Terror in Equestria 8: A New Threat

by StormLuna

A Family Meeting

One month had passed since the capture and release of Twilight and White Magick had had his military taking part in intensive exercises, exercises that he and his son had been taking part in as well. Despite not having trained for an invasion before, the soldiers did quite well but the ones that did the best were those who were once Twilight's soldiers and White Magick couldn't help but notice.

He approached them after a daily exercise and said, "Troops, you have done quite well. It is obvious that your former leader knew how to train you."

Black Night said, "Well I was in charge of training the dark Alicorn soldiers and Green Death was in charge of training the changeling soldiers. Twilight herself hasn't engaged in any sort of exercise in a thousand years."

This brought a smile to the king's face and he replied, "Seriously? A leader who claims to be unbeatable and invincible has done nothing but set on her flank for the past thousand years?"

Green Death overheard them and joined the conversation, "Yeah, she doesn't do much except study once in a while, visit with the stewards she has placed around the world" he then began to laugh as she continued "make love to her wife!"

White Magick didn't pay too much attention to the whole making love to her wife part and replied, "In other words, she is likely out of shape, may not have her wits about her in battle and could easily be caught off guard?"

Black Night replied, "She may be out of shape but she is quite alert and she does have this green eye atop her tower that she can tap into to monitor the activities of the whole world."

Green Death added, "Yeah, she has this jade Alicorn up in her sleeping chambers that creates the eye so she can monitor everything."

One of the dark Alicorn soldiers continued, "I'm surprised she never noticed you. I thought for sure she would have sent troops out sooner to collect the tribute she thinks everypony owes her."

White Magick asked, "Regarding Twilight, what sorts of weaknesses does she have? Are there any ways to catch her off guard and what could cause her to become so emotional that she would lose her focus."

Black Night replied, "I haven't seen a lot of weaknesses in her but she does have a short temper and that could cause her to lose some focus but probably not enough to really harm her."

Green Death added, "Regarding catching her off guard, don't count on doing that. Like we have said, she has that green eye that she monitors things with so once we do decide to march on her, she will see us and be ready."

White Magick chuckled, "Oh we'll see about that." His voice became more serious as he continued, "Now you will be giving us instructions on how to get to her capitol, right?"

Black Night replied, "Of course your Majesty."

White Magick said, "Good. Now you and the rest of the troops rest. I plan on having us depart tomorrow morning and I want us to be well rested and alert."

---

The following morning arrived and while the soldiers were eating breakfast together, the royal family were also enjoying breakfast. While White Magick was eating his breakfast at a leisurely pace, the same could not be said of his wife nor his son. Ruby Heart asked, "Honey, how can you be enjoying your meal so easily? You're marching off to war today for pony's sake!"

Blue Star added, "Father, aren't even a little bit worried about their leader? She will be in her own realm and will be able to use her dark magic against you."

White Magick could understand their concerns but also felt that they were being overly paranoid. He replied, "Look, I know you're worried but I've dealt with much worse things in my life than arrogant green eyed Alicorns. Compared to the ancient evils I faced, she shouldn't cause me too many problems."

Blue Star asked, "Father, I know you dealt with ancient evils the ponies of the modern world could only dream of but still, don't go in there over confident. I don't feel like having her either kill you or capture you and then us have to send in reinforcements just to save you."

Ruby Heart added, "Our son makes a good point dear, I don't feel like having to worry whether or not I'll ever see you again and I'm sure our kingdom doesn't want to lose the rock that has kept this place stable since before the fall of Ponyland."

White Magick replied, "You do make a good point but I do plan on taking 300 unicorn soldiers with me as well as those that used to be Twilight's."

Ruby Heart was unsure about this and asked, "Are you sure you should do that? What if that loyalty spell was to be broken when they saw her? What if simply seeing their old leader made them loyal to her again?"

White Magick replied, "Honey, don't worry, they'll be fine. I've used this spell before and I'm certain she used it against her enemies in the past and it worked just fine and besides, we need somepony to lead us to her capitol."

Blue Star asked, "Regarding the unicorn soldiers, you're only taking 300? I'm sure she has thousands of soldiers like those ones we took in. This is going to be a suicide mission."

White Magick replied, "Son, you know how they are duplicates of others of their kind? I will simply do what Twilight does, duplicate them."

Blue Star asked, "When do you plan on duplicating them and how will you know how many you will need?"

White Magick replied, "I will duplicate them once I see their capitol and see how many soldiers she has. I'll simply create more of our own than she has, we can march in there, take the city for ourselves and in the case of their dark goddess, I shall slay her."

