Attack of the Equine Empire

"Come on, get up," she heard a voice say. No, she thought, a little bit more time. Come back later. Twilight's memory of her dreams quickly began to fade. No, not yet. "Twilight, we don't have all day. We have to get moving before dawn," the voice said again. She forced her eyes to stay shut. With how little sleep she had gotten that night, she figured that she could be a little bit selfish. No, I can't. She had a job to do, and friends to save. She slowly lifted her eyelids.

"What... what is it?" Twilight said, feigning drowsiness.

"Sorry to wake you, Princess, but we really should get moving," Flick said. He walked over to where Rainbow Dash laid and gave her a soft kick. "Come on. You too." Rainbow turned over and moaned.

"The sun isn't even up yet," she said.

"That's kind of the point," he responded. He gave her a harder kick for good measure. She finally relented and got up from the grass, no more awake than she was before. She shot him a dirty look, but the old stallion only smirked at her. He sat down and began to pack their things for the day's travel, and Twilight figured that she could be of some use now that she was up.

"Have a good night's sleep?" Flick asked.

"It was alright, I guess," she said back to him. She sigh softly to herself, keeping her eyes on the ground in front of her.

"Any good dreams?" She thought back on what she remembered.

"I forgot some of it," she sat down next to him, "but I dreamt I was in Canterlot. Everypony was there. They talked with each other, and I tried to join them, but they all ignored me and just kept talking. It made me sad, so I flew off and then dived into the ocean. Then I made friends with some sea-ponies, and together we went searching for sunken treasure. Then I woke up. I know there was more but I can't remember. Do you ever have a dream and you remember a specific feeling it gave you but you can't remember what actually happened in it?"

"Yes, that's happened to me before. It's actually quite common. You see-"

"You know," Rainbow said as she walked over to them, eating an apple for breakfast, "I heard that dreams can sometimes predict the future. Like, this one time I dreamt that I saved the Wonderbolts from certain death, and then a year later I did." Flick turned and shot Twilight a look that said, 'Really?' all over it.

"Rainbow," Flick said, turning back to face Rainbow with all the visible condescension he could seemingly muster, "aspiring to do something then doing it is very different from prophecy."

Rainbow frowned. "Yeah, but I dreamt that I specifically saved them from falling, and a year later I did."

"Again, if you dream of something that could realistically happen, and it happens, that's just a coincidence. It's nothing amazing." Rainbow sat down with them, still eating the apple.

"I'm just saying that Twilight's dream could mean more than we think," she argued in-between bites.

"Dreams are at most reflections of the subconscious. They can't predict the future."

"So I secretly want to go treasure hunting with seaponies?" Twilight interjected.

"Well," Rainbow said, "it sounds more fun if we were going to do it than just wanting to do it."

"Yes, but that isn't the case." Flick said, seriousness growing on his face. "A dream can't be a prophecy,It's impossible to accurately predict the future. Prophecies aren't worth crap. A prophecy is just a vague guess made by somepony who thinks they know how things are going to turn out. They are rarely ever right."

"You seem very passionate about this, Flick," Twilight said as she chuckled. He looked to her, and his mood lightened. He smiled and chuckled slightly along with Twilight.

"I'm sorry, I was on a bit of a tangent there. Just trust me on this one, Rainbow. I've dealt with a few prophecies before, and it's made me a bit biased."

"I'll say," Rainbow said as she leaned back and finished her apple.

"Hey Rainbow, where'd you get the apple?" Flick asked. "We didn't buy any apples back at Bastion's Gate."

"I got it off one of the trees," she said, not bothering to sit up.

"Why didn't you just eat something we had?"

"I couldn't find any of our food." Flick's smile faded quickly.

"What do you mean you couldn't find any of our food?" Rainbow sat up then.

"I mean when I looked through the bags I didn't find the food bag." Flick shot up from the ground instantly and ran to where the other saddlebags laid. Twilight and Rainbow got up as well. Twilight looked over to Rainbow, whose face was even more full of worry than her's. Please no, Twilight thought. She looked back at Flick tearing through the supplies. Please not this. Flick stomped back to the two mares.

"Princess Twilight, Rainbow, I have good news and bad news," he said. His voice sounded as if he was using all his might not to shout obscenities. "Good news," he continued, "I found the food bag. Bad news, it's empty."

"What?!" Twilight yelled, still wishing it wasn't true.

"Rainbow," Flick said, "last night, when I asked you to put away the food bag, did you close it up properly? You know, so no animals could come in the middle of the night and, I don't know, eat all of it!" Rainbow chewed her lip. Twilight could see in her face that she knew the answer and the last thing she wanted to do was say it out loud. Flick could see it too, and he immediately turned and stormed off in a fit off rage.

