Just as the first rays of sunlight peeked above the horizon in harsh, broad streaks the next day, one little filly was very much awake to see them. Standing by a window in her treehouse, now filled with a warm orange glow, Apple Bloom watched with a very serious expression for a filly her age as a new dawn unfurled from behind the clouds.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Today’s the day,” she muttered.
~ ~ ~ Day of Siege ~ ~ ~
The part of the story that's too ridiculously epic for its own good
A few hours later, Scootaloo was walking through the woods in search of a very particular place. She made sure to make no noise at all, so as to not alert anypony that may be nearby. The thought occurred to her that even though there had been much commotion in the forest as soon as the game had started, she hadn’t been confronted by any opponent yet. She thought the number of remaining ponies might be thinning fast, but mostly she assumed they just didn’t attack her because she was a filly.
The other reason why she was careful not to make any sound was because she was nervous. Strapped to her side her little gun felt heavy and her hooves seemed to slow her down rather than take her where she wanted. She knew why she was feeling this way; she was on a last chance mission to win the fight the Crusaders were going to have with Diamond Tiara and the foals who had joined her. To do that they would need the help of a certain pony, and if Scootaloo couldn’t get it, there was no foreseeable way they would win.
Scootaloo told herself she needed to be brave and carry on with her mission for the sake of her friends. And yet with every step she took closer to the clearing where she would meet the pony supposed to help her, she couldn’t find it in herself to relax. It was a strange feeling she couldn’t identify, something alien that made her more nervous than the prospect of failure.
She tried taking her mind off things by taking in the scenery around her. It was a beautiful place she was walking through, and she noticed some kind of brightness to it that seemed untouched by the doom and gloom of the recent weather. The grass at her hooves was a bright, strangely translucent shade of green, and she thought she might relax better if she sat down by the pond that was a few feet away from her…
“Halt!”
Scootaloo quickly snapped out of her daydreaming and began searching with a pounding heart for the high-pitched voice that had seemingly come out of nowhere.
“State your purpose,” said the voice. Scootaloo gave up on trying to find where it was coming from and, thinking it might help her nerves, swallowed hard and stared at a point in the trees straight in front of her.
“I seek an audience with the Master of Paintball,” she said with somewhat composure though her voice was unmistakably quivering.
Suddenly, she spotted something moving to her left. Her eyes darted towards it and she saw the speaking pony perched high up on a branch. Scootaloo gulped as she recognized the Master immediately; if the Crusaders were able to have her by their side, she would make for a powerful ally indeed.
Half-covered by the leaves above her, Pinkie Pie looked like a crazy woodland bird, staring down at the filly through goggles with opaque swirling glasses and adorned with a purple turban and matching cape bordered in gold under which Scootaloo could make out an impressive number of paintball guns for one pony. Pinkie grinned at her.
“And the Master shall receive you now, child. I have guessed your intentions already, for I am all seeing… buuuut it wouldn’t hurt if you could just remind me.”
Scootaloo told her all about the incident involving Cheerilee, and the events at Sweet Apple Acres which had led to her coming to the Master for help with getting back at Diamond Tiara. When she had finished explaining herself there was a tense silence during which Pinkie gave her a studying look that she had kept all through Scootaloo’s story. After a while she raised her head and looked down ominously at the filly.
“The Master is sensitive to your plight, young one. But I urge you not to take the path of revenge!” she said in the dramatic voice she used for her Madame Pinkie act.
“It’s not about revenge!” said Scootaloo, “It’s about righting a wrong that was made to Miss Cheerilee! We can’t have Apple Bloom looking like a traitor when it’s really Diamond Tiara’s fault!”
“The Master has no proof that you’re telling the truth… Hey! That almost rhymed!” she chimed. “I should tell that to Zecora!”
“Come on, Pinkie,” said Scootaloo weakly. “You know the three of us… Do you really think this is the kind of thing we would do instead of Diamond Tiara?”
