A tale that focuses on the rest of Equestria during the three fateful days of the Storm King's invasion.
What was the rest of Equestria doing while the Friendship Council sought the aid of the Hippogriffs during those 3 fateful days? This is the story of the unsung heroes of the land, for without their aid, it could have been a lot more worse...
Outside of conventional space-time lies many different worlds, some possess ultimate stillness like Limbo as for the others...
"Oh for Pete's sake!!" exclaimed a draconequus named Discord sitting upside down on the ceiling of his house in a realm called Chaosville, holding a teacup, drinking the cup while tossing the tea into the dish rack.
are the exact opposite.
"I heard there was going to be this GIANT party called the Friendship Festival from Fluttershy a few days ago. Today's the day! Why wasn't I invited? Was the mail being lost again? Then again now that I think about it, I never really did show the mailpony who gave me the Gala invite the exit to this place..."
In the far flung reaches of Chaosville, the unluckiest mailpony in existence is still drifting through the endless void. Don't worry, we'll get to her soon enough...eventually.
What we are really focusing on is that another area of Chaosville was looking a little darker than usual. Sure enough, the primordial force of Darkness known as the Pony Of Shadows, using Limbo as a bridge, has now encroached upon the Domain of Chaos in it's attempt to return to Equestria.
"Those fools!! I may have lost my host, but I already had my own consciousness in the first place. How else could I entice that sap Stygian?!? No matter, once I find my way back to Equestria, they all shall know despair!! They just got lucky that time was on their side and my points of power have been lost."
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the plot-mandated villain of the day. Trespassing on my house no less, it's quite rude you know. Would it be that bothersome to knock?"
The Pony Of Shadows turned to find Discord right behind him.
"Spirit of Chaos!! Do you really think you can beat me? The primordial darkness existed long before the concepts of Harmony and Discord."
"Actually, I can. Since 6 fantasy heroes who have the misfortune of being in a show for kids meant that showcasing epic powers are out of the window still managed to banish you a second time without any fancy lightshows. I was watching the whole thing on my screen, I was expecting something more. Not to mention, I think we are both around the same age, after all, Chaos is the real beginning. Just ask the Greeks!!"
"What are you going to do? Turn your realm into the brightest place in existence and just erase me?"
Discord proceeded to isolate the section the Pony Of Shadows is in to prevent it from escaping.
"That will be too easy and anti-climatic like your previous farce of a showdown for me. On the contrary, I have a better idea. I am going to enlist the 'aid' of Equestria's worst heroes and use this as an opportunity to train them and make them less of a disappointment than they are while pitting them against you. The same gimmick while entertaining, gets old when you see it a septillion times in a row..."
Canterlot Castle Throne Room
Preparations for the Friendship Festival is underway and the ponies outside are busy singing "We got this together". Celestia, Luna and Cadance, after denying Twilight's proposal to use their magic to help out with the festival's fireworks was paid a visit from Discord.
"So the Pony Of Shadows sought to invade Equestria today, but was stopped by you since your house is in it's way? That's wonderful, Discord. Now that you are here, come and stay for the festival. You are on the guest list after all." Celestia stated.
"The thing is, while I love to join and return your mailpony, the Pony of Shadows seems to be less of a disappointment in my place compared to Equestria. History's constant lumping together of 'Darkness' and 'Chaos' as two peas in a pod resulted in an abstract giant point of power that had actually made it so strong in my realm that it is actually taking up all my power to contain it long enough for me to kick it out of my house. However, it can be overwhelmed if I had an army to assist me in terms of manpower so that I can cut back on the clones to focus properly." Stated by Discord.
"What do you propose?" asked Cadance.
"You do have your Royal Guards right? I'm going to need your ENTIRE local garrison. Right down to the last stallion or mare if there are any. Also that Shining Armor fellow as well, he seems to be absent for this festival which is rather odd." Discord suggested.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!?!? This is crazy even for you. Who's going to protect Canterlot?" exclaimed Celestia.
"You girls, of course. Your track record is slightly better than those idiots. Unless if any of you want to come too..."
"Don't worry, we will stay and protect the city. If any threat does come, we got this." Luna proclaimed.
"Not to mention, Shining himself is busy with a threat himself that is the likes of what you are facing, if you are wondering about his absence." Cadance explained
"Prove it." challenged Discord
"Taking care of our sick and currently unsealed Flurry Heart thanks to a magic surge that broke the seal when she sneezed. The castle turnover rate skyrocketed the moment she got sick. Him and Sunburst are desperately trying to at least make sure that the Crystal Empire is still in one piece and not covered in snow when I get back." Cadance replied.
Discord thought to himself that Shining Armor needed no more training from him but did not envy that poor stallion. Taking care of a sick, out of control baby Alicorn is worth a hundred boot camps.
"Very well, I will be taking the local garrison now. Have them spontaneously appear outside that Festival grounds for a briefing by your truly. They seem to be doing a very good job of making themselves scarce in there anyway. When your time comes, let's hope you can last more than 20 seconds."
After Discord left to 'stop' the Pony Of Shadows with the Royal Guard, Luna has something to say to her sister.
"Tia, of all the ideas we all agreed with, this is by far the worst in hindsight. Back at our discussion, I proclaimed that the three of us are worth the entire local garrison, which is absolutely true. But looking back at our own personal track record, I couldn't help but wonder if at least one of us should've gone with Discord to stop the Pony of Shadows and get our, what do you ponies call it..."mojo" back. Our battle competency is tampered thanks to a severe lack of practice due to having to run a nation. Our teacher is working together with Kibitz and Raven is an attempt to squeeze in "Combat Training" to our schedule."
"Luna, I know we aren't as sharp as we were 1000 years ago. But our combat powers back then, you have to remember that for all it's dazzling glory and power, it was meant to be a means to an end. Strip them of their "awesomeness" and you will get the undeniable truth that it's sole purpose at it's core is to hurt people. It had also set a negative example for our people, blinding them to the evils of bloodshed resulting in senseless violence for the sake of glory. It's a realisation I came to after I banished you. A sword that still has a ribbon tied on it is still a sword. A weapon, nothing more. If I can help it, I would trade all of our battle prowess for actual peace and harmony for not just Equestria, but also the rest of the world as well."
"I hate wars and conflicts as much as you, but Sister, doing so in the long run what you get is a world that has gone stagnant. You may get peace and harmony, but the world becomes nothing more than the equivalent of a giant farm. Living automated lives will result in mental entropy, an addiction to artificial bliss resulting in the loss of ambition and ethics, treading down the path to the annihilation of society. Not to mention, we would all be helpless from threats beyond this world like Sunset's world or horrors escaping from Limbo like the Pony of Shadows."
Cadance has her own argument against her aunt.
"Not to mention, as we all experienced first hand, unless it is death, there is no such thing as a "Happy" or "Bad" ending. Our lives don't spontaneously stop in a neat little final page once we hit our supposed "Happily Ever After" and if we do not act to keep our happiness, it will disappear before even you realise it. It's a painful reminder I get every time I got captured. Remember how Chrysalis captured us all in our own complacency?"
In the Crystal Palace, "Thorax" had appeared in Cadance's court, stating that he had found more likeminded Changelings and wishes to ask the Royal Couple to come to the Changeling Kingdom to help launch a coup against Queen Chrysalis to end the Changeling threat. After sending a letter to Celestia informing her about the situation, the couple arrived in the Changeling Kingdom only to realise too late that it's a trap when their magic spontaneously vanished thanks to the queen's throne. Chrysalis only has this to say to the Princess of Love and Family after cocooning her:
"We have yet to find that traitor but rest assured he will pay for his treachery. Like my new throne? After breaking out of my prison thanks to my brilliant acting and Twilight's obsession with books, I scoured the world in disguise seeking a trump card to use against you all. This throne is made out of a rock used in magical prisons that upon the first enchantment, imprints on the type of magic used and absorbs all other kinds of magic. If I had known of that during the Wedding we wouldn't have this conversation as you will be too busy serving me love as a drone. Do fret, for your family and friends will join you shortly."
Sure enough, the changelings' modus operandi of "Divide and Replace" worked terrifyingly well. Imposters of the Royal couple soon returned to the Crystal Empire, stealing away Flurry Heart in the dead of the night with under the guise of a "family vacation" with none of the guards questioning their actions of their supposed liege. On top of that, another couple of the imposters reached Canterlot and the Castle of Friendship. "Shining Armor" came to the Castle of Friendship under the guise of a family visit while 7 other disguised changelings stayed outside, systematically replacing the Friendship Council one by one before putting the 7 of them into cocoons and hiding them inside a hay cart to be delivered to the Hive while their imposters stayed behind to prevent arousing suspicion. Meanwhile, "Cadance" proclaimed to Celestia and Luna that the Changeling Hive has successfully overthrown Chrysalis and is requesting the formal appearance of the Diarchy to allow diplomatic talks to begin. When the Royal Sisters reached the borders of the Hive, the two quickly turned around and ran to the edge when they realised something's wrong.
"Our magic...It's a trap! We need to get out of here! Luna, it's night. If you can't escape, try to see if you can at least reach the edge with your horn and call for help in the dreamscape!! Surely there is somepony you can reach--ahhh!!"
"Sister!!" As the Princess of the Night ran to escape the throne's influence, she only managed to poke her front half out of the border before she got overwhelmed as trying to do teleportation that only affects half of your body is asking for a ticket to the Darwin Awards.
"Please, somepony worthy be sleeping...Starlight Glimmer...Starlight Glimmer, there is no time!!...You must get help!!... Not here! In the waking world! They've taken my sister and I! It's worse than the last time! Your dream called to me, and I was able to break through! You must find help!...Be careful who you trust! You need all the help you can find! The changelings have returned and— [gasps]"
As the cocooned Royal sisters were taken to the Hive,
"Well, Lulu. That's another blow to our competency and dignity."
"That implies that we had any of those to lose in the first place."
"If it wasn't for Sunburst's habit of laying low in his own house in turn noticing our imposters' behaviour and sent Thorax to Ponyville to aid Starlight, we would all be changelings. Even with the magic-absorbing throne taken into account, I could have taken precautions when the imposter first came to me with the proposal instead of blindly trusting at face-value. The same could be said when my imposter came to the two of you."
Celestia's response to that would have to wait, for an airship with storm clouds around it landed in the city.
"How did none of us or the local pegasi for that matter noticed that arriving? Twilight Sparkle herself ordered clear skies and the ship should had stuck out like a sore hoof!!" Luna exclaimed.
"Well, we can't push the job of security to our guards this time. I have heard of rumors from our meetings with Maretonians and Saddle Arabians that there is a warlord rampaging the globe. According to them, the defeated lands in his wake were stripped of their wealth similar to what happened in Griffinstone, crippling their communications leaving the other nations in the dark about what his army even looks like!! Could this be his vanguard?" Celestia questioned.
"Then we must have no time to waste!! Use our power conduit to send a royal proclamation to all available nearby forces and the Crystal Empire!! Shining Armor must know!!" Cadance implored.
"We shall do so. After that, we have to be 100% certain whether or not this is a hostile invasion. If it's simply the messenger demanding terms, we have to see what he or she has to say. I'll put in a Royal Order saying that if there is no reply from Canterlot in 20 mins, assume the worst case scenario, mobilize for war and advance on Canterlot ASAP." Celestia stated.
After sending the proclamation, the Princesses flew down to the Storm airship.
"Tempest, is it? How may we help you?"
Discord arrived back in Chaosville with the Canterlot Royal Guard. He then proceeded to put on his drill sergeant costume.
"Are you sick and tired of being dead-weights to your Princesses? Your actions as of the series premiere have been nothing but a total joke!! It's one thing to let 6 to 8 civilians do the job for you if they are more competent, it's another to be so bad that you are all essentially cannon fodder for them to worry about. It's time I whip you all into shape so that at the very least the main characters have less to worry about by actually defeating a bad guy!! Now where is it?!?"
Discord noticed that Chaosville is a little darker than usual.
"Oh dear, something tells me that this is going to take more than 5 minutes and why did I get the feeling I forgot about somepony?" As he pondered back and forth, he realised who he forgot. "Wait, oh yes the mailpony that gave me the gala invite!!"
After bringing the poor mare to his house that he turned into a military base much to her relief, he pondered his next course of action.
"I'm going to need a few more unused side characters, maybe it's time for the Pony of Shadows to be finished off by it's nemeses. A group of 6, I mean 7 fantasy heroes, maybe I can finally see what they are capable of that made them so special that their successors are 2 Alicorns!!"
The city is in chaos with the capture of the Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadance. The absence and/or incompetence of the Royal Guard has always been expected, but even the Wonderbolts desperately firing lightning thanks to already in the clouds when all this happened into the Storm Guard are the only ones that had any initial effect. The Friendship Council was last seen escaping to the bridge outside the main gate. In all this chaos, some ponies managed to stop panicking and fight back.
The Earth ponies resorted to their vaunted strength, grabbing the biggest objects they can use as improvised weapons: clubs and projectiles or even horseshoes for bucking.
The Pegasi cursed that there are clear skies, for it means that unlike the Wonderbolts there are no clouds in near vicinity for them to shoot lightning. They had escape to higher altitudes and rally around the Wonderbolts so that's all they can do while having to dodge the steel nets thrown by the Storm Guard.
After realising that direct magic didn't work on the shields, some of the unicorns resorted to telekinesis on the biggest object they can find and throw it at the invaders. Others decided to use more unconventional methods...
The sight of her friends being captured and muzzled being seared into her memory, along with their words:
"Moondancer, run---mrrph!!"
Moondancer ran to her house near the stadium, using Twilight's Bubble of Silence while sneaking through various stands. After managing to get into her house, she grabbed a tachi in the corner of her house.
"And Minuette said that all my studying would not be any use. Looks like I got lucky coming across this Neighponese sword style manual when I was going through my foreign military studies. Learning Twilight's book surfing spell helped me to actually train with the figures in the book!! Still, this is a far cry from actual real-life training and a lot of the higher techniques seem to actually hurt a lot if actually used. I am not turning to a killer. Note to self: Return this to the local museum in it's original state after all this is over."
"Now to add one last touch..."
With a single spell, the tachi's edges became reversed, turning it into a sakaboto (Reverse-edged sword). After that, she made sure that the sword itself can conduct magic.
"Seems that they have armour that deflect magic attacks, they didn't say anything about magic-buffed physical weapons. Seems that Twilight manage to escape with her friends and will be pursued judging from that Tempest's demands. This gives me an idea but I need help to pull this off. I better not be the only pony that isn't fighting back."
As she stepped out of her house, she thought to herself as she faced the first Storm guard that saw her.
"Minuette, Twinkle Shine, Lemon Hearts, Lyra...I'm coming for you girls. Please be okay."
Moondancer draw the kept the grip on her weapon firm, ready to release like a loaded bow.
"Pick on somepony that can fight back!! Eat this, Moonlight Slash!!"
Canterlot Castle
The thing about being a prince in Equestria is that you are either often the center of attention or a prop that wouldn't be missed. The latter situation happened to Prince Blueblood, who had no interest in the Festival and was planning on keeping to himself until Songbird Serenade's performance. After watching his family's capture from the window of his room, he ran to the castle vault while looking for Kibitz and Raven.
"Ok, everypony capable of fighting back is down or escaped. Surely, there's got to be something in the vault that can be of any use."
After passing by the bureaucrats office, he noticed a makeshift barricade made of the nearby bookshelves.
"Kibitz, Raven? What happened? Has the Castle gate already been breached?"
"Prince Blueblood? Is that you? Thank Celestia, I thought you got captured as well. Thankfully, the gates have yet to be breached as the invaders are busy...muzzling...the citizens who weren't able to fight back."
"I need full emergency access to the vault. Auntie is captured and the second keys to the place are with the two of you."
"Are you mad?!? We actually want a Canterlot standing after all this is over. There's a reason why Celestia stashed them away in the first place!!"
"It's better than just sitting here waiting to get captured!! I can hear them breaching the gates!!"
As the trio reached the vault, Kibitz and Raven each took out a horseshoe that was hung on a necklace hidden undernearth their clothes. Both of them wore their horseshoes on their right hooves and placed it on two of the inconspicuous horseshoe-shaped engravings on the door frame. With a click, the vault doors opened.
The hidden vault of Equestria, a place where artifacts wielded by the greatest heroes of Equestrian history. It is rumored that even the legendary 8 Enchanted Items of Mage Meadowbrook are locked away in here which explains why none of them were ever found. Aside from them also lie the items Blueblood is looking for.
A set of white barding that with a helmet of the same colour that had a hole in it for the horn which shone with the sun's brilliance. Beside the armor, a sword that is half the length of Blueblood's body where the handle has the ability to turn into a mouthpiece which makes carrying it in the mouth much easier when it is not carried by magic. Both of them glowed with intense heat and power.
"The armor of Sir Gawain Blueblood the 1st and his sword, Galatine. You are planning on using this!? You spent your entire life pampered with no training and now you expect to wield your greatest ancestor's armaments? He was the rival to the greatest of Celestia's knights!!"
"I know I'm under qualified but somepony needs to step up!! I'm not standing waiting for them to capture me!! I have been doing some light reading on the history of my family. I know all of the armaments' hidden functions and the best time to use it is now while Auntie's sun still shines through!! You two, get back to your barricade or try to find a secret passageway, surely there has to at least one in this castle. I will stop the invaders from breaching the main gate!!"
"This is the pinnacle of recklessness. I can't stop you considering that we literally have no other options left. Try be a little dignified when you lose, ok?"
"Gee, thanks for believing in me...not that it was unfounded though."
As Blueblood ran to the main gates of the Castle, a squad of Storm Guards were just planning to breach them. As they are about to break the gates open, the doors voluntarily opened up and a massive inferno came roaring out, burning the invaders to a crisp. As Blueblood stepped through the doors after having them close behind him, he casted the Royal Canterlot Voice out to the city:
"I am Prince Blueblood!! But today, I am the Knight of the Sun, Sir Gawain Blueblood the 10th!! Foul trespassers, come and face the might of Galatine!!"
The sword proceeds to ignite with flames and with a single swing, fire is sent hurling towards it's foes.
For Trixie and Starlight Glimmer, this is not a good day. In other words, an average day.
"The city is getting conquered for like what, the 2nd or 3rd time?" mused the stage magician.
"You would think Canterlot would had cannons and better lookout posts aside from Luna's room by now..." said the ex-cult leader.
"This is will be the greatest performance of the Great and Powerful Trixie yet!! They may block magic, but let's see if they like my personal stash of fireworks!!"
"You sure about this? I remember I had to trap you in a Bubble of Silence for 5 minutes while hiding the two of us in an alley when you freaked out seeing the Princesses get captured. We already lost the chance to help Twilight and her friends with whatever mission they may have been assigned to when she and her friends got sent down the waterfall."
"So what do we do now? We can't serious hope to hide in this alley until this whole thing blows over. What's your biggest teleportation range? We need to get out of here and contact all of our friends: Thorax, Ember and the Pillars!!"
"We need Spike for that and he left with Twilight. Let's just hope this idea crosses their mind. I could really use a magical notebook like Sunset's right now. We need to find and establish communications with anypony else that are might be fighting and organize a secret resistance in the city."
"Yeah, but we need to be careful. We just need to teleport and quickly bail to a set place that will serve as our hideout as it can't definitely be this alley. All the while explaining to them what is happening. There's also the question of where can we find them in this chaos..."
One sound suddenly permeated the noise and reached the ears of the duo.
"...come and face the might of Galatine!!"
"Would that be a start?"
Galatine's flames, even when magical still comes with searing heat that can ignite the air to create actual physical flames. This fact alone bypassed any anti-magic defenses the Storm Guard could use, sending them packing away in terror.
The problem? The flames couldn't distinguish friend from foe and the wielder himself until now has never wielded a weapon in his entire life. This made him a danger to his fellow ponies as well.
It doesn't help that Canterlot is attacked from all sides. Even if Blueblood saved his people, they have nowhere to run to and standing near Blueblood's vicinity is just as unsafe.
When Starlight and Trixie got to him, they had to immediately duck avoid getting bisected. The prince couldn't help but stand down to avoid friendly fire.
"Who are you?"
"Starlight Glimmer and Trixie. Are there any other ponies with you?"
"Thank Celestia!! I thought I was alone in this fight! Please tell me you have a plan. On a side note, now I know how Auntie Celestia and Luna feels every time they have to fight in urban areas."
"Get every pony that can fight back and organize the local resistance. The element of surprise meant that we can't take back Canterlot as we are now."
"Such a great plan, too bad it's not going to work. You are right about losing Canterlot though."
Starlight, Trixie and Blueblood's heart stopped when they realized who said that sentence.
"Tempest..."
"Will you give me a decent challenge? Or like the others fold like a house of cards in a storm?"
Tempest proceeded to fire a lightning bolt right at the trio. Starlight and Trixie barely managed to put up a barrier before the impact blew the trio back, crashing them to a nearby stand.
"Your flames are effective against my army, but I can tell from your movements that you are just a greenhorn. I'll will be more than happy to open up your eyes from your delusions of heroism. I'll give you credit for actually fighting back though."
"We need to get out of here!! Try to find the next fighter in this hot mess!! We will be back for Round 2!! We are just making a...tactical retreat that's all! Disappearing act!! Go!!"
A massive smokescreen appeared and when it cleared, the trio is gone.
"Finally, for a second there considering the lack of it, I thought the teleportation spell disappeared from unicorn spellbooks while I was gone!!" mused Tempest Shadow.
Canterlot, the vicinity of Canterlot Stadium
Moondancer walked past the carnage she committed. When you have a weapon that can go through armor like wet paper, you can be surprised how quickly enemies can flee from you after the first few suddenly became naked in an instant.
"Ok, that's the 15th guy I had to fight. I'm going nowhere with this and I can't find my friends anywhere."
Starlight, Trixie and Blueblood popped in front of Moondancer. The spooked mare nearly took their heads off in reflex.
"Who are you and how did you find me?"
"Long story short, we ran into the commander, got our flanks kicked and I had to teleport us to a place that should be far enough from the Festival grounds. We are gathering all the ponies that can fight back and organizing a resistance. After we landed in the Stadium, we heard the sounds of ringing metal and decided to drop by." Starlight explained.
"Judging from Tempest's actions, she is still looking for Princess Twilight. She doesn't know Twilight has already escaped Canterlot." Trixie observed.
"Good, I have a plan that at the very least make sure Tempest wouldn't go after Twilight." Moondancer suggested.
"And why would that be so?" Blueblood inquired.
"You are a stage magician right?" Pointing at Trixie. "Because we will bring 'Princess Twilight' to her."
"And I have a few spells that I know of may make things easier for us is this went sour...." Starlight said.
Occupied Canterlot Castle
"...Prepare my ship!! Besides, how far can one little pony go?"
"Ehh Tempest, you might want to look outside." Grubber observed.
Upon noticing that there is a team of misfits fighting back the invaders and liberating the captives notably the Wonderbolts, Tempest is actually ecstatic.
"Finally, looks like those idiots are back for Round 2!! As much as I want this to be easy, so far this is just too easy. Such power being wasted on parties, looks like I spoke too soon. Well, well, well...what do we have here? The Princess of Friendship has returned to save her people with reinforcements."
Tempest ran outside the palace to face the resistance comprised of Starlight, Trixie, Blueblood and 'Twilight' in clothes covering her supposed wings. She ordered one of the Storm Guards for his spear, effortlessly wielding it to the extent that the disadvantage that should come with having no fingers and standing on four legs is practically non-existent. She then proceeds to fire her lightning arcs into the spear after chopping of the pointed end with another spear, proceeding to 'enchant' it with lightning, turning it into a lightning staff. Her army realized what was going to happen and immediately got clear.
"As much as I want a fight, actually ending lives would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Never liked the whole slavery part either..."
As Tempest charged towards the quartet with blazing zeal, they are shocked at how fast she can be without the aid of magic.
"Everyone, Accelero!!!" The quartet split up with amplified speed.
Tempest went after the Trixie first, intending to knock her out first so that she doesn't have to worry about any stage tricks later on. Starlight, Blueblood and 'Twilight' immediately fired their beams at her, only to have her use her staff to block them.
"Watch your fire!! You are going to hit me!!" Trixie yelled while secretly slipping a rope loop right under Tempest's legs. When Tempest resumed attacking her, she pulled the rope with her left fore and back hooves, effectively binding 2 of Tempest's legs.
