Prologue: Planning a Rendezvous
Just when the sun rises into the sky in the morning, every pony got up on their hooves and out of bed to start their daily routines. Despite the Mane 5 getting up to start a new day together, they still couldn't stop thinking about what the annual purge almost made them do. Even though they did their best not to let their nightmares get a hold of them, Rarity suffered the worst nightmares than the rest of her friends did. As she got up from bed, made breakfast, and went down to the sewing room inside her Carousel Boutique, for some reason Rarity couldn't make dresses properly because of how much stressful memories she was experiencing from the 3rd Year's purge. After realizing that Rarity almost beaten Suri to death and shot the Black Death gang leader in the head to save Twilight from getting killed during the 3rd year's purge, the fashionista couldn't help but feel shaken over the fact that she almost became a monster. Before Rarity was able to do anything else, Applejack came in and notices that the white unicorn is sweating and panicking uncontrollably.
"Hey, Rarity?" Applejack asked the fashionista. "Are ya feelin okay over der??"
"I-I don't know. I mean I can't stop thinking about what I almost done to Suri," Rarity shrieked in silence. "If only Twilight didn't start that purge whether or not it was the NFFE's fault."
"Look err Rarity," Applejack said while giving the unicorn a serious look on her face. "I know its hard to resist such violence, but we have ta fight against our aggression if we were ta stay sane during such troubled, grim events as dis. If ya hadn't stop that gansta freak from bucking Twi back der, we would never see Twilight again. I mean, if we were to be heroes instead of killers, we have to survive the sheer terror that comes in our way first. I already told ya dat we will find a way to expose NFFE's true colors to da public, right?!"
"Y-Yes, but we still don't know where to start," Rarity said in denial. "If we get mixed up in the annual purge, it could also ruin our reputation as the Element Bearers of Harmony and our heroism."
Before Applejack could say anything, Pinkie Pie bursted from the front doors of Rarity's Boutique. In an instant the pink pony started freaking out as if something was wrong.
"APPLEJACK!! RARITY!! IT'S HORRIBLE, I TELL YOU!! IT'S HORRIBLE!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Pinkie screamed in terror.
"Calm down Pinkie Pie!!!" Applejack acknowledged as she tried the sympathize the frightened earth pony. "What happened just now, ah?!"
"I was about to check up on Twilight in her Castle only to see her take off immediately without any further explanation," Pinkie screeched. "Before I could come any closer to the castle, I hid in a bush nearby and saw some weirdos wearing cloaks come out of Twilight's Castle. It's as if they're trying to have Twilight meet up with them in a secret area!!!"
"Do you even know who they are, Pinkie?" Rarity asked concerning for her alicorn friend.
"That, I do not know," Pinkie sneered as glared over her shoulder. "I also heard that a political group is forming around the Ponyville City Hall, protesting against the Annual Purge three years ago."
Upon hearing what Pinkie just said, Applejack and Rarity followed her all the way to the Ponyville City Hall. As soon as they got there, there were protestors clamoring in front of Mayor Mare and several town guards up front. Just when the three ponies got closer they were shouting at the Mayor about horrors that the purge is causing at Manehattan.
"WE WANT PEACE!! NOT PURGE!!!"
"THINK ABOUT OUR LITTLE FILLIES!!!"
"WE DON'T WANT ANY OF OUR LOVED ONES GET KILLED!!!"
"WE DON'T WANT OUR CHILDREN TO PURGE ANYMORE!!! IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!!"
As the protesting becomes intense every minute, the town guard formed up in a riot shield formation and readying their weapons incase the protestors started to cause a violent uprising. As for the three ponies, Rainbow Dash flew in from behind to see what was going on. After hearing what Pinkie said about this, Rainbow couldn't help but feel bad that every pony's loved ones were getting killed at Manehattan due to the annual purge and Babs Seed was no exception.
"Man, dis is even far worse than rounding up an angry bull from its pen!!!" Applejack said while under a state of shock. "Say where is Spike and Starlight Glimmer??"
"Spike is still sleeping," Pinkie explained. "And Starlight Glimmer took off and is secretly tracking down one of the protestors by the name of Bishop."
"Did you even know where dey are headed? And why would Starlight pursue dis err Bishop??" Applejack asked.
"Nope, not a clue!!" Pinkie responded sheepishly as she smiled and squeed.
