Discord accidentally sends Equestria to a war-torn world.
The Cenotaph did more than power the Iron Legion. It also held a small continent and its inhabitants in another dimension. When it was destroyed, it opened the way to this new land. The Staff of Qa-Len powered the portal. All that was left was a catalyst.
On the other side, Discord played a flugelhorn. What could possibly go wrong?
Battalion Wars, and all nations, characters, etc associated with it belongs to Nintendo. MLP belongs to Hasbro.
It had been a long, hard battle for the fate of the world. Earlier that day, the Alliance of Nations had advanced on the Crater Of The Sun, led by Colonel Austin of the Western Frontier. Their mission was to destroy the Cenotaph, an ancient relic that gave life to the once dead Iron Legion. The Legion, led by the former Xylvanian, Countess Ingrid, fought them for every inch. The undead seemed innumerable. That is, until a heavy tank found a span guarded only by rifle grunts and anti-air veterans. Surging forward into the Crater, it began to shell the Cenotaph. However, it was soon surrounded by the Legion.
“Fire again, commander!” Austin shouted into the radio. “The Cenotaph can’t take much more!”
The tank pilot rolled his eyes, as if to say, “I knew that already, Colonel. I intended to destroy this thing with or without your orders.” With a simple, “Yes, Sir,” he then pressed the big red button labeled “fire”, sending a pair of shells rocketing toward the large structure. Upon collision with the Cenotaph, they exploded, taking the unholy monument with them. As the power from the Cenotaph ceased to flow, the Legion fell, much to the pilot’s relief. The Frontier had lost many good men that day, but he and his crew had survived to fight another day. Outside of the Crater Of The Sun, the other survivors of the battle rejoiced, as the greatest evil to walk the world in hundreds of years had finally been vanquished, once and for all.
However, none knew the true extent of the repercussions of destroying the Cenotaph. Hundreds of miles away, in the ocean between the Tundran Territories and the Dune Sea, a small hole in the fabric of space-time opened. Fortunately, it was no bigger than a pinhole, and quite stable. Days later, the Frontier and its allies flew fairly close to the hole on their way home, after their victory over the Xylvanian army, yet it was passed unnoticed.
One week ago; Northern Tundra
“Wow.” General Herman whistled. “That sure was some blast. Did everybody make it out ok?”
Empress Lei-Qo of the Solar Empire did a quick head count. “It seems that all commanding officers are alright. However, I cannot be sure how many troops escaped the explosion.”
“Hopefully the Kaiser can be counted among the fallen,” the Tundran commander, Marshal Nova, said.
All around the commanders, their troops rejoiced once again. In less than two years, they had defeated the Xylvanians not once, but twice. They had fought on the beaches; they had fought in the fields. They had never surrendered, and they had emerged victorious. But it was not without a cost.
Kaiser Vlad had activated the ancient super-weapon, the Staff of Qa-len, calling down a beam of pure energy from a solar powered satellite resting high above the world. The resulting explosion had created a large crater, miles in radius. Unbeknownst to the Alliance, the Kaiser and his most loyal underling, Kommander Ubel, had escaped to the bottom of the crevice that the Staff had been hidden in. While they would be no threat to the world for a while, Vlad’s dream of revenge still burned bright.
However, that was not a concern for the Alliance. There was a parade to be had in Gorgisburg.
Of course, all the energy from the orbital strike had to go somewhere. While most of the world would receive powerful storms and high temperatures, a small area remained normal. It was, of course, centered on the dimensional tear, which absorbed any energy in excess of the amount nearby when it had been created. Over the next few days, the hole absorbed much more energy than could be dissipated, and it became unstable. It was just one large push away from creating chaos unimagined by the human race.
Thirty minutes ago; Equestria
“Speaking of chaos, hi Discord!” Pinkie Pie shouted.
The draqueonus blinked. He assumed that there was a perfectly rational explanation to the party pony’s outburst, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure it out. She hadn’t been talking to anypony else, and she hadn’t said anything until then, so nothing there made sense. Then again, what fun is there in making sense? He decided to just roll with it.
“Hello, Pinkie,” he said. “How was your trip to the Crystal Empire?”
“Oh, it was amazing,” Pinkie said. As she started to ramble about the recent trip, during which she and her friends had secured the position of “Host of the Equestrian Games” for the Crystal Empire, Discord realized he had made a mistake. True to form, Pinkie had remembered every single detail about her time in the Crystal Empire. Fortunately, her speech was at least exciting, as opposed to the occasional lecture that Celestia gave him. Those could last hours, and pretty much always included the same set of phrases: “Discord, are you even listening to me? Hey! Wake up!” He chuckled.
When Pinkie was finished, Discord said, “Well, it sounds like you had a wonderful time. I wish I had been there to witness all the fun.” Checking the position of the sun, he added, “And I wish I could stay here longer, too. Unfortunately, Celestia expects me back in Canterlot by sunset. Farewell, and say hi to the others for me.”
“Wait!” Pinkie shouted, rummaging through her saddlebags. “I brought you something.” She pulled out a cookie with a frosting flugelhorn.
“A gift? For me?” Discord asked, taking the cookie. He then turned the frosting into a real flugelhorn. “That is so thoughtful. How did you know the flugelhorn is my favorite instrument?” He took a bite of the cookie. “And this is delicious,” he added. “Who knew eating real food like a normal pony could be so satisfying? Thank you, Pinkie. However, I really must go now.”
As he flew away, Discord couldn’t help but look at the instrument in his paw. “I know there’s a reason I haven’t used one of these in millennia. I can’t remember why, though. Hmm.” Slowing down, he brought it up to his lips and blew through it.
As a rift appeared in the sky and engulfed Equestria, Discord couldn’t help but say, “Oh, that’s why.”
00:05:00 after event; Western Frontier Command Center
“What the heck just happened?” General Herman shouted into the radio.
“I’m not sure, General,” came Brigadier Betty’s reply. “It looked like somebody activated the Staff in the middle of the ocean.” Betty was at Fort Omaha in the Dune Sea, and so had a much better view of what had happened.
“It sure did look like it, but it can’t be,” Herman argued. “The Empress has the Staff locked up tight in the Imperial Palace. It’s a long way away from whatever that was.”
“Do you want me to check it out?” Betty asked. “I am in the area, relatively speaking.”
“Affirmative. Take some ships and naval transports with you,” Herman ordered. “There’s no telling what’s waiting for us now.” He put down the radio and said, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
00:30:00 after event; Canterlot throne room
“Discord, what did you do this time?” Celestia asked, surprisingly calm.
“To be honest, Celestia, I truly don’t know,” the draqueonus replied. “I just played a flugelhorn from the Crystal Empire, and then this… whatever it was happened.”
“Great. That’s just great,” Celestia sighed. “Well, whatever you did, it’s big. I’ve received reports from Baltimare. There seems to be something approaching from the east, over the water. I’ve sent Rainbow Dash to investigate.”
Discord did a double take. “You’re sending her? Instead of any of the royal guards stationed in Baltimare? I’m not one to complain, but really, that pegasus can cause almost as much havoc as I can. It would be like sending Pinkie Pie to calm a stampeding herd of buffalo.”
Celestia winced. “When you put it like that…”
1:00:00 after event; 50 miles east of Baltimare
“What the heck is that?” Betty asked, pointing towards the rapidly approaching shore. “I flew over this part of the world multiple times, but have never seen anything but water for miles around.” The grunt piloting the naval transport just shrugged. He had been here before, too; this wasn’t supposed to be here. Those buildings in the distance were especially weird.
“Well, whatever it is,” the Brigadier said, “I bet it’s the cause of whatever just happened. Step on it, soldier!”
Just then, something flew overhead, leaving a trail of rainbow. Betty stared at it in awe as it made a sharp one eighty and flew back towards the ships; not even the most skilled fighter pilots were daring enough to even attempt that, and none could fly nearly that fast. As the thing got closer, she began to make out a few details. The most important detail was that it had wings, and they weren’t fixed like a fighter’s. That meant it must be a bird of some sort. But what kind of bird could out-speed a fighter?
A few seconds later, it landed on one of the ships. Coincidentally, it just happened to be the same transport that Betty was riding in. She had been wrong. It wasn’t a bird; it actually seemed to be a pony with wings. In addition, it was bright blue, with a multicolored mane and tail. Betty had seen many strange things in her lifetime, but this trumped them all.
