Spirit Waker

Twilight, as she knows herself, scans the field before her. Bodies on both sides lie impaled, cut, and shredded apart. Opposite of her the Griffons are panicking in silent frozen fear. Beside her, the ponies stand mouths agape in stunned awe.

With the reason for both beings, she has appeared. If she had to go up against herself, she too would quake in fear. And if she were one of her ponies, she would rejoice at the sight of her. A being that brings forth both fear and delight within each being.

That is Twilight.

She flexes her fingers squeezing them into the palm of her hands as she balls them into fists. She hadn't taken on such a form in quite a while. Even then, she hadn't felt this powerful before. The world in which she was forced into a human's body seemed to suck at her magical gifts. But now that she's in her own world in such a form, it's like every pore in her body allows magic to flow in and out of her body. The very act of breathing deeply causes her magic to flare brighter than before.

She relaxes and walks towards the field of battle. She raises a hand glowing with power before speaking.

"Ponies! Hear me! This battle is not lost! Together, we can push them back! Together, we can make them pay! Remember unity! Remember love! Remember the kindness you show to others! Laugh in their faces when they demand our surrender! Remain loyal to the cause! We'll show them our honest opinion of them! And when they are cornered and realize that they should have never messed with us, we'll show them generosity by making them our underlings.

"For we have the greatest power that no enemy of Equestria can copy or come close to! The one thing they fear and the one thing none of them have! Unity! Love! And -"

Twilight stands in the middle of the battlefield staring down every griffon at once. She spreads both of her arms to the side as her body's glow forms ethereal wings that spread out in front of her allies. No, her new friends and comrades.

"Friendship."

A spread of courage. Fear melts away before their feet. Shadows in their mind give way to thoughts of family and friends both here and long gone. The fire once thought burnt out in their hearts burn hotter than dragon fire. Eyes, once dull, find color once more.

A roar of sound begins behind her. Several ponies close to her begin to strike the butts of their spears into the ground. Hooves begin to stump the ground. Shields clank together in mock applaud. The sound of the turning tide.

And it is beautiful. An orchestra unlike any other.

"Take them out." Twilight commands casting both hands forward to fire off several magical bolts that all find their targets amongst the crossbow-wielding griffons.

The ponies behind her charge through her magical created wings suddenly seeming brighter and more energized. