Despite the barrier surrounding the Empire, Twilight couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine at the gentle breeze that tussled her mane. She was staring into the distance, past the beautiful crystal walls, to the frost-tipped mountains beyond. The alicorn wondered if they were truly ready for this expedition, but another part of her was ready to hit the road. The less she had to see the destruction of this city, the better.
Her hooves clicked against the pavement as she approached the stables, where the rest of her friends and a few officers were loading supplies to their new wagons. Two, one for food and other necessary items, and another in case the weather became too much for them. Twilight only hoped this would be enough for the journey ahead.
Pinkie Pie stuck her head out of the second wagon, a puzzled expression on her face, "Twilight, shouldn't we be bringing tents and stuff?"
"Of course, we will," Twilight replied as she took a checklist from her saddlebags, marking things off as two officers picked up another box. "I'm not going to leave anything to chance. But if it gets too cold, I have a few spells I can use."
"But it's soooo small. I guess we can pile on top of each other for warmth," Pinkie rubbed her chin, "Oooh, cuddle party!"
The pair heard a flutter as Rainbow Dash sat on top of one of the wagons, "Pinkie, I don't think Twilight's going to have us huddle together for warmth."
Twilight tried her best not to smile at the look on Rainbow's face. The poor pegasus was still flustered from her time as a bluejay.
"No, I'm not. As I said, I have a few spells that I reviewed for this journey. I even brought the books just in case I forgot," assured Twilight.
"Pfft, of course, you would." Dash snorted.
Applejack tightened a saddle around her waist with assistance from Rarity's magic, the mare carrying her own gear for the trip. With two saddlebags on her sides full of munitions and her trusty lasso resting on her left flank.
Rarity hummed to herself as she clicked her tongue, "Ah ah, one more thing."
"Wuh–" Applejack tilted her head as Rarity quickly tightened and adjusted the bow in Applejack's mane, flipping the hood of her jacket over the pony's head.
Rarity clapped her hooves together, "There we are; now you're perfect!"
Rainbow Dash couldn't help but look over and snicker at Rarity's doting on the cowpony, trying and failing to hide it behind her hoof.
Applejack sighed, rolling her eyes at Rainbow's teasing, "I'll see if the guards need help packing their things."
"Oh yes, and I will be sure to 'examine' the quality of our soldiers," Rarity let out a posh laugh before trotting over to the small platoon of six guards.
"Well... I think it looks rather nice, Rainbow. Why don't you try a bow?" Fluttershy, who had grabbed a pillow from their rooms, was squeezing it gently, trying to comfort herself.
"I don't do cute things." Rainbow Dash jumped down from the wagon and wrapped a hoof around Fluttershy. "You miss Angel, don't you?"
The yellow pegasus sniffled and nodded, holding the pillow even tighter. Rainbow sighed and patted her on the back.
"Hey, don't worry; at least you'll have a story to tell him when we get back?" Rainbow Dash said as she awkwardly attempted to comfort her friend.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy, I miss Gummy too! But I've been sending him letters about everything since we left! Ooh, maybe I'll write another one now!" Pinkie dove into her bags before pulling out a ridiculously long quill, scribbling away on a piece of parchment.
Velvet and Iron Clad were examining munitions as the Crystal Pony gave his Equestrian counterpart a sigh, "At least morale is high, especially since the troops are head over hooves about being in the same space as Spike the Brave and Glorious."
Iron Clad gave the crystal pony a nod, "Well, of course they are, sir. He did save your Empire, didn't he?"
Velvet glanced over to the guards behaving like foals, excitedly bombarding the young drake with questions and pleading with him to recite the tale of his victory against King Sombra.
Spike, of course, happily indulged in a first, second, and third retelling of the tale to his flock of troops.
"And that's how I saved the Crystal Empire," Spike said firmly.
"Here here for Spike the Brave and Glorious!" Proclaimed a guardspony.
"Huzzah!" Exclaimed the rest of the platoon.