Then, it spoke.
“What are you looking at?” it asked. “Haven’t you seen a pegasus before?” Betty noticed that she, and the entire unit in the transport, was staring at the newcomer. “Wait a second, this is strange,” the pony said. “I thought griffons were to the east. You aren’t griffons. What are you guys?”
The Brigadier cleared her throat. “Umm… hello? My name’s Brigadier Betty, and I am a human. You said you are a pegasus, right? What’s your name?”
The pegasus blinked. “Wow, you can understand me? I half expected that you wouldn’t be able to. Uh… my name’s Rainbow Dash, and yeah, I’m a pegasus pony. Dang, I thought humans were an old mare’s tale. I can’t believe I’m talking to one right now. Oh, I gotta tell Princess Celestia about this!” With that, she (Betty assumed it was a female, going by the voice) flew off as quickly as she had appeared, streaking towards the land.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Betty asked the ship’s captain. “Follow that rainbow! There seems to be a bay over there you can land in.”
1:15:00 after event; Canterlot throne room
“Assuming Twilight’s right about Rainbow Dash’s penchant for smashing through windows,” Celestia said, “we’re about to get a report, Luna. I would throw open the eastern window if I were you.”
As soon as Luna did as she was instructed, Rainbow crashed into the throne room, sliding to a stop at Princess Celestia’s hooves.
“Pray tell, Rainbow Dash,” Luna began, “What became of your trip? Why dost thou fly with such haste?”
Rainbow quickly sat up. “I met some humans!” she blurted out. “They have a small fleet of large metal ships, and are headed towards Horseshoe Bay. They can understand our language, and speak it too. The one human who spoke to me called herself Brigadier Betty.”
Celestia furrowed her brow, muttering, “Brigadier is a military term. Could it be…?” Louder, she asked Rainbow, “A fleet, you said?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied. “Five or six huge ships with really big cannons, and three or four smaller ships carrying about ten humans each. Why, is that a problem?”
“It depends,” Celestia said. “What color were they wearing? And what shade was it?”
“Green, like the green in my mane.” Rainbow said.
Celestia relaxed. “Good,” she sighed. “I’m not sure whose army it is, but I can hope it isn’t an invasion force.” She looked at Rainbow. “You and your friends will meet with them. Determine if they are a threat to Equestria.” Rainbow saluted, then flew out of the still open window, which Celestia gently closed behind her.
Luna looked at her sister. “Tia, what troubles you? I do not remember ever having problems with humans.”
Celestia frowned as old memories resurfaced. “It was about two hundred years ago, long after your banishment,” she began. “A man, Lord Ferrok, raised an army larger than ever before. He called this army the Iron Legion. He then set out to conquer the world. I’m not sure how, but he received word that Equestria was raising an army to stop him. He created a powerful relic, the Cenotaph, to banish Equestria from this world. When he completed it, we were sent to another dimension: a crossroads of sorts, where all interdimensional travelers eventually end up. The fact that we are here either means that the Cenotaph was destroyed, or ran out of power. If the Iron Legion still exists, Equestria is in grave danger.”
“Worry about that in the morning,” Luna reassured. “For now, you should rest. It has been a long day.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Colonel Austin’s voice came over the radio. “You met a talking pegasus named ‘Rainbow Dash’, Brigadier?”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but yes,” Betty replied. “She said something about humans being myths, mentioned a princess, and flew off. She was faster than any airplane I’ve seen.”
“Well, Betty, I’ve never know you to be a liar,” General Herman joined in, “so I’m going to believe you on this one. I’m not so sure high command will, though. Just know that the other nations are going to want a full report too. You may have made contact with an alien race.”
“Yes sir. Over and out,” Betty said, turning off the radio. Turning to the troops assembled on the shore, she said, “Well, you heard the general. This is a recon mission. Our objective is to find out as much about this land as possible.” She pointed to a few assault veterans. “You three stay behind and guard the ships. Use non-lethal force if at all possible. I don’t want first contact to turn into a bloodbath.” Climbing into a recon vehicle, she added, “The rest of you are with me. That rainbow trail’s disappeared, so we’re going to head into that city over there and see if we can get a map or something. Let’s go!”
2:05:00 after event; Downtown Baltimare
*POP* Six mares appeared in the town square in a flash of light.
“The horror, the horror!” another pony shouted, galloping past the group at full speed. Soon, Twilight and her friends were dodging a stampede of panicked city dwellers.
Pointing in the direction they were coming from, Pinkie said, “I think that’s the way we have to go.”
Rolling her eyes, Twilight grabbed one of the slower ponies running by and asked, “What freaked you out so much?”
Relief soon replaced the fear in the pony’s eyes as she recognized the Bearers of Harmony. “It’s horrible. A lot of ape-like creatures came into town. There were a few in a motorized wagon, and about thirty on their own two legs. Somepony started shouting in terror, and then we all started running.”
Letting her go, Twilight thanked her, and then motioned to her friends to follow.
While they moved towards the source of the panic, Rainbow said, “These creatures that landed here must be the humans I saw in the ocean.”
Twilight nodded. “You have to hand it to these ponies. At least they know to run away from the problem, instead of running in circles like those from Ponyville do.”
After a few minutes of walking, Twilight noticed the source of the commotion. The pony she had grabbed had told the truth; there were about thirty humans examining their surroundings, and one empty vehicle. One grabbed a doorknob and attempted to twist it, before giving up and lightly pushing. To its apparent surprise, the door opened. Another one was standing in the center of the road, shouting orders. To Twilight’s surprise, the orders were in Modern Equestrian.
Pointing to the one giving orders, Rainbow said, “That’s the one I spoke to. She said her name is Brigadier Betty. She must be their leader.”
Twilight listened. This “Betty” did, indeed, sound female, and in charge. “I think you’re right, Rainbow,” she said. “She must be their commanding officer, like Shining Armor and the Canterlot guard. I don’t think she actually leads them outside of the military, though. It would be too risky to send your nation’s leader into the unknown.”
“Well, what do we do now?” Applejack asked. “Do we just sit here and listen, or do we go and talk to them?”
Pinkie pulled a stack of cards out of her saddlebags. “I have some ‘Welcome to Equestria’ cards,” she said. “I was saving them for the next dragon migration, but I guess they would apply here, too.”
“Uh… Ok then,” Twilight said. “I think we should go talk to them. They’re probably as curious about us as we are about them. They may even be afraid of us.”
“I seriously doubt that they’re afraid, Twi,” Rainbow said.
Suddenly, one of the soldiers noticed the group. “Brigadier, there are more ponies over here!” he shouted. “These ones aren’t running away!”
“Thank heavens,” their leader said. “I was worried we wouldn’t be able to talk to any of the natives. Remember soldier; the first step of gathering information is to befriend the locals.”
At the word “befriend”, Pinkie’s ears perked up. “They want to be our friends,” she told the others excitedly. “You know the best way to become someone’s friend?”
“A party?” Twilight guessed.
“Right!” Pinkie replied. “This calls for my party cannon!” She pulled the cannon out from a nearby alley. Nopony had seen her put it there, of course.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait, Pinkie, they might take that the wrong -”
All of a sudden, chaos broke out among the humans. There were various shouts of “Duck and cover!” “It’s got a cannon!” and in one case, “Run away!”.
With a loud “Boom!” the party cannon went off, sending streamers and confetti flying everywhere. As the soldiers slowly looked around the corners they were hiding behind, they were obviously relieved to see the party set up - cake and everything - though most looked very confused.
Bouncing out into the open, Pinkie shouted, “It’s ok, we won’t hurt you! You can come out; we only want to be friends!”
“What just happened?” Betty asked. “Where did that cannon go?”
Twilight trotted up to the human and extended her hoof. “Brigadier Betty, I presume? I’m Twilight Sparkle. I have a lot of questions for you, and I’m sure you have a lot of questions for me. Just don’t ask about that cannon, or Pinkie Pie in general. You won’t get many answers.”
After a second, Betty took Twilight’s hoof in her hand and shook it, much to Twilight’s surprise. “Pleased to meet you Twilight. Yes, I’m Brigadier Betty of the Western Frontier.” Pulling a stack of paper out of her jacket, she added, “Can we sit down? I’m going to need to write a lot of stuff down, I think.”