"Where are you going?" Twilight yelled.

"I'm going to look at some maps!" he yelled back. He went past the other saddlebags where the maps were and past the trees and out of sight. Why do I even bother? Twilight thought. They had barely been gone one day and they had no food. They were careful to spend what money Flick had with him on just enough food to get them north. That's where they were headed. Flick said the legends suggested that Alicorn's Bane was placed in one of the temples of Fairlyn Forest, though getting to the forest was proving to be more of a challenge than anticipated.

"Rainbow," Twilight started.

"I'm sorry, okay," she snapped at Twilight. "I didn't want this to happen." Rainbow sat down and sulked. Twilight wanted to be mad, but only felt sorry for her friend.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. We just need to figure this out, together." And to do that we need Flick to come off his tantrum, but I don't even see him anywhere around here. Almost as if on cue with her thought, a millisecond of blinding light caused Twilight to blink and step back. Flick was there between the two mares. He laid out a map on the ground between them, and they both leaned in close to see it.

"Alright, my judgement says we're about here," he said. He pointed at a patch of trees called the Greenwood north of Bastion. "Not too far into the Greenwood and not too far from the Green Road either. In this situation, that'll be to our benefit. There'll be vendors, or merchants, or a caravan of some kind that's carrying food on the road. We take what money we have left, spend wisely, then we keep a better eye on what we have and we should be fine."

"I thought we decided to ditch the roads as soon as we could?" Dash reminded them. "The Empire's probably already got ponies searching for Alicorn's Bane."

"True," Flick said, "but avoiding the roads was merely precaution. The Equine Empire soldiers are probably flying more than searching by hoof, and we need to find some food. Only enough to get us to the temples of Fairlyn Forest. A few days from now, we'll have gotten Alicorn's Bane and Celestia will arrive at Bastion with an army in tow and the Equine Empire will be running with its tail between its legs." He rolled up the map and put it in his saddlebag.

"You seem very confident," Twilight said.

"It's better than thinking we're all screwed," he responded. You have a point, she thought, and I pray to Celestia that you're right about all this. Flick used his magic to pack the other saddlebags. Their blankets and pillows were covered in the light blue glow of Flick's horn, and then the bag levitated and rushed at Rainbow's face. She didn't react fast enough and the bag hit her square in the face. Twilight saw her bag in time and stopped it with her own magic.

"Let's get going. We want to find some food, but we also want to keep moving north as fast as possible."

"Thanks for another update on what we're doing, again," Rainbow moaned as she picked up her bag off the ground and slung it over her back.

"I do believe there is somepony here who, for various reasons, shouldn't be complaining about anything the rest of us say or do, especially not after what she has said or done." Rainbow fumed, but Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder and she calmed.

"Fighting won't get us anywhere," Twilight told her.

"Fine," Rainbow said. She furrowed her brow when she spoke.

"Dash, don't be like this."

"Like what? I told you, I'm fine." Twilight could clearly see that she wasn't. She was about to say something before being cut off.

"You two coming or not?" Flick yelled from a distance. Rainbow ran to catch up with him, and Twilight sighed and followed. It wasn't long before they found themselves a road, but it was long before they came across anypony selling food. They saw the occasional traveler on the road, but it wasn't until mid-day until they saw a middle-aged stallion sitting in a cart that had been unfolded to reveal a food stand.

"Greetings travelers," the stallion said as they approached him. "Are any of you interested in some healthy, all natural food?"

"Very much so," Flick said, pulling a small purse out of his saddlebag. "We have more than enough money for it too." Twilight leaned in close to him.

"I don't think we should just be yelling that for everypony to hear," she whispered to him.

"What? By everypony you mean this guy selling us food. I think we'll be fine." He moved closer to talk to the pony. Twilight looked around. He has a point. I don't see anypony else on the road. The dirt road was barren. There were trees on either side of it, but no thick brush for ponies to hide in. "Good sir," Flick continued, "do you have any food that is suitable for long journeys? Preferably food that won't spoil over the course of a few days." The stallion put his hoof to his lips.

"I think I may have something for you," he said. He kneeled out of sight. Twilight could hear rummaging sounds for inside the stand. Flick turned and gave the two girls a smug smile. The kind of smile that told them that he knew what he was doing without speaking a word. That smile faded when he turned back to see the pony had emerged not with food, but a loaded crossbow. There was no hesitation before Twilight's horn began to glow, but the light faded when she felt cold metal against her neck.

"Woah there girl, calm down," a voice said into her ear. Several ponies descended from the trees above them. The pegasi floated downward with weapons in hoof, the unicorns appeared out of thin air in a flash of light, and the earth ponies landed on the ground with a thud. "We'll just be taking your gold and leaving."

