//------------------------------//
// Chapter 26: Persistence 
// Story: The Impossible Choice 
// by FireMaster 
//------------------------------//

~ April 19th, 1020 ME ~

‘7:30pm‘

Within the walls of Canterlot castle, Celestia was all alone, sitting on a cushy armchair in the heart of her private study. The normally comfortable chair wasn't very relaxing to the solar princess, who was busy contemplating Equestria's current state of affairs. With her eyes closed she took several deep breaths. The thoughts that plagued her needed answers. Her ponies had always known her to have the answers. There were many questions on her mind, but the certainties were as follows: Chrysalis, Sombra, and The Nightmare were back, likely working together. Based on her vision, Tirek would no doubt also be involved to some degree, even if he wasn't directly collaborating with the others. A large portion of the guard was either preparing defensive fronts or searching for missing ponies. Twilight, Blazing, and Shining Armor were entrusted with positions to command troops, and they were now putting themselves on the front lines. Ponyville would be attacked again, and the citizens of the small community had almost all been relocated to hotels in Canterlot, save a few who had decided to stay behind to help the Cloudsdale unit defend their homes. All and all, it was at least reassuring to know preparation efforts were in place.

The certainties were nice, but the Princess was not content with circumstances for several reasons. They lacked momentum in the war, pony spirits weren't high, and Discord had been way too influential in her decision making. Whatever game Discord was playing lacked proper reasoning for why they should do as he says. She felt deep down that he was right on some level (hence why she listened to his requests thus far), but The Spirit of Chaos just didn't make much sense. Ideas like, Twilight should organize troops, Blazing should be given royal backing, as well as transforming the former human into a pony and claiming he would be Equestria's best chance going forward were pretty outlandish. "Discord if you can hear me, I need answers." The silence that greeted her was discouraging. She waited for nearly a minute. Perhaps answers would have to wait for another time.

"I'll tell you Celestia, but I can only tell you, my way." Discord materialized in front of Celestia.

"No playing around Discord. You said that to me the day you stole the elements of harmony. This is the fate of Equestria we're dealing with, so the matter is serious."

"Serious indeed. So serious in fact that I cannot intercede with more than just information until the time is right. Moving too soon would be costly, much like when Tirek tricked me. If you need reassurance, then know that the possible futures I've seen are not all favorable without certain events playing out. I am simply using my efforts to push you in the right direction."

"You claim to know the future, yet to know such a thing in its entirety is impossible even for you. How could I trust whether or not the things you have told me are true?"

"Short of asking the element of honesty, you can't. You're right of course that I can't see everything. For now, I will chalk it up to mastery over time and friends in high places if you catch my drift." Celestia was preparing to ask another question when Discord spoke again. "I'm afraid questioning further would not be of benefit for you, as I cannot divulge the specifics. Trusting me moving forward will be a decision you'll have to make for yourself. Ta Ta for now." Discord didn't give Celestia a chance to respond. He vanished into thin air. In his place sat a small trinket. It was a golden ring with a 6-sided diamond star as the centerpiece. It was an unusual item to be left in Discord's place, considering he usually made some kind of chaotic explosion when leaving, but the purpose behind it would have to wait for a later time because there was no immediate indication as to what it was for. Knowing Discord, it could have no purpose, and that would perfectly fit his chaotic nature. For now, she put it aside just in case a time presented itself where the ring would be of use.

Discord had only been gone for a few moments before a knock came at her door.

"Your Majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle has returned and requested your presence immediately. She is currently waiting in the throne room." Came the voice of Sunflower, Celestia's personal assistant.

"Thank you, Sunflower. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention so quickly."





‘7:32‘

* Abandoned Canterlot Mines *

"Twilight mah thought is we ought to get some help bringin' these changelings back to the other princesses. They might just be our best lead for findin' out where the captured ponies are. They might help us find Spike and Blazing too."

