Decision

“The barrier has been compromised!”

“Every-pony, evacuate while you still can! EVACUATE!”

Sirens were wailing all around Ponyville as the magical shield started to lose its strength from enemy fire. Residents of the town were fleeing towards the outskirts; trampling over one another to reach either the over packed trains, or the pegasi carriages. Although they came and went in regular intervals, it was obviously not enough.

“Attention all citizens of Ponyville! The Equalists are about to break through the magical barrier that was set by Princess Twilight! We do not have enough support! I repeat, we do not have enough support! We ask of the colts and stallions to remain behind and fight her army! This is our last chance!” The horn blared.

“Urgh! It’s no use! We can’t keep the damn shield steady!” Twilight cursed. She stood in the center of the battlefield with the other unicorns, which were also struggling to keep its strength intact.

“Twily, I think that we could keep trying, but…” Shining Armor stood beside her, his shield spell breaking as quickly as hers.

“No! You know as well as I do that this shield is just as good as gone! Gather the guards and the remaining ponyfolk!” She snapped.

“If you say so.” He broke his focus from the barrier and turned towards his troops.

“Guards and fellow ponies get ready! Form the defensive positions! We fight to survive! May the royals be with you!” He saluted his fellow comrades, and they followed suit.

“May the Royals be with us!”

And with that, the entire shield faded, and the wave rushed in.

Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth ponies…strong, magically powerful, and committed to their cause. They broke through the gates with the same fury, the same formation. Nothing was different.

And so the battle began, the battle for the conscious and sanity of the remaining ponies. The rest were already incurable.

“FIRE!”

Cannons exploded as gigantic nets flew into the air, trapping the reformed pegasi. Clashes of magic were met between the guards and the equalist unicorns, while the residents did their best to knock away and repel the earth ponies that barged through their defenses in an attempt to capture “different” ponies to their home base.

Although the sane had the advantage of unpredictability and free thought, the minions had the advantage of a seemingly perfect coordination, moving together like ants, focusing on the same target and performing the task efficiently. Also, while the equalists were attacking to their maximum strength against what they considered an evil enemy, the residents were fighting their own friends, their own family. Starlight made sure of that.

It didn’t take long for the reformed ponies to surround the survivors in a tight circle, their smiles unchanged as they waited for a chance to break their defenses, chanting the same word over and over again.

Join us.

“Darn it! We can’t keep fighting like this!” Applejack yelled to the others, throwing her Aunt Orange onto the wall of a house with her lasso while kicking Brayburn off of Applebloom.

“What do you mean?! We have too!” Rainbow Dash shouted, slamming Spitfire onto the ground.

“I mean I can’t hurt my family and friends anymore! It’s…”

“Too much?” Twilight finished, furious. “Do you not understand that is the point of Starlight’s Plan?”

“But…but…”

“Give her a break, Twilight!” Rarity complained. “Every one of us knows that we’re fighting a painful battle, you don’t have to be so tactless!”

“Tact…less?”

“Uh-oh.” Fluttershy whimpered. She had been hiding from the fight since the beginning, only coming out every moment or so to deliver nets to the cannons but ducking in the safe zone immediately after.

“TACTLESS?!”

She stomped her hooves on the ground with tremendous force, causing a magical surge to explode throughout the field. She turned to her friends in pure rage as they cowered in fear, the former fear of the equalists evaporated.

“ARE YOU STUPID? We’re fighting a god damn battle against ponies that are close to us, and you’re concerned about the tone of my voice?! Does the whole region of Equestria balance around your “lady-like” behavior or my POWER!” She bellowed.

A magical sphere erupted into position as she stomped her hooves onto the earth, her magic sending all of the equalists flying into the air from the sheer power of an alicorn princess.

Silence.

“Power?” Applejack managed to stutter.

Her anger vanished as Twilight realized the depths of what she just said. Withdrawing her hooves from the ground, there were deep cracks embedded on the pavement.

“I…I mean…” The glint in her eye vanished as she calmed herself. “I...um…sorry Rarity. I didn’t mean to…lose my temper.”

Rarity walked over to Twilight and picked her back up. It took a while before she spoke, and the tone was nervous, yet stable.

“Look…I know how hard it is for…all of us right now. Especially you. Since…you saw that…event, first hand.”

“But I’m losing myself! Look at how I lost control just now! My sanity has been taking a nosedive since Starlight…”

Twilight sighed, and then turned to her friends, who looked at her with slight apprehension.

“Do you know where Starlight is hiding?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I do.” Shining Armor emerged from the shadows, carrying a pony on his shoulders. “This unicorn managed to escape from the clutches of the equalization camps. Starlight’s base is in the Everfree Forest…in some kind of castle, as she described.” He explained.

“A castle?” Fluttershy asked.

“A castle in the Everfree Forest? Wait…The Castle of the Two sisters! That’s where Starlight Glimmer is hiding all this time!” Twilight exclaimed, realizing the location.

“Well what are we waiting for? We need to save Equestria!” Applejack demanded.

“Um…Applejack? I don’t think we can.”

The Equalists were starting to emerge back from the explosion. Twilight and the others got ready to go back into their battle stance, but were quickly stopped by Shining Armor.

“You girls go stop Starlight. I’ll take care of the rest. If you stop her, the fight is over. GO!” He shouted.

They nodded and rushed into the forest.