Prologue: To Serve and Protect
"Come on, come on! We have to get everypony outta here!" Applejack shouted through her hazard suit. A group of sky carriages on a nearby hill waited as the remainder of the population of Ponyville quickly shuffled on-board, clad in the yellow suits themselves.
"But... Applejack!" Apple Bloom trotted up beside her, her voice muffled through the suit's air scrubbers. "You're... what about you?"
Applejack smiled weakly at her sister, and looked towards the hole in her suit, on her left leg. "It's fine, sugarcube..." she said, coughing. "I'll be fine. You just keep an eye out for yourself, and keep your friends safe... okay?"
"But... you can't stay here! You just can't!" Apple Bloom's voice was filled with worry. Princess Celestia had mandated that all ponies that had come into exposed contact were unable to return to Canterlot, and Applejack's luck had run out when the mutated timberwolves charged into town and started attacking ponies.
"It's alright, Apple Bloom..." She hugged her sister for the last time. "It's alright. This was... we couldn't expect to see all of this coming now. Just go now, okay? Tell Big Mac and Granny Smith that I love 'em."
Turning around, she met the eyes of Rainbow Dash, her angry expression visible through her visor. "I... I can't bucking believe all of this! I... Applejack, just... I don't want to leave you down here by yourself!"
"I'm sorry, Dash..." Applejack said. "But that's how it has to be. I can't risk hurtin' any other ponies with this." She coughed again, this time a more serious fit of heaving. "I... I can feel it taking me already..."
"No! No bucking way, there's no way that I'm leaving you down here, just let me talk to the Princess, I'm sure I can convince her to—" Applejack put a hoof to her chest. It was truly futile... there was no known cure to fighting against the strange green crystal, and what little progress they had made towards it was ineffective. And by then, it was already too late.
"Dash... just go. Please."
"I... I..." Dash began to cry, hugging Applejack. "I'm sorry, AJ... I'm so sorry..."
"Don't be, Dash. You still got the rest of our friends, right? I'm sure things will be okay... just... okay..." Applejack said, quietly sobbing to herself. "Goodbye, Dash."
"Good... bye... AJ..." Dash said.
"Come on, hurry it up!" one of the guards shouted at Dash. "We can't stick around here too long, or our wings get iced!"
"I know, I know...!" Dash trotted away, giving Applejack a final sad gaze before leaving in the sky with the rest of the ponies.
And in that barren field of dead apple trees, Applejack felt very tired. She felt her hooves give way as she fell to the ground, and closed her eyes. So long as her friends, family, and everypony else was safe... that was all that mattered.
Twilight Sparkle sat in the study of the Canterlot Royal Library, fervently digging through dozens of texts to find any sort of mention about the crystal, its origins, or most importantly: the cure. The spread of the crystal had taken its toll on the ponies of Equestria, and what hope they now had was barely a sliver, a small dying light in an encroaching darkness, darker than anything Nightmare Moon or Discord could have ever hoped to achieve.
She flipped through another page of yet another nondescript book: her enthusiasm for reading had long since worn off, and she was only interested in finding answers where she had once perused a book’s content delightfully taking in everything it had to offer. It had been like this for the longest time now, ever since she and her friends had been called to action by Princess Celestia at the beginning of it all.
The strange meteorites had fallen from the sky just over a couple of years ago, and impacted around various regions. The one closest to Equestria had fallen straight on the outskirts of their territory, nearly the borders to griffon lands, and was right outside of Stalliongrad. Immediately, ponies of all kinds had rushed to see what sort of cosmic wonder had landed in their home. Guards rushed to cordon off the area, and the Princess had been contacted as quickly as possible.
All seemed normal in the beginning save for one thing: the strange rock had grown a green-like hue within moments, and was spreading its hue to the ground around it. A magical barrier was immediately created to contain the spread, and unicorns hailing from Equestria’s most talented institutions were granted leave to create a research facility under the approval of the Princess, dedicated to studying this wondrous new rock. Ponykind believed it to be a great and amazing discovery, one that they would be proud to unlock the secrets of.
They were wrong.
Within the rock’s protective magical barrier, the crystal itself had reached critical growth, nearly bursting at the seams of the barrier, growing steadily every time they checked on it. Removing samples small enough to manage became too dangerous to handle, and with enough testing, the researchers learned that they could reverse the growth of the strange rock, and immediately put it to use roughly around six months into their research.
That was the beginning of the end, or at least that’s what Twilight had assumed. She just considered it lucky, as conceited as it sounded, to not have been there when things went wrong. At first, the spells had worked: the crystals were reduced down to the original sample size from when it had first arrived on the world, and staff was present around the clock to keep it from spreading too much. The spell did degrade in containment from time to time, but the only thing that was required was a simple minute increase or decrease in magic to hold the crystal back.
