//------------------------------// // Chapter 48 - Reunion // Story: Wherever the Light Shines: Part 2 // by MLPSolarDash1907 //------------------------------// Inside of the impala village, Mystic sat in a chair as she observed every wolf and pony climbing into carts the impalas brought to them a few minutes ago. All of them looked to hold about twenty ponies each. Maybe more but she’d counted at least sixty impalas that had brought carts. “You almost ready to go?” she heard a voice behind her. She turned to see Faraji smiling at her. Mystic nodded. “Yeah. Just about.” “Good. You’ll be back to save your land in no time.” “Uh, it’s not really my land.” “You’re a pony though,” Faraji said and walked off. Mystic sighed. “That doesn’t mean it’s my land though.” She got up and followed Faraji outside the village. In front of the whole barrage of carts, she spotted Twilight’s friends already in their cart and an impala was already in front hooked up in the harness. Mystic looked back again at the wolves and how every impala was observing them from their village. All of the antelope had marveled and thankful looks on their faces. She couldn’t help but think about what they’d done in the last several hours. Defeating Clawdius, facing off with Tokuta, and Nightfall trying to stop them in their tracks. What was that mysterious light? She thought. It was unlike any event she’d ever seen yet... it kind of felt familiar? “Ready to go?” came Twilight’s voice. Mystic snapped out of her thoughts. “Yeah. I was lost in my thoughts.” “Happens to me a lot,” Twilight giggled. “Gee, I wonder,” Mystic rolled her eyes as she followed the alicorn to the Mane Five’s cart. “Let’s get goin’ Twi!” said Applejack. “Patience, darling,” said Rarity. “Twilight, is everycreature loaded up?” “Almost, I believe,” replied Twilight as she climbed into the cart. Mystic spotted Sunset sitting in the back with Starlight. The latter was quiet and distant as Sunset gently stroked her withers. Mystic climbed into the cart and settled down. “I’m thinking about all the paperwork I’m going to do when getting our two new allies in a true bond with Equestria!” Twilight squealed. “After everything I’ve been through, it’s time I do something I enjoy!” “Yeah, you’re a real geek, Twi,” Rainbow murmured. “And I think we might have another new alliance with Imperial City! Three new alliances! More paperwork!” Mystic couldn’t help but be tense at the thought of Imperial City being an ally of Equestria. Her mind ran. Is Hong up to something? She thought, unable to help herself. I don’t buy anything about what he’s been up to... She looked around at the Mane Six, Starlight, and Sunset, unable to feel nervous for all of them. Memories of torture and the awfulness of the general flashed through her mind. He even haunted her while she was with the Liberators. It’s like a part of my past has come back to haunt me... she shuddered. “Here are the heroines of the hour!” came Faraji’s voice. Mystic turned to face him. “Chief Faraji!” Twilight squeed. “I can’t wait for an alliance between us!” The chief chuckled. “Neither can I, your Highness.” “Please call me Twilight.” “Anyway, we’ve been informing everycreature else that you’ll need to hunker down for the ride back. We’ll have you back home in no time.” “How will we get back home in time to stop Nightfall?” Rainbow asked. Faraji chuckled. “You’ll be surprised at how well impalas got to know the land over time. And... you’ll be surprised in a minute.” He winked. Twilight smiled. “We’re very thankful for your services, Chief Faraji.” “Please, just call me Faraji,” the chief smiled. “And you’re welcome.” “Is that everycreature?” an impala asked from close by. “They’re all in the carts,” said Faraji. “They should get back to Equestria and save the ones they love.” “All right! Hang on everycreature!” the lead impala announced. “You might want to hunker down!” “See you sometime later!” Faraji said, backing up. Mystic saw that there was a rope close to where she was sitting. She put it around her waist and placed it underneath an iron clutcher on her opposite side like a seatbelt. “Ready?” the lead impala asked, his horns glowing a bright green. “Ready!” Everypony cried. Almost in an instant, the impala began running. Mystic was thrown back up against the cart, taken completely off guard. Her eyes widened as the impala’s horns glowed brighter and he picked up speed. With eyes as wide as saucers, Mystic saw the savanna passing by in a blur. “Whoooooaaa!” Rainbow cried. “Awesome!” “Wheeeeeeeeeee!” Pinkie cheered. “My mane!” Rarity cried, ducking down to where the harsh wind wouldn’t blow on it. Mystic looked behind her to see that every other cart being pulled by an impala was picking up speed too, the antelopes’ horns glowing like green beacons. It was almost as if they were an army running up towards their