//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 | From Offensive to Defensive 
// Story: A Different World: The Future and Fate of Equestria 
// by Riclo 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle's POV

Our attempt to bring down the two towers had been a failure. All the hours I had spent perfecting the mathematics and the trigonometry needed to get the trebuchets positioned at the most optimal location was practically wasted, since Discord himself appeared and disabled them in his own chaotic way before we were even able to fire them once. Any other efforts to stop the towers either didn't work or weren't done at all in fear of safety-- we didn't want anyone to get killed-- which had ultimately ended with nothing happening to the towers at all. Fortunately though, no one had died, but our problem was still there, and it was now apparent that Discord was actively making sure to defend them himself. We had to come up with a better plan.

At the moment it was the late evening of the same day we had done our attack, and I was currently walking up the steps to my room in one of the Canterlot Castle towers. I was staying here for the time being instead of my library at Ponyville, and Spike was currently on my back-- he was staying with me. All of my other friends had been given their own rooms to stay in at Canterlot as well. I opened the door to my room upon approaching it, and I sighed as I walked on through.

"It's not your fault, Twilight." Spike spoke up. "Sometimes things just don't always work out."

"I never said it was my fault." I closed the door behind me with my magic, then levitated Spike off my back as I continued. "I just... I don't feel really good about this whole thing. It's like we couldn't do anything at all to stop this."

"I'm sure the princesses will come up with something! I mean, they're princesses, and they've been around for a really long time. There's gotta be a way to stop those towers." Spike paused for a second before continuing. "It's uh... well, nevermind."

"What is it, Spike?" I asked, turning to face at him with an expecting look.

"Well.. I was just going to say that it's totally not like you to be all mopey-dopey, saying that there's nothing we can do. I'm sure there's a way! But then I thought: maybe Twilight doesn't want to be reminded that she's acting different, so I decided not to say anything."

I sighed again. "Spike... well you're probably right." I perked my head up and looked around the room. "I'm sorry, but I'm tired, I have a headache, and I really, really just want to go to sleep right now." I made my over to the bed and collapsed down on-top of it, making a muffled groan into the covers.

"And that's okay!" Spike replied. "I really think you overworked yourself today, especially considering how you--"

"I know, I know." I interrupted with an irritated tone of voice. "Ugh..." I rolled over and stared up at the ceiling, where I saw Spike coming up onto the bed with me in my peripheral vision.

"Uh... can I sleep on the bed with you Twilight? I kinda don't know where else to.."

"I don't care." I mumbled as I rolled over and pressed my face into one of the pillows. I groaned louder as I let my head practically melt into the pillow, and I closed my eyes, feeling thrilled to finally be laying down and not doing anything. Today had been a mess, and I didn't even want to think about what the next day was going to bring. Hopefully it wouldn't be any worse.





"Twilight, you're over-sleeping again!"

I groaned loudly and stirred, stretching my body and pressing my face down harder into the pillow. If there was one thing I was quickly starting to hate, it was waking up, especially being woken up.

"Celestia wanted us to meet in the planning room at eight in the morning, remember? You've only got like fifteen minutes to get there! I would've let you known earlier but usually you're the one who's waking me up, not the other way around."

I felt anger coursing through my veins, and I started tightly gripping the bed sheets with one of my hooves, feeling the urge to just slam them against the bed but still feeling too sleepy to do so. I so badly wanted just a few more minutes of sleep, and every second of silence was like an angelic blessing, but not for long; Spike was ever-so-aggravatingly consistent with his talking, and just one more sentence from him was all it was going to take to set me off.

"Come on Twilight, we need to--"

"I BUCKING KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed out at the top of my lungs, bolting up from the bed and slamming my hoof down against the mattress. Spike flung back as the impact sent a rippling wave across the bed, sending him off of it and onto the floor below. I panted and held my head downwards as I stared at the covers, before I grabbed them and threw them off of me. My mane was messy and unkempt as I stepped onto the floor, and I made my way straight over to the door, grabbing it and swinging it open.

