//------------------------------// // Only a Miracle Can Save us All // Story: Under the Moonlight // by Thunderblast //------------------------------// "Damn it, tell us EVERYTHING!" Thunderblast slammed his hoof on the table in the diner, standing across from a lone patrol unicorn guard who they managed to overwhelm and capture. The guard jumped at Thunder slamming his hoof, but shook his head no. "Oh, I forgot." Thunder reached his hoof across, ripping duct tape off of the stallion's mouth. "Gah!" The guard yelped in pain, struggling to free himself from the chair he was tied to. "Just tell us everything and we MIGHT let you go," Stormfire stepped forward, gritting his teeth in anger. "Over my dead body," the guard's eye twitched as he replied. "Very well. Blitz, Diesel?" Thunder turned around to Blitz and Diesel, who trotted up with a small tool box of torture weapons. "Oh what, you're going to rip my teeth out until I speak? Is that what this is?" The guard watched the stallions shuffle through the toolbox. "Perhaps." Thunder said, picking up a set of pliers and staring directly down at them, before quickly turning around and cracking the guard in the jaw with them. "Gah!" The guard yelped again, his head forcefully moving over to his left as the pliers struck him. "Are you going to talk now, or shall I continue?" Thunder smirked, standing over the table and glaring down at the guard. The guard slowly moved his head back into a straight position, moving his jaw around to check if it was broken in any way. "Hmm, I guess that's a no," Blitz raised an eyebrow, before trotting into a dark corner and picking up a small object, which made a click as he pulled the top back. The stallion trotted back over, handing Thunder his desert eagle that they took from the surplus store. "Oh, you're going to shoot me now?" The guard grit his teeth, not showing any fear or weakness despite being captured. "Not if you tell us everything," Thunder held the barrel of the small gun up to his upper chestplate. The guard once again did not say a word, his eyes moving down to where the gun was pointed at his upper chest, which would likely instantly kill him if Thunder fired it. Before the guard could do anything else, Thunder cracked the stallion with the gun from under his chin, luckily not firing it simultaneously. The guard made a small painful yelp, a tear shooting out of his eye as the pain struck him. "Talk, damn it!" Thunder yelled, grabbing the guard's chest while wielding the gun in the other, which now aimed at his eye from the side. "Never!" The guard yelled back. Thunder grabbed the mane piece on his helmet, pulling on it, in seconds ripping the helmet off of his head to allow a long auburn mane to fall down, almost over the stallion's eyes. Thunder moved the gun to the guard's forehead, pressing it hard against the skin. "It doesn't have to end this way. Just tell us everything," Thunder calmed his tone, feeling a tons-worth of pain in his chest which appeared when he realized he might be about to kill an unarmed guard, though he also realized it was an enemy that he couldn't exactly allow to leave unharmed. The guard's eyes met Thunder's. This time, fear and anger could be seen in them, which forced Thunder to hesitate. The guard then headbutted Thunder, sending him a few feet back and onto the table, dropping his gun. "You want the answers? Fine. But don't put another damn gun to my head, alright?" The guard finally spoke, his voice not as rough as earlier. Thunder climbed off of the table, holding his head in pain. "Go ahead." "You all I'm sure think Light Assassin is the one running this revolution, don't you?" The guard smirked lightly. "Isn't he?" Diesel trotted into the light, standing beside Blitz and Thunderblast. The guard shook his head. "The true leader is his brother, Mountain Ash. Over time, he's been the one capturing the guards and whoever else interfered with the plans. Light is his second in command, but is the ruler of Ponyville, while Mountain will be the new ruler of Equestria, after we find the princesses and enslave-...overthrow them. Most of the Royal Guard has been captured and are being held at the old bread factory outside of town." "Mountain Ash? Who's he?" Stormfire asked. "You think Light Assassin is bad, wait till you meet him. He'll rip you apart," the guard sighed, looking down. "Like he did my friend." Thunder's glare somewhat softened as he stared at the guard, who raised his head and eyed them. "To be honest, I've been wanting these last two days to find a way out of this revolution, so whoever is blowing up these construction sites doesn't kill me," the guard shrugged. "Oh," Blitz slowly stepped back into the shadows. The guard looked back up at them. "Wait...oh...I see now," the guard's eyelids shut halfway and he groaned. Diesel leaned closer and whispered into Thunder's ear. "He must be really stupid." "Next time, mind stepping away and talking crap about me?" The guard rolled his eyes. "I'm having second thoughts of joining you four now." Thunderblast, Diesel and Stormfire stared at the guard in shock. "You...want to join us?" Storm tilted his head slightly. The guard nodded, blinking. "What makes us think we should trust you?" Diesel stepped closer. "Many reasons, but my main one is I hate both Light and Mountain, and hope they burn in Tartarus when this is over," the guard stared at Diesel with a blank expression. The stallions looked between one another, before Thunder nodded to Diesel, who trotted up and untied the guard from the chair. The guard nodded to Diesel in thanks, before standing up. "One thing however," the guard stared at Thunder. "Name it," Thunder trotted closer. "I'm gonna need lighter shaded armor." "Rainbow Blaze, sir!" Soarin pounded on Rainbow Blaze's home frantically, his heart racing. The door opened and Rainbow Blaze jumped back in surprise. "Soarin! What the hay are you doing at my house?!" Blaze hissed at the stallion. "S-sir...th-they...uh..." Soarin stuttered, his hooves trembling. "Spit it out!" Blaze growled, unhappy that somepony who kidnapped his daughter previously was now at his door. "Th-they took Rainbow!" Soarin's pupils shrunk to pinpricks. Blaze's heart sunk, his irises shrunk with Soarin's, and the lower half of his body slowly sat down as he stared at the stallion in utter shock. "Who took her?" Blaze spoke in a quiet voice. "The revolutionists," Soarin replied, staring at the rainbow-maned stallion. Blaze lowered his head, now staring at his hooves which were