Chapter I- The Path by the Sunlight

Behind the Crystal Mountains

Chapter 1- The Path by the Sunlight

By: Batta-Coco

For the last two years Twilight and her friends were living in the Crystal Empire with them, it has been nice to have company. Flurry Heart, who had just turned twenty-three last month strolled around the halls of the palace just waiting for something exciting to happen. She pricked her ears up to hear voices coming from the nearest room, Flurry formed a bright yellow aura light around the handle of a door then slowly opened it. Looking around, she walked in only to see a group of ponies-- Flash Sentry, Sunburst, Blue Belle, Sundown Silhouette, Soarin, Cheese Sandwich, and Pinkie Pie.

Flurry trotted towards them, "What are you all talking about?" she questioned looking at Blue Belle; her best friend since her teenage years.

The dragon-pony's eyes shone like emeralds as she looked at her best friend, a tiny smile appeared when she dipped her head in greeting. Before she could say a word a squeaky voice interrupted her rudely. "We are explaining inception to each other! I think...I was not paying any attention."

The princess looked at the tiny bird who was in between Blue Belle's legs and rolled her eyes. "Owl!" Blue Belle snapped with a dry rasp of annoyment. Blue Belle gazed at Flurry Heart then sighed. "Sorry about her. What we're really doing talking to Flash about him proposing to Twilight. He plans to propose to her when the sun goes down, but one problem..."

"What is it?" the young princess replied, pricking her ears up and looking over at Flash who had had a worried look on his face. He fearfully shouted at everyone with questions "Let me guess...he neuroses about proposing to her, right?" she guessed.

"Exactly! We can't get him to calm the heck down!" Blue Belle complained shifting her tail to the side and moving a fore-claw in front of the other claw. "Flurry, can you please help us calm him down? I can't take any more of his whining!"

Blue Belle can get annoyed by anything, to loud noises to soft noises. Flurry nodded quickly at the short-tempered dragon and trotted towards the panicking royal guard. "What should I say? Would she like the ring? Would she like the scenery? What will she say?" he stammered.

Everypony groaned as Sundown let out a hiss, "You just told us those questions like thirty seconds ago, dude! You should say 'Twilight Sparkle, will you marry me?' And that ring is amazing because you got it from Cadence and I know she is going to love it. The scenery is the sunset which is the perfect scenery, and of course, she'll say yes! She has been dating you for about five years and I know how much she loves you!" she explained with anger pounding in her tone. Flurry stepped forward and looked at him.

"My aunt, Twilight adores you, Flash and you love her, right?" Flurry broke in calmly seeing that Flash was already starting to calm down a bit. She noticed that Blue Belle nodded in agreement, "Now stop being anxious, it's almost sundown and Twilight could be coming any minute now." she told him as she turned to see the setting sun slowly vanishing. Looking at him, she gave him an encouraging grin.

Everypony walked up to Flash and exchanged encouraging looks at each other. Flash let out a worried gulp before he nodded at the young mare with an unsure smile. Everyone spoke out encouraging words to Flash as he trotted towards the balcony with his legs shaking and his heart pounding hard against his ribs. He lifted his head when he saw Owl pad towards him holding a tiny light gray box in her chipped beak. Flash picked it, he opened it to see the ring was well polished. The diamond on the ring was a pale pink color, it was surrounded by very small pearls. He knew that his lover will love the ring.

Flurry smiled as she heard the door slowly open from behind. Twilight walked into the room and lowered her head to greet her niece kindly. Flicking her tail, the mare head her aunt to the balcony where her boyfriend was waiting. "Flash?" Twilight echoed silently as she looked at the nervous stallion. She didn't even notice that mischievous Flurry Heart had closed the balcony door shut with a small click, Twilight was only focused on her lover.

Flash froze for a few minutes when he heard Twilight's calm and sweet voice, anxiousness and struggle stung his gut painfully. With a sigh, she walked towards her and held her hoof then squeezed it tightly. "Twilight, we both know that...we have been dating for five years and I just wanted to let you know that...I love you. So much." he struggled to say but seeing Twilight made his system fill with confidence.

Twilight's eyes twinkled in the evening light as she hugged him tightly. "Aw, I love you too, sweetie." she expressed pressing her head against his chest. Flash hugged her back lovingly, after a few moments they broke the hug and made eye contact. Twilight's pair shone like sapphires, making Flash get lost in her eyes.

"...And I'm not sure if you are ready to take it a step forward...but" he stammered, not taking his eyes off of her. "If you are..." he pulled out the small gray box.

Twilight Sparkle covered her mouth with both of her hooves as she tried not to make a sound but a light squeak manged blurt out. Flash opened the box showing the lovely ring inside. He bent his hooves a little and spoke, "Princess Twilight Sparkle, will you marry me?"

The princess still held her hooves over her mouth, her eyes were glowing like a million pearls when she saw the ring. Flash bit his lip hardy, still anxious about what she might say. "Yes!" Twilight proclaimed, launching herself into his hooves and embracing him tightly with tears of joy in her eyes. "Yes, of course, I'll marry you!"

Flash's eyes widened once the mare flung herself into his arms, rubbing her cheek against his. Fireworks exploded in his head as he hugged her back tightly. Only their love and company mattered right now. "Really? Y-you mean it, Twi?" he stammered looking at her nervously with an unsure grin.

"She said yes!" Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich cheered from outside of the door with Owl happily hooting. Twilight laughed lightly, still remaining in his gentle grasp. Flash looked into her beautiful pair of purple eyes that showed pure and overwhelming ecstasy.

