//------------------------------// // Storming the Castle // Story: LEGO Equestria Girls // by Chronicler06 //------------------------------// Chapter 11 Storming the Castle From atop the keep of Prince Shining Armor’s castle, Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance Playwell looked on fearfully at the amassed army of skeleton warriors. Between them, Prince Shining Armor leaned forward against the crenelated wall with a serious look on his face. He could not recall ever being placed in such a dangerous situation, but he would do everything he could to keep the invaders out. The guards had grabbed their weapons and took their positions atop the walls. They had gone through the drills many times before, so they knew where to go. Now that they were in position, there was nothing left to do but wait for the enemy to make the first move. It wasn’t long until most of the builds within the enemy’s encampment were complete. It was half a dozen ladders, and the skeletons who grabbed them wasted no time to rush forward toward the walls. They were closely followed by the rest of the army, which roared loudly as they charged forward. As the skeleton army reached the walls, many of them hurled small projectiles up at the guards, who were forced to duck, dodge, and sometimes even smack them away with their weapons. The ladder carriers took advantage of the diversion to lift their ladders up against the wall. Now the skeleton warriors were free to climb up onto the walls and fight the guards directly. The guards were quickly pushed back along the walls, as the first of many skeletons scaled the ladders and reached the walls. The stairway between the walls and the ground within the castle was at the back, so that gave the guards some room to fall back. However, they were unable to push back against the attackers, and there were still many skeletons outside the castle, waiting for more space along the walls so they could climb the ladders and join in the battle. Twilight could easily see the odds were not looking good. She quickly turned to the prince to her left and exclaimed desperately, “Shining Armor, do something!” Shining Armor continued to stare out at the front of the castle with the same serious look on his face. He didn’t say anything or make any sort of reaction. If anything, he seemed to be in shock at what was going on. With Shining Armor completely unable to do anything to save his castle, Twilight turned her attention back to the battle below. As she tried to think desperately of what to do, she remembered Cadance’s words of advice: He is not here for you. You have to be here for him. Twilight suddenly realized the meaning behind those words. She had come here expecting some assistance in her own mission, but it was Prince Shining Armor who was in desperate need of help. If she was going to earn the trust of the prince and receive his assistance, she would first need to help him save his castle. With no time to lose, she quickly ran over to the right side of the keep. Cadance noticed Twilight’s movement and asked, “Where are you going?” Twilight climbed up onto the crenelated edge, looked back at Cadance, and replied, “If he’s not gonna do anything, then I will!” And with that, she jumped off the edge and toward the wall. She landed atop the wall with a small tumble to soften her landing. At this point, one of the skeleton warriors — armed with a curved sword in his right hand and a round shield in his left — pushed his way passed the only guard on this wall and charged right at Twilight, shouting like a savage along the way. With eyes widened in shock, Twilight could only gasp as she realized the danger she had just recklessly placed herself in. The skeleton stopped right in front of her and swung his sword. Twilight yelped as she ducked down to avoid getting hit. The skeleton swung his sword again, and she avoided it again with another yelp as she jumped over the sword. The skeleton brought his right arm back to swing again, which also made him quickly bring his shield forward. Acting on instinct, Twilight grabbed the shield and began to pull on it. The two tugged at the shield until the skeleton lost his grip on it, causing them both to stumble away from each other a little. Twilight quickly regained her footing and turned the shield around in her hands. Now she actually had something that could give her a chance. The skeleton warrior recovered just as quickly and swung his sword at her again, but she was able to block the blow with the shield in her hands. The skeleton swung again, but this time Twilight pushed back with the shield, repelling the blow with enough force to make him drop his sword when he struck. Twilight didn’t give him a chance to pick it back up as she swung the shield again with even greater force, smacking him completely off the wall. She looked over the ramparts to see the skeleton hit the ground and literally fall to pieces. Twilight’s attention was quickly drawn away as she heard a wailing guard fly over her head. She looked to her right and saw him remain on the wall and stand back up virtually unharmed. However, she looked left and saw three more skeleton warriors charging at her with brutish shouts. A quick glance at the fallen skeleton assured her that she now had a chance to really fight back. With a look of pure determination in her face, Twilight let loose a battle cry of her own and charged straight at the skeletons. One by one, she swung the shield at each of the