As the dead were buried, each with a headstone each baring their names, births, and how long they lived, and by the time the camp was set up, it was night, and everypony either went to bed, or sat around campfires, singing songs, for those that had died. In the middle of the camp, were the leader's tents, which were the queen of the Powdersmith Ponies, the ruler of the Griffons, and Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, each had their cutie marks, and colors, on the outside of their tents, however, Princess Celestia had volunteered her tent be used as a base of operations, and the war room. As inside Princess Celestia's tent, were, Snowshy and the others, as well as Princess Luna, Violet Winter, Silver Sky, and the queen of the Powdersmith Ponies, the ruler of the Griffons, and Solar Blaze, where they were discussing plans at Princess Celestia's rather large table, on what to do next. Princess Celestia got everypony's attention, as she said, "Alright everypony! Settle down! It's been quite a day for all of us. But right now, we need to discuss plans on preparations, where we should head next, where to scout enemy movements, and how to go about taking on Arrovak's fort, which is our ultimate goal here. Oh, and also, stock on weapons, and supplies, and reinforcements, because after this recent battle, we have way less of an army than what we started out with, I'll let Twilight fill us in on the details of that. I know, it's a lot to cover, but we need to plan this out carefully. We are dealing with a greater evil, and Arrovak is no fool, and he will not be outsmarted or outwitted so easily. I would say, we got lucky in that last fight with Parallex, because of his long imprisonment, his powers had not fully recovered, and I know the next time we run into him, we will be fighting for our lives. So without further ado, let's start with Twilight, and what we know, and have so far."
Princess Celestia then turned to Twilight, and said, "Twilight? What do we know so far? And how are our supplies? And if any, are reinforcements coming?"
Twilight, who was the left side of Princess Celestia, nodded, and said, "Thank you Princess Celestia, and listen well everypony, here is what we know so far: earlier today, while camp was being set up, Fluttershy and I, sent scouts, to track enemy movements, and see what we can see, and when they came back, they gave us a detailed schematic, in magic form, of what they saw."
Twilight then got up from the table, and went to the front of the table, and using her magic, made a magic simulation of what the scouts had saw, and then she said, "As you can see, as of earlier today the enemy has retreated into the Macintosh Hills, and the Badlands, both of which are desert or dry lands. And as you can also see, they started setting up a barricade, and a base of operations, as well as some sturdy defense patrols, and forts all over both areas." She then looked at the rest of the group, an said, "Now, be aware, this was all seen earlier today,all of this, is now finished, fully built, and more patrols are out, and watching and perhaps even waiting for our approach, so we'll need to careful on this, but war plans, will be handled, with Violet Winter, and Solar Blaze, who give us, their plan on that." Twilight paused for a moment, and then went back to her magic simulation, and said, "Anyways, some of the scouts got past the desert patrols, and saw that past the Macintosh Hills, and the Badlands, and looked out onto the sea, and from what can be gathered thus far, Arrovak, has taken no chances. He knows, that there might be a chance, that we break through the desert defenses, and head straight for his fort, and has bolstered his naval defenses ten-fold at least, in response to the possible threat. Even if we do make it out to sea, we will need every vessel, cannon, gun, and sword, that we can get, plus, also assistance will be needed from the Shipbuilder Ponies, who are watching and waiting for signs of the conflict, when it breaks out at sea. Also, speaking of assistance, we have still heard no word, from the surviving villains, that are still out there, and the dragons, and I for one, am not sure if they will come our aid. The other assumption is, they're preparations may not be finished yet, and they are not yet ready for this war. All I can say is, let us all hope they can get ready for this fight, as soon as possible, otherwise, none of us, may come out of this alive, and we will meet our doom."
Everypony was silent, so Twilight continued, and said, "Anyhoo...., as far our supplies go, we are short on swords, many of them were broken, or dulled-out, from our recent fight. As far as other weapons go, we will need more, because not everypony uses a sword, and we have all available blacksmiths, at work on that problem as we speak. Also, ammunition for the guns, however, is actually in plentiful supply, the Powdersmith Ponies brought plenty of materials from their home, to make the guns ammunition, so there is at least, no worry there. Also, as far as food and beverages go, food is actually in good supply, for now, anyways. We have enough food to last two weeks, and beverages, and water...well, we have more than we know what to do with. The status on armor, is either broken, shattered, dented-out, or in not enough supply, especially if we get more reinforcements, we do not have enough for them, we don't even have enough for the forces we have now, so we also have all available blacksmiths, and armorers working on that as well"
Twilight took a breath, and then said, "As far as reinforcements, I have spoken to the queen of the Powdersmith Ponies, as well as the ruler of the Griffons, and they agreed that we need more troops, and have sent word to their homes, for more reinforcements."
