Princess Celestia pushed away her weariness as she found one of her Royal Guard patrolling the hallways. She stopped him and held up the letters for him. "What is your name?"
The guard snapped to attention. "Aftershock, Your Highness."
"Aftershock," the white alicorn continued, "It is most important that these letters reach their recipients as soon as possible. Can I count on you?"
"Of course, Your Highness," he said, bowing to her.
"Good." She floated the letters into his raised hoof. "The letters are identical, so it does not matter who receives which. The recipients are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony: Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. You will find Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie is currently in training with her sisters here in Canterlot. And Rainbow Dash will be training near Cloudsdale, at the Wonderbolt Academy."
"Cloudsdale, Your Highness?"
"That's right. You will need to locate the mailpony in Ponyville to deliver it for us."
Aftershock bowed once more. "Yes, Your Highness." Princess Celestia spun and hastily returned to her quarters, and though she was tired, she doubted she would get any rest tonight. The purple-grey earth pony looked at the letters and remembered Celestia's orders. "Okay, the closest recipient is Pinkie Pie. She and her sisters should be at the barracks.
He stuffed the letters between two plates of his golden armor and made his way toward the training grounds. Since the sun was no longer in the sky, the Royal Guard trainees and the newly appointed Equestrian Special Operations Team One were either headed to the showers or their beds.
The Pie sisters had been given their own quarters, not far from the other barracks. Aftershock saw that the light was on inside, so he trotted up and knocked on the door. It was Limestone who opened who opened the door.
"A real Royal Guard? What do you want?" she snapped at him.
Aftershock pulled out one of the letters and held it out. "Message for Pinkie Pie, from Princess Celestia." Seconds later, the pink mare appeared in the doorway and unrolled the letter. She read it silently to herself and smiled, nodding to the Royal Guard. He left to deliver the next letter.
Limestone Pie didn't like her sister's silence. Marble's she was used to, but Pinkie was never this quiet for this long. "So? "What is it?"
"Somehow Twilight was able to send a message to Celestia to let her know she was okay. She's sending a letter to each of my friends as well."
"That's good news," Maud interjected.
"So what do we do?" Limestone asked.
"We train hard and fight harder."
<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
Aftershock took the night train to Ponyville, where the remaining letters would be taken care of. He arrived in Ponyville long after everypony had gone to bed, so he found his way to the hotel, stripped off his armor, and slept until sunrise. He awoke and put his armor back on, making sure the letters were still in place before setting out for Fluttershy's cottage.
As he made his way up the hill to her door, some critters, a few birds and a couple of rodents, followed him. "Good morning, little ones," he smiled. The birds flew off, in through one of the windows. Just as he was about to knock on the door, the yellow pegasus opened it.
"Yes?" she said quietly.
Aftershock held out another letter. "Message for Fluttershy, from Princess Celestia," he said with a smile.
"Oh, hi, Aftershock. How's the little chameleon you got last year?"
"Dewey loves it up in Canterlot!" he said. "Every morning there's plenty of dew and insects on my porch."
"Sounds perfect for him."
Aftershock nodded. "Indeed. He likes changing colors for my filly." They both laughed.
Fluttershy opened the letter and read it. She smiled softly. "Thank Celestia she's okay."
<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
Aftershock knocked on the door of the Carousel Boutique, Rarity's posh fashion shop in the center of Ponyville. He heard a voice call from inside: "Just a moment, dear; let me finish this hem." He patiently waited for her to open the door, twirling the letter on his hoof. Moments later, Rarity's blue aura enveloped the doorknob and opened the door.
"Message for Rarity, from Princess Celestia," he repeated again.
"From Princess Celestia? Why on earth would she send me...unless-" She broke the wax seal and quickly read the letter. "Oh, that's such a relief," she sighed as she pulled up her chez lounge and laid down. "Do come in, darling. Did Celestia send one to all of us?"
"Yes, she did," he entered and Rarity closed the door.
"And to whom have you already delivered one?"
