Princess Celestia stood over her bed looking down at the ominous letter that she had just read. Her silent demeanor alerted the mane six that something had indeed happened to their lunar princess, something bad.
“Princess? What's the matter? Did something happen?” Twilight asked nervously.
Celestia stood still for another couple of moments, until finally turning around with tears rolling down her face. “
Yes Twilight, something did happen. I failed my sister again and she is in the clutches of Queen Chrysalis and only has a week to live unless we make a decision that is written in this note.” she said, handing the note to Twilight and the others.
Rainbow Dash speaks up, “Well obviously it's the last one! I say go storm that palace or fortress or mansion or whatever and get Luna back!”
“I wish it were that simple, but the changeling army numbers in the thousands and on top of that we have no idea where the changeling hideout is.”
Fluttershy then spoke up, “Umm, princess, if it's not too much trouble, I think I know someone back in Ponyville that would direly want to hear this news. If that's ok with you.”
All of the others looked around and wondered who she was talking about until Twilight remembered the talk Fluttershy, Ice Breeze and she had a couple days back.
“And just who this pony back in Ponyville that would want to hear this news so very badly?” Celestia asked.
“I believe I know who Fluttershy's talking about, your highness. His name is Ice Breeze and he's an alicorn like you and Luna. Me as well now I guess hehe.” Twilight answered.
Celestia looked at her with a very confused expression on her face. “Another alicorn you say? This is most odd. And why would you say that he'd want to hear this news?”
“Well princess, he and Luna had an all night long talk on the night of Cadence and my brother's wedding. And he was deeply worried when her duties kept them from speaking with one another. If something happened to her like this, I'm positive he would want to know. Plus, his elemental magic could definitely be of great use to us.” Twilight explained.
“So that's why she had been so happy the couple days after the wedding. Wait, did you say elemental magic?” the sun princess asked in shock.
“Darn tootin' princess he used the Earth element to buck every single one of my trees at one time.” Applejack said.
“Yeah and he used the wind to get up speeds past even my sonic rainboom. Now THAT was impressive!” Dash added.
“I see, so he possesses the six!” Celestia said.
The mane six looked at her wondering what she meant. “What do you mean by the six, princess? I thought there were only five elements.” Twilight asked.
“There are, but that's not the way I meant it. By “the six”, I meant the six elements of harmony. It is said in an ancient legend that one will arise with the ability to control elemental magic. This individual will also be able to perfectly represent all six elements of harmony by themselves! Only one other pony in history to even come close to such a power was my father Dusk: the king of the alicorns! And he could only control the fire element! We could definitely use his help. Rainbow Dash! How fast can you fly from here to his house?”
Fluttershy looked over to Rainbow Dash who was thinking."I'd say about two hours if I go at full speed!” Celestia nodded and sent Dash to go get Ice.
Before she could fly off, however, Fluttershy had grabbed her tail. “Fluttershy! What are you doing? I have to get going!” Dash yelled.
“I- I know, but I just wanted to say for you to be safe. I'd hate for something to happen to you, that's all.” she said blushing.
Rainbow, wondering where this was coming from, blushed as well and said thanks and flew off as fast as she could. “What was that about? Though it felt kinda nice to hear that.” Dash thought to herself as she flew towards Ice's house.
About two and a half hours later, Dash arrived at Ice's house. “HEY! ICE WAKE UP!!!” Dash yelled already breathing heavily from all the flying. Ice got out of bed and came to the window.
“* YAAAAWNNN* Dash? What d'you want? It's like midnight.” Ice asked while still yawning.
“No time for all the details, but Luna's been kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis of the changelings and her life is in danger!”
Ice's eyes quickly went from drowsy and tired to focused and downright fearsome. “What did you just say? This better not be a joke, Dash!” he said with a scowl on his face.
“It's not, trust me. I wouldn't lie about something like this, I swear! Princess Celestia wants to see you at the castle for your assistance in getting her back.”
“Luna's been kidnapped?!” a voice from behind Ice said as Trixie walked to the window.
