Final Fantasy XV: Tale of the Element

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

It was nearly the day for Twilight. The now 'Queen of Equestria' Celestia and Luna came to their decision of revering her to be their Princess alongside Cadence as well as Shining Armor to be Prince. This had been in thought by the the former Princesses for a while and here it was about to take effect. Twilight was nervous, having to be shown in a casual dress in front of millions of Equestrians with her crown. She's already being known for being one of the six Protectors of the last Element known in their history now. She was the most powerful unicorn in existence at that. She remembered that she wasn't exactly an Alicorn yet which was one thing her and Shining felt that they needed to be royalty at anything which made them both feel like an outcast in their heart, but then again it also told them to not let it get to them since it may be a day till they finally become Alicorns.

Of course her friends were going to be there as well, but what made her nervous the most her memory of humans, the very race that Equestria nearly had war with which made her shiver. She remembered the time her home was attacked in front of her, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Shining. Since Shining was still in training he couldn't fight with the guards who fought to defend the castle, but most importantly Celestia due to her being the former Protector to the Element at the time, there was once six Elements to this world that Celestia would of been more than happy to give to the humans if possible, but something happened to cause them to shatter and now one was left and if this were to be taken from Equestria, then the lives of millions would be in stake...humans couldn't get their hands on it since Celestia believes they wouldn't know what to do with it, or it may not be it's rightful place and it my react differently due to the all the chaos that they describe happens. Celestia was already organizing guards to watch every area possible that humans could probably try to take their last line of defense since she still couldn't trust them through the years. Twilight happened to be very skilled in elemental magic and happened to complete sword lessons with her brother and wielded different kinds.

She was now walking through the halls of the castle with Spike being very protective and not sure whether inviting humans was a good idea to him. Twilight didn't like it either since she remembered the incident that happened 12 years ago when they first found a human. She was visiting Celestia for her usual training in basic magic and it was just during breakfast with everyone and the royal guards notified Celestia and Luna. Apparently Twilight was only curious about it till Spike tagged along with her. That's when they both spotted the mysterious beings known as humans. There was only one of them that she was able to spot. Unfortunately though she was caught by her brother and had to watch over her and Spike from sneaking again.

" Hey I was always wondering." Spike decided to change the subject since Twilight could care less about humans right now.

" What is it?" Twilight asked, she was hoping it didn't involve humans or else he'd earn the old fashion book against the head.

" If your the princess now...wouldn't that make me a prince now? You know since I'm also your brother?"

" Sorry Spike, but Shining Armor would only become prince since we're blood related. Sure, I'll admit we could be related since we both share the same color and all, but your a different species and I think it'll be wrong even for Celestia to revere you despite your hard work. Don't worry though," Twilight smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder for encouragement. " Your a prince to me at least." Spike blushed slightly along with a nervous chuckle. However not being a prince officially would be better to him. He can't be thinking like this though or else Greed would take over him again. Still though, Spike could easily take out one hundred royal guards if he wanted too, but not Shining Armor. It wasn't because he was stronger than the dragon, it was because Twilight would kill him if he did something like that. After a while of talking they were now in Celestia's Throne Room who was accompanied by Luna, Shining Armor who was going to be looking out for any sign of attacks, and lastly Cadence his wife. The duo walked towards them for greeting. The ceremony was about to start, but one thing crossed Twilight's mind when she noticed some of the people she knew who was in the castle. There was no sign of her friends anywhere.

" No need to worry Twilight, your friends shall be here shortly." Luna assured.

" As well as the Element of Harmony?" Spike asked. When this was said, Shining Armor walked over to them to explain the concealed Element's defense.

" Look, I know it's a big concern, but in case you never noticed we have a very heavy defense in every aspect of this castle. Not to mention as long as we have the Element of Harmony in our region, we can all use magic against them when needed. Also, we have your combat abilities along with your friends so winning is pretty much in the bag for us." Shining Armor explained to them.

" Do I really have to fight?" Twilight groaned out, she hated having to use her powers for combat since she felt it revealed the fact that she was too powerful for any creature and would be feared.

" What kind of question is that?" Spike muttered, however he met a deathly glare by the unicorn when he faced her.

" Actually he's right Twilight," Shining Armor added. " Your already princess so I don't get why you shouldn't use your powers to oh I don't know....protect the elements?" Twilight never thought of it like that. She was already princess, second in command of being the sovereign towards Equestria. She nodded in understanding although she secretly thought of it to be bad using magic that wasn't for Harmony's sake. The double doors to the room began to open and as expected, all of Twilight's friends had arrived...wait, she only noticed Rainbow Dash who had Scootaloo along with her and then she saw Pinkie Pie who would of shined the room due to her wide smile. The smile she gave that Twilight read right through...she was trying to hide away depression that she never spoke of.

" Sorry I'm late Twilight, I had lessons to teach for my little 'sister' here and it seems she has what it takes to be almost better than me." From saying that the orange energetic Pegasus nodded and uncontrollably flapped her wings in happiness.

" You bet! I'll take over Rainbow Dash's legacy one day when I grow up!" She exclaimed. Unfortunately she felt regret for saying that when someone close to Rainbow Dash came in her head, her identical little brother. Only Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity see him very often with Rainbow Dash along with Scootaloo since he was once added as a 'Cutie Mark Crusader' and he was often outspoken and like a younger version of Rainbow Dash. However he also had a shy persona that takes over when he feels he can't do something when he really needs to do it ( not in a lazy way). He was injured and in the hospital due to some physical damage thanks to his somewhat functional wings now more damaged. Instead of keeping the thought in her head, Scootaloo pushed it aside and smiled again. As for Pinkie Pie her eyes gleamed in happiness at seeing one of her best friends who was now about to become the princess of Equestria. However deep within that happiness was a burning hatred that the humans were making their arrival for unknown reason. It may just be 'her' but had doubts that this could happen. Even if it did, even she knew that they were no match if her and Rainbow Dash were involved. She was the first to happily make her way to Twilight and congratulate her in a passionate way of hugging her. Most of the time when this happened, her friends would end up like twigs for sure, but she was actually soft this time and even had tears slowing forming from her eyes.

" Congratulations, my bestest friend." She said, tearfully. Twilight returned the hug, but in only three seconds the pink Equestrian pulled away and now didn't have a single tear in her eye. Before either Twilight or Spike could even give a thought of confusion about this, they were called by Celestia. From here, Celestia began to completely explain her tactic of defense along with having the celebration commence. Technically, the real reason Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were in the castle was because they were probably the most reliable warriors of defense which in that case, they needed to stay behind. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity were merely attending along with keeping watch for her. Spike of course due to him being her number 1 assistant was going to help her if things did get out of hand. Twilight only thought of this completely unlike her to be doing this. Along with that, Spike whispered to her that he never even agreed to this. Despite that, the whole country needed to know just what Twilight was going to do from now on. After that discussion was put out, the rest of their small trip was quiet.

The celebration was scheduled tonight and decorations were in place. Twilight had to say goodbye to the library and her studying and now be greeted to her new duties, something she never expected to happen so quickly. She could just smile about this all the way to the ceremony. Along with that she could also expect being in something bigger since her last adventures. Just the thought made Twilight more and more nervous.

" You seem scared, Princess." Twilight looked behind her as she stopped staring at the perfectly placed books she's collected. It was none other than Queen Luna of the Night, Twilight still gets an intimidated feel from her as if she was staring right at Nightmare Moon all over again since that memory was fresh to her. Luna saw this telling by how Twilight was somewhat shivering staring at the Queen's night blue eyes, it only took a tap on her shoulder to break the shivering which now had Twilight in a calm state. " I hope you realized that after you and your friends have your fun, you must protect the Element at all costs. Sister and I failed years ago and I can't help but feel aggravated at myself for making your jobs such a big responsibility."

" It's okay, it wasn't your fault. Me and my friends will be more than happy to take after your job for you and Celestia." Twilight replied with determination on her face. Luna gave her a concerned look, even though Celestia was too frail and low on magic energy Luna was still fresh for now. She finished the conversation by giving Twilight a reminder that she could always help her if needed which Twilight acknowledged. Luna walked away afterwards reminding Twilight that she would be needed in a few moments. Thanks to Rarity the purple unicorn had more than enough dresses to chose from for the occasion and out of all she chose the perfect one. She heard steps coming up stairs as she now had a bright pink dress laying on her bed ready to wear. She completely forgot that nearly everyone ( minus Rainbow Dash) was going to wear something casual tonight which included Spike who couldn't help, but wear the suit that he bought...again. Twilight turned around and saw Spike wearing a white shirt with a red bow tie with a black vest over it and black khakis. He gave a stylish pose in front of Twilight and gave a teasing wink which made him laugh in a matter of seconds now. Twilight only rolled her eyes and chuckled.

" So, with all this concern aside, how do I look? Would this impress Rarity?" The purple dragon asked her.

" From my perspective I'd say it wouldn't matter since she loves your personality. Right now you just seem like your about to propose to her," Twilight walked towards him and gave him a teasing smile which made him blush. " You are aren't you?" Spike quickly shook his head.

" N-not yet. I love her and all, but...I just need more time okay?" Spike replied with a very honest tone. Twilight nodded in understanding and told him to leave so she could put on her dress now. He left quickly till she heard his footsteps going downstairs. The princess closed the door and began to pull off her top and change clothing.

The Following Night

Twilight and Spike were picked up by a carriage now in their formal clothing through the late night. Meeting them inside was Rainbow Dash who was apparently wearing a sky blue tank top with blue shorts where there was a weapon laying beside her. A blue high tech gunblade which was in a folded state right now. If there was one thing Twilight knew about her aggressive friend was her cockiness, speed, swordsmanship, and magic ability thanks to the Element. Rainbow Dash didn't seem to notice them since her expression showed worry and a bit of fear which took the unicorn a bit long to know what it was. Spike gave a fake cough to catch the cyan Pegasus' attention who flinched at seeing them. Twilight only waved while Spike decided to look to see them floating over the glowing capital of Canterlot.

" You look depressed." Twilight pointed out. Rainbow Dash didn't reply instead she decided to change subjects by congratulating Twilight very poorly. This made the princess a bit irritated, but since she had to show good impressions now she only kept it to herself. She ahead to see that they were almost at the entrance of the castle. Spike grinned and straightened his tie as Twilight took a deep breath. She needed to show determination and confidence to not only defend the Element but also Equestrians themselves. Rainbow Dash grabbed her sword and made it vanish in a bright rainbow as she was ready to leave now.

" Let's try and have a good time, right? I'm sure Pinkie Pie probably might eat all the food by now if she's already there."

" Maybe, that's why I stashed some gems before I came here." Spike replied as he pulled out a ruby from his pocket. As they landed Rainbow Dash hopped out first and took off as if she was in a hurry.

" Right, I forgot she has on front post." Twilight thought. She step out with Spike behind her and began to walk up towards the double door where she'll see what's at store for her. Before she could though she felt something odd...like something bad would happen at some point. She turned to see Spike with his arms folded and looking behind them. That had to count for something.

" I don't feel Rarity, Fluttershy, or Applejack here at all? They couldn't of forgotten." He muttered.

" I'm only surprised that Rainbow Dash did. Then again, anything involving the Element would definitely catch her attention." Twilight replied. Spike agreed to that since he could bet all his gems to see if that were to be true. She forgot many things in the past so frequently that no one would find it to be a surprised, seeing her now could be one, but preparing for something that MIGHT happen wasn't it. War between Humans and Equestrians has happened before when Twilight was still young, but it felt like an eternity until a proposal was made by Celestia herself. Sharing some of the energy the Element had within it. Twilight believed it now to be risky since Humans weren't capable of magic and could become power hungry at anytime, as for Luna she didn't even bother saying a thing about it, instead she seemed to be waiting for something to happen. That could be it, Luna might of told her sister that thought and prepared this herself with Celestia only following what she's saying, if that was true then no wonder she saw Daytime Royal Guards with the Nighttime Royal Guards.

