//------------------------------// // Prologue: Lacrymosa // Story: Fight for Equestria // by Sakura //------------------------------// Equestria. A land long known for its peace and harmony. The ponies and other species who live there live under the protective rule of the princesses and Elements of Harmony, but no one knew it would all come to an end. Nerdz looked in the mirror as she pulled on her homemade wings. Despite being an born and earth pony, her greatest wish was to fly. Besides, her wings matched the tone of her pink and purple flea-bitten coat. Satisfied with her job of fixing her wings to her back, she left the mirror and proceeded to head into the kitchen for a bit of breakfast. Walking over to the cereal cupboard, Nerdz looked out the window at the stormy outside. All was as it should be….except for the rapidly approaching tidal wave. Figureen’s place on the shelf let her see perfectly outside the shop window, though nothing much interesting happened. It was only the occasional passerby, ponies stopping to talk to one another, and maybe a few ponies that come into the shop. That was about it on a regular day. The doll pony mentally sighed. Looked like another boring da- A loud crash broke Figureen from her thoughts. Jerking her head up, she looked around the saw the entrance to the shop broken down and the shopkeeper being dragged outside by some unseen creature. It was then that she heard the screams of ponies and the pounding of hoofbeats outside. Figureen suddenly felt a great sense of fear. She didn’t know what was going on, but she had to get out. But the doll pony had a few tricks up her sleeve. Getting out wouldn’t be easy, but it was worth a shot. Taking a mental breath, Figureen jumped off the shelf. Maryana walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle after a small morning visit with the princesses. It was nothing too special, just some small talk about politics, the rainy weather outside, and cake. She smiled, reflecting on the events of earlier that morning. It almost distracted her from the loud roar outside the window. Almost. Maryana instinctively looked out the hallway window. But instead of the dark grey sky of the storm outside, Maryana saw…water? Her stomach dropped down to her hooves. Canterlot Castle was no where near the mountain waterfall, so where was all this water coming from? Upon taking a closer look at the falling water, the silver alicorn noticed lots of black figures rushing down the waterfall - right into the city of Canterlot. Maryana quickly left the window and ran out into the castle gardens, heading for the city to protect her fellow ponies, not realizing she would be one of the last ponies to see the princesses alive. Mind Quill heard loud noises coming from outside that were distracting him from his research. It was probably those stupid foals again. Moving over to the door, he opened it and prepared to yell at them, but when he opened the door, water came rushing in around his hooves. Looking up from the now water covered floor, Mind Quill saw a black creature running towards him. The gray unicorn slammed the door and leaned against it, giggling softly. The creature started kicking the door, trying to break it down. Mind Quill know it would never succeed for a while, though. That gave him enough time to escape. He moved over to his desk where all his research note where. He pulled a match from this pocket, light it, and dropped it on the papers. They instantly ignited, consuming the desk in flames. Mind Quill headed away from the burning desk and towards the basement. There was a secret passage that only he knew about down there. Something to be used in a situation like this. Letting out a maniacal laugh as the curtains caught fire, Mind Quill shut the door to the basement, letting the flames consume what was left of his research. The rain would extinguish them if the water on the ground didn’t first. A blue and white blur sped across the rainy sky above Ponyville. Whitewolf Stormrunner headed for the Everfree Forest, knowing that she would be safe there. A few minutes ago, tidal waves had crashed down on all of Equestria, bringing with them unknown creatures. From what little glances Wolf had managed to get before she ran, they resembled dark grey horses, but some had tints of dark green or just full black coats. After the waves had settled, the streets of Ponyville had resembled canals that were from the ancient city of Venieghce. After a few minutes of quiet, Wolf had seen one of the creatures lunge out of the water and grab the nearest pony, dragging them back under the water. That’s when every pony else started running, splashing through the water trying to get away. The pegasus ponies tried to help by lifting up earth ponies, and unicorns levitated themselves of the ground. The unicorns that couldn’t manage that were helped by the pegasi. Everypony thought they were safe after that. After all, the creatures didn’t appear to have wings from the quick glance the ponies got at them. The