open Equestria Forward (Open)

[skbl17 199]

Welcome to Equestria Forward, an open-ended roleplay set in a technologically advanced Equestria! For further information and to register to participate, see the OOC thread!
 
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEE---*click*
 
Compass Meridian rose from his slumber, half-tired and a bit annoyed, as his loud alarm clock put an end to any happy dreams he may have been having. To add to his frustration, today was that day of the week; the one day that he wishes would disappear from existence for all eternity, shortening the length of time it takes for the weekend to arrive by one less annoying day.
 
To most ponies, it was Monday. To him, it was Monday.
 
Still half-asleep, Compass stumbled into his bathroom, cursing both his alarm clock and whatever selfish god had decided to punish him by creating the very concept of Mondays. He brushed his teeth and took a short shower before making breakfast, getting together his stuff, and heading out the front door, where he was immediately greeted by the bright rays of the morning sun. As the AMTA transit bus rounded the corner, he took note of the humidity in the air, the mild temperatures, and the fact that being 1,000 feet above sea level didn't help out with any of that.
 
As the bus came to a stop and opened the door, allowing him to board, Compass had but one thought. Summertime in Applelanta. It's humid, it's hot, I've only been out for five minutes, and I already want to go home.
 
The doors closed, and the bus sped off.

[FancyHorse 1,209]

Ahaban groaned... A similar routine. He sat up in his bed in his complex at the Headquarter offices of the Equestrian Strategies Corp in Appleanta, a private security and (as the name adds) contractors force.

He looked across the dim lit room to his mirror.

 

His eyes heavy for countless restless nights, never feeling his satisfaction of sleep, or desire. A troubled stallion he is...

 

There was a knock at his door.

" أخي، هل أنت مستيقظا؟ ?" A familiar voice asked in his native tongue.

" سأكون مستعدا. " Ahaban spoke, approaching to his desk he retrieves his leather combat vest, equipping it, the ESC Emblem displayed upon his forehoof pad.

 

Wrapping his,shemagh around his neck he exits to meet with his fellow countrypony and relative, Ismael Thunderhoof, an Earth pony.

 

" بعد قائمة الانتظار لدينا لدينا أخيرا عقود سرد. " Ismael spoke, Ahaban simply nods in reply as they make their way to the elevator.

Edited December 10, 2014 by IllusivePony

[Driz 1,552]

As the morning arrived in the prosperous city of Applelanta, from her hotel room's window, Celestial Sun watched the streets down below beginning to swarm with ponies like every day. She rested her head on top of her crossed front hooves that laid on the window stool while her half-shut, tired eyes spectated everything with a hint of curiosity. Followed by yet another sleepless night, yet another week had begun.

 

With a somewhat melancholic sigh, Celes unhurriedly left the hotel and walked outside, carrying along a small saddlebag. While her parents were out of town (their jobs hadn't been very merciful for the past few days), the young unicorn's routine consisted mainly of taking care of the family’s local store: entitled the 'Tropicala Goods'. Applelanta was a famous city, having tourism as its main form of sustainability. Even if as small as a convenience store, running a business in there was of rather importance for those who struggled to make a living. Calm and peaceful, Celes kept walking down the sidewalk, accompanied by the noise of many different car engines and the frenetic chitchatting of the residents and visitors alike.

 

"It’s hot today..." A single thought ran by her mind, not taking her focus out of the walk towards the work she had to do. As she turned the corner at the end of the street, Celes approached the Tropicala Goods building and promptly began searching through her saddlebag for the door keys, slowing down her pace as she did so.

 

[FancyHorse 1,209]

Ahaban's current contract was of the Foreign Administrations Office. His goal was simple, provide security detail. Sounds simple, not quite so with the Equestrian public upset over the decision of the Royal Princess to agree to the end foreign trade tariffs of Saddle Arabia in exchange for the continued oil supply trade.

Some journalists call it a bribery by the major oil companies needing the oil for trade. Some protests have began most have been kept peaceful but recently, death threats have been starting to surface.

 

Ready in their armored vehicle, the two Arabian ponies along with fellow grunts depart out to the Administration office.

[skbl17 199]

Fifty minutes later, Compass arrived at the Granite Street subway station. He noticed how much the station had changed since he graduated from secondary school three months earlier; previously, the station was a microcosm of the subway system in general: seedy, unreliable, and crime-ridden. It was shameful, and even he had some close calls with some thugs in the past.

 

He never thought he'd ever use the subway again, but two factors drove his decision. First, the Applelanta Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMTA) had hired a new general manager, and his first act was to launch the harshest crackdown on crime the agency had ever seen. Since then, passengers have noted a major improvement in service, and there are police officers everywhere.

 

The second factor: he was running late. The bus broke down not far from the station, but the accident delayed everypony's trip by twenty minutes. If he was going to be at class on time, he had no choice but to use the AMTA subway. With all the reliability improvements and the presence of police, he didn't think he had anything to worry about.

 

After paying for a preloaded Gallop fare card, Compass made his way through the turnstiles and into the secure area of the station. Things were going well, he thought he would actually make it...that is, until he saw a large crowd of passengers looking at pictures from a large television screen. It looked as if the screen was tuned to Channel One, but something was off. Normally around this time, Channel One would be broadcasting PBE's morning show, Sunrise in Equestria, complete with the hosts' creepy smiles and overly bubbly personalities, laughing and chatting away at the day's events and gossip.

 

Only there wasn't any laughing or mindless banter today. Instead, the usually bubbly hosts were grim-faced and seemingly delivering information in an almost serious and professional manner.

 

As for what they were talking about...

 

...and here's the latest information: we can confirm that a subway train in Applelanta has derailed just west of the downtown area. Neither AMTA, the local transport authority, nor local police can confirm if there are any casua...actually, hold on a moment. PBE News has just learned from AMTA police that the derailment has taken the lives of at least forty riders, with injuries "possibly numbering in the hundreds". The train had departed from the Granite Street station four minutes prior to the derailment...

 

All Compass could do was join the shaken ponies in shock. If he had arrived at the Granite Street station just a few minutes earlier...

 

Ten minutes later, AMTA announced that all rail services in the Applelanta area were to be suspended while cleanup and investigations into the cause of the derailment continued. Realizing that he wouldn't make it to class that morning, Compass turned around and left the station. Bus service was still available, so he decided to head back home, still shaken over the fact that if he had been just a bit quicker, he would have been on that train.

 

-----------------------------------

 

(The same day; Radio F1 hourly bulletin - 5pm Equestrian time)

 

Good afternoon, here is the latest from PBE News. A train derailment in the Tropicalan city of Applelanta during this morning's rush hour has claimed the lives of 52 passengers, with an additional 176 injuries. Police believe that the derailment was the result of sabotage, but no group or individual has taken responsibility. The local transport authority, AMTA, suspended subway services immediately after the derailment; so far, they have not announced when subway service will resume. A temporary memorial site has been set up at the Granite Street subway station for passengers and local residents to pay their respects.

