Shining stepped out to view his assembled troops. All the available guards of the Crystal Empire, minus those who would remain to keep order. And Luna's brought reinforcements. "I am happy to see we remain united, as ponies." His nod was returned by them. "We've been on the defensive, but--"
A furry figure landed in front of him, a second just a moment behind. Toby rose, tall and imposing in his armor. "We are here to help," he announced formally.
Shining allowed his head to incline, eyes drawn towards the heavy-looking blade on Toby's back. "Toby?"
"Yes." He smiled at Shining, that smile, guileless and warm, removed any doubt as to which tsuki it was. "You did not see?"
"I see you. It's just... surprising."
Celene shoved in front of Toby. "We are ready to fight. My sisters are with us."
"They are?" Shining looked out over the crowd, but no extra tsuki were in sight. "Where?"
"Waiting."
Toby nodded in agreement. "Will join when we leave." He spread his hands suddenly. "Learn tsuki magic. More help this time, promise."
"I have no doubt." He wondered about that big sword a bit more, but turned back to the assembly. "Our scouts have found a fortification of theirs. We will be on the offensive this time. It's long past proper we returned the favor."
The crowd gave a unified shout, hooves clopping on the ground in eager agreement with the idea of taking the fight to the enemy. "Be it known." Shining pointed off into the distance. "These are not random thieves, opportunists. We are fighting a war. They will not hold their attacks, and we shouldn't expect them to."
There came a murmur, eyes turning to some new presence distracting them as somecreature began to nudge through the crowd. With a flap of wings, they took off to make a flight-assisted leap towards Shining. "You ain't goin' without me." There stood their griffon captive.
Shining considered her. "You would fight your friends?"
"Trust me, we weren't friends." Giselle scoffed at the idea, brushing imagined lint off her chest. "I was there to be paid, end of that story. You'll pay, right?"
He arched a brow at that. "I can't say my confidence swells with soldiers only here for their next allotment of bits."
"Hey, no." Giselle wagged a finger at Shining. "I'm here 'cause I want to be. The bits are just a nice side effect of that. Put me on payroll and I'll give you my all."
"You're worried. About him." Cadance, who had been a silent bystander, broke her silence. "Arnavon."
Giselle colored as she looked away. "What? No! Still, seriously, you want him to fight? I don't think so. Us grownups have to handle that kind of thing. Besides... it'll make for a great new story for him to write down."
Shining smiled, understanding coming to him. "Join the others. Welcome to the effort.
In the crowd, Moonlight leaned forward. "Woah, is that a griffon? I never saw one of those before." She'd heard about them, and they made great subjects of high-tempo music. "Is she coming over here?"
Her commander elbowed her. "Silence in the ranks. Of course she's coming here, we're about the same compared to Crystal Army soldiers, we're attachments, outsiders." She raised a brow. "Though we may be a step up, being proper Canterlot recruits."
Giselle moved to stand next to them as she had been told to do. "Hey."
"Like, hi." Moonlight raised a hoof to shake it in a loose wave. "Welcome to the squad."
"Don't sound too excited." Giselle rolled her eyes, mistaking Moonlight's usual monotone for a bad attitude. "I'm ready to fight what you are."
"Good." Moonlight looked towards the front, where Shining was. "Is he coming with us?"
"He is," cut in her commander. "Now be quiet."
Small details were gone over, and movement began. Unlike when she had first arrived, Moonlight and the rest of her unit were garbed in warm clothes. In the range of the crystal heart, it was too warm. Fortunately, Even Pace, the unicorn that had kept them going, easily dispersed the extra heat with promises to use it properly where it was most needed when they reached the snow.
"How have you been doing?" asked another mare quietly, not out of shyness, but to not disrupt the motions they were in, or attract the attention of the commander.
Moonlight glanced over. It was the mare that had suffered a bad case of frostbite. "I'm alright. How are you?" Her eyes wandered back to see, or not see. "Woah..."
"Yeah..." She cleared her throat. "They had to take it off." She was a pony without a tail, a... "It's... I don't like it. It was part of me."
"Yeah," echoed Moonlight, imagining the loss of her own tail. A tail was a part of a pony's identity. Especially ponies that took the time to make it look just right. That mare had decently groomed hers, and... it was gone. "Harsh..."
"Them's the breaks," sighed out the mare. "But I'm still here. And I'll still fight!"
Despite her eager words, her body language did not, nor could it, match. She could not sway her tail to show her determination or eagerness. It was just a part of communication that was entirely cut off. "Is she still mad?"
Moonlight's ears folded back, thinking on the grief-stricken mare. "Yeah, but we're... alright." She glanced away and back. "That hurt won't go away, but she isn't, like, as mad. At me."
"I get that." She gently nudged into Moonlight before facing forward, focusing on keeping in line as was proper instead of chatting.