“TRIXIE! What are YOU doing back here again? I thought we told you to nev-”
“Dash stop right there!” Ice said with a tone that made Dash shudder in fear. “She's come back to apologize for the trouble she caused you all and to give Twilight a present for her princess ceremony. So don't finish that sentence. Do you understand?” Ice explained.
Rainbow nodded her head quickly, not wanting to anger him anymore. “Trixie. You're coming with us. We'll need all the help we can get and you'll get to give Twilight her present once we're at the castle. So Ice then put on his satchel and told them, “Both of you hang on the satchel strap as tight as you possibly can! Especially you Trixie since you can't fly!”
They agreed and both grabbed onto the strap, then Trixie apologized to Dash for the trouble her two previous encounters caused and Dash reluctantly forgave her. Then, when Ice was sure they were ready he rocketed off in the direction of Canterlot castle and within an hour they were back to the castle where a desperate meeting awaited them!
Once the three were at the castle, Rainbow knocked on the door and Twilight came to the door and answered it. “Hello Ice, welcome back Dash and TRIXIE!” Twilight yelled in a surprised voice.
“Yes, it's me Twilight.” Trixie said blushing.
Twilight just looked at her and actually for some reason felt relieved that she was there.
“Well you three come on in, Celestia is waiting in the meeting room!” Twilight explained.
So the three walked through the main hall, upstairs to the meeting room. Once there, the other four ponies from Ponyville were shocked to see Trixie. Until she bowed to them and asked for forgiveness for her awful behavior. Fluttershy and Pinkie easily forgave her and though it was harder for them, Applejack and Rarity did as well.
“Now that all of that is settled, we need to talk about getting my sister back!” Celestia announced.
“Do you know where she is? Do you think she's ok? How long has it been since she was kidnapped?” Ice starting blurting out. Celestia looked at him and was surprised at how concerned he really was.
She smiled gently and said, “The first two I'm not sure about. But she was taken about six hours ago. Before we do anything though, I will tell you all that I've gone with choice three. I'm sure Rainbow told you what the choices were.” she said looking at Ice who nodded.
"So we are raiding the changeling's fortress then?” Ice asked.
“Yes, that was the only choice that I could possibly make. Despite knowing this, before we do anything we need to form a team for the rescue.” Celestia explained.
“Excuse me, but shouldn't there be two teams princess?” Ice asked.
“Why would we need two teams, Ice Breeze was it?” Celestia asked.
“Yes it is and I believe we need two because their main plan could be to attack Canterlot while all of us are out to rescue Luna.” Ice explained. Celestia looked at him, shocked at the thought he had given this in such a short time.
“I guess I never thought of that. Alright then, who would you suggest for the teams then?” Celestia asked, intrigued at how fast he could formulate a plan of attack.
“I believe the ones to stay here should be you princess, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. And as for the rescue team it'd be me, Twilight, Trixie, and hopefully you can contact Cadence and Shining armor to help us as well.” Ice said.
They then heard the meeting room door open,
“So, we're on the rescue team eh? Sounds good to me.” said a stallion from behind them. They turned around to see Shining Armor and Cadence standing in the doorway.
“We got a letter from Celestia as soon as she found out what happened, so we came as fast as we could.” Cadence explained. And with that the rescue plan meeting began!
“Ok now that the teams have been established, we need to discover the hideout's location. I've narrowed it down to three possible locations: The Morphius Valley to the far south, the Chasm of Decay in the north or the abandoned island in the eastern Equestrian Sea. Until the scouting teams get back I'm afraid we can't formulate a precise strategy, so let's hope they return soon!” Celestia said.