"PINKIE!!!!" The Mane 4 shouted, scolding the pink earth mare.
"Well that doesn't mean we can be standing around doing nothing," Pinkie Pie suggested to the group as she enlightened them. "My pinky sense is telling me, that if we follow Starlight, we might be able to get some answers of what Bishop's people are planning to do. I do have a theory that they'll start rebelling against the NFFE in order to save their loved ones from the purge. As a matter of fact, we all need to act fast if we were to save Equestria from the NFFE."
"Pinkie's right every pony," Rarity acknowledged to the Mane 5. "The sooner we find a way to save Equestria from the purge and the NFFE the better."
After agreeing with Pinkie's suggestions, the Mane 5 galloped away from the protesting crowd at the Ponyville City Hall and left Ponyville to track down the whereabouts of Starlight.
Meanwhile at the Crystal Empire, Shinning Armor was usually doing his daily routine guard patrol around the city walls. During this routine, Shinning couldn't help but think about how insane his wife is acting after they forced his sister to establish the purge against her own will. After those two years, the Crystal Prince was noticing that Cadence almost scared their daughter, Flurry Heart, half to death and had no choice but to isolate the baby alicorn to a much more safer place within the Crystal Empire. When he head about what happened to Twilight during the 3rd Year's Annual Purge, it gave Shinning Armor a heart attack after hearing about how badly injured his sister was back in Manehattan. It's been 10 months after the last year's purge that Shinning is starting to worry of what will become of the ponies in Manehattan now. It's also scaring Shinning Armor from the fact that the purge might affect Twilight and her friends if they have to put up with it in the future years.
After 3 hours of guard patrol around the Crystal Empire walls, Shinning went down the stairs to take a lunch break at a nearby barracks only to see one of his men approach him and informed him that a visitor has appeared at the city gates.
"Prince Armor," The watch guard spoke as he bowed down to Shinning. "Princess Twilight has arrived at the city gates. She said that she needs to see you in private."
"Tell her to meet me at the barracks!" Shinning said as he gave orders to his watch guard.
After heeding the Crystal Prince's orders, the watch guard saluted before he went back to the city gates. As Shinning went inside the barracks's mess hall, he used his magic to bring in a tray of food for him to munch on. During his lunch break, Shinning started wondering why would his LSBFF started showing up at the Crystal Empire for. Before he can make any guesses, the watch guard appeared in the barracks. Behind the guard, Twilight Sparkle appeared.
"Every pony, make way for Princess Twilight Sparkle!!!" The watch guard announced as he stepped out of the purple alicorn's path.
As she entered the barracks, the guards that were having their lunch break with Shinning all stood up from their tables and bowed down before Twilight Sparkle as she stepped forward to the table where Shinning Armor is sitting at.
"Guards, I would like you all to leave me and Shinning Armor alone for a while," Twilight ordered the Crystal Royal Guards as they took their food trays with them outside of the mess hall.
After the guards left the mess hall, Twilight turned her attention towards her elder brother. Before Twilight could say anything, Shinning looked up to see Twilight sitting across the table from where he is.
"Hey, Twily," Shinning said as he made a friendly greeting towards her sister. "What brings you here in the Crystal Empire today? It's not about the purge is it?"
"I just received a letter from some pony named Charlie Roan, telling me that she needs to speak with me about something important at the Manehattan City Hall," Twilight informed her BBBFF. "She is warning us that the Royal Sisters and Princess Cadence are not what they seem."
Upon hearing what Twilight had to say, Shinning spit out his drink and coughed out his food out of shock.
"Twily, what makes you say that?" Shinning Armor asked concerning over his wife and the Royal Sisters.
"Remember about how Queen Chrysalis took advantage of you during your wedding ceremony with Princess Cadence?" Twilight asked before getting to the point.
"What, you don't mean......?!" Shinning acknowledged as his eyes widened with horror.
"Here, read this letter," Twilight told her brother as she used her magic to take out the same letter that she had inside her saddle bags.
After reading the letter for several minutes, Shinning Armor gasped as he proclaimed that his wife is presumed to be kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis again with Caleb's help before they forced Twilight to enacted the purge at Manehattan. As he look at Twilight and at the letter several times, Shinning could not help but realize that the entire country of Equestria is at stake. As he put the letter onto the table, Shinning looks up at Twilight again before making his speech.