 

Equestria and Saddle Arabia have made little progress in bilateral talks aimed at improving relations between the two countries. At a roundtable meeting in the Arctican city of Vanhoover, diplomats between the two nations agreed to ease some travel restrictions for authorized citizens, but no progress has been made on the ongoing trade sanctions between the two countries. A Saddle Arabian diplomat present at the meeting described the proceedings as "shameful", while an Equestrian diplomat described the meeting as "deceptive, negative, and of little benefit". Further talks are scheduled for next week.

 

In Canterlot today, a group of high-profile nobles and royals met with Princess Twilight Sparkle on the possibility of rolling back some of the reforms implemented in the Equestria Forward program. Prince Blueblood, an outspoken opponent of the program, argued that the program is "deceptive" and that it will only serve to "erode the delicate social balance of the nation". This comes as the Unicornian Regional Assembly passed a resolution condemning the program as being "wasteful and unnecessary", with one regional representative hinting that Princess Twilight should be removed from her throne. The national government indicated in a press release earlier today that they support the program, and that "the benefits to Equestrian society and the economy outweigh the pitfalls."

 

​In stocks today, the EQEX closed down 24 points, while the COMDEX 500 closed down 20 points.

 

More news is available online at pbe.org.eq/news.

Edited December 18, 2014 by skbl17

[FancyHorse 1,209]

Pulling up to the gates of the Admin buildings, the herd of protests had already gathered to an aggressively large size. A few protesters stood in front of the vehicle entry gates waving about their signs.

The driver beeped the horn furiously.

"Get the buck out of the way!!" He shouts through the window.

"I have all rights to stand you brute!" A mare called it.

"Not to block security and employee access. Move!" Nasir called out from his gunner seat on top. Whilst these protests has remained peaceful, there was always a breaking point. And within those civil lines there were some ponies looking to cause chaos.

 

"Go back to your land!"

"Oil thieving money grubber!"

"Learn some real Equestrian!"

 

The harsh racial comments could be heard out. It was quite the toll, it was only years before Ahaban felt welcomed into Equestria now to only to be shunned just as he has, been in his own country during the long campaigns in the civil war. The armored vehicle drove forward the Equestrians immediately retreating to the side as the gates closed by.

 

Ahaban could not shake off this sense of prolonging, he steeled himself as he deployed once he vehicle had taken position along the far right corner of offices just near the main entrance.

 

"Psssta, Uhh Cobalt, Cobalt 3 this is Cobalt actual we got more crowds coming in. Uhhh, right aside along 15 Street. Just keep in mind." The main security lead spoke via radio.

 

"Ookay copy that, yep confirmed." Cobalt 3 replied.

 

Ahaban had been assigned as Cobalt 6 actual, the rest of his team with Cobalt call sign. Just a couple meters away another armored vehicle awaited, striped zebras awaited on about. Ahaban could not help but smile. What was best about his employer was the interest in hiring multi cultured ponies.

Zebras, Arabians, Maredonians, even a few Griffins and minotaurs had been seen in their services.

 

A familiar face approached to his carrier. Cobalt 7 actual Bulawayo, a zebra adorned in the usual leather standard combat vest.

The two greeted with a kiss to the cheek (a common form of greeting from their countries manner) before looking to the crowds.

 

"What a mess." Bulawayo examined the herd of angry equines.

"Things have yet to go wrong." Ahaban replied

"We will see." The zebra returned in speech. Bulawayo pressed onto his communicator.

"Cobalt 7 actual. Unifying with Cobalt 6." He states.

 

 

"Psssta, Roger that 7 actual." Main lead responded.

 

The two proceeded onward a slow trot along the gate.

Edited December 18, 2014 by IllusivePony

[Scribblegroove 565]

The searing heat of the sun beamed down upon the blue coated necks of two ponies going down the street. One of them, a Pegasus, was lazily floating in the air, trying to cope with the heat that he was absolutely not used to. An expression of boredom on his face and his limbs dragging behind him motionlessly indicated that he was tired to no end. “Why of all places did we decide to go here? It feels like I’m flying across the surface of the sun!” He exclaimed, complaining to his sister, who was walking beside her with a smile on her face, the heat apparently not causing her any trouble. “Gale, it was your idea, and it was a good one at that.” She raised an eyebrow at her brother and smirked. “Just because you don’t like having to do anything at all on Monday doesn’t mean this was a bad idea…”

 

Straightening himself in the air and bracing himself, Gale dropped to the ground and frowned. “I don’t remember my idea including having to stand up at 6 AM to take an unbearably early train ride here. We could’ve done this next week.” Looking up at the sky, he rubbed the sweat off his brow. “I’m certain the weather would’ve been better…” With a sigh, he lowered his head in defeat and followed his sister as she strode onward. Unlike her brother, Flare did pay attention to her surroundings. She had never been in Appleanta before, so she took the opportunity to take as much of it in as she could. Ignoring her brother’s complaining, she increased pace as she noticed the building that they were looking for. “There it is!” She said, as she skittered to a halt at the end of the pavement. Across the street was the Appleanta university.

 

“Right, so the plan…” She muttred as she looked around to find her brother, noticing he was still behind her, saunting his way towards her, she groaned. “Come on, you got plenty of sleep last night…” She said. Her brother grinned slyly at her, having finally caught up. “No, you got plenty of sleep last night… I was out with a few of the guys.” He yawned, and stretched his neck, and subsequently his shoulders, folding his wings in and out a few times. Flare rolled her eyes "Well that's your fault then..." She grumbled. Impatiently tapping her hoof on the ground, Gale gave her a confused look until he realized what she was waiting for. "Oh, yeah... Uh." Opening his eyelids wider, trying to get the sleep out of his system, he scratched his head. "Well have to be looking for somepony called Solid Green. He's the main contact if you want to receive funding from the Appleanta university." Staring a bit absentmindedly at the building across the street, he shrugged. "He's got to be in there somewhere. I contacted him last Saturday and he told us to ask for him in the hall an day between Monday and Thu-"

 

Interrupted by her sister who lifted her hoof and listened attentively, she followed her gaze towards one of the automobiles standing still in front of a light nearby. Seeing her ears piqued and pointed, he realized it wasn't the car, but the sound that come from it that caught her attention, but he realized it too late as the car just sped off as he started to listen. "Did you hear that?" Flare asked her brother, a bit agitated. Her brother shrugged. "Did you hear what the radio in that car announced?" She exclaimed, now almost in panic. "No!? What are you talking about?" Without warning, Flare ran off, dodging the ponies walking in the other direction, going straight for the entrance of the subway station a few yards away. Surprised, Gale took off and followed her through the air, making sure he didn't fly into any signs or lampposts, swerving down to the ground once he was above his sister, landing next to her and running alongside her, down the stairs and into the station. "What's the matter with you!?" He managed to utter in between gasps for air. Without hesitation Flare ran through the turnstiles, quickly swiping her card that she had used earlier that day. Unlike his sister, Gale wasn't wearing his saddlebags. From somewhere within the folds of his wings he retrieved his card. Fumbling it for a few seconds, he took quite a long time to get through the turnstiles, and because of this he lost track of Flare, who wouldn't wait for him. When he finally did get through, the situation quickly became more clear to him.