Twilight and Flash enjoyed each others company, nothing mattered at the moment. Twilight rested her muzzle gently on his shoulder as a tear of joy rolled down her cheek. After a long moment of silence, Flash spoke, "Um, when are we going to hold the wedding?"

"I think four months would be a perfect amount of time to plan the wedding. Should we start telling everypony, Flash?"

Flash only nodded as he tucked his head under her neck lovingly. The couple enjoyed each others company and warmth as the young evening sky illuminated and blurred with bright colors of pink, cyan, and pale yellow.

The gentle breeze made the young night cool and beautiful, the street lights made the empire very bright. Crystal ponies would go to church to sing their prayers while respectfully listen to the priest's words. Foals and fillies would playfully chase and play with each other, games like jump rope, hide-and-seek, tick tac toe, and bean bag toss. Some would be by the crystal lake skipping small stones and counting how many skips they had done. Older ponies on the other hoof would be peacefully reading or playing chess with one another.

By the outskirts, you see stores opening and closing, and restaurant employees serving warm dishes to their customers. Ponies calmly sniffing their tea, feeling the heat waves against their lips. Although everything was mostly calm in the empire, booming voices could be heard echoing through the land. Thereby the entrance of the palace, Shining Armor leads his famished and tried troops into the castle with blood tingled around their coats.

Inside, the commotion was happening. The voices got louder. For Flurry, questions about the rouges made the earth shake, questions about what might happen if war broke out made the sky look dark gray with thunderstorms infecting the sky. The question that made a shiver run down Flurry's was the Question about Sombra. It felt like a never-ending blizzard that just struck the mares world, it made her nerves fester causing her to get dreadfully overwhelmed. The question that never crossed Furry's mind; will we win the war?

All of this debate made Flurry believe that war was really occurring.

Flurry and Blue Belle had enough of this commotion, they went to join Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer who were sitting down not too far away from the action. A large pool of shade covered half of their body. Owl was next to them, curled up into a tiny ball sleeping.

Starlight was eight months pregnant, she'll have to possibly go to the hospital in the next one or two weeks. Sunburst was the father and Owl was the adopted sister for Flurry was told by Fauna. Trixie was happy and flabbergasted to be the godmother, she was still not sure who the godfather was. It was only a matter of time that Rainbow Dash's daughter had a playmate. Twilight was also expecting Flash's foal, she was six months pregnant. Fluttershy was going to be the godmother and Discord was apparently gonna be the godfather. Twilight states that she might have twins. It was very exciting for Flurry Heart, she has the opportunity to be a babysitter for the foals. In addition, she finally gets two baby cousins! But overall, the taught of the rouges took over that dream, making her wince.

"Oh my Celestia, these rouges are driving me nuts. If a war occurs, will we win?"

Twilight and Starlight looked at each other, not sure what to say to Flurry. Blue Belle could only scoff drastically, "I know there is gonna be a war! Flurry don't be nervous. I know that we will win this war! We are Equestria! We have many allies; we can't lose!"

The two mares nodded. Flurry sighed while folding her wings. "You have a point, Blue," she muttered. We can't lose...right?

"Can you all keep it down? I'm trying to sleep here!" Owl hissed silently and a bit groggily. "What's all the fuss about anyway?"

"Haven't you been listening?" Blue Belle growled, "It's about the rouges, who knows, they might invade the empire one day." she rasped with a shrug. "And all of this chaos could cause the war of the century!"

Hearing Blue's words made Flurry jump a little as her goosebumps made her cold and nervous. She used a front hoof the move a strand of her mane blocking a bit of her vision as her eyes widened with fear and her nerves stuck painfully all over. Starlight and Owl on the other hoof were calm, of course, they were concerned about the problem; they didn't really have time to panic. Blue Belle, of course, she was mad and anxious about the situation they are in. She wanted nothing more than to fight the rouges.

"Everyone! Listen up!" Shining Armor broke in, interrupting all the ponies while cantering into the room with two guards just behind him.

"Shoot." Flurry uttered to herself, loud enough for Blue Belle to hear her.

His voice echoed in the throne room, everypony glanced up at the royal guard and trotted to his direction. His eyes filled with a look as he spoke sharply. "The guards patrolling around the border of the empire reported something urgent to me. They have some news about the rouges."

"Shoot." Flurry made eye contact with her father then exchanged looks with Blue Belle. "Sombra's rouges...what about them? Have they been spotted around the border of the empire?" she asked as Owl lifted her head and shaking herself off.

"Yes, they were roaming around the empire's border. Once the rouges spotted us, they quickly scurried away," he added, his eyes pure and glowing with valor. "We made sure that they had gone beyond the empire so they have fewer chances of coming back. The rouges had caused enough trouble for the empire already! Kidnapping ponies, spreading diseases-"

Kidnapping ponies? Flurry was unaware of this situation, something cut her off before she could question. "Sorry to interrupt, but how exactly are they spreading diseases?" Spike asked as his tail brandished forward, then back.

Cadence answered, "Orchard Jasmine has informed us that she had spotted this pollen around the empire, she claims 'that it is harmful to many ponies, for it causes the Crystal Fever and the Spotted Cold. Both can cause death and struggle for the pony who has the sickness.'" she finished, her voice was sore and despondent.

Blue Belle roared lightly, even though she wanted to roar even louder until the ground shook and fell apart. Tiny specks of fire escaped her mouth in the process, the specks were a beautiful shade of blue and green. It made Flurry Heart flinch and step back, good thing the dragon didn't send out a mob of fire out. "Those rouges don't stand a chance against us, that why they ran away! Sombra made an army full of wimps!" Blue Belle growled rather quickly, "Wait! I'm curious about one thing. What are they doing in the border? That's not their territory at all! It's ours! Shouldn't they be in their lousy territory instead of our territory?"

