CHAPTER 4
Gathering Force's
Two days had passed since Iron Star’s funeral, and the mood of sorrow that had infected every pony, was finally clearing away. But even then, there was still a great matter that needed to be discussed.
Our plan of attack.
After the second day, Luna had called my friends and I into the castle’s throne room to plan for our next move. Spike and Aurora had joined us there as well, as we all discussed the new plan.
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As my friends and I made our way into the throne room, we saw all the higher ranking members of the order, surrounding the table in the center of the room. As Luna saw us enter, she smiled and motioned for us to come over, and we saw the highly detailed map of Equestria, especially the areas around New Canterlot. “Glad you all made it here, there’s something we all need to discuss” she said as we all gathered around the table, but I quickly noticed we were short one dragon.
“Wait! Where’s Spike?” I asked around, Luna looked up at me and then back to the map, “Spike is off scouting with Twilight for the time being. They should be back soon though” she said as she cleared her throat and began speaking in a more formal and serious tone. “Alright, now we must discuss more pressing matters. It’s been over a week since we landed here, and so far…Red Spear doesn't seem to know where we went. I for one, think we can use that to our advantage” she said with a serious tone.
I turned to look at my friends, whom most had confused or concerned expressions. I quickly turned to see Luna looking at each of us, “what is it your suggesting we do?” I asked her with a straight tone. She cleared her throat and tapped a spot on the map, we all looked to see that she was referring to the capital. “The Night Rangers have been hiding for long enough. I think it’s time we take this fight to the enemy, and hit them where it hurts. I believe…it’s time we strike the capital” she said with a firm tone.
My friends and I all looked at her with a shocked expression, but it was River who spoke up first. “Wait a minute, wouldn't that be the perfect moment for Red Spear to trap us?” she asked with a concerned look. Luna cleared her throat and straightened up, “I’m not so sure, I have known Red Spear for a long time, and he definitely plans ahead. No matter how sure he is of victory, he always makes a contingency plan. But…I don’t believe him to think we would attack so soon after a major defeat, it will give us the perfect time to strike the castle, and finally end this war” she said as she looked from my friends and I, to her trusted lieutenants.
When none of us seemed to find the right words to respond, she continued her plan explanation. “Also, we might have the advantage of Red Spear being pre-occupied. Based on what we know, Lieutenant Arrow was in contact with the king for some years now, making sure he could stop any of our advances. While we were at the old castle in the forest, Iron Star had told Arrow of our location and Princess Twilight’s, and I’m sure that Arrow would have told the King. Most likely, Red Spear will be using most of his resources to investigate the castle, which will give us the perfect opportunity to strike” she said with a confident look.
We all remained silent for a moment, but before any of us could speak up, the door to the throne room burst open, and Twilight and Spike ran in. “Luna! Our scouts spotted inbound movement above the cloud cover! It could be some of Red Spear’s scouting parties” she stated in a concerned tone. All our heads instantly snapped to Luna, who stood shocked for a moment, she raised her hoof to her chin and thought for a moment, “looks like planning will have to wait…set the alarms on, and tell everypony to get into battle stations!” she ordered as all the lieutenants started running around the room, sending the signal to the rest of the soldiers across the city.
Luna turned to us and nodded, before running out of the room. I turned to my friends as well and we ran out after her.
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The blaring alarm sounded as we made our way out of the castle and into the main street, and we all looked up to the cloud cover, seeing nothing at first. On our way out, my friends and I had gathered our weapons and readied them. As all the others soldier readied their weapons, others ran to the roof tops on the houses and readied the rifles.
An uneasy silence fell over us all, as our eyes became fixated on the cloud cover. “Snipers! As soon as they clear the cloud cover, you open fire!” she shouted with her raised voice, I looked over to see Spike raise his weapon. But as I watched his eyes widened slightly and he lowered his weapon and took out a pair of binoculars. I turned to see a large group of shadows cross over the clouds above us, but they were definitely heading right at us.
“WAIT!”
Our heads all snapped to Spike who roared out his order, he lowered his binoculars and began waving his arms. “Hold your fire! They’re not Ponies, They’re Dragons!” he yelled across the buildings, and we all looked up to see the shadows move below the clouds.
He was Right!
A large group of armored dragons descended toward us, and we all moved out of the way to clear the street as they came down. We all felt a wave of relief wash over us, and we sheathed our weapons and made our way over. We watched with smiling faces as the dragons landed in the street and gave a respectful bow to Spike. “Lord Spike, we are here under the command of the Dragon Council, to assist you!” the leader said as they stood in military position.