The queen of the Powdersmith Ponies said, "If I may, Twilight?"
Twilight said, "Not at all, you are a part of this meeting, just as much as we all are."
the queen of the Powdersmith Ponies said, "Thank you Twilight." She then called to everypony's attention, as she said, "As Twilight has already said, myself, and the Griffon Ruler, have understood the urgency and need for reinforcements, so I have, for my part, sent a message back home, and I have received word back, and you can all expect at least 70,000 more of my troops, to may their way here."
The Griffon ruler then spoke up, and said, "And as for me and my kind, I sent word back to Griffonstone, about the same time, and I have received word back, telling me that that at least 40,000 of my kind, have volunteered for this war, and will make their way here, as soon as some of the new recruits, receive proper basic training."
Twilight then said, "Thank you both, and I have been told that these troops should be here, sometime tomorrow. Also, I and my friends, sent out word, all over Equestria, for help, and we can also expect, of at least another one million troops, sometime tomorrow as well."
Rarity said, "Not all bad news then, and it sounds like we doing alright."
Rainbow Dash said, "Yeah, just sounds like a few minor issues here and there, but also, a big problem in the Macintosh Hills, and the Badlands."
Pinkie Pie only said, "What Rainbow Dash said."
Twilight said, "Alright, that's all the information I have right now, I will let you all know, if something else comes up."
Applejack said, "Well, it sounds like to me, things are pretty much, more or less, going on as planned, without a hitch."
Princess Luna said, "Indeed."
Twilight nodded, dispelled the magic simulation, and went back to her chair, as Princess Celestia said, "Thank you very much Twilight, that was very useful needed to know information. Next up, we need to tackle, on the war plans themselves, and where should exactly we should head next. Violet???"
Princess Celestia was cut off, as Rainbow Dash got up from her chair and exclaimed, "Duh! We need to head towards the Macintosh Hills, and the Badlands, and kick Arrovak's army's butt!"
Everypony was silent, as they all looked at Rainbow Dash, and as Rainbow Dash saw this, she sat back down, and said, "Oh, sorry, that's right, we can't just rush in there like that, can we?"
Princess Luna said, "Absolutely not."
Princess Celestia said, "That's correct, and thank you sister. Now if there are no further interruptions, Violet Winter? Solar Blaze? What do you two propose we do? And where should we head to first?"
Violet Winter and Solar Blaze, came to the front of the table, and Violet Winter said, "Thank you Princess Celestia, as far as where we should go next, Solar Blaze and I, have thought it over, and gone over several scenarios, and we feel the best way to go, is towards Macintosh Hills."
Everypony stayed silent, except Rainbow Dash, who asked, "Why there? Why not go through the badlands?"
Solar Blaze answered, "For one, the terrain is worse than it is in the Macintosh Hills, and will only slow our progress towards the sea. Second of all, we will lose too many of our forces, that we will have no chance, once we get out to sea. Plus, the Badlands, are also way too heavily defended. Of course, that doesn't mean to say the Macintosh Hills, are any less defended, because its not. Either way, this will still be a tough fight, but at least through the Macintosh Hills, we will have better terrain to traverse."
Rainbow Dash only said, "Oh...I guess I should've guessed that.."
Violet Winter said, "Anyways, now that's covered, let's get down to the most important part: the battle plan." Violet Winter and Solar went to the middle of the table, and put down a large map, and Violet Winter began pointing at several locations in and around the Macintosh Hills, as she said, "Now as you can see, both areas are heavily fortified, so a frontal assault, is suicidal. As you can also see, there a quite a few number of forts, spread throughout and around the Macintosh Hills, so a pincer attack from the sides, is not possible either. And if that didn't make matters bad enough, there are constant patrols and checkpoints, within a 200 mile radius on and around the roads that lead to the Macintosh Hills."
Rarity said, "Okay....so what do you two suggest we do?"
Solar Blaze smirked, and said, "This part of the plan was my idea, and I think its a good one. Okay, instead of trying any regular strategy, we might have one opportunity. You see, some of these checkpoints, shut down, and the guards at them, rest up, at certain times, and thanks to our scouts, that we sent out earlier today, have given us the times of all the checkpoints, well, at least outside of the Macintosh Hills anyways. Based on their information, the first ones to shut down, are the ones closest to us now, which is about 100 miles from here, and the first three, will shut down, five minutes from each other, tomorrow night, at 10 p.m."
Rainbow Dash said, "Okay, so??"
