//------------------------------// // Fort Battle at the Library // Story: Big Siblings // by Learn for Life //------------------------------// They just barely managed to run past the town fountain and make it to the library. The sky was still blue, but only slightly, and the rain soaked them almost to the bone. They saw that most of the buildings, including the spa and the bar, were now lit by candles. The light inside was on, so they knocked vigorously. A few seconds later, the door opened, and there stood Spike. “Sweetie Belle?” He looked to her right. “Rumble?” “Hey, Spike,” Rumble said, hoofbumping the drake. “Hey…” Spike looked behind the two foals. “What’re you two doing out here? Where’s Thunderlane, or Rarity?” “Nevermind that, Spike,” Sweetie Belle said, shivering. “May we come in?” He looked behind him, and then back at them. “I dunno. Twilight has a visitor, and—“ At this, Sweetie Belle began sniffling. “B-but we’re so cold… and Rarity would be devastated if she found out you wouldn’t let her little sister out of the rain.” Spike took on a look of worry. “She may never speak to you again.” That was it for Spike. He flung the door open and motioned for them to enter. They did so, not leaving the other’s side. There was a large amount of light in the library, the storm not making them resort to lighting candles. “Wait here while I get some towels,” Spike said, rushing off upstairs. Sweetie Belle continued shivering while she dripped, so Rumble pulled her close. “A-are you okay?” “Yeah, I’m fine.” She leaned on him, her snout going under his chin. Her eyes were closed, so she couldn’t see Rumble’s face turn red. “Y’know, this has been really fun.” Rumble didn’t answer, instead lightly pulling her snout to rest on his neck. Her breathing lightly tickled him. “But why did you decide to up and foalnap me?” Rumble chuckled. “Believe me, I wouldn’t have done that if Thunderlane hadn’t suggested it.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes shot open. “What?” “Well…” Rumble began stroking her withers with his hoof. “I think you’re kinda cute—“ “Kinda!?” “Okay, really cute!” There was silence, and Sweetie Belle returned to the position. “And, well…I think Thunderlane wants me to try and win your heart.” There was silence between them, and then a towel draped over each of them. Sweetie Belle looked up to see Spike not in the room. “Spike?” “Up here,” they heard the dragon say. They looked up to see not only Spike, but Twilight Sparkle, as well as their visitor. “Hey,” the visitor said. “You were one of the flower fillies at my wedding, right?” Sweetie Belle gasped. “Shining Armor!” “Hey, kiddo,” he said. “What’re you doing here?” “We’re running away from our big siblings!” Rumble said, flying up enthusiastically. “Who are you?” Shining Armor asked. “Oh, my name’s Rumble.” The colt flew up to the stallion and began shaking his hoof. “Nice to meet you, Mister Shining Armor Sir.” “Er, yeah,” the stallion replied as he grinned nervously. After the exchange was done, Twilight cleared her throat. “You said you were running away from your brother and sister?” Sweetie Belle scuffed a hoof. “Well, yeah. At first we were playing hide-n’-seek, but now we’re just playing ‘catch us if you can’.” Twilight raised a brow. “So basically, you’re just running away when you should be safe at your homes?” The foals nodded. “I can’t let you continue.” Rumble started. “What? Whaddaya mean we can’t continue?” Twilight went downstairs and stood over the two. “As a responsible adult, I have to make sure that you two are kept out of harm’s way.” Rumble looked like he was about to say something, but instead dropped to the ground. “Okay.” Sweetie Belle placed a hoof on his shoulder. “It was fun while it lasted.” Rumble nodded. “Yeah How’s your nose?” She attempted to wiggle it, and winced as she did so. “It still hurts, but not as much.” From upstairs, Shining Armor watched the two carefully. They fell silent, so he walked down to them. “So when will your brother and sister be here?” “They shouldn’t be too far away.” The stallion smiled. “Well, hey, while you’re waiting for them, why don’t I show you guys how to make a fort?” They looked up with large smiles. “Yeah!” Rarity sustained a light-spell so they could find their way in the dark. The lanterns and lightposts couldn’t be lit, and there was little light from the sky. Thunderlane, having regained part of his strength by now, trotted behind