Velvet smirked before turning to Iron Clad and saluting the Officer, "Good luck with the expedition." giving Iron Clad a pat on the back before trotting away.
Staring at the guards, Iron Clad sighed and wiped a hoof down his face.
"Thanks..." he sighed. Turning back to the guards, Iron Clad stood up straight, "Attention! Present your name and rank to the Princess!"
Twilight blinked as she looked up from her list, "Oh, of course, I'd love to meet the volunteers. And thank you again for accompanying us."
The Guards quickly organized themselves into a neat row as they clacked their hooves into place, one by one, they saluted the Princess and introduced themselves.
"Sir! Private Silver Star!" saluted the sheen silver pony with his snow-white mane.
"Sir! Corporal Quill Feathers!" shouted the particularly fluffy Pegasus.
One by one, the ponies sounded off, Private Silver Star, Corporal Quill Feathers, Private First Class Bucky Brawn, Sargent Crunchy Almond, Private Peach Cobbler, and a massive towering Clydesdale horse named… Sargent Tiny.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you! I hope that this expedition will go smoother with your assistance. And thank you again, Officer Iron, for finding volunteers at such short notice." Twilight gave each pony a friendly smile and a nod.
"Of course, your majesty." the unicorn bowed. Twilight did her best not to correct him; while she preferred to just be referred to by her name, she also knew that specific rules were in place.
"Oh boy, new friends!!" Pinkie popped up from her writing, the roll of parchment having undone itself over her head and tangled around her. The party pony ended up falling over in her excitement. Adjusting her face so it wasn't flat against the pavement, the mare looked up, "Nice to meet you; I'm Pinkie Pie!"
Many of the guards winced as the party pony peeled herself from the pavement. One of the guards even snickered under his breath but quickly snapped back into place.
"Yeah yeah... I hope we brought enough food to feed everypony," Rainbow rolled her eyes, "I'm already kinda hungry."
"Rainbow, why didn't you eat anything this morning?" Fluttershy scolded in an almost motherly fashion.
"... I didn't want bird seed." Mumbled Rainbow.
Applejack sighed, "Rainbow, we can't just get you a snack from one of the wagons; everything's been neatly organized," She'd quickly fish an apple from one of her saddlebags before tossing it to the plucky pegasus, "I better not hear one pep about you being hungry till we reach them, Yaks."
Rainbow caught the apple effortlessly and took a bite out of it, "What? Flying burns calories!"
Fluttershy would tug Rainbow back down to earth, "Yes, but we have to make do with what we have. Who knows how long it might take to get there!"
"Yeah yeah..." the blue pegasus groaned.
Rarity let out a soft sigh, "Well, now that's settled," She'd quickly pull out an elegant faux fur coat from one of the wagons alongside a dazzling silk scarf before promptly dressing herself, "Let's get started, shall we?"
"We shall." yhe purple alicorn nodded before leading the way. Their wagons slowly clicked and rumbled across the pavement as they made their way through the city.
The group would stop at the city's border for a moment, where Twilight gave her brother and sister-in-law one last hug before they left the city.
"Good luck up there, Twily." Shining gave her a brief bear hug.
"Send us word if you happen to encounter that Starlight Glimmer again," Cadance leaned in for a hug, "And make sure to write to us too."
"Don't worry; I will. See you too soon!" Twilight waved as she walked away.
"Good luck, Twilight!" Cadance shouted back as they waved before climbing into their chariot and riding back to the castle.
As they left the city gates and walked down the path, Twilight looked at the horizon and swore she saw something flying down in their direction.
The sound of a thundering chariot echoed through the heavens as the sun shined brightly in the sky as Princess Celestia and her guards made haste toward the caravan, quickly landing next to them soon after. The pristine white and gold carriage glistened in her majesty's sun.
Princess Celestia rose from the carriage and graciously thanked her guards before approaching the wagon train. Iron Clad's volunteers quickly straightened themselves up to a statue-like state, terrified to even breathe in front of her majesty.