"That's a great idea, Applejack. We have no time to waste. Rainbow, can you find the closest guards and inform them that we have found a number of changelings here. You can meet us at the castle."

"On it!"

The Changeling had been struggling at their restraints, and Pinkie had been keeping a real close eye on any that tried to shapeshift out of them, but Twilight knew they couldn't wait around for guards to arrive. "Girls, I think I'm going to perform a mass teleport. The sooner we can get the other Princesses involved the better. everypony get together... Ready?" In a flash the remainder of the group, along with the changelings were teleported to the throne room of the castle. Twilight felt the onset of a migraine in the base of her horn, but she wasted no time in catching her breath. The room they now found themselves in was empty of anypony besides a janitor, preparing the area for night court. The popping sound of the teleport caused him to drop his mop, and he was visibly shaking a little from the surprise of seeing them all appear. "Sorry for surprising you like that sir, but can you please get a message to Princess Celestia. We need her help as soon as possible."

Without responding, the frightened staff member left the room in a hurry. He almost tripped over his own hooves as he went through the door. "Ah do hope that means yes." Applejack voiced. While they waited, Twilight was relieved about two things. One, none of these changelings seemed to be able to teleport like the one disguised as a guard had, and two they hadn't been making as much effort to escape now that they were no longer in the cave. Twilight wasn't sure she could handle all the changelings at once now that she had used so much of her magic stores. Thankfully they weren't kept waiting long. Celestia came briskly through the main entry, flanked by two guards. Both of the ponies tasked with protecting Celestia took up defensive positions when they saw the captured members of Chrysalis' hive.

"Private Strong, please escort the changelings to the dungeons, and inform the lunar guard you will be needing a few of them to assist you with transport and interrogation procedures." One of the two guards assigned to Celestia broke off and began fulfilling his orders. With that out of the way, Celestia focused her attention on Twilight and her friends. They looked upset, and were also without Rainbow, Spike, or Blazing. "Where are the others?"

"Rainbow will be here shortly. She went straight to the guard with what we encountered." Twilight was hesitant to continue talking, so Celestia probed further.

"And the others?"

Since this was clearly an uncomfortable topic for the entire group, Applejack came to the rescue by being the one to share. "Sombra caught us by surprise. They were gone in the blink of an eye."

"Not to mention every changeling was disguised to look like Sombra too." Pinkie added.

"There were close to a hundred changelings down there and we only dealt with half of them at the most. Based on the way that they were fighting, it's hard to think this wasn't their goal all along." Twilight found the courage to say.

Celestia was trying to make sense of the situation described, but that was proving difficult. Discord had just finished saying to trust him, and now his off-world VIP was in the hands of the enemy. Blazing didn't deserve any of this, she thought.

"We will find them. For now, Applejack and Rarity, I'm sure you want to see your sisters. They arrived at the castle along with Scootaloo shortly after you left. No doubt they will still be a little shaken up. As for the rest of you, worrying about Spike and Blazing won't bring them back tonight. If I hear any news from the troops searching or from our interrogations, I will keep you informed, but for now get some needed rest. It's best we are prepared for whatever tomorrow will bring." The element bearers began their leave, but before Twilight made it out the door she turned around.

"Princess, I'm not sure how well I'll sleep knowing that my brother is out there fighting."

"He won't be alone. Cadance has refused to let him go without lending some of her love magic to strengthen his shield, and the ponies from Cloudsdale have a lot to fight for considering they're one of the closest neighboring cities to Ponyville. Luna is also sending a contingent of Lunar guards to help. They refused to sit on the sidelines now that they are the most knowledgeable for what to expect. I can have Luna check in on your dreams, if that would ease your stress any."

"No... Thanks, but that won't be necessary. I'm really just worried with the thought of something happening to Shining after what happened to Blazing and Spike. I think I will be ok."

"Okay, but if anything else comes up, I will be here for you Twilight. Just promise me you will talk to somepony if your feelings of anxiety continue. Take one thing at a time and we will all get through this."

