Well, there's still no sign of James... and we've thrown in the towel.
Only temporarily. Right now, we have to plan for tonight. We have the meeting with Queen Chrysalis at the Crystal Empire and Stormcloud moving the princesses to the bog at the same time. Which means I can only attend one situation.
But Rarity can go to the other and communicate with you, right?
That's correct. So we need backup plans, and to decide which I will be attending.
Post #2
Rarity, you're in place?
Almost, darling. I do hope they know never to keep a lady waiting.
Okay, they should be passing overhead soon. Sapphire, you're ready? Good.
Here they come! Into the trenches!
That's... a big castle. Did Stormcloud make it even bigger?
First he steals it, then he changes it? Now, if that don't beat all, him walking in like he owns the place. If I ever get tah meet the fiend who burned down mah orchard, I caint be held responsible for what I'll do!
That's princess Celestia! Sapphire, you're up!
-----
There you are, your highness. I should have never thought a queen would be late for anything as important as this. After all, this is the opportunity of a lifetime!
Ah, the white one. I was hoping for somepony else.
What? I beg your pardon, what's wrong with--nevermind. This plan of yours is brilliant I must say. If we worked together, we could kick Stormcloud out of Equestria for good and you would never have to work for that bad man ever again.
You designed the gown.
Oh, did you like it? I'll admit it was one of my better pieces, but you, you beautiful creature, you made it better than good!
Let's not beat around the bush. You want our help defeating Stormcloud.
Well, actually, you contacted us and asked if you could--I mean, yes, no other being could help as much as you, being so powerful and--
What's in it for me.
I must say, you are being quite calm about all this. Used to be you were always laughing and plotting, trying to be higher than everypony else.
I was kept from my only wish to feed my subjects for many years. Many of them lost their faith in me. Then Stormcloud attacks me! I'm not in a laughing mood.
-----------
Where's Princess Luna? All I see is Celestia up there.
Ah don't see her either. Maybe somethin' happened.
Look! Sapphire's waking up the Hydra! Boy, it looks mad... it's chasing him! Sapphire's leading it to the castle. All's going well...
-------------
Well, then why don't we get ourselves some old-fashion revenge? It's the only kind of old-fashion I approve of. And between you and me, nopony is as good at revenge as I am.
Yes. Let's.
H-hey there, there's no need for a fight! Call off your men, and let's talk about this. We're both civilized beings, right?
We will fight Stormcloud whether with you or not! But we require something first.
Oh? What is it you want?
When Stormcloud is no more... we will need food. We want a way into James' world.
------------
There! The soldier are in a panic! That hydra is reaching all the way up to the castle!
Yeehaw! He'll do all the fightin' for us, now we send our troops in and snag the princess lickity-split!
Hold on... it's coming off the ground. Stormcloud.
What a mighty beast! I do believe it will serve my plans just fine. Ack! Hmm... maybe a bit too feisty, though.
What's he doin' now?
He just... shrank it. Just like that. Here it comes... and there it goes. That huge beast, defeated in mere seconds!
Somepony woke that thing up! And now it can't eat her highness... I suppose I'll just have to drown her instead.
?!
And search the area! They're here, I know it.
------------
That's absurd! Even if you could go there, what do you think you'd find?
Stormcloud has drained this world, but in the other, the people still stand together. That's the deal, take it or leave it!
Oh dear...
------------
There's some ditches dug down there, sir!
Then check them. What, you waiting for permission?
They're right above the trenches!
-----------
Wouldn't you like a lovely new crown? It would make you seem so superior and elegant! Why, with a crown like that--
I have told you my price, now accept my offer!
(Sarah... we may need that escape balloon...)
--------------
Hhun, ah! There's nothing in them... nothing but these blue flowers.
Why? Why must my soldiers be such idiots? Get out of those! That's poison joke! Hmm... they're here... somewhere.
Ponies! I have your princess! Will you hide and do nothing? Hmm... lower her.
You got it boss.
Oh no! The princess! She's being lowered toward the murky water! If you do nothing now, you'll remember this moment always as the time you let the princess--
Let go of her!