The violet-maned unicorn's fluffy white Persian, Opalescence, smugly walked toward Aftershock and rubbed her body against his hind leg. He reached back and pet her head. "Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and you. My next stop is Sweet Apple Acres, and I'll need some help getting the last one to Rainbow Dash up at the Wonderbolt Academy."
"Oh, that will be no problem, dear; I'll send the mailpony your way. She's a pegasus."
Aftershock smiled. "Thank you." He nodded a goodbye to her and left the Carousel Boutique. Opal stared at him as he left and turned away, her nose pointed upward. She meowed as she passed a little filly entering the room.
"Was that Derpy?" she asked her sister.
"No, Sweetie Belle," Rarity replied, "it was a member of the Royal Guard. He's delivering messages to each of the bearers of the Elements."
"Oh," the white filly said. After a moment of thought, she piped up again. "Rarity?"
"Yes, dear?"
"What're we gonna do if what's-his-name gets all the way to Ponyville?" Sweetie Belle scraped the floor beneath her with a hoof.
Rarity stopped stitching a hem and sighed. "I don't know, Sweetie Belle. I sent some rather drab, yet functional, designs to some factories in Manehattan and Fillydelphia, with a letter that explained the whole situation at the Crystal Empire, and the lingering threat of King Sombra. I received a letter back from one in Manehattan yesterday; They want me to...oversee production."
"Manehattan?" The excited filly hopped around. "Woo-hoo! We're going to to Manehattan!"
Rarity stopped her sister mid-jump and set her little hooves back on the floor. "No, Sweetie Belle, not us. Not even Mom and Dad. Just me."
"Wh-what?"
"It'll be alright, Sweetie Belle." The white unicorn wrapped a hoof around her little sister. "Listen, there's something really important I need to tell you..."
<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
Construction was well underway at the Apple and Carrot family farms by the time Aftershock walked through the wrought iron trellis at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres. In a nearby field, he could see an orange mare wearing a Stetson standing next to a yellow stallion in a striped vest. He turned his path toward them.
"You must be Applejack," he said as he got close enough to the two ponies.
The orange earth pony nodded. "That's right. What can ah do for ya?"
"I have a message for you, from Princess Celestia herself," he answered, holding out the sealed scroll. "Regarding Twilight Sparkle."
"Twilight?" Applejack opened the scroll and read Celestia's words:
To the bearers of the Elements of Harmony,
I have just received a message from Twilight. As you bear one of the Elements, as well as one of her closest friends, I felt you should be among the first to know. She and Spike are both prisoners of King Sombra, but they are both alive and well. She must have been able to convince Sombra to give her a book. Thankfully, Spike was with her to send me the message with his dragon's breath. But, while this is glad news indeed, there is still the matter of rescue.
I will keep you all updated as soon as I hear more.
Applejack smiled and took off her hat to wipe her sweaty brow. "Thank Celestia they're okay. Ah knew she'd figure something out."
The yellow unicorn with the candy cane mane interjected, "I couldn't help but read over your shoulder, Applejack. Wonderful news, indeed."
"Flim!"
Flim turned his attention toward the other stallion and wrapped his hoof around his shoulder. "It looks like you've only got one more letter left, good sir. And seeing as you're an earth pony (no offense), that last letter must be for none other than Rainbow Dash."
"That's correct," Aftershock replied. "Rarity said she would send the mailmare over here."
Applejack squinted toward Ponyville. "And here she comes."
The stallions also looked toward Ponyville, and saw a figure in the sky growing larger, and turning from shadow into a gray mare with a blond mane, saddlebags around her barrel. "Careful now, she tends to fly like a pig in th' mud and land like a -"
Derpy crashed near the three ponies and rolled a few meters past them. "Like that," Applejack finished.
"Oops," she said.
Aftershock was immediately at her side to help her up. "Are you alright? That was quite a tumble."
"Yeah, I think so."
"Did Rarity send you?" She nodded. "I have a message for Rainbow Dash, from Princess Celestia herself. You'll find her at the Wonderbolt Academy." Derpy took the letter and put it in her saddlebag, and flew up into the air. The three ponies watched her go, silent for a moment until Applejack spoke.
