> The First Stand > by AProudMalaysian > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue - Neutralized > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- " Don't give up on hope. Its always there. It just us that didn't notice it." -Anonymous July 3th, 2022 Canterlot, British Columbia, Canada 5:35 p.m. On a sunny day at Canterlot, six teens are walking down the street, carrying their bags. The group, instead of talking to each other like they normally do, they listen to Fluttershy's lecture. Weirder, the one that leads the group is none other than Fluttershy. And the weirdest of all is that, unlike their usual talks, they keep silence and just listened to her lecture in agony and pain. Fluttershy, however, didn't realised their agony as she continuously lecturing them her favourite topic. " The word "ant" is derived from ante, emete of Middle English which are derived from Old English, and is related to the dialectal Dutch and the Old High German āmeiza, hence the modern German Ameise. All of these words come from West Germanic ēmaitijǭ, and the original meaning of the word was "the biter". Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the Cretaceous period, about 99 million years ago, and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. They also are described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony. Not only that, Ants have colonised almost every landmass on Earth. The only places lacking indigenous ants are Antarctica and a few remote or inhospitable islands. These tiny insects thrive in most ecosystems and may form 15–25% of the terrestrial animal biomass but their ability to exploit resources may bring ants into conflict with humans, however, as they can damage crops and invade buildings. Some species, such as the red imported fire ant are regarded as invasive species, establishing themselves in areas where they have been introduced accidentally. They are easily known by thei-" Fluttershy continued. "Does anyone know why we're following Fluttershy home and listening to her lecture?" Rainbow Dash asked. She was rather tired by the prolonged lecture by her. " Darling, you know that we're going to have a sleepover at Fluttershy's house, right Rainbow Dash?" Rarity answered, responding RD's clear frustration. " Yeah, of course. It's just........ who the hell invited us to this?! As soon as I find the man who brought us to this, I will turn his nuts into crackers!" Rainbow Dash said, with an obviously frustrated tone. The rest of the group give a stare at her. " What? " Rainbow Dash asked, puzzled with their response. " Don't you remember what you said two days ago? " 2 days ago..... Canterlot High " How about instead of Applejack's house, we're having the sleepover at Fluttershy's? " Rainbow suggested. " We do agree on doing it at Applejack's, right? Besides, what's there to do at her house? " Sunset said, objecting Rainbow Dash suggestion. " Yeah." The rest of the group said, agreed on Sunset's decision. " Oh, c'mon girls. Her house is more interesting than AJ, like..." Rainbow Dash said, trying to defend her decision. " Like.....? " Twilight said, curiously. " Foreign snacks from other countries around the worlds. Some of them are exotics. Fluttershy said that you can eat some as there's too much for her to eat it alone." Rainbow Dash said. " Wow. Where she gets all of that? " Applejack asked, slightly amazed. " She gets it from her fanbase. " Rainbow Dash answered. Applejack rounded to Fluttershy and asked " Wait, you have a fanbase? From where? " " From my...........Youtube channel." Fluttershy said, in a low voice, embarrassed. " Wait, you have a Youtube channel? I can't believe it." Applejack said, in disbelief. " Yes, I have one. I don't really mind if you don't believe it. It's just something I do to relieve stress." Fluttershy said, slightly smiled. " So, can we go to Fluttershy's house this weekend?" Rainbow Dash asked, excitedly. " Can you and Fluttershy just bring all of that to Applejack's house? You can ask Applejack's help if it is too heavy to be carried on." Sunset protested. " Oh, c'mon Sunset. It's not like her house is that far." Rainbow Dash said, questioning Sunset's suggestion. " No, it's just....." Sunset said before realising something. ".....What are you so eager to go to Fluttershy's? IS there something worth mentioning here? " She said, pushing Rainbow Dash to speak the truth. " Well......It's private." Rainbow Dash said, obviously hiding something. " And that's.....?" Sunset asked, urging Rainbow to spill the beans. Rainbow Dash gives a glance at Fluttershy nervously before finally speaking. " She has Netflix." The entire group responded with silence, shocked by the statement. "N-N-Netflix?" Applejack first asked. " Yeah." A fully functional, existing Netflix.....in The Americas?" Twilight then asked. " Yeah." The group fell into silence once more before Twilight broke the silence. " How you still have one? Didn't America banned Netflix in the entire region after they almost started WW3 by insulting North Korea? " the lavender-haired girl. " I don't know. It's just.......there. I don't do anything. I swear. " Fluttershy