Got ya!
Ahhh!
Twilight!
Get Applejack!
Ya'll come get some!
---------------
Maybe if you tried fitting in, you wouldn't have to--
Impossible! Who would want to stay here? It's so clean and pink!
Well, I'm afraid I'm just going to have to decline your offer. We will not be teamed with such a creature who would devour us when it was over! We're going home. And now you'll never get your revenge. Ha!
No! We must have it! We'll agree to anything, just let us have the kill... let us find what Stormcloud loves so we can feed off it in front of him!
You fool! You never agree to their terms! We make the terms!
What? You're not the... now there's two of you? Oh, this is so much stress!
I was going to let my subject do the talking in case it were a trap, but I see you were too dimwitted to truly take advantage of this as I have.
...My head hurts... are we still talking about the treaty?
Yes... let's talk.
Oh! Have you never heard of personal space?!
------------------
Stormcloud, stop! The princess is who raises the sun each morning! Without her, Equestria will die! You won't even have anything to rule!
Hahaha! My magic has kept this place running just fine in her absence, and so shall it be when she's gone for good. You underestimate me, Twilight.
But this isn't balance. No pony will talk with each other. Everypony is bitter and hateful. Shops aren't being run, seasons aren't changing, how can you think doing all this is possibly good for Equestria?!
Frankly, I don't care. Ha! I thought you'd have figured that out by now.
Twilight!
Now say goodbye to the princess. Shame you didn't get to send her one last letter explaining how you failed her. I would have liked to read that one.
Stormcloud!!
What the--
Rarity, you did it!
Twilight, get the princess!
Wah! Uff! blblb,
Happy to see me?
How many times does it take to kill you?!
We got her, go! Applejack, hop in!
Good thing Pinkie had this balloon! I caint believe it's carryin' the weight of us and the princess.
I think... we're safe. Rarity, you did it! How'd you convince them? What did you say?
Oh, Twilight, forgive me! I made a terrible mistake!
What? What happened?
I told them they could go to James' world when the war was over! Of course not right away, but that Queen Chrysalis has quite the silver tongue.
You told them what, now?! We caint let that happen!
And we won't. I just need some time to think... did all the ponies fit in one balloon?
Naw, it took two. What're you thinkin'?
I may have a plan to make them change their mind about going to James' world. Sarah, you doing okay?
Uh... yea... hhhh. I'm good.
Don't you be yawning, Sarah!
It's just a yawn. It doesn't mean anything. Are we going to free the princess tonight?
As much as I'd like to, we'd better wait until tomorrow.
Hmm...
Night heart, swiftbullet, any ideas?
3444153 Yes I send my ideas to Night Heart right now. If you want I send them to you too.
Good evening gentleman, ladies, gentlecolts and of course gentledragon. Today we have two operations at our hands/hooves.
1) The meeting with Chrysalis
2) Rescue of the two princesses, which will be transported to the bog
First operation:
In the chioce who to send to which place we have to concider a few things:
- Changelings:
* Of course this could all be a trap and we will be ambushed, so I would suggest we try to get informations about from Sapphire, so we know if this is a genuine offer.
* We don´t know if Chrysalis has bad feelings against Twilight because of her direct involvement of her last defeat
* The area where the meeting will be hold should be good known to us, neutral to all sides, and open so both sides can be sure that no trap is set in place
* Of course it is possible that our enemy has punished Chrysalis as she has lost Shining Armor and Cadence so she sees him now in another light then before, and wants to take the lesser of the two evils in form of the help from the ponies and the possibility to coexist with them
* Twilight is the born leader and should be able to confince Chrysalis with logic, but we have to take into account that Chrysalis is not acomplet logical being
* So it could be possible that Rarity would be the better choice because she knows her ways in discussions and how see to deceptions, the was also the one who helped us at the beginning with the Diamond Dogs
- Princesses:
* In this operation we will need every tactical advantage we can get our hands on:
+ Because we will operating within the bog the Diamond Dogs will not be able to dig through the earth
+ This could of course be a trap to lure us out and fight us in the open
+ Within the bog should be a hydra, maybe we could use this as a distraction for us
* I would suggest that we attack when they enter the bog, if we have crossbows, and netshooter we should place them within the treeline. If Zecora has a paralysing poison we could use this to coat the arrowheads. Just outside the bog we could create hidden trenches to hide the rest of our troops and when the enemy will be attacked from the treeline, the flank them from the back and sides. But to do so we need information where there travel route will be.
