Incongruentia: Oppugnare
Ding!
The ringing sound that came from Fluttershy's clock made her jump, also eliciting a small squeak from the yellow pegasus pony. Some of the animals knew what it meant, and came rushing out of the many holes in the walls of Fluttershy's cottage. It was feeding time! Fluttershy got her bell off of the shelf and rang it. "Lunch time!"
Fluttershy hovered up to the top of the bookshelf where she kept the green pellets of food, and poured out a large pile in the center of the floor. "Eat up, little ones," she said as the small animals dove into the pile of pellets. While they were all in one place, Fluttershy began the official count. "One, two...three four five...six... seven, eight, nine...ten! All ten mice accounted for. Let's see..." Eight bunnies, four squirrels, twelve birds, three skunks, nine chipmunks. All accounted for.
Fluttershy grabbed her basket of raw fish that she keeps in one corner and brought it outside, leaping off her bridge into the creek to feed the ferrets. As she flashed them a tender smile, she heard a loud crash up in her cottage, startling her for the second time that day. "What could that be," the yellow pegasus wondered to herself. "Oh, I hope Mr. Mousie didn't tip over the bookshelf to get to the food pellets...again."
As she walked up her winding sidewalk, she spotted a rainbow colored tail that proved her wrong. It was connected to a cyan colored body, or, well, half a cyan colored body, stuck in a hole in Fluttershy's cottage. "Rainbow, what are you doing here?" she called out.
The Rainbow colored pony finally got her head unstuck and fell to the ground with a thud. She stood up, shook her head, and zipped over to Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy!!!"
The yellow mare squeaked in response. Rainbow Dash continued on with her front two hooves holding Fluttershy two feet off the ground.
"It was sooo weird! I had just finished up some of my weather chores and went home to catch a couple of z's. When I opened the door of my cloud-house, I discovered this weird black mist stuff inside my house! I knew something was fishy, so I flew in with my hooves up ready to fight! But when I got in, the whole place was trashed! Like, entirely ransacked!"
"Oh, my," replied Fluttershy.
"I came straight here! What should I do? Should I tell the Pony Police?"
"Um, well, was anything stolen?" Fluttershy asked.
"Uh, not that I saw. But a ton of stuff was broken. I can't wait to catch whoever did this and show 'em to the Ponyville Hospital," the cyan pegasus smacked two hooves together and Fluttershy backed up five or six steps.
"Um...m-m-maybe you should find a...less...violent way of...you know, like a prison or something."
"Does Ponyville even have a prison?" Rainbow Dash wondered out loud.
Just then, they heard the clop clop clop of hurried hoofsteps coming over the hill. Moments later, Twilight Sparkle, a purple unicorn, appeared. On her back rode a lavender colored baby dragon.
"Twilight!" Cried Rainbow Dash as she zoomed up to Twilight. She began telling her story, but Twilight stopped her with a raised hoof.
"I just got an urgent letter from the princess," she declared, "An attack has been made upon Equestria. We are to report to Canterlot immediately. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, everypony is gathered back at the library. Come on!"
Rainbow Dash frustratedly blew out air through her nose. "It's been four days since we returned from the Crystal Empire. Four days! Can't we get at least a week off before saving Equestria again?"
"I thought you liked being a hero, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy.
"Yeah, well, being a local hero is easy, but saving all of Equestria has too much drama. Except for jousting last time. That was pretty fun."
Fluttershy shuddered at the memory.
Twilight began trotting in the direction of the library, and he two pegasus ponies followed her.
"An...a-a-attack? Wh-what kind of...(gulp) att-ttack?" Worried Fluttershy.
"I don't know, the letter didn't specify. It could be anything," Twilight replied.
"Like ch-changelings, or, or hydras, or d-d-d–"
"Dragons?" Spike finished for her.
"(gulp) Y-yeah."
"Whatever it is, they'd better be scared. 'Cause Rainbow Dash is coming! I'll kick their flanks! This ought to be fun!" smirked Rainbow Dash.
"I wouldn't let down your guard too easily, like Fluttershy said, it could be something dangerous."
"Psh. Danger-smanger. I'm not afraid of anything," bragged the pegasus.
"I am," whimpered Fluttershy.
The three continued on toward the library in the center of town. They were almost out of the wooded area that surrounded Fluttershy's cottage, when they came across an eerie dark mist hovering around a nearby tree.
"That's the same stuff that was in my house earlier today!" shouted Rainbow Dash.
Twilight was studying it curiously. "Hmmm, this is...wait a sec...this is uncanny!"
"What?" asked the two pegasi in unison.
