“So why exactly did we stop running?” Roswell asked Pending as they hid behind a tree, watching the battle from afar.
“Well, we can’t just leave them to fight the Sky Tribe by themselves!” said Pending.
“What are we supposed to do?” asked Roswell, waving a hoof. “The two of us aren’t really renowned for our fighting abilities. Why, I bet even Blue Flash could kick our flanks!”
“Um... moral support?”
“I don’t think moral support is going to be much help to them.”
“B-but Hardy said that’s how I could be helpful! Are you saying it was all pointless? Is my whole purpose based on a lie?” Storm said with a hint of dejection and a quiver of her lip.
“No… of course not. But nevertheless, it would appear our friends are winning!” he said, pointing toward the battle. “Huzzah! We’re going to be saved!”
The two ponies were suddenly startled by an armored, cobalt pegasus flying in from the left. It was the sergeant, glaring at them fiercely.
“You!” he said, pointing at the green mare. “You’re coming with me!”
“Never!” she shouted, picking up a twig and throwing it at the sergeant. It bounced harmlessly off his armor. He raised an eyebrow bemusedly.
Roswell looked at her. “Really, Pending?” he said flatly.
“I tried, okay?”
The sergeant hovered toward Pending, ready to grab her and ‘escort’ her back to Cloudsdale.
Roswell stepped between them. “Leave my buddy alone!” he shouted, splaying his forelegs out to the sides.
The sergeant barely slowed as he continued toward them. “Step aside, fool, before I-”
Just as the soldier got within a few feet of them, Roswell extended his hoof, and from it came a cloud of hot steam, spraying directly into the sergeant’s face. The pegasus fell to the ground, yelling in pain and covering his eyes.
“What the- GAH! AAAH!” the sergeant bellowed, rolling on the ground.
Pending looked at Roswell, her jaw dropped. “Roswell, you have... steam powers?!”
“Powers? Oh, no, my coat’s filled with steam, you see, which I can spray onto my enemies... through my sleeves! Pretty nifty, eh?”
She was tempted to ask if he actually had any enemies, but decided against it. “...Why?”
“In case someone tried to rob me of my inventions, or worse, my coat! There’s a lot of ponies out there who’d kill for a coat as stylish as this.”
The sergeant slowly got to his hooves, his legs trembling with rage and pain, and began inching his way toward Pending and Roswell, tears streaming from his red, bloodshot, eyes. “Graah.... It hurts so bad... You are going to pay dearly for that!”
He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see the purple-maned swordspony. “I have a remedy for that pain,” Hardy just before turning and kicking the sergeant into a nearby tree. The warrior collapsed face-first onto the woodland floor, only to be covered with falling limbs and leaves.
Pending gave a sigh of relief. “Hard Counter, you saved us!”
“Hey, so did I!” Roswell exclaimed.
“Hardy’s the one who knocked him out.”
“Well... I would have done that too, but our friend here robbed me of the chance. Besides, if I hadn’t courageously blasted the ruffian with my steam, he would have made off with you!”
Roswell spotted a blue feather on the ground, a match to the unconscious soldier, and picked it up, holding it up high in the air. “I claim this feather as a memento of my victory! After all, I did just defeat my first villain, and you never forget your first."
Hardy stared at him. “Right... I need to get back to Crashy.” He began running for the treeline. Suddenly, the Shadow Ninja appeared in the sky with a red flash, holding a Sky Tribe soldier in her grip. She flung the soldier downward, slamming the armored pegasus to the ground with a loud clunk. The Shadow Ninja landed next to her unconscious foe on all fours, and turned to Hard Counter.
“That’s all of them,” she said, her voice muffled by her mask, motioning her head to a tree at the edge of the meadow where her other opponent could be seen stuck in the branches.
Hard Counter pointed back toward the meadow. “No, there’s still one left over th-” He gasped.
On the other side of the meadow, the remaining warrior, now free from the unicorn’s magic, hovered in the air. Squirming in her grasp was Crash Landing.
“Hardy!” she cried out as the soldier turned and began to fly in the direction of Groundsdale.
“Crashy! No!” yelled Hard Counter and began sprinting after them, the others following closely behind. By the time they had reached the other side, it was clear they wouldn’t be able to catch up on hoof.
Hard Counter rounded on the ninja, stabbing his hoof at her. “You! Save her!”
“They’re too high up; I can’t teleport that far!”
He groaned in exasperation and turned to Pending. “Storm! Fly after them!”
Pending Storm tried to spread her wings, but the pain was too much for her to bear. “M-my wing is hurt, remember?” Storm replied timidly.
“Ugh, you’re useless!” he growled spitefully, turning away; Storm started to tear up.
“Hardy!” they faintly heard Crash Landing cry out.
Hard Counter repeated her name once more, but no response was heard. He watched as the soldier flew farther and farther away with Crash Landing. Hardy desperately brainstormed for ideas to stop them, but he realized it was too late when their shape was nothing more than a dot in the sky. He took his rapier and thrust the blade downward into the ground.
“NO!” he screamed before slumping against his sword, his head hung low, and tears streaming from his eyes. Pending turned away, unable to watch such despair in the stalwart pony.
