//------------------------------//
// A Plan? 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Storm of Friendship 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

The six stallions, by some stroke of luck, managed to survive the plunge. They eventually surfaced on a small beach miles down stream, all of them severely water logged but otherwise unharmed.

However they were not the only ones who had gone over the waterfall as they soon discovered. Shining emerged from the water hauling Spike in his magical embrace. He quickly plopped the baby dragon onto the sand, forcing the water out of his lungs.

"Spike?!" Fancy Pants exclaimed. "Shouldn't you be with Twilight?"

Spike coughed and sputtered, expelling what little water hadn't been forced out by Shining's efforts. "I don't know what happened, honest!" He insisted, shaking quite visibly. "One moment I was with her, fleeing from those horrible creatures. And the next moment I found myself on the bridge as it was collapsing. We must've gotten separated!" He began to weep openly. "I saw everything! The princesses, the ponies running and screaming, it was horrible!"

Shining quickly moved to calm the frightened dragon down, letting him sob into his coat while he lightly stroked the little dragon's scales. "It's okay, Spike, everything is going to be okay," He spoke softly, even though deep down he was not so sure of the words he spoke. "You're with me and the guys now, you're safe. And that's all that matters."

"But... but..." Spike began to stutter.

"You can still breath fire, right?" The alicorn asked the little dragon, who nodded in confirmation even as he sniffled. "Well, send a message to Twilight letting her know you're okay. And tell her to write back to us, so we'll know she's okay too."

Spike slowly pulled his face out from Shining's coat and lept from his embrace. "I'll... I'll try." He declared, putting on the bravest face he possibly could in the circumstances.

The prince breathed a small sigh of relief, that was one problem taken care of. But there was still the issue of what he and his friends should do next.

"We just got our sorry butts kicked by the worst party crashers in all of history." Braeburn moaned in agony.

"I hate to admit it, but Braeburn is right," Soarin glumly confessed. "Those creatures overwhelmed us with sheer brute strength and numbers. It's like we were hitting a bee hive with a stick."

"One thing's for sure," Big Macintosh commented, as he looked up at the now occupied city of Canterlot. "We ain't goin' back there without reinforcements. That is, unless we wanna sign our death warrants and kiss our sorry rumps goodbye."

"Clearly, we need an army," Thunderlane suggested. "Like Discord, or the dragons, or the yaks, or the changelings."

Shining hung his head. "Discord is out of the question, Thunderlane. Ever since that incident a few weeks back where he tried to not be chaotic, he's dropped off the face of the world. And even if he hadn't, I have no idea how to access his dimension."

"And what about the other species we've befriended?" Fancy Pants inquired. "Any one of them would be a big help."

"The trick is getting into contact with them, and arranging a meeting place," The alicorn replied to his friend. "Twily's the one who has all the contact information, and that's back in Ponyville."

"No problem then, we'll just swoop on over to Ponyville, retrieve the information, and we're golden!" Soarin boasted. "Those guys won't even know what hit them!"

But just then, Spike belched out a scroll and unfurled it. After reading it to himself, he frantically rushed over to the stallions with urgent news. "Just got this reply from Twilight and the others. You'd better take a look at it!"

Nervously, Shining accepted the scroll and read it aloud:

Dear Spike,

Thank Celestia you're okay, I thought for sure those Storm goons had gotten to you.

Tell Shining Armor and his friends not to worry, I'm okay. And so is everypony else.

Unfortunately, I don't have much time to write. We just got back to Ponyville a short time ago, but already those creatures are hot on our trail.

We're gonna try and flee into the Everfree Forest and lay low for a while. For security reasons I've taken all the contact information about our allies with me, that way they hopefully won't fall into enemy hooves or claws.

B.B.B.F.F, if you're reading this, please don't try to come to Ponyville after me. I can't be sure, but I think overheard one of those goons mention that their leaders wants you especially. It's only a matter of time until they find out I'm not with you. You need to put as much distance between yourself and Canterlot and Ponyville as possible.

I'll try to contact you again when I'm certain the coast is clear. Until then, stay safe and stay together.