" We're probably late now, let's go Twilight." Spike told her as he opened the doors. Twilight followed behind and were first greeted by Shining Armor in silver battle armor around his body. It was official, Shining was probably taken in on this too.

" You know, brother...I've been thinking since-" Before she could continue, her older brother spoke began to speak in a formal tone which shocked her.

" Princess, the Queen needs your assistance, you will be presented momentarily, but she seemed frantic and wants to see you immediately." This turned off everything the unicorn was going to say at that moment. Maybe it could be urgent? Worse, it was actually going to happen! She nodded and walked away with her thoughts now under the bridge. The throne room wasn't very far so getting there wasn't a problem. As expected she saw Celestia sitting down on the far side where the throne was and she could see that something bothered the Queen of the Sun. Twilight rushed over to her at no time at all where Celestia met her with her usual smile.

" C-Celestia! Is something wrong. Shining Armor said you seemed very frantic about something so I came here as quickly as po-" Celestia cuts her off by placing a finger to her lips for a moment.

" Yes, you heard right. There is good news, but there is also something I hoped would never happen." She spoke. " It's still uncertain if Humans will strike and try to steal the crystal, but I happened to learn something. This isn't just them going for the crystal. I'm too frail to do anything about it and even if I wasn't, my connection with the Element is limited, I can barely draw up any magic." She seemed worried, useless. She sounded as if she was growing inferior over the countless years. Twilight couldn't stand to hear any more.

" I'm, still waiting for the good news?" Twilight asked. This made Celestia chuckle which confused her.

" You will learn in due time faithful student. Now I think that we have a presentation to our soon to be Sovereign of Equestria?" Celestia stood up and guided Twilight out of the room and now onto a balcony where she overlook hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of Equestrians cheering for her. Spike on the other hand was behind her to her surprise and saw just how protective he seemed to be acting. However that was placed into the back of her brain as Celestia was now having a speech of kind words towards her faithful student and also a part of her family. Twilight was blushing a bit throughout hearing her kind words from her angelic voice. Spike couldn't help but smile and even had a tear come to his eyes from this moment. From where Twilight stood she could even spot Rainbow Dash at the entrance with her arms folded looking ahead while looking at Twilight every few seconds. She then spotted Pinkie Pie who was strangely in the back and what made this more strange was that she could of swore she saw her eyes flash red. Another thing was her tail twitching which must of been a bad sign. Celestia continued on a bit longer until finally stepping back finally presenting the beautifully dressed Twilight Sparkle with Spike standing behind her looking down at the clapping Equestrians. Twilight was looking down, but still paying attention to Pinkie Pie who still had a twitchy tail that she was concerned about.

Twilight had to give out her words as well and for her sake she kept it short since anything was bound to happen. After she was done she seemed to have left like she was in a hurry which Celestia took note of. The new Princess of Equestria was now escorted to her room which was mostly on one of the high floors of the castle. The second she got inside she was relieved that she could get a change of clothing ( she had to force Spike to get out of the room) and was even more happy that it was something comfortable. She hung up her dress and now looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a purple short sleeved shirt with blue jeans and this was good enough for her, at least it's better than fighting in dress.

" Pinkie Pie had a Pinkie Sense. It's weird though, nothing happened yet. I also doubt that it would take this long for it to take effect. What's going on?" She asked herself. Suddenly, she heard something go off like an explosion which sounded softer than it probably was. There was also a rumble on the ground making Twilight lose her balance a bit. " What the heck was that?" She ran out her room before she could even get the chance to actually examine it. While on her way down some floors she heard screaming and saw a royal guard get knocked back by someone from the hall across from her. Twilight took action by standing behind it and waiting. She heard heavy footsteps and just as she expected, someone appeared. Quickly, she turned and placed her hand on the figure's face and gasped when she saw just what it was.

" What? What's a human doing in the castle?" She thought. The human growled and pushed Twilight away from him and ran towards her with a sword in grasp. She quickly countered the assault with a fireball shooting from her hand towards him which knocked him back and out.

" We got another one!" A voice shouted from behind the unicorn. Twilight turned around seeing three armored humans, two holding an assault rifle while the last one had green saber. This was bad, unless Twilight had a spell in mind that could take out three at once or use her swords she could be done for. The armed humans fired their weapon at her, but coming from behind, Rainbow Dash slammed one of the human's head against the wall which made the other two overwhelmed and tried to fire at her.

" Too slow!" Rainbow Dash announced as she slammed the human's heads against each other making them fall to the floor. Twilight sighed in relief, mostly because she didn't wish to draw her weapons inside the castle. Rainbow Dash dusted off her hands and looked at Twilight with a grin across her face. " Well, Luna was right. We do have a Human invasion on our tails. It's a good thing they don't know where the Element is located."

" I never thought it was going to happen. But how did this start? Everything was quiet just a minute ago." Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash nodded, but she began to explain what happened while she was up. Humans were not in the party which was expected since they lived a long distance from Equestria, but that wasn't the case. They were waiting for Equestrians to get their joy up only to have it shattered ( at least in theory), but the way Rainbow Dash placed it was to end their joy by taking their lives which ultimately failed, but they did succeed in storming the castle with forces.

" Wait, if theirs more around here they need to be stopped!" Twilight shouted as she began to run away towards the exit with Rainbow Dash behind her. There weren't many humans in their way due to the invasion just starting. As they ended up in a dining room unexpectedly they were caught by human forces. There was room to maneuver to Twilight's calculations which meant weapons could be necessary now. Rainbow Dash held her hand out for her gunblade to appear and happily flew towards one of the humans and impaled his shoulder and threw him towards two more. Twilight decided to step in as well as a silver mechanical blade appeared in her hand. She threw it towards one of the walls near an armored soldier which made him get ready to laugh at her 'poor aim'. He fired his assault rifle, but right when that happened Twilight vanished in a white light and reappeared with her hand on the hilt of her sword and swung it across the human's back making him scream in agony. Twilight sighed making her not take notice that another soldier was behind her with a saber ready to swing at Twilight's head. The cyan Pegasus however stopped him with a shot from her gunblade which struck his chest. With coughs and chokes the human falls down.

" Thanks." Twilight smiled.

" No problem, but I think we should get to the front now. I know Pinkie Pie might be defending alone." Hearing her name made Twilight gasp as Spike came in her head.

" Spike could be with her!" Twilight takes off again with her sword now gone. Rainbow Dash was surprised at how much energy she seemed to have on her, usually she would be tired by now. Perhaps Shining Armor's training not only increased her strength, but her stamina as well. Twilight was now on the ground floor where she saw a horrible sight of Equestrians (mostly royal guards) and Human bodies on the ground. Thankfully they were only unconscious and there seemed to be little bloodshed. Twilight made her way towards the double doors for her way out, but she gasped when she sensed something coming her way which gave her instinct to run back and hide behind a wall, but the door already exploded which knocked her back a few feet. She made a grunt as her bangs were now messy and covered her eyes along with small scrapes on her body from the rubble around her. She began to slowly stand up and first thing she saw was a group of armed soldiers with a light brown bipedal machine behind it armed with missiles on it's shoulder. The soldier began to fire on her on sight, but at the last second, Twilight created a magical barrier around her taking the shape of multiple swords around her. The soldiers ceased fire and now the machine got ready to take it's turn.

" FIRE!" A voice ordered. As it was commanded the machine fired a missile at Twilight who expected her barrier to be enough to withstand. However, at the last second before the rocket met her shield was a purple figure jumping in front of her in a blocking stance and to her shock grabbed it without it giving way.

" Spike!" Twilight shouted in delight. Spike had his casual clothing off revealing his nearly unbreakable dragon hide and got into a fighting stance. Along with her was a pink Earth Pony wearing a pink shirt with a cupcake with rainbow frosting on the front and jean shorts. In her hand was surprisingly a human firearm while there was a pink and red blade hovering beside her as she ran inside Twilight's barrier. Pinkie Pie turned towards her and winked as she had 'her' pistol ready to use. Spike immediately rushed off where soldier reacted by shooting at him, but the bullets only tickled him off as they made contact with his hide and dropped to the floor. He spewed fire from his mouth startling the soldiers making them fall back leaving the machine to deal with. The dragon jumped on top of it and began to punch holes in it creating sparks to emit from it and at the last second jumped where it exploded behind him. Twilight dropped her barrier and looked around the catastrophe that was now the inside of the castle now. Spike shook his head and placed his claws behind his head.

" What a disaster this turned out to be. I didn't even get to see Rarity." Spike groaned.

" Cheer up Spikey! After this is all done I'll throw a party and I'll be sure to invite Rarity as well." Pinkie Pie told him. This made him smile, but something came in his mind making him gasp.

" I have to find Celestia and Luna. Sorry, but they're major, you just worry about the soldiers coming in and leave out as much as you can." Spike ran off upstairs, till Rainbow Dash suddenly came with her gunblade out again and over her shoulder.

" What did I miss?" She asked.

" The party's about to start now!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly. Twilight nodded as she dusted herself off and began to walk out the destroyed entrance and looked closely at the distance noticing more human soldiers on their way. She erected her barrier again prepared for what they were about to face, eventually Pinkie Pie walked up beside her with a shocked expression on her face. Rainbow Dash then came beside Twilight on the other side and glared at the moving forces.

Soundtrack-March from Beyond

A gunshot was heard and it collided behind Twilight's barrier starling her. She quickly turned around trying to spot where it came from. Pinkie Pie turned around to look as well and gasped.

" I see him!" She shouted, pointing up to a high point of the castle. Twilight squinted to get a better look and noticed the soldier standing on the outside of the castle. Twilight cursed under her breath. Since they had part of the crystals powers they could do things that Equestrians could do as well. A silver mechanical broadsword appeared in her hand and quickly threw it as far as she could till it a hit one of the points on the wall warping her there, but she didn't have enough time to stand on the wall which resulted her hanging on to the hilt of her blade that was stuck to the structure. She looked up seeing that the human noticed her and began to run down towards her with a saber in his hand. Twilight's horn glowed then she vanished in a white light now beside the human shocked at her disappearance. Without hesitation she swung her blade across his body severely injuring him and making him fall to his demise. She looked down and noticed Rainbow Dash rushing off towards the few soldiers that were storming towards the castle. She pulled her sword from the castle and threw it down till it stuck to the ground warping her beside Rainbow Dash where she erected her barrier again which was barely blocked the bullets and this time would of struck Rainbow Dash's foot.

" Be more vigilant Rainbow Dash. You would of been gone if I didn't see that coming." Twilight warned as she released the barrier.

" Right, thanks." Rainbow Dash replied quickly as she rushed off again this time with her sword now in a gun state shooting blue projectiles at machine gun speed. Some of them hit the rushing soldiers making them get hurled back. Twilight followed behind her and shot a fireball towards them. The spell exploded on impact on the ground creating flames to expand heating up the soldier's armor and burning them from the inside until they fell down. More machines came their way towards the trio and Pinkie was first to notice making her gasp. This made a distraction for a soldier to rush towards her and swing it's saber at her. Inches from contact towards her neck that would of been severed, she ducked and pushed the soldier back giving her time to summon her weapon. It was a pink shuriken with flaming designs around it and a hole in the middle where the handle of her weapon was placed. It surrounded itself in electricity as she threw the four bladed weapon at the vulnerable enemy ending in a burst of lightning sending him flying back. The shuriken came back in Pinkie Pie's hand and giggled, but she remembered the machines coming their way and warned her friends.