 

Flare couldn't believe her eyes. A train derailing? Injuries ranging into the hundreds? It was a total disaster. With fearful, large eyes she watched the screen, he teeth clenched. All she could think of was the nightmare she had had for years now. "Gale..." She said, not taking her eyes of the screen. When she realized he wasn't nearby anymore, she turned around. At the same time their eyes met, and once Gale found her he went towards her. Gale was shocked as well, but when he looked at Flare, he knew what was going through her mind. "Gale, do you think-" Gale raised his hoof and frowned. "Don't be ridiculous. What we did was years ago, and the chances that that particular engine was still in use and in that specific train is tiny..." Flare bit her lip, and looked back at the screen. "But what if it was?" She said timidly. Gale sighed and gave her a sympathetic look. "Then it's not our responsibility." And with that he put an end to it, passing it off as her sister overreacting.

 

Years ago, when the two of them were only foals, the of them had boosted a train engine to more than three times its power. It was almost accidental, and the two of them were terribly inexperienced, but they had never told anypony besides their mother about their endeavor. But ever since the machinist found out about the engine's increased power, it had been passed on and on to different models, each new owner selling it to the next promising it's "magical properties". Flare has had nightmares of terrible accidents happening due to their irresponsible behavior ever since. Gale has always passed it off as ridiculous, but Flare took her worries very seriously.

 

"What do we do now?" Flare whispered. It seemed as if she was about to cry, and Gale knew that if it wouldn't happen now, it would happen later eventually, knowing that his sister wasn't great with handling emotional stress. "Let's go, this place will simply depress you even further." With a quivering sigh, Flare walked backwards and started to follow her brother back outside. Once they were in the open air again, Gale urged her sister to sit down for a moment on a bench. As she took care of herself and her thoughts for a moment, Gale looked around. In the distance, a few blocks away, he could see the university. He wasn't so sure if they were still going to get anything done today with this disaster disrupting everyponies' average day routine. It would be one giant hen house in there, with ponies going from place to place, shouting at each other, attempting to get information on relatives that might've been on the train... Nothing to be done.

 

@@Driz

Next to them, on their side of the street, there were a few establishments. Since it was still early morning, many of them still weren't open. He wondered if any of them would open today. Probably, but they wouldn't get many visitors. Then he saw one mare approaching 'tropicala goods', about a yard away. "Well, she's starting early." Wondering if she heard about the train derailment, he approached her. "Excuse me?" He said, trying to remain as formal as possible. "I don't mean to bother you, but I wondered if you heard the news?" He put up quite a serious face and frowned lightly. "About the derailment?"

 

In the meantime, Flare was attempting not to draw attention to her from the ponies passing by and the mare Gale was talking to. Deeply consumed in thought, she went by all the steps of chance and logic to reason how big the chance was that this accident was her responsibility. As far as she knew now, the chance was 0.008532, and as she thought it was still going down. But a mere number couldn't numb the distraught in her mind. She was still worried.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Scribblegroove

[FancyHorse 1,209]

Ahaban and Bulawayo looked among the protesters, the shouts and slander raging on from their muzzles along with their signs. An complete melting pot of individuals. Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth ponies. Young, and old. A plethora of colors like a rainbow of angry protesters. The two racially diverse stallions approached to the next Cobalt squad whilst passing a fellow patrol.

 

Ahead a pegasus hovers about holding up his rubber pellet loaded riot gun.An earth pony hanging about by his shirt along one of the fence posts looks about at the approaching lead stallions. The two smirk.

 

"Hanging around sir?" Bulawayo calls out.

"Umm... Yeah." He gives an embarrassed smile.

"You know this is considered trespassing and we could just shoot you up for this... Don't want that do you?" Ahaban asks

The earth pony looked about as the security looked upon him with an aggressive demeanor.

 

"Yyeahhh... Can ya help me out?" He asks.

"We are gonna let you in. And we'll escort you out. Fair?" Ahaban offers to the stallion.

"Fair enough." Was the reply.

 

The armed pegasus holsters away his weapon and lefts up the earth Pony onto the administration ground.

"Move forward." Ahaban commands, the earth pony is lead on by the two security leads toward the main entrance/exit. The gate opens by a gap and the pony departs as fellow protesters watch.

"Stay out of trouble." Ahaban says and the two return to their usual patrol.

Edited December 18, 2014 by IllusivePony

[Driz 1,552]

After a few more seconds of searching, Celes managed to find the keys inside the bag, levitating them in front of her. She then moved closer and stood by the door of the establishment, ready to unlock it.

 

"Excuse me?"

 

Celes briefly and slightly turned around once she heard somepony call. From the corner of the eye, she was able to see two ponies approaching from behind. Her first assumption - which actually happened with some frequency - was of that they were going to ask if the place was already open, and if she had souvenirs or even booze to sell. If not, they were most likely just going to ask for information. With that in mind, she proceeded to insert the key in the keyhole and waited for the ponies to come closer.

 

"I don't mean to bother you, but I wondered if you heard the news?" He put up quite a serious face and frowned lightly. "About the derailment?"

 

Her ears immediately perked up. She left the key hanging by the door and turned back to meet with the news-bringer - a blue Pegasus who truthfully did not seem to be joking. Celes remained silent, wearing a surprised expression while still trying to figure out whether he was serious or not. She then noticed a quite unusual commotion beginning to form in the streets, seemingly towards the city’s main subway train station. She hadn’t heard of an accident in the city in months, or even years. That would be quite shocking, indeed.

 

“No... No, I haven't.” Celes finally answered his question and prepared a few other questions in her head, although she didn’t ask them right away. Instead, she quickly unlocked the door to the convenience store and rushed towards a remote control on top of the counter, which turned on a small TV located at the upper-corner of the place.

 

...

 

The young mare couldn’t believe her eyes. That morning, in the calm, fun city of Applelanta, more than forty lives were lost in a train derailment. Speechless, worry slowly began to take over her mind. Celes hastily walked back towards the Pegasus and the Unicorn, leaving the television on and at maximum volume in case any more information arrived.