"Abracadabra!! This is the power of stage magic!! Now everyone hit her!!" On cue, the rest fired on Tempest.
"Nice try!! But I wouldn't be a commander if I lost to such tricks so easily!!"
With overwhelming strength on her two free legs, Tempest pulled on Trixie's ropes and pulled her straight to the path of the beams. Trixie was unable to put up a barrier in time due to the suddenness of the move and was sent flying into a side of the field, unconscious.
Starlight upon realising what happened, went ballistic and fired a barrage of stone prison spells like the ones that was used on filly Rainbow Dash in the time travel incident while attempting to teleport behind her. Now free thanks to the owner no longer being conscious, Tempest quickly dodged the spells while using her staff to parry the sword blows coming from both Blueblood and 'Twilight'. No matter how many times Tempest hit Blueblood, the blows have no effect.
"I hit it with all my strength, there's no way the armour should still be undamaged. Wait a minute, why is it always under direct sunlight and glowing like it reflecting the Sun's rays...Of course."
Utilizing her combat experience, something which Blueblood is lacking in, she managed to break out of the triple attack swinging her staff around like an electric hurricane. This isolated her opponent to just Blueblood after sending the other 2 reeling to avoid getting hit.
"Taste Galatine's steel!!" After dodging the amateurish sword swings, the lack of experience in fighting crowded close quarters is clear, as the flames were more subdued to avoid friendly fire. Tempest immediately ran around to block the Sun's rays before laying about a barrage that sent the poor stallion flying.
"How did you figure it out?" inquired Blueblood.
"I noticed that your armour had an enchantment on it. After all, how else could it be so tough after so many blows that would had destroyed conventional armour on the first hit. I also noticed that it always had sunlight shining on it. So I took a gamble, left myself open and blocked out the light while I was making a break for you."
"Now for the Princess of Friendship, let's see how you still fare with your friends already beaten!!"
'Twilight' immediately took to the air, silently thanking Starlight for teaching her the self-levitation spell. Not planning on letting this turn into an aerial shootout, Tempest sprung into the air with just her back legs with such astonishing speed that she caught up to her opponent before she even realised it. One unavoidable "Whack!!" sent her flying to the ground. Thankfully, 'Twilight' wasn't finished. She drew her sword and fought Tempest for 25 exchanges. The resounding clashes of steel reinforced by unicorn magic rang throughout the field.
However, the difference in prowess is clear. Tempest exceeded the Princess of Friendship in combat experience while being able match her power, speed and endurance. On the other hand, the latter's magic reserves that came with being an Alicorn are the only thing that allowed her to keep up with the battle-hardened commander and it won't be long before that advantage is lost. 'Twilight' soon realized that there is only one method to win this duel. A single-stroke battle.
"Secret Art, Lunar Echoes!!" After deflecting the lightning staff, she then proceeded to withdraw her tachi into the scabbard as hard as she could near Tempest's ear. The resultant din temporary deafened both combatants and threw them off balance, with only Tempest suffering more due to her opponent jumping back at the last second.
"Aggrh!! If you think this will leave me open, think again!! I've been through worse motions on turbulent airships!!" Tempest stated. Instead of jumping forward to deal Tempest a heavy slash, her opponent instead placed herself into a battle stance, charging up her magic to the fullest extent in her body to perform a quick-draw slash amplified by Accelero!!!
"Going all in? Very well, so will I." Tempest responded. She got herself into a battle stance holding up her staff, charging it up with her lightning.
The audience, both pony and non-pony alike are silent and unmoving, knowing very well that this is a fight that is out of their league and dare not interrupt. Both combatants pawed their forehooves on the ground, a signal of threat which was a carryover from their days as non-sapient animals, buried deep into their own subconscious. On the third tap, both mares struck.
A resounding CLANG rang the air, and both combatants now have their backs to each other. A deafening silence followed.
To the horror of the inhabitants of Equestria, the Princess of Friendship fell. Some even started bawling their eyes out as their last hope was snuffed out both figuratively and literally.
Tempest however, was surprisingly winded and had a massive gash along her entire chest area. She would have bled if it wasn't for her quick thinking to use her own lightning staff to cauterize her wounds. After gritting her teeth through the pain, she had this to say to her fallen opponent:
"I never had to use my best until now, not even Queen Novo of Mount Aris warranted the use of a lightning staff and my best technique. Congratulations on being the first pony-no mortal to do so." As she looked over to the crying populace, she only had this to say:
"Dry your tears!! Your Princess will live and we will make sure she does!! A worthy opponent who earned her crown, I would expect nothing less from a being with the might of 25 armies. Now it's just a matter of making sure that power is put to greater uses..."
As Tempest approached the defeated 'Twilight',
"You are a credit to your fellow Princesses. If your colleagues fought back alongside you, I will actually be the one sitting in a cage while you all ponies would still have your party. Be honoured that your magic is used for the ownership of the world instead of a silly celebration."
She them proceeded to look at the final combatant who just regained her senses, Starlight Glimmer, who was casting spell after spell in her arsenal only for them to be evaded or deflected by her staff.
"You lost. Guards, put them in their cages until we finished looting the rest of the country. As a 'reward' for actually putting up a fight, those other three are to be left alone their cages, not to be muzzled nor sold to Klugetown's markets and to be set free before we finish and leave. Is that clear?!?" Tempest ordered.
"Understood!! Nice try, ponies. But you guys have a long way to go if you want to actually beat Commander Tempest in a fight. She dropkicked better guys than you." As Grubber and the Storm Guard placed 'Twilight' in her cage, he noticed that underneath the holes in her clothes that was damaged in the fight, he saw that there are no wings. "Wait a minute, you're not the princess!!"
"Looks like she saw through it. Plan B!!" Moondancer yelled, dropping her disguise.
Moondancer, Trixie and Blueblood spontaneously disappeared. "Huh?!?"
"Similo Duplexis, when combined with Accelero in just the right way, you can be in two places at once." boasted Starlight Glimmer.
"What?" exclaimed an angry Tempest.
"Do you really think we will give ourselves up to you on a silver platter? The real us have escaped Canterlot a long time ago!!!" After that was said, Starlight disappeared.
"Tempest, should we look for them?"
"No, they earned their reprieve. The Storm Guard will run into them sooner or later. Not to mention, with the beatdown I gave them, they are too injured to fight back. Even without the feedback, the magnitude and duration of the duplication spell from what I can tell, the inflicted strain should make them easy pickings."
In the vicinity of Canterlot Stadium, the hidden Resistance's hideout
"We are totally stuck here." said the real and very exhausted Starlight Glimmer.
"Let's just hope what we did here made a difference. Twilight better be off getting an army and actual help for Equestria this time. Even if we didn't succeed at tricking Tempest, the time we bought for Twilight should be enough to bury her tracks." Moondancer said before collapsing from the exhaustion from all the spells cast.
"Trixie, you had the least damage from the fight. Escape to Ponyville and holdout in the castle. We are too exhausted to even move." Blueblood stated.
"Very well, the Beaten and Bruised Trixie shall do so."
Unbeknownst to her, three fillies who managed to slip though the cracks in all this chaos followed her to Ponyville.
Spitfire along with her colleagues Soarin, Fleetfoot and Thunderlane are the only Wonderbolts that weren't captured at the end of the day. They flew towards Cloudsdale, hoping to rally the Wonderbolts reserves and the rest of the city into action.
"Blaze, High Winds, Lightning Streak, Misty Fly, Rapidfire, Silver Lining, Surprise, Wave Chill. I'll be back for you guys, (sniff) I promise."
"It's alright, we'll rescue them and everyone else too. That's what's being a Wonderbolt is all about."
Unbeknownst to them, a green coated pegasus with a yellow mane that also flew out of Canterlot in the confusion is following them as well.
"Tempest, disappointed that it really wasn't the Princess meaning that you still can't have your horn back?"
"Definitely."
"That's not the only reason. If it really was her and not some poser, she would had earned her crown, the respect of her subjects and even mine. People like those four are too good for a coward who can only run away and squander her powers on trivial pursuits instead of actually helping people." Tempest thought to herself.
"All hands, prepare for departure!! We have a princess to get."
"Let's see what the real deal is capable of if the faker is willing to go through such lengths for her."
1000 hours-Arrival of Tempest's ship and the Storm's King's vanguard
1045 hours-Total occupation of Canterlot
1110 hours-Tempest's ship leaves Canterlot to pursue Princess Twilight Sparkle
The Crystal Palace, Crystal Empire 1 hour before Canterlot Occupation
The Crystal Palace, the centrepiece of the Crystal Empire. A legacy formed by Princess Mi Amore thousands of years ago to channel hope throughout the lands. But now, it's the epicentre of an apocalypse in the most (un)likely form.
Princess Flurry Heart is sick and with an ill-timed magic surge, she overloaded her suppression spell. In the magic surge, Sunburst would need the help of both members of the Royal Couple to replace the suppression spell to make sure it sticks. The only reason why the Crystal Heart is still in one piece is because of the efforts of Shining Armor and Sunburst, the Crystal Prince and Royal Crystaller respectively. The entire palace has been vacated out of the interest of the overall life expectancy and the skyrocketed turnover rate of the faculty save for the few guards that are brave and/or foolish enough to stay and assist their leaders.
The entire room where Flurry Heart, now dubbed the "Princess of Apocalypse" by the local guards is practically unrecognisable from what is usually looks like. All four walls and the ceiling are scorched black and practically destroyed. Flurry Heart herself is having her sniffles in a crater the depth of a stallion. The crater is ringed with the most powerful physical and magical defensive suppression armaments complete with a ward that disables teleportation before being encircled by Shining Armor's most potent shields, maintained and manned by the guards. As the battered father of the year looked upon his little bundle of doom, he only has this to ask:
"How long is do we have to last again? Is it going to pass in due time?" Shining Armor implored.
"A few more hours and yes. As you know, Cadance managed to send the medicine needed over from Canterlot. Celestia estimates a few more days of recovery due to personal experience and Luna provided these suppression armaments as a substitute from Canterlot after The Crystalling stating that these prevented their childhood home from being reduced to a smoldering crater whenever one of the Alicorn babies got magic surges and to prevent the Crystal Heart from shattering a second time, which is why Cadance is planning on coming back to help the moment her presence is no longer needed at the Festival. The damage to the Palace itself is already terrifying." replied Sunburst.
Sunburst wasn't kidding about that. It's easier to describe which parts of the Palace that aren't destroyed. In just the span of 15 minutes from the first sneeze early morning shortly after Cadance reached Canterlot, what was meant to be a normal day became the next big crisis the Crystal Empire had to face. The entire palace is riddled with so many holes and is so scorched black with damage that one would mistake it for the Changeling Hive at first glance. It's a wonder that the entire place didn't come crashing down from the damage.
Flash Sentry, one of the few guards manning the suppression armaments just finished deflecting a lethal blast from Flurry Heart's sneezing. The blast is so strong that he is still sent flying back, crashing right into the royal duo.
"We need more help, at this rate all it takes is one more unhindered blast on the Palace and the whole place comes crashing down on the Empire into a pile of rubble. My Prince and Royal Crystaller, do you have anything else we can use?" begged the battered orange pegasus.
After some deliberation, Shining Armor answered his plea.
"During the Changeling invasion of the Crystal Empire, aside from lacing the borders with Changeling detection spells thanks to Zecora's knowledge, I've been looking through the old notes of Princess Mi Amore in her secret lab. She spent her life protecting the Empire brewing potions and commissioning the forging of weapons and armor in her secret lab. However, she didn't account for time. For when I passed her test and opened her lab, it is a total dump with only one working size-enlarging potion for Dragons. The notes on how to make it along with many other useful stuff have long since faded away with age. After it was over, I went back and tried to save as many of the notes and blueprints as I can and had them sent to Canterlot for restoration."
"So how much were you able to salvage?" Inquired Sunburst.
"A terrifying arsenal that wouldn't look out of place in an A-tier level twenty and above O&O character's inventory. Believe me, I PLAYED over fifty sessions like crazy when I was younger and that's not counting the times I had to be the DM. I even tried to have them with my family and Spike after my wedding during my off days with mixed results. So I know what I'm talking about regarding this comparison."
"First of all, let's just say if we get through this, you will have a B-tier Wizard joining your sessions from now on. Secondly, why didn't we have or even know about them until now?"
"Many of the materials required to forge the armaments and brew the potions are very, very, very rare in present day. What could have been enough for at least a platoon of Praetorian Guards as calculated in the original blueprints have to be reduced to around four or five due to lack of certain materials. Not to mention, I only commissioned their forging after our mass kidnapping, so there really isn't much time to have a finished product."
"My liege!! Talk about your future O&O sessions later!! Anything we can use right now that can withstand blasts from a baby Alicorn going through a magic surge??" asked Flash Sentry. "By the way if you could allow it, you got yourself a new member to join your sessions."
"I have the shields of Praetorian Guards finished a few days ago. I can have them brought here now."
"Nice!!"
5 minutes later
A pair of crystal oval shields each the same height as a stallion and wide enough to cover the torso with the image of the Crystal Heart, hovered to the sides of Shining Armor thanks to his magic.
"These are the legendary shields of a Crystal Saber, Princess Mi Amore's Praetorian Guard? And the default positioning is meant to be like this?" inquired Sunburst.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get more of these finished in time. Only one set has just finished being forged. These shields are autonomous and would give the power of flight to the user when coupled together the other pieces of the armor set for the sake of convenience regardless of race and right now, I can't risk damaging the rest of the set. Now to put the money where mouth is..."
As Flurry Heart begins to sniffle, Shining Armor brought the two shields together in front of his baby. The two shields together started glowing, forming a second barrier that resembles a dome and a third barrier that is solidified crystal in front of it, both embalmed with an image of the Crystal Heart. As soon as it was finished, Flurry sneezed into the barriers' path, a massive beam of raw magical power hitting the triple-layered shield dead-on.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" Shining Armor struggled against the overwhelming force. What seemed like an eternity later, smoke is rising up from the shields due to the raw heat but otherwise they are fairly undamaged. After that sneeze, Flurry Heart fell asleep. After breathing a sigh of relief, the room was vacated quickly with the suppressions still in place.
"Fascinating and incredible!!! The first and 3rd layers are physical in nature, while the second is magical. On impact, the shields would sandwich themselves together, cancelling out any advantages any anti-magic based weaponry that would have if it gone though an ordinary unicorn shield. Not to mention, that they can even recreate the same method on a smaller scale when used separately to cover two fronts at the cost of overall defensive power." Sunburst said in awe.
"These aren't the only functions aside from flight. Princess Mi Amore may have held the "idiot ball" when it came to handling Sombra, but this makes you think that it was designed by another person entirely. The entire armor set when combined has it's own magic supply that can be stored indefinitely when charged, meaning that you don't have to worry about levitating the shields without unicorn magic. The shields themselves is linked to your thoughts thanks to a conduit throughout the armor instead so that the Earth Ponies and Pegasus wouldn't have as much trouble wielding them. Even Princess Mi Amore commissioned a set for herself so that she doesn't have to constantly use self-levitation for flight. Sadly, they were all destroyed by Sombra after his coup or in the battle with Celestia and Luna." Shining Armor explained after placing the shields together with the rest of the set.
"There's also the matter of the swords used as well. The swords actually look normal at the first glance, but their handles are adapted for all three tribes so that it can be wielded in the mouths or hooves while at the same time hollow for it to be placed on horns. Not to mention, the blade seem to have this weird split down the center."
"I was getting to that. The swords have this enchantment to reinforce the existing blade at will with crystal that is sharp enough to cut through even dragon scales. During Mi Amore's reign, when the Crystal Ponies are in danger from the dragons since they are literally made from gems and the cold climate wasn't enough to deter all of them, the sword has the capability to split in half like the letter "T", materializing a massive crystal blade from the top that is the total length of FIFTEEN stallions stacked on top of one another that can sever limbs and wings off adult dragons. When massive energy blasts are needed, the shields can actually combine with the sword, change it's attribute to magical beams of destruction. When that is not powerful enough, all you need to do is to activate the "Dragonslayer mode" in the sword and THEN combine it with the shields and you get a magical blast that is ten times as powerful. That last function combined with the location of the Crystal Empire, is also the reason why nopony from Equestria during that time are foolish enough to build any towns near here. All this is possible because the entire armor set is self-powered by not just any ordinary magic supply, it's power supply comes from the Crystal Heart itself."
"What!!!" Exclaimed the other two ponies in the room. Sunburst was the first to snap out of his stupor.
"How could the Crystal Heart still be in use after such blatant usage?!?"
"You can thank the Crystalling for that, not to mention it's fueled and recharged by the Crystal Princess herself on a daily basis. The Crystal Heart's presence alone can stop blizzards that not even the hardiest of Pegasi can dispel unless you are an Alicorn. The suits have their own magic supply, but the magic supply comes directly from the Crystal Heart itself for charging. Think of it this way, the suits manifest the light and love of the Crystal Ponies into the Heart, and when it is enchanted into the armor set, their will to live materializes into what I said earlier. Not to mention, this requirement of usage of "love and light" also prevents Sombra from wielding it like an evil mockery of it's previous self, so either he destroyed them or used them at their lowest potential against the Royal Sisters."
"So what are you doing to do once the rest of the commissioned armaments are finished?"
"For starters, use them along with an elite team to try to actually save somepony for a change and actually be of help to Twily and her friends instead of getting constantly jobbed. After the kidnapping, in light my consecutive failures, the Royal Guard is reduced to the joke of the century. I have recruits in boot camp dropping out left and right out of shame and/or disgust while the already enlisted guards are occasionally undergoing mass resignations the size of platoons, all of them saying that they would rather go to clown school as at least people laugh with you when you are the punchline. As for the ultimate punchline aka me, ponies from all over Equestria are petitioning the Princesses for my complete total discharge from the Royal Guard and subsequently be banned from any military involvement as the Crystal Prince." said Shining Armor morosely. Achieving your dream and having it be reduced to a mockery of what you idolized, by your own hooves no less, is enough to bring even the brightest of ponies down.
"Obviously, they rejected the petitions right?" Flash Sentry inquired.
Shining's response have to wait. For a scroll bearing Canterlot's Seal appeared in front of Shining Armor.
"What's this? A Royal Proclamation from the Princesses? Did something happen at the Festival?"
The stallion trio's blood ran cold upon reading it.
My Little Ponies
This is a Royal Proclamation from Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadance.
Right now at approximately 1000hrs, an unidentified airship landed in Canterlot Plaza. Although we have yet to confirm any hostile intent, military intelligence from the foreign diplomats implies a possible invasion. Due to the entire local garrison being sent for training at our own decision due to poor track record, security is taken up by just the three of us. As of this writing, we will be the welcoming committee to confirm any hostile intent, for it could simply be a messenger.
All available armed forces, mobilize immediately and be on standby.
If there is no reply from Canterlot after 20 minutes as of this sending, ASSUME THE WORST CASE SCENARIO OF US GETTING CAPTURED AGAIN. PREPARE FOR BATTLE AND ADVANCE ON CANTERLOT!!
As the trio finished reading, Shining Armor only has this to say:
"Sunburst!! Grab as many of your books on magic as you can! There's a section in the train designated for the Crystaller. Send for a messenger to Yakyakistan!! Tell them we got something for them to smash!! I will mobilize every Guard and get the rest of the Crystal Saber armor sets!!! Flash Sentry, go get the ice arrows from the Equestrian Games and activate the Crystal Train's battle mode!! We will form up at the Crystal Empire train station!! I have a family to save...."
Flash Sentry only has one more question:
"What about Princess Flurry Heart? We can't just leave her here. One more sneeze or crying fit when she wakes up is all it takes to bring down the whole place. You aren't seriously thinking of bringing your infant daughter to a possible warzone!!"
"I will move her place to the Train Station Terminal and have the Crystal Ponies watch over her, complete with suppression armaments. I will monitor her 24/7 and talk to her using the "live telecast" spell Twily used on Svengallop to expose his behaviour to Countess Coloratura."
20 minutes later
The Crystal Guard. Three companies worth of troops. All are armed with standard arms of the Royal Guard and have occasional use of the jousting lance, a carryover from the Crystal Faire. The command center is the refitted Crystal Train named "Aurora" that is used by Princess Cadance. At Cadance's own request, in times of crisis, the train was to be refitted into a mobile base by combining the Royal Carriage and the locomotive into a command center while the carriages serve as makeshift military facilities for the Guards. It also has a powerful enchantment by the Princesses that cut out the middlepony by turning the entire train into an massive airship that can support the entire Crystal Guard.
The end result is a mobile base of operations with the ability to travel in both the sky as a transfigured airship and the land as a train that can make it's own tracks. The latter function is used more often due to the fact that it expends less overall effort to maintain the enchantment for the Princess(es) doing it.
The Crystal Prince stood before his troops, flanked beside Sunburst and Flash Sentry, decked in the armor of the Crystal Sabers. Barding that covered the entire body from head to toe complete with twin shields hovering at the side without the assistance of personal magic thanks to the magic of the armor itself, two normal swords to be wielded on the hooves and a "Dragonslayer" sword, now renamed to "Excaliburs" to avoid scaring/offending the Crystal Empire's hero Spike and Ember's dragons. The main colour is white with dashes of blue in the outer parts. Behind him is the modified Crystal Train, engines warming up for departure to Canterlot. He addressed his fellow ponies:
"Today, we stand before the precipice of the horrors of war. An unthinkable premise in the land of harmony. Now it's the time to prove to Equestria that the Friendship Council doesn't have to be alone in the fight against evil. I sincerely hope that just this once, this scenario is a complete misunderstanding and Canterlot is not invaded. Peace is always the better answer. If anything, we will all sigh a breath of relief knowing that Equestria is still at peace, preparing another party. But should the horrors of war come to pass, I only have one order: Do not throw your life away for the sake of blind glory. Live for tomorrow and return home to your families safe and sound. Now, Guards of the Crystal Empire. We advance to Canterlot!!!"
The guard is loaded on the train, the wives and children saying farewell and waving goodbye to their loved ones. Princess Flurry Heart was moved to be taken care of by her subjects.
"You are all are the best foalsitters I can find in the Crystal Empire. Use the suppression armaments to block her blasts. I trust you can keep her safe and happy." As he approached his baby daughter, he only has this to say:
"From the day you are born, you have been nothing but trouble. You nearly destroyed your own family and home on your Crystalling and casually put your family through Tatarus...but I couldn't expect anything less from an all-powerful Alicorn filly and you lighted up me and Cadance's lives the moment you are born and solved Sunburst's friendship problem with Starlight. Daddy's will be back soon with Mommy and B.A.E Twily. I love you. Take care."
As the last guard entered the train, the whistles blared and the train is off, speeding towards Canterlot. Everyone has one thought on their mind:
Please let this be a misunderstanding. We all want to smile happily in the end.
Arrival in plains 3 miles north of Canterlot Mountain after 55 minutes of travel 30 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
"Oh my Celestia...This isn't a misunderstanding...Flash Sentry, get me a pair of binoculars. We are scouting the situation in the city." Shining Armor looked at the invaded capital in despair while the guards who aren't reeling in shock due to the prospect of actual combat are parking the train to stationary mode in order to set up a forward base.
The entire mountain is covered in storm clouds. Unknown airships are docking in the city. As Shining Armor and Flash Sentry flew up the top northern side of the city thanks to an invisibility spell, a terrible sight beheld them.
"It's the Crystal Empire with Sombra all over again. Flash Sentry, can you confirm the status of the Princesses and Twily's friends?" Shining Armor is shaking in disgust at the sight.
"No, I'm afraid not. I don't see them in any of the cages outside. They must had been moved to inside of a building or escaped. Silver lining, I do have visual on Songbird Serenade. She's in a cage but no muzzle, singing her heart out. Poor mare thought it's going to be the best gig of her life..."
"Arggh!! If only our best teleportation range isn't so low. We could have just snuck in, found the Princesses while invisible, broke whatever restraint on them and we can all teleport away to safety away from the city or at least make it far enough for them to fly on their own. I'm sending a visual of these invaders to Sunburst to see if could make out what they are and what are their gimmicks that would let them defeat the Princesses and Twily's friends. Flash Sentry, I'm casting the X-ray spell on our binoculars. Try to find the Princesses in the Palace and the other buildings."
