An Armored Interlude
Moments earlier...
Shining Armor was an exquisite example of unicornhood. He was the youngest guard in history to make Knight Captain of the Royal Guard. The only ones who outranked him were wartime generals, and the princesses themselves. If there was one pony whom he would say had the greatest influence on his life, he would say his beloved wife, Cadence. Mostly out of self preservation.
If he was honest, however, he would have to answer his little sister Twilight.
Being the older brother of Twilight Sparkle was likely one of the most harrowing experiences a pony could undertake, for no small part that when most fillies are young and their magic was unstable, they would levitate their foal sitters out of the room to get out of being scolded.
Twilight would catch fire and launch volleys of destructive, class two, arcane bolts. To his and his household's great fortune, he discovered his special talent was perfect for dealing with it, as he was a prodigy at defensive magics, specifically magical shields. He was among the scant few ponies alive that could successfully overpower immortals outside his weight class.
A fact that his adorable wife found great appreciation of.
Armor had more records in the guards training grounds than any other pony in history, holding just shy of half of them, even etching out some that were previously thought to only be achievable by earth ponies.
Despite all his talents, rank, and achievements, there was one thing that never failed to trip all his mental warning bells, and frankly scared the hay out of him. It came down to two words that over the years came to terrify his fellow guards, and send a jolt of adrenaline even to his own system. Twilight Incident.
As much as he loved his sister, he had to agree that it was best to avoid putting her under stress because her first instinct is to fight back, using as much magic as possible. Her second instinct is to throw exponentially more power at any problem her first instinct didn't fix.
Standing immobile, invisible in plain sight, near Celestia, he had been horrified when he had heard the King Blacktalons’ punishment. He didn't know the mares as well as he probably ought too, but he knew they had become integral to his sister's life.
Then he heard it, the distinct crackling sound that he had listened for most of his life.
He looked at Twilight for the signs.
'Hair is frayed. Pupils shrunken despite poor lighting, okay Shiny remain calm it's not-'
Blacktalon then issued the order for her friends to be hacked up regardless.
'Oh hay bucking horse apples,' he thought as he began mentally wording his official report, assuming he would be able to file it.
'Time of Incident number 237, approximately two hours before scheduled sundown. Location, Heart of Griffon kingdoms. Reason for incident: Implausibly stupid griffon.'
Despite being almost completely sure sure of what was going to happen, is breath still caught when the axes fell...
The moment they stopped, he began to act.
Ignoring the idiot at the head of the room Armor stealthily lifted a salad fork off the table, and begun trying to twist off the tongs as he readjusted himself in his chair. He worked his magic diligently, managing as he listened to the train wreck happening.
Blacktalon wasn't putting her under pressure, He was hoping to crush her. Shinings stomach dropped as he listened to the griffon continue what was likely a pre-prepared speech. Shining would bet his bedroom privileges with his goddess of love for the next decade that blacktalon probably set the whole thing up himself.
'Celestia, if there was ever a time to show that you were lying about being able to hear us when when invoke your name, to make us comfortable. Now would be the time to debunk it because I’m begging you. Do something!' he mentally yelled at the large immortal mare next to him, his face remaining stoic and out of the way, the glow of his horn suppressed through will has he furiously worked to the first metal bit.
Celestia might have a lot of things going in her favor, but she didn't always have realistic expectations. To Shining’s shock, he realized she didn't actually expect this bad of a reaction. A quick guardsman's scan of the room cause him to sudden realize he was the only pony who realize just how big the powder keg was.
However other seemed to be catching on at least, as the buzzing began to reach fever pitch. Then a sound that he had never heard before was heard. A series of loud popping, which made him drop the fork just as he freed the second tang. His heart began to beat a mile a minute as the lights in the room dimmed and his beloved Twily issued her first edict as the Goddess of Magic.
"No. They. Shall. Not."
'I'm asking Celestia for a raise.'
Twilight unleashed whatever hold she had as magic burst forth filling the chamber with her aura. Armors instincts kicked in as he grabbed Celestia and pulled her down, just in time, as a purple aura wrapped around one of the solid stone tables and flung it so hard at Blacktalon, that the air whistled as it tumbled overhead.
The Griffons who didn't have the presence of mind to duck, took a blow from the masonry and were sent toppling end over end, as it flew through the air, crashing through the throne and embedding itself into the solid hewn stone walls behind the dais.
To Armors’ annoyance Blacktalon was among those who managed to dodge the massive stone projectile.
Blacktalon called out in a panicked rage. "Guards! Sound the Alarm! The Equestrian Ambassador has attacked! Send for reinforcements!" A flurry of activity sprang forth as guards began attempting to rush the purple unicorn only to be pummeled lazily by the axes she’d stopped from harming her friends, levitating them around her, as they twisted and spun madly.
Most were struck poorly with flat ends or shafts of the weapons, but some weren't so lucky and were halted in their advance by the business end of the sharp instruments.
He hesitated for a moment, unsure whether he should stick with his original objective, or not, but Celestia solved this issue for him, shoving him with her magic towards the captured mares. "Grab. Boat. Go!" She ordered, snapping Armor into motion.
Shining leaped towards the mares who were all enraptured by the enraged form of their friend who was pressing her attack, tossing the rest of the massive tables one after another at the evasive emperor, before she ran out. Switching to magic, the enraged mare started to fire off crackling arcane bolts that grew progressively larger with each passing moment.
Shining didn't take time to gawk as he landed, sliding across the stone floor to rest beside the captured ponies, taking advantage of the excellent distraction of his enraged little sister. Jamming the fork tongs into the lock he began picking at the tumblers furiously, before some griffon realized there was actually a plethora of available targets outside the obvious glowing one.
'I hope I never have to explain to Twily where I learned how to do this.' He thought humorously as he finished popping a lock.
His thoughts, however, were interrupted as the yellow mare, Fluttershy he believed, cried out wordlessly against her muzzle. Armor turned around to see two very large, angry griffons coming up behind him.
Training kicked in as he slammed forward with most basic of unicorn attacks, jamming his horn into the side and shooting a burst of unshaped magic which exploded internally jettisoning the suddenly very dead griffon away.
His fellow half-avian gaped in shock at the sudden violence of the purported "peaceful" creature.
Armor, however, didn't waste any time, twisting himself gracefully around on his forehooves for a full body buck right into the griffons chest, which released a pleasant crackling sound as he joined his fellow in resting on the floor.
He turned around to see the mares stare at him wide eyed.
'Geez, it's like they've never seen an actual fig-' The realization hit him. Bearers or not these mares were technically civilians. They'd solved problems by shooting ancient magical artifacts at things.
The only organized foes the mares had ever fought were changelings, and from what they could uncover after the attack on Canterlot, the entire species is incredibly weak combat wise, instead preferring sabotage, mind manipulation, and cloak and dagger surprise tactics.