Flurry gave her a look, trying to calm her down a bit. "Shouldn't we do something about it? We have to make sure they don't step a hoof, paw, claw, or talon by the border or inside our territory!" Flurry protested, spreading her wings out and glaring at Blue Belle.

Shining Armor sighed. "I've been thinking about this crises for as long as I can remember, and I know what to do. It will be necessary that we form a battalion to watch over the border of the empire, and if necessary...we will fight. We shall notify our allies about the group we are forming."

The royal guard turned to Cadence and nodded. "Does anypony wish to join the battalion? We need a lot of help in this," she spoke sharply as she scanned the room and everyone in it. Her eyes showed hints of pain but braveness made her vision pure, she tried very hard to hide the pain and concerns in her head.

"I wish to join!" Blue Belle was the first one to shout out loudly. Flurry grinned, hearing Blue's voice echo in her eardrum made her proud. "I want to show those rouges a lesson!" she added, hitting her left fist hard against the palm of her claw.

"I would like to join!" Flash echoed with a brave smile. "I'd do anything to protect the empire from those rouges."

"Me too!" Cheese beamed proudly, looking at Pinkie Pie who was also his girlfriend.

"Since Cheese is fighting, I'm in as well! For the revolution!" she called out, smiling at Cheese.

"I will fight for the battalion as well, my friends! I will make those disgraceful rouges run for the hills, I'll tell you." Owl hooted with pride pounding in her chest.

Flurry, Twilight, Starlight, and Blue Belle looked at Owl. "Oh hell no." Blue Belle hissed silently.

Shinning Armor stammered, "Uh, Owl you sure? You are unable to fight well and your memory is weak. No offense. "

"I'm sure," Owl retorted with a scornful snarl, "and I'm not offended; it's true that I do have the memory of a squid and I do have twig wings. So? Am I in or am I in?" she asked, puffing her thick feathers up, her tan and black feathers stuck out the most for they are lightly plump and fuzzy.

Owl can get mad easily, just like Blue Belle. Well, Owl would not be a good fighter due to her being so tiny, she would be killed in one hit. I think Owl would be good as a spy; she's small enough to smuggle information from the rouges to us. Shining Armor opened his mouth to argue but Flurry cut him off, "Yes, you can be part of the battalion. But you have to promise me this, you will only have one role; a spy. I'm counting on you."

Shining Armor sighed as he closed his eyes and thought for a moment.

"Yay, I will be the best spy ever, and I'll be sure to be careful when I am spying!" she hooted. "I'm gonna ask Fauna if she'd like to join the spying squad!"

"Good, we can use a lot of help."

"Anyone else wishes to join?" Shining Armor repeated with a sigh.

Discord; the lord of chaos stared to the side of the room with his arms crossed and tail tipped as if he had never heard anything, next to him was Fluttershy; his girlfriend. She gave him a dirty look, Fluttershy knew that he can serve well in the battalion. Discord didn't really want to join the battalion. Discord tried to avoid her gaze but he finally surrendered.

"Fine! I guess I'll serve." he finally spoke out between mumbles. "And I'm only doing this for you, Fluttershy," he whispered to Fluttershy.

"Help!" a voice cried between sobs as the door swung open and there stood a young light gray stallion with tears cascading down his cheeks and avalanche towards the floor. Twilight jumped a bit.

Flurry and Owl swiped their heads towards the doorway where the voice echoed. Northern Blizzard braced himself there as if he was about to collapse and blackout for entreaty. Blood spilled from his nostrils and fell past his jawline, his right eye was swelled closed with a long bloody scar.

"Northern Blizzard?" Flurry stammered in shock as she cantered towards the wailing stallion and hugged him tightly with his tears staining her coat a bit. "What's wrong? "

He sniffed, "Rouges! In the empire, they had just left but...but. They took her. They took my sister and- and killed my brother!"

The room filled with gasps and whispers."They killed Snow-Weaver and took Storm Droplet?" Twilight's pupil shrank painfully as she looked at the young stallion. "No..."

His breath hitched with sorrow as his lungs pounded painfully against his rib cage. Blue Belle lead him into the clearing where everypony stood. He couldn't talk with words, so instead, he gave her an unsteady nod. "Yes."

"Please...can you start from the beginning." Owl hooted with her dark cyan eyes glowing with an unsteady symphony.

Starlight nodded, "Yes, please tell us everything that happened. If you want to, you can tell us later."

"Alright...I tell you all." he sobbed.

Applejack sat down and lifted her head. "We are all ears, sugar cube."

Flurry Heart placed a hoof on his shoulder and sat him down on the floor. "It was awful. The rouges...we saw them coming after you all went inside the castle. They must have planned to come back...after you had all escorted away." he cried before hesitating and letting a shiver roll down his spine.

"Fluttershy, please get Orchard Jasmine. She has the right treatments for his injuries She might be with the space dragons right now. Owl will come with you." Twilight glanced at Fluttershy and Owl.

"Yes, Twilight," Fluttershy replied, slowly trotting out of the room with Owl ambling next to her.

Cadence looked at Northern, "Please continue."

"The rouges came after us first before attacking bystanders. This all happened at the edge of the empire..."

The breeze grew cold and damp, leaving the grown lubricious for Northern Blizzard and his siblings, though it seemed that rouges had a good grip on the slick flooring. The late afternoon sky left a large pool of light in the empire's barrier where loud screeches and painful yelps shook the air. "Northern Blizzard! Run!" Snow-Weaver demanded as small snow cats darted at him as Storm Droplet pinned down a snow pony. Fear and horror rambled down his spine and distress spiraled his eyes. Snow-Weaver frowned. "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get to the castle!"