"Uh... Twilight!" Spike got back up and ran over to me. "I really think you should calm down before you go see Celestia herself! And at least uh... make yourself look a little better?"

"I'm fine." I muttered deeply as I made my way down the spiral stair-case, not pausing for a second.

"You're really not fine Twilight! No I'm serious." Spike tried to step in-front of me, but I just kept walking around him. "I think we need to tell Celestia that you need a little br-whoa!" Spike accidentally tripped backwards off the steps, sending him tumbling down the stairs. My eyes went wide at this, and I gasped as I watched him fall down.

"Spike!!" I quickened my pace until I reached the bottom, where I saw the small dragon was laying on the floor. "Are you okay?"

"I think so." He replied, rubbing his head and sitting up. "Uh.. what was I talking about again?"

"About me." I answered. "Look, Spike, I'm glad that you care... but you should really just let me handle this on my own. I'll be fine, and Equestria needs everypony they can get to help them right now."

"I uh... I don't consider what you did back in your room 'fine', Twilight."

I sighed, levitating him back on his feet before beginning to walk off again. "I'll be fine."

Spike didn't reply, probably not wanting to get into another argument about this again. I made my way through the hallways of Canterlot Castle until I approached the planning room, where I saw that mostly everyone was already there. I walked right up to the round table located in the middle, watching as Princess Celestia nodded her head at me.

"When Rarity shows up, we'll begin." She spoke, to which I nodded back at her, staying silent. I looked across the map that was layed out across the table, when I saw my brother Shining Armor walk up to me from the side.

"Did you get enough sleep last night?" He asked, to which I sighed.

"Yeah, it's not that that's bothering me." I paused for a second before continuing. "It's really nothing."

"Twilight, I know that face more than anyone. You did alot of work yesterday helping us, and I've been told that you're dealing with some erm.. personal problems."

"Who told you that?" I shot back at him with a tense tone of voice.

"Your pal Spike told me while you were out working non-stop yesterday. He cares a whole lot about you, but if there's anyone who cares even more about you, it would be me." He placed a hoof on my shoulder. "That's why, when we're all done with this, I'm going to take a little vacation so we could spend some time together. Cadance wouldn't mind catching up either-- she liked the idea."

I gritted my teeth and stared in-front of me; I was really getting sick of being pandered so much like this, but I really couldn't get too mad about it this time since it was my brother. I eventually sighed, diverting my gaze around the room for a second before looking back at him. "Shining... Alright. We'll do that." I smiled a tiny bit at him. "But for right now, I really just want to focus on this mess and nothing else."

"Always focused on the task at hoof, huh?" He brought his hoof up and messed with my mane. "You'd make a great princess Twily, I guarantee it."

I rolled my eyes and couldn't help but laugh slightly at that ridiculous notion. "Yeah, totally."

It was then that the sound of hooves clattering against the floor rang out, and I perked my head up to see Rarity running into the room.

"I'm sorry everyone! I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long."

"It is fine-- there is no need to sweat over a few minutes." Princess Luna replied.

"Unfortunately, this morning we are met with more grim news." Celestia spoke up. "As of last night, the cloud city of Los Pegasus has fallen under the same magic-blocking influence as Baltimare and Manehattan. There is yet another tower to be seen."

"Another one!? Already?" Rarity responded. "These things seem to be sprouting up every day!"

Celestia nodded. "That is why it is of the utmost urgency that we enact our next course of action as soon as possible. This time, there have been a greater number of reports that specify with greater detail that a creature looking like Klade has been spotted in Los Pegasus. One specific report states that he had broken out of a hospital and was disobeying direct orders not to do so."

"Well that don't sound too good." Applejack spoke. "What on Equestria would he be doin' in a hospital? That's where sick ponies go!"