Elsewhere, Celene glanced aside at her armored and armed mate. "Why?"
"Why what?" He inclined his head. "Why here? To protect friends."
"Not that." She leaned over and bit at the hilt of his sword with a clang. "Why this?"
"To protect friends," he repeated. "To fight."
"Fight with claw. Fight with teeth," she argued, baring her own of both. "Not need."
"Not need," he agreed more gently. "But good. Fight good, be better. If better, why not?" He inclined his head. "Don't like?"
"Don't like," she admitted with a lack of subtlety. "Slow."
"Not slow." Well, alright, compared to just swiping something with his hand, it was a bit slower, but... "It's good." He closed in and nipped her on the shoulder.
She returned the gesture. "Stay safe."
"You too." Despite their argument on fighting styles, the affection flowed easily between them. "You good fighting."
"Best," she boasted with a little smile. "If scared, hide behind."
He shook his head at the idea. "No. I will protect." He thumped his shoulder with a gloved hand. "If hurt, hide." He reached for one of her large ears, stroking it gently. "Want you safe."
Her initial fury ebbed at the affectionate touch. She mouthed words, struggling to find just the right one, only to settle on, "Fine." She suddenly grabbed him, and he grabbed back, the two in a firm embrace before they resumed their bouncing movement to catch up and take their place aside the rest of the mass. There was less confusion between them, both determined to keep the other safe.
Pushing out into the snow, the column of Equestria's forces and allies left the safety of the Crystal Empire, their eyes set on distant foes and future battles.
"They are impossible to miss," reported a griffon with her head bowed. "They have left the Crystal Empire, headed directly towards the nearest encampment. Our fortifications are being re-d--"
"--No." The ruler scowled at her. "Send word, have them withdraw, immediately."
"But... your highness, our... I mean, we'll have no tactical place of action near the enemy."
"A small price to pay." He held his fingers close. "When you could be striking instead. Let them come and find dust. We'll already be putting them to the torch." He dismissed the griffon hen away in favor of looking to another. "What is the progress?"
"We are in position." He clapped a hand over his chest. "We only await your word."
"They can't be any further distracted." He shook his head slowly. "There is nothing gained in further delay. Attack. Make that sun tyrant rue her every decision that led to this sad point." He clenched his talons tightly. "Her soft smile hides centuries on centuries of oppression and subtle manipulation." A chorus of agreeing voices rose as he pushed up to his feet in a sudden movement.
"We've planned long enough. Schemed long enough." He threw his hand wide at his crowd of loyal followers. "Our decrepit land is nothing compared to the ever green of Equestria. Let us take it for our own. They can beg for scraps as we've been forced to." The crowd roared with rising fervor. "They suffered us to rust, we will treat them well to ash."
The griffons moved with a new vigor, marching to deliver missives and join the effort themselves. It was time to act, to reclaim the glory of past years. They would shake off the rust he had spoken of and spring to life, renewed and ready.
Little Hop was perched on the roof, looking down from the barn across the great orchard that had become her new home. She could see the small forms of industrious Apples working to harvest the year's produce. She could hear different family members shouting to one another, working together.
There were more Apples than usual, even distant family coming in to help. "This year's a good'un," assured Granny before. So they had put out the call, and their family had responded, filling the orchard with ready bodies to help bring it all in.
"They sure are busy." Scootaloo sat down next to Little.
"Really busy," she agreed before jumping a bit, realizing Scootaloo was there. "How did you get up here?"
"I climbed?" She pointed to a ladder. "We can't all just jump up to places, doesn't mean we can't get there." She grinned at Little. "That is cool though, how you do that."
Little beamed with pride, bouncing in place with youthful energy. "I didn't want to ask before, with the others, but since we are alone, may I ask a question?"
Scootaloo arched a brow at that. "'Course ya can. We're friends. Friends ask questions, kinda normal."
"Normal..." She fidgeted a bit. "Tsuki bounce. It's what we do. Earth ponies are strong and tough. Unicorns have magic. Pegasi fly... Why don't you fly?"
Scootaloo shrank at that question, not seeing it coming. "O-oh! Um..." She started to squirm herself. "It's... not like I don't want to."
"Are you hurt?" Little began to look Scootaloo over, as if some obvious injury had just somehow missed her looks before. "Can I help?"
Scootaloo suddenly shoved at her. "Not that kinda hurt... I'm not... hurt... just..." She rolled a hoof impotently, struggling for words. "Hey, you ever see somecreature that couldn't see?"
Little inclined her head left and right before nodding. "Old old old, but yes, couldn't see anymore."
"Well, I'm not old... but it's like that? It... just doesn't work." Her wings buzzed softly. "I'd like it to... but it... doesn't."
"Oh..." Things grew quiet between them before Little suddenly pounced Scootaloo, delivering a big hug as if a hug could chase away any problem. "If you could fly, where would you fly first?"
