//------------------------------//
// THE RESERVES - revised 
// Story: Iris Rising: Dreamfall (retcon planned) 
// by hujan86 
//------------------------------//

The centerpiece of Ponyville Town Square is the town hall, a round tower-like building with a spire structure on top.
Mayor Mare exited the hall and strolled across the street to meet up with another Earth pony, Doc Top, only to stop in her tracks. Doc Top and all the ponies around the square were fixating towards the direction of the river.
Mayor Mare turned to the same direction. What she saw shocked her. 
“What in Faust Almighty are those things!?”
“I don’t know,” Doc Top said. “But it doesn’t look good.”
Numerous White Bunnehs emerged from the town area across the other side of the river, each armed with either gauntlet blades or a grenade launcher. The first batch of invaders crossed the bridge linking directly to the town square unopposed.  

Dash sat in the waiting room until Trixie came to her with a cheery smile. She immediately recognized the unicorn. 
“Oh, it’s you.”
“Hello, Miss Dash. I didn’t get the chance to properly introduce myself earlier.”
Trixie bowed her head politely then introduced herself. “My name is Trixie Lulamoon. I am the head servant of the castle. If you follow me, I will show you to your room.”
As Dash followed Trixie out the office, she remembered how the unicorn reacted in their early encounter. “You’re not freaked out by me, are ya?”
“Well, can't say I'm not curious, Miss Dash. I’ve never met a human being before.”
They reached a walkway, overlooking the courtyard where Dash suddenly stopped. Something below had caught her attention. 
“Trixie, hold on for a sec.”

In the courtyard, Zach and Discord stood before an assemblage of uniformed guards that is the army reserves.
“That’s it? Only five?” Zach said in dismay. “Plus they look like bunch of ragtag crews of a rusty old ship doomed to sink to the bottom of the ocean.”
“Yes, they don’t look like much,” Discord admitted, “but they are best we’ve got.”
“Have they ever fought in a real battle before?”
The captain shook his head. “No. The Reserves are usually given guard duties and some other chores by Princess Celestia. But each of them possesses a special talent that might prove to be useful in the coming battle.”
Zach felt doubtful about that however. They both proceeded to inspect the first Reserve whose sheer insect-like wings and iris-less eyes made him look out of place with the other ponies.

Dash stared down curiously at the unicorn-like creature but is actually something else entirely. “Trixie, what kind of unicorn is that?”
“He’s a changeling.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ll see.”

Nova saluted to Discord. “Nova Elite, reporting!”
“Show him what you can do, Nova,” the captain ordered the changeling.
“Aye aye, captain!”
Nova demonstrated his shapeshifting abilities by changing into a complete likeness of Rainbow Dash. “Yo! I’m Rainbow Dash the totally awesome pony and always 20% cooler than anypony in every way!”
The other Reserves could not resist smiling at the way Nova tried to act like the real deal and failed miserably.
Zach however was unsure what to make out of it.
“I’ve always wanted to send him on a spy mission to the Minotaur Kingdom,” the captain said to him. “I’m pretty sure they’re up to no good...again.”

The sight of Nova-Rainbow Dash offended Dash. Creepy on so many levels. It’s like I’m looking at a pony version of myself.

The next Reserves in line is a pair of unicorn siblings, Flim and Flam or collectively known as the Flim Flam brothers. They saluted to Captain Discord before introducing themselves in unison. “Flim and Flam reporting!”

When Zach asked them if they are brothers, they replied in unison, “That’s correct!”
“So what do you guys do in the army?”
“Neighborhood crimes watch duty!” Flim answered.
Flam then took over. “After we lost our farm to the rotten Apples in a crooked card game many years ago, we’ve come to accept it as our duty to fight crime and injustice on the streets!”
Zach looked at them with contempt. “Why would you two be so stupid to wager your own farm in a dumb gamble!?”
None of the brothers knew how to justify their decision so they decided to change the subject. “So, anyway…”