3444248 Yes like I said we will send guards with Twilight. 10 unicorns and 20 earth ponies? How you think? Hmm contact with Saphire may be good idea, but she can be a Christalis agent with mission to earn our trust. Well we have to be careful.
Hmm how you want control hydra? This thing is huge. Well if you have a idea, using hydra is better plan that I have.
I want to use unicorns to blind a enemy (you know white flash, something like magical flash bang), then attack from air by pegasis (target are enemy pegazi and unicorns) and at the same time attack from two side of the road. By earthponies and unicorns. Smash them before they regain their sight. Secure a princess and take them somewhere but not to HQ. First we have to check if there is no presents for us left by Stormclaud. The last thing we need is the Trojan horse.
3444269 Could Fluttershy be able to confince the hydra to help us? We could combine them with your ideas. Don´t forget they start from the fortres so they should use a flying carriage. So we need to take that into account.
We could increase our rate of success if we are able to flank them from different sides. The idea with the poison must be cleared with Zecora.
For the crossbows and the netshooters we should also take Diamond Dogs with us. Additionaly if we are outside the bog and there are tunnels from the DD we could use them to go undercover and be save and check there if the princesses are real or this is some kind of trap.
3444282 It should be easy for Zecora to recommend some brew that will paralyze. I'll go get Fluttershy and Sapphire.
3444282 Yes Fluttershy can try. But last time when they "spot" hydra, hydra wasn't very talkative.
If hydra will help us my plan us no needed anymore. One hydra with no problem if not eat enemies, drag them away from princesses. That we grab a carriage and may Stormclaud troops worry about hydra
If I right remember poison joke work after a night. We can't wait all night and day that this thing star working.
3444309 What do you mean with poison joke? I was talking of a paralysing poison like curare that paralyze the nervous system within a few seconds. So we wouldn´t need to fight for long and wouldn´t risk any injuries on our side.
The idea with the hidden trenches should be easy, Twilight and her friends created something like that in the time of the dragon migration.
3444324 Sorry simple misunderstanding with poison joke.
About right poison. Yeah this could work.
3444333 We only need information where they will enter the bog so we could plan the assault properly so as few as possible beings will be hurt.
I hope our changling friend can tell us if Chrysalis offer is a trap or not. If my assumptions are correct she might have got quite a beating as she lost her hostages.
What are your plans concerning the meeting with Chrysalis?
3444359 I'm having trouble convincing Fluttershy to speak with the hydra. But maybe we don't need to reason with it--all we need is for it to attack Stormcloud's team. So perhaps Sapphire could change into one of his ponies and irritate it into attacking? Then of course he'd sneak away before he actually got hurt.
And yes, I thought I posted that but I guess it didn't go through. Stormcloud got word that we had so easily broken in and rescued my brother, and he started threatening her. They got into a huge fight with Stormcloud invading and seeming to win. But the changelings had secretly taken the form of his soldiers so he thought he had won but they were still alive. Then when he left, they went back to the Crystal Kingdom. Their numbers have decreased, but they're also more angry than ever at Stormcloud. Sapphire believes we can convince them to join our cause simply for the sake of revenge. But he also knows Chrysalis hasn't forgotten what I did to her along with my brother.
3444398 Does Sapphire know where the travel route of the carriage will be? Maybe he does even know the amount of enemy forces and what kind of forces and will they use a flying carriage?
3444398 in that case, it's probably better to send rarity, so nothing too personal will get in the way of diplomacy.
