resolve this without unnecessary violence.”
“My sister speaketh the truth when she speaks of their merciless ways. No pony was spared before. Stallions, mares, even foals were all attacked by them.” Luna interjected. “I’m afraid we have no choice. The very fate of Equestria may be in our hooves.”
Hearing such a grim sentiment hammered home enough reality for them. Even Pinkie Pie couldn't think of a joke for now to counter this rising tension. Twilight turned back to her brother. “Shining Armor, tell me more about that soldier out there. The one you called Blade.”
Her brother looked at her and gave a frustrated sigh. “Oh Twily, just forget about him already.”
“But he knew about these things...these Blattarians.” Twilight added and put her hooves up on the table and stood. “I want to talk to him.”
Shining Armor rubbed his eyes with his hoof. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. Who is he and what did he do to get into so much trouble?” Twilight asked.
Shining Armor sighed. “His name is Crimson Blade and he’s a soldier with the 1st Cavalry Division originally stationed in Fillydelphia. I don’t know why he’s in trouble. All I know is that he was sent here by his commanding officer saying that he’s being kicked out of the army and he’s on extra duties until he’s out next week.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I still want to talk to him.”
“This is what I get for having an ambitious sister.” Shining Armor muttered, making his wife giggle.
The meeting continued for another hour until Twilight and her friends were up to speed with what they were facing, though the threat of it still didn’t seem real. Only a few hours ago, Twilight and her friends were attending the anniversary opening of the Cakes’s business and now, Celestia was telling them that Equestria was at the threshold of war. The ponies left the meeting with a shadow of surreal uncertainty following them, as if they were still in a haze after awaking from a deep slumber. They couldn’t quite wrap their minds around these new orders yet. Keep everyone in Ponyville on high alert and watch for anything suspicious while at the same time, act casual and sound the alarm at the first hint of trouble.
Princess Celestia watched her beloved pupil and her friends leave the castle and cross the moat from a window in a tower. She watched with idle eyes, trying to mask the emotions that were already flooding her after this crime she had committed during this meeting. No one noticed, but Celestia put all her effort to not look Twilight in the eyes during the whole time. If she did, she probably would’ve broken down and confess to what Twilight and her friends were walking into. That this whole meeting was a fraud. That their entire history in Equestria and the history of Equestria itself was a lie. There have been many times when Celestia was resentful at her position of leadership but it was as she watched her star pupil laugh with Pinkie Pie from afar that she damned this title and position. She feared that this was going to be one of the last times she was ever going to see Twilight Sparkle alive.
Princess Luna entered the isolated room and saw her sister looking out the window. “Sister...my heart is heavy for what we have done here today. Surely there must be another way to stop all of this as Rarity said.”
Celestia sighed and turned to her sister, her face a dark and shadowy collage of discouragement. “I wish there was, Luna, I really do. But we’re out of options. We cannot let the Blattarians come back. We put them away for a reason.”
Luna squinted at her sister, showing her minor contempt for her sister’s decision all those years ago that was now bringing forth its ramifications. “Yes...we did. But for what purpose? Because they attacked us all those years ago? Is that the lie you’re willing to go to your grave with?”
Celestia glared at her sister. “We had no choice, Luna. Our survival was at stake. If we didn’t do what we did, Equestria wouldn’t be here right now. None of us would be. I know our past is dark and full of lies, but that’s just the hand we were dealt. You think I like hearing those lies about our history spoken with such pride every Hearth’s Warming Eve? I don’t. Leaders have to make hard decisions and not everypony can win in them...but the decision I made all those years ago was for all of us. Including you. Now I won’t speak anymore of this.”
Celestia callously walked past her sister and Luna could feel the cold aurora coming off her sister. Luna looked down and muttered, “But what about your decision now? Is that for the good of all of us...or is it for the good of only you?”
Pinkie Pie reprised her old role as the party pony when she was able to return to Sugarcube Corner and she heard the familiar and heartwarming laughter of the Cakes’ babies. The pink pony burst through the front door with her usual happy prance.
“I’m baaaaack!” She squealed with delight and saw Pound and Carrot Cake playing with their blocks. “Hey you two silly fillies! Guess what?! I was on a train! A great big awesome train! It was the most awesomest train in the history of awesomest trains! Then we went to see Princess Celestia and all her royal Celestianess! Oh, I almost forgot, I brought you two something!”
Pinkie Pie reached into her saddle bag and retrieved two caramel apples and dropped them in front of the foals, who began sucking on them eagerly. They still weren’t up to speed with Pinkie’s adventures but at least they had sweets.
“And then there were guards! I mean LOTS of guards! I still don’t really know what they were guarding. After all, I guess it is a guard’s job to guard stuff. Maybe there was some very important party that needed guarding! Wait, a party in Canterlot is in danger and it needs to be guarded?! Why I oughta! Let me at em! Let me at em! I gotta join the Royal Guard’s like Twilight’s brother now!” Pinkie went off on a rant, only drawing blank expressions from the Cake foals.
“Pinkie, is that you?” Mrs. Cake asked from the bakery and entered the room.