"I'm still trying to find that out." Celestia answered. "For the time being, however, we need to prevent the next tower from being built." Celestia's horn began to glow, and the magical map presented to us on the table began to move and zoom out. "We've looked at where the past three towers have been placed. Two are on the east side of Equestria-- at the top and bottom here, respectively-- and one on the west side, at the bottom left, here."

"I suggested that if another tower is to be constructed, it would be over here." Cadance exclaimed. Her horn began to glow, and the map moved to the top-left portion of Equestria. "Both Tall Tale and Vanhoover are the two cities located in this area. If there were to be a tower placed in one of these cities, that would pretty much form a rectangle if you were to draw a line from one tower to the next."

"If he's going to put a tower in any one of those cities, it'll probably be Vanhoover." Shining Armor chimed in. "That's the bigger city out of the two."

"So what is our role in all of this?" I spoke up.

"You and your friends have the most important role of all this time." Celestia replied. Her horn began to glow once again, and she levitated out a box. Opening it revealed the Elements of Harmony, to which Pinkie gasped.

"Ooh! The Elements of Harmony!" She gleefully pointed out, before frowning. "Hey wait, but those don't work on Discord anymore, right? He can just absorb their power!"

"You are correct." Celestia responded. "However, you won't be using them on Discord. You'll be using them on Klade."

"What!?" Rainbow blurted out abruptly. "You expect me to help kill Klade now? No way-- I'm out."

"The elements won't kill Klade. They will only imprison him." Celestia replied. "From there we can sort things out."

"Hopefully we won't have to use those against him Rainbow." I remarked. "If he's really working for Discord, then we won't have a choice. If he's working for him unwillingly, then this might also be a chance to capture him and find out what's going on ourselves."

"I agree with Twilight Sparkle." Luna spoke up. "In-fact, capturing him should be considered a priority, second to making sure that the tower does not become constructed."

Rainbow exhaled slowly, crossing her hooves as she remained hovered in the air by her wings. "...Fine. But I'm talking to him first as soon as we free him."

The group seemed to agree on that and on the plan, and Shining Armor was the next to speak up awhile later.

"I'll schedule a carriage to take you six to Vanhoover as soon as possible. That carriage will be the same one to bring you back once this is over, as well as Klade if it comes to that."

I nodded and watched as my brother walked out of the room, when I heard Spike's voice sprout up from beside me.

"Why can't I come with you all?"

I looked down at Spike and then sighed, staring blankly in-front of me as I replied. "Because these missions are dangerous and I don't need you getting hurt." I droned out in a bored voice.

"But I'm perfectly capable of watching over myself-- I do it all the time when I stay in your library all day by myself!" He responded. "That excuse just doesn't make any sense Twilight. Are you worried I'm going to get in your way or something?"

I groaned as I listened to him-- I really didn't feel like arguing over something like this right now. I breathed in deeply and then blurted out my reply. "Alright Spike, fine. You can come with us this time."

"Yes!!" He pumped the air with his hand. "Now I don't have to wander around the castle bored out of my mind looking for something to do until you all come back. Thank you Twilight!"

I nodded as I watched his excitement, and I turned around to head back into my room to get everything I would need for this trip. Once I had everything I thought I would need, and after each one of us received the Elements of Harmony, me and my friends-- including Spike-- made our way over to where the carriage was waiting for us. It looked larger than average to accommodate the seven of us, and we all proceeded to gather up inside, where I noticed Shining Armor poke his head in through the window.

"It's gonna be pretty chilly up there." He exclaimed as he levitated in several jackets. "In-case you all end up staying there for longer than we anticipated, I've got your traveling expensives covered too." He then levitated a brown bag of bits inside, and I nodded at him with a small smile.

"Thanks Shining." I replied.

"Don't spend it all on books Twily." He gave us a smile and then closed the carriage door, to which I then heard Pinkie speak up.

