Celestia positions the sun at its lowest; dusk has sprung, and the night shall soon follow. She has mere moments to unleash her plan. "I hope everyone is ready." She whispers to herself as she turns and retreats to her throne.
Celestia was quickly trotting down the icy hall when Applejack ran up to her side. "Your highness!" She reported, "Rainbow Dash has disposed of the Wonderbolts!"
"What?! How?" She growled softly. "There goes our aerial coverage. The plan doesn't change. We're executing it NOW! We have no more time to brainstorm, or even breathe!" She commanded to her orange soldier, "Get your brother and Snowfl-- Bulk! I'll get all my guards ready at the front."
"At once, princess!"
"Ahh!" Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were tossed into a solid dungeon carved out of ice; a measly half-inch of snow beneath them.
"You rapscallions better enjoy your stay." Their forceful chauffeur boomed at them.
Princess Luna entered their view from the other side of the bars with Rarity at her side. "This battle is complicated enough with the pink one on the wrong side; but you were on neither." She leaned forward and stared the fillies down. "I could tell from the look in your eyes that you were going to be nothing but trouble. I couldn't risk you helping my sister, and so here you are." She turned to Rarity and ordered her to keep watch.
Rarity saluted and faced the captive two once Luna vacated the area. "Well, Sweetie Belle... Have we any regrets?"
"Oh come on, Rarity!" Sweetie toned down her voice before continuing. "She's gone now! You can let us out and we can go home!"
"As ordered, I cannot let you two leave my sight."
"What?! We're sisters! We stick together!"
"Then explain why the three of you decided to form your own faction and play the would-be saboteurs."
"Hey!" Applebloom snapped back. "This was all her! Ah wanted to go with MAH sister!"
"What are you doing blaming me?!" Sweetie Belle cried.
"Aw, quit it!" Applebloom spat back. "Y'all always have to come up with some crazy plan! And what do we do? We follow it! And do ya know what happens? We get ahrselves in deep trouble!"
"I'm just trying to make sure we have fun! AND get ourselves as many chances as possible to get our cutie marks!" Sweetie yelled back. "So we're not spies, fine, we'll cross that off the list. But did you really want to go through this battle the boring way? I was only trying to-- Ah!" She shrieked and jumped back as she was cut off by a face full of snow. Applebloom had loosely scooped up a hoof-full and splashed it in her face. Sweetie wiped her eyes clear and berated her friend. "What did you do that for?!"
"We're not takin' any sahdes, ain't we?" Applebloom retorted. "Besahdes, all's fair in love 'n' war." She clenched her front legs around her torso, shook side to side and made a puppy-face. "...And Ah care for y'all lahke family."
Sweetie Belle stands her ground and replies rather snobbishly, "HMPF! Well! I love you too!" then pounces at her for a 'hug'. They both wrestle and roll around on their cell floor, shouting and growling like angry kittens as they splash snow into each others' faces.
The guard whom had delivered them down here was still present, as well as confused by the smile on Rarity's face. "Are you going to break this up or anything?"
"Mm-mm," she replied. "No magic, remember?" She taps the tip of her horn.
Just then, another voice could be heard groaning off to their side. It sounded all weak and raspy. It was coming from Scootaloo, all injured and scorned from her mission. She was being held in the front legs of Princess Cadence, whom carried her down the stairs. "Looky who I found crawling up to our gates asking for help."
"Please... help." Scootaloo forced out. Her friends stopped their squabble and ran up to the bars. "My chest... is all wet... and cold." She coughed.
Cadence ordered the guard to reopen the cell. He did so for just a split second; enough to toss the wounded Scootaloo in, but not enough to give the other two a chance to escape. "Sorry, little one. Tough luck." Cadence quipped. "I'm well aware of what you and your gang have been up to. What's to say you won't go commando on us?"
"Your highness..." Scootaloo strained. "Take... pity... on a... child." She reached out with her hoof only to suddenly stiffen up while making a "Gkk" sound, then going completely limp. She had perished, complete with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.
Sweetie Belle takes her friend's hoof with Applebloom coming up to her side. She blames herself for the tragedy of her friend falling in such a brutal manner. "No..." She whimpered. "What have I done?... Why... didn't... we stay HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!" Her shout echoed throughout the halls of Luna's stronghold.
