The Third Commander

by Priceless911

Ch22 The Tri-Battle of Canterlot

Cirrus was wearing a dark cloak as he sat silently in the library of Madam Melody’s manor. As he sat in deep thought Zine entered wearing a cloak of his own and carrying his staff as he looked to the pegasus and smiled, “Good morning commander, ready to start a war?”
Cirrus looked up as he replied with an unenthusiastic tone, “Yea… I guess… where is Gem Stone?”
Zine replied, “She is in the lobby waiting for the rest of the officers to show up. Once they arrive we will be ready for you to begin the briefing.”
Cirrus nodded, “Good… come get me when they get here.”
Zine asked, “You don’t want to wait for them there?”
Cirrus shook his head, “No… I just need a little time to myself.”

Knowing what this was about, Zine sat down next to him as he spoke, “Commander Bolt didn’t see you last night did he?”
Cirrus shook his head, “No… he said that the war would end so I think he left me alone last night so I would be well rested.”
Zine asked, “Are you?”
Cirrus shook his head, “I did sleep well last night… but I think I’m fare from rested.”
Zine nodded his head, “Oh, I see. Your worried for the fight aren’t you?”
Cirrus rubbed his head in irritation, “Worried is an understatement. I’m terrified.”

Zine smiled, “Yea… well I‘d be worried if you weren’t. I recall telling you that fear was something that was meant to keep you safe, right? Well if you charge into battle fearlessly you’re likely to go down in the first charge. I bet even Commander Bolt was afraid of battle when it began. But like most, he weighed his options. What would he gain by fighting and winning? Or what would he lose by simply trotting away?”
Cirrus nodded in agreement, “Yea… I am worried. But I know this is something I must do.”
Zine nodded as he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a flask with a neon white glowing potion inside, “Good, then you will need this.”

Cirrus took the potion and marveled at its interesting glow as he asked, “What is it?”
Zine smiled, “A special potion, not of darkness, but of light. This potion will have a major effect on this fight if used properly.”
Cirrus looked at Zine with curiosity, “Really? What’s it do?”
“I have a theory. If you manage to remind Thundaga of who she is, then perhaps her other self this Princess Um-ba or whatever, will try to make herself known. If that happens, then simply drink this potion and touch her.”

Cirrus asked, “Okay… just touch her? Where exactly?”
Zine shrugged his shoulders, “Anywhere is fine, preferably somewhere appropriate otherwise her darker side may be more justified in killing you. But all you have to do is make contact with her skin, and you will be transported to a battlefield unlike any that you or Thundaga would ever expect to fight on. But I'll warn you, this potion is extremely potent. If somepony were to touch you when you touch her, you both would be transported to that battlefield. So if you feel like taking somepony with you, like oh I don’t know… Captain Stone, then feel free to do so.”
Cirrus asked, “This battlefield… what make it so different?”

Zine replied, “It will be your only chance to save the part of her that you actually want to save… but I'll warn you, chances of success is almost zero. Most of it depends on how much this Um-ba pony is willing to fight. She will need your guidance, so make it count.”
Hearing the seriousness of Zine voice felt odd to Cirrus. Zine was never the zebra to act serious when it mattered so hearing him talk like this told Cirrus that this potion was extremely valuable as he looked back at the flask and smiled, “I will… Thanks Zine.”
Zine smiled peacefully, “No… Thank you.”

Before anything else could be said, Gem Stone entered the library wearing her pink bandanna, and her cloak as she spoke, “Sir… they are ready.”
Cirrus smiled as he stood up and placed the potion in the pocket of what he was wearing, “Good, then let’s begin the briefing.”
With that Cirrus, and Zine stood up as they both made their way to the entrance of the library and accompanied Gem Stone as the trio started down the hall. Half way there, they saw five more ponies approaching, Madam Melody, Major Storm, Butterscotch Pie, Apple Barrel, and a fifth that was unexpected, but not unrecognized as Cirrus addressed him as they stopped, “Mandarin Orange… I didn’t expect to see you here.”

The orange earth pony smiled as he replied, “Things in Ponyville got too crazy to ignore, so when I heard that Commander Halo was in need of troops, well I couldn’t resist.”
The two bro-hoofed one another as Cirrus smiled, “It’s good to see a friend helping in this fight.”
Mandarin smiled, “Dido. Will Dash be joining us soon?”
Cirrus smiled “Later, until then,” He looked at Madam Melody, “Are these my officers?”
Madam Melody nodded, “Oui, zese are ze diversion, evacuation, and assault team officers.”
Cirrus smiled, “Good, then from this point on, you are all promoted to major. Although you will all still report to Major Melody, Understood?”
Apple Barrel Smiled, “Promoted two ranks, heck you could make me report to a bail of hey and I would complain one bit.”
Butterscotch laughed, “Yea I wouldn’t either… I'd just eat it.” He laughed a little before pausing, “Wait a second… is this a posthumous two rank promotion? Kind of premeditated don’t you think?”