mood started to lighten for a bit. They were safe in the air. Or so they thought. It didn’t take long for the strange equines to figure out how to reach the airborne ponies. One launched out of the water at incredible speed, catching a pegasus and the earth pony he was holding. They both fell back into the water, where other creatures where waiting for the unfortunate ponies. True panic broke out after that. The pegasi tried to fly higher, but it seemed they couldn’t escape from whatever these animals where. That was when Wolf started for the Everfree. Wolf almost didn’t see the approaching black shape underneath her. It was aiming for her exposed belly, but the oxford blue pegasus dodged. The creature, however, managed to grab hold of her right wing, and Wolf came tumbling out of the sky towards the water with the equine gripping her wing. As they plunged into the water, Wolf managed to escape the creature’s grasp, but at a cost. Her wing now had a large gash, along with several feathers missing. Quickly assessing the damage, Wolf realized that she couldn’t fly. She would have to run. She picked up her hooves and ran, but the creature had reached her first. It grabbed hold of the Talisman around her neck, and pulled the pegasus under the water. Wolf knew there was only one way to escape now. She managed to pull her knife out of the sheath on her left leg, and holding it in her mouth, prepared to cut the Talisman away. She hesitated at first, for the Talisman was special to her. Survival meant more, however. Closing her eyes, Whitewolf Stormrunner cut away her precious Talisman and escaped. Sea Breeze shot through the water. Ever since the mysterious black horses started attacking, all that was on her mind was escape. It was quite convenient to her that the horses brought water with them, since that was the aqua pegasus’s specialty. A few of the creatures had tried to attack her, but she had succeeded in fighting them off for now. That was her strategy right now. To fight water with water. Sea Breeze just needed to get beyond the border of Equestria. That was the only safe spot on her mind. Not that it would be easy. There was still a lot of ground to cover. Taking a deep breath, the pegasus leaped into the air. Night Rain silently thanked the weather ponies it was heavily raining. Had it been sunny, she wouldn’t have been able to escape in the broad daylight. Being a vampire had its disadvantages. Of course, being a vampire had its advantages as well. Better endurance, better fighting skills, and an epic full vampire form. It looked like those fighting skills would come in handy now. Night looked down from her place in the sky and saw one of the black creatures forcing an unlucky pony under the water covered streets of Ponyville. Night couldn’t leave the pony to his fate, so she changed her angle of flight to a hard dive, straight at the black equine. All Night could see for a few seconds was the flurry of the creature’s grey mane and the seaweed that was woven in as she came down hard on the creature’s broad back. Night felt the creature’s back buckle under the force of her dive. The stallion the that was being held under the water by the equine came up to the surface, gasped in some much needed air, and scampered off. Night watched the stallion flee, then looked down. She wouldn’t be surprised if she had broken the creature’s back, because it couldn’t seen to move anything below her impact point. Satisfied with her job, she took off back into the stormy sky. Bartholomew Steelclaw dug through the earth’s hard stones. He managed to dig a tunnel without having to worry about water rushing through it and catching up to him. Most Diamond Dogs weren’t very good swimmers, after all. After a while, he had lost track of how far he had dug. But Bart knew he couldn’t stop now. The brown and white Diamond Dog had seen what horrors the waters had brought. He just hoped the rest of his clan was far enough away to be safe. Bart didn’t know how much farther he had to go, but he knew he had a long way to go in order to escape the terror. Hell Fire knew he couldn’t win against these creatures. Water would always beat fire, which was his specialty. The coal-black unicorn sat in his house, formulating a plan. Sooner or later, the creatures would burst into his house. When they did, Hell Fire would persuade them to take him to their ruler. With luck, they would oblige, and if they did, he had something bigger planned. Digit Forge dug his claws into the cliffside. The slick rock made it difficult to climb, but the tan yellow dracony unicorn had help from his utility belt, and his goggles protected his eyes from the pouring rain. Eve had been out exploring when the water came rushing down from the direction of the forest mountains. He had jumped onto the cliffside in order to avoid being swept away by the water. Forge finally reached the top of the cliff. There was no water covering the ground up here, so he had an easier trek ahead of him, but he wasn’t sure where to