close to giving out underneath the distraught stallion. Soarin approached the stallion and rested a hoof on his shoulder. "Listen, uh...sir," Soarin gulped as fear crept up his spine. "I want to apologize for everything...for what I did to her a long time back, and for not keeping her safe today. I am so sorry...please, forgive me," he continued with tears building in his eyes. Blaze continued to stare at the ground, blocking out Soarin as he spoke. The wonderbolt soon realized he was being ignored. "S-sir?" Soarin's voice began to croak in fear. Blaze then slowly raised his head, staring up at Soarin, before the tears in his eyes dried up. "Sir?" Soarin backed a step. Blaze stood up quickly, clearing his throat. "Soarin, forget what happened. Dashie and her coltfriend and whoever else is down there needs our help. Gather everypony and anypony in the plaza by the coliseum. I'll meet you there after I do the same. Go!" Soarin quickly flew off, searching for ponies to gather like Rainbow Blaze ordered, while Blaze flew off to do the same. "Okay guys. Time to unload package number two. This time, we won't need a distraction if we're dropping the explosive by air. Stormfire, you still got the explosive?" Thunder looked over at Stormfire. "Yup. Shall I drop it and detonate it?" Storm replied. "If you're up for it. After that, we wait a little bit before we head to the next drop site. We must make sure the operation is complete before dawn, so we won't be seen in the daylight." Thunder looked between the stallions. "And now, we have the help of unicorn magic to fight." He then looked at the grey unicorn guard, who was now wearing golden guard armor. The guard smiled lightly. "Its great to be back on the good side." "You mean you weren't evil before?" Blitz smiled, sarcastically joking. The unicorn raised an eyebrow. "No." "Okay. Stormfire will drop the explosive and detonate. I will take the third one and drop it on this point here," Thunder pointed at a circle on the blueprints in between the stallions. "Then the fourth, we must detonate here," he pointed at the fourth and final circle. "Before the sun rises." The others nodded. "Should I get going so we get this done faster?" Stormfire looked up at Thunder. "That would probably be wise," Diesel glanced at Storm. Storm nodded. "Alright. I'll be back later," he stood up, before flying out an open window and into the night sky. The others watched him leave, before Thunder returned his attention to Blitz. "Blitz, you stay here while I go take the third explosive. When me and Storm get back, we will take the fourth and deliver the package. Alright?" Thunder stared at him. Blitz nodded and saluted. "Yes sir." Thunder chuckled. "No need to salute." Blitz awkwardly smiled and dropped his hoof, while Thunder picked up one of the bottles and it's detonator, tucking it into his armor. "Don't cause any trouble, and certainly don't attract any unwanted attention," Thunder glanced between the stallions. "Don't worry Thunder, go do your job," Diesel smiled lightly. Thunder nodded and flew out the window in another direction, towards one of the drop points. "Aaaand...what are we supposed to do?" The unicorn turned and looked between Diesel and Blitz. "I'm not sure. Get some rest maybe?" Blitz glanced back at the unicorn. Diesel yawned, stretching his forehooves. "Good idea," he stood up, before trotting over to a blanket and laying on it. "You two can, I'll stay up and keep watch," the unicorn smiled at Blitz. "Are you sure? We're-we're not forcing you...uh," Blitz stuttered. The unicorn nodded. "Flashblade." "We're not forcing you, Flashblade." Blitz replied. "Don't worry, I'm not tired," Flash stood up. "If you say so," Blitz stood up, yawning. "Wake us up when Thunder and Storm return." Flash nodded. "I will." Back in Cloudsdale, hundreds of ponies, big and small, were gathered in downtown, just outside the coliseum where Rainbow Blaze told Soarin to gather the ponies. Most of the ponies were stallions, with a few mares mixed in, as well as a large line of guards standing in the crowds. All of the ponies talked, wondering what this was for, while Soarin hid behind a statue to avoid embarrassing himself in front of them, as he did not know why Blaze asked him to gather them. No longer than a minute later, a familiar rainbow-maned pegasus landed in the center of the plaza, facing out at the massive collection of ponies, who all changed their glances to him. Blaze took a deep breath. "Ponies of the cities below, and from the city of Cloudsdale. I bet you are all wondering why you're here, why my friend Soarin here gathered you," Soarin peeked his head out from behind the statue, awkwardly trotting out beside Blaze. "We are all here, because I have something to say about this revolution going on." The ponies quieted themselves as Blaze spoke out. The stallion checked over to make sure everypony was listening, with one mare a few moments later yelling from the back of the crowd. "Go ahead." Blaze cleared his throat, standing tall and puffing out his chest slightly. "This revolution, has taken over our land. It's followers have killed our friends and family, and are holding them against their will down there, and they need our help. This Light Assassin guy needs to see that we aren't cowards, and that we are willing to fight for our country in it's darkest time. I know there are guards out in that crowd, I bet a lot of them have friends and family down there who are helpless to defend themselves. I just want you to know, you aren't alone. My daughter, Rainbow Dash, was taken from Soarin when revolutionists ripped her out of his hooves. Her coltfriend is a royal guard, and I know he is still down there, struggling to survive. If we stand here and do nothing, hundreds, if not thousands could be killed. But if we fight back, we can save those who cannot save themselves. I'm asking you all, to join me, and get back what belonged and should always belong to us. Equestria." He looked across the ocean of multicolored ponies, who stared back at him. The ponies looked at each other, many of them talking, too quiet for Blaze or Soarin to hear. "Who's with us?" Soarin spoke up. Moments later, hundreds of hooves raised into the air, as well as many ponies saying they'll go with him. The guards in the crowd looked at each other, before removing their helmets and raising them high into the air. "Great," Blaze smiled. "We leave at dawn." Stormfire flew over the buildings of Ponyville, swift like a hawk. He was just minutes