The Rising of the Brothers of Light and Dark

Later that night, the commanders from three of the four kingdoms were present. Rune, high commander of the earth ponies. He was a plain well-built stallion with a scar across his muzzle. He has a light brown pelt with runes on his legs. A brown mane and tail with green eyes.

Twister, high commander of the sky is a slender pegasus and she has a light blue pelt, with a gray mane and tail. Her eyes are red, but glazed over as if she was blind. Her body has a few scares on it from her long time spent in the army.

Arcane Bolt is one of the few archmages of the unicorn realm. He is an elderly stallion with a light gray pelt, and a white mane, tail and beard. Although you could still see some black strands here and there that just refused to turn white.

All were gathered around a table with the arrow and its note on it.

Rune picked up the arrow and took the note from it. Dropping it to the table once he saw the four pieces of skin on the arrow hidden under the note. Shocked he quickly read the note aloud.

"Hello commanders. I am Nightshade, leader of the forces that now ravage your lands. As you are well aware I have the princes and princesses of your lands held here in the castle with me. You also know that I will not give them up unless my demands are met. Your feeble attempt to get them back has angered me and now I will kill them all if my demands are not met in two days. Here is a little gift for you so you know the extent of my displeasure."

Rune in his rage picked up the arrow and stuck it into the table. "Something has to be done now before we lose the sons and daughters of our rulers! Furthermore, where is Clear Skies with the reinforcements from the Crystal Kingdom? The Crystal King's note said they should be here by now." Just as he finished his statement, one of the guards came into the command tent and saluted the commanders waiting to be addressed. Rune looked to the guard; "At ease soldier." The guard then hoofed him a scroll "What is this?"

"Half the reinforcements from the Crystal Kingdom have arrived, Sir. On approach to the camp, they encountered a large enemy ambush preparing to assault the camp from the rear. They engaged the enemy and successfully eliminated them but suffered heavy casualties." Rune put his hooves to his head and started to rub his temples in frustration. "Sir, there is more bad news."

"What!?" Rune was starting to lose his patience because the day just seemed to get worse.

Nervously the guard proceeded, "Commander Clear Skies was slain in the skirmish. She's dead sir." All the commanders then looked stunned at this most grievous news. Clear Skies was one of the Crystal Kingdom’s most decorated soldiers, and was a hard pony to take down. All of them new this because they had fought her before.

Arcane Bolt then said, "And the scroll?" because Rune was too flustered to speak.

The guard continued, "On approach the Crystal troops were stopped by a hooded pony and was give this scroll. He was told that it is to be for the commanders' eyes only, and when he looked up from the scroll the pony was just gone." Rune then dismissed the guard and with a salute The guard turned and left. Rune, with one hoof, slid the scroll over to Twister and motioned for her to read it.

She proceeded to read the scroll aloud,

"Greetings commanders. You do not know me but I know of you and your plight. My brother and I have been watching from the nearby mountains. Normally we keep to ourselves and do not interfere in the affairs of common ponies, but we can see that you are in need of dire assistance. We are willing to lend our aid. Even if you do not wish for our help, our offer shall stand. Though you may not think two ponies could change the tide of battle we urge you to put our skills to the test. If you wish for our aid, on the back of this scroll tell us how you would signal us to join in the fray. Then the scroll will be transported back to us."

Twister looked up from the scroll with a puzzled look on her face for she knew that the nearest mountains were miles away. "What should we do? This sounds like a joke to me. There is no way anypony could be watching us from any of the mountains around here. They’re just too far away."

The three commanders then looked at each other for a moment. Breaking the silence Arcane Bolt finally spoke, "I do agree with Twister on this one. It does seem highly improbable, but there has to be some merit to what is on this scroll. I can sense the spell that has been placed upon it. I say we at least send them a reply. If we need them, we need them and if not, then we don't. My former teacher always said keep your options open for you never know what the future will hold."

Rune took the scroll and flipped it over then dipped a nearby quill into its inkwell and wrote a message on the back of the scroll. Once he was finished he watched the scroll but nothing happened. A moment later there was a bright flash of light and the scroll was gone.

After recovering from the bright flash, Twister asked, "What did you write?"

"Arcane Bolt believes that we need to keep our options open. So if he believes we are in need of assistance, he will then launch a rainbow colored flare high into the sky, summoning these two to us." Rune stated flatly. "Now let’s get down to business. With Clear Skies gone we will need to take command of the Crystal Kingdom forces. Arcane, crystal unicorns are good at shielding and healing magic, so they won’t be much use in combat. Though I'm sure you could figure something out."

"I can show them a simple spell to boost the power of my mages till their skills are needed. Thank you for the info." Arcane smiled to Rune.

"Twister, crystal pegasi are well trained in archery and hoof to hoof combat. If you use them to make a hole in the enemy line you should be able to get your troops in there and deal with the archers." Rune stated. Twister replied with a simple nod of her head. "Crystal earth ponies normally are equipped with heavy armor. With their aid, I should be able to move the siege towers into place and get my ponies in there, without needlessly getting any troops killed. Is this plan of attack agreeable with you two?" Twister and Arcane both nodded.  "All right, let’s get some rest. We will re-engage the enemy at dawn!" All the commanders saluted each other then left to get some rest for the following morning they would go back into Tartarus.