Rainboom Revolution

"Alright Twilight, let me see if we all understand this correctly. Ya'll sayin' that there's ponies in Canterlot that were tryin' to get Princess Luna to turn back into Nightmare Moon again?"

"That's correct, Applejack."

"And that when that didn't work they started killin' off unicorns hopin' to bring back some Tartarus-bound 'chaotic one' or somethin' like that in the process?"

"Mm-hmm."

"And two of those ponies placed here got those horns and tried to fillynap Rainbow Dash to do terrible things to her?"

"Yes. And not just the abduction and vandalism of Sugar Cube Corner tonight, there's reason to believe they're behind the parasprites first showing up, the dragon we had to deal with... most everything that's happened here since I was assigned by Princess Celestia to learn about friendship."

"That's all dandy Twilight, but it doesn't explain why we're all runnin' at full gallop toward the Everfree Forest again in the middle of a strange night!"

"Because that's where..."

Twilight Sparkle's last statement was interrupted when she saw the ponies in the path ahead, located just outside the Everfree Forest, and was forced to turn sideways into a sliding halt due to the momentum behind her. The other ponies galloping beside her - Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity - were forced to do the same while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flying just above simply pulled up and switched to just hovering in place.

It wasn't who was seen that surprised Twilight and her fellow Element Bearers so much, it was what they were doing that was the surprising part. In the path ahead at the forest's edge, the zebra Zecora and Guard Lieutenant Crispin were hunched over a crudely-drawn map, the low lunar illumination supplemented by a torch in a holder carefully manipulated by Guard Lower Class Lucky Clover. The other Guard members present in Ponyville at the time - Aide Cherry Fizzy, Guard Upper Class Noteworthy and Guard Upper Class Caramel - are standing at attention in a row along the side of the road, the only acknowledgement of the arrival of the Element Bearers being the gazes that track the young mares as they move.

"What's going on here?" Twilight Sparkle naturally asks, moving closer to the huddle with Applejack beside her.

"Two stallions fast on the wing dropped a map. We were hoping, Twilight Sparkle, you could help us fill a gap." Zecora replies in her usual cryptic rhyming manner, staring down at crude line drawing on the sheet of paper.

"What the zebra is getting at is that we're trying to figure out how this map relates to the lay of Everfree Forest. We know the stallions that flew through here must be hiding inside the forest - that's why I've got everypony rallied now - but we have no idea where to start looking once inside." Lieutenant Crispin adds as Twilight bends down to look over the parchment.

"Hmmm, I've definitely seen this map pattern before..." Twilight comments, muttering several different words under her breath and moving a hoof over the paper as she does so. Applejack simply stares down blankly at the paper, while the other Element Bearers behind Applejack and Twilight just exchange confused looks.

"OK Lieutenant, listen carefully." Twilight finally states after a few moments looking over the paper, the others staring down looking up with her a moment later.

"I'm listening. You know what this thing can tell us?" Lieutenant Crispin asks.

"Yes, this looks like a crude replica of a trail map of routes inside the Everfree Forest." Twilight Sparkle begins explaining. "My friends and I took the main road to get to the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters, but there's plenty of other routes and some other ruins inside the forest because before Princess Luna's exile all manner of roads converged here to service the castle and the town surrounding it, sort of like how everything converges on Canterlot today."

"That's understandable, sure, but how does it help us find those two fugitives?" Crispin asks again.

"One of the ruins still standing today was once a rest stop for messengers and patrol officers on a side road off the main one. It could only house a couple ponies permanently, but if there was a way to supply and protect it it would still be a usable hiding spot. Those two stallions that attacked tonight must be hiding there, using it as a base to hide and launch attacks on the town from." Twilight answers, dramatically pointing a hoof at a certain spot on the paper as she does so.

"So are we goin' in and gettin' em? By that fancy teleportin', maybe, so that we have the element of surprise on our side?" Applejack offers, having an idea what Twilight is getting at.

"Sorry, Applejack, no teleporting. Not with this many ponies and how dense the forest is. Besides, those pegasi might be expecting that and we'd end up right in a trap. We'll have to do this the old-fashioned way - hooves and wings." Twilight answers.

"Then what do you want us to do?" Lieutenant Crispin asks, a clear indication of the authority temporarily being handed over to Twilight.

"I'll lead the way to the hideout with a shield in front so as to block or defuse any traps we may come across. The Lieutenant and the other Guards behind on one side, my friends behind on the other." Twilight answers, looking around as she speaks so as to make sure everypony was listening to her. "As soon as we arrive, we attack, either trying to get them to surrender or flush them into a trap."

"Sounds like a plan to me. I would only recommend Zecora come with us, since she knows this forest better than anypony else and she's been a victim of their schemes too." Lieutenant Crispin affirms, looking over at Zecora after finishing.

"Joining your expedition I will indeed, to help protect peace and harmony." Zecora chimes up quickly, showing no objection to the proposed arrangement.

"Very well then, you be in the column with my subordinates. And the sooner we get this started, the better. ALL GUARDS, SINGLE FILE LINE BEHIND ME!" Lieutenant Crispin exclaims. Seconds later the other Guard stallions begin lining up behind Crispin, Lucky Clover at the tail end still holding the torch so as to help define the end of the line.

Twilight smiles as Zecora moves between Lieutenant Crispin and Applejack, who's expression seemed resigned to leading her fellow Element Bearers behind Twilight. As she would later realize more fully, this unity was a strong testament to the magic of friendship and the commitment to harmony that stood against the baser desires for chaos and selfish gain that characterized their enemies. She turned to face into the forest, a determined expression now lit up by the magenta-colored magic of her horn as she casts ahead a large semi-circular arc of magenta energy, reaching across the length of the path into the forest and up as high as the tops of the surrounding trees.

"ALL PONIES, MOVE OUT!" Lieutenant Crispin shouts out again, and the entire group of ponies begins moving into the forest, slowly following Twilight's magic shield plowing ahead on the forest path...

The glowing purple magic shield moving ahead of the party, accompanied by the disruptions that would occur in the forest foliage by its movement, meant it was painfully obvious to the combined Element Bearer-Loyalist Guard party that the enemy would know they would coming, but in this case it wouldn't matter in the slightest. Agents of Chaos P1 and P2 had had no choice but to retreat from Ponyville after the failure of their abduction plan, and now they were prepared to fight to the death. The "stolen", illegitimate Lieutenant's stars each stallion possessed on the uniform they wore reminded them surrender was not an option - barring a last-second reprieve by the Element Bearers being called away to deal with the "chaotic one", the only options the two rebel pegasi stallions had were to fight to the death or stand their ground as long as they could and then try to disappear into the forest.

By the time the combined party broke through into the area of Fort Chaos, the two Agents of Chaos were ready, each with a grenade launcher set up as an impromptu cannon and deployed directly facing the expected approach angle. The purple magic shield breaks through the tree line into a small clearing in front of the rebel fort, setting off a number of deployed traps - a mixture of rope snares, catch nets and crossbow bolts triggered by tripwire - in the process. The defusing of the traps by Twilight Sparkle's magic shield meant the only real resistance would come from the rebels themselves.

Twilight's shield splits apart into two separate sections that are blasted sideways in opposite directions from each other as the party enters the clearing, setting off a few more traps harmlessly in the process and ensuring safe movement in the area around Fort Chaos. The two rebel Agents glare down as the combined party of their opponents sets up - Twilight and Pinkie Pie with her "party cannon" in the back as an improvised artillery, Rainbow Dash above ready to pelt the rebels with whatever she could carry, Fluttershy and Rarity in reserve ready to carry any injured ponies back to safety, everyone else in the party marching forward to smash into the walls of the rebel fort.

"THIS IS THE ONLY WARNING YOU WILL GET, YOU REBELS SEEKING CHAOS! SURRENDER NOW AND WE PROMISE YOU WILL GET A FAIR TRIAL IN A COURT OF LAW!" Lieutenant Crispin shouts as the main portion of the his force stops in front of the walls below the two rebels. The only response is Agent P1 pulling a pin on one of the grenades he had with his teeth, then loading and firing it out of the launcher to impact harmlessly in the clearing.

The rebel defiance made clear, it was thus what would be recorded in the annals of Ponyville history as "The Battle of Fort Chaos" began. Twilight Sparkle firing blasts of magic energy and Pinkie using her party cannon for more military purposes opened up on the rebels, while Rainbow Dash begin throwing down whatever loose sticks and other debris she could find from above and the rest of the party (save Fluttershy and Rarity, who both stayed back in order to make sure any injured could be lead back to Ponyville) tried smashing the wall with whatever bucking technique they were most comfortable with.

