//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Civil War of Harmony // by SC_Orion //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle The morning sun beat down on my back as I looked out at the construction project before me. Ponies wearing orange vests and yellow helmets walked about, multiple unicorns each working together to levitate heavy steel beams, pegasi directing the progress from above, and earth ponies carrying various power tools for working with construction materials. The sounds of construction droned on, reinforcing any conclusions anypony would come up with about what was going on. The large skeleton of the lab looked so out of place, being on the outskirts of Ponyville near my castle. The steel frame and concrete basement was costing quite a pretty bit. However, it would provide me, and any scientists I could get, with a much more suitable environment for testing experiments in controlled conditions. The structure was a low one, I wanted it to be built mostly underground, for safety reasons, having just the ground floor above ground, and three levels beneath it for pure science. The thought made me giddy, I smiled with glee as I imagined what kind of experiments I could perform here that were too dangerous to do inside my castle, or needed too much control for outside. I would have thought excavating three levels' worth of dirt and debris for the structure would have taken longer, but there really is a spell for everything. Well, that and modifying a teleportation spell to cut away at the earth and move it elsewhere was pretty easy. My help had reduced the price of building the lab a bit. Every bit saved meant more bits that could be put towards equipment and staff for the lab. "It seems to be progressing nicely." I commented with no lack of happiness at the rate of construction for the lab. "Mm yes..." Mayor Mare answered, I heard the sounds of pages being flipped through, "The lab structure should be complete in a few weeks, it will take longer to finish the interior and furnish it with equipment, however." I nodded my head, 'Yes, it will take longer to complete the entire project than just to build it... But it will be done soon enough.' I turned, and started walking back towards the castle, eliciting Mayor Mare and my personal guard to follow. The walk back took only a few minutes at a leisurely pace, and was met with serene quietness, strongly contrasting with the construction site. The guards at the castle doors saluted me as I approached, I nodded in response, acknowledging their greeting. They opened the door for me, and then one of the guards began to speak in an even tone, not betraying his stoic expression, "Princess, General Spitfire wanted us to inform you that she wishes to see you upon your return." "Thank you." I nodded with a smile. I pondered what Spitfire could want as I walked inside, followed by Mayor Mare and my guard. I turned to the mayor, "You may go, thank you." She politely bowed her head before turning and wandering off to take care of other business. 'Right, now to find Spitfire... Where would she be...' I frowned in thought, she certainly had taken to her promotion with vigor, easily outperforming what I had expected of her. She seemed to always be on the move, making sure things were in order, and properly prepared for whenever I gave the order to... Attack... I shook my head and set off towards the war room, taking a left off the side of the room. If she wasn't there, at least I would find somepony who could tell me where she was at the moment. My hooves carried me to my destination, almost without thought, freeing up my mind to ponder what she might have to say. I smiled as I realized it must be a report from the spies she recommended placing in Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's armies. 'Yes, that must be it. Well, either that or bad news...' I bit my lip. After a few minutes of walking, I approached the crystalline door to the war room, I opened it with my magic and walked inside. The room had originally been an unused living room area, it was quite spacious, the ceiling easily being tall enough for pegasi to fly about. Of course, the room had been heavily modified recently, to provide a better command and control center. Once I began my attack, this room would be filled with ponies darting about... I shook my head and unfurled my wings, then jumped into the air with a single, powerful thrust, followed closely by Rainbow. I flew up to the second level of the room, where the meeting table was. Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot came into view as I landed on the second level. Spitfire rose from her sitting position and immediately saluted me, "Princess." I raised a hoof, eliciting them to remain seated, "Please skip the formalities. General, you had something for me?" "Ah, yes, Princess. I received word that one of our spies has successfully infiltrated Princess Luna's ranks." She smiled with a hint of pride. I nodded my head, mostly to myself. "That's good... Anything about the others, or about the spies sent to infiltrate Princess Celestia's ranks?" Spitfire shook her head, "Not yet, Princess. This is something that rushing would be a bad idea." I nodded, "Thank you." I paused for a moment to think, "Has Bon Bon said anything yet?" Spitfire looked confused, "Bon Bon? You mean the spy?" I nodded. "Nothing yet, Princess." I sighed and shook my head. "I'll be around the castle if something comes up." I lit my horn, and teleported Rainbow and myself to my room. We disappeared and reappeared with a flash of light and a popping