Major Storm smiled as she replied to Butterscotch, “It doesn’t make much difference to me, but I believe he’s implying that if we have high ranks in battle, it will motivate the soldier more. Rank may not decide much, but in battle, it helps to motivate soldiers. Especially when they are young or inexperienced.”
Understanding the reasoning, Butterscotch nodded, “Oh… okay, I was starting to think you were doubting us.” He laughed before saluting, “Rank accepted commander.”
Butterscotch smiled with glee as Mandarin thought to himself, “Major Orange hm… sounds like a fruit brand, but I'll take it.”
With that, Gem spoke up, “Um sir?... the briefing?”
Remembering where they were going Cirrus nodded, as he looked at her, “Oh right, we need to address the troops.” He looked back at his officers, “You five follow, it would be best if we addressed them with you all beside me.”

All the officers smiled as Madam Melody replied, “Oui Commander, lead ze vay.”
With that, Cirrus and his officers made their way down the corridor of the manor to the lobby where they would address their troops. When the group reached the master staircase that led into the large lobby, Cirrus could already hear the soldiers talking amongst themselves as Gem Stone spoke up, “I'll ready them for you sir.”
With that, Gem Stone smiled as she started making her way down to the center of the staircase which worked as a pedestal for the entire lobby to see.

As she stood there her expression became serious as she called out, “Cut the chatter and FALL IN!!!”
Everypony in the center of the lobby lined up in a formation as Gem gave them a few seconds to get ready, before looking over and nodding to Cirrus to come down. Seeing the signal Cirrus trotted down to where she was standing as she called out, “Commander on the floor! Atten-tion!”
With that everypony in the formation stood at attention as Cirrus approached Gem Stone as she took a step back for him to take the floor. Cirrus made his way around Gem as he looked over the formation and called, “Post!”

With that, Zine and the five majors approached and stood behind him as Cirrus spoke, “Look and remember these faces! These are the officers in command of each unit during the battle. Major Barrel and Major Pie will be in command of the two diversion units. Major Storm and Major Orange will be in command of the two assault teams. And finally, the officer in command of all five, is Major Melody. Because of this, she will be with and in direct control of the Evacuation team. Now, I'll turn it over to each officer to explain the command starting with Major Barrel.”

Cirrus stepped to the side as Apple Barrel stepped forward, “Alright, now if you’re in my team, ya’ll will be with me here while Major Pie and his team will be on the other side of Canterlot. As soon as we see the signal we’ll begin our riot as we start settin’ fire to specially marked buildin’s and tearin’ apart anythin’ we can without hurtin’ any civilians. Some places will be marked for destruction, meanin’ we can do whatever we want to them to get the Royal Guards attention. While other specially marked places will be marked to leave alone. These places are safe houses for civilians, for that reason, you ain’t gonna touch em. Got it?”

Major Storm Stepped forward, “I made sure that the guards guarding Thundaga’s armories are supporters of both The Rebellion and the Nightmare Legion. When the riots begin, they, myself included will remove our armor and abandon our posts to allow any supporters of The Rebellion to enter and arm themselves accordingly. Once armed, my forces will begin a sweeping assault in the center of the city and push our way out to the city’s main gate all the while, arming everypony willing to fight back at Thundaga. Once we take the gate, we will open it, and hold it.”
Mandarin Orange stepped forward as he added, “While this is happening, I will be leading the second assault team. Our job will be to suppress and neutralize the Royal Guard’s that will be trying to stop the riots. We will keep the riots as active as we can to take all attention off the Commander and his task.”

Madam Melody started speaking from there, “Vhile zis is taking place, I and ze rest of my troops vill gazer as many civilians as possible and lead zem to ze safe houses across ze city. Ve vill carry no veapons and vear no armor so zat ze Royal Guard’s vill see us as bystanders, and leave us be.”
Cirrus spoke up from there, “During this, Zine, Gem Stone, and I will be infiltrating the castle. We will try to open the castle gate and find a way to keep it open, but we will not stand by until reinforcements arrive. Once the gate is open, we will send a second signal for Spike to come in and hold the gate while we face Thundaga. Note, none of this will happen until General Dash and The Rebellion army sets up a position outside the city. Once he is there, we will give Thundaga’s army time to lock down the city and gather outside the walls so that conflict inside will be moderate to minimal. Once General Dash begins his charge, then, and only then will we begin ours. I’m counting one everypony to do their part, because as you can guess, I will be doing mine. Remember this is an all or none battle. If we fail… there won’t be a rematch.”
Zine decided to add tension, as he spoke up, “We’ve seen what happened to the Wonderbolts… lets avoid the same fate, shall we?”