***

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Bab Seeds that make up the Cutie Mark Crusaders (CMC) sped down the dirt road in a stolen carriage. Flim and Flam in their Super Speedy Chaser 6000 appeared next to them before they drove into a cave.
“Hey!” Flim shouted from his vehicle. “Pull over and step out of the stolen vehicle!” 
“But we’re just trying to get our cutie marks!” Sweetie Belle shouted back.
The CMC used their slingshots to shoot at the stalactites above but the brothers skillfully dodged the falling stalactites. The Super Speedy Chaser 6000 narrowly went under the last stalactite before it hits the ground then exited the cave.
The brothers saw ahead that the Cutie Mark Crusaders are at other end of a destroyed bridge while taunting back at them. The Super Speedy Chaser 6000 jumped the gap effortlessly and crashed into the CMC’s carriage. In the aftermath of the crash, the brothers and the Cutie Mark Crusaders wincingly crawled out of the wreckage.
“Does this mean we don’t get our Cutie Marks now?” This was from Scootaloo.
Flam chided the filly, “Young lady, stealing and running away from the law is wrong, therefore are not a worthy talent.”

***

“Those crusaders are a menace, I tell ya,” Flam said, making it sound like a big achievement.
“Yup!” his brother said triumphantly. “The princess was right! We and the Super Speedy Chaser 6000 do make a good combination.” 
Zach was unimpressed. “Dude, we’re about to go to war, not chasing some misguided fillies going on a fruitless cutie mark hunt.”
Flam tried to think of something to impress the foreigner. “We also apprehended the Terrible Cake Twins, Diamond Rough, Mane-iac Mayhem, Boss Braeburn-”
“Okay, okay, enough!” Zach cut the unicorn off. “I get it. You two are good cops. Moving on!”
A tall but skinny red centaur now stood before Zach. He stared in disdain at the Reserve’s body build.
“What’re you supposed to be?” he asked without bothering to wait for the centaur to introduce himself first.  
“I am Tirek, ready to serve your meal three times a day, not a single minute late!”
“Seriously? How useful could a cook be on the frontlines?”
“Beating flour and eggs?”  
Zach palmed his face in dismay. “Dude…”
“Wait,” Discord said, hand on the feline’s shoulder, “there’s more it than that.”

***

Tirek came out of the kitchen, in his mitten-clad hands a pot filled with smoky, concentrated red liquid.
“Who wants to try my experimental super-hot red chili pepper soup?” he announced to the royal guards whom are eager to have their dinner served on their table soon.
He put the pot on the table, but it started going down, melting the table. All the royal guards watched as the pot melted through the floor, and continued down into the ground.

***

Discord looked thoughtful. “I’m sure that we can weaponize that soup in one way or another.”
“You’ve got to be joking,” Zach said in disdain.
He and the captain went to inspect the last Reserve. 
Zach seemed to recognize the confident-looking female pegasus. “Lightning Dust?”
When Lightning Dust showed her surprise, Zach cringed after realizing his mistake then quickly came up with an excuse. “I mean, I heard of you. You were…in the Wonderbolts, right?”
Lightning Dust looked sheepish. But it faded away almost instantly, replaced by determination.
She raised her voice saying, “Yes, I am an ex-Wonderbolts flyer. I can fly so fast I can literally create a mini tornado. But, here I’m the royal chauffeur.”
“A chauffeur? Oh, great!” Zach’s voice was full of derision.
He turned to Discord, looking displeased. “What good is a pair of cops, a shapeshifter, a cook and a chauffeur, against an army of one million killing machines!?”
The captain understood Zach’s point. “I don’t deny that. As the saying goes, desperate time calls for desperate measures. With their talents, through special training and ‘inspiration’, I will turn them into a fighting force worthy of our main army.”
“What main army? They’re still only five of them!”
It was then that Lighting Dust decided to speak up. “With all due respect, I believe you underestimated us!”
“What did you say to me!?” Zach glared at Lightning Dust with great contempt.
The pegasus stared into Zach’s eyes with a great sense of determination. “We are here because we dare to stand up for we believe in. We’ve taken our oath and I’m willing to lay my life to uphold it! And without a single doubt, my comrades will do the same! We will defend this kingdom, with our lives and honor!”
The other Reserves darted their eyes towards Lightning Dust, with a broad smile across their faces.
“She has a lot of heart,” Discord told Zach. “And can be persuasive at the rarest of times. That’s how she got herself in the royal army in the first place.”
Impressed by Lightning Dust’s determination, Zach backed down. “Yeah, she got some guts all right.”