away from dropping one of the explosives onto a construction site. He noticed a cloud above the site, and flew up to it. Storm landed on the cloud, before looking directly down at the site, a perfect spot to drop the package. He dug through his armor and pulled out the bottle and the detonator, setting the detonator on the cloud, before holding the bottle of propane over the edge of the cloud. Storm smirked. "Asta la vista, motherbuckers." Before throwing the bottle down at the site, which hit the ground moments later. He quickly picked up the detonator, and flipped the switch, before a massive fireball destroyed the site below, blowing the cloud he sat on to dust, forcing him to fly again. The explosion destroyed the entire site, as well as half of a shop below. Two of four had been detonated, and their plan was working like a charm so far. The dark blue stallion then flew back to where the others had been hiding out, wondering how Thunder was doing with his part of the plan. On the other side of town, Thunderblast flew over the buildings, high enough where he couldn't be seen in the darkness, but low enough to spot where he needed to carry out the operation. He approached the third construction site, pulling out the explosive and it's detonator, holding each in both hooves. When he was close enough, he threw the explosive like he threw a ball for Winona, which landed directly in front of a guard. The guard leaned down to look at it, before Thunder clicked the trigger, which made a beep. "Oh shoot." The guard's irises shrunk, before the device exploded, ripping the site to shreds as the fireball rose into the sky just minutes after Stormfire finished his part of the job. Thunder then glided quickly back to their current hiding spot, which was somewhat hard to spot in the darkness. He noticed windows blown out across town from the explosions, stopping and hovering once to see if the explosion did it's job, which it did, thank Celestia, which left them with just one more spot to destroy. Back at the apartment above the diner, Flashblade kept watch while Diesel and Blitz slept on blankets on the floor. The stallion had slept the day before, which meant he could stay awake all night if he wanted to. He knew he'd need to get some more rest soon, if they were to go out and trigger a battle and hopefully get somewhere else while fighting back against the revolution. He heard the flutter of wings outside, and his ears perked up. He levitated his spear up, his irises narrowing on the windows. Moments later, Stormfire and Thunderblast flew in through the window. "Put down that spear, soldier." Thunder ordered, and Flashblade dropped the spear with a faint clank. "My apologies, I was making sure an enemy was not coming." Flash bowed his head in apology. "Don't worry about it, you were doing the right thing. Where are Blitz and Diesel?" Stormfire looked around. "I told them to get some rest until you two got back. I better go wake them up." Flash chuckled. Thunder nodded. "Alright." "How did the operation go, by the way?" Flash stood up. "I'd say it went good, we just need to drop the last one, then we're on to the next part of our plan." Thunder sat down on a pillow. "Which is?" Flash raised an eyebrow. "We'll explain when Diesel and Blitz are up." Stormfire replied. Flash nodded and walked into the room Blitz and Diesel were napping, waking them up. "Ugh-" Blitz slowly walked out, rubbing his eye with his hoof. "-what's the big de-." He looked up and saw Thunderblast and Stormfire. "Oh, uh, how'd it go?" "It went like a charm." Storm replied. Diesel smiled lightly. "That's great to hear. What next?" Thunder trotted up with the fourth and final explosive. "Well, we take this one to the next site and detonate. Then, we come back here and form a plan to rescue the guards, and if he's there, Otto Tech." Blitz nodded in response. "When do we take this one?" "Now. But this time, all five of us are going just in case." Storm glanced at Blitz. "What are we supposed to do?" Flashblade raised his hoof. "I'm assuming the final spot will be heavily guarded. If necessary, we need you and Diesel on the ground to fight off guards if the time comes." Thunder replied. "Okay. We better get going, the sun should be rising within the hour." Diesel looked out the window. "Which means we'll need to get there quickly. Diesel, hop on my back. Storm, you get him." Thunder pointed at Flashblade. "Call me Flashblade, or if you'd like, Flash." He trotted over to Stormfire, climbing on to his back and hanging on, while Diesel climbed on to Thunder, also clinging on. Without hesitation, the three pegasi, Thunderblast and Stormfire carrying both Diesel and Flashblade, took to the skies with the fourth and final explosive to deliver at the last site. They flew quickly through the pre-dawn night sky to the center of town where the last site was set up, just a block down from Town Hall. Diesel and Flash were set down on the roof floor of the town hall to keep watch just in case, Thunder and Storm flying up to a cloud Blitz laid on while they dropped the other two stallions off. "Okay, who's got the package?" Thunder landed on the cloud, glancing between Blitz and Stormfire. "I do." Blitz held the bottle up, as well as the trigger. "Good." Storm looked off of the cloud, down at the site, which was heavily guarded with at least fifteen guards, oblivious to the sky beginning to lighten. "Looks like we've got...thirteen...fourteen...fifteen guards down there." "It also looks like the sun is beginning to rise, which means we better hustle." Thunder turned his attention to the east sky, where the sky was beginning to turn blue and green, a sign the sun was in fact rising. It soon became light enough where Blitz could be seen if the guards looked up, which made the mission extremely risky. Blitz took a deep inhale. "Okay, here we go. Final explosive." He then flapped his wings, flying off of the cloud and down towards the guarded construction site. As he flew down, out of the corner of his eye, came a black object which struck him square in his side where his left wing was located, forcing him straight down into the ground. The stallion yelped in pain as he hit the ground, dropping the explosive and the detonator. Three guards ran over to hold him down as he struggled to get away, pinning him into the dirt as hard as their muscles allowed them. "THUNDER! STORMFIRE!" Blitz yelled in pain and fear as he was pinned down, struggling against the might and weight of the guards. Thunder and