An explosion from a nearby room, partially visible thanks to the table induced hole, shook the floor beneath him as he looked around. The room was rapidly being vacated by the griffons in light of Twilight's attack.
Taking advantage of the chaos, he continued working the locks as another blue aura being cast by the white unicorn, Rarity, who had her eyes scrunched in concentration, joined his and began undoing the locks by directly manipulating the tumblers from the inside.
'Impressive control' He thought as together they finally removed all the manacles.
He did a quick scan of the room before spotting an exit. "Follow me, before the guards realize we're missing." he said, and not waiting for the mares to remove their muzzles to argue, bolted towards the nearby kitchen, where he lead them to an out of the way section so they could get ready for their next move.
"Everypony’s okay?" Armor asked, as he forced off the heavy leather muzzles from two of the mares, while Rarity skillfully undid her own and the other pair.
The cyan mare, Rainbow Dash, stretched her mouth and after looking over the rest of the group who were likewise checking on each other responded. "Yea, I think so. Hey thanks for the save. So now we can go and help Twilight out right?"
The room shook violently, as multiple pots and pans fell off hooks as, once more, the giant monolithic stone structure was shaken to it’s foundation.
"I have the feeling Twily is going to do fine without us, this one time." Armor deadpanned, "Anyways, Celestia told me that we all need to get to the boat, and she is right. If we get captured we can be used as hostages against Twilight and Equestria."
The mares looked uncertain, however, a more violent explosion shook the ground, almost unbalancing them.
"Dang Twilight, you trying to bring the place down on top of us?" Applejack asked the air nervously.
Armor answered seriously wishing he could just order them to follow his lead, but between word of mouth and experience he knew that could backfire. "I'm afraid it very well may come to that, Miss Applejack. If I know my sister she's going to keep escalating until she feels the situation is resolved or somepony stops her, and the Griffons have made it very clear how high the stakes are, and have already called for reinforcements. Celestia is likely going to run damage control as best as she can, but we need to get somewhere safe." he said in his best 'Captain-Tone'.
The mares looked like they were going to argue when the pink one, Miss Pie, spoke up.
"We need to go." She stated, which threw everypony off balance.
Applejack spoke up. "Pinkie what do you mean? We ought to be looking out for Twilight."
However, Pinkie Pie just shook her head. "No, my pinkie sense has been going crazy from ever since she saved us..." A shiver went around the assembled mares at the close call. "We need to follow Captain Shiny, and leave." Pinkie restated, as an odd series of spasms took her body. "Soon." she pressed on, for emphasis. The mares exchanged looks before nodding and turning back to Armor.
"Okay, so where’re we going?" asked Rainbow.
'Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor says "move", everyone argues. Pink mare spazzes out, everypony’s all of a sudden rearing to go...' He thought just a touch agitated.
"I have my Guards armor in my quarters if we can get it I think II'll be able to cover our retreat. Do any of you know how to fight?" He looked at the assembled mares.
The rainbow-maned mare raised a hoof "I had some basic pegasus combat training" she said to the group's general surprise. "A Wonderbolt has to know how to fight." she continued in way of explanation.
'Not terrible, though most of the traditional styles are from back before the uniting of the tribes and tend to be less effective. Better than nothing though."
The orange mare chimed in "Mah brother taught me a bit before I went to Manehattan when I was a filly. I'm a bit out of practice but I reckon years of applebuckin’ might make up fer it." Armor just nodded. He'd received plenty of earth pony kicks to know better than to dismiss one who bucks trees for a living.
He looked at the dainty unicorn. "I learned how to fence when I was younger"
Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked shocked at the revelation, but Armor waved his hoof to cut them off. "Were you any good?"
"Second place regional finalist, young mare division." She said with just a tiny tinge of pride.
Armor nodded, it was better than nothing.
"Okay here is the plan: we are going to head to our rooms. If there is anything you absolutely cannot leave, be ready to grab it, otherwise leave whatever you can. You two," he indicated Pinkie and Fluttershy who didn't volunteer any combat ability. "will be in the center of the formation. Miss Applejack will be in the back, as her best form of attacking has her positioned to retaliate there."
"Miss Rainbow will try to cover our airspace." He turned to the mare in question. "I need you to focus entirely on pushing them downwards. Standard pegasi tactics won't work in this group because you are the only combat ready pegasus we have so we can't fight them in the air. I know it's against your instincts as a fellow flier, but I want you to go for their wings whenever possible, it could cost our wellbeing if you don't" The cyan mare cringed slightly at the dirty tactic but didn't argue, to Armor’s relief.
"Miss Rarity when we get to our room I'll lend you my sword. I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell every recruit I hand a sword. One: The pointy end goes into the other guy. Two: unless your cutie mark say otherwise, don't parry. You'll just break the sword. Three: No showing off, the only ones who will notice are going to be trying to hurt you."
He then turned to face his draftees and charges as another tremor distantly shook the ground. "I'm going to tell you all something I've told everypony I've ever trained. If you are willing to get injured for something, then you should be willing to cause injury too. If you are willing to give your life for something you should be willing to take a life for it as well. Your life and wellbeing is just as precious as any others, and so are the lives of those you care about. I promise you right now - it's better to feel bad about hurting someone you don't know, then to wonder if you could have done something more to save a loved one from harm. I'd prefer to avoid conflict if we can, but worse comes to worse, it's always a better idea to act."
'As speeches go, I'd give it seven out of ten' Shining though, as the mares gave him odd looks.
A sense of realization hit Rarity. "Wait just a moment dear, if I'm to use your sword, what will you use?" Before Armor could answer, a voice cut across the kitchen. "There you are" accused an armed and armored griffon with two more unarmored guards in tow.
Armor snapped into motion as he nonchalantly grabbed and flung a dozen knives and utensils hanging around them with his telekinesis at their newest would be assailants, peppering them.
The suddenness of the attack dropped the two unarmed soldiers and knocked off balance the third as a few lucky tosses managed to spear his hind leg as he reared back in alarm in what appeared to have been an attempt to take off. Armor was on him in an instant, snatching a large pan on the way just to wisp it through the air to bludgeon him in the side of the head, knocking the griffon out cold.
Taking a moment to catch his breath, he sauntered over to one of the long shafted axes and broke off a little over half the shaft into something a bit more manageable for a pony as he commented. "Well, it seems that I will be using an axe." he stated cheerfully to the slightly stunned mares. The reactions were mixed overall. Rarity and Applejack looked unnerved. Pinkie Pie seemed sad, but was doing her best to embolden Fluttershy who was on the brink of tears. Rainbow Dash looked like she couldn't decide how she truly felt, but seemed to settle in the range of approval.
"Okay, let's get a move on, the fact that these guards," he kicked the unconscious griffon for emphasis, "showed up, means they are starting to get their heads in the game, which means we need to move out if we are going to keep our head start. Miss Pie, I'm going to leave you in charge of Ms. Fluttershy." The pink mare nodded and moved in next to the timid mare trying to encourage her through the upcoming ordeal.