"Ok, resuming visuals now...Captain...You won't like this, I have confirmed visual on 3 Princesses. Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadance are in the Throne Room, specifically around the power conduit, but there are no signs of movement."
"Considering the fact that they are standing up, my guess is that they are petrified and are statues. That's just great, based on their positioning my guess is that some guy just showed up and is now planning on taking Equestria's Alicorn magic. So much for originality...At least from the looks of it, Twily escaped with her friends. Until we can figure out what they are encased in and how to break them free, we can't just break in with a stealth team of pegasi and unicorns and bust them out. So that plan is a dud. We've seen enough. Let's return to base and plan our next course of action."
North Canterlot Plains, Crystal Train Aurora
As the Crystal Guard is preparing for battle, Shining Armor is alone in his Royal Carriage. He heard a knock on his door.
"This is Sunburst, may I come in?"
"Proceed."
As Sunburst entered, the Captain is in a sorry sight. He took of his Crystal Saber armor and is just lying down blankly staring at a wall.
"You know this isn't your fault..."
"HOW IS THIS NOT MY FAULT??? If I should have at least be present to help defend Canterlot. At the very least, there will be one less Princess captured..."
"I will be frank with you. All you do will just amount to you getting captured again alongside your fellow royals. Think about it, why do you think Princesses Celestia, Luna and even your wife decided to take up security themselves and send the entire local garrison for training in the first place even knowing the risks? They are sick and tired of the Royal Guard being the load in times of crisis. Hopefully, they also got Celestia's orders and are advancing back to Canterlot as we speak. If anything, Flurry Heart being sick and you having to stay behind in the Crystal Empire might actually have been the better choice. Instead of being reduced to a villain's stepping stone, you are instead leading a resistance against the invading army armed with powerful armaments from a lost age. Think about it, would you have the idea to use the Crystal Saber armor sets if it wasn't Flurry Heart nearly destroying the palace?"
"Yeah, given my track record, if I came with Cadance, I would be among the muzzled ponies in Canterlot."
"Besides, the reason I'm so sure you would be captured isn't simply because of your track record, although that is a big factor. I'm here to report my findings based on the visuals on the invaders you showed me, which would be the second factor."
"Explain."
"The armor the enemy is using, based off the notes I brought with me seems to be made of a metal that has the capability to cancel out or even reflect magic-based attacks. It's most common usage are found in magical prisons, most notably Tatarus. Secondly, I also scanned the statues the Princesses are encased in thanks to your X-ray spell giving me a good look at the them. Comparing with my notes, this seems to most likely be handiwork of glass orbs called "Obsidian Orbs", they work though a petrifying gas by exploiting the fact that even the most powerful magic constructed fields have to let air in otherwise the user would suffocate meaning that they would burn through even the most powerful of forcefields. So if you went to the Friendship Festival, you would have definitely went down like a chump futilely putting up a force field that the enemy would just go through like paper."
"Is there anyway to stop it?"
"Yes, there is. The gas itself actually lasts a short while, meaning that the correct course of action when it's thrown at you is to dodge, summon physical-based barriers like the shields on the Crystal Saber armor or just simply take cover behind a rock. The gas also seem to not affect non-living things, as I couldn't find any trace of it in the city nor the palace itself when you guys are scouting Canterlot. The armor they are wearing can be bypassed with physical-based weaponry if hit hard enough."
Shining Armor noticed that Sunburst had a worried look on his face as he listed out the enemy's weaponry.
"You are worried about Starlight, aren't you? Sorry that we could not find her, we could only scout the Festival Grounds based on the range of our binoculars. She may have escaped to some remote part of the city or even ran off with Twily's friends."
"I hope you're right..."
"I'm worried about Twily too. The fact that they did not have Spike take a letter to us means that they are probably on the run with no access to writing materials effectively making them MIA. I pray for their safety. We need to think up of our next course of action. Meet up at the Briefing Room at 1145 hours."
Crystal Train Aurora, Briefing Room 1 hour after Canterlot Occupation
The briefing room currently has a map of Equestria on it. Canterlot is marked with figures of the invading army while the ones signifying Shining Armor and the Crystal Guard is placed to the city's north. Shining Armor looked at his fellow guards and Sunburst he only has this to say:
"Now does anyone have a plan? I am open to suggestions. It's clear that due to the enemy's numerical and anti-magical advantage, we can't liberate Canterlot with our forces as of right now. Has there been any word from Cloudsdale and Yakyakistan?"
Suddenly, an unidentified scroll appeared with a bottle appeared right in front of Shining Armor. It says:
Use this spell bottle to communicate with our allies. They all received this note as well.
The skies between Canterlot and Cloudsdale 15 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
The Wonderbolts. An elite team of paramilitary flyers that mainly serve as air show flyers while being called for disaster relief on the side. However, ever since the founding of the Elements of Harmony by Twilight Sparkle, their track record hasn't been the brightest in the land. While not suffering from as much scrutiny from the ponies of Equestria as the Royal Guard due to crisis handling being treated as a lower priority compared to their other duties, failure after failure in matters that required their aid has wavered the faith the ponies have in them regarding matters that aren't doing air shows. So when Spitfire recruited Rainbow Dash, she was hoping that having her in the team would help get the Wonderbolts back to it's former competency by learning from each other.
Sadly, it has been a mixed bag. Rainbow Dash may have the talent and even the care for collateral that not even Lightning Dust had, she still has to learn to work in a team instead of going solo. Acting like jerks to her even when you put in the rookie hazing routine as an excuse combined with earlier said incompetence has put her in this train of thought that she somehow must act the way she is to help get their groove back by being herself instead, effectively giving her this subconscious thought that she is the only competent and sane flyer among the dozen. Thankfully, over time both sides cut down on their respective downsides (Wonderbolts would stop acting like jerks and Rainbow would be more of a team player) to earn each others trust.
It finally worked and it shown that during the Friendship Festival, Rainbow Dash finished clearing her portion of the skies ahead of time before politely requesting to help her friends which she was allowed to.
Then, it all fell apart when the Strom King invaded. Rainbow Dash saved Princess Twilight from being captured the same way as the other 3 princesses but left the Wonderbolts to fend for themselves in her hurry to escort the Princess to safety. Not that the Wonderbolts could have minded since the Princesses are a higher priority after all. However, there is no time to dwell on the past, now there is a more pressing issue at hand.
Upon regrouping in the skies, Captain Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot and Thunderlane are flying towards Cloudsdale. To say that their morale is low would be the understatement of the century.
"So the Wonderbolts, the greatest flyers in Equestria, only 4 out of the main 12 managed to escape excluding Rainbow Dash. I take it that all of the Reserve members who happen to be there are caught as well?" Spitfire asked her colleagues.
"Afraid so sir, those steel nets that came flying towards the pegasi that tried to escape by flying. Blaze pushed me out of the way and got herself caught." Soarin replied in shame.
"The others all got caught in the initial attack. Even I was captured, it took those team of misfits to bust me out. Same situation goes for Fleetfoot." Thunderlane added.
"Now what are we going to do? We aren't simply going to just run, I mean fly away are we?" Fleetfoot asked her captain.
"No we're not!! The Wonderbolts may have started as a flight team by General Firefly that celebrated the first year Princess Celestia's solo reign but after that, we started branching out to keep ourselves occupied and fit for the next show!! Disaster relief, fireponies and help bringing water to Cloudsdale so that we can ensure that the next season come just to name a few. Thanks to our military beginning, we have also been asked to help out the Royal Guard as a paramilitary force. That's what we are doing right now. The main dozen may be here or captured in Canterlot, we can still go to Cloudsdale rally the Wonderbolts reserves that couldn't make it to the Festival. I'm considering DRAFTING civvies if absolutely we have to!! There's no way Canterlot could have fit literally everypony in Equestria!!!" Spitfire told her teammates.
"You are saying like that this isn't just some friendship crisis that keeps getting solved in half an hour and an ACTUAL WAR!! What in the name of Tatarus gave you that idea??" Soarin called out his captain.
"Because of this." Spitfire showed Celestia's Royal Proclamation to her fellow Wonderbolts. "It poofed up right in front of me shortly after the first unidentified airship landed RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY!!!! How did we not see it and the rest of it's friends coming from afar is pretty much the very reason all of Canterlot is in this mess right now!! This is our chance to make things right!!"
Cloudsdale, Wonderbolts Academy 30 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
When the Wonderbolts return to the city of Cloudsdale and delivered the news, the city went into a complete panic. There hasn't been much situations that involved actual warfare after thousands of years, with Tirek's escape being the closest and shortest attempt at heroism in pegasus history. In hindsight, firing lighting bolts from clouds from afar would have been a better idea instead of flying straight to a magic-sucking demon at full speed.
"This is bad. Most of the Wonderbolts' reserves only signed up for the primary purpose of being an airshow pony with the other aspects of the job being an afterthought. They have no experience nor the desire to fight in combat. The only pegasi that want to help us are ex-Royal Guards or retired Wonderbolts like Fire Streak. Our numbers are too low to take back Canterlot. Should we order a mandatory draft on the population?" Thunderlane reported to Spitfire.
"No, I managed to cool my head. Ignore what I said about drafting, I'm not throwing lives away. We need quality not quantity. The sonic glider that allowed us to fly as Rainbow Dash's rainboom speed was refitted to armor due to poor design. We just need twelve able pegasi to use them." Spitfire replied.
"Mind if the two of us join?"
Spitfire turned around and saw the two pegasi that she though she would never see again, Lightning Dust and Wind Rider.
"The two of you clowns are one of the biggest reasons for the Wonderbolts' decay. How would I know you guys won't screw up by giving a damn about others?"
"Because I know that pushing oneself without the regard for others is the mistake I made. That cost from me from being in the Wonderbolts. Let me prove myself to fix my mistake. I'm not even asking to let me re-enter, I just want to protect Equestria!!" pleaded Lightning Dust.
"Same as this fine mare here. I went through dishonourable discharge just because I don't want my record to be broken. However, I still love Equestria and you ponies need all the help you need right now." Wind Rider explained.
"Considering our options, very well. Consider yourselves drafted!!"
Cloudsdale, Wonderbolts Academy 45 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
"So this is the new and improved Sonic glider, actual battle armor for the Wonderbolts should there be quick deployment required to urgent situations?" Fleetfoot inquired.
"Yeah the old ones looked like hoverboards rather than actual gliders." Spitfire replied.
"What are the names on the armor?" Soarin noticed some runes on the armors in various patterns.
"Just some cool names Rainbow Dash, Fleetfoot and me came up with. Feel free to take them yourselves. Hands off this one though. This ones mine. " Spitfire told the other pegasi. The runes read "Zeus-1"
Soarin took "Bellerophon-2", Fleetfoot had "Athena-3", Thunderlane was "Perseus-4", Fire Streak was "Hermes-5", Lightning Dust was "Astrape-6" and Wind Rider was "Bronte-8". "Apollo-9", "Medusa-10", "Chrysaor-11" and "Geryon-12" were taken by other pegasi who answered the Wonderbolts call for help.
"This one's for Rainbow Dash right?" Asked Fleetfoot. The last armor named "Iris-7" was repainted until it looked like it's an extension of Raindow Dash herself instead of looking like armor.
"Yep, whenever she comes back with her friends to save our flanks like always, we'll give her this so that she will fight as a Wonderbolt too." Thunderlane answered.
"Listen up!! Aside from the original function which is to allow us to fly at rainboom speeds, we modified the glider-turned-armor so that it gives us more protection and allow us to fight vertically easier on 3 dimensions. Watch your above and below as well. The tips of our hoof guards have miniature cloud generators, perfect for stunning the enemy with thunderclaps or shooting lightning out or hooves like in those Star Wars books." Spitfire briefed her fellow pegasi.
"We use this time to get used to fighting in this armor. I will rally Cloudsdale into a state of emergency and try to see if we can get some useful stuff from the Weather Factory. Briefing is at 1145 hours. Are we clear!!!??"
"YES SIR!!!!"
Cloudsdale, Wonderbolts Academy Briefing Room 1 hour after Canterlot Occupation
"Ok everyone!! This is the rundown of the situation. Canterlot is captured by this Storm King or to be more precise his army since we never actually saw his ugly mug in all the initial fighting. Main objective: Liberate Canterlot, rescue the captured populace with the Princesses and anypony that have the capability to fight back like those misfits that freed Fleetfoot and Thunderlane at the highest priority." Spitfire proceeded to describe the four ponies that fought Tempest Shadow. "We will try to create a 'safe zone' in the city for the non-combatants to evacuate to after we busted them out of their cages. I've sent out a distress message to the Griffons, given that they sent their chicks/cubs to train with us at flight camp. Sadly, I wouldn't count on it anytime soon. According to Rainbow Dash, the nearest Griffin kingdom is so bankrupt that they would offer themselves up as mercenaries with a huge price tag, which is the last thing we need right now."
"As for the state of Cloudsdale, we always have been to the east of Canterlot. So we will break off the Academy from the rest of the city and use it as a forward base, then we will move the ENTIRE COMPOUND (Cloud buildings after all) to the east to block those Storm airships from invading Western Equestria. According to our latest lookouts, no ships have left Canterlot since the occupation one hour ago at least to the west, which makes this the perfect opportunity to do so. We will ask our best cloud shapers to make thundercloud walls surrounding the academy for any spare pegasi or even the Reserves that wouldn't sign up for live combat to use to blast away at the enemy. Siege warfare 101."
The Equestrian Map is formed with Cloudsdale to the west of Canterlot. The Wonderbolts Academy broke off and started moving until the two are next to each other.
"So are we actually going to advance on Canterlot or are we just going to hole up in this place and just besiege the city?"
"I was getting to that. The Princesses' orders are to advance on Canterlot but the poor turnout meant that trying to liberate the city with just the 11 of us is suicide. The best thing we can do now is to follow Plan B: Siege Canterlot and stop the Storm King's army from invading the rest of Western Equestria."
"I have a question. How long do we intend to keep this up until the part where we liberate the city? You saw happened to the imprisoned ponies, you can't possibly leave them like this!!"
"I don't like this any more than you do, but this is the best we can do right now with our numbers and those pesky steel nets. Wonderbolts have always been damage control aside from air shows. Stopping what happened to Canterlot from happening to the rest of Equestria is our highest priority now."
Suddenly, an unidentified scroll appeared with a bottle right in front of Spitfire. It says:
Use this spell bottle to communicate with our allies. They all received this note as well.
The Pillars of Old Equestria, six no seven legends all over a thousand years old have been returned from Limbo. After their return and some quick lessons on modern customs courtesy of Princess Luna who didn't want them to make the same mistakes as she did on her return, the group temporarily split up to return to their old homes in Equestria, hoping to find some semblance of familiarity in the land they sacrificed so much to protect.
Starswirl the Bearded, the Pillar of Sorcery spent his days touring the libraries of Equestria hoping to find out how Equestria has changed over time. He also planned to one day see his friend Scorpan again after learning about Tirek's escape from Tatarus. At the "conventions" in his honour, he is stupefied by the number of ponies still worshipping him...in their own way and that's not including the wing in the Canterlot Palace Library named after him. Not to mention, he pretty much lost track of having to respond to the number of ponies saying that his costume needs work. After getting an earful from Princess Twilight Sparkle regarding the banish-I mean dumping of dangerous artefacts and individuals from their world to another, he tried to make amends by assuring her that the Pony Of Shadows is trapped in Limbo and not in another unaware hapless world. He also offered the Pillars' assistance in this matter after getting their own consent of course to fix the potential messes that other misplaced artefacts were going to cause in that world before they fall into the wrong hands. Now he is in the Castle of the Two Sisters, hoping to refurnish the old castle so that the Pillars can have a base to protect Equestria again.
"Comparing so many notes, fixing errors in both the history of the world and the catalogue of spells and signs of an unfinished job of refurbishing the old castle. I wonder why whoever did this never properly finished."
As he walked to his old room, he brought out a stack of scrolls drafting a series of assignments for his two students after learning about their track record in recent times didn't really put a smile on his face.
"Celestia and Luna, I understand the dangers of overdependence but this is absurd!! Even when you both could be of help, you are either beaten or not even present!! Celestia, I understand that you had to hold back due to the fact that wielding the power of the sun is not ideal due to possible collateral damage. As for Luna, she is no longer the dynamic foil to her sister anymore, instead playing second fiddle to her rather than providing an alternative or a Plan B. Sadly, that's what happens when you stop practicing for 1000 years thanks to a sibling fallout and actually have to rule a nation. An acceptable reason. I will try to schedule combat practice into their timetables so that at the very least they won't get captured when the next crisis come. You don't see me throwing the fight when I was teaching to two of you..."
However, scheduling the lessons for the Princesses would have to wait. For suddenly a portal appeared in front of him, sucking him in, catching him by surprise.
"What in the-" With that, he disappeared.
Mistmane, the Pillar of Beauty returned to her home. While she fully expected the worst due the passing of time, she is shocked to see that her home is beautiful, as if she never left the place.
"Did my family keep this place alive? Even holding to the hope that their prodigal daughter would one day return? Are you my descendant?"
"Yes, we did. Mistmane, you are my honoured ancestor. But you have to thank Rarity for actually returning the garden back to it's former glory. All we manage to protect all this time was just a single flower by the time she came."
As Mistmane looked at her home's visitors now basking in the beauty of the garden, she realised something as she spoke to her descendant.
"We been fighting as the fabled heroes of fantasy for so long...that we forgot the very reason why we chose to take up arms in the first place."
As she tapped into the roots of her garden which is spread not just the compound but also the scattered seeds of her plants who have scattered all over Equestria.
"All these peace and tranquillity, complete with celebrations. In our time, such would have been the dreams of naïve foals. Looks like our old ways have long become outdated, for we will bring unnecessary strife to the age of peace."
"I wouldn't count you and your friends out just yet. You might want to look at our recent history. If it wasn't for the Elements of Harmony, we would all have been conquered a long time ago. After all, even the most docile of creatures must have the instinct of survival."
"A wise choice of words. However, looks like diplomacy have taken precedence over warfare and to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way." Mistmane suddenly sensed a disturbance in the south due to her spread of the roots.
"Great ancestor, is something the matter?"
"I fear the time where the old-fashioned like us might actually be needed might come sooner then we thought. Send a message to my fellow Pillars and warn Canterlot-"
A portal suddenly appeared underneath her and she dropped like a stone into it.
"No!! You can't disappear now!! I haven't mastered the spells needed!!"
Somnambula, the Pillar of Hope has returned to her home. After running into Daring Do (which she could have sworn was a fictional character in the Canterlot Libraries), she is elated even with the prospect of time hovering over her head.
"Whee!! I can't wait to see what great descendants Prince Hisan had!!! Not before apologising to him in person, of course. I'm not going to let a pesky thing like him being an actual mummy stop me!! Can't believe they named my home after me. Aww, thanks everypony!!"
Upon seeing the statue in her likeness, she only has this to say:
"Hmmm, 8 out of 10. Missed a few details over...there."
As she looked for the prince's palace, she's surprised that it's no longer there.
"That's weird...Even if it changed hooves, shouldn't the palace still be standing?"
Suddenly, she heard a voice call out to her.
"You need help finding what happened to Prince Hisan and his lineage?"
Somnambula turned towards the direction of the voice and saw a brown Pegasus mare waving at her. She landed right in front of her.
"I'm Daring Do. After Pinkie enlisted my help to get your blindfold in the Sphinx's palace, she told me about the whole Limbo jailbreak issue. So I came here waiting for you to show up. Figured you need a guide to catch up on what happened while you're gone."
"Oh Daring Do!! You're real?? When I first discovered your book series, I thought you are just a fictional character but who am I to judge??" Somnambula's mood suddenly turned a 180 degrees and she made her most threatening voice. "Just don't rob any tombs here and we're good."
The poor explorer was caught off guard. She never knew the Pillar of Hope had this side of her in any tales involving her. She started shaking in her hooves at the sudden mood swing. "Yeah, I promise."
Somnambula shifted back to her cheerful self. "Ok, so I have been looking around and there doesn't seem to be any information or those 'museums' on Prince Hisan or even at a general one of this place. I was hoping that you would have the information as to what happened to Prince Hisan and his descendants as you said just now."
"Well, let's go to the Geddon Inn. I'll tell you what I know."
In Geddon Inn, Daring Do decided to tell her what happened to Prince Hisan. Having read the local historical texts instead of just flying straight back to your old home definitely helped.
"By Ra!! You have to be joking!!"
"Somnambula, I'm afraid so. According to the historical notes, Prince Hisan never married. Some speculate it's because he rejected every suitor because he was saving himself for you when you vanished. Tomb robbers broke into his pyramid a few decades later. His sarcophagus was the only thing untouched because this town secretly moved it to a secret location at his instructions, saying that he is planning to hand you gifts in the afterlife. Who knew you are in Limbo this whole time?"
"Do you know where it is?!?"
"That's another reason I'm here. After putting the two and two together, I also realized that you will definitely ask this question when we meet. So I went through my research and tried to find out the secret location of Prince Hisan's sarcophagus." As she was glared at by Somnambula at the latest remark, "I won't plunder it, I promise!!"
"Lead me to him. I want to speak to him."
Unmarked location
"This is the place?" asked Somnambula.
"All clues point to here. Keeping this a secret from tomb robbers and ponies like that crazy doctor is hard enough."
"The act of tomb robbing in here is a sin of highest order. Unless willed by the buried in question, the body and treasures must not be disturbed, good intentions or not. Daring Do, it's best that you stay here. I know in a hunch that your heart doesn't deserve to be consumed by Ammit. Not to mention, there is powerful magic at work."
With that said, Somnambula approached the door.
"I am Somnambula. I seek an audience with Prince Hisan."
Should there be any other individual or even an imposter trying to fool the doors, the magic would have vaporized him/her on the spot. However, Prince Hisan left a key in the form of his most trusted friend and to respond only to said trusted friend. He hoped that no matter where Somnambula vanished to, he will always leave doors open for her, for one should never deny hope, waiting until the end of days for her return. Having fulfilled it's ancient purpose, the magic was dispelled to allow it's intended audience entry.
With the doors open, Somnambula has finally returned to her prince.
Prince Hisan's secret tomb
The entire burial chamber is just a single room, around the size of Somnambula's own home. The fog is obscuring her vision even with the light of the glopaz except for the sarcophagus in the center. As she approached the sarcophagus, Somnambula broke down in tears.
"Forgive me,(sniff) my prince. I left you behind to spread Hope throughout the land of Equestria. And yet at the time when my virtue was needed the most with Stygian, I spurned it and paid the price. I humbly seek your forgiveness.(sniff)"
"Well, punishing you won't do any good now. Would it? I waited so, so, so long..."
Somnambula became speechless as Prince Hisan's ba appeared in front of her.
What was meant to be an impossible scenario became reality. A pair separated by circumstance. One who waited in the afterlife for an eternity. The other who had to fly across the gap forged by time. Now both of them have reunited in the future.
"But I'm glad. I didn't keep you waiting too long did I? I'm back, Prince Hisan."
"Welcome back, Somnambula."
With this single exchange, the dream announces it's end. Now it's time for a new chapter to begin.
"Now it's all in the past, look towards the future and use Hope to pave the way. As stated in my will and the ancients, I hand over my pharaoh sceptre to call on the power on their power and return you the original glopaz necklace. Use them to aid the champions of the present and keep Hope burning bright. Now that my gifts have been delivered, I hereby allow that my body and all the knowledge in this chamber to be delivered to the common people. If you need someone to talk to and your friends aren't available, use the necklace to visit me in the spirit realm."
With that, the sceptre and necklace appeared on Somnambula. Countless ancient texts and objects, both important and mundane on the local cuture from the time of Prince Hisan appeared from the mists. She proceeded to say the following line with the cheekiest smile she can muster.
"I humbly accept this request.(grins)"
"That's the mare I know and love."
Outside the tomb
"You have returned!! Wait, are those tears??"
"Just meeting an old friend, he said that he has now allowed his body and the stuff from our time to be placed a museum. He wants to see the world and share whatever knowledge it might provide."
As Somnambula turned to towards the future, she has one more friend to say farewell to.
"Oh by the way, thank you. A.K Yearling."
"Wait...whaaa...." Daring Do/A.K Yearling is stunned at being seen through.