Roswell looked between the angry stallion and his distraught friend, utterly lost. He turned to the Shadow Ninja for help but she was busy searching the fallen Sky warriors for anything of use.
After a moment of silence, the gray stallion stood up, sheathed his sword, and began running toward Groundsdale. He made it a few yards before the Shadow Ninja teleported in front of him, bringing him to a grinding halt.
“It’s too dangerous.” the Shadow Ninja said.
“Out of my way, now!”
“Groundsdale is completely overrun with soldiers; you would surely be captured, or worse.”
Roswell snapped to attention. “What?! Since when did Grounds... You’re not thinking of Cloudsdale, are you? I mean, I know that Cloudsdale was invaded, they even knocked my shop out of the-”
Hard Counter stomped his hoof. “Are you saying I should abandon her? Huh?! If you’re such a hero, why don’t you help me rescue her?”
“Trust me, there’s too many of them, even for me. I would have stayed and defended the town otherwise: no point in getting yourself killed if it won’t accomplish anything.”
Hardy opened his mouth to argue with her, but hesitated. Whether or not the Shadow Ninja was right, he still had the potion. He didn’t trust anypony else to carry it, and if he were to lose it while trying to rescue Crashy...
Enraged, he turned on the nearby tree, slashing at it furiously, sending chunks of bark flying in all directions. After a few moments, he stabbed the blade deep into the trunk and collapsed against it, breathing heavily.
A couple seconds passed before Roswell decided to break the silence. “So... the Sky Tribe took over Groundsdale?” he asked again apprehensively.
“Yes, just like Cloudsdale,” replied Pending Storm. “If it weren’t for the Shadow Ninja, we might not have escaped.”
“Ah, I see,” he said with unusual seriousness. He turned to the garbed mare. “Shadow Ninja, eh? Wasn’t sure if you were actually real... Um, did anypony else happen to make it out of Groundsdale?”
She grimaced. “No... I tried as best as I could to give the townsponies a chance to escape, but I think you’re the only ones who made it out.”
Roswell looked down at his hooves. “Oh, that’s... unfortunate.”
“Great job,” Hard Counter said sarcastically, his back still turned.
The ninja glared at Counter. “Excuse me?”
He turned to face her with fire in his eyes. “Some ninja you are. You should have saved her!”
“I-” she began to retort defensively, then sighed. “...I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t help much, does it?” Hard Counter turned to Pending Storm and Roswell Rivet. “Do any of you know what the Sky Tribe does to non-pegasus prisoners? I don’t, and I’m not gonna leave her fate to those barbari-”
The Shadow Ninja held up a hoof, hearing a faint groan coming from nearby. She looked in the direction of the groaning, and saw that it was Private Cyclone, still collapsed on his stomach, and slowly regaining consciousness.
“He might know,” the ninja said as she walked toward the fallen warrior.
Cyclone’s body shifted as he came to, and began to slowly open his eyes. Though his vision was a bit blurry, he could tell that a pony in black was standing over him, staring right at him.
Cyclone groaned again. “...What… what happened…?”
“You’re awake. Good.”
“...Oh, no…” he said, having just realized what was happening.
The Shadow Ninja grabbed Private Cyclone by his armored collar plates and lifted him up to eye level, his forelegs dangling in the air. “I have questions, you have answers. Let’s trade, shall we?”
“Go to Tartarus!” he sneered, and spat at the Shadow Ninja. It froze in a haze of red magic, and flew back toward Cyclone, landing on his cheek. “Ugh, gross!” he shouted.
“A friend of ours was captured by one of your comrades; what does the Sky Tribe intend to do with her?” she inquired, her crimson eyes boring menacingly into his.
Hard Counter went up next to them, his hoof on the hilt of his sword. “And where did they take her?!” he demanded.
Private Cyclone recoiled slightly, but remained firm. “I’m not telling you dirt ponies anything, so you can just kiss my flank!”
The garbed unicorn got up on her hind legs, and effortlessly lifted Cyclone completely off the ground, holding him high in the air. She plucked one of her fallen kunai from the soft earth, and levitated it to his face. “You should reconsider. Or else.”
“You’re... you’re bluffing!”
“Is that a fact?” The kunai began to spin in her magical grasp mere inches from his muzzle. The stallion tried to lean away from the whirring blade, but he was trapped in her iron grip. “Want to test that theory?”
Cyclone began to sweat as he turned his head away from the spinning blade. “Okay, okay, okay, okay, stop! Alright, I’ll talk!” he said, breathing heavily. “But, uh, you didn’t hear any of this from me!”
The blade slowed to a stop. “Just hurry up.”
He gulped. “To answer your question, she, er... was most likely taken back to Groundsdale where she will be, uh, imprisoned along with the other citizens.”
“Just imprisoned?” Hardy pressed.
“Rather merciful of the Sky Tribe, no?” inquired the Shadow Ninja, showing no signs of fatigue despite holding up a fully armored stallion.
“Commander Sky Fury told us to avoid killing during the initial invasion, so that we could, er... use the ground-dwellers as slaves...”
Pending Storm ran up to them. “Hey, what about my dad?!”