“Hi, Mrs. Cake! No time to explain but I need you to help me train for the Royal Guards!” Pinkie Pie exploded again.
Mrs. Cake tilted her head slightly at Pinkie’s randomness but shook it off as she had a more pressing matter to acknowledge. “Um, Pinkie, I know you just got back and all, but I was wondering...have you heard from my husband at all lately?”
Pinkie’s randomness subsided for the moment and she suddenly became confused. “Why, no Mrs. Cake. Wasn’t he here all day for your sale?”
Mrs. Cake shook her head. “No. As soon as you left, we got a call from a customer to deliver some cookies to a family across Ponyville. He left and hasn’t come back and the family even called me to tell me he still hasn’t made it there. I’m getting worried now because he’s been gone for several hours now.”
Pinkie scratched her head. “Hmm...that does sound like a mystery, Mrs. Cake, but I’m sure he’s fine. This sounds like a job for a job for my favorite detective, Sherlock Hooves! I’ll be right back!”
Pinkie disappeared in a cloud of smoke, only to return in a flash wearing a brown coat, donning a mustache, a monocle, a hat, and holding a magnifying glass to her eyes. She added: “I’ll get to the bottom of this, Mrs. Cake! First, I need to interview any witnesses.” She turned to the twins and snapped: “Where were you two on the day of today?!”
The twins continued to suckle their treats.
“Oh...a couple of wise fillies, eh?” Pinkie went on again, “Well I’ll get to the bottom of this if my name ain’t P.I. Pinkie Pie!”
Though Mrs. Cake appreciated Pinkie’s humor, she still couldn’t contain her worriment as she walked to a window and looked out it. She put a hoof to her mouth and hoped her husband was okay. It wasn’t like him to just disappear without saying a word.
Still unable to fully comprehend the meeting she had returned for, the importance of it were soon swept away when Rarity remembered she was expecting a few customers to pick up their finished product tomorrow morning. The white unicorn approached her closed shop and she reopened Carousel Boutique, feeling a chilly breeze give her a shiver.
She closed the door and ascended the stairs to her sewing room to throw herself back into her work. Eyeing the dresses on the mannequins, she brought her glasses to her face with her magic and observed the stitched patterns on the hem of one dress. She was proud of her work and often said this to herself but this was definitely one of her more favorite pieces. It still needed some finishing touches though along the chest piece. A diamond pattern would suit it just fine and she knew exactly what kind of fabric she needed for the job.
“Silk. That’s what this ensemble needs.” Rarity said to herself as she trotted to her chest where the rolls of fabric were stored. “Oh how lovely it will be with such a subtle yet strong touch of silk.”
Her horn glowed and the chest unlocked. She lifted the chest lid and when her eyes met hollow darkness of the empty chest, her face scrunched at first with confusion and then with frustration. Images of her little sister Sweetie Belle making off with more of her supplies became the first likely scenario as this wouldn’t be the first time she had taken them for some silly game or in another ambitious pursuit to attain her cutie mark with her friends. This theory was suddenly sent upstream when she remembered her sister was staying with her parents all day and wasn't going to pay her a visit until the weekend.
Rarity scratched her chin with her hoof and sounded a curious hum. It wasn't like her to keep something out of place so this did strike her as odd. She glanced around the room and began searching through the other drawers, murmuring to herself and becoming frustrated that she couldn't find this fabric, knowing that that chest was the last place it was. She even remembered putting it in there before she accompanied Fluttershy to the Cakes’s anniversary sale.
As Rarity searched her store, she bypassed a window several times that was slightly cracked open. If she would’ve seen it, she would’ve thought this strange as well since she would be able to recall detailed memories of herself locking the window before she left with Fluttershy.
For the yellow pegasus with the pink mane, the reminders of her responsibilities to her animal friends at her home on the border of the Everfree Forest occupied her mind and forced out the words of Princess Celestia and her dire warnings. She found herself picking up the pace, almost a full gallop as darkness fell upon Equestria back to her home. She had a strong connection with her animal friends and couldn't shake an uneasy feeling that followed her since their train arrived back in Ponyville. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but the churning in her stomach told her that her animals needed her. Running along the dirt path of the Everfree Forest gave her the extra motivation she needed as a Timber Wolf’s howl in the distance made her gallop faster.
She rounded a corner and spotted her home and the first thing that struck her was the silence. None of the birds in her choir were singing. None of her bunnies were hopping about. She quickly worried about Angel. Not even a single squirrel was prancing about. Her property was dead. Fluttershy sped up and by passed footprints with three clawed toes in the front and one in the back leading to her house but not away from it. When she approached her door, she pushed it open and found only more silence accompanied by darkness.
“Hello? Friends?” She whimpered and turned on the lights.
When her house was lit, she screamed when she saw all her animals huddled together in one corner of the house. The animals recoiled tighter, clearly distraught by something. Fluttershy only screamed in reflex and when she saw all of them, she felt great waves of relief when she could at least see them. The fact that they were all trembling in fear didn’t register at first. From her birds, to her squirrels, bunnies, even a large bear that she occasionally helped with back problems were all nestled together as if they were hiding from something.