“What’s a Wonderbolt?” Dash asked Trixie.
“It’s a squad of Pegasus ponies who perform aerial acrobatics and demonstrations.”
“A pony flying circus? Riiight,” Dash said without thinking whether the term might be offensive or downright rude. “Anyway, I like her attitude.”

***

Seven Years Earlier (Earth's Timeline)
During junior high, Dash, due to her appearance and timid nature, was an easy target for bullying and teasing by a redhead girl named Sunny.
AJ spotted Dash being pushed around by Sunny and her two cohorts. Being a temperamental person, this was the last straw for AJ. Her friend has been bullied far enough. The freckle-faced country blonde decided to confront the bullies. It was not long before the situation turned into a heated argument.
Sunny retaliated by pulling down AJ’s hat then shoved her back. The latter’s expression darkened. Her temper spiked. She raised a fist to punch Sunny’s sneering face. But then a hand caught her wrist. To AJ’s surprise, it was Twilight who had stopped her. With a worried look, Twilight shook her head at AJ.    

***

“Bold, confident, not afraid to speak her mind,” Dash said. Just like me.
Trixie gazed at Lighting Dust with a hint of sadness in her voice. “Yes, she is.”
“Anyway,” she said, “let’s get going, shall we?”
Dash nodded.
Soon, they arrived at a room with a carved cedar door.
“This is your room, Miss Dash.” Trixie opened the door for her. “I hope you’ll find it hospitable.”
Dash stared in amazement at the white bedroom. Everything from the curtains, bed sheets, pillows to the flowery arts on the walls and rug have magenta and bright yellow accents. Paper pompoms and ribbons hang on the ceiling above at the bed.
“It’s really somethin’,” she gave her remark.
“If you don’t like it, I could change you to another room.”
“No, no. The color isn’t really my thing but it’s fine. Sorta reminds of me of a friend.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, although she’s more to pinkish hearts and balloons.”
“Ooh, she sounds a like cheery one. If only I could meet her.”
“Doubtful,” Dash uttered.
Trixie smiled and nodded politely at Dash. “If you require any assistance, please don’t hesitate to call me or the castle servants.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks.”
After closing the door, Dash looked around the room, examining the furniture and decorations out of curiosity before sitting on a chair. She mused for a moment and after getting up again, walked to a spacious area of the room. She assumed a combat-ready stance and then thrusted one hand forward. The power of her punch did not feel strong like before.
“Huh, so it wasn’t me after all,” she said to herself.
She looked down at her clothes. “Umm, how did it go again? SHADE Armor, time in!”
Her clothes did not change so she tried again. “SHADE Armor, activate?”
She made several gestures while trying out different phrases- ‘power up’, ‘transform’, ‘deploy’, ‘morph’, ‘roll out’, etc.
Still nothing happened.
“Urgh, whatevs!” she muttered before dropping on the bed.
It was not long before Dash heard a knock on the door. She went to open it and to her surprise, it was Zach.  They greeted each other awkwardly.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
“Can I come in?” Zach asked.
“What!?” Dash exclaimed, notably offended.
“Be cool,” Zach said. “I just want to talk in private.”
“Get outta here, you perv! If you really have something to say, say it right here right now!"
Zach stared at the hallway in both directions.
“How about we go to someplace else?” he suggested.