Scootaloo grinned a bit lopsidedly, squirming in the great fuzzy hug. "Oh, um... up to Rainbow Dash's house, and we'd race!"
"You'd win," confidently declared Little with a big grin. "Leave her in the dust."
"She'd be so mad," laughed Scootaloo, starting to relax into the hug and the supportive person giving it. "But that won't happen."
"Your wings are still cool," Little assured. "They make you go fast, on your scooter." She inclined her head, releasing the filly. "Not usual, but good. Different. Different isn't bad. Normal tsuki live under the snow, in caves. I don't do that. That isn't bad, right?"
"Not bad, just different," agreed Scootaloo. "You're the coolest tsuki I know."
"I'm the only tsuki you know," Little laughed, bouncing in place. "Want to fly?"
"We... just went over that. I can't." She buzzed her small wings, gaining little altitude. "Just not... a thing I can do."
"Can." She grabbed Scootaloo and plunked the filly on her back. "Hold tight." She waited just enough to feel Scootaloo hug her from above and behind. "We fly!" Sure, a tsuki couldn't, technically, fly, but a good bounce was almost as good, the two soaring through the air in broad arcs.
Scootaloo cheered, little adrenaline junky she was. Cheering and whooping, her wings began to buzz wildly, helping to direct and assist their jumps as they went. She couldn't fly, but she could help, adding propulsion to get Little Hop bouncing all the further and faster, both starting to cry out in mutual fun.
Down below, Apple Bloom saw them zoom past over the tops of the trees. "She's gettin' better."
"Ayup," agreed Big Mac stoically before resuming hauling a load of apples towards the barn. Their work was far from over, but seeing Little Hop doing so well buoyed their spirits.
"And she brushed me off!" Rarity marched alongside her friends. "As if I was not a pony of import. Really, darlings, can you imagine it?"
Rainbow snickered softly. "That's happened to us before. I'm a Wonderbolt and you don't see ponies bowing the moment I show up."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Besides, that isn't... really how Equestria works, Celestia and Luna aside." She inclined her head. "We don't have a lot of 'important ponies' that everything has to stop for."
"Be that as it may." She pointed into the crowd. "That doesn't excuse that little delicate flower being treated as a soldier. She could... She could get hurt, and she's not like us, dears. We're used to it. She's just a normal pony. She should be somewhere safe, letting us get our hooves dirty."
Twilight's eyes fell to the fluffy boots on Rarity's hooves. "The odds of your hooves getting dirty seem low."
"I know how to handle myself, dear." She fluttered her lashes with a confident smile. "As I said, I'm used to this. She's just a random mare. Whatever qualifications could have her with us, ready to fight? I just don't like it, not one bit."
Fluttershy was flying slowly just over them, next to Rainbow. "Well, um, we were all just random mares, until we weren't." She lifted her shoulders softly. "Who are we to tell her not to?"
"Yeah!" Rainbow pumped a hoof. "I'm not gonna tell a pony not to reach for adventure."
Applejack chuckled at that. "Since when were you encouragin' ponies to make like Daring Do?"
"Since ever," she hotly huffed. "Besides, we're here. We'll help everypony out. Nothing's gonna go wrong when we're on the scene. Not what we do." The girls echoed soft agreement, remembering their general record. "Seriously, when's the last time a bad guy won?"
Rarity raised a booted hoof. "Well, our track record against Chrysalis is anything but shining."
"Ugh." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Right, besides her. We don't do great against changelings."
"Technically." Twilight rolled a hoof as she went. "Cadance ended up taking care of Chrysalis and Sombra."
Applejack thudded against her side. "Now you cut that out! If ya didn't leap into action, there'd be no way fer Cadance to do what she did. That there was a team effort at the worst. And there ain't nothin' wrong with a team effort, the way ah see it."
"True," Twilight allowed, eyes sweeping over the horizon. "Still, this is our first time really... mobilized precisely this way." Sure, she could remember aborted timelines where that had happened, but they were just that, aborted. Her friends had never been soldiers. "Are you all alright with this? It's alright to say something. Nopony should feel forced."
"That's what I'm saying," grumped Rarity with a scowl. "Poor mare is being pressured into this. She should be collecting dark clothing and muttering about the burning emptiness of her soul, not marching off into war, darlings. Don't you understand?"
Fluttershy looked over to the military unit that included the named mare. "I'll go ask her." And off she flapped.
Twilight looked at ease. "She'll ask, gently. I trust Fluttershy to get us to the bottom of this particular issue. If somepony's pressuring Moonlight, Fluttershy will, gently, coax it out of them."
The others muttered in agreement, allowing Fluttershy the chance to solve the issue.
"Hello." Fluttershy landed beside the winter-dressed unicorn. "I, um, hear you just joined."
