//------------------------------//
// Book One: Chapter Seven 
// Story: Unity: A Tale of Arcadia 
// by Kieva Lynn 
//------------------------------//


Book One: Gremlins and Gumm-Gumms

Chapter Seven


By the time the meeting ended, they had enough volunteers for the plan to work as well as a timetable for launching phase one of the attack the next morning. The trolls hiding out in Arcadia (Mainly in warehouses) would stand guard through the night in case of further gremlin attacks in the meantime, and both Twilight and her friends, as well as the Trollhunters would be on standby in case there were more Gumm-Gumm soldiers in the night. While all of that was going on, Bert would make ready for the human's side of phase two, and unicorns all over town would teach each other a spell provided by Twilight for the pony half of that phase. If all went well, by tomorrow night the threat would be removed and the trolls moved back into their home.

There was still one problem, though: The question of who would act as the 'bait' to get the evil troll's attention during phase one. It was a job that would normally have gone to Rainbow Dash, given her speed and maneuverability, but with her ability to fly out of order for several days yet, that option was out. There was a volunteer for the job, but Bert wasn't sure he liked the idea. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"

The Sylph Belle hovered before him. "Yes! Someone has to! Look, I know I'm not as fast as Dash. But I'm just as agile and a smaller target!"

"She has a point there." Twilight agreed.

"I suppose. I'd be happier if you didn't have to go all the way into the place though." Bert said, "Like if you could just get their attention from the bottom of the stairs and be on your way out before they can get anywhere near you."

"Yeah actually I'd prefer that too." Belle admitted. "Any ideas?"

"I might!" Twilight perked up. "Blinky! Can we speak with you a minute?" She called across the stage. The troll joined them and Twilight asked "Do you have any more of those exploding rocks? As in maybe some pieces small enough for Belle here to carry and throw."

"Dwarkstones? Certainly!" Blinky answered. "None so small, though I can carefully cut them down to size. How many would you like?"

Belle said "I'm guessing two or three to get noticed, then a couple more in case I need them on the way out."

"I'll round it to a half dozen. They'll be ready by morning." Blinky turned and rejoined the Trollhunters, who would use the same tarp they had smuggled him in under to get him back to the warehouse where he was hiding out.

"Thank you." Twilight called after him, smiling. "I guess we'd better start getting ready. I've got several unicorns to teach a spell to."

An expression of concern crossed Bert's face. "Are you sure that spell will work?"

"Not entirely. That's why we're going ahead with your side of the plan too." Twilight answered. "But it should. According to Blinky, Gunmar lost almost his entire original army when he escaped the Darklands and they didn't. Which is why he has so few troops. He used some kind of enchanted sword to take control of the minds of captured Trollmarket citizens. Those are his soldiers now. It's not exactly the same situation as when Discord reversed my friend's personalities, but it's similar enough the same spell should restore them to themselves... Assuming we can push the spell past the magic resistant armor. But that's why I'm have so many unicorns learn it. The sheer power should be enough to do the trick."

"Leaving my team to finish off the handful of original soldiers." Bert nodded. "And any converted ones the spell doesn't work on."

"I hate that last part, but yeah." Twilight sighed. "Okay, I'm gonna teach the spell to the first wave, then get some sleep while they pass it on."

"Rest well Twi."


XXXXX


Night fell. In Unity, the Spoony Bard Diner remained open, waitress Florence Maxwell staying on to provide coffee for anyone who needed it. Just past one, Sheriff Tucker and Midnight Steel came in. "Evening gentlemen."

"Flo.'" Tucker accepted a cup. "I'm rotating off at two, gettin' some rest before the fight. Really shouldn't be drinking this."

"At least it's not the stuff Gewolt makes." Steel said, accepting his own cup. 

"No kidding." Florence agreed. "I had one cup, once, and that was it for me. Didn't sleep for a week. So, anything happen yet?"

Tucker shook his head. "Not yet. As late as it's getting I'm starting to think nothing will."

"Same." Midnight said, "Though, I could almost hope a Gumm-Gumm or two showed up so we could test Twilight's spell."