Hearing his words, everypony in the formation looked at each other in worry as two random voices called out from amongst the formation of soldiers, “I fear no storm!” “Viva la Commander!!!”
Slowly, everypony looked onto these random ponies to see that it wasn’t soldiers amongst the ranks, it was Jet and Allium as they both stood saluting Cirrus as if they were part of the formation. Seeing this, the soldiers standing next to them smiled as they saluted, “Viva la commander!”
Another spoke, “I fear no storm!”
With this, the soldier in the formation began saluting in a wave movement and replied with one of the two statements said earlier. By the time all the commotion had ended, Cirrus found himself standing in front of the formation as everypony there, including his friends behind him were saluting with smiles of confidence on their faces.

Seeing this motivated him as Cirrus saluted back, “LETS BRING BACK PEACE!”
With that call everypony yelled back in an uproar of battle cries that only increased their motivation. Shortly after, Cirrus dropped his salute as he spoke up, “Now gather in your teams and prepare to move out! General Dash should be arriving at noon so it’s likely the battle will begin shortly after so we all should be ready. Fall out!”
With that the formation slowly fell apart as Cirrus turned to his officers as Apple Barrel spoke first, “Spoken like a true commander, I don’t regret joinin’ ya one bit.”
Gem smiled, “Now that they have their orders we can leave it to the majors to see them through. As for us, we better get going if we want to be in position when the general arrives. There should be a small support team waiting there for us in a safe house outside the castle wall.”

Cirrus nodded his head as he looked at the rest of his officers, “Are there any question before we get started?”
Everypony shook their heads no as Madam Melody spoke, “Ve all understand Commander.”
Cirrus gave a bracing sigh, “Good… then I guess we should begin.” He looked at Gem and Zine, “We ready to go?”
Zine glanced out the side of his eye at the potion in his staff as he smiled, “I’m always ready to spread some chao- I mean… I’m ready to end this war.”
Gem smiled at Zine, “Finally, something we can agree on.” She looked at Cirrus, “We are good to go as soon as you are sir.”
Cirrus nodded, “Good, then let’s go.”
Smiling in confidence Cirrus, Zine, and Gem Stone trotted down the stairs, through the lobby an out the doors as the Nightmare Legion soldiers cleared a path and saluted their commander as they totted by.

A few hours later, the trio sat on the second floor of a building just outside the castle walls. As they sat and waited, Gem Stone was looking down the road at another building in the distance as a Nightmare solder sat there waiting to give them the signal that General Dash was near. As they watched, Zine trotted over and sat down next to her as he asked, “Did you make your decision yet? About last night’s discussion?”
Gem didn’t want to discuss this subject, but she still nodded as she replied, “Yea… I did. I’m go-”
“Shh… don’t say… just do it when the time comes. I’m okay with whatever you choose, so when it happens, don’t hesitate.”
Gem looked into the distance as she replied, “Right, I won’t then.”

Far out on the Canterlot perimeter wall a few guards were standing on top of the wall as they talked, “Really? So what did you do?”
“Well once I got home, I tried to keep it quiet but the wife f-”
The guard paused as he looked down the road and spoke, “Hmm? Looks like some travelers are coming. Better get into position for a search.”
Knowing what to do, the guards separated and readied the checkpoint. However as they watched the figure on the horizon, they soon realized that it wasn’t a single pony or group like they suspected. Slowly, more and more figures appeared on the horizon until finally the soldiers were able to identify what it was as one gasped in shock, “Thundaga’s will… IT’S AN ARMY! REBELLION ARMY ON THE HORIZON! ALL SOLDIERS TO BATTLE STATIONS!!!”
Hearing this, the guards quickly started to scrabble to get into position as a runner pegasus took off from the top of the wall to fly the message to Thundaga.

Minutes later, Thundaga and Commander Mist were trotting through the castle corridor as Commander Mist asked, “Your majesty? Are you well? You seem to have something on your mind?”
Thundaga continued trotting as she replied, “Something odd is in the air… We felt it all day yesterday too. It’s as if darkness is cre-”
“YOUR MAJESTY!!!”
Both stopped and turned around as the runner from the gate rushed up and spoke through his exhaustion, “Your majesty, we’ve spotted an army approaching the gate. It’s General Dash and his Rebellion.”
Both ponies looked surprised as Commander Mist replied, “What? How many?”
The soldier replied, “I… I don’t know sir, as soon as I saw the army I wasted no time reporting it.”
Commander Mist became angry, “You decided to come here without a proper estimate on ho-”
“Silence commander, he did the right thing. Little information is better than none.” Thundaga looked back at the runner, “Return to the gate and await further orders, we shall have them for you shortly.”
The pegasus saluted, “Yes your majesty.”