There were a few seconds of more silence before Pinkie spoke again.
“The Master is inclined to help you.”
Scootaloo felt her heart leap with both anticipation and relief. “So you’ll help us?” she asked.
She was expecting some sort of sympathetic answer from Pinkie, but the latter didn’t move. Scootaloo’s hopeful smile was beginning to fade.
“Sorry, sport, but you’re too late,” said Pinkie.
The words fell like a ton of bricks on the little filly. She noticed Pinkie’s voice was devoid of any expression, which was so unbecoming of the party pony that she guessed it was as close to seriousness as Pinkie would get.
She wanted to ask why, but the words wouldn’t come. It was then that Pinkie leapt from her branch onto the ground below and with a hoof pushed back a nearby bush. Scootaloo’s eyes widened as she stared at the biggest pile of multicolored candy she had ever seen.
“The Master was paid a visit by Diamond Tiara herself just last night,” said Pinkie, “and she brought a super-duper piece of leverage for me to help her!”
Scootaloo couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “But… but what about Sugarcube Corner?” she asked. “Don’t you have all the candy you want there?”
“I do, but this is super special candy imported from Canterlot’s finest bakery!” said Pinkie, resuming her usual chipper voice. “I don’t know how that filly got her hooves on it, but boy did she deliver!”
She looked at Scootaloo, whose eyes were tearing up. “You… you want to help her?” she said, almost choking on her own words. “For candy?”
Pinkie Pie didn’t like the idea of making a filly cry, but there was a reason why she had made that deal that she couldn’t refuse.
“Well, you know I’d rather hang out with you three,” she said, “and I actually didn’t want to take her up on the offer at first, honest. But she found my weak spot, and made a Pinkie promise to me that by helping her I would be doing the right thing.”
“But… b-but you’re not!” said Scootaloo in between sobs. “Why do you believe her? She can promise anything she wants, that’s how she gets her way through lying!”
“Scootaloo, I don’t know who shot Ms. Cheerilee, but if Diamond Tiara makes the Pinkie promise to me that it wasn’t her, I have to respect that.” She winked at the filly. “I take my promises very seriously.”
Scootaloo stared incredulously into Pinkie’s eyes, all nervousness replaced by sheer desperation. She couldn’t believe how unfazed the pink mare looked as she stared back at her tear-stricken face with that casual smile of hers. It was as if she didn’t care at all. Scootaloo tried to find a reply, only to draw a complete blank. Eventually she just gave up and slowly walked away, hanging her head low as Pinkie beamed and waved to her.
“Bye now!”
* * *
Back at the treehouse the two other crusaders were impatiently waiting for their friend to return. Cheerilee had left, probably to go back home, but Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle weren’t going to try to find her now. There was a more pressing matter at hand. Neither of them had said anything to the other for the past hour, Apple Bloom endlessly pacing around in circles looking deep in thought while Sweetie Belle watched her, hypnotized by the perpetual movement.
Suddenly the door to the treehouse swung open, and the heads of the two fillies shot up at once towards it. Scootaloo was standing the door frame, sullen and hunched over as if carrying some heavy weight. She looked back at her apprehensive friends with puffy red eyes that could only mean one thing.
None of the three said anything for a while. Scootaloo couldn’t bring herself to tell them the bad news and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle couldn’t believe what they were silently understanding. Sweetie Belle was the first to try to break the ice.
“So… how’d it go?” she asked. Apple Bloom shot her a glare to tell her this obviously wasn’t the right thing to say, but Scootaloo answered her anyway.
“It’s over,” she said miserably. “Diamond beat us to it.”
“Whaddaya mean?” asked Apple Bloom, but Scootaloo really didn’t want to go on. She dragged herself to a nearby chair.
“I went to speak with Pinkie, but Diamond showed up to her last night and now Pinkie’s going to help her.”
“What?!” cried the other two fillies in unison. “But why would she do that?”