"No brother!" he cried as blood and tears smeared his shiny silver coat. "I'm staying right here to help you fight these rogues." A scream shook the air making his world crack open with all the positive and hopeful inside spill out and drown his heart. "Storm Droplet!?"

A large snow lynx has grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and with the help of two other rouges, she was dragging her out of the empire. Storm Droplet was knocked out cold and her hooves were dragging on the floor, her head hung low as dark scarlet blood dripped from her nostrils. Snow's eyes flashed in terror, he pushed all the rouges away and canters towards her sister, ignoring the fact that the floor was slippery. "No! Claws off my sister you monsters! Take on someone your own size!"

"Snow-Weaver, wait!" Northern Blizzard's cheeks were stained with tears and blood as he fretted. A large snow wolf knocked him over and raked his claw across his eye making him wail painfully. "Wait! Snow! Please!" he shouted, trying to ignore the pain and swelling filling his body.

A tall mare with long fangs got in front of the rouges holding the thickest, sharpest stake he had ever seen. "Sandy Flakes, Digg, and Dark Heather! Go!" she flashed her eyes at Snow Weaver and charged after him. "Watch it, young stallion. I will not let you interfere with my plans to gain power!" blood and power rushed in her dark red eyes as dark green, purple, and black mist pooled out of her eyes.

The stallion bared his teeth at the mare as he arched his back and cantered towards her, his horn lit up with a violet aura. "Watch out!" Northern Blizzard shouted but he didn't oblige, a black wolf tacked him and pinned him down, preventing him from reaching his brother.

The mare growled and charged after him with the point of the stalk aiming at Snow-Weaver. A painful gasp made the world still. Dark crimson blood covered his brother's chin as he stood there in terror, with the sharp stake stabbed in his throat. He gasped as blood raced out his mouth and stained the mare's coat. Snow-Weaver felt his blood run cold and his pulse died down as all his body went unsteady, the mare took a step back, feeling satisfied. Feeling overwhelming pain, he collapsed with a painful thud! Dark blood pooled the floor and his fur stuck out in shock, the mare licked off the blood that was stained on her cheek and chuckled lightly.

"Then, it was over. That m-monster killed him" he choked out with pain and terror urging him to talk firmly. All the fur on his coat stood up in terror. "Snow and Storm were the only living relives I have and now I feel empty without them. I also saw many other ponies being taken away; young and old. I tried to save them, but the rouges were too strong. I'm so sorry."

Applejack, Flurry Heart, Blue Belle, Starlight, and Owl trotted towards Northern and tried to calm him down with words of sympathy. As soon as he finished, the room started to fill with declarations, that shook the windows. Declarations about the rouges, about the murder and about if they are coming back. Flurry and Blue Belle exchanged looks, Blue Belle knew what that look meant. Flurry is going to join the battalion if its the last thing she does.

Not only does she want to fight alongside Blue Belle, but she also wants to figure out every single detail about the rouges and about that mare who murdered Snow-Weaver. The thoughts that crossed her mind were very drastic, especially the fact of fearing that the rouges will invade more of the empire. Everything occurring in the empire was a dangerous game but Flurry has the guts to risk her life for the ponies she loves the most. The thoughts that really bothered Flurry Heart were that why are the rouges so cruel and why are they so bloodthirsty?

"I came as soon as I heard!" A voice alerted, silencing the room. Orchard Jasmine's blue eyes turned their attention to the injured stallion, her wispy tail flicked calmly, "Ah," she sauntered towards the hurt stallion. "Wounds are deep; must be infected by now. Come now, but careful. I'll give you some treatments I have in stock."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Flurry asked, helping Northern get to Jasmine. "Will he be alright."

The mare closed her eyes as another vision triggered her."He will be okay Flurry Heart. For now, let Fluttershy and I handle his wounds, the herbs will do the trick. I'm not surprised that he was hurt. He is a brave young one and braveness lies in his path as far as I'm concerned he will make a very good medic one day. I'm still not sure if he will live or not, all we need to do is pray and let the herbs and leaves do the work. For your friend's sake."

Flurry silently thanked the mare by dipping her head. Jasmine helped the stallion walk and she opened the door for him with her magic, she leads him to the medication room where she and Fluttershy worked.

"It seems that we need the battalion more than ever. We can't risk any more deaths." Cadence spoke once they were out of the room, she prayed silently, just hoping that a miracle will happen. A miracle that will free her subjects from this tragedy once in for all.

Shining Armor silently agreed, his tail twisted a bit and his eyes closed. "Well, I'll have to assign some guards to patrol the empire. Is there anyone else who might want to join the battalion." he turned to the guards behind him and ordered them to trot towards the empire and help the wounded.

Flurry trotted towards her mother, "I want to join, if that's okay with you, mom. I want to do everything I can to protect my citizens from rogues who want to gain power." she announced, hoping her parents will aspect her as a soldier in the battalion. Her parents gave each other a look, making Flurry nervous.

"Well, you are old enough to fight in battles," Cadence answered simply before glancing at Shining Armor. Hearing her mother's words made Flurry sick in the stomach. She felt her blood run cold her pulse shake fearfully. Her eyes gleamed and refracted the moonlight beaming out of the window. " Your father and I will think about it, dear."

"Very well." she groaned. I'm 23 years old, why do I have to ask my parents for permission for everything I want to do. Sighing she sadly trotted towards Blue Belle, the dragon exchanged looks with her friend and placed a gentle claw on her shoulder. Flurry smile back at her friend. All Flurry Heart wanted was her self-independence.