“He was fine last time I saw him, but, uh... the Commander ordered he be imprisoned separately from the other pegasi… probably for questioning.”
Storm breathed a short sigh of relief, but remained tense. “Questioning? About what?”
“Hay if I know! But, if I had to guess… They’re probably gonna wanna know how you were able to, er, create lightning.”
The Shadow Ninja, eager to get the interrogation over with, decided to move on to a different topic. “You’ve been cooperative so far; keep it up. The invasion plan: What is it? Start from the beginning… and no lying. I’ll know.”
Private Cyclone coughed nervously before continuing. “Starting early this morning, several squads were sent to patrol the area around Cloudsdale and intercept anypony going there, or trying to leave, especially toward Canterlot; that way, nopony would be able to report our presence in the region. The next step... using a giant cloud called the Shroud, the bulk of our forces were to sneak up to Cloudsdale undetected... that is, until somepony created a storm inside of it.”
The ninja pony was surprised by how cooperative Cyclone was being, and it didn’t seem like he was lying. “Why Cloudsdale?” she pressed.
“Because it’s where most of the pegasi are, and word of an invasion travels fast when one can fly from town to town.”
Hard Counter interjected; “Wait, you said ‘especially towards Canterlot’; that’s your next target, isn’t it? So that your Commander can kill Princess Celestia, like she said she would?”
Cyclone looked away. “Uh…”
“Kill Princess Celestia?!” the Shadow Ninja asked in surprise. “...If the Sky Tribe is so worried about word getting out, why didn’t you just head straight for Canterlot?”
The Sky soldier started shaking, his body getting tense. “I... I’ve said too much…”
She started spinning the blade again, faster this time. “Answer!”
“No... I’ve told you enough!” he shouted, closing his eyes tightly. “I refuse to say more! Do what you will!”
The ninja brought the blade slightly closer, hoping to frighten him into revealing more, but after a few moments, it became clear he was done being coerced. She halted the spinning blade, and tucked it away in her garments. No longer hearing the whirring of the blade, Cyclone opened his eyes and looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Thanks for sharing with us, Cyclone,” she told him, a smirk just barely visible beneath her mask. The private had no idea how to respond to that, and he was too injured to fight back, so he merely dangled there, filled with uncertainty. The ninja mare continued; “I have a message for Sky Fury.”
Cyclone was taken aback by this, and hesitated for a moment. “Uh... okay? What do you-”
He was interrupted when the Shadow Ninja suddenly slammed her hoof into the side of his head, knocking him out. The rest of the group recoiled at the sudden ferocity. She threw his unconscious body to the ground and turned to the others.
“Our objective is clear: we need to head for Canterlot and warn Princess Celestia of what’s happening, as their entire plan seems to hinge on it being a surprise attack. If we hurry, we can make the trip in a day.”
“Wow, wow, wow, speak for yourself!” Hard Counter interjected. “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do!”
“Decide? What’s there to decide? Celestia needs to know about this as soon as possible! The Sky Tribe is ruthless, and they’ll rule Equestria with an iron hoof if given the chance.”
“I know.”
“Then why isn’t your path clear?”
“I... realize I can’t help Crashy now... but I still have important business in Hoofington…” he said as his thoughts drifted to his precious cargo. “Perhaps... I’ll be able to make it back in time for the battle to retake Groundsdale. Why do you need me to go with you?”
“The journey will be perilous, rife with danger,” the Shadow Ninja replied. “No doubt the Sky Tribe will send squads to look for us when they find out what happened here. We need you, as does Celestia, and all of Equestria.”
Hardy sighed, shaking his head in confliction. “I don’t get it, how does Sky Fury even plan on killing Celestia? As strong as the Sky Tribe is, an attack on Canterlot is a fool’s errand. Believe me, the E.U.P. Guard is nothing to laugh at. Even if they make it past the royal guard, defeating an alicorn princess will be no easy feat.”
“And why didn’t they just head straight for Canterlot in the first place?” she added. “I’m beginning to suspect there’s more to this invasion than meets the eye, that’s why it’s important that you come with us. Whatever business you have in Hoofington, it can’t possibly be as important as the fate of Equestria.”
Hardy frowned at her. “I decide what’s important to me,” he said defensively. The swordspony closed his eyes, contemplating his options. After a couple of moments, he looked back at the ninja. “Fine… I’ll accompany you... for Equestria, and Crashy.”
The Shadow Ninja nodded her head. “Thanks.”
Roswell stepped forward. "Well, this has been a lovely discussion, and I mean that in a totally sincere way, but maybe if we wanted to get there we should hit the ol' dusty trail now? I mean, not to rush you or anything, but the Sky Tribe could be returning here as we speak..."
“Agreed.” The ninja looked to the surrounding woods. “Canterlot is northeast from here; we need to head in that direction.”
With a smile, Roswell reached into his trench coat and pulled out a gear-shaped compass. He glanced at it and then pointed in the direction it indicated. “That way!”
“Excellent work.” She turned to Hard Counter and Pending Storm. “Alright, everypony, let’s go!”
And with that, the four ponies darted into the woods, beginning their quest to save Equestria.
To be continued...