The guard turned and left to return to the gate as Commander Mist asked, “You’re not going to assemble the army?”
Thundaga replied as she turned and started up the corridor, “We will see what we are up against… then we will assemble the troops.”
As they continued trotting up the hall, Commander Mist insisted, “We should gather our forces and wipe them out now. Just say the word, and we will crush them like the insects they are.”
Thundaga shook her head as they approached a staircase, “Careful commander. A battle fought in haste proves either a loss or a costly victory. We will retaliate, but as all battles are, we must fight using strategy, not strength.”

Thundaga, and Commander Mist continued up the stairs and into another corridor until they finally reached the door to her bedchambers. Using her magic, Thundaga wasted no time as she opened both the room and the balcony door at the same time, as she trotted through her bedchambers and onto the balcony that overlooked Canterlot. Looking into the distance, Thundaga could see General Dash’s army while a few more guards arrived just in time for her to give her order, “Assemble The Royal Army outside the perimeter walls. Then lock down the city gates. Nopony enters or exits until we give the or-… wait…”

Concerned by the appearance of General Dash’s army Thundaga thought to herself as Commander Mist asked, “What is it your majesty?”
Thundaga replied, “Assemble the army… But, don’t lock down the city. Instead only grant access to Royal Guards and The Royal Army.”
Commander Mist was concerned, “What? But why?”
Thundaga continued, “Look at the size of his army… doesn’t it seem a little small to you?”

Commander Mist looked at the army as he replied, “Well yea, that’s why we should just hit them with everything we have.”
Thundaga nodded, “In my younger years, we would agree… however, we must ask. Why would General Dash attack with such a small force? We have taken into account that he isn’t an experienced soldier, however even a simple civilian would see the disadvantage he is in. If we were to guess, we'd say there is something up his sleeve. Therefore, we will amass the army outside the gate, but we will not lock them outside the city. We will follow protocol, but we will also keep our eyes open for deception. We have a funny feeling, that this is more than just a simple force on force battle.”

Minutes later, General Dash watched the massive combination of Royal Guards and Royal Army soldiers assemble outside the city as one of his officers approached, “General, The barrage teams have finished assembling the close range catapults. Should we prepare to move them forward?”
General Dash shook his head, “No, those catapults are meant to only hit the enemy formations outside the city. We won’t even risk it by moving them within range of the city walls. Just continue holding the ground and wait a little while longer. We need to give the enemy more time to assemble.”
The soldier nodded his head, “Yes sir.”
As he trotted off, General Dash looked over The Royal Army as he mumbled, “I hope this works… we are already out numbered as is.”

Back in the city, Gem Stone watched the far building as the stationary Nightmare soldier placed a small yellow cloth outside the second story windows and closed the window to hold it in place. Understanding the signal Gem Stone smiled, “The Rebellion army is outside the city, looks like thing are about to begin.”
Cirrus looked out another window as he looked down at The Royal Guards who were rushing by as he added, “The Royal Guards are gathering to intercept too.”
Zine smiled as he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a green potion, “So, are we going in now?”
Gem replied, “Patients Zine… we don’t move until General Dash attacks. Till then, we stand by.”
Zine put the potion away as he sighed, “Well you’re no fun… I was hoping to start early.”
Cirrus shook his head, “We move when they move. Otherwise we risk our side of the battle. Remember, if we fall, the war ends.”
Zine nodded his head, “Calm down sir, I’m just trying to liven up the mood, it feels like a funeral in here.”
Gem Stone gave him an annoyed look, “Keep talking and I'll make it one.”
Zine sighed in disappointment, “Yes ma’am.”

Back in the castle, Thundaga watched from her balcony as her keen eyes skimmed over both the enemy army and the rest of the city. All of a sudden, she spotted something that she saw as odd. On one of the fare towers in the middle of the city, she was able to see a small yellow flag being waived by an unknown pony as he waved it in view of another pony on a lower rooftop who was watching him closely. Looking at the lower building, Thundaga was able to make out the yellow cloth outside the second story window as she smiled, “A signal team… well played general. How about we send a signal of our own.”
Although he heard her, Commander Mist didn’t say anything as Thundaga looked to the sky with a confident smile. While looking up, a large number of thunder clouds started to appear and slowly swept over the city quickly turning what was a bright and sunny day, into a dreary and dull overcast.

