Attack of the Starbridgeby Brushed RhymeChaptersBeginningsThe Deep Breath Before the PlungeShadowsBeginningsThe sound of hooves against the stone floors of the castle was the first thing that I remember hearing. I glanced up from my bed, seeing Luna was waiting for me. “Sister, I have some grave news for you.” I got up and walked to the threshold where my sister was waiting. This marked the year anniversary since we put Discord into stone. What could possibly be going on? “What is it Luna? Has somepony broken in?” I asked Luna. “No, it is something far greater then we could ever have imagined.” I frowned, knowing that Luna does not lie about these sorts of things. She then led me to the west tower, where we watched from an open window. I did not know what we were seeing but I knew that it would not be good, not Canterlot, or Equestria. “What is it?” I asked my sister, her face laminated by the light that was being made. “We know not, but we do know that they are dropping invaders. Should I send a guard to get the elements?” “Yes, at once.” I watched her run out of the room, then turned back to face the window. A beam of light was shining from above the clouds and hitting the ground. The moon was high in the sky and I decided to fly up above the clouds to see where the light was coming from. I broke through the clouds and my eyes widened. The light was coming from space; I tried to follow it with my sight but could not see where it led. I only knew that these ponies were not from any planet near us nor anything like us most likely. I dropped back into the room and I got to see what these creatures were, the were grotesque figures, standing on two legs with two legs sprouting from the sides of their chest and walking up right. They were bearing swords and shields and a man, taller and broader than the rest, was leading them. He had a hammer in hand and was calling out to the men, with the beam behind him. “This land is weak, recently overthrown. Rise men! Rise and take this land for all the Asgardians!” And the men responded with chanting one name, “Thor! Thor! Thor! Thor!” My spirits dropped, this was an army meant for destruction, we had no choice but to fight back and most likely have to kill them. “Sister! I have the elements! We need to activate them now if we want any chance to destroy them.” “Wield your three and give me my three; spare the one that is their leader, we need information from him.” “Very well sister.” Said Luna, tears starting to well up in her eyes. “I didn’t want to hurt anypony.” I flew to her, our elements spinning around us now. As we went out of the window of the west tower I put my hoof around her and said, “It is for the protect of our land, Equestria.” I dropped my hoof and we aimed We then shot the beam that could defeat an army of Ursa Majors and told the beam to spare the one with the hammer, the one that the men called Thor. The beam started with the men on his left, and like a wildfire it spread to the other side and killed every single creature that came to our plant that day. The light that was hitting the ground abruptly stopped, letting Thor know that he was alone. We left the Elements spinning around us, ready fire again if needed, and flew down towards Thor. “What sorcery is this? I could not even fire off a shot; we thought that the creature that ruled before was powerful but you have put his might to shame. What are your names?” “Do not try and tempt us with your words,” Said Luna, “we have defeated the last ruler and put him in stone. Now your army is destroyed, and you are our prisoner. Do not make us angry or we will unleash the power given to us by these Elements of Harmony.” He was stunned. He dropped his hammer and I tried to pick it up with my magic but it wouldn’t work. “Why can’t I pick up your hammer?” “Only I can. And it isn’t just a Hammer it is Mjölnir. I am the only one that can wield it, and it’s powers, not even I know its fullest potential.” I saw his expression shift slightly, almost to a safe look. I immediately went to shut it down, “We know the Elements fullest potential, and it is able to destroy anything, nothing can stand in their way. Not even Mjölnir could have a chance at defeating them.” “We’ll see about that.” He said and grabbed the hammer from off of the ground and threw it at us, the Elements easily blocked it and it ricocheted and broke a wall of our castle. Mjölnir went back to its master’s hand and he looked even more shocked then before. We then flew into the air and readied the Elements; then Thor spun his hammer and flew up to us and slammed downward upon the Element shield that was created by the swirling of the Elements. “It is time for you to go back to where you came from Thor.” The beam shot at his chest. “Be gone!” Luna and I said at the same time and then in a flash of light he was gone. Before I could say anything to Luna she went back to the tower and started to weep. I went over to her and folded my wing over her side, “Sister, it is late. I can take tonight’s watch. Get some sleep darling.” “Are you sure you’ll be alright with raising the sun too?” “Yes, I’ll be fine. Sweet dreams Luna. All is well now.” But what we didn’t know was that everything wasn’t well. While we were distracted by the forces coming towards us, but there was one man who decided to not face us head on, instead he focused on poisoning the mind of my sister, and ended up driving her to wanting to overthrow me. This man, and story, is not in our history because we need ponies to believe that nothing can break the bonds of friendship, but in reality there is only one thing that can. Discord’s counterpart, Loki; the god of Chaos Ω “Twilight!” Yelled Rainbow Dash as she was flying towards her friends just outside the Library. The group looked up just in time to see Dash go through a cloud and continue on her path, something she doesn’t normally do. “What’s wrong?” Said Fluttershy in her nervous voice, more common than her normal voice though. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Look.” Said RD, pointing towards the remains of the cloud that she busted through. What was behind it though, in the distance about 10 miles into the Everfree Forest was a beam of light streaming from the sky. Twilights jaw dropped, “What the hay is that?” “I have no idea, that’s why I came to see you.” Said Rainbow Dash in reply. “I don’t think it is something that Discord could summon up, but I do know that we are going to need to talk to the Princess” “Okay, come inside everypony. We are going to need to go Canterlot.” “Twilight,” Interjected Rainbow Dash, “There’s one more thing you should know.” Twilight turned around, a fearful expression on her face, what could be MORE than this? “What is it?” “They aren’t ponies, they seem to be like the creatures that you described when you went through the portal to the human world to get back your Element of Harmony.” Said Rainbow Dash, almost sorry that she knew. Twilight physically stopped putting on her crown. “What?!?!?” “Yeah, and they have armor like the old pony armor in the old castle in the Everfree Forest. There was also a man shouting, ‘off with the heads of the Two Sisters!’ He had thousands of troops, coming from that beam, all wanting revenge by the looks that they were returning to their leader. They started chanting, ‘Thor! Thor! Thor!’ as I left. This doesn’t seem to good Twilight, we need to get to Canterlot as soon as we can.” “Okay.” Said Twilight as they were running out the door towards the train station. When they got to the station they heard a sound like a wave crashing onto the sand but muffled. They turned and saw the beam go back into the sky and then Zecora coming out of the Forest, running towards them. “Twilight I need to have a word with you and all ponies, these people that have come are not like us and have my worries. Their leader has a strong heart; he will no doubt tear us apart. There is only one thing we need, the Elements of Harmony.” “I know about the Elements Zecora, but right now we need to get to Canterlot and inform the Queen. And besides we had to give them up to the tree of Harmony.” “No potion or brew I cooked had an affect on them, they are like lion straight from their den. I had to flee, but my house burning down I did see.” Zecora said with sadness in her voice. “I am sorry Zecora, honestly, but right now we need to leave.” Said Applejack. “Well I see that it is your duty to protect Equestria it is your vow, and I say goodbye for now.” She then turned to run toward Mayor Mare. “Let’s go girls.” Then the ponies hopped onto the train and told the conductor to go as fast as possible. We made it to Canterlot in just under a half hour. They ran all the way into the castle hall where we saw Princess Luna and Princess Celestia talking. Then the girls jogged the rest of the way into the hall and stopped at the foot of the throne when the turned around. “Oh, Twilight, what is it that brings you to Canterlot today?” said Princess Luna. Before Twilight could start to explain why she was there a guard came in, “Your highnesses, I have grave news from Ponyville. There was a beam of light that came from the clouds, it was pure light and then Mayor Mare said that Zecora saw an army amass outside of your old castle.” Celestia’s face grew pale, “Get the army together, now!” Celestia said to the guard, turning to Twilight she said, “I have little time, what is you need to tell me?” She spoke up, “I was going to say the same thing, and that the men were chanting a name, Thor I think it was.” Rainbow Dash spoke up too, “I saw them with catapults and swords and shields and crossbows. They also had giant crossbows that were able to tear through the walls of the old castle. I would suggest that you send in an elite group to capture their leader.” Celestia glanced over at Luna then back at the little ponies, "We are facing an enemy that is not unknown to us.” “WHAT?!?” All of the girls yelled at once. “I want to explain but there isn’t any time. I will see you at the end of this, whether in life or death.” She and her sister then turned away and galloped towards the end of the castle hall, past the girls. “Well, it looks like we have our work cut out for us,” Said Rarity, “and there isn’t enough time to make outfits, so we’ll have to make do without that.” “Alright ponies, I do need to make sure that we all know what to do, “ Twilight interjected, “We are going to head back to Ponyville, I need to get some information on these guys from the library. While I’m at the library, you ponies will have gone from the train station to the Ever-free forest; try and get some information on these guys.” “Okie dokie loki!” Started Pinkie, “But what exactly should we look fo-“ “Did someone say my name?” Said a voice like sounded like smooth ice, taken right out of a lake in winter; still having its chilling qualities. Everypony stood still, and the first to turn around was Applejack. And what she saw was a man in green and gold armor and a green tunic cover the armor, his black hair slicked to the side and white teeth shining, forming a cunning smile. “I could have sworn that someone said Loki.” The Deep Breath Before the PlungePinkie Pie turned around and jumped over to him, “Yes, that was me silly.” “Why?” Pinkie stood still and looked at Loki confused, “Well I’ve always said that phrase. I didn’t know that it was somepony’s actual name.” He smiled, “Well, I am glad to see that I am remembered somewhere. Even if it was only by my enemies.” He walked closer to the group, making the girls step back. They just identified the giant staff on Loki’s back and it’s wicked curve and look did not look appealing, and with his smile dissipating he no longer looked friendly. Then, to the group’s surprise, Fluttershy spoke up, “Um, sir. Why are you here? You obviously aren’t from here and I just want to know,” Her voice trembled a little bit but then rose as she said, “What brought you to Equestria?” Loki smiled again, “Well, by Odin’s beard, finally someone who is willing to converse. What is your name?” Fluttershy forced a nervous laugh, “I’m Fluttershy.” She said with more confidence than the practice cheers for Rainbow Dash. “Well Fluttershy, thank you for asking me. I came here a long time ago; I came with my brother, Thor but before you freak out,” He exasperated this next part, “I am nothing like my brother. We came here when we were young and wanted to conquer a land for our people. We had heard that this land was recently overthrown so we knew that it would be weaker; we came with an army of about 2,500 men. When I saw that they had gems flying around the two sisters I ran from the battleground. I looked back and saw them fire upon the army and saw light flash from man to man, and then I broke through the tree line. I didn’t know weather my brother lived or died in that battle. I do know that every single man that came or was coming died that day.” Applejack looked confused, “Why would you conquer new land for people, you could have just asked the Two Sisters for a section of land to use for your people. Our people, er ponies, are not quick to war but when we are threatened we will fight like any other pony.” Loki turned, smile big and eyes lit up, “Chatty now? Well, I guess now that you know my story you should know what I’ve done since I’ve been here.” Twilight cut him off, “Wait, what is your title in your world.” He glance over, “Why, I am Loki, son of Odin. The God Chaos.” Rainbow and Applejack tensed up, the mane six hadn’t been very fond of chaos makers like him, Discord for example; Twilight motion for them stay calm though so they both sat down, Rainbow on her hind legs and AJ on her front legs, ready for anything. Fluttershy spoke so that nothing would break out, “Please continue.” The recently learned god turned and said, “Well, the first thing that I did was influence the blue princess.” Twilight broke in, “Luna.” Loki continued unfazed, “I told Luna about the glory of ruling; she then took it and went running. When she rose up against the multi-colored princess,” Twilight broke in again, “Celestia.” “I supported Celestia. Of course, I then visited Luna on the moon. I tried to keep her company but she kept pushing me away. I stopped visiting her after about 90 years. The next 910 years I was just learning about your people. Your history, your hopes, what could possibly be coming.” He turned to Twilight, “Good job, Twilight on finding out about Mare in the Moon. You and me both dear.” He turned back to Fluttershy, “I was quite fond of your people; I wanted to join the royal guard for Celestia, they would never let a non-pony join the guard though. I’ve been silently guarding her since. I know all of your ‘lessons’ and all of what you’ve done. Queen Chrysalis, Element Tree, the Everfree Forest invasion. I didn’t have anything to do with that by the way.” Rarity spoke for the first time, “How can we trust you? You said yourself that you are the God of Chaos. When Luna returned she was still evil; you influenced her. Why should we trust you?” Loki’s eyes became fire and in a booming voice, “Just because I like chaos doesn’t mean that I will try to change my history. Everything that I have said and will say is the absolute truth.” The mane six looked frightened, the fire left his eyes and he spoke in a normal voice. “The faces that you are making right now are what I live for and why I make chaos. Other than that I am nothing like Discord.” He said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Well, it was nice chatting with you but I need to oversee my brother’s destruction. Tah.” Then he vanished in a puff of smoke. Pinkie was smiling and turned to the group, “He’s good at magic. What were you trying to say Twilight before he showed up?” “Well,” She looked at the lingering smoke. She could’ve sworn that she saw Loki’s smile in there. “Let’s go back to Ponyville," She turned away from the smoke, " I’ll explain again in the library “Okie Dokie lo-“ She glanced around, the smoke had finally gone away but the presence of Loki was an elephant in the room. “Okay.” Said Pinkie Pie and jumped to follow the group. Ω When the group came back to Ponyville, it was in distress; everywhere that was a road was crammed with ponies, wanting to leave or go visit loved ones that they didn’t want to see destroyed; thus making it a lot harder for the ponies to get to the library than intended. Rainbow Dash was convinced to make the trip there easier and started to yell at the people in front of the group, when that didn’t work she turned around, “Fluttershy, you gotta help me; get these people to move. We need to get there soon, the longer that beam of light is hitting the ground; the more enemies are coming to attack Ponyville.” Fluttershy looked around, “Well, I could ask them to move.” She smiled. “UGH! Fine,” Rainbow turned to the crowd, “We need to get through, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO STOP THEM!!!!!!!