Twilight was first to realized the 'heavy armor' coming in when a rocket nearly missed her head if she didn't tilt it at that moment. She sent the soldiers in front of her flying back as she sent a vacuum of wind in their direction. In total she counted 3 which was two more that she didn't feel like taking out.

" So...every human wants a turn at getting their butts handed to them don't they Twi?" Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered a few inches from the ground. Twilight didn't know how to respond. She didn't like humans due to what happened a few years ago, yet now she felt like there was some sort of anomaly that was in between the conflict besides protecting the Element of Harmony.

" Hold your fire!" A voice shouted out. Twilight held her head up and noticed that the three machines were in some kind of formation, and now she knew why. Standing in front of them was an unarmored man with short red hair. Instead of armor he seemed to wear a gray uniform and had a metallic pole in his hand. The man gave out a smirk and looked as if he was trying to hide fear, by laughing. Rainbow Dash groaned in disgust and descended to the ground and folded her arms.

" What's so funny?" She asked mockingly.

" Well, well. So you're Equestrians. The race that planed on sending everything to oblivion, correct?" The man asked, completely ignoring the cyan Pegasus's statement. Twilight rose an eyebrow in confusion.

" Who are you?" The unicorn asked firmly. She didn't know where that confidence came from, but she was glad it was out. She never thought she would have guts to say that. The man in question suddenly gave out a deathly glare towards Twilight and held his pole behind him in a battle stance.

" Just call me Noel. Noel Faust. I assume your the descendant of all Equestrian kind, er Celestia?" He asked. Suddenly Rainbow Dash growled and flew off towards Noel without warning. To her shock, she was blown back when multiple rocket landed in front of her and was forced to stand next to Twilight again. " Well, I guess their little need for words." Noel gave a hand signal to the machines that were blocking the entrance of the castle bridge.

The three machines hovered off ground and began to morph itself into a small aircraft much to Twilight's shock. But still, she couldn't decide whether to worry mostly about Noel or the craft. She looked at Noel for a moment. He was completely defenseless besides his pole, but she would also be taking a risk if the air craft shot a rocket towards her. She didn't have wings, so she wouldn't have a safe landing like Rainbow Dash. Still, it was possible to probably capture him and take him to Celestia. Finally she saw the aircraft.

" That's an even bigger risk." She told herself. She could warp to the aircraft if she wanted to, but two things made than a conflict. 1.) If the aircraft were to move, then Twilight's sword would touch another region forcing her to teleport back down into Canterlot, and 2.) Even if she did land and destroy it, she would of drained too much magical energy and even with the Crystal to her advantage, she could still be at a big risk.

" TOO LATE TO THINK!!!" Noel boomed. He rushed towards Twilight, but Rainbow Dash came in the way first and swiped her gunblade at him which forced him to jump back. This time Rainbow Dash was prepared when the rockets were fired towards her. Once pushing Twilight and herself out of the way, the rockets made another explosion which made more cracks onto the bridge.

" Commander Faust! Good news, we found a shard of the enemy artifact. Would you like extraction?" An officer announced in Noel's radio. Twilight's ear twitched. This was very bad. She started to shiver and couldn't hold back the rage that was about to blow.

" YOU IDIOTS!!! NOW WE'RE ALL IN DANGER!!!" She screamed. Noel looked at Twilight with a quizzical look until the ground began to shake.

" Huh, sucks to be you now. Alright, pick me up." Noel replied. In a flash, the red haired man vanished, but Twilight already knew where he was. Without question she threw her broadsword at the aircraft that was about to take off.

" It's now or never." She spoke in her head. Rainbow Dash gasped as the unicorn warped on top of the aircraft a second before it took off. She growled and kicked the rubble in anger.

" Damn! That idiot." She noticed a shadow behind her which made her turn around quickly. She sighed in relief it was only Pinkie Pie, but was screaming to herself on why she wasn't helping. She shook her head to take away the thought and ran back towards the castle.

" Wait, Dashie! What about Twilight!" Pinkie asked worriedly.

" She can take care of herself and we can communicate anyway. We need to go find Celestia, now."

Author's Note

First Chapter....Complete

Chapter 2

Twilight now had a question in her head that she should of thought of in the very beginning. What has this world gone to? What did her race have to do with the human's actions? Was this battle inevitable from the start? So far from what Twilight was seeing from her view on the left wing of the aircraft, she could see Equestrians hiding and Humans storming Canterlot. She growled in seeing this chaos so far. They were going to pay for this. She turned her head to see there were three cockpits and noticed that there was one soldier inside each, and none looked anything like the one who just escaped. Noel was it? She noticed his attitude when he saw her, so much fear and intimidation all sandwiched into a fake laugh.

" Was he...forced?" She wondered. Her thoughts were interrupted when she took notice of the pilot who was looking right at her. There was awkward silence for three seconds until the aircraft tilted itself on it's side. However, Twilight was already hanging on with her sword stuck in the wing. She looked down seeing the distance between her and the pavement. Compare that to the speed she was going and consider herself 'half dead'. Suddenly, the unicorn vanished into a white light and barrages of quick strikes to the aircraft began to make it malfunction. Reappearing onto the wing again, Twilight noticed more human soldiers that were heading towards Celestia's castle. At least she thought so at first.

" Twilight! Darling, wherever you are we need help right away!"

Twilight gasped in shock as she recognized magical energy erupting just beneath her. She knew it all to well, it had to be Rarity. If only Spike were here, he could possibly redirect the aircraft to where she was getting attacked. Instead, she had to attempt a leap of faith and hope she can throw her sword to someplace sufficient to warp. In a flash, she landed in a deserted, or rather defined 'demolished' area in Canterlot, but not to far from Rarity. As soon as the purple unicorn turned around, she gasped when seeing more mechs coming her way. She already felt hurt enough for killing another species, but this attempt was just pushing her. No hesitation, not feelings. Suddenly, rockets were fired to where she stood without warning. Instinct was able to take it's course as the princess rolled out of the way, but the blast radius blew her a few inches farther than she thought. Twilight was rather impressed of what they were capable of, but if only it wasn't used for the sake of catastrophic purposes. Seeing the remains of Canterlot was enough to show this. Somewhere inside it regrew her anger, but now wasn't the time to sulk or else she would be a victim to this chaos as well.

"NOT ON MAH WATCH!!!" A female country voice booms. A mech was suddenly hurled back by a powerful blow from a mysterious individual which began to make a cut through towards Twilight. Another Mech was thrown away with surges of electricity emitting from it and exploding in mid-air. Rushing out the cluster of machines was an orange Equestrian civilian which Twilight recognized all too well. Applejack, another representative of the Element. Twilight could describe her as an opposite of Rainbow Dash due to her being more calm and never boasting about skills that she know she's capable of. That was a scary thing about her since she's always full of surprises. Though she could see that she has encountered more enemies then any normal Earth Pony could withstand. Obviously told by how her usual ponytail hair style was now down to her back and messier than how she'll end up after her usual hard work at her home. She wore a tank top which seemed to be getting a little torn due to maybe her previous battles; along with that she wore jean shorts. Her body looked sweaty and exhausted which was no surprise.

"Applejack, you're here." Twilight sighed in relief. Applejack was panting which was more than enough evidence that everything must of been taken out of her when she was in the middle of work and battle as this was still going on. Applejack was suddenly able to get enough breath in her lungs to be able to speak a bit towards her best friend.

"Twi...what's going on...is everything...alright?" She gasped out. As much as Twilight hated it, she shook her head.

"Luna's suspicions, her theory, all of it was right. Humans are....attacking us currently." Twilight looks down in dismay and guilt as she recalled that one of the Element shards have been stolen. "Also, Rarity seems to be in trouble. She contacted me and it's no doubt she's in trouble. I hope you have just enough energy to help me find her." She said. Applejack stood straight and rolls her shoulders before giving out another proper answer.

"I'm gonna do fine. Nothin' is gonna stop me especially now." Applejack turns around to see two remaining mechs still standing along with two human soldiers with full body of armor around their bodies and armed with firearms. Pointing towards them Twilight could only use her shield for a few seconds due to her connection with the Element now sabotaged from earlier. This was more than enough though. As rapid shots were fired towards them her broadsword appears in her hand. Noel seemed right though, they must of somehow sneaked a piece of the Element which angered her. She throws her sword in between the two soldiers as her shield had dissipated leaving them open. She teleports to her designated point pulling her blade from the ground and swipes it against their armor. It left them only with a flinch, but they were still standing. Suddenly she noticed the Mech in front her which was about to swing one of it's large metallic arms towards her. She suddenly realized she messed up her chance as she was now surrounded by the forces.

Twilight was suddenly pulled back by Applejack before the blow was about to be delivered. Twilight gasped when she thought that Applejack didn't get enough reaction time for herself. In amazement the orange Equestrian was still up and even blocked the Mech's arm with her own. Growling in desperation she gained barely enough strength to push the Mech back leaving it staggered. Twilight gave this her moment to try and finish the soldiers with her sword she was still grasping in her hand. She runs towards them both as they were close to each other and gives her swing more force and as expected she slices through the armor to get a good cut to injure one of him. He gasped and screams in pain as he fell to the ruined ground of Canterlot. The second soldier suddenly drops his weapon and holds his hands up which must of been the gesture of surrendering. She left him be and saw the enormous strength Applejack was able to exploit as she punches straight through the middle exposing electrical wires. The cowgirl quickly ran away from it before it exploded leaving behind some of it's parts on the ground. Without warning cold metal arms were wrapped around Twilight's neck coming from the soldier she spared. Her magic was drained now after her warp which left her vulnerable and could end her if Applejack didn't save her this time. Twilight was never known for being physically strong.

In a flash before Applejack could react there was scream from the restraining soldier as he fell to the ground. The princess quickly turns around to see what happened. Her only clue was seeing a figure walking towards her which she quickly recognized as Spike's crush and the natural beauty of Equestria in everyone's eyes. Rarity, a young marshmallow colored unicorn wearing a formal dress which seemed torn which was no surprise in the situation. Her azure eyes gleamed at the sight of Twilight and smiled.

"My my...what a surprise. I was able to find just who I needed," She spoke. "I spend my time to prepare only to meet an army of ruffians to mess up my dress. Not only that, but they're wrecking Canterlot and I find that unforgivable don't you think?" Rarity looks down for a second before looking back up to notice Applejack. She walks towards her friends as her hand is covered in a white aura. "You two look very out of shape." She points her finger towards them both as the aura still surrounded her hand and made a transfer towards them. Twilight's eyes widened as well as Applejack as they could feel a relief of magic and stamina inside them. This could be handy, but now it seems like they need to head back to the castle which would be bit difficult for them since Twilight may have the ability to warp from the designated point from her sword, but she didn't have the strength to throw that far. Even if she did, her friends would be left behind. So far the only option she could think of was going back on foot. For now there was a clearance for them to make a quick run. Before she could though she had to bring out the situation to her friends since they weren't at the incident of what has happened.

"Rarity...when you cast spells do you feel a bit funny. I mean as if it's just an average spell?" She asks. Rarity slowly nodded and looks at her hand as if there was some sort of scratch on them.

"Yes, for instance the spell I just happened to cast on you didn't go as I thought. You were suppose to replenish all your magic power, but it seems you've only managed to gain most of it. Not that I'm complaining, but-," Rarity was cut off when Twilight decided to bring the bad news.

"Those were humans we fought. Luna's prediction was correct. Not only that, but they stole a shard of the Element behind out backs. Now we might not have a big advantage with magic than we can hope. I can even tell it affects stamina. I've never seen Applejack pant so heavily when we've hardly tried," She said with a stern look in her eyes. "We have to retrieve it, but our castle is currently in trouble. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie are the only ones left...I can't tell about Fluttershy." She turns around as she begins to walk towards the castle without a word leaving Rarity and Applejack speechless at how much her leadership seems to have changed. Without a thought they follow behind her through the silent destruction of Canterlot.