Sitting at a table that Pinkie had provided, Twilight pulled out a large scroll, a quill, and some ink. “I normally have my assistant Spike write stuff down for me, but he’s asleep,” she explained.
“Spike?” Betty asked. “That’s a strange name for a pony, isn’t it?
“Why, yes, it would be. However, Spike is a dragon. A baby, at that.”
“There are dragons here? Really?”
“Well, not many anymore, I think. When Equestria reentered this world, I believe everything else was left behind. Therefore, only those in Equestria at the time would have come here.”
“That makes sense. You said this nation is called Equestria?”
“Yes. We’re ruled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, two sisters that have lived thousands of years. They’re alicorns, which means that they have both a horn and wings. There was an… incident between the two about a thousand years ago, but it has been resolved. I’m not going to go into detail about it, though. You said your home is called ‘the Western Frontier’? How is it ruled?”
“You were right about the name. We have a much different government structure than you do, however. We elect our rulers, and after a time, we have another election. We do this to ensure that nobody becomes corrupt with power. However, I’m sure our current leader will be in office a long time, after the wars we won. There are a few other nations around, including the Tundran Territories, the Solar Empire, and a few others, but I think they all follow a monarch.”
“I think I’ve heard of the Solar Empire before, in a book of legends. Just so you know, we have democracy too, but we only practice it on a local level. It’s hard to beat thousands of years of experience when it comes to leading a nation.”
“Fair enough. Just asking, what’s with the horn? I can understand that wings would allow you to fly, but what does a horn do? And what about ponies with neither?”
“Haven’t you been watching my quill? Horns allow unicorns to perform magic. Most unicorns can only levitate things and do something related to their special talent, but some unicorns, like myself, have generalized magic as a special talent. Not to brag, but we can do pretty much anything if we have enough power. For example, watch this.” Twilight stood up and teleported to the end of the street and back.
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
“Thanks. Now, like you saw, pegasi can fly, though some faster than others. Rainbow Dash is the fastest of them all. They can also control the weather, make rainbows, and some other things. Earth ponies, like Applejack and Pinkie Pie, are stronger and have increased stamina, though I think Pinkie’s stamina simply comes from the incredible amount of sugar she eats.” Both of them looked at Pinkie, who shoved a whole cupcake in her mouth and smiled. “Pinkie also has some kind of sixth sense. Don’t ask me how it works; it just does. You probably also noticed the mark on my flank. That’s a cutie mark, which signifies my special talent. I doubt humans have anything like that, though.”
“We don’t. Now, I know this may be a sensitive subject, seeing as we just met, but do you have a military of any sort?”
“There is a unit of royal guards stationed in every large town, and a good amount of guards in the capital, but it’s really just a token force against outside threats. We rely more on the fact that Princess Celestia can control the sun, Princess Luna can control the moon, and Discord… well, Discord can do pretty much anything. What about you?”
“Every nation in this world has a substantial military. However, we don’t have anyone that can control the forces of nature and whatnot. Tell me more about this ‘Discord’.
“Well, there’s not much to tell. He’s a draqueonus, and pretty much the living embodiment of chaos. I think he was also the one to activate the portal that brought us here. He’s been reformed, so he knows to control his powers, but really, he’s still pretty scary sometimes.”
“Well, that’s something I have to tell high command.” Betty underlined and circled what she had just written: “DO NOT INVADE EQUESTRIA”. “Umm… is there any way you can convince your princesses that we mean no harm?”
“I’m sure Princess Celestia can accept that, as long as nopony is hurt. That is, as long as you have no affiliation with this “Iron Legion” she mentioned.”
Betty breathed a sigh of relief. “The Western Frontier destroyed the Iron Legion a few months ago. The only nation that might claim any affiliation with them would be Xylvania, and they’re out of commission for a while.”
“Good.” Twilight looked at her notes. “I don’t have anymore questions, do you?”
“Nope.”
“Alright then, let’s enjoy the party. I’m sure you’ve never experienced anything like a Pinkie Pie party.”
“Say that again, Brigadier,” General Herman spoke into the radio. “What was that about the princesses?”
“These ponies believe that their leaders actually control the sun and moon, General. What’s more, the citizens can control the weather, perform actual magic, and many other things we thought were impossible.”
“I see,” Herman said thoughtfully. “Do they have any proof to back up these claims?”
“Well, the unicorn I talked to, Twilight Sparkle, showed me teleportation, and one of the pegasi brought down a raincloud and poured water all over the recon. She then flew around it fast enough to dry it off. It’s pretty clean now. One of the grunts even has video of it. Speaking of the soldiers, Twilight cast some cloud walking spell on them, and they were able to literally walk in the clouds. A few of them even chose to sleep up there. Apparently, clouds are very comfortable. The ponies departed at dawn, however. I wish I had gotten a chance to speak to the others, but I did give Twilight one of our backup radios. They gave us a map, but it’s not to scale. Pretty, though.”
“Just get back to Fort Omaha, Brigadier. I want a full report of everything you learned by tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.”
11:30 AM; Ponyville
“Spike!” Twilight shouted, slamming open the door to the library. “Are you up yet?”
“I am now,” the tiny drake replied. “What’s up?”
“I need your help researching something,” Twilight answered. “I need to look up any myths about humans, specifically the Solar Empire and the Iron Legion.”
Spike shrugged. “Alright, but I think somepony recently came by and borrowed most of the mythology books, remember?”
“Let me guess,” Twilight said. “It was Lyra, wasn’t it?”
Spike looked at the ledger. “Yep.” Checking the shelves, he added, “It seems like she left the books about the Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon, and a few others. You want to start there?”
Twilight sighed. “You start here. I’m going to visit Lyra. I have a feeling she will know more than we can get out of these books.”
12:00 PM; Ponyville
Twilight knocked on Lyra and Bonbon’s door. After a second, the mint green unicorn opened it. Recognizing Twilight, she asked, “Are those books I borrowed overdue?”
“Not yet,” Twilight said. “However, they are what I came to talk to you about. What do you know about humans?” Twilight saw Bonbon slam her hoof into her face.
Lyra motioned for Twilight to come inside. “We can discuss it in my room,” she said.
Walking upstairs, Twilight saw that a large map covered one of Lyra’s walls. There were large circles around three of the continents: one to the east, one to the south, and one on Equestria. Inside the circles were some symbols: the one to the east had a pair of crossed lightning bolts with a helmet, whereas the others were depictions of the sun. Twilight recognized the sun over Equestria; it was the same one used today. The other symbols were a mystery, however.
“Where do I even begin?” Lyra asked. “Just so you know, all this is just a theory.”
“Begin about two hundred years ago,” Twilight said. “That’s the period in time I’m interested in.”
“Oh, you want history, not descriptions?” Lyra snickered. “Alright. About two hundred years ago, there were two major nations. I haven’t found their names, but I do have rough illustrations of what their national symbols might have been.” Lyra pointed to the two symbols on the map.
“The Solar Empire and the Iron Legion,” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia mentioned them recently, but I haven’t been able to find any more information on them.” Pointing to the sun symbol, she said, “That must be the Solar Empire, which would mean the other is the Iron Legion.”
“Really? Princess Celestia just gave you that info?” Lyra was amazed. “I’ve been asking for any info she might have on humans for years, and never even got a response. I guess that’s one advantage to being a Bearer of Harmony. Any way, those names make sense. So, the Iron Legion had begun a global war, crushing all that stood in their way. The Solar Empire mustered an army, striking back. They had made it to the heart of the Legion’s territory. After that, the book mentions a “Cenotaph”, and then there are no more mentions of humans for the next two hundred years.”
“Hmm… what about humans themselves? What did the books say about them? Their mannerisms, specifically.”
“That’s a little trickier,” Lyra admitted. “It seems that humans were all different. Obviously, there were warmongers among them, like the Iron Legion’s leader. I’d imagine that there were peace lovers, too. However, I think the peace lovers in the Solar Empire knew that to achieve peace, you sometimes must fight for it.”
