//------------------------------// // Heart to Heart // Story: Broken: Love // by Knackerman //------------------------------// A bloom of purple and white magic heralded the arrival of Twilight and her friends. Though Twilight knew the spell she had cast would not be able to take them far, she was surprised to find that they remained in the city of Canterlot. She looked up at the magical bubble that engulfed the city and instinctively she knew that it had somehow interfered with her magic. Her brothers shield spells had always been geared more towards keeping enemies out rather than trapping them within. Even if its polarity were somehow reversed, as it seemed to be, it should have been weak compared to the magic of an Alicorn Princess. There was a dark force at work here, corrupting and enhancing her brothers magic that crackled in veins of dark lightning over the barriers surface. Twilight took a moment to take stock of their situation. Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, and Starlight Glimmer were all by her side, as were a few other citizens of Ponyville she was able to take with them. All around, the city of Canterlot had been thrown into chaos. Ponies were trampling over one another in their haste to flee Canterlot Castle. A surge of ponies were assaulting the barrier at the edge of the city, but their hooves pounded and scrabbled on the magical surface to no avail, and unicorn spells bounced off uselessly. Less reputable ponies, seeing that they were trapped, gave up on fleeing and instead were taking the opportunity to break store windows and help themselves to an 'end of the world' discount. Others, mostly the vendors and citizens of Canterlot, simply hid under their over turned stalls of behind the locked doors of their homes. The citizens did not remain unmolested for long, however, as an army composed of a mixture of the Royal Guard and the Imperial Guard marched through the streets and soared through the air. It appeared they were rounding up as many ponies as possible and pushing them back towards the castle, where the beams of that awful Broken Heart shaped crystal were still lashing out and converting scores of the populace. The only saving grace of Twilight and her crew was that her spell seemed to have deposited them in an out of the way alley. The situation was no less dire, but it seemed they would have a few moments to try to throw together a plan. "Just what the hack was that!" cried Rainbow Dash, asking the question on everypony's mind. "Was that your brother up there, dressed like King Sombra?" asked Rarity. "I mean for a Prince he's never exactly had magnificent taste, but dressing like Sombra!?" "Ah know right?" added Applejack. "Might as well be wearing a name tag that says 'Howdy y'all! Ah'll be yer tyrant today!'" "Twilight," Fluttershy whispered, visibly shaken. "What's going on?" "I don't know. I don't know girls." Twilight looked back out at the chaos in the streets. Some of the Equestrian citizenry were trying to fight back against the combined forces of the Royal and Imperial Guards, throwing produce and cobblestones. They weren't having much effect. "It's obvious something has been done to my brother and the Princesses. It's also pretty clear that whatever went wrong originated in the Crystal Empire." "The Crystal Empire?" asked Starlight concerned. "So you think that Cadance really is behind all of this?" "I don't know for sure," replied Twilight, her face serious. "But I plan on finding out." "Yeah!" cheered Pinkie Pie, before a thoughtful expression crossed her face. "Only, how? It looks like Shining Armor's shield for keeping stuff out, is keeping us in. The streets are full of soldiers and brainwashed citizens... And as near as I can tell we're all out of cake and ice cream!" "Well Pinkie, I came here today to make history and to enjoy cake and ice cream," answered Twilight with a confident smile. "And since we're all out of cake and ice cream, I guess we'll just have to make history!" "Yeah!" "Woo-hoo!" "Yay!" "Wait...what?" "Huh?" "Seriously?" asked Spike with a look of disbelief on his face. "Okay, okay," surrendered Twilight, "It sounded better in my head." "I've heard worse rallying cries," said Rainbow Dash loyally, "So what's the plan?" "I might not be able to teleport us beyond my brothers shield, but I bet I can poke a hole in it long enough for us to get out. Since you're the fastest Rainbow Dash, scout around and see if you can find us a mode of transportation. It'll need to be fast since we won't know how long the hole will stay open, and we'll want to be able to get as many citizens out as possible." A salute from Rainbow and then the blue flier was on her way. "Fluttershy and Rarity, we're going to need supplies for the trip to the Crystal Empire. If it's anything there like it is here, we'll probably need disguises as well. You two get to work gathering what we need, but be careful! Keep to the shadows and well out of sight of any soldiers." "Um, if it's okay, I think I'd rather stay here..." began Fluttershy before a halo of blue magic engulfed her fleeing form. "Now, now Fluttershy, no need to worry, I'll be beside you ever step of the way," said Rarity confidently as the unicorn strode out of the alley. "Besides, it would be nice to get a breath of fresh air out of that smelly alleyway." Twilight stifled a grin as the two ponies moved out of sight. She turned back to the others, "Pinkie Pie, since you seem to know everypony, you and Applejack round up as many citizens that are unaffected by that Broken Heart beam as you can. We're evacuating Canterlot. If anyone gives you any trouble, tell them that this is a decree by the Princess of Friendship." "You got it Twi," replied Applejack. "Okie-dokie-loki!