Twilight regained conciousness as Luna, Spitfire and the others got her to her house. They got her and Spitfire into beds and tended to their wounds. Magic could only do so much but they were able to treat their injuries.
"Princess, I'm sorry. We failed you your majesty." Spitfire said weakly.
Luna placed a hoof on the pegasi's foreleg. "No Spitfire. We failed you."
"They destroyed it... they destroyed Cloudsdale. That thing... it slaughtered all of us." Soarin said, tears in his eyes. Despite being a member of the Wonderbolts and Spitfire's wingpony, he was a very sensitive pegasus and he hadn't experienced anything like this before.
"What was that thing anyway? Silverline asked.
Twilight's gaze fell to the floor. "...it was Rainbow Dash."
"What? This is... how is that possible? Why?" Luna asked, confused.
"I don't know. They... did something to her. Brainwashed her or something. They could be doing it to all our friends..." Twilight said on the verge of sobbing.
"Who would do this? And why?" Soarin asked.
Luna walked over to a corner of Twilight's library. "His name is Vice Pudding, he's the son of Chancellor Rice Pudding and the great-great-grandson of Chancellor Puddinghead." Luna pulled out a book from Twilight's shelf with her magic and levitated it back to the group. She opened it and turned to the relevant page.
"Chancellor? There hasn't been an earth pony Chancellor in over..." Twilight asked.
"Fifteen-hundred years." Luna stated.
"How can an earth pony live that long?" Twilight examined the book. Vice's picture wasn't among the old photos catalogued. She looked at the picture of Rice Pudding though. The last Chancellor of the earth ponies, the information underneath detailed that he was elected to office shortly before the very first Unification Day, the day the three tribes came together officially under the princess. Among his accomplishments, it listed that he founded Equestria's first railroad and was instrumental in the development of the train. His passage was a short one and it didn't list much about a family except for a son named Vice and a wife named Sorbet.
"We only know of magic that can extend one's life. It is a privelage that only few have attained like myself and always because their special purpose has demanded it." Luna explained.
"Is it possible he created a way to live longer?" Skimmer asked.
"I don't know. He seems to anticpate our every move." Twilight said as she closed the book.
"What is our next move?" Soarin asked.
"Without the Tri-Tesla reactor, we need to find another way of getting past that barrier and into Canterlot." Luna said.
"We have Princess Luna now. You can use your magic to open up that shield and get us inside." Twilight suggested, her voice determined and sure.
"Not even my magic is strong enough to get through that shield Twilight. I don't know if even I and my sister together could break that barrier." Luna explained.
"We need to rally our allies. We gather our forces and... and take the castle by storm!" Spitfire suggested from the bed.
"Retreat? We can't just abandon our friends, the princess, stuck in the castle under the control of that-" Twilight went off on a tangent, apalled at the idea.
"What choice do we have Twilight? We can't get through that barrier without the Tri-Tesla reactor. Only if we gather our forces do we stand any chance of getting through that shield. We must assemble our allies and then strike." Luna said.
"You... you don't have enough time for that." a mysterious voice proclaimed in an impish tone. The voice sounded almost reptellian in nature, the kind found in hushed dark circles. It came from just outside the door to Twilight's house.
Luna walked over and opened the door to see a dog soldier standing in front of her. "You picked the wrong house to check bub!" Soarin asked, flying over.
"Stop! He's with us!" Vinyl Scratch said, appearing from the side with Octavia.
"Sorry we're late. We were listening in over the communicator." Octavia explained. Twilight almost forgot she had it still attatched to her ear.
"What are you doing with this... dog?" Luna asked.
"We found him in the house when we first got Twilight. He doesn't like what's going on, he's agreed to help us." Vinyl explained.
"How do we know we can trust him?" Luna demanded.
"You don't have any other choice." the dog said. He stood upright and rubbed the tops of his paws. Unlike the other dogs, his armor and helmet had been removed. His fur that had been covered by the armor was a paler color than the rest of him.
"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked.
"My name... my name is Saber. We uh,... we've met before, pony." he said.
Twilight remembered back to her first encounter with a Diamond Dog, what seemed like ages ago. "You... you were one of the dogs that captured Rarity!"