"I heard rumors that Charlie Roan is planning to form a political rebellion with the aid of one of the former Royal Guards in Canterlot, Lt. Leo Barnes." Shinning Armor explained. "When the purge was enacted 3 years ago, Roan's family was butchered up and killed all in one night at Manehattan. Before all of that, Charlie was brought into the Crystal Empire by her family to study politics and became an Equestrian Noble at the school there. After she graduated, Charlie left the Empire and moved into Manehattan to continue her political career. After the 1st year's purge, Charlie has been working very hard as an Equestrian Noble to gain positive votes to end the purge. She went into hiding thanks with the help of Leo and the anti-purge resistance underneath Manehattan's underbelly until you came in. After the 3rd Year's Purge, Charlie finally revealed herself saying that she wanted to accept your terms to abolish the purge at Manehattan as the newest Chancellor of Equestria."
"How long have you known about all this?" Twilight asked her elder brother.
"Leo came up to my doorstep at the Crystal Empire, after the 3rd year purge and he requested some assistance to protect you and Charlie so that you will both put an end to the purge," Shinning replied in a calm voice. "We may need all the help we can get after we seek an audience with Charlie. The NFFE will be onto us in the 4th Year's Purge. But we also need to find where they held my wife and the Royal Sisters before its too late. I received word from Charlie that they're planning to have them all executed in the 4th Annual Purge."
"Well, I do need to meet this Charlie Roan first before I can make my decision in rescuing the other alicorn princesses," Twilight suggested to Shinning Armor.
"Understood Twiley," The Crystal Prince acknowledged as he dons his Royal Guard Armor before leaving the barracks with Twilight Sparkle.
As they made their way out of the Crystal Empire, Shinning Armor ordered one of his commanders to keep the Crystal Empire under guard until he returns. The moment he and Twilight went out of the city gates, they galloped through the crystal wastelands before they reach the train station.
Unbeknownst to them, one of the guards was hiding behind the cafeteria eavesdropping on the two royal siblings. As he glared at them both, the guard went into the kitchen which is already empty and brought out 4 scarab pieces from a nearby drawer near the kitchen sink. After that, he went into an empty dark room adjacent to the mess hall before closing the doors behind him. As the guard put all four pieces together, they conjured a green flame portal. On the other side, Queen Chrysalis' face appeared before him while he revealed himself to be one of her changeling agents.
"My Queen, we have a problem," The Changeling Guard told his leader.
"Twiley, are you sure that this Charlie Roan can help us save Equestria and our rulers from the purge and the NFFE??" Shinning asked his little alicorn sister.
"Unless we have any better ideas BBBFF, we might as well take our chances!!!" Twilight replied in a serious tone. "It's now or never. Besides, we only have 2 months left before the 4th Purge starts at Manehattan!!!"
As soon as the two royal ponies reach the train station outside of the Crystal Empire, they were met by another familiar unicorn. The moment Twilight got closer to see a full view of that unicorn, she has a dark-red fur coat with a mane and tail that has the same color. She had a broken horn on her head and a scar on her left eye. Upon seeing all of those features from the unicorn mare in front of her, Twilight could not help but recognize her back at Canterlot. It was Fizzlepop Berrytwist, a.k.a Tempest Shadow.
"Hello Princess Twilight," Berrytwist spoke in a greeting tone. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?!"
"Tempest?" Twilight asked the dark-red unicorn. "What are you doing here??"
"I heard that you may need help meeting up with your contractor at the Manehattan City Hall," Tempest replied. "This may not be any of my business but I know how to reach the City Hall without getting too much attention from the angry protestors at the Manehattan, likely with Thorax's help."
"Are you sure?" Shinning Armor asked concerning for the safety of his little sister.
"When I heard about how the purge began, Thorax met up with me at a secret hideout underneath the City Hall in Manehattan," Tempest explained. "We've been helping the orphaned fillies and mares survive the night along with Charlie and Leo."
Without further a due, Tempest let Shinning and Twilight enter the train station. Before they knew it, Flash Sentry appeared from the next car to greet the two royal ponies. As soon as the train started moving, Twilight goes up to the window to see the Crystal Empire disappear from a distance before turning her attention towards the two unicorns and the pegasus guard. Hopefully, as soon as she meets Ms. Roan, Twilight may try to reason with her contractor before any of her people start to want a piece of the purple alicorn.