 

“Were you guys there? What happened!?” She asked, rather baffled and concerned.

[FancyHorse 1,209]

@@Driz

The News has returned after a advertisement.

"Welcome back to PBE News giving an update now at these latest protests following a decision by the Royal Princess and Foreign Trades Committee to lift trade tariffs from the Arabians in exchange for the continuation of foreign oil, taking a look here."

 

The camera pans to an aerial view of the mass herd that has gathered, waving sound and chants. The camera zooms onto an earth who is lifted off from the fence and into the grounds, only to be escorted out by security.

 

"tension seems to be brewing but protests have been remaining peaceful. This is PBE News, Camera Pan reporting."

[skbl17 199]

Ten minutes after arriving home and checking the TV for the latest news, Compass Meridian put down the television remote as a weird thought came to him. It was odd to see a commercial on one of PBE's channels, Compass thought. He knew it was a public service broadcaster and that commercials were forbidden, so he was sure somepony at their control room would never hear the end of it.

 

"That's not important," Compass mumbled. "Something odd is going on."

 

There were now protests in Applelanta and a few dozen other cities nationwide. Protests and a deadly attack on a subway train...something was wrong.

 

For his own safety, he decided to stay away from the downtown area for the rest of the day, confident that everything would blow over by tomorrow and he could safely get to class. Compass retired to his bed to take a quick nap, but before he fell asleep, he heard one or two loud booms, followed by his bedside lamp going out.

 

Startled out of bed, he dashed to the window to see what was going on. Oddly enough, he couldn't see any smoke or property damage, but he did notice that the vehicles had stopped running and that nopony had any power. Unnerved, he decided to see if the globalnet still worked...but his computer wouldn't turn on. Compass was no scientist, but he knew that every piece of electronic equipment was out for only one reason.

 

"Electrom..."

 

---------------

 

"...agnetic pulse. Great."

 

What a development! Yeah, just as she was trying to enjoy her day off, High Voltage had gotten a frantic call from her superiors. Apparently, there had been a large-scale EMP attack in a few cities nationwide, and Applelanta was one of them. Power was out and the local electric crew was overwhelmed, so she and a few hundred other lineponies were to be dispatched from across the region to restore electricity. So much for her one day off this week.

 

She arrived at a TPL staging facility, where she was greeted by some of her coworkers. However, their chatter would be cut short as their manager approached a hastily assembled podium and began to address the crowd of TPL employees.

 

"Mares and gentleponies, can I have your attention? A short while ago, EMP bursts affected the power grids in several cities in our region, Haytona and Applelanta among them. Unfortunately, the widespread nature of these bursts has made the local TPL crews ask for assistance, as they've been...overwhelmed to say the least. If there's one thing Tropicala Power & Light will never do, it's leave our customers in the dark when they need power the most.

 

"As such, I'm splitting you all into two groups. One group will go to Haytona and assist crews there, while the other group will head to Applelanta and assist crews there. You all will draw from this hat to select your staging location. Good luck, and may Celestia protect you!"

 

With that, she left the podium. Each employee was asked to pull a slip of paper out of a hat, with the location listed on each slip. High Voltage pulled a slip out of the hat, read the location name, then turned to reach her utility truck.

 

As she started the truck and prepared to pull out of the staging facility, she only had one thought on her mind.

 

Well, this oughta be fun. Applelanta, here I come!

Edited January 26, 2015 by skbl17

[FancyHorse 1,209]

Everything suddenly stopped! Radios, surveillance cameras, and automobile batteries! Loud speakers and televisions out as well.

 

Ahaban and Bulawayo gallop toward a fellow patrol unit. The two ponies in the back of their APC kick open their back door. The gunner up at the top fiddles about with his radio.

"Got no comms! Everything is dead." He says.

 

"No way. An EMP perhaps?" Bulawayo asks his Arabian friend.

"Let's go check with administration. " he suggests.

"Awfwah! Tualu muwayi!" Ahaban calls out loudly to his group just across the fence yard. Nasir and a fellow Equestrian quickly depart following their way toward the administration building.

 

Sliding open the admin doors the squad of ponies enter, "Cobalt six coming in!" He calls out in the dark halls.

"Cobalt actual!" A voice calls out. The four follow along approaching to one of security offices greeted by a large stallion with two other armored.security ponies.

"EMP has knocked out our entire radio set. I want the lot of you taking status checks on all surrounding units. Make it happen!" The lead officer commands.

"Let's get to it." Ahaban says and the squad quickly back track out toward the outside.

Edited January 25, 2015 by IllusivePony

[FancyHorse 1,209]

Shots were heard outside, Ahaban could hear his fellow Arabian friends shout out as they looked around for the direction.

"Alwin shakha!" His friend Abdullah shouted.

"We'll check with.Cobalts 2 and 3." Bulawayo says,

"Ill investigate!" Ahaban says as the two depart ways.

Regrouped with his squad they follow up heading along with eastern fence toward the shots that were fired. Ahaban and Nasir flying over head as Abdullah and the two equestrians on the ground. Ahead an inactive APC.is set ablaze by.Molotov explosives with a small crowd of rioters tossing about various projectiles. The squad of ponies take cover behind a deployed barricade.

 

"Abdunhana harana!" Abdullah shouts. Ahaban readies up his rubber pellet rifle.

"Use the gas!" He commands.

The two unicorns below with magic levitate their grenade rifles with loaded canisters. Once situated close they aim up and fire in volley thegas landing admist the angry rioters.

"Cobalt 5 actual?" Ahaban calls to his fellow contractors.

"I'm 5-2!" A unicorn responds as he lands near the group.

"Leads in the APC! " he adds.

"Doors bucking shut tight. That blast knocked out locks. Bucking new models..." He says.

 

"Okay, 5-2 and 3 get down to maintenance room. It's.inside at the 300 offices numbers I think. Find a welder!" Ahaban.

"We don't know if they got-" the.unicorn.was interrupted.

"Just go !" Ahaban commands and the two depart. The rioters have been dispersed now breaking off as the protesters flee.

"Area secure!" Abdullah states.

[skbl17 199]

"So, you don't need our help?" High Voltage inquired, confused. "Our original marching orders were to come to this plant and assist you."

 

The security pony at the gate to the Northfields Power Plant quickly answered, "The original plan was to let you Tampa Neigh Division lineponies help out at the power plant, but things are actually moving along now. We should have the generator back up and running within 24 to 36 hours.

 

"When we notified the higher-ups in Mareami of this unicorn's work, they told us to tell you that y'all have been reassigned to actual line duty. While the EMP itself left the lines untouched, there are various circuit breakers and transformers that have tripped. The physical damage isn't bad, but you guys should head into the city. Your supervisor did say to head up to Applelanta and help, but she didn't say anything about helping out at a power plant, did she?"

