//------------------------------// // 9: Invasion // Story: New Age of Harmony // by Spirit Chaser //------------------------------// Ponies rushing to collect their weapons. Loved ones being told that they were precious. A room full of ponies ready to risk everything to protect what mattered to them. Unsure expressions living on the faces of nearly everyone. That was what war looked like. Twilight had watched it all go down, and was nearly sick in the process. They were only gearing up to face the Starponies, an enemy that she and Rainbow could (mostly) take by themselves. The Resistance, however, was clearly treating it like another battle in their war. It made Twilight sad to see so many hollows dedicating themselves to fighting no matter what. She looked over at Rainbow, and was met with a disgusted expression that told her everything. Applejack was choosing to look away and Chaser just stared ahead, a dead look in his eyes. Something told Twilight that his look didn’t have much to do with the soldiers. “Don’t worry about them,” Stickler stated, appearing next to them. “They’re used to this, well I guess they live for it.” “Yeah...we know,” Rainbow said, watching the soldiers. “Really doesn’t make it any better.” “Yeah well,” Stickler muttered, seeming unsure of what to say next. “Anyway, you better find the rest of your friends. If you’re gonna fight, you might as well do it as a team. I gotta see the Commander, stay alive.” Stickler walked away, towards the direction of the Commander’s office. She had no idea if she was going to see them again or not, but she was still able to walk away without even a proper goodbye. Twilight definitely wasn’t enjoying the life of a soldier so far. “Let’s go everyone,” Twilight said, trotting towards the mess hall. If they were going to meet anywhere, she thought the mess hall would be a good place to look. Twilight would feel unsure about her guess if of course it wasn’t for the fact that after all the time her friends and her had spent together; they basically shared one mind when it came to the simple things. Even if one of those things is where to meet to prepare for war. “You’re thinking the mess hall right?” Rainbow asked, flashing a confident smile. “Bingo,” Twilight replied, satisfied that she was right, as usual. Unfortunately, getting to their destination wasn’t going to be easy due to the soldiers marching both towards them and away from them. The halls of the cave were completely flooded with all the hollows preparing to defend their base, and it was not a happy sight. Seeing as they had agreed on it, Twilight was sure that Commander Heart was expecting her to lead them. Especially if she finds out that they’d faced the Starponies before. She searched for familiar faces in the mob, but only recognized the occasional recruit from training. No sign of her friends, including the three she’d made since arriving at the base. She hoped that Clear Mind wasn’t too worked up by the match to help fight, they would definitely need him. She saw the mess hall entrance before she saw the pink tuff of hair. Immediately followed by the purple curl and light pink mess of hair that inhabited Fluttershy. Twilight turned her head to inform the others of her discovery, but instead got blindsided by the orange streak. She fell to the floor, dazed and confused. Immediately, she rose to her hooves in fear of being crushed beneath the stampeding hollows. “Ugh, did anyone get the number on that bus?” Twilight asked, accidentally slurring her words. “What’s a bus?” Rainbow asked, barely keeping her voice level from the strain of laughter. “Anyway, if you’ll look over there, you’ll see me winning a bet.” Twilight looked where Rainbow indicated and saw Applejack giving the tightest hug she’d ever seen to Pinkie, who appeared to find it quite normal. If it wasn’t for the fact that her forelegs were being restrained by Applejack’s, she surely would be hugging back. “Oh, sorry about that Twilight,” Applejack muttered as her friend approached her. “Ah’m not really sure what came over me. Ah just guess Ah was real anxious to see Pinkie again. Nearly thought you already took off into battle.” “I told you you’d miss her,” Rainbow snickered in triumph. “Now pay up, I got a stomach to feed.” “First of all, we get free food here,” Applejack started, raising her eyebrow higher with each word. “Second, we didn’t make any bet so shut your loud mouth. Lastly, Ah dunno if you’ve noticed, but we’re about to go to war so—” “W-war? S-so soon?” Fluttershy asked, injecting herself into the conversation and reminding them all of the task at hoof. “Oh, about that,” Twilight said, looking at the floor. Last time only she and Rainbow had taken on the Starponies, meaning her other friends basically had no idea what they were up against. She didn’t allow them to fight last time, but she had no choice this time. “Let’s just say that some old enemies are seeking vengeance.” “Did Trixie betray us again?” Pinkie asked, her eyes and mouth growing to ridiculous proportions. “No, its not her, but I’m glad that somepony else has enough common