Author's Note
Happy New Year, every pony.
This is were Twilight and new group be meeting up with Charlie and Leo, while the Mane 5 are planning to follow Starlight in discover the rebellion that will unfold in Manehattan. Ever though both groups will be heading towards separate destinations, they'll eventually meet up with each other in the next purge. So stay tuned.
In just several hours later, Twilight and Shinning Armor reached their destination at Manehattan. Before they got off, Flash gave Twilight and Shinning cloaks to hide themselves from the angry protestors while being escorted by him and Tempest. As soon as the train stop at the train station, Twilight and Shinning came out from another train car while the protestors were crowding at the adjacent one.
While the two ponies were making their way out of the train station, Tempest requested some aid from her fellow storm guards. As for Flash Sentry, he brought forth a royal stagecoach for Twilight and Shinning to ride in. After the royal ponies and Tempest went inside the stagecoach, several Royal guards put on their harnesses before pulling it towards their destination. As Flash sat on top of the driver's seat, the Storm Guards arrived to help prevent any protestors from interfering while reaching their destination. The storm guards are huge satyr-like creatures wearing black armor bearing a cyan thunderbolt. They were all armed with huge black spears and black shields. Despite their oddities, they used to invade Canterlot during Twilight's Friendship Celebration by the order of their former leader, the Storm King, and their unicorn commander, Tempest Shadow. However, after the defeat of the Storm King and Tempest's surrender, the storm guards yielded to the Equestrian ponies as a sign of accepting their friendship and expressing their apologizes from their world domination over Equestria and several of the other countries outside of Equestria. As of now, Tempest is still resuming her command over the Storm Guards, this time by protecting Equestria and their rulers, after they fixed up everything that they have destroyed during the Storm King's evil reign.
While sitting across from each other inside the royal stagecoach, Twilight got curious on how is it that Tempest would get involved in helping her and Charlie rescue the Princesses of Equestria from the NFFE and Queen Chrysalis.
"So Tempest, do you know anything else about Charlie Roan?" Twilight asked the dark-red unicorn.
"She used to live in a small village that I once came from at one time and she used to be friends with me back then," Tempest answered. "When she was a little filly, it was her dream to find ways to improve the magic of friendship in political terms; this was way before I met the other unicorns in my birthplace."
"Really?" Shinning acknowledged. "What happened to her then?"
"When Charlie went into Celestia's school to study politics, she was able to live up to her name by taking a job as a senator noble in Canterlot," Tempest explained further in detail. "This was way before I left my home and way before I met the Storm Guards; well, you already know the rest of the story after that."
"Well, what about her family?" Shinning Armor asked. "Why did they follow Charlie to Manehattan for?"
"After I gave up invading Equestria, I went to make amends with Charlie at Manehattan a few years later," Tempest said. "Unfortunately, by the time I went to her house and met Charlie again, she wasn't happy at all. Not because of what I did, but also because her parents have been murdered during the 1st Year's Purge Night. She said that it took place several days later after her political party at the City Hall that her parents showed up to celebrate with her political career right when the Annual Purge was commenced. Her family went on vacation to Manehattan to visit Charlie for a couple of days, only to end in total disaster."
"Man, I'm so sorry to hear that," Twilight gasped in horror, feeling pretty bad for committing such sins amongst her people. "I hope Charlie can understand what I've been through first before we can sort this mess out."
"Don't worry, Twiley!" Shinning Armor said as he held his hoof onto her left shoulder. "If we were able to save the world from anything, we can save the world from the NFFE and their midnight Mass purge."
"Well, I already told Charlie that there is another pony that can help her fulfill her dreams," Tempest said. "And that pony is you, Twilight. Since you already save my life more than once, I do believe that this maybe the time where I can pay up my debts."
Upon hearing what Tempest just said, Twilight just found another opportunity where she can redeem herself as the Princess of Friendship and saving all of Equestria with Charlie's help. Now that Shinning, Tempest, and Flash are with her, Twilight might have the determination to bring the NFFE to justice.
Meanwhile outside of Ponyville, Bishop and his men are making their way towards Appleloosa. Bishop happens to be a tall unicorn pony with a dark-brown coat with a black mane and tail. He bears the cutie mark of a Bishop chess piece. In the middle of Appleloosa, Bishop makes in public announcement all over the town. Unbeknownst to them, Starlight Glimmer was hiding around the corner the Appleloosan Saloon while eavesdropping over Bishop's speech several meters away.