her with a slight limp. After a while of walking, the library came into view. “Hey.” Rarity turned. “Yes?” Thunderlane opened a wing to cover her. She looked up at it, no longer feeling the rain on her head, and smiled. “Thank you, but I think it’s a little late for that.” He grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I should’ve thought of this sooner.” He held his wing out. “Sorry about that.” “Oh, it’s quite alright,” she said, letting her body touch his. “We’ve been in such a rush trying to get my sister and your brother, respite from the rain was probably the last thing on our mind. Sweetie Belle is going to be in so much trouble when this is all over.” Thunderlane’s wing drooped, and Rarity blew it out of her face. “Well, we can’t really blame them, can we?” Rarity stared at him. “I mean, they’re just kids, right? It’s, um, instinctual that they’d want to play.” Rarity raised a brow. “Instinctual? Yes, it may be, but still, they have a sense of reason, and know how to behave an older pony’s orders.” Thunderlane looked away. “Yeah, but…” “But?” “But haven’t you been having fun?” Rarity blinked as they reached the library door. “Well… yes. I had been having fun up until Rumble foalnapped my sister and you gave her a bloody nose.” He withered from the glare she gave him. “Right. I’m sorry about that.” He knocked. “Actually, I need to tell you something.” Rarity’s brow furrowed. “Yes?” “You see, when I was talking to Rumble at the Spa, I told him—“ Suddenly, the door opened, and Spike stared up at them. At once, he began blushing. “Oh, hey, Rarity.” He then looked at Thunderlane, and his blushing face transformed into a scowl. “Dearest Rarity, you look ever-so-cold and soaked to the bone. Why don’t you come out of the rain and out of the embrace of this stallion?” Rarity giggled and walked in. The two males stared at each other, one glaring and the other staring trying to figure out what this exchange was about. “Well?” Spike motioned. “Are you coming in or not?” The stallion started, and rushed inside. Spike shut the door and walked over to Rarity, pulling her tail to get her attention. “Wait here, while I fetch you a towel.” “Oh, that’s alright,” Rarity said, brushing a strand of hair off her muzzle. “We’ll just pick up our siblings and be off.” Spike blinked, and sagged a little. “Oh. Well, in that case, they’re upstairs building a pillow fort.” Rarity’s eye twitched. “Oh, I don’t like the sound of that.” With that, she rushed upstairs. Thunderlane trotted after her. She knocked on the little door leading upstairs. “Twilight, dear, are you in there?” “Just a second.” A second later, the door lifted, and the two ponies went inside. The room was neat and orderly as was expected from Twilight Sparkle, with the exception of next to her bed. There, a small structure made entirely of fluffy pillows sat, with a pile of pillows next to it. It had a tower with binoculars, a drawbridge, and an opening. Rarity really didn’t like where this was going. One muzzle popped out of a “window,” and two green eyes saw them. “Oh, hi Rarity!” Another muzzle and a pair of purple eyes peeked out. “Hey, big brother!” Thunderlane waved, but Rarity didn’t make any attempt at a greeting. “Sweetie Belle, we’re going home.” “Okay, Rarity.” Sweetie Belle poked her head out of the opening at the top. “I need to head home, Mister Shining Armor.” Thunderlane cleared his throat, and Rumble got the message. “Hang on, Sweetie Belle. The fort isn’t finished.” Rarity stepped forward. “Well, you’ll have to finish it another time. We’re going home.” Sweetie Belle then gasped. “Wait a minute! It isn’t Rumble’s fault! It’s Thunderlane’s!” Everypony blinked and turned to Thunderlane, who was shrinking away. “Thunderlane,” Rarity began. “What’s going on?” “N-nothing,” he quickly said, then cleared his throat. “Rumble, I think we should leave now.” Rumble tilted his head. “Wait, now you want to go home? But we were having so much fun!” “I know, but—“ Before he could finish, Shining Armor chuckled. Everypony looked at him. “It looks like you’re confusing him.” Thunderlane groaned. “I know, and I’m sorry, buddy, but I’m in a hard spot right now?” “How so?” Rarity asked. “It appears as though there’s more to this mischief than mere child’s play,” Twilight said from her desk. “Well, uh—“ Before he could finish, something hit him in the face. This object plopped on the ground with a tiny thud!, and then it was