Twilight nodded, casting an anti-listening spell around the room. “You’ve been a great help, Lyra. Now, what I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room until Princess Celestia makes it public knowledge, ok?” Lyra nodded eagerly. “First, I believe every word you’ve just said. Why? Yesterday, I met some humans.” Picking up a quill, Twilight drew another circle and symbol on the western continent. “The humans I met called their nation ‘the Western Frontier’. This symbol was on their helmets. According to their leader, the Iron Legion has been destroyed, while the Solar Empire still remains. I feel that getting in contact with the Empire may be key to understanding Equestria’s place in this world.”
Lyra nodded again. “You may be right,” she said. “I figured that the Solar Empire and Equestria had some positive history between them, due to the symbols being so similar. I did find the name of the Empire’s leader at the time: Empress Qa-Len. Perhaps one of her descendants will know more?”
“Perhaps,” Twilight agreed. “The human I spoke to did mention a ‘Staff of Qa-Len” having the ability to call down the power of the sun. Maybe Princess Celestia left that as a backup plan in case the Legion couldn’t be defeated by normal means? This is all very interesting. Well, I have to write a report about this to the princess. I’ll be sure to mention how helpful you were.”
Empress Lei-Qo sat in meditation, as she had since the strange flash of light the previous day. Suddenly, one of her personal guard knocked on the door.
“Forgive the intrusion, Empress,” the assault vet said, “Brigadier Betty is contacting us over the radio, asking for you.”
“I figured it was only a matter of time.” The Empress sighed. “I only hope the Brigadier has good news.”
A few minutes later, Lei-Qo sat down at the radio. “Hello, Brigadier Betty,” she said simply.
“Good evening, Empress. I have some intel on what happened yesterday. General Herman gave me the go-ahead to tell you before high command contorts it.”
“Very well.” Lei-Qo smiled. “What news is there of the flash of light?”
“Well, I’m not sure what caused the flash, but there is an entire continent sitting in the middle of the ocean where it appeared. When my squad and I got there yesterday, we were greeted by a pegasus with a rainbow mane. She flew off rather quickly, though. When we landed, she came back with a few of her friends. I spoke to one of them, a purple unicorn, who called the land Equestria. She mentioned a pair of princesses - Celestia and Luna - who control the sun and moon, though apparently there was a falling-out between the two a thousand years ago. When I mentioned the Solar Empire, she said that she had read about it in a book of myths. She also showed me her national symbol, which bore a striking resemblance to the Empire’s. I was wondering if any of this would sound familiar to you.”
Empress Lei-Qo sat in silence for a minute. “I do remember the legend of the regal sisters,” she finally said. “They were named Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. An unexplained rift formed between the two, and Luna was banished from the land. There are no descriptions of the sisters, however, so I assumed them to be humans, possibly the ancestors of the Solar Empire royal family and Lord Ferrok, respectively. However, if these princesses are the same as those in the legend, then I can assume that more of the Empire’s legends might hold clues to recent events.”
“That’s good to know,” Betty replied. “By the way, I let the unicorn, named Twilight Sparkle, take an old spare radio and transmitter. It’s tuned to one hundred and ninety megahertz, if you want to contact them yourself.”
“Thank you, Brigadier Betty. I may do so in the morning.” Lei-Qo turned off the radio and turned to her guard. “ I shall retire to the library for tonight. Have my personal transport helicopter ready to fly tomorrow morning. I intend to talk to Princess Celestia myself.”
6:00 AM, January 17; Canterlot Palace
Princess Celestia smiled. She had just finished raising the sun on Equestria’s second full day in this world, and already Twilight had gathered a fair amount of information on the humans surrounding them. The scroll Twilight had sent her contained good news, too: The Iron Legion was gone, and peace stood in its place. What’s more, her old ally, the Solar Empire, still ruled over the southern islands.
All that, and breakfast, too? Celestia sniffed the air. She could tell by the scent wafting from the kitchens that today’s would be very pleasant, indeed. She sighed contently. While she did eat on a regular basis, it wasn’t often that such news made its way to her so soon before chocolate pancakes, one of her favorite breakfasts.
Passing by the balcony overlooking the courtyard, she heard a strange, rhythmic sound coming from the south. Pausing to look out, Celestia noticed a small dot on the horizon, gradually growing larger. It looked like it was headed straight for Canterlot.
Celestia turned to a nearby servant. “Send word to the kitchens,” she said. “Breakfast is going to be delayed. They should make extra pancakes. Oh, and tell Captain Shining Armor that we are going to have guests arriving soon. He should see them in safely, but no more than that.”
“At once, your highness.” The servant bowed, then rushed out of the room.
6:30 AM; above Canterlot
Empress Lei-Qo looked out of the window, amazed. This city seemed physically impossible, but she was the first human to look upon its beauty in two hundred years. Well, besides the pilot, that is. The castle that stood above it was even more magnificent. It would only be another few minutes before the transport would land in the courtyard.
Suddenly, two ponies flew up from nearby spires. It seemed that they would have an escort the rest of the way.
Landing in the courtyard, they were quickly surrounded by ponies of all three types. As Lei-Qo stepped out of the transport, a unicorn with a captain’s insignia stepped up to meet her. “Follow me,” he said, then turned and walked into the palace. Looking at the pilot, Lei-Qo nodded, and then followed the unicorn.
He led her through a few corridors, the smell of chocolate growing stronger with every step. After short while, she found herself in a dining room. At the other end of the table sat the most regal-looking pony she had ever seen. Lei-Qo knew at once this must be Princess Celestia.
The alicorn motioned to an empty seat by her side. “Please, sit,” she said. “We have much to discuss. I hope you like pancakes.”
Celestia smiled. “You must be the Empress of the Solar Empire, correct?”
“Yes,” the human said. “I am Empress Lei-Qo. You might remember my thrice-great grandmother, Empress Qa-Len. If the legends are true, she and you formed a great alliance against the Iron Legion.”
“Ah, so this world does remember me.” Celestia’s smile widened as fond memories beckoned. “Yes, I remember Qa-Len. She was a great leader, and an even greater friend. It was obvious to me that you are her descendant the moment you walked into the room; you are nearly a mirror image of her. Why, we sat in this very room, in these same chairs, many times. Most of the time there was talk of peace for the world. It is unfortunate that the last time we talked, it was of war.”
Celestia noticed Lei-Qo had not yet touched her food. “Eat, Empress. In Equestria, it is acceptable to eat and listen at the same time. In fact, it is sometimes considered rude for a guest to not eat the meal a host has provided them. I could understand if you were served hay or flowers, but these are high quality pancakes, digestible by all who have visited Canterlot.”
The Empress hesitated just a moment, but quickly picked up her fork and knife. As she took a bite, both rulers smiled. “Delicious,” Lei-Qo said, after finishing the morsel. “Tell me, do you know of the Staff of Qa-Len?”
Celestia’s face darkened for a second. “I do,” she said. “It was to be a last resort against Lord Ferrok, only to be used if all else failed. It was a testament to cooperation between our kinds. While it was forged by the greatest pony smiths of the time, it was made so that only a human could fully access its power. The most powerful battle mages poured their energy and knowledge into it, yet it was tuned to the frequency of a Solar Empire grunt’s weapon. Finally, I granted it a measure of my power, to call down the wrath of the sun. Like humans and ponies alike, each measure alone would not be enough to turn the tide of the war; together it was unstoppable. I assume it was, unfortunately, used?”
Empress Lei-Qo nodded. “It was the deciding factor in the final battle. The Staff was placed upon the Iron Tower and activated. The entire Iron Legion was destroyed in one fatal blow. The Staff Bearer and his squad are immortalized in a statue in the Imperial Palace. My ancestor then hid the Staff in a crevice in what is now the northern Tundran Territories. Recently, it was found and used again.”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “Tell me of the events that led to the Staff being used again,” she requested.
“Well,” Lei-Qo began, “it all started less than a year ago. Perhaps six months. The Tsar of Tundra, Tsar Gorgi, launched an attack on the Frontier, a few days after he stepped down. When the Frontier appeared to be winning, he asked Kaiser Vlad of Xylvania for assistance. The Kaiser, instead, launched an attack on both nations. After thwarting Xylvania’s attempt to gain control of the nerocite-laden Dune Sea, the Frontier came to the Solar Empire for additional assistance, only to find the Kaiser had launched an attack on us, too. After liberating the southern islands, we then launched an attack on Xylvania itself. One of the commanding officers, Countess Ingrid, revived the Iron Legion, but was defeated, and the Cenotaph destroyed, in the Crater of the Sun. The Frontier then launched an attack on the Vladstag itself, unfortunately failing to apprehend the Kaiser.”
