//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Reception's Back On // by sister_mike //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Twilight Sparkle Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes and held the letter close to her chest. Tears of relief and tears of sadness streamed down her face. Thank goodness Spike is safe. She couldn't say it enough times over and over. She'd been so worried when she couldn't see him among the pods in the great hall, so worried that some far worse fate had happened to him. But he was safe. He was alive. He was conscious. A little roughed up sure, but he was ok. "Thank goodness Spike's ok," Applejack said. "That's... that's so sweet of him to be looking over Sweetie Belle..." Rarity said quietly, wiping tears away. "At least we have some idea now of what Chrysalis is up to," Rainbow Dash said. Twilight nodded, wiping her tears away. "Yes, you're right," she said. She walked to the centre of the room and stood on the table, so she was able to see everypony and address them properly. "Ok, listen up everypony; we have a mission to do. I know we've had a few losses to cope with in the past few hours—Granny Smith, Scootaloo, Blinkie—but now we need to focus on the task at hand. The time to mourn is once the suffering has ended. Right now is the time to act. "We have a better understanding of what Queen Chrysalis is up to. She has taken over all of Equestria and is now trying to expand into other territories. Spike says she is making a move into Griffordia, the Griffin's territory. We need to warn them. "We also need to prepare supplies for our journey to Canterlot. We need food, water, and more weapons. Once we get to Canterlot, we need to find the Princesses. Spike says that Princess Luna will be harder to access. Chrysalis's magic won't work on Luna, because dark magic still resides within her, and it counteracts that of the changelings. That is the reason why we now control the Elements of Harmony, because Luna can't control them and Princess Celestia can't use them without her. Nightmare Moon, though defeated, still lives within Luna. Luna now has her under control and uses her dark magic for good purposes. I know this may be difficult for some of you to take in; but I trust Princess Luna, and I think you should too. "We don't know where Shining Armor is or Cadance. We do know that Shining Armor is alive and not in a cocoon. Chrysalis originally used him to weaken the barrier protecting Canterlot; I have a feeling she's kept him out of a pod in order to use his power again. "We also need to figure out why she's after Discord. Discord is somehow linked to something she wants to do with Princess Luna; either way, once we defeat Chrysalis, we have to make sure that Discord doesn't reign free again." "You say that their magic won't work on Princess Luna... does that mean that their magic can affect Princess Celestia in some way?" Inkie asked "Hmmm..." Twilight said, "I'm not sure, but it's a possibility. That's a good point to bring up. Princess Luna is most likely not in any immediate danger; she probably just locked up somewhere and heavily guarded. It might almost be advantageous to free Princess Luna first, in case there is something wrong with Princess Celestia. "We also need to figure out how to fix Trixie and Flim. We'll need as many conscious unicorns as we can in order to free the ponies. " "That's a lot to do," Applejack said. Twilight nodded and sighed. "I realize it seems daunting; but it's our mission. We're the Element bearers, and the rest of you are survivors. It's all of our duty to save Equestria. We can't just rely on the princesses to solve all of our problems, especially when one of the princesses is MIA. We just need to take it one step at a time. This is what I propose we do: "Big McIntosh; are there any apples left on the farm?" Twilight asked. Big McIntosh nodded. "The changelings trashed some of the fields, but they don't eat the apples themselves; Granny Smith and I were living off of what was left. There's still quite a few trees unpicked, plenty enough to replenish us on our way to Canterlot," Big Mac answered. Twilight nodded. "Excellent. I want you, Applejack, Fluttershy and Flam to go to the farm and bring back as many apples as you can. Flam, you can use your car to transport them," Twilight said. "Oh, hold on, no way," Applejack said, "There's no way I'm lettin' this trickster onto our farm again." "Applejack please; it's in the past, let it go. They won fair and square anyways," Twilight said. Sometimes, you needed tough love. "We need to work together. I want at least one unicorn, pegasus and earth pony on each time for the current tasks I'm about to divide. Flam's car will come in handy, since your farm is further away from Zecora's hut than Ponyville, and we need as much food as we can at this point. I don't know about all of you, but I'm starving." Applejack glared over at Flam, who bowed his head. "Please, just cooperate. He saved Rarity. As survivors, we're all in this together." "Alright..." Applejack muttered. "Good," Twilight said. She turned to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, I need you to get your party cannon; we need to convert it into a weapons cannon. It'd be too dangerous to head all the way back to your farm to get more bombs, but we can use other materials, like boulders and rocks as weapons as well. I want you, Inkie, Titan Wings and Rarity to go to Sugarcube Corner and get your cannon. "Rarity, how are you legs, are you able to walk now?" Twilight asked. "Yes; Zecora has healed them magnificently in such a short time," Rarity said. She turned around to reveal that her horrific gashes were now small cuts. "I can walk, no problem." "Yeah, Zecora's potions work really well. My wing's already back to 100%; I forgot it had been sprained when I ran out to Cloudsdale," Rainbow Dash said, flexing her wing. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Zecora was secretly a unicorn! It's like magic!" "Oh please, you do flatter me; my remedies are merely the key," Zecora said. "Excellent. Oh Rarity, don't forget to give Pinkie Pie her Element," Twilight said. She turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, I need you, CloudsArmor and the Shadowbolt to come with me. We need to send a message to Gilda and warn her about the attack on Griffordia. We'll go to the library and do it from there. I want to quickly look at some books about changelings, see if I can find anything about their magic scrambling." "You got it," Rainbow Dash said. "What about us Twilight?" Apple Bloom said. "You're stayin' here Apple Bloom. No way are you leavin' this hut," Applejack said. "But I wanna help!" Apple Bloom said, "I've been stuck in this hut ever since this whole mess happened! Lemme help in some way." Twilight bit her lower lip, pondering. "What if you and Derpy gathered some herbs from within the forest?" Twilight asked. She turned to Applejack before she could protest. "They'll be safe in the forest. The changelings can't enter here." Applejack and Big Mac exchanged a glance. Twilight knew they were worried about losing more family. "Alright..." Applejack said slowly, "but don't stray far from Zecora's hut. Stick together." "You can count on me Apple-jack," Derpy said. "Zecora," Twilight said, "I need you to stay here and... essentially watch over Trixie and Flim while we're gone. See if you can find anything amongst your books about magic scrambling. You can tell Apple Bloom and Derpy which herbs they should gather." Zecora nodded. "Alright everypony, let's fan out. Let's meet back here in an hour maximum. Then we'll regroup, distribute supplies, and head for Canterlot."