Moonlight perked an ear at the newcomer. "Like, yeah," she admitted. "It's harder walking in all these clothes than I thought." Despite her little complaint, she was trudging on, one hoof in front of the other. "Keeps the cold away."
"It does," agreed Fluttershy with a little smile. "What did... you do before this?"
"Like, woah, really?" She hiked a brow. "You wanna know?
"Um, please?"
"Sure." Moonlight shrugged softly. "I was mostly quiet, and enjoyed the darker times. Like, peace, quiet, still?" She inclined her head faintly. "Now I'm working for the darkness directly, woah, kind of far out if you think about it."
"How does one... work for 'the darkness'?" Fluttershy looked around as if something with that label would come into view.
"She's right there." Moonlight pointed to Princess Luna far ahead. "We helped her get to the Crystal Empire, and now we're her unit. Woah, kind of still really trippy to think about.... Working for the darkness... My soul smiles at the idea." She was barely smiling, but still, a little smile. "I'll do my best."
"I'm sure you will," Fluttershy gently encouraged. "It will be dangerous though."
"Yeah, woah, it's already been. I... saw a pony die." She swallowed heavily even as Fluttershy gasped with horror.
"Really?! That's awful!"
"And another pony got too cold and they had to cut her tail off, woah, way too heavy metal..."
Fluttershy clopped her hooves to her face, trembling at the visions offered. "How terrible! Um, are you... alright? I mean... It's okay to be scared."
"Thanks." Moonlight was still marching forward despite the offer. "Nice of you, little sun pony, but my spirit feels the call of the night. When I close my eyes, I can feel it all around me, wrapped like a warm blanket. The darkness will protect me."
Fluttershy tilted her head faintly. "I'm more of an animal pony than a sun pony."
"Whatever makes your spirit sing," easily agreed Moonlight, focused on her march rather than arguing. "I'm not an animal though." She seemed to lapse into thought. "But maybe I am. Maybe we all are. Woah. Animals lost in the dark. That's, like, pretty intense."
Fluttershy seemed confused at the thought provided. "If you look at it that way... yes, that is a little intense." She raised a hoof behind her head, ambling on the other three. "I prefer to make sure my animals get just as much light, or darkness, as they like and can thrive in."
"Oh." Moonlight looked aside at Fluttershy. "Are you checking my light levels? Woah, that's kind of nice. Thanks. I'm feeling just the right amount of shade right now." She leaned in. "There's a smart unicorn keeping us all balanced. He's really good at it."
Fluttershy smiled at the report. "Oh? That's rather nice. I'm not a unicorn." She could only imagine what magic was actually in play, though, brought up, she could see the faint glow around the entire unit. She was not included, but she wasn't a part of that unit. "You're a unicorn, do you know that spell?"
"Woah."
"Is it that hard?"
"I just never thought to ask. I should." Moonlight wandered away without a word of parting.
That left Fluttershy behind, blinking. "Oh..." Rising on her yellow wings, she returned to the girls. "She seems pretty happy where she is. She doesn't strike me as the, uh, soldier sort, but she's rising to the occasion, and she's really happy with herself. I'm almost a little jealous." She smiled gently. "I'm never that confident when I'm trying something new."
Applejack nodded firmly. "Alright, well, it may be a new step, but it's her hooves doing it then. Sounds like she's alright. Let's keep an eye on her, like we would anycreature else, but don't sound none like she needs rescuin'."
"Really..." scoffed Rarity, doubt still heavy in her tone. "Fine, but I'm watching her. The 'fun' of being a soldier will run its course right quick, and she'll begin to panic and look for a way out. I will not let her be trapped!"
Pinkie shook her head as she bounced along. "Sometimes I like trying new things. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't, but ya don't know until you try, and if you don't really try, well, how can you know?"
"'xactly," agreed Applejack, tipping her hat forward. "Ah say let her do her thin' unless she's gettin' hurt, which she aint from the look of it."
It was on the second day that they arrived ready for battle, to find an abandoned fortress. Somecreature had gone through the considerable effort of constructing the place that looked like it could easily room hundreds of creatures, just to leave it abandoned. There were no supplies inside, not much of anything really. Just cold hallways and long-snuffed fires. The snow that sprinkled down was the only sign of life outside of themselves.
They had come ready to battle, to find no enemy. Shining scowled at it. "I don't like it."
Toby crossed his arms. "Empty."
"Knock down," suggested Celene. "Not use again."
Shining considered the idea. "Alright, yes." He turned to the gathered soldiers. "Tear this place apart. It's not part of the Crystal Empire and has no business being here."
With a rough cry from the crowd, ponies and tsuki began tearing apart the fortification in the hopes that it would be denied to their enemies should they ever return to it to see the damage. It was better than just admitting they had found nothing to do.