sound. I felt a sudden shiver run down my spine, something was wrong... That feeling... My senses went into overdrive, my eyes darted about the room in front of me. It looked normal... But darker... Then it hit me, "Princess Luna..." Rainbow turned around before I did, but just a fraction of a second faster. Princess Luna was standing in a shadow by the door. Rainbow stepped in front of me and took a defensive posture, foolish as it was. If Princess Luna wanted to hurt me, she wouldn't be able to stop her, merely slow her down. I stepped forwards and used a hoof to motion Rainbow to stand down, she looked at me with concern. I nodded my head in a calm manor, and smiled, then I turned back to Princess Luna and took another step forwards. "I assume you have a reason for this visit?" Princess Luna stepped forwards, out of the shadow, "I am aware of your growing military strength, and that Cloudsdale and the Wonderbolts are now yours. I know you do not wish to see me take the throne of Equestria, but I also know you don't believe my sister-" she spat the word 'sister' out like a curse, "-is competent enough to rule. She has acquired the help of your brother and Cadance. The Crystal Empire supports her. My forces will be attacking her forces in several places soon, the ensuring chaos should open a chance for you to attack her also, despite your relatively small army. We don't have to be enemies." I thought about it for a bit, 'This does give me an opportunity... But it would merely delay my conflict with her...' Neither of them were fit to rule, both acting like fools... However, delaying conflict with Princess Luna would save my forces... But it would allow her to focus on Princess Celestia, eventually one of them would win and then I would have to fight the other at full strength... I would have to talk with my council about this. "I will... Consider your offer." I answered. Princess Luna smiled, "I will await your response." She lit her horn and disappeared in a flash of pale, blue light. The sense that something was wrong immediately left when she did, much to my delight. "How did she get passed the guards?" Rainbow's voice conveyed unease. I turned to her and smiled softly, "I don't think she would outright try to attack me that way..." I raised a hoof to my regalia, and smiled, "Besides, if she did, I wouldn't be completely defenseless..." Ponyville Safe House, three thirty-four P.M., I rapped my hoof against the firm wooden door, three times, and then I paused a short duration. I repeated the action three times, the signal we had in place for alerting the team if the timetable of an operation had moved up. After a few seconds, the door slowly opened, and I stepped inside the dim room. The light suddenly turned on, revealing the safe house, and it's occupants. The two pegasi and unicorn gathered in a semicircle to face me. "The time table has been moved forwards, intel indicates that Princess Luna's forces are preparing to move out. Princess Celestia just had a meeting with Director Tap and gave the order to capture the target,the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. She wants it done today, ponies." The grey coated unicorn stepped forwards, she spoke with a thick Manehatton accent, "That requires a complete revision of our plans. We need to lure her out then, how will we do that? I smiled, "Actually, we won't have to lure her out. She is currently in the Everfree Forest, watching over Fluttershy, the bearer of the Element of Kindness... She is likely gathering herbs. She won't be a problem, we just need to separate them. Princess Celestia wouldn't be happy if we were to damage her psyche." "The Everfree Forest? You can't be serious." The dark grey pegasus stallion shook his head. "I am. We are outfitted to handle the monsters in the Everfree." There were several moans from the assembled ponies, I shook my head and frowned. "They took the main path into the Everfree, we will go through the brush on either side. When we encounter them, I will draw her out. We will regroup on whichever side she is lured into, and capture her. Once she is captured, we will move to transport her to Canterlot." I paused to think over my plan, it sounded good enough. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back." "We're not even at our full force, they have Agent Sweetie Drops..." I grimaced, "We can't do anything for her right now." I steeled my resolve, "We have a mission, get to it ponies." I commanded. The semicircle of ponies slowly dispersed, unhappy about their mission. I wasn't happy about it either, but it had to be done. It wasn't my job to question orders or why Princess Celestia wanted us to capture the Element of Loyalty, rather than capturing Princess Twilight Sparkle, the real threat. I shook my head, and followed the rest of my team into the basement. Once at the bottom of the stairs, I put a hoof on the trigger stone, and pushed it in while twisting it. There was a click, signaling the activation of the mechanism to open the hidden compartment with our supplies. I turned towards the opposite wall and watched as the rock facade slid into the ground beneath it, and revealed the equipment cache. My team and I walked over to the cache, and began putting on our saddlebags. We had a vast assortment of items to choose from for our mission, potions, armor, daggers that could be strapped to our hooves, rope, night-vision goggles, maps, dyes, and no small amount of classified chemicals, ones that could cause explosions, or create smokescreens. Of course, wearing armor would be suspicious, however the armor could