sense to consider it a possibility for the future,” Rainbow growled, glaring daggers at Twilight. In return, Twilight glared swords at her. “Quit being jealous,” Twilight spat, choosing to ignore the inevitable confused looks on the faces of her friends. “Look guys, these are the same abominations that caused me to be separated from you all on the train.” “Oh yes, I wonder whatever happened to that train anyway,” Rarity wondered out loud. Now that she thought about it, what did happen to the train? Surely the alarms were going to go off when it showed up empty, but that wasn’t their problem at the moment. “Doesn’t matter,” Twilight stated, shaking her head. “And you’re missing the point! These things are dangerous and it’d be best if you stayed away from—” “If you’re suggestin’ that Ah stay out of the fight again then you’re losing that smart mind of yours,” Applejack barked, moving closer to Twilight. “You’re a darn good leader and all, but every once in a while you gotta think about more than just our safety.” “If you aren’t safe then you’re in danger, and if you’re in danger then the Elements of Harmony are in danger!” “Twilight just said ‘danger’ three times in one sentence!” Pinkie exclaimed to no one in particular. “I think she may need a new dictionary.”  Rolling her eyes, Applejack continued her point. “Ah get that if one of us kicks the bucket, not only will it be really sad, but it’ll make the Elements totally useless,” Applejack explained. “But Ah don’t want that to make us some sort of treasure to be guarded—don’t. Say. A single thing, Rarity.” “Excuse me,” Rarity scoffed, even though she opened her mouth at the word “treasure.” “I was merely going to comment on my treasure-like qualities.” “You can still tell me if you’d like,” Fluttershy commented, entering the conversation yet again. “Hey!” shouted a voice that sounded as if it was always dripped in annoyed sarcasm. Twilight turned to see Wild Side moving towards them, weaving in between the soldiers. “I hate to interrupt the social gathering, but we’ve got a battle to win, and you’re kinda important in ensuring that we’ll do that.” “Perfect timin’,” Applejack grinned, beckoning Wild Side forward. “Settle a bet would ya? Tell Twilight that we’re not precious cargo.” “What? Of course you are,” Wild Side snarled, his face performing the rare act of frowning. “The Commander is totally convinced that you six are the key to winning the war! What, are you trying to prove her wrong?” Hooked on the familiar feeling of being right, Twilight immediately stuck her tongue out at the cowpony. “Well sure we’re important,” Applejack reluctantly agreed. “But the reason why we’re important is so that we’ll fight your battles, which if Ah might point out, involves fightin’. Right?” “Yeah it obviously does,” Wild Side sighed, glancing impatiently behind him. “So let’s start fighting already! I better see you all in battlefield!” Wild Side dashed into the crowd as Applejack tipped her hat at Twilight. “Ugh,” Twilight sighed, unclenching her teeth. “I give up. How do we get to the surface anyway?” “The slowing charms are one-way,” said Sleeping Shadow, literally appearing out of nowhere. Twilight made a note to get a better grasp on illusion magic. Why was Shadow randomly casting illusions anyway? “Pegasi fly out in waves, unicorns teleport and earth ponies are helped out by either race.” “What a dumb system,” Rainbow blurted out. Twilight made another note to improve Rainbow’s self-control. “Why not get some sort of working transportation system that doesn’t suck?” “Look it’s not perfect, but we’re not exactly professionals are we?” Shadow shouted, seemingly creating anger on the spot. “Commander Heart does the best she can for us and—” She stopped talking when another soft explosion hit. She looked up and muttered something under her breath. “Get. Moving,” Shadow demanded, covering her horn in magic. In a flash, she was gone, leaving only the six of them and the halls full of soldiers. Although the soldiers were lessening as they all made their way to the battlefield. Twilight half-expected to see Clear Mind approach them and say some words as well, but he was still missing in action. “Alright, Rainbow and Fluttershy, you fly up the hole,” Twilight commanded. “Rarity and I will teleport Applejack and Pinkie.” “Uh, not to discredit your magic skills, but can y’all really take us all the way up there?” Applejack asked, looking up. “Ah mean its not like you’ve done it before, how do we know we won’t just get stuck in the walls or somethin’?” “Oh please, what kind of unicorns would we be if we couldn’t at least get to the surface?” Rarity boasted. “We’ve seen the top, we are currently at the bottom, it’ll be no problem at all getting between the two.” Since growing wings, Twilight’s magical potential had expanded, meaning that she would have most likely have no problem. Rarity’s split-second eye twitch however, clearly said that she was having doubts. “Rarity’s right,” Twilight announced, adopting a confident expression. “We can do this, but we need to hurry. Fluttershy, Rainbow, you two need