"Wow, this is awesome-- thanks Shining Armor! Ooh I want that pink jacket!" She spoke up with an excited grin. "Or should I take the blue one? Or maybe even the yellow one!"

My head perked up when I noticed the five pegasai guards located at the front of the carriage beginning to flap their wings, and after a few more seconds we had lifted off the ground. My friends continued to talk about random things while we flew through the air, but I really wasn't in the mood for that, so after putting on my jacket I remained mostly silent. I stared at the window and exhaled slowly, thinking about what the day might possibly bring.





The trip to Vanhoover lasted for only a couple hours, of which I spent in almost total silence. My friends had tried to get me to converse with them a few times, and even though I did comply, I didn't put any effort into adding onto the conversation other than just answering their questions. I saw the city coming into view, and we landed a short while later with a thud.

"Wow, we're here already?" Pinkie exclaimed. "We should take carriages from now on-- they're totally alot faster than trains!"

I opened the door of the carriage, only to be immediately met with a blast of cold air blowing right up against me. I stepped outside and looked around at my surroundings to see that there was snow all over the place, coating everything in a soft, white color. I could see the particles descending slowly from the sky, and I heard Pinkie gasping from the other side of the carriage afterwards.

"Oh my gosh snow is so much fun!! I wasn't told it was going to be snowing here. This trip just got ninety times better!"

"Ninety times worse, you mean." Rarity replied as she stepped out with her. "It's freezing here!"

As much as I wanted to enjoy the scenery and the adventure, I really just couldn't. All I wanted to do was get this over with, and my head perked up when I noticed one of the guards approaching me.

"We'll be ready at a moment's notice for whenever you need to leave." He exclaimed.

I nodded in response, and I walked over to my friends, who were all already heading towards the city.

"It would probably be a good idea to split up and take a good look around the city first." I spoke up. "Then we'll let each other know if we see anything suspicious."

"Aww c'mon Twilight, we don't get to at least have a little fun first?" Pinkie looked at me. "We could totally have a snow-ball fight!"

"No." I replied bluntly. "We have a really important mission to do, and I'd like to do it right Pinkie."

"Oh... well okay, I guess that's more important." Pinkie frowned.

"Where should we meet up once we're finished?" Rarity inquired. "It looks like it will be easy to get lost in a place like this."

I groaned, perking my head up and looking around. Before I could respond though, Applejack answered that.

"It looks like the city square is just up ahead there." She pointed out, pointing with her hoof in-front of us. There appeared to be a small, nature-themed park located there, and we made our way over in that direction. There were foals playing around and adults sitting on benches doing absolutely nothing, and for a moment it really seemed like nothing was going to happen here; everything seemed perfectly normal, and it was even a bit off-putting.

"Guys, I think this is a map of the city over here." Fluttershy exclaimed. I looked towards her and then quickly trotted over to see her looking at a wooden board that was sticking out of the ground.

"Nice find Fluttershy." I remarked as I looked at the map imprinted onto the board. "Applejack, how about you take the lower-left section over here." I pointed at the map with my hoof. "Rarity and Fluttershy, you can look over this whole area over here on the bottom right. Pinkie, you can take the area up here on the top-right."

"Yes Ma'am!" Pinkie responded.

"Me and Spike will take this area on the upper-left over here, and... Rainbow Dash, you can take to the skies and look for anything from up there."

"I won't be able to for long Twilight or I'm gonna freeze my wings off!" Rainbow responded. "If you think it's cold right now, just wait until you're way up in the air and flying right through it-- that stuff is a killer."

"Right..." I held in a sigh and gritted my teeth quietly. "Um... Just do what you can. Try to at least check all the rooftops because so far it seems like that's where these towers are being placed. We'll meet back here in two hours."

"In two hours it should be lunch time!" Pinkie proclaimed. "I'll see if I could find us a real nice place to eat while I'm searching!"

"That sounds great Pinkie." I responded. "Now, let's get going."

From there we split up, and I began making my way over to where I said I was going to scout out.