Cadence leaned over to Rarity. "Well. I didn't think your sister had it in her."
"She once told me she wanted to be an actress." Rarity replied. "Back before their crusading business, of course."
Celestia was back in her throne rallying her troops and taking check of all preparations. "All guards in position?!"
"Aye!" The ponies present in throne room responded.
"Bulk, Mac and Jack ready to rush?!"
"Aye!"
"Hallways and forward bases cleared?!"
"Aye!"
"...and Little Cookie?"
"Loaded!" Applejack answered with gusto and a salute.
"Alright! Twilight..." Her student locks eyes. "Be ready to give the command... It's time for me to set the sun..."
Luna and Fluttershy were atop a watch tower surveying the battlefield. They both took note of the odd silence from both ends. "Um..." Fluttershy tried to speak up. "Might have they retreated? Th-they haven't fought back for ten minutes now." She was timid at the assumption that something akin to an explosion could catch her off-guard.
"No." Luna deadpanned. "They're planning something..." As her troops backed up toward the fort out of instinct, she noticed Twilight stand up on Celestia's front tower. Luna ordered her soldiers to get back to their side of the field as the sun began to set completely.
Twilight met no opposition as she dove from the tower, grabbed onto the corner of one of the walls, and seemed to... peel it away.
"A tarp?!" Luna gasped. The "Pink one" was able to disguise the front of Celestia's castle with a blanket of some sorts that camouflaged flawlessly with the rest of the castle. A large corridor was revealed as the sun's light completely dissipated.
With the night finally upon them, Twilight gave the command. "CHAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGE!!!!"
All of Celestia's ground troops flooded out of the opening and shouted a war-cry in unison. They assaulted with an unending barrage of suppressing fire to stifle the lunar forces as they charged forward like a freight train. Few were lost from a returning effort.
Luna looked down to Fluttershy ordering her to alert Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the rest of her guards to return to the field to defend.
Not ten seconds after the attack was initiated, Twilight shouted, "GO LITTLE COOKIE!!"
A fleet of pegasus guards flew out in a collective formation, creating a shield to protect the true fruits of their labour: A colossal ball of snow bigger than the princesses themselves was being carried in a haste by Bulk Biceps and Big Mac at the sides, Applejack in the back, and Pinkie hunched over in the front for stability. They had the "bomb" cradled in their front legs as they trotted forward in a manner foreign to them, making it somewhat difficult to carry.
Several pegasus guards were receiving direct fire for the sake of defending the muscle.
Luna could tell that it was not going to slow down. She had mere moments to retreat to her throne; she didn't want to risk having the tower she's standing on crumble beneath her when it hits.
When they arrived at the front gates, Pinkie dove forward while yelling "Heave!" to signal the toss. The three behind her used the momentum from their charge and raw upper-body strength to launch the bomb into the air. Pinkie quickly got back onto her hooves and gathered up smaller balls.
The bomb was meters away when Rainbow Dash had the stupidity nobility to fly right into its path. She didn't slow it down in the least, as it hit her like a ton of bricks and sandwiched her between it and the target wall before reducing it to rubble. She could feel the immense pressure being exerted onto her; all this snow engulfing and compressing her convinced her she wouldn't make it out alive. Fortunately, or possibly not, having been a pegasus whom has endured many a crash, her skeleton could amazingly withstand the unstoppable force. She wish it had taken her out with the wall, and yet, as she felt herself slide along the ground, trapped under Little Cookie, she felt a strange urge to dig herself out and breathe air once more.
The bomb travelled with enough force to break over into the doors that led into Luna's throne room. They toppled over as the bomb came to a halt.
As a critically injured Rainbow Dash dug out and crawled from the pile, all Luna could think when she was met with the exposed sky was oops... forgot to raise the moon.
"Haha!!" Pinkie proclaimed victoriously as she stood atop the destroyed wall. The lunar guards too feared for their own lives to offer resistance from her rear. "Your reign has come to a permanent end, your lowness!!" As Luna twisted to hide behind her throne, Pinkie looked down to see Rainbow Dash looking back up to her in despair. "Oh?! What is THIS?! Poor little element of loyalty got her wings clipped?!" She reared back and cackled maniacally in victory on her hind legs.