“Because…”
The last part of that sentence seemed so absurd to Scootaloo now that she had trouble actually speaking it out loud. She felt as if she had just woke up and was left with a distant memory of Pinkie sweeping that bush to the side and revealing her treasure trove of sweets, only to wonder if she had dreamed it or if it had actually happened. She looked up to see Apple Bloom raising one eyebrow quizzically and after a sigh of defeat she told them what happened.
“Pinkie’s been bought out by Diamond Tiara for an insane amount of candy.”
If she’d been able to hear her friends’ breathing, Scootaloo could have sworn she’d just heard it stop, though she didn’t expect any other reaction.
“Bought out?” asked Apple Bloom. “What, like… like a bribe?”
“Uh… Yeah, sort of, I guess.”
In a corner of the room, Sweetie Belle was cradling her head in her little hooves, her pupils shrunk in her wide open eyes. “So that’s it. We’re gonna lose. We’re gonna lose because we’re not worth more than a couple of gumdrops.”
“Wait, hold on jus’ a darn minute here!” cried Apple Bloom, stomping the ground with her hoof. “There’s somethin’ fishy about all this! Pinkie Pie’s a good pony, she wouldn’t be bought out this easily!”
Something in her tone told Scootaloo that Apple Bloom didn’t want to believe what was the truth, and in all honesty neither did she.
“What about the candy at Sugarcube Corner? Can’t she jus’ git her hooves on all of that?” Apple Bloom added.
“That’s what I said,” replied Scootaloo. “But apparently this is Canterlot candy she can’t get anywhere else.”
“Well, ah…” said Apple Bloom, obviously grasping for an explanation. “Ah bet that candy’s fake! Like it’s jus’ rocks or somethin’!”
“I think Pinkie would’ve noticed if she was given fake candy by now,” replied Scootaloo. “She could probably tell just by looking at it from a mile away.”
Painful silence hung in the treehouse once more as the realization of their impending demise sunk in for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. None of them had the courage to just say it, and they were all ready for somepony else to do so as if it had to be made official to finally be true. Scootaloo lowered and shook her head in realization that she wouldn’t be getting whatever prize awaited the winner of the game while Diamond Tiara just might buy her way through every opponent to the throne room.
“No… no, dangit, no!” screamed Apple Bloom. “We’re not gonna let this happen!”
“But what can we do?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Now that they’ve got Pinkie on their side, if we go to war we’re gonna get shot for sure!”
“Then we’re not gonna go ta war.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other in surprise, then back at Apple Bloom. They had both noticed a sudden regained composure to their friend, who made her way to the door of the treehouse and swung it open. She looked back at them with an air of determination.
“Bring yer guns,” she said solemnly.
At first the two fillies did nothing, impressed by Apple Bloom’s newfound courage. Her figure stuck out against the pale sky, casting a shadow upon her entire frame that made her seem all the more serious.
“Where are we going?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“If we wanna stay alive in this game, we’re gonna have ta make some kinda deal here.”
“A deal?” said Scootaloo, turning to Apple Bloom, “With Diamond Tiara?”
“Yeah. ‘Cept it ain’t gonna be no compromise,” replied Apple Bloom. “She wants ta play dirty? She wants ta threaten me wit’ her fancy war talk an’ act all noble-like? Strike mah house while ah’m not lookin? She wants ta buy her way through everythin’ an’ hide behind Pinkie’s back like a coward?” she added with a rising intensity to every word to the point that the end of her sentence almost made her shake in anger. “Well two can play at that game! Come on gals, ah bet there’s a lot of ponies on her side that don’t wanna fight either.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got up and strapped on their respective guns while Apple Bloom went outside and let the rope ladder of the treehouse fall to the ground. “That’s the last darn straw,” she muttered angrily to herself. “Art o’ war mah flank, ah’ll show you some paint art o’ war all over your stupid house, see how ya like it.”