still. They looked up to see Sweetie Belle pointing a hoof at him. “That was for my nose!” she yelled in a nasally tone before picking up another pillow. “And this is for my kite—“ “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity took the flung pillow in her magical grasp, setting it down on Twilight’s bed. “That’s enough, we’re going home right now!” “Yeah, and these pillows aren’t for throwing,” Twilight added. “They are only to be used for resting your head on to sleep.” “Now hang on a moment, Twily,” Shining Armor said. “They may be used to sleep with, but they also make good pillow forts, wouldn’t you say?” The foals inside the fort nodded. “And besides, I remember a certain little filly that would sneak up on me with her own pillow. Something about ‘playing the enemy to train her big brother’.” He began to laugh, and Rarity and Thunderlane began to chuckle. Twilight’s face deadpanned. “Well, that was just training! We didn’t know what threats you’d face. It was helpful training!” “Oh, really, ‘Princess of the Dragons’?” Twilight gasped. “’Now go, savage beast, and take me to the kitchen so the Princess can claim the elixir of chocolate milk!’ And then I’d take you on my back around the house—“ “What’re you getting at?” Twilight asked, halting Shining Armor’s ramblings. “What does this have to do with Sweetie Belle and Rumble going home?” Shining Armor nodded sagely. “I’m just saying that pillows can be used for fun. And I came here to visit and hang out, see the town, but this storm kinda put a damper in our plans. I think,” he continued with a smirk, levitating a pillow, “that having a bit of a pillow fight would be fun.” Rumble and Sweetie Belle looked at each other, and then at their siblings, wondering what they should do. Rarity stepped in. “My sister has already hurt her nose,” she said, casting a glance at Thunderlane. “I don’t think she needs to experience another fight.” Shining Armor looked at the filly, who looked at her own snout. Then, with a deft motion, he tossed the pillow at her face. Rarity looked, aghast, as Sweetie Belle clutched her muzzle. “Sweetie Belle! Are you all right?” Sweetie Belle was motionless for a moment, and then her eyes shot open. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. That didn’t hurt at all!” She smiled. “It didn’t hurt!” Shining Armor chuckled. “Of course. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, and it’d take a very fast pillow to hurt you.” Rumble interrupted. “But colts aren’t supposed to hit fillies.” He looked to Thunderlane, who nodded. “Well, that’s true,” Shining Armor said, “but I didn’t really hit her. I just tossed a pillow at her. Pillows are almost perfectly harmless, and it’s all just for fun.” He picked up the pillow again and whacked Rumble with it, messing up his mane. Rumble stood there for a moment, and then he burst into a fit of giggles. Rarity, whose coat had almost completely dried while standing there, raised a brow. “See? Harmless.” Twilight shook her head. “Shining Armor, this isn’t the time for games. They need to get ho—“ Before she could finish, she was hit with a pillow square in the face. Rumble gasped, and even Sweetie Belle’s eyes went wide. “Uh…” Sweetie Belle shrank back. “Are you two gonna have an argument?” Twilight spit a feather from her mouth. “No, Sweetie Belle, this is play-fighting. Very foalish play-fighting.” She picked the pillow up and set it on the bed. “Now, Shining Armor, why don’t we stop thi—“ Whack! Twilight blinked as another pillow hit her, but continued nonetheless. “Rarity and Thunderlane have been chasing these two for Celestia-knows how long and—“ Whack! “—And I’m guessing these two are in serious—“ Whack! “—Trouble! It’s only responsible that—“ Whack! “STOP THAT!” She yelled. “I’m trying to say something important and you’re not letting me finish. Let me finish!” Another pillow was launched at her, but this time she threw a force field to deflect it. It landed on the ground with a Thud!. “Ha! Now, as I was saying—“ Shining Armor cast a spell on the force field, and it appeared as though nothing happened. Twilight blinked, bemused, and then began talking again. At least it looked like she was talking. Her lips were moving, but no sound was coming out of her. Everypony looked at Shining Armor. “Silence Spell,” he said nonchalantly. “I wonder how long it will take her to realize we can’t hear her.” Twilight continued to talk, waving her hoof like