The Element of Corruption

by Fyronarion

Preparations

As the two stallions slowly came towards him, looks of triumph on their faces, Nucleon quickly tried to figure out an escape route.

"Crap." muttered Nucleon as he was pushed against the wall. He looked around wildly for a way out, but he didn't find a way. As one of the stallions reached for him, he quickly grabbed him by the hoof and twisted it. The stallion screamed and fell down, his arm bent in an awkward angle.

The second stallion looked at his companion and then at Nucleon. He growled, putting his head down and was getting ready to charge him with his horn. As he galloped towards him, Nucleon dodged him and he winced when he heard a sick thud against the wall.

Nucleon turned around to see both the stallions laying on the ground. The one with the broken arm tried to get up and attack him, but Nucleon quickly stunned him with his magic. He did the same to the other stallion.

"But...how..can you fight? You're just a mare." gasped one of the stallions. Nucleon smirked.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover." he simply said before turning and heading out of the alley...

Meanwhile, at Sweet Apple Acres...

It was a hot afternoon at the farm. The heat dried up the small creek at the edge of the farm, so the trees were slowly starting to dehydrate. At the farmhouse, the small weathervane creaked slowly. Sitting at the porch in her rocking chair was Granny Smith. She quietly observed the vast clusters of trees in front of her. Only a few have grown apples, while the others were empty. She sighed.

Hoofsteps was heard behind her and Big Mac appeared by her side. He too was taking the day off, as the weather was too hot to work for. Granny Smith seemed to acknowledge his presence.

"Such a hot day, eh Big Macintosh?" remarked Granny Smith.

"Eeyup." replied Big Mac, looking at the acres. A moment of silence went past.

"Applebloom's still at her friend's house?" she asked. Big Mac nodded.

"Ah, ok. Where's Applejack? Bucking trees?"

Again, Big Mac nodded.

"I hope she comes home quick. Who knows what 'appens to fillies in this weather..." she said before turning her head to face the front yard. Big Mac just stayed silent, watching the field in front of him.

To Applejack...

There was no point in harvesting the apples today, since the weather was practically burning. But on the side of the lake, where most of the apples grew since the trees were close to the water, Applejack was working diligently in order to sell the new batch to Ponyville, since there was going to be no business today.

Beads of sweat trickled down her face as she kicked another tree. The tree shuddered, and three or four pieces of apples fell into the basket. She smiled.

"That ain't bad for a tree in this weather." she said, wiping the sweat from her brow. Suddenly, she heard somepony calling her. Her ears perked up, trying to find the voice. After a while, the voice died down. She frowned.

"Musta been mah imagination..." she muttered before turning to the basket and picking it up. All of a sudden, she heard a splash behind her. She turned around to see a pink figure waving at her at the shore. Applejack sighed.

"Really Pinkie, what in tarnation are ya doin' in there?" asked Applejack. Pinkie grinned.

"I was just swimming when I spotted you. Oooh, I want you to read this!" exclaimed Pinkie, tossing a copy of the Ponyville Herald. Applejack caught it and unfurled it, not a bit surprised that the paper isn't even wet. She scanned the headlines, which informed her about a small incident in the Canterlot Royal Castle Garden. She frowned.

"Wait, how did they find that news out?" she asked Pinkie.

"Um...I think one of the Royal Guards talked about it. He wasn't supposed to do that!" she said crossly. Applejack shook her head.

"Sounds like we have to tell the others about this-"

"I already did, silly! I told Dashie, Flutters, Rare and you." she said, counting from her hooves.

All of a sudden, the sound of screaming air was heard. A moment later, a cyan pegasus landed in front of them. She shook her mane and slowly closed her wings, and trotted up to them.

"Pinkie told you the news?" asked Rainbow Dash, casually butting in to their conversation. Applejack nodded.

"Yep. Seems like there's ah spy in Canterlot." she said, scowling at the paper.

"We're going to smash him to a pulp!" said Dash cheerfully, rubbing her hooves. Another distraction appeared in the form of two silver sparks. A second later, the sparks intensified. All three mares quickly covered their eyes from the very bright illumination.

Finally, the lights died down. Rainbow Dash was the first to remove her hooves from her eyes to see a dazed Rarity and a cowering Fluttershy standing there. Applejack chuckled while Pinkie grinned. Rainbow Dash facehoofed herself.

"What in Celestia's name was that?" she asked. Rarity sheepishly giggled.

"I used the teleportation spell that Twilight taught me. I think I cast it right, but I need to improve on the arrival. Fluttershy, you can get up now. We're here." said Rarity reassuringly. Fluttershy looked up and breathed in relief. She shakily got up and greeted her friends.

"So what do we do now?" asked Rainbow Dash impatiently.

"I say we write a letter to the Princess. I'm sure Spike can do that." suggested Rarity.

"Ah don't think Spike recovered from his shock that Twi went against us..." reminded Applejack darkly. The others nodded in agreement. Rarity thought to herself.

"I'll think of a way to convince him. I'm sure I can flatter him." she said haughtily. Applejack rolled her eyes, while Pinkie started to jump.

"Oooh! While Rarity is doing that, we should make a plan in case that meanie Twilight attacks!" she shouted.

"Yeah, I agree with her. Since Rarity is working on Spike, me and Fluttershy will fly to Cloudsdale and try to convince the pegasi there that we are going to have an invasion on top of our heads." said Rainbow Dash, glancing at Fluttershy, who smiled in relief.

"Okay, I'll come with you." she said.