advancing skeletons and smacked them off the wall, causing each of them to fly apart into pieces as they landed. Twilight continued to charge forward, smacking two more skeleton warriors off the wall before reaching one of the ladders. Another skeleton had just reached the top of the ladder and was about to climb over onto the wall, but Twilight smacked him off with the shield, sending him crashing into the crowd of skeletons below. Twilight set down the shield against the ramparts and prepared to push the ladder off the wall. However, she was quickly countered by more of the flying projectiles. They ranged from ordinary small Lego pieces to a few rather bizarre items like a carrot, a coffee mug, and even a rubber chicken at one point. Twilight shrugged off the bombardment and, with a mighty heave, pushed the ladder away. The skeletons who happened to be on that ladder could only scream as they fell backwards to the ground. They and the ladder shattered on impact. Encouraged by this first stage to victory, Twilight turned to the guards struggling on the left wall and shouted, “Off with the ladders! Push them off!” The two guards with pikes heard Twilight’s call to action and, with renewed vigor, fought back against the oncoming skeleton warriors. One guard used his pike to smack one skeleton off the wall, while the other guard stabbed his pike between the ribs of the other skeleton and flung him off the wall. With the path ahead cleared, the guards rushed to the front wall. “Ladders away!” shouted one guard as he used his pike to push one ladder off the wall. “Ladders away!” shouted the other as he did the same to another ladder. Meanwhile, the guard that had been hurled over Twilight back on the right wall had finally caught up to her. He rushed passed her and used his pike to push off the nearest ladder, shouting, “Off he goes!” As that ladder fell away, the skeleton at the top leaped forward and grabbed onto the wall. The guard quickly responded by slamming his pike down on the skeleton’s head. The impact caused the skeleton’s arms to come off, sending the rest of him down to the ground below. That left only two ladders against the wall. The guards on the wall shrugged off the flying projectiles and hurled the last remaining skeleton warriors off the wall before quickly getting rid of those final ladders. “Yes!” shouted Twilight victoriously with a jump. “Good work, guys!” The celebration was short-lived when a Lego boulder flew through the air and barely missed Twilight’s head. After flinching from the near-miss, she looked back out at the battlefield in front of the castle. Those six ladders had not been the only thing that was built in the enemy encampment. Some of the skeletons were using a rather modest catapult. One would place a Lego boulder into the bucket, then two would stomp their full weight on the other end of the arm, flinging the boulder straight at the castle. The large pile of boulders nearby showed that they were unlikely to stop anytime soon. The latest boulder flew over the wall and demolished half of a small building within the castle. Twilight knew she needed to find some way to counter this new threat. With no time for any elaborate plans, she went with whatever came off the top of her head. “Who knows how to build a catapult?” she desperately asked. “That be I!” replied a short minifig with a distinct accent as he stepped out from within the undamaged half of that small building. As another boulder soared over the wall, Twilight told the little guy, “We need one right now!” “Aye, ma’am!” replied the short minifig with a salute before quickly getting to work. Using the scattered pieces of the demolished building, it took him only a matter of seconds to fully assemble a small catapult. “Catapult ready!” he announced. Yet another Lego boulder flew over the wall and smashed into the small building, destroying the other half of it. With no time to lose, Twilight gave out her orders. “Pick up those rocks and send them back!” The short minifig gave a quick salute and replied, “Aye, ma’am!” He then rushed over to the pile of pieces that used to be the small building and dug through it to retrieve the boulder. Twilight turned to two of the nearby guards and ordered, “You two! Assist him!” The two guards gave a quick salute before running off along the wall until they were standing just above the catapult. By now, the short guy had picked up the Lego boulder and, despite its hefty weight, managed to carry it over and place it into the bucket. “Fire one!” shouted one of the guards as he and the other guard simultaneously jumped off the wall and stomped down on the free end of the arm of the catapult. The boulder was flung over the walls and out of the castle. Twilight watched it soar over the battlefield and slam directly onto the enemy catapult. Pieces of that catapult — as well as a few skeletons — went flying everywhere from the impact. “Yes!” shouted Twilight victoriously with a jump. “Direct hit!” With the tide of the battle completely turned around, the army of skeleton warriors now realized they had little hope of taking this castle. That left them with only one option. “Retreat!” shouted a few skeletons. Almost immediately, every skeleton that was still standing began to flee the battlefield and ran off into the woods. None of them bothered to pick up any of the scattered pieces and skeleton parts that littered the ground outside the castle. Before long, all of the attacking forces were