'Celestia, if I found one of my officers doing something like this with a bunch of civilians I would dress them down until my voice broke.'
"Okay, let's get a move on"
The group exited the back of the kitchen with Armor leading the way.
Armor did everything in his power to avoid the patrols, taking every out of the way shortcut he could remember working out during their stay, and avoiding the ones everyone used.
They made remarkably good progress as they went, a guard had all but walked into them as they snuck their way through a poorly lit corridor, to his great misfortune, as he badly startled the orange farmer, which triggered a knee-jerk reaction of bucking him right in the face, sending him tumbling end over end to land slumped upside down against an opposing wall.
Armor had almost thought they were home free when they found a set of half a dozen guards, fully armed and waiting for them just outside of his sisters, and her friends rooms
.
Unfortunately the guards found them at the same time and combat immediately ensued as the griffons took flight in the spacious hallway. The combat trained avians jumped upon the initiative, tossing javelins down at their party. Armor threw up a frontal shield catching the bulk of the projectiles. Before he could say anything a chromatic blur shot up in a corkscrew, wing clipping the duo, forcing them to lose balance and fly into each other sending them end over end into a nearby wall. The other four scattered as they gave chase immediately, trying to corner Rainbow in the narrow hall.
Armor never gave them the chance as he began to return the griffons projectiles with extreme prejudice, catching one griffon on the side as he grasped before clumsily landing against a wall. Soon, Rarity joined in, however, she did more to harry them as her tosses lacked any real force behind them. However, in their haste to deal with the newest threats they had forgotten their original quarry, whom now made her presence known, hitting one squarely in the center of his back sending him downwards in a tumbling mess. The other two took to talon and landed. After they realized they no longer had the numbers to corner the nimble mare.
A cry of pain came from behind the group. Armor shifted himself behind his shield to see the orange mare being grabbed painfully as a talon sunk half a inch by one of the guards who was supposedly taken out earlier, his companion apparently having absorbed most of the hard impact. She wasn't taking her mishandling lightly as she was bucking madly at anything in the griffons direction, who was now unfortunately holding on purely by instinct as magically reinforced mare's hooves repeatedly slammed into his half conscious form.
The remaining griffon who was likely only still standing because of his now dented chestplate, was beset upon by Shining Armor as he hefted his stolen axe and begun to swing it in orbiting attacks in a flurry at the beast.
The griffon not used to having to defend against the rapid onslaught eventually let himself be overwhelmed by a magically adjusted blow, which ended in a sickening thud as the weapon finally hit home. He hafted the reddened weapon to check around only to see that the room was quite. To his chagrin he was the last to finish. Shining was going to say something but a distant loud whistling followed by a tremor that shook them all to the floor.
"Let's get a move on" He said as he pulled himself up and headed into the room.
The room was, to Armor’s surprise, completely untouched, apparently their would be assailants didn't have a plan outside of "Keep anypony out."
"Okay grab whatever you need" He instructed as he went into the adjacent room that belonged to his sister. If you took away the small mountain of books and scrolls Twilight had managed to finagle out of the poor griffin archivist, it would have been all but barren of personal effects. The only thing he grabbed was anything that was written in Twilight's horn-writing style. She could've written dangerous insights or ideas down that he wouldn't want to see fall into enemy talons. Also she wouldn't be upset at losing her notes. Win-Win really.
He was finishing up when he heard a scuffle outside. Snatching up his axe he leapt to their groups defense, only to see the cause of the commotion.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash where both arguing against Rarity.
"Rarity, ya can't take all yer cloths. We gotta try and hurry and we ain't got time to be lugging around a suitcase of frilly dresses."
Rainbow Dash had her earth pony friend back on this one. "Applejack’s right Rares, We gotta move fast and I can't see us doing patrols and who knows what else with everypony weighted down."
Rarity drew herself up dramatically. "I'm not trying to take all my clothes, just a few outfits that would be tragic to leave." She caught sight of Armor before pouncing. "Oh Captain Armor, you surely understand a lady's plight. How can I be expected to leave behind works I've poured my heart and soul into." she asked batting her eyes at him adorably.
'Sweet Celestia. Please give me the strength to deal with troublesome mares,' he thought as one of his forehooves went to his forehead.
"Miss Rarity," He began his tone tinged only slightly with irritation, "while I understand your plight both Ms. Dash and Ms. Apple are correct. As a group we are only going to bring three saddlebags. I'm taking observations My sister and Celestia have made once I get to her room. And whatever you laden Ms. Pie and Ms. Fluttershy with. The rest of you need to stay as light as you can as none of you have near the experience nor training you need that I'm willing to risk any of your safety by taking more."
The argument pierced the calming mood that had taken hold once they managed to get to the perceived safety. 'Good, we shouldn't be relaxing until we've gotten home free.' The group went around gathering their things. "While we have the time, Ms. Apple, please let me bind your wound." He hadn't forgotten a griffon talon sinking into her flank.
"No problem here, Shy already took care of it" She said a bit embarrassed at having somepony observing her flank, even professionally.
"Until you are safe on the boat you are my responsibility. I'm glad you already had someone look at it on your own accord, but I still have to check." This was apparently the right way to phrase it because the mare allowed him to inspect the bindings.
It only took a few moments to check them out. " You should be fine, at least until we can get a professional to look at them," He turned to the yellow pegasus, "You've a talent for this kind of thing Ms. Fluttershy" he said gently encouraging. The mare looked like she needed it, althought his words didn't seem to have much of an impact, she at least tried to put on a brave face.
After the girls sorted themselves out, he could honestly say he was proud with how pragmatic the group of mares could be, as in the end the only things they took where Ms.Pies Necklace. Ms. Apples Hat and Lasso, which she apparently did bring both with her whenever possible. Rarity, not to Armors surprise, filled out the remaining space with rapidly disassembled dresses in three pockets, and the tools of her trade in the last along with Pinkies necklace. They met his rules though so he couldn't complain.
Before he could rein them in, a large number of voices came down the hallway. "Captain more down over here, it doesn't look like the Princesses work" He snapped next to the door picking up a tiny mirror that likely belonged to the unicorn mare, and stole a peek outside. His heart sank. A full complement of Twenty or so Griffons horded around the area. He turned around in a flash and mouthed a single word, "HIDE!"
The mares all looked around as the group silently ran about looking for a way to keep themselves hidden.
Armor half jumped, half levitated himself to above a spacious nearby wardrobe, and drew an extra sheet around himself in such a way as to make it look like extra linens were being stored in his place.
When he turned around his heart filled with dreaded acceptance. 'We are so going to die.'