Storm noticed Blitz in distress. "Oh no..." Storm's irises shrunk, as they both flew down to assist him. "AYE! GET OFF OF HIM!" Thunder yelled, grabbing his desert eagle and shooting at the guards as he dove down at dangerous speeds, towards the screaming pegasus. He landed on the ground hard enough to form a small crater, which forced dust to blow around upon his hooves' impact, Stormfire landing a few feet over to the side. "You leave our friend alone!" He tackled a guard, beginning to beat the ever-loving breath out of him. The guard yelped, but managed to kick the grey pony off of him. It only took a moment for Thunderblast to stand on all fours again, just barely dodging a guard from tackling and pinning him down. He flipped his gun out, shooting the poor thing in his wing to hopefully keep him down in pain. Thunder spun around, noticing Stormfire wrestling another guard on the ground, before looking over and seeing more guards rushing over from all directions. He flew up just as the guards were about to tackle him, and ended up tackling each other by accident, causing him to chuckle a bit. Blitz slowly regained his strength, managing to buck one of the guards off of him and onto another, before picking up the detonator and striking the other guard directly in the muzzle with it, forcing him onto his back. He quickly stood, looking around desperately for the explosive, noticing it between him and three guards, rolling to a stop closer to them. The white pegasus then flew as fast as his wings could carry him, managing to grab the explosive and slide under the guards, knocking one of the guard's hooves out from under him. Without hesitation, Blitz stood up and looked at the fight going on behind him, before looking at the construction site. He wanted to go back and help his friends fight off the guards, but he knew he had to destroy the final construction site. Blitz looked down at the explosive, before dropping it where it was and running back to help Thunder and Storm. Thunder held his hooves up, which trembled as he strained to hold a guard off of him, before glancing over at Blitz, who was now helping fight off the guards. "What...are you doing?" Thunder strained, gritting his teeth. "I can't just leave you two!" Blitz ducked as a knife flew directly over his head from another guard, who he later tackled. "You need to detonate that explosive!" Storm yelled as he punched a guard unconscious, grabbing cuffs and putting them on another's hooves, leaving him stuck on the ground. Diesel and Flashblade watched from atop the town hall. "Th-they could really use our help you know." Diesel glanced at Flash. "Yeah, let's go." Flash jumped over the deck rail, sliding down the shingles with his horn lighting up in a light blue aura, preparing to fire magical beams at the enemy. He landed on all four hooves, quickly running over to the fight to join in, while Diesel ran down the stairs, knowing he most likely wasn't as agile as the unicorn. Flashblade fired multiple sleeping beams at the guards, striking a couple square in the head, instantly knocking them out cold. Diesel came close behind, grabbing a knife he found earlier and stabbing a guard in the hoof, which did not do anything for he hit the stallion's hoof guard, which are near-immune to combat knives. The guard smirked and tackled Diesel, who quickly began throwing punches at the stallion on top of him. Meanwhile, Thunderblast headbutted an earth pony guard pinning him down, knocking him unconscious somehow, glancing over and noticing the detonator to the explosive, which had been accidentally kicked to the construction site. He pounced next to it, grabbing the detonator and flipping the switch to destroy it. Nothing happened. Thunder looked up, seeing a guard holding it and smirking, the wires cut. His irises shrunk as he stood up. "We need to get out of here!" Stormfire looked over at Thunder. "Just a second!" He struggled to kick three guards who had dogpiled him off, his gun knocked out of reach. Thunder ran over to help the others with the remaining guards, before a whole two-platoons worth of guards galloped to the fight, quickly overwhelming the stallions. The guards on top of Blitz managed to tie his hooves and wings up, while the others knocked Diesel and Stormfire unconscious and begun to drag them away, the remaining guards cuffing and taping Flashblade and Thunder's mouths. The platoon leader trotted over to Thunderblast, who was struggling against the cuffs in pure anger. He punched the stallion in the jaw, knocking him off of his hooves. "Not so tough anymore, now are you?" The platoon leader smirked. "Light Assassin will be very pleased. Let's get them home boys." The guards saluted and dragged Diesel, Blitz and Storm away, while Flash and Thunder were forced to walk on their own, hooves in chains. Instead of resisting, Thunder gave up and lowered his head as he walked. Minutes later, the guards as well as their prisoners arrived outside the near-abandoned warehouse which had guards lining almost every five feet of the building. Light Assassin sat in his office in the warehouse, shuffling through reports his contributors sent in. Most of them had to do with the attacks Thunderblast and his friends did, while the rest were placement reports on newer guards. He then heard a knock at his door. "Come in." He continued looking down at the papers, before the door opened. A guard threw Thunderblast in, his hooves giving out under him, forcing the stallion to land on his stomach with a loud muffled grunt, catching the grey stallion's attention. Light smirked. "Oh, hello Thunder." He stood up, trotting around his desk and lifting Thunder up on to a chair forcefully, before punching his jaw. Thunder tried not to scream in pain, his eyes shutting tightly as pain rushed through his muzzle. He reopened his eyes, which instantly met Light Assassin's, helpless to get away now. Light quickly grabbed his hunting knife, stabbing it into Thunder's wing, which was followed by a muffled scream of pain. The green-and-black maned pegasus laughed at his scream, before ripping the knife out sitting back down at his desk, smirking insanely at Thunderblast. "It's about time our guards found you and your worthless friends. I must say though, that was quite the plan you had. It's such a shame you couldn't finish it and save your friends and family." Light chuckled, standing up. "But seriously, you ruined the plans for my castle!" He picked up a letter-opening knife, throwing it past Thunder's ear