gone. Cheers erupted all across the castle to celebrate their victory. Twilight cheered along with everyone and jumped around enthusiastically. She stopped only when she began to receive direct praise from some of the guards. “Nice work, ma’am,” said one. “We couldn’t have done it without you,” said another. Twilight continued to smile as everyone thanked her for her actions. But when she turned back to look up at Prince Shining Armor atop the keep, that smile faded. If there was one person in the castle who was not joining in the celebration at all, it was him. Another guard proudly said to Twilight, “We could definitely use a leader like you!” Shining Armor continued to look down with the same serious look on his face. Finally, he shook his head sadly and walked away. Cadance glanced back at Twilight in concern before following him. Despite their victory in battle, Twilight knew that Shining Armor had to be feeling quite upset. He had done practically nothing and would have certainly failed had it not been for her efforts. She needed to talk to him right away, so she gently pushed her way passed the celebrating guards and made her way off the walls and back into the keep. Twilight managed to catch Shining Armor walking by as she stepped inside the great hall. “Shining Armor—” she began. “Not now, Starlight,” interrupted the prince as he continued to walk by. “But Shining—” “I said not now!” exclaimed Shining Armor as he pushed Twilight away, spinning her hair piece around in the process. Twilight readjusted her hair and watched helplessly as Shining Armor stormed off. Cadance walked up to Twilight and uneasily said, “Perhaps it’s best that you leave him be, for a while. After all, he’s just had a rather tough reality check.” Twilight sighed in disappointment. “What should I do now?” she asked Cadance. “I think now might be a good time for you to return to your team,” suggested Cadance. “They’re probably wondering where you’ve been, and I’m pretty sure they’re already willing to help you defeat Trixie.” “But what about Prince Shining Armor?” asked Twilight. “Without him and his golden sword, we have little chance of successfully capturing Trixie.” “Let me speak with him,” replied Cadance. “After all he’s been through, he could use some words of comfort from his wife.” “Can you convince him to take the fight to Trixie and accept the help of me and my team?” “I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises.” Twilight reluctantly nodded in understanding. As much as she wanted to try again to convince Shining Armor of what was most important right now, she knew there was nothing more she could do. Her only hope now was that Cadance could succeed where she had failed. As Princess Cadance Playwell followed after Prince Shining Armor, Twilight turned to leave the castle. Now that she had done her part to the best of her ability, it was time to check on the others and see how well they had done with their tasks. Rainbow Dash idly kicked a soccer ball upwards, passing it from one foot to the other and occasionally bouncing it a few times on her head. It was clear that she was displaying some good skill. Not far away, Applejack stood defensively in front of a makeshift goal that was made out of a few spare Lego pieces. “C’mon, Dash!” she complained. “Quit showin’ off an’ pass the ball, already!” “Alright, you asked for it,” responded Rainbow Dash with a smirk as she kicked the ball upwards a fair distance and turned away. When the ball came back down, she jumped up and, with a mighty back kick, sent it flying right at Applejack. “Whoa nelly!” exclaimed Applejack as she quickly dodged the incoming soccer ball, which soared straight towards the goal. It struck the goal with enough force to send pieces flying everywhere. “Yeah!” shouted Rainbow excitedly. “Another point for me!” Applejack grunted as she stood back up and dusted herself off. Her hat had fallen off and was on the ground near her feet. Slightly frustrated, she turned to Pinkie Pie and Spike and asked, “What’s the score?” Pinkie and Spike looked at each other uneasily and then back to Applejack. “Uh, so far, Rainbow Dash is winning,” replied Spike. “Ah figured that, but by how much?” asked Applejack. Pinkie and Spike glanced at each other again and hesitated. Finally, Pinkie replied, “82 to 30.” “Oh for cryin’ out loud!” shouted Applejack as she snatched her hat and stormed off. Considering where Applejack was going, the others could see that it was not the soccer game that had her frustrated. It had been Rainbow’s idea to play one-on-one soccer to pass the time, and the very high score was a testament to just how much time had really passed. Meanwhile, Rarity continued to hum happily to herself as she carefully placed the last piece in its proper arrangement. Applejack shoved her hat back on as she stomped up to where Rarity was busy working and demanded, “Ya done foolin’ around yet?” Rarity slightly adjusted the piece she had just placed on the ground, making sure it was perfectly aligned. Once she was satisfied with that, she declared, “There! Now we are ready!” “Finally!” shouted Applejack, as Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike arrived at the scene. Rarity had carefully arranged each and every individual piece on the ground, grouping them by shape, size, and color. She had certainly taken her time to make sure that each and every single piece was perfectly aligned with each other. However, the others saw it as little more than