go. Ponyville was slightly south of his location, and if the flood had reached them, the town was sure to be flooded. He decided to go there to help the ponies in trouble. Just as Digit Forge started on the path to Ponyville, a black shape lunged towards him and bit him on the shoulder. Eve let out a sharp neigh, but he knew his scale-like fur would protect him from major harm as he scrambled to get free. Eventually the creature let go of him and he turned to face what he was up against. It was a black equine slightly larger than the average pony. If Forge had to guess, it was about the height of Princess Luna, if not a bit taller. Its long grey mane had strands of seaweed braided in, as did the feathers just above its hooves. Dark green eyes stared menacingly at him, and Eve Corona stared right back. He knew he could beat this thing, whatever the hell it was. The dracony had a few tricks up his sleeve. Blaze took a deep breath, readied himself, and charged. Chaz encased his fist in ice and punch the attacking animal right in the center of the chest. The icicle spears that had formed on his paw dug into the creature’s flesh, drawing blood. The equine backed away, startled and in pain. Chaz saw this as an opportunity to escape to higher ground, wherever some may be. There was none in sight, but the brown wolf had to get out fast. We was getting weaker from how much strength he was using, mainly to fight off the attacks that came his way. His ice power was running out of strength. Using what was left of his power, he hit the creature hard in the head with his ice fist. The animal fell to the ground unconscious. Chaz almost collapsed out of pure exhaustion, but he fought to stay conscious. He needed to leave. Turning away from the body of the dark equine, Chaz ran. Melody soared through the pouring rain and booming thunder. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but the lavender pegasus and everyone she had been with earlier knew that anywhere was better than outside. They had split up and each gone in their own direction, herself heading toward the location of her house. She landed on the ground to catch her breath, but then realized that she wasn’t safe on the ground anyway. She had seen multiple ponies get dragged down under water by black figures that she couldn’t get a clear glimpse of. Taking a final breath, Melody leapt back up into the air, not noticing the doll that clung desperately to her tail. Fang kicked one of the black animals in the ribs, hearing the sharp crack of breaking bones. The white earth pony stood on his hind legs, ready to strike again. He was skilled at martial arts, training for years. The creature stood up again, but it struggled to breathe. It’s sides heaved with pain, and its breathing was raspy. Fang knew he had injured it badly, but it was still putting up a fight. Deciding to finish his fight up quickly, he charged and kicked the equine in the head, knocking it unconscious. He stayed for a second to make sure it was still, then turned and left the scene. Sponduli Moolalli turned down an empty ally way the back roads of Canterlot. The chestnut earth pony risked stopping to catch his breath. Being a bit overweight and trying to distance run didn’t go well together. Not that he cared at this moment, however. The ally way was still flooded, though not as much as the main streets. Looking out from his hiding place, Sponduli turned to make another run for it. Seeing that the coast was mainly clear except for a few running ponies, he left the safety of the ally and ran onto the main street. All was going well until Sponduli heard the loudest bang had ever heard in his life. He looked up to the sky, along with every pony around him. What they saw was Princess Celestia surrounded by a ring of magic. The Canterlot ponies where to distracted looking at the Princess of the Sun to see Princess Luna descend to where they were. She looked tired and strained. Sponduli looked around at they other ponies, who all had curious expressions on their faces. what was going on? Finally, after regaining her composure, Princess Luna spoke. “Ponies!” Luna gasped, breathing heavily. “Equestria is being invaded! We do not know who these enemies are, but they will stop at nothing to overtake us. Our sister and I have not yet seen all that these creatures are capable of, but We know that they have great power over water, and I fear that they are winning!” Every pony gasped as another loud bang was heard from the direction of the sky. Sponduli, glanced back up, but saw nothing to the stormy clouds. He turned back to the Princess of the Moon. Luna continued her announcement, now standing at her full height. “I know you all must be scared, but please be brave, my little ponies! You must escape from here, and get beyond the borders and Equestria! I trust you will make the right choices. I will not keep you waiting here! Our sister and I hope to see you all safe when this is over. Farewell!” Sponduli watched the Princess of the Night fly back in the