"This looks exactly like the black mist that followed King Sombra around! But...it can't be! I thought we defeated him!"
The three ponies and dragon stared in disbelief as the mist floated around the tree. Only four days earlier they had saved the Crystal Empire from King Sombra, how was it possible he was returning? Could it just be a similar looking black cloud? The ponies took steps back as the tendrils wrapped around the tree. Fluttershy was shaking visibly, now, at the poosibility of the return of that...horrible monster...thing.
The smoke seemed to be following them as they backtracked. Fluttershy was sure that this would turn out to be King Sombra, or even something worse. She squeaked as she thought about all the most grotesque creatures that could have arisen from the depths of Tartarus.
Suddenly, too green orbs appeared in the thick of the billowing cloud. They advanced and the body they were attached to became visible. The creature walked on two legs, and had two arms that reached down past its knees, ending in long, sharp looking claws. It had a long face with lots of teeth and two green, glowing eyes.
The creature advanced forward, slowly, making high, squealing noises. The three ponies and dragon sat frozen in fear, every hair and scale on their backs standing up. It lifted up one long claw that gleamed in the sunlight. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion for the ponies. Then, there was a movement as all three ponies flinched and cried out. But when they opened their eyes, they first noticed that they were still alive, and the second thing that they noticed was that the creature was no longer standing in front of them. An orange Earth Pony was galloping at the creature, which was on its back about ten yards to the left. She made a giant leap, soaring through the air, and landed with her two front hooves directly on the creature's head. It broke inward with a sickly snapping noise, twitched its claws a couple of times, and lay still. Breathing heavily, the pony that had slain the attacking creature trotted towards the three ponies who were watching in horror and amazement.
"'Yall all right? That thing didn't hurt you or nothin', did it?"
Twilight was the first to regain her composure enough to speak. "N-no, we're all right. Just a little shaken. Applejack, you saved us. Thank you."
"Well, that varmint looked like he was fixing to hurt mah friends! Speaking of, what in the hay was that creepy thing?"
Twilight racked her brain. She thought through all the books she had ever read, all the illustrations, but she had never seen, or read about, anything like this. "I don't know. But whatever it was, it's dead now." Almost a shame, plenty of scientific research and experimenting could have been done on this creature.
Rainbow Dash seemed to have snapped out of her trance. "Heh, I could have taken care of that thing, easy-peasy. I was just, uh, waiting for the right moment to strike!" The pegasus let go of her pride. "Thanks for saving us, AJ. That was pretty amazing."
"'Taint nothin!" The farm-pony replied, "At least it's gone now."
The four ponies turned their heads to look at the dead creature. In another whoosh of black fog, its remains disappeared into the ground. Twilight sighed. "We should probably get back to the library, now. Pinkie and Rarity are there waiting for us."
Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash cantered the rest of the way to Twilight's home, a library in a tree. Fluttershy and Spike followed, but said nothing as they both just stared into the distance.
Presently they arrived at the library, and found Pinkie Pie and Rarity waiting for them. As they walked in the door, the pink earth pony bounced up to them, exchanging excited greetings and hugs with all of them. Pinkie Pie had a way of cheering ponies up from just about anything, and Fluttershy and Spike seemed to relax in her warm embrace.
Applejack finished telling Rarity what had happened back by Fluttershy's cottage, and Twilight stepped forward to read the letter that had been sent by her mentor:
"Dear my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle: I would first like to congratulate you on passing your test and doing a wonderful job protecting the Crystal Empire. However, we are now faced with a new challenge: Equestria is under attack by strange, perhaps paranormal beings. Who or what our enemy is, or why they are attacking, is unknown to us at the moment. What I need you to do is come to Canterlot with your friends. My little sister will be awaiting your arrival, and you will make a plan on how to protect the public from harm while I try to answer some of the questions. I will not be present, as I will be using my magic to attempt to communicate with the beings, or perhaps figure out how to permanently vanquish them. I wish you good luck in this endeavor. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."
"Para-what?" Asked Applejack.
"Paranormal. It means that the attackers could be ghosts, aliens, demons..."
Fluttershy sighed. "I don't like any of those things."
"I don't believe in any of those things," Twilight remarked skeptically, "Except maybe aliens, or scientifically, extra-terrestrial beings. Our galaxy is lightyears across, so the statistical chance of extra terrestrial life on other planets or celestial bodies is quite high...But that's kind of irrelevant at the moment," Twilight blushed. The other five ponies and dragon stared blankly. Then, Pinkie Pie spoke up:
"Okie-dokie-lokie! I think it would be absoluterrificlicious if there were aliens! I bet they would make good friends! And maybe good food too! Do you think that they would make cupcakes? Hey, that's a good idea! Does anypony want cupcakes? I could make some! Or cookies, or–"
Rarity cut her off, "I don't think now is a good time, dear."