spoke, nervously. " It's still useless. Netflix's based at America and by banning it, they literally broke. But I heard rumours that they will create a new base at London after the majority of Britons won the referendum of saving Netflix from bankruptcy. I don't know. Just rumours, I guess. " Sunset added. " That's true. Even Sultan of Brunei agreed on the idea of aiding Netflix back to popularity despite everything that happens. So yeah. " Twilight added too, agreeing with Sunset's statement. "Anyway, are we still going to Fluttershy's house this weekend?" Rainbow Dash asked, still prompting them about the sleepover. " Well, I missed a couple episodes of Narcos when Netflix suddenly shut down. So yeah, I will come." Applejack said, finally agreed with Dash's suggestion. " I always watch movies at midnight after completed my homework before sleep so...yeah," Sunset said, agreed too. " I actually never bothered watching Netflix because of more important things to do. I only watch it if Sweetie Belle watches it, supervising her. But, I will follow the majority so....yeah too." Rarity said while polishing her nails. " So yeah, the majority agreed. Twilight, do you want to come?" Dash said. " Um...no. Sorry girls, there's a thing very private. Need to do. Very important." Twilight said. " Okay, Twilight. So, meet me at my house, Saturday 5:00 p.m., okay?" Dash said, joyfully. " Can you change it to 5:15 p.m.? There's some personal stuff need to do." Sunset said, begging Dash to change the time. " Guuuuh. Okay, fine. Meet me, straight 5:15. Don't be late." Dash said, sternly enough. " Okay." The group said together. Sunset whispered to Twilight " So what's the private stuff happening, Twilight?" " Well....." Twilight look around before whispered, " Huh.......but don't shocked, okay?" Sunset nodded. She slowly said, " My brother is marrying." Sunset shocked by the news. " Woah,Woah,Woah. With who" Sunset asked, curiously. " With Dean Cadence." Twilight simply answered. " When?" Sunset asked again. Twilight answered," That's all you need to know, okay? " Sunset reluctantly nodded. " Okay, okay. I remember all of that. I only thought that she will never lecture again." Rainbow Dash said, confessed her words. " Well, she DOES now, right?" Applejack said, angrily pressed the word 'does', showing her frustration with Dash. " But can we do now? All we can do is just hearing her god-awful lecture until we reach her house. And her house is not THAT far. " Dash protested. " Now I hope that Netflix is worth it for this." Sunset sighed, filled with frustration. Fluttershy, at the other hand, still lecturing them about ants without noticing her friend's tense situation. She spoke, " Ants inhabited every part of the world except Antarctica and only a few large islands, such as Greenland, Iceland, parts of Polynesia and the Hawaiian Islands as they lacked native ant species. The size of an ant is in the range of 0.75 to 52 millimetres or 0.030-2.0 inches with the largest being the fossil Titanomyrma giganteum, the queen of which was 6 centimetres or 2.4 inches long with a wingspan of 15 centimetres 5.9 inches wide. Ants are distinct in their morphology from other insects in having elbowed antennae, metapleural glands, and a strong constriction of their second abdominal segment into a node-like petiole. Like other insects, ants have an exoskeleton, an external covering that provides a protective casing around the body and a point of attachment for muscles, in contrast to the internal skeletons of humans and other vertebrates. Insects do not have lungs; oxygen and other gasses, such as carbon dioxide, pass through their exoskeleton via tiny valves called spiracles. Insects also lack closed blood vessels; instead, they have a long, thin, perforated tube along the top of the body (called the "dorsal aorta") that functions like a heart, and pumps hemolymph toward the head, thus driving the circulation of the internal fluids. The nervous system consists of a ventral nerve cord that runs the length of the body, with several ganglia and branches along the way reaching into the extremities of the appendages. A wide range of reproductive strategies have been noted in ant species like how-" " And now I regret following you." Rarity continued, frustrated too. " OH, COME ON!!! Just a few steps, we're there!!" Dash shouted, had enough by their complaints. " ' A few steps' huh? That's another 15 MINUTES to get there!!!" Applejack yelled at Rainbow Dash, unsatisfied by her answer. " What?! You want a fight?! Come on then!!" Rainbow said, retaliating AJ's word. " No matter what you do, I always win. So there's no mean of fighting me." Applejack said, mocking Rainbow Dash. " Oh yeah? Wanna taste one? " RD said, challenging AJ. " If you really want to turn your into a carcas, I'll be honoured. " Applejack said while holding her fist, ready to fight. Rainbow Dash pissed by the words, holding his fist, ready to kick her ass. Sunset and the rest try to stop the argument. " Stop fighting. You're friends for God's sake!! " Sunset yelled, tries hopelessly to stop the fight. But both of them doesn't seem to care. " I will