With the unnatural clouds moving in, Everypony in the city, to include Cirrus, his officers, General Dash, and the entire Rebellion looked to the sky as the rumble of thunder started to echo above. Hearing this, Cirrus cringed, “Uh oh… it starting.”
With all eyes on the clouds above, Thundaga directed her focus on the two buildings as her smile turned sinister, “Signal this.”
After that was said, two lightning bolts came down from the sky and fell into the city at the same time. The first, hit the base of the tower that the Nightmare Legion was using as a lookout post. The second crashed through the roof of the building where the pony was relaying the lookout’s signals, the very same building that Gem Stone was watching from outside the castle walls.

Stunned that she would attack somepony inside of her city, Gem, Cirrus, General Dash, even Commander Mist watched in shock as the tower slowly toppled over and crashed into the city while the second building slowly fell in on itself leaving the crumbling of both structures to send a cloud of dust into the air over the city. Seeing this Gem Stone mumbled, “How… how could she do this… to her own city?”
Far outside Canterlot General Dash glared at the dust clouds as he mumbled, “Our signal team is down… We have to move now.”
Dash turned around to his formation as he called, “Infantry rank! Move forward, archers ready long rang attacks! Barrage teams! Prepare to fire burning shot! Aim for the front of each formation!”

The large formation prepared to charge as the catapult teams loaded a large amount of heavy boulders before pouring fuel on them and lightning them on fire. After a moment of preparation time, General Dash turned towards the enemy army as he called, “Now catapults! FIRE!!!”
With that, each catapult launched a small barrage of burning rocks towards the Royal Army as General Dash watched and waited. Seeing the approaching projectiles, The Royal Guards readied themselves for impact as some landed too short and rolled into the formation, while the rest hit dead center of the formation killing a number of guards and setting most on fire.

Seeing the attack from the balcony, Thundaga spoke with a confident smile, “Very well general… let the battle commence.” She spoke to Commander Mist who was still standing next to her, “Commander… Signal the attack. Let these traitors know what happens to those who stand against us.”
Commander Mist smiled, “Good, I'll join in the fight too.”
Thundaga shook her head, “No… your officers can handle the battle without you. We want you here with us for now. That way if the situation changes we can react to it.”
Confused as to what she was planning, Commander Mist didn’t waste time questioning his princess as he replied, “Understood your majesty.” He looked at a guard near the door, “You, find an archer and send up the signal to attack. We need our army to attack as soon as possible.”
The guard saluted as he replied, “Yes commander, right away!”

A few second later, Cirrus, Zine and Gem watched as a red signal arrow flew out from behind the castle walls as the arrow exploded over the city sending out a large cloud of red smoke. Seeing this Gem spoke, “That’s a signal to attack. The arrow is different from back when… but if the regulations are the same, Thundaga just ordered her army to assault General Dash’s Rebellion.”
Cirrus nodded, “In that case we should send up our signal too.”
Zine raised his hoof as he spoke, “Not the best idea… if we send up a signal from here, we may end this fight before it begins.”
Gem asked, “How so?”

Zine didn’t reply, instead he just pointed out the window at the ruins of the building that was destroyed earlier by Thundaga’s Lightning as Cirrus nodded and spoke, “Good point, if we send up the signal from here, Thundaga might drop her next bolt right on top of us.”
Gem stepped forward, “But we need to signal the rest of the army. How else are they going to start rioting?”
Cirrus thought for a second as he replied, “I got an idea.”
Without explanation, Cirrus trotted to the stairs and went down onto the first story were a few other Nightmare soldiers were standing lookout as he spoke, “Are any of you archers?”

Not expecting the commander to come down to them, the soldiers immediately stood at attention as one replied, “Sir… I’m an archer.”
Cirrus replied as he turned to Gem Stone as she entered the room, “Here give me the signal.”
Nodding, Gem Stone reached into her quiver and pulled out an arrow with a large cylinder on the tip as the soldier replied, “The signal?... sir… I couldn’t possib-”
Before he could finish, Cirrus took the soldiers hoof and placed the arrow in it as he spoke, “You can and you will… I have faith in you… but you better listen carefully. Thundaga is watching the city closely. When she sees this, she is likely to drop a lightning bolt on top of wherever and who ever fires this. So this is what you will do, go away from the castle gate and hide out in a thin alley. Then once your there, fire the arrow and evacuate the area as fast as your hooves can take you. Abandon your bow if that’s what it takes, but get away from that area as fast as you can. Once it’s safe, link up with one of the assault units and follow their orders from there. Understood?”

The soldier hesitated as he replied, “I… um…y-yes sir. I understand.”
Cirrus nodded, “Good. What’s your name?”
The earth pony replied, “Um… Key sir, Private Tumbler Key.”
Zine finally entered the room as Cirrus replied, “Well Private Key, I know it sounds crazy but you think you can do it?”
The soldier looked back at Cirrus and smiled with confidence, “Crazy?... Sure sir, I can do crazy.”
Cirrus smiled, “Good, we’re counting on you.”
The soldier nodded one more time as he went through the building and exited out the side door into the ally. Once he was gone, Zine asked, “He said Key right? Does that name sound familiar to you?”
Cirrus gave him a funny look, “Um… no, why do you know him?”
Zine smiled in a joking manner, “No… just seeing if you recognized his name from someplace.”