3444463 YES! I mean, oh well, I guess I'll just have to save the princess instead.
3444463 You are right, that would be better. But we need to make sure that Rarity is secure. I would suggest the things I already mentioned. What are your thoughts on the hydra, I see it, on one side a great chance as distraction on the other side a great danger for our own troops and Sapphire , who is our only source of information from the castle.
3444398 by the way, I wish to secretly award sapphire the medal of freedom, the highest award in the alliance, for service to the alliance in the face of extreme danger, and for doing the right thing in an environment then hostile to the alliance.
3444463 It should be easy for such a pony as myself. Oh, do changelings prefer emeralds or rubies? And what does one wear for a treaty signing? Twilight, do be a dear and wear something nice, will you?
3444505 Rarity, I'm going to a bog...
Oh! Then I know just the thing!
Hunh...
You want to look your best, don't you? You don't want us all to look back at this and think, "Oh this would be the perfect memory if only Twilight had worn something else!"
...fine.
3444505 Lady Rarity, if you would allow me. As far as we know Chrysalis, she is really proud up to the level of complacent which is balanced out with the point that she wishes to look out for her subjects. The wants power for herself and her changelings. We need this to our advantage.
You need to convince her that a coexistence with ponies will be possible and that she on that way could help her subjects to have a live in freedom and in the light of the day, they would no longer be needed to hide in the dark, they could feel the sun without fear to beeing hated. They could be truly loved if they do the right thing. You have to show her that, if you manage that, we have won her over.
3444518 Ah think ah should be goin--
Applejack, wait!
Um... Rarity? No offense, but I don't think this is the right time.
My dear, Fluttershy, there is always time for a pony to make herself look her best!
...okay...
Not okay! Rarity, gather some ponies, you'll leave on our command. Fluttershy, who do you want to go with?
What? I-I'm going?!
Of course. It would be foolish to leave somepony who could be a big help simply standing around underground.
Oh, you're right, I'm sure... can I stay here anyway?
3444536 Ugh, it won't be easy to pretend that they have the simplest idea of fashion and design, but... if I must, I will play the part. "Oh, my dear Chrysalis! How you've gotten even more fabulous since I saw you last! Those... holes... in you legs... eww... this won't be easy. Perhaps I should refrain from mentioning the past. Or her legs. ...or her wings.
3444526 It's nice that you want to help.
Well, we don't know where Fluttershy or Applejack is going. Where do you think they should go?
Wait... oh dear... I think somepony should guard the... the base. Just in case...
3444546 Rarity you have to see it from another point of view, you are one of the best if not the best fashion designer in Equestria, you have an eye for details and in an ugly stone might be hidden a gorgeous diamond, you have only to look at it in the right way, and I am sure you with your skill will be able to see the diamond within it outer shell.
3444577 I certainly shall try, but when it comes to those changeling "insects", how can I put it, my horn doesn't glow. But I shall make it work!
Orders for tonight:
Act at your own discretion.
But rarity, maybe ask sapphire about changeling etiquette before he leaves? After all, it simply wouldn't do for the meeting to be going perfectly and then you do something which is perfectly acceptable amongst pony company, but is dreadfully rude amongst changeling society.
3444608 I know what you mean my dear, but from time to time we have to make sacrifices for the art of the fashion. You can make everypony shine in there coat so they look fabulous, and everypony that walks by them will look back in astonishment and ask themselves "Who was that?". That is what your art is, and now you meet one of your greatest challenges, to make the changling shine in the light of the day. Do you think my dear you are up to this task?
3444656 I've faced tougher fashion crisises before, my dear. Ooh! Sapphires, of course! Why else would they name one of them after it? Emeralds, what was I thinking?
3444696 I know you will reach you goal Lady Rarity. Be save on your journey by night and return to us with light of the morning *bow*
3440420 Maybe, but another holding theory is that James' mind found a pony like himself, and shared it's body, pushing the original mind into slumber.
images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130711132208/mk/images/2/25/Anchorman_well_that_escalated_quickly_966.jpg
Wait, did you get Celestia back? And I don't want Changelings here! And besides, I think our technology would pick them up in an instant. Then panic. Then changelings dead. Chrysalis doesn't want that, does she?