Earlier, before Starlight took off, she bought a desert camo cloak from a nearby outfitter's store back at Ponyville and put it on her fur coat. Starlight insisted on putting on her disguise so that Bishop will not see her following him. Ever since Twilight took off without any notice, Starlight is starting to get very worried for her mentor's safety since the purge was enacted three years ago. Now that the 4th Purge is two months away, Starlight knew that she had to act fast before more ponies get killed in this terrifying mayhem. During her search for a new candidate to help Twilight abolish the Purge months earlier, Starlight was at the Ponyville marketplace when she passed some pony by that addressed himself as "Bishop the resistance leader." Feeling shaken after hearing those words, Starlight was hoping that she can reason with this Bishop guy before he takes his rebellion out on Twilight. However, Starlight figured that she needs to learn more about Bishop's motives first before she can take action against him. Back to the present, Starlight is trying to do her best to pay close attention to what Bishop is going to say during his speech without getting caught.
"My fellow mares and gentlecolts," Bishop announced through his megaphone with his magic. "We are facing a political crisis in Equestria. Ever since they establish the purge to keep their income under control, our families are suffering under the hooves of the NFFE. We need to find a way to take a stand against those insensitive tyrants. I want to see if any of you ponies are with me. It's also my understanding that one of the nobles, Charlie Roan, needed some support in abolishing the purge. But first, we prepare ourselves in Manehattan because that's where the purge night is taking place."
During Bishop's speech, Starlight heard some rustling coming from behind her. The moment the unicorn turned around, Starlight sees a huge wooden box appeared out of nowhere; she didn't recall seeing a object like that several minutes ago when she went behind the corner. As Starlight approached the box cautiously, a pink blur bounced up into the air like a jack-in-the-box. It was Pinkie Pie.
"SURPRISE, STARLIGHT GLIMMER!!!" Pinkie squeaked as she reached stretched out her hooves far apart.
"Pinkie Pie, keep it down!!" Starlight ordered the Pinky pony. "I need to hear Bishop's speech."
As Pinkie landed on all four hooves, she approached Starlight with a huge smile on her face making a silent chuckle to herself while clapping onto both of her front hooves.
"OOOOOOOooooooo!!! What are ya doing, eehhhh?" Pinkie asked sheepishly while in silence.
"I was trying listen to Bishop's speech, hoping it doesn't revolve around going after Princess Twilight," Starlight answered in a hushed tone. "Please, no randomness. I don't want Bishop to know that we're here in Appleloosa."
"Okay!!!" Pinkie chirped as she held her back onto the side wall of the Appleloosa Saloon. "Eavesdropping, eh??" As the pink mare smirked to herself, Pinkie puts on a mustache on her face while snickering and rubbing her front hooves together. "So intriguing!!!!"
As Starlight turned towards the corner to see Bishop again, she notices something was off. Bishop was nowhere to be seen in front of the crowd. Before Starlight could look closely to see what was going on, she sees Pinkie's tail twitching left and right.
"TWITCHA!! TWITCH!! TWITCHA!! TWITCH!!!"
Suddenly, without warning, a huge fishing net came down from the sky and landed on top of Pinkie and Starlight. As they started struggling, Bishop appeared from behind Pinkie and Starlight as he glared at both of them with anger in his eyes. Behind the rebel unicorn, several of Bishop's men appeared and raised their spears at Starlight and Pinkie. While Starlight stared at them nervously, Pinkie made an wide idiotic grin not even realizing what both mares got themselves into.
"What are you two mares doing here?!" Bishop asked sternly.
"Um, Cupcake?!" Pinkie asked sheepishly as she smiled nervously while lifting a cupcake with her hoof.
Despite Pinkie's offering, Bishop kept glaring and snorting at the pink pony in a more hostile look than with Starlight.
"Well folks, It looks like this dude here is not taking any fun stuff for granted!!!" Pinkie said while speaking outside of the screen, mentioning Bishop from her own words.
Before Starlight and Pinkie could do anything, Bishop ordered the two ponies to have their hooves bounded before hauling them off into their custody. As for Pinkie, she started shrieking while struggling with Bishop's men in a futile way.
"WHERE IS THE REST OF THE MANE 5?? WHY AREN'T THEY HERE?? AND WHY IS THIS SCREEN NOT SHOWING THEM EVEN ONCE??"