and into the wall behind him. "Now we have to build in the Everfree!" Thunder winced in pain, his eyes staring directly at Light Assassin. "Oh well, at least you can help with the construction." He smirked. Thunder struggled to speak, but failing to squeeze anything audible out. Light walked around his desk, ripping the tape off of Thunder's mouth painfully. "What was that?" He leaned closer to hear what Thunder tried to say, only to be bit in the ear by the stallion. Light yelped, punching Thunder hard enough to knock his chair back. He then used magic to levitate Thunder back into the chair, holding him in it with a red aura, standing a few feet from his prisoner. "Okay, that's it! I'm making sure my guards kill you at noon!" He hissed. Thunder whimpered in pain, shutting his eyes tightly as he struggled to move against Light's magic aura. "Quit struggling, you worthless excuse of a guard. Each time you do, it's one more minute I take away from your life!" Light growled, rubbing at his ear, which was now red from Thunder biting it. "Guards! Take him to the others!" Two guards ran into Light's office, grabbing Thunder out of the chair, now released from the magic paralyzing the stallion. Thunder struggled to fight off the guards, despite his hooves being chained together, quickly failing as one of the guards levitated him away with magic, bringing him downstairs into the 'Collection Room', where he was strapped to the wall and removed from the chains around his hooves and tape covering his mouth. Minutes later, he passed out the moment ponies began calling out his name to stay awake. "N-now what?" Blitz looked to his right at Stormfire. Storm sighed. "I do not know." "Son...wake up!" ... "Son! Wake up!" ... "Thunderblast! Wake the hay up!" The grey pegasus stallion opened his eyes, now laying next to a tree with golden leaves, surrounded by a sea of pure-golden wheat, with the warm sun beating down on his feathers. He slowly stood and looked around, the breeze brushing through his black mane, causing it to bounce slightly. "H-hello?" He looked around. Suddenly, a large, white pegasus stallion wearing magnificent Royal Guard armor landed directly in front of him, removing his helmet and staring back at the grey pegasus. "Oh, hey dad." Thunder smiled. "Son, listen to me. Your life, as well as all of your friends lives, are in grave danger." The guard spoke in a slightly rough but calm voice. "W-what?" Thunder stared at the stallion, stepping closer. "You need to wake up, or else you and your friends will die." The stallion looked down at Thunder, being almost a head taller than him. "But...h-how am I supposed to save everypony?" Thunder sat down in the grass as it swayed in the breeze. "Your weapon, son. It's ready. You're ready." The stallion smiled. Thunder looked down, beginning to hyperventilate, looking around himself as the world begun to spin rapidly. "Son, wake up!" Thunderblast opened his eyes, screaming and breathing heavily, before struggling against the steel restraints holding him against the wall. "Give up Thunder." Came a grey pegasus down below, with a black-and-white spiky mane, who was standing next to a similar looking stallion, but with a black and green mane, Light Assassin. Thunder growled at the two stallions. "Mountain Ash, I presume?" "Oh, so you do know who I am?" Mountain smirked. "Don't worry, it'll all be over for you soon. In an hour, you'll be executed on the same hill your parents were buried, so they can watch the end of their son's life." Thunder's growl thickened as he grit his teeth in anger. Light leaned over and whispered something into Mountain's ear, before trotting off in another direction. "Speaking of which, we have a surprise for you." Mountain walked closer, smirking insanely. Light Assassin flew back a minute later, holding Rainbow Dash, wings and hooves tied up completely. "Put me down you imbecile!" Rainbow screamed, struggling to move, before noticing Thunder and gasping. "Thunder?!" "Dashie?!" Thunder's irises shrunk, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "Quit squirming you piece of garbage!" Light picked the mare up, throwing her on to the floor and grabbing a pistol, handing it to Mountain Ash, who cocked it and aimed it at the mare's head. "Now, how about you hand us that little element thing of yours, and your marefriend lives?" Mountain smirked. "Don't do it, Thunder!" Rainbow yelled, tearing up, Mountain shot the pistol, barely missing Rainbow Dash's hoof. "You hurt her, I'll rip you all apart!" Thunder hissed. "Right, you're strapped to the wall in steel restraints, and you threaten to kill us?" Light laughed insanely. "I'm ready." Thunder said to himself, looking directly forward, inhaling and shutting his eyes. "Sorry, what?" Light put his hoof to his ear. "I...am...ready!" Thunder opened his eyes, which were now glowing a lighter blue than usual, before the ground trembled in the building, tables rattling. Moments later, Thunder's necklace shot out of his armor, which had been stripped off of him while he had been out cold, immediately hitting his hoof, shattering the restraints. He flew down, element in hoof, which in the blink of an eye, transformed into a sword with a golden handle, the blue sword and shield which glowed embed into the top of the handle, with lightning bolts stretching out both sides of the blade, extending from the handle all the way to the tip of the sword. The captured guards in the room cheered at the sight of Thunder breaking free, as well as being armed with a new weapon. He lifted the sword, before stabbing it into the floor, releasing a massive surge of electricity which blew out lights in the room, also electrocuting the guards who were running to attack him, and sparing Rainbow Dash. Mountain Ash and Light Assassin flew up before they could be electrocuted, quickly flying upstairs to gather more guards. Without further hesitation, Thunder ripped his sword out of the ground, throwing it at the emergency release button and destroying it, thus releasing the captured guards, as well as his friends. He grabbed his sword once more, before flying to Rainbow Dash and cutting her free of the ropes. Rainbow whimpered. "Th-Thundey!" She hugged him tightly. Thunderblast hugged her back tightly as the guards fell to the ground around him, now released from captivity. "We need to go. We have a country to save." Thunder stared at her with a stoic expression, the mare slowly nodding and releasing him from the hug. He then ran over to his armor, putting