direction of her sister. He stood in the middle of the street, trying to absorb all of the information Luna had announced. Survival was important. The business pony quickly decided what he was going to do. He was going to escape Equestria. Reneighah finished collecting the herbs she needed from the Everfree Forest. The zebra put the plants in her saddlebag and prepared to go back to her home. She found her way back to the wide trail that led back to town and started the walk back. She was ready to get home, for Reneighah was wet and somewhat annoyed that the weather ponies had chosen today for a rain shower. It took the zebra a few minutes to notice that the path was wetter than usual. Sure, it was raining rather hard on the dirt path, but usually the ground wasn’t so…puddley. Reneighah brushed the thought to the back of her mind, but it stuck with her while she continued her journey back to town. She tried to convince herself that it was just a little extra water from the storm, but the blue-eyed zebra still had an antsy feeling in her stomach which only grew stronger when she saw a pony running towards her on the path. Upon closer inspection, Reneighah saw that it was an oxford blue pegasus mare with a white mane and tail. She was extremely muddy, and her right wing hung loosely by her side. The mysterious pony slowed her pace when she saw Reneighah, and eventually came to a halt in front of her, pausing to catch her breath. That was when Reneighah noticed why the pegasus’s wing looked off. There was a large wound at the base, and a couple of feathers missing. The zebra started to speak, but the other pony spoke first. “You shouldn’t go there.” She said, still trying to catch her breath. “There’s something going on. I don’t know what it is, but I think it’s an invasion.” Reneighah wasn’t sure of how to react to this. Should she believe this pony she didn’t even know? She said the first thing that came to her mind - “Are you sure? Can I trust you?” The pegasus nodded, now looking eye-to-eye with the zebra. “It’s total chaos. Please…if you want to survive…..come with me. I’m going to the Crystal Mountains. I’ll explain everything on the way.” She held out her hoof. Looking into the pegasus’s midnight blue eyes, Reneighah could tell she wasn’t lying. The zebra hold out her hoof, hesitantly at first, but slowly moved her hoof to meet the pegasus’s. “Then let’s go.” Reneighah said, and she and the pegasus turned back the way the blue-eyed zebra had come, and started to run. “By the way, I’m Reneighah. What’s your name?” She said, looking over at the other mare. The blue pegasus looked at her with a half smile. “Wolf. Whitewolf Stormrunner.” Berripad heard the crash of something breaking behind him. Probably another flowerpot that some pony was stupid enough to leave outside. Not that he cared. The way things were going, flowerpots were the last of his worries. Not that Berripad cared about anything else right now. All that was on his mind was not getting drowned by whatever those things were. The cream earth pony had been quite lucky so far, as he hadn't run into one yet. He’d caught glimpses of other ponies being held underwater by the black equines. Another crash, but Berripad didn’t bother looking back. It didn’t matter what he broke in his escape run. All that mattered was him getting out in one piece. He turned, leaving Ponyville and out onto the open space. The water level was lower here, but not by much. A plan formed in Berripad’s brain. He decided to get to a place where the water level was normal. In other words, the Everfree Forest. He turned and stopped to gather his wits, took a deep breath, and for his life. Zodiac Cosmos turned and looked at the land he once called home. The blue alicorn stood atop a cliff, looking over Canterlot. He’d been watching Celestia and Luna battle the invaders, but they seemed to be fighting a losing battle. They’d disappeared somewhere out of Zodiac’s sight, and he hadn’t seen them since. He knew he should move and leave for a safer place, but he wanted to make sure the Princesses were okay. Minutes passed. Thunder boomed above Zodiac’s head, but he didn’t flinch. Suddenly, a column of yellow light pierced the dark sky. Zodiac breathed a small sign of relief. The Princesses seemed okay for now. Turning away from Canterlot, he faced the mountainous range of the city. Spreading his wings, he took off into the night sky, away from the broken land. Sirocco flew. She flew even though her energy was running out. The rain had since turned to snow as she crossed the border into the icy land of the Crystal Empire. Heading towards the Crystal Mountains had become much harder in the blizzard. Sirocco knew she couldn’t take a rest, for if she did, she might never wake up again, and perish in the cold snow. The black pegasus knew that would defeat the point of escaping. Finding some newfound strength, she pushed her way through the snow onward to the mountains. She’d come back one day. The day where she would fight for Equestria.