The train screamed down the mountain, crashing through dirt, trees, rocks and anything else in its way. Dan screamed within the train, feeling the reverberation of every crash through the train. Still being subjected to the blistering speed, he was pressed into the back wall, unable to move. His screams were drowned out by the sound of the jet engines.
When the train was towards the edge of the shield, it smacked the side and started climbing. The shield. The train car started climbing the energy shield. Perhaps because the wheels were meant to react with magical surfaces made them able to climb the shield, not that Dan cared at that moment.
"What... the hell was that?" Springer asked.
"It's Dan!" Twilight exclaimed. She didn't know, she wasn't sure and yet she DID know and she WAS sure. More sure than anything, it HAD to be Dan. "Dan is riding that thing! He's charging the lines!"
"He's..." Springer looked up. The train continued upward, climbing the shield. It rocketed right over them, digging a sharp line into the dome of energy. "He's..."
"He's crazy, I know, captain. But he gets the job done."
Springer shook her head. "No, he's..." she swallowed. "He's breaking the shield!!"
Twilight looked up in time to see a fragment of crystalline magic drop and dissipate in front of her eyes. The indent carved by the train car's wheels had become a jagged crack, one that the fluctuating field of energy could no longer sustain. Made by the combined magic of a large group of ponies, no one among them could keep the spell going; the unicorns' energy was exhausted.
And yet, the train car kept on going, racing down the shield, back down onto the ground again and... into the enemy formations. It all happened within seconds; Twilight barely had time to react. The train car plunged into the enemies, bounced only once and kept going. It blasted its way through them like a battering ram, crushing robots underneath and pushing the black-clad ninjas aside. Dozens of the Sith Assassins, unable to get out of the way in time, evaporated into clouds of red smoke as the train crushed them.
Twilight watched. Springer watched. The Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts both stopped their firing temporarily to see.
"He's heading right for the mountain!"
Twilight nodded. "He's doing more than that- he's clearing the way!"
"Twilight Sparkle, the shield is broken!" Trixie called via Dixie-cup radio walkie talkie touch-tone conversationizer pro. "And Trixie needs more Gatorade! With ice this time! And don't get the red one- Trixie doesn't like that one. Get Glacier Freeze or just lemon-lime. Seriously, who even buys red Gatorade?"
"I don't know, it's disgusting- hey Twilight! I mean, your highness!" Springer called. "Trixie says the shield is collapsing and she needs a refill!"
"I can't exactly give her any of my magic right now!"
"No, Gatorade. And not the red one."
"Well, of course not the red-" she turned around. "Wait, I have an idea."
"What?" Springer's head darted back and forth, a worried look in her eyes. The shield deteriorated more rapidly now. Huge chunks broke off and melted away, fading into the air. "Our defenses are crumbling as we speak!"
"Not all of them."
Twilight looked down. She'd lost sight of the train. Part of her wanted to rush down to ground level and search for Dan, but she somehow knew he wanted it this way. Maybe this was part of his plan all along. It completely wasn't, but she had no way of knowing that. None of them did. So that made it part of Dan's plan all along, and he'd be the first to admit it.
Dan had taught Twilight much. A lot about herself, a lot about others and a lot about possibilities out there. She didn't always agree with him or go with what he would do, but the option was open to her now. Sometimes, it was the right course of action. One of those times was right now.
"Follow me!" Twilight dove, soaring down to the ground. Springer watched her for only a moment before following; the Wonderbolts and Rainbow dove after her immediately. She saw where they were all going: the front lines.
Dan had taught her to deal with her problems directly.
Twilight appeared before the Royal Guardsmen. "Everyone, charge the line! Forward! Charge the enemy, advance!!"
"Chaaaarrrge!" The guardsmen obeyed. Shields raised, lances drawn, they rushed out from under the shield.
Her horn glowed and she bellowed again, "Charge, everyone! For Equestria!!!"
"Your majesty..." Springer said, "The-they still outnumber us three to one!"
"That means everybody has to kill at least three of them!"
"That's... that's not how it works!!"
"Make it nine then!!" Twilight yelled. She took off again but stayed low to the ground. She raced to the front lines, her horn glowing. Springer followed, they all followed. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, humans, griffons, zebras, everything and everyone they had, they rushed in. Armed with brooms, with swords, with pots and pans, with pitchforks, with their own bare hooves, they charged an enemy they knew nothing about. A uniformed enemy of darkness, mystery and expensive, high-tech equipment. And it was the enemy that feared them.
"What's our objective?!"
"Kill them! Kill them all!!" Twilight ordered, and suited action to words. She unleashed a barrage of lavender bolts from her horn, spraying enemies. The shield collapsed completely as the last of the ponies left the safety of it. Twilight, Springer and the Wonderbolts were the first into the fray, followed by the Royal Guards, then everypony else.
Far behind them, the hippies had arrived on the battlefield.
"Aren't... aren't we supposed to be protesting?"
"Yeah, in a minute," George said. His hoof was covered in hot, sticky batter. The hippies had found the batter-clogged gun batteries Pinkie and Applejack had been using and were now eating out of them.
*BOOOOM*
One of the cannons went off, scorching a few manes. But the hippies had hair to spare, so they just went back to eating.
"You got any weed left, Harper?"
"Dude," Harper said to George, appalled. He held up a fireproof box with a pot leaf on it. "Of course I do. Pass the cupcake cannon. You know the rules: cream puff, puff, pass."
"I'm in a good mood, so I'm not going to kill you for that pun."
"It's written on the side of the cannon."
"Oh."