"Rarity's right," agreed Twilight, "It's not exactly safe to go outside right now, much less to Sugarcube Corner. Mayor Mare has already told everypony to stay indoors."
Pinkie's ears drooped at the prospect of not being able to eat her favorite snack, but quickly lit up. Pinkie Pie does not stay unhappy for long.
"Ah reckon that thing that Ah saved 'yall from is one of them paraformal beings?" Implied Applejack.
"Yes, I think so," Twilight replied.
"You ran into one of those things too?" Gasped Rarity.
"Yeah...what do you mean, did you have an experience with one of them?"
"Yes. I was working in my boutique, in my inspiration room. I was working on a piece that is for Emerald Shine, you know, the pony from Canterlot, and it was turning out marvelous! I had a simple white gown, and stitched emeralds all over, it works because of her name. Anywho, it also had emerald colored lining around the bottom of the dress, which made it look more complete. But my only wonder is if I should have done a red gown with the emeralds...it may be more formal, and white stains easier...but then again, the white goes better with her mane color–"
"Just get to the point!" Rainbow Dash exploded.
Rarity blushed. "Oh yes, I'm sorry...well I was just working on this gown when all of a sudden I hear a scream coming from the other room. It was Sweetie Belle! So I started running toward her to see what was wrong, then boom! We crashed into each other. After I helped her up I asked her what was the matter, but she was crying too hard to talk. I checked her over but couldn't find any bruises or cuts, or anything wrong with her. But by then, she had finally calmed down enough to speak, and she told me that there was a monster in the other room! I told her she was silly, that there was no such thing as monsters. I went into the other room to prove it to her, but she was too terrified to come with. Now I must admit, I was a little nervous, but I still went on! For my dear sister Sweetie Belle! I didn't see anything in there at first, but then I heard a little shuffling noise. I asked 'Hello, is anypony there?' But there was no response. Then I heard it again, and saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. I took a couple of steps into the room when out from a pile of old clothes crawled the most hideous creature I had ever seen!" Rarity shuddered at the memory. "It was a black creature that walked on all fours, but its underside and face pointed upwards as it crawled around. It had absolutely grotesque looking green eyes, no offense Spikey-Wikey, and a really long mouth as if it was yawning. It was also making these uncouthe squealing noises. Well, I wasn't going to just stand there and let it scare my sister! I grabbed it with my magic and shoved it into a closet, then slammed the door and locked it. But I could hear it pounding on the door and making more hideous noises, so I moved my red couch in front of the door. All of a sudden, the banging on the door stopped and black smoke seeped through the cracks of the door. Then I went into my inspiration room and told Sweetie Belle that the monster was gone. That's about when you came, Twilight, and told me to meet you at the library."
Rainbow Dash sat on the floor and crossed her front hooves at the fact that even Rarity had acted more heroic than her.
Twilight scratched her chin in thoughtfulness as she took in Rarity's story. "That's interesting. Black some, you say? Anypony else encounter one of these creatures? Pinkie Pie?"
"Nopey-dopey," replied the pink earth-pony.
"Okay then," said Twilight, "We'd better get to Canterlot. The princess is expecting us." And with that, the six ponies and dragon set off for the Ponyville train station.
* * *
When the train pulled in to Canterlot Station, the six ponies, dragon, and party cannon all stepped out. To their surprise, a tall, dark alicorn with a mane that blew in an imaginary breeze and fur the color of midnight, was waiting for them. Princess Luna rarely leaves the castle, and she had met them right at the station. This came off as a nice surprise, and Applejack was just barely able to convince Pinkie Pie not to celebrate it too loudly.
"Princess Luna?" Gasped Twilight, "What are you doing here?" If the princess of the night had met them at the train station, there had to be a huge problem.
"Twilight Sparkle, it is a pleasure to see you again, and your companions." She did not show any excitement at seeing the six ponies, but deep down inside, Luna was glad to see some of the only ponies besides the Royal Guard and her older sister that she could almost go as far to call "friends." At least she was not speaking in her Royal Canterlot Voice.
Twilight, on the other hoof, was overjoyed to see Luna. There are no ponies that Twilight looks up to quite like the princesses. "It's so nice to see you again! I barely got to see you at all after the Crystal Fair Celebration!"