She was joined by the two other fillies while she stared at the ground below. It seemed ominous to them now, safely perched up in their good old crusader’s base.
“Still remember the way to that clearing, Scootaloo?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Yeah, why?”
“Ah’d like to stop by and speak ta Pinkie if she’s still there. Ah wanna know what the deal is with her deciding ta side with that varmint.”
One by one they made their way down the ladder before silently stepping into the woods.
* * *
Further in the forest, a certain unicorn whose pearly white coat and shiny violet mane stuck out against the surrounding greenery was casually strolling by. One who knew Rarity would say by looking at her now that her behaviour was somewhat unusual. She was walking unarmed in a forest where hidden ponies waited to attack her without mercy, not to mention that she was out in the open, trodding barehooved on dirt, grass, mud, and completely exposed to arguably the most raw and thriving wilderness for miles. Yet, she didn’t seem to care at all.
Only her closest friends would be able to understand why; even though she had a notorious flair for the dramatic, Rarity was a very intelligent pony who was above losing her wits at the first sight of dirtiness. Part of being refined was being classy, and part of being classy was to keep one’s self-control when the circumstances required it. Right now, there was no more important time to be calm and collected for Rarity, and she knew it.
Besides, there was a much more rational reason not to be afraid for her. While she wasn’t carrying a gun, she still had one, only it was not her carrying it but Spike, waddling a few feet behind her. To say he was armed would be an understatement; in fact, it was not his usual shortness of legs but the weight of a few guns strapped around him in a bizarre belt that was slowing him down.
Over the last few days the two of them had breezed through a good number of opponents -- though mostly it was Spike’s doing. The little dragon’s physique gave him an edge in the game, that he had used quite ably for Rarity’s sake up until now. But now that he’d been collecting guns and discarding others along the way, he wasn’t exactly able to remain hidden in the trees for any more surprise attacks. So he was content to walk by Rarity’s side, where he would look intimidating enough to warn other ponies that unless they wanted their gun added to his private collection, they should steer clear from the white unicorn.
Whereas she looked like an easy target, he was obviously much more suited for warfare, and Rarity had even made him a camouflage headband out of woodland materials. As she scanned through the surrounding trees, she suddenly let out an exclamation.
“Ooh! There, that one’s perfect!”
Using her magic she snagged a small white flower off a tree branch, which she gently levitated onto Spike’s crown of leaves and grass, adding a single colourful touch to it.
“Oh aren’t you just the cutest wittwe wawwiow dwagon in Equestria!” she cooed, bending down to his level and gently tugging at one of his cheeks. She was expecting him to blush or give her some kind of embarrassed reply, but he simply looked back at her looking being slightly irritated.
“I’m not cute,” he mumbled. “I’m fierce.”
Rarity giggled at the dragon’s nonetheless cute display. “Well, there’s no reason you can’t be fierce and stylish at the same time!” she chimed. She gave him a sincere smile of playful amusement, but Spike simply walked right past her with the same expression as if she was in his way. His sudden mood swing was not lost on Rarity, who was used to being the object of the dragon’s adoration rather than that of his annoyance.
“Spike? What’s wrong?” she asked empathically. Spike didn’t answer and kept on walking, and Rarity was about to ask him again when he turned around and looked at her, apparently struggling to put his thoughts into words.
“Do you think I’m useless?” he finally asked.
Rarity was stumped by the question, which had come so suddenly. “Do I… What? Useless? Why, of course I don’t, Spike! What kind of question is that?”
“I… I just need to know. Do you want me around here or not?”
“Well… Well of course! I mean, just look at the guns by your side, I… If you weren’t here, I’d have been shot a long time ago!”
Spike’s expression seemed to harden just a little.
“So… That’s it? If I wasn’t here, the only downside you could think of is that you wouldn’t be able to get what you want most?”
Rarity looked as though she’d just been slapped. She couldn’t understand why everything was spiraling out of control so fast, after having made such a good team.