The rebels were undeterred, priming and dropping down or firing grenades as fast as they could, but it was not easy work between the return fire and the walls shaking each time they were hit with a good buck from the massed earth ponies below. The trapped Agents however were determined to hold out as long as they could, hoping against hope that the appearance of the "chaotic one" thanks to the efforts of the comrades in Canterlot would bail them out.

There would be no such luck, however. After several minutes of fruitless exchanges of fire, Rainbow Dash gets an idea and abandons her drop attack, flying down first to Twilight and then to Lieutenant Crispin. Both agree to the idea, and Crispin orders his attackers, who have already put serious cracks in the wall around them, to back up to a safe distance while Rainbow Dash flies high into the sky above Fort Chaos.

The rebels are initially confused by this development, wondering if its perhaps actually the reprieve that they had hoped for, and do not notice what is actually happening until its too late. Due to the clearing in the forest, Rainbow Dash has a clear shot at dropping down from above at full speed, and before the rebels can do anything the impact causes the entire ruin to explode, a shockwave in muted rainbow colors and multi-colored smoke shooting into the sky.

Upon impact, Twilight Sparkle temporarily throws up her shield to protect her fellow attackers from the rainbow shockwave and flying stone debris, the stones bouncing off and away into the forest now riled up with disturbed birds and wildlife. As the smoke begins to clear, it's obvious that "Fort Chaos" has been completely destroyed by the explosion, leaving only a shallow crater in the ground strewn with rocks and other debris.

"REPORT!" Lieutenant Crispin shouts as Twilight drops her shield again.

"We're all right, Lieutenant, I think..." Twilight replies, squinting into the clearing smoke to see what she can make out. In the middle of the crater, she sees a woozy Rainbow Dash slowly get back on her hooves, and both Fluttershy and Rarity now rush out to help her. Along one edge of the crater are two pegasi stallions in uniform laying in motionless sprawl, surrounded by both unexploded grenades and a pair of broken grenade launchers - Twilight and Lieutenant Crispin rush out to these two stallions as the rest of the party stays along the edge of the clearing.

Twilight and Crispin stop near the two unmoving stallions and the latter looks them over quickly as Rarity and Fluttershy help Rainbow Dash out of the crater. Finally, Crispin pronounces his conclusions to a stoic Twilight: "Dead. Both of them. The released magic energy must've been lethal. Can't say they didn't deserve it though..."

"I still have a feeling we're not done tonight, though." Twilight comments as she worriedly looks around at the disturbed forest. "I'm worried something is going on in Canterlot that we're going to be needed for. Not just me and my friends with the Elements of Harmony, ALL of us."

Lieutenant Crispin nods understandingly - he already had an idea his comrades in Canterlot were engaged at the same time thanks to letters sent to him in advance. He smiles down at the powerful young mare and puts a dirty forehoof on one of her shoulders.

"You and your friends go on ahead back to Ponyville. If Celestia needs you, it's important you find out from your little dragon assistant sooner rather than later. Zecora and my subordinates can take care of cleaning things up here." Crispin firmly orders.

Twilight gives a brief look around in hesitation before looking back up at Crispin and nodding in turn. She turns around and calls to her friends while Crispin's subordinates now canter past her to Crispin's location.

"Where's Twilight's group going, sir?" Lucky Clover naturally asks of his commanding officer.

"Back to Ponyville, they may be needed in Canterlot yet. We're needed here, to secure the battle site and carry away the dead pegasi." Crispin answers, pointing down to the dead pegasi near him. "Tell Zecora she can help as much as she can, and then she's free to return to her residence when we're done here."

"Yes sir!" Lucky Clover replies in salute as the other subordinates scatter across the shallow crater, searching for any grenades or other dangerous material still present in the ruins of Fort Chaos.

Crispin lets out a heavy sigh and looks over in weary worry in the direction of Canterlot, the actual outline of the castle and city itself hidden by the foliage of the forest. Then he lets out a short prayer of sorts, embodying the mood of the moment: "Oh great defenders of friendship and harmony, do not let the chaotic one become free. Do not let the hatred and selfishness win tonight..."