Luna smiled as they began walking from the train station to the castle. "My big sister has tasked us with coming up with a plan to defend our capital city against Sombra."
"Sombra?!" The six gasped in unison.
"That would explain the oddly familiar smoke!" Remarked Twilight.
"I thought we kicked his flank just four days ago! Why is he back?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"My sister has not been able to learn much of this new villain as of the present, but what we have found out that Sombra has tapped into some dark force that has made him more powerful than ever before."
"Does this mean that the Crystal Empire is under attack once again?" Asked Applejack.
"I would so like to return to the Crystal Empire, but not if it is in more danger," said Rarity.
"Is my brother okay? How about Cadence?"
"Yes, yes, the Crystal Empire is fine, because they have the crystal heart to protect them," said Luna, "But nowhere else is safe at the moment. That is where we come in."
Right when she said that, they had arrived at Canterlot castle. Twilight galloped ahead to push the button that lowers the drawbridge, but Luna stopped her. The dark alicorn stepped forward and put a hoof to a black square that was right next to the drawbridge button. The black square whirred underneath Luna's hoof, and suddenly made a beeping noise as the water in the moat suddenly began receding. The mane six exchanged looks of confusion as the water got lower and lower. Was this supposed to be happening? Finally the moat was completely drained, revealing a door that had not been visible before. Luna started walking towards it, and the other ponies, in awe, followed her.
"This is so awesome," Rainbow Dash whispered to nopony in particular. It was like some sort of spy movie, like the Doughnut Joe stories that Twilight had made a vain attempt in writing.
The door opened, revealing a long, dark corridor. Princess Luna walked in, as she was used to such darkness. Applejack and Rainbow Dash followed, blinking as their eyes adjusted to the dark. Fluttershy, however, had different ideas.
"I am not going in there. That tunnel is dark, and s-s-scary." She attempted to hide herself under a rock, but Rarity's horned glowed and grabbed Fluttershy's tail, dragging her along. Twilight used a light spell, igniting her horn like a lantern, which seemed to relax the yellow pegasus a little.
They continued on through the dark, cavernous corridor that soon lead to a small room with a single bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Beneath it was a table, seating three ponies. Two were nameless Royal Gaurdsponies, and the third was a familiar smiling white stallion.
"Twily!" He called his signature greeting to his younger sister. She hugged him and sat down next to him, as the rest of the ponies found their own seats around the table.
"Shining Armor! What are you doing here?" Twilight asked excitedly.
"My duties as captain of the royal guard brought me here. I normally live in the Crystal Empire with Cadence, but I have to come down to Canterlot for dire emergencies like this one."
Twilight nodded in understanding as Luna cleared her throat. "Shall we get down to business?"
“That sounds great,” Shining Armor agreed.
“All right, let’s go over the facts. King Sombra is somehow back, and is unleashing an attack upon all of Equestria. He is much stronger than before, and also much more dedicated. We need to temporarily protect Equestria until my sister figures out a plan. But right now, we must make a plan to protect our home. Does anypony have any suggestions?”
Rainbow Dash was the first one to speak up. “I say we fight! We can’t let this guy waltz right in and destroy Equestria! We gotta show him who’s boss!” She emphasized each word by banging her hoof on the table. Her statement won a few hoots of appreciation from various Royal Guardsponies.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” said Shining Armor, “This guy is very strong and that plan could end up being very risky.”
“He’s right,” Twilight said, “We need to approach this in a logical manner.”
“Why can’t one of ‘yall do one of them spells that creates a bubble around Equestria?” Applejack asked.
Luna answered: “It would be very difficult to conjure up enough magic to do such a spell in the first place, much less keep it running long enough for Celestia to figure out a long term plan.”
“Okay then, what are our other options?” Asked Twilight. Nopony spoke up.
“Keep in mind,” said one member of the Royal Guard, “the possibility of retaliation is still on the table.”
“I hate to say it, but that may be our only option,” agreed Rarity.
Twilight paused to think. After a while, she glanced over at Princess Luna. Her gaze was met with a nod, and Twilight proceeded. “Fighting back seems to be our only option at this point. However, we must go about this strategically. Our safety is of the highest importance.”
“True, but what about the safety of all Equestria? It’s not just our safety, it’s everypony’s safety! That’s why we have to take risks like this!” Rainbow Dash said.
“Rainbow Dash brings up a good point, there,” said Shining Armor, “That’s the reason I joined the Royal Guard in the first place.”
“So all those in favor of attacking, say ‘aye,’” Said Luna. The room filled with shouts of aye. “Those opposed, say ‘neigh.’” The room was silent except for the chattering of a certain yellow pegasus’ teeth.