So we now go to the individual royal patrols. The first patrol is a team of four guards, they have made it to the abandoned island. At first they are hesitant to come ashore, as there had been rumors of a terrifying beast on the island and the suspicion of the changeling fortress being there didn't help matters either. Despite their worries however, they vigilantly explored the lush, tropical island over and back again and found that it was indeed abandoned. The second group ventured to the Morphius Valley and once there they immediately noticed the ever-changing terrain. The weather was constantly changing with calming sunlight one minute to a blizzard the next! And on top of that, the ground itself and the surrounding mountains would constantly shift and ungulate. Causing footing and overall balance hard to find. But what they then saw was what they feared: a huge, black, beehive looking fortress floating in the lowest depth of the valley! This “beehive” however, had giant spikes jutting out from all sides to add to the intimidation factor. They started to run back towards Canterlot, but were stopped by Chrysalis and five other changelings.
“So, we have spies here do we? How cute you all are. My subjects, let's teach them a lesson!” and just like that Chrysalis and her changelings each shot a beam of magic killing the four guards almost instantly!
“Now then, at least I know Celestia's answer don't I? Chrysalis said as she flew back to the fortress.
The last group arrived at the Chasm of Decay and living up to its name, all life that was around the giant crack in the ground. Trees were drooping and looked as if the life had been sucked out of them and there was no life to be seen anywhere around it. Despite it feeling really eerie though, there appeared to be no changelings around so they headed back.
The next morning, the two patrols returned to castle to report their findings. “So only two teams returned? That means, that the team that didn't return probably found the hideout and were either captured or killed. So the Morphius Valley is our best bet huh?” Celestia asked.
“It would seem that way my princess.” one of the guards replied.
“PRINCESS!!” Shining Armor said as he burst through the door.
“What is it Shining? I'm in an important meeting.” Celestia scolded.
“I know, but we received another letter from Chrysalis!” he said.
“WHAT?! Let me see that!” she then read the note that stated,
"Dearest Celestia, just so you know you won't be getting your four guards back. And also I take this as a sign that you've taken the last option and decided to raid our fortress to get your precious sister back. So be it, we will settle this one week from now in Morphius Valley! It will be delightful to see you again my princess hahaha!”
After reading the letter Celestia immediately ordered Shining Armor to gather the others in the meeting room once again. He nodded and rushed out the door heading to the dining hall where the others were having their breakfast.
“Guys! The princess wants us all to meet in the meeting room once you are all done eating.” Shining Armor told the others who just looked at him and acknowledged what he said and continued eating. All except for Ice Breeze who instantly got up and went to the meeting room at a very fast pace. Shining followed and eventually the other eight followed their lead as well. Once they were all gathered in the room the conference to regain Luna was set into motion!
Once all the ponies were gathered around the room, the meeting started. “First order of business, let’s review the teams.” Ice said.
“Very well.” Celestia said.
“First off, Twilight, Trixie, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, you all are with me.” Ice Breeze explained.
“And on my side, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie you’re with me here in Canterlot.” Celestia said.
All the ponies nodded and agreed to their respective assignments.
“Now I believe we should split up into our two groups and discuss our tactics. If both squads try to commune in the same place it’s possible some might not hear their orders properly.” Ice urged.
Celestia agreed and they both went to opposite sides of the room to discuss their plans.
“Now listen up everypony, we should have the easy assignment in this rescue job, being that most of the hoard will be at the hideout and not here in Canterlot. On top of that we aren’t even positive that they’ll attack Canterlot in the first place. And thirdly, we have the royal guard to back us up, so our efforts won’t need to be as great as the others. With that being said, Applejack, I’d like you to go over to the other group and help them!” Applejack looked shocked and a bit confused, but accepted the task anyway. “Ok, now that that’s off of my chest, let’s get down to business. Each two of you will lead a platoon of soldiers. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie you’ll be one group and Rarity and Fluttershy; you’ll be the other. I’ll be providing support with my own platoon and we will do a triangle formation. Meaning our groups form a pyramid type scheme to cover all of the city, but I’ll leave your strategy to your own platoon.” Celestia explained.
On the other side of the room, Ice Breeze was trying to come up with a strategy that would guarantee success. This proved difficult however, seeing as they didn't know what the fortress looked like and on top of that the terrain of the Morphius Valley was very unpredictable. And to make matters worse, they would be greatly outnumbered, even with three alicorns in Twilight, Cadence and himself; this would prove to be difficult!