Then one day, without any signs or clues, the crystal suddenly exploded in growth, shining with a strange new energy that none of the researchers had never seen before. The staff on hand immediately threw their spells forward only to find that it no longer contained the growth of the crystal, but accelerated it. Immediately within, the first casualties against this strange new enemy were tallied off on a report that Twilight would read in the future.
From there, it quickly engulfed the entire building and spread outside. Much like their compatriots within, those outside had no idea what the application of magic would do to the crystal, and quickly found themselves falling ill to the uncontained effects, falling where they stood as they, too, fell victim to the growing tide. Eventually, containment was all but abandoned, and everypony, or at least those who still lived, retreated as quickly as they could to return the news to Princess Celestia.
A small portion of the fleeing group redirected to Stalliongrad in an effort to evacuate, but the efforts were too slow, and too unorganized. Ponies screamed in terror, rushing in droves in an attempt to escape out of the city, only for the gates to clog as they tried to hold on to their possessions. Earth ponies naturally took the brunt of the deaths, as unicorns and pegasi managed to use their own specialized talents to escape from the city. What brave souls there were remained to ferry as many ponies as they could out of the city, until they realized that it was too late for them to escape.
With that, the first population center, one of Equestria’s proudest centers for military tradition, fell. Not with a bang, but with a whimper, one accentuated with the screams of terror of thousands of innocent ponies that freezing night. The returning force immediately broke through the guard and went straight to the Princess, retelling of everything that had happened. Noticing the growth on several of the members, Celestia ordered them to be quarantined until further notice. They died within several days as the crystal’s spread on their bodies went unhindered, and regretful letters of passing had to be mailed to the families of those who died.
Celestia declared an immediate state of emergency, and those cities that were nearest to Stalliongrad were to begin evacuations immediately, no excuses. Every pony and their families were to have everything prepared and ready to move within two days, and the Equestrian Royal Guard was to facilitate the whole event.
It turned out that two days was putting it generously.
Within a single day, the crystal had spread to the outskirts of the nearest towns and cities, Trottingham being one of note. Luckily, those living in rural territories were among the first to be evacuated, as strange mutations in local plant life were observed by those keen enough to watch. In the distance, endless green and now strangely enough, blue, seas of shining crystal acted as a reaper, slowly growing, completely unstoppable, as guard attempts to shield off areas went completely ignored as the crystal could now pass through them with no signs of deterrence.
Panic quickly began to settle in, but under the officious gaze of Equestria’s finest, order was maintained and all ponies were evacuated in a timely manner. But it wasn’t enough. The long trek to the refugees camps deeper in the heartland took a toll on morale. The crystal was at their tails and there was nothing they could do except keep moving from camp to camp, their groups growing steadily larger until it took days to set up a camp, only for them to tear it down the day immediately after to relocate.
Thankfully, though, as most speculations had assumed, the crystal began to slow down. Gone was its original rate of spread, of course, but the magic it had once been infused with at the beginning had been depleted, unable to replenish itself without an outside source. With this, the relief groups heaved a sigh of relief and turned to aiding the displaced as best as they could.
However, they were still hampered by a multitude of things: the climate of the land grew worse, as did the conditions for suitable life. Any attempt to grow crops on soil taken back from crystal growth was barren and dead, unable to support life. And then there were the problems of space: with every relocation, camps grew and moved closer to Canterlot. Eventually, they would deplete their options for running, and have to settle with living with whatever land they were on; unacceptable, given how the crystal’s growth seemed to have been appearing everywhere within recent times, and as shockingly far as the coastal eastern cities, far from where the original landing was.
The Princesses then, after much consideration, put the sun and moon into autonomous states, freeing them to focus on the problems that plagued their own world. Luna herself immediately took charge of leading the relief efforts on the front, paying visits to the camps and giving much needed morale to the weary subjects, which wasn’t enough. Unnatural storm clouds formed in the distance, crackling with green lightning. Food stocks were heavily rationed as discontent mounted with every new decree promising some sort of relief in time.
Then, after a year of continued hardships, came the worst of the crisis: the loss of Cloudsdale. Pegasi weather teams had done an admirable job of holding back the strange new influx of unstable clouds into the regions surrounding Canterlot, but the change to their own home came almost overnight. A great and dangerous storm brewed and collided with their home, turning the once docile clouds of the city itself into super-charged ones spewing rain and lightning in every direction. Most of the city’s population had been caught unawares, stuck in the turbulent winds and minefield of bolts, and what few survivors had made it out recalled a grim tale to the Princesses. Rainbow Dash and many other pegasi and ponies mourned for over a week over the loss of one of Equestria’s greatest cities, where many once called home.