she was giving a grand speech. They sat there and waited, Rarity trying to get the rest of the water out of her mane and tail. Sweetie Belle and Rumble fiddled with their hooves, while Shining Armor kept glancing at the clock. After eight straight minutes of talking, Twilight waited for something, and then tapped the glass, mouthing “Are you even listening?” When no one answered, her face was twisted in anger. And then the force field was dissipated. “I cannot believe you let me—“ She didn’t get to finish, as a deluge of pillows fell on her at that moment. Shining Armor and the foals began to laugh. It was with a burst of pillows that one flew straight at Shining Armor’s head. It smacked him square-on. Twilight smiled. “Ha-ha! Now will you listen to me?” Instead, Shining Armor reared up. “Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle has declared war on us!” The foals gasped, legitimately shocked. “Head to your posts!” With that, he dove into the pillow-fort, levitating other pillows to them. Rarity backed away from the growing mass. “Twilight? Why do you have so many pillows? And what’s your brother doing?” Twilight, meanwhile, was rummaging around in a chest. “Come on, where is it?” From the pillow fort, the other two ponies heard a conversation going. “Brace that wall over there! Put your ammo up here, so Twilight won’t be able to take it from us! Place the catapult there!” Thunderlane looked at Rarity. “Catapult? Just what in Equestria is he planning?” “A war,” Twilight said grimly. “It was like this when we were foals. We'd erect out forts and then plan our battle strategy. Aha!” She pulled out a roll of blue paper. “Here it is!” She unraveled it on the floor, and it contained blueprints for a type of building. “Spike!” The dragon, who had been watching this whole time, jerked to attention. “Yeah, Twilight?” “Open the door to the main room.” “Got it!” He scrambled to get to the door, and flung it open. Rarity and Thunderlane watched as Twilight’s horn glowed, bringing in book after book from the library. They watched as they began forming a wall, and then another, and soon there was a four-wall structure built. But it didn’t end there. Another story was built, towers were formed, a drawbridge and a fence, and then a few more books went inside the massive fort. The drawbridge lowered, and Twilight looked at the two. “Alright, come on in.” The two looked at each other. “Quick, before the barrage begins!” Rarity was still awestruck at what was happening, but Thunderlane grabber her hoof and pulled her in. When they were both in, the drawbridge closed. The inside of the fort was surprisingly cramp, leaving the two standing right next to each other. They looked at each other and began to blush. “Hey!” Twilight barked. “This is no time to go all googly-eyed on each other. I’ll man the second-floor defenses, while you go to those two windows over there.” She began climbing her book-stairs, and shot a glance at them. “Move it!” She disappeared. They were left on the first floor, wondering what was going on, so they each picked a window and peeked out of it. The pillow-fort was just as large and complicated as the book-fort, and for a moment activity appeared to have ceased inside. Rarity and Thunderlane looked at each other, a smirk of confidence shared between them; books were much stronger than pillows, so they would easily collapse the opposing structure and be done with the game once and for all. They heard a noise behind them, and looked to see pillows being stocked in their grasp. “We’ll need all the ammo we can get,” Twilight said above them. “Now we wait.” “Darling,” Rarity began, keeping her eye on the opposing fort. “How did you manage to build this?” “I’ve been drawing those blueprints for years,” Twilight said, “and I’ve been revising them to achieve the perfect book fort. A big change came from the discovery of the Castle of the Royal Sisters, and that’s where the medieval touches came from. Can’t you tell?” The two looked around at the interior, but all they could see were books and pillows. They looked out and saw Spike staring at them. "Spike!" Rarity waved him over. "Come join us, help me win this fight." Spike looked at the two groups, and then sidled over to the bed. "Er, that's okay. I think I'm just going to watch. " He sat down, waiting for the war to begin. It was then that Thunderlane spoke. "Hey wait a moment." He pointed at Shining Armor. "Aren't