be disassembled, and then later reassembled. It was lightweight, and enchanted to provide better protection. There were perks to the safe house being on the edge of Ponyville, however. One being away from the crowded population center where ponies would be curious about the many comings and goings of ponies from this place with saddlebags. Another was that the safe house was out of the way, not where one would expect a Black Ops center to be located. I picked up a dagger, and analyzed the blade as it gleamed in the light of my magic aura. Princess Celestia wanted her alive. She was very specific on that. She didn't say unharmed, however, and she would likely put up a fight. Being a pegasus, and a Wonderbolt, it would likely be hard to land a knockout or stun spell on her. I quickly put the dagger in my saddlebag, and moved onto the next item, picking up a smokescreen charge and carefully placing it in my saddlebag. Wouldn't want that to detonate in here. After a few minutes of gathering items for the ambush, we had filled our saddlebags with useful items. I looked around my team, "Alright. Brief summary, we are going to capture the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. She must be taken alive. If she puts up a fight, we will take her the hard way. However, it is preferable to knock her out." I paused, "Any questions?" After a few seconds of no response, I gave the order. "Alright. Let's move out." Rainbow Dash Fluttershy spoke softly as she eyed the edges of the path with nervousness, "Thanks again for coming with me, Rainbow... The Everfree Forest has been more dangerous than normal recently, with the Diamond Dogs mining underneath the forest... The animals seem to dislike it." Almost as if on cue, I heard a growl off in the distance, Fluttershy made a frightened squeaking noise. I stopped and turned to look at Fluttershy, she was shivering and huddled up on the ground, I frowned and sighed, "Fluttershy... There's nothing to worry about. I'm here to protect you, okay?" I walked over to Fluttershy, she slowly pulled her hooves away from her eyes and looked around frantically. I groaned and held out a hoof to help her stand up. She reluctantly accepted it and slowly stood up. "Th-thank you..." Fluttershy was still nervously looking around, though I couldn't blame her. It was... Unnerving. The forest seemed more alive and... More edgier. After a few seconds of Fluttershy just standing there, looking around petrified with fear, I sighed. 'It's a good thing Twilight sent me with her...' I shook my head. "Flyttershy... The sooner you start moving, the sooner we get out of here." "Oh I know Rainbow Dash... But it's just so scary..." Fluttershy paused, "You're right..." She reluctantly took a step forwards, she waited a few seconds for any alarming sounds. After nothing happened, she stepped forwards with less fear this time. I smiled, she was becoming more sure of herself with each step she took. I soon found myself walking beside her, she was almost brushing up against me with how close to me she was. Fluttershy wasn't the bravest pony, but she could stand up to a dragon for her friends, or her animals. "You sure you got enough of those plants you needed?" The last thing I wanted to do was to have to go back into the forest after having just made a trip out of it. it's not that I was scarred or anything! But Fluttershy... "Oh yes, I made sure I grabbed plenty..." We walked on in silence for several minutes, as the forest started clearing out from thick underbrush to underbrush that was passable, I felt a tingle run down my spine. I felt like I was being watched. I chose not to say anything to Fluttershy. She scarred easily, and telling her I felt like we were being watched would frighten her. Minutes passed, the feeling of being watched lingered and seemed to get stronger as time went on. I was unnerved by the feeling. We weren't too far from the edge of the Everfree forest now, we could get there within a few minutes at a brisk gallop if needed. If we could outrun it... I grimaced. 'Okay, maybe I should tell her that-' Crack. Both Fluttershy and I froze dead in our tracks. I swiveled my head around quickly in every direction, attempting to pinpoint the source of the sound. Nothing... Dead silence. 'Come on... Think... What could that have been... Timberwolf? No... They would have attacked by now...' I turned my head to the other side, Fluttershy was still paralyzed in fear- That bush just moved... I suddenly had a sinking feeling in my stomach, we had to be surrounded on both sides of the path... I quickly glanced over to Fluttershy. The poor pegasus was frozen in place... 'Fluttershy, I'm sorry... I told Twilight I would protect you... And I'm going to do just that.' I spoke quietly, yet loud enough for her to hear me, "Fluttershy. I need you to run back to Ponyville, okay? I will be right behind you..." Fluttershy gulped and nodded, looking at me with fearful eyes... I steeled my resolve, and spoke quietly, "Go. Now." Fluttershy bolted into a dead run at a rate that took me by surprise. I looked around at the bushes, half expecting some monster to jump out at me. Seconds passed, nothing happened. The forest was dead quiet now... That wasn't a good sign, the birds weren't even singing... I swiveled my head to the other side again, and took a defensive posture. "I know you're out there." I growled. I was met with silence. Wait... No... There was a quiet, low humming sound... It sounded like- A teal colored bolt of magic shot passed me, narrowly missing my muzzle. I stepped to the side and carefully observed the bushes for the source of the attack. A second passed, and I saw a faint glow. I jumped to the left, spreading my wings and using them to propel me even further out of the way of the spell. I still couldn't see whoever was attacking me. 