There had to be some kind of cosmic conspiracy in place, no one was this bad at hiding. Fluttershy was hiding behind a potted plant. Rarity was pretending to be a manikin. Applejack was under the bed while her tail was sticking out. Dash had opted to hide underneath a pile of pillows that she had gathered at the head of a bed. Pinkie Pie...was wearing a pair of glasses with a fake nose and somehow had a sign that said "Not a Pony" while striking a dramatic pose.
Armor readied himself to leap to their defense, but to his shock, and partial horror, the griffons didn't seem to notice.
"Hey I was thinking" Started the first griffon to which the other two groaned.
"Okay, what were you thinking?" one of his associates eventually asked.
"Well, I'm sorta wondering why we are still trying to find these ponies." he observed. As Shining's nerves frayed as one began looking underneath each of the five beds.
"Why the pluck would you wonder about that?!" he asked as the building shook as if for emphasis. To Armors relief and incredulity he completely skipped the bed Applejack was hiding under.
"The princess is pretty obviously an angry, powerful, and maybe slightly crazy goddess. She is willing to pick a fight with an entire imperial force to protect them. I just don't see any appeal in being the ones to actually find them. Did any of you see what was left of Blacktalon?" The first asked, as a shiver went through the group.
"Yea, I'd hate to be the guard who noted he was only 'almost' completely covered in bruises. Apparently she doesn't like doing things halfway..." noted the second.
'you don't say' Armor thought sardonically.
"That's exactly my point!" Said the first as he hopped up on the bed and leaned against the pillows concealing Dash.
"Apparently she's big on friendship or something. I don't wanna be the one she decides to implode for offing her friends." The first stressed his very valid point.
The third looked pensive as he leaned up against the Rarity Mannequin. "Think we should say something to the Captain?"
The other two shared a look before deciding. "No, he'll just yell at us and send us to the front lines. I'd prefer to not end up turned into a newt or something." said the Second dismissively.
"Does she do that?" asked the first fearfully.
"Yea, apparently you get better after a few minutes though." Replied the second with a shiver, "anyways we should finish up and report. So what is that thing?" he said pointing to Pinkie Pie.
Armor steeled his frayed nerves to leap into action.
The other two walked right up to the mare and took thinking postures.
"Pony Art?" offered the first.
"No accounting for taste," confirmed the Second.
The Third leaned forward "How do you think they got it in here?” He asked aloud leering at a completely immobile Pinkie Pie.
A series of tiny tremors shook the room.
"Nevermind, Probably with magic like how they do everything else." He smiled wickedly "Say did either of you get a load of the white ones get up at the fancy ball the nobles were running?" The other two snickered as the Rarity-Mannequin ears twitched slightly as if to listen.
"I wouldn't wanna be caught dead wearing curtains in my own home, much less at a fancy party." He snickered, as Shining noticed a twitch developing on the offside of the Rarity-Mannequin. The griffons continued "Get this. Apparently she was told beforehand not to wear the ugly thing by her princess, but she just blew her off and wore it anyways!" The other two began laughing in earnest as the Mannequin began to shake in anger.
'By Luna's moon, Please don't attack them...' He begged the mare silently. A voice cut across their laughter. "What in the world is taking you three idiots so long?!" The three Griffons snapped to attention right where they stood even though they couldn't be seen.
"Sorry sir, We've finished the servants room and are going to scan the Princesses room now." The second griffon reported. They went into the adjoining room where the six hiding ponies were treated to the exclamation of "What, was she trying to make a library or something? Hey either of you two find any notes? Damn, guess they must have grabbed them already, would have been a nice find." The three shifted through Armors sisters room for a couple more minutes before marching their way out. Distantly he heard them report in.
"Sir nothing of interest to report, just a bunch of personal effects and a small library of books. Looks like it was cleaned out already."
The Captain gave pause before issuing an order. "Hmm, seems like they were all ready to make off with their prize. Okay let's continue our sweep, they might still be in the area." he ordered, missing the unenthused eyerolls, and sighs, from a large number of griffons in his contingent.
A few moments passed before the assembled mares began to slowly get out of their hiding places.
'You know, maybe this is what madness feels like. Everything is actually normal but it seems crazy because you're the one who is in fact crazy. I always suspected Twilight was a little off, It could run in the family...' he thought to himself as he jumped down.
"Well, that was...something." He commented. Before he could collect his thoughts the pink one suddenly stood rigid at attention before her body began twitching all over, causing everypony to take heed.
A moment passed after she settled and Armor opened his mouth to check if she was okay when she suddenly let loose a dramatic gasp.
"Everyone follow me, we need to hurry" and she shot out the door, followed almost immediately by the rest of the mares.
Little choice left Armor chased afterwards.
As they ran, a multitude of explosions began shaking the castle. Armor yelled forward only the tiniest bit out of breath. "Ms. Pie, We need to head upwards to get to our objective, this is the wrong way." To his befuddlement the pink mare continued her ridiculously fast hopping stride, but now in reverse, and still fully navigating the twist and turns of the corridors.
"I know that silly, but the fastest way to go up is to go down!" she said smiling chipperly, only to stop in the middle of a long narrow hallway.
'Finally' he thought, about to ask what the hay was going on.
Pinkie, however, spread her forehooves out wide and caught her friends who ran into her in an impromptu group hug. "Here we are! Now you just need to join the hug and cast your best magical stopping shieldy thing." She stated jovially as if throwing up protections in an abandoned hallway was completely normal.
"Ms. Pie could you please explain," His thoughts, however, were interrupted as a long series of violent explosions shook the building. "What was that?" The pink mare in lieu of response issued demands, "Hug. Shield. Now!" she stated eerily serious.
Her illogic was made clear as a unbelievably intense beam of white and lavender light gouged its way out the stone at the opposite end of the hallway and raced its way towards them.
He jumped at the mares and enveloped the group in the best shield he could manage.
The massive blade of lavender tinged energy cut its way through the room leaving white hot rock in its wake. The moment it touched his shield he felt his magical reserves being torn through as it protected their tightly huddled group from the beam.
"Keep the shield up!" the pink mare ordered which Armor fortunately decided to obey.
A brief moment passed before the rest of the hallway began to lower itself from their shielded portion of the floor, The roof slammed into the shield, which was fortunately still stronger than a couple of cracked feet of miscellaneous rock as a shield sized hole erupted its way into the next, which was filled with a platoon of very confused and slightly familiar looking guards, who continued to drop down as Armor's shield, held for another layer of hallways, followed by a room which reeked of magic and was filled with geode like formations, injured griffons with stone necklaces, and one kindred spirit who met his eye for the briefest moment.
'Are you having as weird of a day as me?' The griffon inquired.
'My friend, you have no idea.' Armor replied.
The moment passed as two more floors dropped in front of the group before the structure settled once more. To a very familiar room.
They were now in his quarters, and he could see Celestia's room nearby.
"What the buck just happened." Applejack asked the general audience.
