//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: The Great Escape 
// Story: As Stars Fill The Sky 
// by EwaZor 
//------------------------------//

Emerging from the bleak clouds, a dozen airships blared their horns. Huge, bulky soldiers wearing masks leaped from their ships and landed on the grounds of Canterlot. Observing from afar, the two ponies gasped and kept watch of the transpiring events. The rose-coloured unicorn leapt several metres into the air and kicked a strange, black orb at the princesses. As the orb shot towards to four alicorns, Cadence attempted to create a shield spell. Her horn glowed a shade of blue and a magical bubble formed around her, Celestia and Luna. Moments later, when the orb collided with the shield, Cadence managed to stop the orb from breaking the barrier for several seconds. The shield became weaker, Cadence was tired and orb was too strong. The wall shattered and Cadence was hit in the torso. A cloud of green particles steamed from the remnants of the orb. Still watching from the distance, Starlight focused the binoculars and ran closer to get a better look. A moment passed and Starlight took another look at the Princesses, now with a better view. Starlight gasped as she set her sights on Cadence. The princess of love had been completely turned to stone. Her pink, flowing coat had been paved in grey, solid rock. 

"Twilight, get out of there!" Starlight muttered to herself. Trixie didn't say a word, she had nothing to say. The blue unicorn's face was filled with sweat. She was obviously just as terrified as Starlight. Turning her head, Starlight saw another orb, now targeting the eldest of the alicorns, Celestia. The rather lanky, white alicorn was hit in the chest, turning to stone with her niece (or was it her daughter?) Luna began galloping away, blasting one of the soldiers with her magic. She flew as far as her feathered wings could take her, but she couldn't outfly the third orb. After being hit in the rump, her stone body crashed through the stage in-which Songbird Serenade was supposed to preform on.

"I can't watch anymore of this!" Starlight shouted as she threw her binoculars to the ground with a tear in her eye.

"We need to leave Canterlot! There's no way I'm getting turned into a doorstop!" Trixie exclaimed was she began to gallop in the opposite direction of the castle courtyard.

"But what about Twilight? I'm not letting her get captured too! I'm going to protect her no matter what!" Starlight cried with a stomp of her hoof.

Trixie stopped, sighed and stared at her friend in the eyes. "Starlight... It's too late. By the time you'll get to her, she'll be turned to stone too. We need to leave Canterlot and figure it all out later."

Starlight looked towards the courtyard and back to Trixie, her eyes were filled with tears. "Okay, Trixie... Let's go."


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The two mares galloped through the streets of Canterlot, avoiding any soldiers in their way. The sky was flooded with airships by now, all carrying seemingly hundreds of troops. Trixie and Starlight had managed to run an entire mile in just a matter of minutes and were now close to the city border. They knew that there were was most likely going to be multiple soldiers ready for ponies trying to escape, just like them. While running, the two discussed a brief plan of attack if one of those goons got too close to them. Trixie and Starlight galloped towards the edge of Canterlot and prepared their teleportation spells. Their horns glowed pink and blue as they approached the balcony, hundreds of feet in the air. Subtle vibrations flowed throughout their bodies and a magical humming could be heard coming from their foreheads.

"Now, Trixie" Starlight called as she vanished into thin air.

"I've always hated the location of this city" Trixie cried as she began to teleport with her friend.

Within moments, the two unicorns suddenly appeared in the wooded fields below Canterlot, scaring away a couple of birds in the area. Exhausted and disturbed, the two unicorns panted and lay down on the soft, woodland grass. The sounds of shouting could still be heard from Canterlot, along with the blaring of the airships.

"Well, what do we do now? Last time this happened, we were against an army of shape-shifting bugs." Trixie moaned, obviously still exhausted. Starlight remained silent and watched more airships flew towards Canterlot.

"I suppose we should try to visit the dragons, yaks and the changelings. Chances are, they'll be willing to fight for us." Starlight explained to Trixie, turning her head towards the blue unicorn.

Trixie nodded and looked back at Starlight. "Where's that draconequus when you need him? He's a nuance, but his magic would be useful."

Starlight smiled, but it quickly turned to a frown. "I didn't actually see what happened to Twilight. What if she wasn't turned to stone like the other three princesses?"

"I don't know, Starlight, but we can't take chances. That unicorn with the broken horn didn't exactly look friendly. The longer we wait to attack, the more power she could potentially gain."

Starlight groaned. "I'll take days to walk to the changeling kingdom and even longer to get to Yakyakistan and the dragon lands."

Trixie thought for a moment. "What if we don't have to?"

Starlight shot Trixie with a confused look. "What do you mean? Who else could possibly help us save Equestria?"

Trixie gave Starlight a smug grin. "Maybe we could form a resistance of escaped ponies and rise against this storm army."

Confused, yet intrigued, Starlight stared at Trixie and thought for a moment. "I guess that could work, but we'll need to think this all though first. Maybe we could figure out what that unicorn's intentions are. I just don't see why she'd imprison the princesses like that."

Trixie nodded and sat closer to Starlight. "I'm not the sappy type, but I can promise you that we'll get through this. You're one of the most powerful unicorns I've ever met."

Starlight blushed and gave Trixie a friendly hug. "Thanks... I just hope you're right about this. We'll think of a plan, take back our home and save the princesses".

Trixie smiled back. "Of course we will, Starlight. Of course we will."


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