Saber nodded. "I helped them build Metal Gear RAM. But when it got broken, I couldn't fix it right away. They blamed me for what happened. When you found me, I was looking for a place to hide. Vice wants me dead."
"Him and his bros are bigshots in Vice's army but when the princess damaged their robot, someone had to take the blame. So they chose him." Vinyl helped explain.
"Your own brothers are going to let him kill you for what happened?" Twilight asked in disbelief. Saber nodded again. Twilight couldn't understand how brothers could allow this to happen to each other. It didn't make any sense, nothing made any sense.
"You said you helped them build... what is it exactly?" Luna asked.
"They call it Metal Gear RAM. Robotic Anti-magical Machine, it's what Vice used to attack the castle. My brothers and I built it, every part and put it together. He's going to make lots of them, build an army and take over every nation on Equestria."
"What do you know about Vice?" Twilight asked, thinking.
"He... he's very smart. I don't know where he came from, he just showed up one day and things started changing. He doesn't seem to like other ponies, he always walks on two legs and acts like a dog, or a dragon. He gave my clan armor and weapons, showed them how to fight. He told them we were being oppressed by the ponies, they were holding us back, keeping us from reaching our destinies." Saber said.
"That's a lie! Ponies have made no hostilities towards the dog clans!" Luna shouted.
"He says you don't care about anything but other ponies. You control this world, control all the magic and don't let any of the other nations have any."
"Magic is... not something we can always control or predict. It might seem like something ponies have complete control over but really our understanding of it is still limited." Twilight admitted.
"He wants to. He's trying to use his technology to get all the powers that Celestia has, the power to move the sun."
"That's preposterous! Only my sister and I have the power to move the sun and the moon. It is our destiny, our burden, not his." Luna scoffed at the notion.
"He says that technology eventually solves everything, even destiny. And he doesn't have a cutie mark."
"He... what? He's a blank flank?" Luna asked. Saber nodded slowly.
"The Blank Flank King. That's kind of funny when you think about it." Soarin remarked at the idea.
"He says his destiny is to be the king of Equestria, that's why he designed RAM."
"If you built it, can you destroy it?" Twilight asked.
Saber shrugged. "It's easy to break if you know how but not with magic. He said that you and your friends could've really busted it up if he hadn't been a better pilot. Princess Celestia blasted out the cockpit when Vice got out or it wouldn't be damaged right now."
"So it's not invincible... and it's broken now right?"
"Yes but they're trying to fix it. It's easy to break and fix but they're missing some pieces. They had to build new parts, took time. The materials they need are underground which is why they took the ponies in Ponyville. They're going to make them mine resources in the Everfree Forest and then use the train to ship them to Canterlot. They have the energy shield but Vice is still worried about the other nations. That's why he's fixing RAM first; he needs it to prevent other countries from attacking him until he can make more. The broken RAM he has now is the only one, the first prototype. If you try to go anywhere now, it will be too late. RAM will be repaired by then."
"So we have to stop those materials from reaching the castle then." Soarin said. Saber nodded solemnly with his head in a ducked, submissive position.
"We must do both. Soarin, Skimmer and Silverline, you will contact the other nations. We must face this threat together. I will stop the train from reaching the castle, Twilight will free the prisoners from Ponyville." Luna said. She had already put a plan together, they all nodded in agreement.
"I... I should come too." Spitfire tried to get up from her bed.
"No Spitfire. You must stay here and rest and try to recover. We will handle this." Luna said to her. Spitfire lay herself back down again and rubbed her shoulder.
"We'll stay here and take care of her. Thanks to Saber's helmet, we can listen in to what they're saying over their communicators. If something happens, we can let you know ahead of time." Vinyl said.
"Let's not waste any time. Twilight, go rescue the prisoners from the Everfree Forest. Get them out and to safety while I take care of the train. The three of you, get going to our neighbors. Get to them as fast as you can, warn them of RAM." They all nodded. Luna, Soarin, Skimmer and Silverline took to the sky as they exited Twilight's house. Twilight stepped outside and adjusted the communicator in her ears. She watched them fly off for a moment and then trotted off, sneaking into the shadows.