“Ok, listen up! I'm not really sure of a plan that will gain us a one hundred percent chance of victory, but here's what I'm planning. Obviously, when we first arrive we have to take care of the terrain first. So I will use my Earth elemental magic to calm the ground. After that, Shining Armor and Cadence I need you to make a barrier around me, because I'm planning on entering the fortress alone!” Ice explained.
“Alone!! Are you mad? It's suicide!” Twilight shouted.
“I know it seems like a foolish idea, but having a group go into an unknown fortress would just be cause for more changelings to guard the inside of the fortress. So I need you five to hold the fort on the outside whilst I'm on inside recovering Luna. Applejack, you'll play a crucial role in this! I need you to use your herding skills as much as possible to keep the changelings in somewhat of a single file line, either vertical or horizontal. Then that will allow the other four to shoot them down with magic blasts” Ice said.
“I'll help her herd! I'm not very good at offensive magic, so this would be the best place and job for me as I could protect us while we're herding.” Shining Armor explained. Ice nodded in agreement and continued,
“Now if that doesn't work, you need to cut off into groups for safety. One group will be Twilight and Cadence. With both of them being alicorns they should be well off. And then Shining Armor, Applejack and Trixie; you'll be the other group. From then on you'll have to think on spur of the moment tactics to be safe, that's why I have Twilight: who's the smartest and Shining Armor: who has the most combat experience in separate groups. Now are there any questions? If not, we are done planning.” Ice asked.The five ponies in Ice's group shook their heads and both groups converged back to the middle of the room.
“Now that strategy has been discussed, we have nothing more to do besides wait and prepare for the battle.” Celestia said and with that everypony in the room walked out.
The next few days were tense with everypony honing their abilities for the upcoming fight, which would likely not only hold the fate of Luna in its hooves, but all of Equestria! Twilight was practicing flying and beefing up her spells stopping power, while Shining Armor was busy strengthening his defensive spells. Cadence was working with Trixie and Rarity in order to teach them fighting magic. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were working on their own way of fighting which for Applejack was mainly close combat and lassoing things. While Pinkie on the other hoof had been practicing using various item to put in her party cannon and working on aiming them correctly. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were both working on their aerial prowess and with Fluttershy being a weak flyer, she practiced using her animal friends such as bears and hawks to help with her attacks and maneuvers. While they were all honing their respective skills, Ice Breeze and Celestia were working on their own skills. Ice was mainly trying to learn stealth spells in order to sneak into the fortress unnoticed. And Celestia was working on spreading her magic over a wider angle in order to hit more targets at once and increasing her flying speed for faster physical attacks. And finally, after five days of intense training it was the day before the battle!
That day, not many words were spoken as everypony was contemplating his or her place on the battlefield in the coming day. They had the usual breakfast and lunch, but every single one of them could feel the nervousness and tension in the atmosphere around them. It wasn't until that night when the conversations started. Cadence and Shining Armor just stayed side by side all night, knowing that it could be the last night they'd be alive. Ice Breeze and Celestia were discussing life back before the giant war of Mount Zephyr and Luna as a whole. Rarity and Applejack didn't spend much time with the others as they were busy writing letters to Applebloom, Big Mac, Granny Smith and Sweetie Belle; explaining what was happening and what could happen to them. Pinkie spent most of her afternoon trying to cheer up the guards and towns-ponies to keep moral on a general high, even though she was nervous and doubtful on the inside. She knew she couldn't show it and after that was done she sent a letter to her parents and sisters back on the rock farm explaining everything. But the two conversations that seemed to have the most immediate meaning was that of Rainbow/ Fluttershy and Twilight/ Trixie.
In one of the guest bedrooms, Twilight was sitting nervously on her bed reading books as usual until she heard a voice and knock on the door.
Knock, knock “Twilight, are you in there?” she heard a voice say.
“Yeah, I'm here. Who is it?” Twilight asked, even though she already instinctively knew who it was.
“It's Trixie, can I come in?” Trixie asked hopefully. Twilight hesitated for a moment before opening the door with her magic. Trixie slowly walked into the door and looked nervously at Twilight.