To his growing headaches ire, the pinkmare responded. "Hmm if I had to guess I'd say that Twilight got in a fight with a bunch of those Griffon Carver mage thingys, and she got tired of getting held up ‘cause they got a pretty big advantage in a building made of nothing but rock, so she just cut the room and dropped them a few floors.”
'So my sister decided to cut the castle in half. Wait. My sister just cut a castle in half?!' Somepony slapped him in the face. He turned and saw Rainbow Dash looking passively at him before shrugging "You looked like you needed it."
"Thanks," 'I think...,' he finished mentally.
He looked at their surroundings, The only imperfection to the magical bisection was the uneven floor where the building had settled and the circular gouge he caused from their upheaving through the floor.
'What were the odds that we ended up here...Definitely going to update the pink mare's protocols.' He thought as he took a few deep breaths, to help filter out the adrenaline.
Armor looked through the similarly untouched room before going over to his personal belongings, took off his bags for a moment, and began dawning his purple Guards Armor.
It was a sight for sore eyes. While most guards had the standard enchanted armors, his sister in a fit of worry decided to enchant his herself. This had the effect of making it significantly more effective in pretty much every aspect. She also put a star on the front that they both had to represent the magical aspects of their talents.
That earned him extra snuggles from Cadence, who was always extremely fond of Twilight, as she thought it was adorable. Shining Armor, however, was far too entrenched in his stallion masculinity to be swayed by such things.
Unrelatedly he decided to keep the color palette so as not to hurt his sister's feelings.
Though the Element Bearers were taking a moment to collect themselves as well, they seemed to be able to take the...Unique method of traversing the castle in stride.
'Speaking of taking things in stride, note to self, when you get back write a new section of protocols for guards regarding Pinkie Pie.' Armor noted to himself while he put in place his protective platings, tightly pulling the straps so he could move more freely, and keep them in place if and when trouble struck again. Once his mane was properly set within his helm and the rest of the armor was locked snugly in place he returned the bags to his side and reattached them just as firmly.
"Okay let me grab Celestia's papers and then we can be off." Armor trotted briskly into Celestia's room. He hadn't actually been inside before, mostly for practical reasons. The room was barren in comparison to his sisters, oddly he couldn't find anything off hoof that signified it as the head of a country. He shuffled through what few personal effects were actually present, but instead of finding a packet of notes and observations like he had in his sister's room, he only found a thin journal, open to the last entry.
Curiosity got the better of him, as he read through the latest pages..
'...!' Armor couldn't believe what he was seeing.
All Celestia, Ruler and Diplomat to Equestria, and Guardians of Her Provinces and Protectorates, had written in what was apparently her latest journal, was about her co-ruler Twilight Sparkle and how to persuade her to simply, "leave it alone, and just give the Griffons enough to settle them down for another century or so" which was a direct quote.
To make matters worse, the quick notes she had jotted down in the margins where a little too blatantly manipulative for his comfort.
The room shook Armor out of his thoughts. 'Okay Shiny, internal dilemmas later, save everypony's flanks now.'
Moving back to the group of assembled mares he had to admit to a tiny bit of admiration. They looked like they had gone through their first day of bootcamp, dirty and tired, but they still looked so...normal. Bandages aside they could have just gone through a rough day of manual labor. Even now they were quietly chatting, the stress of their harrowing adventures seeming to drain as they drew strength from one another.
Gently clearing his throat to draw their attention, he levitated his thin enchanted blade over to the white mare. "Here is a blade Miss Rarity, again it's not designed for parrying, and while the enchantments might hold even if you did so, now might not be the best of times to test it."
Rarity gulped quietly before nodding and taking the blade into her field. She eyed it appreciatively. Standard issue for Knight Captains, The beautiful enchanted silver of the magical latencies inlayed within filigreed steel. The dedication of the craftsman transparent.
He'd left the one that Twilight enchanted at home, as while it was far more functional in design, which suited him, wielding it was exhausting, although admittedly the neigh indestructible blade setting itself on fire when held tightly enough by magic was a nice touch. It was very impressive work for the, then young, filly.
Keeping a hold on their attention he continued, "Now, if you ladies are ready, we need to get to our ship in the docks."
The assembled group took a moment to check with each other before nodding, as they headed back out to the torn hallway... Only to find dead ends.
'Ahh horse apples' It made sense in hindsight, the hallway they had arrived through was now nothing but a semicircle of different colored stone that had bisected the floor, the corridor leaving the room was cut off leaving them "trapped" until somepony, or some griffon in this case fished them out.
A small nudge on his ankle drew his attention.
"Umm excuse me, Mr. Armor", came a small voice from nearby, as the group turned to look at Fluttershy who was fidgeting under their attention. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you, but I was trying to tell you that the only way out seems to be the balcony. You can go back to what you were doing, if you want that is..." she petered out mumbling.
Sure enough the large alicorn sized balcony was wide open and awaiting them. Unfortunately, looking out there was still fairly massive drop. "Okay here's the plan, Miss Dash, You and Miss Fluttershy take us both down one at a time."
The cyan mare looked uncertain. "Is something wrong?"
"I... may have 'tweaked' my wing a tiny bit, in our scuffle with the griffons."
Armor paled just a bit as he realized the habitually airborne mare had been running along with them the entire time. "Why didn't you say something sooner?!" he demanded, more annoyed with himself than the mare.
"I just didn't want anyone worrying about me okay! I figured if I could stay off it for a few minutes it might be fine so it wasn't worth mentioning."
He took a deep sigh, "Miss Fluttershy, would you look at it for her? I'm not overly familiar with wings past the basics."
The yellow mare nodded, and a quick examination had her not quite frowning as she addressed the pegasus. "The injury from her race has undone itself again. It’s not as bad but you won't be able to fly for a few days. Maybe glide down in an emergency. Dashie you knew this was bad, why didn't you say something?" She accused in a tone that made even Armor feel guilty, much less the cyan mare who looked suitably humbled as she mumbled off her excuse, too quiet for Armor to hear, but apparently Fluttershy could pick up as she hugged her.
It was all very sweet, and unfortunately out of place. They were safe from patrols somewhat, but only until they got their act together and started flying up to the balcony.
He was considering attempting to have Fluttershy lower him and then "catching" the mares as she slowed their fall, when Pinkie Pie had a sudden set of spasms and ran out to the balcony grabbing the ledge.
"Everyone grab on!" she ordered cheerfully.
Armor didn't even bother arguing, as he found himself hugging a somewhat simplistic rail and columns.
Before he could ask what was going on, a great shuddering shook the castle, as a purple light shot up through a roof, a dozen shapes following after.
"I told that mare that using unicorn magic to help her fly is cheating!" shouted Rainbow Dash.
Armor would have looked at her incredulously, but his attention was taken away both from his sister, and the pegasus as the massive slab of rock they were holding onto shuddered and began to slide.