to take off. Without us I’m not sure how much of a chance they stand against the Starponies.” “Alright we get it already,” Rainbow huffed. Suddenly adopting a cheeky grin, Rainbow quickly flew up to Twilight and lightly kissed her cheek. “I could say I did that for good luck, but I’d be lying.” Motioning at Fluttershy to follow her, Rainbow flew in the direction of the hole. Fluttershy, who was sporting a shocked expression, slowly followed. Rubbing her cheek vigorously, Twilight refused to even look at the faces of her friends. I am so going to get you back for that, Rainbow Dash, Twilight thought. “Alright then,” Twilight sighed, clearing her throat. “Rarity, ready to do this?” “Hold on just a second darling,” Rarity commanded, darting her eyes. “What exactly—” “Ready Pinkie?” Twilight blurted out. “Ready steady,” Pinkie replied, looking oblivious to the whole situation. Although in reality she was probably giggling on the inside; that seemed like a thing Pinkie would do. “Great! See you two on the surface,” Twilight smiled, quickly charging her horn. Twilight saw Rarity’s mouth open once more before her horn finally allowed her to blink. Although instead of Rarity, she now only saw darkness, which concerned her. Did she actually manage to transport inside the walls? Of course if that were true then she probably wouldn’t be able to think, or breathe, which she was still doing. “Get down!” BOOM!! The darkness became illuminated as the leaves flew off the trees that she was standing under. Looking off to her right, she saw that she had successfully brought Pinkie with her. The party pony was on the ground, covering her ears. “Are we done getting down yet?!” Pinkie shouted, still covering her ears. Twilight helped her friend to her hooves and got a better look at their surroundings. They were in the forest, but the tree population was lessening as energy assaulted the ground. In fact, it looked like the night sky was falling. Starponies filled the sky while Resistance pegasi struggled just to stay in the air. It was unnerving enough seeing the mysterious Starponies again, only to be made more unnerving by the fact that they seemed to have followed her to The Hollow, and just became disturbing as she watched them overpower her allies. The pegasi seemed to be locked in air combat with the Starponies while the unicorns cast spells from the ground. For the most part the Resistance members were holding their own, but clearly their opponents had the advantage. The energy blasts that the Starponies were known for was being used to bombard the unicorns on the ground, while they mostly relied on close combat for the pegasi in the sky. The pegasi seemed easily overwhelmed by the unnatural strength of their opponents. The efficiency of the deadly monstrosities disturbed her. “Pinkie, do you see the others?” Twilight asked, keeping an eye on their flying opponents. “Nope,” Pinkie announced happily, despite the sounds of war. “Oh wait, now I do. Hi girls! We’re totally doomed!” "What in tarnation is goin' on?" Applejack asked, looking up at the sky. “Are we supposed to be fightin’ those glittery fellows?” “They’re so...beautiful!” Rarity squealed, her eyes shining with happiness. “Can we capture one and take it back to Equestria with us? I don’t know about you girls, but I am feeling very inspired right now!” “Why would we feel inspired?” Rainbow scoffed, hovering beside Twilight. “Anyway, there’s gotta be like fifty of them! Me and Twilight barely knocked out two of them!” “But this time you have us, silly!” Pinkie shouted, still smiling even as the ground around them was peppered with energy blasts. Twilight summoned a protective bubble around them. The blasts didn’t even hit the bubble, but came dangerously close. Were the Starponies aware of their presence? She disabled the shield, but kept her guard up. She wasn’t sure if the exact number was fifty, but there were definitely a lot of the mystical beings. She was also unaware of how many hollows they had on the field, but whatever the number they were barely holding their own. If they didn’t join the fight soon then they didn’t stand a chance. “We’re wasting time, they need our help,” Twilight insisted. She extended her wings and was ready to soar into the sky when Applejack pulled on one of her wings. “Hold it, sugarcube,” Applejack yelped, still maintaining her grip. “How are the rest of us supposed to fight those things when they’re flying?” Rainbow smacked Applejack’s hoof away, resulting in a death glare from the cowpony. Rainbow then gestured to the active battlefield. “Check it out,” Rainbow said. Twilight looked at where she was pointing and only saw the general frenzy of spells and pegasi. She looked a bit closer and noticed something interesting. One of the spells hit a Starpony straight in the chest. The creature froze up for a moment...and then zoomed towards the ground at high speed. The meteor slammed into the dirt and lay spread eagle before getting to its hooves. It leaped into the air, but landed straight back on to the ground. “Did...did that Starpony just lose it’s ability to