“What's the matter?” Twilight asked, seeing that Trixie was doubtful and nervous about something, which was an odd thing to see from her.
“Well I just... I never got the chance to give you the present I got you for your princess celebration.” Trixie stammered, now blushing a little. Twilight looked surprised and also began to blush a tiny bit.
“You got me a present? Thank you Trixie! I thought you would have been mad at my coronation. That's why I didn't invite you.” Twilight explained.
Trixie started blushing a lot now, “You were going to invite me? I thought you hated me.” Trixie asked.
“Well at first, I didn't really like you, but when you left I began to miss you more and more each day. I would wonder where you were, if you had a place to stay and if you had food.” Twilight explained.
Trixie looked down at the floor tearing up a little bit. “I thought I was the only one that was worried. While I never had much I always got by, but I always worried about you and your tendency to get into trouble.” Trixie said.
Both of them then just glanced over at each other awkwardly a couple times before Twilight asked, “ Well, ahem, what was the gift you got me?” Trixie snapped out of her stupor and walked over to Twilight and opened up a small box. Twilight's eyes gleamed as she saw a brilliant Amethyst gemstone the same color as her fur staring her in the face. And moreover it was on a necklace of what looked to be gold. “Tr-Trixie! Where did you get this? It's beautiful!” Twilight asked.
“I started working at Pinkie's family's rock farm again and we found an Amethyst while we were moving rocks. It took me two weeks of pay, but I bought it and the gold chain from them. It would look good with your crown.”
Twilight's face was extremely red now as was Trixie's, but she put the necklace on and said, “Thank you Trixie! I love it!” as she gave Trixie a big hug.
“No need to thank Trixie- I mean me. It was the least I could do for the trouble I put you through.” Twilight just looked at her, still surprised at her remorse for her past behavior.
“Would you like to stay with me tonight? This room has an extra bed.” Twilight cautiously asked, hoping the blue mare would accept.
Trixie got a shy grin on her face and replied, “Sure I'd love to. Just don't mention tomorrow. I'm nervous enough.” Twilight nodded and closed the door for the night.
Meanwhile in the outside training area, Rainbow Dash was walking around the track thinking about what tomorrow could bring and how big a role she had in it. When suddenly her train of thought was broken as she saw Fluttershy standing on the side of the track.
“Hey Fluttershy, what are you doing out here?” Dash asked.
“I... umm just wanted to be with you tonight, that's all.” she said as she shied away.
Dash looked a bit surprised, but walked over to her and asked, “Are you worrying about tomorrow? Don't worry everything will be fine.” Fluttershy just nodded slowly and hugged Rainbow as she started to cry.
“It's more than just the battle tomorrow. I don't want anything to happen to you. You've always been there for me even back in flight school when everypony picked on me. You would always be there to stand up for me and fight off the bullies. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you!” Fluttershy exclaimed.
Dash, not really knowing what to say at this sudden outburst, just patted her on the back and said, “ Shh stop crying Flutters. Nothing’s going to happen to me, I promise. I'll always be there to look after you and that's coming from the Element of Loyalty right there. So cheer up, you're gonna make me start crying too.” Fluttershy then wiped the tears from her eyes and asked Dash to make a Pinkie Promise with her that nothing would happen to her in the upcoming battle. Dash agreed and they made the Pinkie promise. And with that they both headed back to the room that they were staying in, starting talking about the first time they met and called it a night.
Now with a full nights rest and doubts somewhat diminished the day of the battle had finally arrived. Ice and his team set off to the Morphius Valley early that morning, while Celestia and her team set up their triangle formation with the guards filling in the middle. All the ponies were set for the showdown of their lives. Though it took a while, Ice and his team finally reached the valley and were shocked at how ominous the fortress actually looked. And at the same time changelings started popping up over the Canterlot mountain,
“Ice was correct I see.” Celestia said watching the changeling coming. “Everypony get ready for battle!” both Ice Breeze and Celestia cried out. And with that the battled had started!!