Slowly at first, it quickly picked up speed as it sloped downward like a colossal out of control freight train, the 'front' end pushing up a wall of dust and debris as it crashed into a nearby section of the city. The sounds of panicking was everywhere, as a griffon who hadn't yet moved away already filled the air around them as they took flight all punctuated by a high pitched "Whee!" coming from the pink mare while Armor was holding on for dear life.
"Let's do that again!" said Pinkie Pie merrily, as Armor released his death grip.
"Maybe later." he said as an aside, mostly out of adrenaline.
The other mares, to his great respect, and slight annoyance, seemed to have taken their trip gracefully, looking none worse for the wear.
"Well... That just happened. For now let's get out of there!"
"Hey, I found the ponies, they're over here!" came a voice from above them, as a dirt covered griffon wearing armor, pointed a claw down at them. The sound of a dozen more armored griffons filled the air as they attempted to get sight of them.
In the span of a breath, Shining Armor came up with a brilliant tactical decision.
"Run," was all he said, as he and all the mares bolted down the cover of the city street, weaving between confused civilian griffons who were doing their best to get out of the way, many of whom were taking flight to avoid them, and becoming obstacles for their airborne pursuers.
They tore down the covered passageway, when Armor took a moment to look back. Flashes of purple light from high overhead threw stark shadows from the overhanging market stalls, and the griffon pursuers, while struggling, where still gaining.
"Left" he ordered, as he skidded to a halt before suddenly turned down a narrow passageway, the sound of crashing from above as they turned sharply.
"Door" he yelled back to the mares before ducking in. A sharp bolt of pain ran up his backside as a spear left a gash along his left hindquarters.
"Sir Armor!" called Rarity, as he slipped and fell half way through the doorway, flinching as he landed on his injured rump.
Looking up he saw his assailant spear extended, and sitting on the low rooftop of the alley, and out of the corner of his eye he saw another poised to strike.
Without a thought he threw up a shield to cover the blue Pegasus whose attention was drawn on his own assailant that the seconds spear was veering towards.
There was a brief moment of backlash as the light of his shield flared and collapsed, it’s job done, as the blue pegasus leaned up over the yellow, grabbing the spear in her teeth, joined by a deflated looking Pinkie Pie, to both Rainbows and Armors surprise, pulled sharply down. The griffon fell forward into the alley, and to his credit, he managed to catch himself.
A pair of orange hooves immediately caught it right in the metal chest denting the armor as griffon was sent flying the two remaining feet into a very solid wall.
A sharp clanging came from nearby as a spear drove itself into the ground right next to Armor a second later, as a blade hovered above him, clear wooden shavings from where it had pushed the weapon aside.
"I believe that is Quite Enough out of You." came an angry voice and the blade blured up the spear drawing a pained squeak as he was forced to release his weapon as the metal nipped at his talons.
One eye closed in pain the griffon drew himself large in order to call out their position, only to be interrupted as a frying pan whistled through the air and smacked him right in the head.
"Woo! Bullseye!" came the pink mare's voice as she put two hooves in the air in celebration.
Armor was fully intending to thank the mares for the save, but instead, what came out was, "Miss Pie. Where did you get a frying pan?"
"From the kitchen silly, where else where you find a frying pan?"
That...he certainly didn't remember her having one, but at the same time he didn't remember her not having one. But how did he miss… "I see, Thank you for the save. And you as well Miss Rarity." he said, decidedly ignoring it, as he made his way into the building, the mares in tow.
He'd put it on the backburner for now, and would just ask his sister about the pink one later.
"Are you okay Sir Armor?" the white mare asked worriedly, likely due to his limp.
"Nothing that going home wouldn’t cure." he said rakishly. Assuming they get out of here of course, Cadence would certainly be willing to play nursemaid to the odd bruise.
Fluttershy seemed to have taken to cleaning and wrapping the gash.It was fairly deep but nothing life threatening.
"Good heavens, these are beautiful!" exclaimed the marshmallow mare, as she moved around the apparent backroom of the store they'd dodged into.
The room was packed with reams of what appeared to be expensive fabric. "I thought Twilight said that Griffons didn't wear clothing?"
"Technically they don't, as they seem to wear only things that complement crest feathers, which could be an avian thing...but that's not really helpful right now...sorry" commented Fluttershy as she gradually lost her nerve.
"Looks like a curtain shop" added Pinkie helpfully, looking out through the door to the front of the store.
Rarity gave a dramatic gasp as she clutched the fabric she'd been eyeing protectively. "Curtains, are you crazy?! They would waste all this potential on curtains! I think I feel faint," she said melodramatically, before falling into an especially large pile with a disarmingly quiet pomf.
The other mares politely suppressed a snicker at her antics.
'well at least they seem to be having fun.' Standing up to test his leg a sharp stab of pain shot up his back side as he moved around the small room a bit.
Might as well break the news. "Ladies, I think we may need to split up," he stated bluntly, to their sudden protest.
Applejack spoke up the loudest. "Now why in the Hay would we do something like that?" she asked.
"Because I have a duty to get you all to safety, but now I would only slow you down..." he said as he hobbled forward, his leg showing clear signs of injury. "I'll manage on my own easily enough."
"Nope, ain't gonna happen. No way we're ditching you like that." stated Rainbow Dash as she planted her plot firmly on the ground, and crossed her fore hooves, Applejack quickly followed suit followed by Pinkie Pie and Rarity. He turned to Fluttershy who demurely looked away, but sat herself down as well, eyes looking up every now and then nervously to check if he was still looking at her.
"I'm afraid she has the right of it dear. We couldn't possibly abandon anypony in this place all by themselves. Besides, you've done well to get us this far, and the harbor is in walking distance."
'Walking through an army of griffons, but sure, walking distance.'
"Ya'll wouldn't leave one of us to fend for ourselves, no way we'd do the same" the rustic mare stated firmly.
He let out a sigh 'You know, my sister has some pretty good friends.' he thought only mildly annoyed. "Thank you." he said with a smile.
"Although we still have the problem of how do we get to the docks? We're not going to be able to get there in a hurry." he commented, open for suggestions.
"We should sneak there! Like Spies!" suggested the pink one.
"That would be nice, but unfortunately we sort of stick out"
"I think I may have a solution" suggested Rarity a bit too happily, as a pair of scissors and thread found themselves floating in the air around them.
In a furor of fabrics Armor soon found himself with a new cloak that did wonders to cover the bright colors of their party with softer tans and greys similar to a griffon. To his surprise wing like waves of fabrics lay on the side, making them stand out even less. . To his far greater surprise, he realized his cutie mark had also somehow been stealthily embroidered onto the side, albeit in the same muted color palette.
The white mare was finishing up the last cloak on a fidgeting Rainbow as she let out a slight sigh. "I know they are quite crude, but they will have to do, at least until I get a chance to fix them once we get back. Be a dear Sir Armor and leave a note for the proprietor that he can contact me in equestria so I can reimburse him later" she said absentmindedly.