Following that, two months later, during a disorganized relocation effort for Hoofington’s refugees, Princess Luna nearly gave herself up to ensure the escape of the ponies. The crystal treaded too close for comfort, and several ponies began showing signs of contamination. Luna created an immense and powerful barrier that held back the growth for a time, but it faded as the fields began to enclose around half of the shield, like millions of tiny daggers stabbing at the determination of Luna’s magical fortitude. Throughout this whole spectacle, however, ponies flooded out of the camp, but not fast enough. When Luna’s barrier broke, the nearby guards, under orders to maintain directing the flow of refugees, broke ranks and immediately rushed to save the last of the fleeing and Luna herself.
Luna’s body, half of it now dangerously covered in contagious crystal, was forced into hibernation and quarantined somewhere deep within the royal castle. Celestia was forced to face the threat alone. Though she had called upon the aid of the Elements of Harmony since the beginning of the crisis, their skills and talents seemed completely unsuitable to directly deal with the problem at hand: after all, one couldn’t use the power of friendship to stop an ever-spreading ocean of green rocks, after all. So they were sent to where they could help the most. All save Twilight were immediately redirected to aiding the refugee camps, while Celestia had tasked her with finding a solution—any solution—within the archives.
Then a plethora of misfortune happened: the crystal’s exponential spread, tons of territory was lost, deadly storms covered the skies, and death counts were... bad. Canterlot seemed to have been spared the worst of the ordeal given its location far above ground level and not being situated on a cloud foundation.
And within the Canterlot mountain’s depths, a great sanctuary was forged to contain the survivors still unsullied by the crystal. Those afflicted were kept outside in the city proper’s refugee camps, while others headed off into the wasteland, never to be heard from again.
So there Twilight sat, now closing in on two years, with nothing to show for her efforts. She had gone for so long without sleep now, and there were ponies out there that needed her, who depended on her for finding a cure in all this madness—
Rainbow Dash slammed the door open as she empty-mindedly walked over to a floor cushion and fell on it, making no attempt to start conversation.
"I... Dash, what's wrong?" Twilight asked. "Weren't you supposed to be with—"
"She's gone, Twi. Applejack's gone."
Twilight remained silent for several minutes. "But that's impossible! We sent her down with a suit along with the rest of the guards! How could she be taken out there? You two were just supposed to help move the ponies to the Canterlot refugee camp!"
"The timberwolves came out of the forest, and they... they looked so... so different, and they had the crystal all over them. And then they started attacking ponies left and right. The guards and us both jumped in to fight them back, but when things were over, she was... there was a hole in her suit, and a cut on her leg. And we could see that the crystal was already forming on her skin..."
"Oh, I knew we should have put armaments on the carriage!" Twilight angrily said. "There was every indication that the local wildlife might have turned more aggressive since the crystal fell, and now Applejack's... she's... gone..." she said, feeling tears slide down her face. Looking at Dash, she saw tears flowing down her face as well. "And... what about Rarity? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie?"
"They're fine..." Dash sniffed. "Or... oh, Celestia, I really hope they are... I don't know where they are, they left to help other groups a while ago..."
They said there in silence, sourly enjoying the time they had to laze about, until they heard crying coming from outside.
"No, no! You can't die on us, you just can't!" Twilight and Dash rushed outside to the courtyard to see Pinkie Pie being carried through on a stretcher, her hazard suit bearing tear marks much like Applejack's. Fluttershy sobbed as she followed from a distance, unable to move closer due to contamination. "No... this isn't happening... this isn't happening..."
"What happened, 'Shy?" Dash asked, putting a wing to comfort her friend.
"She was.. there were... and I was... it was horrible, Dash! There are... those things out there, they... they used to be my friends!" Fluttershy sobbed.
Dash said nothing, but merely pulled Fluttershy into a hug as they both quietly cried. The shuffling of metal earned their attention to see Princess Celestia and a number of guards approaching them.
"Have you found anything of use, my faithful student?" Celestia voice was still the same as always, full of authority and understanding, but wracked with stress and fatigue. "Please... please tell me you've found something."
"I... I'm so sorry, Princess, but I haven't... as far as I can see, there's nothing that can work against it... nothing at all..." Twilight said sadly, as Rarity returned via sky-carriage with a number of more refugees, only to see the scene before her and finding herself caught up in the sadness.
"I... see," Celestia said. "Then we will have to redouble our efforts to try and save as many ponies as we can. Continue your search. The rest of you can find some rest now. You all deserve it."
"Of course, Princess," Twilight said. "I'll try my best."
"I know you will, Twilight. I know you will," Celestia said.
I know you're trying your hardest, my faithful student... but we're running out of time.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but 7 months seems a little fast for the spread of early stage Tiberium. Maybe I'm missing something but I thought the various wars took place over the course of 100 years.