Rainbow Dash and Soarin gave each other an unsure gaze, "We would like to join but that means we'll have to leave Light Searcher." Rainbow spoke. And the Wonderbolts she added to herself.

Light Searcher was Rainbow Dash's and Soarin's firstborn daughter; born only a week ago. Rainbow felt a gush of guilt cross her gut, the fact of leaving her daughter made her wince but Rainbow knew that she had to help the battalion. Even if it meant leaving her daughter. "I would be happy to watch over Light for you two," Applejack spoke out, "And I will ask the Apple family to help out a bit too by sending some food and supplies. I'll go back to Ponyville right away."

"Thanks A.J.! We appreciate it." She replied.

Soarin nodded, "Wait, we can ask Spitfire and the Wonderbolts' if they'd all want to join the battalion."

"Good idea, I will send a letter to Spitfire right away, I think they will be willing to join." Twilight claimed with a small nod, "I'm going to send a letter to all of our allies. We can all use all the help we can get. Rarity, Cheese, Pinkie, can you all please work on posters convincing the society to join and help out in the battalion. Flurry and Blue Belle, may you to help them by creating propaganda to also convince some crystal ponies to join. "

"Alright, we will start patrolling in three days; that might give us enough days to set up. The guards and I will get everything prepared. Sunburst, Flash, and Owl come with me, we need to discuss something. Everypony else, we will have a meeting in the morning." Shining Armor announced before walking off with Flash, Sunburst, and Owl hopping ahead.

After that everyone walked out of the room to do the normal routines they do in the evening. It was most evident that Twilight was with Spike, Starlight, and Applejack. They were most likely helping Twilight write the letters to their allies. Rarity stopped to speak with Pinkie Pie and Cheese, soon after they cantered off into a room carrying paper, ink, and soft silk.

Flurry Heart watched the long piece of shiny fabric drag on the floor and slowly levitating into the air. She glanced at Blue Belle giving her a sad and uncertain look. The tall dragon gave her a smile, "Let's go, do you want to make posters for the battalion or what? We need to convince more ponies to join or else we all might be outnumbered. Do you want blood staining your fur?" she laughed, "Come on! Pinkie, Cheese, and my mom are waiting for us!"

Flurry chuckled, "Alright, Alright! I don't wanna be outnumbered, I bet King Sombra has a small number of rouges! Let us go, then. No time to waste, Blue Belle!"

Blue Belle shook the snow off her back as she grabbed the last flyer. She tapped it on a thick pole on the side of the street then suddenly felt satisfied. "Well, that's the last flyer!" Blue Belle called out to Flurry Heart who was watching troops from Equestria enter the empire with their hoof steps shaking the earth.

Flurry blinked several times to see if she was hallucinating. She wasn't. Her bright blue eyes shone like newly polished diamonds while looking at the troops. "Wow, Celestia and Luna sent royal guards and soldiers already? Oh, and look!" Flurry Heart echoed loudly pointing to a verity of dragons, hippogriffs, ponies, griffins, changelings, and yaks.

The dragons were lead by dragonlord Ember, the changelings were followed by Thorax and Pharynx, the yaks were lead by Prince Rutherford, the hippogriffs were lead by Queen Novo followed by Princess Skystar, and the griffons followed an unfamiliar male griffin. Of course, Celestia and Luna were leading the ponies.

Blue Belle stood on her hind legs and flicked her tail in excitement when she saw more troops trot in; this time some ponies and some kirins lead by none other than Rainshine their leader. The kirins seemed unfamiliar to everypony at first, but Blue Belle simply shrugged. "It looks like all of Equestria is here. Amazing " Blue Belle whispered into Flurry's ear. "And beyond Equestria," she added, once she got a glimpse of the kirins. "Shall we say hello."

Flurry's ear twitched in contact after feeling her friends warm breath warm her ear, "Why not?" she whispered in return, feeling the cold air stimulate and fester on her back. It hurt a bit as if needles had struck her. "Let us go then." she chirped, arching her back and leaping forward not taking her gaze off of the Equestrian allies.

Once the two friends got there, they exchanged kind gazes with the leaders. "Welcome to the Crystal Empire! Thank you for coming."

"No problem, thank you for inviting us to be part of this amazing group!" Princess Skystar was the first to chirp out from the crowd.

Flurry dipped her head with her eyes gleaming. The troops were neatly lined up in a single file line. Flurry felt something gently pull her tail. It was Fauna the fawn and Owl. "Are these the allies?" Fauna asked with her pale green eyes shining in the moonshine while Owl shook snow that was stuck in between her thick feathers.

"Yes, can you two lead these troops inside and bring them to my mother, please." Flurry said dipping her head to speak to the small, living scraps of fur and feathers.

"On it, princess!" Fauna beamed while she respectfully saluted with Owl, she turned to the leaders, "Come, please! We will lead you to Cadence!" she added wiggling her short white spotted tail. The spots on her tail splayed across her back and stopped at her withers.

Flurry watched Owl and Fauna lead the leaders while the leaders lead the troops into the castle. A beautiful light gray and peach female griffon bumped into Blue Belle. The dragon quickly recovered and looked at the tall griffon, she felt her heartbeat stop. "Are you okay?" the griffon soldier asked, looking into Blue Belle's eyes.

"Uh, I'm fine." Blue Belle responded, blushing.

She laughed a bit. "Are you sure about that? My name is Gurha." she greeted lending out her claw and waited for Blue Belle to respond.

