High atop the ivory spires of Canterlot Castle, Celestia was supremely bored.

The brief moment of excitement in her day had been that strange ripple in the magical field, and that had quickly faded. Within the span of a single letter she had placed the matter firmly in the capable hooves of her former student, and thus been forced to put the matter out of mind as she returned to the tasks at hand.

“Remind me, ambassador,” she said, very grateful for the tea which was the hinge-point of her calm façade on days like this. “Why exactly is it that you believe you should be paying less tax on your grain imports? Your rate is the same as our other allies.”

The griffin puffed out his chest and Celestia silently groaned. Just what I needed. Another wordy speech on griffin…

A wave of cold washed over the Solar Alicorn. Her supernatural senses perceived screams of terror and pain. Her heart froze as she felt pony lives being snuffed out. No!

She leapt from her throne, her wings flaring as she took to the air. She gave the griffin ambassador one last look. “These negotiations are suspended pending my return. I will see to you later.”

With that she was gone in a flash of light.

Moments later she reappeared in shadow. It was the middle of the day, a time when most ponies would be up and about their daily work. Princess Luna was not most ponies. For her, day was a time to rest her mind from the rigours of her dreamscape patrols and the politics of the Night Court. Thus she chose to cloak herself in the shade and relax, alternating between sleeping and reading.

At this moment, she was quite happily engaged in the former.

“Luna! Wake up!” Celestia shouted, her horn glowing gold as she telekinetically tore the blanket from her sister’s bed.

“Wha… sister? What is wrong?” Within four words Luna was awake, magically sensing Celestia’s distress. “What has happened?”

Celestia turned to the window, throwing it open with her magic. As both alicorns stepped onto the balcony, their wings spread for flight, the Solar Alicorn answered.

“I made a mistake.”
_____

Chaos reigned across Ponyville, and the streets ran with the blood of the innocent. Fire roared across the town, consuming homes and townsponies alike. For a moment, the ground itself shook as though it recoiled from the horrors unleashed upon it. The nearest military aid was at least four hours by Pegasus flight, and only a dozen ponies in the entire town had even the slightest ability to fight back.

But fight they did.

It was a haphazard and utterly disorganized resistance, but it was resistance nonetheless. Across the burning town, ponies made their stands. Some fell quickly, their names lost forever to history. Others showed the servants of Chaos just how a sleepy town like Ponyville had survived the Everfree Forest for so long.

The first act of resistance was also the most audacious. While Krev Gorudon and the rest of the warband swept deeper into the town in search of fresh blood, the two Noise Marines remained behind. They had not come for battle, but rather the chance to ply their sound-craft before an audience. Thus they had joined their Khornate brethren in the charge, but while the Berzerkers had yet to cease their charge, the Noise Marines had slowed as soon as they came within weapon’s range. Powering their Sonic Blasters with the wild strumming of the drugged-up rock stars of an ancient age, these pleasure-addicted servants of Slaanesh performed their concert of death. Houses shook and fell, their very foundations pulverized by the vibrations of the Sonic Blasters. Those poor ponies caught in the blasts died horribly, their bones reduced to powder and their insides to mulch.

In that instant, with ponies dying all around her and Ponyville itself collapsing into rubble and dust, Vinyl Scratch made her decision. With a steely look hidden behind her goggles, she pulled out a fresh record, spun on her hoof, and dropped it onto the turntable. With a grin, she pumped the bass and turned it on.

The blast from Vinyl’s amps proved almost as deadly as the Noise Marines’ Sonic Blasters; sound struck the invaders like a tidal wave. The ground shook. Glass shattered. Almost any creature would have fallen in an instant and died from massive sensory overload.

The Noise Marines simply turned their heads, their wild eyes now locked on Vinyl. For a moment they stood, dazzled by the sensation; centuries of unhindered hedonism had left their sensory systems jaded and worn, leaving sound and vibration as the only path to the ecstasy they so worshiped and craved. In all their centuries of debauchery, they could only find sufficient sound in the vibrations of their beloved sonic weaponry, and in the thunderous fire of the largest of Titan walkers. Now, at long last, they had found another source, here, in the most unlikely of places. A new source of pleasure, and a new rival.

As pleased as they were to find a fellow in the quest for ever-louder music, the Noise Marines were, as was the character of the Sons of Fulgrim, prideful and obsessed with perfection. Thus, to their addled minds, there was only one sensible response: a duel.