There were more than a dozen of them, easily. They were all armed, besides the four unicorns among them. They didn't need weapons, they were born with them. Flick backed away from the crossbow staring him down. Dash spun around to see how many there were. She looked as if she was going to charge them all, but she saw Twilight with a knife at her throat and she surrendered. Twilight didn't try to struggle. She knew it'd be useless. "Now," the voice started, "don't be teleporting anywhere anytime soon. I'm faster with this thing than you think."

He read her mind. Only one solution left. "Alright," Twilight said, "take our money, and let us go. If you don't hurt any of us, we won't report that this ever happened."

"Report to who?" a young pegasus with a sword asked. "Hope you don't mean the Royal Guard. We're more than five feet from Bastion, so they won't give a shit about it." They all laughed, including the pony holding Twilight in place.

"Don't worry," he said, "you and your multi-colored friend over there are pretty, so we'll be gentlecolts and let you go. Just don't try anything funny."

"I thought we'd keep them because they were pretty," another stallion yelled. They laughed again. The laughter was suddenly silenced by the voice of the pony in the food stand.

"I don't know if we should do that," he said. "One of these little ponies is more valuable than you all think." Oh no, Twilight thought. Her eyes widened. They recognize me. I don't know how, but they recognize me. She tried to keep her breathing in check, but it wasn't working. It got heavier and faster.

"What do you mean?" the pony with the knife asked. Knife at her throat or not, Twilight had to do something. She looked around at all the bandits. So many. She started to panic. She screamed on the inside. Her friends looked as if they were doing the same. They all realized what it could mean.

"This one," he pointed at Flick. He was just as confused as the outlaws.

"What? Me?" Flick asked.

"I was in Bastion two months back. The Princess was giving a speech to everypony in the city square. I forget what it was about. I wasn't listening, I was just there. What I don't ever forget is a face. You were standing by her side, as you always are whenever she goes about the town. You're her... her..."

"Advisor," the pony with the knife suggested.

"That's it. Advisor. You're her advisor. How big of a ransom do you think the Princess' own advisor could get us?" Flick gulped. He had taken precautions to ensure Twilight wasn't recognized, with her cloak and all, but didn't think to disguise himself. The pony behind Twilight laughed.

"Cobalt, you old bastard, you're brilliant," he said. He tossed Twilight into the hooves of a massive earth pony. "Take him. We'll bring him back to the hideout and hold him there. Might as well take his two friends too. They may be worth something." He sheathed his dagger in a saddlebag while others surrounded Rainbow and Flick. Twilight's panic was too much for her to bear. It finally manifested itself into a strong buck to her captor's groin.

His yell got the attention of the rest. Two rushed her, and beam of magic from her horn sent them to the ground. Rainbow took off in a blink. A pegasus went into the air after her, but was brought down when Dash circled the air and tackled him into the ground. A trail of colors followed her as she charged into the next stallion. Twilight ducked under the swing of a pony's sword and blasted him backwards. Before she could even breathe, she looked up to see something hurtling towards her face. She stopped it mid-air with her horn, turned the crossbow bolt around, and sent it flying into the shooter's shoulder. He yelped in pain. The pony with a sword came at her again, but a purple glowing bolt hit him in the leg before he reached her.

Twilight saw Flick punch a pony in the face with his hoof and take his sword. More came at him. He was slower than the younger stallions, but he knew how to fight. He held them at bay, and even incapacitated a few as he went along. Twilight didn't have time to wonder where he learned swordplay. A flash of light appeared next to her. She knew what it was, and she turned to face the unicorn. She only saw the club for a brief second before it struck her.

The world started to spin. The ground moved beneath her legs, which now felt like melting sticks of butter. She sent a magic blast where she thought her assailant was. She wasn't sure. She felt something warm trickle down her face. It came from where her head hurt the most. Her vision cleared to see Flick take a blow to the back of the neck, forcing him to the ground. She saw Rainbow being pulled off a bandit by four others. When they hit her, Twilight's sight went red. She steadied herself, planted her hooves, and took in a deep breath. "ENOUGH!" she yelled.

A wave of magic, force, and fire burst from within her. She saw it hit everypony around her. Ponies without wings took off into the air and landed hard. White light erupted from her eyes and she was blind. When she could see again, she saw the ponies on the ground, bruised and moaning. She saw herself standing over a black, roasted patch of earth. She saw tree with black branches, still on fire. The pony who had made her so powerless before stood up first. "She's an alicorn," he said.

Twilight's cloak had caught flame and fell off her long ago. Her wings were outstretched. She could feel her horn glowing brilliantly. The ponies covered their eyes from the light. Then the light faded. Her wings receded. All of her strength left Twilight in an instant. She fell, but wasn't awake long enough to know if she had hit the ground.