“Spike, darling, where is this all coming from?”
“I’m just wondering if... you know, about all of this,” he said, gesturing towards his weapons and headband before sighing heavily. “... If I’m not just being used here.”
Rarity felt a cold pang of sadness in her heart. She was no longer just taken aback, but genuinely hurt. “Spike…” she said, but he turned around, not wanting to look at her in the eye.
“It’s not just right now… It’s all the time…” he said melancholically. “All I do is hang around Twilight and you guys, not really doing anything except small stuff… like I’m just an extra pair of hooves when all the other ones are full. I noticed, you know… when Applejack thanked us for our help with the bats at the orchard that one time… I told her she was welcome, but I could feel everypony look at me behind my back… nobody wanted to tell me I was really no help at all.”
Spike waited for Rarity’s answer to come from behind him, but she didn’t reply. He figured he had crossed a line and that she didn’t want anything to do with a crybaby like him. With a defeated sigh he took another step forward, but to his surprise he felt himself being abruptly pulled backwards by a pair of limbs wrapped around his little body. It took him a while to register that he was being warmly hugged by the beautiful mare behind him while she rubbed her cheek affectionately on his scaly neck.
“Don’t say that,” he heard her say so close to his ear it sent a certain shiver down his spine. “Don’t you ever say that again. You don’t know how much you matter to me; to all of us.”
She turned him around to face her and rested both her hooves on his shoulders. He let himself be handled in this way, still in shock as he stared almost hypnotically in her tearing blue eyes.
“Do you honestly think things would be the same if you weren’t here? Take Twilight, for example. She’s very bright and knows a tremendous amount of things, but how do you think she stays on top of it all?” She paused to giggle. “Knowing her, if she didn’t have you as an assistant, she’d probably be in a looney house right now.”
Spike gave a small, shaky laugh in return, but only because of the mesmerizing effect that Rarity’s own laugh had on him.
“And who was it that rushed in to save me from those dreaded Diamond Dogs, hmm?” she asked with a fluttering eyelids that made Spike’s cheeks flush hotly. “Or saved that poor phoenix baby from being taken away from his parents, or Applejack from a Timberwolf the size of three? Oh, I could go on and on about all those times when you were there in our hour of need, but my point is this: if you weren’t here with the six of us, neither would we. Not in this game, not in this adventure or in any others to come. Without you, there are simply no elements of harmony.”
Spike simply stared into Rarity’s eyes, not fully aware of anything else in that moment. There was so much he wanted to say, but nothing he felt he could faithfully put into words. Eventually he pulled Rarity into a tight hug, which she responded to in kind.
“Thank you,” he said, the words muffled by the fur on Rarity’s neck. He wanted to express many more things to this pony that was so special to him, and who had made him feel special in return, in that single, isolated moment that had gone so fast but that would stay with him forever. He felt incredibly moved, and yet, there was still a small part of self-doubt left in him as the issue was a deep-seated one. Rarity seemed to pick up on this, and breaking the hug she faced Spike once more.
“You need to let go of these thoughts, Spike,” she said in a nurturing tone. “They can only hold you back. When you’re afraid that you might not be good enough, you have to fight this fear with all you have.”
“But… how do I do that?” asked Spike. “I don’t know if I have what it takes…”
“You do. I know you do. You have everything you need, you just need to find it in here,” she said, putting a hoof to the spot on his chest under which his heart would be. “Remember, even though it may feel small, that heart can hold much more than you could ever think possible.”
Spike looked at Rarity’s hoof, then back at her, feeling that very same heart beat faster by the second as he stared into Rarity’s perfect features…
Suddenly, he felt a great uncomfortable lurch in his stomach. Before he could react, he felt something shoot up to his throat and force itself past his mouth in a loud and fiery belch. Fortunately Rarity knew the little dragon well enough to instinctively dodge the fire, though not without a certain yelp of surprise.