“About two weeks ago,” the Empress continued, “rumor spread of the Empire creating a super weapon. Another nation, the Anglo Isles, attacked us in hopes of finding and destroying it. They were repelled, and my lieutenant launched a counter-attack, dragging Tundra into the conflict, and out of their homeland. When the counter-attack failed, the Kaiser revealed himself, claiming to have found the Staff’s resting place. The Alliance of Nations that then formed launched an all-out attack on his mining spider. However, we were a little too late. Vlad claimed the Staff and activated it, escaping into the crevice.”
“Hmm…” Celestia lost herself in thought. After a minute, she asked, “What became of the Kaiser?”
Lei-Qo took another bite, then said, “I am not certain. As far as I know, he and his underling Ubel are still stuck in the crevice.”
“Perhaps, with the new Tsar’s permission, I could take a look,” Celestia said. “It would be best to know for certain.”
“Indeed,” Lei-Qo agreed.
From there, the conversation devolved into small talk about the ruling of a nation, the history between the two nations, and of course, the wonderful weather Canterlot was enjoying this time of year.
7:00 AM; Northeast of Manehattan
The radio crackled. “Come in, Kommander. Do you copy?”
“Yes sir,” the pilot replied.
“What is your position?”
“Approaching unknown landmass. Bombs are ready to be dropped.”
“Good. Proceed.”
7:05; Manehattan
“Pinkie, why are we here again?” Twilight asked. “And why are we in such a hurry?”
“Well, everything was happening at once. My tail was twitching, my ears were flopping, and everything else was going,” Pinkie said. “Something big is going to happen soon, and it’s going to happen here. Come on, we have to get to the harbor!”
“Wow. Never known Pinkie Sense to freak out like that,” Rainbow said.
Galloping behind the pink pony, Twilight heard a strange buzzing noise coming from over the ocean. She could see a… something in the sky, getting closer to the city.
Within minutes, it was upon them. Twilight saw something on the underside open.
“Bombs away,” the pilot’s voice came over the radio.
“Good. The plan proceeds as expected,” Kaiser Vlad said. “Come back to base. One bombing should be enough to send this inferior species running for the hills. Then, we will be free to strip this new land of anything valuable, and turn it against our foes.”
7:08; Manehattan
As the objects that fell out of the flying machine hit the ground, they exploded.
“Bombs! We’re being attacked!” various ponies nearby shouted, panicking.
Twilight quickly cast up a shield, protecting her and her friends from harm. The ponies surrounding them weren’t as lucky. While most were able to dive out of the way, there were a few hurt by the blast. As the dust settled, Twilight rushed to inspect the damage.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. The shop windows were shattered, and the road was wrecked, true, but nopony was seriously injured. No buildings had collapsed either. All told, it was more of a shock that anyone would dare attack Equestria than anything else.
Twilight pulled a scroll out of her saddlebags and wrote a quick letter to the princess explaining what had just happened. She then wrote “URGENT” on the front. “Rainbow, I need you to take this to Princess Celestia as quickly as possible,” she said. Rainbow Dash saluted, then flew off with a sound like a clap of thunder. Then, there was a flash of light, and everything went black.
7:50; Canterlot Palace
Shining Armor looked up from his conversation with the human that was still in the courtyard. He could swear he heard somepony shouting his name. A second later, Rainbow Dash landed next to him with a loud “THUD”, holding a scroll in her teeth. She spat it at him.
“You need to get this to Princess Celestia,” she said. “Manehattan’s been attacked.”
Shining’s eyes widened. Picking the scroll up with his magic, he easily recognized his sister’s writing. He ran into the castle.
In the dining room, Princess Celestia and Empress Lei-Qo were just wrapping up their conversation when the captain of the guard barged in. “Princess,” he said, “there is dire news!”
“About Prince Blueblood?” Princess Celestia asked. “If so, you know where it goes.” She motioned toward the fireplace.
Shining shook his head, levitating the scroll over to her. “It’s from Manehattan. Your protégé wrote it.”
The blue aura around the scroll was quickly replaced by gold as Princess Celestia opened the letter. “What was Twilight doing in Manehattan?” she wondered aloud. “Oh… oh no. This is not good.” Looking up, she ordered, “Captain Armor, rally the guard and make for Manehattan. I shall join you shortly.” Looking at her guest she asked, “What nation unites under this crest?” She pointed to a rough drawing on the scroll.
Lei-Qo gasped. “That is the symbol of Xylvania,” she informed Celestia. “Either another Kaiser has been crowned, or Vlad has escaped and returned to his homeland.”
“I see,” Celestia said. “So, Equestria is under attack once again. Empress, will you honor the old alliance?”
“I shall,” Lei-Qo replied. “I will also see if any of the newer nations will join in the eventual retaliatory attack.”
Celestia frowned for a second. “I wasn’t planning on retaliating yet. The safety of my little ponies must come first. I hope you understand.”
Empress Lei-Qo nodded. “I shall contact my troops. You can expect a battalion from the Solar Empire in a few hours.”
Celestia nodded in return. “Thank you, but it may not be necessary. If I know Discord, he’ll be there already. The royal guards are just for cleaning up the mess.”
8:00; Manehattan
“Can’t a draqueonus get any sleep around here?” Discord asked. “I mean, seriously. I go to sleep in Canterlot, and my natural affinity for chaos drags me all the way to… where am I? Manehattan? Huh, I thought I’d be in Ponyville.” Looking out into the harbor, he asked, “What are those? Ships of some sort? Hmm, they don’t look like pony ships, so I guess Celestia wouldn’t mind me checking them out.”
Flying out into the harbor, Discord heard a strange buzzing coming from his fang. “Is that filling picking up radio signals again?” he asked nopony in particular. “It’s not even music.”
Focusing on the buzzing, Discord could make out about half the words. “The city of Manehattan… under attack… Xylvania… Bombers… warships… all forces, engage…”
“Well, that’s a strange accent,” Discord said. Puffing out his chest, he added, “But my nation is under attack! And it is my duty to defend it! Oh, this is going to be fun.” He laughed maniacally, something he hadn’t done since he had last been sealed in stone.
8:15; Manehattan harbor
Twilight assessed her surroundings. First and foremost, she could see that she was surrounded by barbed wire, which seemed to be ringed with explosive barrels. Outside of that, she could see a few humans, dressed in a hideous combination of blue and purple, as well as a pair of large turtle-like wagons. Rarity would be sick just looking at them.
Speaking of her friends, she was glad that Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were still safe in Ponyville. Rainbow, she assumed, was in Canterlot, having delivered the message to Princess Celestia. As for Pinkie Pie, well, that mare couldn’t be caught if she didn’t want to be.
Twilight cast a tracking spell. It seemed Pinkie was in the same building, but for the life of her, Twilight couldn’t tell where. That didn’t worry her, though. What did was the fact that the tracking spell also produced light, which alerted one of the humans.
“Whatever you’re doing, stop it immediately!” the human shouted, leveling its weapon at her. Twilight ceased the spell, shutting the light from her horn off. “That’s better,” the human growled.
Thinking of her options, Twilight reasoned that she could teleport away from the humans quickly enough. Those… what did Rainbow call her turtle? Tank? Those two tanks could be quite a problem, though. She might have enough power to destroy them, and render any humans piloting them useless, but it might be a stretch. Suddenly, she noticed Pinkie climb out of a flowerpot nearby. After a quick exchange in sign language, they had come to an agreement: Pinkie would take out the guards, while Twilight would destroy the tanks. Gathering her power for two large blasts, Twilight blew her prison wide open.
“KABOOM!” The barrels around Twilight’s improvised prison exploded, taking the barbed wire with them. As her guards turned to look at her, Pinkie snuck up from behind, whacking one over the head with the flowerpot she had hidden in. She then turned and bucked the second, sending him flying into the third. The third human wildly fired his weapon into the air, completely missing everything. Twilight unleashed all the magic she had stored in two simple blasts, sending the tanks flying end over end, through the wall and into the harbor.
As Twilight took a second to recover, Pinkie looked at her, amazed. “What?” Twilight asked, looking at her. Pinkie pointed to the two gaping holes. “Oh… wow,” Twilight said. “I didn’t know I had that much power.” She looked at the guard that had fired into the air. Since he was still conscious, Twilight cast a small sleeping spell. “What happened earlier? I remember Rainbow leaving, then I woke up here.”