"Me too." They looked to see Lyra trotting through the door. 

"Well don't hope it too hard. I'm perfectly happy to try it when Bert's backup plan is in place." Tucker said.

"What is Bert's plan anyway?" Flo asked.

Tucker grinned. "Remember the captured Mor-tax heat rays?"

"Those still work?" Lyra wondered.

Midnight explained "Yeah, the power sources are self contained. Some kind of radio-isotope. After what happened in Harnerville we've not dared to open one up for a closer look, but they're still as potent now as they were a year ago."

Lyra nodded. "So whatever the spell doesn't work on gets blasted." She frowned. "In that case I hope it works on all of them."

"We all do."

To everyone's surprise the night was quiet. There were a handful of gremlin sightings in Arcadia itself, but none in Unity and no one else was harmed. As morning dawned the trolls took cover from the sun while the populations of Unity and Arcadia made ready to launch their attack. And then...


XXXXX


It was just after breakfast. Twilight Sparkle took one last drink of her juice, then looked up at Tessindra. "I guess we should be going." She said. "It's scheduled to start in thirty minutes, and while I could just teleport us there I'd rather save the magic in case we need it."

"I understand. Let's just hope this all works according to plan." 

Twilight said, "There's no reason why it shouldn't. Though, I won't jinx us by saying that too loudly."

Tess grinned. "That's probably wise."

They started toward the door, when it opened and Fluttershy came galloping in, eyes wide, and slammed the door behind her. "Twilight! Twilight!"

"Calm down Fluttershy... What's wrong?" the unicorn asked.

"Okay, so this man came to my door and he seemed really nice so I invited him in for tea. But then he started talking all sorts of strange things that don't make any sense!" Fluttershy answered.

"Strange like what?" Tess asked.

"Well, he said he was thousands of years old, for one thing. And that he wasn't really human."

"Weird." Twilight said. "I'm sure it's just a crazy person though, maybe someone who snapped in the gremlin attack. We'll find him and get him the help he needs."

Fluttershy shook her head. "That was my first thought too Twilight. But, I didn't recognize him from town, (though I suppose he could have come from Arcadia), and in spite of what he said he didn't seem crazy. And, he said more... He said that he was looking for an old friend of his from a thousand years ago: Starswirl."

"What!?" Twilight exclaimed.

"Yes, though he called him 'Starswirl the Violet' rather than 'Starswirl the Bearded.' That's when I excused myself, grabbed Silver Spoon, and sneaked out the back. But he's following me, so I left Silver with Granny Smith and came straight here."

"'The Violet.'" Twilight mused. "Well that's different. Can't say I've ever heard that one before."

"That was good thinking Fluttershy. Listen, we've gotta get to the Trollmarket entrance. Come with us, we'll deal with this after." Tess suggested.

"Oh... I had hoped to avoid the fighting but... Okay, I guess that's best..." Again they started towards the door, and again they were interrupted, this time by a loud knocking. "It's him!" Fluttershy squeaked, and hid behind Twilight.

"Fluttershy, did this guy give you his own name?" Twilight asked.

"Um, yes... He said he was Gandalf the Gray."

"Wot?" Was all Twilight could say.

Tess was a bit more verbal. "Definitely someone unhinged then. Gandalf would be the white wizard, not the gray. Besides which he went to Valinor with the last of the immortal high elves long ago, and you don't come back from there! There's simply no way it could actually be-" Here she opened the door, and stared up at the ancient figure on the other side. And she knew. Ten thousand years removed or not, mortal or not, magic or not: She knew. "-Mithrandir..." She whispered.

"Ahhh yes. I had hoped to find a child of the Eldar here as well. We have much to discuss, and little time."

"Spike!" Twilight called. When the young dragon rushed into the room, she said "Please go let Mister Gumbal and the others know Tess and I won't make it. Something has come up."


XXXXX


"What do you mean 'Twilight can't make it!?'" Rainbow Dash demanded. 

"It's okay Dash, we can handle this phase of the plan without her. Though I really need her here for phase two." Bert said.

Hovering next to Bert, Belle asked "Did she say why?"

