Chapter 4: The Attack
Crystal Empire, a week after the Ponyville incident. "Is the princess out of the city yet?" "No she wants to get on the last train out" "We can't wait that long we have to move now" "She won't budge" "The enemy will be upon the palace in minutes" "I know"
"Ready bows!" The archers drew back on the bow string. "Fire!" A volley fired into the invading army. The Empire was being invaded by an unknown force that was heartless and merciless. "Ponies! Phalanx formation!" Even with advanced tactics the guards were over powered by their advanced weaponry of strange magical weapons that caused ponies to die when pointed towards them. Princess Candace was watching the battlefield from her balcony in despair. A messenger ran into her bedroom. "Princess! The evacuation is moments for completion we are ready to withdraw from the city" "Excellent. Send word to the soldiers to retreat to the train station" she said flatly "Yes Ma'am" He was gone as soon as he had arrived. "Celesta save us" She mumbled under her breath. The last of the soldiers boarded a train out of the city with Princess Cadence.
After a long train ride the train arrived in Canterlot. The city was over flowing from refugees from the Crystal Empire which upset traffic and put parts of the city at a standstill. Princess Celestia had sent word to the Elements of harmony, her sister Luna, and Shining Armor to assemble at the castle for an emergency summit meeting. They arrived soon after getting the message with Jake in tow as he was now a good friend. At the train station some guards were there to lead them to the palace. They had to push through huge crowds of refugees trying to get where they needed to go. For some reason this seemed to be strangely familiar to Jake. Rainbow Dash noticed he was looking around strangely and facial expression was one of confusion. "Anything wrong Jake?" it took him a second to react "No, no" "Okay then suit yourself" After pushing through the last crowd they walked up the steps to the castle. The escort left to handle the crowds. They arrived in the throne room to see Shining Armor with his wife and Princess Celestia pacing. Luna was no were to be seen. "Welcome girls" Her vision shifted to Jake who was in the back. "Who is this?" she said coldly. "A friend" replied Twilight. "Well he is not welcome to this summit. He will have to wait outside" Shining Armor stepped up. "Princess, He will not be a disturbance and could give advice" Princess Celestia turned to give Shining Armor give him a death stare which caused him to shudder. "Fine. He may stay to listen to the summit meeting" The meeting basically discussed what to do with the refugees and how to handle this new enemy. The refugees would be distributed throughout the land and they would try to take back the Crystal Empire when the time seemed right. The discussions were interrupted by a guard bearing news. "Princesses a flock of strange flying animals has been seen coming towards the city" Celestia gave an annoyed moan. "You, Twilight's friend" Jake turned with an annoyed look. "Yes your highness" "Go find out what's wrong" Jake trotted outside to look. He stood on the balcony and looked out into the distance. He had to squint before he could recognize them. At first he had no idea what he saw but then something in him snapped. He galloped back into the throne room. "I need a telescope. Now!" "There just birds" Celestia retorted. "No there more than birds" She sighed. "There is one in the room to the right behind you" He ran into the room and looked out at the "birds" and his suspicions were confirmed. He burst outside. "You, guard, tell the ponies out there to get into basements, buildings, under benches anything just not in the open" "Excuse me" "Just do it" "You have no authority over me" "Lives are at stake" The guard could detect the sincerity in his voice and complied. The word was passed along and ponies in a half panic found cover not knowing what was going on. Meanwhile in the throne room Shining Armor could see the commotion out the window. "What did that pony do?" he thought to himself. Then the bombs fell. The city shook the tons of explosives dropped on the city. By now the city was in a panic. Anyone caught outside and lucky enough to not get shrapnel in them was running in fear. After the bombing stopped Celestia got up from under the table she had dove under. "Is everypony alright" They all gave a hardy yes except Fluttershy who just cowered in a corner but she was fine. They all rushed outside and looked in awe. Shining Armor kept going down some stairs to rally his men. He ran to the barracks to find it empty of guards