'The unicorn might not be alone either...' "Show yourself!" I shouted. Moments later, a small, metallic looking orb landed a few feet in front of me. I squinted at the object. 'What is that-' BANG! I felt a sharp pain in one of my hooves, and my vision became clouded by smoke. I coughed from the smoke. I shook my head and recovered from the sudden shock. I stepped to the right, and felt a sudden, unexpected, sharp pain in my left hoof when I put pressure on it. I winced, and quickly withdrew my hoof. I looked down at my hoof, I was greeted by the sight of a piece of metal sticking out of it. I inhaled, and exhaled as the pain began to register. 'Come on, focus... It's not that bad...' The air was still clouded with smoke, I looked back to my hoof and grimaced. I slowly brought my hoof to my muzzle, and bit down on the piece of metal, my heart beat fast as I imagined how much this would hurt... I closed my eyes and violently threw my hoof forwards. At first, the force carried my head forwards with it, but then it was replaced with a sharp, biting pain as the piece of metal was violently ripped from my hoof. I fought back the urge to scream at the pain, and a second later, the pain had numbed down to something more manageable. I inhaled and exhaled quickly several times in rapid succession. My hoof was starting to get covered in blood. It was slow, but not exactly good for me. I shook my head, and forced the pain from my mind. I stayed alert for several minutes, then the smoke started to dissipate. Ever so slowly, the silhouette of four ponies, two of them obviously unicorns. I felt a smile tugging at my lip, now that I could see them, I could return the favor... The Everfree Forest, early evening. 'Whoever used that smokescreen is going to get a piece of my mind after this is over.' I grit my teeth. The idiot had given her the opportunity to escape. Strangely, although perhaps now surprisingly, she had not taken it. The smoke was starting to clear now, but we had moved into position right after the smokescreen activated. We had watched her the entire time. Not that she knew it, of course. But now that the smoke was clearing, I could make out blood on one of her hooves. I frowned, 'Whoever used that smokescreen is going to hear from Princess Celestia when this is over, too.' 'Perhaps we should have attacked when the Element of Kindness was with her... It would have made her more vulnerable. Even if it might have... Damaged her psyche.' However, it was likely she would have fought harder then. Her eyes glanced between the four of us, she was being careful not to linger on any one of us for too long. 'She is a Wonderbolt.' I reminded myself. Rainbow Dash was fast, perhaps the fastest pegasus pony alive. Fortunately for us, flying inside the tree canopy of the Everfree Forest at any significant speed was dangerous. We would need to be quicker than her, help might already be on the way. I grimaced. She caught sight of my grimace and lingered too long. I smiled as the others capitalized on the opportunity. A bolt of teal magic shot forth from the unicorn standing to my left, she dodged to the right, completely avoiding the stunning spell. However, her dodged of the stun spell put her right in the path of one of my pegasi. He collided with her, the force of the impact throwing her against the ground. His weight pinned her to the ground. I smiled, 'Maybe this would be easier than I-' That particular pegasus was sent flying back behind Rainbow due to a well placed kick with her hind legs. She quickly stood to her hooves, she winced as she put pressure on her injured hoof, then charged towards me. Unicorns with their magic were deadly on the battlefield, however we were the physically weakest pony race. We didn't do so well in close combat situations, as such, I immediately jumped to the right, and swiveled on my forehooves, spinning around and kicking her legs out from under her. She toppled over onto the ground, her body slid across the ground before coming to a stop, her coat and mane now matted with dirt and debris. She stood to her hooves at a lightning fast rate, looking a little worse for wear and distraught. She flared her wings, and glared at me. I smirked, she looked confused for a second. It probably would have lasted longer, but that's how long it took Agent Black to slam into her. He wrapped a leg around her neck while the pegasus beneath him lashed out with her legs, to no avail. I stepped forwards, "Stop fighting before you injure yourself." She turned her head towards me and glared at me with defiance, "Let me go!" "How about no? Okay, sounds good to me." I walked over to her and watched her flail her wings, succeeding only in tiring herself more. Agent Black had her pinned well. I grabbed one of her wings in my magic, I spoke coldly, without emotion, "I really suggest you stop struggling. Wouldn't want you to injure your wing in the struggle, would we?" She suddenly stopped struggling, her defiant expression replaced with one of fear. "You wouldn't..." I lowered my horn to her face, daring her to struggle while I held her wing with my magic. I channeled more magic into my horn, and cast a stun spell. The magic surged forth from my horn and directly into her head. She was out cold. I levitated a rope from my saddlebag, and threw it on the ground. "Tie her up, we need to move now." I commanded.