 

High Voltage assumed that what he said was correct; her supervisor didn't specifically mention a power plant in her speech. She radioed the other trucks behind her, telling them to turn around and assist utility crews in the city instead. As she began to wave goodbye to the security pony and turn her truck around, one of her colleagues asked a question that hadn't come to her mind.

 

"But wait, HV, in the event of an emergency, aren't TPL power plants off-limits to non-employees for safety reasons?", the colleague asked.

 

"I told you not to call me 'HV' while I'm on duty, silly! Anyway, according to the company hoofbook, it is true that sometimes, TPL will hire outside companies to assist in maintenance and restoration at power plants and dams, but they can't help out with line duty. However, hiring outside companies usually happens 48-72 hours in advance. The security pony told me that this was arranged less than 24 hours ago," the yellow unicorn replied. "It's just fine! These 'consultants' are doing a good job anyway, so what reason do we have to doubt them?"

 

While her colleague was satisfied with her answer, one thing continued to nag at the back of her mind.

 

The security pony said 'that unicorn'. This isn't a whole army of employees, but one unicorn...I wonder who she is, and how she can turn around an entire power plant from the verge of total shutdown to near-normal operation within the span of a few hours. Maybe I should meet her one day.

 

High Voltage's linepony contingent soon descended on Applelanta and split up to help out local TPL crews and help get the city up and running again. Whatever thoughts she had didn't matter at this point. As she pulled up to the first malfunctioning transformer, she knew she had a job to do, and it would be foalish to let that mystery unicorn's hard work go to waste.

 

"Let's do this."

 

-----------

As he stepped out of a meeting with one of his fellow nobles, Prince Blueblood was...conflicted.

 

On one hoof, he was furious that common criminals would stoop to sabotage to "cripple" an entire region of the country. It was outrageous; he needed the entire country to function to make the economy work and reduce the chance of any mistrust with the national government. If he was to have a hoof in writing the nation's future history textbooks, he needed to make himself look good. He couldn't look good if the government he was a part of was seen by historians as incompetent.

 

On the other hoof, this attack may be exactly what he needed to prove that Equestria Forward was a national security risk and discredit that "commoner princess" entirely. A widespread power outage the likes of which Equestria never saw pre-Twilight Sparkle? Possible acts of terrorism spreading fear throughout Equestria? None of this happened on such a wide scale before Twilight's little pet program. If he could go before the Crown Council, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia to convince them that these problems would go away if Equestria Forward was dismantled...

 

"The commoner princess would be muzzled or, even better, forced to abdicate. I would be seen as a hero for sweeping away such a program. In fact, maybe the other princesses would let me take Twilight Sparkle's place as a co-ruler! Oh, what a fantastic day that would be!"

 

The servants could only look on as Blueblood gleefully roamed his mansion in one of the exclusive parts of Canterlot.

 

"Of course, I need to get an audience first. Scribe!"

 

His personal scribe soon arrived, and with a pen and paper, began to jot down Blueblood's request. He wanted a tripartite session of the Crown Council, with every member of that body, the three princesses, and the Privy Court magistrates in attendance. As he sent the Scribe on his way to deliver the message to the princesses, the chief magistrate, and the Speaker of the Crown Council, he smiled. In his speech, he would criticize the government's response to the attacks and make Princess Twilight answer for the effects her little reforms had on society and security.

 

The plan was perfect. Twilight Sparkle was a commoner with little experience in politics, Celestia was indifferent towards the program from day one, Luna was skeptical, and the Crown Council wouldn't be able to go against the will of their constituents, who are rightfully upset with this turn of events. In fact, nopony in any position of power would be able to justify the EMP attacks and the increase in unrest.

 

Equestria Forward would go down in flames, the "reforms" would be reversed, and the nobility would be on top again. He would be a national hero, forever revered in history textbooks for stopping the "maniacal futurist" princess. Twilight would be sent back to that podunk town she came from, and become irrelevant as a major political force, even if she remained as a "princess".

 

What a fantastic day it will be, indeed.

 

-----------

 

The scribe went out the mansion's front gate, then travelled a few feet from the gate before she decided to read the letter again. Her boss wanted a personal audience with every major organ of the national government. She had a gut feeling that he was planning to do something to destroy Equestria Forward, but she didn't know what.

 

However, if the letter didn't reach its destination, and Blueblood didn't get a response back, he would be very upset with her. He may be a bit of a megalomaniac, but he wasn't stupid. As much as she hated him, she didn't want to be fired from one of the cushiest jobs she's ever had. She decided to deliver the letter, but would pass it on to Princess Twilight instead of the other intended recipients. She felt that the youngest princess and likely target of Blueblood's speech needed to know what was going on, so she'd have time to prepare.

Edited January 26, 2015 by skbl17

[FancyHorse 1,209]

The two ponies returned, the fire upon the armored vehicle now stomped out and the crowds dispersing.

"Got the weld-" the unicorn is again interrupted,

"Open the door!" Ahaban commands. Nasir stands upon the APC with him.

"Mahadia denfuda. Where is the police?" He asks.

"No power. Probably other problems more.prominent." Ahaban replies. As if by instant the protesters had simply departed from the streets from both the outage and the violent attack.

"Butinha Dahl yethki tunshir." Abdullah cursed.

Finished, the two unicorns open up the malfunctioned door lock. As the door reared open the squad leader tumbled out coughing loudly.

"About damn time!" He says.

"Areas all dead. 5 actual. Command wants us to do squad checks. Go check on 7. I'm gonna report to lead." Ahaban says.

The disgruntled earth pony coughed again,

"Well get going you two!" He commanded his squad and the two hurry ahead.

 

Back inside, with the halls lit by glow sticks Ahaban entered into the office.

"The streets are dead. No protesters in sight." He says.

"This just damn great." The commanding pony grumbles.

"Any new orders?" Ahaban asks.

"The hay should I.know?" The lead responds.

"We need to inform command what happened." Ahaban suggests.

"Yeah... Okay okay. Get somepony to do that. " he replies.

Ahaban nodded and departed back outside.

[skbl17 199]

"You know, I still find it strange that the ponies working on the lines are better prepared than the ponies who generate the power for the lines."

 

As she drove around the city, High Voltage had to admit that her colleague had a point. When the EMP hit, all she had to do was use her magic to jump start her utility truck's battery; everypony else used either magic or jumper cables. Meanwhile, the power plants had their generators totally busted, and the ponies at the plants couldn't fix them without outside help. The regulators will have a field day with that one.