“One of these guys whacked you in the head with his weapon, and you blacked out,” Pinkie explained. “They then dragged you to this warehouse, congratulating each other on the first P.O.W.”
“P.O.W.? As in prisoner of war?” Twilight asked. “That would mean that these guys are from Xylvania, and they‘re invading. That’s not good, to say the least. I hope Princess Celestia got my message.”
“I’m sure she did,” Pinkie reassured. “Now, let’s go. We have to be out of here before reinforcements arrive.”
Turning around, Twilight noticed a huge tank blocking their path. “To late for that, little ponies,” one of the three humans on the outside of it said.
Suddenly, the tank turned into a stack of cards, which then blew away in the wind. The former tank pilot, as well as the three other humans, looked down, started to flail their arms, and fell to the ground. As a shadow passed overhead, Twilight looked up.
“Discord!” she shouted. “I never thought I’d say this, but am I glad to see you.”
“Well, hello to you, too, Twilight,” Discord said. “I see you did a fine number on this warehouse without me, though I assume you appreciate my help there.”
Twilight sighed. “Yes, thank you. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
“Oh, I’m sure you would have found the strength to twist the barrels together, or something like that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, that ship out there,” he pointed to a ship firing rockets at them randomly, “is really starting to annoy me. I think I’m going to turn it into a rubber duck.” He cackled and flew away.
“I was right when telling Brigadier Betty about him,” Twilight told Pinkie Pie. “He really is scary when he gets riled up. I’m glad he’s on our side.”
“Yeah,” Pinkie replied. “How far can you teleport us? I want to get far away from him as quickly as possible. Who knows what he’ll do if he gets shot?”
Twilight retreated within herself, trying to find any scrap of magic. “I can’t,” she said. “I used to much magic blasting those tanks.” Levitating one of the nearby weapons, she added, “This is about all I can do right now. It’ll take about an hour for my magic to recharge.”
Pinkie picked up another one of the weapons. “Well, we’ll just have to fight our way out, then.”
Twilight blanched. “I don’t want to hurt them,” she protested.
Pinkie put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “I know,” she said. “We don’t have any other choice, though. If it makes you feel better, you can just aim for their legs.” They looked up as a large duck made of rubber flew overhead. “Whatever you want to do, do it fast, because this is getting weird.”
“Right,” Twilight said. “We run that way,” she pointed towards the center of town, “and incapacitate any humans in blue. We then take their weapons, and give them to other ponies so that they can protect themselves. If we can get enough ponies to follow us, we can hold out in the town square until the Royal Guard gets here, or until Discord is done, whichever comes first.”
“Sounds good,” Pinkie said. “Let’s go.”
10:00; Manehattan
Twilight was having the time of her life. While it did pain her to hurt all these humans, she knew that Pinkie was right. Besides, they were the invaders, and it was her job as a Bearer of Harmony to do her best to repel them. At this point, she was running on pure adrenaline, with an extra kick from her magic. She had about ten human weapons floating around her, a few of each type, and she had figured out the most effective way to use each of them. Behind her was a small squad of civilians that had chosen to fight with her.
Twilight looked behind her. Pinkie wasn’t there; she must have run off again. That didn’t matter. Pinkie was a full-grown mare, so she could take care of herself. Besides, they had agreed on meeting at the center of town as soon as possible.
Thinking of the center of town, it was within sight. Unfortunately, there was a patrol of Xylvanians in the way. What’s more, they had a large tank with them. They didn’t seem to want to move.
Twilight turned to the ponies behind her. “You two,” she pointed at a pair of unicorns levitating bazookas, “concentrate your fire on that tank. The rest of you, take down those soldiers. On three, everypony. One… two…”
Twilight never got to three. An even larger tank rolled up and shelled the first tank, destroying it in one shot. Seeing this, the other soldiers decided to run. The hatch popped open.
“Twilight!” Pinkie shouted. “Hey, Twilight, I hijacked a battlestation!”
Twilight was flabbergasted. She felt like asking, “Why?” or “How?” Instead, she just took a deep breath, exhaled, and said to herself, “It’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.” She then noticed the battalion of Royal Guards assembled behind the battlestation, led by none other than the princess herself.
“Princess!” Twilight shouted, dropping the weapons she had held afloat. She started crying as she ran to her mentor’s side.
“Oh, Princess Celestia,” Twilight sobbed, “thank goodness you’re here.” She collapsed against her teacher’s side. “It’s been so crazy ever since I got off the train.”
Celestia rested her wing over Twilight’s back. “Tell me what happened, Twilight. I’m here for you.” Turning to Shining Armor, she ordered, “You go on ahead, and do whatever needs to be done. We will be fine here.”
As the Guard ran off, Twilight looked at Pinkie, her eyes begging her friend to stay. In response, Pinkie nodded, then hopped back into the battlestation to provide additional protection.
As Twilight filled Celestia in on what had happened ever since the bombing, the princess did nothing but sit and listen quietly. At the end of Twilight’s story, she said, “Twilight, look at me.” Once the unicorn did so, Celestia continued. “I’m proud of what you did today. I’ve lived thousands of years, through many wars, both here in Equestria and elsewhere. I can honestly say that it is very rare that a pony will step up and do what you did today. From what I was told earlier today, the standard practice, even among humans, is to just surrender and sit on one’s rear once one is captured. You escaped, and helped free other ponies. You did what had to be done, and for that, I thank you.”
A duck landed in front of the pair. Celestia was mildly surprised to see that it was completely rubber. It quacked, and the princess laughed. “I see Discord sends his regards as well.”
Twilight wiped her eyes. “But, I hurt all those humans,” she said.
Celestia just smiled. “You had to. In this kind of situation, you absolutely had to. Not just for your sake, but for the fate of all of Equestria, if not the world. What would happen if the Element of Magic fell in battle?”
Twilight frowned. “The Elements of Harmony would be shattered, and chaos would reign. Same as if any of the other Elements died an unnatural death. But Princess, this isn’t just about that. It’s about me throwing all my morals aside and enjoying myself in the heat of battle.”
“Did you really abandon your morals, Twilight? What were you fighting for?”
“My safety, and the safety of those around me.”
“Right,” Celestia said. “As for enjoying yourself in battle, well, that’s in your blood. Your family has always been warriors. Why, your great-great-great grandfather was my most trusted lieutenant in the war against the Iron Legion. He was a great tactician, and a masterful leader too. You truly remind me of him. Above all else, however, he was a great friend, just like you.”
Twilight stared at Princess Celestia in awe as her words sunk in. “You consider me your friend?” Twilight asked.
Celestia nodded. “One of the best I’ve ever had. I’m proud to have taught you, and proud to have watched you grow from a young filly to what you are today.”
“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight said.
“Now, Twilight,” Celestia said, “I want you to pick up those weapons and go join the Royal Guard. Every pony fighting helps. I will join Discord in destroying the Xylvanian fleet, if he isn’t done already.”
“Yes Princess.” Turning to the battlestation, she whistled. “Come on Pinkie, it’s time to go!” Twilight shouted.
10:30; Manehattan
Twilight looked up into the sky. She heard a sound sort of like Pinkie’s gyrocopter, as well as a steady rushing noise akin to the Wonderbolts flying. The two sounds were getting louder, coming from the east. To Twilight’s relief, the aerial transports that soon came into sight were painted the familiar green of the Western Frontier. As they landed, Frontier soldiers jumped out, in addition to a large tank. It wasn’t quite as big as Pinkie’s battlestation, though. One soldier presented Twilight with a radio.
“Come in Equestria,” the radio crackled. “This is Colonel Austin.”
The soldier pressed a button and held the microphone up to Twilight. “Hello, Colonel,” Twilight said. “This is Twilight Sparkle. Thanks for the reinforcements.”
“Good to know we’re not late to the party,” Austin said. “When the radar picked up a large Xylvanian force on the move, we decided to follow.
“Sorry to burst your bubble,” Pinkie began, having hopped out of the battlestation, “but this battle’s been going on for hours. Also, we have two gods fighting for us now. You’re a little late. Besides, most of the invaders have retreated already.” Looking out into the harbor, she laughed, adding, “Discord just turned one of their naval transports into a huge banana. That’s hilarious.”