Armor long having reached the point of 'just go with it' nodded, and scribbled a note to the effect and added that the crown would also be willing to pick up the tab. Technically it was a crown mission anyways.
'Huh, maybe I should put Cadence in contact with her. They're both Twily's friends, they probably would hit it off.'
Their bright colors muted, the next several minutes passed tensely for the ponies, as they made their way down to the docks. Bright purple arcs of light shot across the now night sky, as elsewhere in the city Twilight seemed to be continuing her taking on anygriffon who thought to oppose her.
The boat was in sight, as the party quietly moved towards it.
Unfortunately it was not to be,
"That is quite far enough I think," came a familiar voice.
The Mares and stallions turned in a rush, to see a small squadron of full geared griffons.
"I'll admit, you did well to come this far. But our patience has ran out. You will turn over the mares, so they can be used as bargaining chips in stopping that mad mares rampage."
"You can't honestly expect me to turn them over?" he said, positioning himself between the mares."
"Not really. But your cooperation isn't exactly required either."
The griffon Captain gestured, and a bolt flew into Armors side as he fell down.
"Mr. Armor!" came the distraught voice of a yellow mare as she rushed over to him, a crossbow bolt sticking out the side of the cloak as she wrapped her hooves around his head, and began to cry.
Armor blinked stupidly. "Miss Fluttershy, while I appreciate the sentiment...I think I'm fine?" he asked as confused himself as everyone else seemed to be. Tugging off the cloak, he saw the bolt, firmly planted in his saddlebag in a large ream of papers looking badly damaged.
'Yea, never making fun of Twily's note-taking again.' he thought absentmindedly.
"How...Oh for plucks sake, Shoot him again!" he began.
"THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!" came the voice, to almost everyone there's surprise, from the small yellow mare.
Armor moved to say something, but the look on her face caused him to snap his jaw closed.
"Why?!" she demanded, her cloak falling back, her gaze piercing the griffon captain to his very soul, as it burned malevolently.
"What could you possibly be trying to accomplish! We've done nothing but try to be peaceful and friendly from the moment we got here." she accused, most of the griffons looking nervously at one another.
"T-That-"
"Do you just enjoy hurting others is that it?!" she demanded.
"Well I-"
"Princess Twilight is only fighting because she doesn't want the people she cares about to get hurt, but that means that Griffons are getting hurt"
"Yes th-"
"And instead of actually trying to help those griffons, or even get innocent ones to safety, you are trying to hurt us instead!" A large number of the griffons had taken to hiding their weapons behind their backs.
"I had orders..."
"FROM WHO!?" she demanded.
"Blacktalon..."
"Blacktalon is nothing but a big mean bully!" she said as if that alone was enough to send him to Tartarus, and given the general reactions, it may as well have.
"We are going to get on that boat. We are going to wait for our friend Twilight. And you are going to make sure that we stay there nice and safe. Am I understood?" she said, having moved closer with each sentence until she was right up next to the captain who looked like he would prefer to be anywhere else.
"Y-Yes ma'am!" he agreed.
"Good." she nodded before walking back.
"Sorry about that," she murmured to their group her presence deflating by the moment. "Umm please don't forget your cloak Mr. Armor. It's just that Rarity would be sad if you left it behind without her getting to finish it." she said, blushing crimson at the amount of attention on her.
"Sure, no problem" agreed Armor, as he folded it and placed it over his back.
Without any more to do, the rest of the ponies got back on the far more fanciful boat, and unpacked their bags before coming onto the main deck once more.
The squad of griffons seemed to have elected to keep the vessel secure and a moderate distance.
An ominous cloud on the horizon was looming ever closer...
AN:
Well, this was posted in a short and timely manner :D...:D....:P
As the chapter name describes, only partially edited, At least its long?
That is a good thing right? Quantity has a quality all its own?
At any rate, I sent it off to several people to edit, but I'm no longer certain who actually did so.
If you did help with making it less terrible, my thanks!
(Put a note on the g-docs link, and send me a PM so i can add you name xD)
AN2: NOW EDITED THANKS TO RequiemForHope!
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IT LIVVVVES, and its great.
Ffs.. I beg of you, can you, please, just pm me that g-doc link?
i.imgur.com/iWKad22.jpg
It's a bit rough but good to see it updated anyways. A little odd that Twilight would completely loose track of her friends and go and wreck the place with them in it.
7023418 Twilight incident... I think she lost control and the Griffons are doing everything in their power to keep her from getting to her friends.
The hub document hasn’t been updated with links to chapters 6–7 so I couldn’t make any suggestions on them, but I did go through 1–3 (again) and made suggestions to 4–5.
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)
Ahh, I haven't checked the Hub in a while (I forgot i had it, when i originally posted it, no one used it
I'll be glad to send a link to G.Docs tho.
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Truth be told, without having reread this to double‐check it was, in fact, the story I thought it was I wouldn’t have seen the comment about the hub document and would never have gone looking for it. (This is true of both times I made suggestions.) I know it’s tedious but you might want to add an author’s note to each chapter with a link to the hub document.
Captain Armor needs a drink.
Honestly, if the High King survives, I think he realized how stupid he was and it just cost him his empire. If he survives for I think at this point if he isn't killed by Twilight, his own people will in hear or anger, which ever happens first.
Awesome story! I am curious about getting back to the present though.
I very much ave a massive issue with celestia 'not expecting trouble'.
Seriously, that seems to be a massive filing that is common in writing celestia. She may be flawed, but she is also a ruler of over a thousand years. Likely, she has dealt with griffons before many times, and she has seen varying degrees of noble and psychopathic rulers.
she would also not want twilight to go on a rampage.
So i do not buy for even two seconds that she would 'dumbstruck' when a predictablly violent individual behaves predictably violent. She would likey snap all the axe heads off and through them at blackthorn. She WOULD freaking react. Saying she would be dumbstruck is simply plot convenience >_<
7023806 well for this particular Celestia she's been buying off aggressors for years. Which in her mind means problem solved. The issue becomes that its taking bigger and bigger payments to stop conflict which is draining the reserves.
Nice, though I do hope there will be a chapter of what happened during this from Twilight's viewpoint.
Only thing I noticed that stood out to me was repeatedly spelling hooves as whooves.
raw or not, it is good to see this story continue. Nice chapter. Thanks for continuing.
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Really dude? Really?
That wouldn't work for even a hundred years, lt alone a thousand of them. That concept just falls apart when you add two and two together here. It wouldn't work for any length of time. Not to mention there would be plenty whose motivations would make them not give two fucks about money. Especially in a world of magic, where real power exists and not the illusions of financial or political influence.
Especially considering celestia, while the show does not let us see it very often, is VERY powerful. She broke twilight's want it need it spell with little effort. She could overpower that entire room, twilight included. And why would the pony that managed to outsmart freaking Discord of all beings (via a fluttershy), not realize that things were escalating too much?