Outside the city Thundaga’s soldiers were moving forward in large formations as General Dash continued holding his ground as he kept calling, “Barrage teams! Reload and fire again! Archers! Get ready!”
One of his officers stood next to him as he asked, “Sir, should we charge?”
General Dash shook his head, “No… let’s try to get them some distance from the city first… any soldier outside is one less fighting inside.”
Seeing the enemy in range, he called, “Archers! Make ready! Aim for the center or the formations!... FIRE!!!”
With that The Rebellion archers sent a small cloud of arrows whistling over the general’s head as they fell onto the enemy formations and cut down their numbers.

As soon as the arrows stopped falling the officer in charge of The Royal Army called, “Archers! Answer the Traitors! FIRE!!!”
With almost no time between the draw and release, The Royal Army fired a barrage of arrows into The Rebellion archer’s ranks as their arrows hit with greater accuracy and speed then The Rebellion’s attack. Although General Dash survived the volley, he could easily see the difference in skill as he wasted no time in drawing his sword, pointing towards his enemy, and calling out, “ALL SOLDIERS!!! CHARGE!!!”
Understanding their disadvantage, The Rebellion Army drew their weapons and charged their enemy without any form of military formation or structure behind their charge.
As the two armies clashed, The Royal Army managed to hold their ground, but with the unexpected attack of an untrained army, they soon found themselves struggling to a strategy that they were not trained for.

Watching from her tower, Thundaga smiled, “So the army of peasants have a little more bit than usual. Pity, they will n-”
All of a sudden, a signal arrow flew up from the center of the city as Thundaga failed to see where it originate from. All she could see was that the arrow flying into the sky before exploding into a bright white light as it slowly fell leaving a black smoke trail as if fell. Seeing the arrow, Commander Mist spoke, “An illumination flare? Is that one of ours?”
Thundaga replied, “Doubtful… that was a signal… but, to whom was it meant for?”

Back in the city, Butterscotch Pie watched from inside a building as the signal lite up in the sky above. Knowing what to do next, he smiled and turned to his group of soldiers that was with him, “That’s the signal! We got our invitation, so let’s light this candle and get this partaay, startaay.. ed.”
His soldiers gave him a funny look as he shrugged his shoulders at his horrible word play before lighting a match and placing the freshly lit flame onto a fuse that sat next to his hooves.
As the fuse ignited in sparks, the lit portion quickly ran up the long fuse as it went out the window and into the street. Outside a few Royal Guards were left on patrol saw the lit fuse cross the street as one pointed it out, “Hey? What’s that?”
Curious, the two guards watched as the small burning light of the fuse traveled across the street and into the window of a building directly across from where it was originally lit.

After the sparking fuse vanished into the building, there was a moment of silence, before the two story building exploded outward as the shockwave knocked the two guards to the ground before covering them and everything else in the street with fragments of lumber, brick, and rubble as it was scattered across the area in a boom that echoed throughout the city. As soon as the explosion was herd, Thundaga looked into the direction the building sat and saw rubble still falling through the dust as she spoke, “What the? What wa-”
Before she could finish her sentence, a second explosion from the other side of the city went off as Commander Mist spoke in shock, “An attack? But how?”
Thundaga spoke in anger, “They are inside the city.”

Back on the streets, the two guards who were stunned by the first explosion were starting to pick themselves up as Butterscotch Pie rushed out of nowhere and bashed the first one against his head with a club before turning it onto the second guard as both swing managed to knock both ponies unconscious. As soon as the guards stopped moving Butterscotch called, “NOW!!! ATTACK!!!”
With his voice echoing through the streets, a large number of Nightmare soldiers emerged from every other building as they immediately started destroying small and unessisary targets while yelling as loud as they could in an attempt to gather the rest of The Royal Guard’s attention.

Hearing the uproar from her tower, Thundaga tried to see what was going on in the streets. However with the dust, smoke, and angle that she was in, there was no possible way without flying that she could ever catch a glimpse of the riots as both riot units called out from two sides of the city leaving Thundaga to ponder, as Commander Mist reacted, “I will recall half of The Royal Army. Then I will join them to suppress the enemy inside the city. They will pay fo-”
“No…”
Curious, Commander Mist looked at Thundaga as she mumbled, “An army outside the city… and one inside the perimeter… there has to be more to it than that… This seems too elaborate to be so predictable.”
Commander Mist spoke, “Your majesty?...”
Thundaga didn’t reply, instead she just continued watching the city as she tried to figure out what was going on.