"You might want to start investing in more exotic locations soon. Having a character that's real and fictional at the same time will get the gears turning on the more curious of ponies. All it takes some comparison between newspapers and your double life is up in smoke." As she took to the air wielding her sceptre,
"Now I have the blessings of the ancient ones, I wonder where I will need to-"
A portal appeared in front of her flight path and sucked her in.
"goooooooooo-"
With that, Hope disappeared.
Cloudsdale Former location of the Royal Legion Base
Flash Magnus, the Pillar of Bravery returned to his base. Or what was meant to be the Royal Legions' HQ.
"Wha...Wha...Wha...WHAT IS THIS PLACE??? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ROYAL LEGION WHILE I WAS GONE????"
What was meant to be the headquarters of the Royal Legion in it's place is a cloud suburban complex. Gone were the standards and training grounds, only the houses for the populace remained.
"Whoa, great Flash Magnus costume. But you are a few moons early for Nightmare Night."
Flash Magnus turned to see a rainbow-maned stallion that it's clearly unfit for duty answering his open-ended question.
"Who are you?"
"Name's Bow Hothoof. What's yours?"
"This is not a costume!!!! I'm the real Flash Magnus!!"
"Yeah and I'm Princess Celestia. Seriously, who really are you?"
"Arrgh!! This is getting nowhere!! Is there anything that I can find out about the Royal Legion in Cloudsdale?"
"Sure, my daughter's a big fan of that army's most famous hero. Had to stash all her Royal Legion costumes in another room because we ran out space. Not just her, but the Wonderbolts as well. Those guys were the protectors of Equestria before the reign of the Alicorn sisters. There's a museum up north with a section on them. Next to it is the library."
"The local gymnasium? Thank you!! You happen to know Rainbow Dash? The two of you look alike...are you her father?"
"Whoa!! You hit the bull's-eye!! Yep, I'm her dad!!"
"While I love to stay and chat, unless you have Royal Legion information, I'm afraid I have to leave for this local 'museum'."
"Not exactly a Royal Legion history buff like my daughter, so go on ahead, cosplayer!! Wow, you even have the Netitus replica down to the last detail. Now that's dedication!!"
"Arggh!! As much as I love to fly to your daughter and have her prove that I'm the real deal to your face, I have more important things to deal with."
As Flash Magnus flew towards the direction of the museum, Bow Hothoof realised a very important fact.
"Wait, did he just say he knows my daughter? Aww man, Rainbow Dash is so not going to be happy that I might have chased away her coltfriend..."
Cloudsdale History Museum
"Hmm, an archive of historical artefacts made for the public education of the populace. That's what's a 'museum' is called. In my days, nothing is considered old enough and all collections from conquests are kept personal."
As his getup is beginning to attract attention, he made haste into the building and approached the receptionist.
"You seem to the guide for this "museum". May I know where the artefacts of the Royal Legion are stored?"
"Whoa!! That's the best replica of the Royal Legion armor!! I almost wondered why security hasn't came wondering if someone stole from the museum. The section you're looking for is the West Wing, 3rd floor."
"Thank you."
As Flash Magnus reached the section of the Royal Legion, he is shocked to say the least.
"My fellow comrades armor being shown in public to be gawked at!! What defilement!!! Even if it's for the populace's education, my comrades would have never allowed their armor to be used like this!!" He noticed the forward information board. "Wait, what's this??"
The Royal Legion
Founded approx. 3000 thousand years ago, it was the pride of the pegasi during the era of the Three Tribes. The Royal Legion served as the protector of the land of Equestria before the formation of the EUP, staving off dragon attacks and keeping the griffins in check. After a freak tornado incident that required intervention that resulted in the saving of a would-be destroyed griffin border village, military exchange courses with the griffins started which is still going on to this day. Most notable of the members of the Royal Legion was Optio (First Sergeant in modern terms) Flash Magnus, who was a cadet during the time of the incident and the one who was credited as being the one who initiated the rescue of the village.
During the reign of the Royal Sisters, the Royal Legion served as the diarchy's main source of military might while the Earth Ponies and Unicorns have yet to have a standardised army. Over the years, the magnitude of the threats that required the power of the alicorn siblings have caused a massive desolation of the ranks due collateral damage, resulting in the diarchy's order to strip the Royal Legion of it's authority to assist in threats that require the alicorn sisters in order to preserve what's left of their ranks. This has also caused a rise in private militarisation from the other two tribes to fill in for the holes in Equestrian security formed from the damage the Royal Legion suffered and breaking the military monopoly the pegasi once had over the Principality of Equestria.
After the Nightmare Moon incident, the Royal Legion along with all of Equestria's military was disbanded on the orders of Princess Celestia, to be reformed and standardised into the EUP Guard in the wake of the disability caused. However, the legacy of the Royal Legion still persists in present day, with Flash Magnus' tales of bravery being told to each new generation of pegasi in order to follow in his example. Not to mention, one of the Royal Legion's mottos "Altius Volantis" meaning "Soaring Higher" became the one used by the Wonderbolts.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
With a cry of anguish, Flash Magnus' world is irrevocably shattered, the Pillar of Bravery crumbling under the weight of time.
The only other anchor to his old world, the Royal Legion is gone. While the other Pillars have families, he was an only child and never got the chance to have a marefriend as far as he known before signing up to join the Pillars. The pegasi guards of Canterlot didn't hold the same spirit of his fellow legionnaires. Aside from his friends, he has nothing else in this land. As he looked at the display of the dented armaments of his friends in the legion, he was shaken out of his stupor by the other visitors who were also looking at the displays. A filly looked at him in concern.
"You must be the live model for the Royal Legion armor the museum is hosting. Wow!! You look sad. Is there something wrong?"
"I lost everything...The Pillars are all I have now..."
"Don't know what you're saying, but my childhood hero Flash Magnus would tell me to do what's right and be brave in the face of audacity."
"I'm Flash Magnus. Sorry if I ruined your day with my outburst."
"If you're really Flash Magnus, can you tell me about your fellow legionnaires? I can't find any other section that doesn't have you or Commander Ironhoof."
The combination of his armor and outburst had attracted a large crowd and security is barging through in case anything goes wrong. The museum curator stepped forward.
"I've been hearing reports of a Pegasus stallion flying around in Royal Legion armor complete with a replica of the Netitus claiming to be Flash Magnus. After confirming that it wasn't stolen museum property, I would like to ask you to come with us because you're causing a scene."
After collecting himself, he said this:
"I'm Flash Magnus, an optio of the Royal Legion. I will answer any questions to prove my authenticity. Bring your strongest lightning casters. I will prove to you that the Netitus I wield is the real deal. My apologies of my outburst. Seeing what happened of the Royal Legion is distressing for me..."
Cloudsdale Museum courtyard Ten minutes later
After acing a questionnaire of the most obscure facts on the Royal Legion that would need more than a simple quick research in the library and a trip to the museum to pass, Flash Magnus stood in front of a crowd who had gathered hearing that one of the most legendary myths of Old Equestria is supposedly back from the dead.
"These are your strongest lighting casters, Fire Streak?"
"Yes, at first we were confused by what it initially meant but from the wordplay I assume it is pegasi that specialise in shooting lighting with as little assistance from clouds using their hooves and wings?"
"Exactly."
"The art to directly firing lighting bolts were lost over time in order to focus in the other aspects of Pegasus weather magic."
"That and the ability to create thunderclaps without damaging ones ears also faded as well. If I can teach these to the present generation of pegasi, perhaps the legacy of the Royal Legion wouldn't just be preserved through myth and word of mouth."
To prove the authenticity of the Netitus' fireproof ability, it went through having as many blowtorches firing on it as possible without even a mark. To say that the curator was stunned that he is looking at the real deal would be an understatement. Now he plans to have it subject to the most powerful lightning bolts they can muster on it in public as a display of authenticity.
Half a dozen pegasi surrounded Flash Magnus. He only has this to say:
"FIRE!!!"
Six of the most powerful lightning bolts sped towards the shield, the impact causing a din throughout the courtyard. After the smoke has cleared, the shield is without a single scorch mark.
"The Netitus has returned to the pegasi!! Now I shall prove that I'm Flash Magnus!!" Flash Magnus yelled as he raised the shield in triumph.
"It's said that the battle style of the Royal Legion was lost over time and had to be replaced completely. I shall show it here and now!! Throw to me your best fighters!! I will show you a brawl like no other!!"
Looks of awe were in the crowd as Flash Magnus proceeded to disable the most burly of the pegasi volunteers without breaking a sweat with an air of professionalism that isn't seen in the pegasi guards of the EUP nor the Wonderbolts.
"Do not worry!! They will be fine!! Any questions regarding the Royal Legion, you can ask me!! I noticed that lightning seems to be more commonplace in this time. For the sake of public interest, I shall demonstrate that with the power of the weather magic that resides in pegasi where one with enough practice can channel lightning and thunder with the minimal of clouds. For the sake of everyone's hearing, plug your ears!!"
What happened next was a display of lightning and thunderclaps that sent ripples throughout the city of Cloudsdale. Confirmed that the legend has returned, the residents of Cloudsdale surrounded him, bombarding him with questions about the Royal Legion and what life was like during those times. After half an hour, he stepped back from an regaled audience.
"The other answers will be answered when I write and publish my notes on the Royal Legion and what the times are truly like on that period. Besides, I think I have something else to do. Can anypony lead me to the base of the Wonderbolts?"
While the Princesses gave the Pillars a substantial amount of bits along with modern customs to avoid embarrassment, it's definitely not enough for a house. This is because the Starswirl is planning on the refurbishing the Castle of the Two Sisters so that the less fortunate among them can have a place to stay without taxing the Canterlot Castle or the Castle of Friendship faulty. Why Princess Twilight and her friends have a look of embarrassment when Starswirl talked about it would be a question for later.
Flash Magnus looked at the Wonderbolts Reserves, hearing from Fire Streak that the main squad is busy at the Friendship Festival in Canterlot.
"Before I march in demanding for the Wonderbolts to change into the 2nd Royal Legion or even propose a creation of new one entirely, I need to adapt to the times before rashly proposing any radical policies to the Princesses. I'll need to speak with the leader and Rainbow Dash after the festival whether I truly have a place in this new Equestria."
Suddenly, a portal appeared behind him and pulled him in. The ones who were with him wondered where he could have disappeared to.
To say that Mage Meadowbrook, the Pillar of Healing is not happy when she returned to her home would be the understatement of the century. After finding out that her home is practically abandoned save for Cattail her descendant, she is about to get one heck of a surprise and it's definitely not the good kind.
"I have so much apologising to do and actually send my replies to Aqua Vine's family. My search for the Magenta Bloom made me so obsessed with it that when he sent to me the correct location of the flower in his mail I ignored it. Without friends to keep me grounded, I ended up on a wild goose chase until the inevitable came."
"Don't beat yourself over what happened in the past. No point obsessing over what-ifs." Cattail comforted her.
"To see my home town so abandoned. I guess having the cure for the Swamp Fever isn't enough to convince ponies to stay. Not I blame them, prevention is always better than the cure. That's the priority of any healer. Still, on my way here I noticed a lot more Swamp Fever victims than usual. I pray for their souls. I don't get it, I discovered the cure, why didn't the spread stop?"
"Meadowbrook, you might want to sit down for this...."
As Cattail explained to his ancestor that knowledge of her notes never left her house's doors and even the cure to Swamp Fever was only discovered recently due to one of Fluttershy's friends falling ill, Meadowbrook only has this to say.
"WHAT!!!!! My notes were never published? What was my sister thinking? I never had children so I sent a message to my family to publish my notes on Swamp Fever and various diseases."
"The family records never stated why they failed. Either that, or the medical records themselves were lost over time. It has been over a thousand years, anything could have happened."
"Cattail, bring me the latest news on all the current incurable disease outbreaks in recent times. I need to send a letter with all the possible cures to the Princesses now!! I'll need two bottles for the spell-call potion. I already left one with each of the Princesses."
Mage Meadowbrook spent the days from her release from Limbo to the day of the Friendship Festival working together with Aqua Vine's descendant Miss Vine and the Princesses to publish her knowledge of many of the so-called incurable diseases in modern times. After she and Cattail did what they could, Mage Meadowbrook has one request.
"I'm teaching you my healing arts as my student. After that, I'm turning in my healers mask."
"WHAT!! Why???"
"Because of my mistake, countless epidemics that could have been prevented from my time until now sprouted like weeds. When I signed up to join the Pillars, I could have just simply took my medical knowledge with me and published them right there and then. Starswirl being the mentor of the Princesses would have ensured the record's survival. Now the lives of countless victims that could have been saved weigh me down, as every night I was haunted by the victims of various curable diseases throughout the ages, condemning me for failing them. It took the intervention of Princess Luna of the Night for them to stop."
Countless Swamp Fever trees dotted the landscape as far as the eye can see. Many ghosts of ponies being struck down by ailments that were curable rose from their graves like zombies ranging from colts to the elderly. All of them shambled in one collective voice saying the same message over and over again:
"Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us? Why didn't you save us?"
As Meadowbrook looked at all the patients she had failed over the millennium due to her mistake, she could only beg the dead for forgiveness.
"Everyone!! Cease this at once!!"
With a single command the horde stopped and vanished and Mage Meadowbrook found herself in a plane of stars, with Luna standing in front of her.
"Princess Luna of the Night..." Mage Meadowbrook bowed down to the Princess.
"I understand your grief but keeping a reminder of your past mistake will only drag you and your friends down with you. I know this because I made the same mistake as you did. If it makes you feel any better, right now all of our best medics are traversing the world searching for cures for many previously so-called "incurable" diseases. Right now, countless ponies are being saved thanks to your notes."
"Answer me truthfully, does it outweigh the ponies that could have been saved from Starswirl's time until now?"
"No. However, better late than never. As you are the Pillar of Healing, I've decided with my fellow Princesses that you are to have full access to our libraries. Not to mention, you have a spot open in Alchemy courses in various schools around Equestria not just the School of Gifted Unicorns as a teacher. With these two, you now have the authority to publish your knowledge and make them commonplace for the citizens of Equestria."
"Thank you."
"I understand what it feels like to have the countless lives weigh down on you. However, the undeniable truth is that the past is done and you can't change it. Don't even bother talking about my mentor's time travel spells. They are more trouble then they are worth in the long run."
"Make no mistake, I will spend my life healing others to atone for my mistake with my friends and when I join the afterlife, I will accept any punishment it would hand out to me. However, as of now I am not fit to wear my healer's mask."
"Ok then, so when do we start the lessons?"
Meadowbrook's response would have to wait, for a portal appeared right under her feet and she disappeared into it.
Rockhoof, the Pillar of Strength returned to the far north where the Mighty Helm is based on. However, he was warned by his successor Applejack that the Mighty Helm was long gone and his ruined village is currently being excavated by archaeologists.
"Even if the Mighty Helm is long gone, Captain Steela would have given me an earful from beyond the grave for simply dropping out. I will just found a new Mighty Helm!! Of course, they would be a new addition to Equestria's defence."
As he landed on the shores of his abandoned home, he noticed that the excavating team is still there inspecting the ruins.
"Hail and well met!! If you ponies are done chipping away at my house, would you like to hear stories from Rockhoof himself??"
Understandably, like the rest of his fellow Pillars, he was dismissed as a raving lunatic and poser.
"You need proof? Very well, let me reopen the trench if you all don't mind."
With nopony stopping him, he effortlessly dug through the place where the trench is supposed to be. A thousand year old legend being recanted once more. As the entire archaeological team's jaw dropped, he only has to say:
"Well, do we have any stories to trade?"
To say that with the legend himself among them is an amazing thing is an understatement. Now having him around, once obscure facts about his home, culture and the Mighty Helm are now commonplace knowledge. In return for clarifying history, he listened to the fate of the Mighty Helm after he left to join the Pillars. Thankfully, despite tradition to burn the belongings of the dead, he wanted to preserve the Mighty Helm's legacy and offered to donate the artefacts to museums.
"-so after Nightmare Moon, they had were reigned in to avoid the rise of private armies and became the bulk of the Earth Pony part of the EUP Guard?"
"All records state so."
"Thank you."
As he watched the setting sun, he wondered where his place would be in the future.
"First option is to crash in with the Pillars just like old times, but with all this peace there isn't anything left for us to do. Conflicts are now solved through diplomacy rather than intimidation of how many lives you can slay, not that I'm complaining. Second option would be to join the Royal Guard and work my way up. Of course, this leads us to the earlier mentioned problem. Finally, it is to hang up the shovel or give it to Applejack while retiring to a quiet life now that the duty of protecting the land is now on their shoulders. Captain Steela and the rest of the Pillars would be furious at me for shirking responsibility and not to mention those seven fine mares would mind extra help, so that option is out."
A portal appeared below him and he promptly vanished.
The unnamed Pillar, Stygian is currently investigating Hollow Shades at Applejack's request to find out what happened to her branch of her family clan that resided there. On his way there, he is intercepted by a strange pony cloaked all over.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Shadow Lock. Your descendant. My efforts to stop you from coming back failed utterly. Why your fellow Pillars still let you walk free is still a mystery, not that it matters. I SHALL STRIKE YOU DOWN MYSELF AND THIS DUTY PASSED DOWN FROM OUR FAMILY SHALL BE FUFILLED!!"
"WAIT!!! THE PONY OF SHADOWS OR TO BE MORE PRECISE, THE DARK FORCE THAT MADE IT IS LONG GONE!!! I'm just an ordinary pony now, you were kinda late to the whole party...If you are sceptical, you can check it yourself!! Wait a minute...how could I have descendants again?"
"Extended family that washed their hands off you and dedicated to destruction of all of your records after the stunt you did. Now if you value your life, don't do any tricks..."
As a dumbfounded Stygian took in the information, Shadow Lock started casting all kinds of scanning spells on him.
"You don't know what it was like after you became the Pony of Shadows. Equestria's greatest champions vanished the moment you showed up in that form, forcing the duties of protecting the land to the ruling Alicorn siblings. The reign of the Alicorn siblings were among the most turbulent times in history as many evils who were waiting for an opportunity to strike used this event as a signal flare. Sombra seized the Crystal Empire and triggered a war, Discord warped the minds of Equestria and turned it into his personal funhouse after overthrowing the Alicorns. After getting their kingdom back, sibling rivalry pitted the diarchy against each other. With Princess Celestia as the victor, cults in the name of the Night sprung up like weeds. As for our family, we sought to destroy all records of you so to deny anyone that would be crazy enough to bring you back. Looks like I missed a spot."
"I know that I messed up big time. Right now, killing me won't do any good. It wouldn't bring back the dead or undo the mistake. I want to fix my mistakes, starting with the investigation of the Well of Shade and the disappearance of the inhabitants of Hollow Shades."
"Hmph, looks like you're clean. But I'm keeping an eye on you. Your physical weakness is what tempted the forces of darkness to accept them in the first place. And right now, you are just an ordinary unicorn."
Hollow Shades
As the duo trotted through the depilated town, Stygian could help but feel nervous at the sight of this destruction. According to Applejack, their branch here lost contact with the overall family sometime ago, so when this mysterious event that made the locals disappear is hard to pinpoint. It could even be a separate event that caused the disconnect altogether.
"I never thought I would return here."
Approaching the entrance to the Well of Shade, Stygian recounted where it all began to his descendant.
"It all began in this place. The Sirens began their rampage here, you don't see what they were doing but I saw it firsthoof. Nopony was spared as they started fighting among one another. I brought the Pillars here to stop them but I was forgotten in the celebrations and the records of history. You might think I was being selfish but all I wanted was to be recognized for my efforts as their tactician, be a valuable member of the team during fights and not be used as a walking target. Mage Meadowbrook, being the healer of the team made her the one being targeted as much as I do in our later adventures, so she forged 8 enchanted items with the aid of the others even me to protect herself. It worked too well and using all 8 at once nearly disintegrated her from the raw power channelled if it wasn't for her Earth Pony constitution. After seeing Mage Meadowbrook's 8 enchanted items in action as a set, I tried to replicate the same miracle minus the self-disintegrating part. You can guess what happened next."
"Wait you mean the those 8 relics when used together, can break the power balance of the 3 tribes if gathered in one place and render you an equal to an elder Alicorn in terms of power?"
"You can ask her and Mistmane regarding more info those 8 apocalypses. I don't know how her stuff ended up listed in the Eastern Unicorn section though. Must have been Mistmane's magic signature when it was found the first time and they ended up lumping the two of them together over time. Enough talk. Let's investigate what happened here."
Days passed and not a single clue as to what happened to the inhabitants of Hollow Shades. A frustrated Stygian can only groan in the face of the absence of clues.
"Argh!! We are getting nowhere with this!! I need to bring one of the more powerful unicorns and cast one of Starswirl's scrying spells in this place. Then, we can turn back the clock on this place and see what happened. Thankfully, the Pony of Shadows is truly gone from this place, so silver lining? By the way, I want to set things right. So can I visit your family?"
"Don't push it. You have to make up for what you did with me first."
A portal soon appeared in front of Stygian.
"AHHHH!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!! I DON'T WANT TO BE EVIL AGAIN!!!"
"Way ahead of you!!!"
Shadow Lock tried as he might against the pull of the portal. But it was too strong and Stygian was sucked in.
"Oh no. I refuse to let the Pony of Shadows return!!" With that, Shadow Lock jumped into the portal as it was closing.
With a resounding "thud", Hollow Shades became silent once more.
Chaosville
The Pillars plus Shadow Lock landed in an undignified heap. As they came to, they soon realized that they were on top of one another...thankfully with Rockhoof at the bottom.
"Not a good entrance. Try again next time."
As the Pillars collected themselves, they noticed that one of them is not like the others.
"Who is this?" Asked Starswirl.
"I'm Shadow Lock. A descendant of Stygian."
"Well...well...well. Looks like we have an extra."
The extravagant eight looked up and saw Discord hovering over them in a chair eating popcorn. They are in a phantasmal space that resembles a military base while the Royal Guard are standing dumbfounded behind him.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Discord, spirit of Chaos."
Somnambula was the first to raise her staff at him on the mention of the last word.
"I shall strike you down, agent of Apophis!!"
"Whoa, whoa!! Let's slow down there. OK, maybe I may have got off the wrong foot here. I called you here because one of your old friends is crashing my joint!! Not to mention, I am much more better than that overblown garden snake!!"
"Old friend?" As Starswirl looked at the surroundings he noticed a very familiar colour, the colour immediately drained from his face.
"It can't be!!" The laughter of the Pony of Shadows permeated the air.
"Yes it is, you really have to watch where you dump your trash. Just because it's not your problem doesn't mean you should just throw it to another."
"There's no way it could have escaped Limbo!! We checked that it would just be sent back to the same spot thousands of years ago!!" Mage Meadowbrook exclaimed.
"Yeah, the funny thing about Limbo is that it's an empty space between worlds, time and space. The empty space in question is larger then you can comprehend. Trust me even I couldn't do it. Now this Pony of Shadows is planning on returning to Equestria having gained enough of a conscience by itself from being Stygian's buddy for 1000 years which preserved him. Even the intended time stasis only accounted for yourselves, otherwise you all would have been six neat stacks of bones when Twilight busted you all out."
"Ok we have to stop him. Discord, why would the spirit of Chaos help us?" Flash Magnus asked.
"I'm friends with Fluttershy now. Didn't she tell you? Not to mention, that Pony of Shadows tried to take over my house on it's way to Equestria. That's more than enough a reason."
"Considering that we do not have the Elements to aid us I say that we need all the help we can get." Stygian suggested.
"One question? Why is the Royal Guard here?" inquired Rockhoof.
"Also, why hasn't the Pony of Shadows attacked us yet after all this monologue?" Somnambula lampshaded.
"I was planning to train them due to their abysmal track record. I was planning to use the Pony of Shadows as the perfect training dummy since it's 'fight' with you is so anti-climatic. I didn't account for it being able to draw power from my place thanks you stuffy heroes like you lumping the alignment of 'Chaotic Evil' as the go-to for all main villains, so I had to bring to you guys here since you actually fought with actual lasers and not the friendship kind. Two, what do you think I been doing this whole time while we were chatting for the past ten to twenty paragraphs??"
The surroundings constantly flickered back and forth, as if two forces of creation are clashing for dominance in this space.
"I have to stay and use my powers to stop the Pony of Shadows from escaping to Equestria. The rest is up to you."
The Pony of Shadows landed in front of the 8 heroes.
Shadow Lock and Stygian has something to ask of the other Pillars.