Twilight Sparkle

"Great, now we're back to square one," Soarin grumbled. "Just what are we supposed to do now? Keep on running and hiding until they give up the chase?"

Shining, meanwhile, was thinking back to what he'd heard Princess Celestia mention just before she'd been turned into crystal. It continued to nag at him and refused to leave him alone.

"What is it, Shining Armor? Something on your mind?" Fancy Pants questioned, as he observed the alicorn deep in though.

"Well, I'm not sure exactly," The prince commented as he turned to face his friends. "Princess Celestia mentioned something to Princess Luna about Queen Novo. And told her to seek out the queen of the hippo-"

"The hippo whats?" Big Macintosh asked.

Shining shook his head. "I don't know, she was crystallized before she could finish her sentence. And I have no idea who or what this Queen Novo is, or if she even exists anymore," Then he added. "The only clue I have is a direction, Celestia told Luna to 'Flee south, beyond Equestria'. But I've never been anywhere close to that location before."

"So you're saying our only option is to drop south, go beyond Equestria, and find this 'Queen of the Hippo whatevers" and hope she can help us?" Soarin inquired. "Not for nothing, Shining, but that's not much of a plan. "

"Which is why I will go alone to try and find any leads," The prince declared, informing his friends of his decision. "As for the rest of you I think it's best if you all go your separate ways. Those Storm goons will be looking for a group, and if you split up there's much a lower chance any of you will be caught."

But Braeburn shook his head. "Not a chance, Shinin'! We ain't leavin' you! Wherever you go, we'll go too!"

"You think after all we've been through together, we're just gonna up and leave ya 'cause you say so?" Big Mac added with a shake of his head. "Whatever dangers we may face outside Equestria, we'll face 'em together."

"You understand what you're getting yourselves into, don't you?" Shining asked in surprise. "We'll be venturing into unknown territory, lands no one except maybe the royal sisters have ever seen before. I can't guarantee your safety. And if anything were to happen to you as a result, I really wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

"Whatever the risks may be, we're willing to face them!" Thunderlane declared with determination. "We're in this together, no matter how it may end! Besides, we've been in tough spots before. This will be no different, even if we're venturing outside our comfort zone."

"Besides, those monsters made it personal when they attacked Canterlot!" Soarin boldly declared. "Now that Equestria is under attack, we're willing to do whatever it may take to secure allies and win the war."

Spike came walking up to the stallions and commented. "Looks like your decision's been made for you, Shining. And you can count me in too! At least if I'm with you, I know I'm safe."

The alicorn prince reluctantly conceded the argument. "Well then, there's no point in hanging around here. Let's get going while time is still on our side. Next stop, beyond Equestria!" 

And the rag tag group set off on their journey. What they would encounter along the way was anyone's guess. But they knew there was no turning back now.





Meanwhile, in the city of Canterlot, all was silent. With the invasion over and all would be resisters having fled (or been captured), Tempest had taken control of the city and set up headquarters inside the castle throne room, surrounded by the crystallized forms of the three princesses. The broken horned unicorn scowled as she observed some brightly colored balloons float past. "All this effort wasted on festival and parties. So easy for them to celebrate when they have no idea of the hardships others have to face." She bitterly remarked.

Just then there came a knock at the throne room doors. "It's open, come in." Tempest declared.

Grubber came walking in rather nervously, accompanied by two Storm goons. "Uh, I've got some good news and I've got some bad news boss. Which do you want first?" He asked Tempest.

"Just spit it out already, I'm in no mood for games!" Tempest demanded as she stomped her hoof down.

"Well, I'm not naming names, but somebodies decided they didn't wanna do their job," Grubber nervously choked out. "And there was no way I was going in there and getting all wet. I don't do wet. So that prince and his buddies may have escaped."

The mare was, needless to say, anything but pleased with the news. "What?! I gave you simple instructions to follow!" She coldly hissed. "Must I do everything around here by myself?!"

Grubber yelped, barely dodging a bolt that had been aimed in his direction. "H-hey, it wasn't my fault!" He protested. "Those two guards are the ones who wouldn't jump in the water like they were supposed to!"