 

Oddly enough, the city had gone mostly quiet. The schools are closed, as are the universities. Buses are still running, but no trains. It's basically just the buses, police, paramedics, the rare personal car, and utility personnel. It's surreal, considering that this is usually the tail end of the evening rush hour.

 

"It's pretty quiet, isn't it?" High Voltage asked her colleague.

 

"It is. If I had to guess, the EMP busted everypony's cars, and I assume that most of them don't have jumper cables or electrokinetic abilities to jumpstart their vehicles."

 

A short time later, the duo pulled up to the next malfunctioning transformer. Unlike the last few of them, this one looked as if it was going to blow. They had to move quick. High Voltage's partner was quicker than she was, so she telekinetically threw her the tools she needed while she opened the trunk to take out a replacement transformer. High Voltage's partner was able to quickly disconnect the malfunctioning transformer, but they had to wait a few minutes to let it cool off a bit.

 

"Man, that was a close one. If we had waited five minutes, it would have blown up." Her partner remarked.

 

High Voltage simply nodded. But as she hooked up the replacement transformer, a thought came to her mind.

 

"Hey, do you think it would be a good idea to find some hotel and stay the night?"

 

Her colleague looked at High Voltage with a perplexed look on her face. "Why do you ask? The ponies at Northfields said that the power should come back online when their generators are fixed, and much of Applelanta's distribution grid has been restored. We'll probably make it back to the Tampa Neigh area by midnight."

 

"That's true, but our superiors never said anything about coming back. In fact, they never told us what to do if power's restored before the night is over. If we have no more work to do, but we haven't been granted clearance to return home, we have no choice but to stay. Besides, if the power comes back on, but then something happens that buckles the grid, we'd probably be called out again." High Voltage responded.

 

"Fine, but we should probably work in shifts then. You could take the graveyard shift."

 

"Awww, no fair."

 

They both chuckled before driving off to find a hotel. Hopefully it wouldn't be a long night.

Edited January 27, 2015 by skbl17

[FancyHorse 1,209]

"Sweet Celestia... We need mag-boosts. That or a new battery all together. " 5 Actual spoke cursing slightly.

Ahaban approached to the squad mix.

"Nasir! Yuktianle henukuar. Mashintunha muluinhadin finhuawha shinhalu faudawah." Ahaban speaks to his cousin pegasus.

"Haltin!" The pegasus salutes informally and takes off into the skies.

"6 actual! Hey!" The two unicorns returning hurriedly.

"Cobalt 4.has a functional armor! " he says, and.as if on cue turning past a corner comes an APC modeled BTR60, PA version. Outdated, but it gets the job done. The gunner waves his hoof as the BTR halts.

"Need a jump!?" He calls out.

"You already know that.answer!" 5 actual responds.

The squad of ponies depart from their armored vehicle, the group consisting of earth ponies. A slim mare adorned in a beret approaches.

"Cobalt 4 actual." she calls out. "What is going on?" She asks,

"EMP. Wonderful..." Abdullah inputs.

 

Ahaban looked about at his scenery, an immense hidden terror flowing about. And the darkness of it didn't help. His spine shivered he looked behind him, anxious, that wasn't good.

 

"Squad!" He called out. Abdullah and the two fellow Equestrians approached.

"On me. We'll sitrep with Cobalt 2, 3 and 7." He informs.

With a nod the squad then gallops along down the fence line heading to the direction of their fellow company units.

[skbl17 199]

Radio Equestria news bulletin, 10:00pm on Monday night. A slightly static-filled broadcast comes on, with a slightly panicked newsreader speaking.

 

Good evening everypony, I am bringing you this check of the news from our Haytona affiliate in the region of Tropicala, as our Manehattan headquarters' generators were fried in the attack. Here, we just got power back.

 

Ahem...

 

In the news, the national government is still investigating the source of today's attacks. First, in Applelanta, there are still no leads in the ongoing investigation into the derailment of a subway train. The derailment occurred just west of the Granite Street subway station shortly before 10:00 am local time, killing 67 and injuring an additional 98. AMTA, the local transit operator, and Applelanta Police believe that this morning's derailment was the result of sabotage. AMTA subway and commuter rail services remain suspended; there has been no word thus far on when service will resume.

 

Meanwhile, more than 30,000,000 electric customers remain without power nationwide as a result of EMP attacks that struck major cities and power plants earlier this afternoon. Royal Grid says that the EMP attacks were focused on power plants, high-voltage transmission lines, and a few major cities. While utility crews are still feverishly working to restore electricity, fire and rescue crews are working overtime to rescue trapped ponies in subway tunnels and elevators. Most public schools, government offices, and universities are closed tomorrow due to a lack of electricity and heat. Ironically, it seems as if cities here in Tropicala are getting power restored the fastest, as outages regionwide are now down to 400,000 from 4.2 million earlier today.

 

In Canterlot, there has been a major development in the ongoing battle surrounding air travel. The Privy Court has set preliminary hearings in the "air travel" case for Friday; the two sides in the case will present their findings and opinions on how they believe the case should turn out. At issue: whether or not the government of Cloudsdale is acting in an unconstitutional manner by banning ground air travel companies from operating to and from the city. If the Association for Free Airspace, the plaintiffs in the case, succeed, all geographic restrictions on air travel will be lifted. Princess Twilight Sparkle, the mayor of Cloudsdale, and the leader of the AFA were all unavailable for comment. However, in a taped statement, the Crown Council representative for Cloudsdale responded to the Privy Court's request:

 

"I do hope that the Privy Court considers the arguments to be presented on Friday to justify Cloudsdale's right to supremacy over all economic affairs that concern the well-being of this city.

 

"We do not believe that it is the time to consider commercial air travel on such a wide scale, and we certainly will not bargain with anypony who refuses to include us at the negotiating table."

 

In international news, Saddle Arabia's king has condemned the Equestrian government for cancelling today's bilateral talks aimed at improving relations between the two countries. In a statement, he described the Equestrian government as "beating around the bush" and using today's EMP attacks as "an excuse to further stall dialogue." The Foreign Relations ministry was unavailable for comment.

 

In stocks today, the EQEX closed down 24 points, while the COMDEX 500 closed down 20 points.

 

In weather, Meteo Equestria has suspended all scheduled precipitation indefinitely to divert resources to maintaining the agency's weather scheduling and forecasting capability in the wake of the EMP. Expect temperatures tonight to dip into the 40s to 50s across the mainland, 5 to 14 degrees centigrade. Cloudsdale will experience heavy crosswinds, low 31, 1 below zero in centigrade. Island regions will see temperatures dip into the upper 50s to low 60s, 14 to 17 degrees centigrade.

 

I'll hopefully be back with another bulletin in one hour.

