Soldiers in Equestria
By Cabal
Editor: Sir Lead_head
Chapter 1: The Black Gem
Lieutenant Leonard Levil was bored out of his mind.
Every day for the past three years, he had been sitting at a computer console overlooking a gigantic room, housing a huge and technically sophisticated ring called “Project Symbolist” affectionately named by his subordinates “Stargate” after a very old science fiction sitcom. It was in an old but secure building on a base, complete with anti-satellite coverage. Anyone whom had clearance to watch over this gate, and the engineering skills required to keep it maintained would have felt honored to watch over this fantastic and mysterious piece of equipment. Especially when they learned what was on the other side and its people was a mystery that only the Captain knew.
But even with all the knowledge that he possessed from reading documents on the console, and all the old physical books he had read (which was a surprise, given that books are no longer printed), he was bored. The stargate’s weekly cleaning was done, the monthly inspection by the scientists was completed yesterday, the veterinarian/doc’s office was freshly stocked (why was there a doctor skilled in veterinary care here?), and the sergeants under his command reported everything was fine with the security detail. So he was stuck with writing daily reports, reading and monitoring the stargate.
But there was one thing he was looking forward to, and that was for the computer to spit out the weather report-- of the other side-- written by his opposite. Levil had his weather report ready in the que and looked at the clock on the wall, 1400 exact. Any moment now...
The machine next to the screen began to whirr. “Here it comes...” he said to himself. The machine then gave out a detailed report. It was sunny today, high of 23c, low of 15c... but Levil simply glanced over the details. What he really wanted to read was the comments section.
For the last few days, whoever was assigned the opposite console had engaged in active conversation. There was no specific rule or order prohibiting communication with the other side, as long as it was for “Clarification”. And exactly what was to be “clarified” was not specifically restricted, but it was obvious what was not to be talked about. He scrolled directly to the bottom and read:
Comments: update made regarding, 5th day of week weather, rescheduled for reg rain due to miscom from T12. Clar. Req-- offspring? RKing off. Clar. Req-- El Nino?
Levil had no idea what “T12” was. It might be a weather station. Only the captain and a few scientists knew exactly. As for “Offspring?” the opposite was asking him if he had any. The “Rking off.” meant “Ranking officer” wanted clarification on “El Nino”.
Levil smiled. A Ranking officer can give permission to respond to a live chat session. He looked at the clock. 1401, he had 4 minutes to initiate chat before the machine shutdown to save power, and he would not be able to send reply until tomorrow. He quickly tapped the keys on his keyboard and sent the request. It was accepted immediately:
Now chatting:
3S-HK: Who goes there?
Levil checked his chart. “3S” was a rank in that world, which translated to “Lieutenant”. He had permission to speak. As for “HK”, that was his initials.
L1ST-LL: Following up to Clarify,
3S-HK: Hello equivalent. 4S-LC asks “What is El Nino?”
Levil turned to check his chart again. 4S was their equivalent to Captain.
L1ST-LL: El-Nino is a natural phenomenon affecting the temperature of the wind and ocean. Too long to explain in current time restraint. I am sorry, 4S. Will send details in next transmit.
3S-HK: 4S-LC says “Thank you”. My question?
L1ST-LL: No, I do not have offspring. Do you have any?
3S-HK: Not yet, I have one on the way.
L1ST-LL: Congratulations. I have something that needs clarifying.
3S-HK: Go ahead.
L1ST-LL: You said “rescheduled” in your comments regarding the weather, did you mean “changed”?
There was a minute of pause. Levil glanced at the clock again, 14:03. Two minutes left. Were they suffering a communication error? Then the reply came:
3S-HK: Yes, that was what I meant to write. Apologies for the confusion. Goodbye.
Session ended, return Y/N?/:
“The hell?” Lieutenant Levil was taken back by the sudden closing of the chat session. Usually whenever he had a rare chance to talk, he took it, and conversations with 3S’ and their superiors would last until the machine shut down. Perhaps they suddenly got busy? Scheduled cleaning of the gate? He checked another chart. No, their cleaning took place once a week on the 3rd day of the week. It was the 1st day...
Levil shook himself out of his quandary. There was a report to be written to the captain, and he would most certainly include today’s chat. It may not have been face-to-face as he would always dream of, but it was as close as he could get to another world.
Little did he know, he was about to get a lot closer.