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. Everything stopped, nothing moved except the light beam that was deep in the Forest. One middle-aged pony spoke up, “Where do you need to go?” “The library, make way please.” Fluttershy said. Of course only the first few rows of ponies heard her but as they moved away, so did everypony else. Soon the ponies were at the Library and Twilight was being her old self, going through books and trying to find any information on these people. “Oh! You guys keep looking, I need to grab something for us.” Said twilight and ran into the back of the Library, underneath the stairs. “Hm, I’ve never seen that before.” Applejack whispered to spike, “How long has there been an area for ponies to go through in the library under the stairs? Last time I was here there wasn’t anything like that.” “I’d assume so, that was just added by Princess Luna herself; she said that she was storing something back there for Twilight and that she would know the time to use it. I wasn’t even allowed back there, during the creation of it and now!” “Now why would she do that?” Asked Rarity, “She doesn’t have anything to hide from us, her best of friends.” “Well, I’d to tell you that I knew, but I don’t” Spike said, looking sad. “It’s okay, dear” Rarity said, and patted spike on the head. After about 2 minutes of waiting and guessing what it was that was down there, Rainbow shouted, “Oh, come on! We need to hurry!” “I’m coming as fast as I can!” Shouted Twilight from behind the wall. She then stepped out and the entire group was shocked. Standing before them was their friend, but in a full suit of armor. “Since we gave up the Elements of Harmony, Luna said that in case of an attack that we should have these available to us. She had one for everyone.” She then levitated out 6 other suits of armor, each one on a manikin, except one that was obviously Spike’s. All of the other sets had nametags that had the name of its’ future bearer on it. Rainbow Dash was the first to break out of shock. She launched into the air and did a hoof pump while she yelled out, “Yeah! Awesome” Then she grabbed her set and started to put it on. Then AJ ran up to hers and took it off of the manikin, one at a time. The suits of armor were solid steel, crafted by the Forges of Luna beneath Canterlot. The helmets were different for unicorns, with a slit at the top for the horn to go through, as the unicorn put it on, metal would follow the tip so that it could be protected. The armor was different for pegasi too, they had slits on the back of the main chest piece, but not metal rose up to with the wings, it would weigh then down and wouldn’t allow the pegasus bearer to fly. Twilights had both of these, and in full suit she was a weapon and force to be reckoned with. Every single suit of armor was different for every different pony; Fluttershy’s was lighter, because she wasn’t a strong flyer she had to have lighter armor. This meant that she would most likely be behind the front line with bow and arrows. Rainbow Dash’s though was extremely heavy, but because she was one of the strongest flyers in Equestria she would be able to still fly fast. She’d be in the air with bow and arrow as well as a sword in case she needed to land. Applejack’s was an interesting one; there was a hook on her right foreleg, higher than the middle joint but just below the shoulder. This was where a rope would go so that she could it when she wanted too. Other than that it was just like everypony else’s; Pinkie Pie’s armor was quite plain, but as Pinkie Pie put it on, she knew exactly what to do. She pulled her party cannon and blasted the suit of armor a few times before giggling onto the floor. Now it was an array of colors, ranging from pink to pink and had streamers; while Pinkie was laughing her mane off, Twilight used a come to life spell so that the streamers grew hard and could attack any enemies within about 10 feet of Pinkie. Needless to say Pinkie would be on the front line. Spike’s suit was green and purple, it had a short sword ready to be used and the section around his mouth was hardened steel, so that it could withstand the heat of dragon fire. Rarity’s was a simple suit, nothing much more could be done to it; there wasn’t anything that caught Rarity’s eyes about it but she still put it on. She knew that it wouldn’t be worth adding things to it because it might be her downfall in combat. Then she looked over at twilight with a confused face, “What exactly will I be doing in this battle?” She asked, not even putting the armor on yet while everypony else had already done so. Twilight walked over and said, “How about you try on the suit first?” Rarity looked over the metal and sighed, “Oh, okay. Just give me a second.” She started putting on the suit of armor; after it was all on Twilight whispered in Rarity’s ear and she squealed, “That is perfect!” Her horn lit up after she said that and then she slowly started to fade away from sight. She was going to be behind lines, gathering information that was vital for everyone and the survival of Equestria. Then there was Twilights, with slits on her back and her head so that her horn could still cast spells. This was going to be a war that would be worth waging, the fate of the land that everypony loved. This war would be worth fighting, a war worth winning. ShadowsTwilight and her friends gathered at the edge of the Ever-free forest, waiting for Celestia and Luna send up their signal. While everypony was getting ready, Spike had gotten a letter; because of all the talking and chatting, no one had seen the dragon burp up the letter. After everyone was done they looked over at Spike and he was sitting there holding the letter up, waiting for Twilight to take it. Twilight grabbed it and started to read of the plan to the group of friends, “Twilight, because you are one of the strongest magic users I know, I am going to need to put you near enough the enemy so you can strike them but far enough away so that you can survive through the battle. You will be in the sky with the other pegasi; I will have some of my own guards there with you so they can protect you from any enemy arrows. Rarity, because of your armors ability I will need to see you whenever I send up a signal to the sky, follow it and you will find us. I will then tell you where to go so that you can gather information on the camp. The rest of you will report to the Battle Tent outside of the Ever-free Forest near Ponyville.” Twilight put the scroll away and told everyone to get going. “I’ll see you girls on the other side, best of luck out there.” Rarity was the first to tear up; being separated from her friends in this situation was something that she did not want to happen and the thought of loosing them was enough to bring her to her knees. With the end not in sight and no way to know what would ensue in the battle ahead she started to cry. Her friends gathered around her, “I don’t want to go!” Rarity sobbed, “Why did Celestia have to choose me, choose us?” She shouted past the tears and feeling of hopelessness. Rainbow spoke up, “Hey.” Rarity looked at her friend, remembering everything that they had been through, The Young Flyers Competition, Manehatten and every single promise that she had fulfilled. Rainbow continued, “I’ll see you later, we’ll be together