just a bunch of pieces on the ground. Not even two parts had been put together. “Hey, what gives?” asked Rainbow Dash in disbelief. “I thought we were gonna build something.” “And that is precisely what I have been preparing for,” replied Rarity as she unrolled a large sheet of paper. On that paper, she had sketched an entire set of instructions, detailing how all of these pieces would be put together to build a siege machine. “As you can see, I have taken the liberty to specify how we are going to properly assemble this model, to ensure that each and every component serves its intended function.” As Rarity was busy speaking, Rainbow Dash quickly skimmed through the instructions to give herself a good idea of what needed to be built. Once that was done, she decided to take matters into her own hands. With a wicked smile on her face, she whispered to Applejack, “Watch this.” She then quickly zoomed away. Rarity continued to speak, completely unaware that Rainbow had left. She also failed to notice the rapid clicking noise of Lego pieces as Rainbow quickly put all of the pieces together, literally appearing in many places at once. In just ten seconds flat, the model was complete. As this was going on, Rarity continued, “The first task is to carefully arrange the parts, making sure that every single piece has been accounted for, which I have been more than generous enough to handle myself. And now, with a little help from this instruction sheet that I have sketched out, we can begin the most important task of all: assembling the model.” “Done!” announced Rainbow Dash. It was only now that Rarity realized that Rainbow Dash was no longer in the audience in front of her. Following Rainbow’s voice, Rarity turned back to see her standing atop the completed siege machine with her arms crossed and a confident grin on her face. Rarity was both shocked and impressed by how quickly Rainbow had managed to complete the task of assembly. “Wow… marvelous work, Rainbow Dash,” complemented Rarity. Rarity glanced down at the ground near the siege machine and her expression quickly turned sour. “Except you seemed to have forgotten this piece right here,” she complained as she picked up the only piece that had been left on the ground. It was an orange medium-sized gear with a round hole in the middle that was just big enough to fit around a single stud. “No I didn’t,” said Rainbow dismissively with a wave of a hand. “All I did was follow your little instruction sheet. If anything, you’re the one who forgot it.” Rarity scoffed as she looked back down at the gear in her hands. She was absolutely sure that each and every single piece had been properly accounted for, and was convinced the error had been made by Rainbow Dash. However, she could clearly see the siege machine was fully assembled exactly as she had imagined, so she saw little point in continuing to argue. She calmly responded, “Well… I suppose it isn’t a vital component. But just in case, we’d better hold onto it for safekeeping. Who knows? It might come in handy.” She walked up to the siege machine and began looking around it. “Now let’s see… Where shall we store this spare part?” “I know!” beamed Pinkie Pie as she got an idea and ran up to Rarity. Pinkie removed her hair and tossed it aside, then snatched the gear from Rarity and placed it on top of her head — a perfect fit. Rainbow Dash struggled to hold back her laughter, but failed miserably after just one second. “Nice hat, Pinkie!” exclaimed Rainbow as she continued to laugh uncontrollably. “Thank you,” said Pinkie with a smile still on her face. Applejack and Spike were slightly more successful in holding back, but it wasn’t long until they too were laughing uncontrollably. Spike laughed so hard that he began rolling around on the ground. The only one who wasn’t laughing was Rarity, who simply stared in confusion at Pinkie’s solution. She eventually managed to compose herself and say, “Yes, well… I suppose that’s one way to keep it handy.” She then picked up Pinkie’s hair piece and added, “But I insist that we not leave behind such a valuable piece as this. Fortunately, I do believe this is small enough to fit inside the storage trunk that I decided to incorporate into this model.” She walked up to where that trunk had been placed. She then opened it, tossed Pinkie’s hair inside, and closed it. Eventually, the laughter finally began to die down. Pinkie didn’t mind that it was directed at her and the gear on her head. She always enjoyed seeing people around her smile and laugh. As the laughter finally faded, Pinkie noticed the arrival of someone and told her teammates, “Oh look! Fluttershy’s back!” Applejack, Spike, and Rainbow Dash turned to where Pinkie was pointing and Rarity peered around the siege machine to see that Fluttershy had indeed returned. As the shy girl walked up to them, her teammates couldn’t help but notice that her entire body was now covered in scorch marks. “Oh my stars! Fluttershy!” exclaimed Rarity as she quickly walked up to Fluttershy. “What in Ole’s name happened to you?!” Fluttershy looked down at herself and replied, “Oh, it’s not as bad as it looks. I’m just glad to…” she trailed off as she looked over at Pinkie Pie. She stared in confusion for a moment before asking, “Um… is that a… gear on your head?” “Yup!” replied Pinkie cheerfully. Fluttershy remained silent for a moment. “Okay…” she said uncertainly. She then resumed, “Anyway, I’m happy to tell you that I found the creature who left