The trio attacked as a unit just as Pinkie launched a seemingly endless assault of automatic pillow fire. Rainbow Dash immediately took to the sky to divide Pinkie's attention. Rarity stayed behind, lobbing her own pillows and strays from Pinkie's assault back toward the cannoneer while Applejack charged head on, swatting away pillows meant for her and Rarity as she pressed forward.
RD was the first to make it to Pinkie. Using her prowess in the air, she expertly dodged nearly every incoming pillow thrown at her, only deflecting those which she absolutely couldn't avoid. When she was finally within striking distance, she swung her fluffy weapon with a loud battlecry.
Pinkie dodged the blow and brought her full force down on Rainbow, sending her far into the air with dozens of pillows at point blank range, but that just gave Applejack the opening she needed. With a mighty heave, Applejack whirled her pillow in an arc, forcing Pinkie to jump back away from the cannon. Seeing Pinkie on the defensive for the first time, AJ pressed her assault. With the cannon fire out of the picture, Rarity brought her pillows into the fray just as Rainbow darted back toward their common enemy.
Under the combined force of AJ, RD, and Rarity, Pinkie quickly found herself being driven further and further back. AJ was a wall of might, impenetrable and impossible to get around, especially with RD and Rarity's pillows buzzing around them like bees. Pinkie knew that unless she could get past AJ, this battle was going to be short.
Applejack made a large sweep of her pillow, the pink pony leaping high into the air to dodge it. Got you now! she thought, and she hefted her pillow up over her shoulder to slam into her foe. Pinkie just smirked and twisted mid-air, just barely dodging AJ's blow and a swift, darting attack from Rainbow.
RD was not so fortunate, and was sent careening down the road by the unexpected friendly fire. "Sorry 'bout that, Rainbow!" AJ called, momentarily distracted by the accident.
That proved to be a costly mistake.
Pinkie Pie grabbed a fallen pillow and slammed AJ off to the side, then sprinted for her cannon. Her allies down, Rarity's eyes widened, and she pressed her assault harder than ever in an attempt to slow Pinkie down. Yet Pinkie was too quick, too nimble, and effortlessly dodged even the most precise shots from Rarity's little swarm. In just a moment, Pinkie was back at her cannon, once again ready to bring her full might down upon her enemies.
Rarity was her first target, the mare left virtually unprotected, save for a few scattered pillows from the first wave. It was all she could do to keep the pillows at bay as Pinkie rolled her cannon forward, until Rarity was forced to use her pillows as a dense shield, unable to otherwise defend herself from the closing onslaught.
"Rarity! Hang on!" Rainbow Dash flew swiftly back into the conflict to rescue her ally. Pinkie set her cannon to auto-fire to pin the white unicorn and grabbed a nearby pillow to face off against the new threat. Speed and aerial agility met land-based dexterity, and a dance of raging fluff ensued. For every pass Rainbow made, Pinkie countered. For every trick Pinkie threw, Rainbow avoided. Each seemed evenly matched, and neither gained much ground.
"Rainbow Dash! Look alive!"
A raging torrent of pillow fire bore down on Pinkie and RD. Applejack had recovered and aimed the pillow cannon at the pair, targeting Pinkie Pie. As Rainbow Dash flew out of the way, Pinkie leapt sideways and strafed, a huge grin on her face as she avoided the brunt of the pillows. Applejack whirled the cannon around, sending pillows everywhere as the nimble mare bounced all over the place to make herself a hard target.
It was a beautiful morning to sit in the park. Lyra and her friend, Bon Bon, sat together, watching the birds and ponies go by.
"Hah..." Lyra sighed. "It's a perfect morning. Don't you think so, Bon Bon?"
"Yeah. A little too perfect," Bon Bon mused. "I can't help but think something's about to happen."
"Oh, come on, Bonnie! Just enjoy the morning! If something happens, it'll happen when it happens. But right now, it's perfect."
"Yeah, you're right." Bon Bon and Lyra shared a smile.
*pomp*
"Huh?" Lyra looked down to see a pillow beside her. "Where did that come from?"
*pomp*
Another fell at Bon Bon's hooves. "Lyra, what's going on?"
"I dunno. It just fell at-"
"Look out!" Bon Bon quickly grabbed Lyra and brought them both to the ground just before a set of pillows rocketed past their heads. As they climbed back to their hooves, they heard an "Oof!" behind them. When they looked to see what happened, they found Octavia in a small mud puddle with Vinyl glaring at them and picking up the offending pillow.
"Hey, don't look at us! We didn't-" Lyra caught a face full of muddy pillow before it was pulled back by Vinyl's magic. The DJ looked like she was ready to start something. Lyra sputtered out a clod of mud and shook her head. "Hey what's the big idea? I was trying to tell you that-"
*POMP*
"Stay back, Lyra. I'll handle this." The sweets maker picked up the pillow at her hooves and stepped forward. Looking around, she saw numerous pillows strewn about the area and a number of other pillow fights cropping up, probably due to similar circumstances. Bon Bon sighed. "I knew this morning was too perfect..."