Spike shrugged. "All I heard from the other room was something about an ancient wizard who knew Starswirl showing up."

"Great timing." Dash groused.

"It'll be okay." Tucker said. He looked at the gathered team. "Everyone ready?" The team cheered an affirmative, and the Sheriff turned to Jim Lake, already in his armor. "Whenever you're ready son."

"Right." On the western wall of the canal, directly underneath the bridge, he had already drawn a large semicircle eight feet high using an enchanted gem. The boy now pressed a hand to the wall and everything inside the circle vanished, revealing a cave with a wide circular staircase made of glowing blue crystal which bored deep into the ground. Everyone took positions inside, and Midnight Steel nodded to Belle.

At the nod, the Sylph took wing and flew down the stairs. She was delighted to realize that the circular hole in the middle was wide enough to accommodate her full wingspan, so rather than having to arc along the stairs themselves she could simply fly straight down. Straight down, and more importantly, straight up, so she wouldn't have to worry about staying ahead of pursuers: she could just zip straight up the center while they ran in circles far behind.

At the bottom, the stairs opened into a vast cavern. Buildings lined the walls in multiple tiers and both gremlins and Gumm-Gumm soldiers could be seen. But what drew her attention the most was the enormous crystal, glowing yellow/orange, in the exact center of it all. "That must be the heartstone thing." She thought. "Well, time to do this..."

Belle pulled two of the small dwarkstones Blinky had prepared and set her sights on one of the soldiers. "Hey big boy!" She shouted, and when it looked she threw both of the explosive rocks right into it's face. The armored helmet kept the small blasts from being lethal of course, but they most certainly got it's attention. It let out a loud roar, which echoed through the cavern. All the soldiers turned to look, and another troll, pale blue and dressed in glowing robes emerged from a crack in the heartstone. "Queen Usurna I presume." Belle whispered."

From her place high above the troops, Usurna pointed to Belle. "Capture it!" She ordered, and the Gumm-Gumms charged.

Belle fled, up the stairs, shouting as she neared the top. "They're coming! Get ready!"

The stomping of dozens of booted feet grew deafening in the atrium at the top of the stairs, and then two turns down they came into view. "Now!" Midnight Steel ordered, and the battle was met. Unicorns, Steel, Lyra, Rarity, and Trixie among them, took aim,  blasting magic at the gremlins among the soldiers. Their remains turned the stairs slippery, and a couple of the soldiers went over the edge, falling. Applejack lassoed one soldier, a second, and a third, tugging hard until they fell, either going over the edge or causing pile ups that slowed those behind them. As the first Gumm-Gumm in line reached the top, it got a hard buck in the face from Macintosh and went rolling back down the stairs.

Bert led the humans in the team, taking shots whenever they had an opening. The guns mostly did little, though a couple of the soldiers seemed to take hits directly to chinks in the armor and fell back. As a second Gumm-Gumm reached the top of the stairs, Jim struck at it with the Daylight sword, cutting through the armor and turning it to stone. Toby rushed forward to smash the remains with his warhammer, but before he got there the Dwarf Durban did the job with his axe.

"See!" Trixie shouted, "That's what he did to my wagon door!"

"I did apologize lass!" Durban yelled back.

A third Gumm-Gumm reached the top, a fourth and several gremlins close behind.  "It might be time to call that tactical retreat!" Tucker called to Bert.

"Right you are! Fall back!" Bert agreed.

Everyone began to retreat, the unicorns in the group backing away so they could continue holding off the gremlins with magic blasts. Jim engaged the two Gumm-Gumms at the top of the stairs, trading blows and somehow holding his own with the much larger creatures. He slammed one backwards, and it fell into a portal Claire opened behind it. "Jim, come on! Everyone else is clear!" She shouted, and he broke and ran for the door.

Moments later, the two forces faced each other, the Unity and Arcadia side safely in the sun while the Gumm-Gumms stared at them from the safety of the shade under the bridge. "Phase one successful." Trixie whispered.

But deep in Trollmarket, Queen Usurna was not pleased. She turned to one of her bodyguards, and pointed to a large locked cage. "Release it."