you Twilight's older brother?" Shining Armor nodded. "Yeah, so?" "So shouldn't you be fighting with us, the older siblings?" Shining Armor put a hoof to his chin. "Hmm... you have a point. What do you kids think?" The two foals grabbed onto the stallion's forelegs. "No, we want Shining Armor on our team!" "Yeah!" Shining Armor looked up. "Well, there you go. Good luck!" They disappeared once more inside.Rarity and Thunderlane looked at each other, and with a resolute sigh, they waited for the attack to begin. They didn’t wait five seconds before a pillow was launched at the book fort. It hit the wall above Thunderlane’s window, sending a few books fluttering downward. “FIRE!” came from both sides, and in a flurry Rarity and Thunderlane began tossing pillows as fast as possible, while pillows came flying from the other side. The pillow-fort held its ground, being barraged by the others but just shifting back into position. Some were flung from the window up front, but most came from where the courtyard would be. They were sent either individually or five at a time, and books kept falling down, but the structure held. “You see?” Twilight shouted from above. “I structured the books so when some fall down the entire structure stays standing!” There was a squeal of delight from above. “Now keep firing!” Rarity and Thunderlane continued to do so, tossing them out while some flew into their windows. These the two used to retaliate. From the other fort, they could hear conversations: “Reload the catapult!” “That tower isn’t gonna hold much longer. Evacuate, Private Sweetie Belle!” “Rumble, are you wounded?” And a small voice would pipe up, “No sir, Captain Shining Armor sir! I can still fight!” Rarity looked over to Thunderlane, who bore a proud smile. Looking over, she made her own conversation. “Sweetie Belle, are you alright, darling?” A voice piped up. “Yeah, Rarity, I’m fine.” There was a peal of laughter. “This is fun!” Rarity couldn’t help but smile. And then a pillow hit her in the face. “Oh, it. Is. On!” With doubled fury, she began launching them in her own clusters. “That’s the spirit,” Twilight yelled from above, launching her own volley. “For Sparkleland!” Rarity stopped and looked at Thunderlane, who had also stopped. Then, instantaneously, they broke out into a fit of laughter. “Focus!” Twilight barked. “They’re casting spells over there… and it’s not funny! I was only a filly when I made that name up!” They attempted to stifle their laughter as they looked over; indeed, spells were being cast. That couldn’t stop Rarity from gasping for breath. I-I’m sorry, darling,” she wheezed. “It’s just so precious! Sparkleland, the domain of Miss Sparkle!” she broke into laughter again as a pillow climbed onto her back and began beating her. She stopped cold, her eyes becoming pinpricks. Wait a minute… She turned her head to witness a pillow standing up, slamming its “head” onto her withers. It stopped, looked up at her, and, after “staring” at her, growled. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Rarity jumped out of the window, trying to buck it off of her. She stopped again as she saw more pillows scaling the fence, heading their way. From behind her, Twilight was flinging her own pillows at them, and they pretended to fall and claw their way towards them. She immediately jumped back inside, stomping in place as the one on her back began beating her nape. “Thunderlane!” She cried. “Getitoffme!” He grabbed it with his teeth, holding on for dear life as it writhed in his grasp, and flung it out the window. They both ran upstairs. “Twilight!” Rarity began taking pillows and covering the entrance to the second floor. “Do something!” “On it!” Twilight cast a spell of her own, making the fallen books come to life. They began flying to the pillows, clamping down on them. The animate pillows ran around in agony, some falling over on the spot. “You think you could win that easily, big brother?” Twilight asked under her breath. “I’ve been practicing animation as well.” The fluffy army wasn’t to be defeated so easily. Some waited for the tomes and texts to come down, and then slammed them to the ground with one deft swing of their body. These books retreated to the shelves outside. The pillows that were defeated crawled to the beds, stacking up in a neat pile. Owlowisius flew in from the outside window, and upon seeing what was going on, and almost being hit with a pillow, he flew out