those tracks, and he has promised to not get in our way.” “That’s good to hear.” Everyone turned around to see Twilight had also just returned. “Twilight’s back, too!” said Pinkie Pie cheerfully. “Yay! Now we’re all back together!” Like Fluttershy, Twilight stared in confusion at Pinkie for a moment before asking, “Uh… why do you have a gear on your head?” “It’s a spare part,” Pinkie simply said. Like Fluttershy, Twilight replied uncertainly, “Right…” She then addressed her entire team, “Anyway, the good news is that I was able to find and talk to Prince Shining Armor.” Applejack — understanding where Twilight was going — asked, “An’ the bad news is…?” Twilight sighed before dejectedly saying, “I don’t know if he’s willing to go after Trixie. It’s possible we may be on our own here.” Everyone looked down sadly at this news. They had really been hoping that Prince Shining Armor would be able to help them, but that seemed unlikely now. Twilight knew her team needed some encouragement, so she said, “That doesn’t mean we should give up. We can still do this! As long as we have each other, I know we still have a chance.” “That’s the spirit!” said Applejack proudly. “Yeah, I’ll never let you girls down!” added Rainbow Dash. “Even with the odds stacked against us, we can always rely on each other,” stated Rarity, while Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “Ready for anything!” said Pinkie Pie with determination, before giving the gear on her head a good spin, complete with a rapid winding noise. As Twilight had hoped, her little pep talk helped to improve her team’s outlook on what lay ahead. They may not have gotten everything they wanted for this mission, but at least they now had the confidence to succeed. Twilight turned to the completed siege machine, proud to see that her team had been able to successfully build something so impressive. She finally said, “At least now we have this thing, and I say we should put it to good use right away.” The team rode the siege machine as it moved along a wide trail through the woods. Its motion was powered by a crank on top that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were alternately pushing down on. Also riding atop the siege machine was Twilight, Rarity, and Spike — who held onto the steering lever up front. Twilight glanced down to the interior of the siege machine and saw Pinkie Pie, who was still wearing that gear on her head. It wasn’t long until they reached the edge of the forest near Trixie’s castle. The siege machine slowed to a stop just before reaching the edge of the woods. The dark and forbidding landscape ahead did little calm everyone, but they knew they had to do this. “So what’s the plan?” asked Applejack. Twilight took a moment to think of an effective strategy. Once she had one in mind, she said, “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. Fluttershy, you and—” she stopped suddenly when she realized that Fluttershy was actually nowhere to be found. Twilight looked around the top of the siege machine, then down in the interior, but saw no sign of the shy yellow girl. “Where’s Fluttershy?” Pinkie quickly looked around the interior and simply shrugged in response. Rainbow face-palmed and grumbled, “Ugh! Don’t tell me that coward decided to ditch us.” Rarity turned to Twilight and asked with concern, “You don’t suppose you thought of a backup plan, did you?” Twilight hesitated, then sighed and sat down dejectedly. “No,” she admitted. “I was expecting all of us to be here.” She paused. “I wish I knew what to do.” “I have a plan.” Twilight was surprised to hear that voice, and had to turn to see the source of the voice to be sure she had heard correctly. “Prince Shining Armor?” she asked, surprised as she stood back up. Shining Armor stood proudly as he said, “I have decided to accept your help. Along with a few friends, of course.” He held his arm out, gesturing up the trail they had just traveled down. The team on the siege machine followed the prince’s gesture up the trail just in time to see something arrive over the hill. It was a small army, dozens of troops wearing the blue and white colors of the prince, marching in formation. Each soldier carried a sword or pike in his right hand and in his left hand a shield bearing Shining Armor’s symbol. Eventually, the small army stopped and turned to look proudly up at the team on the siege machine. “Awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “We got an army on our side!” “Ah’m startin’ to like our chances, already,” added Applejack. Twilight smiled at Prince Shining Armor and his army. It seemed that Cadance had succeeded in convincing Shining Armor of what his true priorities were and what he should do. She would have to thank her for this later. For now, it was time for battle. A servant guided a white horse over to Shining Armor — a sight that slightly surprised Twilight and Spike. Shining nodded in appreciation and climbed onto the horse’s back, where a two stud gap provided room for his legs to fit. He rode his horse up to the siege machine and began to explain his plan to the team. “According to one of my scouts, there are two ways into Trixie’s castle: a drawbridge at the front, and a gate and permanent bridge at the back. I’ll have my army provide a diversion at the front, so you girls can sneak around to the back entrance and break in.” “But we need you inside the castle,” insisted Twilight. “Your golden sword is the only thing that can capture Trixie for sure.” “But I have to be out here with my loyal army,” Shining pointed out. “They take orders only from me.” “Not unless you tell them otherwise,” said Rainbow Dash, stepping forward. “Put ‘em under my command. I’ll provide that diversion you’ll need.” “Good thinkin’, Rainbow Dash,” commented Applejack. “That’ll make sure he ain’t gotta be in two places at once.” “Are you sure you can handle it?” asked Shining Armor. “You’re going one-on-one against the Great and Powerful Trixie,” explained Rainbow as she climbed down from the siege machine. “All I gotta do is wave a sword around and shout, ‘Do this! Do that!’ How hard can it be?” Shining wanted to disagree, but he couldn’t deny that he and his golden sword really were needed inside the castle against the Great and Powerful Trixie herself. With no better alternative, he turned to his army and proclaimed, “Everyone! For this battle, you are to take your orders directly from Rainbow Dash. You are to provide a diversion that will allow me to sneak inside the castle to deal with Trixie, myself. Is that understood?” The soldiers nodded and said various words of acknowledgement. Shining nodded in acceptance and dismounted from his horse. As the prince climbed up onto the siege machine, Rainbow hopped up onto the horse’s back and rode it over to the army that was now under her command. With no time to lose, she gave out her first order. “C’mon, guys! To battle! Yah!” And with that, the horse she rode galloped off towards the castle, quickly followed by the entire army. Twilight found it rather surprising that the horses of this world behaved not much different from most other critters and animals, but she knew now was not the time to dwell on such things. Once Shining Armor was seated next to her, she said, “Okay, let’s get going.” Applejack was now the only one working the power crank, but she was more than strong enough to handle it herself. As she started pushing away on the crank, Spike steered the siege machine away. It didn’t take long for Rainbow and the army under her command to reach the front gate of Trixie’s castle. Surprisingly, there were no skeleton warriors present to fight them off. If this diversion was going to work, Rainbow knew she needed to draw their attention as much as possible. Rainbow Dash guided the horse she was riding to trot back and forth across the front of the army, while she kept her gaze locked on the dark and foreboding castle. “Great and Powerful Trixie!” she shouted. “We are here to defeat you, once and for all! Surrender now, or prepare to fight!” They were met only by silence. “C’mon, Trixie!” shouted Rainbow. “We know you’re in there! Come on out with your hands up! Don’t make us have to drag you out by force!” Again, silence was the only response. Some of the soldiers began to shift uncertainly as the awkwardness of this began to become obvious. Near the back of Trixie’s castle, the siege machine suddenly rushed out from the nearby woods on the right. Spike had done a good job of steering it so that it stayed hidden within the forest until the last possible moment. As Applejack powered the machine ahead at high speed, Spike carefully steered the siege machine between a sheer cliff face to the right and the castle’s lava moat to the left. Twilight turned to Rarity and instructed, “As soon as Shining Armor and I are in, sneak back around and join the army up front. With any luck, the action over there should make it easy for this siege machine to slip in unnoticed.” “Consider it done,” said Rarity, nodding in acknowledgement. In only a matter of seconds, they had reached the rear gate. Applejack forced the crank to a stop as Spike turned the machine sharply to the left so that it was now facing directly at the gate. Once the siege machine came to a stop, Applejack called down to the interior, “Have at it, Pinkie!” Pinkie Pie — still wearing that gear on her head — nodded in response and began to pull back on the battering ram. Once it was back as far as possible, she happily exclaimed, “Knock knock!” She then thrust the battering ram forward, which slammed into the gate and smashed it off its hinges. “Let’s go!” shouted Twilight as she and Shining Armor hopped off the siege machine and ran across the bridge into the castle. Once they were across, the siege machine backed up a little and then zoomed off back the way it came. The inside of the castle was even darker than the outside. Twilight and Shining were forced to stop running and instead walk slowly to avoid bumping into anything. Shining kept one hand on his golden sword, leaving it hilted within its scabbard until it would be needed. As Twilight walked carefully, she glanced away at just the wrong moment and bumped into a suit of armor. As the armor loudly collapsed, she caught the pike that fell from its grasp. As Shining quickly turned to see what had happened, Twilight could only grin and chuckle nervously. Shining glared at Twilight for a brief moment before turning his attention back to finding a way through this castle. He quickly came to a stop when he noticed an eerie blue glow coming from the top of a stairway. He gestured for Twilight to follow silently as he carefully approached the base of the stairs. As soon as Shining took his first step on the stairway, Twilight noticed a faint flash of blue light from behind them. She turned back and screamed as a bolt of magic energy flew towards her and wrapped around the pike in her hands. Panicked, she tightened her grip