"I have been stuck to this thing for over a thousand years. I know it's strengths and weaknesses. Follow my lead like old times and hit him with all you got. Shadow Lock, you're with me. Looks like you got to fulfil that duty after all."
"Mage Meadowbrook, how many of your 8 items do you have?" Shadow Lock inquired.
"First of all, I need to clarify. After that stunt with using all eight items, I scattered them all among us as all of them combined is too much power for one individual. The Netitus was secretly upgraded to the Achilles Cosmos, the shield of the crafted world. The Spear of Thunder is used by Rockhoof and is the upgraded form of his shovel. Mistmane was given the Mirror of Truth which dispels enchantments and curses. Somnambula was given the Ankh that can heal personal wounds with the power of life. The Necklace of Time is worn by me. I gave the Cap of Invisibility of Stygian. The last two items, the Armor of Wonder and the Sandals of Flight were hidden by my own violation. I'm simply the maker, not the wielder as most ponies today believed, which makes their listing in the Eastern Unicorn section believable as it was actually a team effort."
"Wow. So can we beat him now? For good?"
"Do we have any other options?" Mage Meadowbrook resigned.
With that, the battle commenced.
The battlefield became the site of a warzone. Rockhoof created massive fissures and landslides with his shovel. Mistmane summoned the fields of plants that served as platforms for the flight deprived while summoning the eastern dragons of old to breathe their elemental flames. Flash Magnus used his Netitus-no, Achilles Cosmos to redirect lightning back on the enemy, a trick he learned when he kicked storms on dragons to avoid electrocuting himself. Somnambula fired the Dendera Lights from her Sceptre, hitting it with the fury of the ancients. Meadowbrook used alchemy to heal her teammates, accelerating the healing process with her necklace.
However, this was no different from the showdown at Ponehenge over 1000 years ago. Only the presence of Stygian and Shadow Lock would prevent the same result.
The Pony of Shadows soon demonstrated why Starswirl made him out to be such a threat. With the power of darkness returned and the lack of an internal struggling host, he summoned a tide of raw darkness that soon sent the Pillars flying back. The Royal Guards had to combine every force field they can manage just to avoid getting swept away into the void. The Friendship Council was lucky that the Pony of Shadows was busy trying to rope in Stygian back then, or the results would have been much different. As the Pillars collected themselves, the Pony of Shadows stood imposing before them.
"Enough warm-up. Playtime is over."
"This is no different from what happened in the past. Stygian, we followed your lead. Is there a way to prevail?" Starswirl asked his old friend.
"I analysed his moves. Everyone, follow my lead."
On cue, the Pony of Shadows fired countless bolts that blotted out what counts as the sky, all aimed at Stygian. Using the leaf platform by Mistmane, he managed to avoid most of the bolts. However, he couldn't dodge the ones that soon intercepted his path.
"Now!! Flash and Rockhoof, use stone and steel!!"
A massive rock formation appeared, dug out by the Spear of Thunder and a second layer that was blocked by the Cosmos caught any stray bolts that got through.
"A double layered barrier?! Argh!! Why can't I move?"
The reason? Meadowbrook and Mistmane snuck underneath under the cover of the barriers and just managed to create a massive stasis field to immobilize the Pony of Shadows with their powers and items. Which wouldn't have been possible unless they had time to prepare.
On cue, Starswirl and Somnambula combined their magics. While Stygian and Shadow Lock borrowed the Spear of Thunder from Rockhoof and jumped towards the sky above, a massive inverted pyramid materialised and Starswirl amplified the weight and made it accelerate at terminal velocity towards their opponent using Stygian and Shadow Lock's action as the signal to begin.
"Taste the wrath of the ancients!!"
The massive pyramid twice the size of the Pony of Shadows hit it's target dead center. Hope and Sorcery pressed down with all their magical might, hoping to at least break a hole in it's form.
"Gragh!!" As the duo yelled, the pyramid finally pierced the Pony of Shadows like a massive wedge.
On the signal, Stygian and Shadow Lock dropped down towards the pyramid while the other Pillars got out of the way, both wielding Rockhoof's spear.
"My past ends now!! EAT THISSSSSS!!!!!!"
The two shadowed unicorns smashed right down on the pyramid, using the momentum of terminal velocity to wedge it in even further. The Pony of Shadows called on all the reserves of darkness in the area that were being stalled by the Royal Guard and Discord to repel it. Eventually, the combined might all the Pillars was too much and the pyramid infused with the virtues of mortals drilled right through the main body.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
And with that, the Pony of Shadows exploded, ending it's threat for good.
"Huff, huff. It's over." Stygian said as he and his fellow friends laid down in exhaustion.
"ENCORE!!! ENCORE!! Now that's a battle!! I'm so recording this for my friends to watch!!"
Starswirl approached Discord and asked him a very important question.
"Are there any lingering traces of the forces of darkness left? Is it over for real?"
"Yep!! The main conscience was destroyed. All this darkness in this world is scattered into harmless fragments, which means I have to clean it all up." Discord's face frowned on that prospect. "Tell Celestia I'll be running late."
"So how do we go back to Equestria?"
"I'll drop you Pillars off at the east of Canterlot. You all should be able to get to the Friendship Festival and inform Celestia. The Royal Guards will tag along with you all. There's no space in the city itself with all the hustle and bustle unless you want to be fused to some unlucky pony."
"Very well, I cannot thank you enough for this. A great weight has been lifted off my back."
"Don't worry, Beardface!! The feeling's mutual!"
"Hey-"
And with that, the Pillars and the Royal Guard were sent back to Equestria. Discord was alone in his home once more, stuck having to sweep the remains of darkness off his lawn.
East of Canterlot 50 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
As the Pillars and the Royal Guard teleported back to Equestria, the disoriented had to collect themselves. After a headcount to make sure no one was left behind (even the mail mare), Starswirl turned towards the city...and his face was drained of colour the second time in a single day.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF TATARUS HAPPENED TO CANTERLOT!!??"
Storm clouds covered the Equestrian capitol like a giant fog, unknown airships docked in various parts of the city.
"It appears to be an enemy invasion. We need to check on the status of the current situation. Mistmane, can your plants tell me what has happened?" Flash Magnus asked.
"I definitely can. I sensed this hostile fleet heading straight for the city a few hours ago. Sadly, before I could get a message to the city, I was whisked away to stop the Pony of Shadows. Looks like my descendant couldn't send the message in time." Mistmane said sadly.
"Mistmane, Meadowbrook, Stygian and Shadow Lock. I need your help to forge a map of Equestria and see of there are any other allies in this fight. Rockhoof and Flash Magnus, whip some discipline into the Royal Guard and rally them for war. Somnambula, are you able to replicate not just a pyramid, but the rest of the temple complex? We need a base."
The Pegasus looked at the occupied city and back at the Royal Guards who were barely collecting themselves over the existential crisis they were having over their constant failings.
"Now, it's time for my work face and a wooden pole. So THAT'S why Prince Hisan wanted to give me his sceptre. You really do care..."
With that said, a massive surge of power flowed from her sceptre to the ground and her glopaz necklace started shining. Even Starswirl is recoiling in response to the raw power emitted. Somnambula proceeded to proclaim with a voice of a thousand ancients.
Despair shall fall and Hope shall rise!! With this one invocation, evil shall be cast into the beyond!! Behold the eternal throne that is formed from the resolve of legends!!! The Realm of Heroes: ELPIS SOMNAMBULAM TENTYRIS!!!!
Upon her words, a MASSIVE temple complex around half the size of Canterlot materialised. Temples and palaces from all points in history took form, for the resolve of heroes existed since the beginning of civilisation. Each and every one of them held their respective cultures and defences related to their race for the concept of heroes is not just limited to ponies. The Sumarian ziggurats, pegasi temples, Qilin palaces, Medieval castles from every point in the age of chivalry stood side by side. In the centre of it all, since the invoker resembles the Egyptians, a massive pyramid complex was formed.
The other Pillars and the Royal Guard couldn't help but be awed at looking at this as they are all looking at this for the first time. When the entire complex has finished materialising the walls at the edge, they found themselves on what appears to be the courtyard of the complex, complete with military facilities in the local area.
"Somnambula, nothing I can describe can possibly do this place justice." Starswirl spoke after a stunned silence.
"..."
"Somnambula?"
On Starswirl's touch, the Pegasus collapsed to the ground, dropping her sceptre to the ground.
"SOMNAMBULA!!!" The other Pillars yelled.
As her friends rushed to her side, Mage Meadowbrook immediately took out a rejuvenation potion and forced it down on the unconscious mare.
"Errghhh....I totally overdid it...."
"Thank heavens you're alive!! I thought we lost you!!!" Stygian breathed out a sigh of relief after saying those words.
"I totally need to watch how much of the realm I materialise. Next time, just Equestrian should be enough...Now is not the time to stare!!! The enemy has seen this spectacle as well and it's on the way. I need to maintain this complex and provide support from the throne room. The rest of you, come with me and resume what Starswirl told you!! Royal Guard, prepare for battle!!"
On cue, the eight teleported straight to the Throne Room.
Meanwhile, lost in the confusion, a mail mare who is seriously considering her life's choices ran to take shelter in one of the complexes away from all this chaos.
East of Canterlot, The Great Pyramid Throne Room 1 hour after Canterlot Occupation
In the gleaming halls of gold that made the pyramid complex, the Throne Room itself reflected the inner nature of the invoker. Instead of a gaudy throne, a humble chair like Somnambula used to sit on during her olden days acted as her throne instead. A massive empty table served as the perfect briefing table. In response to the number of entrees besides Somnambula, 7 other chairs rose from the ground.
As the heroes assembled, the map responded to their desires. A map of Equestria was formed. While the area that is Canterlot is surrounded by storm clouds and airships, various lights of different colours appeared in the area surrounding Canterlot.
"Are those lights what I think they are?" Flash Magnus inquired hopefully.
"Perhaps Equestria is not so defenceless after all." Mistmane spoke with pride.
"We must act now!! The enemy has seen this spectacle and is definitely heading towards us!! Mage Meadowbrook, get the communication spells online and send them to these lights. I pray that Celestia and Luna will be among them..." Starswirl commanded.
"I have to stay on the throne to maintain this complex and provide auxiliary support. The Elpis Somnambulam Tentryis harnesses the firepower of the armies of past, present and future in the form of divine rays of power. I can amplify the Dendara Lights for facing large-scale armies and fortresses. Not to mention, I can just drop a pyramid on them. The Pharaoh Sceptre given to me by Prince Hisan and the will of the ancients allows me to summon such a realm in the first place. If any of you are free, you can stay and help maintain the complex by providing your magic to ease the burden."
"Very well!! Send out our message to these 3 most prominent lights in the North, West and South of Canterlot. They seem to be the biggest pockets of resistance, we must work together with them and get the full context of the situation. If we send to these lights, it would appear in front of the leaders." Stygian observed from the map.
As Starswirl finished his message, he sent it complete with a potion of communication to allow coordination with other recipients of the same spell. As he looked out to the Royal Guard who are already on standby for the inevitable storm outside the walls, he only has this to say:
Seaquestria, Throne Room Around 48 hours after Canterlot Occupation
As the Mane 5 and Spike led Princess Skystar and the guards away for one small thing, Twilight Sparkle put her plan into motion to steal the Pearl. Given the apathy of the Seaponies-no Hippogriffs and not giving a proper enough explanation as to why they can't help, they would most likely be disappointed a third time and be stuck in Seaquestria for the rest of their lives while their family and friends are captured or even worse.
"So Twilight, you are a fan of Pinkie's songs and you definitely need one right now given your mood. Why are you staying here instead of joining them? I noticed you didn't come with us when Pinkie started singing so I came back."
Twilight froze and proceeded to turn around. A very angry purple puffer-fish is glaring at her.
"What are you doing here?" Twilight asked her assistant.
"I was about to ask you the same thing. What are you going to do next now that you plan to steal the pearl? Disappoint our friends? Make enemies of the Hippogriffs and trap them indefinitely in here while making Equestria more enemies?" Spike retorted.
"Don't stop me, Spike. If they can't help us, then I need to steal the Pearl. We alone are not enough."
"And then what???!!!! You never think these things through!! This is exactly what happened when you found out about Starswirl being in Limbo. You set him and his friends free while never considering about the Pony Of Shadows!!"
"First, I need the Pearl. Then I'll think of something else. Besides, it all worked out in the end."
"No, you won't!! I seen this sort of situation happen to you before. You would just freak out and huddle into a corner and then apologize to your friends before cleaning up your mess!! If it wasn't for modern conveniences and Stygian's resisting, we would have lost the Elements or worse!!"
"Stop it, Spike!! I know what do I have to do, I'll deal with the consequences later!! Right now, while we are all singing, dancing and living it up in here, our friends and family are being sold with price tags on them!! I saw what happened in Klugetown and realized that Equestria isn't going to be simply taken over. It's going to be stripped of it's wealth and population!! They are going to be reduced to slaves while we comfortably live it up!!! Shining Armor and Flurry Heart in peril once they are done selling Mom and Dad to the highest bidder and the moment Tempest finds out about the 5th alicorn..." Twilight's face was drained of her color at the realization. "We need action now!! There's no way the Seaponies would be of any help!! You heard from Princess Skystar and Queen Novo, they bailed underwater the moment The Storm King arrived. They had the home field advantage and they just threw it away on first contact to rot in here until this whole thing supposedly blow over!! Not a single line about how they lost their best fighters in combat or anything like that would justify why they can't be of assistance!! Even if they said yes, there's no way they would be of help now!! All we can do now is to get the only useful thing which is the Pearl..."
If there are tears from Twilight, it definitely can't be seen since they're underwater. Spike took in all this in stunned silence and only had this to say:
"THEN I'M BEGGING YOU AS A FRIEND, FAMILY AND YOUR ASSISTANT!!! PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP, IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE AND ASK YOURSELF THESE TWO QUESTIONS: 'WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I ATTEMPT STEAL THE PEARL?' AND 'WHAT WOULD BE THE CONSEQUENCES?'!!"
"ARRRGGHHHH!!!" With a grunt, Twilight rammed her head against the wall in frustration.
The Hippogriffian airspace, Tempest's airship Around 48 hours after Canterlot Occupation
Tempest Shadow hovered over the airspace with all the ship's scopes looking for the Princess. After scuttling that ship of traitors and liars while leaving them to fall to their doom, she found out that the Princess is going after the site of her previous conquest of Mount Aris. All she needs now is for her to show up in disappointment and her horn would be restored.
"There's nothing stopping me from my horn being restored now. I can finally be normal again."
Grubber was eating some cake out of earshot and decided to ask Tempest this single question:
"So I've been wondering...what's the reason you want your horn restored so badly again? Aside from it looking cool again, how are you going to rejoin the society of the country you just enslaved and destroyed? You are from there and not some other ponyland right?"
The gears turned in the commander's head as she thought back on her past actions, she could only respond with silence.
Ponyville. A quaint little town in the shadow of the country's capital. Nothing special ever happens here, right?
Unless you've been living on the moon for a thousand years, you can tell it is as far from the truth as much as the idea that Celestia hates tea.
Ever since the Friendship Council established themselves here, this town has been the center of pretty much every crisis on a weekly basis that it rivals it's capital's record on how many times it's been invaded and attacked. It's so bad that when Celestia once (jokingly) suggested that the Royal Guards be sent there as a replacement boot camp, she was immediately bombarded with petitions to think about the mental health of her subjects and the possibility of committing crimes against mortality.
Now thanks to the Friendship Festival, the entire town is empty. But not for long...
Time Turner, having managed to escape the Storm guards is currently rummaging through his lab. After seeing Derpy get petrified in Twilight's place, something inside him became unlocked. That something is his fob watch, which is his powers as the Doctor. Sadly, his powers having just awakened meant that he couldn't just save the day right there and then and have to escape to his lab and find his Sonic Screwdriver.
"Found it!!"
As he finally brandished out his signature weapon, never has he been so happy in his life.
"Hang on my friend. I'm coming to save you!! Are there not any other heroes left in this land?"
After escaping capture thanks to a timely offload of all her brews all at once, Zecora has taken refuge in her hut in the Everfree Forest.
"As the storm approaches me, I sincerely hope Twilight remains free."
As the zebra pondered her next action, she has three options.
One: Hide out in the forest and hope that the forest can keep the invaders out. Two: Improvise as many potions for battle and fight. Three: Escape Equestria until the storm blows over.
Option 1 is out as the invaders in question are no doubt battle hardened soldiers, anything short of hydras bearing down on them will stop their advance. Even in this desperate time, she didn't even consider using the Swamp Fever flowers on them. Not even they deserve this fate.
Option 3 would mean abandoning the one probable place in the world that has ever accepted her. She was considered a novelty to be bought and sold in Klugetown and Griffonstone won't be happy with a zebra in their midst. She would effectively be nowhere left to go excluding her country of origin which is out of the question. There is a reason why she came to Equestria after all in the first place.
This left Option 2 as the only viable option.
"As friendship to compels me to stay, I sincerely hope there's others like me in the play."
When Tempest's ship invaded Canterlot, one of the ships noticed that Ghastly Gorge located adjacent to Ponyville had countless precious gems of value ready to be mined. After getting permission from Commander Tempest to loot the place, it landed in the gorge. However, they themselves had no idea that they stumbled right into a danger of uncountable magnitude.
"What are you all doing here?"
As the hulking beasts stepped down from the airship and looked at the source of the voice, they noticed a grey pony looking at them. They wasted no time chasing her down to the depths, having to constantly avoid the quarry eels that popped out at at the chance of a free meal.
Eventually, Maud Pie was caught and in her rush to escape, she led them right to the gem caves. As she was muzzled and chained, the Storm Guards would later make two mistakes that would be considered unbelievable.
First, in their grunts, Maud was able to tell that they are going to attack the Friendship Festival. They are going to smash up her dear sister Pinkie Pie's party. Second, they tried to step on Boulder when they started to loot her home.
It has always been known that the abilities of the Pies have always been extraordinary, Pinkie is proof of that. Not to mention, unnoticed by all except Maud, Boulder has always been moving on his own when no one's looking at it and Maud has always been able to spontanously appear out of nowhere like her sister. But ever wonder what happens when such cartoonish powers are weaponized in a serious manner?
A resounding "SNAP!!!" echoed through the walls. The Storm Guards looked in disbelief that the chains and muzzle are broken with bare hooves.
"You tried to hurt Boulder and crashed my sister's party. I am giving you all a count to three to leave this place and my sister's party alone."
The Storm Guards put their foot forward and advance on her once more, thinking that it must have been the work of faulty chains.
"One."
Even if it was working properly there's no way it could have been broken with brute strength, they themselves tested it.
"Two."
The idea that an ordinary mare can stop them unarmed is beyond their scope of comprehension.
Maud wound back her hind legs and jumped towards her foes with the full intent to bash their heads in.
The rumble of a hundred earthquakes shook the gorge. After it finally passed, Storm guards are sent flying out of the gorge with countless dents in their armor. Massive rocks many times the size of them were flung that the ones outside her punching range at ludicrous speeds. The remaining Storm guards are sent running for the airship, desperate to flee from the wrath of the titan. The airship fled to parts unknown, as long as they got away from her.
"You are all lucky Boulder isn't cracked. Or else I wouldn't have been so nice."
As she looked outside the gorge, she was able to discern a storm over Canterlot. As she galloped over to the occupied city:
"Hold on, Pinkie. Big sis is on her way."
Ponyville, in front of the Castle of Friendship 45 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
In the deserted town, the three unlikely heroes made their way to the Castle of Friendship, intending to get some supplies since Twilight never bothered locking her doors before making a break for Canterlot. However, they ran right into each other in their haste.
"Ouch!!" The trio shouted simultaneously.
Time Turner looked at the other two ponies in this supposedly deserted town.
"Wow!! Did you two escape from the festival as well?"
"Yes, I did. I was planning to sneak into the city to break out the Princesses captured so that Twilight do not have to worry herself being the last hit." Zecora replied.
"No, I was in Ponyville adjacent the whole time and heard that Pinkie was in danger after beating up some weird giant things that came to loot the caves of the gems. That's why i'm here." Maud answered.
Time Turner and Zecora looked at Maud in shock, for trying to beat the Storm Guards in a power play of brute strength has always been a fantasy and yet Maud did just that as an afterthought.
"H-How?" Both asked Maud.
"You can surprised how many problems can be solved by throwing a rock at it if it was big enough."
Ponyville, Castle of Friendship 50 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
The trio planned their next move in the Cutie Map room while Time Turner gave the gist of what happened at Canterlot. The map suddenly came to life, showing the storm from Canterlot expanding to Ponyville.
"Oh dear!! Looks like the invaders have began to secure the areas surrounding the occupied city. So much for freeing our friends, our enemy has made the first move. " Time Turner explained to his two companions.
"Well then, shall we give them the Ponyville greeting?" Maud proposed this to her other two companions.
"Now is the time for action, if we were to give ourselves some traction." Zecora agreed.
North of Ponyville 55 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
An expeditionary force has began it's advance to lay claim to the nearest settlements with Ponyville as the first target. Three airships worth of troops faced the trio that stood before them. Before them stood only 3 defenders. Time Turner-no The Doctor only has this to say:
"What a one-sided fight."
He then proceeds to activate his Sonic Screwdriver. You pretty much know what is going to happen next.
Ponyville, Castle of Friendship 1 hour after Canterlot Occupation
After that one-sided fight, the trio is resting in the Castle. Zecora gave an overview of their situation.
"Well, we are currently pinned down in town even if we won. Not to mention, we ran to other refugees from Canterlot." Zecora quipped as the trio found some new companions as they walked back to the Castle to prepare for the next assault. One Trixie Lulamoon and one trio of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"Trixie will do her best to contribute. As for the three of you, hide out in one of the rooms until your sisters comes home to help save us all."
"Understood. Once our sisters come back, there will be a Ponyville standing for them!!" The trio stated in unison.
Suddenly, an unidentified scroll appeared with a bottle appeared right in front of them on the table. It says:
Use this spell bottle to communicate with our allies. They all received this note as well.
The Four Briefing Tables 1 hour after Canterlot Occupation
In the darkest of times, hope arose in the most likely and unlikely of sources. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, from all walks of life the second set of Equestria's heroes gathered together. As the communication spell unfurled simultaneously on the four directions of Canterlot to reveal three other windows for the other resistance leaders, what was the first line spoken?
"WE'RE ALL DOOOOMED!!" Trixie's yell broke the ice or even possibly stop any ice from being formed in the first place with her outburst.
"Our saviours are the incompetent Captain of the Royal Guard and the equally incompetent Wonderbolts, a kooky scientist way over his head and Starswirl...The...Bearded..."
"..." The realization hit Trixie like a ton of bricks which is definitely much harder than a cart of nuts.
"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!! It's Starswirl The Bearded, the greatest wizard of all time and the aspiration of all unicorn spell casters helping us!! I totally changed my mind, we are so going to win this!!"
As the four chosen leaders, Shining Armour of the Crystal Empire, Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, Time Turner representing Ponyville and Starswirl of Sorcery looked at Trixie in disbelief. Starswirl groaned in disbelief in the fact that he just ran into another one of his crazy fans as Trixie was dragged away by the CMC. Shining Armour was the first to take advantage of the ruckus caused by Trixie to start communications.
"This is Shining Armour, Captain of the Royal Guard and the Crystal Prince. I'm relieved that Equestria doesn't always have to rely on Twilight and Starlight to save the day. They really need to have some pressure laid off them. Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, I'm relieved that you managed to escape Canterlot. Starswirl The Bearded, I never thought you would actually be alive. When Twily sent us a letter which gave us the rundown about what happened with the Pillars, I couldn't believe it either. Sunburst keeping the whole issue to himself in his haste to archive his notes was also a factor."
"I'm surprised you managed to keep a ruckus to yourself. Every unicorn I met either said that my costume needs work or was too busy screaming for my autograph."
"I have my ways."
When Shining Armour received the letter a while ago, he started jumping for joy like a colt who just got his first 100%. Sunburst only has this to say to Flash Sentry:
"I told you that withholding that bottle first is a good idea, he would geek out like his sister once he read the name of the sender. Thank goodness I already did my own freak-out when I first found the journal."
Starswirl immediately resumed the conversation to the last leader.
"Looks like the three of us are acquainted. May I know the identity of the fourth leader?"