***
“That was close.” Said Captain Light Comet, his metal horseshoes clopping against the floor as he took his front hooves off the console. He turned to his subordinate, “What were you thinking?!”
***
Meanwhile in a land called Equestria, creatures known as Diamond Dogs were hard at work underground, digging their labyrinth tunnels and carting away the dirt in their never ending effort to find their favorite item, jewels.
It was a painstaking effort. But to Jowler, there was no greater reward then finding a small pile of gems in a day. Then joining his pile to the main pile, and joining his brothers in their daily fun of rolling around in their stash, sometimes losing his tattered vest as he raked through the sparkling rocks with his rough paws and sharp nails, rubbing his dirty gray coat all over the gems.
Although it wasn’t like that everyday. Some days, he and his pack would find nothing, and scream in agony has they dug, looking for the little baubles they has desired for so much.
Jowler screeched after digging for nearly 3 hours “ARRRRRRRRGH! NOTHING!” He picked up a few stones and threw them against the cave wall, howling and screaming the whole while. His pack brother, Morhowl, slightly fatter then Jowler and wearing a dirty mud-caked red vest, collapsed in a pile of dirt, panting as he turned on his back to watch Jowler throw stones pointlessly.
“If only... we had... PONIES!” Jowler screamed.
“But... they too strong” his brother whined. “We too weak...”
“IF I COULD, I WOULD ENSLAVE THEM ALL!”
Not content with throwing small rocks to quell his rage, Jowler picked up a particularly heavy rock that he had dug up earlier and threw against the cave wall. Like the all the other stones, it shattered, and to Jowler’s surprise a large jewel was produced. Morhowl, never seeing such a huge gem before, yelped and made a dash for it. Jowler kicked his brother out of the way and grasped it from the rubble.
Jowler moved it around in his paws to inspect it. The diamond itself, was quite the reverse of a diamond. It wasn’t a brilliant transparent white, but a deep black. It was also well rounded, like a basketball, only smaller. And it may have been Jowler’s imagination, but it appeared to be glowing... although faintly. He couldn’t tell though, but nevertheless he was happy.
Morhowl, who recovered from being knocked out of the way by Jowler, peered down from behind his pack brother’s shoulder. The black diamond gleamed in his eye. “It so big!”
“It so pretty!”
“Its so HUGE!”
Jowler threw the diamond in the wooden cart and announced, “We must show King Skyle!”
Both Diamond dogs ran to the front of the cart, and began pulling it towards the tunnel entrance. The cart, being old, began to creak as it started moving.
***
Hours later, after navigating through the back-tunnels and into the main ones, Jowler and Morhowl were almost to the main cavern. Other Diamond Dogs who they met along the way followed Jowler and Morhowl’s cart, and it became a parade. They were cheering them on after they saw what was in the cart. They followed from behind or ran ahead to inform the king of what kind of wonderful thing was heading his way.
The cart then entered the largest cavern in the Diamond Dog tunnel network. Home to the largest pile of gems one ever did see. It was so tall and its base so wide, filled with every kind of gem you could think of. It was known to everydog in the tunnel as the Mountain of Pleasure. Only the 7 pack leaders and the few privileged were allowed to climb it, roll in it, pour more gems on it, make home on it, and most of all, seek audience with the King, who sat on the very top of the monstrosity. They say that if the king ever fell off and died, whoever made it to the top first, would be the king.
Of course, King Skyle made sure that never happened. He was too well liked by his idiot subjects. He made this so by having a false rumor spread around, that he dug underneath a dragon’s lair, and drained it of its valuables without the dragon ever waking up! He even stole large amounts from the Mountain of Pleasure pile, and stockpiled it in a remote cavern to prove it. He then led his idiot believers up the mountain after promising them pack leader statuses, and knocked off his predecessor... and the rest was history.
A few moments ago, one of the pack leaders climbed the coveted mountain of gems to seek his audience, passing the tall and ugly armor-plated guards that ensured the king’s dominance over all dog-kind. He then reached just a foot from the top where the king sat and bowed in an awkward way.
“King Skyle...”
The king slowly turned around, his wooden crown encrusted with large rubies, to face his subject. Turning upright on his long feet, sporting a grin that revealed teeth of aged yellow, his brown coat bristled as he replied, in a comforting sort of hiss, “Yesss?”
“Two of my pack bring a gem of unknown kind. It is black, pretty and huge!”