Meanwhile

Rainbow Dash began to pant as she ran through the halls of the castle with Pinkie Pie barely keeping up as she now had a pink katana in her grasp. She had to hurry. They had to hurry to the throne room before a tragedy strikes. The cyan Equestrian growled in anger from Twilight's departure from earlier. Without her she may decrease morale for them and everyone else which is the last thing needed from what happened so far. Humans were now reverting to minimal bloodshed towards her race, luckily only minor wounds but this was going to far for any being's standards. Finally Pinkie Pie began to speak with a quizzical expression although she could get a hint of the situation.

"D-Dashie! Why are we in such a hurry!" She shouts as they were now going up a long row of stairs after crossing over debris and writhing bodies which must of came from the upper floor. Rainbow Dash looks back at Pinkie still maintaining her running pace. For a split second she saw Pinkie eyes flash red which would of made her flinch if she wasn't so caught so deep in the current anomaly. Without an answer she looks back in front of her as they were now on the third floor of the castle. Just need to get up to one more level to get to Celestia. No doubt there was an arsenal of men in there threatening the now revered Queen. Now the pair found themselves inside the same dining room that was demolished to no one's surprise. Chair legs were all over the floor covered in bullet holes along with the table that could fit 10 chairs. No bodies were found though. Either the battle was extended somewhere else or there was a retreat. Those were Rainbow Dash's guesses, but she wasn't an investigator so she left it at that.

"Uh, Rainbow. Are you alright?" Pinkie asked looking concern. Without thinking Rainbow Dash already answered.

"We're in a big situation and I don't want to waste time for questions." She begins to walk through the dining room with Pinkie Pie and immediately found more stairs after going through more halls of the castle which seemed to be cleaner than what they happened to see. Now they were on the fourth floor; namely the area where Royal Guards would take posts to defend Celestia and Luna. Rainbow Dash has been here before and remembered this was the exact area of the highest defended area that was now cut right through and bodies were the evidence to that conclusion. Rainbow Dash now felt embarrassed for underestimating Humanity, but she couldn't respect it. How can anyone if their terrorizing everything. She had to control herself; anger won't solve anything and it will only make things worse for her well being. Again Pinkie Pie spoke in tone that she was tired of being ignored.

"It's him isn't it Dashie?" However yet again the Pegasus didn't answer. In a mere second Pinkie's hair turned from a light shade of bright pink into a darker shade and was now in a straight hair style. Her eyes look down at the floor and sighed. Her hand began to twitch along with her sword.

"Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm not in the mood. We're almost to Celestia." Rainbow Dash finally spoke without looking at her. Pinkie was brightened from hearing her best friend's voice which made her body turn back into it's bright pink color. In her head if this kept up then her entire demeanor could of changed. Suddenly Pinkie's tail twitched making her gasp.

"Dashie stand back!!!" She yelled in desperation from the sign she was given. Rainbow Dash looked towards her right and just in time blocks a fatal blow to her face with her arms. She back flips out of harm's way to evade any further attempt of an assault. Without question her gunblade appears from a flash of rainbows and holds it in a defensive stance as she scans the room for her target.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" She demands loudly. Rainbow Dash's anger was somehow calm when she became focus of what danger had in store for her. Suddenly there was noise of metal being pulled from above her catching her guard. She looks up at the ceiling to see another armored human, but due to the dark emitting from the ceiling she couldn't get a good glimpse. She was able to catch the figure falling off from the ceiling which was an insane height, but it was pointing an odd shaped lance down towards...Pinkie Pie! Rainbow Dash gasped and reacted by spreading her wings and taking off after the armored figure and swings her sword surprisingly making contact with the armor and interrupting the attack. With a quick motion which Rainbow inherited she kicks the swordsman away into another direction which was out of a large open window which was where there was a tainted window of Twilight which must of shattered a while ago. "That takes care of whoever that was." Rainbow begins to float down to the ground and folds her wings.

"That was so cool Rainbow Dash. You're always so awesome!" Pinkie says happily. This made her cyan friend blush and rubs the back of her head.

"Thanks, but we're not done yet. Just gotta get to the throne room." Something almost slipped her mind when she was about to move and curiosity got the better of her making her ask a question for her pink friend. "A moment ago Pinkie...your eyes changed. Are you feeling okay?" Pinkie tilted her head and placed a finger on her lips looking confused.

"My eyes? Their just fine. Are you sure that your not the one who's not feeling good? I mean you were looking very furious after every question I asked you." Rainbow Dash remembered and also needed to make sure to apologize for that.

"Sorry, I've just been through a lot in the past," There was a silence between them for a few seconds before Rainbow Dash decided to let every source of her current feelings out. "You were actually right. It is who you think, but that's not the case right now. I trusted Redheart with him. Then again she's only one person and I doubt anyone else would understand what I feel." Pinkie Pie takes a step towards her long time Pegasus friend and gave a quick peck on cheek making Rainbow Dash's face flush red in embarrassment. Pinkie only giggled. After a moment they finally found double doors which only meant this was finally the throne room. Rainbow Dash had her sword in her hand ready for anything while Pinkie Pie still had her katana. Without hesitation or fear the young and brave Pegasus storms in the room with Pinkie Pie behind. Her presence was acknowledged by every single individual inside which was overwhelming for her. In the very back of the room was Queen Celestia standing firm with a peaceful look in her eye despite the situation Rainbow Dash happened to be seeing. In front of Celestia were her Royal Guards of all types with blades everywhere. Earth Royal Guards pointed their weapons at the swarm of Human soldiers before them, Unicorn Guards seemed to have endless supplies of swords of different types aimed at the humans. Transparent shards surrounded the swords in the room giving it an elegant gleam. Pegasus Guards were the only ones without swords and instead armed with Bows. Among the Unicorn Guards Rainbow Dash spotted Shining Armor standing in front as he seemed just about to unleash an instinct of unleashing his swords. Behind him was Spike who stood straight and was looking overwhelmed at the turn of events himself.

Most of the Humans were wearing armor aiming assault rifles and pistols towards the Equestrians, surprisingly not firing first. The only ones Rainbow Dash could see was not armored was a man with short red hair. The young Pegasus' eyes widened when she saw the man. It was the exact same one who she and Twilight encountered not too long ago. If that was the case then Twilight was tricked into thinking he left. Not only that, but she may be all the way into Canterlot for all she knew and it'll take a while even for her to come here. Her Alicorn potential hasn't been obtained yet for her to fly. However from what was going on so far morale was farther than Rainbow Dash could hope. Pinkie Pie stepped beside Rainbow Dash and looks up towards her with a look of concern of what was happening. Another individual caught their eye who was unarmored. A blonde haired man with dark blue eyes and wore a black trench coat. He took notice of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie and stared at them during the silence. Rainbow Dash's countered his gaze with a deathly glare, but it didn't even seem to faze him. His gaze met Pinkie's who wasn't even looking back towards him, then turns to Celestia as the silence was broken.

"Ooo, reinforcements." Noel said sarcastically. He sighed in aggravation. He looks at all the swords surrounding himself and his remaining forces.

"You're not going anywhere. Nor are you stealing what belongs to us." Shining said sternly. Noel smirks at Shining who only glared at his arrogant demeanor.

"Unfortunately, we came here only to see for myself the ruler of this filth of a race. I mean come on, you guys did happen to be a main cause of chaos with that plague of a crystal. Your last existing one was it? Sorry, but I don't think that thing belongs to this region. Think about it, all the chaos that emits every single time you borrow it's power. You are only lucky we only got a shard. That isn't satisfying though, humanity is thankful for your generous share of power from the last few years, but I think we'll relieve of it...now." Noel demands harshly. Celestia only stares down at him silently without even a blink. This was intimidating even for the guards who defended Celestia for a long time. Spike looks hopefully towards Rainbow Dash since she was considered one of the main representatives of the Element at this time.

"What do I do? Even though it looks like we have things in our favor, I'm getting a bad feel from that blond human." Rainbow Dash thought. The Pegasus thought that maybe provoking or threatening could solve, but she wasn't in the time or place to risk it. She wasn't even skilled in magic despite the remaining power of the Element gave her.

"It's too good of a night to leave. Besides we don't plan on leaving before we take that crystal by force." Noel added.

"Your funeral then." Rainbow Dash said without thinking. Noel growls and looks at the blond man.

"Shut them up Baron!" He ordered. Finally there was motion as the blond man named Baron lunged towards Rainbow Dash with speed she couldn't react to. Her and Pinkie Pie was suddenly tackled out of the room too everyone's surprise. As they were now out Baron grabs Rainbow Dash's shirt and throws her in the air and Pinkie Pie after her. As he expected Rainbow Dash stopped herself only for Pinkie's head to collide into abdomen making her cough along with giving the pink Equestrian a short concussion. The cyan Pegasus began to fall to the floor with Pinkie Pie after her. Baron hold his arm out aimed at Rainbow Dash although Pinkie was already helpless. Electricity began to emit around her hand and extended out into the shape of a blade and about to puncture the Pegasus' chest. With another swift movement Rainbow Dash flies out the way of the attack and catches Pinkie's hand. Pinkie Pie was completely dizzy from everything around her and couldn't even see what was going on around her.

"So you can use magic as well, huh?" Rainbow Dash groans. Baron's answer was swinging his extended sword towards her.

"Crap!" Rainbow Dash cursed out when she felt the tip of the electricity touch her exposed stomach which made her feel volts rush through her. Her body was stiff and she couldn't maintain holding Pinkie Pie anymore and was forced to drop her. From the height she was at no doubt she wouldn't be badly hurt, but could possibly black out from her concussion.

"Seems one isn't enough then." Baron muttered, his voice sounding very calm. Without hesitation another blue electric blade extends from his other hand impales Rainbow Dash's abdomen. She screamed out in agony when more supply of volts were rushed inside her body slowly sapping away of her life. Suddenly the blade was released allowing her to fall a greater height than Pinkie Pie which will leave her down for a moment. Her body lands hard facedown with her gunblade laying in front of her. She coughed out a red substance from her mouth, her blood now on the floor. Rainbow Dash didn't even know what to think from what just happened to her. She lost to a human faster than she could of imagined. "Just stay down. I don't wanna be in your hair as much as we don't like you being in our's." The Pegasus' ear twitched at that and slowly looks up with her vision blurred.

"W-what the hell are you...talking about?" She tried to yell, but her voice only turn into a rasp. Baron turned away and made his way back towards the double doors not before giving a final glance towards her.

"Just stay there." He said, it almost sounded like an order or a plead. However she was too exhausted and weak to move. However there seemed to be a struggle which he sensed making him sigh. He turned around expecting to see the Pegasus try to get back on her feet. Instead it seemed she was paralyzed from his attack. He took notice of Pinkie Pie and noticed she was beginning to stand up, but something was completely off that even Baron could tell. Slow and steadily the pink Equestrian began to get to her feet as her hair was now covering her face and was straight just like before. She looked up facing towards the Human, then looks at Rainbow Dash who left droplets of blood on the floor. A flash of pink light emitted from her hand revealing her katana as she was ready to fight.

"No one...no...one," She muttered to herself as she looked at the floor. Baron emits his electrical blades from his hands at a normal length as he was now on full guard. "Anyone...who touches and harms Dashie, I will kill them painfully." She finishes.

"Don't think that just because I can take your friend out easily means that I enjoyed it. Besides, you'd have a lot more than you think on your shoulders. Just...who are you? What are you?" Baron asked. Pinkie Pie's eyes yet again changed, but it was no longer a flash. Her eyes converted from it's happy light blue iris into a harsh crimson staring with murderous intent towards Baron.

"My name is Pinkamena. Anything beyond that is irrelevant since you're gonna disappear in a matter of seconds." Pinkie Pie grins widely with a whole new feeling surrounding it.