"Righty then, me and Pinkie here will fortify Ponyville's defenses and warn the mayor 'bout this case. Sound good?" she said, turning to Pinkie. She did a cartwheel.

"Ah think she likes that." said Applejack, suppressing a smile.

"Good. We'll meet at Sugarcube Corner in the afternoon." said Rainbow Dash, extending her wings out. Both her and Fluttershy took off towards Cloudsdale.

"I will see you all later. Good luck." said Rarity, her horn glowing. A moment later, she disappeared in a flash. Now there were two of them left. Pinkie turned to Applejack.

"Let's go!" she said, hopping past her. Applejack sighed and followed her, heaving the basket of apples that she will have to drop off at the front gate of the farm.

All the way to the Saddle Valley...

It has been a tiring journey for Shining Armor. He was hungry, tired and most of all, desperate to find a nearby town for shelter.

He has already traveled through Appleloosa and the desert landscape swiftly changed to the everlasting green valley. The sun was fiercely shining down upon him. Since Nightmare's spell only affected towns and cities that were controlled by Celestia, they were afflicted with the evernight spell. But regions outside of the commonwealths were normal, as if nothing stopped the sun from rising or descending.

Shining Armor crossed another large hill and he finally sighted a vast ocean stretching in front of him. He smiled and quickly galloped towards it.

As he went close to the shore, he took out a pair of binoculars. He raised them to his eyes and looked through to see a small speck of land there. Other than that, there was nothing beyond it. He put his binoculars in his saddlebag and charged his horn, getting ready for a teleportation spell. Hopefully, this will take him to the spot where Twilight was hiding...

Back to Nucleon in Manehattan...

The sun was slowly setting in the background of the big city, casting a faint, orange light across the sky. Ponies were slowly starting to return to their homes, and stores were starting to close. Nucleon quickly navigated through the city, dodging homeless ponies and others.

As he slowed down, a pair of mares trotted past him. They were discussing something rather loudly, and he was uninterested in their conversation until one of them mentioned Princess Celestia's name. His ears perked up as he quickly halted, trying to catch every word.

"...so I heard she is sending half of her Royal Guard division to Phillydelphia, while the reduced half will defend Canterlot. They'll be working overtime." she said to her friend.

"I don't think that's a smart move. Why reduce the numbers that protect your main city?" she said, shaking her head.

"No, it's clever. My coltfriend, who is in the Royal Guard, told me that Princess Cadence's guards are also providing undercover protection for both of them. So she basically has two layers of protection by her." argued her friend. They kept talking until their voices faded and they disappeared around the corner of the avenue, but that was enough for him. He stopped and took out his gem, rubbing it. It hummed slightly, giving off a blueish hue. A few seconds later, Twilight answered.

"Hello Nucleon! Did you find anything newsworthy?" she asked. He quickly explained to her what he heard, and a moment of silence followed that.

"Are you sure you heard correctly? I don't think it's safe trying to go there now." said Twilight skeptically. Nucleon groaned.

"Believe me, I heard correctly. This means we can go in and overthrow her. I'm sure Cadence's guards aren't much of a challenge anyways." he said.

"I don't know about that. Knowing my brother, he probably put the best of the best of his Royal Guard units to protect her. Speaking of my brother, have you heard about him lately?" she asked. Nucleon shook his head.

"No, not really. Although I heard from some ponies that he temporarily left his position as the Commander of the Royal Guards for something important. I don't know what, as that was most of the information I fished out." he said thoughtfully.

"Interesting...I might have to ask Nightmare to see if she can pinpoint his location. That way, I can find out if he is coming-"

She was interrupted by a loud yell. Twilight quickly twisted her head back to see a something fly towards her. She yelped and dodged, avoiding a frying pan that disrupted the connection a little. She got back up, shaken.

"What was that?" asked Nucleon, trying hard not to laugh. Twilight scowled at him.

"Discord again. He keeps pulling pranks on Nightmare. In this case, she was sleeping and he held her snout for too long. All I see now is a flurry of cooking utensils, which Discord is lazily flicking away." she reported, craning her neck to see the commotion.

"Well, I'll go get some sleep. I'll probably be back tomorrow. See you later, Twilight." he said.

"Take care." she said, smiling, before closing the connection. Nucleon looked up. It was dark. The only sounds were the occasional yells from ponies within their houses. He looked down and morphed back to a normal stallion before dashing towards the nearest hotel to relax in...

At Canterlot...

"...and remember to tell him to keep the left side of the wall on watch. It is the weakest part of the structure." ordered the Princess to her advisor. Ever since the threat of Nightmare Moon attacking Canterlot got out, all the ponies started panicking. The princess had to answer thousands of questions relating to the case, and she was exhausted. Just when she dismissed her fifth advisor, one of her guards burst into the room. He galloped past everypony and whispered something in her ear. She gasped.

"So it is true?" she asked the guard. He nodded.

"Tell the others to get ready. They will be deployed tomorrow morning." she said strictly. The guard nodded again and dashed off. One of the Princess's advisors looked confused.

"What is it, Princess?" she asked. Celestia just stared into space.

"Shining Armor. He has located my sister. And Twilight. Tomorrow, they will be brought back here to face justice..." she said. Her advisor nodded, taking note of what she said. Tomorrow will be the day of full on assault.

Author's Note:

Full on battle later in the story. Also, I hope all of you had an awesome Christmas, or in our case, an awesome Hearth's Warming Eve!

Comments

[Tachyon Xenophile]

Also, I hope all of you had an awesome Christmas, or in our case, an awesome Hearth's Warming Eve!

1856549
I love this story.