“Oh my...did I frighten all of you? I’m so sorry.” Fluttershy whimpered and walked inside. It was when they continued to wince and tremble in her presence that alerted Fluttershy that something was wrong. “Is...is something the matter? Why are all of you so scared? Wait...where’s Angel?”
Fluttershy looked amongst the group and couldn't see her beloved white rabbit. The only response her animals could give were more trembles and whimpers in terror, as if it wasn’t Fluttershy that was before them, but another creature of unparalleled horrors. Seeing her animals like this and believing one of her most prized to be missing, Fluttershy began to pant and sweat in rising panic.
“Please, tell me where Angel is!” Fluttershy cried, turned, and dashed outside the door into the darkening night. She called: “Angel?! Angel?! ANGEL...?!”
As the yellow pegasus began to search and panic, her back was turned to her house. She missed three dark shadows zip over the roof and head into the darkness towards a farm.
Despite her long journey from Canterlot back to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack’s mind was still in the surprise meeting with Princess Celestia even when night settled on Equestria. She tried to recall a memory of Granny Smith telling her about creatures that inhabited their lands that their farm now stood on but couldn't recollect anything. It was even before her time, which was saying something about how long these creatures were gone. As Applejack trotted down the stone path and spotted her farmhouse in the distance with a few lights on inside, she watched the ground in front of her. The shadows of the clouds illuminated by Luna’s full moon followed her home. She never cast her head up for if she did, she would see that no clouds were in the sky above her, yet the dark shadows continued to zip around her.
As Applejack trotted up the road, she heard a familiar sound that nearly ruined her day this morning. Winona was barking up a storm inside the house again and as she opened the door, the Apple family’s dog leaped over the farm pony and started tearing down the road into the darkness towards the surrounding trees. As Apple Bloom brushed past her big sister, Applejack was able to see Winona’s hair was standing on edge, as if she was mad and her chops were raised to bear her teeth as she ran. She was in an attack run.
“Winona, wait!” Apple Bloom called and chased after her dog. She stopped and looked at her sister with a worried expression. “Winona’s been actin’ weird all day! She wouldn't stop barking at the trees!”
“Well come on, sis, let’s go!” Applejack exclaimed and gave chase as Apple Bloom followed.
The dog was very motivated and soon disappeared in the dark trees, heading towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders’s clubhouse. The two sisters kept yelling Winona’s name but she wouldn't slow down. Applejack wondered if the family dog was sensing some kind of danger. Were there Timber Wolves in the area? It would definitely be a first for them to wander out of the Everfree Forest but it would explain why Winona ran there first this morning. As the sisters continued to run, dark clouds began to gather above. A storm was coming.
Eventually, Winona came to a stop ahead but kept barking and the Apple sisters had to follow the barks until they came to a clearing where they found Winona. She was in an attack position, her hair still standing on edge, and she was growling and snarling while barking at the Cutie Mark Crusaders’s clubhouse. The small treehouse was creepy at night and the dark storm clouds consuming the black sky made it look like a haunted house. Maybe that was what had Winona all wound up. The Cutie Mark Crusaders’s clubhouse was haunted.
“Winona’s what’s wrong, girl?” Apple Bloom exclaimed as Applejack looked around, searching for a threat while the dog continued barking.
They were all alone. As far as Applejack could tell, the three of them were the only living beings in the area. The tall grass and the leaves in the trees shifted and wafted with each breath of the escalating wind and Applejack had to admit that it was a rather creepy night, but at the same time there was no evidence of a threat against Sweet Apple Acres. Winona just continued to stare at the clubhouse and bark at it like it was a monster.
Applejack had seen enough and corralled the family dog by the collar and began to drag her away while saying, “Come on y’all, let’s go back.”
“Ba-but sis, what about Winona?” Apple Bloom asked with concern as she followed her sister.
“Can’t say, Apple Bloom. The poor girl’s gone plum crazy. I’ll take her to the vet tomorrow but let’s go home. It looks like a storm is a blowin’ in.” Applejack responded and continued to struggle with the barking dog, who wouldn’t take its eyes off the clubhouse.
Apple Bloom turned her head back at the clubhouse one more time, still not seeing anything out of the ordinary, and followed her sister back. When the two sisters were gone, the clouds overhead had swallowed the full moon and darkened the land. One thing Applejack didn’t take into account because of the fuss Winona continued to make was the absence of life in the area. No crickets, no bullfrogs in the pond nearby, not even the call of an owl. Everything was silent as a graveyard in the field.
A bolt of lightning quickly lit the sky, bringing light to the clubhouse. Something was out of the ordinary but only for a split second. Graffiti was covering the roof of the clubhouse. It was a rather strange symbol of what looked like a skull resting on two fangs with a five pointed crown perched on the top of it. The red liquid it was coated in was fresh as it glistened in the bright light, which also illuminated the strands of white fur in the liquid, including remnants of a white puffy tail.