That someplace else turned out to be in the terraced gardens. 
“Why’d you bring me out here?” Dash asked, both of them were relaxing under the shade of a tree.
“I thought it’d be more relaxing if we talked outside,” Zach replied. “So, what were you doing while I was away?”
“Nothing!” Dash insisted. “I was just resting in my room! Why ask!? Still don’t trust me!?”
Zach tried to sound assuring. “No, no reason at all.”
“Seriously,” Dash said. “Whaddaya wanna talk about?”
“Well, there’re a few things you need to clear up to me,” Zach said carefully.
“Like what?”
“For starters, how do you know my full name when we’ve never even met before?”
Dash’s surprise was genuine. She did mention Zach’s full name accurately. But it was impossible for her to know. She just got here and of course she had only met strange talking animals just today. 
“I dunno. It just…blurted out of my mouth?”
Zach was unconvinced. “It can’t be a wild guess. Someone must’ve told you.”
After a quite hectic morning, all Dash wanted to do was to have her mind rested, not being disturbed by questions which she holds no answers to.
“Listen, pal!” she said in raised voice. “I’ve already told you everything I know! Maybe it’s you who should be explaining things around here!”
“What do you mean by that?” Zach asked, not quite understanding.
“Godslayers, Nanite constructs- what does that all mean!?”
“That’s not for you to know!” Zach barked. “I’m the one who will be asking the questions here. I think you know more than you’re letting out. So help me out here!”
Angrier than before, Dash responded, “Geez! I can’t even begin to tell you how annoying you turn out to be! I wish I could tell you more, but I seriously can’t recall anything on how I got here, okay!?”
“Did you remember anything might’ve led you to experience amnesia?” Zach persisted. “Like an accident, or-”
“Nope!”
“Aw come on, you must know something!”
Dash had finally lost it. “I don't remember anything other than what I’ve told you!!!”
Zach’s mind was fraught with disappointment. Remembering the log files that he downloaded earlier, he decided to check on it later to see if it can yield any clues. 
Dash then got up, was ready to leave.
“Okay, okay!” Zach got up as well. “Suppose you’re telling the truth, then…try to jog your memory within these few days. Any clues, no matter how vague it is, are crucial to shed light on the reason why you’re here. One last question.”
“What!!?”
“Clearly,” Zach said, “you have no knowledge on the SHADE’s underlying workings, yet somehow you managed to activate its armor mode.”
Calming herself down, Dash folded her arms and tried to recall the event in her mind. “All I know is these clothes changed by itself after that man-bear-pig freak almost got myself killed-”
Suddenly, a piece of memory played in her mind, in which she saw herself hurtling towards the wall, so fast. Then in the last minute, the wall abruptly changed to a forest floor. Her body received a violent blow on impact. Her vision went black in a split second later.  
Dash flinched. She raised her hands on her forehead and let out a pained cry.
Alarmed, Zach caught the stumbling Dash in his arms. Wrapping his arms tightly around Dash, Zach noticed her labored breathing. 
“Breath,” he said. “Breathe slowly.”
Shortly Dash began to recover. Her face was sweaty and eyes teary.
“Did you see anything?” Zach asked.
That prompted Dash to push him away from her. “Get away from me, you freak!”
She collapsed on the ground, face buried in her arms. “Just stop it…”
Zach looked down at her with sympathy, almost convinced that she was not faking. Immediately he went to get Trixie.

Zach lurked at a corner of the castle wall as Trixie and a servant attended to Dash. A small virtual screen materialized before Zach. It was showing to him a brain scan image (similar to a PET scan) and heart rate/blood pressure readings, all of which confirmed his assumption. After screen dematerialized, Zach left in a hurried pace.

Sunset Shimmer and Trixie watched over the frail and gloomy Dash sipping herbal tea on her bed. After finishing her drink, she placed the empty glass on the bedside table.
“Please rest now, Miss Dash,” Sunset Shimmer said gently.
Dash nodded meekly while keeping her head down. As Trixie attended to the empty glass, Dash tucked herself in bed. Sunset Simmer pulled the blanket further, covering up to Dash’s neck. Dash slowly closed her eyes and dozed off.

After dinner, one-by-one the Reserves left the mess hall, with the exception of Tirek, who being the cook had to clean the dishes.
“Remember to be at your designated stations on time,” Discord reminded them all. “I’ll be coming to check up on you regularly, for the security of this castle depends on it.”
Afterwards, only Zach and Discord were left at the table. Sensing his chance, the former decided to inquire the captain regarding the Reserves’ existence. 
“Captain?”
“Yes, Lord Watterson?”
“Why’re there only of five members of the Reserve team? It’s hardly sufficient as a backup army.”
The captain answered slowly, “The truth is…I didn’t create the Reserves.”