Rainbow Dash turned her head and laid it down to await the killing shot.
Pinkie's laughter was interrupted by a sudden super-fast snowball hitting her square in the back of her throat, and then another, and then another, it was like some sort of machine gun unloading relentlessly into her mouth. She could not get a good look at her assailant, she was too shocked by the surprise, as well as feeling her head get larger as the snowballs quickly stockpiled within her inflating cheeks.
Rainbow Dash could hear Pinkie's garbling. She opened her eyes and turned in the direction of the source. She could not believe it... Fluttershy was bending over, gathering snow in her front hooves, and tossing snowballs in perfectly straight lines at the same target area in what seemed like flashes. She was moving at an unimaginable speed. But one thing was distinguishable inside that heroic blur, one angry and vengeful face. How she was getting all that snow from the one small area of ground she was standing on was a matter only Pinkie could understand.
Every soldier on the field was in absolute shock of Pinkie's head getting bigger from collecting all those snowballs. The Lunar guards near the wreckage of the wall were especially in awe, as seeing the action this up close, Pinkie's head blotting out the impromptu entrance to Luna's castle, was too much of a "need-to-see-to-believe" kind of scenario. "Holy Harbingers..." one of them whispered.
Fluttershy finally stopped her attack. Pinkie now had to deal with balancing her new top-heavy cargo while desperately trying not to choke. Fluttershy flew to the top her head, grabbed hold, and spun it around to face the field. She hopped down to Pinkie's torso and gave the Heimlich, causing Pinkie to jerk her humongous head back and spit out the entire collection of snowballs into the air, which all remarkably kept their individual shapes.
The soldiers all got the bright idea to head back to their respective bases for cover. A much easier task for the lunar forces, as their enemy had an entire garden to sprint across.
The balls all bombarded the entire battlefield one-by-one. The slaughter was over-whelming. Few of Luna's guards were lost as the rest successfully sought shelter. Celestia's army fared much worse... She and Twilight were still atop a watch tower watching their valiant fighters fall to brutal aerial shots as some of the balls almost hit them directly. Spike decided right then and there to abandon his place on Twilight's back and get under something solid. Celestia and her student soon followed.
The unbearable onslaught took the lives of too many solar guards. Applejack was one of the few lucky enough to dodge all the shots that would have otherwise taken her out and get back to the fortress. She looked back in horror to see her brother and Bulk were among the many souls claimed by the terrible hailstorm.
After a half-minute which seemed like an eternity, the nightmare had ceased. The lunar guards all peak out toward the opposition's castle.
Fluttershy had pulled Rainbow Dash out of her entombment and allowed her to rest on the floor. She walked back to the top of the pile and took a stance just above the weakened Pinkie Pie. She reached a hoof up to her cream-coloured adversary and begged. "Please... I need to... use the bathroom..." and passed out.
Fluttershy was frightened by the sudden booming voice coming from just behind her. "ATTAAAAACK!!" Luna shouted.
Every able-bodied guard immediately made a full-on rush toward the solar fort whilst yelling out "Hoowaaaaaah!!"
Celestia ordered all of her troops to retreat to the throne room and barricade the entrance.
Back in the throne room, she was really uneased by the small amount of soldiers she had left: Only a few dozen, maybe less. She had her earth-pony guards and Applejack hold the doors closed from the bottom, the pegasi do the same from higher up, and her unicorns use every bit of excess snow to fortify the front walls. She, Twilight and Spike all stood a fair distance away from the entrance.
The doors were being rammed, almost cracking if it weren't for how thick they were built. Solar guards staying strong; the door has not gotten more than a crack open for longer than an instant.
Celestia refused to take chances and just hopped back to her throne, toppling it over backwards. She repositioned it to form a makeshift wall and called to Twilight to come back to her. Twilight refused, choosing to make sure she was the first princess to fall. Spike, however, took up her offer.
The lunar soldiers were certainly acting more aggressive. Just as suspected, they were all well-rested and giving their full effort. Only a small group of guards could ram into the doors at a time due to the surprisingly cramped space of the corridor; it became a lot smaller now that Luna had dozens of her troops in such close quarters.