"Well, we should probably get back ta work. Thanks for the letter."
"Of course," Aftershock bowed his head and turned back to Ponyville, to the train station to catch a train back up to Canterlot.
Applejack led Flim back to the barn, where construction was already underway, turning it into an industrial processing plant for all the food that was almost ready to be harvested.
"Say, Applejack," the stallion said.
"Yeah, Flim?"
"The last time my brother and I were in town, I saw this quaint little restaurant behind the statue. You wouldn't mind going there with me for dinner tonight?" he asked as their voices trailed off.
<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
Captain Spitfire floated around the Academy, observing the cadets as they trained hard. She smiled as she saw some ponies helping others, encouraging them if they failed. She shouted an order once in a while, keeping them focused. Smiling again, she started flying back to her office.
About halfway, she heard a small voice growing louder. She looked, a single eyebrow raised, and stepped aside as Derpy skidded across the clouds. "Hi, Spitfire."
"Good to see you again, Miss Hooves."
Derpy looked around with her walleyed gaze. "Is Rainbow Dash here?"
"She's around. Why?"
"I have a letter for her."
"I'll take it to her," Spitfire said.
"But, I have to give it to her," Derpy replied.
"Sorry, Miss Hooves; but protocol states that all mail goes through my staff."
Derpy conceded and surrendered the letter to the yellow pegasus. She took off and waved her hoof at the Wonderbolt. Captain Spitfire carefully stuffed the letter inside a pocket and returned to the training grounds. Searching the skies, she found the cyan pegasus and flew up to her.
"Rainbow Dash!" she called to the cadet.
Rainbow Dash halted her exercise and saluted her superior. "Yes, Captain?"
Spitfire held out the letter. "Message for you. Just came in from the mailmare."
Rainbow held the letter in her hooves as she hovered. She looked it over and recognized the Princess's seal on it. She gasped and opened it hastily. She read the words from Celestia, and before she finished, she celebrated with a loop. "Woohoo!"
Eclipse, Lightning Dust, and Little Angel flew closer, curious. "What's going on?" the black stallion asked.
"Twilight's okay!" the cyan mare exclaimed, still celebrating.
Smiling, Captain Spitfire separated herself from the group and gathered the rest of the cadets. "What's going on?" some of them wondered softly to another. Little Angel tried to calm down Rainbow Dash.
"Listen up, cadets!" Spitfire began. "Make no mistake, what we will be asked to do in the Crystal Empire is very dangerous. We're gonna risk our lives and the lives of our compatriots." Nervous, yet confident, murmurs arose from the cadets. "Which is why we're starting a new covert operations exercise, centered around search and rescue," she continued. "I'll play the role of the captive, and you'll have to find me by working together as a team and utilizing each of your skills to the benefit of the team. Each team will consist of four ponies, as well as one of my Wonderbolts, who will report to me after the drill is complete."
<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
Everypony trained hard the next two days as Spitfire prepared the drill. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust led one team, along with Storm Zero and Last Legacy, a pair of twins who lived in Ponyville; Eclipse and Little Angel led another, along with Abacus, and Midnight Blaze, a pegasus from Canterlot. They all hovered at attention in a line under the grey clouds.
"Rainbow Dash, which Wonderbolt do you choose for your team?" Spitfire asked.
"We choose Soarin Skies!" Soarin joined the cyan mare's team.
"Eclipse!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Which Wonderbolt do you choose?"
"We want Fleetfoot!"
Each team had chosen their Wonderbolt companion, and Spitfire addressed them before the exercise began. "Wonderbolts, and that means all of you if you complete this exercise, I have instructed my "captors" to do whatever it takes to stop you from finding me. I'll be somewhere in the Castle of the Two Sisters, deep in the Everfree Forest. Eclipse, you're up! Good luck." And with that, she and Misty Fly disappeared into the clouds.
Eclipse and his team set down and lined up at the edge of the clouds, waiting for Misty Fly's return. Soon, the Wonderbolt returned. "Team One, go!" Eclipse's team shot off from the clouds in the direction that they had seen Spitfire disappear.