It just raises alll the wrong types of questions. ALL of them.
Ah, watching Twilight cut loose and actually do something impressive with magic is quite the treat. Slicing a nice, big chunk out of the castle/palace was a particularly nice move.
At first I was like
but then I was like 
and once the action started I was like 
Maybe one day my face will recover...
Anyways, I'm very glad to see this get updated.
0_o It's alive!
If I wasn't on my phone, I'd dig up the original "It's ALIIIIIVE!" scene and put it here.
That said, amusing chapter. Poor Shiny, learning to not question the Pink during a combat situation.
I͚͍͖̠̹̫͇̖̘̱̼̻͙̻͋ͯ̈̈́̏ͦ̓̚T̯̥̫͚̜̭̖̙̥̭͓̼̪̼̳̫̤͂ͦ́́̾̉͌̉̿ͨͯͩ̓̈͛̚ͅ ͈̟̙̩͕̺̙̙̥͐̆̓̓ͩͪ͊ͮ̐̓L̤̲̼̩̖͍͕̈́̑̾̐̌̔̽̈I̪̙̥͍͕̙̍͑͊̆̂ͅV̟̠̭͖̗͙͆ͦ̎ͯ̀̅̈́ͯͦ̎̉͒̽ͩͤ͋̚E͙̱̮̞͇ͥͬͯ͛S͎̯̰̞̰͖̫͓͓̝̞͇͔̺͙̊ͥ͛̅̓ͪ͆́̍͑͐̌̉̊͑ͦ̚
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Actually, we are shown that while Celestia is powerful, she is not too powerful. In the last, its stated that while Celestia was in the front-lines against the Crystal Empire and taking down a lot of troops, she was not strong enough to end the war on her own and needed the army to back up to defeat Sombra.
Now add a aggressive nation, and Celestia caring too much about her subjects, she has been trying to avoid war for centuries to prevent needless deaths on both sides. Which is her biggest flaw, she wants to solve without a war and the destruction it brings not realizing it maybe the only choice or realizing others that may not be effected by the elements, may push for it. After all, while the High King is a jerk and a bully, I don't think he is in disharmony for the elements to work against him as he follows the instinct of the griffins.
Also you to realize I think this set years after Season 5, as mention of Unicorn Flight she must have learned from Starlight, could mean Twilight has matured magically and is obviously a lot more powerful. Perhaps even more powerful then the Two Royal Sisters combined. Cannon shows this is possible as she is able to hold the collective power of all four princess and gain control while her adrenaline is on the run.
Besides, the High King wanted a war to happen, he was just stupid enough to not realize Twilight wouldn't start the war in his own palace or go for the kill of the head so soon.
7025172 i always viewed that as neither sombra or celestia being able to beat each other head on. neither would want the other to be around. the only reason there would be an outright war is if they were stuck in a stalemate.
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And a flying, well trained army that can attack several location at once and force Celestia and the guards to large portion of Equestria will not keep her busy.
We also don't know the full motive, but another thing notice in cannon is that she is tired of fighting and that maybe why she is so willing to back down so easily, she doesn't have the heart to fight anymore or the heart to see the worst in people for she doesn't want to see it to prevent the conflict she so desperately want to avoid.
Ah, also I've noticed one flaw in this chapter. You say they were outside Shining Armor and Celestia's rooms and yet they go inside and collect the Mane 6's items and Twilight's notes. Later, after Twilight happened, they wind up in the hall outside Celestia and Armor's rooms which means the first set had to have been Twilight's and friends' rooms. You might want to correct that little flub.
Also, a lot of lowercase i when it should be I.
7023555 Finally a new chapter!!! When is the next chapter coming out?!?!
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I also believe that Celestias inactivity at the situation is possibly because after hundreds of years, her approach of "let them have their way it's to protect my little ponies / prevent war" has become a habit. Plus she probably was made insensitive to the severity of the griffons demands (and actions) by them slowly increasing it over the centuries. In her mind, she possibly saw what was happening as just another thing she had to endure to ensure peace. Basically, thats what she had always done and it had always worked.
Though I have to agree Celestia feels like to much of a doormat. Then again that was the starting point for the entire story: Celestia became unfit to actually rule the nation in Twilights opinion. That point of view had to be shown to us readers which is done by
(duh)diverting from the canon and/or from peoples headcanon.Btt.: I love this chapter. It totally embodys two of the tags: Comedy and Adventure. I had my laughs and I felt the action. I think taking Shining Armors point of view for this chapter was a stroke of genius. It points out so clearly how utterly OP and hilariously absurd the mane 6 - 1 actually are with their abilities, antics and attitudes. And how a normal being would react to them (with normal being I mean those, who are not living in Ponyville or are Bronys and are therefore used to that kinda thing). Which is awesome.
... if you got the time ... 
... if you don't mind ... 
... I'm sorry.)
Well done, keep it up. (And I kinda hope a slightly shorter break beween chapters ...
MfG NIchtraucher
Sweet! Another chapter! I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next!
This fic is alive! IT'S ALIVE!
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Celestia outsmarted Discord via Fluttershy. Now that's just grabbing at straws, man.
Are you still doing this ?
7110517
The interlude? no, its done for now.
Although a followup, probably from Celestias PoV may follow eventually
The story? Yes,
But i'm full time college, full course load, projects every weekend.
7115652 Ah ok
I'm all caught up... Just waiting for the next chapter... this one really got me stressed out for some resin..... *shivers*
That... may actually be Canon...
Sorry Shining, but I agree with them too.
Awesome chapter, great work.
Coming on a year since the updates stopped, i cared nothing for the interlude or other possible 'pov's. I do hope the story returns to the course it was already on before the next anniversary of inactivity.
Edit. Rered the interlude, not as bad this time around but would have loved to see more Twilight.
More please :)!
This was an incredible read, you did good and you should feel good.
I hope you find inspiration to finish this one, quite a unique setting.
Ey, mate, still kicking?
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*In British old man voice* I'm not dead yet!
Just havn't been writing lately.
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Cheers! Any idea on when you might start writing again?
I like this story! Is there gonna be more?
This is crazy awesome and I need more of it. Is there going to be more of it?
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I do plan to come back to this eventually, but I write by muse almost exlusively, and I've no idea how to get inspired to write again.
Sorry if it's not the best news, but I don't wanna say "soon" when I honestly don't know if/when motivation will strike.
Such a good start to a story. Needs many more chapters though.
No MOAR?
YOU DO NOT JUST START A WAR WITH TWILIGHT BEING BADASSLY OUT OF CONTROL AND FLUTTERSHY STEPPING UP- AND NOT GIVE ME MORRRRRRR.
Jk
It was epic, while I would love to read more, it's fine if there isn't. This idea is really intriguing though, although canonly all the Griffin's have is like one city that is in major poverty.