“In the name of the Dark Prince, we challenge you!” one of the Noise Marines shouted.

“Yes, yes! A duel!” the other said, his voice quavering with delight. “Things shall get loud now!”

As one the Noise Marines raised their guitar-guns and wailed on the strings, the chaos of their cacophony spewing forth colour from their chords. The few surviving ponies in the area fell to ground screaming, blood gushing from their tortured ears.

Vinyl Scratch simply dropped a second record on the turntable and started mixing.

Back and forth they dueled, each escalating the volume and absurdity in response to the escalation of the other. One of the Noise Marines pulled out a microphone and started singing in a voice somewhere between a death rasp and a tobacco-addicted lion roaring. Vinyl activated her emergency sub-woofers. The other Noise Marine activated back-mounted speakers. Octavia Melody joined the fray with her cello.

On and on it went, all four locked in an endless duel. This was the most absurd act of resistance in the battle for Ponyville.

It was not, however, the most pivotal.

That honour went to the Defence of Carousel Boutique.

It was a surprising turn of events, for both Krev’s warband and the ponies, an occurrence that only the most astute of seers could have anticipated. Ten of the crimson chanters had turned south, chanting profane prayers with every step, seeking fresh blood to sacrifice to the Chaos Gods. They had soon come upon a strange construction, a small tower built in the style of a pavilion or county fair carousel. At the moment of their arrival, several things happened in rapid sequence.

A white-coated mare stepped out the front door of the building, a bag of garbage suspended carefully in the air by a field of violet energy. She turned to dump the offending bag into the trash when she took notice of the crimson-skinned chanters, and chose that moment to scream.

At the same moment, three other mares walked into view. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had just finished repairing Fluttershy’s fence, and all three were returning to town for a well-deserved round of milkshakes. The three ponies flinched when they heard Rarity’s scream, and then their fight-or-flight instincts took over. Each reacted in a way which was distinctly them

Sensing a friend under attack, Rainbow Dash soared into the attack, the air screaming around her as she flew slammed into the ranks of the chanters at just subsonic speed.

Sensing a friend in need, Applejack galloped to Rarity’s side, tackling the fashionista back through the doors of Carousel Boutique just as the killing boxes flashed, iron death tearing through the air.

Seeing the terrifying invaders, Fluttershy squealed and fled, flying as fast as she could back to her home, which she promptly locked and barricaded.

The chanters stumbled at the impact of Rainbow’s attack, but they quickly recovered. The foremost of the ten growled.

“Accursed whelp! Brothers, slay it and bring me its skull. I would make a sacrifice to Bloody Khorne,” it said, raising its small killing box to the sky. It flashed and a metal slug flew through the air towards the blue-coated Pegasus.

Before the shot could even leave the barrel, Rainbow Dash was already gone.

She dashed back and forth in the skies, effortlessly dodging the chanters’ volleys.

“Hey, lame-brains, you’re gonna have to do better than that!” Rainbow taunted, unable to help herself; she was furious with these invaders for attacking her friends, but the ease with which she was confounding them simply lent itself too much to some ego-tripping.

The chanters responded with words which seemed torn right out of a piece of unholy scripture. “This is the Truth upon which all else is built: that innocence is a lie, born of ignorance; order is a myth, born of fear; and life is an illusion, born of desperation. Only in Chaos is enlightenment found, myth dispelled, and all illusions torn down.”

The chanters then split their fire; five continued to wield their killing boxes at Rainbow while the foremost and the rest of the chanters turned their attention to the boutique.

The foremost leveled its small killing box. “In the Name of Holy Lorgar and Our Dark Lords, I decree death unto you.”

The foremost’s was the first shot in that volley; it was far from the last. Two killing boxes barked out their exploding shells, accompanied by the flurry from a truly massive killing box and the roar of flame from a strange metal pipe.

Carousel Boutique died in flame, its foundations turned to splinters by the explosions. Rarity’s fabrics caught fire and quickly became an inferno.

“Rarity, move!” Applejack shouted as she leapt out of the shop, narrowly escaping the fusillade.

“No! My boutique! My fabrics! My home!” Rarity wailed as she skidded to a halt just outside the fiery deathtrap that had been her beloved store. She turned to the strange, crimson-skinned chanters, her eyes wide with fury. “You, you brutes! How dare you come here and destroy my home!”