on the pike, causing her to be flung with it towards the other side of the room. Shining Armor quickly turned back in time to see this. There was a third minifig in this room, and the blue glow from the five-pointed star on the end of her staff clearly illuminated who it was. “Prince Shining Armor,” mocked Trixie as she slowly approached. “What brings you here to the home of the Great and Powerful Trixie?” “I have come here to defeat you!” said Shining Armor defiantly, tightening his grip on his golden sword, ready to pull it out at any moment. “Are you sure that’s what you really want?” asked Trixie skeptically. Using magic from the staff in her right hand, she conjured her crystal ball into the left hand. “Trixie knows what you want, and Trixie knows where you can find her.” Shining Armor hesitated as the cloudy image within the crystal ball slowly revealed a familiar face. “Twilight,” he whispered, loosening his grip on his sword. At this moment, Twilight stood back up and realized what was happening. Dropping the pike, she ran over to Shining Armor and desperately shouted, “No! Don’t listen to her! It’s a trap!” Not one to tolerate interruptions, Trixie pointed her staff at the approaching minifig and fired a bolt of magic, making Twilight vanish in a puff of smoke. Shining was broken out of his trance by this. “Huh? What?” he said in confusion before Trixie did the same thing to him as well. Reappearing in another puff of smoke, Shining Armor saw that he and Twilight were now locked up inside a dark dungeon cell, presumably deeper within Trixie’s castle. Twilight could only glare at Shining Armor and grumble, “This obsession of yours is really starting to cause some serious problems.” Once again, the siege machine rushed out of the woods towards Trixie’s castle — this time, towards the front. The four minifigs riding it — Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Spike — were surprised to see Shining Armor’s army just standing at the front gate doing practically nothing. They had been expecting a large battle to already be underway. At the front of the army, Rainbow Dash continued to shout taunts and threats at the seemingly empty castle, as if Trixie was even listening. “We will tear down your castle!” she shouted. “Brick by brick if we have to, but I will have your head!” “Whoa there, Rainbow Dash!” exclaimed Applejack as the siege machine came to a stop nearby. “Don’t ya think that’s goin’ a bit too far?” “Oh gimmie a break!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash in frustration. “I’m running out of things to say!” Perhaps as a testament of this, the horse she was riding responded by snorting and rolling his eyes. “The Great and Powerful Trixie approaches!” one soldier suddenly shouted, pointing up at the castle. Everyone quickly turned their attention up to the top of the keep, where Trixie stepped forward to reveal herself to them. “Finally!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “What took ya so long, you overgrown slug?!” “Forgive Trixie for being tardy,” replied Trixie, mockingly, “but she had to lock away a couple of trespassers in her home. Nobody important, really. Just a white prince and a purple city girl.” Spike gasped, knowing who Trixie was referring to. “Darn it!” muttered Applejack under her breath. “She was on to us the whole time.” Trixie proudly held up her staff and loudly declared, “And now, I, the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!…” A bolt of lightning flashed across the dark skies as a loud clap of thunder echoed across the area. After pausing for a few seconds, she gently brought her staff back down and calmly finished, “needs to kick some trespassers out of her front yard.” With that, Trixie slammed the bottom end of her staff against the floor, unleashing another loud boom of thunder and blinding flash of lightning. A series of cracking noises made everyone turn away from the castle to see large cracks opening up in the ground between them and the edge of the forest. Once the cracks were wide enough, dozens of skeleton warriors pulled themselves up and out of the ground, armed and ready for battle. The quick emergence of Trixie’s skeleton army in such large numbers startled Spike, causing him to yelp and leap into Rarity’s arms. About a second later, he turned to Rarity and chuckled nervously. Rarity was not amused by this and simply dropped him. She then spoke up, “Let’s try to keep ourselves together, everyone. This is not the time to panic.” “Right!” said Rainbow Dash with determination. “We still have an army of our own — placed under my command. Even if we can’t stop Trixie, we can still save the prince.” She turned her attention to the assembled army and gave out her orders. “Hold your ground and be ready! Let them make the first move before we strike!” Even so, there wasn’t much time to prepare. As soon as the skeleton warriors rose up out of the ground, they immediately charged straight at the assembled army. Within only a matter of seconds, the two sides met as swords, shields, pikes, and spears clashed against each other. As Rainbow Dash rode into the fray with the other soldiers, Rarity decided to take charge of the siege machine. “Come along, everyone!” she quickly told her teammates. “We simply must put this siege machine to good use! Applejack, power us ahead at full speed! Spike, steer us directly at any opposing skeletons! And Pinkie Pie, swing away on that battering ram!” “Aye aye, captain!” replied Pinkie