and no one will be able to separate us. All of us will be together again. But right now I think that you need to go protect Equestria.” Rarity sniffled and stood back up and gave her friends a gentle smile, then glanced back into the forest and saw a signal flying into the sky. “Get us some good information.” Twilight said. She gave a soft laugh, “I will. Don’t put yourself in danger, or I will be sure that you don’t hear the end of it.” Her friends laughed together. “We will do our best.” Applejack spoke up, “Don’t forget to be quiet. Your armor is new but you aren’t used to it; be a silent as you can.” Rarity looked down at the armor; it was true, she still wasn’t used to it. “I’ll be sure to do that. Bye.” The group was crying now, there was no holding back; they didn’t want it to end this way, but there wasn’t a choice. They had to do this, for Ponyville, for Equestria, for themselves, for their friends. As rarity was walking away, Twilight called out through the tears, “We love you Rarity!” She turned around, almost out of sight because of the fog, “I love you all too. Do you jobs well and we will make it out together.” She then turned and disappeared into the fog that hung low to the ground. It was because of this fog that these Ponies couldn’t see Loki waiting for the opportune moment to do what he planned for a lifetime, but he held back. This was a display that he had never seen before; he’d been a part of war his whole life and had never once seen friends willing to do what they had just done. “Perhaps their little phrase is correct, maybe friendship is magic.” It was with this conclusion that he teleported back to the base camp where Celestia and Luna were preparing for battle. Both had their armor on, Celestia’s was a bright, golden set of armor with a deep navy blue on the edges, while Luna was that same deep blue and had gold outlines. Both looked exhausted and flustered; neither could have seen this day coming. There was only one pony that was strong enough to defeat an entire army with just that pony’s arsenal of magic, but that pony died some time ago. Somepony like Starswirl the Bearded. The table that the two Princesses were standing by was littered with papers about Starswirl and the magic that he created, ranging from summoning spells to battle spells. They had no way to calculate the exact amount of troops that the Asgardians had until Rarity got back from her scouting mission which could be another hour and a half. “We need to find a spell that can aid us in battle.” Celestia motioned, Luna nodded, “With the elements gone we can not hope to defeat them in the way we first did.” Princess Cadence and Shining Armor stepped in. Cadence spoke first, “Sorry that we’re late, what did we miss?” “Nothing, we just got out the scrolls and we are trying to find one to aid us. If you could help us we would be grateful.” “Of course” Said Shining Armor with upmost respect. These were some of the strongest magic casters in Equestria all in one tent, all striving towards one goal, wanting just one thing. They wanted to protect Equestria and send these invaders away and all their hope was relying on one pony to get information while they tried to find a spell in the midst of thousands. Ω Rarity was galloping towards the enemy camp, she had been waiting for about 27 minutes waiting for the action to cool down and noticing the little things, just like she did with dresses. When she got within her hearing range, which was much better than theirs, she slowed down to where she could only hear her breath and heartbeat. Behind the brush and tall grass of the Ever-Free Forest she was invisible to them but she could clearly see them. She did a quick head count and lost after 400. That was just one section of the camp too; there were at least 10 sections to each camp and not to mention the ones that were scouting, or at least attempting to scout. Celestia put a spell on the camp, a spell of concealment, that wouldn’t let any thing other than a pony see it unless they were inside it. Rarity shook her head, she needed to focus; the invaders were all at least twice her size and had menacing looking weapons that could easily take her life with one swing. Not to mention the arrows and the even BIGGER arrows that were loaded into machines that could launch them. Rarity wasn’t sure how Celestia was going to manage defeated these people but she was sure that she would somehow be able to. Rarity duck quickly, an enemy was coming towards her, she wasn’t sure why but knew that she couldn’t be seen. He came over and glanced around quickly, to make sure no one could see him, dropped to his knees and started to cry then started to say something that she couldn’t understand. She casted a quick spell to understand and she heard, “-Make it back to my family, I don’t want to have to do this but Thor is making me. I can only imagine what he would do to a deserter and don’t wish to find out. Odin, why do you have to hurt me? I didn’t want to have to wipe out an entire race but I will do it, if only to protect my family.” Rarity almost gasped out loud but caught herself. The man stood up, wiped his eyes and walked off, he said to the men, “Don’t go over there, there is a gas or something that makes you tear up.” Rarity smiled, he just inadvertently helped her. She chuckled quietly to herself, and went back to scouting. She cast the spell that made her armor turn invisible and went into the camp, making sure that every move had a purpose and was silent. She learned a lot when she was in the camp, probably knew more about these people than anypony would ever care to know. When she got back to camp, she was ready to suggest a plan to Celestia and the Princesses, they needed to attack now, in the dead of night so that they would be weak and tired. They could just send in some pegasi with hot coals and light the camp on fire. Then the ground troops could move in and take out anyone that wasn’t burned to death. The Princesses were surprise at her confidence in her plan; Rarity had never shown interest in that part of life but now was thinking and suggesting like a commander. Twilight was also there and she was smiling, Rarity was changed somehow, she might’ve heard something or seen something but she knew that she was different. Twilight would ask her later, “I think that it will work, we should attack as soon as we can.” Luna and Celestia looked at one another and nodded, “We will inform the troops,” Luna said, “go to your friends and make sure that they know what to do.” “I will.” Twilight turned and started to run off, with Rarity of course. While they were going they talked, talked about what Rarity had seen and heard. At one point, Twilight physically stopped moving and had to clear something up with Rarity, “You do know that they are the enemy right.” Rarity looked up, “Why of course I do, I also know how to beat them.” She beamed with pride. “Well, you sounded there for a second like you wanted to try and win them over diplomatically.” Twilight began trotting again. Rarity did too but she lagged behind, she thought to herself, ‘Do I want that? Do I want to not have to kill them?” She came to the realization, ‘No. No, I don’t want to hurt them. I want them to just go away and not come back.’ She stopped for a moment, ‘I’ll just inform the Princesses when I get back to camp.’ “You okay Rarity?” Twilight called, having stopped herself to make sure that Rarity was okay. “Yes! I’m fine.” She trotted back up to Twilight. “Just thinking about things that I should do after we win. “Well, we don’t know that yet. But I like your confidence.” Twilight replied. When they got back to camp, together they explained the plan. Mostly Rarity but Twilight would interject every once in a while. When they finished they group hugged and they all went to their designated area’s so they could be briefed and prepare for the upcoming storm. This was going to be a severe storm though, and like waves on a sea they were going to be tossed to and fro. The magic of friendship would be tested and their hearts would be tried, they all knew this in their mind. None of them said anything though.