Edited January 29, 2015 by skbl17

[FancyHorse 1,209]

Around two corners they approach to another disabled BTR. The zebra on top waved his hoof.

"Where is Bulawayo?" Ahaban questioned,

"Down street. Helping other squads. Our BTR is out of function." The zebra replied as he adjusted his combat helmet.

"We got one working up. We'll have it jump start. What's your number?" Ahaban asks,

"7-4." Replied the zebra.

"Okay. 7-4 Stick with me. Rest, go check on 3 and 4. Find 7 actual." Ahaban ordered.

Abdullah and the majority rallied up and continued on their way past.

Bulawayo wasn't.exactly a priority but he simply.wanted the closure of knowing the status of his close friend.

"Close Friend." He thought,.more then that... No don't get side tracked.

He dismissed his thoughts of such past instigates.

"New priority. Let's go check on the admins." Ahaban.

The zebra, grabbing his pellet rifle jumped down from his spot and following along with the Arabian. The two with glowsticks lit and around their necks they entered into the first office spaces toward the cubicles past the lobby. There was always some late SoB working those late paper hours. Not exactly ideal to be during am EMP attack.

 

"Equestrian Strategies! Anypony in?!" He calls out. His voice booming throughout the cubicles. Their glowsticks giving limited range visibility.

"Cryptic." The zebra spoke.

"Hello!?" A male voice called out.

"Come this way!" Ahaban called.

Entering onto view came along a unicorn dressed in a simple suit.

"Oh thank Celestia. I thought everything was taking the south. You know what I mean?" He says.

"Anypony else here?" The zebra asked.

"Nah, this is just my late shift. Didn't expect this to happen." The unicorn replied.

"Go by the security office. You stick with our lead okay?" Ahaban instructed.

"Yeah yeah. Sounds better then here." The unicorn again responded heading along down the hall with a light spell now casted in.aid.

[skbl17 199]

It wasn't a long night. Not all of the power plants were repaired yet, but enough were to reduce the number of power outages dramatically. As restoration work was proceeding at a fast enough clip, High Voltage and her colleague turned in for the night at a nearby hotel.

 

The yellow unicorn herself woke up at 7:00. She wasn't tired or sleepy, which was a first in a very long streak of days involving service calls, idiotic drivers who think it's fun to crash into poles and knock out power, school visits, and lectures from her bosses about "organizational inefficiencies". For once, it was nice to be able to get more than seven hours of sleep.

 

After taking time to shower and fix up her mane, High Voltage telekinetically opened the window of her hotel room and looked outside. It was beautiful. Rolling hills, endless trees leading up to a skyline, all topped off with a gentle breeze and a magnificent sunrise. She usually didn't have time to enjoy sights like this, which made the sight all the more jaw-dropping.

 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

 

Startled, High Voltage quickly spun around and got into a defensive stance, ready to zap the living daylights out of her assailant. If six thousand volts failed to do the trick, maybe a roundhouse kick would. If not, then she'd call the police. As these thoughts were racing through her mind, High Voltage failed to actually look at her "assailant". When she looked up and saw her TPL colleague, her look of anger was quickly replaced with one of remorse.

 

High Voltage quickly stood down and bowed in apology. "Sorry about that."

 

"It's okay, everypony's been on edge lately. You were probably just surprised." Her colleague responded.

 

"Thanks. Hey, check out this view; I don't think we ever took the time to take in the sights of Applelanta."

 

"Well, we've been busy trying to help get power restored in the wake of the EMP, and our superiors would have been angry if..." High Voltage proceeded to turn her colleague's head around to face the window.

 

"...wow, HV, that is a nice view."

 

"Isn't it? Wait, didn't I tell you not to call me 'HV'?" High Voltage asked, as she turned on the television in the hotel room. Overnight, some television channels were able to come back online despite the EMP disabling most of the transmitter sites. Flipping through the three active channels, she didn't find anything of interest. Channel One was airing a news program about the aftermath of the EMP, the response, and other headlines. Nothing interesting, but the number of outages had fallen to 600,000 from 35,000,000, so that was good. ECT was airing a roundtable discussion, where one guest had the gall to accuse the utilities of not responding fast enough.

 

"What were they thinking?" The panelist asked. "Did the utility companies not think that an EMP would totally destroy the generators, circuits, and power lines? Idiots! All of them, the lineponies especially. I saw a utility truck in my Detrot suburb get stuck in traffic; did they not know any...."

 

High Voltage was about to have an aneurysm after hearing all that. She was perfectly happy, she had just taken in a great view, and now this host was insinuating that this whole event was their fault? It's too bad ECT is headquartered ten hours away in Manehattan; she would have marched on to that set and torn him a new one, both verbally and physically.

 

"It doesn't sound like that panelist understood what was actually going on." Her colleague responded.

 

"YOU THINK??!!"

Edited February 6, 2015 by skbl17

[FancyHorse 1,209]

With a second full column of armored vehicles rolling in, it was time to finish their contract schedule. One by one each armor unit of Cobalt section rolled back into the headquarters garage. One of the facilities with back-up power units.

 

Parked onto their designated zones everypony departed. Bulawayo following along with Ahaban, Nasir and Abdullah.

"Do you think your sister is okay?" The zebra asked following beside the Arabians.

"She's a big filly. She knows what to do. Surely some power is back." Ahaban replies.

"Yeah, some of the street lights are on." Abdullah adds.

 

Up in the elevator and up to floor 14 at Deployment Divisions Services they make their ways to the armory.

"Ahaban! May I accompany you?" Bulawayo asked.

"You two on another date?" Nasir asked,

"No idiot. I already did that last week." Ahaban answered.

 

Undressed from their armored vests and unequipped they all.depart ways shortly. Bulawayo and Ahaban returning to ground floor and now making their way across the street.

"Greenback apartments?" Bulawayo asked.

"Ana alut delkaut. Yeah." Ahaban answers, the two following along several blocks down.

 

"Ahaban. A moment." Bulawayo says,

"I can see what you are going to bring up." The answer came.

"I know you saw the videos. But I'm begging you don't go back to Arabia. Imaia needs you here. " Bulawayo spoke.

 

It had taken quite a,sum for his added contracts to ripen to afford a flight ticket for his sister. She could finally escape those horrific days, no longer needing to worry about JRBs (Jury Rig Bombs) or ambush militants. She could finally go to school, finish her education.

 

"It's hard having to watch your country tear itself apart." He says as the cross along a street.

"Ahaban. It's the same as mine. It means to you. But you said yourself that Imaia is all that's left of your peace." Bulawayo added.

 

Ahaban nodded.

"I know." He simply says. Bulawayo smiled awarding him with a quick kiss.

 

The two had arrived to the apartment complex making their way inside.