it on and flying above everypony else. "Soldiers! This is our land, let's retake it!" Thunder held his sword up, which fired a lightning bolt into the ceiling. The guards cheered as he did. "Everypony outside! We're headed to battle!" He then flew down to his friends, and Otto Tech as the guards ran up the stairs, attacking the building's guards. Otto slowly stood, looking around. "Well done, Thunder." Otto smiled, hugging the stallion tightly but briefly. "Let's go." Thunder turned and glanced over to Stormfire and Blitz. "You guys are ready too." He smiled, before tossing them their element necklaces. Stormfire caught his, which transformed into a sword much similar to Thunder's, but instead of lightning, the blade wielded flames. "Cooool!" He smiled brightly, holding the sword in both hooves, the fire not harming him at all. Blitz then caught his, which transformed into a sword, but with a different design, which glowed the color of his mane. "Aw, sweet! It's about time!" The stallions ran out, as well as Rainbow Dash on Thunder's back, upstairs into the main building where Royal guards slowly retook ground, while others ran outside into battle with other revolutionists. The ponies of both sides clashed in the fields, most of the sounds coming from war cries of the Royal Guard, other sounds of weapons colliding with other weapons. "Dashie, get somewhere safe. It's not safe here." Thunderblast looked back at Rainbow Dash, who nodded and darted into the sky at high speeds, watching her fly away. "Thunder, watch out!" Yelled a voice, grabbing Thunder's attention and forcing him to look ahead of him, at a pony who wielded a knife in his mouth, moments from attacking Thunder. Before the pony could attack, he was tackled by a charcoal grey pegasus wearing Lunar guard armor. "Night Shadow!" Thunder smiled, running up and hugging him. "I thought you were dead!" "I thought you weren't coming for us!" Night hugged the stallion back, chuckling. "Great to be back on the front lines with ya, man." He pulled back, before lunging over Thunder and biting a revolution soldier in the neck, who screamed in pain and collapsed. Thunderblast returned his attention back to the battle ensuing around him, which he quickly joined in on, fighting off revolutionists, but not killing any. As he fought, Light Assassin levitated up a sword using his magic, slowly approaching Thunder from behind and smirking. Before he could swing his sword, Thunder twisted around, striking the stallion's sword with his own, knocking it briefly out of it's magical grasp, stunning Light. "You think you can kidnap my friends, threaten my marefriend, and everything else you've done and thought you'd get away with it?!" Thunder lunged at the stallion, who quickly stood back up with the sword in his hoof, both swords clashing. The two wrestled for a few moments, before Thunder ducked under Light, his momentum forcing him into the ground afterwards. Light regained his ground, grabbing the sword and spinning around to find the grey pegasus no longer standing there. "Ey! Up here!" Thunder flew back down at high speeds at Light, who moved out of the way in the nick of time as Thunder stabbed his sword into the ground, electrocuting Light, but not enough to bring him down. The stallion took to the skies, Thunder ripping his sword out of the dirt and chasing after him, sheathing the sword into his armor. He tackled the pony, pinning him into a cloud, punching him rapidly. The two wrestled on the cloud, both delivering punches to one another, before Light stabbed Thunder's hoof with his hunting knife, allowing him a quick escape, which he took. Thunderblast recoiled back, holding his hoof in pain, watching Light Assassin fly away. He was injured, but was still able to escape quickly as he disappeared into some clouds. Thunder gave up pursuit, before flying back down to the battle, which was quickly being won by the Royal Guard and his friends. Most of the revolutionists gave up, while the revolution guards were tied up, their right minds being given back to them by unicorns who knew that type of magic. The remaining revolutionists retreated, leaving their weapons behind and completely giving up. Both Royal and Lunar guards cheered, knowing the battle had been won, but not the war. They knew more would come later on, and it was just a matter of time. Thunderblast walked through the field, through the slowly clearing crowd of guards, most of the stallions with some sort of wound. On the ground, at least five or six bodies of Royal Guards could be seen, each one with major wounds to their vulnerable deadly spots, mainly the chest or head. It made him cringe and hurt seeing the guards that didn't make it, but what had been done was done, and no one could have prevented it. He glanced over to a pegasus Royal guard, who was hugging a Lunar guard tightly, a rare sight for most. The reason was clear; a unicorn guard lay dead on the ground beside them, with a large stab wound to his side. Thunder sighed, wiping at his eyes as he strived his best to ignore the bodies of those who perished at battle. He felt responsible for it all, knowing Shining Armor wasn't there at the time to lead the guards into battle. He then felt relief it wasn't the captain leading the guards, considering he didn't deserve the blame. Moments later, he was tackled by something heavy. Thunder looked up, seeing Stormfire, Blitz, Otto Tech, and even Night Shadow dogpiled on top of him. "GAAAAH!" He laughed, a few guards surrounding them watching and smiling. "Tackle huuugs!" Blitz laughed. "Noooo!" Thunder laughed even more, looking up at his friends. Before the fun and laughter could continue, a massive dome made entirely with magic appeared over Ponyville, and parts of the Everfree. Moments after, panic swept across the field as guards looked around at each other and at the sky, now seeing a blood-red shield spell shrouding over the area. "The Alicorn Amulet..." Thunder crawled out from under his friends, staring up at the sky. "They're using it to trap and kill us." "But...h-how do we stop it?!" Night Shadow looked around. Blitz looked in the direction of the Everfree, noticing a pulsing beam of red shooting from the ground up. "There!" He pointed. Without a moment to spare, Thunderblast took to the skies in the direction of the beam, flying slower than usual due to his injured wing. He flew high over the forest, before realizing the beam was coming from the old alicorn sisters' castle in the Everfree, where Nightmare Moon was