of the room. And so the battle raged, with thunder outside shaking the house as if an actual army were doing battle inside. They continued flinging pillows at each other, via hooves, telekinesis or catapult, and the pillows and books waged war below. Rumble and Sweetie Belle would make exaggerated noises when they were hit, but they still kept fighting with smiles on their faces. Thunderlane dared to fly out of his fort and fling a pillow at the foals. Sweetie Belle saw it coming and braced herself for the hit, but in an overdramatic heroic fashion, Rumble flung himself in front of her, and took the pillow. He fell next to her, groaning. Sweetie Belle knelt next to him. “Are you alright?” Rumble chuckled, pretending to cough out his life. “At least I got to s-save you, Princess.” Sweetie Belle embraced him. “You can’t die! You can’t! We have so much to do, and we have a fight to win. Get up.” Rumble lay there, his body going limp and his tongue sticking out. “Get up!” Shining Armor touched her shoulder. “It’s too late.” He bowed his head. “He’s gone.” “No, he’s not.” Sweetie Belle picked him up and placed a kiss on his lips. Rarity gasped at the sight, her pillows falling on the ground. Twilight continued bombarding the pillow-fort, making one tower fall over with an agonizingly loud Thud!, but she was the only one. The other three ponies watched as Rumble’s eyes shot wide open, his face becoming a shade of red. Sweetie Belle held it for seconds more, and then released it with a mwa sound. Rarity looked up at Thunderlane to see how he was reacting to it, and saw him smiling at the two. Figures he’d find this amusing, his brother being kissed by my baby sister. Why of all the— “Are you alive yet, Rumble?” Thunderlane picked up another pillow from inside. “We still have a war to win.” It was then, with that statement, that everything made sense. Everything that had happened after the Spa, the note, the fighting for Sweetie Belle—it was all there. At this sudden revelation, Rarity became enfuriated. How dare you mess with my sister’s fate like that, you-you… She couldn’t bring herself to get angry at that moment, one reason being what was playing out in front of her, the other being the crumbling floor. “Rarity,” Twilight said. “The structure is failing. Get your head back in the fight! Thunderlane, what are you doing?” Twilight continued to fling futilely as neither of the mentioned ponies moved to fight. Rumble, on the other hand, launched himself into the air, a pillow in each forehoof. “You’re going down, Thunderlane!” “Oh, I don’t think so!” Thunderlane threw the pillow up in the air and bucked it at the colt. Rumble ducked under it and launched one of his own, therefore launching an aerial dogfight. Twilight, meanwhile continued her assault on the castle, and Shining Armor pushed Sweetie Belle under the “roof” of the castle. “Okay, kiddo, how’s about we end this?” Sweetie Belle looked at the almost-destroyed book fort, watching as Rarity began throwing pillows at the animate pillows, and Twilight continued vaulting pillows at the castle. She looked at Shining Armor. “They’re not gonna get hurt, are they?” He sidestepped a pillow. “Meh. The worst that’ll happen is a small fall and a few papercuts.” “Well…” She looked around at their fort, which had one tower remaining, and the main wall began to crumble. “Don’t worry, kid.” He stood straight up. “They’ll be fine.” Meanwhile, over on the other side, Rarity was desperately trying to stave the killer pillows away from her. She had been flanked and bombarded for a while, leaving her in a state of frustration. Feathers were stuck in her mane. “Thunderlane!” she yelled. “Get him!” Thunderlane, meanwhile, was engaged in a mid-air club-fight with his brother. He had whacked him a few times, but Rumble had deflected a lot of blows and got some strikes in. “I’m working on it!” Rarity looked around; her reserve of pillows were become short. “Okay, Rumble,” she said under her breath. “Let’s end this.” With one flick of her magic, she sent a pillow flying towards the colt. He didn’t see it until it was too late, and it hit him in the gut. He clutched his stomach, and for a moment everypony thought he had been seriously injured. “Oh, I’m dead,” he said, staring at his brother. “My ponies, they will fight on.” Everypony, save Twilight, smirked as he fell to the floor, being caught by a pile of pillows. He lay there, tongue lolled out. “Alright, little