"Do not ignore the past my little pony for it is the gateway to our future... The elements may now be lost to history but in the prime they were but hoof steps away to condemning Equestria to that same... Edenic fate... There is much we can learn here... Pray that you realize it..."

Two weeks before the battle of Ponyville: Day 2 10:00am

It was dark. Cold and wet morning in what seemed to be the war torn land of Equestria. No further reports had come from Cloudsdale ever since the griffon invasion. The last council meeting, which had spawned a dark and deathly silence, caused by the sheer panic. Anger and the descent of hopelessness. Had left a eerie mark on the council room doors, which now stood unknowingly still to the confines of the royal castle.

Rainbow Dash, who was still scared by the tragic losses of her former home and friends, flew over to Canterlot by orders of the princesses. In her mind there was no doubt that the meeting would return to the subject of Cloudsdale, reigniting the fires of past conversations of what is now known throughout Equestria and especially it's military as the Cloudsdale incident. Rainbow Dash shuddered at the thought but continued to fly straight and at top neck speed towards the royal palace, were she new her friends and the princesses would be waiting for her imminent arrival.

Rainbow Dash instantly swooped down, arriving straight at the golden palace doors leading directly to the princesses thrown room. She took a deep breath and stood at attention, awaiting for a warm but serious greeting from the two princesses. Unaware to the young mare however, the glistening palace doors were closed. Shut down and locked tight, as was all of the rest of the palace during wartime, for security reasons. "Strange." Rainbow Dash thought. Considering to herself silently that the doors would have been be open, if it was indeed an invitation sent to herself and possibly even her friends to see the royal sisters for an important meeting.

Nevertheless Rainbow Dash sat down patiently, head high and awaited for the doors to open. She glazed at the dark tainted clouds above, reminding herself of all the memories as a filly in Cloudsdale. She gave a sad smile as she began to tear up, not noticing her friends had just arrived before she did and were right by her side.

Twilight and Fluttershy who had trotted up to Rainbow Dash first, sat next to her, simultaneously hugging the Pegasus tightly but warmly, trying to assure her as much comfort as possible. Fluttershy hugged Rainbow Dash the most, knowing full well just what the mare and herself was going through. They as life long pegasi friends, had grown up in the cloud city together and therefore had both lost one of the most important places in Equestria to them... There former home... Twilight who started to notice a slight negative response from Rainbow Dash, quickly let go of the embrace and stood aback as Fluttershy followed suit. Rarity. Pinkie and Applejack stayed respectively quiet as the emotional moment played out in front of them. Then suddenly, Twilight as she had done previously in the council room spoke to Rainbow Dash first, with the same sort of worry and uncertainty as the day before.

"Rainbow." Twilight said. Trying but failing automatically to make the Rainbow coloured Pegasus look or feel any better than in her current state. Twilight sighed and breathed inwards, realizing that her new objective while awaiting for the princesses prompt arrival, was to make Rainbow Dash look at her, even for a second. Rather than the clouds above reminding her and herself time and time again of the Cloudsdale incident.

"Rainbow." Twilight repeated. This time trying to sound more positive and upbeat in her voice, Rainbow Dash turned as her head slowly, rotating it towards Twilight's direction. She faced the light purple mare dead center, continuously staring right into Twilight's eyes as if she was a confirmed target ready for the kill. Twilight who had once had the simile of success in getting a response from Rainbow Dash, now felt heart broken. Her smile was gone, replaced with sadness and deprivation as the eyes of what was left her best friend staggered in place. The vanish red tinted eyes of Rainbow Dash, which Twilight concluded had been from lack of sleep and stress, continued to stare sharply and patiently awaiting another response or action from Twilight.

After a few seconds in deep thought, Twilight began to sob in quick but controlled bursts, as if trying to tame the emotion she felt inside of her. She then quickly pulled herself together, buying herself only a few more seconds before her emotions got the better of her. The rest of her friends sat back, not wanting to do any action that may interfere with the scene at hoof. Twilight looked down then back up, redirecting herself to Rainbow Dash, who was still looking directly at Twilight.

Twilight couldn't withstand the hurtful emotions for long, her face begged and pleaded at Rainbow Dash. Praying that she would stop even for a second, to try feel better about things as she tried in one last attempt, before she lost her emotional stability. Twilight groaned out a last call to Rainbow Dash's name, in a ditch attempt to save her and herself from an emotional downfall. "Rainbow." She whimpered as her voice began to crack and break, as she then broke and began to tear up once more. She couldn't take in the emotion of seeing one of her friends she cared for the most, break in front of her any longer, it wasn't bearable. Twilight galloped towards Rarity, who was in the closest in vicinity to her, and sobbed weekly into her coat. Rarity said nothing, allowing Twilight to cry uncontrollably into her chest, as she then embraced the mare and hugged her tightly, trying to smooth the pain she felt inside of her.

It had been thirty minutes and still nothing. The golden doors of the thrown room doors were still shut and locked, with no indication of movement from inside the palace. Everypony had since calmed down but had said nothing in the process, Rainbow Dash who was still the most critically unstable of the group, now just sat still, being a few feet away from the group with her eyes closed. She faced the palace doors, trying not to think about Cloudsdale incident, and instead thought of other things that would potentially cheer up the poor and hurt pony.