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie as the pair bounded out of sight. "What about me?" asked Starlight Glimmer. "What about us?" added Spike. "I'm going to need time to concentrate on finding a weak spot in Shining Armor's barrier. You two watch my back and keep other ponies away from me while I concentrate." replied Twilight, her horn already glowing as her powers reached out, probing the distant shield. "Oh..." was Starlight's crestfallen reply. She walked to the mouth of the alleyway and sat on her hunches. It wasn't long before Spike joined her. "Hey, guard duty isn't so bad," said Spike, clearly seeing that Starlight was upset."During one crisis I got stuck baby sitting all of Fluttershy's animals. Let me tell you, I'll take guard duty over Angel Bunny any day of the week." A faint smile crossed Starlight's lip, "It's not that. I guess I'm just worried." She looked out at the chaos in the streets. There was a lot to be worried about. "About the plan?" hazarded Spike. "Oh, no, of course not. I have no doubt about Twilight's plan it's just..." The unicorn struggled for words, clearly uncomfortable. "I guess I'm just worried about Sunburst. If this started in the Crystal Empire I can't help but think he must be caught in the middle of it all." "Yeah, I guess so," a thought seemed to cross Spike's mind as well. "I hope Princess Flurry Heart is okay too. I mean, she caused a lot of havoc the last time we saw her, but she's just a baby. If her dads gone over to the dark side, and her mom might have too, I hope Sunburst is still looking after her." A sob drew Spike's attention. A tear rolled down Starlight's face, but she quickly wiped it away as she hid her face behind her hair. "I just can't stand it. Things like this happen and everyone else stays so calm and Twilight tells them all immediately what to do to try and solve the problem. But she never asks me to do anything." Starlight turned to Spike. "I want to help too, you know? I care about Equestria as much as anypony else. I have ponies I want to protect too." Spike wrapped a comforting claw around Starlight's back, "Hey, easy. Nobody thinks you don't care. Heck, if anything you probably care a little too much." "What!?" barked Starlight, clearly affronted. "Don't take it the wrong way, but you worry more than any unicorn I've ever known, and that's including Twilight," replied Spike. "And she used to get up at three in the morning and wear a groove in the floor with her pacing, just worrying about stuff." That got a grin from Starlight and Spike continued. "Look, things will work out, you'll see. Twilight will get us out of this jam and then we'll go and make sure everything's okay in the Crystal Empire. And if it's not? Well we'll make it okay! Okay?" Starlight wiped another tear from one eye, but her smile didn't fade. "Okay. Thanks Spike." "Don't mention it," replied the baby dragon with a smile of his own. A rush of air and a thump let the pair know that they weren't alone. "Whoa! That was fast Rainbow Dash, even for you! Did you find what Twilight sent you for already?" "You know it," replied the rainbow maned pegasus proudly, "But we've got to move fast. There are soldiers crawling all over the place. Are we ready to go?" "We're ready~!" replied Rarity musically as she arrived carrying several shopping bags filled with rolls of fabric. It seemed she had gotten everything she'd need for making disguises... And any other outfits it might strike her fancy to create. Fluttershy was just behind her, but couldn't say anything since she was so loaded down under the many other supplies she was carrying. "Let me help ya with that sugarcube," Applejack said, helpfully taking a large bag of apples off Fluttershy's flank as she and Pinkie arrived with several citizens of Ponyville and Canterlot in tow. The farm pony began passing the supplies down the line to lighten Fluttershy's load while Pinkie occupied herself making sure no one was left behind. There weren't many ponies that had managed to avoid the soldiers. There were even less that had listened to the pair of earth ponies about the evacuation order, but there were enough that their group had more than doubled in size. "Then I'm ready too," replied Twilight. Magic licked along the length of her horn for a moment, before she closed her eyes and bowed her head. "I think I know exactly what to do to push our way through Shining Armor's barrier," she turned to the rest of the group and smiled. "Lets go! Rainbow Dash, lead the way." With a shrug, Spike turned to follow the others. Starlight hesitated for a moment, her mind still racing with all her many worries despite Spike's efforts to calm her down and cheer her up. Well, she couldn't help anypony sitting here, could she? Giving herself a physical and mental shake, Starlight trotted after the others, and into the gloomy shrouded streets of a Canterlot under siege.