“Then we know the route we are taking. Shining Armor, since military strategy and leadership is your special talent, why don’t you take over from here.”
“Yes, your Highness,” He replied. “Like Rainbow Dash said, the safety of Equestria and all the defenseless ponies should come before our own safety. But we have to remember the difference between bravery and recklessness."
The other members of the Royal Guard nodded in agreement.
“I want everypony wearing armor. This is a very risky operation and we will need protection.”
Rainbow Dash flew out of her seat. “Yes! I’m going to look so awesome!”
“It won’t slow us down, or ground the Pegasi or anything, will it?” Applejack asked
“Nope, you’ll be fine. This is special armor, magically enchanted to be extra lightweight.”
“Does it come in pink?” Asked Pinkie Pie.
Shining Armor chuckled. “Yes, Pinkie, for you, it does.”
“Wheee! This is awesome!”
“I must object. I simply cannot wear that armor, as it will look bad on me. I cannot fight looking like a boyish brute,” complained Rarity.
Shining Armor gave Rarity the same look that he gave Twilight when he told her she would be the best mare at his wedding. “They’re made of solid gold,” he said.
Rarity’s jaw dropped as she entered a trance-like state. “S-s-s...solid...gold?” Suddenly her eyes lit up. “Sign me up!”
“Do I get to wear armor, too?” Spike asked.
“Of course,” said Shining Armor.
“Wait a second!” Twilight objected. “I can’t let Spike go into battle, too! It’s just too dangerous!”
“Oh, just think of how adorable he’ll look in his suit in his suit of solid gold!” Rarity picked up her Spikey-Wikey and squeezed him. The dragon smiled goofily and his pupils changed to the shape of hearts.
“It’s more than that! That means he is going into combat, he will actually be fighting! I can’t let that happen!” Tears filled Twilight’s eyes. “I just can’t.”
The whole room paused awkwardly as the ponies tried to figure out whether to smile, be consoling or sentimental, or pretend not to notice her. Spike accepted a hug from Twilight, but pushed her away after a couple seconds.
"I may be just a baby dragon physically, but mentally I'm mature!" He said.
Twilight wiped her eyes. "Huh?"
"You know that the only possible way for a dragon to grow physically is by greed, and I definitely don't want to do that again. I think I'm ready to do this. Plus, I have my fire-breath, which is not a bad defense skill."
Shining Armor put his hoof on his sister's shoulder. Twilight sniffed and said, "Okay."
"Now we need an actual strategy for battle. Shining, do you have anything?" Asked Luna.
"Yes," Shining responded. "As a matter of fact, I do. We wait in downtown Canterlot, which is where the beast has been spotted the most, until he shows up. As soon as he does, all the unicorns advance and use a binding spell, holding him in place. While we hold him, the Pegasi fly over and drop their spears. The Earth Ponies will be hiding in various places, ready with their spears in case anything goes wrong."
"What about Alicorns?" Asked Luna, implying that she, too, was willing to fight alongside her loyal subjects, for better and worse.
Shining Armor picked up the hint. "How about you team up with the Unicorns; we need all the magic we can get. The spears will temporarily phase him, giving Twily and her friends an opportunity to come in safely with the Elements of Harmony."
"Aw man, does this mean I can't help with the aerial attack?" Rainbow Dash complained.
"If you can somehow find a way to do that and zoom over to get to your element in time," Shining Armor responded.
The look on Rainbow Dash's face told everypony that she had taken Shining's sarcasm as a challenge.
"Are you sure the Elements will work?" Applejack asked.
"Yes, I'm about ninety-seven percent sure. If the Crystal Heart can stop this guy, so can the elements."
"So it sounds like we have a plan, then?" Luna asked.
"Yes, Princess. We do."
"All right. You are all dismissed. We must prepare."
Ten minutes later, the six ponies and dragon were inside the castle, wearing golden armor. Rainbow Dash admired herself in the mirror alongside Rarity, while Applejack put on her special brass horseshoes. Pinkie Pie pranced around, imagining she was a great war hero, and Fluttershy sat in a corner watching her. Twilight sat with one hoof on the book that contained the Elements, looking out the giant windows at the sun that her mentor had raised. Spike stood behind her.
At that moment, they heard a whistle, and Shining Armor poked his head in. Then they all trotted toward the center of Canterlot, toward the battle. The six marched in one horizontal line, flanked by Spike and lead by Shining Armor. When they arrived, they stood in the same formation, eyes fixed on the star painted on the ground in the center of town. The waiting game had begun.