BeginningsThe sound of hooves against the stone floors of the castle was the first thing that I remember hearing. I glanced up from my bed, seeing Luna was waiting for me. “Sister, I have some grave news for you.” I got up and walked to the threshold where my sister was waiting. This marked the year anniversary since we put Discord into stone. What could possibly be going on? “What is it Luna? Has somepony broken in?” I asked Luna. “No, it is something far greater then we could ever have imagined.” I frowned, knowing that Luna does not lie about these sorts of things. She then led me to the west tower, where we watched from an open window. I did not know what we were seeing but I knew that it would not be good, not Canterlot, or Equestria. “What is it?” I asked my sister, her face laminated by the light that was being made. “We know not, but we do know that they are dropping invaders. Should I send a guard to get the elements?” “Yes, at once.” I watched her run out of the room, then turned back to face the window. A beam of light was shining from above the clouds and hitting the ground. The moon was high in the sky and I decided to fly up above the clouds to see where the light was coming from. I broke through the clouds and my eyes widened. The light was coming from space; I tried to follow it with my sight but could not see where it led. I only knew that these ponies were not from any planet near us nor anything like us most likely. I dropped back into the room and I got to see what these creatures were, the were grotesque figures, standing on two legs with two legs sprouting from the sides of their chest and walking up right. They were bearing swords and shields and a man, taller and broader than the rest, was leading them. He had a hammer in hand and was calling out to the men, with the beam behind him. “This land is weak, recently overthrown. Rise men! Rise and take this land for all the Asgardians!” And the men responded with chanting one name, “Thor! Thor! Thor! Thor!” My spirits dropped, this was an army meant for destruction, we had no choice but to fight back and most likely have to kill them. “Sister! I have the elements! We need to activate them now if we want any chance to destroy them.” “Wield your three and give me my three; spare the one that is their leader, we need information from him.” “Very well sister.” Said Luna, tears starting to well up in her eyes. “I didn’t want to hurt anypony.” I flew to her, our elements spinning around us now. As we went out of the window of the west tower I put my hoof around her and said, “It is for the protect of our land, Equestria.” I dropped my hoof and we aimed We then shot the beam that could defeat an army of Ursa Majors and told the beam to spare the one with the hammer, the one that the men called Thor. The beam started with the men on his left, and like a wildfire it spread to the other side and killed every single creature that came to our plant that day. The light that was hitting the ground abruptly stopped, letting Thor know that he was alone. We left the Elements spinning around us, ready fire again if needed, and flew down towards Thor. “What sorcery is this? I could not even fire off a shot; we thought that the creature that ruled before was powerful but you have put his might to shame. What are your names?” “Do not try and tempt us with your words,” Said Luna, “we have defeated the last ruler and put him in stone. Now your army is destroyed, and you are our prisoner. Do not make us angry or we will unleash the power given to us by these Elements of Harmony.” He was stunned. He dropped his hammer and I tried to pick it up with my magic but it wouldn’t work. “Why can’t I pick up your hammer?” “Only I can. And it isn’t just a Hammer it is Mjölnir. I am the only one that can wield it, and it’s powers, not even I know its fullest potential.” I saw his expression shift slightly, almost to a safe look. I immediately went to shut it down, “We know the Elements fullest potential, and it is able to destroy anything, nothing can stand in their way. Not even Mjölnir could have a chance at defeating them.” “We’ll see about that.” He said and grabbed the hammer from off of the ground and threw it at us, the Elements easily blocked it and it ricocheted and broke a wall of our castle. Mjölnir went back to its master’s hand and he looked even more shocked then before. We then flew into the air and readied the Elements; then Thor spun his hammer and flew up to us and slammed downward upon the Element shield that was created by the swirling of the Elements. “It is time for you to go back to where you came from Thor.” The beam shot at his chest. “Be gone!” Luna and I said at the same time and then in a flash of light he was gone. Before I could say anything to Luna she went back to the tower and started to weep. I went over to her and folded my wing over her side, “Sister, it is late. I can take tonight’s watch. Get some sleep darling.” “Are you sure you’ll be alright with raising the sun too?” “Yes, I’ll be fine. Sweet dreams Luna. All is well now.” But what we didn’t know was that everything wasn’t well. While we were distracted by the forces coming towards us, but there was one man who decided to not face us head on, instead he focused on poisoning the mind of my sister, and ended up driving her to wanting to overthrow me. This man, and story, is not in our history because we need ponies to believe that nothing can break the bonds of friendship, but in reality there is only one thing that can. Discord’s counterpart, Loki; the god of Chaos Ω “Twilight!” Yelled Rainbow Dash as she was flying towards her friends just outside the Library. The group looked up just in time to see Dash go through a cloud and continue on her path, something she doesn’t normally do. “What’s wrong?” Said Fluttershy in her nervous voice, more common than her normal voice though. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Look.” Said RD, pointing towards the remains of the cloud that she busted through. What was behind it though, in the distance about 10 miles into the Everfree Forest was a beam of light streaming from the sky. Twilights jaw dropped, “What the hay is that?” “I have no idea, that’s why I came to see you.” Said Rainbow Dash in reply. “I don’t think it is something that Discord could summon up, but I do know that we are going to need to talk to the Princess” “Okay, come inside everypony. We are going to need to go Canterlot.” “Twilight,” Interjected Rainbow Dash, “There’s one more thing you should know.” Twilight turned around, a fearful expression on her face, what could be MORE than this? “What is it?” “They aren’t ponies, they seem to be like the creatures that you described when you went through the portal to the human world to get back your Element of Harmony.” Said Rainbow Dash, almost sorry that she knew. Twilight physically stopped putting on her crown. “What?!?!?” “Yeah, and they have armor like the old pony armor in the old castle in the Everfree Forest. There was also a man shouting, ‘off with the heads of the Two Sisters!’ He had thousands of troops, coming from that beam, all wanting revenge by the looks that they were returning to their leader. They started chanting, ‘Thor! Thor! Thor!’ as I left. This doesn’t seem to good Twilight, we need to get to Canterlot as soon as we can.” “Okay.” Said Twilight as they were running out the door towards the train station. When they got to the station they heard a sound like a wave crashing onto the sand but muffled. They turned and saw the beam go back into the sky and then Zecora coming out of the Forest, running towards them. “Twilight I need to have a word with you and all ponies, these people that have come are not like us and have my worries. Their leader has a strong heart; he will no doubt tear us apart. There is only one thing we need, the Elements of Harmony.” “I know about the Elements Zecora, but right now we need to get to Canterlot and inform the Queen. And besides we had to give them up to the tree of Harmony.” “No potion or brew I cooked had an affect on them, they are like lion straight from their den. I had to flee, but my house burning down I did see.” Zecora said with sadness in her voice. “I am sorry Zecora, honestly, but right now we need to leave.” Said Applejack. “Well I see that it is your duty to protect Equestria it is your vow, and I say goodbye for now.” She then turned to run toward Mayor Mare. “Let’s go girls.” Then the ponies hopped onto the train and told the conductor to go as fast as possible. We made it to Canterlot in just under a half hour. They ran all the way into the castle hall where we saw Princess Luna and Princess Celestia talking. Then the girls jogged the rest of the way into the hall and stopped at the foot of the throne when the turned around. “Oh, Twilight, what is it that brings you to Canterlot today?” said Princess Luna. Before Twilight could start to explain why she was there a guard came in, “Your highnesses, I have grave news from Ponyville. There was a beam of light that came from the clouds, it was pure light and then Mayor Mare said that Zecora saw an army amass outside of your old castle.” Celestia’s face grew pale, “Get the army together, now!” Celestia said to the guard, turning to Twilight she said, “I have little time, what is you need to tell me?” She spoke up, “I was going to say the same thing, and that the men were chanting a name, Thor I think it was.” Rainbow Dash spoke up too, “I saw them with catapults and swords and shields and crossbows. They also had giant crossbows that were able to tear through the walls of the old castle. I would suggest that you send in an elite group to capture their leader.” Celestia glanced over at Luna then back at the little ponies, "We are facing an enemy that is not unknown to us.” “WHAT?!?” All of the girls yelled at once. “I want to explain but there isn’t any time. I will see you at the end of this, whether in life or death.” She and her sister then turned away and galloped towards the end of the castle hall, past the girls. “Well, it looks like we have our work cut out for us,” Said Rarity, “and there isn’t enough time to make outfits, so we’ll have to make do without that.” “Alright ponies, I do need to make sure that we all know what to do, “ Twilight interjected, “We are going to head back to Ponyville, I need to get some information on these guys from the library. While I’m at the library, you ponies will have gone from the train station to the Ever-free forest; try and get some information on these guys.” “Okie dokie loki!” Started Pinkie, “But what exactly should we look fo-“ “Did someone say my name?” Said a voice like sounded like smooth ice, taken right out of a lake in winter; still having its chilling qualities. Everypony stood still, and the first to turn around was Applejack. And what she saw was a man in green and gold armor and a green tunic cover the armor, his black hair slicked to the side and white teeth shining, forming a cunning smile. “I could have sworn that someone said Loki.”
The Deep Breath Before the PlungePinkie Pie turned around and jumped over to him, “Yes, that was me silly.” “Why?” Pinkie stood still and looked at Loki confused, “Well I’ve always said that phrase. I didn’t know that it was somepony’s actual name.” He smiled, “Well, I am glad to see that I am remembered somewhere. Even if it was only by my enemies.” He walked closer to the group, making the girls step back. They just identified the giant staff on Loki’s back and it’s wicked curve and look did not look appealing, and with his smile dissipating he no longer looked friendly. Then, to the group’s surprise, Fluttershy spoke up, “Um, sir. Why are you here? You obviously aren’t from here and I just want to know,” Her voice trembled a little bit but then rose as she said, “What brought you to Equestria?” Loki smiled again, “Well, by Odin’s beard, finally someone who is willing to converse. What is your name?” Fluttershy forced a nervous laugh, “I’m Fluttershy.” She said with more confidence than the practice cheers for Rainbow Dash. “Well Fluttershy, thank you for asking me. I came here a long time ago; I came with my brother, Thor but before you freak out,” He exasperated this next part, “I am nothing like my brother. We came here when we were young and wanted to conquer a land for our people. We had heard that this land was recently overthrown so we knew that it would be weaker; we came with an army of about 2,500 men. When I saw that they had gems flying around the two sisters I ran from the battleground. I looked back and saw them fire upon the army and saw light flash from man to man, and then I broke through the tree line. I didn’t know weather my brother lived or died in that battle. I do know that every single man that came or was coming died that day.” Applejack looked confused, “Why would you conquer new land for people, you could have just asked the Two Sisters for a section of land to use for your people. Our people, er ponies, are not quick to war but when we are threatened we will fight like any other pony.” Loki turned, smile big and eyes lit up, “Chatty now? Well, I guess now that you know my story you should know what I’ve done since I’ve been here.” Twilight cut him off, “Wait, what is your title in your world.” He glance over, “Why, I am Loki, son of Odin. The God Chaos.” Rainbow and Applejack tensed up, the mane six hadn’t been very fond of chaos makers like him, Discord for example; Twilight motion for them stay calm though so they both sat down, Rainbow on her hind legs and AJ on her front legs, ready for anything. Fluttershy spoke so that nothing would break out, “Please continue.” The recently learned god turned and said, “Well, the first thing that I did was influence the blue princess.” Twilight broke in, “Luna.” Loki continued unfazed, “I told Luna about the glory of ruling; she then took it and went running. When she rose up against the multi-colored princess,” Twilight broke in again, “Celestia.” “I supported Celestia. Of course, I then visited Luna on the moon. I tried to keep her company but she kept pushing me away. I stopped visiting her after about 90 years. The next 910 years I was just learning about your people. Your history, your hopes, what could possibly be coming.” He turned to Twilight, “Good job, Twilight on finding out about Mare in the Moon. You and me both dear.” He turned back to Fluttershy, “I was quite fond of your people; I wanted to join the royal guard for Celestia, they would never let a non-pony join the guard though. I’ve been silently guarding her since. I know all of your ‘lessons’ and all of what you’ve done. Queen Chrysalis, Element Tree, the Everfree Forest invasion. I didn’t have anything to do with that by the way.” Rarity spoke for the first time, “How can we trust you? You said yourself that you are the God of Chaos. When Luna returned she was still evil; you influenced her. Why should we trust you?” Loki’s eyes became fire and in a booming voice, “Just because I like chaos doesn’t mean that I will try to change my history. Everything that I have said and will say is the absolute truth.” The mane six looked frightened, the fire left his eyes and he spoke in a normal voice. “The faces that you are making right now are what I live for and why I make chaos. Other than that I am nothing like Discord.” He said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Well, it was nice chatting with you but I need to oversee my brother’s destruction. Tah.” Then he vanished in a puff of smoke. Pinkie was smiling and turned to the group, “He’s good at magic. What were you trying to say Twilight before he showed up?” “Well,” She looked at the lingering smoke. She could’ve sworn that she saw Loki’s smile in there. “Let’s go back to Ponyville," She turned away from the smoke, " I’ll explain again in the library “Okie Dokie lo-“ She glanced around, the smoke had finally gone away but the presence of Loki was an elephant in the room. “Okay.” Said Pinkie Pie and jumped to follow the group. Ω When the group came back to Ponyville, it was in distress; everywhere that was a road was crammed with ponies, wanting to leave or go visit loved ones that they didn’t want to see destroyed; thus making it a lot harder for the ponies to get to the library than intended. Rainbow Dash was convinced to make the trip there easier and started to yell at the people in front of the group, when that didn’t work she turned around, “Fluttershy, you gotta help me; get these people to move. We need to get there soon, the longer that beam of light is hitting the ground; the more enemies are coming to attack Ponyville.” Fluttershy looked around, “Well, I could ask them to move.” She smiled. “UGH! Fine,” Rainbow turned to the crowd, “We need to get through, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO STOP THEM!!!!!!!