The king cocked his head in confusion, “Black?”
“Yes!”
The king’s yellowed eyes grew wide, as if some sudden realization had hit him. He then hissed loudly, “Bring it to meee!”
It took the pack leader 20 minutes to climb down the mountain, and fetch both Jowler and Morhowl, and bring them to the king. And with them, The Black Gem. Once presented by Jowler, the king snatched it from him and examined the mysterious bauble. After twirling it in his aged paws, he smiled a wide grin, took in a deep breath, and blew on the gem.
The Black Gem began to glow an evil, sour looking purple.
All on top of the mountain stepped back and moved down slightly as they witnessed the phenomenon, afraid at the sight. The king however was most pleased, as he then began to shout in a loud and raspy voice for all to hear.
“This is THE BLACK GEM! It grants power to whoever breathes on it! And with it, we will no longer work ourselves to death to find shiny gems! We will make the ponies do it!” He cackled evilly and thrusted the crystal at Jowler, who screamed in agony as his body suddenly began to change.
Jowler whipped his head from side to side. He screamed as he watched his forelegs, hindlegs, and his abdomen grow twice their size and length, his fur changing from its dirty gray sheen to a dark black. The king then thrusted the crystal at Morhowl, who then began to share in the agony of his pack brother.
When it was over, the king slowly made his way down to his two subjects. He then asked them, “What do you desire most? You both have brought me this powerful gem and you both deserve a reward.”
Jowler, along with Morhowl, now twice their original size, standing upright and feeling so good, so strong, shouted in unison,
“ENSLAVE THE PONIES!”
“Good answer.” chuckled Skyle as he made his way down the mountain.
Soldiers in Equestria
By Cabal
Editor: Sir Leadhead
Chapter 2: The Invasion
Not far from a known Diamond Dog point of entry lay a small town called Ponyville. It was a relatively modern agricultural/suburban population center that was primarily Canterlot’s preferred source for food. It also was home to the friendliest ponies in all of Equestria, with only six guards that usually just stood at the town hall, the Mayor’s residence and the town square when the local marketplace opened for business.
It was also the first town to come under attack.
The first two guards that were walking along on their way to the usual early morning opening of the market were suddenly blinded by a small explosion of cobblestone and dirt. A hole had appeared before them, and before they could shake off the dirt and the shock of surprise, they were both suddenly dragged into the hole by something sinister. And as quickly as the hole had opened, they were gone. The only evidence that they were there was their fading screams on the way down.
At the same time, other holes had appeared in different spots throughout the town, and almost as quickly, hundreds of Diamond Dogs burst through them. Wielding clubs, spears and slingshots, they ran towards the center of the town towards the Mayor’s residence. Barking loudly, some of them broke off from the initial scout party to randomly smash through the doors and windows of now terrorized pony families just waking up to have breakfast.
***
Mayor Mare, the town’s elected leader, woke with a fright as a pegasus guard pony banged open her bedroom door. He was clearly distressed as his eyes were wide with shock. His wings were flapping widely out of sync, making hovering difficult as he sputtered, “Mayor! The town is under attack by Diamond Dogs!”
Shaking off the initial shock of being so quickly awoken, the tan colored Mayor Mare quickly rolled out of bed and onto her hooves. Still quite groggy, she pushed her head quickly over the bedside desk to put on her glasses. She then turned towards the guard and asked in an annoyed tone of voice “And why captain, am I so rudely awakened when you and the others could have simply just repelled them like all the other times?”
“Mayor,” the guard began, before turning his head to look out the room window when the barking came close. “This isn’t the occasional three or five-dog raiding party! It’s a non-stop flood of them coming up from under the town! It’s a full on invasion, and with only six of us and a handful of civilian unicorns, we cannot hope to stop them! We need to evacuate!”
The mayor scoffed, “What nonsense! I’m certain that the princess’ student, Twilight Sparkle, can handle it.” She said the last bit proudly, being that Twilight was a very gifted unicorn and had helped protect the town more times then the mayor could remember.
“But Mayor! Ms. Sparkle and her dragon left yesterda-”
Before he could finish, the bedroom window was smashed, and a Diamond dog attempted to climb through. The mayor screamed, and the Pegasus guard rushed the intruder, and knocked it forcefully back outside. More windows in the house then began to break, and loud snarling was heard.
“Captain, GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Screamed the mayor.