fly?” Rarity asked aloud what they were all thinking. Without a word, Rainbow Dash flew towards the Starpony at an insanely high speed. The abomination looked up just long enough to see Rainbow’s hoof connect with it’s face at a speed almost too fast to track. The Starpony was launched a few feet and fell not-so-gracefully on to the ground. The glow in it’s eerie white eyes went out as well. “I’m gonna guess that it did,” Rainbow huffed, flying back over to them. “By the way, feel free to admit how awesome that was.” Twilight did have a slight urge to tell Rainbow how “awesome” that was, but instead she flew over to the fallen Starpony. Seeing it up close, she could confirm that it’s bright eyes had turned dark and it wasn’t moving...or breathing. Did that count as murder? The Starponies were sentient, but beyond that she didn’t know a thing about how they worked. Out of respect for her sanity, she chose not to label it as killing. She needed to figure out what exactly happened when that Starpony was hit with that spell. She looked around her until she found a hollow unicorn. Illuminating her horn, she blinked directly in front of him. “Ah!” he shouted, misfiring a spell he’d been charging. Off to the left she heard an explosion and the distant bray of a donkey. “Thanks, I think I just gave a tree the mouth of a donkey. Where’s the food gonna go? Don’t you know it’s extremely dangerous to blink in front of a unicorn?”   “Trust me, I know; once I turned a bluebird into an orange,” Twilight sighed. “That’s not important right now. How did that Starpony lose it’s flight?” “It was hit with a mass-altering spell,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Everyone learns it during training. It seems complicated, but it’s just what it sounds like. Alter a little mass here, gravity does the rest here.” “Can you teach it to me? Right now?” Twilight asked, most likely sounding and looking insane. “Whoa, easy there psycho,” he insisted, taking a few steps backwards. “I get that you’re the important princess person we’re supposed to be taking orders from, but you can’t just—” “What’s going on over here?” asked Rainbow, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Twilight looked behind her to see that her friends had followed at a slower rate. Twilight opened her mouth to explain when another explosion got a little too close. Twilight raised the shield again in pure panic. “What’s happening?” Fluttershy cried, hiding under her tail. Was that why she kept it so large? “Never mind that, how many unicorns know the mass spell you were talking about?” Twilight asked, struggling to maintain the shield.   “Uh, a bunch? I dunno,” the unicorn responded, looking panicked himself. “Good enough, tell them to focus on using that spell on all the Starponies,” Twilight commanded. “We need to get them on the ground.” “The Star-whats?” “The flying things that are firing at us!” “Oh I get it, although I would’ve just called them ‘Constellations’, because what if they aren’t all ponies you know? What about a Startiger or something?” “Fine Constellations, whatever! Just spread the word about the spell!” Twilight disabled the shield. Their unicorn friend hurried off to issue Twilight’s command. Immediately after he reached the mages, Twilight saw the unicorns launch the spells into the air. Each spell either hit a Constellation or came close to hitting it. Twilight felt a smile creep up as each creature fell to the ground. “They’re grounding a lot of them, but Rainbow and I need to take care of the ones still in the sky,” Twilight explained, adopting a soft expression. “Can I trust you all to take care of the grounded ones?” “You mean, can you trust us to remain safe in your absence?” Rarity giggled. “There’s no masking your worry, darling. Fortunately the answer is yes, we’ll be quite alright.” Twilight merely smiled in response as Rarity led their friends towards the fallen Constellations, leaving only her and Rainbow. Twilight looked over at Rainbow, who returned the silent gaze. Whatever they were now, it didn’t change the fact that they were great in battle together. Twilight just hoped that her confirmed feelings for Rainbow wouldn’t get in the way of the fight, otherwise they were both doomed. Returning her gaze to the sky, Twilight extended her wings, setting free a few loose feathers in the process. “Looks like you could use some preening, egghead,” Rainbow snickered, extending her own wings. “I could give you a personal lesson.” “Cute,” Twilight scoffed. “But I don’t think I’d appreciate you biting my wings just yet. And while we’re at it, you better keep your hooves where I can see them, missy.” “Fair enough,” Rainbow agreed. “Hey, you don’t really say things like ‘everypony’ anymore do you? Its just ‘everyone’ now. Why is that?” “I...,” Twilight faltered. She hadn’t really thought about how her vocal patterns had changed recently. Did it have to do with her personality changes? “I-I don’t know, The Hollow just seems like the kind of place where you say ‘everyone’, its no big deal.” “Whatever, let’s do this.” Rainbow ran a short distance