with a quick salute, still wearing that gear on her head. As Applejack began to push on the power crank as hard as possible, Spike nervously steered the siege machine towards the advancing skeletons. He stood to the left of the steering lever, which meant he had to push it forward to turn left and pull it back to turn right. As they came very close to the first of the skeletons, Pinkie Pie pulled the battering ram back as far as she could. “Ding-dong!” she happily exclaimed as she thrust the ram forward, which slammed into one skeleton, smashing him to pieces. The ram swung back and Pinkie caught it. “Ding-dong!” she happily shouted as she thrust the ram forward again, smashing another skeleton, then let it return to her. “Ding-dong!” she happily shouted as she repeated the process. She kept on doing this, always starting with the same happy exclamation. Rainbow Dash rode across the battlefield, dodging every swing of a weapon from the skeletons. She had the horse take her a short distance away and come to a stop, so she could look over how the entire battle was going. Although the army was doing a fair job of destroying some skeletons, it seemed like they just kept coming. She glanced towards the nearby woods and gasped. Another evil army — this one consisting of trolls — marched onto the scorched land. Looks like Trixie decided to call in some reinforcements, thought Rainbow grimly. She may not have been a master tactician, but she knew enough to know how to avoid total annihilation. Knowing what had to be done, she rode back into the battle. As she neared a few soldiers, she ordered, “Take half of our forces and fight off those trolls! We need to keep our escape route open! That way, even if we lose today, we can still win tomorrow!” The soldiers quickly saluted in response and followed their new orders. Meanwhile, Rainbow looked around worriedly. She was usually too proud to admit when she was afraid, but she couldn’t deny that things were not looking good right now. Back on the siege machine, Pinkie continued to smash skeletons with the battering ram while Applejack kept pushing away on the crank to keep the machine at top speed. Rarity had decided to make herself useful by picking up a crossbow and firing a few arrows at some skeletons. Spike struggled to steer the machine, due to being fearful of all of the surrounding chaos. Because of this, he failed to steer away from a small rock on the ground. As the siege machine ran over that rock, the large bump caused Rarity to lose her balance. Spike noticed she was about to fall off the rapidly moving machine, so he rushed over and grabbed her arm to pull her back on. Once Rarity was back on her feet, she let out a sigh of relief and said, “Thank you, Spike.” “Aw, just doing what had to be done,” replied Spike, slightly blushing. Rainbow Dash continued riding around the battlefield on that white horse. She was mentally kicking herself for not grabbing a weapon of any kind when she had the chance. Now, everything around her was happening so fast that she was unable to even snatch a spear from someone. Things suddenly took a turn for the worst when a few skeletons jumped in front, startling the horse and causing him to whinny as he reared up in his hind legs. Rainbow, unable to hold on, fell off the horse’s back and hit the ground. The horse then galloped off in panic, charging straight through those skeletons and smashing them to pieces. Rainbow quickly got up on her feet, but the horse was already too far away to catch. “Stupid horse!” she shouted, shaking her fist in anger. She quickly dusted herself off as she tried to come up with a plan of what to do next. She then started hearing a rather odd noise coming from behind, and it seemed to be getting closer. She turned around in confusion and, with literally no time to react, was slammed into by the siege machine. Remarkably, her body stayed intact as she clung onto the front for dear life. “Hey, Dash!” said Pinkie Pie cheerfully as she noticed Rainbow in front of her, hanging onto the frame of the machine. “Hey, yourself,” grumbled Rainbow Dash as she adjusted her stance to ease the pain from the impact. She was also curious about where they were going, so she turned her head back to look ahead. Near the edge of the scorched area was a large ditch, and the siege machine was heading right for it! Realizing this right away, Rainbow looked up and shouted, “Who’s diving this thing?!” Spike heard Rainbow Dash’s call and looked ahead to see the danger they were rapidly approaching. He briefly screamed in panic before running back to the steering lever as he shouted, “Applejack, slow down!” “Ya wanted full speed, you’re gettin’ full speed!” exclaimed Applejack in response, too stubbornly focused on her task to pay any attention to her surroundings. Realizing that all hopes were now on his shoulders alone, Spike groaned and hopelessly muttered, “We’re not gonna make it, we not gonna make it,” He then quickly pushed the lever as hard as he could, causing the siege machine to turn sharply to the left. The siege machine turned so sharply that it quickly leaned over. The machine came dangerously close to the ditch, running right along the edge on two wheels. Eventually, the momentum proved too much and the machine toppled over right into the ditch. Everyone on the machine screamed as they all fell a short distance to the bottom of the ditch. Upon impact, the entire siege machine collapsed and fell completely to pieces.