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. Everything stopped, nothing moved except the light beam that was deep in the Forest. One middle-aged pony spoke up, “Where do you need to go?” “The library, make way please.” Fluttershy said. Of course only the first few rows of ponies heard her but as they moved away, so did everypony else. Soon the ponies were at the Library and Twilight was being her old self, going through books and trying to find any information on these people. “Oh! You guys keep looking, I need to grab something for us.” Said twilight and ran into the back of the Library, underneath the stairs. “Hm, I’ve never seen that before.” Applejack whispered to spike, “How long has there been an area for ponies to go through in the library under the stairs? Last time I was here there wasn’t anything like that.” “I’d assume so, that was just added by Princess Luna herself; she said that she was storing something back there for Twilight and that she would know the time to use it. I wasn’t even allowed back there, during the creation of it and now!” “Now why would she do that?” Asked Rarity, “She doesn’t have anything to hide from us, her best of friends.” “Well, I’d to tell you that I knew, but I don’t” Spike said, looking sad. “It’s okay, dear” Rarity said, and patted spike on the head. After about 2 minutes of waiting and guessing what it was that was down there, Rainbow shouted, “Oh, come on! We need to hurry!” “I’m coming as fast as I can!” Shouted Twilight from behind the wall. She then stepped out and the entire group was shocked. Standing before them was their friend, but in a full suit of armor. “Since we gave up the Elements of Harmony, Luna said that in case of an attack that we should have these available to us. She had one for everyone.” She then levitated out 6 other suits of armor, each one on a manikin, except one that was obviously Spike’s. All of the other sets had nametags that had the name of its’ future bearer on it. Rainbow Dash was the first to break out of shock. She launched into the air and did a hoof pump while she yelled out, “Yeah! Awesome” Then she grabbed her set and started to put it on. Then AJ ran up to hers and took it off of the manikin, one at a time. The suits of armor were solid steel, crafted by the Forges of Luna beneath Canterlot. The helmets were different for unicorns, with a slit at the top for the horn to go through, as the unicorn put it on, metal would follow the tip so that it could be protected. The armor was different for pegasi too, they had slits on the back of the main chest piece, but not metal rose up to with the wings, it would weigh then down and wouldn’t allow the pegasus bearer to fly. Twilights had both of these, and in full suit she was a weapon and force to be reckoned with. Every single suit of armor was different for every different pony; Fluttershy’s was lighter, because she wasn’t a strong flyer she had to have lighter armor. This meant that she would most likely be behind the front line with bow and arrows. Rainbow Dash’s though was extremely heavy, but because she was one of the strongest flyers in Equestria she would be able to still fly fast. She’d be in the air with bow and arrow as well as a sword in case she needed to land. Applejack’s was an interesting one; there was a hook on her right foreleg, higher than the middle joint but just below the shoulder. This was where a rope would go so that she could it when she wanted too. Other than that it was just like everypony else’s; Pinkie Pie’s armor was quite plain, but as Pinkie Pie put it on, she knew exactly what to do. She pulled her party cannon and blasted the suit of armor a few times before giggling onto the floor. Now it was an array of colors, ranging from pink to pink and had streamers; while Pinkie was laughing her mane off, Twilight used a come to life spell so that the streamers grew hard and could attack any enemies within about 10 feet of Pinkie. Needless to say Pinkie would be on the front line. Spike’s suit was green and purple, it had a short sword ready to be used and the section around his mouth was hardened steel, so that it could withstand the heat of dragon fire. Rarity’s was a simple suit, nothing much more could be done to it; there wasn’t anything that caught Rarity’s eyes about it but she still put it on. She knew that it wouldn’t be worth adding things to it because it might be her downfall in combat. Then she looked over at twilight with a confused face, “What exactly will I be doing in this battle?” She asked, not even putting the armor on yet while everypony else had already done so. Twilight walked over and said, “How about you try on the suit first?” Rarity looked over the metal and sighed, “Oh, okay. Just give me a second.” She started putting on the suit of armor; after it was all on Twilight whispered in Rarity’s ear and she squealed, “That is perfect!” Her horn lit up after she said that and then she slowly started to fade away from sight. She was going to be behind lines, gathering information that was vital for everyone and the survival of Equestria. Then there was Twilights, with slits on her back and her head so that her horn could still cast spells. This was going to be a war that would be worth waging, the fate of the land that everypony loved. This war would be worth fighting, a war worth winning.
ShadowsTwilight and her friends gathered at the edge of the Ever-free forest, waiting for Celestia and Luna send up their signal. While everypony was getting ready, Spike had gotten a letter; because of all the talking and chatting, no one had seen the dragon burp up the letter. After everyone was done they looked over at Spike and he was sitting there holding the letter up, waiting for Twilight to take it. Twilight grabbed it and started to read of the plan to the group of friends, “Twilight, because you are one of the strongest magic users I know, I am going to need to put you near enough the enemy so you can strike them but far enough away so that you can survive through the battle. You will be in the sky with the other pegasi; I will have some of my own guards there with you so they can protect you from any enemy arrows. Rarity, because of your armors ability I will need to see you whenever I send up a signal to the sky, follow it and you will find us. I will then tell you where to go so that you can gather information on the camp. The rest of you will report to the Battle Tent outside of the Ever-free Forest near Ponyville.” Twilight put the scroll away and told everyone to get going. “I’ll see you girls on the other side, best of luck out there.” Rarity was the first to tear up; being separated from her friends in this situation was something that she did not want to happen and the thought of loosing them was enough to bring her to her knees. With the end not in sight and no way to know what would ensue in the battle ahead she started to cry. Her friends gathered around her, “I don’t want to go!” Rarity sobbed, “Why did Celestia have to choose me, choose us?” She shouted past the tears and feeling of hopelessness. Rainbow spoke up, “Hey.” Rarity looked at her friend, remembering everything that they had been through, The Young Flyers Competition, Manehatten and every single promise that she had fulfilled. Rainbow continued, “I’ll see you later, we’ll be together and no one will be able to separate us. All of