//------------------------------// // Organized Defense // Story: Equestria Exiles: Dawn of Dream Valley // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// Organized Defense "Bow-Bow-Bow-Bow-Bow-Bow-" The Smooze continued to hammer and pond away at the barrier surrounding Dream Castle, unable to get through to the ponies underneath. The monster let out a roar of rage, as wave after wave of grimy, gunky glop failed to even make the magical barrier even flicker. The reason for this failure, however, lie deep within the pink walls of the very structure the oozing creature was trying to assail. "More power into that generator!" Sassaflah called out to her techs, frantically flapping from one control instrument to the next. "Our juice has been pushed to it's limit, and it can't hold out for much longer!" "Maybe I can be of help, dearest!" Caramel suddenly came trotting in with his forge ponies, who began wheeling a series of odd looking.. treadmills, and hooking wires up to the generator. "I think my ponies and I have a way of getting you the juice you need!" "Darling, what-?" Her question was quickly answered, however, as several of the earth ponies present began hopping on the treadmills and running. "Y-you’re feeding your own strength into the generator!" The Pegasus tech zipped back over to one of the displays. "The needles are going up- Caramel, it's working!" More and more earth ponies were called down to the generator room, hopping on the treadmills and running as others tired out and needed to rest. Golden Harvest and Cherries Jubilee hopped onto two of the treadmills, giving it their all as they galloped at top speed. "Cain ya believe this, Carrot Tawp?" Cherry Jubilee whinnied to her friend, who ran on a treadmill along side her. "Ah haven't had a nice long gallop like this since ah was a filly!" "Well, this'll burn those last few chocolate sundaes we ate upstairs off!" Golden Harvest joked. "Maybe we'll even fit into those two dresses of Hoity Toity's we wanted!" Father Down the Line, nurse Redhart cared for the exhausted earth ponies, giving them water, and wiping the sweat from their brows with a rag. "There, there. You just lie here and rest." The caring earth pony told a sickened stallion, who could barely keep his even open. "You already did your part, now let others do theirs." "We're all doing our parts, Red." Noteworthy responded, trotting up carrying another box of medical supplies for her in his mouth. "I've heard the unicorns have all gathered up in the ballroom, and are gonna send a bolt of juice into that thing that'll rock that big slime's world!" "Northeworthy! Thank you so much for getting these supplies for me!" Redheart nuzzled him gratefully, before gesturing over towards the treadmills with her head. "But you'd better get over there and aid the others, there going to need all the help they can get." "Already on it!" The smiling stallion replied, galloping over to one of the machines and hopping on. "We're not gonna let that beast get though, and destroy our new home!" Above the earth pony's heads, Pegasus zoomed and zipped around, adjusting dials and switches on the generator on compensate for the intense energy input the generator was taking in. But on the floors above, the queen and the other unicorns were sending a stream of energy directly up though the ceiling, into the shield itself. "Keep it up, brave ponies!" North Pole declared, directing his beam of magic up into the shield. "We must defend our new home from this foul Smoozy abomination!" "Easy for you to say!" Sapphire exclaimed, her beam slowly tapering off from exhaustion. "Some of us don't have that much experience shootin beams off and powerin' shields, ya know!" "Everypony needs to do their part, Miss Shores!" Minuette added, her beam going up into the barrier in a steady stream. "If our combined strength isn't enough to keep that barrier up, everything we've worked so hard to build will be smoozed!" And so the unicorns continued in shifts, with even the most unexpected of horned equines joining in the effort. "P-prince Blueblood?" North Pole asked in shock, as the unicorn came trotting up with inky. "What are you doing here? Are you certain you can-" "Bluebood feels it's time he stop standing back, and let other ponies put in all the effort." Inky told them, as she said her farewell to Blueblood, then galloped off to join the other earth ponies in the basement. "Good luck Blue, and make your heard proud!" "If I'm going to be a prince, it's high time I started acting like it." The formerly whiny unicorn stallion declared, adding his magic up there with the others. "Time to stop cowering in the background like a weakling, and be the stallion I was always meant to be!" The many colored streams of magic fed high up into the barrier, keeping it strong even as the smooze slammed and pounded away on it again and again, from an overlooking bluff, Twinkleshine looked on in disbelief. "Impossible!" The unicorn mare exclaimed, stamping her hoof in anger. "How could they possibly be leaping that barrier up... how?!? There's not enough energy in all of Equestria to-" "They are keeping that barrier up, Twinlkeshine, my subjects are." Queen Rosalyn came slowly trotting up over the bluff, staring at the malevolent unicorn in anger. "By all standing together, they are holding back the evil you and the order of Gloom sent to destroy us." "H-how do you know my name?" Twinkleshine asked in horror. "And how did you know about the order!?!" "Let's just say we did our research." The queen smiled smugly. "We also know about the rainbow Bridge, and how you're trying to prevent us from ever using it. That decision is ours to make, vile witch, and not yours or the order's to force upon us." "You think you can get in