"Fine, one minute. That's all I have to spare with you." Baron began to walk towards Pinkamena with his blades still active. Pinkamena giggled at his cockiness. Setting a time limit for someone to play with her was beyond something she'd agree too, especially if that person harms her Rainbow Dash. Her free hand emitted a pink aura which caught the blond man's attention. She smiles widely as she shoots an icy orb that had materialized from her aura towards Baron. To her dismay though he sidesteps out of the way to avoid what it might be capable of. He was ultimately grateful for following his instinct on that dodge or else. Behind him was a large crystal of ice that imploded from the ground from the contact of the orb. Luckily, Pinkamena made it manually shatter as it happened to block the entrance to the throne room. Somehow it still hasn't seem to break out into a full bloodshed as most of the Elite Guards along with Spike could of delivered their blows and ended the chivalry. Baron gasped as he realized his eyes were off his opponent and quickly turns back to block a swing of her katana with his blades. Electricity began to emit transferring to the blade, but if it wasn't for the material of Pinkamena's hilt then no doubt the electricity would of taken effect by now. With all of his strength he pushes her back allowing his blades to have room. He rushes in for another assault with swift motions and swing from his blades. Like a machine the pink Equestrian was parrying his blows like she could memorize them without even seeing the extent of it.

"I've seen Rainbow Dash do faster hits than the what your doing Mr. Slowpoke." Pinkamena taunts. However she didn't notice an overhead slash readying from Baron until the last second when she slides out of his line of sight and behind him. She presses her sword against his back with an attempt to stab him for what he's done to her rainbow haired friend. Her eyes widened in surprise when she suddenly left a shocking force push her back to a certain distance away from Baron.

"Get off of me. I'm not going to waste my time anymore. Besides, I can tell your controlling that body aren't you?" Baron asked calmly. Pinkamena tried to hold a gasp of what he'd dare say towards her.

"This is my body idiot. What would you know about me? What would you happen to know what we're capable of? Why do you," Suddenly Pinkie Pie's hair and eyes were reverted back to it's normal state as she continued. "Why do you people want to hurt us? We've done nothing to deserve this." She finished in a sad tone. Baron glared at her sudden change, but it seemed like she wasn't going to be much of a threat any more.

"I don't know about the others, but I had sense to read intel about this place and what it inhabits. I know everything or possibly just the basics about this place, but knowing you and your friend I know everything about. Your fighting style for instance. I can tell you are capable to be an ambusher which is what you could of done if I didn't already spot you. As for your winged friend...she's fast. However I know there are more than you aren't there? I was interested in the purple Equestrian, maybe she could pose assistance to my will of fighting." Baron scratches the back of his head as he looks at the shattered window from a previous battle revealing that the sun was about the come up in a matter of moments. "Time sure flies here. Speaking of time, your's is up. You held up a good fight, but I need you as well to stay down." He runs towards Pinkie Pie with his blades at the ready. However his mind was changed from electrocuting her, he felt a speck of respect for her and the race. He turns his body and unleashed a kick directly to her side sending her hard against a wall. She looks at Baron again with an innocent look until she remembered Rainbow Dash was still in danger possibly.

"Don't you even think of hurting anyone else." Pinkie threatened.

"Can't promise that unfortunately. All I can do is wait," Baron replied as his electric blades dissipates. "Your race interests me so I'll try to limit your weight of casualties." With that said he walks back through the double doors giving the glimpse that everything inside from before is still maintained. No one has attacked yet. The doors closed leaving her in the darkness of the outside of Celestia's throne room. Rainbow Dash's body twitched. A moment later the cyan Pegasus didn't feel any pain from inside her body anymore allowing her to at least lift her head. She was still weak from what the amount of constant volts inflicted on her. Another moment pasted and Pinkie Pie noticed that her friend was beginning to stand up with no problem.

"Dashie! You're okay!" Pinkie said happily. Rainbow Dash stretched her body and moved every part of her body to relinquish any chance of cramps or spasms from her body.

"Yeah, somehow all the pain in my body just vanished. That guy is going to pay though. Where is he?" She growled out. Her mind was suddenly fixed when she realized from earlier inside the throne room. "Wait we need to get to Celestia quickly!" Rainbow Dash was about to take off into a sprint back inside of the situation, but someone grabbed her arm preventing her from moving. She turns around and sees it was Pinkie Pie who looked at her with a lot of concern on her face.

"You can't, we can't go in there head on Rainbow Dash." Pinkie told her.

"Then what should we do! They're gonna steal the Element or even kill Celestia and the guards to get to it!" Rainbow Dash shouted impatiently. Pinkie smiled as she remembered when Baron mentioned the words "ambusher" from earlier giving her the idea.

"Simple. If we go back in no doubt they'll attack on sight. Soooo we could just ambush towards the leader." Pinkie suggested.

"Even so we're gonna have a lot of people on us. Then again, how are even going to set up a good enough spot to ambush them?" Pinkie pointed at the large shattered window revealing the sun still at a low position.

"Grab me and fly out this window. I'm sure finding a proper place to set up will be easy since you did look over this place yourself. After we do that, I'll set up a distraction to take out that Noel guy. I'm positive you and the others can deal with the others right?" Pinkie asked. Rainbow Dash slammed her hand into her face and sighed at her idea.

"Then we'll be opened to the guy we just fought. Just great, flawless." She said sarcastically. Pinkie Pie tilted her head in confusion from what she meant.

"I did say I was setting up a distraction didn't I?" She asked. Rainbow Dash didn't bother arguing since that would get them no where and she didn't have anything in her mind to beat her idea. She nodded in agreement with the pink Equestrian and grabs her hand while spreading her wings. She flew off out of the window having Pinkie navigate to where she was talking about.

Meanwhile

Twilight was walking through the continuous ruins of Canterlot in the night sky, which made the sight look extremely sad to look at from the beauty it once held as her previous home. Applejack couldn't stand of it either since the place was practically deserted. All of the citizens must of ran to a safer area, hopefully. Rarity was also saddened the most due to her not going to have a chance to live in Canterlot if it's in ruins. Twilight was also highly worried for Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike inside the castle. Although she admired their own skills only Spike was the true combat specialist along with Shining Armor who was in the fight. Without her brother than Royal Guard morale will fall drastically for them. She had to get there quickly. No time could be spared for her to make it back to the castle since anything could happen in there.

"Uh, is it just me or do I see somethin' ten times bigger than those machines we just dismantled?" Applejack asked as she points ahead. Twilight looks closely hopefully to get a good enough view to see what Applejack was mentioning. Her eyes widened when she saw that the cowgirl was apparently right and something massive in size was trotting along the ruins as if it was on guard. It was nothing that Twilight has ever studied which made her grow slightly vulnerable for this.

"How did they prepare themselves for a defense in such a short amount of time?" Twilight thought as she glared at the beast who was unaware of their presence. Unfortunately, she didn't know what it was capable of nor did she have enough magic to fight something like that at this time. It was best to lay low since she already despised the amount of fighting she was forced to endure. The purple unicorn steps back despite that they had enough distance from the unknown creature already.

"What are we going to do darling?" Rarity asked staring off towards the beast with a nervous expression.

"The only thing we can do is keep out of it's sight till we get to the castle. I don't want to encounter something I never researched. This must be a subject from those forces." Twilight replied. The group move behind the remains of a building to be certain to get out of it's sight. The princess gave them warning to watch their steps and move around, hopefully giving an opening to enter the castle again. After a few minutes of doing the pattern of moving behind around and periodically standing behind the ruins to cover their presences the group was happily only halfway till they could fully get around the beast in question.

"Princess." Rarity spoke with formality. Twilight's face flushed red at the title despite it was her new title of Equestria.

"J-just call me Twilight as always. I'm nothing different than what I was before except a bigger responsibility. Just like you guys and the others." She replied with a smile to assure her. Twilight still didn't overcome the effect that other Equestrians would inflict to call her something so powerful. Twilight could only see herself as normal as everyone else, but then again she wasn't. Her and Spike were given special care alongside her older brother; it was more considered a blessing in person.

"Twilight, just what exactly is going on to cause all of this madness. Surely you know something about this do you not?" She asked. Twilight turned her head to face her, but quickly turns to face in front of her.

"I'm only basing this off of Luna's logic. As much as I want to wrap my head around this I just can't." She replied. She steps out from behind the building to move to another area that they'll be safe from. Suddenly a chill rushed down the unicorn's spine making her fall to her knees and gasp heavily. A cold-hearted feeling as if one of her friends we're just taken down. Applejack knelt beside her checking if she was alright.

"What's wrong sugarcube? You ain't looking so hot." She wraps an arm around Twilight in hopes of calming her. This condition was something completely new to her and was extremely abnormal and uncomfortable. There was flash of light in her vision and at that moment she could sworn she nearly heard a faint noise...someone speaking. Unfortunately, she was unable to comprehend what was being said from the soft voice. Applejack and Rarity's eyes widened when they saw a white light emit from Twilight's body and engulfed all of them making them all vanish.

Twilight's vision began to clear after it was recently blurred from the light and gasped when she realized she was inside the castle somehow. She blinked a few times wondering if she really was here.

"That's odd," Rarity's voice echoed despite her being close to Twilight. "I may not be a complete master in magic, but I know for certain that definitely felt different from any normal Magic Surge." Twilight had to admit as well. Magic Surges was considered a unicorn based adrenaline rush to amplify magic in a uncontrollable rate. However, she felt no sense of threat or fear of death for something like that to happen. She took note of her surroundings and noticed she was back inside the castle. She remembered from earlier that the previous attack not long ago created destruction on the first floor which seemed to be where she was at right now. However it seems the whole area was empty even the injured guards civilians, they must of been evacuated.

"Well, whatever it was it sure made getting here a lot more easier." Applejack added as she pulled out her cowboy hat which was tied behind her.

"Thankfully yes, but we're only at the bottom floor." Twilight's head drooped in disappointment. Suddenly there was heavy footsteps coming from the stairs to the second floor. Following the footsteps was a weapon being dragged possibly going to leave behind a mark. The figure in front of them was revealed to be an armored human, but unlike the rest Twilight could see somethings unique about this opponent. For one this human was a swordsman instead of using firearms like all the rest. Another difference was that the gender of this individual female from the shape of the breast plate. Lastly was the special armor, it's main color was red with spikes coming from the shoulders and purple lines around the armor. The helm was significantly different as well as it resembled a dragon's head. The female human's weapon of choice was a red lance with the exact same texture and design as her armor along with it being almost as big as herself.

"Do not come any closer. Take another step and I'll gladly take you three down as my first casualties." She threatened. She points her lance towards them giving a sign that she wasn't kidding either. Twilight snorted. Just when she hoped things would go right for once, it's slapped right in her face like bad luck.

"How rude...a true lady would never threaten another. Do all of your kind come of that nature?" Rarity asked grimly.

"Why you-" The armored female growled out. With murderous intent she attempts to attack Rarity with an unknown throwing projectile. However this attempt was blocked when transparent blades surrounded the Equestrians like a barrier which came from Twilight.

"Speak your name and business." Twilight demanded. This was the second time so far that she exploited such confidence towards another individual. Rarity turned towards her with awe towards her behavior.

"You seem rather confident. For that you earned a bit of respect from me already. I guess you could call me...Dragoon." She replied. "However that doesn't change the fact. If you attempt to step past me you will all die." She added in a calm voice.

"Keep my friends out of this. I had no intention of fighting, but I...you leave me no choice!" Twilight shouts out. Her barrier vanished into shards as she said this. In a flash of white light her broadsword appeared in her hand. With no hesitation she threw her sword past Dragoon to keep her off guard. She warped to her designated point which the sword was stuck in the wall behind her enemy. The armored woman gasped as she turned around, but she was too late when a fireball was shot in point blank range pushing her off the stairs and down where Applejack and Rarity stood. "Alright, we need to hurry now." Twilight rushed off in a full sprint surprising both the mares of her impressive speed.