Further in the city, a wagon sat outside an armory as the drivers called, “Hurry up and load those supplies! We need to rush these weapons to the army outside the city.”
The second driver pulling the cart looked to the first, “Did you hear those explosion? Were those inside the city?”
As Major Storm trotted outside with two archers behind her, the second driver replied, “What does it matter! We have our orders, just concentrate on getting ready to pull this wagon as fast as we can.”
As Major Storm approached the wagon, the first driver looked at her and spoke, “Major? What’s wrong? Hurry and get the wagon loaded.”
Major Storm replied as she drew the sword, “I would… but there is a little problem.”

The driver gave her a curious look, “What problem?”
Major Storm smiled, “I don’t answer to Thundaga’s soldiers.”
With that the two archers behind her drew their bows and fired at both drivers as the two unsuspecting soldiers were killed on at the same time. As soon as they were down, Major Storm sheathed her sward as she turned to the soldiers behind her, “Alright, you get on that wagon. And you start loading it up. We need to arm the diversionary teams. Then we will start towards castle gate. Be sure you remove your armor. Anypony wearing Equestrian armor from this point on is an enemy. Understand?”
The soldiers replied, “Yes Major.”

Back in the castle, Thundaga was thinking over the situation as a guard rushed into the room, “Your majesty, riots have broken out across the city. They have taken over a few armories and are arming.”
Commander Mist spoke, “Your majesty, we need to assemble half of the outside army t-”
“Silence…”
Commander Mist silenced himself as Thundaga turned to him and spoke, “Commander, assemble the castle guards, and send them into the city to suppress the rioters. But leave one squad here. Better yet, make it your strongest squad.”
Commander Mist was confused, “The castle guard? You want them to suppress the riots?”
Thundaga replied as she turned back to look upon the city, “Yes… and once they enter the city, I want you to place the castle and city gates on lock down. Nopony enters or exits, are we clear?”
Commander Mist tried to argue, “But if we send the guard into the city we will leave ourselves open.”
Thundaga gave him an evil smile, “Exactly, that is why your top squad will remain here… now stop stalling and follow your orders. We will explain our strategy once you return.”

Down in the city, Cirrus, Gem Stone and Zine watched as the guards posted around and on top of the castle walls received their orders and left their positions as Gem Spoke, “Looks like the words out. If we are going to go, now is the time.”
Cirrus nodded his head as he tightened the strap on his shield as he replied, “Yea, let’s go before they come back.”
Zine, Gem Stone, and Cirrus all nodded in agreement as they put the hoods of their cloaks over their heads and went back downstairs to the front door of the building. As they reached the door, Cirrus looked at the remaining Nightmare Soldiers who were guarding the door as he spoke, “We’re going to infiltrate the castle. Make your way back to Major Melody and let her know that we are in. Then do what you can to help her with keeping the civilians safe.”
The soldier saluted as one replied, “Yes sir. Good luck Commander.”
Cirrus nodded, “Thanks… you too.”
With that Cirrus opened the front door and looked outside for any patrolling guards before trotting out and making his way down the road with Gem and Zine following closely behind.

As they made their way down the road that outlined the castle wall, Cirrus looked back at Zine as he asked, “Alright Zine, where and how are we getting in?”
Zine smiled as he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out the same green potion he had earlier, “Where ever you want commander, just point at the wall and let me work my um… magic.”
Cirrus nodded his head as he replied, “Sure, can you do it right here?”
Zine nodded his head, “Can I? just watch and see.”
With that, Zine trotted to the wall and pulled the cork from the flask as Gem Stone spoke, “What is that potion going to do?… It better not explode and attract a lot of attention?”
Zine looked back at her and smiled, “It shouldn’t attract much… although that depends souly on who’s watching from the other side.”

Without explanation, Zine flung the flask as the green potion flew out of the opened top, and onto the wall as it slowly began running down the solid surface like watered down paint. Shortly after, the potion started reacting as it began spreading across the wall until it coated a five by five foot area then vanished leaving that segment of wall with a strange shin as if it were laminated. As soon as the potion was gone, Zine turned to the other two and smiled, “So… who’s first?”
Cirrus and Gem Stone gave him a funny look as Cirrus asked, “First for what?”
Zine smiled as he replied, “For this.”
Zine then held up the empty flask that the potion was in, then tossed it at the wall as the glass veil went completely through the wall and vanished leaving no change to the wall’s appearance.