***

Celestia was not impressed after perusing the recruitment form. Close-by, Luna was discussing an unrelated matter with Trixie.
“Captain Discord, did you actually read on her background?”
“Yes, I did. Official report is that it was an accident. Although the instructor decided that the consequences of her actions were too severe to be ignored. Other versions of the event are mere rumors.”
Celestia shook her head. “I can’t. I simply cannot approve this pegasus from joining the royal guards.”
“She has a lot of heart and is very persuasive,” the captain said firmly.
“She's a misfit.”
It was then that Luna decided to intervene. “Oh come, sister. If the captain really thinks this pegasus is good enough, then why not trust his judgement. Besides, surely you can find something for her to do in the castle.”
Celestia conceded only to avoid arguing with her younger sister.
“Fine,” she said. “We’ll throw her in with the other misfits.”
“You mean the Reserves, Your Royal Highness,” Discord corrected the elder princess.
“Yes, the Reserves!” Celestia barked. “Which I specifically created because you keep bringing in complete, utter misfits into my army. The Equestrian Royal Guards is built on unquestionable loyalty, unwavering courage and sheer strength. It does not need the absurd contraptions, undercover nonsense, and certainly not a pathetic centaur whose strength loses even to a mare!”
“Sister, obviously you're still stressed from the pubic audience,” Luna said. “Why don’t you take a break for the day and let me do the rest for you?”
“Yes, you’re right, Luna,” Celestia agreed, after calming herself. “I should take a break.”
After receiving the recruitment form from the elder sister, Luna called for Trixie. “Trixie, please prepare a scrumptious afternoon tea for me and my sister. I’ll join after I finish with this.”
Trixie bowed her head in compliance. “Yes, Your Royal Highness.”
She immediately caught up with Princess Celestia. “Please let me accompany you to the dining hall.”
Yet the elder princess scorned Trixie’s offer. “I can find my way to the dining hall just fine, servant!”
Trixie felt a bit hurt by the treatment, but she tried not to show it, not right in front of Princess Luna. She waited until Celestia exited the throne chamber before making her way to door herself.
Luna looked over the recruitment form. “Now, let’s see who this new recruit is…  Lightning Dust, that’s a nice name. Oh, and a former Wonderbolt too.”
Trixie was stunned upon hearing her friend’s name.

***

Zach was crushed upon hearing the truth. With no Elements of Harmony or the royal army, Canterlot’s defense now lies on five ‘misfits’. Despite being impressed by Lightning Dust’s determination, despite Captain Discord’s faith in them, his mind questioned again the dependability of the Reserves, when even Princess Celestia herself considered them as nothing more than excess baggage in the army.

His bedroom strikingly differs from that of Dash. The walls are painted lime green, decorated with colorful geometric murals and sconces. Zach sat on his bed with a large virtual display screen hovering before him.  
Nothing unusual in the System Integrity Log. “STAT, bring up the Firewall Log.”
He read the data scrolling down in one pane of the screen. A schematic diagram of Dash’s SHADE armor is displayed on the adjacent pane. He shook his head when he was done. 
This doesn’t make sense, the feline thought. The SHADE is supposed to be hardwired to respond only to its original wearer. So how’d she…? “STAT, what about the Intrusion Detection Log?”
He looked over the screen again as more texts scrolled by. Then something caught his attention. He frowned at the information displayed before him. 
But why? “STAT, bring up the Life Support Log.”
A 3D anatomical diagram representing Dash’s body appeared on screen. Several data-engraved symbols are dotted all over it. He gestured at the screen, manipulating and examining the diagram carefully.
Multiple FRX, abdominal trauma, TBI… Maybe Dash was telling the truth after all, he began to realize. “STAT, bring up the Travel Log.”
Images of various planets and cities scrolled past before him. 
He then instructed the software, “STAT, compile all the logs into a single archive then save it to the File Explorer.”
All the data scrolled away immediately. Icons arranged in a grid-like structure now filled the entire screen. Each icon represents a data file. One particular file whose attributes are out place with the other files, caught his interest. It appeared to be important since it is addressed to him directly.
What’re you trying to tell me, sis? Zach tapped on the icon to access it. 
He frowned as the file was revealed to be corrupted since the data presented on the screen is unintelligible. “I can’t make out any of these. Aw man, my mission is becoming more complicated.”
He gazed at the window, to see a full moon in the sky. As he watched it attentively, a plan is being conceived in his mind.