Despite Pinkie's struggling, they knocked her out with one of their spears in her head, making her see stars before becoming unconscious as the screen turned black.
At the Manehattan City Hall, Charlie Roan is lounging at the lobby while reading the latest news article from the Foal Free Press. She happens to be a tan earth pony with a blond mane and tail who bears the cutie mark of a scroll. Charlie is wearing black glasses and has her mane braided in a pony tail coming down from the back of her head. In public view, the female unicorn is wearing a white shirt with a kevlar vest on top of it.
Right next to Charlie, is Leo Barnes, the former Royal Guard Lt who is now serving the female unicorn noble as a secret service agent. He happens to be an white earth pony with a sarge black mane-cut on his head that bears the cutie mark of a leo constellation tattoo. When Leo joined the Royal Guard, he used to serve under Captain Shinning Armor's second-in-command for 8 years and is known for his excellent martial arts moves. Unfortunately, during his military career as the Lt. in the Royal Guard, he recently just received word his son was robbed and killed by a group of bandits at Manehattan. Upon hearing this tragic news, Leo resigned from the Royal Guard to attend his son's funeral in Canterlot. Despite Shinning Armor's support, Leo insisted on hunting down his son's killers alone. When he heard that the purge was enacted, Leo found out where his son's killers are in Manehattan. Just when Leo was about to finish off the last of his son's killers, he almost became even more worse than them. Not wanting to kill anymore, Leo gave the last survivor a fair warning not to go after his family again, in which he agrees before leaving Manehattan, never to be seen again. Upon realizing Leo's actions, Shinning Armor gave him another opportunity to atone for his reckless actions against the killers. The Captain turned Leo over to Princess Celestia's secret service agency so that he can continue serving under the Equestrian crown to protect others in the Canterlot Nobility. As Leo continued his duties to protect Charlie Roan, he turns towards the female earth mare out of concern.
"Are you feeling okay, Lady Roan?" Leo asked as his one of his eyebrows lifted up.
"I don't know, Leo," Charlie responded hushed tone. "I couldn't stop thinking about the screams that my family made before they were killed during the annual purge. I came a very long way to convince most of the cities that the purge must come to an end, for it will just bring in more death to every pony everywhere you turn. Our country is at stake no thanks to the Royal Princesses being kidnapped by the NFFE and Queen Chrysalis."
"Not to worry, Lady Roan," Leo told the earth pony noble with sympathy. "As soon as Princess Twilight and her royal escort arrive, we'll get down to business immediately."
"Agent Leo!!" One of the Royal Manehattan Guards appeared in the lobby from the main entrance. "Princess Twilight and Prince Shinning Armor are here to see you."
Upon hearing what the guard just said, Leo turns towards him with a salute before proceeding outside of the city hall. As Leo and the guard went out the main entrance of the City Hall, they see a Royal Caravan appeared down the stairs, escorted by a squad of Storm Guards. The Storm Guards formed two rows just when the Royal Stagecoach stopped with its door in between them. The moment the Storm Guards stood up with their shields and spears pointing straight up to the sky, Flash jumped off the driver's seat and opened the door of the stagecoach. In just seconds, Tempest comes out first and then Shinning Armor. Last but not least, Twilight Sparkle was third to come out of the stagecoach. As the purple alicorn approach Leo with the two unicorns and the pegasus guard accompanying her, Leo bowed down at Twilight's hooves before making his introduction.
"Greetings, your majesty!" Leo spoke acknowledging his presence towards the purple alicorn princess. "I am Leo Barnes, the head of Princess Celestia's Secret Service Agency and former Lt. of Shinning Armor's Royal Guard division. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's an honor to meet you in person, Leo Barnes," Twilight responded in a calm voice despite how grim her mistakes are over the past three years. "Is Lady Charlie Roan inside the City Hall?"
"Yes, my princess!" Leo responded in a positive tone. "She's waiting for you inside the lobby. We have so much to discuss about."
As Princess Twilight walked past Leo before entering the City Hall, he makes his introductions towards Twilight's brother, Tempest Shadow, and Flash Sentry.
"It's so good to see you again, Leo!" Shinning Armor spoke towards his former guard comrade. "How's Lady Roan doing?"