destination, ready to end this once and for all. Then, it felt as if they were going around three hundred miles an hour. Mystic and Twilight looked at each other with amazed looks as they crouched into the carts. “Impalas have some serious magic!” Twilight cried over the rushing wind. Mystic opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. She went to the back of the cart and vomited over the edge. The journey seemed to pass by fast. Now feeling better, Mystic watched as they zoomed past the forest, they’d begun their journey and broke through the tree line into the land of Equestria. She looked at Twilight as she held up a parchment of paper and seemed to be directing the impala pulling the cart. Mystic felt sick to her stomach for the twelfth time but managed to keep her bile down. “Just dandy, Mystic?” Sunset asked. The unicorn didn’t turn around but she nodded briskly. “Motion sickness, I know the feeling,” said Sunset. “Oh?” Mystic managed to get out. “I used to get it on airships and on vehicles moving fast.” Mystic just nodded in response. The carts continued through the land of Equestria, and soon, Mystic saw the mountain of Canterlot. Her eyes widened at the sight of the four towers surrounding it and she swore she could see a red shield surrounding the city as a large poisonous looking black and reddish cloud built over it like a storm. The sky surrounding the cloud was a reddish tint for what seemed like forever. “That’s Canterlot?” Rarity gasped. “Cool clouds!” Pinkie cried. “Seriously?” Applejack facehoofed. “Pull around!” cried Twilight. “What’s wrong?” Mystic asked. “Seems like there are enemies in the town!” “Oh no!” said Fluttershy. Twilight pointed to the right and Mystic saw a thick forest. The lead impala turned in that direction and in just a few seconds, he reached the tree line of the forest. He came to a stop and all of the carts behind him stopped close by. “Is that cloud where you need to be?” an impala close by asked. “Yes,” replied Twilight. “And we can’t get any closer than this. Here is good.” “Very well,” said the lead impala. He nodded at the other impalas. Mystic, now free from her motion sickness, climbed out of the cart and almost kissed the ground but managed to keep herself composed. She observed every wolf and member of the Imperial army climb out of the carts until they were all out. “Everypony, regroup in the forest,” said Jia, flying over the soldiers, “It’s not safe out here.” Mystic watched the rest of the soldiers and wolves piled into the forest. “Thank you for the ride,” said Twilight. “It was our pleasure,” said the lead impala. “Oogundaa’s definitely going to remember all that you’ve done for us.” “Maybe it’ll help the land on getting to a road of recovery,” said Sunset. Mystic didn’t say anything as she prodded the ground. “Well, we need to get back and worry about things back home,” said the lead impala. “What about Sunburst?” Starlight stepped forward with a nervous look. The lead impala gave her a sympathetic look. “I promise, we’ll not stop looking until we find him.” Starlight sighed. “I hope... he’s okay...” Twilight wrapped a foreleg around her. “He will be. I promise.” Mystic could tell Starlight didn’t believe her but decided not to press the issue. “Well, good luck ponies,” the lead impala bowed. He turned to the rest and nodded. Then, one by one the impalas’ horns glowed green and began to leave. Mystic couldn’t take her eyes as they departed and went back the way they’d come from. The lead impala smiled. His horns glowed and almost in an instant he was gone as quickly as he’d been there. Mystic blinked. “I still can’t believe they got all of us through the jungle and over the mountains.” “Me either, impalas and Oogundaa seem very fascinating, Mystic,” said Twilight. “Can’t argue with you there.” “So, what’re we going to do now?” Rainbow asked. “We need to get back to Hong and revaluate on how we’re going to combat this threat,” said Jia, stepping forward. “Where is he?” Twilight asked. “He was supposed to be at a base camp about ten miles from Ponyville,” said Jia. “Who knows how many more troops might be in the area?” Mystic asked. “And with a group this size, we’ll be spotted pretty easily if we got close to that town,” said Accalia. “Where exactly was Hong supposed to set up his base camp?” Twilight asked. “East of Ponyville,” replied Jia. “That’s good.” “What’re you thinkin’ Twi?” Applejack asked. “It might be a bit of a long shot, but we can try and make our way to the Everfree Forest.” “Everfree Forest? What’s that?” Jia asked. “It’s a forest just outside of Ponyville but it’ll provide a lot of cover for us and we can get a distance past Ponyville if we work our way to the other side,” Twilight explained. “Hold it!” cried Pinkie. Everycreature turned to look at her. Mystic looked at the pink mare and saw that her