Team One flew until they found themselves over the rundown castle, which was surrounded by many ponies with bat-like wings. Eclipse huddled everypony under the cloud cover to form a strategy.
"Okay, everypony," he began, "listen up. Little Angel, you're the most maneuverable, so you'll fly through the castle, looking for Captain Spitfire. Midnight Blaze, Fleetfoot, Abacus, and I will fend off the batponies and clear a path. There shouldn't be many of them inside, but if there are, you can handle them?"
Little Angel nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good, then let's go!" Eclipse dove, immediately trailed by the others. Little Angel waited for a moment, and followed up the rear. Eclipse and Midnight Blaze dove into the crowd of batponies first. The batponies saw them coming and moved out of the way, turning to look at the pegasi as they flew past. Then, Fleetfoot and Abacus flew in as the group was distracted and scattered the batponies, sending some of them tumbling through the air. Eclipse ordered Abacus to split off and he did, leading three of the batponies away. The other three pegasi led the rest of the batponies the other way, splitting the enemy's position.
With the castle's main hall cleared, Little Angel dove into the ruins and started searching, turning around in each room and checking every corner. After checking a few rooms, she looked back and saw that batponies were slowly gathering behind her. She flew back to the main hall and twisted around the broken columns, disappearing into another door behind the thrones. She found herself in another hall of doors, and she checked these in the same way, but found nothing. She returned to the throne room, where three batponies still searched for her. As soon as they saw her, they attacked, screeching. "Oh Celestia," she muttered to herself before dodging their attack. The batponies took turns attacking her, and she dodged, blocked, and counterattacked each time. They tried one last attempt to subdue her, and with a spinning kick, knocked out all three. They fell to the floor. Little Angel was bout to fly away, but returned to quickly check that they were still alive before returning to the exterior of the castle ruins.
"Eclipse!" she called out.
In a moment, the black stallion was by her side. "What is it?"
"I can't find her."
A batpony sped toward Eclipse, who kicked it away. "Okay, I'll look for her, you take over out here."
"Yes sir!" she saluted and turned to the batpony, who had returned for another attack. Little Angel shot toward it.
Eclipse disappeared into the ruins, and took less than a second searching each room; as soon as he entered, he scanned from left to right as he flapped his wings backwards as hard as he could. He repeated this with every room until he came to the throne room and saw the three batponies laying limp on the floor. He chuckled to himself. "Good job, Angel." He then repeated his search pattern until he found a door that wasn't as obvious as the rest. He flew inside.
The first thing he saw was Spitfire's yellow coat and fiery mane in the back of the room. "Captain," he began, but didn't get to finish, because they two guards on either side of her advanced on him. Eclipse fought them off, throwing them into the bookshelves on either side of the room. The black stallion then turned to Spitfire again. "Let's go, Captain Spitfire!" He turned back to the door.
"Hold it, cadet," she stopped him, and he turned back to face her. "Can't you see my wing is injured? You'll have to carry me out."
Eclipse nodded and let the captain climb onto his back. He braced for the extra weight, and although he tried, the added weight of the captain slowed him down, but not slow enough that he couldn't finish the job. He exploded out of the ruins and recalled his team to the clouds. As he led them back toward the Academy, Spitfire stopped him and flew off Eclipse's back.
She hovered in front of them and called Fleetfoot to her side. The four cadets saluted their superiors and listened to what they had to say.
"Alright, Fleetfoot, gimme your thoughts."
"Yes, ma'am." Fleetfoot cleared her throat. "Midnight Blaze and I were a good team as we fought off the enemy. I can tell she's had some previous training; she was able to read the situation very well and dodged attacks nicely. Abacus, I noticed you were more adept on the tactical side of battle; you used strategy to outsmart your enemy. Little Angel, most of your time was spent inside the ruins, but as soon as you switched places with Eclipse, you held them off with ease."
"Do you have any critique for Eclipse, the leader of the team?"
"Yes, I do," she replied. "Eclipse seems to flirt more with the risky side of things, like throwing himself directly at the enemy and flying boldly, but he always comes out on top. His direction of the team was simple, but worked as well as one of our own strategies."