"I still have concern over the fact that she wanted to put an end to the purge that occurred three years ago," Leo replied in a serious tone. "She's likely going to take a lot of risks in doing so because the NFFE are not going to give up their Annual Purge that easily. They'll silence any pony that threatens to get in their way."
"Well, I know Twiley," Shinning Armor spoke. "She's known to takes risks to save Equestria from any danger as well."
"I hope your sister is ready for whatever we're planning during the fourth annual purge because we do need to stay alive and rescue your wife and the Royal Sisters from getting purged by the NFFE!" Leo explained.
"I understand, Leo!" Shinning replied with determination. "Let's go inside every pony."
As Shinning and Leo went inside the City Hall, Tempest and Flash followed from behind. The moment they went inside, the four ponies see Twilight and Charlie sitting near a dinning table across from each other in the lobby. When all of the ponies gathered around the dinning table, an earth pony maid appeared from the kitchen pushing a tray full of desserts and tea right next to them. After the maid dropped several plates of dessert and tea in front of the 6 ponies, she left the lobby. For several minutes, the ponies drank and ate before beginning their meeting.
"So Charlie, what was it that you want to inform me about?" Twilight asked as she put down her tea cup on the table with her magic.
"Well your highness, I'm sure you're wondering why the Royal Sisters and Princess Cadence aren't what they seem," Roan responded after taking a bite of a piece of chocolate cake with her mouth. "It was during my visit at the City Hall before my political party when it happened. At the same time, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, and Princess Luna were invited in the Manehattan City Hall for a night conference to go over all the hard work they have done during their royal duties. Unfortunately, it was a trap setup by Caleb, Queen Chrysalis, and their men. All three princesses were ambushed and captured by them......."
Four Years Earlier before the enactment of the Annual Purge.......
A Royal Caravan appeared at the entrance of the Manehattan City Hall. The moment they stopped, the Royal Guards formed into two rows, paving way for Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence. As they made their way up the stairs and through the main entrance, they were greeted by Caleb Warrens for a night conference to go over their Royal Jubilee. When they entered the lobby, Princess Luna was starting to suspect that Caleb is hiding something.
"Say Tia, are you sure we need to do this without Twilight?" Luna asked her elder sister. "Something doesn't seem right here!!"
"Well, Princess Twilight needs to have a break from her Royal duties at some point," Princess Celestia said to Luna. "Don't worry dear sister, we'll give her a message if something happens to us."
Unbeknownst to the three princesses, Charlie Roan was sitting next to a coffee table while reading a political magazine inside at a nearby room adjacent to the lobby. When Charlie got up and went out of the room that she was in and entered the hallway, she sees Caleb leading the alicorns to the conference room before she headed down to the lobby but no before catching a suspicious smirk coming from Caleb's face. As Caleb lead them to the conference table, he immediately left the area, leaving the three alicorns with big questions above their heads.
"Auntie, I getting a very bad feeling about all this," Princess Cadence said in a worried tone.
"It's all right, my dear niece," Princess Celestia told Cadence. "Caleb was one of my assistant advisors in Canterlot. I'm sure he doesn't mind calling the shots."
Back at the hallway that Charlie Roan was at, she was about to enter the lobby to get some coffee only to see a group of unidentified paramilitary soldiers and changelings appear out of nowhere lead by Scorpion and Chrysalis through a door window. Realizing that something big is going down, she hid in an another room on her left before Scorpion and his men entered the hallway, quietly closing the door behind her. While they proceeded to the conference room, Charlie leaned her back against the wall inside the room that she was hiding in, taking a quick peek around the door to see them approach the conference room.
As the three alicorns are waiting in silence while drinking tea from their tea cups, a smoke screen started filling up the enter conference room. Just when Celestia, Cadence, and Luna lit up their horns to mark their location through the dense smoke, several metal cages came crashing down from above the ceiling, making huge holes on top of the City Hall. Enraged by such an ambush, Celestia desperately started shooting out her magic to break free from her cage but with little or not effort for it was coated with anti-magic enhancements; Luna and Cadence followed suit until they all heard a maniacal laughter coming from outside of the smokescreen. Before they even knew what was going on, the smoke dissipated only for the alicorns to see Caleb gloating at them in an evil tone of voice. The next thing that happened was when Chrysalis, her loyal changelings, and a group of paramilitary ponies appeared out of nowhere, pointing their spears and aiming their magic at them.