left foreleg was twitching. “Pinkie sense?” Applejack asked. Pinkie what? Mystic thought. “My Pinkie sense is telling me we should go into the Everfree Forest!” Pinkie cried, looking off to the east at a thicker forest. She turned to Twilight. “Twitching foreleg! Means we need to find somepony there!” “Is she serious?” Jia asked with a skeptical look. For once I actually agree with the soldier, Mystic thought. “It may not be something that can be explained, but Pinkie’s sense does help,” said Rarity. Jia sighed. “Whatever. I don’t buy this, but we’re heading that way anyway. So, let’s get moving. Installments of twenty until we all reach the forest.” Mystic just shook her head as the soldiers and wolves began to make their way to the Everfree Forest. This is getting ridiculous, Mystic thought as she and the others followed Pinkie through the Everfree’s thick foliage. The bubbly mare’s left foreleg is still twitching. “We’ve been following this pony for twenty minutes and we’ve not stumbled upon anything!” said Gunnolf. “Is this something ponies do? Have twitching legs for no reason?” “Just me!” Pinkie cried cheerfully. “We should’ve been further along than this,” said Mystic. “Let’s just give her some more time,” Accalia spoke up. “We don’t have time for games,” Jia mumbled. “To the left!” said Pinkie, her foreleg pointing in that direction. “We’re getting closer to the edge of the forest,” said Twilight. “Nearly there! Trust me!” Mystic could hear that everycreature else was getting tired of hobbling through the forest. If they were going to find somepony they’d better do it... “Hello?” a masculine voice called. “There!” Pinkie cried. “Is there anycreature there?” a meek feminine voice called. Pinkie galloped off. Her friends followed and Mystic joined them. She kept her eyes on the ponies in front of her as they made a beeline to thinner woods and where the trees became further apart. Mystic pushed by a bush and her eyes widened when she saw six familiar-looking students she’d seen at the school. “What?” she breathed, surprised. “Yay! We found them!” Pinkie cried. “Professors and Headmare Twilight?” Sandbar cried, surprised. “Students!” cried Twilight. She leaped at them and brought Silverstream and Sandbar in for a hug. “Don’t forget about us,” Gallus snickered. “You’re all okay!” their headmare cried and broke out into a wide smile. These six again? Mystic couldn’t help but wonder. “What’re all of you doing out here?” “We’ve just been scouting around and looking for volunteers,” said Sandbar. “Volunteers?” Twilight repeated. “These were the ones we were to supposedly find?” Jia asked, walking forward. “We found them, didn’t we?” Mystic asked in a spiteful tone, causing Jia to glare at her. “Wow, that pink one has some unique abilities,” said Accalia. “You believe that? Really?” Gunnolf deadpanned. “Wolves?!” Gallus cried, surprised. “It’s a long story,” said Sunset, walking forward with Starlight. “Counselor pony!” Yona cried. Starlight sheepishly waved at her. “We’d love to tell you all about it but what are you all doing out here?” Twilight asked. “I’m so thankful you’re all okay!” “It’s super awesome we found all of you to join the resistance!” Silverstream squealed happily. “Gallus suggested we check out the large group heading into the forest section by section!” “Yeah!” Yona cried. “We traveled to Changeling Kingdom and got message to unite all creatures!” All of the teachers and Headmare gasped while Mystic’s eyes widened. “Yeeaaahhh, that’s kinda our fault,” Gallus smirked. Jia stepped up to the students. “Do you know of Imperial City’s army?” Gallus raised an eyebrow, “Aaannnddd you are?” “I am the lieutenant of General Hong of Imperial City,” Jia said, annoyed. “Oh, you mean the red and white soldiers?” Sandbar asked, “They’re working in the sanctuary in the Everfree Forest.” “Oh, we’re closer than what I’d thought.” “Then let’s get there,” said Applejack. “Follow us!” said Sandbar. Mystic couldn’t believe it. After walking through the thick forest, she saw that a bunch of trees had been cleared to form a large clearing. It was filled with yaks, dragons, changelings, hippogriffs, griffons, and ponies. All of them were discussing with each other as some of the fliers kept watch above the trees. “My gosh...” Mystic whispered as she walked forward. She was unable to take her eyes off the sight, never before has she seen such a gathering before. There might be a nation at stake but this seems like they might have a fighting chance in the most unlikely scenario. “Twilight and her friends are here!” somecreature cried. Everycreature began to cheer, the yaks’ stomping shook the ground as several changelings flew towards them. Before they got up to them, a tall blue hippogriff flew up to and landed in front of the party. “Princess Twilight!” he said with a quick bow, “Thank heavens