"Hold up!" Applejack shouted as she took off as well. Rarity wasn't the type to run especially since she couldn't due to her dress, but she followed after them with a groan.

Outside the Castle

Rainbow Dash could see the entire exterior of the castle and she felt even more glad to be given the ability to fly as she noticed the true beauty of it from the height she was in. However now wasn't the time nor possibly the place to doze off since anyone could see in such a vulnerable spot. Plus, she could sense the anxiety of Pinkie wanting to hit the ground which made her bit her bottom lip.

"Sorry." She flew off to search for the opening that Pinkie happened to claimed. In a matter of minutes it became self-explanatory when she suddenly got a flashback in the Throne Room. It was entirely similar to the giant hall they were in when they fought Baron. That memory of her defeat from him she couldn't shake away due to her pride ruined from that. She needed to be more vigilant. Hopefully this plan would go as expected. As she flew with Pinkie Pie dangling behind her she saw a white glint in the corner of her eye. She turned her head and noticed it came from a painted window showing a portray of Luna when she still a Princess. Apparently, her analysis on the Throne Room did have that which surprisingly wasn't shattered. Right next to it was another painted window showing Shining Armor. Rainbow Dash lifts Pinkie Pie up and holds her bridal style. Pinkie blinked when she noticed the windows and smiled.

"Hey that's it!" She points at Shining Armor's painted window. "Ram into that window, then once everyone is in confusion I'll handle that red guy!" She spoke enthusiastically. At first Rainbow Dash was going to ask if this was even a remote calculation or a 'stab in the dark' which could prove a downfall. Unfortunately she couldn't debate this since Celestia's life was at stake as well as the Element's. "Okay, we'll both ram in then you'll have to immediately drop me when we're in." Pinkie Pie added. Rainbow Dash nodded. She got ready to prepare to get enough force in it. She kicked the air giving her a powerful dash towards the window. She held her head down bracing for impact. She heard glass shatter, but strangely she didn't collide with it. She looked at Pinkie to see she tossed something inside causing the glass to break. She saw a look of shock when she saw they were right behind the humans in the position. Not only that, but time suddenly slowed around as Rainbow Dash turned to see the projectile that was thrown. Two small pink orbs...Pinkie's Special Smokescreen. The Pegasus sighed. Time resumed and as planned they were inside. Rainbow Dash lets go of Pinkie right when pink smoke erupts in the room. Rainbow Dash flew over hopefully to see the exact radius of the smoke and to her amazement it covered the entire human forces while Celestia, Spike, Shining, and the other guards were awaiting what was going to happen. Their swords still hovered in the same spot moving from side to side slowly.

"How did she come up with something like this so quickly?" Rainbow Dash thought. Suddenly there were gunshots flying around and out of the smoke which barely missed her cheek.

"Get me out of here, NOW!" She heard Noel shout out along with the shouts of other soldiers. Rainbow's gunblade appeared in her hand in case she saw any survivors as the smoke began to dissipate. The smoke cleared and all that was left standing was Pinkie Pie as soldiers were lying on the floor whether they were dead or alive wasn't the cyan Equestrian's problem. However, she gasped when she also saw there was still a human standing, Baron.

"Oops, I missed one." Pinkie sighed in dismay. Baron was wide eyed towards Pinkie as if he saw a ghost. His body was looking a little pale, whatever it was he seemed frightened despite the beating he gave not long ago. He was out numbered and there was a death possibility for him already so he was practically trapped. Rainbow Dash also noticed something else, Noel was gone. The smoke screen must of shielded his escape or he must of teleported like last time. Baron looked around the surrounding guards, Celestia, then saw Rainbow Dash.

"We got you now. Looks like you've gotta make a big decision to-," Before Rainbow Dash finished Baron slowly held his hands up.

"Yep. No way outta this. Not because of the insane amount of fighting potential you have, mainly that Queen you have." Baron stared at Celestia who was still silent throughout the entire scene of what was going on.

"Whatever do you mean? I'll even admit, I'm not as strong as you may think." Celestia finally spoke grimly.

"It's creatures that say stuff like that which scare the crap outta me. I really wouldn't give a damn about that crystal you're defending anyway." He replied.

"Then why are you attacking in the first place?" Pinkie Pie asked as she tilted her head with a quizzical look. Baron looked back at her with sweat beading from his head almost like rain.

"It's not like I gave you casualties. From what I've seen from my arrival you only had writhing bodies, but living. So...what are you going to do to me?" Baron asked calmly. Even through the sight of seeing most of the forces taken down by a single happy-go lucky Anthropomorphic pony; along with seeing resiliency from mainly Rainbow Dash as she probably took the hardest hit out of everyone he fought Baron still kept his calm and collected demeanor.

"Sheesh, give the guy some mercy. At least he was smart enough to know defeat." Pinkie announced. Suddenly, the doors were pushed opened catching everyone's attention. Standing at the door was Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity all looking amazed at the results that was just given. Here they were worried that things would go end up towards bloodshed and they end up with a prisoner. Baron ignored them and continued what he had to say, something very crucial that even Twilight had to hear.

"I may just be a normal soldier and you may not even like me, but I can tell you that Noel isn't the only one who wants your crystal. Practically every greedy human being wants their hands on that thing." Baron finished. Twilight gasped at hearing this news, the sheer amount of luck she felt from withstanding something like this and it turns out to be the beginning. She needed to know more. Something in her soul was telling her this must be urgent and spread across Equestria. She took a step forward and walked towards the blond man. He seemed to have surrendered, but from the last time she encountered a soldier who surrendered she almost lost her vocal cords in a matter of minutes. Her tracks were stopped when Celestia suddenly appeared in front of Baron blocking him from her view.

"Although you claim to not have killed anyone you will still be taken in for questioning." She told him. Baron only shrugged. "We are now forced to go through repair for the damage your race has caused, therefore you will also be imprisoned until further notice."

"I'd say forever." Rainbow Dash mumbled. Celestia gestures the Royal Guards to lead him to their jail. The Pegasus flew next to Twilight and folds her arms in dismay while Baron walked past them along with the guards.

"Depending on the damage in Canterlot it shouldn't take too long for it to be fixed. Otherwise we might have some trouble." Celestia told Twilight. "This time I'll make sure defenses are tightened around at all times. You may rest now my...Princess." Her voice sounding angelic as always in Twilight's ears. She walks out the throne room leaving her behind along with all her friends. Spike stood beside her noticing her look of wonder written across her face.

"Whatever your thinking now can be put back, I'm sure of it." He said with a grin. He leaned his body past her and noticed Rarity who was busy acknowledging the destruction that was caused in the room although it wasn't too great. His face turned red at seeing her and he cursed himself for leaving his tuxedo behind to look proper for her. Twilight turned towards him with a look asking for answers on how this turned out.

"What exactly happened here?" She asked him. Spike scratched the back of his neck and began to speak his part.

"When you left the castle it was nearly swarmed even to where I couldn't handle it alone. It was armed humans and mechs everywhere to where I had to...well retreat," Spike said, feeling ashamed for a moment. "Anyway, I was the first one to leave, because I knew at this point Celestia would be in danger, hence why I was here right now. You should of seen how intimidating it was being surrounded by all that magic at once." Rainbow Dash walked over to continue from where he left off.

"I was protecting the front while you left. I never even noticed that Spike left, but later on they stopped coming. Me and Pinkie Pie left when I realized about Celestia, but for some reason now I'm just aggravated." She paused there which left Twilight in wonder for what she meant. For that matter she felt like she was going to get a headache now for the amount of thinking of this conflict. Hopefully she will get answers soon. The team except Spike and Twilight herself depart from the castle as the Princess and her assistant decide to get rest as suggested.

Author's Note

It's been a long time since I've written this fanfiction or rather any type of story for that matter. I've decided to continue on with this story since I have faith and confidence you will all enjoy. If there is anything you find wrong with it do not hesitate to ask. Also, Baron obviously an OC as well as Noel Faust are one of the vital humans in this story. You will learn more as you go on when I write more chapters.

So I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to you encouraging me. :D

Chapter 3

A Week Later

Time had past in the invasion between Humans and Equestrians since both received injured and casualties. However, the full week of no conflict helped give the civilians feel a sense of safety, but at the same time if brought paranoia to them since they've heard a human has gone into their custody. For who knows why, it could become an advantage or a liability to constantly worry of his presence since he was known as the one who easily disposed of two of the Element Protectors. Speaking of which, they all couldn't help but feel self pity at failing to protect it. It was only a fraction of a piece though in their minds it made it big deal to them of how it could affect all other citizens in the future. However, they were grateful it wasn't anymore than it needed to be and enough to where it didn't matter too much.

During the whole week after the battle, it took a relatively small amount of time to repair their home. Canterlot had sustained the most attention at the moment due to it taking the most damage, eventually other parts of Equestria were also given any notable repairs if any were needed. Only the central part of Canterlot and the Princess's Castle were really all that were major now since then. Even within the room of now crowned Princess, she could see Workers and Royal Guards alike working together to gather up the appropriate materials to keep building Canterlot to 100% of what it was before the incident. Twilight eyed through her window once in a while too see them work. Currently, she was doing one of her favorite hobbies ever since she was young, reading. She made it as a habit to entertain herself when no work was to be done or at this time...keeping her mind out of focus of what happened a week earlier. She really had strained herself throughout those days.

All the fighting she went through which she couldn't believe herself for doing. It was all in the sake of her homeland and her fellow people, but no doubt she may receive a lot of unneeded praise for Equestrians all over Canterlot or wherever she went for that matter. In fact, that's what she and Spike has to deal with from now on as they were now seen as a new generation of heroes along side her friends. Guardians of the Element they would call them, but the people were ignorant of the fact that the Humans has obtained a precious Shard of the Element. Magic would be slightly weaker than before to every Equestrian within the country. It was no big deal if you were among the weakest or strongest, however anyone hoping to become better at magic would have to strain themselves harder to pull off a highly skilled spell. Twilight was a good example of this concept as she once tried to levitate multiple objects of her room around for rearrangements and she become exhausted after a few minutes. Her fighting capabilities however didn't seem too different outside of her usual lacking stamina. Rainbow Dash would always bash on that flaw and Applejack would even step in to prove it's liabilities. Rarity on the other hand, known for her supportive magic and admirable combat potential, she had no objections surprisingly.

A knock on the door interrupted Twilight's reading moment. She looked up with a groan as the unknown individual knocks once again on her door without giving any sort of acknowledgement of who they were. However, Twilight used her magic to open the door and gasped at who was there to show up. A familiar bright yellow furred figure with long pink hair that could covered the right side of it's face. Gorgeous teal eyes looking towards the sitting Princess as well as wearing a casual wear of a yellow shirt with a pink butterfly design on the front and a pair of jeans. It was Fluttershy, much to Twilight's astonishment that she gasped loudly. She hasn't seen Fluttershy in a while even during her ceremony of becoming pronounced as Princess. It left her worried, but relieved as she didn't need to worry so much about Fluttershy's weak stomach and her fear. She was strong regardless, but her emotions always stopped her in her tracks of fighting. Something Rainbow Dash has always wanted to teach her to NOT worry in battle.

"F-Flutter...shy?" Twilight spoke slowly as she stood up and slowly walked towards her. Her eye contact with her was disrupted when a familiar white rabbit showed up on Fluttershy's shoulder with a grumpy attitude. Angel the Bunny glared at Twilight with his usual protective demeanor. Twilight blankly stared at him back to hold back her amusement of how he tried to make himself intimidating. However, Fluttershy's voice caught her attention once again.