***

After coming across Sunset Shimmer and Trixie in the hallway, Blueblood inquired them regarding Dash’s condition.
“She is still in bed, sir,” Sunset Shimmer answered him. “The panic attack might’ve taken its toll on her worse than expected.”
“I’ll continue to check on her every few hours,” Trixie promised.
Just then, Zach was coming down from the opposite end of the hallway. 
“Ah, Lord Watterson,” Blueblood said. “Good morning to you.”
Zach nodded politely and greeted back. “Morning. Is…Miss Dash around?”
“She’s still lying fast asleep in her room the last time I checked up on her,” Trixie informed him
“Sorry,” Sunset Shimmer immediately said. “I couldn’t help you regarding your inquiry yesterday.”
Zach dismissed the unicorn’s apology. “Nah. I blame myself. Finding herself in an alien world-”
Blueblood frowned. “Alien?”
Zach quickly corrected himself, “I mean, foreign! She found herself alone in a foreign world and got attacked in a single day. All of it probably weirded her out.”
“But why would they target Miss Dash?”
“She was wearing the special armor that happens to belong to my guild,” Zach said, taking care not to give himself away to his hosts. “My guess is they thought she was a threat to them. I have to know how she got hold of it especially when she claimed she’s from another world.”
“So that’s why you asked about the spell,” Sunset Shimmer finally realized.
“Yeah, she said she can’t remember anything on how she got here. I’d probably do her more harm than good if I keep pushing her. Maybe it’s for the best that I let her have some time to herself.”
Sunset Shimmer felt sympathetic for Dash’s predicament. “I really feel sorry for Miss Dash. Whatever happened to her before, I hope it wasn’t too terrible.”
“So I hope you don’t mind if she stays at the castle at the moment.”
Sunset Shimmer gazed at Blueblood expectantly. “Sir?”
“That can be arranged,” said the chancellor, “as I understand she had nopony to turn to.”
“Yeah,” Zach agreed. “It’s only right that I take her into my custody.”
It was then that Sunset Shimmer had noticed Zach’s fatigued eyes, which suggests he did not have much sleep. “Lord Watterson, you look tired.”
Zach politely waved away Sunset Shimmer’s concern. “It’s nothing. I stayed up last night, thinking of a plan to take down Ragingheart.”
“We can’t thank you enough for your help,” Sunset Shimmer said gratefully.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Zach said. “I haven’t done anything to deserve it.” 
He then inquired Blueblood if he has any idea on where Princess Celestia might have gone to with the Elements of Harmony. 
“For all I know,” Blueblood said, “she could be anywhere right now. Actually, I’ve never seen her left Canterlot in all my life.”
“Never?” Zach asked in surprise.
“All matters outside of Canterlot were always handled by Princess Luna,” Sunset Shimmer explained to him.
“Oh. Err, has Princess Celestia ever mentioned any places she used or likes to go to? Maybe when she was a filly?”
“I don’t think she ever divulge her secrets to anypony other than her younger sister,” Blueblood replied.
Zach lowered his gaze, pondering on the information available to him.
“Why do you ask?” Sunset Shimmer wanted to know. “Are you still thinking about the Elements of Harmony?” 
Zach raised his gaze back at Sunset Shimmer. “Oh, I believe in it. Welp, sorry if I’ve taken too much of your busy time.”
He took his leave then went off to the castle’s training ground.