The Guard took the cue, and scooped up the mayor onto his back, they made like bat out of hell towards the shattered window and then flew towards the town hall.
***
The town was in chaos. The first ponies that came into contact with the first wave of dog invaders were either knocked out or captured. Earth ponies that evaded both fates galloped away, screaming for help as they ran out of town. In the more central parts of town, the minority unicorn and pegasi population formed groups of spontaneous militia and with mixed success were able to halt the advance of the invaders using magical shields and missiles, while those having the gifted ability to fly dive bombed them with rocks.
One such Pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash (named for her multicolored mane that looked like a rainbow), cheered as the rock she dropped on one of the Diamond Dogs made successful contact, knocking it out. A unicorn picked up the dog with it’s magic and tossed it towards the rest of the group, causing them to stumble in confusion.
Rainbow Dash laughed at the sight, and taunted “AH HA! You guys are so funny, you should be in a circus!”
“Rainbow Dash!” a unicorn on the ground shouted, momentarily distracted while blocking a slingshot round, “Quit fooling around and get another rock!”
Rainbow Dash saluted, and flew away to get another rock. While flying, she heard a familiar scream from a shop nearby.
“Rarity!”
Rarity was a white unicorn pony who ran the Carousel boutique clothing shop. From what Rainbow Dash could tell, Diamond Dogs were breaking in to her two story fru-fru of a shop. Rainbow abandoned her rock search and flew into the shop’s balcony window.
Rarity was terrorized. She was captured once before by Diamond Dogs years ago, and they had made her into a workhorse. She couldn’t stand being in underground in the dirt, nor endure the embarrassment of being tied up to a cart again. She wasted no time in barricading the door and the windows with mannequins chairs, tables, and even her little stage which she used to show off her designs to other fashionistas. It can be rebuilt, but not if she was captured.
She squeaked as Rainbow Dash suddenly surprised her when she landed next to her on the ground floor. “Rainbow Dash!” Rarity said with some relief, “I’m glad you here! The ruffians are destroying my shop!”
“Umm... duh! If you havn't noticed, They are destroying the whole town!” Rainbow Dash retorted. “We need to get out of here!”
“And leave my shop unprotected, and leave all my beautiful clothes?! Absolutely not!”
The barricaded door at that point, began to crack.
Rarity gasped, “On second thou-”, but was unable to complete her sentence as Rainbow Dash ran underneath Rarity, picked her up, and flew out just as the door gave way.
***
Mayor Mare was in her office composing an emergency letter to her sovereign, Princess Celestia. Although it was becoming difficult to write neatly as ponies had completely filled the building from side-to-side, either to hide or petition her for the obvious. The remaining Guards were busily throwing ponies back into the lobby, but as quickly as they threw them out, more came in.
“Mayor! What are we going to do?!”
“Mayor Mare! My foal has kidnapped!”
“My house is on fire!”
“The horror!”
“SHUT UP, EVERYPONY!” screamed the Mayor, throwing inkblots from her quill everywhere as she raised and waved them in rage them to get their attention. She relaxed and attempted to explain. “I am very aware that Diamond Dogs are in the town and causing trouble. That is why I am writing a letter to the princess. So, as your elected official, it is imperative that you allow me to get things under control, allow me to do my job, and finally-- GET OUT OF MY OFFICE! GUARDS!”
Instead of waiting to be tossed out, everyone in the office fled back into the crowded lobby. The four remaining guards quickly flew in and shut the door behind them, holding it shut. The captain of the group approached the mayor's desk and said, ”Two of my guardsponies are missing, the town unicorns and pegasi are holding the line, and... this is a guess, but anypony who isn't here, run out of town, or defending the town has probably been captured... orders?”.
The Mayor was finishing up her letter and about to speak before a window was smashed by what appeared to be a unicorn surfing on a rainbow. But that interesting concept was immediately debunked when the rainbow crashed onto the floor, breaking a few of the wood planks that it consisted of, and the unicorn flipped off, screaming and soon found herself lodged in the wall.
The Mayor, completely out of adrenaline, and sanity, simply twitched. “RAINBOW DASH!” she said in a feigned voice of delight, “I am so glad you're here!”
Rainbow Dash, with the help of the captain, dislodged herself from the floor, and immediately hovered in front of the desk, and looked at the mayor confused “Oww.... you are?”