A light blue beam shot from Rarity’s home, slamming into the chest of a Word Bearer. The warrior-brother stumbled back, his armour smoking. Another beam soon followed, driving him back another step.

“Sugarcube, wait! We have ta get outta here!” Applejack called. Rarity paid her friend no heed, choosing instead to continue her magical barrage. Applejack groaned. “Consarnit, Rarity!”

Seeing no other option, Applejack charged. “Fer Ponyville!”

The orange-coated earth pony struck the chanters hoof-first, spinning just before she reached their line to buck the nearest of them in the knee. As luck would have it, she found the chanter carrying the massive killing box. Throwing the entirety of her strength, formidable from years of hard work and further enhanced by the nature of her earth pony magic, she cracked the chanter’s stony skin. It cried out in pain as its knee cracked, then in rage as it turned its full attention to winded pony at its feet. He dropped the killing box and drew a combat knife.

“We are the Sons of Lorgar, and in our Words is Borne the…” The chanter’s words were interrupted by a sudden blue blur.

“Lay off, jerk,” Rainbow Dash said as she hoofed the monster in the back of its head.

The foremost spun on its heels, fury in its unarmoured face. It raised a silver-bladed sword to the sky. “Incompetent fools! They are half your height! Just kill these-”

Its words were muffled by a sudden application of cream pie to its face. For a moment the foremost could do nothing but sputter incomprehensibly.

“That’s for burning down Carousel Boutique, meanie!” Pinkie Pie said as she dove into the fray.

At that moment, any semblance of discipline disappeared from the chanter ranks. Not because of any particular failing on their part, but rather as the simple consequence of the manner in which they were forced to fight. Applejack darted between their legs, bucking their legs and stomping on their feet as she passed. Rainbow Dash continued to dive-bomb them from above, dodging fusillades of metal death as she flew. Rarity continued to blast them with magic, leaving smoking stone-skin and dazed chanters in her wake. Pinkie Pie bounced across the battlefield, alternating between throwing pies and hoofing the chanters. Much to the very vocal frustration of the foremost, the chanters simply could not land a hit; Rainbow was too fast for their killing boxes, and Pinkie and Applejack were too close for such tools, forcing them to resort to their combat knives. The chanters were fast, far faster than they should have been with stony skin such as they had, but they were still simply not fast enough to keep up with these infuriating ponies.

But speed was not the only factor at play in the battle, and soon the advantage of endurance was made apparent. With each passing moment, Rainbow’s escapes were just a bit narrower, Applejack’s bucks just a little weaker. The defenders of Ponyville were fast and strong, but even at their best they could not crack the profane skin of the chanters, and so the battle came down to an attrition of will. Though the ponies had fire in their hearts, they were facing an implacable foe from beyond the stars. Though the slow progress infuriated the chanters, it did not in the long run matter; these monsters could fight for weeks without rest, while the ponies would be lucky to last through the next few minutes.

Rarity was the first to wear out; of the four she was the least athletic, and thus had the least stamina. Not helping matters was the manner in which she fought, a furious barrage of magic. It was impressive and flashy, and against many foes of Equestria would have been overwhelming. But her magic was unfocused, and she herself unwilling to actually kill, and so she could do little but spend her precious strength battering the chanters, hoping that they would simply submit and slink away.

Such hopes were quite dashed as the foremost strode towards the weary unicorn, its twisted lips turned up in a cruel grin. The white-coated mare threw several magical bolts at the death which approached her, but they were to no avail; she had grown too weak, and his armour was too strong.

“You have caused me enough trouble for one day, witch,” he said as he raised his sword. “Now I will have my satisfaction!”

Rarity could do nothing but scream as death itself looked her in the eyes. Her gaze flailed about, desperately searching for some sign of salvation. There was none to be found here. Rainbow Dash was trapped in the air, too busy dodging the metal slugs of the chanters to rescue Rarity, though the despair on her face revealed that she knew well what was about to happen. Applejack simply could not notice; she was blocked from Rarity’s sight, obscured by a mass of crimson legs as she fought on the far side of the monsters. Rarity’s last hope rested in Pinkie Pie, but to the fashionista’s horror, the pink-coated pony was nowhere to be found, cream pie-covered armour the only evidence she had ever been there.