Twilight winced. “I don’t know why, but Princess Celestia just slapped him. That looks like it’ll hurt for a while.”
“Hmm… that’s disappointing,” Colonel Austin said. “Anyway, there is a large shipment of Frontier weaponry incoming on your position. General Herman is coming along. He intends to train you to use them effectively. I would pay close attention to what he has to say. He may seem eccentric at times, but he is a great military mind.”
“Thank you Colonel, but I don’t see the point of arming ponies with human weapons,” Twilight protested.
Pinkie nudged her friend. “You’ve been using human weapons for a while now. And that battlestation is awesome.”
“You will need human weaponry to combat Xylvania on even terms,” Austin explained. “I assume your leaders are already planning a counter-attack.”
“Actually, no,” Twilight admitted. “Unless Princess Celestia can plan and fight at the same time. She’s currently chasing the last of the Xylvanians out of the harbor. I doubt Discord plans anything, and Princess Luna is probably asleep right now.”
“Very well. In that case, please extend an invitation for Princess Celestia to the Frontier command center on my behalf. In the meantime, these soldiers are under your command, Twilight. I’ve heard good things about you from the Brigadier.”
“Thank you Colonel. However, I’m sure the Princess would prefer the meeting be held in Canterlot.”
“Actually,” Princess Celestia’s voice came from behind, “I would prefer the meeting be held in Ponyville. I shall give General Herman the requisite information when he arrives.”
“What in the name of…” General Herman gaped. “How is that city not falling down?” He gazed at Canterlot, amazed that it seemed to not just defy physics, but casually flip it an obscene gesture as well.
“According to the intel we received from Empress Lei-Qo,” a mortar veteran explained, “that city’s been standing for about a thousand years now. If what the Brigadier said is true, then it’s probably held up by magic. If so, whichever pony holds it up must be pretty powerful.”
“You don’t say,” Herman whistled. “Well, it’s a good thing we’re helping these ponies. According to them, the entire Xylvanian invasion force was pushed back in a matter of hours. In addition, the boys from Fort Omaha said one of them even learned to pilot a battlestation in the heat of combat.”
Suddenly, there was a flash of light outside the helicopter, and a dark blue pony appeared. Herman, having trained himself to recognize important people at a glance, assumed this was one of the princesses. Looking at her flank, he decided that this must be Princess Luna.
When she opened her mouth, the transport experienced some strong turbulence. However, the General could definitely make out the words “Follow me” in the wind. Princess Luna then sped towards the center of the city.
“Well, what are you waiting for, soldier?” Herman demanded of the pilot. “Follow that alicorn!”
Minutes later, they touched down in the castle’s courtyard, alongside a single Solar Empire transport. Empress Lei-Qo and Princess Luna were waiting for them.
“Empress!” Herman shouted as he stepped out of the transport. “It’s good to see a friendly face here!”
“Likewise, General,” Lei-Qo responded. “However, I think you will find most of Equestria hospitable. The residents of this castle, for example, have been very accommodating while their daytime princess has been away.”
“Indeed,” Luna agreed. “However, I doubt the nobles will be quite as complacent once Day Court starts.” Looking at the position of the sun, she sighed. “It seems I must take my sister’s place for today. A pity; I was looking forward to a day’s rest.” Turning back to Herman, she said, “The Royal Guard should be back in an hour or so, according to Celestia. In the meantime, I advise you to prepare your training program. When my sister returns, she will expect you to come with her to Ponyville for a strategy conference.”
Herman whistled to his troops. “Well, you heard the princess,” he shouted. “Get this stuff set up, pronto!”
3:00; on the train to Ponyville
Herman gawked at Pinkie Pie. If Canterlot was giving physics an obscene gesture, she had kicked it in the hypothetical genitalia. With considerable force. Repeatedly.
Turning to the white alicorn that sat beside him, he asked, “Why a small town like Ponyville? Why not Canterlot, the core of your military power?”
Celestia laughed. “You wouldn’t understand, General, but Ponyville is the center of Equestria’s military power. It’s the home of six of the ten most important beings in Equestria.”
“Who are the other four?” Lei-Qo inquired.
“Well,” Celestia said, “There’s me and my sister, as well as our niece, Princess Cadence, who resides in the Crystal Empire. And, of course, there’s Discord, who you have already met.”
Herman looked at the draqueonus and shuddered. He was even worse to physics than Pinkie was. “Charmed,” Herman said simply. Discord smiled. “So, are these six ponies strong? Or are they just influential?”
“Both,” Celestia said. “Actually, not all of them are particularly strong, but each has a particular talent that sets them apart from most other ponies. You’ve obviously met Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, and can guess what sets them apart. In addition, there’s Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity. I’ll let you get to know them in your own time, though I’m sure Rarity will have something to say about your uniform. Just know this: all of them are just as experienced in combat as most of the Royal Guard, in their own way. I trust them explicitly in most every matter. Especially so since Twilight was more perceptive than I at the royal wedding.”
Twilight, who was sitting across from them, blushed. “Everypony makes mistakes, Princess. Even you. I’m just glad it was fixed before the changelings took over.”
The conversation settled into awkward silence for a while, until Discord whispered something in Pinkie’s ear. “I would,” Pinkie laughed, “but we’re pulling into the station now.” True enough, they were.
Celestia led the group off the train and towards the center of town. She ushered Herman and Lei-Qo into a tree with a door on it. Stepping inside, the humans noticed it was a library. Twilight and Pinkie walked, or bounced, in Pinkie’s case, into the library behind them.
Twilight levitated the radio Betty had given her onto the table. Herman tuned it to the frequency that he and Marshal Nova had agreed upon earlier. “Come in, Tundra,” he spoke into the microphone.
“Yes, Herman, I am here,” the Marshal replied. “Are we ready for the meeting?”
“Not quite yet,” Princess Celestia said. Sitting down, she spoke to the room at large. “We are still waiting for four of the Bearers of Harmony. As soon as they get here, we can discuss the retaliation.” Throwing open a window, she corrected herself. “Make that three,” she said, as Rainbow crashed into the ground, Twilight throwing her a dirty look.
“Can’t you use the front door like a regular pony?” Twilight asked.
“Of course I can,” Rainbow said. “I just choose not to. Besides, the others are on their way.” There was a knock at the library’s front door. “That would be them.”
Celestia opened the door to reveal the three remaining Bearers standing outside. “Come in,” she told them. “We’re just about to start."
The two sides stared at each other uncomfortably. An awkward silence hung between them, broken only by the occasional cough. Somewhere nearby, a cricket chirped.
Suddenly, one of the Frontier flame vets leaned over to his neighbor, a grunt. “You owe me thirty dollars,” the vet said. “I told you unicorns are real.” The grunt growled, pulled a small stack of cash from his pack, and handed it to the vet. This drew a chuckle from a few of the ponies, and a more than a few humans.
Once the laughter died down, Shining Armor stepped forward, the tension now broken. “All wagers aside,” he said, “you were sent here to train us to use human weaponry proficiently, correct?”
“Yes,” one of the assault vets said, taking charge while General Herman was away. “Now, how many of you can hold a gun?”
“Just us unicorns,” Shining said. “We can use our telekinesis. If my sister earlier today was any proof, the stronger ones should be able to hold two or more.”
“Well, that’s fine,” the assault vet said. “We were anticipating having to modify everything anyway. This just makes it easier on the engineers. I’m guessing the pegasi are natural flyboys?”
Shining nodded. “They may not be the fastest, but my soldiers are completely comfortable at any altitude. There’s also the Wonderbolts, Princess Celestia’s honor guard, who also double as a stunt team.”
“Right then, I guess you guys get the aerial vehicles. That leaves the ground vehicles to the rest of you. Unicorns to the firing range, everyone else to the simulators.”
3:15 PM; Ponyville Library
“Empress, are you sure the Staff is secure?” Herman asked. “I have a feeling that that’s going to be Xylvania’s first objective, now that their invasion of Equestria has been turned aside.”
“I an absolutely sure, General,” Lei-Qo said. “I carry one of the two existing keys to the vault it is stored in. The other is sealed in a hidden bunker, deep in the heart of the Dune Sea. I am certain that Xylvania does not yet know of its location.”