Before Spike got the chance to speak, Spike recognized the voice of the leader and stepped forward. “Son! Is that you?” he asked the leader of the squad of dragons, the leader simply smiled and removed his helmet, revealing a familiar dragon. “Hey dad” he said in a simple tone. We watched with confusion as Spike stepped forward with a confused look of his own, “but…what are you doing here, and why aren’t you back at the palace?” he said, as the faintest hints of anger rose in his voice.
Whiplash simply smiled and looked at him, “the council thought it would be good if I was appointed leader of the squad. Besides everything fine at home, mom can take care of herself” he said with a kindly smile. We watched with amused glances as Spike crossed his arms over his chest, “humph! Remind me to have a talk with the other council members. Anyway…it’s good to have you here” he said with calming smile.
Now we watched as Luna stepped forward, “so…this is what the council sends us, how can we be sure they are good fighters?” she asked Spike, while he simply scoffed and looked down at her. “Come now Luna, even you know that dragons are amongst the most skilled fighters in the world, and these are the best the clans have to offer. Each of these dragons is worth at least ten of Red Spears soldiers, just let them do their part” he said with a wide smile.
My friends and I simply looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders, but before any of us could actually speak, one of the radar technicians ran up to Luna, with a panicked look on his face. “Commander Luna! We finally managed to get the radar up and running, and we saw something coming toward us. It’s three massive airships, military class, and they’re coming here!” he said in a panic.
Luna frowned and looked up at Spike, who nodded ad turned to his soldiers, “Alright! We may be in for a fight, get into battle formation!” he yelled and the dragons took off into the air, while we all ran into the castle.
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As we ran inside, we came up into the throne room and ran over to the temporary radar station and looked at it. Just like the private said, we saw three blips on the screen, heading straight for the castle, Luna was about to give another order, when we heard the incoming call signal from the radio, the signal appeared to be coming from the lead ship.
We all turned to each other with confused expression, “wait a minute, why would they be calling us?” I asked around, but nopony seemed to have an answer to that question. Luna looked toward the answering switch and reach for it with her hooves, flipping it on, “this is Commander Luna of the Night Rangers. To whom am I speaking with, and what is it that you want?” she asked into the microphone.
She switched to the channel so they could reply, but there was nothing but static at first, we all waited in anticipation for a moment, until we heard a surprisingly familiar voice respond. “Oh, I guess you could say that its and old friend. I thought you could all use some heavy reinforcements” the voice replied. Although we couldn't immediately identify the voice, we all looked at each other, but when our eyes fixed on Dust, we saw the smile on his face.
“I know who that is…its uncle Silver Wing!” he cheered loudly and we all turned to run out to the field.
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After all of us had left the throne room, we all made our way down to the old air field where we had rested our ship, and saw the three large airships settling down.
As we made our way on to the landing strip, we saw the large metal ramp slowly lower, revealing a smiling Silver Wing. We watched in awe as he walked down, but before any of us could say anything, Dust rushed forward and hugged his uncle. “Uncle! What are you doing here?” he asked in an excited tone.
He chuckled and pushed him away calmly, “well, for so many years my family our family has sat on the sidelines, when we really could have been helping the cause. When news reached Manehatten that the monastery had fallen, we all knew that you would need help, so…I pulled together a group of brave volunteers” he said gesturing to the other ships as their ramps began to lower as well.
As if on cue, all our jaws dropped simultaneously as we saw large groups of ponies of all races walk down the ramps and over towards the city. We all looked to see Luna looking around with a surprises expression, but she quickly shook herself out of her shocked like state and turned to Silver Wing. “But…why now, I thought you didn't want to have any part in this war, you just wanted to keep your business running. Why risk all that…just to help us?” she asked him, in which he simply replied with a kindly smile. “Well…for years the Night Rangers have been fighting but not gaining any ground, and while we are just standing aside, more of your brave soldiers die…like Iron Star. So…we are taking the initiative, and taking the chance to reclaim our old land, and return it to its original state” he said with a calming smile.
For the briefest moment, I was sure I saw a tear of happiness slip down Luna’s cheek, as we all watched the soldiers walk the path up to the city. Luna smiled and turned to River, “still believe that we won’t stand a chance?” she asked with a smug look, which only caused River to glare at her in irritation. We all quickly moved to follow the soldiers back into the city.