Celestia's guards were beginning to falter at the door. Fatigue, slipping, and the onsets of a couple of colds were starting to spell out doom.
Spike poked Celestia in her side from behind the throne barricade. "You said 'no magic', but does that mean I'm not allowed to use my fire either?" He inquired.
Celestia gave a defeated response. "As much I'd love to let you save us with it, it would be unfair to them."
"Then I'm going to one of the back corners." Spike bolted off to avoid the inevitable break-in.
Each ram on the door was more successful than the last; the solar guards weakening from every impact. Twilight could do nothing to help directly, as every inch of the door was already covered. She tried to encourage them to stay strong; that Luna would give up at some point. She knew it wasn't true. She wanted to convince herself that she was going to make it out okay, but for the sake of her beloved teacher and friend, she stood in the middle of the path to brace for the attack.
The ramming stopped momentarily. Some of the guards made the crucial mistake of letting themselves relax. Luna knew that at least a couple of them would do so, and it was all she needed.
One more hard shove and the doors flung open, sending Applejack and the guards flying off to the sides.
Twilight and the unicorn guards immediately started chucking snowballs at the thestrals flooding into the room. They were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and were swiftly dispatched.
"Twilight!" Applejack called out to her friend as the guards regained their bearings. They all tried to get in the path to delay their final defeat. Applejack tried in vain to get a hit on Rainbow Dash whom soon flown in, only to be hit in return. Some of her allies were unable to throw a single shot.
Celestia was peaking over the edge of her throne. Luna was clear in her sights, and flying right toward her. She had a chance to win after all: If she could just land one solid throw in a vital area, Luna would fall, and she would be victorious. She tossed a snowball at her sister, only to see her weave around it and throw a ball of her own which grazed the base of neck. Celestia was taken aback by the hit. She clenched the wounded area and wobbled back away from the relative safety of her shield.
Luna promptly tossed another ball which hit her sister in the stomach, causing her to skip back and land on her back. She landed on the ground on the other side of the fallen throne, stretched out to her sides with her fore-legs and wings and clumped together a giant pile of snow. She held it firmly in place as she jumped into the air, ready to drop it down on her weakened sister.
Celestia saw the tool of her destruction coming down toward her. Her life flashing before her eyes, she instinctively held her front legs out toward it. A fruitless effort; the snow clump had completely covered her entire body. The sound of the impact alerting everypony in the room and causing them to gasp. Celestia's front legs fell over to the sides. She had been bested... and defeated.
Luna landed on top of her snow-coated enemy and turned to face her subjects and those they've dispatched. "Ha-HAH!" She proclaimed. "The empire of the moon is victorious! All measly sun followers bow down to your new one and only leader!" She laughed maniacally, flinging her front hooves into the air. Her laughter soon reduced to cheerful cackling as she fell over to her back beside her sister.
Celestia took it as a sign to sit upright and swipe the snow off of herself. As everyone's eyes were glued to her, she answered. "Alright, everypony! Thank you all very much for participating! I hope you all had fun! You're all dismissed."
Everypony in the room all started to get up and leave them room, helping each other up and congratulating on a battle well fought.
Applejack caught up with Rarity and gave her piece. "Ah'm sure y'all were an imperative asset to your team." She said sarcastically as they shook hooves.
"But of course!" Rarity replied poshly. "Who else would have been the dungeon warden? Speaking of which, we should go release our sisters."
"Ya got 'em imprisoned?"
"Mm-hm. Now come on. It's past their bedtime." She leads them out the room.
Luna had finally calmed herself and grabbed her sister's hoof. She looked up with the most delighted smile. "You are the best sister ever."
Celestia decided to lay back down. "Oh. You know I'd do anything for you. I love you."
"I love you too, Tia." Luna shuffled up close to her and brought their faces close to one another. She was inches away from her when... "Do you wanna build a snow-mare?"
Celestia hopped to her hooves. "One that towers over the castle!"
"What?! Really?!"
"Absolutely! It will be one for the generations." They both started to exit the throne room.
"But how exactly are we supposed to get all that snow? Surely we won't have enough from just the royal grounds."
"Then we shall instigate a snow tax!"
"A snow tax? Sister, that sounds absurd."
"Oh, Luna... where is your imagination?"