Twilight grimaced. “Why go to such lengths to protect something so dangerous? Wouldn’t it be easier to just destroy the Staff?”
Celestia shook her head. “You don’t understand, Twilight. The Staff was built to resist the power of the sun. There’s only one thing that can destroy it, or, rather, thirteen things.”
“The Elements of Harmony and their Bearers, as well as a large explosion?” Twilight guessed.
“Not exactly,” Celestia said. “The Elements were used to create the Staff, so they can’t destroy it by themselves. It’ll take a balance of harmony and chaos to destroy it.”
“So, what do we need to do?” Discord asked. “Blast the darned thing with my power and the Elements at the same time?”
“I wish it were that simple,” Celestia replied, the room now rapt with attention. “While you were sitting in the gardens for however long it was, I decided to siphon off some of your power. It-”
“Wait, just a second,” Discord interrupted. “You did what? And how did you do it? Most importantly, why?”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “I did exactly what I said. I took some of your power. I’m not going into how, but this was after I banished Luna. I lost my connection to the Elements, but I knew that others would eventually be found. Therefore, I wanted a measure of chaos, just in case the next set of Bearers decided to try to overthrow me. I was distraught, and the nobles of the time were ruthless. Anyway, as I was saying, the pure chaos I drained from you crystalized. It formed seven large gems, each a different color, though all the same size and shape.”
“Why stop at seven?” Lei-Qo asked.
“Well, it just felt right,” Celestia said. “I presume if we could bring all seven Gems of Chaos together with the Elements of Harmony, we can destroy the Staff.”
“Well, that sounds relatively simple.” Herman said. “Where are these gems?”
“That’s the problem,” Celestia sighed. “They are scattered all over the world. I gave them to various settlements for safekeeping. I sent the green and red ones to the west, and the white one to the Solar Empire. The blue one went to a civilization in the Dune Sea, which I believe was conquered by the Iron Legion, and the yellow one I gave to a group of humans to the southeast. One of the others was sent to Vanhoover, while the last was kept in Canterlot.”
“I’m guessing there’s going to be some kind of hitch to collecting these gems,” Herman said. “It can’t be simple.”
Celestia nodded. “The light blue gem in Vanhoover has been passed to the Crystal Empire, and should be relatively simple to collect, but I fear that Chrysalis and the changelings took the purple one. She always was a sucker for big, shiny things. What’s more, I think Xylvania holds the blue gem now.”
“I assume that, as pure chaos without any control,” Nova mused through the radio, “strange things tend to happen around these gems. Am I right?”
“That is correct,” Celestia replied.
“That sounds like the crown jewel of Tundra,” Nova said. “It drove many tsars mad with power before it transformed the crown into a simple hat.”
“You know,” Herman thought aloud, “that does remind me of one of the Frontier’s national treasures. I’ll see if Austin can get it out of the vault.”
“Very well,” Celestia said. “It seems we have come to an agreement. I shall lead a campaign against the changelings. After that, we shall strike at Xylvania.”
As the meeting was adjourned, Spike raced down the stairs and tugged on Twilight’s mane. “I don’t think you’ll need to go very far.”
“Why not?” Twilight asked. Then she heard it. A low buzz, like a fly passing by her ear, gradually growing louder. Looking outside, she noticed ponies running around like mad as what looked like a large, black cloud blotted out the sun.
"So, the swarm approaches," Celestia said. "It looks as though Chrysalis has saved us the trouble of tracking her down."
Herman slammed the radio's switch to "On", tuned the dial, and snatched the mic off the table. "Get every unit down to Ponyville now!" he shouted.
"Princess, we must ensure the safety of the civilians," Lei-Qo said, resting her hand on Celestia's shoulder. “They will be slaughtered if nothing is done.”
“Indeed,” Celestia agreed. “Discord, if Chrysalis does have the Gem of Chaos, it would be wise for you to sit this battle out. There’s no telling how your power will interact with it.”
“Yeah, it might supercharge anything the changelings are using it for,” Discord theorized. “Then again, it might just explode. It pains me to say this, but I think you’re right. I’ll take the non-combatants to the Everfree Forest.”
Twilight thought for a second. “Wouldn’t that lead them into more danger?”
“More? Probably not. Different? Definitely. As long as nothing explodes, I’ll protect them. And I didn’t say they were going willingly, now did I?” With a snap of his talons, he teleported the majority of Ponyville’s population out of the town, along with Rarity and Fluttershy.
“Well, now that that’s taken care of, I’d say it’s clear for a strato destroyer run,” Herman said. Putting some binoculars to his face, he looked in the opposite direction of the swarm. “Yep, we’ve got a squadron of fighters and a destroyer inbound.”
The squadron flew swiftly into view, and the lead fighter launched a missile at the swarm. Unfortunately, a hole opened up, and the missile sailed right through.
“Can the high explosives, soldier!” Herman fumed into the radio. “This is a civilian town we’re defending! Use your machine guns!”
Twilight shrugged. “The town’s seen worse.”
As the aircraft unleashed a hail of bullets, many changelings started to dive to the ground. Many others were not as observant, and were riddled with lead. Entire wings of drones landed around the town, and began searching for something. Twilight assumed they were looking for Celestia, in a bid to capture her and throw the entire kingdom into chaos.
As they approached the library, Lie-Qo and Herman retreated dowstairs, and the ponies girded themselves for battle. The door creaked as a changeling pushed it open. It was met by a buck to the face from Applejack. As it reeled, Rainbow tackled it at full speed, bowling over everything behind it for about twenty feet.
Within seconds, madness broke loose. Celestia launched herself after Rainbow, and the changelings that avoided the two of them crowded into the library. They were met with firm resistance, as the three Bearers fought back. Twilight stood atop the stairs, blasting anything that got close, while Applejack kicked and Pinkie… well, she wasn’t exactly doing much damage to her foes, but she was doing a great job of getting their attention and dodging their attacks.
Slowly but surely, they pushed the changelings out of the library and into the streets. Dragging out the unconscious changelings and barricading the door behind them, the three ponies had a second to look up and see Rainbow, Celestia, and the Frontier aircraft attempting to clear the skies. Glancing to the north, Twilight saw three recon vehicles approaching, scattering changelings as they came.
As the vehicles pulled up alongside the library, two grunts hopped out of each. Twilight heard one’s radio go off; Herman was ordering them to clear a landing zone. As they did, an aerial transport appeared over a nearby hill. Once the grunts cleared enough room, the transport landed, dropping off a squad of assault veterans, who immediately began laying down covering fire.
For a few minutes, the battle raged, the frontier forces staying miraculously unharmed. All of a sudden, the fighting stopped as a large roar came from the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, followed by rhythmic tremors. Looking towards the farm, Twilight saw something she had never wished to see. A gargantuan, purple Ursa came stomping out of the Everfree Forest, determined to join in the battle. With one swipe of its paw, it knocked out an entire field full of changelings.
Riding atop the Ursa was none other than Discord himself. Twilight teleported onto the star bear, and he explained, “I can’t just let you have all the fun. If I can’t use my powers in this battle, I may as well convince others to contribute.”
“An Ursa Major? Really?!” Twilight shouted at him. “Are you trying to destroy the town?”
“Not really, no,” Discord laughed. “I just found the biggest creature around and led it to the edge of the forest. Don’t worry, I’ll reign her in when necessary.”
“Great, we’re relying on your self-control. Ponyville’s doomed.” From her perch atop the Ursa’s head, she gazed out for possibly the last time at the town. The battle had resumed, both sides recovering from the shock of the Ursa’s appearance. One changeling caught her eye, one about twice the size of the others. It had to be Chrysalis. She was standing outside of town hall, presumably barking orders to the swarm.
“Need help getting down?” Rainbow asked, suddenly beside her. As Twilight nodded, the pegasus picked her up and flew her back down to the library to rejoin the rest of the ground-bound forces, who were holding their own. As Rainbow flew away, Twilight released a directed blast of power; smaller then, yet similar to, the spell that had ended the Canterlot invasion. It cleared a path to town hall.
“Chrysalis is that way!” she yelled to the humans. “Remember, we need to capture her alive!” The soldiers acknowledged her, and made a push for the other building. Within a minute, they had surrounded the queen, their weapons pointed at her, and the remaining changelings stopped fighting. The battle was over.