"Time Turner, The Doctor. Your spells regarding time travel have caused quite some shenanigans on the time stream."
"I had a feeling something like this would happen sooner or later. I will be paying you a visit after all this to see the damage caused."
"Good. Now at the business at hand. The real reason we are in contact is to establish quick and efficient communications with one another and to trade intelligence on the situation at Canterlot and what we're truly up against."
The other leaders stiffened at that sentence.
"Shall we begin?"
And so it began, the synchronization of information among the four factions began. Shining Armour gave the status on the city of Canterlot. Sunburst gave his information on the armaments of the enemy and the situation of the Princesses, much to the dismay of Starswirl who was no doubt holding on the shred of hope that at least either one of his two students escaped. Spitfire divulged the situation at Cloudsdale about the rallying of the Wonderbolts and usage of the armours. Flash Magnus recognised the potential of these pegasi and proposed to teach the Wonderbolts how to redirect lightning using their innate magic. Starswirl told the rest about the situation of the Royal Guard and the formation of their base. Time Turner took in all this information and decided to come up with a plan.
"Everypony, may I have your attention? In light of all this information, I have thought up of our next course of action."
The two unicorns and one pegasus turned their attention on Time Turner.
"Right now, even accounting for our numbers and strength, I'm afraid our chances of liberating Canterlot is still very low. Even if we do succeed, the cost in collateral damage would be off the charts! And yes, I'm taking the rainbow wave that supposedly magically fixes everything in the end into account. This is because right now, we have boxed in the entire enemy fleet by surrounding them in all four directions. While this means that the occupation area is limited to just Canterlot area and the rest of Equestria can prepare defences and sit tight, it also means that the entire enemy force is concentrated into a single spot, allowing them to just bunker down in the city itself. Make no mistake, because of this they will no doubt try to break through our blockade, so our job is to enforce siege warfare and gradually turtle in step by step."
Shining Armor is the first to speak out.
"Have you been listening to what I just said about the state of the prisoners!? Not to mention, we still have no word on what happened to Princess Twilight and the main purpose of the invasion is to take the Alicorn magic of the four main princesses. We are already lucky that they didn't know about Flurry Heart since there is no sign of any airships coming our way to the Crystal Empire as of now. If we can liberate Canterlot now, we can send a message to Twilight and tell her everything is alright. She must be worried sick about us right now and all of you should know what happens when she is under pressure."
Spitfire looked at Shining Armour in pity.
"Sir, I know you want to save your wife and family. But you need to control your anxiety and not collapse into pressure like your sister. If all of us barge in, the toll in lives would be catastrophic as the Storm King's armies are fully fresh and casualties would be off the charts!! If we instead play it safe and combine the Wonderbolts Academy, your Crystal Saber flight capable weapons and the long-range Dendara Lights of the Pillars' fortress to stop any airships from flying over us and invading the rest of Equestria, we can minimize the damage caused via attrition. The ponies of Canterlot and Ponyville are tough. If there is any group out there that can live through a crisis like this as if it is an average day, it's them."
Shining Armour looked at Spitfire with a look of disbelief.
"As much as we all know how tough the ponies are, this is something that is way out of their league. Families are being forcibly separated and loaded into cages on the airships preparing to the taken or Celestia forbid, sold to who knows where if it wasn't for us blocking their exit. The ones that have to remain in the city were given the barest of necessities to live. Such evil hasn't been seen since the days of King Sombra when he took over the Crystal Empire. If sit on our haunches, I can't even fathom the psychological damage that will be inflicted on the ponies in the long term. If we really have to do siege warfare, we need to make haste otherwise one way or another, there won't be a city left saving."
"Just so you know, you can't let your failures drive you into rash action hoping that you can save the day."
To say that it's a poor choice of words from the Wonderbolt Captain would be an understatement. Shining Armour exploded on hearing those words.
"AND YOU SEEM TO DO SO MUCH BETTER?! I HAD TO KEEP FLURRY HEART A SECRET AND WHILE STOPPING HER FROM DEMOLISHING THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE WITH HER SNEEZES!! WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE FOR NOT SAVING THE PRINCESSES??"
"YOU TRY CARRYING THREE ALICORNS WITHOUT MAGIC WHILE TRYING NOT TO DROP THEM LIKE A VASE AND DODGING STEEL NETS THAT PULL YOU FROM THE SKY, YOU ENTITLED LITTLE LEEC-"
"ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!!"
The two military captains flinched at Starswirl's outburst.
"I can see both of your frustrations for not being able to protect Canterlot but now is not the time for infighting!! Right now as we speak, the enemy fleet has gathering waves of troops in both the sky and land in an attempt to break through and invade the rest of Equestria. They are already aware of the Western and Southern resistance and it won't be a matter of time before they find out about the other two armies. If you truly wear that uniform with pride, then stop bickering like foals and do your job successfully!!"
As the two Captains drooped in shame, The Doctor decided to move the awkwardness aside by asking Shining Armor about another topic.
"I heard about the alliance with Yakyakistan. Has there been any word from them and is a train prepared to bring them to the front lines quickly?"
"Nope, not yet. Before this meeting, I checked with the Crystal Empire at the train station. They haven't made it here yet. After all, it has only been around two hours."
"So, final decision. The four groups employ siege warfare in a battle of attrition while slowly turtling towards the city. The sooner the better. We also have to employ the phrase 'where the best defence is a good offence' to prevent the Storm King's army from attacking the rest of Equestria. Are we clear on that?"
"Agreed." Said the other three leaders respectively.
"We shall leave this spell bottle open. This is our only way of establishing communications in real-time. We are Equestria's liberators!!"
As the leaders all left to mobilize, Flash Magnus only has this to say:
"All we can hope for is that everypony lives in the end. Alea iacta est".
"What does that mean?" Somnambula asked.
"It's a saying the Royal Legion used as to define a situation that has reached a point of no return. Direct translation: The die is cast."
Crystal Train Aurora, The Northern Front 1 hour and 15 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
Thunderous armies of the Storm King from the city of Canterlot spread north, hoping to plunder the northern regions of the country.
Standing in their way are the Crystal Guard, the troops who served under the Crystal Empire lead by a Prince who didn't exactly have the best track record. Shining Armour in Crystal Saber armor addressed his men as he faced the enemy.
"We are the Crystal wall that stands between the north of Equestria and our homes. They shall never break past us!! Guards, to battle!!"
The first function activated, the sword became coated in crystal with dragon scale cutting levels of sharpness. Shining Armour made a break for the first airship's bridge while dodging projectiles including those steel nets that Spitfire warned him about. He soon came up with his second command:
"Crystal Mirage!!"
With the combined might of his magic reserves and the power of the armour, he formed autonomous crystal shells and split into multiple clones of himself to confuse to defenders and protect himself from multiple angles. When all the clones simultaneously made a break for the bridge, they immediately combined into a formation that weakened the window for the user to destroy in one hit. Not planning on disappointing his men, he broke into the bridge by hitting the crystal formation.
"HAAAA!!"
A massive explosion of crystal shards on the bridge window sent the crew of the airship flying back in surprise. Taking advantage of the chaos caused, the prince immediately started disarming the Storm Guard (not literally of course, he still had his principles). The once imposing beasts after collecting themselves soon found their trump card which was their anti-magic armour fall into useless pieces on the floor.
He pointed his sword at the remaining crew which managed to collect themselves in time.
"You are all my captives under the grounds of the rules of warfare. Surrender and I will give mercy as a Prince."
Some dropped their arms and surrendered, while the others charged forward, not intending to lose to this one pony.
"Suit yourselves." He charged forward, his crystal swords blazing with power while buffed by the Accelero spell as he effortlessly disarmed opponent after opponent. The defeated and surrendered were encased up to their necks in crystal blocks twice their size thanks to the magic of the armour and the spell used by his wife Princess Cadance.
With the entire crew surrendered or subdued, Shining Armour took control of the airship.
"Now how do I fly this thing? Where's the manual?"
Outside, the battle between the two armies is raging fiercely as ever. However, the difference in experience and training is soon made clear as the ponies began to lose ground.
"We need a plan now!! Did Shining Armour leave one more set for me?" Sunburst pleaded Flash Sentry.
"Sorry, you don't have the military training and is better of as the strategist, that's why Prince Shining Armour gave the second completed set to me." Flash Sentry replied, decked out in a similar set of armour as his liege. "However, he did tell me to bring the leftover ice arrows from the Equestrian Games and asked the Wonderbolts if the Weather Factory can make more if these. Don't know why though."
"According to Shining Armour when I enquired about the arrows, he replied by saying that there was an incident during the Equestrian Games where in the archery competition, one of the archers slipped and shot an arrow straight into one of the clouds which created a giant ice block the size of the field...of course!! Flash Sentry, you're a pegasus. You are the few ponies who can make big enough clouds and turn them into ice with the arrows, turning them into giant icebergs to drop them right on the enemy!!"
"Very well, I shall do this idea. Right now, we need all the advantages we can muster."
Flash Sentry along with any pegasus available started forming as many clouds as he could. When an entire cloud bank was made, he measured the approximation of the battle line. After he finished, he gave the signal to all ponies to fall back.
As the Crystal Guards fell back, the Storm Guards wasted no time trying to gain momentum. Of course, this was part of Sunburst's plan.
"FLASH SENTRY, NOW!!!! EAT THIS, STORM GUARD!!"
On Sunburst's command, Flash Sentry and the other pegasi immediately shoved the arrows into the clouds. The effect was instantaneous. What was once a cloud bank became a massive glacier in the sky and it wasted no time letting gravity effect it. The Storm Guards looked up in horror and wasted no time retreating as the massive glacier came crashing down on them. The airships had to quickly turn back to avoid getting crushed. One particular airship which is moving weirder then usual also managed to avoid the projectile, but instead of following the retreating airships, it flew over the glacier and raced towards the Crystal Army.
"Why is there an airship heading towards us? Wait, where's Shining Armour?" Sunburst realized.
The glacier finally reached the ground with a resounding crash that can be heard for miles, gouging a white line across the Northern Canterlot Plains. Meanwhile, the approaching airship suddenly blared open like a loudspeaker.
"Stop!! Don't shoot!! It's me, Shining Armour!! I have taken command of this airship and have brought prisoners of war. Everyone, nice job with the tactic!!"
The captured airship landed right in the middle of the train-turned-base. The Crystal Guards wasted no time mobilizing to the airship in case it's a Trojan airship.
Much to every ponies' relief, Shining Armour stepped out of the airship, bringing the prisoners in tow with his magic. Flash Sentry was the first to greet his liege.
"Prince Shining Armour, am I glad to see that you are all right!! We almost crushed you by accident!!"
"My bad on not telling you about what I did. Still, glad to see you too. Sunburst, help me bring the prisoners. Everypony else, use the time brought by the glacier to push forward and establish as much ground as we can cover! Flash Sentry, how many ice arrows do we have left and what is your estimate on how many times we can pull this off? Will we be able to drop a glacier at the foot of Canterlot Mountain, if you know what I mean?"
As Sunburst helped Shining Armour load the prisoners into the prison carriage, the Crystal Guard began advancing across the glacier to gain ground to make their way to Canterlot, Flash Sentry gave his reply:
"We only have enough arrows for one more attempt. Let's just hope that Cloudsdale will be able to send those arrows soon. Then we don't have to worry about supply." With that, he joined his fellow guards in gaining ground.
As Flash Sentry and the Crystal Guard refortified their battle lines using the momentum brought on by the strategy, Shining Armour flew ahead of his men as the vanguard to disable the airships which have turned around after securing the last prisoner.
"Excalibur, T-mode!!" The sword split down the middle to form it's legendary crystal greatsword, designed to face the biggest and mightiest of dragons.
The airships fired projectile after projectile even the dreaded Obsidian Orbs at the advancing knight, but he dodged or blocked them all with his special shields and just as it seems that an Obsidian Orb is about to hit Shining Armour, he teleported behind the airships. Caught in their blind spot, he swung the Excalibur at the thrusters that were enabling it to maintain altitude. A massive crystal circle expanded following his slash direction materialised, affecting other airships in the same altitude in it's area of effect. It then proceed to shatter, damaging their thrusters as well.
"Fall into the pits of Tatarus, EX------CALIBURRRR!!!"
With a second follow-up swing, the thrusters affected in his attack were completely destroyed and the affected airships were forced to make a crash landing either far away from the Crystal Guards for them to gain ground or right in their faces to be subdued quickly and be taken prisoner.
"Show off..." Flash Sentry quipped.
"Canterlot is becoming closer by the second!! Keep this up and victory will be ours!!"
The Crystal Guards cheered at the sight of their Prince demonstrating why he is the Captain of the Royal Guard in the first place.
Wonderbolts Academy, The Western Front 1 hour and 15 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
Spitfire grinned as she heard the impact of the glacier with her ears alone. She did not have the luxury of having a show of manpower to spare unlike the Royal Guards, not with the Reserves being just civilians and stuck having to man the lighting turrets to fire on the airships approaching them and the ones over Ponyville airspace.
Instead, she and eleven others rained thunder and lighting with their bare hooves on the Storm Guards. Having exposed areas and armour that can conduct electricity made them a bad match-up if it wasn't for the steel nets that can incapacitate a Pegasus with just one successful hit.
"So that's what you had planned in mind with those ice arrows, Captain Shining Armour. Clever. Fleetfoot, can we spare anypony to bring the ice arrows from the Weather Factory to the Crystal Guards?"
"Afraid not, Captain. Just the twelve of us with the support of the Academy are only enough to barely make this front a stalemate. I can request a civilian to bring the arrows though but untrained wings means it will take longer to get there."
"Yeah, a thought just came to me. What if Rainbow Dash and her friends actually lost and the Storm King got the magic of four alicorns? I have been preparing for that scenario."
"How could you?! Don't you have faith in the ponies that saved your sorry flank time and time again??"
"Of course I do!! Why do you think I saved the last armour for Crash instead of giving it to some pegasus? Still, it pays to be prepared for such a scenario. So as a last resort, I'll use ice arrows on the Academy and drop that sucker right on the Storm King's ugly face. Let's see him survive that.
"Are you crazy?! You aren't dropping some generic building. You're dropping the legendary academy of the Wonderbolts, formed by General Firefly's own hooves no less. Even if we rebuild it, it will never be the same..."
"Tell me, do you have any other ideas to stop a being with a might of our four princesses? I would throw away all material sentimentality if it means saving Equestria in the end."
Fleetfoot has no response to her desperate captain. All she can hope for is whatever Crash is possibly doing with the fourth princess, she better make it quick.
East of Canterlot, The Great Pyramid Throne Room 3 hours after Canterlot Occupation
As the rays of power fired on the thrusters of the enemy airships to cripple their flight capability while the other Pillars and the Royal Guard engaged the ground troops, Starswirl who was helping Somnambula maintain the temple complex suddenly has a scroll materialize in front of him.
"Who could this be?"
As he read the scroll, never has his sprits rose since the saving of Stygian. He immediately initiated contact with the other leaders so that they could hear about it as well.
"Everyone, I have important news!! We have a message from Princess Twilight Sparkle!!"
Dear Starswirl,
We need your help!! I couldn't contact you sooner because we had no access to writing materials when we escaped Canterlot and couldn't afford to make a detour to Ponyville for the Elements and writing materials in order to cover our tracks. We are now in Klugetown which is beyond the south of the Badlands, in the residence of a bipedal cat named Capper using his writing materials after asking for permission of course. The Princesses have all been captured except for me and I currently have their commander Tempest Shadow chasing me down. I just found out that Celestia needed Luna to seek help from the Queen of the Hippogriffs of Mount Aris, not the Hippos and are now on their way to seek their aid. I have also sent a letter to Changeling King Thorax and Dragon Lord Ember asking for their assistance. If you see a small blue female dragon possibly leading a whole dragonflight coming in from the southeast of Equestria, it's her. The same goes for possibly seeing a swarm of multi-coloured giant bugs flying in from around the same direction, it means that Thorax has came for assistance. I don't know whether how much of my family is still out there not getting captured. Starswirl, please don't bring up the past and screw this up for us. Forward this message to Shining Armour if you are certain the Crystal Empire isn't attacked too as I have a message for him. If there are any other friends we need to know of, please send a letter to me. In hindsight, I could've just casted a spell for scrolls and quills instead of having Spike carry them all. Now if only some others among us can take this whole thing more seriously...
Signed, Twilight Sparkle
P.S Dear Shining Armour, If you are reading this in relative safety instead of being currently locked in a cage after getting taken down like a chump again: Please keep you-know-who safe and a secret if the Storm King doesn't know about her as you can tell, they are after the magic of four alicorns. I can't imagine what would happen if she ended up as my substitute. After what happened to Cadance and our parents, I can't afford to lose anymore of my family. Heard about Flurry's flu, I hope that she would get well soon.
After hearing from the Princess of Friendship, a weight of their backs has been lifted.
"Twily is safe. I'm so glad..." Shining Armour who is currently resting in the Royal Carriage after disabling another airship with the "Excalibur" heaved a sigh of relief. Not to mention, he had just received word that the Yaks had just arrived at the Crystal Empire and is now boarding the civilian train to join the front.
"I wouldn't expect anything less from that group of misfits." Spitfire quipped as she fired thunderbolt after thunderbolt at the Storm Guard.
"Such is the power of the friendship. If only it is just as powerful in my older days." Time Turner wondered as he pointed the Sonic Screwdriver in direction of the enemy.
"Now we have a clear goal!! The Hippogriffs of Mount Aris as far I know have the strength and magic to aid us and minimize casualties. We just need to maintain this siege until Princess Twilight returns with their help. Proceed as usual. I will send her a letter informing us of our situation." Starswirl told the other leaders of the Equestrian Liberation Alliance or E.L.A for short while he prepared a reply, hoping to lift some pressure off Twilight's back.
As unbeknownst to the heroes who fought on, their greatest trial is yet to come...
Timeline of the Siege of Canterlot Time will be counted as After Canterlot Occupation (ACO).
Around 12 hours ACO - Arrival of Dragon Lord Ember and Changeling King Thorax.
The dragons' aversions to the ponies of Equestria isn't something to be swept away overnight, resulting in a miserable turnout that only consisting of Dragon Lord Ember herself. Torch stayed behind as Acting Dragon Lord for the duration of the war due to the nature of the Obsidian Orbs and his size making him an easy target. Ember attempts to call the dragons already active in Equestria. Biggest turnouts are surprisingly from the local Chinatown's dragons from the city of Fillydelphia.
The changelings have a better turnout due to the efforts of Thorax and his military commander Pharynx. However, the number of the changelings fit for assistance is around the size of two platoons rather than the swarm most are used to due to the urgency and suddenness of the call. To compensate for lack of numbers, the changelings adopted numerous battle forms including the Storm Guard. Thorax himself has chosen a bear.
Their base is a camp in the southeast of Canterlot with quick access to Ponyville while Ember, Thorax and Pharynx holdout in the Castle of Friendship to coordinate their efforts with the rest of the ELA. Ember has to resist eating the Cutie Map and the walls of the castle...again.
Around 24 hours ACO till approx. 70 hours ACO - The Sacking of Ponyville
After fighting on four fronts and failing after sending wave after wave of troops, the Storm King's armies realized that out of the four fronts, the South and therefore Ponyville was the least defended out of the four due having the least numbers. The Storm King's ground forces decided to focus solely on breaking through in a single offensive and sack the town in an attempt to break the blockade formed by the ELA and open up a way to the rest of Equestria while having their airships resume besieging the other fronts to keep them busy.
Not to be outdone by the rest of the ELA, Trixie after giving info on Commander Tempest and the other fighters trapped in Canterlot, set up a stage for a musical number in the town, which is to help the CMC take advantage of the Storm King's treatment of his men to win over the invaders with the power of friendship and positive incentives. The guards that were won over by the displays of kindness from Trixie and CMC face their former-brother-in-arms while Thorax, Pharynx, Ember, The Doctor, Zecora and Maud Pie enter the fray with the rest of the dragons and changelings which wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the CMC and Trixie's actions stalling for time. The result is a massive land battle right in the town with the Storm Guard that lasted for over 40 hours that sacked the town in the process. Sadly, the ones more loyal to the Storm King manage to capture the CMC in the chaos due to being mistaken for being the resistance leaders due to their actions and whisked them to Canterlot before any help could arrive in time. Much to everypony's relief, the Castle of Friendship is untouched especially the library much to the confusion of the Storm Guards that sided with Equestria.
The Castle of Friendship, the Southern front 70 and a half hours after Canterlot Occupation
"Where are those three rascals!?"
Trixie paced back and forth in the Map room as the final line of defence. The roars of bears, giant bugs and dragon fire are heard outside the main door, with the Storm Guards focusing on the castle itself as the resistance's headquarters after a two-day brawl throughout Ponyville that demolished the town.
"If those three are captured, The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to be the Buried and Six-feet-under Trixie!!"
Trixie has no time to ponder anymore, for a message alert from the communication spell bottle prompted her to receive the call.
"Is there anyone still there!?"
Trixie replied the voice, who is Starswirl the Bearded.
"Trixie is here. Starswirl, don't worry the castle is still standing. The dragons and changelings are fighting right outside our front door and I barricaded the doors on that dragon Ember's orders. Zecora and Time Turner are also in the castle with me. Oh my, you look terrible..."
Starswirl never looked so dishevelled in life. Some of his trademark bells have fallen off, the face screamed exhaustion from lack of sleep but his eyes betrayed something that is much, much more urgent than simple fatigue.
"Is Shining Armour and Spitfire getting this call too? This is of the highest priority!!"
The sounds of massive magic blasts and lightning bolts blared from the screens of the two captains in response. The fatigued faces of the two ponies soon entered into view.
"-Do not let any airship break into the camp/academy!! We're here."
As the four got into contact with each other, Starswirl immediately stated the matter at hand.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle has been captured!!"
Shining Armour understandably started to cave in from the fatigue much like his sister upon receiving the news.
"You're kidding me...you old geezer. Twily is captured? This...is...the...no...time...for...jokes!!!!"
"You poor stallion. I too wish that it was." He unfurled a scroll in front of him. "This is the most dire news we could ever have. I received a letter from Spike telling us what happened. Let me read out on what needs to be our next course of action." He then proceeded to cast a spell that allowed the read words to be heard in the voice of the writer.
Dear Starswirl,
Twilight has been captured by Tempest!! Based on your reply, we know that Tempest's airship is the only one that we know of outside your blockade and we need you all to intercept it when it returns to Canterlot and rescue Twilight!! We messed up big time shortly after we sent the first letter to you. Let me explain.
Long story short, Capper turned out to be a con artist who played us like a fiddle when we should have known better and tried to sell us to some walking molerat. We ended up on the run thanks to the said molerat provoking Tempest into frying him who found us thanks to the racket Pinkie made and boarded the nearest airship...which is manned by pirates who were forced to work for the Storm King after losing to him. After getting their mojo back and convincing them to fly us to Mount Aris, everything was going spectacular until Rainbow Dash pulled off a Sonic Rainboom in her excitement and gave away our location. How does a Sonic Rainboom is interpreted as 'Ponies are here' is still a mystery. The pirate captain tried to hide us and lie to Tempest in an attempt to fool her. She clearly didn't buy it and somehow we ended up on a hot-air balloon and I got used as a lighter.
On Mount Aris, the city is abandoned. We ended up searching the empty city until we heard some singing coming from a nearby pond. I know in hindsight that we should be worried in case it's is more of those Dazzlings but it was at the back of our heads at that time. We ended up following them down into the water, which started draining and pulling us in. We weren't able to cast a bubble spell on time and nearly drowned if it wasn't for the singer revealing herself to the Princess Skystar and saving us. We were shown an underwater city which other seaponies like her were dwelling. It was then revealed that the seaponies themselves are the hippogriffs we were looking for.
Turns out, before Equestria, the Storm King's previous conquest was Mount Aris, with their fabled Pearl of Transformation as the prime target. Being surrounded on all sides thanks to his armada made contacting for help from the outside world impossible. According to Queen Novo, their only option was to flee underwater. Saying that her people come first, she refused to aid us, instead offering to take us in as refugees after turning us into seaponies while I got turned into a puffer fish. Our spirits were crushed. Our best chance outside you guys basically just pardon my language, told the rest of Equestria to screw off and die which would have what actually been happening if it wasn't for you guys. No help from the hippogriff guards or even lending us their fabled pearl.