turn you into seeds after this. " Applejack threatened, trying to scare RD. " Oh yeah? Then, I will turn you into seeds after this. " RD said, threatening her as a retaliation to AJ's words. " I will beat you so bad even your convict parents won't recognise you anymore. " AJ said, mocking her parents. Dash was really pissed when she mentions her parents and start her actions by doing the roundhouse kick. Applejack simply dodged it. " You need to try harder tha-" Applejack said before she was slapped by her. Stunned, AJ said " Seriously? " before she slapped her again and said, sarcastically " Yes. Yes, I am." Sunset and Rarity shocked by the sudden action by RD. Sunset then said, " Oh God. I don't know what's wrong with them. What can we do now? " " I don't know, darling. If she hears them even slight of it, she can-" Rarity said before she backed up a little bit, intensely terrified. " What's wrong, Rarity? Is there something-" Sunset twisted her head before she reacted the same way Rarity did, shocked and terrified. She and Rarity backed up a little bit, trying to stay away from the incoming danger. " Shit. Stay back. Thing's going to very bad by now. " Rarity said as she warned Sunset. She also fears the oncoming situation. Behind AJ and RD, while they were fighting, there's a silhouette figure standing on their back, seems very angered. From there, Sunset could sense a very dark aura surrounding the figure. That's why she also walk backwards with Rarity as she knows there's something very bad going to happen. - Meanwhile..... Vinson Massif, Antartica Beneath the frozen land of Antarctica, lies a civilisation that has never been discovered nor mentioned in human history, thanks to its isolated, dangerous and unknown location at the middle of the most dangerous land on Earth. 800 miles underground, there's a gigantic cave that was connected to thousands of caverns beneath the South Pole. On its centre, stood a magnificent castle, surrounded by a humongous metropolis filled with buildings and houses. On top of the ceiling, hangs a giant rock that shines on every single side of the cave. What makes the civilisation unique to humanity is that they're insects. Sentient, talking insects that populated the underground for millions of years. From the smallest of fleas to the largest of the moths, they all lived in peace and harmony, despite all the differences. In the castle, there were a couple of fully armed guards, guarding a certain hallway towards a blue door. Once inside, comes a very plain room with two elevators on the end of the room. The only button there is down. Once reached the lowest level, it reveals a large room, filled with insects in coats, resembling scientists and researchers, with the most obvious one on a platform, watching the world map. " Shit. Why it's getting warmer in here? I think I do have proposed an air-conditioner on this room. Why it's still hot?!! " the king asked, loudly to its assistant below while wiping its sweat with a handkerchief. " Sorry, Your Highness. We already installed it in this room. " It's assistant spoke. " And why I'm sweating right now ?!! " " Sorry, Your Majesty. Erebus is still in its active state. We couldn't do anything about it since we're near to one of its flow." The king's assistant answered. " And when this place is a frozen hell. " The king said before muttered " Curse you, irony". It then commanded " Lower the platform. We make this quick. " " Okay. Doug. Lower the platform! " The King's assistant commanded. The platform lowers down as the king commanded. The king then walks to one of the scientists. " What is our condition right now? Are we ready for the attack? " The king asked, in a very deep tone. " Yes, we are ready. But we need a test. " The scientist answered. " Why? " The king asked again, now with a little bit of disappointment. " The last war we ever waged is about 12,700 years ago when the Aliens attacked. Although we won the war, it forces us to live underground. " Ahhh, okay. " The king answered, now relieved by the information. " So where will be our test ground? " The king asked the scientist, filled with excitement. " At there. " The scientist pointed the test field with its antlers. " Well, do it then. Not like anyone will care about this for damn hell. " The king spoke, demanding them to attack. " We need to wait until next morning for the attack because it's near midnight. Not many insects want to work inside this place any longer than 7:00 p.m." the scientist said. The king, a bit frustrated, said " Alright, guys. Time to stop. We're doing it tomorrow. Then, use all your best works. We cannot fail." The king commanded. Like the king's commanded, all of the insects went out of the room by the elevators provided. Every insect quit except the king. He is holding a picture of a female human, seem to be on her late 30's. He then suddenly ranted, " 5 years.........now you all gonna pay for it 5 YEARS YOU PUT ME INTO THIS! NOW, YOU WILL ALL DIE FOR THAT. ALL OF YOU!!!" . Then he calm himself down and glanced at the well-preserved photo before he muttered, " I will make you proud, Kimmy. I promise........" " I will "