In her final moments, Rarity found that the world itself seemed to mourn; a great screech tore through the air, and the world around her seemed to darken. Rarity closed her eyes and awaited death.

“Is that… No!” the foremost shouted. Rarity cautiously opened her eyes to see the Aspiring Champion staring up into the sky. For a moment, there was no sound but the battle across the river and a strange roar above; the Fourth Coterie had fallen still and silent, allowing the ponies a brief respite.

Rarity followed the gaze of the foremost and found herself astonished by the sight. However, it was Applejack who best described the ponies’ thoughts at that moment.

“What in tarnation is that thing?”
________

Across town, just a short walk from the local schoolhouse, a prayer was answered.

Derpy Hooves lay, dazed, at the foot of a frothing berserker. Its axes were raised, their whirring teeth screaming, ready to descend and reduce the poor mailmare to a hunk of gore. Just a few metres away, Derpy’s young daughter, Dinky Hooves, cried out.

“Help! Somepony, help!”

As the last word left her mouth, a miracle played out before the young filly’s eyes.

Two thunderous bangs echoed across the schoolyard as explosions broke out on the berserker’s chest, driving it back. Its stony chest seemed to burst open, revealing a fleshy mass within. Blood gushed from this wound, which would have killed any sane creature. However, the berserker still stood, as though it could not feel the pain which should have on its own struck him dead on the spot.

Dinky spun around to see a sight at that once both terrified and encouraged her.

There stood another of the strange minotaur-like monsters. Like the invaders which now ravaged Ponyville, it had strange, stony red skin, and wore a frozen face. It was, however, quite different. Its skin was smooth, save for a few scratches and notches here and there. Its chest sported a raised tattoo of an eagle rampant. Golden cords ran about its body, and it seemed to have strange, unmoving wings on its left shoulder. In his hands he carried a strange black box with a smoking end.

Most importantly of all, this creature was more focused on fighting the berserker than harming ponies.

“I know you Khornates take blood wherever you find it, but is it really necessary to kill animals?” the newcomer said in such a tone that one could hear its smirk. “I mean, it’s not very sporting is all I’m saying.”

The berserker made a sound somewhere between a growl and a roar. “Your blood, prissy angel, for the Blood-God!”

“My, my, how unoriginal,” the newcomer said as it aimed its box. “Can’t seem to find a decent thought in your heads, it seems. Always with the blood and the skulls. Dear Throne, can’t any of you say anything else? Or does Khorne take away your vocabularies when you sign up?”

The berserker roared and charged, its massive legs passing right over Derpy, who had at last recovered. Her crossed eyes fell on Dinky, who stood right between the berserker and the newcomer.

“Dinky! Run!” she cried, stumbling to her feet. She lunged into the air, but knew she could never reach her daughter in time. Tears formed in her eyes.

The newcomer laughed. “World Eater! I think I have a medicine to manage your anger!”

With those words, the newcomer’s killing box flashed twice. Twice, Dinky saw explosions; one on the berserker’s shoulder, where it did nothing to even slow the monster, and another on its exposed chest. Blood sprayed as the blast blew its spine out its back. The berserker’s momentum carried its corpse several steps further, until it fell dead where the newcomer stood.

The newcomer stepped aside, allowing the berserker to hit the ground with a thud. It chuckled and fiddled with something on its killing box.

Derpy crashed into her daughter with a hug. “Dinky! Oh, I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“Mommy!” Dinky wrapped her forelegs around her mother and cried into her chest.

Derpy then turned her attention to the crimson giant standing just a few feet away. She did her best to eye it warily. The thing chuckled.

“Don’t worry about me. Always happy to go about saving… horses,” it said, its tone dropping as though it had come upon some unwelcome realization. It sighed. “What even is my life?”

Dinky squirmed around in her mother’s grip. She looked right up at the stranger who had rescued her. “Thank you, mister, for saving mommy.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” her rescuer said, a smile in its very words. “Now, you’d best get…”

His words were cut short by three howling voices.

“Blood for the Blood-God!”

“Skulls for the Skull Throne!”

“Death for Death’s Sake!”

The rescuer forced a laugh. “Well, at least one of them can say something new.”

It turned to the two grey-coated mares and froze for a moment in thought.