"Thank you, Fleetfoot." Spitfire turned back to the cadets. "I can speak for the rest of Eclipse's performance, and I agree; he flies boldly and takes risks, but always wins. When he found me, he failed to notice the batpony guards around me. I won't fault him for that, though, because their color schemes blends in better with the blues and grays that fill the castle."
"Thank you, cadets," she continued. "You may return to the Academy. Eclipse, tell Misty Fly to wait two minutes before sending out the next team. Dismissed." She saluted them.
The cadets returned her salute. "Yes, ma'am!" they shouted and turned back toward the Academy.
<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, Storm Zero, Last Legacy, and Soarin stood at the ready on the edge of the clouds, awaiting Misty Fly's send-off. Misty Fly tapped the cloud beneath her hoof, counting the seconds since the previous team's return. "Team Four, go!" she shouted, and Rainbow Dash led the rest toward the castle.
As the castle ruins came into view, the cyan mare directed her team to circle the location. "What's the plan, boss?" Soarin asked.
Rainbow blinked at Soarin Skies calling her 'boss', but quickly recovered and laid it out for her team. "Soarin, Lightning Dust, you're one pair of fighters. Storm Zero and Last Legacy, you're the other. We'll all fight the batponies until I see an opening into the ruins. Each pair needs to stay close and work together to defeat them."
Storm Zero and Last Legacy, the twins, chuckled to each other. "No problem," Storm Zero said.
"Love the enthusiasm, guys," she replied as she looked back down at the crumbling walls. "Soarin, Lightning Dust, we'll distract them along the north wall. Twins, you got the south wall?"
"Yes, ma'am!" they answered in unison.
"Alright, team, let's go!" And down she flew, leading her team in a V-formation. They swooped in, closer and closer to the castle until Rainbow called for them to split. The twins broke off and disappeared behind the stone wall. Rainbow, Lightning, and Soarin dove to the other side, barreling through a group of batponies. The Wonderbolts fought them off for a few minutes before Rainbow Dash finally saw an opening to go inside.
She flew in through a window, scanning the rooms for Captain Spitfire's yellow coat and fiery mane. Her rainbow mane caught the attention of the batponies, and they flew in to attack. Rather than dodging them, like Little Angel had, the cyan mare easily fought them off, and kept searching, calling out her captain's name.
Meanwhile, the rest of the pegasi fought off batponies outside the castle. Soarin and Lightning Dust fought well, but the aqua mare was enjoying herself a little too much. She dashed toward each opponent, punching and kicking each batpony until they bled. One of them, after a powerful kick from Lightning Dust, hurtled into Soarin.
"Oof!" he cried as the batpony hit him. The light blue stallion held onto him as he shook off the hit. "Are you okay?" The batpony nodded. Soarin let go and the batpony fluttered down to the ground to recover. The Wonderbolt looked back up at Lightning Dust and tried to get her attention.
"Lightning Dust!" he called to her, but either she didn't hear him, or she was ignoring him. Soarin sighed as he turned to find Rainbow Dash. He found her as she knocked out another batpony. "Rainbow Dash!" he shouted.
Rainbow Dash turned to him. "What's up?"
"Lightning Dust is going nuts fighting our opponents."
She nodded and flew out. Once she saw Lightning Dust, she flew up to her and shouted, "Hey, cool it, Lightning Dust! It's just a drill, we don't wanna kill 'em!" Then she flew back inside the ruins shaking her head.
It didn't take long before she noticed Spitfire's warm colors in the cold blues of the castle. She easily dispatched the batpony guards. "Hop on, Captain," she ordered, noticing the bandage around her wing. As soon as Rainbow Dash set down, Spitfire climbed on her back. The cyan mare ran out of the room and shot into the air as soon as she could.
When Rainbow Dash cleared the ruins, her flight path was drawn toward a small tornado. "What the hay?" both Rainbow and Spitfire wondered. The tornado quickly dissipated, revealing the two tan pegasus brothers giving each other a high hoof. Rainbow called out to them and motioned for them to retreat. They nodded and flew up into the clouds.
