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// Pre-Battle Meetings 
// Story: Terror in Equestria 8:  A New Threat 
// by StormLuna 
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The following morning arrived and Twilight was frustrated, very frustrated.  She was certain that her enemy would arrive the prior day but that did not happen.  When she woke up the first thing she did was head to the jade Alicorn to tap into the eye hoping she would see them.  As she scanned the world and looked to the east, she became frustrated, very frustrated.  She was frustrated because her enemy was nowhere to be seen.  She screamed, "Ugh, where the hay are they?  They should have been here by now!" 

She stormed downstairs and unlike the previous day, she ate her breakfast in the tower rather than over at the base.  She knew that given that there were so many more soldiers, that not only would there be next to nothing to eat, but also that they would likely be in very foul moods and she did not feel like dealing with it.  After eating a filling breakfast she decided to go to Sugarcube Corner to see if her friends were there.

When she arrived they were nowhere to be found and this angered Twilight greatly.  She screamed, "Ugh, when I get my hooves on them....."

Then it hit her, she thought that perhaps they had headed to the base in the event the enemy were to attack so she headed there next.  When she arrived she would be surprised to find them there but would not be thrilled with the soldiers' reactions towards her.  Once she arrived she flew up onto the platform she always does and was immediately greeted with glares and grumbling from her forces. 

The first one to say anything was Colonel Dark Storm.  He yelled, "Twilight, where are their forces?  Shouldn't they have arrived by now?"

A changeling shoulder added, "You said they'd be here yesterday." 

Twilight's eyes began to shine a darker green and she yelled, "Look, I don't know where they are.  They should have been here by now.  For all I know they could have decided to return home and push their attack back." 

Her changeling colonel, Green Mist was less than thrilled by her explanation.  He yelled, "You promised us in good faith yesterday when you duplicated the regular soldiers that they would arrive but they didn't.  Now we have soldiers who are hungry and thirsty and we don't have the provisions to solve that problem." 

A dark Alicorn soldier added, "And if they were to attack today, we wouldn't have enough energy to fend them off!  Ponyville would fall and their king would likely depose you!" 

This sent Twilight into a fury.  Her horn began to glow black as she yelled, "What did you say soldier?  You think your Dark Goddess would fall just because YOU don't have enough food or water in your system?"

Dark Storm himself was quite hungry and thirsty and he had had it with Twilight's attitude that morning.  He yelled, "You know what TWILY, it isn't just him, it is all of us and hungry and thirsty soldiers will not be able to fight all that well." 

Twilight screamed, "NOPONY CALLS ME TWILY!"  She fired a bolt of energy at Dark Storm and incinerated him.  She stood tall and yelled, "You see that soldiers?  If anypony else disrespects their dark goddess or questions her, they'll be dead before the enemy has a chance to kill them!"

Seeing Twilight do this to one of their fellow soldiers angered her army greatly and some of them, despite being extremely loyal to her, began to wonder if fighting for her was even worth it.  Several of them began to talk among themselves and made a pact that if they had a chance during the battle that they would either flee into the forest or defect and aid the enemy forces.  

Twilight could see that her forces were slowly but surely beginning to doubt her and realized that a new loyalty spell would be needed.  She pointed her hoof at them, including her friends, and yelled, "In front of me, now!" 

Given what happened to Dark Storm they obeyed and gathered directly in front of them.  Her horn began to glow as she recited,  "From another to me, that is where your allegiance will now be, you  thought your old commander loved you like pie when all they wanted was  for you to die. With me all shall be great, there shall be no hate." 

Given the anger that she was experiencing at the moment, the energy from the spell did not gently flow into their bodies like they would when she was in a better mood, it threw them backwards like they did when she first learned the spell.  Once the soldiers got their bearings straight they stood tall and yelled, "All hail the Dark Goddess Twilight Sparkle, our one and only leader!" 

Twilight was less than thrilled that the energy didn't gently enter their bodies but all that really mattered to her was that their unquestioned loyalty was restored.  She said to herself, "Well the energy didn't enter them but all that matters is that they are loyal.  Now I just have to hope the enemy gets here today before they get too hungry." 





Early morning had arrived in the forest and the first to wake up was not White Magick, but Blue Star.  When he woke up and saw that everypony else was still asleep, he knew that he had better start waking up the soldiers.  He knew that his father would be less than thrilled if they weren't ready to go at a reasonable time.  After waking the soldiers up he went and nudged White Magick, "Father, wake up.  We want to get the troops fed and then duplicated before the dark goddess scans the world!" 

White Magick slowly got up and groaned, "Ugh, morning just had to arrive so soon, didn't it?"

Blue Star sighed, "Father, you are the one who wanted us to all get up early and prepare for this!"

White Magick stood up and replied, "You're right son, I did.  Now to get some food and water in my system and then give one more address to the troops before I duplicate them." 

He headed to the lake and began to drink some water before gorging on the remaining berries and fruits that his soldiers had not eaten off of the bushes earlier.  Once he felt sufficiently hydrated he stood in front of his soldiers and began, "Alright troops, today is the day that we depose that dark goddess of theirs.  I hope you were able to relax and clear your minds because you'll need it today......." 

White Magick began to continue his address when he was interrupted by Black Night.  He interrupted, "Your Majesty, I am sorry to interrupt you but I have a plan that could catch them off guard." 

White Magick knew that Black Night would know what he was talking about so he asked, "What is that general?"

Black Night replied, "Back when Twilight stood her ground against Colgate, Colgate and her forces wound up circling Ponyville and attacked from the east instead of the west.  While our forces did suffer some early losses, eventually we got the upper hoof and won but I think that if we attack from the west, we could win this." 

White Magick asked, "General, you said that despite them using a surprise tactic, that they still lost.  What makes you think that a sneak attack from the west would work here?"

Black Night replied, "Here is the thing.  Twilight was able to monitor her enemies during their entire journey from Alicorn Island to Ponyville right up until they got probably fifty miles away while she hasn't seen us in probably three days and she had multiple Alicorns in her service.  As far as I know, she is down to just two or three." 

White Magick ordered, "Alright troops, we shall march west for now"  He cast his gaze at his generals and continued, "And once we have marched far enough, we shall turn south and once we are out of the forest, I shall duplicate the dark Alicorn and changeling hoof soldiers." 

All the troops yelled, "Yes sir!" 

At first White Magick was unsure as to whether this tactic would work even though their enemy had not seen them in days but soon came to realize that Black Night and Green Death both were unquestionably loyal to him and would not lie about this and aid Twilight.