defeated and reformed to Princess Luna. Thunder flew lower, now able to see the castle, which was completely fixed up, no longer in a destroyed and abandoned state. He stopped and hovered in the air, just above the tree tops, Night Shadow and Blitz flying up beside him. "Whoa, how'd that get there?" Blitz's jaw dropped as he stared in awe at the palace. "Light used the amulet to fix up the castle, and make it his own." Thunder stared as the red beam shot up high into the sky through the roof. "We need to get them." Night Shadow heard a distant explosion, his ear cocking back at the sound. He turned around and noticed hundreds, if not thousands of other ponies entering Ponyville through the sides of the shield. "Uh, you guys?" Thunder and Blitz turned around and stared as the ponies entered town. "I think ponies can enter from the outside, but can't leave from the inside!" Night stared as another battle broke out just outside of Ponyville between the revolutionists and the Royal guard. "No...we need more ponies than we already have to fight!" Thunder felt fear creep up his spine, his feathers ruffling as he got a cold chill. "That's it, I'm going inside and killing them both." He continued, before going to fly down. Night quickly flew in front of Thunder, stopping him. "Whoa, whoa. No you're not! Not without me!" "Or me!" Blitz flew over to them. "No, you two, it's too dangerous." Thunder lowered his head. "And it isn't over there?!" Night hissed, pointing to Ponyville at the ensuing war. Thunder glanced between the war in the distance, and at his friends, before sighing. "Fine, fine." Night and Blitz smiled, hugging the stallion tightly. Thunder yelped as Night pressed down on his injured wing, who quickly pulled back. "Sorry!" "It's fine, don't worry about it. Let's go." Thunder said to the two stallions, flying down to the main gate of the palace, the fissures around it now filled in with dirt and rock. At the door, two unicorn guards fired beams at the stallions as they approached, Thunder and Blitz landing on top of them, knocking them unconscious. The three then opened the doors and flew inside, quickly taking out guards as they flew along. Minutes later, they flew into the main throne room, where Light Assassin sat with his brother Mountain Ash. "Ah, Thunder. Back so soon?" Mountain smirked. "Take down the shield. Now." Night grit his teeth in anger. "Hmm....nah" Light smirked, cackling insanely as lightning cracked around him. "Fine. We'll have to do it the hard way." Thunder unsheathed his sword, powering it up with it's power, Blitz grabbing his sword and powering it up as well. Night looked at the two stallions. "Aw man." He lowered his head, not having a weapon. "I wouldn't do that." Light Assassin's smirk dropped, before using his magic to open a trap door underneath Night Shadow, causing him to fall in. Night screamed, steel bars sliding over the hole to prevent him from escaping. The pit wasn't too far down, but the moment he stood back up, the walls begun to slowly close. "NO!" He yelled, looking between the two closing walls quickly. Blitz gasped and dropped his sword, which transformed back to it's necklace form, running over to the hole which Night fell down. "Night! Hang on buddy, I-I'll get you out!" He panicked, struggling to pull the bars apart. Thunder kept his ground, still grasping his sword and growling at the two stallions. "Let him go!" "Or what? He's dead meat anyways." Mountain stood up, trotting down the throne steps and towards Thunder. Thunder's muscles tensed up, his forehead beginning to sweat as the stallion approached. Mountain pulled a lever, which slowly rotated down a weapon wheel, stealing a sword from it and holding it in his hoof. "This ends now." "Indeed." Thunder hissed back, lunging at the lighter grey pegasus. Mountain leapt towards Thunder, their swords clashing and screeching upon impact. Mountain landed on his side on the floor, sliding to a stop, while Thunder slid to a stop, landing on all four hooves. He then ran back directly towards Mountain Ash, who quickly grabbed his sword and defended himself from Thunder's elemental sword. "Blitz! Don't worry about me, help Thunder!" Night yelled, putting his hooves on both of the walls to try and slow them, his body trembling. "No! I'm going to get you out!" Blitz continued to struggle to pry the bars apart, before his hoof slipped into the gap and immediately getting stuck, now squeezed in. "Crap!" "Blitz, please! Go help Thunder!" Night looked up at Blitz, who was pulling on his hoof to try and free it. "I can't! I'm stuck!" He yelled back, struggling harder than ever. Thunderblast glanced back at Blitz, unable to help him at that point without putting his life in danger even more. He turned back to face Mountain Ash again, only to meet his hind legs, which kicked him directly in the face, bucking him into a pillar and knocking him silly. The light grey pegasus ran up to Thunder, holding his sword at his neck as he shook his head to regain his senses. "You're out of time, Sergeant." Mountain smirked, pressing the sword against Thunder's neck. Thunder growled at Mountain Ash, not moving a single muscle. "Light, give me a rope." Mountain kept his eyes on Thunder, holding the sword at his neck still, while Light Assassin levitated a long rope over to him, Mountain grabbing it and tying the stallion to the pillar, unknowingly not tight enough to restrain him. "Good." Mountain backed off, taking Thunder's sword, which turned back to it's necklace form before he could grab it, and brought it back over to Light. "Oh, what's this?" Light smirked, levitating the necklace over to him and investigating it. "It's my weapon." Thunder responded, not attempting to struggle against the rope knowing it wasn't tied very tightly, giving him the chance to slip out easily. "I know what it is, Thunder." Light hissed back, the walls close to crushing Night Shadow to nothing suddenly stopping, buying him some time. Mountain stared up at Light as he investigated the necklace, before suddenly grabbing Light's hunting knife and stabbing his upper arm with it, ripping the Alicorn amulet from his neck and putting it on himself. Light screamed in pain, before being thrown off of the throne chair by Mountain Ash with his magic and into the same pillar Thunder was tied to. "Ohh, Light. The only reason I started this revolution and made you king of Ponyville was just so I could overthrow you like we overthrew the princesses. Such a shame I have to kill you now. I guess I