filly,” Thunderlane said, staring at Sweetie Belle. “It’s time to get you!” Sweetie Belle backed away. “Shining Armor, hurry!” “Almost done,” the stallion grunted. Already, Thunderlane dove down to take the filly from her fort, signaling the end of the game. “And—gah—there!” Thunderlane had almost reached the front wall when something erupted from within. He had to spin around just to avoid it. When he regained his bearings, he looked up at what could only be a giant pillow staring down at him. “What the—“ With a sluggish motion, the pillow giant slammed its upper half down on him, spiking him to the floor, where another group of pillows waited to breah his fall. He landed next to Rumble. “Well, buddy,” he whispered. “It looks like this is it.” Rumble didn’t say anything, but inconspicuously shimmied himself and pulled Thunderlane in a hug, tongue still sticking out. Thunderlane pulled him in, and caught the sight of Shining Armor staring at them, a grin on his face. “Where are you Thunderla—oh my stars! what is that?” As she finished her exclamation, the giant threw a corner out, kicking the fence to nothing more than textbooks scattered across the floor. Twilight, meanwhile, had sent a murder of horror books its way, but they stood no chance to the swipe of the giant. They all fell with a thud to the floor. “Oh, this is bad,” Twilight said. “Rarity, we need to—“ The wall to the left was sent careening to the wall. “Jump!” With that, Twilight leapt from the second story, falling into the embrace of pillows. Rarity saw the giant get ready for another strike, and looked outside to see pillows staring at her from the window. “Ooooh!” The giant bent back, getting ready for the final blow, and Rarity launched herself out of the fort. With a fwoomph, she landed on a pile of pillows like the others. With a crash!, the book fort was obliterated, sending texts tumbling down. The pile spread outward, some of the covers hitting the ponies’ flanks or hocks. At last, the calamity stopped. Rarity closed her eyes and sighed. It’s over. She opened them again, and was staring up at Sweetie Belle. “Are you alright?” Rarity did her best to smile. “Yes. I’m not too hurt.” With that, Sweetie Belle reared up. “We won!” The pillows that were left alive bounced around in triumph. “Yes, you did.” Rarity brought herself to stand. “And now it’s time to go home.” Sweetie Belle stopped her cheering and smiled up at her big sister. “Okay.” The two pegasi stood. “Rumble, I say it’s time to head home.” The colt nodded. “Oh!” Rarity turned to Shining Armor. “Will you need help cleaning this mess?” Shining Armor shook his head. “Nah, you guys go on ahead. I’ll get this.” He looked at Twilight, and soon they all saw that she was sitting, staring at the rubble of her fort, dumbfounded. “Alright, dear.” Rarity motioned for Sweetie Belle to go first. “We shall be leaving now. Have a good night.” “See you!” The two pairs of siblings left the room, walking downstairs and out the library. ”That was awesome!” Sweetie Belle yelled through the rain. “We won!” Rumble joined her at her side. “I know, and I got to fight my big brother!” He turned around. “I did good, didn’t I, big brother?” “Yeah, champ, that was a good fight.” Rumble smiled. “So are we headed home?” “Actually,” Rarity began, “why don’t we all go to my place? I’d like to have a word with Thunderlane.” The pegasus didn’t shrink away, but instead nodded, accepting his punishment. “Hey, I’ll race you there!” Sweetie Belle said. “Oh, you’re on!” Rumble launched himself forward, and soon the two foals were galloping away. “Sweetie Belle!” “Don’t worry, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle yelled behind her. “We’re just going to the boutique this time. Promise!” The older ponies said something, but it was lost to a roll of thunder. The two foals ran side-by-side, trying to outrun the other. They ran over a bridge and through bushes, under trees and across large puddles. When they passed a large rock, Rumble spoke. “So how far is the boutique?” Sweetie Belle looked around, and then abruptly stopped. Rumble stopped himself as well, trotting next to her. She looked around frantically. “I, uh, actually don’t remember this being on the way to the boutique.” She whirled around, and then stared at Rumble, wide-eyed. “I think we’re lost.” As if on cue, a twig snapped near them. They looked there to see a pair of bright green eyes glaring at them.