Spike’s mind was a blur for a second afterwards, but both he and Rarity understood what had happened. Sure enough, on the ground between the two of them lay a familiar rolled-up scroll neatly tied up in a red ribbon adorned with a golden seal. Spike picked it up and unrolled it, looking at it for several seconds with a furrowed brow while Rarity watched in curiosity.
“Well, what does it say?” she asked. Spike didn’t look up as he answered.
“Uh… nothing.”
“Nothing?” repeated Rarity. “But how can a letter from Princess Celestia say nothing?”
“It’s not a letter…” replied Spike. “It… looks like a map.”
Rarity went to his side to get a look at the mysterious parchment. Spike was right: on the paper was a detailed drawing of what appeared to be the forest. Somewhere in the bottom left corner of the drawing was a mark under which had been inscribed in small, fine letters the words You are here. From that mark ran a dotted line through the woods towards a spot marked by a large cross.
“I don’t understand,” said Rarity. “Princess Celestia wants us to follow this map?”
“I guess so,” said Spike, who didn’t understand any more than she did.
“But how can we do that? All these trees look the same both here and on the map!”
Spike looked up from the parchment and around him. Suddenly he spotted something he had not noticed before; a single dirt road right in front of the two of them that snaked through the trees into the unknown. Somehow, something told him that it was the way to follow according to the map, and he wondered if it had even been there before he spotted it.
“There’s only one way to find out…”
* * *
Apple Bloom was taking so many determined little hoofsteps through the trees that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were having trouble keeping up with her, almost trotting just to keep up the pace. During the trip they had not said one word to each other. Apple Bloom occasionally muttered under her breath about what kind of things she would do to get her revenge, which made the two other fillies look at each other in silent worrying.
“Are we there yet?” said Sweetie Belle eventually.
“Uh, yeah, soon,” replied Scootaloo, who had forgotten that she was the one supposed to lead the way. “It’s not far from here, I can tell.”
Soon enough they reached that familiar clearing, where they came to a halt. When they arrived, they found it in the same state as it had always been, with its distinctive and colourful aura. Yet they also found there something none of them had expected.
In the middle of the clearing, Diamond Tiara and her faithful sidekick Silver Spoon were grinning proudly at the three of them. Behind the pair was a large group of foals with mixed expressions, some of them more or less imitating their leader while others were obviously unsure about the whole fight. Next to Diamond Tiara stood Pinkie Pie still in her Master’s costume. She didn’t seem to notice anything around her as she happily played with a butterfly that was flying close to her snout.
Apple Bloom gulped. Diamond Tiara’s army seemed to have tripled in size.
“Going somewhere?” teased the pink filly. She took a few steps away from her group and closer to them, followed by Silver Spoon who tried to catch her friend’s attention with a smirk that Diamond didn’t notice.
“You know, I’m not actually against the idea of leaving you alone, Apple Bloom, but… you’re just sooo predictable, you make it too easy for me! Did you honestly think that after I went to your house for a little partying I wouldn’t expect you to strike back? Or to run crying to the pony that taught us how to play paintball in the first place?
“Oh, and yeah,” she continued, “I thought it might be good to recruit a little more workforce. Good thing I ran into some foals from two or three different Canterlot private schools, one of which Daddy owns. Not to mention one or two survivors from your own army.”
Apple Bloom felt her spirits sink fast as she stood almost alone, feeling very small all of a sudden before the sizeable army that Diamond Tiara had gathered. She heard a faint buzzing behind her, which she recognized as Scootaloo flapping her tiny wings in anger and getting ready to strike. Apple Bloom put a hoof in front of her friend to calm her down and looked at Diamond Tiara’s straight in the eye.
“Back off, Diamond,” she said sternly. “Ah just wanna talk ta Pinkie about all this.”
Diamond Tiara let out an unpleasant cackle in response. “I’m afraid it’s a little too late for that,” she said. “I thought it was only common sense that if you wanted somepony with power on your side, you needed to make it worth their while, but I guess you’re even stupider than I thought!”