Twilight who had stopped sobbing and regained her composure, began to ponder out loud. "The princesses have never been this late to a meeting before, I wonder if they are alright-" "Nonsense darling." Rarity chipped in. "I say that they are quite all right dear, this is the royal palace after all." Rarity finished, with her undying certainty. "But what if-" Twilight questioned, but then pondered for another moment. "They are quite all right dear, I assure you. No harm would come to them, not in the royal palace of all places." Twilight smiled towards Rarity and nodded, felling reassured that the princesses were just having a busy day, or who had much more important things to worry about than the meeting.

Applejack who hadn't said a word since the day before, rolled her eyes and stood up pointing directly at Twilight. "Yall know that this is war, right." Rainbow dash squinted, not wanting to think about it as Applejack continued, raising her voice in anger. "Heck the princesses and probably even princess Celestia herself don't even have time for us, with a war on her hooves and all!" Everyone glared towards Twilight, expecting that she would be the one to retaliate first and knowing full well her connections to the princesses as that she was one herself.

"That's. Not. True. AJ." Twilight responded, in a negative tone. Realising her tone of voice. She then quickly spoke again, before the wrong implication of her tone took its hold on the orange mare. "She wouldn't call a meeting, an important one nonetheless if she didn't care or have time for us, even though there is a war at hoof." Applejack looked ashamed, and stood aback as Twilight continued. "We are all her most faithful subjects, I am the princess of friendship and the element of magic. You are the element of honesty. Rarity, generosity. Fluttershy, kindness. Rainbow Dash, loyalty. And Pinkie Pie, laughter. Together and with the power of friendship, we can overcome anything, and not just us but everypony around us. In Ponyville. In Canterlot. In Manehattan. In-" Twilight stopped, reminding herself not to mention Cloudsdale, knowing the distress it would cause towards Rainbow Dash. She snapped out of the thought and quickly continued. "-In Equestria, We are all her most faithful subjects. Big or small, strong or weak. She cares for us more than we all know and even though we are at war, she will find a way to spare time for us all, no matter what."

Applejack's ears lowered, as she then began to lower her head in shame. "I'm sorry Twi." She whispered. Twilight sympathizing with Applejack, as she knew how it felt to have and older brother in the war, trotted up to her and put her hoof on her shoulder. "Its ok." Twilight responded. "We all have gone through some rough times, and so have the princesses, but that doesn't mean they don't care for us AJ." Applejack smiled and nodded. Twilight then trotted up to Rainbow Dash who was still sitting silently alone, eyes closed and silently breathing. Twilight nuzzled Rainbow Dash to get her attention, Rainbow Dash, shocked at the action quickly blushed and opened her eyes as Twilight embraced her. "Everything is going to be fine Rainbow Dash." Twilight said brushing the rainbow coloured mane, as she embraced the broken mare. One last lonely tear ran down Twilight's cheeks. "Everything is going to be fine."

Then as if by sheer coincidence, the golden glistening palace doors slowly opened, letting out the trapped hot air from inside the palace, as the two alicorns stepped outside escorted by several guards. One alicorn, with a bright white coat and a unique rainbow aura mane. The other alicorn, with a dark blue coat and dark sapphire blue aura mane. The main six knew exactly who they were an immediately bowed down, princess Celestia spoke first in her usual clam majestic voice. "Rise my little ponies, please come in, we have much to discus." She glazed at Rainbow Dash and gave her a royal winged saluted, as so did princess Luna. Rainbow Dash taken aback but grateful for the respect, saluted back towards the princesses as they all enter the thrown room. everypony entered as Rainbow trotted beside Celestia "Much to discus." Celestia whispered, only allowing Rainbow Dash to hear her words, as the doors behind them then shut and the talks began, the talks which would change the war forever.

"The Pegasi... They have demonstrated a great deal of speed and agility in there combat... And... With there unmatched tactics. And unique strategy... They have proven to Equestria since time immemorial that they are the most militaristic of ponies... Strong. Determined. Feared. And most notably... Loyal... They are none more fierce and more brave facing towards the bitter end of there demise... No matter what faces them... The Pegasi have always been the first to protect Equestria... To take up arms in its defence... But now since Cloudsdale... I wonder if I can rely on one such pony again... To help us in our time of need... The answer... Of course I can... She is the most loyal... After all... And she will do what I command and what she commands of them to do..."

Author's Note

Forget what I said. THIS! Is probably the most hardest chapter, and is probably the most longest chapter I have ever typed. But to me, and I hope to you as well it was all worth it.
Also if there are any errors, be assured that I will fix them as soon as they are noticed.

The second chapter, will continue the meeting as I would like to explore more of what happened before the battle of Ponyville, but in is not set in stone comments and feedback may change my opinion on what I should do, but anyway for now that is the plan.

But as always, I will take back any feedback given and it is always appreciated. Also feel free to comment and i'll be sure to reply to them however best I can.
Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed and I hope to see you all in the comment section soon.
Have a good day everypony.