Twilight, in a brazen move told us to cheer up everyone with a musical number while she snuck in the steal the pearl using us as a distraction right under our noses!! When we finished giving the seaponies/hippogriffs one small thing, Queen Novo was actually going to consider lending us their aid or even the pearl!! Then their security system got set off and Twilight was caught in the act. Queen Novo's words about how they fled from the Storm King and her refusal to help Equestria combined with the knowledge that all of her other friends and family are fighting for their lives back home must have drove Twilight into doing such things. On our part, our usual friendship ways constantly backfiring on us, not actually properly introducing ourselves and not playing the "We got sent by Celestia card" to Queen Novo definitely made things worse for us in hindsight. After getting forcibly turned back into our normal selves underwater, they got into a huge fight.
Unaware that we left our map behind for Tempest to find, we left Twilight alone while I went to comfort her and got a face full of Storm Guard fur. I manage to escape to get the others but Twilight was caught.
As of right now, together with our friends that we made on the journey, even Princess Skystar who is now a hippogriff is on our way back to Equestria with a stolen Storm King airship after we came back to Klugetown. Give us the location of your base and we will meet up there.
Signed urgently, Spike
The entire atmosphere was silent. The game changer that was meant to be the decisive stroke that would help liberate Canterlot proposed by Celestia and sought out by the Friendship Council has effectively turned their backs on them. To make matters worse, the enemy has the fourth alicorn princess. After Shining Armour checked to make sure Flurry was still ok, he was the first to break the silence. One can feel the raw fear and urgency in his voice.
"You all heard it from Spike!! All of Ponyville, take every single flying creature you can spare and form up around the South to intercept Tempest's airship!! Pillars and Wonderbolts, spare any flight capable heroes you can as well. I'm already preparing to break through from the North to the South if I have to. All of our efforts for the past three days wouldn't matter once the Storm King gets his hands on the magic of the four princesses. That amount of power and magic will allow him break our little siege like a pile of scrolls in a hurricane. Keep this news away from the others who are currently fighting. The last thing we need is to leave a hole in other fronts in our attempt to break Twilight out and a sharp drop in morale. As much as I want to save my sister, we can't leave the other three fronts open in the process. Starswirl, send a message to Spike to inform them to land at the Dragon/Changeling camp complete with coordinates and tell them to provide a sign to avoid getting mistaken for the enemy."
While he spoke with a calm demeanour, his body language spoke otherwise. His legs are trembling with fear for his captured sister, worry for his already captured wife and the look on his eyes are nothing short of mania due to his inability to be part of the rescue due to logistics. Trixie started hyperventilating again at the situation and the prospect of actually having to fight Tempest again.
The skies south of Ponyville, Tempest's airship 71 hours after Canterlot Occupation
"-let's face it, friendship has failed you too."
"Friendship didn't fail me, I failed Friendship."
Commander Tempest Shadow is overlooking the bridge with an imprisoned Princess Twilight behind her. After the showdown the latter's double gave her, she was prepared to face a violet archmage that wouldn't hesitate to turn her into an orange. What she got instead was a disappointment that kept running from her with no combat expertise outside her own magic. After capturing her when she was alone thanks to seeing them fight on the beaches from her airship, Twilight didn't even try to teleport or turn into a small creature that could just simply fly through the bars. Looks like the standards for being a princess dropped while she was away, which made her consider why was she blindly following the trend of aspiring to be one like the other fillies when she was younger.
"Well, well, well...what do we have here."
Twilight looked up from her cage and saw the view over the horizon that encompassed Canterlot and the area south of it, including Ponyville. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight. To the far left, a raging thunder storm firing lightning at the approaching airships with the entire Wonderbolts Academy as the source. Icebergs are created in the air and were flung at airships. To the far right, a massive temple complex with a pyramid in the center which was no doubt the Elpis Somnambulam Tentyris is firing ray after ray of power at the airships attacking. The smoking ruins of Ponyville were seen in the bottom left corner with her home barely touched thanks to the efforts of the local resistance with clear signs of a battle still going on. However, what caught the main attention of the two mares is something else entirely right in front of them.
A flight of various dragons and changelings taking on various flight capable forms stood in the way of Tempest, with clear intent to rescue the Princess of Friendship. Not if Tempest has anything to do about it.
"Let's see if they know if you are on board."
Various shouts by the various boarders fighting her men openly yelling out the words "Find Princess Twilight!" soon answered her question.
"Looks like Equestria didn't waste their power on parties after all..."
Twilight, with her ways of friendship questioned until her falling out with her friends came to an epiphany and answered the cynical mare.
"It's because of the fact that we are all friends that we don't have constantly worry about whether we can live to see tomorrow or spend time fine tuning weapons of mass destruction so that we are strong enough to cow everyone to submission. We use our power on parties because we can afford to. Our preferred approach is 'Peace and Harmony' to 'Blood and Iron'."
"Answer me this. Then as long as your country is the only one that is living a peaceful life while everyone outside Equestria suffers, would you still be happy?"
"..."
"All hands, repel the boarders!! I will guard the prisoner and join you on the deck shortly."
Suddenly, one of the divine rays from the Elpis Somnambulam Tentyris nearly hit the airship dead on if it wasn't for the piloting skills of Tempest. The bolt barely skimmed the surface of the airship.
The Great Pyramid Complex, Throne Room
"Somnambula!! What happened with your aim??" Shadow Lock who was alongside Stygian helping the pony in question maintain the fortress.
"The range far exceeds my sight. We were already lucky we didn't hit Twilight Sparkle."
"We can't risk hitting the Princess!! Is there anything we can use to help us aim better?"
"Are they insane? They know you are on board. They wouldn't dare to shoot us out of the sky just to stop us from obtaining a fourth alicorn...I have an ultimatum for the resistance."
As the glass on the bridge shattered in chaos, Tempest took out the public speaker and blared out.
"This is Tempest Shadow, Commander of the Storm King's armies. Your obviously uncoordinated rescue of the Princess of Friendship will put her at risk of being blown out of the sky by her own subjects. Your boarders are being personally dealt with. I noticed the situation that you all facing with the might of the Storm King's armies. So I have a proposition: Let us pass to Canterlot and I will use my authority as their commander to order our forces temporary stop the invasion and retreat back to the city. To prove my word, Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle, order your forces to stand down. I will let this one chance to get your allies which have boarded my vessel to return back to their camp safe and sound. Reject my offer, and I will not be so merciful."
One of the boarders fighting the Storm Guard gave Tempest what was pretty much on everyone's mind.
"You can take that offer and shove it!! We are doing fine anyway!! The moment you get the Princesses' magic you will just resume invading us!!"
In the middle of all this, Twilight Sparkle is pondering her next course of action. Tempest was a walking friendship problem. Her failure at being accepted by society just for the virtue of having a broken horn led her down a path where she would know cruelty and malice as the only way to live. If she is rescued now, she will never get through to Tempest. The mare would never accept friendship and would continue to be a thorn in everyone's side be it stewing in her own cynicism in the dungeon or escaping to plot a revenge scheme like a comic book villain. The main problem isn't the giant war that is happening in Equestria. It is the ideology of a single mare who only knew one side of the coin. What she would do next would no doubt gamble the very fate of Equestria.
"EVERYONE!! STAND DOWN!!"
The entire battle came to a standstill. The unthinkable happened. The Princess of Friendship has just told her own subjects to not rescue her!!
"I've ordered my subjects to stand down, Tempest. Fulfil your end of the bargain."
"Very well, you have my word. Send a message to all forces!! We are retreating back to Canterlot to prevent anyone from interrupting the Storm King!! I will allow the remaining boarders to carry your wounded back to your camps."
Suddenly, one of the dragons barged in after the wounded has been safety carried off the airship.
"Princess Twilight may have ordered her subjects to stand down but right now, the dragons are under the Dragon Lord's control and the Changelings answer to Thorax. Her orders don't apply to us!! Everyone, get her!!"
With that, they charged.
Realizing that she is running out of time to meet the deadline, Tempest decided not to engage and simply flew her airship right through the blockade at top speed, using her lightning to send any boarders flying off her ship. Divine rays coming in from the east came straight for her airship's thrusters. It was utter chaos as the airship had to dodge beam after beam in such ludicrous speeds. As the onlookers below looked in despair at their failure to rescue the Princess, Twilight only has this to say:
"Everyone, I will make it up to you."
Occupied Canterlot 71 and a half hours after Canterlot Occupation
As the airship landed in Canterlot, Tempest only has this to ask of the Princess of Friendship.
"Why did you throw away your only chance at being saved by your own subjects? Not that it would have mattered since they would never get past me."
"Because, I want to save everyone, including you. I see that you can still be saved by friendship. I will gamble Equestria's fate if means I can solve your friendship problem and make you see the light. For that's what friends do."
The Castle of Friendship, Courtyard 71 hours and 45 minutes after Canterlot Occupation
As the second Storm Airship landed in front of the castle, Ember, Thorax, Pharynx, Zecora, The Doctor, Maud Pie and Trixie were taking a breather and being on guard in case there are any surprises. Despite the failed attempt to rescue Twilight, Tempest kept her word and ordered all of the enemies' forces to withdraw to Canterlot. However, she played the deal in her favour. Now she has four complete alicorns to complete the set for their collective magic to be given to the Storm King and has bunkered down her entire force in the city itself, no doubt being on high alert. If it was anything like what happened with Tirek, they are all doomed unless they can pull off a miracle.
As Skystar, Capper, the pirates, Mane 5 and Spike dropped of from the airship, after some quick greetings, Spike asked the fateful question:
The Southeast Liberation Alliance Camp 72 hours after Canterlot Occupation
"SHE'S WHAT!?"
It took Thorax and Ember to restrain Spike as he made a rush for Canterlot upon hearing about the failed rescue while the Mane Five dropped on their haunches in disbelief. His cheeks are stained with tears of sorrow and rage. "She treated you as a friend and this is how you repay her during the one time she needed you!?"
"She used her authority as Princess of Friendship to order all the ponies stand down. Not that it mattered since the rescuers are dragons and changelings that answered to Ember and me." Thorax tried to explain the full context of the situation as he tried to calm his friend down while restraining him. "Tempest used concussive blasts to send any boarders off her ship while she set her vessel to flank speed for Canterlot. According to Pharynx and Trixie, even before the order, she was a one-mare army that sent dragons and changelings flying, with or without them being sent overboard."
"Take my word for it, you will have better luck fighting a maulwulf alone and untransformed then to face her." Pharynx spoke from his stretcher that was hauling him to the nearest first aid tent, covered head to toe in broken cracks in his carapace. Being the strongest changeling with an unreal transformation made Tempest think that the former was worth her "one-hundred percent". Unfortunately, this meant that he soon found himself barraged with a lightning staff in every conceivable area before getting sent flying off the ship with a whack straight to the face that sent the poor guy flying out of the sky. A few other dragons met the same fate when they all thought they can take her. Thankfully, they were all saved by his brother and Ember leading a secondary group to catch any unconscious flyers. "If you had this mare as your Royal Guard, Chrysalis would had been dethroned much sooner."
"Ok, so fighting her head-on is the worst idea since my 'Pie of Atonement'." Rainbow Dash stated. Pinkie winced in memory of that...thing that defied logical explanation that was supposed to be a pie that Rainbow was talking about. The less said about that abomination to the baking arts, the better. If it was that bad and Rainbow Dash said it's an even more terrible idea, you better listen. "How are we going to rescue Twilight now? She is now aware of us and locked down the entire city with the remaining Storm Guard on...guard for us."
"Is the spell bottle still on?" Pinkie looked at the assembled cast, whether in vision or in person. "I have an idea..."
5 minutes later
"Remind me again why we didn't get the pirates to use the stolen airship to just pose as one of them?" Fluttershy asked as the chained Mane 5 led a multi-layered cake with Spike as the candle while hiding the pirates and a hippogriff inside...somehow...without breathing holes, towards the city of Canterlot.
"Tempest blew up their airship thanks to us leaving our map behind and they know Captain Celaeno is a traitor. If we pulled that off, we might as well be gift-wrapping us in a bow straight to the Storm King." Applejack responded to the query.
Meanwhile in another area of the city...
Another airship that managed to escape the notice of the ELA thanks to the racket Tempest made landed in the city, near the palace.
"Wow!! Did I miss the party? Don't worry, your main star has arrived!!"
As the Storm King set foot in Canterlot, he only has this to say:
"I can't wait to get my new-found magic! The world is sooooo mine! If it all goes smoothly, I might actually try to live up to my side of the deal after all..."
As the pirates quickly silenced the hedgehog, the Storm Guards immediately went for the Trojan cake.
"The jig is up!!" With that the occupants of the cake busted out to meet the guards in battle.
Meanwhile, as the signal went off, the ELA only has this to say:
While the Mane 5, Spike and Capper made a break for the palace, the pirates fought off the current wave of Storm Guards, the ELA attacked the city from the outside. Caught by surprise and fighting on two fronts, the Storm airships were sent into disarray, not sure whether to fight the invading army outside or quell the chaos in the city itself.
The first priorities are to release high-profile prisoners that can fight or aid the resistance in some other way, as wrong as it was to leave the prisoners in a cage, opening them right in a battlefield will be more haphazard for the released prisoners. However, a certain pegasus came to attention of the ELA.
"You want us to rescue Songbird Serenade?!"
Spitfire is currently sending bolts of judgement on the enemy and is shocked that they aren't going after other capable resistance fighters like Starlight, Moondancer and Prince Blueblood.
"We Pillars will go to Canterlot Stadium and rescue them. Right now, we need the song of the muses to uplift the spirits of our people!!" Flash Magnus yelled to the captain as he wielded the full potential of Pegasus magic. Feathers plucked of his wings and turned into miniature lightning balls.
"I've faced the dragons head-on. You overgrown fluffballs aren't even on our rogues gallery!!"
"Taste the lightning of the empyrean. Heaven's Thunder!!" With that, lightning arced in beams from his hooves, wings and the spheres, hitting everywhere in a one hundred metre radius.
Together with the Royal and Crystal Guards, they managed to break through and liberate the North and West of the city, establishing safe zones for the guards to carry the released prisoners to.
"Veni, vidi, vici."
After a short while, the Pillars broke through to Starlight's hiding spot. The first thing Starlight said when the ancients saved the flanks of her, a spoiled prince and a shut-in?
"What took you guys so long?"
In another section of the city, Songbird Serenade was overhearing the roar of battle that beset her ears. All of a sudden, the guards that were holding her captive were suddenly swept away in various ways.
The ones in her front had brilliant crystals form and explode in front of her.
To her right and left, dragon fire and changelings of various sizes rained down respectively.
Behind her, the house exploded with the Wonderbolts arriving behind her.
"Songbird Serenade. There you are." Flash Sentry asked the freed idol. "I take it that you are still on for the festival? Sorry about the delay. Soarin, get her to safety-"
However, Songbird has other plans. "No, with all this going on. I want to let ponies know that they can see the rainbow at the end of the day. Take me to the nearest stage you can muster!! I want the country to hear my song!! Take this as my rehearsal!!" As her rescuers looked in disbelief, she only has this to say:
"You all have never been to one of my concerts, haven't you? This level of craziness isn't in my top five!!"
A few minutes later, Songbird Serenade was brought to a makeshift stage on the edge of the Wonderbolts Academy. She brought the microphone in to her lips, amplified by some makeshift loudspeakers, the idol drew the attention of the entire city.
The song was played throughout the entire battlefield, a fitting tune for the situation.
I know you, you're a special one Some see crazy where I see love You fall so low but shoot so high Big dreamers shoot for open sky So much life in those open eyes So much depth, you look for the light But when your wounds open, you will cry You'll cry out now and you'll question why
In the north of the city, Shining Armor sent crystal swords after swords in the enemies that blocked his way, making a break for the palace to save his captured family. Steel nets and Obsidian Orbs dropped on him like rain. Not that it mattered to him, for he formed a physical crystal shell around him and the Crystal Guard to tank the incoming projectiles for his less-than-powerful guards behind him before leaving it behind for them to use the shell as a giant advancing tortoise. Destroyed armor and weapons flew in the air as the worried father disarmed one Storm Guard after another before imprisoning them in crystal like what he did to the ones on the airships.
Flash Sentry, not to slack behind his prince, decided to pick up the pace wielding the second completed set of the Crystal Sabers. He acted as the rear-guard, protecting the liberated zones of the city at the same time. As for the airships...
"Crystal Materialization!!"
The sword split down to it's T-shape forming the Excalibur, but that is not all.
"Engaging Anti-Fortress Mode!!"
The two automatous shields floated to the sides of the sword. Upon recognizing the conditions being met for the fourth and the most powerful function, the crystal blade glowed with power, resonating with the shields to balance the raw power being channelled that would have been impossible without their involvement.
"Drive away despair!! RADIANCE BURST!!!"
As the command was stated, an aurora beam cut through the skies north of Canterlot hitting all of the airships in the affected area, the waves bypassing the anti-magic weaponry of the Storm Guard, effectively taking them out of the battle. It's only due to the non-killing intent of the user that the default setting of "Obliterate everything in that direction" isn't triggered.
Sunburst was in the Command Carriage of the Aurora overseeing the entire battle acting as mission control, coordinating with the other armies. He watched the massive blow dealt to the enemy, soon wondered why they didn't just do that sooner. He soon found out the answer to that question as Flash Sentry dropped out of the sky unconscious due to overtaxed magic reserves and had to be carried back to base. He won't wake until the Friendship Festival is over. As for his last thoughts before fainting?
"Princesses, was I a useful guard?"
I can see a rainbow In your tears as they fall on down I can see your soul grow Through the pain as they hit the ground I can see a rainbow In your tears as the sun comes out As the sun comes out
Eleven arcs of lighting sundered the western streets and skies over Canterlot. The Wonderbolts acted with the fury of their ancestors, sending lighting bolts after lightning bolts at the enemy host while destroying the infernal cages and muzzles on the imprisoned ponies with concentrated energy acting as the equivalent of torch welders. Since the "Iris-7" armor couldn't fit in the cake, Rainbow Dash decided that they meet up in the middle of the city and give the armor to her there. After meeting up with her, Rainbow Dash quickly gave a salute and thanks before re-joining her friends to make a break for the palace using her armor together with her Sonic Rainboom to act as a living battering ram to clear the way for her friends.
Spitfire couldn't be more proud of her fellow bolts, in the darkest of times they truly lived up to their name as the greatest flyers of Equestria. She just wished that the overall situation didn't had to be this dire just for them to be competent. She still had one last ace in the hole to clear the western part of the city.
"Wonderbolts!! Olympia formation!!"
Ten lights from various zones in the city gathered to her position, following her lead. Together, they cleared the western skies, shining light on the city for the first time since what was an eternity. The Wonderbolts soon yelled out, using a handy microphone to amplify their voices.
"Know the wrath of the rulers of the skies!!" Eleven lights shone with the brilliance of stars.
"With this one strike, evil shall be smote off the earth!!" The eleven charged with thunder and lightning.
"Be reduced to ash!! Wrath of Olympus!!" Eleven azure lights fired from the heavens, striking vital points in the enemy armies. The aftermath is clear: Not a single Storm Guard in the western part of the city is capable of combat. As Spitfire landed in front of the nearest Storm Guard, she only has this to ask:
"Show me where are our friends kept and I will be merciful."
I am here and I see your pain Through the storms, through the clouds, the rain I'm telling you you cannot escape You can do it, just feel baby I can see a rainbow In your tears as they fall on down I can see your soul grow Through the pain as they hit the ground I can see a rainbow In your tears as the sun comes out As the sun comes out
After saving Starlight, Blueblood and Moondancer, the Pillars moved to liberate the eastern part of Canterlot. Meadowbrook stayed behind to give treatment to the rescued trio, who had to spend the previous three days "walking off" the battle with Tempest. When Trixie rambled about how trashed the trio were at the hooves of Tempest when she was telling the rest of the ELA about the latter, Meadowbrook soon understood the urgency in the Trixie's voice as she diagnosed her patients.
"Multiple fractures on the stallion, a demolished ribcage for the red-haired unicorn mare and massive magic exhaustion on Starlight. I'm surprised the three of you would last three days with these kind of wounds. I shall administer treatment immediately."
"I shall sever all that which is toxic, all that which is harmful."
"I shall do all in my power to guide people to the state of well-being!"
"Oath of the voodoo healers: Meadowbrook's Code!!"
Powerful energy that is Earth Pony magic, energy that is responsible for the creation of crops and therefore, life poured from her to the three patients. What made Meadowbrook stand out aside from her potions was the fact that she can use her magic to directly heal her patients in times of urgency. However, it physically exhausts herself which is why she uses potions, especially if there are still more wounded on the battlefield.
The trio of patients soon became fully aware of their surroundings, no longer having to worry about the pain in their bodies. Starlight immediately asked how long have they been languishing in their hiding spot.
"You have out of the fight for three days."
"THREE DAYS!? HOW'S EVERYPONY? IS EQUESTRIA A SMOKING RUIN? HOW DID YOU ALL KNOW ABOUT THE INVASION EVEN WHEN WE COULDN'T CONTACT YOU ALL?"
"Slow down. You all still need rest. I may have healed your physical bodies but right now joining the fight is still not an option as you will just reopen your wounds. Let me bring up to speed what happened for the past three days."
One exposition recap later...
"Wow, looks like Twilight didn't spontaneously forget about you ponies. The Magic of Friendship is truly powerful indeed. Wait, is this place secure?"
Rampant banging on the doors with definitely non-equine growls soon answered her question.
"Looks like your healing spell gave away our position. It was nice while it lasted. Moondancer and Blueblood, are your swords at the ready?"
A drawn sakaboto and a sword flaming on answered her question.
"Meadowbrook, you saved us. Now it's time to return the favour. CHAAARRGGEE!!"
Meanwhile, Starswirl, Mistmane, Rockhoof and Flash Magnus engaged the Storm Guard while the Canterlot Royal Guard rescued the prisoners and carried them off to safer parts of the city. Rockhoof realised that having only four ponies to clear out a quarter of the city may not be the brightest of ideas.
"I will clear a path with the Spear of Thunder. The Canterlot Royal Guard already have their hooves full rescuing the prisoners."
"How you gone insane? Even if we take the word that the rescued Princesses will fix up the city after the battle, there are still prisoners ahead. We can't afford to hit them. My student will never forgive me for this."
Mistmane, who has been pondering the answer to the question, came to her solution.
"Everypony, cover me. I shall use the Grove of Heavenly Peaches."
"Hmm...That would work." Flash Magnus agreed.
"I shall begin. Please cover me."
The Pillar of Beauty glowed with the power of lost magic, for she shall create nothing short of a miracle.
"I shall carry the burden of beauty and bring it's splendour to the unfortunate." "Let only those without sin pass into paradise." "Grove of Heavenly Peaches: Heaven's Genesis!"
With the last word said, the whole of Western Canterlot sprouted trees. As the grove expanded, it snatched up the chained ponies and whisked them far away from their captors. The prisoners soon found themselves at feet of the Royal Guard, who wasted no time breaking their prisons and muzzles and carrying them to safety. Only the Storm Guard remained.
"With the battlefield laid bare, we can charge forward with no hesitation. I take it that this also means that Somnambula, Shadow Lock and Stygian would have an easier time now."
Sure enough, without having to worry about hitting the very ponies they need to save, divine rays of power started firing from the top of the pyramid on the Storm Guard.
"Princess Celestia and Luna, I'm on my way!!"
Here comes the sun Smiling down Here comes the sun Smiling down Here comes the sun Smiling down Smiling down
The Doctor sundered the southern part of Canterlot with the fury of a Time Lord. Hurling the Storm Guard into Limbo and mirrors while disabling the rest with the Sonic Screwdriver, all that didn't matter to him. For he needed only one answer.
"Where's Derpy's statue?"
Zecora threw her entire brew of Poison Joke potions on the enemy. Effects varied from fluffed up until they were mistaken for white tumbleweeds to dropping down on the floor from having their upper bodies being too heavy for them. Maud began throwing punches and kicks everywhere, denting the supposedly unstoppable armour. Throwing giant rocks bigger then them definitely helped.
"And now, for the grand finale of this act!!" Trixie soon appeared with her entire arsenal of fireworks and just pointed in the Storm Guard's general direction before setting them off. Fireworks rang throughout the southern part of the city.
