The Storm on Ponyville

by DatZigga

Chapter 6: Rocking the Boat

The second lieutenant stood at the bow of the S.S. Monsoon. It was an old ship, with it’s best years being in some of the earliest conquests led by the Storm King. It’s had parts repaired and replaced throughout its life, so much that there’s no telling if it’s the same ship it was then. The lieutenant felt sympathy for the vessel, knowing what it was like to have parts of you removed and replaced for the sake of staying alive. The lieutenant stroked his long beard with his free hand, the other holding his mask.

The old, wisened creature remembered a time before the Storm King. His people lived in the mountains, amongst its highest points. Their strength and tenacity on the battlefield were all a result of their harsh environment. Despite this, they were once peaceful, yet proud people. In a time before the Storm King.

The lieutenant put his mask back on. Those times were over, as was the time for reminiscing. He oversaw his platoon, surrounding the castle of crystals. It was a peculiar structure in this homely and rustic town, but it didn’t matter. Soon, it would be indistinguishable from all the rubble they would leave. After they looted it, of course.

The lieutenant turned and walked the top deck of the ship, the sounds of lightning no longer registering as noise. He entered a small room, which was placed under the wheel steering the ship. In this room, leaders from the three squads under his command sat. They had been talking amongst each other, before stiffening and saluting their superior.

“At ease.” The lieutenant took his seat at the head of the table. He picked up the first napkin and dried his hands of rain water. “Now, start at the very beginning.”

“It all started simple enough.” The first leader spoke, his voice sophisticated. This betrayed his larger and bulkier physique in comparison. “We each sent our teams to sweep the town, fill our sacks, and capture the equines. We took all the precautions, making sure the cages' anti-magic fields were properly turned on this time.” He casted a wayward glance at the second squad leader, who whistled an innocuous tune.

“All had gone well in the town,” The third leader had a raspy voice, similar to that of a chain smoker. His physique was rather slim and unimposing. “However, two of my units had gone to investigate a house on its very fringes. That’s when they found...him.” He spoke the word slowly, contempt seeping into the word.

“Yes, the Windbreaker, as the troops are calling him.” The lieutenant crumpled the napkin in his fist. “What do we know about him?”

“Well, he’s bigger than most we’ve faced.” The second squad leader piped up. Humorously, the creature wore a pair of glasses over his mask and had a rather nasally voice. “About as tall as a Minotaur, but not nearly as muscular nor physically imposing. He’s quite fast and sneaky. Rather than overwhelming his opponents as we do, he uses underhanded tactics to gain an advantage.”

The lieutenant considered all of this. This mission was meant to be painfully easy. The land of Equestria had a habit of being under constant duress from ancient evils to ambitious troublemakers. Despite this, the ponies relied on a small team of ponies to save them throughout their history. Their army, at best, we’re a hurdle, to leap over. They were nothing more than a scarecrow meant to scare off would be attackers. But, last the lieutenant heard, General Tempest had captured the leader of the “Elements of Harmony”. Thus, nothing should have impeded them.

“Are we sure that the Windbreaker is within the castle right now?”

“That is an affirmative.” Said the first leader. “One of my men had a visual on the creature. “Though, the troops are hesitant to enter the castle. They believe he may have booby-trapped the structure.” The lieutenant nods.

“I would not put it past him. Thus, we will sustain cannon fire until either they come out or the castle falls.” Just then, a young private bursts through the doors of the Captain’s quarters.

“The Windbreaker has exited the castle!” He hurriedly shouted, out of breath. All the leaders stood in unison and followed the private to the ship’s bow. Looking over the edge, they did in fact see the Windbreaker stand in front of the castle doors.

The Windbreaker was clad in metal armor that seemed to not fit as properly as they should, leaving parts of his skin exposed. What was more curious was what was in his arms. Two pairs of six cylinder barrels were taped together and a handle welded to the top for the Windbreaker to grab onto. Following the length of the two tools, a piece of string trailed underneath the door he was standing in front of. For the time being, the creature did not move, only standing there.

“It appears to just be standing there. Menacingly.” The nasally leader commented, pushing up his glasses. The lieutenant watched the Windbreaker with eager eyes, wondering what else the creature had up its sleeve. He saw as the creature’s head turned up to look at him.

“This should be interesting.” The lieutenant smiled.

---

Anon was scared shitless. This was all so much cooler in his head. He had asked for a suit of armor to defend himself from the lightning strikes that would assuredly fly his way. He had forgotten that medieval pony armor would be pony sized and pony proportioned. There had to be a few adjustments made to get as much of him covered as possible, but there were definitely some openings. Luckily, his midsection, the largest and most likely part of his body to be hit, was covered. Silver linings.

As for the twelve barrels of Roman candles, it was the only bit of comfort he had. Despite the pouring rain, he had little doubt that these magical fireworks would fizzle out so lamely. Trixie guaranteed it. Although, this was Trixie he was talking about and she is very much full of it. Still, he was their first and arguably only line of defense, so for their sake’s, they best not steer him wrong.

Anon took a long inhale and held it. He reminded himself why he was doing this. He placed himself back into the Everfree, where he was scared, alone, and unprepared. He then imagined, one by one, all the ponies and the dragon he had met since then. He knew very little about them and that was his fault. He knew this. However, maybe, just maybe, he would get to know them. Maybe, just maybe, he could accept the hoof of friendship. But that day will never come if Ponyville falls. Anon let out a long exhale and opened his eyes.