There was a short silence before Apple Bloom replied. “In that case, you leave me no choice but ta do what ah have to do ta make things right.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. The moment I see you leave this clearing and take a step back towards Ponyville, I’ll have you shot before you can even notice. Don’t forget who I have on my side.”
“That’s right!” chimed Pinkie, suddenly turning her head towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders and flashing them her broadest smile. “Any of you little piggies move, and I’ll execute every goshdarn last one of you!”
Apple Bloom looked back at Pinkie with the same face she had once pulled to convince Twilight Sparkle to stay over for lunch on the day they had met. “Pinkie,” she pleaded, “Don’t you know what you're doin’? Don’t you see you're helping the wrong side?”
“The wrong side?” cried out Diamond Tiara. “Get a grip, Apple Bloom! Everypony knows it was you who shot Miss Cheerilee!”
“You can’t prove that!” replied Sweetie Belle. “And you’re the one who attacked Miss Cheerilee in the first place, you bully!”
“Oh please, I wasn’t going to shoot her! Apple Bloom just got in my way and made a scene like she always does and I got startled! It’s all her fault, and everypony knows it, that’s why everypony’s on my side!”
“Not us.”
All heads turned towards the pony that had spoken from one side of the clearing. From behind the trees Babs Seed came marching in, followed by several foals that Apple Bloom recognized as her own supporters.
“Babs!” she said, flooded with relief. Her cousin gave her a confident grin in return. “But how did ya know where we were?”
“Funny thing, really,” replied Babs. “Here I was mindin’ my own business when whaddaya know, this letter or somethin’ falls from the sky and on my noggin’.”
She showed her the scroll she was talking about, where Apple Bloom saw a map of the forest with directions on it from one point to another that she figured was the clearing. Under the map were written the words Bring the army.
“A map?” replied a confused but relieved Apple Bloom. “But where did it come from? Did somepony send it to you?”
Babs shrugged. “Eh, who knows. Good thing it showed up, though.”
She turned to Diamond Tiara and gave her a hard glare. “I can’t believe I decided ta hang out wit’ you at first.”
Diamond Tiara blew her a raspberry in return. “Pff, whatever, loser. What’s a hoofful of ponies like you gonna do against my army? You’re not even outnumbered, you’re flat out powerless to stop me! Who else is gonna rush in to help you, huh?”
“Sweetie Belle!”
The cry had come from the side of the clearing opposite the one Babs had just come from, and all eyes turned to witness Rarity galloping towards her sister. She was followed by a strangely clad little dragon with several guns on his person, which elicited several impressed or worried whispers from the crowd behind Diamond Tiara who grunted in disapproval.
“Rarity!” cried out Sweetie Belle, as she rushed towards her sister and pulled her in a tight embrace.
“Oh, am I glad to see you’re safe!” said Rarity.
“How did you find us?”
It was Spike that answered. “I received this letter which turned out to be a map, so we followed it with Rarity and, well, here we are!”
“Whazzat?” cut in Babs. “You guys got a map too?”
“Why yes,” said Rarity. “But we got it through our usual connection with Princess Celestia, how did you--”
“That letter’s from Princess Celestia?!”
There was a moment of silence as Rarity and Spike watched with growing curiosity the ponies on the other side of the clearing. Apple Bloom looked at Diamond Tiara with a smirk of bravado.
“Uh oh,” she said. “Looks like it’s mah Princess of Equestria to yer Pinkie.”
Diamond Tiara glared back at Apple Bloom with vicious fury in her eyes at the idea of being denied total victory in this way.
“Pinkie?” asked Rarity, who had just noticed the pink pony. “What in the world is--”
“Oh heya Rarity! Hey Spike!” replied Pinkie, beaming more than ever and waving at the two new arrivals. “We’re about to play this hugetastic group paintball game! It’s gonna be soooo much fun with all these colts and fillies around!”