Blue Belle placed a claw on hers and shook it gently. "I'm Blue Belle. N-nice to meet you." the dragon stammered, her tail twisting and flicking haphazardly looking into Gurha deep blue eyes. The deep and light shades shone like a deep pool in the moonlight. Blue Belle desired to dive in and tragically drown.

"Gurha!' A voice shouted between rasps. Gurha swiped her head to see a black and tan male griffin, he was a few inches taller than Gurha; the leader of the Griffin side of the battalion, Gabrain. She closed her eyes tightly and painfully as she heard his words echo in the thick snow, feeling both annoyed and surprised about his tone. "Are you coming or what?" he snapped.

She narrowed her eyes at him, showing anger but it quickly averted to a calm gaze. "I'm coming, General Gabrain." she took a step back and flicked her tail before looking at Blue Belle with a grin. "See ya tomorrow, Blue Belle."

The dragon blinked a few times as she watched the Griffin slowly walk away, her shoulders rising and falling with every step she took. It took a while before Blue Belle could focus again, "Okay..." Blue Belle squeaked a bit with the fur on her chest puffing up a bit and covering her chin.

"Ooo, Blue! I bet that you have a crush on that Griffin, right?" Flurry Heart laughed silently, trotting towards her friend.

Blue Belle covered her face with her wings, Flurry could tell that she was blushing hard. Flurry was not surprised about this at all. She could only laugh, "Come on. Let's go!"

Blue Belle lowered her neck and lifted a hind claw behind her itchy ear and started to rake it gently. The smooth breeze almost blinded the two as they lunged forward to get to the castle, only squinting their eyes to manage to see better. The young princess was dumbfounded when Blue Belle spread her wings and blocked the snow shooting at her. She smiled.

She is my best friend...

Flurry saw the bright light of the Crystal Heart that she had once accidentally broken when she was younger. The two friends managed to reach the castle door and swing it open. Flurry sighed as she felt the warm air of the castle stimulate her body. It felt nice, though it felt like her thick bones were going to crack and fall apart.

The meeting room was not far from where they were standing, they lunged forward and simply walked to the meeting room. Voices echoed and boomed through the halls. Combinations of chants, chips, singing, grunting, and gentle squawking that made Flurry surprised of how many troops there were.

"Shoot," she whispered.

Blue pushed the door open to see the restless members of the battalion bordering around Shining Armor and Cadence. "Greetings Equestria. Princess Cadence and I are very grateful that everyone came. As you all know, The Crystal Empire has been having major errors and issues with the rouges beyond the empire. Ponies fear that one day their leader, King Sombra will demand them to invade the empire." Shining Armor announced. "I know greatness lies in you all, don't fear those rouges for we will fight l brothers and sisters! Side by side! We will protect each other through the thick and thin and through any error. For hope and for Equestria."

Everyone cheered but mostly Owl chirping and Fauna's cheers stood out the most. It took a while for the room to settle down. "Remember, you will start training in the morning." Shining Armor reminded before turning to Blue and Flurry, "Please follow Blue Belle and Flurry Heart to your rooms. Get some rest and you'll be ready for training to next day."

The light moonlight made Flurry's room curtains glow and illuminate each structure in her room, making long silhouettes appear briefly before slowly fading away into the young night. Flurry Heart buried her muzzle into her warm blanked, feeling the relaxing heat warm her coat. Her ear twitched, she never wanted to wake up. Its already been three days, three days of training. Three days of jumping over hurdles, ducking under the wire, dodging collisions made of foam, and attacking hard dummies.

Blue Belle was purely skilled despite the fact that she was feisty and angry at almost everyone. She would dodge, leap, duck, and attack. Flurry on the other hoof had average battling skills but she did have positive thoughts...sort of. Most of the thoughts made her sick and gloomy.

All the soldiers had to do the same thing they did but spies don't have to attack any rouges whatsoever. The main spies, Trixie, Owl and, Fauna had special training with Shining Armor while Cadence spoke to the leaders. Flurry had a few hours to sleep before the next morning, they are finally going to the Winter Wastelands! Flurry and Blue Belle spent all night packing their armor, swords, paper, quills, pillows, blankets, and inkwells.

The young princess had forgotten everything about the battalion when she dozed off. She has forgotten how Flash had been chosen as second in command, she forgot that Sunburst was going to be a secretary, and she had forgotten that she was her father's right hoofed mare. It was only a matter of time before something disturbed her delightful snooze.

"Psst, Flurry. Its time." and there it was, a voice whispered into her ear. It was Fauna's squeaky voice. Flurry squinted her eyes harder, still enjoying the feeling of being warm under her blanket. She still didn't respond when Fauna nipped her ear and tugged it. "Come on!" she implored between grunts, tugging her ear harder.

Flurry didn't yield, she felt someone push her back but she still didn't move. "Come! On!" Owl croaked.

The princess grabbed her pillow and rested on her stomach, she laid the pillow on top of her head groaning. Fauna and Owl fell down in defeat, still feeling guilty that they couldn't wake her up. "I know how to wake her up." a voice snickered silently. Blue Belle got on to of the bed with her weight making the bed deepen with every step, creating a creaking sound. She pressed her forehead against Flurry's back pushed the princess off the bed. It took Flurry by surprise "Wake up!"

Thud!

Flurry hit the floor. "Oof! Okay, okay I'm up!" protested Flurry lethargically.

She closed her eyes and brushed her hoof down the eyelids and corners, removing the eye crust in the corner of her eye. She stretched her legs and shoulders as she looked up at her dark brown clock that was hanging above her desktop where she left her paper and quills. "Why did you wake me up at 4:00 in the morning?" she asked, forming a pale yellow aura around her brush and gently stroked her hair with it. She let her hoof cascade down with her brush behind it.