Zach stood by Discord's side, facing the Reserves.
“Attention!” the captain called.
The Reserves stomped on the ground. Zach stepped forward and began addressing them. 
“Listen up, greenhorns!” He was abruptly interrupted when Nova raised his hoof. “Yes, Nova?”
“Our horns aren’t green,” the changeling pointed out.
“I wasn’t talking literally!” Zach chided. "Now where was I? Oh, yeah. The enemies you are to face are not to be trifled with. Ragingheart’s army do not feel! They do not tire! Heck, they don’t even have the word “surrender” written in their dictionary!”
Nova raised his hoof again.
“What is it, now!?” Zach was now feeling a bit irritated.
“They have their own dictionary?” the changeling asked him.
“Urk! No!”
“Oh, okay…” Even though Nova accepted the answer, he was actually still confused.
Zach continued to address the Reserves again. “My original plan was to have Princess Celestia use the Elements of Harmony to wipe them all out in one go. But since that got thrown out of the window, we go to Plan B. We intercept Ragingheart’s army long before they reach Canterlot then engage them with everything we got. Outmatched, they’ll push us back so we'll make a tactical withdrawal when the time feels right. 
“And while retreating, we maintain fire upon the enemy.  We make our way to the higher ground and finally to the castle at which point we'll make our last stand there. We hold our position long enough until Prince Umbra with his reinforcements comes to our rescue and then let them do the rest of the work. The end.”
Lightning Dust raised her hoof and regarded the feline with contempt. “That’s the best plan you can come up with?”
“Yes,” Zach replied frankly.
“Lord Watterson, we had high hopes in you,” she mocked at him.
The words stung Zach, but it was the truth. 
He inhaled deeply and said, “Okay. You’re right. Who am I kidding? I’m no strategist. Otherwise, Appleloosa wouldn’t have fallen so easily.”
Zach turned towards Flam after the unicorn raised his hoof. “Flam.”
“We do have a fairly large stock of rocket munitions.”
“And?”
“We could modify the bazookas by adding timing and auto-feeder mechanism to it. After mounting them on the southern cliff sides and timing the delay correctly, the artilleries will rain fireworks on the enemy, the least to slow their advance on Canterlot Plateau.”
Zach was both surprised and irritated at the same time. “You could actually do that!?”
“Duh, my brother and I created the Super Speedy Chaser 6000,” the unicorn said with a hint of smugness.
“No it wasn’t that obvious! Why you didn’t mention about this yesterday!?”
“Err...”
“Never mind,” Zach interjected. “I think it’s brilliant. It won’t cut them all down but that’s still better than nothing.”
He looked at Discord for approval. “What do you say, captain?”
The captain snapped his fingers and with a prideful smirk said, “That’s why I let them into the army. I knew they’ll come in handy one day.”
Zach nodded. “All right then. We’ll go with their idea. But don’t use up all them. Save some to bring into battle, because even the strongest of Ragingheart’s army is vulnerable to explosives. If any of you knows high level offensive magic, that’ll be useful too.”
“I don’t know about high level, but I do possess a magic weapon!” Discord showed off his staff-mace weapon. “Behold, my Exquisite Ban Hammer!”
“Is it that powerful?” Zach asked out of curiosity.
“It is!” Discord proclaimed. “It can unleash a powerful ban wave!” 
Something about the draconequss’ tone made Zach feel doubtful. “Captain, are you making all this up?”
“I could show you its power!” Discord raised his Exquisite Ban Hammer up high, seemingly ready to hit the ground. The Reserves reacted by cowering back in fear. Whereas Zach, who was still doubtful, stayed at where he is.
The captain lowered his weapon abruptly. “But I won’t. The result would be chaos.”
Zach found it hard to believe him. He was beginning to think the draconequss was deluded, similar to Trollestia.  
The Reserves, having regaining their composure, sighed with great relief.
“Speaking of which,” Discord turned to Flim and Flam, “I believe you two have concocted something else in your minds, yes?”
“Make that two things,” Flam said. “We also can do something to weaponize Tirek’s special hot sauce.”
“You’re still joking about that, right?” Zach asked the captain disbelievingly.
“No,” Discord was genuinely puzzled by the feline’s reaction, “why would we?”
“Okay,” Zach sighed, “I’ll take your word for it then.”
Not wasting anymore time, he proceeded to address the Reserves. “All right, greenhorns! Whatever you need to do, then do it! I, Zachary Watterson, really look forward to your graduation to the main army.” 
“As the saying goes, if you want to succeed,” Zach raised his hands up high, “reach for the moon!”
The Reserves all looked up, puzzled since the sun was shining brightly in the sky.  
“Not literally!” Zach shouted angrily.

***

Not a single pony in Canterlot was aware of what is happening in Ponyville. Day two and Ragingheart’s forces were still busy taking control of the town. 
Several Assault-White Bunnehs were using their grenade launchers to demolish Mulia Kitchen, a cafe-cum-bakery owned by Mulia Mule. Nearby, MBPs broke their way into homes to take the entire household as their prisoners. Elsewhere, Fighter-class Mithras and White Bunnehs rounded up the town’s citizens into wheeled cages. After most of the citizens, if not all, were taken prisoners, all the constructs marched on the town hall.
Mayor Mare lay on the pavement hurt after she was hurled out through the stepped entrance. A shadowy figure with glowing red eyes emerged and descended the flight of steps, revealing itself as Ragingheart. As one, her minions genuflected and went on one knee in reverence to their leader.