you’re all right!” “Likewise, General Seaspray,” replied Twilight. “All of you are here to help us?” “Because you’ve done so much for each of our kind,” Seaspray smiled. “Thanks to you, we’re no longer afraid to be below the waves anymore.” Rainbow flew up to him. “Any strategies on how we’re gonna kick some serious flank?” “My hippogriffs and several other parties have come back with intel we were just discussing it,” Seaspray gently pushed her back. “Take us to where we’re meeting. We’ve been through a lot while we were away.” Seaspray looked behind her and his eyes widened. “Are those wolves?” “Like I said, we’ve been through a lot.” Seaspray sighed. “I’d love to hear it, but please, follow me.” As everypony moved forward, Mystic continued to look around at everycreature, marveling at them. These ponies might be bigger than what I thought... she thought, knowing it was true but kept her mouth shut. Everycreature in front of them kept their gaze upon them as they parted ways to clear a path for the party she’s traveling with. Mystic saw that there’s a roundtable about fifty yards away and she saw the dreaded Hong standing behind it with another changeling, yak, and a red dragon. Then, the students that they’d met made their way in front of Twilight causing their group to stop. “Can we help?” Gallus asked. “Yeah, we helped unite everycreature,” said Smolder. Twilight smiled sadly. “I’m sorry, myself and the others are very thankful for all you’ve done but we need to handle this ourselves.” “What?!” Smolder cried. “That’s not fair!” “Yeah!” Gallus agreed. “I think we’ve done enough...” Ocellus whispered. “Yona want to smash bad guys!” Yona nodded briskly. “We appreciate all of yer efforts to get us united but we need y’all safe for yer kingdom’s sakes,” said Applejack. “But we faced off a bi-pedal bear and his minions! We can handle this!” said Smolder. “My brother Garble’s helping!” She pointed at the red dragon. “More like ran away and things got lucky for us,” said Ocellus. “Aw, you know it was more than that!” Gallus cried. “I-I don’t like confrontations!” Silverstream wilted. “We need you safe,” said Twilight. “Please, just listen to us and you’ll receive thanks from us when this is all over with.” She smiled at them. Gallus, Smolder, and Yona sulked with disappointed looks. “Life isn’t fair...” the dragoness mumbled. “So much for us being heroes...” Gallus mumbled as they walked off followed by the other three. “We stopped Cozy, remember?” Sandbar suggested. “We could be more than just being creatures that stopped a kid,” said Smolder. Twilight sighed and continued on her way. Mystic had heard everything they said but decided to put it off. Mystic kept a straight face as she and her party arrived at the roundtable. Seaspray joined the others on the opposite side of the table as everycreature gathered around. “Princess Twilight Sparkle,” said Hong, “It’s nice of you to finally join us.” The alicorn smiled sheepishly. “Me too. We had some business to take care of.” “Probably, but did you consider that we all have a national and possible global crisis?” Hong glared at her. “We did... but we’re totally here now!” Twilight smiled almost a little too brightly. Mystic glanced at Starlight and how she was frowning and practically hiding behind her mane now. “Let’s begin,” said Hong. Mystic forced herself to face him, wanting to hear the intel but not anything from his lips. Hong pulled out a sheet of paper, “The teams have managed to scour Canterlot and the surrounding area. There are four behemoth towers at the corners of the mountain and building up darkness above the capital. There’s a shield up and the streets are crawling with the enemy’s minions.” “There’s also reports that there’s a generator keeping the shield up,” said Seaspray. “My unicorns detected it,” said Hong. “But it’s deep within the city and past all that security.” “There’s also another matter at claw,” said Seaspray. “What is it?” Mystic asked. “All of our leaders have been captured along with the Princesses...” “What?!” the Mane Six cried in unison. “We don’t know exactly where they’re being held,” said Hong. “But we do expect the enemy will try and use them as leverage.” This changes a lot, Mystic thought. “Hong and I have discussed with our team leaders various options but we haven’t been able to reach a plausible way to penetrate through and get into Canterlot,” Seaspray added. “Is there anything you have come up with?” Mystic asked. “We know we need to attack the towers,” said Garble. “It could disperse the clouds building.” “We need a way in,” said Pinkie. “What about the caves beneath Canterlot?” Twilight suggested. “Caves?” Seaspray asked. “Yeah,” Twilight smiled. “A long time ago I’d been down there and they are mostly forgotten about ponies.” “But there’s just one problem with that,” said Hong. “Huh?” Twilight