Then it sighed and slapped replaced the strange curved box on the bottom of its killing box. “You two had better run. This is going to get messy.”

“Mister?” Dinky said as the rescuer walked past.

“Of all the days I have to go first,” it mumbled as it leveled its killing box at the three berserkers which had just come around the corner. It allowed itself a small laugh. “Well, I suppose that’s what I get for talking back to sarge. Ah well. I’ve had a good run.”

Its killing box flashed three times as it slowly walked towards the berserkers. Derpy leapt to her hooves and grabbed Dinky by the scruff of her neck.

“We’re going,” the mailmare mumbled as she took to the air, flying to the door of the schoolhouse.

Dinky kept her eyes on her rescuer, hearing one last sentence before hit passed out of earshot.

“O Holy Emperor, life is your currency. Let me spend mine well,” it prayed.

Then all Dinky could do was watch.

The rescuer’s killing box flashed one last time, its projectiles all either missing their targets or failing to do any real harm. The rescuer then tossed its killing box aside and drew a smaller box and a large knife. With a mighty cry, the rescuer charged, its every step filled with righteous fury. It jammed its small killing box into the face of the first berserker. There was a flash of light which blew the box out of the rescuer’s grasp and shattered the berserker’s frozen face.

It did not, however, kill the berserker. Acting as though an explosion had not just flayed the skin from its face, the crimson-skinned monster roared and slammed its whirring tooth-axes into the rescuer’s sides. Dinky covered her ears to try and block out the screeching as metal teeth met stony skin. It sounded like when that one substitute teacher had dragged her hoof across the chalkboard, only a hundred times worse.

Dinky missed the next part of the battle, as Derpy had finally gotten the door open and thrust her daughter inside the schoolhouse. Dinky hit the ground roughly, dropped so that Derpy could barricade the door.

“Derpy! Here, let us help!” Cheerilee rushed over, followed closely by Big Mac. They quickly pushed several desks against the door.

“What’s going on out there?” one of the students asked. “Why is Ponyville on fire?”

Derpy opened her mouth, but Cheerilee jammed her hoof in before the mailmare could speak.

“We don’t want them to panic,” she hissed. “Come on, we need to keep them safe and calm.”

Derpy nodded agreement and followed Cheerilee back to the students, who had been gathered on the far side of the school house. For a moment, Dinky slipped Derpy’s notice.

Seizing her advantage, Dinky rushed to the window, desperate to see what was happening outside.

The moment she found out, she regretted it.

All three berserkers had reached the rescuer, each screaming and railing away with their tooth-axes. Dinky saw her rescuer strike back, punching and slashing for all it was worth. For a moment, it fought as though possessed, roaring in rage. Then, it cried out in pain.

Its knife-leg was the first to go; one of the tooth-axes found a weak point in its skin and chewed threw it. A moment later, another tooth-axe tore into the rescuer’s back, cutting its spine in twain. Then came that final, horrible blow, as two tooth-axes found the rescuer’s head at the same time, tearing through its frozen face helmet and splattering blood and gore all across the berserkers.

What remained of the rescuer fell to the ground with a thud. Before it could even fall halfway, however, the berserkers had lost interest. Blood had been shed, but now they still hungered for more. The three turned to the schoolhouse.

One pointed its tooth-axe in such a way that Dinky was sure it was pointed directly at her. She squeaked in fear and fell back.

“Dinky! Get over here before they see you!” Cheerilee ordered, her eyes wide and wary. In that moment, Dinky was too frightened to correct her teacher’s appraisal of the situation as she scurried over to the rest of the students.

“Blood! Kill! Destroy!” the berserkers chanted, their voices growing louder and closer every second, until it sound like they were at the very door.

Big Mac stepped to the forefront, his nostrils flaring as he readied himself to charge. Derpy and Cheerilee took up positions on his flanks.

“Big brother, what’s gonna happen to us?” Applebloom asked with an innocence only a child could display. “Are we gonna be okay?”

Big Mac looked down at his youngest sister and gave her as good a smile as he could muster. “Eeyup.”

Just a moment later, the front door exploded in a shower of splinters. The berserkers had arrived.

“Fresh blood!” one of them shouted. “Fresh skulls!”

Big Mac tensed for his charge. The berserkers stepped forward, their tooth-axes screaming as though in anticipation. Derpy and Cheerilee braced themselves for what was to come. The children cowered, struck all but silent in terror.