Solar Blaze said, "Simple, we wait for 10 p.m. to come tomorrow, and we take over the first three checkpoints, with only five minutes from each other."
Pinkie Pie said, "Why do that? Can't we just wait from them to shut down, together and take them all out then, instead of going one by one?"
Solar Blaze said, "That's the problem, though, believe me, we already thought about that, but after hearing from the surviving scouts, what they tried to do, that idea is a bad one. You see, one of the guards of each checkpoint, has a magic gem within them. It's sole purpose, is to keep that guard alive, should they be felled, just long enough, to sound the alarm, and if other checkpoints nearby hear it, all of them will come running, and our whole operation, will be for nothing, and instead, it will be a full retreat."
Rainbow Dash said, "Figures, there's a catch."
Solar Blaze said, "However, if we take one out, we need to make sure, the one closest to the one we are taking out, has shut down, so even if the alarm is sounded, the guards of the nearby checkpoint, won't have enough time to come running to the rescue, because we will have time on our side, and take them out quickly as well."
Applejack said, "Somethin tells me, this is only the first part of the plan. There's more to it, isn't there?"
Violet Winter responded, "Yes, there is, and this is where my part of the plan comes into action. Once we have control of all outside checkpoints, we will load them up with tons of explosives, and sound the alarms of all of them at once, and them get out of sight. When the outside patrols come running, they will be blown to bits, and it'll take care of two birds with one stone, as we will have at that point, taken out all outside patrols, and all outside reinforcements as well, leaving only the forts and the Macintosh Hills themselves." She took a minute to point at the forts of the Macintosh Hills, and then she said, "Now, as you can see, there are twenty forts spread all over the place, with at least 8000 or Arrovak's soldiers within at least 18 of them. The ones we will need to be careful with, are the ones, directly in the middle of the Macintosh Hills, because they are much bigger than the rest, and have at least 20,000 or more. So if we have to tackle those two, we hit them hard, and we hit them fast, and blow them both sky high, so they have no chance of retaliation."
Twilight said, "That's good and all, but how are we going to get past the front gate?"
Violet Winter said, "That's actually the easy part, we have clothing makers, making everypony in our army, the enemy's uniforms, and we have detailed information, on what to say, and what to act like, when we approach the main gate. Plus, many of Arrovak's forces, aren't exactly all that smart, and won't give us a second glance, but once we get inside, we will wreak havoc, and push our way through, and take down everypony, and everything in our path, as we will head straight for the sea, as quickly as we can."
Princess Luna said, "I am very proud of you two, you both remind me so much of your father, this kind of brilliance, can only be coming from his genes. I mean, I'm good at strategy and all, but not that good, but just good enough to protect my kingdom, not to try and take out a heavily fortified massive area. I am very proud of you two, for coming up with this plan, and I for one, see this as a very solid plan, it's sounds like this might work. And I know that even though your father isn't alive, I know in my heart, he is very proud of you both."
Violet Winter said, "Mom...."
Solar Blaze said, "I know he would be...I just hope this plan falls through."
Princess Celestia said, "As do we all.... But I agree with my sister, this plan sounds very well thought out. And it sounds like to me, our best shot at getting past these forts, and barricades, and get ourselves, out to sea, as soon as possible, because as you all know, our real fight, is out there, waiting for us."
Rainbow Dash said, "Alright then! Let's not keep that bastard waiting then!"
Twilight said, "Agreed."
Applejack said, "I couldn't have said it better."
Everypony cheered, and they all stood up from the table, and Princess Celestia said, "Then it's settled then, we head out, tomorrow, at 9 p.m. Because by the time we get there, the first checkpoint will be on its way to shutting down, so that's our best chance." She looked at everypony, and said, "Be sure to rest up, stock on whatever you need, tomorrow is going to be rough day....for all us....Everypony! Meeting adjourned!"
Everypony shook their heads in approval, and began to file out of Princess Celestia's tent, and as Snowshy was at the end of the line, and was on her way out, Princess Celestia called out to her, and asked, "Snowshy? Do you really think this will work? Do you think the reinforcements will get here tomorrow?"
Snowshy turned around, and said, "Princess, we can all only hope that the plan falls through, and that our reinforcements get here, and pray for the best."
Princess Celestia gave out a sigh of relief, and said, "It's good to hear that, it puts my mind at ease, knowing that at least. Thank you Snowshy, good night, and good luck to all of us tomorrow, may the gods watch over us."
Snowshy said, "Good night, Princess, and yeah, may they watch over us all." As Snowshy finished speaking, she left the tent, and went to her own, as everypony went to bed, and were preparing themselves for what was to come tomorrow.