While Ruby Heart loved her husband dearly, the thoughts of him killing a mare disgusted her. She gave him an intense glare and asked, "Seriously, you're going to kill a mare? I know she is your enemy but couldn't you do something else, like try and cleanse that evil from her after the battle?"

Blue Star was in the same mindset as his mother, he did not like the idea that his father was planning on marching in there and killing a mare. He suggested, "Father, I'm in the same mindset as mom. I know you have a spell that can cleanse evil from foes such as her. I think you should just do that instead rather than taking an unnecessary life."

While White Magick did hold a deep respect for mares and believed that they should always be treated with respect, he also believed that those who are evil, regardless of sex, need to be taken care of using any means necessary and with evil ponies, that death would be the only option when it came to her. He replied, "Look, you two know she is evil just as much as I do and I don't want an evil pony being spared."

Ruby Heart snapped, "Look, you have that cleansing spell so you could cleanse her of the evil and she wouldn't be evil anymore." She stood up and raised her voice, "Who knows, you could cleanse her and she could go from being a foe to being a friend."

White Magick gasped, "Seriously, you are wanting me to spare the life of a pony you wanted out of here so badly?"

Ruby Heart replied, "You know what, something in the back of my mind is telling me that she may make a good ally in the future. It is telling me that we will wind up facing an enemy someday that both our kind and their kind, if we joined forces, could bring it down so just listen to me, ok?"

What Magick was shocked by his wife's demeanor. They almost never got into arguments and her being so intense regarding what to do in a battle made him wonder if perhaps he should listen to her. He sighed, "Oh alright, I'll simply cleanse her rather than kill her. She has lived in Equestria for a very long time so she may know things we may not."

Ruby Heart replied, "Thank you honey, you have no idea how relieved I am that you aren't going to go and kill her." She knew that it was getting late and she asked, "Well don't you think you better get the soldiers and get going? I have a feeling the march will likely take days."

Blue Star had always wanted to do more than just routine patrols with some of the soldiers, he had always wanted a chance to prove himself as a vital part of the royal family. He asked, "Father, would you want me to come with you since I took part in the training exercises? I think having two Alicorns in the battle would be better than one."

White Magick replied, "I'm sorry son but I think you need to stay here with your mother. In the event both of us were to fall in battle, I really don't know if she would......."

Ruby Heart yelled, "Honey, if you both fell I could rule this place perfectly fine on my own so just let him go with you."

White Magick sighed, "Very well son, let's go get in our armor, grab the necessary troops and get going."

Blue Star hugged his father and said, "Thanks father, I won't let you down."

White Magick nodded as they headed to the base to round up the soldiers they were taking. When they arrived they were just finishing breakfast when he yelled, "Attention!"

Every single soldier stood at attention awaiting what their king would say next. He began, "Alright troops, we have been training hard for a month but today is the day we depart for Equestria's capitol." He cast his gaze at Black Night and asked, "What is the name of their capitol anyway?"

Black Night replied, "It is called Ponyville."

White Magick continued, "Alright, today is the day we depart for Ponyville to punish their so-called dark goddess for attempting to invade our territory. We shall march in there, remove her from power and seize Equestria for ourselves!"

His troops began to cheer as he continued, "And once we take it over, we will have much, much more territory in which to live and many more resources at our disposal."

Again the troops cheered and he turned to his son, "Blue Star, gather 300 unicorn soldiers along with those who used to be loyal to Twilight and let's get going. I want to get out into the open by noon."

Given that he was actually going into battle with his father rather than just doing a regular patrol, he threw his father a salute and yelled, "Yes sir!"

As Blue Star began rounding up the soldiers he thought would be best for this endeavor, White Magick pulled Twilight's old soldiers to the side and asked, "Are you six ready for this? Are you ready to face off against your former leader."

In unison the six said, "Yes sir!"

White Magick replied, "Good, very good." He saw that his son had gathered the forces he requested and continued, "Alright troops, let's get going. It is likely a very long march to Ponyville."

His troops gave him a salute before they headed towards the portal and crossed over into Equestria. While White Magick was wanting to take the most direct route out of the hills and the forest, he figured that the easiest path would be the wisest route given he did not know what lie between the forest and Ponyville.

Once they exited the hills and the forest, White Magick turned to Black Night and asked, "General, which way is Ponyville from here?"

Black Night pointed his hoof to the right and replied, "Ponyville is to our west. As we continue on our journey we may have to make slight adjustments to our direction but for now, we should go west."

White Magick said, "You hear that troops, we go west."

As they headed west they could see nothing but flat lands as far as the eye could see but it wouldn't be so much what they saw to the west before too long, it would be what was to the west that saw them.

Author's Note:

Dark Alicorn general --- General Black Night

Changeling general -- General Green Death