//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16: Troubling Affairs 
// Story: Red Clouds: The Strangers of Fate 
// by Akatsuki God 
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{Canterlot}

It was still early in the morning as the sun had not yet risen and Princess Celestia was one of the first to awaken from her sleep not including the guard ponies in the lunar division and a few in Twilight's intelligence core, who were awake during most of the night on their shift. It was still a little too early for her to raise the sun however, and she had already began to ready herself for battle. After a moment she left her bedroom to rally the legion and as she stepped out, she could see that a few pegasus guards were already up and about in the air along with a few earth and unicorn guards on the ground. Upon seeing this, Celestia couldn't help but feel a mixture of pride that her subjects were so willing to defend themselves and their fellow equestrians, and at the same time, sorrow for them for having to face the impending threat of the changeling and griffin armies.

{Cloudsdale}

"Rise and shine fillies!" Spitfire, a yellow pegasus who's mane seemed a blaze, yelled into a megaphone in a somewhat deafeningly obnoxious manor. "Get up and suit up, it's go time!" And without hesitation, every pony was up and scrambling to get their weapons and armor.

{Canterlot}

Celestia had risen her wings and caught the attention of most of the guards that were up and immediately, they halted their activities. As soon as she noticed this, she began. "Every pony that is awake, please awaken the others so we can begin to mobilize. Our march to Manehattan will soon begin." Upon saying this, Princess Luna had walked up from behind and stopped at her sister's side. Her horn was a glow with a magical aura as the moon began to fall into the horizon, signaling the start of Celestias royal duty of raising the sun. 

{Cloudsdale}

Just outside of the Wonderbolt's headquarters, the Wonderbolts stood at attention as Rainbow Dash along with Spitfire trotted along the front of them, passing back and forth as they waited patiently for the sun to rise and, as soon as the first light of day fell upon them, Rainbow spoke, although without halting. "Alright, here is the deal, I've been put in charge of our team and Spitfire is my second." As you all know, we are in charge of special operations and recon, but I'd like to ask, and I hope none of you raise a hoof, but needless to say, this is going to be one of the most exciting and dangerous tasks that you have ever faced. For those of you who are not up to the task, step forward and leave your uniform on your bunk!" She quickly glanced at them, no noticing any movement. "Good, cause we head out as soon as Centurion Sorin reports back to us that the two combat divisions have left Canterlot!" She then finished, receiving a salute from each of them simultaneously.

{Canterlot}

Nearly an hour after Princess Celestia addressed the guards, many of the legionaries were already up and were busy preparing themselves, first by waking up, then by heading to their arms lockers in their respective barracks, followed by taking their armor, weapons, and equipment and suiting up before heading out to the city gates. This was roughly the drill for each individual legionary, although it varied slightly based on what type of pony they were.

Several minutes had passed when the legion had found it self leaving the gates of their beloved capital city for Manehattan, knowing that many of them wouldn't make it back to tell the tale. As the main two divisions marched, they were in almost perfect unison, making the ground tremble slightly with every step they took.

{Cloudsdale}

After about a half hour of waiting, Sorin had finally arrived and reported to Rainbow and Spitfire about the departure of the Solar and Lunar divisions. A few moments after receiving Sorin's report, Rainbow ordered the Wonderbolts into the sky as the took off in pairs.

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{Near Manehattan}

On an old dirt road in a forest near Manehatten, Sasuke walked alone in the direction of Canterlot. It was noon, and he had already decided to split up with Gilda, taking none of her troops with him as he only saw them as weak and thought they would just be in his way. He was promised by Gilda a teleportation spell that would send him back to his world should he help the griffins in the war or kill one of the pricesses to be sent back the moment he brought one of their bodies for confirmation and as he walked, he knew that every step he took would potentially bring him closer to his goal of killing his older brother, Itachi. "Foolish little brother." He could easily remember Itachi saying to him after butchering their clan. "You aren't even worth killing. " Itachi's voice continued. "So by all means, run away, flea, client to your retched life. If you wish to defeat me, then live every day of your life solely to become stronger in your goal to kill me. Foster your hatred for me, dispise me. And one day, when you posses the same eyes as me," he then remembered Itachi saying as his sharinggan shifted into the shape of a somewhat twisted three bladed shurriken as he stared Sasuke down that night. "find me and face me." His memories made every fiber in his being cried out to avenge his fallen clan and so he continued his steady pace towards Canterlot.
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{Manehattan}

"Captain!" called out a pegasus guard in lightly plated metal armor with tan fur and a solid black mane as he ran up to Shining Armor in his tent, passing two other guards that stood at either side of the entrance.

Shining was sitting at the round table with a few other ponies including the director of the militia and he turned as he noticed the guard coming in. "What is it, Thunder Wing?" he asked in a concerned tone as the guard slowed his pace to a halt all the while panting.

After a moment, Thunder Wing was able to catch his breath. "The legion under the command of the royal sisters is on its way to aid us against the changelings, sir. They should arrive within a day or two." he explained as he removed his helmet in respect.

Shining's expression brightened at hearing the news of their reinforcements. At first, he was a little surprised, but shortly after, a meager smile came to his face. "That's good, I didn't expect the princesses to act until a little later, although I'm not really complaining. Is that all?" he asked as Thunder nodded and without delay, he silently urged him to continue.

"Its been a few days, the changelings will soon arrive up and my guess is that they will show up either today or tomorrow." Thunder then mentioned. 

Reflexively Shining looked to his left then back. "And what of the Akatsuki?" he then questioned.

At this, Thunder looked him in the eye as he answered without hesitation. "Some of the guards have reported that the white object that appeared to follow us on our way to Manehattan had gone, some of them think the whole 'moving on its own' deal was just a pegasus who wanted to scare us." he said confidently.

Shining looked sternly at him. "Even if it disappeared, we can't afford to be taken off guard by those humans!" he demanded. "Besides, I have my doubts, so tell the other guard captains to stay alert!" He demanded before looking down and closing his eyes in silence, taking a moment to recollect his thoughts and after a moment of waiting, he sighed then continued. " Those monsters must pay for what they did to the Princess Cadence and the Krystal Empire." he said as he dismissed Thunder Wing.

Nearly an hour had passed after Thunder Wing had left the tent when a light brown unicorn scout teleported close to the round table in which Shining Armor sat alone. "Sir!" the unicorn saluted his commanding officer, awaiting the appropriate gesture for him to continue and as soon as such response was given, he continued. "The changelings have arrived, and there are countless of them, sir." he then stated in disbelief as Shining's expression darkened. 

The two of them rushed outside of the tent. It was almost sundown and as they went for the walls, they could see that most of the other legionaries were doing the same. "Everypony, I need all bolters on the walls!" he yelled out to the surrounding ponies. "Stay calm, reinforcements are coming, we must hold the city until they arrive!" the continued on his way to the wall and, as soon as he got there, he saw, in the distance, many more changelings than he could comprehend, an army of blackness that numbered in the thousands. Upon seeing this, he realized that they couldn't last long. "Dear mother of Celestia..." He said to himself silently.