and leaped into the sky. Twilight immediately followed her lead, entering the extremely dangerous sky herself. As soon as she was just below the clouds, Twilight thought she was going to die...again. A blast of energy soared straight past her, shocking her emotionally. She looked for the source and saw a speeding Constellation making it’s way towards her. Last time she fought a Starpony, it took everything she had just to defeat one of them. Now she was dealing with a large group of them and if she had trouble with one, then it was all over. She had grown stronger than she was then and was definitely more battle ready, but even then, could she win? She waited until the Constellation got close and blinked behind it at the last second. Quickly gathering magic, she unleashed a blast that pushed it into the solid ground below. She hovered above it for a moment, looking at the eyes. They weren’t glowing! Either she’d gotten stronger or they’d gotten weaker. Both? “Twilight!” She turned just in time to magically panic-blast another Constellation away. It shook it’s head and charged again. Rainbow’s falling body blocked it’s path. She kicked away it’s leg and gave it another kick to it’s side. It backed away quickly, it’s eyes flickering. Rainbow lunged towards it, but this time it was two Constellations that stopped her. “Three? Oh come on!” Rainbow exclaimed. Twilight was preparing another burst of magic when she was knocked to the floor. Blinking a few feet away, she saw a Constellation standing where she used to be, right beside Rainbow Dash. Rainbow yelped and rolled away quickly. Four Constellations at once? “No thank you,” Twilight thought out loud, quickly firing stun spells at them to buy time. Gathering Rainbow in her magic, Twilight flew straight into the air. Deciding she was high enough, she released her telekinetic grip. “Ok, so that didn’t go as expected,” Twilight blurted out. “What’s going on? These things are targeting us and specifically us. Why? Do they recognize us from before or something?” “Not sure, but I don’t think we really have time to talk about this,” Rainbow observed, gesturing at the four Constellations soaring towards them. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Twilight sighed. Grabbing on to Rainbow, Twilight blinked them both to the ground. Apparently she had also blinked them to their friends, seeing as Applejack nearly bucked her in the head by mistake. Luckily she kind of dodged out of the way. It didn’t hurt that Applejack fell over when Twilight appeared out of nowhere. “Ah’m guessing y’all are having as much trouble as we are,” Applejack observed, bucking away an actual Starpony. “Yeah, we are actually,” Twilight grunted, blasting away one herself. “I don’t get it, its like they’re all homed in on us or something! But maybe we could use that to our advantage.” “What’chu talkin’ ‘bout Twilight?” Pinkie asked, pushing Constellations towards Applejack for her to defeat. Applejack didn’t look particularly pleased by this plan. “No time, be right back,” Twilight insisted, closing her eyes and blinking away yet again. Normally, she would be concerned about her magic reserves, but normally she wasn’t in the heat of battle. The area she blinked to didn’t have many Constellations, but once she appeared, all of their heads turned towards her. The hollows who were fighting them looked very confused, and a few of them were in bad shape. She did notice one hollow in particular, the one she’d been looking for. “Sleeping Shadow!” Twilight shouted at the illusion mage. The mage’s face displayed extreme confusion, a look she recognized on the face of everyone who had talked to Pinkie Pie for too long. Twilight made her way over to her friend, blasting Constellations out of the way in the process. Unfortunately, she still managed to receive a large burst of energy to her side. Falling to her side, she looked up in time to see Sleeping Shadow kicking away her attacker. "When you showed up, all their focus was on you, what's the deal?" Shadow demanded, forming a magic barrier around them. Even on the other side of an energy shield, the Constellations were still trying to murder her. Luckily, this gave the hollows an easy opportunity for a surprise attack. Arrows, spells and swords assaulted the unsuspecting villains, putting a smile on Twilight's face. Slowly, their eyes went out and they fell lifeless on the forest floor. "Here's the deal: they're after me and my friends,” Twilight coughed, feeling where the blast hit her vest. "I don't know why, but I do plan to use it against them. Thing is, I’m going to need your help to do that.” “What am I supposed to do?” Shadow huffed, lowering the shield. She walked around, inspecting injuries on her teammates. Occasionally, she cast a spell or two on them, leaving a soft smile on their faces. “Did you see exactly how they reacted? The way they were too focused on me to notice their own demise?” Twilight asked, following her around the soldiers. “If you’re suggesting what I think you are...and I thought Clear Mind was the strategist,” Shadow smirked. “Speaking of