“Yes, of course! I have a letter for you to deliver,” The mayor twitched again, and continued whilst rolling up the scroll, “deliver this letter to Princess Celestia, and please, for the love of Luna, DO NOT BREAK ANYMORE WINDOWS!”
Rainbow Dash saluted, “Yes ma'am!” grabbed the scroll with her teeth, and immediately took off out through the shattered window and headed towards Equestria's capital of Canterlot.
Both the Mayor and Captain went to the window to watch her fly away.
“I do hope Celestia will send more guards before its too late...”
Then a small voice spoke, “Umm... excuse me. I know that we are all busy, but could somepony please get me out of THIS WALL?!”
Meanwhile, the unicorns and pegasi were chanting and cheering as they were starting to gain the upper hand. The Diamond Dogs were now taking a defensive stance to hold the ground that they gained and to protect the groups that were carrying or escorting their captured prisoners. It was now impossible to use slingshot rounds, as they would either bounce off of the unicorns magical shields, or be caught by magic and thrown back. The Dogs had to take refuge in the houses, as the pegasi were being ceaseless in their aerial bombardment.
Just as it appeared that the ponies were winning, the clock tower chimed. And that was the signal to the Diamond Dog shock troops that the surprise attack was over, and the support troops were on the way. On cue, the horror truly began.
Out of the holes, came the Diamond Dogs transformed by The Black Gem. They forced themselves out of the burrows and into the frey, charging the unicorn group closest to them. The unicorns and pegasi were dumbstruck for a few seconds at their new enemy before redirecting all their fire at them.
Stones fell on them, and they shrugged them off...
Magic hit them, they kept going...
“Run away! Stampede!!!” screamed the pegasi at their unicorn friends on the ground who were trying to defy the inevitable.
The gigantic dogs made contact, and the shields shattered. They then began to beat down the remaining resistance with their front legs, knocking out ponies left and right. One of them grabbed a unicorn with their teeth, and threw her back towards the scouts, who were more than happy to grab her in a net.
The pegasi looked on in horror, swooping down to pick up the remaining ponies that were about to get bowled over, flying them towards the town hall. Some of them were unlucky, as the Diamond Dog scouts resumed shooting at them with slingshot rounds, and well placed shots to the head or wings guaranteed that there would be flying ponies to be used as slave labor, whether they liked working underground or not.
At the town hall, ponies had completely overfilled the building to the point that they were practically huddling against the outside walls, spilling out of the doorway and windows, and were essentially between a rock and a hard place as hundreds of diamond dogs now surrounded the building. Prior to being surrounded, the mayor ordered the pegasi who arrived carrying unicorns to fly away with them to Canterlot, and the guards took a defensive stance outside the entrance.
The enemy did not advance. Instead they parted way for a very old dog with a crown of gems on his head and something that glinted in his hands. Flanking him on either side of was two of the monstrosities that brought fresh screams from the building, and shivers to the guards.
All three of them, King Skyle, Jowler, and Morhowl stopped a few paces away from the guards. Then, Skyle hissed, “Surrender!”
The Captain of the Guard shouted “Charge!”, and the last four pegasus guards ran full speed towards the three Dogs in a last ditch effort. King Skyle barked, and Jowler and Mohowl defended the king by using the momentum of the guards and throwing them away from the king and into the awaiting crowd of scouts, who promptly subdued them with clubs and chains.
“Just a minute, Mister!”
King Skyle, who was momentarily distracted by the beating of the guards suddenly came face to face with a yellow and pink maned pegasus, and it looked angry.
“Do you know how much trouble you are in? How dare you hurt every pony in town! You should be asham- eep!”
“Fluttershy! Get away from ‘em!”
An orange pony with a hat called AppleJack had just grabbed the tail of Fluttershy and was dragging her back towards the town hall. King Skyle was briefly amused by the courage of both ponies, but it was something that could not stand. King Skyle raised The Black Gem one more and a bright purple light flashed.
Both ponies were transformed into transparent crystal statues. Both sporting a terrorized look on their faces.
This elicited oohs and aahs from the crowd of Diamond Dogs, and screams from the town hall.
Skyle raised the Diamond threateningly towards the building and shouted “Surrender, nowwww!”
Everpony that was inside the town hall nearest the mayor looked at her. The mayor, flabbergasted at everything that happened, slowly made her way to her desk, and pulled out a white handkerchief, and slowly walked outside.
Ponyville had fallen.