was and always will be mom and dad's favorite child!" Mountain cackled insanely. "But...brother..." Light slowly sat up, taking his broken shades off and dropping them on the floor, staring at the pegasus in shock. "Y-you...betrayed me?" "Of course! I don't need you to help run my new Equestria!" Mountain stomped his hoof in anger. Light Assassin stared at Mountain, his jaw hanging open. Less than a moment later, his blood begun to boil. He suddenly grabbed the desert eagle from Thunder's armor, cocking it and without time to aim, firing, and amazingly striking Mountain Ash square in the heart. Mountain's eyes widened as pain flowed through his veins. He looked down, noticing the wound where the bullet went in, before he coughed up some blood, looking back up at Light across the room. Before he could say anything, he collapsed, falling down the steps of the throne, the Alicorn Amulet shutting off, allowing the shield around Ponyville to be destroyed. Light slowly dropped the gun, before quickly untying Thunderblast and helping him up. "Are you alright?" Light asked, staring at Thunder with concern. Thunder just stared back, in utter shock of what just happened. "You..." Light looked closer as Thunder stuttered. "Yeah?" "You...killed your own brother?" Thunder's jaw hung open slightly. Light sighed and nodded slowly, looking down at his hooves, before looking back up. "Hey, listen...I'm sorry...for-for everything. I'm such a jerk and-" "Shh, stop. Just help me get my friends out and let's go, alright?" Thunder put his hoof over Light's mouth, cutting him off. Light nodded, before running over to the throne and pressing a button, removing the bars from the hole Night Shadow and Blitz were trapped in. Night flew up, landing next to the hole and looking back down briefly, before glancing at Light Assassin, who tossed Thunder's weapon necklace back to him. "Come on, let's stop the revolution." Light smiled, flying up to them. Thunder smiled back lightly and nodded once, before flying out with Night Shadow and Blitz, Light Assassin close behind. After the magic field of the Amulet wore off, the ground that was filled in collapsed back into a canyon, the castle slowly and partially going with it, returning to it's original destroyed state in the Everfree. Back in town, the final battle continued on, with the Royal Guard slowly losing ground once again. Thunder and his friends landed in the center of battle, helping out with the efforts to defeat the remaining revolutionists. "EVERYONE!" Light flew up, gathering the attention of the revolutionists. "The revolution is over. Stop this madness at once." The revolutionists soon ignored him, and resumed their battle against the Royal Guard and whoever else was fighting back against the revolution. Light sighed, before suddenly being hit by a rock and knocked out of the sky, faceplanting into the ground. Four stallions with the revolution approached him, knowing he was no longer on their side, swords and knives drawn. "HEY!" Night Shadow yelled, flying at the ponies and quickly taking them out, standing over Light Assassin with one of their swords to protect him. In the crowd, Stormfire wrestled with one of the revolution soldiers, slowly losing the fight with him. "We need more help!" He yelled. Suddenly, there was a massive bright blast of pinkish-purple light in the sky, and everypony, except the guards and those fighting back against the revolution, instantly fell asleep. Pink flurries of magic hovered in the air just above the ground shortly after, as the guards looked around wondering what just happened. Stormfire kicked the guard off of him, who was luckily out cold, and slowly stood up. When he raised his head, he saw Captain Shining Armor standing there with his horn lit up in a bright pink aura, holding the sleeping spell quite well. "Captain Armor!" Night Shadow yelled, landing directly in front of him and saluting, the rest of the Royal Guard on the field following suit. Shining chuckled. "At ease, soldiers. Well done you all." He smiled, his eyes moving across the ocean of golden-armored stallions. In the crowd, a blue Rainbow-maned pegasus mare moved around, her magenta eyes sweeping across each of the guards. "Thundey?" The guards moved out of the way for her, smiling as she walked by. As she walked through the crowd of guards, her smile widened as her eyes met one. Blitz and Stormfire smiled as they looked around Thunderblast, who turned around to see what they were looking at. Without a moment of hesitation, a wide smile appeared on his face, and he slowly approached the mare. "Rainbow..." He begun. "Thunder, don't." Rainbow Dash stopped him. "What? W-why?" Thunder's smile dropped into a frown of concern. "Because...we haven't done this yet." Rainbow smiled and hugged him tightly, tearing up simultaneously. Thunder smiled again and hugged her back, tighter than he's ever hugged her before. A massive "Aww" swept across the crowd of guards and other ponies as the two embraced, followed by a wave of clapping and cheering from most of the ponies. Behind them, Night Shadow, Blitz, and Stormfire hoofbumped, giving each other manly hugs, even pulling Shining Armor embarrassingly into one. Thunder opened his eyes after a minute of embracing his marefriend, noticing a familiar stallion with a mane just like Rainbow Dash behind the mare. He was smiling and nodding, wiping tears out of his eyes. Rainbow Dash pulled back from Thunder and turned around, smiling brighter and tearing up, running into her father's hooves. "Daddy!" She cried for joy, hugging Rainbow Blaze tightly. "Oh, sweetie. I love you so much." Blaze cried for joy as well, pulling Thunder into the hug as well. Later that day, I got my wing bandaged up, as well as my hooves, and finally got some rest. I must admit, it was the best rest I've had in years. The revolutionists were given back their right minds, after being mind controlled by the Alicorn Amulet, which was fished out of the castle ruins and destroyed for good. Forty-two guards died that day, as well as five more civilians who fought back. It has been put in the record book as the largest war Equestria has ever seen since the Lunar revolt a thousand years back. A month later, I received the worst news I've heard since my parents' deaths, and whatever else really bad that happened in my earlier life. This is my final entry, before I start my new diary of life. I will someday give this to my children...well, if I ever have children. Until next time, Diary, until next time...