About a day after departing from Ponyville, the Friendship Express pulled into the Crystal Empire, leaving the relentless blizzards of the frozen north behind as it rolled to a stop at the station. Twilight felt her heart sink at the sight surrounding the city that made up the empire’s core. Hundreds of very large pegasus chariots were resting in numerous camp-like formations all throughout the outer fringes of the city. Battle chariots, carried by pegasi and enchanted to be very lightweight, even when filled to the brim with soldiers, weapons and heavy armor. One chariot could carry about ten to fifteen ponies.
She estimated there were around two hundred fifty of these chariots, around fifty of which were made of crystal in place of the heavily refined steel and wood of the others. She could see the veritable army Luna had managed to assemble going about their business; maintaining weapons and armor, checking the chariots and reinforcing the enchantments, running last-minute exercises.
Twilight sighed heavily and slid from her seat. “We’re here. Let’s go.” she said simply, trotting for the exit. When she stepped out onto the platform, she was expecting a few things, but an abrupt tackle-hug from Starlight Glimmer was not one of them. Regardless of her expectations, though, Starlight lurched forward from where she had been anxiously waiting, crushing Twilight into a forceful hug.
“Twilight! Oh, it’s so good to see you made it safely!” Starlight said, squeezing her former teacher with great enthusiasm. Twilight gasped for breath.
“S-starlight! Ack, lemme go! You're going to crush my ribs!”
“Oh, whoops!” Starlight let Twilight go and stepped back. The rest of Twilight’s friends were standing off to the sides, smiling warmly. “It’s good to see you all again…” Starlight finally said more calmly.
“Likewise, Starlight.” Rarity nodded before glancing up. “Although I must confess, I expected Shining Armor and Princess Cadance to be here as well.”
Twilight frowned and straightened her posture as soon as Rarity said that. “Actually, yeah. Where are they?”
“Oh, they’re up in the castle with Princess Luna. She and Drifter got here a little while before you all did, and they’re going over plans and strategies right now.” Starlight answered, turning slightly. “Come on, we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
All of them nodding along in agreement, the group of ponies began to move for the Crystal Palace at a brisk canter. As they went, Starlight fell back slightly and fell into stride next to Twilight, looking at her worriedly.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” she asked carefully, to which Twilight shook her head.
“Not really…”
“I guess I don’t need to ask what’s wrong. We’re all pretty much in the same boat, here.” Starlight muttered in response, looking ahead. “Things have gotten so bad here in the empire that Cadance actually had to partially disable the Crystal Heart just to keep things from getting worse in Equestria.”
“Wait, what?!” Twilight looked to Starlight in mild shock.
“It’s true. The Crystal Heart spreads the combined emotional state of the Crystal Empire’s inhabitants across all of Equestria, remember? We’ve been pretty miserable here, especially considering the constant raids and attacks on outlying settlements and farms from the fiends. Cadance blocked the Crystal Heart from spreading our emotional state so that Equestria would be able to better retain its morale.” Starlight explained, earning a nod from Twilight.
“I see. Well, let’s just hope we can end this with this assault. I don’t think any of us can take much more of this.”
“Do you want me to come with you? My magic is just as good as yours, I could be a big help.” Starlight suggested hopefully, looking at Twilight eagerly.
Twilight shook her head. “I’m already risking more than I would like by bringing the others here with me; I won’t risk anymore. Besides, if this assault fails, Equestria will need ponies with your level of ability to help keep it safe.”
“It won’t fail.” Starlight said firmly, stopping to put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “And don’t you dare tell yourself anything else. You’re going to win this fight, and you’re going to come home.”
Twilight paused and blinked at Starlight in surprise. “Wow. since when have you been so confident? You were pretty nervous about, well, everything back before you came here from Ponyville.” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Shining Armor and Sunburst have rubbed off on me, I guess you could say. While he isn’t great at practicing it, Sunburst knows a lot about the effects our outlook can have on what we do and Shining, well…” Starlight rolled a hoof before chuckling lightly. “Let’s just say he’s given more than a few lectures to me about my confidence these last two months. And not just me, either.”
Twilight smiled widely at this information. “Heh… yeah, Shining’s always been pretty big on his morale boosting speeches.”
“And it works.” Starlight added, poking Twilight in the chest. “Have some faith. You’re going to save the day; I know you will. Now, let’s get a move on. I’m pretty sure Shining was about to give Luna the same scolding he gave me when I came to meet you.”
When Twilight and Starlight finally caught up, they were in the palace outside of a makeshift war room. Sunburst stood outside the door, talking to Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. He looked up and readjusted his glasses on his face when he saw Twilight and Starlight. Applejack shot them a small frown.
“There y’all are. What took ya so long?” she asked simply.
Twilight rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Sorry for keeping you all waiting like that. Starlight, uh…” Twilight looked to Starlight and smiled. “Was giving me a pep talk.”
“Well, Shining Armor just finished giving Luna a pep talk of his own, so I think you’re all ready to go in.” Sunburst said with an amused smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.
“Told ya.” Starlight added, jabbing Twilight in the shoulder and winking at her before trotting into the war room with the others. Twilight giggled and followed them all into the room.
Sure enough, Princess Luna, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were standing around a large table with a roughly sketched map of the region they would be moving towards resting atop it. Moonrise Drifter was there, too, looking over the map carefully, though her eyes betrayed an immense amount of distraction.
Shining looked up and beamed. “Twily!”
“Hey, big brother.” Twilight smiled in response before allowing Shining to trot up to her and wrap her in an embrace. Cadance was quick to hug her when Shining was done.
“It’s good to see you again, Twilight.” Cadance said softly once their hug ended. Twilight nodded and looked over to Drifter, who still hadn’t let her eyes leave the map. Cadance frowned and trotted over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. “Hey, Twilight’s here.”