[skbl17 199]

After a horrifying day on Monday, Compass Meridian was thrilled to see that the power had come back on overnight. There was still flickering, but it was still significant progress. Of course, he still wanted to be sure of one thing, so he picked up the phone and dialed a number.

 

"Thank you for reaching the automated emergency line of the University of Applelanta. There is - ONE - message for today: 'Due to the ongoing power situation, all classes and activities on the University of Applelanta campus are cancelled until further notice. Stay safe.'"

 

That was the best news, no class! Of course, with the utility companies, police, and protesters running around, it wouldn't be safe to be out. The globalnet was still out, so he couldn't check social media. In the end, he settled for checking the news; he didn't want a shock like what happened around the same time yesterday.

 

There were only three channels that managed to get back on the air by sunrise: Channel One, ECT, and PBE Government TV. Compass knew that the latter was a "channel of last resort" to be used in a national emergency, so of course it would be able to survive an EMP with no damage. At the time, the so-called "last resort" channel was airing its typical flavor of government conferences. Boring.

 

* click *

 

ECT was airing some kind of roundtable program, where the topic was, "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?" There seemed to be five ponies in the panel: one was a particularly old earth pony who seemed to be talking in drawl, another was a female pegasus who looked as if she was a police spokespony, two other earth ponies were in suits and seemed to be arguing with each other, and another unicorn was attempting (and failing) to moderate the increasingly heated discussion. Pass.

 

* click *

 

Channel One was airing its typical morning news program, Sunrise in Equestria, but something felt...off. The set was darker, and the faces of the hosts were ashen. He guessed that some of PBE's staff were still shaken by the events of yesterday. They were delivering the news: "...600,000 outages remain....fatalities in Applelanta train wreck reach 150...no suspects in either attack have been identified....Prince Blueblood to meet with Canterlot government...."

 

Wait, what?

 

"...In Canterlot, Prince Blueblood has requested a tripartite session of the Crown Council, Privy Court, and royal branch for this upcoming Friday. All councillors, Crown Council magistrates, and princesses have been invited to attend. No further details of the event have been issued, but it is believed that Prince Blueblood will make an 'important' announcement at the event..."

 

If there was something that was an open secret, it was that Prince Blueblood did not like Equestria Forward; most of the 'hardliner' nobles did not. By that logic, his speech would probably have something to do with the program, so it wouldn't be anything interesting, just more of the same: "reform is bad", "waste", yadda yadda.

 

Compass turned off the television and, against his better judgment, went outside to get some fresh air. I'm not going far, he thought. Just stepping out to go for a brief walk.

Edited February 6, 2015 by skbl17

[EnderPrince 49]

A single pony sat in the lobby of the Riverbank Casino, skimming through a newspaper. He was young, but his age wasn't what attracted most of the attention. His alicorn appearance was what drew wandering eyes, since alicorns were rare outside of royal families.

 

He wasn't interested in trying his luck at the various gambling hotspots in the building that day. It wasn't ever worth it. His eyepiece, a computerized contact lens, told him the odds of which pony winning at the blackjack table, told him the outcomes on the slot machines before they happened, even told him what to bet on at the roulette table. 

 

Besides, he thought. if I do play, ponies will notice how often I'm winning. If I do play, I gotta play it- One of the staff, who was identified as a cocktail server by his eyepiece, snapped him out of his thoughts. "Sir, are you alright? You've been here for the past half hour. Would you like a phone?" the server asked.

 

"No, that's quite alright," the pony replied. "I'm waiting for someone; he's not usually this late."

 

"Oh, well, alright then sir, but do ask if you need anything."

 

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," the mysterious pony said as the staff member walked away. How easily the citizens of this city believe what they're told, the pony thought to himself. Another advantage I'll have to keep in mind.

 

Moving his focus back to the newspaper, the pony again began skimming the stories presented. Hmmph, the pony cerebrated as he read the story about the power outages. Anybody can make an EMP these days. The pony continued to skip through the reports on various aspects of the world until something caught his eye.

 

"Prince Blueblood has called for a tripartite session of the Crown Council, Privy Court, and royal branch to take place this upcoming Friday. All councillors, Crown Council magistrates, and princesses have been asked to attend." 

 

A meeting of all of the important ponies in Equestria? This could be interesting. The pony pulled out a smartphone, and, without unlocking it, pressed the "Emergency Call" icon. A list of contacts appeared on the screen. Calling the contact labeled "Shark," the pony ripped out the newspaper article about the congregation of government officials. 

 

"Something new has developed," the pony spoke into the phone after the recieving end had been picked up. A few more words were exchanged, then the pony ended the call and threw the smartphone into the trash.

 

Hitting a button on his watch, the pony glanced at the time. 2:32, the lit display read. Perfect, the pony thought as he walked into the street, the glowing screen on his watch becoming brighter. "This is going to be fun," the pony uttered to himself before dissapearing altogether in a flash of light.

Edited February 10, 2015 by EnderPrince

[skbl17 199]

High Voltage noted a knock at the door. She never called for room service, and housekeeping wasn't scheduled to come around for a few hours. The building was pretty secure, but she had to be careful. She moved towards the door.

 

Her colleague had turned to watching TV when she first noticed the knock, then noticed High Voltage moving to the door. "Hey HV, is there somepony at the door? I thought I heard knocking."

 

"Yeah, I'll check to see who it is." High Voltage responded. And please stop calling me 'HV'.

 

She looked in the peephole of the door. No, it wasn't housekeeping or room service, but it looked like a unicorn. Deciding that it would be counterproductive to be rude, she unlocked the door and opened it.

 

"Good morning!!" She said, with a smile on her face. "Do you need anything?"

[FancyHorse 1,209]

With the local schools at a close due to the attacks Ahaban could use this opportunity to spend a full day to his sister. Imia scrambled about in her small room looking for her letter she had wrote.

"Shakilk! Anatal shun tinla hindalin! Anaey tan flika?" She asks

(Brother! I've lost my letter, have you seen it?)

Ahaban, having preknowledge of the letter looked onto the kitchen counter from the hallway he smirked.

"Tashin seumin uslinha menda frankina?" Ahaban asks,

(Have you looked at your breakfast?)

Imia looked out from her bedroom and trotted out to the counter grabbing her letter. Back in her usual content she circles around on her hooves as Ahaban approaches to the door.

"Stay with me Sis." He says and the two depart heading out from the apartment complex.

Imia approached to the Mail Outbox placing it inside and gave a content smile before returning to Ahaban's side. The two begin their way down the street heading in the general direction of the Grocery.

"Kinan alu binsil tinhalain?" Imia asks in concern about the events.

(Was it bad yesterday?)

"Wanin tenshal hilen teblahar binzen milharin tashha linkaer." He responds.

(The rioters were violent at the nighttime)