“Light ‘em up, Starlight!” Anon yelled out, readying his arms. From behind the door, Starlight lit the fuse.

“Please let this work…” She silently pleaded, as the fused disappeared under the door. The fuse followed along the wire, reaching the barrels of the two artificial cannons.

3...2...1…

It was beautiful.

It all came flooding out the chambers at once. Aimed at the line of soldiers at the castle steps, their defenses were whittled away by the multicolored, flaming rockets. The Storm creatures panicked, attempting to fire back on the human. However, the rockets glare blinded them, leading their shots to stray. What bolts did connect, hit Anonymous’ armor. Judging by the fact that his blood was not boiling in his skin, he took it that the suit was working. He took slow measured steps, making sure not to trip. He pivoted his arms to cover the whole of the troops in flaming justice.

It dawned on Anonymous that his plan was working. The Storm creatures ran screaming and crying, some attempting to put out the fires that had caught on their fur in poodles of rain. It was a bloodless massacre, with creatures running left and right. Anon couldn’t help but laugh like a madman.

“AHAHAHA!” Anon roared into the air, stomping his way down the steps. “I AM BULLETPROOOOF!” With that utterance, the windows to the castle opened and more Roman candles were launched out of the windows. These, however, were aimed at the flying airship. If one were to look at Ponyville from a distance, one would assume a massive party was being held.

While the airship couldn’t catch fire due to the rain, the sheer force and initial blast was enough to damage the hull and scorch the sails. The soldiers on the ship scrambled to fix the damages, but it was all too much to handle for a skeleton crew. The lieutenant took the wheel of the vessel and guided the vessel away from the castle.

Anon, after successfully running off the Storm creatures, Anon focused fire on the ship. This sped up the damage to the hull, eventually creating holes. Anon shot into these holes, leaving the airship to burn from the inside out.

Meanwhile, the Storm creatures in Ponyville retreated to the outskirts to lick their wounds. When they looked up however, they saw an airship slowly falling towards them. Once more, they panicked and ran in every which way, hoping to avoid the crash landing. The ship’s underbelly hit the ground first and slowly the entire vessel started falling apart, board by board. The ship finally stopped by the edge of the Everfree Forest, permanently grounded.

Anon’s makeshift cannons finally ran out of ammunition. Anon dropped the cannons in the muddy soil, saying his heartfelt goodbyes. He reached behind himself, grabbing his ole faithful bat. From behind him, the ponies ran out en masse, stampeding to the grounded Storm ship. They all came armed with more fireworks and charged screaming. Anon himself told them to do so, to come across as threatening as possible.

The goal was never to fight, as the ponies would never win. But, as current events have proven, scaring the Storm creatures with explosions and taking down their ship will send a message, Ponyville will not go quietly into the Storm.

Anon walked with the bay on his shoulder as ponies ran past him, firing off more fireworks into the sky. The sight was something surreal. Little fires burned in the spaces where the rain couldn’t quite reach, giving the town an eerie orange glow. He came to wonder if this would be good for Ponyville in the long run, teaching them such a destructive use of gunpowder. The ponies themselves were also quite scary when they wanted to be, running in little packs and crying their war cries. Interrupting his thoughts was a rogue fully landing on his back.

“That was awesome!” Scootaloo yelled into his ear, causing Anon to recoil. The other fillies joined up by his legs, trotting alongside him.

“That had to be the most fireworks I’ve ever see at one time.” Sweetie Belle commented.

“Ah can’t wait to tell my sister that I repelled an invasion!” Apple Bloom cheered.

“This battle isn’t over yet.” Anon finally replied, picking Scootaloo off his back. He set her down with the other fillies. “We scared them, sure. But we need to cut off the head of the snake before it truly dies.”

“Why are we cutting off a snake’s head?” Asked Sweetie Belle. “That seems very rude and dangerous.” Anon facepalmed.

“Y’all are so lucky to be adorable little horses.” Anon muttered to himself. “Just stay here. I’m going to finish this once and for all.” Anon turned back to the crashed ship and began running towards it. He could hear the ponies calling out to him but he ignored them. He made it this far, he’ll be damned before he sees it through himself.

Guess that’s my pride talking. Anon thought to himself. Well, if I’m going to be a hero, I’m taking it all the way!

Comments

[Clawfoot]

Heavy is proud.

[lazyreader19]

Fuck. Yes!

Man those are some bombass fireworks!

Winkbreaker? More like Skyshatterer

(also fuck, just got the windbreaker joke, if it was meant to be one)

[Pete100]

Why is he called windbreaker?

[DatZigga]

10331306
He’s fighting against the Storm King’s army. Storms are know to have powerful winds, yet he defies them. He breaks wind. Just now realizing that’s also a fart joke, so it’s extra fitting.

[DerpTape]

“It appears to just be standing there. Menacingly.”

Once more, they panicked and ran in every which way, hoping to avoid the crash landing. The ship’s underbelly hit the ground first and slowly the entire vessel started falling apart, board by board. The ship finally stopped by the edge of the Everfree Forest, permanently grounded.