I can see a rainbow In your tears as they fall on down I can see your soul grow Through the pain as they hit the ground I can see a rainbow In your tears as the sun comes out As the sun comes out
Ember blazed the general airspace with the might of the dragons. However, what caught her attention was a certain dragon. While most dragons focused on burning the Storm Guard airships while having to avoid the steel nets and Obsidian Orbs, one dark orange dragon spent her time catching those that didn't dodge in time. Not to mention, she also focused on breaking the cages and muzzles of the ponies rather than going for the enemy. Ember flew down to meet this new addition. She wasn't like the rest.
"Dragonlord Ember!! Did I do something wrong?"
"You seem to be an interesting runt. You focused on saving lives rather than burning your next foe. I like you. What's your name? Wait a minute, you don't seem to be from Equestria, I thought I came alone from the Dragon Lands."
"Yeah, I slept through your initial call and decided to come over since I was bored. Name's Smolder."
I can see a rainbow In your tears as they fall on down I can see your soul grow Through the pain as they hit the ground I can see a rainbow In your tears as the sun comes out As the sun comes out
Thorax in his bear form wrestled with the Storm Guard. However, he was about to be hit from his blind spot by an Obsidian Orb. A young female voice soon reached his ears.
"My King!! Move to your left!!"
Not wasting time, he soon moved to the left, avoiding the infernal projectile which hit another Storm Guard instead. After mauling his foe, he soon turned to the source of the voice. A young female changeling with blue colouring and pink frills appeared in front of him.
"How did you see that in the heat of battle?"
"I'm not exactly a direct guard like the others. I always preferred knowledge and analysis. I stayed in the background to get an overview of the situation and help by watching our backs. See those locations? They are firing those orbs from there."
She was pointing various positions on airships where the nets and orbs are being dropped. What is shocking about that it was the fact that to see those points you needed the usage of binoculars to view them properly while she simply could see them perfectly with just her naked eyes.
"Your ability to discern the finest details under pressure is extraordinary. May I know your name?"
"It's Ocellus."
As Twilight looked in awe at the display of all of her friends fighting for tomorrow throughout the city, she couldn't be more proud of the power of friendship. However, the Storm King isn't impressed.
"-I'm sooo totally over the cute pony thing. This ends now!!"
Using the stolen magic of the Princesses, he conjured up a massive tornado around the castle. Shining Armor was sent flying back, his teleportation range still too short to reach his sister before pummelling to the ground.
"Celestia damn it!!"
"Should've watched my flight path. Got too carried away." Rainbow Dash reluctantly took off her armor as combining her Sonic Rainboom together with the speed amplifiers for once, made things too fast for her. She had to take a sudden swerve before the castle courtyard, thinking that there shouldn't be any guards left to deal with. As she watched the tornado form, she wished she hadn't damaged it as she could've easily broke through. She looked to her friend Pinkie and told her:
"You must be faster than a speeding pegasus to go through that!!"
The Element of Laughter wasn't fazed. She replied with a grin on her face.
The unthinkable happened. The Storm King has the might of four alicorns at his disposal. The storm he conjured was proof of that. As the ELA breached the courtyard and made it to the palace only to be stopped by the storm wall, Starswirl knew there was only one way a storm of that magnitude can be made.
"I have already seen the constant shifts of day and night even before we entered. I hoped that we would have been able to stop the Storm King before he can actually properly wield their power. It seems that we were too late. Celestia and Luna, I've failed you."
A stallion's groaning was heard nearby. Starlight ran to the source, a not-so-healthy looking Shining Armour.
"Shining Armour!! What happened to you?"
"Got a direct hit by that storm before I could get into teleportation range onto the palace balcony. Sent me flying back into the ground at terminal velocity. I think the impact has made me unable to fight..."
As Meadowbrook saw the injured stallion and began administering treatment, the ELA racked their brains to break through to the palace and face the Storm King. Suddenly, Capper ran up to them.
"Whoa there, heroes!! Before you do anything unnecessary, I am here to inform you that we are going to launch our six stars through the mega party howitzer and they will break right through the storm wall!!"
"Do they have any backup? Where's the cannon? We need to help them now!" Spitfire implored the cat.
"Hold on there, Valkyrie. The howitzer needs time to recharge. Not to mention, it can't fit the size of more than six ladies at once."
"So you are just telling us to just stand here and HOPE THAT JUST THOSE SIX ARE ENOUGH TO STOP A GUY WITH THE MIGHT OF FOUR PRINCESSES WITHOUT THE HELP OF ANY RAINBOW LASERS?! Screw that, I'm using the glider to break through!"
"Don't even try!" Shining Armour yelled to Spitfire. "I tried breaking through the storm when it first popped up. The force alone is enough to destabilise flight control and send me flying back at terminal velocity. The reason the mega party howitzer worked was because it's launching force makes the projectile faster than rainboom speeds."
"So are we just going to sit here and hope that those six will pull through?"
"As much as it pains me to say it, yes. Vision is too obscured to attempt teleportation without risking fusing to something. If there's any set of six that can pull of a miracle, it's Twily and her friends."
Sure enough, while the balcony cannot be seen, sparks that are definitely not part of the lightning are clashing with one another. Shortly after, a very familiar screeching pierced the air and entered the storm.
"We have opened the path for the six of you!! Now it's your turn to save Equestria once more."
The brawl ensued went faster then imagined. The storm broke soon after. A ray of light appeared on the eye of the storm and a purple spot was seen floating down to the balcony. Shining Armour wasted no time grabbing a binoculars confirming the fate of his sister.
"Visual confirmation of Princess Twilight. They....they did it!! The Storm King is gone!!" Cheers of victory rang throughout the city as the news spread. All remaining Storm Guard surrendered upon receiving the news.
Unbeknownst to the cheering ponies, the Storm King is still alive, just knocked out of sight by his own tornado. As soon as no one was looking at the balcony, he climbed up the railing in an attempt to pull victory from the jaws of defeat. A massive cry soon rang the air.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" The onlookers soon turned back to the castle balcony where they saw the activation of the Obsidian Orb. Before anyone could react, the Storm King was smashed into pieces upon hitting the ground.
"I know that voice...it's Tempest Shadow!!" Moondancer stated in familiarity of her opponent. "Wait, why is she being saved?"
To the confusion of everyone, a petrified Tempest Shadow was being held aloft over the balcony edge before being safely set at the edge.
"Oh no, don't tell me...she's reformed now, isn't she? This method of pacifying foes will still take some time to get used to..." Starswirl groaned, being all too familiar with the experience. Stygian, viewing the whole situation from afar, couldn't help but smile at the sight.
"Princess Twilight better have a very good reason for saving the enemy commander..." Spitfire quipped.
As the ELA entered Canterlot Palace to get some context of what just happened from the other (hopefully) saved Princesses in the past five minutes, they soon noticed that the building itself was being repaired around them, with the magic being spread to the rest of the city erasing any signs that it was a warzone half an hour ago.
"The healing has began..." Stygian said as he watched in awe of the magic at work. Such a power would have been truly invaluable in ancient times. Nobody would ever have to worry abut destroyed lands ever again.
They soon entered to the throne room to a magnificent sight. The Mane Seven are comforting the other released princesses while Tempest and Twilight are in the center of the conduit returning the magic back to Canterlot. The latter soon noticed the ELA and quickly ran forward to stop any misunderstandings from being made.
"Everypon-" Noticing the dragons, changelings and yaks in the room, she quickly rephrased herself. "Everyone, Tempest has understood the power of friendship. You don't have to worry about her anymore. All of us are safe and sound."
Prince Shining Armour was the first to run up and bring both his sister and wife in a group hug.
"I'm so glad the two of you are safe. I spent the last three days worrying over the two of you. When I wasn't there to protect you both at Canterlot thanks to Flurry's flu, I swore to not fail the both of you again. Upon Celestia, Luna and your orders, I mobilised the Crystal Guard."
Knowing about this excessive need to protect in light of his abysmal track record that warranted hundreds of petitions that asked for his removal from military affairs, Cadance and Twilight immediately went to sooth their knight in shining armour.
"You have already proven yourself to be a great father. To be honest, I'm sure if I or anypony else or that matter could had handled an alicorn baby in a magic surge. The fact that the Crystal Empire is still in one piece already proves that you can handle a crisis. Please don't let your failures weigh you down anymore."
"I'm in agreement with Cadance, BBBFF. I found out about the combat situation from your reply. You truly are Equestria's Captain of the Guard. What you did is truly remarkable. Equestria would have suffered that same fate as Canterlot if it wasn't for you, the Wonderbolts, the Pillars and all of our other friends."
Celestia soon added in her bit in response.
"Everyone, I couldn't have been more proud to call you all my friends. All parties involved will be rewarded accordingly. My faithful student, now you see that as the Princess of Friendship, you already have all the magic you need. I couldn't be more proud as a teacher."
Starswirl soon decided to chime in his bit on hearing the last few words.
"Sadly, as your teacher, I couldn't be more disappointed. Please tell me the two of you valiantly fought to the bitter end instead of getting captured in less than an hour. Be honest with me, how long did the two of you last? Twilight never specified how long it took to get you two captured."
The royal sisters started shifting their eyes around in embarrassment. Luna decided to answer.
"Well...it was chaotic. We may have fought valiantly for-oh who am I kidding." The sisters deflated like they just got poor marks for an abysmal performance, which given the context of the situation might as well be the case. "We got captured in less than a minute."
The old wizard soon sighed in resignation. "Way to crush an old stallion's hopes." Starswirl soon changed his tune. "However, the enemy armies have surrendered and the land is safe and repaired. You can add "Having a successful student" to your credit. We can worry about the future later, for now let's celebrate to heal the spirits of the populace." Twilight was on it the moment she heard those words.
"Pinkie, you might want start to expand your guest list. We have a whole lot more of them now."
"Okie, dokie, lokie. By the way, what should we do about Tempest?"
The assembled cast soon turned their heads to the elephant in the room.
Tempest soon sat on her hunches, knowing her fate is very well in their hooves now.
A portal opened up in the castle throne room. Discord soon came through.
"You have no idea how long it takes to clean up darkness residue from my house. Sorry if I'm late. Did I miss anything?"
The Royal Guard soon wasted no time blasting their query to the sprit of chaos.
"What's the big idea taking ALL of us away from Canterlot?"
"If we were there in the first place, this whole occupation wouldn't have even happened!!"
Discord only has this to say to the Guards.
"Then answer me this honestly, if you all were at the Friendship Festival when it was attacked, how long would you have truly fared? Around a few minutes maybe? Why do you think I wanted to help you get your mojo back? You all successfully lead a resistance instead of being a stepping stone for the enemy, thank you very much. Besides, not even I would know this would happen. I mean, multiple big villains in the same day? That's just bad luck, even for Equestria."
The Royal Guard have no answer to that.
In the mix of all this, somewhere out there, a mail mare angrily wrote a letter of resignation on reaching her home, ready to be given to her superiors on the next day.
Later in the evening After Songbird Serenade's performance
"It's Fizzlepop Berrytwist." Tempest whispered her original name to Pinkie's ear.
"Best name ever!!"
"I'm more surprised by my sentencing. Why was I not thrown to jail? I know Equestria has always been forgiving but this is ridiculous for them."
Twilight soon answered her query.
"I know by any logical sense, you should have been imprisoned, banished or imprisoned to the place you are banished to. But seeing my actions throughout the past few days, I was reminded that while it seems logical on paper, it wouldn't magically undo the actions that happened. All it would do is that it will drag everyone down to self-loathing and the imprisoned will have a bleak future. Nobody wins. I can see what you are getting at: If actions have no consequences, than every villain in Equestria might start getting the bright idea to commit harm then get reformed by the Princess of Friendship, ending up in a better state than before. You already have been given your choices of parole: Act as a messenger to spread the word of the Storm King's defeat throughout Equestria, be my new student or given your combat prowess, enlist in the army. All three choices will act as your parole. I rather have a powerful friend by my side rather than a villain drowning in self-loathing and hatred. That's why I bet everything on making you see another better way. Besides, now it truly is a Friendship Festival."
Twilight saw the attendance in the now appropriately named Friendship Festival. The past, present and future generations of all shapes and sizes celebrating together. Various races competing not on how much military might they have, but how much cider can they down in one sitting without collapsing. The interactions of various cultures that didn't start wars, but show what each culture is capable of in the arts. It resembles the Convocation of Creatures that she read about during her princess training but on a smaller scale.
Meanwhile, the Crystal royal couple is celebrating with their now-better baby. The Wonderbolts are giving the greatest performance of their lives. The Pillars of Equestria are celebrating another hard-won victory, while a certain blue Dragon Lord is asking the armoured Pegasus about something regarding her father. Time Turner and Derpy are watching the fireworks together. Said fireworks, at least the supplementary ones are being provided by Starlight and Trixie. The CMC are off trying to recruit other races to their ranks to no avail. In a hospital nearby, Flash Sentry is resting, while a gift basket from Twilight herself was placed on his table.
"Besides, your song about opening up my eyes and seeing all these races work together to save Equestria just gave me an idea..."
The royal couple looked to the star-lit sky in awe of the fireworks. Shining Armour held to his wife even harder than usual, not that it escaped the latter's notice.
"Honey, you can let go now. The war's over."
"No, I turned my back for one second and you are already captured. Once we go home, I'm going to commission extra sets for you and the other princesses to use. Now that I'm not the next big bad guy's future stepping stone anymore, maybe I can finally be of use to Twily and friends. Besides, judging from the accounts, I'm surprised you wouldn't have the same idea as me."
"Believe me, I know being constantly helpless in times of crisis is no doubt infuriating beyond measure time and time again. However, there is more to being royalty than being a soldier. I know old habits from your military life are hard to break since you are pretty much a "General-turned-ruler" stallion. Still, I'm more concerned whether or not the armour makes my flanks look big..."
"Knew you would agree with me, love. I would get your measurements for fitting once we go home."
"You have done enough, now is the time to rest. Besides, after all this gloomy colouring, I can't wait to see the bright Crystal Palace again."
Alarm bells soon rang in the prince's head when the realization that said palace is currently standing on the most fragile of foundations. While he had left the local builders to keep the place standing, even after three days it would still resemble the Changeling Hive. That is the last thing his wife needs to see.
"Yeah....our own bright palace..."
This slurred response definitely didn't escape his wife's notice.
"Shining? Did something happen during Flurry's flu?"
The Wonderbolts have sent their armour back to Cloudsdale for repair and maintenance. After their performance, they are now resting in their arranged stand. After congratulating and dismissing the crew both old and new, drafted and veterans, Spitfire decided to handle a few loose ends.
"Lightning Dust and Wind Rider, come with me."
The loose cannon and the spiteful veteran came to her attention immediately.
"The two of you have displayed extraordinarily in combat, I will give you that. But both of you know very well that there is more to being a Wonderbolt that just being fast and powerful, both of you lacked core traits that got both of you kicked out."
Spitfire walked up to Lightning Dust.
"Your problem is that you are basically an over-brash Rainbow Dash. A selfish mare that only cares about the getting the best benefits for oneself even if it causes collateral. That's why I kicked you out on that fateful day in the academy. You seem to have mellowed out after all this time. I like that. Not to mention in hindsight, my constant encouraging without actually asking how you did it was no doubt the reason you're in this mess, so we're both in the wrong here. I want to make it up to you at least on that aspect. Fix your attitude, especially the whole "talking back to your drill sergeant" part and I'll consider future applications."
"Wait, you mean..." Hope rose in the green pegasus's heart for the first time in a long while.
"Show me that selfless spirit you displayed in the past three days in the tryouts and I might let you back in. Still up for being a Wonderbolt?"
"Ohmygosh!!Ohmygosh!!Ohmygosh!!Ohmygosh!! Thank you for giving me a second chance!! I won't let you down. I promise!!"
With that, Lightning Dust flew off in happiness.
With one loose end tied up, now it's time for the other one.
"Wind Rider. You are the perfect example of the "glory day chasing veteran". You know? The whole "my generation is better than yours" nonsense? However, what you did in the past three days is still admirable and was what landed you as a celebrated veteran in the first place. You will still be remembered as the stallion who tried to get a pony fired over a record, but I will add this note to your historical files so that it won't be all bad. Also, you might get your pension back if I can pull enough favours from Celestia. But don't count on the latter happening anytime soon."
"I wouldn't expect anything less."
After he flew off, Spitfire turned around an alley and cried out to it.
"Rainbow Dash, I know you've been listening. You aren't the kind that screams "stealthy"."
"Aw man. Thought I nailed my camouflage courses."
The titular rainbow-maned pegasus soon stepped out of the shadows.
"So what do you think? You think I made the right choice? Or are you going to chew me out and say they should go buck themselves?"
"Nah. I wouldn't say anything like that. After hearing about what you guys did, I was finally reminded why I idolised you all even after all the times you all act like the biggest jerks in world."
As Rainbow Dash looked to the firework lit sky, she left to join her friends. But not before leaving with a parting line.
"We save lives occasionally. You guys save lives everyday. While looking cool of course. That's why I wanted to join you."
Dragon Lord Ember was currently the reigning champion of toss the rock, until Maud made her eat humble gem pie.
"I didn't know it's possible to throw a rock and make it fly over the horizon. And then make it explode. You win this one."
She soon noticed a certain armoured dark orange pegasus. She soon wasted no time walking up to him.
"Wait a minute, I know you. You're that orange jerk Dad kept talking about!"
Flash Magnus was soon taken aback.
"What are you talking about, Dragon Lord? When did I piss off your father? I would have certainly known that."
"Aside from the obvious issue as to how you are still alive after a thousand years, maybe this will jog your memory. A dark-green male dragon with tusks at the side of his face. Caught a few of your fellow soldiers. Ring any bells?"
After a moment's recollection, he soon remembered the details of his legend that was spread around campfires.
"What? That ugly mug was your DAD?" He soon backpedalled when he remembered who was he talking to. "I mean, what a small world we live in, don't we? Hehehehe..." He laughed nervously as he may had unintentionally burned any bridges Equestria had with the dragons with his presence.
"It's a story he told me when he was younger. He ran into some pegasi along with a friend of his and got lured into a thunder cloud many times bigger than him by a braggart with a fireproof shield. Apparently, they were accusing him of kidnapping some of their fellow soldiers and it was a rescue mission on their part. Now I want to hear your side of the story."
Flash Magnus was stunned. The daughter of the infamous dragon in his legend that made him a legend is now standing before him as the current Dragon Lord. He would have to pick his next words carefully to avoid starting a war.
"Your Majesty. Here's what happened. Your dad and another one captured some of my friends. Everything that you said, luring them both into a thundercloud acting as bait while my friends saved the ones you captured, is true. I only have one question. Why did your father capture my friends in the first place? I thought dragons only ate gems. Please don't tell me they eat ponies now."
"Well, according to him when I asked about that aspect, the reason was..."
In another area of the city, Trixie and Starlight sat on a giant rocket.
"Now for our finale, FLY ME TO THE MOON!!"
The giant rocket lifted off to the sky with the duo riding on it.
"Wait a minute, don't rockets explode-"
Thankfully for everyone, no idiots were harmed in the explosion.
"I can't believe this. You are letting me keep the sword and armor?"
Prince Blueblood was stunned at his aunt's supposed reward for him.
"Yes, you heard correctly. I was told by fellow ponies that a flaming stallion hurling the light of the sun ran around in the streets of Canterlot singlehandedly blocking entry to the castle and was among the few that fought back in the initial invasion. I know that pony was you the moment I saw that armour and sword on you. You ancestor will be so proud of you. I will let you keep it on one condition."
The prince groaned. Of course there is going to be a drawback.
"You are to be scheduled for sword fighting training affective immediately. Considering that aside from being an ambassador and diplomat, you were always complaining about being bored out of your mind in the castle. Shining Armour could use some more reliable help and since the two of you got acquainted during a previous diplomatic visit to Yakyakistan, I think you will be the perfect hidden ace. After all, who ever pays attention to the spoiled prince in background? So are you in? If you refuse, I can just return them to the vault and you can return to your normal life like this never happened. I can wait for a more willing recipient."
Blueblood is now stuck in between the crossroads. He can pick the easy way or the hard way. Equestria always needs heroes and after what happened in the past three days he came to a decision.
"Just tell me I get to live my life as per normal outside sword fighting training while doing not over around twenty hours per week, three hours per day and you got yourself a deal."
"Splendid!! Your training begins next week. Feel free to get used to Galatine while you're waiting. I once fireproofed the castle long ago thanks to Philomena. Just don't hit anyone ok?"
"Yes, Auntie."
After restoring the sword back to it's original tachi form and returning it to the Canterlot Museum, Moondancer was greeted by her friends, including a certain Princess of Friendship. Twilight soon stepped forward while asking to speak to her in private.
"Moondancer, I heard about your bravery and attempted sacrifice from Starlight. No words can properly convey what I want to tell you. I mean, posing as me so that the Storm King think he has won while I get the Hippogriffs? That's beyond reckless!! What if his staff didn't activate since there are only three alicorns the whole time? I would never forgive myself if I lost you just because you wanted to protect me."
"Don't worry about me doing anymore crazy stunts. This is a one-time thing. I'm no soldier. I'm simply a clueless mare out of touch with reality playing hero. Fighting Tempest Shadow was the most nerve-wrecking part of my life."
"But do you want to protect your friends and not be helpless again?"
"Huh?"
"I know I haven't really visited you much after my attempt at amending fences. But after watching what happened to my friends in Canterlot, I realised that I still can't truly save everyone. Not all at once at least. So I want to know that among you five, there is someone that can be the protector of the group. I heard about your swordsmanship. It's great. I mean, actually fighting Tempest in a magnificent display of combat? You are literally the only mortal that every reached close to defeating her the conventional way, something that not even me and my Ponyville friends can boast."
"Oh that, I was just mimicking the instructions. Being constantly on the defensive and getting a demolished ribcage isn't exactly something to be proud of or walk off. Besides, I still lost."
"To be honest. If you trained anymore, you might have cut me in half."
Mondancer turned to see Tempest Shadow who stood before her as she had been listening on the conversation while on the way to speak to Twilight.
"Your skills while unpolished, was the only thing that stopped me from losing my legs. You truly are a worthy opponent. I will be honoured to fight you once more. On friendlier terms of course. A wise pony once said: What we call power is simply a measure of one's raw strength. Without how to properly apply it, it has no real meaning. However, denying power that you already possess, you are only shortchanging yourself."
Moondancer was stunned at the words from her former archenemy.
"Even if military life is not an option, denying the chance to protect what's dear to you without a proper reason is the pinnacle of naivety. Friendship is a two-way street. You need to know that your friends can count on you just as you can count on them. Something that I should have known a long time ago." Twilight spoke to her friend. "I heard about what was the style of swordsmanship you were using. I'm getting you your own sakaboto for your personal use. Consider it a gift from me at least. Being a princess has it's advantages."
"Wow, that's a nice gift. I guess you want me to start hitting the manual once more?"
"That and also, if you're interested, I can read around and see if there are still any living masters of this style. You can train from them."
"Yeah, good luck with that. The name of the manual was a bit faded but I think it says "Eight Leaves, One Sword". I don't think there are any masters alive. The author himself was an archivist."
"It's your choice. I'm not forcing you to learn the art of combat. This isn't a fantasy tale after all. One doesn't simply get used to live combat, if you do then I should be worried."
As she looked to her happy friends, Lyra Heartstrings, Lemon Hearts, Twinkle Shine, Minuette. She wanted to protect those smiles.
"I guess I'll start swinging my sword around in the near future. Send me a message when you find a master."
"Excellent!! I start the commission for the sakaboto right away! Thank you, Moondancer. Counting on you to protect our Canterlot friends was the right choice."
"On two conditions."
"Huh, what would they be?"
"One, just because you assigned me to be their bodyguard doesn't mean you can skip out on us. Visit us more often, ok? Be it in Ponyville or Canterlot. Two, if you find a master and I train under him or her, I want a rematch with Tempest after I finished training."
"I will be more than happy to fight you once more in the future." The former rogue unicorn smiled at the prospect.
"Now that it's settled. Let's go introduce you to my other friends. Ok? Not to mention, I also have a proposal for the other races..."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tempest barely got her question out before being whisked away against her will.
Countless stories begin and end. Each has a hero and villain. And under the sky lit up by a violet rogue, new doors open for every future. Now it is time to live the next chapter of their lives, for each new story is a new beginning.