"CALEB WARRENS!!! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS??" Celestia roared in a Canterlot voice while glaring at him, with a feeling of being betrayed.
"My apologizes for such an atrocity your majesty, but Queen Chrysalis and I have plans to help her get revenge on both Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer," Caleb announced in a sinister tone of voice. "By having you three replaced with Chrysalis' agents, this will be the first step to take before the commencement of the Annual Purge."
"ANNUAL PURGE???!!!" All three princesses shrieked loudly in unison.
"It's where all crime will be legal for 12 consecutive hours all in one night only!" Caleb explained, followed by an evil smirk. "Chrysalis and I have both decided this in order to eliminate Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Mane 5 by getting entrapped by Equestria's most dangerous criminals. If those guys don't do them in, then we will!!!"
"Caleb, how could you do this to us!!" Luna shouted while freaking out. "I trusted you; we all did."
"I paid Caleb with a batch of 15,000 bits just to carry out the 'Purge plan' just so that I can rule all of Equestria under my Changeling rule!!" Chrysalis laughed in a maniacal tone. "Soon, that foolish Thorax will learn the error of his ways when it comes to ruling over the Changeling Kingdom against me as well as his betrayal."
"And this most amusing part is, as the Changelings disguised as the three Princesses of Equestria, we'll force Princess Twilight to help us enact the purge and trick her into thinking that she'll save her beloved ponies from getting consumed by its madness by sending in our best warriors to eliminate her and her friends!!!" Caleb said as he continued his diabolical plan. "When that happens, every pony in Equestria will start protesting against Twilight Sparkle for her foolish decisions along with the rest of her fellow princesses. It's just so hilarious seeing them all stressed out while their own reputations get damaged every year when the purge is enacted."
"You monster!!! There is no way Princess Twilight will ever submit to such horrible things as this!!" Celestia snarled. "If I ever get out of this wretched cage, I'm going to fry the living flank out of you until to turn into ashes!!!!"
"Soldiers, take those princesses to our hideout where they will be forced to watch the Annual Purge on public broadcast away from the public," Caleb ordered his paramilitary soldiers.
Upon hearing Caleb's orders, the three anti-magic cages that the princesses are in are hoisted up to the airships above the City Hall. In an instant, they all disappeared inside the airships and away from plain view. As Chrysalis and Caleb see their airships fly away to their secret hideout in Manehattan, one of Caleb's soldiers turned around to see Charlie Roan spying on them. After seeing what Chrysalis and Caleb did to the princesses, Charlie's gasped in horror claiming that they have kidnapped the Royal Alicorns. With that said, Charlie will have no choice but to warn Princess Twilight Sparkle about this. However, before Charlie could do anything, they spotted her from outside the conference room. Without even thinking, Charlie quickly galloped away from the hallway and disappeared through the emergency exit and out of the City Hall. Just when Caleb's men reach the emergency exit, they could not find any sign of Charlie Roan.
"Men, have this entire area secured of all witnesses!!!" Caleb ordered out loud. "And find Charlie Roan and eliminate her. We can't let that whore tell any pony about what happened here."
"After that, I did my best to warn my parents about their commencement of the Annual Purge," Charlie said as she finished her story.
Upon hearing all of this, Twilight and Shinning never felt even more outraged before than hearing that their Royal family members are all abducted by Caleb and Chrysalis. Before Shinning could say anything, Twilight makes her speech towards Charlie Roan.
"Why didn't you?!" Twilight asked Charlie, revolving around her parents.
"They were already booked to spend their vacation with me in Manehattan during my political party. So, it too late to make any changes after that," Charlie replied. "So I did my best to have them relocated away from the city. But for some reason, one of the purgers was able to find us and did in my parents all in one night."
"I'm so sorry about all this Charlie," Twilight said feeling, pretty ashamed of herself. "They told me that Ponyville will be put under the annual purge if I didn't do it."
"I understand, your highness," Charlie acknowledged towards Twilight's guilt. "Well, let's not get too obsessed with the past. There is still time to save the Royal Sisters and Princess Cadence from Caleb and Chrysalis before they're purged on public broadcast."
"Yes but, where do we start?" Shinning Armor asked Charlie. "My wife and our country is at stake!!!"
"I've got a plan every pony," Tempest announced to the two unicorns and purple alicorn. "But we need to do this carefully!!!"