"Princess!" Twilight couldn't help but let the title slip out; she still had to be reminded to call her just by her name every now and then.
Celestia let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her former student, "Twilight, everypony, it is so wonderful to see you again. If only it was under better circumstances. I heard of what happened to the Crystal City…."
Looking down at her hooves, sighing deeply, "I'm so sorry, Celestia. I knew Starlight was seeking revenge, and she was probably following me, but... I had no idea she was capable of such destruction. If I had known, I would have never stayed here for any longer than I needed to."
"I swear, if she didn't turn me into a bird, I would've–" Rainbow flew up before Fluttershy tugged her back down again.
Celestia chuckled at Rainbow Dash before turning her attention to her fellow alicorn, "There is no need to apologize, Twilight; none of us had any idea of the sheer capacity for destruction that pony has. But I know you and your friends can easily accomplish not only putting an end to this pony's tyranny but fulfilling your duties to Equestria and traveling to Yakyakistan."
Twilight looked up to her old mentor and smiled softly, "Thank you; I promise we will not let you down."
Rainbow Dash shot up in the air, "We got this, Princess!"
"We won't let that meanie win!" Pinkie pumped a hoof into the air.
"Consider it done, your highness!" smirked Rarity.
"We won't let you down, your highness."bowed Applejack.
Celestia smiled gently, "I just wanted to wish everypony the best of luck on the trek before I met with Cadance and Shining Armor to discuss rebuilding the city. But I also brought you something I think you might enjoy."
The alicorn's horn glowed as she pulled a small gift wrapped in fine silk, presenting it to Twilight. As Twilight carefully unwrapped the present from its silk sheath, A freshly printed first edition of The Encyclopedia of the Known World with a leather spine and hardback cover. The scent of fresh ink and paper practically oozed off the book.
Twilight's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the sight of the book; her hooves trembled as she moved to take the book into her desperate grasp.
"I... I..." she struggled to speak, "It's beautiful. Thank you!" Twilight jumped up, gently clinging the encyclopedia to her chest, unable to hold back a squeal of excitement.
Iron Clad coughed, reminding the purple alicorn she was in front of unfamiliar ponies. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she turned back to Celestia, "Ahem... thank you. I'm sure this will be very helpful on our expedition."
"I think she likes it!" Pinkie creaked over to one of the guards, extending her next til she was whispering to her best ability in the Guard's pony ear. The guard pony in question was biting his tongue as he desperately attempted to not erupt into laughter.
Celestia laughed as she turned toward her chariot, "I hope it serves you and your friends well on your journey. Farewell." She'd climb into her carriage before she signaled for her guards as they promptly took flight toward the Crystal Castle.
Applejack trotted next to Twilight as she examined the book, "Er, Twilight, don'tcha already own that book?"
"Nope," corrected Spike, "That's a first edition encyclopedia, not to mention it looks like a custom job." His experience and Twilight's influence were apparent.
Rarity shrugged as she passively glanced at the book, "I wouldn't care if it was a ragged old horseshoe; it was a gift from Celestia herself!"
Applejack couldn't quite wrap her head around owning two of the same thing like that.
Turning to her friends, she smiled widely,"Spike's right; I think Celestia herself might have even put in a few entries! Ooh, I can't wait to start!"
"Twilight, don't read while you walk; you'll hurt yourself again." Fluttershy gently reminded, "Remember when we were walking to Zecora's, and you tripped?"
"Hehe... yeah." The purple alicorn blushed and tucked the book away. "Besides, we need to focus on the task at hoof. Is everypony ready?"
"Heck yeah!"
"Ready when you are Twilight!"
"Abso-lootely-dootely!"
"Y-yes?"
"Yeehaw!"
"Our destiny awaits, darlings!"
The guard ponies quickly attached themselves to the wagons before starting the extended trot toward the mountains. Twilight led the way, a small smile on her lips. Perhaps this journey might not be so difficult after all.