The Distant Princess

by GMBlackjack

XXXIV - The Calm Before the Storm

Many have written about the palpable electricity that permeates the air before a large battle. I won’t bore you with a pointless reiteration of a poetic monologue.

I will say that no matter how many poems you’ve read, there’s no way to really know what it feels like unless you’ve experienced it yourself.

It can drive a man mad.

~~~

The army of lemons moved in a regimented, nearly perfect march. Even the lemony horse-camel things were moving their legs in time with the foot soldiers as they trudged through the night, straight to the not-so-distant spires of the Candy Capital. Every last lemon stared ahead with determination in their eyes, knuckles whitening as they gripped their weapons.

Twilight and Bonnibel were walking at the front of the army, Lemongrab and Apex Daffodil right behind them. Of the four, only Lemongrab was walking in time, the rest were just doing whatever they felt like.

Twilight, in particular, kept glancing back at the lemon soldiers. A displeased grimace returned to her features every time she did, prompting her to look away and try to think about something else. Something different than the determined eyes of the lemons.

“You’re worried,” Bonnibel observed.

“Y-yeah,” Twilight admitted. “We’re leading an army to another army, and… we’re pretty sure they’re going to fight. And… we never had to solve the problems in Equestria this way! There was always the Elements of Harmony, our friendship, some sort of… something.” Her head drooped, staring at the ground.

“Did any of those problems come with an army?”

“Chrysalis.”

“Ah, yes, the invasion of Canterlot.” Bonnibel folded her hands together. “You got lucky.”

“What?” Twilight looked up, cocking her head.

“They were a race of shapeshifters who did an excellent job of impersonating your ponies. Even when they were discovered, they were able to debilitate your military operations from within. I was actually rather impressed—I even took notes.”

Twilight laughed nervously.

“If it hadn’t been for the surge of… well, I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I’m sure now that it was harmony magic. If it wasn’t for that, Equestria would probably be in civil war right now trying to root out the changeling infestation.”

“But we aren’t, we dealt with it!”

“Again, you got lucky.” Bonnibel curled her hands into fists. “You can’t solve every problem with peace, no matter how much you’d like to. Sometimes you have to really hurt people.”

“I… I don’t want to.”

“Today, you don’t have to.” Bonnibel smiled softly. “I have to.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I—”

“Don’t be. This is far from the first time. Though it has been a while…” She took in a sharp breath as they crested another hill. “Lemongrab was right. Even deposed, they still listen to me. I’m a mythical figure.”

Twilight folded her ears back. “You don’t sound pleased about that.”

“I used to be.”

“The past doesn’t matter. Not right now.”

Bonnibel’s proud stature collapsed as she allowed her shoulders to hang low in exhaustion. “I don’t want to fight either. If I thought there was another way…”

“Then take it. If you see it. Don’t…” Twilight swallowed. “Don’t let me stop you.”

“Right. Right,” Bonnibel said, as though she weren't fully aware of the words she was speaking. After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. “I’m glad we met, Twilight.”

“I’m glad we’re friends, Bonnie.”

Bonnibel let out a soft sigh, but a smile crawled up her face anyway. “Twilight…”

Twilight held up a hoof. “Now, don’t launch into a ‘we might not speak again’ speech. We’re getting through this. Somehow. I can feel it.”

“I wish I had your optimism.”

It was at this point Phoebe dropped from the sky, creating a small crater of fire a few yards in front of them. Twilight, Bonnibel, and Lemongrab ran away from the rest of the army to meet up with her. Apex Daffodil continued to munch on a nearby bush, growing pink razor teeth to devour the entire thing.

“Freak deer,” Phoebe muttered as the three of them got there.

“Report!” Lemongrab screeched.

“Ugh, I’m the Princess here, you’re just an Earl. I give reports I want to. Which I do. But not at the sound of your screeching.” She coughed. “Lord Hater and Commander Peepers were allowed into the city, the rest of the Watchdog army is setting up camp outside. They’re vulnerable.”