the order's way, little queen? You and your pathetic little herd of misfits?" Twinkleshine laughed. "You might be able to hold up that shield now. But you have no way of truly stopping the smooze, or standing against the might of Equestria!." "You underestimate our little group of misfits, Twinkle. We have pulled together to become a family of our own, something the ponies who cast us out could never understand." The unicorn queen looked to the sky. "And we're not trying to hold the smooze back forever. Just long enough so that reinforcements from the flutter herd could arrive." It was at that point that the Windy Wing ponies came fluttering overhead flying right above the sloshing and churning monster. Flexing thier wings, the flutters dove towards the smooze in full force. "Shift to utter flutter!" Their captain yelled angrily. A wave of sheer force slammed into the smooze, splattering bits into the creature, and driving it back. "Hwwwarrraahhhh!" The monster roared, sloshing it's arms this way and that at the flutters. They swiftly dodged each of the creature's blows, hitting it again and again with the awesome power of the utter flutter. "You see that, Twinkleshine? Minuette figured the beast's molecular instability would make it vulnerable to the utter flutter." Rosalyn looked back to the other unicorn angrily. "Your beast is losing, and soon it will driven back from the castle. Looks like you won't be wiping this little group of exiles out, after all." "You-you- argahhhhhh!" The furious unicorn witch howled, unleashing a blast at the unicorn monarch. Rosalyn deftly sidestepped the blast, and then hit Twinkleshine with a shot of blue energy from her own horn. "Aieeee!" The unicorn shrieked, as she was sent skittering backward, and collapsed to the ground. "Miss Twinkleshine, you are not welcome here. Take your little monster there, and get out of my kingdom." Queen Rosalyn totted up to the unicorn lying on the ground. "Go back to your princess of the sun, and tell her we will never again be ruled by a princess who neglects her subjects when the need her the most." She Narrowed her eyes. "Go back and tell your sun princess, that from this day forward, Dream Valley's ponies are free!" As the determined queen trotted away from her beaten foe, the flutter ponies drove the last of the smooze away from the castle, sending the mass of ooze slithering back into the holes and shadows of the everfree. "Well, done, Shaowvelle." The Queen said to herself, as she trotted back into meet the celebrating ponies inside the castle. "I knew you'd alert the flutter ponies in time." .... It was several days later, that three alicorn princesses were meeting in Canterlot Castle, word having gotten back to the three of them about the events that had occurred in Dream Valley. Here, the rulers of Equestria dropped their kind veneer they showed to their friends and subjects, and went about the sometimes unkind business of politics. "I cannot believe this!" Princess Celestia grumbled, pacing the throne room angrily. "First, those Dream Valley equines humiliate my royal guard by successfully sneaking spies into our midst, and now they have formed an alliance with the Crystal Empire and the Flutter tribe against us!" "To be fair sister, Twinkleshine did try to eliminate them in our name." Luna pointed out. "Rosalyn does have a reason to be angry with us." "i would never have hurt any of them, Luna. You know that." Celestia replied with a sigh. "But their was no place for them here in Equestria, after what had happened in Tambleon. How was I supposed to know the order of Gloom was secretly working against Equestria to eliminate them?" "There is a very simple way to deal with this, princess." Twilight Sparkle advised her, flexing her wings. "Merely allow these ponies to go there own way, I am certain we can live in peace with Dream Valley." Looking over at the recently crowned princess, Luna could only shake her head. So much had changed about Twilight in the months since her ascension, even more so since her return from that other world. Celestia's former pupil seemed more confident, more sure of both herself and her role as a princess. Luna noticed the young alicorn constantly looking back at her Pegasus guard and smiling- clearly, she had already forgotten the unicorn colt whom she had nearly life bonded with at Tambelon, and had already taken an interest in this 'Flash Sentry'. "What do you mean, Twilight?" Luna asked curiously. "They already have your brother marching his army of Crystal pony to the Crystal empire's border with Equestria! Surely you can see their intentions are hostile!" "May I remind you, dear sister, that it was your decision to give Rosalyn and the exiles a kingdom in the first place." Celestia pointed out. "And it was your mistakes at Tambelon that led to this whole problem in the first place." "Laying blame will not solve these problems, Princess." Twilight pointed out, still showing the respect that her felt her former teacher deserved. "I think the best course of action would be to simply be to simply let the exiles be. As long as they keep to the everfree, completely subjugating them is more trouble than it's worth." Celestia stared at her for a moment, before suddenly breaking into a smile. "My favorite student, you once again speak with more wisdom than your years would suggest." She turned to a pony messenger standing nearby. "You there, send a message north to Shining armor and his troops, that they may feel free to return home. The Crystal Empire's allies are no longer under threat, Dream Valley shall henceforth be free to chart it's own destiny." "Yes sister, I quite agree." Luna nodded in agreement. "Equestria shall henceforth stay out of Rosalyn’s business, now and forevermore."