us will be together again. But right now I think that you need to go protect Equestria.” Rarity sniffled and stood back up and gave her friends a gentle smile, then glanced back into the forest and saw a signal flying into the sky. “Get us some good information.” Twilight said. She gave a soft laugh, “I will. Don’t put yourself in danger, or I will be sure that you don’t hear the end of it.” Her friends laughed together. “We will do our best.” Applejack spoke up, “Don’t forget to be quiet. Your armor is new but you aren’t used to it; be a silent as you can.” Rarity looked down at the armor; it was true, she still wasn’t used to it. “I’ll be sure to do that. Bye.” The group was crying now, there was no holding back; they didn’t want it to end this way, but there wasn’t a choice. They had to do this, for Ponyville, for Equestria, for themselves, for their friends. As rarity was walking away, Twilight called out through the tears, “We love you Rarity!” She turned around, almost out of sight because of the fog, “I love you all too. Do you jobs well and we will make it out together.” She then turned and disappeared into the fog that hung low to the ground. It was because of this fog that these Ponies couldn’t see Loki waiting for the opportune moment to do what he planned for a lifetime, but he held back. This was a display that he had never seen before; he’d been a part of war his whole life and had never once seen friends willing to do what they had just done. “Perhaps their little phrase is correct, maybe friendship is magic.” It was with this conclusion that he teleported back to the base camp where Celestia and Luna were preparing for battle. Both had their armor on, Celestia’s was a bright, golden set of armor with a deep navy blue on the edges, while Luna was that same deep blue and had gold outlines. Both looked exhausted and flustered; neither could have seen this day coming. There was only one pony that was strong enough to defeat an entire army with just that pony’s arsenal of magic, but that pony died some time ago. Somepony like Starswirl the Bearded. The table that the two Princesses were standing by was littered with papers about Starswirl and the magic that he created, ranging from summoning spells to battle spells. They had no way to calculate the exact amount of troops that the Asgardians had until Rarity got back from her scouting mission which could be another hour and a half. “We need to find a spell that can aid us in battle.” Celestia motioned, Luna nodded, “With the elements gone we can not hope to defeat them in the way we first did.” Princess Cadence and Shining Armor stepped in. Cadence spoke first, “Sorry that we’re late, what did we miss?” “Nothing, we just got out the scrolls and we are trying to find one to aid us. If you could help us we would be grateful.” “Of course” Said Shining Armor with upmost respect. These were some of the strongest magic casters in Equestria all in one tent, all striving towards one goal, wanting just one thing. They wanted to protect Equestria and send these invaders away and all their hope was relying on one pony to get information while they tried to find a spell in the midst of thousands. Ω Rarity was galloping towards the enemy camp, she had been waiting for about 27 minutes waiting for the action to cool down and noticing the little things, just like she did with dresses. When she got within her hearing range, which was much better than theirs, she slowed down to where she could only hear her breath and heartbeat. Behind the brush and tall grass of the Ever-Free Forest she was invisible to them but she could clearly see them. She did a quick head count and lost after 400. That was just one section of the camp too; there were at least 10 sections to each camp and not to mention the ones that were scouting, or at least attempting to scout. Celestia put a spell on the camp, a spell of concealment, that wouldn’t let any thing other than a pony see it unless they were inside it. Rarity shook her head, she needed to focus; the invaders were all at least twice her size and had menacing looking weapons that could easily take her life with one swing. Not to mention the arrows and the even BIGGER arrows that were loaded into machines that could launch them. Rarity wasn’t sure how Celestia was going to manage defeated these people but she was sure that she would somehow be able to. Rarity duck quickly, an enemy was coming towards her, she wasn’t sure why but knew that she couldn’t be seen. He came over and glanced around quickly, to make sure no one could see him, dropped to his knees and started to cry then started to say something that she couldn’t understand. She casted a quick spell to understand and she heard, “-Make it back to my family, I don’t want to have to do this but Thor is making me. I can only imagine what he would do to a deserter and don’t wish to find out. Odin, why do you have to hurt me? I didn’t want to have to wipe out an entire race but I will do it, if only to protect my family.” Rarity almost gasped out loud but caught herself. The man stood up, wiped his eyes and walked off, he said to the men, “Don’t go over there, there is a gas or something that makes you tear up.” Rarity smiled, he just inadvertently helped her. She chuckled quietly to herself, and went back to scouting. She cast the spell that made her armor turn invisible and went into the camp, making sure that every move had a purpose and was silent. She learned a lot when she was in the camp, probably knew more about these people than anypony would ever care to know. When she got back to camp, she was ready to suggest a plan to Celestia and the Princesses, they needed to attack now, in the dead of night so that they would be weak and tired. They could just send in some pegasi with hot coals and light the camp on fire. Then the ground troops could move in and take out anyone that wasn’t burned to death. The Princesses were surprise at her confidence in her plan; Rarity had never shown interest in that part of life but now was thinking and suggesting like a commander. Twilight was also there and she was smiling, Rarity was changed somehow, she might’ve heard something or seen something but she knew that she was different. Twilight would ask her later, “I think that it will work, we should attack as soon as we can.” Luna and Celestia looked at one another and nodded, “We will inform the troops,” Luna said, “go to your friends and make sure that they know what to do.” “I will.” Twilight turned and started to run off, with Rarity of course. While they were going they talked, talked about what Rarity had seen and heard. At one point, Twilight physically stopped moving and had to clear something up with Rarity, “You do know that they are the enemy right.” Rarity looked up, “Why of course I do, I also know how to beat them.” She beamed with pride. “Well, you sounded there for a second like you wanted to try and win them over diplomatically.” Twilight began trotting again. Rarity did too but she lagged behind, she thought to herself, ‘Do I want that? Do I want to not have to kill them?” She came to the realization, ‘No. No, I don’t want to hurt them. I want them to just go away and not come back.’ She stopped for a moment, ‘I’ll just inform the Princesses when I get back to camp.’ “You okay Rarity?” Twilight called, having stopped herself to make sure that Rarity was okay. “Yes! I’m fine.” She trotted back up to Twilight. “Just thinking about things that I should do after we win. “Well, we don’t know that yet. But I like your confidence.” Twilight replied. When they got back to camp, together they explained the plan. Mostly Rarity but Twilight would interject every once in a while. When they finished they group hugged and they all went to their designated area’s so they could be briefed and prepare for the upcoming storm. This was going to be a severe storm though, and like waves on a sea they were going to be tossed to and fro. The magic of friendship would be tested and their hearts would be tried, they all knew this in their mind. None of them said anything though.