“Acceptable,” Lemongrab said.

Bonnibel frowned. “Hater and Peepers are in the city?”

Phoebe nodded. “I saw them go in. A pink pony was there.”

“Pinkie… she’s fine.” Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Did you see anything else about her?”

“I wasn’t able to get a good look at her, but she seemed fine, given how fast she was moving.”

“Did you see Marceline?” Bonnibel asked.

“No, sorry. I did see a lot of Watchdogs, and for guys that are all eye they sure are oblivious. I am a bright glowing firework and not only did nobody notice me, I was able to swipe this.” She tossed one of the Watchdogs’ ray guns onto the ground. “Tah-dah, their primary weapon.”

Bonnibel picked the gun up and examined it. She pointed it at a nearby rock and pulled the trigger. A beam of energy shot out but did nothing aside from heat the rock up. Flipping a switch, she pulled the trigger again, and this time the beam did enough damage to crack the rock. “Two settings. The default is a stun.”

Twilight blinked. “That’s actually really smart for a conquerer. You want to still have your conquered people around.”

“Quite,” Bonnibel admitted. “Furthermore, even the high setting isn’t all that powerful, considering. You definitely don’t want to get hit by it, but shielding should be able to deflect it easily.”

Twilight nodded. “I think my horn’s healed enough to provide some shields, bu—”

“No, you’re not fighting,” Bonnibel said.

“Bonnie, even if I don’t like it, I stand by my friends.”

“And you’re an Equestrian Princess. Your people need you. You shouldn’t charge into battle unless you’re needed.” Bonnibel turned to Lemongrab. “How many of your lemon soldiers know barrier magic?”

Lemongrab let out an annoyed screech. “Unacceptable amounts! Nowhere near enough!”

Bonnibel scratched her chin. “Okay. Let’s split the army up. Keep those we can barrier in the front, the rest are reserved if we can’t take the battle quickly.”

“Nine of the gumball guardians are still up and running,” Phoebe said. “If they see you…”

“They’ll help us. We have to assume that. Though, being partially technological, they would be more susceptible to the energy beams, so we can’t count on them being an instant victory. Especially if Hater comes out.”

“I’ll take him.” Phoebe punched her hand with her fist, grinning. “When he shows his ugly face I’ll make him feel like his face is burning off.” For a moment, her face erupted into a horrifying torrent of flame and rage, heating up the air around them considerably.

Despite the heat, Twilight shivered. Apex Daffodil shapeshifted his head to copy Phoebe’s enraged head.

“Do we really need the freak deer?” Phoebe asked, returning her face to normal.

“No,” Bonnibel admitted.

“But we’re not getting rid of him, are we?”

“No,” Twilight said, petting his side with her wing.

“Fine. Let’s just… get this battle underway.”

They continued their march, cresting another hill. Just one more hill, Twilight thought, her stomach twisting in more and more knots, telling her exactly how much what she was about to do went against everything she stood for. She was marching with an army to battle.

There had to be another way…

But she didn’t see one. Even with the Elements, they couldn’t take care of an army… could they? Even then, if she could tap into them, they were far from the Tree, and only three of them were here, not six. And Hater wasn’t the sort to listen to reason, or even an offer of friendship. If anything, the idea of being offered peace seemed to insult him.

“Pinkie, be safe…”

They heard a massive explosion in the direction of the Candy Capital.

Everyone glanced at each other nervously.

“Increase marching speed!” Lemongrab shrieked.

Comments

[Mal Masque]

Do you think the Lemongrab Army’s battle cry could be considered a class-3 sonic weapon?

[aponyforthebooks]

So, the massive explosion that we all have read in the last chapters didn't come from the armies going into battle.
Then, this is is going to be really bad.
Not as bad as Bill, but bad.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Excellent building tension. This is going to be one heck of a battle. And I get the feeling that this is still just the opening act of the story as a whole.

10559747
The Walls of Jericho Maneuver isn't something you lead with during a counterinvasion.

[hamster wizard]

Chekhov's deer.