The dragon shrugged. "All of the soldiers are already up. We leave at six by the way." Blue Belle reminded, walking half-way out of the door. She turned to look at her then added, "We'll meet you downstairs."

"Alright," she called out but out came a tired rasp. "I'll be there." She watched her friends vanish down the crystal halls. She took a ten-minute shower and she dried her hair quickly before tying it into a bun. The mare used a light pink and purple crystal brooch and attached it to the back of her head, supporting her bun. Flurry made sure she had everything she needed.

Quills and Inkwells, yes. Paper and armor, yes. Swords? The stuffed bear she had as a filly? yes, of course, she had packed, except one thing...

The princess sprang up and trotted to her desk and opened up the drawer and smiled, gazing down at a small photo album. Placing it on the desktop, she used her hoof and traced the golden word printed in neat calligraphy. Memories.

She placed it in the middle of her suitcase with care. Flurry went towards her desk and pulled out mascara and light pink eye foundation. The princess dipped the makeup brush in the pink powder four times and swept it across her eyelids. The light pink almost matched her coat color as she looked at the mirror, she twisted open the mascara and rolled it up her eyelashes.

Soon, she felt satisfied and walked downstairs. Mercury, Flurry Heart's Space Dragon, stumbled behind her. "Come on, Mercury." she cooed playfully at her pet while carefully walking down the stairs. Space Dragons were different from normal dragons. Space Dragons were smaller, calmer, and lovable. She made sure Mercury's scales were straight and that he had everything he needs for the journey.

The princess was dumbfounded to see the dining room filled with many of the troops of the battalion. "Shoot," she whispered to herself.

Flurry strolled into the dining room to eat a quick breakfast. Blue Belle saved a spot for Flurry. "Flurry come and sit by me!" Blue Belle called out.

Flurry had noticed that her breakfast was already set up for her. "I'm here." Flurry said, looking around the dining room. She studied each soldier and spy around her. The hippogriffs, ponies, kirins, and changelings sang songs while they did toasts with their glasses of milk. Yaks chanted their yak songs loudly while eating yak food. Dragons feasted on gems as they told each other stories. Griffins didn't do much, they just ate griffin scones that they bought from home and they will just speak to each other.

Flurry could not believe that they were finally going to the Winter Wastelands; where Celestia's sky and sun don't rise, where Luna's moon and stars don't shine. She could not help but feel anxiety stab her gut painfully. As soon as everyone was finished, Shining Armor leads the battalion outside. All the crystal ponies stood outside and said farewell to the battalion, making Flurry Heart fill with hope and bravery.

"We are going to miss you, mom." Flurry said softly to Cadence as Mercury napped on her back.

Cadence smiled lightly, "I'm going to miss you too, Flurry Heart. Please be careful out there" she stated, hugging her daughter tightly. Shining Armor came in and hugged them both. "I love you both so much. Look out for each other," she added, petting Mercury gently on the head.

Mercury responded by sticking his tongue out playfully with his eyes still closed. The family broke the hug and Flurry and Shining Armor walked away from Cadence and joined the battalion. Cadence's eyes clouded once her family vanished in the crowd of soldiers. Mercury leaped off her back and followed her stiffly due to his scared hind leg. Many sweet and heartwarming memories crossed Flurry's mind making her wince through the cold snow.

"Flash, be careful out there." Twilight murmured into Flash's cold coat with gentle tears of sorrow racing down her cheek. "Do you promise to write to me every day?"

The strong, scarred stallion looked down at her and nuzzled her ear. His moon silver armor shone in the street lights as he looked at her. "I promise, Twilight. I'll be back before you know it, my love" he whispered lightly into her ear. "I love you so much."

Her ear twitched when she felt his warm breath stimulate the folds of her ears making it twitch and flatten. Twilight looked down, "I love you, too."

She pressed her forehead against his and silently prayed, crinkling her eyebrows lightly. Don't forget to write, my love.

Flash stepped back and walked away from his lover, feeling guilt stab his heart painfully. He knew Twilight depended on him to protect the empire.

Orchard wandered around the shadows, thinking. "Um, Orchard are you okay?' a voice inquired making the medic jump a little. Fluttershy walked towards the mare with the pool of sunrise shining down at her, making her light cyan eyes glow and shimmer brightly. "What's wrong?"

"No, nothing," Orchard replied looking at the few carriages with food, water, weapons, and many supplies in order for the battalion to survive. A shiver ran down the mare's spine as she wrapped her tail around one of her hind hooves. "You got everything packed, Fluttershy? Where's Northern Blizzard?" she asked, wondering where her new apprentice is.

"Oh, he's getting a few things with Discord. They're making sure they've gotten everything." she responded simply, "and yes I've gotten everything packed and I asked Starlight and Twilight if they could look over the space dragons. I gave them a book about space dragons so I think they will be okay, I also said if they have any questions, send a letter."

The medic smiled, "Wise, Fluttershy." her ears suddenly pricked up when she heard a small squeak. Then a chirp. Then a squeak. Then a meow. Fluttershy blushed a bit as she patted her saddlebag gently with her wing, giggling shyly. "I supposed you had brought your little animal friends to accompany you during this journey." she continued.

"Oh fine," Fluttershy admitted with a slight giggle. "Please don't make me leave them. I'm going to miss them so much." Fluttershy concluded as Angel Bunny and many other creatures leaped out of her bag and hugged Fluttershy.

Jasmine chucked, "How could I say no. They are precious little ones indeed but you need to take good care of them. Remember, we are going to the Winter Wastelands. Just keep them inside of the aid tent at all times. if you have any second thought, you could leave your little ones with the space dragons." Her eyes squinted as the soft breeze rushed by, Fluttershy nodded at her in response. "Anyway, thanks for helping me care for the wounded and treat the sick during this journey."