"Thanks, Celestia. I'll do my best."

"That's all I could ever ask."





‘11:59 p.m.‘

The cool spring night was devoid of any sound. It was only a matter of time before The Nightmare unleashed her wrath on Ponyville again. The streets of Ponyville were empty. The lights were all off. The area looked undefended from the naked eye. A thick black cloud-cover hovered above the small town, not a drop of precipitation had fallen. The clock tower struck 12, but as soon as it stopped ringing the silence continued. A short breeze picked up, rustling the trees from the forest. At 12:01 a.m., the ground began to quake. Chimeras were the first to break the tree line, mixed with more timberwolves, manticores, and cockatrice. The Basilisk and Hydras hadn't returned, but the Chimeras were a new edition. The cause of the ground shaking was also quickly apparent as the same family of ursa's had returned for more destruction, despite having left on their own accord the day before.

At the first sign of hostiles from the forest, a shield was erected that enveloped the entirety of Ponyville. The creatures continued their savage charge, feral looks in their eyes, unfazed by the glowing wall of defense. When they were approximately fifty feet from the barrier surrounding the small community, a crackling sound could be heard coming from above. One of the cockatrices had looked up just in time to get a lightning bolt to the face, its stare doing nothing to penetrate through the thick clouds. With the first cockatrice crashing to the ground from the electrifying blow, the battle had begun. Lightning and blasts of mana were raining down from the skies onto the unsuspecting attackers, throwing those nearby off their footing and taking out the ones unlucky enough to get hit by the force.

A group of Pegasus had begun dropping the contents of their crates, spilling concentrated poison joke on the fields, and over the heads of the ursa's. The plant oils had been modified for more immediate results. The one ursa major was almost tall enough that its head poked through the clouds, so it didn't take long for the plant to make contact. The effects of the poison joke were near instantaneous. The Ursa's began to shrink in size and muscle mass, making them significantly less threatening. The poison joke spread over the field of smaller monsters wasn't quite as effective. Some of the timberwolves became permanently lit on fire, but they weren't burning. A few of the chimeras that came in contact with the stuff sprouted wings. One of the manticores had its fur turned into quills like a porcupine. For the most part, the only things unaffected were the creatures that didn't come into contact with any of the poison joke, or the cockatrice's, which were seemingly immune to its effects.

Things were looking great for the Clousdale unit. Captain Armors initial strategy was going swimmingly, and they had been untouched by the grounded monsters below. Knowing their opponent's next move had been a huge benefit! The clouds were densely packed for the lightning, and they had a very defensible position despite being outside the shield. The visibility was perfect for a Pegasus but not for everything else. In the ensuing chaos below, a large number of monsters that hadn't been hit by any of the attacks from above had reached the shield. They pounded against it, but it remained strong, Shining Armor unfazed by the blows. With the largest threat being the Ursa's now having been dealt with, the troops weren't about to relax or let their guard down. They had used a large portion of their air-strike materials, but they still had crossbows and spears. As they were reloading to send their next volley of shots, cries rang out from one corner of the cloud. The source of the screams was a pair of ponies that had collapsed on the clouds having taken magic blasts to the chest. The leader of the squadron immediately yelled "ambush!" but he had yet to see where the shots had come from. As the Cloudsdale guard scanned the black skies above, silhouettes were finally spotted overhead flying in front of the moon.

"Enemy inbound, three o'clock!" As soon as one of the Pegasus from the group called out the enemies' position, green blasts came down like fire from above from the specified direction. Changelings, with black chitin exteriors had entered the battle. As soon as it looked like pony efforts were making headway below, they now found themselves outnumbered and out of position from attacks above. In a chariot near the opposite corner of the cloud a unicorn guard from the lunar forces had begun performing a messaging spell. Her thoughts were sent to Shining Armor as the spell was completed. The message was this: Our first push was a complete success, but the second push has been halted. We may have to fall back to your position. The Queen's forces have arrived.