"Y-your highness. I a-apologize for not attending your ceremony. I...I was busy with important matters on behalf of Rainbow -,"

"First off, please refrain from calling me in formality. It makes me feel awkward." Twilight cuts her off.

"Oh uh...s-sorry P-princes - er...Twilight!"

Fluttershy told Twilight her accompany with Redheart to help out with a sibling of Rainbow Dash's health. Twilight immediately understood and looked down at having to remember the situation Rainbow Dash had to be pushed into. To add onto the event, during the battle last week, the hospital Fluttershy and Redheart were being kept had been attacked by humans as well for unknown reasons. Unfortunately, some sick and injured Equestrians had deceased in the aftermath while Rainbow Dash's brother was a lucky one of the few that survived. Twilight bit her bottom lip at hearing the tragic news, something she didn't want to bother thinking. What point was there for such an act? Nothing at all. There was no exclamation even in villain standards of why killing off sick and helpless individuals was necessary. Nonetheless, not all were slaughtered and some managed to survive to live on and hopefully recover properly. That sort of news gave Twilight the urge to now head outside at this time. Sunlight was probably what she needed these past few days and it may help clear her thoughts perhaps. She lets Fluttershy know she was leaving and asked her if she wanted to accompany her.

"Why of course your highness...Ah! I mean Twilight!" Fluttershy corrected herself in a flustered tone. Twilight and her one of her best friends head out down the stairs while stumbling across some Royal Guards that gave their formal salutations upon seeing her. Once again, Twilight was flustered and annoyed, but she kept moving on through the corridors of the castle as she noticed small repairs still being done within the castle. Fluttershy stopped to greet some of the workers as Twilight still made her way down to the lower levels. Now down on the first floor where she walked down a large batch of batch of stairs to make her way to the double door exit at the end of the room which was completely repaired and cleaned. Fluttershy followed behind with a jog and caught up with the Princess.

"Where are you going exactly?" Fluttershy asked curiously. Twilight halted herself for a moment to think about just where she wanted to go after all. In her mind all she really thought about was just getting sunshine on her body. Considering the way things have been, she thought maybe checking around for strange activity would act a good way of keeping her outside. She settled by vaguely stating that she wanted to check within the outskirts of the Canterlot. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at her answer, but didn't bother trying to really evaluate what she meant. She simply kept following Twilight and hoped to keep her out of danger.

They stepped outside and finally Twilight had first hand witnessed the sunshine after a week of rest and reading. She took a deep breath in relief as fresh air filled her nostrils and stretched from all the laying around she's been through. Twilight looked back at Fluttershy with a smile on her face then looked back in front of her to keep walking until Fluttershy suddenly stopped her much to her dismay.

"Twilight. If you're planning on going on a long trip without Celestia's knowledge it would at least be best to take one of the carriages for a ride to avoid so much walking." She suggested.

"Are you implying I can't walk on my own or something?" Twilight groaned.

"Twilight we're friends. I...I just don't want you to strain yourself again like the last time you tried training with the Royal Guards." Twilight chuckled at remembering the moment Fluttershy brought up. The funny story was that at some point around when Shining Armor applied to become a Royal Guard, she had joined one of the training sessions without his knowledge and worn herself out faster than the time she tried running two laps around the castle (Only making it halfway through one lap mind you). It was an embarrassing moment, but the past was the past. She couldn't stand behind her friends the entire time as her lack of stamina was clearly notable even today. No, she wanted to keep getting better and proving herself as the next natural leader of her land. Become a true force to be reckoned with, thus the reason she was said to potentially become an Alicorn someday. There have been no clear tells of her changing to one. It wasn't even proven logically that it was going to happen, Celestia once again on placed all her hope on Twilight's future and hoped for the absolute best for her.

Twilight looked at the neatly parked carriages placed ahead of the castle. Two reserved for the Queens as they were colored in their natural color scheme and lastly a free one that shared the same purple and gold color as most carriages would hold. Thanks for the Magic emitted from it, the carriages didn't have to be pushed or pulled by an actual force. All it needed was passengers and their guidance for directions to be able to function properly. Twilight walked up to one of the 5 available carriages to hope in before she was once again interrupted by all too familiar voices behind her. She turns around to see Spike and Rarity happily speaking among each other about their time through the last few days until noticing Twilight and Fluttershy near the carriages. Spike immediately rushed over to Twilight with an annoyed look as if she had did something wrong while Rarity calmly stood beside Fluttershy and giving her salutations.

"Twi! You could of at least let me in on whatever trip you're going on. You know you need your "assistant"." Spike quipped. Twilight folded her arms as she gave him a stern look which Spike only returned.

"I was actually fine. But I don't mind in the slightest. Just...don't baby me like the helpless Princess like everyone else." Twilight retorted.

"When have you known me for worrying?" Spike asked jokingly. Twilight smiled at the compliment he attempted to make. Rarity cleared her throat to get Twilight's attention and gave her a look of concern as she just had to know of where the princess was heading. If even if it annoyed her, she would still understand that it was simply safety measures for her friends and loved ones. She asked Twilight where she planned on heading at this time. Twilight proudly replies on the location that she simply wanted to monitor Canterlot for any suspicious activity and head right back. Rarity gave her a stern look which also filled with concern for her. However, she knew nothing was much to worry about as she knew Twilight's capabilities as well as her own synergy which can improve the outcome of her travels. She simply nods in agreement with Twilight's ideas without a second thought and asks if she can accompany as well. Twilight didn't mind one bit. In fact she began to feel that it would be a good idea to have her friends along the ride to make it even more interesting and fun for her. After all, she knows for sure that at her current state she needs the social attention and action from outside. Without any more interruptions, the party entered the carriage with Twilight focusing her magic to enable the locations she wanted to see. As the preparations were finished, she sat comfortably next to Spike as Fluttershy and Rarity sat across from them as the carriage began to hover from the ground and takes off in the air.

A few minutes after silence came between them since the ride had begun, the carriage made it's way above Canterlot where they could sneak a peek over to get a bird's eye view of the structures beneath them. Twilight has stated to her friends that the trip was going to take a while as she instructed multiple destinations which neither of them mind. Spike stretched himself and folded his arms before looking at Twilight with a caring smile on his face.

"You know...last week was quite a turn of events." He begun.

"Spike..." Twilight groaned, she tried to forget about last week's event.

"Twilight, it doesn't matter what we do. You said it yourself, humans are after our blood...well Equine Blood namely. However it just seemed to get me thinking about what happened. They stole a portion of the Element which leaves us with 5 shards remaining. That's bad news and all, but aren't we still capable of summoning them?" He points out. Twilight shuddered at what Spike was implying. Powerful creatures that could be summoned through pure magic. Only the Alicorns themselves were able to accomplish such a feat which even then took a lot of concentration and patience. Twilight reminded him that the Elements had nothing to do with the process. It actually took portions of the souls of the summoners as a cost. Therefore, if the summon was the die prematurely, the summoners would be given a shorter life span as repent for failure towards the summon. Spike suddenly shuddered himself for the thought of it. It sounded very risky and scary now that she explained it. However, Twilight also points out that the use for summons are almost never a failure as they themselves are extremely powerful that even an entire race of Equestrians would barely stand a change against them.

"Interesting facts darling. I take it you've been taking too much pride into your homework?" Rarity quipped.

"I mean work may as well be her bride." Fluttershy added jokingly. Spike laughed at Fluttershy's joke in synergy with Rarity which even made Twilight snicker at the joke made at her. It was nothing she was ashamed of. Without something to keep her mind focused and calm such as working as a distraction she may as well go crazy.

"You know. Now that we bring up the topic of work here. I just so happened to sneak a few facts about that human we captured from before." Spike spoke proudly. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity gave him their full attention at what he had to say. Spike gave them all a stern look as he took what he was about to say very seriously.

"That man, his name is Baron Helmut and he of course works alongside the other humans to obtain the Element to drain our power source to leave us with nothing for our everyday lives. He stated himself that he had no intention of harming us lethally unlike the others. In fact he doesn't care too much about the remaining shards of the Element. He told the Queens and the High Ranking Royal Guards that more humans from different regions of his country is after the shard for their own personal gain. In other words this was just the beginning." Spike took a moment to gather him thoughts. "Take this into account once again. More humans, different regions, different goals. They're treating us like we're objects to be carried around. As we of course know, magic is what gives us power. Power is something that Humans and everything in Equestria strives for. Can you take wild guess on what'll happen if this power is scattered?"

"Simple. It gets into the wrong hands and used for bad reasons. That's more than enough reason to get that shard back." Twilight answered, trying to hold back an aggressive statement.

"Actually, even worse now that I think about it. Oh my, Spike you're not implying that a war may happen if the Elements continue to be stolen?" Rarity added. Spike nodded at their answers before sitting back. It's bad enough that one shard of the Element is gone, but once word of it's power is once again spread towards Humans, they will become hungry for more of it's power and it'll eventually become a defense for Equestria against countless numbers of Human Organizations and Personnel. Twilight remembered the report that Rainbow Dash had been gravely wounded by Baron whom she'll take her precious time considering to forgive him. Suddenly, that mindset made her get a cold swear and a chill run down her spine. She's never thought so...vengeful before. Was it stress of the situation Equestria was in? She was officially apart of the situation as her power could be noted. Suddenly another thought of an individual came into her mind! The human cleanly defeated who called herself "Dragoon". Was there anything they could get out of her perhaps?

"Turns out that girl wasn't real. The body was a decoy. There's no one named Dragoon in custody." Rarity replied sadly. Twilight grunts and sat back with her arm resting on the handle of the door and her hand on her cheek. She was deep in thought now. There was literally nothing she could possibly do on her own. Even with the help of her friends could be risky to try to hope for any access to face the humans on their own for answers. Suddenly, the carriage began to descend which they all felt. Twilight ignored all the thoughts rushing in her head and decided it was best to continue on with her idea of wandering the open land outside Canterlot, Eclipse Plains. The carriage landed, allowing all of the passengers to step off to take a look at their destination. The calming green land around them had once been a key location for Celestia and Luna where it was debated to be their training grounds when they were younger, or perhaps a place where they once fought when Luna went rogue in the past. The Queens had never spoken of the event themselves which remains a mystery. Personally, Twilight wanted to somewhat keep it simple and pretend it was simply named by the Queens themselves. After all, this places biggest aspect was nature and it was the first location you'd see a Solar Eclipse happen. As a result seeing it in daytime was a little bit awkward for her. She saw some of it's inhabitant creatures spreading across the plains going about their way of life.

"I would like to assume this is just a tour trip. But, you're here for something aren't you your highness?" Rarity asked? Twilight turned towards her friends with an awkward smile and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Rarity seemed quite determined to know her schedule in a place like this. In all honesty, it was more of a minor-major issue that she felt was necessary to deal with since the Royal Guards seemed oblivious. Twilight reached in her pocket within her jeans to pull out a folded sheet of yellow paper and unfolded it before showing what was on it to her friends. A bounty, of a creature labelled to the Equestrians as "Behemoth", a deadly creature that Twilight remember nearly encountering when the humans attacked the castle. Perhaps it was once of their own creations to assist them. However that day, it vanished and no sign of it was recorded by the Royal Guards which left a bad feeling in Twilight's well being. She didn't want to believe it necessarily just vanished from thin air. It had a location to attend to which she cannot allow to keep in her land for very long. It could endanger a species or in fact just be a trump card for another invasion for the Human's next strike at some point. Fluttershy stared scarily at the creature on the bounty sheet.

"I-I've never seen something like that going around in town!" She yelped.

"Simple, it's only exclusive to Royal Guards. I doubt Celestia or Luna would want any random kids attempt to be heroes and dying horribly to such a thing. The reward is suppose to be based on the evidence we find on it's defeat. We're talking at least 10,000 Bits perhaps." Twilight grinned slyly.