which, where is my brother?” “Actually, I have no idea,” Twilight stammered, looking left and right repeatedly. “So, ahem, if you’re going to help then let’s get out in the open first.” “Yeah, good call.” Shadow motioned for her squad to follow her. The simultaneous nodding of their heads indicated that they were ready. Including Shadow, there were only four of them; two stallions and two mares. Yet all were soldiers and all were ready to risk their lives for their nation. There were a lot of bad things about war, but the one good thing was seeing ponies unite for the greater good. Nodding herself, Twilight allowed a small smile to creep on her face. After a small amount of running, they entered a clearing. Actually it was more like the clearing considering the chaotic battle occurring within it. She felt like she had to permanently keep her head down. The good news was that all her friends were there, but the bad news was that her friends had brought along their pursuers. Rushing over to them, Twilight easily knocked aside a Constellation that made a move for Fluttershy. “Twilight!” Fluttershy cried, smiling widely. “Oh thank goodness, we were beginning to worry. N-not that we doubt your ability to survive or anything, its just—” “Never mind that, Fluttershy, wait, what are you doing in the middle of battle? You’re a medic right?” Twilight asked, defending her friend as she chatted. If it wasn’t for her telekinesis, talking in battle would certainly have been difficult. “Oh yes, I am, in fact I’m only here to treat the girls in case they’re injured. Fortunately, no one’s been hurt yet,” Fluttershy explained. As if on cue, Rainbow zoomed into the ground, screaming all the way down. The small crater she left in her wake was rather comedic. “Well not terribly injured anyway. I think Rainbow Dash is used to crashing by now. No need to worry.” “Honestly I really wasn’t,” Twilight sighed, magically pulling the daredevil towards them. “I’ve seen her come out of way worse, completely unharmed. In fact she doesn’t need medical attention at all, right Rainbow?” “Y-you’re a dangerous pony to u-upset, you know that?” Rainbow slurred, shaking herself. “That’s better, anyway, you got a plan yet? We’re pretty even so I think we just need something to tip the scales.” “As a matter of fact, I do have a plan, as usual,” Twilight scoffed. “And here she comes now.” Even though she was known as the illusion expert, Sleeping Shadow was so much more. While on her way towards them, two Constellations decided to block her path. That was a mistake for them. One of them swung at her, only to hit an illusion. While it was confused. Shadow slashed it down from behind with a sword she literally pulled out of nowhere. Not learning from it’s friend’s mistakes, the second one charged her as well. Her cheeky smile said it all as she rolled out of the way of it’s attack. It only flew another foot or two before being stopped in it’s tracks by magic. Eyeing a Constellation twenty feet away, Shadow launched her captive straight at her target. The two collided with a sickening mash, as if she was preparing a plate of mashed potatoes. “That was aweso—ahem, I mean, these things are pretty easy as long as you have magic,” Shadow boasted, smiling all the while. “Thanks for the advice,” Rainbow scoffed. “So you ready for the plan?” “We don’t even know what this plan of Twilight’s is,” Applejack growled, looking battered. “No time to explain, we need to end this now,” Twilight demanded, nodding at Shadow. She returned the gesture and lit up her horn. Not just her horn, but her entire body began to shimmer with magic. Twilight took a step back and motioned at the others to do the same. Shadow’s horn ejected a large ray of light into the sky. Shrouded in the ray were large projections of Twilight and her friends. All six of them were currently floating the sky, unmoving and occasionally flickering. Twilight had a theory that the Constellations weren’t just attracted to their physical appearances, but the harmonic aura that inhabited them. In order to properly trick the Constellations, Twilight ejected a burst of her own magic into the projections. The illusion of her absorbed the magic and began to shine brighter than the others. She thought she heard a scoff from behind her, but she was too focused on the Constellations to care. “Is it working? Are they distracted?” Twilight asked, only half-panicking. The Constellations nearest to her froze up entirely. It looked as though they couldn’t decide whether to go towards the illusions or not. Twilight held her breath and refused to move. If the Constellations weren’t fooled by them...well it wouldn’t be good for any of them. “Hey Twilight,” Rainbow whispered, nearly making Twilight jump in the process. “Did it work?” “I don’t know, that’s what I’m trying to find out! Now shush,” Twilight harshly whispered back. Finally, one of the Constellations moved. It took a step towards the projections. That was a good sign. Then, another Starpony took a step, along with another, and soon it looked as though a small galaxy had swarmed the