//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Battalion Wars: Equestria // by mathwiz617 //------------------------------// 8:15 AM, January 17; Manehattan harbor “KABOOM!” The barrels around Twilight’s improvised prison exploded, taking the barbed wire with them. As her guards turned to look at her, Pinkie snuck up from behind, whacking one over the head with the flowerpot she had hidden in. She then turned and bucked the second, sending him flying into the third. The third human wildly fired his weapon into the air, completely missing everything. Twilight unleashed all the magic she had stored in two simple blasts, sending the tanks flying end over end, through the wall and into the harbor. As Twilight took a second to recover, Pinkie looked at her, amazed. “What?” Twilight asked, looking at her. Pinkie pointed to the two gaping holes. “Oh… wow,” Twilight said. “I didn’t know I had that much power.” She looked at the guard that had fired into the air. Since he was still conscious, Twilight cast a small sleeping spell. “What happened earlier? I remember Rainbow leaving, then I woke up here.” “One of these guys whacked you in the head with his weapon, and you blacked out,” Pinkie explained. “They then dragged you to this warehouse, congratulating each other on the first P.O.W.” “P.O.W.? As in prisoner of war?” Twilight asked. “That would mean that these guys are from Xylvania, and they‘re invading. That’s not good, to say the least. I hope Princess Celestia got my message.” “I’m sure she did,” Pinkie reassured. “Now, let’s go. We have to be out of here before reinforcements arrive.” Turning around, Twilight noticed a huge tank blocking their path. “To late for that, little ponies,” one of the three humans on the outside of it said. Suddenly, the tank turned into a stack of cards, which then blew away in the wind. The former tank pilot, as well as the three other humans, looked down, started to flail their arms, and fell to the ground. As a shadow passed overhead, Twilight looked up. “Discord!” she shouted. “I never thought I’d say this, but am I glad to see you.” “Well, hello to you, too, Twilight,” Discord said. “I see you did a fine number on this warehouse without me, though I assume you appreciate my help there.” Twilight sighed. “Yes, thank you. I don’t know what we would have done without you.” “Oh, I’m sure you would have found the strength to twist the barrels together, or something like that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, that ship out there,” he pointed to a ship firing rockets at them randomly, “is really starting to annoy me. I think I’m going to turn it into a rubber duck.” He cackled and flew away. “I was right when telling Brigadier Betty about him,” Twilight told Pinkie Pie. “He really is scary when he gets riled up. I’m glad he’s on our side.” “Yeah,” Pinkie replied. “How far can you teleport us? I want to get far away from him as quickly as possible. Who knows what he’ll do if he gets shot?” Twilight retreated within herself, trying to find any scrap of magic. “I can’t,” she said. “I used to much magic blasting those tanks.” Levitating one of the nearby weapons, she added, “This is about all I can do right now. It’ll take about an hour for my magic to recharge.” Pinkie picked up another one of the weapons. “Well, we’ll just have to fight our way out, then.” Twilight blanched. “I don’t want to hurt them,” she protested. Pinkie put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “I know,” she said. “We don’t have any other choice, though. If it makes you feel better, you can just aim for their legs.” They looked up as a large duck made of rubber flew overhead. “Whatever you want to do, do it fast, because this is getting weird.” “Right,” Twilight said. “We run that way,” she pointed towards the center of town, “and incapacitate any humans in blue. We then take their weapons, and give them to other ponies so that they can protect themselves. If we can get enough ponies to follow us, we can hold out in the town square until the Royal Guard gets here, or until Discord is done, whichever comes first.” “Sounds good,” Pinkie said. “Let’s go.” 10:00; Manehattan Twilight was having the time of her life. While it did pain her to hurt all these humans, she knew that Pinkie was right. Besides, they were the invaders, and it was her job as a Bearer of Harmony to do her best to repel them. At this point, she was running on pure adrenaline, with an extra kick from her magic. She had about ten human weapons floating around her, a few of each type, and she had figured out the most effective way to use each of them. Behind her was a small squad of civilians that had chosen to fight with her. Twilight looked behind her. Pinkie wasn’t there; she must have run off again. That didn’t matter. Pinkie was a full-grown mare, so she could take care of herself. Besides, they had agreed on meeting at the center of town as soon as possible. Thinking of the center of town, it was within sight. Unfortunately, there was a patrol of Xylvanians in the way. What’s more, they had a large tank with them. They didn’t seem to want to move. Twilight turned to the ponies behind her. “You two,” she pointed at a pair of unicorns levitating bazookas, “concentrate your fire on that tank. The rest of you, take down those soldiers. On three, everypony. One… two…” Twilight never got to three. An even larger tank rolled up and shelled the first tank, destroying it in one shot. Seeing this, the other soldiers decided to run. The hatch popped open. “Twilight!” Pinkie shouted. “Hey, Twilight, I hijacked a battlestation!” Twilight was flabbergasted. She felt like asking, “Why?” or “How?” Instead, she just took a deep breath, exhaled, and said to herself, “It’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.” She then noticed the battalion of Royal Guards assembled behind the battlestation, led by none other than the princess herself. “Princess!” Twilight shouted, dropping the weapons she had held afloat. She started crying as she ran to her mentor’s side.