"In the middle of a the beginning of a war and all you care about is the money. Interesting." Spike replied grimly.

"That's not the only thing I care about. This is eliminating a possibly major threat to our environment as well as getting a major start on probably future travels if we succeed. Which of course we can." Twilight explained. It's not greed or any of that nature which pulled her into this assignment. No, instead it was the possibility of just doing the work as a potential Sovereign of Equestria alongside her friends and perhaps use the reward for future benefits. Who knows, perhaps afford more good clothing? A weapon collection? Maybe another pet?

"How exactly do we know where this Beast is anyway?" Spike asked curiously.

"It's said on the Bounty itself. Finding the exact location is possibly our issue really. It shouldn't be too bad though right?" Twilight replied.

"There's more to Bounties than you think darling. Are you really sure you have the stamina to withstand the task? You have no sort of experience with this creature after all. Who knows what it's capable of, as well as it's size and strength. There is more to this assignment than you may think Princess." Rarity tried to point out, with a look of concern on her face. "Which is why I believe the Royal Guards should-,"

"We're already here Rarity. I don't intend on leaving unless I get a piece of that Behemoth thing or I just so happen to get knocked unconscious." Twilight sternly replied. "The assignments been out during the previous week. I don't even thing they want to deal with it at this moment. I say we make it easy for them and just prove that we can handle ourselves fine. After all, I'm not just a Princess that always needs protecting...right?" She asked with a tilt of her head. They all finally decided to agree on the matter. Twilight's confidence and enthusiasm was always a rare factor that had to make them agree as they knew it was just a way of her wanting to prove herself as a leader.

"We should get going now. The sooner this is done, the better." The Princess added. The party walks off in a random location leaving behind the carriage which surrounds itself in a white barrier. Twilight walked along the grass to meet nature of the Eclipse Plains which it's been a long time she's walk on. Parasprites making a line of an area and spreading it's song throughout the area which the party had always taken note of since first arriving. It was soothing to all of them as it gave out a positive vibe about nature's cycle and job. Sadly, Spike convinced Twilight to ignore them at the moment after taking what Twilight said a bit seriously. Moving on further through the plains the party stumbled upon a lake with a quite exquisite site in the middle to catch their attention. A massive statue of Celestia and Luna back to back with one another holding up their arms. Across from their arms was hovering magical orbs that happened to represent the powers of both entities. Celestia's being white for representing Light/Sun Rise and Luna's being a Blackish Purple to represent Darkness/Moon Fall. It was a very nostalgic thing to look at from all their perspectives. Twilight has only seen this same statue twice in her childhood along with Spike. Seeing it again as a grown up gave her an odd feeling in her stomach that she couldn't explain. Fear? Relief? It was difficult to put into words. Nothing at all could express this feeling, but it must of been good as the statue represented a reunion between the Queens as they haven't always been as people hoped.

"Eclipse Eternia, this statue is just a memory of a miraculous reunion and synergy with our now named Queens. I must say, this is the first time I've seen it in person." Rarity said. "Unless you count the designs of some of my dresses I made to represent it."

"The name is so appropriate if you think about it. An Eclipse to describe Celestia and Luna's bond. They are sisters...b-but-," Fluttershy trailed off on her voice. Twilight nodded in agreement. She's even heard that the orbs are suppose to sense Celestia and Luna's presence by combining and forming it's own Eclipse to shroud the water in it's color. It was an interesting piece, it was just a shame that no individual was credited for the work since the creators is unknown.

"Nothing interesting is really gonna come out of it at this point. Celestia and Luna aren't here so we won't be able to see what it can really do." Spike pointed out. The party stepped away from the edge of the lake and continued onward to explore and find any kind of clue if there could be any sign of the Behemoth. So far nothing of interest really came up to their knowledge. Only finding a few members of nature and respecting it (Nature was doing the reverse for Fluttershy periodically). They traveled rather far from where they started to the point that their protected carriage was just a spot of white in the distance which could easily be covered by the sun's gleam. Twilight folds her arms in frustration and throws them up with an angry grunt. Hunting really was something difficult for even a few people to handle. As much as splitting up would be a good way for spreading area, her team was too paranoid to leave her by herself. Then again, Twilight began to have second thoughts of that idea when an idea of her own came into her mind of finding the beast.

"I just thought of something. What if that thing is only into being in dark areas? I mean we did encounter it on full alert during the night. If we could just find a dark area...maybe wait till night?" Twilight suggested. Spike shrugged, not really caring too much about the idea she proposed. Fluttershy looked down at the ground a bit shaken at her idea. Rarity merely groaned as she sternly looked at Twilight.

"If we can find it at night, I'm sure finding it in the day time would suffice. Besides, if it's true then we just hope that it's weak at daytime or something." Rarity replies. "Honestly, your highness you're pushing your luck."

"Rarity, enough with the formalities." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Maybe you are right. Finding it at day time could help out during this time. This really can help out our chances of taking it down."

"That's not what I-, why do I even bother?" Rarity pinched the bridge of her nose. Spike nudged Twilight to gain her attention and pointed her out towards the distance. A canyon, but what Spike tried pointing out was completely out of Twilight's eye sight. Therefore he decided explain it to them.

"I see a cave just along there. Call me crazy...but I think maybe that's where it could be if excels more in dark areas." Spike smiled at his idea and slowly turned to Twilight who thoughtfully looked ahead. It definitely was a substantial theory he made, but then again a cave in general was bad news as there was located the 'bad' parts of nature. Bats, Chimeras, who knows what could be there? That was probably beyond her guidelines as she knew it was going to be difficult to see in there. Lastly and most annoyingly, Rarity's glamour.

"Ugh, if you would of told me sooner that this would involve a cave...I would of worn something to fit that occasion. You both will have to owe me a bit of the reward." Rarity retorts.

"When did you turn into a rogue?" Twilight quipped. Rarity scoffed but remained silent. "Well, once we get this done. You can have some of the money."

"Now you really are making me sound bad now." Rarity groaned. Twilight laughed, then began to move ahead towards the canyon with Spike followed behind her. Rarity had trouble catching up while Fluttershy purposely decided to stay behind. To add slightly more joy to her freedom to run around, Twilight summoned her broadsword from her hand and tossed it ahead of her to warp to the location. Little was she even aware of where she was even throwing it to. The blade lands and Twilight vanished into a flash of white which surprised Spike as he realized where she ended up.

"Oh boy." Spike muttered. Twilight pulled her sword out and took a look at her surrounding and noticed she was surrounded by a pack of large four legged creatures surrounded in red fur and large tusks erupted from it's hidden head. Twilight was paralyzed with shock and fear as they slowly moved around her, but didn't necessarily take a glance towards her. Instead the creatures slowly moves past Twilight, carrying along it's business as if she wasn't standing there from the very beginning. The princess sighed in relief as she rubbed off sweat from her forehead from nervousness and the heat of the sun. She notices Spike moving around the animals she came across as he rushes towards her with Fluttershy and Rarity behind.

"Twilight darling! You...are you alright!" Rarity spoke up first before Spike as she examined Twilight for any sign of wounds. The unicorn mage sighed in relief after seeing none on her.

"Don't worry Rarity, those were just Garulas. They are harmless unless anything harms it." Fluttershy assured. Rarity simply nodded as she stood tall and kept her elegant posture.

"Yeah...'sis'. You may wanna keep all the enthusiasm for when we actually find what we're looking for." Spike suggested as he walked ahead of Twilight to lead forward. Twilight calmly follows and decided to actually stick near her friends in case something unfortunate did actually in that scenario. It was a slightly long walk for the party till actually reaching the entrance of the cave that the dragon mentioned. Just the entrance itself was pitch black which was to the point that everyone felt a bit discouraged to step foot in there. After a bit of silence and staring, Rarity shocking decides to step forward to look ahead with her horn illuminating the front of the cave.

"I suppose just a little light can get us a long way. We each have our own method of creating a light for ourselves correct?" Rarity asked. Spike replied by blowing a green flame into his hand and hovered it towards his chest. He released the flame as it stayed stuck to his chest like a flashlight. Twilight illuminated her horn as she followed behind Spike.

"Um...I-I'll just rely on you guys for light." Fluttershy whispered, slightly embarrassed. The party moves forward into the cave preparing for anything awaiting them.

Back At The Castle

Shining Armor was growing a bit impatient. It's been hours since anything has been spoken of by their captive. Outside of what he's stated about there being a future invasion as soon as Noel makes it back to his country. It grew a sense of paranoia for every Royal Guard including himself. Something like that shouldn't happen a second time and it definitely shouldn't result in more losses. Despite a minimal amount of casualties thanks to magic, it just made it more scary as those were simply his own forces. Civilians weren't so lucky. That thought messed around his mind which had him pacing back and forth from the room he was guarding the prisoner. He could expanded the defense across Canterlot instead of just the castle. Hell, he could of just made it there himself to put his life at risk if that's what it took.

"No...I cannot think like that. Not at this time. Remember what the former captain said...you can't save them all." He muttered to himself. "If only you were here right now Cadence." His sweetheart and fiancee Cadence was thankfully away from all the violence in Canterlot and was helping the Crystal City, far north of Canterlot. A true beauty and his goddess as she was the niece of Celestia and Luna. The only real reason he's considered the prince of Equestria. Still, he follows his duties as a Royal Guard for the sake of protecting her and everyone around him. Fear of course was what prevented that from happening last time, the event of when so many firearms and so many Royal Guard weapons threatened to puncture the opposition. He simply should of ordered to make the first strike and it would of happened. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie's intrusion prevented that from happening since he had too much confidence in them. He still remembered when Baron had stepped back in the room and saw a glimpse of the rainbow haired Pegasus defeated and unconscious. Someone of that caliber to take on two of the main Guardians of the Element had just made things more complicated and risky.

"I really hope we don't encounter anymore guys like that sooner or later." He told himself. Another Royal Guard came to his attention when he approached.

"Captain. You are needed by Celestia and Luna in the throne room." He said sincerely. Shining didn't waste a breath on the news and headed towards the destination.

"Oh boy." He thought.

Mysterious Cave

"Gosh, without this light I wouldn't even be able to see my own hands." Spike groaned. He was correct on his analysis, the entire cave as expected was pretty dark with the exception of Twilight and Rarity's horns illuminating a small area around them. The ground beneath them was quite covered in stone and other minerals which gave a somewhat reliable light source from a distance for them. Twilight who was standing behind her friends like a formation was making an attempt at producing a mobile light source from her palm, but sadly failing with her hand only causing white sparks.

"Okay, we make due with what we have." She pouted. The party took careful caution of their surroundings as they moved and slowly began to realize they were standing in a one way path the entire time. Thankfully it made it slightly easier for them at the moment. After reaching the end of the corridor they were exposed to an even larger part of the cave. Completely open space and glimmered with minerals that lit the area a lot more than before. Rarity gasped in astonishment at the display. She never thought that the inside of a cave would every show such...elegance. However the illusion was broken when she covered herself from a bunch of bats flying past the group.

"Well that killed my change of opinion on caves. Disgusting as always." She groaned.

"Don't worry too much Rarity. I'm sure the bats meant no harm." Fluttershy replied nicely.

"Meanwhile, we should see if there's even anything of interest to locate this thing." Spike pointed out.

Author's Note

Holy Mother of Celestia was I busy AND dead. Well...luckily a friend of mine had a Phoenix Down to bring me back into this story. I'm not really sure on the others unfortunately. All I can say is have an imagination till I become fully active.

I've been busy in my life and practicing on Art which has been working well for me.

Anyway. I hope you enjoyed this part of the chapter. There will be more, but not as frequently since school is my highest priority.