Great start my friend. I gotta say though Iv was planning on writing a Tiberium crossover fic for some time and was even going to use the same name. I never had time to start writing it and it looks like you beat me to the punch.
1208319
correct me if i'm wrong but tiberium from Tib Dawn spreads quite quickly
I'm reading this through a second time and I just noticed a few things.
Should probably be town.
Whoa...talk about a downer opening.
Tracked and liked, good sir/madam.
Not Pinkie Pie!
This looks very interesting, thumbs up!
Even early Tiberium grows fast, spreads quickly, and is dangerous, even WITH being harvested. In this case, they restricted it, but did not harvest it, and the only thing they COULD use to halt the spread, it's out evolved and used for a period of EXPLOSIVE growth. Now it's back to being simple, plain, horrifically dangerous Tiberium. And still immune to the only thing they have that can halt it/slow it down. If Celestia got really desperate and burned everything between the refugee camps and the Crystal, it MIGHT buy some time, but...
Yay, first C&C crossover I've seen so far!
Also, tiberium spread was said to have been boosted by the magic used to restrict it. Since there is magic in this story, I think we can say that we can't base its growth on anything we've seen before.
I bet there will be an epic war when the Scrin get around to harvesting.
More is both uncessary and incorrect in a situation like this. *darker
*were
*proudest
*directly deal
Society of Syntax Socialists,
-Onyx
1459924
Other C&C fics (though not Tiberium) include C&C: Equestria, Human Alliance and New Lunar Republic
I am taking general interest in Tiberium as an element, it always made me wonder. How can a crystal that disrupts carbon-based molecular structures not destroy, but infect and mutate non-sentinent wildlife? Also, the crystals are valuable and desolates areas because they leech metals and other minerals and stores it inside of the crystals so that it can be harvested. Tiberium is sensitive to sonic waves and that is why the refineries and ZOCOM uses sonical equpment. And the growth speed is affected by the enviroment. It is truly a marveluos element...
One last thing, will i get to see one of these?
images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100626110226/cnc/images/3/3f/MARV_CC3_Game1.jpg
2117146
If you read further on, there are plans to build a MARV facility. The hard part will be *Spoiler* fighting off the Scrin long enough to pull it off. *End Spoiler.*
The Princesses then, after much consideration, put the sun and moon into autonomous states, freeing them to focus
WTF why not have it all the time like that
p.s. love it
2534456
I enjoy this story, but I find it odd that AJ didn't come back because of a regulation stating the infected couldn't return but Pinkie was brought back anyway.
Mixed feelings on this. The writing feels a bit sketchy, with head scratching momets at the lack of detail, but nicely plotted. But you see the lack of detail just ruins it. You're not showing me what happens, you're just telling it. I had no idea the Ponyvil evacuation was in sweat apple acres until the end, and don't reca. I don't know what AJ's hasard suit looks like. I only have my own conjecture on what the Tiberium tainted orchard and the library and the canterlot courtyard looks like. What's going on around them, is Celestia and her guard wearing hazmat suits? It's all based off of my own familiarity, which is bad in a story. You, the author, have a vision, and it is your job to make us see what you saw, not let us see what we want. So in escence, describe the scenes in much more detail, and you'll have a story a person can't tear their eyes away from.
I'll go through this and find problems that you might want to fix... If you want.
Here are my thoughts on the prologue:
-....falling ill from the uncontained ill (repetition 'ill') effects, falling (repetition 'falling') where they stood as they, too, fell victim to the growing tide. (unneeded commas?)
-...until it took days more just to set up a camp than to remove it. (than? Consider revising. Maybe more like 'until it took days just to set up a camp then yet more to remove it.')
-"Of course, Princess," Twilight said. "I'll try my best."
"I know you are, Twilight. I know you are," Celestia said. (I know you ARE, or I know you WILL? It's a little weird what with Twilight's future tense and 'Tia's present tense.)
2759233 I'm always willing to fix mistakes. I'm better off as an author for it, and the later readers will be able to enjoy a more error-free story.
That said, the first and the third have been fixed. Thank you.
As for the second, that is intentional: it's meant to show that they actually spent a lot of time to set up camp, only for them to tear it down only a day or so after when they were required to move again. But, the way it's worded can be confusing, so I changed it.
2534456
Well, by altering the rotation of the planet and orbit and rotation of the moon, you do have an effect on the weather, tides, seasons, etc. So yeah, temperature/weather control.
Well I'm hoock after the first chapter and will stay so if the pace and great quality stay steady
1208319 yeah but it became supercharged in magic by the experiments mant to contain it
2758982
He has actually improved on this in later Chapters, especially after a detailed essay by the author of Fight Club that he read in which he said the same thing more or less, but w/ examples added to show how it's done.