inclined her head. “Those young creatures that united all of us had spread the word that Nightfall knows of and tried to catch them through the caves during their escape.” “Well, so much for that idea,” Garble grumbled. “We do know of a potential weakness Nightfall has,” Mystic spoke up. Everycreature turned to look at her. “And who are you?” Seaspray asked. Mystic cleared her throat. “I’m just a tour guide of a foreign land.” She smirked. “But I’m also a great observer.” “What’s your intel?” “When Twilight was struggling against Nightfall outside of a village,” she briefly glanced at the alicorn, “I noticed that there was some dark energy coming from his wrists and possibly his ankles, too. I believe there are some magical bands around the body parts in question and if we can destroy them, we will probably have an easier fight against him.” “Can any of you vouch for her?” Hong asked. “I can,” Fluttershy spoke up. She slightly shrank back when everycreature looked at her. “I... did see something similar she described.” “Me too,” Rarity spoke up. “As did I,” Accalia stepped forward. Everycreature’s eyes widened at the sight of her. “A wolf?” Hong asked, surprised. “Yep,” Accalia smiled and nodded curtly. “The Princess and her friends know how to reach creatures.” “That they do,” Seaspray smiled. “And I believe the young unicorn has a valid point in helping us conquer this enemy.” Twilight nodded. “And I can vouch for all of my friends.” “Yaks agree with Princess and orange pony!” one of the yaks spoke. Murmurs of agreement went among the yaks and went through everycreature. Mystic looked directly at Hong and shot him a smug grin. You don’t get all of the glory anymore, she thought. “But even if you do destroy one of them or even target one,” said Hong, looking at Twilight. “He’ll be able to figure out what you’re up to and who knows what could happen then?” “That’s why I’ve been formulating a plan to distract him and take out all of the bands on him at once,” replied Twilight. “But that still doesn’t answer the question of how we’ll get into the city,” Garble cut in. “Even if we do begin destroying the towers, he’ll send those troops and crawl all over us!” “And getting to the generator is a priority, too,” said Mystic, rubbing her chin in thought. “We’d better think of something quick,” said Hong. “We don’t know what Nightfall’s building.” “I... might have an idea,” Starlight meekly spoke up. Mystic turned to face her and felt everycreature else look, too. “Go on,” said Rarity. “Well,” Starlight cleared her throat. “A while back, when Trixie and I hid from the changelings in the castle I used an invisibility spell that worked pretty well.” “That sounds like a great idea!” Twilight’s eyes lit up. “But...” Starlight prodded the ground. “I can only do up to three ponies including myself with the spell.” “Oh, darn!” Rainbow smacked her face. “Hush, Dash!” Applejack scolded. Starlight bit the bottom of her lip. “And you’re certain you can maintain it?” Hong asked. Twilight looked at him. “Yes. Starlight and I are some of the most powerful ponies around.” “Probably even more so than Starswirl!” Rainbow boasted. “Let’s not get carried away!” Twilight smirked. “Very well,” said Hong. “So, who’s going to breach the castle?” Fluttershy asked. “How about Twilight, Starlight, Mystic, and I?” Sunset asked. “Me?” Mystic asked, looking a little surprised, she saw the surprise and fear in Starlight’s eyes. “Sure,” Sunset smiled. “You can kick flank very efficiently and not go out on... impulses.” She looked at Rainbow. Mystic nodded. “Very well. I’ll do what’s needed to be done.” “And we can also have two teams to teleport in the city. One can go disarm the generator and another team can go rescue the prisoners.” “And everycreature else can divide into teams to attack and destroy the towers as the more powerful members move into taking down Nightfall’s minions,” Twilight added. Everycreature murmured agreements among one another. Mystic smirked at the ideas. “We’ll have our ponies outside the city until it’s time to move,” said Hong. “Might as well caught a distraction so that his minions give the ponies inside an opening.” “Okay, then it’s settled,” said Twilight. She looked at her friends. “All of you and the armies will head to their designated targets. Whenever the shield is down, all of you fight your way to the castle to help us defeat Nightfall.” “Sure thing, Twilight!” Pinkie cried. “This is gonna be some party!” Mystic looked over at Hong. “Anything else to add?” The General shook his head. “Negative. All teams move out now.” As everycreature dispersed, Mystic walked over to Starlight. “Yes?” the unicorn meekly looked at Mystic. Mystic wanted to say something, ask anything about her but her words died on her lips. “Sorry, it’s not important,” Mystic finally said. “Oh...” Starlight frowned.