Drifter jumped slightly and looked up to Twilight. “Oh! I’m sorry… got a lot on my mind right now.” despite the distant tone to her voice, she managed a smile and gave Twilight a small hug, then looked to all of her friends. “You brought your friends on this trip?”
“Against my better judgement.” Twilight said, shooting them all a playful smile.
“More like we weren’t taking ‘no’ for an answer.” Rainbow shot back with her own cocky grin. “And we still aren’t going to, so don’t even think about it.”
Luna cleared her throat, getting their attention. Once all eyes were on her, she pointed to the map. “Now that everypony is here, we can begin in earnest.”
“Ah, right.” Shining nodded and brought Twilight over to the table next to him, with Cadance at her other side. “We’re trying to figure out our best plan of attack on this mountain. I’m leading the battalion of Crystal Ponies, and they have an innate resistance to the cold in these parts. Not perfect resistance, mind you, but enough to function better than you or I could.”
Twilight frowned and looked up at Shining Armor with disapproval. “You’re going?”
“I already tried to talk him out of it.” Cadance answered for him, sagging slightly. She then shot him a small smile. “It’s the only argument we’ve ever had that I let him win; and it’s not happening again, is it, mister?”
“No, ma’am.” was Shining’s only response to that.
“Yes, Shining Armor’s Crystal Ponies have thick coats and thicker skins than most ponies when it comes to the cold, so it would make sense for them to take more subtle positions.” Luna cut in, pointing to the map. “You can see, from the map Shining Armor’s scouts put together, that Mount Eclipse is at the end of a large, deep valley. It seems possible that there are numerous entrances to the inner workings of Horizon’s hideout in there.”
Drifter nodded along. “Yeah. So, with those factors in mind, Shining Armor’s crystal ponies could make use of their resistance to the cold to find hidden or obscured positions and vantage points. Shining’s battalion could have it’s unicorns provide magical support. Shield spells on compromised positions and large-scale explosive spells on groups of fiends. The crystal pegasi would be best for keeping aerial fiends off of the unicorns and helping them locate and identify important targets to hit.”
“Yes, and the earth ponies would keep the unicorns safe from ground based fiends.” Luna added before pointing to the tallest peak of the mountain. “But we need to prioritize reaching the peak. From what I got out of Horizon’s memories before he forced me out, he will most likely be there.”
“And that won't be easy, will it?” Twilight surmised bluntly.
“It’s fiends. Nothing is easy with them.” Drifter replied before tapping her chin.
“Hmm… well, reaching the peak is our goal, but trying to send too many ponies that way at once would be pretty risky…” Twilight thought aloud, scrunching her face. “What if we only send a few?”
Everypony shot her curious looks. “You have an idea?” Shining asked her.
“Maybe. Drifter, Luna and I have the most experience dealing with fiends out of everypony in this room,” Twilight began. “So, if the three of us make a straight-shot for the summit, then that leaves the rest of the army to keep the fiends off of us and provide assistance with Horizon if possible.”
“I won’t be able to help with Horizon.” Drifter suddenly blurted out, lowering her eyes to the mountain and cringing in disgust. Everypony looked to her in confusion, save for Twilight, whose expression was one of worry for the hybrid.
“Why not?” Cadance inquired, looking Drifter over critically. “You’re half fiend and have been doing this for a thousand years. One would think you would be the best choice for fighting Horizon.”
“I tried once.” Drifter said a bit more sharply than intended. She lifted her right hoof and extended the claws on it; or would have, had there been claws to show. Right now, all that came out of her hoof were a few stubs with sharp points, only an inch long each. The skin around them was horribly scarred. “I was destroyed. He made sure that I could never hurt him. His own biology is incapable of doing him harm. He’s a master of meddling with biology and the like with his magic.”
“Skeintooth will also be prowling the valley, no doubt.” Luna pointed out with a frown. “He’ll likely try to stop us when we go for Horizon, and be far more likely to succeed then his lesser bretheren.”
“I’ll handle him if it comes to that.” Drifter said with a nod. “He seemed to be designed specifically for taking down you two. I underestimated him last time we fought, but I won’t make that mistake again. I keep him off you and you two go and finish off Horizon.”
“I’m going along with you three, then.” Shining armor added with conviction. “You’ll need all the help you can get against Horizon, I’m betting.”
Twilight frowned fiercely. “But what about your army? They’ll need you to lead them if things get harry.”
Shining shook his head. “You’re my little sister, Twily. You’re going to have Luna and Drifter with you, sure, but I’m still your big brother and being protective just comes with the territory.”
“The captain of the solar and lunar guards from Canterlot can help with this. They will have ponies they can relegate to assisting the crystal ponies efforts in the event that they lose their captain.” Luna added before looking over the situation in her mind for a moment.
“Is it settled, then?” Drifter asked after a moment.
“I believe so. Shining Armor and I will speak to our battalions and get them up to speed and more specific roles for each one established. We’ll be leaving tomorrow at dawn.” Luna looked out the window at the red ring that was the sun. “Twilight, Drifter, all of you; go get some rest. You’ll need all the strength you can get tomorrow.”
“Alright.” Twilight nodded simply before hugging Cadance and Shining Armor. She then looked to Cadance. “Where’s Flurry Heart? I’d like to spend some time with her.”
“She’s somewhere. I’m sure she’ll show up if we let her know you’re here.” Cadance smiled and led Twilight out of the room, her friends close behind.
Drifter watched Twilight go with a frown on her face. She sighed and strode from the room for one of the guest rooms. “Yeah… I’m not going to get another chance.” with her goal set for the rest of the day, Drifter made her way for the room that Palmwood and Wonderboom would be staying in while she was away for the coming battle.