illusions. Twilight stepped forward, taking in the giant bug zapper that had captured all the annoying insects. “Now what?” Pinkie asked. “Now...it’s time to tip the scales,” Twilight snickered. It would be very dangerous to be in the sky at the moment, because it was immediately filled with blasts of energy. Twilight’s beam was only one, but it was joined by Sleeping Shadow’s, the unicorn from earlier, and many other hollows. After a bit of hesitation, even Rarity joined in on the surprise attack. The beams simultaneously striking the previously unsuspecting Constellations was beautiful in a way, but it was nothing compared to the explosion. The buildup of energy from all the magic created a multi-colored burst of energy that must have blinded everyone, because it surely blinded Twilight. Blinking the colors out of her eyes, Twilight immediately saw that their dangerous plan had succeeded. In front of her rested the fallen Constellation army. Every single one that previously surrounded the illusions had been defeated by their attack. Twilight walked up to closely examine one. Even with their eyes void of light, the stars that blanketed their bodies still shone brightly. Twilight gently pressed her hoof to it’s body. Surprisingly it wasn’t hot at all, maybe the heat left as soon as it died? “D-did we win?” Fluttershy (ironically) broke the silence. Twilight turned to face her fellow soldiers. They were all injured, tired, and scared, but they were alive, so yes they won. Out of all of them, Sleeping Shadow was ironically the most tired. An illusion as powerful as that would surely make anyone tired, maybe even do something worse. Shadow acknowledged her concerned look with a simple nod, same as before. Twilight gave her a smile, and after feeling a hoof touch her side; Twilight gave a similar smile to Rainbow Dash. “Yes, I would definitely call this a ‘win’,” said a familiar voice. Twilight turned to face someone who she’d been searching for. Ironic that he would only appear after she had given up looking. “And just where have you been?” Twilight asked, pouting. “We can discuss that later, Princess Twilight,” Clear Mind reasoned, casting a disapproving glance at the defeated Constellations as his monotone voice droned on, “right now, you have some explaining to do. You’re going to tell us who those creatures were, why and how they were tracking you, and how many more are coming. If you’re going to put us in danger, then you have no place being here. You understand, correct?” What should have been a celebration after the battle turned into a grim meeting in Commander Heart’s office. Twilight looked nervously between her friend’s worried faces and the surprisingly angry expression inhabiting Clear Mind’s face. Commander Heart was keeping a relatively cool demeanor despite being told that her secret weapon was luring enemies to her base. Although to be fair, it was difficult reading the face of a blind pony. Back at the forest, Shadow tried to convince her brother not to report them to Commander Heart. Shadow claimed that they were innocent and helped a lot when it came time to take the Constellations down. Clear Mind had oddly ignored most of what his sister said. He had claimed that despite how much they helped in defeating them, it didn’t change the fact that the Constellations showed up because of them. Twilight was all for defending herself, but she wouldn’t find it right if she did. It was true that the only reason the Constellations were there was because of them. What someone had been killed? She still had nightmares about her last encounter with the death of another. She didn’t know what she would have done with the memory of another. Nevertheless, they all still had skills to offer the Resistance, and the rest was truly up to Commander Heart. “Twilight Sparkle and friends,” Heart finally spoke up, the sound of her voice bouncing off the walls. “I am deeply...confused. Seriously, what’s going on here Clear Mind?” Clear Mind’s face actually did a good job of broadcasting his emotions at the moment. Clearly, he was angry and irritated at both them and Commander Heart. She didn’t really blame him for feeling that way, he did present his case in a way that made a lot of sense. Heart was just confused for some reason and it upset Clear Mind. He couldn’t even do anything other than explain himself again, she was his commander after all. “Commander, we’re here to discuss the future that these ponies have with us,” Clear Mind explained, “On account of the fact that they’re being tracked by a race of very powerful creatures we know nothing about.” “Yeah I guess I understood that part,” Heart admitted. “What I really don’t get is the problem.” “You—what?” “I mean sure, they’re being followed by these space creeps, but they’re also the ones who took down the creeps. I mean, Sleeping Shadow would never had thought of a plan like that on her own. Besides, it was good training for the recruits, lets them know how dangerous and...random the outside world can be.” “So you don’t think they should be punished...at all?” “Look Clear Mind, I absolutely