Tempest merely growled, gritting her teeth in frustration. "Leave my sight, all of you! And don't come back here until you can tell where the prince went and where I can find him!" The throne room doors slammed shut a moment later, leaving the unicorn alone with her thoughts. "It's so hard to be a team player." She muttered to herself.

Suddenly, two other Storm Guards appeared. And one of them clutched a vial containing a potion that was glowing, and jingling quite loudly. "Urgent call from the big man himself." They reported.

With a sigh, the mare reluctantly replied. "Might as well see what he wants. Go ahead, answer it."

The guards did so, uncorking the vial and pouring the potion into a small cauldron. A huge puff of blue smoke rose up from it, and the image of a large, bi-pedal yeti like creature with blue and white fur appeared.

The creature appeared to have his back turned towards Tempest, and he could be heard talking to himself. "Is this thing on? Hello? Anybody there?"

"Behind you, Storm King," Tempest corrected. "Turn around."

"Huh?" The Storm King replied, before he realized his mistake. "Oh, there you are. Sorry, still trying to figure out how to work this dog gone thing," His brilliant opal eyes now stared into Tempest's eyes. "Anyway, just thought I'd check in and get a little progress report. Things are going fine on my end in case you're wondering. The Storm King is tracking well, all big, bad, and brooding. But you know what would really help to back it up? What would really be nice? A big old storm!"

Tempest tried not to be intimidated by the Storm King's raised voice. "Patience, sir, you'll soon have the means at your disposal to conjure up the biggest and baddest of storms," She told her superior. "With that staff carved from the Tree of Harmony itself, you need only to have the magic of the alicorns to power it up."

Storm King smiled. "Excellent. So was the surprise attack on Canterlot? I assume everything's going well from what I can see, but you just never know."

Tempest smiled back. "Everything went according to plan, your excellency. I was able to subdue and capture the three princesses with ease," But then the unicorn remembered something that had been nagging at her since the attack, and she asked the Storm King. "But those weren't smoke bombs you gave me, were they? You knew they were something far more powerful."

"So maybe I stretched the truth a little," Storm King admitted in a sinister tone of voice. "If it really bothered you so much, you would've asked me when I gave them to you," Then the king changed the subject. "So what about the prince? Did you get him too?"

The broken horned unicorn forced back a gulp as she replied. "Not yet, your badness. But I assure you it wasn't my fault he slipped through my grasp."

"For the last time, it wasn't me!" Grubber could be heard shouting in protest from the other side of the throne room doors.

"Anyway," Tempest coughed into a hoof. "I assure you I will track him down in due time and bring him back here in time for your big debut."

"Good, see that you do," Storm King grinned. "I've still got a few loose ends to tie up around here, including a merchandise shipment that was supposed to be here yesterday! Those pirates are so unreliable! I think Captain Celaeno and I need to have a little chat about what I expect from those who serve me," Then he massaged the back of his neck with a paw. "Sorry, kind of lost myself there for a moment. I really need to work on my temper."

"You most certainly do." Tempest thought, but she didn't dare to say it out loud for fear of retaliation.

"Anyway," Storm King coughed, drawing attention to him again. "I'll be in Canterlot by the end of the week, so make sure you have the prince captured and ready for draining when I get here. Bad things happen to those who disappoint me, as I'm sure you're aware."

The broken horned unicorn tried not to gulp. "Yes sir, I don't need a reminder."

Storm King rubbed his paws together. "Good, good. Glad to see you know what I expect. For a pony, you're actually a pretty good commander," Then, in a low and ominous tone of voice he added. "Just remember, Tempest. I alone have the power to grant you what you heart desires. So serve me faithfully, and you'll get what you deserve. Fail me, however, and your horn won't be the only thing that's broken," Then his voice suddenly changed to upbeat and innocent as he finished. "So don't screw this up, 'kay?"

"Y-yes sir, your majesty. See you in a week." Tempest saluted and then watched as the image slowly disappeared from view. A week was a pretty generous timeline for her, one that she intended to make good use of. "Mark my words, prince. I have no intention of showing up empty hoofed for the Storm King," She pondered in deep thought. "You can run, but you certainly can't hide. Not from me! Because I have no other options."