and there equipment. He stood confused for a moment until he heard shouting coming from outside. He ran out to see Jake organizing guards and barking orders to set up defenses, calm the populace, and scout the area around the city. Shining Armor didn't know if he should be angry or grateful. "Jake what the hell are you doing?" "Preparing for the airborne assault" "The what?" "Invaders with parachutes will fall from the sky" He just gave him a blank face. After another moment he turned to a lieutenant. "Soldier. Why in the name of Celestia are you following this ponies orders?" "I don't know. He knows what he was doing and seemed like an able leader. He was a fit replacement for you in your absents sir" "Well I'm taking back control. He turned to Jake. "We need to talk" A low buzz could be heard above. "Not again!" somepony yelled. "Take cover!" yelled Shining Armor. "No those aren't bombers. There transport planes" "Wa" "Just take up defensive positions" Green smoke filled clear areas with lots of room. White circles appeared in the sky. "Here they come" "What the hell are you talking about!" Shining Armor was angry at this point and his face showed it. Jake just ignored him. "Lieutenant get you men to the barricades and attack enemies as they land. "Um yes sir" "Disregard that order!" The soldier now had a choice to make and couldn't decide who to follow. Jake turned to Shining Armor with irritation. "Trust me" "Why should I" "I know more about this enemy than you or anyone in this city so I think I know what I'm doing" Shining Armor unable to come up with a good argument backed off.
The royal guard was just able to repel the airborne troops by not letting them pull out there weapons. The few who did caused considerable damage. The failed invasion of Canterlot stopped the advance by the still unknown enemy to a halt. Jake had all the equipment from the soldiers gathered and stockpiled. All prisoners refused to give up information or committed suicide. Jake turned over command to Shining Armor after all the equipment was gathered.
Later that day Shining Armor confronted Jake in a hallway when he was walking to his bedroom. "Jake. Hold it right there" "Jake turned around to see an irritated Shining Armor. "Your sister described you as cool and kind individual. Sure doesn't look like that" "That doesn't matter right now. What I want to know is how you know all that you do" "I don't know how I just do" "You said you don't remember anything before falling into that field" Jake hesitated. "I remember some. But I remembered it all today. I remember fighting, explosions, a trench, planes, and a crash" "I still don't think you are telling me everything" "That's all I remember" "You better tell me. I know your holding something back" He pushed Jake up against a wall. "Well what else do you know?" A flash of color tackled Shining Armor to the ground. It was Rainbow Dash. She just gave him the death stare. "Get off of me" She got of him promptly "Jake are you okay?" "Yes I'm fine" Rainbow Dash turned to Shining Armor. "Don't ever let me caught you doing that again or you will answer to me. Now get out of here!" He left with a grunt. "Thanks Dash" "Its fine" He gave her a quirk hug which caused her to blush and he trotted to his bedroom. Jake was laying in his bed at the palace. His head was filled with thoughts of his past. He could remember war, a small town, the blue sky, and a plane falling. His thoughts eventually went to Rainbow Dash. "Man, she is cute" He stopped that thought. "Did I just say she was cute?" Rainbow Dash was sitting up in her bed. She couldn't get to sleep with all that had happened that day. Her thoughts drifted to Jake. "He's cute" She stopped that thought. "Did I just say he's cute?"
Jake with his new found memories was able to train soldiers to train others how to use the machines dubbed assault rifles by Jake. He showed how the inner workings of the guns were made and factories were built to construct them were erected. The war went to a stalemate for a week of now of just fighting. Back and forth the tide would turn. Still nothing about the enemy was known as they would just kill themselves after capture. One day they just vanished. Gone. Poof. Without a trace. There camps were still intact as was there equipment. Guns lied on the ground as if dropped. The mess tents had trays on tables with food still on them. They left as quickly as they arrived.
Thank you those who have read this far, you clearly want to read more. The story is taking a new turn and I don't know how long it will be from here. I do know that I have a few more sequels after this one so there is more to come.