After seeing this, Zine explained, “The wall looks there… but it’s not. That potion ate it away as if it were butter being soaked in boiling water. But for the next few hours it will look like it’s still there. It’s called the phantom acid. Good for walls… bad for... anything that is alive.”
Cirrus and Gem nodded as Cirrus replied, “Alright does that mean we can trot through it?”
Zine nodded, “I want to say… yes… but honestly I’m not sure. If we can’t we go to plan B.”
Gem replied, “Plan B… Which is?...”
Zine shrugged his shoulders, "I signal Spike early and he carries us over… but that’s only if this doesn’t work.”

Gem Stone gave Zine an angry look as Cirrus shrugged his shoulders, “Well… I guess now is as good a time as any to find out.”
Cirrus approached the wall as he reached his hoof out to touch the visible surface, only to find that Zine’s explanation was true. As soon as his hoof touched the wall, it began phasing into it without any restriction from the wall’s visible surface. Pulling his hoof back and checking for any change in his own appearance, Cirrus nodded, “Alright… here goes.”
With little hesitation, Cirrus trotted forward as he completely phased into the wall and emerged from the other side into what seemed to be a large garden.

Shortly after entering the castle yard, Cirrus looked around for Royal Guards as Gem Stone slowly emerged from the same place, followed closely by Zine. As the last of the trio entered the castle yard, Cirrus turned to his team and spoke, “We’re here… now to get to the castle gate and open it for The Rebellion. From this point on, the battle is officially on our side. Are you two ready?”
Zine turned his head slightly and looked at the potion on his staff as he smiled sinisterly, “For far longer than you realize.”
Gem Stone smiled as she replied, “On your lead Commander Halo.”
Cirrus smiled as he unlaced his cloak and removed it to reveal his navy blue armor and shield underneath, “then let’s go end this war.”
Nodding her head, Gem removed her cloak to uncover her armor, bow, quiver, and short sword, while Zine just adjusted his cloak so that the hood started casting an eerie shadow over his face.

Back in the Castle, Commander Mist and a small team of six guards returned as Commander Mist spoke, “Your majesty this is the team you wanted to see.”
Thundaga turned to the ponies as she smiled, “Good… are the castle gates locked?”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Yes… and the castle guards are in the city trying to suppress the riots.”
Thundaga smiled, “Good, so the castle is empty then?”
Commander Mist nodded, “Yes, other than the servants who are hiding in their quarters, there are no other ponies in the castle.”

Thundaga smiled as she turned back to the balcony and replied, “Good… then the stage is set.”
Commander Mist was confused, “Stage? What are you talking about your majesty? And… why did you order the castle guards into the city?”
Thundaga smiled, “Think about it commander, General Dash lured our army outside the city and is now facing them in a full frontal assault. And yet, why would he do that with an army that is obviously too small, under equipped, and untrained?”
Commander Mist replied, “To lure our forces outside so that his riots inside will have less resistance.”

Thundaga nodded her head as she replied, “Yes… or so it would seem. However… there is more to it than that. Sure the riot will do plenty of damage… but even with that, they will not be able to take the city by force, so what other reasons would they attempt this?”
Commander Mist thought to himself but was unable to understand what she was explaining so she replied, “The riot inside the city isn’t the main assault… it’s a second diversion.”
Commander Mist was confused, “A diversion?… for what?”
Thundaga smiled, “For a third attack. The first was meant to lure our army outside the city. The second was in the city meant to lure our castle guards outside the castle… so where do you think the third will be?”

Commander Mist’s eyes widened, “It’s here… in the castle isn’t it?”
Thundaga nodded with a wicked smile, “Precisely… and if we were to guess, the ponies who will be attacking in the castle, will be his aces in the hole.”
Commander Mist was still confused, “But… if his plan was meant to lure out the castle’s defenses, then why did you go along with it? Why not keep the guards here?”
Thundaga replied as she turned her head to Commander Mist, “Because the plan was too perfect to ignore. Sure we sort of fell into his hooves, but even with that in mind, we still hold the advantage since we know the plan in its entirety, and at any time can change its outcome. Besides, we thought you would enjoy facing the one he would obviously send in to attack the castle. After all you and he have had a rivalry since the day you two met in Zebrica.”

Commander Mist thought to himself as he realized who she was talking about, “Zine? He’s the one who will attack the castle?”
Thundaga turned back to the balcony, “Yes, in fact, we would guess he, Gem Stone, and probably Cirrus Cloud too, are already in the castle.”
Commander Mist turned to his troops, “Search the grounds, kill anypony who isn’t supposed to be here.”
“No… let them come.”
Commander Mist looked back at Thundaga as she smiled in a sinister way, “If they want to face us… then we want to see what they have in store. You will remain here until we tell you to move, after all… we’re enjoying this battle too much to allow it to end so soon. So until then, let’s play along for a bit longer… then, we will crush them and any hope they still hold.”