Then for the second time that day, Dinky was witness to what, as far as she was concerned, was a miracle.

“Heretics! Submit to judgement for your crimes!” a deep voice boomed. All eyes turned to the west, and beheld a strange and wonderful sight.

Nine more creatures like Dinky’s rescuer strode into sight. Of them, eight had the same crimson skin as the rescuer, though of them had black shoulders and a tall banner rising from his back. The ninth, however, was unique. Its skin was as black as coal, and its frozen face had all the appearance of an alien skull. It wielded a mace with a black haft and a golden eagle for a head.

“Blood Angels…” the Berzerkers said. “Servants of the False Emperor. Kill! Maim! Destroy!”

“Sons of Sanguinius!” the skull-faced one cried. “Purge the traitors!”

As one, all nine shouted, “For Baal!”

Dinky and her classmates fell to the ground, screaming, as the world exploded around them. Seven killing boxes flashed. Massive metal slugs tore through the schoolhouse; some flew on into the distance, their targets missed, while others struck true. The berserkers roared as their skin blew apart, leaving their fleshy insides exposed. One died screaming, blood pouring from a dozen fatal gashes.

“Kill! Maim! Destroy!” the surviving berserkers roared. They charged, running and swinging their tooth-axes.

The nine newcomers stood their ground; for a moment, they were as statues. Then the berserkers crossed an invisible line, and the skull-face spoke.

“Burn the heretics!”

Two red-skinned creatures stepped forward, carrying strange devices in their alien forelegs. One was holding what looked like a pipe with a cider bottle strapped to the bottom, while the other had a massive box with two pipes sticking out the front, ending in a second, smaller box. As the berserkers came within a few steps of the newcomers, these pipes spat fire.

Roaring flame engulfed the berserkers, scorching their fleshy insides and charring what remained of their stony skin. One berserker fell, overwhelmed at last by its wounds. The last one leapt through the fire, roaring with raw fury.

The banner-bearing red-skin stepped forwards, a bronze-sheening sword flashing through the air. The berserker died in an instant as the sword tore through its chest. The banner-bearer dropped the corpse toe the ground, pointed its small killing box and fired once, destroying the berserker’s head.

“It is done, Holy Chaplain,” the banner bearer said. It turned to the ponies, who stood stock still and silent in awe and confusion. “What of them?”

The skull-face remained silent for a moment, as though thinking. An explosion from further within Ponyville drew its attention.

“Save your ammunition for now, Sergeant,” skull-face said. “The battle is yet to be won.”

“Alright,” the banner bearer said. “Squad Murata! Form up and move out! There is yet more heretic blood to spill today! For Terra and Baal!”

“For Sanguinius and the Emperor!” the others shouted as one. Then the nine turned and strode away, marching towards Ponyville.

Dinky let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She looked up at her mother, who seemed to have done the same. Then Derpy seized up.

“The Doctor!” she shrieked. “He’s still in town! We have to get him!”

“Nope,” Big Mac said, taking a single step to block Derpy’s path. “Not you. Ah’ll go. Ah have ta find AJ anyway.”

“But Doc…” Derpy started. Big Mac cut her off with a snort.

“Will be fine. You and Cheerilee need ta get the foals to safety. Take ‘em to Sweet Apple Acres, they’ll be safe there.”

Derpy’s crossed gaze snapped back and forth between Big Mac and Ponyville. Then she sighed in defeat. She turned to Dinky. “Come on, Dinky, we gotta go.”

“But Dad!” Dinky said, fear seizing her poor young heart.

“Doc’ll be fine,” Derpy said, doing her best to mask her own fear. “Come on, we’ve gotta go to Sweet Apple Acres now.”

Dinky mumbled acceptance and followed as Cheerilee and Derpy ushered the students out of school house. She took one look back, watching as Big Mac galloped off to the east, and as the strange red-skinned rescuers advanced into Ponyville.

For a moment, her spirits rose. Whatever those aliens were, they had saved her. Ponies who saved other ponies were heroes, and heroes always saved the day. She smiled, assured by the power of childhood logic and faith that all would be well. After all, what need was there for fear when heroes were on the job?

Author's Notes:

Well, I'm ending this chapter here before it gets too big. The conclusion to the Battle of Ponyville soon to follow.