understand your concerns, really I do. Thing is, if they can handle what they’re bringing upon themselves, then it’s none of our business is it? I mean it gave everyone something to do beside train and go on missions.” “But they could have been killed!” “Yes, but they weren’t, because Twilight and her friends stepped up and took control of the situation. Think about it: A day ago they didn’t really want to be here, and yet there they were, kicking enemy butt together better than we ever could alone. Do you understand what I’m trying to say, soldier?” “I...yes sir.” “Good, then we’re done here, everyone back to doing...whatever you’re supposed to be doing.” With a curt nod, Clear Mind wandered out of the room. Twilight watched him go with a sadness in her heart. She couldn’t know for sure, but it seemed like something was seriously wrong with him. Commander Heart had dismissed them so they could do what they had to. Well Twilight decided that having a talk with Clear Mind was what she had to do. Smiling to her friends, Twilight swiftly exited the room, chasing after Clear Mind. Surprisingly, he was faster than she expected. Their two exits were mere seconds away, and yet he wasn’t anywhere in the hallway. Where did he go? “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” asked a confident voice from behind her. Great, someone else with superspeed, Twilight thought. She turned to face the cyan annoyance. “I’m going to find Clear Mind,” Twilight explained. “There’s something up with him, and he needs to talk about it.” “Oh, so we’re doing the whole ‘friendship is magic’ thing?” Rainbow Dash mocked, waving her arms in an exaggerated manner. “That’s kind of cool, count me in.” “No, you’re going to training, this is my job, were you appointed the Princess of Friendship?” Twilight spat, feeling more annoyed every time she and Rainbow had a disagreement. “Well no, but neither were you! Celestia never gave you an official title so for all we know you could be the Princess of Magic. I mean, at least that makes sense.” “I think I already have enough to discuss with Celestia without getting into my title. Look, just go to—” “No!” Rainbow shouted, surprising Twilight. “I know you’re my leader, and I know you’re the smart one, but I know to follow my instincts. Wanna know what they’re telling me? They’re ordering me to never leave your side again.” “Wh—and why would ‘they’ say that?” Rainbow craned her head around for a moment, as if checking for other ponies in the halls. Once she saw that they were alone, Rainbow stepped forward and pushed their mouths together. The sensation Twilight felt every time this happened was one that she still wasn’t used to. Mostly because it was illogical, after all, how could it make sense that every time she kissed Rainbow Dash she felt totally and absolutely...happy? “They say that because I belong beside you,” Rainbow whispered, backing away from Twilight. “Bleh, can’t believe I just said something as lame as that, but you get my point.” Twilight was completely prepared to continue their argument, or she was until that happened. Now her head was filled with the status of their relationship. Sometimes she forgot this, but she did grow up totally alone, not caring about relationships. Now she was the Princess of Friendship (unofficially) and she had feelings for a pony who relied more on instinct than logic. How did any of this come to be again? “Sodoesthismeanwe’retogetherImeanliketogthertogether?!” Twilight blurted out in one burst. The confused and yet amused look on Rainbow’s face said that she would have to try that again. “I mean, ahem, are we like a couple now or...something?” “Well yeah, I’d like that,” Rainbow smirked. “I mean I don’t expect you to pick me a flower every time you see one or buy me a present in every town, but other than that, yeah I’d love to have a serious relationship with a princess.” Twilight’s lavender checks were most likely anything but lavender at the moment. She had never felt such a strong urge to hug someone before. Not only that, but if she started the hug, she wouldn’t want it to stop. Had she ever done an experiment on emotions? They were strange beings. “Right...so now that that’s that and all...that?” Twilight slammed her hoof into her forehead just for saying that sentence. She would have to remember to do a separate experiment on nerves. Turned out that having “butterflies” in your stomach wasn’t such a bad way to describe it. “Ugh, let’s just go find Clear Mind before my brain shuts completely shuts down.” Laughing loudly, Rainbow gestured at Twilight to lead the way. Twilight gently pushed Rainbow in an attempt to stop her laughter, only to find her laughing more. Had Twilight discovered her ticklish spot? She attempted the spot again, only to find her marefriend doubled over on the floor with laughter. At that moment, Twilight forgot about whatever they were supposed to be doing, and sat beside her grinning partner, still shaking with soft laughter. She was so caught up in the moment that it didn’t even faze her that her four friends had been watching the entire scene.