“A paintball battle?” asked Spike. “Then what are you doing over there instead of here?”
“That there varmint,” said Apple Bloom, pointing an accusatory hoof in Diamond Tiara’s direction, “Shot our dear leader miss Cheerilee as soon as the game started! And she’s been manipulatin’ all these ponies in all sorts o’ ways jus’ ta pin all the blame for it on me! She vandalized mah Sweet Apple Acres, attacked mah friends, and now she’s used a big mountain o’ candy jus’ ta trick Pinkie into joinin’ her side!”
All eyes turned to Diamond Tiara as Apple Bloom delivered her bizarre speech. For a second Diamond Tiara felt as though the tables had actually turned in her disfavour for once, but she wouldn’t let that nervousness show. “You… you annoying bi--”
“Pinkie Pie!” yelled Rarity, stepping in front of the foals. “I demand to know why you’re siding with this rotten little filly!”
“Well it’s not like anypony actually saw her shoot miss Cheerilee,” replied Pinkie, almost casually. “They all told me here that Apple Bloom was the one who stepped in and misfired, and that’s what hit her!”
“And you just believe her?”
“I dunno, Rarity, I don’t know who shot who in the what ‘n’ the where!” Pinkie replied, twisting an impossible number of limbs into a knot and untying them immediately. “All I know is both sides could be right or wrong, but only one of them gave me all that candy!”
“Is this true, Apple Bloom?” asked Spike with concern in his voice as he turned to the filly. The whole crowd followed his gaze, and once more Apple Bloom felt very small and vulnerable. She was reminded in that moment that, as sure as she was, she couldn’t exactly prove or disprove anything that was being said.
“I… Well, ah… Um…”
Diamond Tiara, whose confidence had returned, scoffed at her unconvincing display.
“Hah! You see? Deep down, even she knows the truth! She just wants to get rid of me once and for all just because she doesn’t like me! Playing the martyr to get her way like always, but what did I ever do to her?”
Apple Bloom’s ears fell and she started to hopelessly bite her lip. Rarity stepped in between her and the opposite crowd, a hard scowl under her knitted eyebrows.
“You’re not getting away with this,” she said. “And you certainly aren’t going to attack my sister and her friends while I’m around!”
She paused before adding “... Spike will take care of this.”
Spike raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Huh? What? Why me?” he said in an alarmed tone. Rarity turned to him.
“I know you can do this. This is your moment! Remember what we talked about,” she told him with a wink. Spike smiled back at her, and she breathed an internal sigh of relief that he hadn’t actually understood that she wanted to help out, but knew she would be shot in a second if she tried anything. Then she turned to Pinkie, and stared disapprovingly at the mare who had gone back to playing with her butterfly.
What followed was a very long and tense moment.
Everypony on one side of the clearing stared at the ponies on the other side. Nopony was really sure about what to do, and figured somepony should fire the first round, but couldn’t bring themselves to do it. Some ponies very slowly reached for their guns, some of them changing their mind several times in the few minutes that followed. The tension of the special magical aura of the clearing surrounded them and rose to the point where it became a heavy buzz that made some ponies start to sweat.
“I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMOOOORE!” Silver Spoon suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. She ran to the middle ground in between the two clans and fired a stray shot with her eyes tightly shut, which impacted on a small filly on Apple Bloom’s side.
There was another short moment of silence during which Silver Spoon opened her eyes to see everypony looking at the filly that had been shot. She was standing perfectly still, looking at her shooter with an empty expression of surprise.
Then all Hell broke loose.
All the foals gave a simultaneous war cry which was immediately followed by a tempest of shots being fired from seemingly everywhere, splattering on trees or bodies while the two sides rushed towards each other and blended in one chaotic blur of screaming foals, clashing weapons, and different colours. And thus began the greatest paintball battle that these woods had ever seen, and the most memorable one of these foals’ young lives.