Then she turned her attention north and grabbed Soarin's attention, giving him the same signal. Soarin flew up to Rainbow Dash first. "She's not stopping," he said flatly.
"You take Spitfire to the others, I'll get Lightning Dust," she responded. Soarin nodded, took the captain, and joined the twins in the clouds. Rainbow flew immediately to where she was and put herself between the aqua mare and the batpony. Lightning Dust pushed past her and kept attacking.
"Hey!" she shouted, blocking her advances again. "Job's done, let's go!"
"Ugh, fine," Lightning Dust grunted as she followed her team leader into the cloud cover, joining the rest of the team.
Soarin had already given his critique of the team by the time the two mares joined them in the clouds. Spitfire turned to them, gesturing toward the others. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust lined up next to the twins.
"Soarin's given the rest of you your evaluations. As for Lightning Dust and your team leader," she continued, "what about them, Soarin?"
Soarin gazed at her for a moment longer before turning his attention to Lightning Dust. "Lightning Dust is one of the strongest fliers I've ever seen, and is an effective fighter, from what I've seen today." Lightning Dust beamed at the praise. "However, she didn't pay attention to her surroundings, and fought recklessly enough that she couldn't pay any attention to her team, even endangering me."
Lightning Dust blinked, then scowled. Soarin continued, "Rainbow Dash performed amazingly, considering her prosthetic wing. No doubt she fought through some level of pain to complete the job. I expect nothing less from a Wonderbolt, as long as she minds her limits." Realizing his words may have a negative atmosphere for the cyan mare, he turned to her. "No disrespect, of course. Most pegasi would be grounded if an injury like that happened. You're stronger than anypony."
Rainbow Dash nodded in response. "I've definitely been more aware of my limits since then," she said softly.
"Thank you, Soarin," Spitfire said. "Let's go home, Wonderbolts." Morale was high as Captain Spitfire and Soarin led the pegasi back to the Academy. As they flew, Spitfire hung back and let Rainbow Dash catch up to her.
"How's your wing, Dash?"
"Sore," she replied. "I haven't done this much flying since I got injured."
"Ya held up pretty well with my added weight. Soarin's right, you're strong. Not just mentally, but physically, too. Remember, you carried your friend Rarity and three unconscious Wonderbolts in last year's Best Young Flyer Competition." Spitfire had lifted her spirits.
"Different question now," the captain continued. "How's your new wing feel?"
"You mean the prosthetic?" She held it out. "Much lighter. I've flown so much recently that the joint is much stronger. I always have to readjust my flapping speed to compensate. Think I could get in touch with Dr. Manchino again?"
Spitfire laughed and put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's good shoulder. "No promises, but I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks."
<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
A salmon-colored crystal unicorn galloped through the halls of King Sombra's crystal palace, searching for the shadowy overlord. He hadn't been in the throne room, which she expected, so she ran here and there, searching any room she thought he might be. As she approached the center of the castle once more, he materialized in the center of the ornate crystal that lined the floor.
She quickly halted and bowed her head. "Crystal King," she praised him.
King Sombra's large body towered over hers, almost as large as the aura of authority that emanated from him. Yes, what is it?
Glass Rose stood but kept averting her eyes. "The helmets are ready, my lord."
A confident, sinister grin crept across Sombra's black lips. Excellent. Let us oversee their distribution.
"Yes, my lord." Glass Rose bowed again, and led her Crystal King toward the dungeon that held the captured Royal Guard and any crystal ponies not obedient to King Sombra. They arrived, standing on a balcony overlooking the operation. Glass Rose alerted and signaled her team of unicorns, who began fitting the enchanted helmets on the prisoners' heads.
Once the helmets were on, the prisoners, Royal Guard and crystal pony alike, marched out of the dungeon and lined up outside, to the east. Soon, Crystal Arrow and Rock Candy had joined Sombra and the salmon unicorn on the balcony. And now, he declared, we will have the Princesses battle their own subjects!
King Sombra's laughs echoed through the palace and the Crystal Empire.