"No problem. I had learned so much from you already and I think I'm ready to help the ones in need." Fluttershy said, sitting down and playing with her animals. "I just hope the rouges don't ever find another way to break into the empire, I mean...what if they destroy the battalion. What if Owl, Fauna, and Trixie get caught by King Sombra!"

Before Fluttershy could continue, Orchard gave her an ice-cold glare in the attempt of making her stop worry. Orchard was aware of Fluttershy's concerns, and she's right. Those things can happen. "Don't worry." she simply said, flicking her tail and leading her to the town square where the battalion stood. Every single one of the soldiers stared at the sky and silently prayed that they will have a safe journey.

Shining Armor looked at the army that he was about to lead. For Flurry Heart, it felt like the world stopped orbiting the sun. She took a step forward and gazed at her friends and family, Twilight, Starlight, and Applejack stood there with reassuring smiles. Cadence's eyes were clouded and misty but her smile was special to Flurry. A tear-smeared down her cheek as her eyes filled with hope.

With a dip of Shining Armor head, the battalion moved forward with their heads lifted up. Cheered and goodbyes filled the streets.

Yells echoed the streets and shook the clouds.

"You all can do it!"

"We believe in you!"

"Make em' bite the dust!"

"Give those rouges a good wack for me!"

"Please stay safe! Get those rouges and drive them out!"

"Make them run for the hills!"

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. Starlight place a hoof on her shoulder. "You okay, Twilight?"

The princess gazed at her former student. "I'm fine," she whispered, watching the battalion disappear into the street slowly until no one was left. A tear dripped out of her tear duct and stopped at her jawline before it plummeted down and hit the floor. The memory of her husband's smile jogged her memory and filled her heart with sorrow. Twilight lowered her wings, "Please, stay safe..."

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Hello everyone! Yay! Another chapter. I'm very proud of this chapter but I don't really like the part where Flash purposed to Twilight. It's too...short! ~~I have no flipping idea what I'm writing?~~

Blue Belle shook the snow off her back as she grabbed the last flyer. She tapped it on a thick pole on the side of the street then suddenly felt satisfied. "Well, that's the last flyer!" Blue Belle called out to Flurry Heart who was watching troops from Equestria enter the empire with their hoof steps shaking the earth.

That occurred the next day.⤴

I just wanna talk about this chapter and its characters. To start off, Orchard Jasmine is not a pony if you are wondering. She is an Orchardling. a creature that lives in the Everfree forest. A creature with long wispy hair and tail. Either covered in scales or fur. They have a magical horn like antlers. They have large wings and fantastic memory, they are known as The Creature that Trots in your dreams. Their eyes are either icy blue or dark purple. Jasmine is known as The Keeper of Space Dragons, like Mercury. As you can tell, she is also a good healer.
Guhra is a Griffin. (obviously). She is the daughter of the Chief Gabrain. She is nicer to other Griffins. And as you can tell, Blue Belle has hots for this girl. Spoiler alert: Guhra is aware of this and she likes Blue Belle too.
Now I just wanna say something about this chapter, everyone is very concerned about the rouges planing instant attacks and spreading diseases. The mare that killed Snow-Weaver was none other than King Sombra's daughter, Midnight. She is power hungry and pure evil. Who is her mother? I won't tell :D
So the battalion is not actually going to instantly declare war on King Sombra's rouges. They are just gonna protect the empire. Also, the place where the rouges live in is called The Place Where the Echos Drown or the Winter Wastelands. The rouges find it very comfortable to live in this cold climate. To describe the wastelands- It's a dark shadowy place. The snow is gray and it has sharp shards of dark crystal planted all over the place. The sky would be dark orange with shades of dark blue.
Now I wanna talk about Owl and Fauna, cause they are overall my favorite characters in this story.
Owl is obviously an owl. Owl's owners are Starlight, Sunburst, and Trixie. Owl friendship with Trixie is very bad! They will constantly get into random arguments. Owl's friendship with Sunburst is...ehhhhhh. Let's just say that Owl constantly forgets his name. So she would just call him (What's-Your Name). Owl really likes Starlight. To tell the truth, Starlight would sometimes get annoyed by Owl but that birb is really helpful. Owl goes completely nuts once she figured out that Starlight was pregnant. She claims that "I'm gonna be the best big adopted sister ever." (That quote totally caught Starlight off guard.)
Fauna is a (very) small deer (Fuan) with a fuzzy white tail. Her owner is Bloom, a talented gardener. Owl and Fauna are best friends and they are happy that they are gonna be spies together, despite the fact that Trixie has to supervise them and jot down of the rouges secrets. Fauna believes she should be something more than a spy, for she had a (very) strong hind kick. Owl also believes so, she can bite awful hard but the real reason why they can't fight in the battalion is that Jasmine won't let them. She says that "One day these two will rise above the others, with the knowledge of sight and fierce."
Blue Belle is a dragon and unicorn hybrid. (But she is mostly dragon.) She is two years younger than Flurry Heart. Blue Belle is (very) fierce and she is confident in every little thing she does. (Yes, she is gay and she is proud of it.)

Yeah I'm done with the first chapter 32 to go!
I just wanted to say, most of the time I get very hurt when someone brings up something about grammar. It wound most of the time make me feel dumb. I'm very aware that my grammar is very bad. But I don't want anyone mentioning any errors that I made throughout this story. Though I do appreciate the fact that you all remind me that I made a mistake, but I will feel like an idiot afterward.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Goodbye and make good choices-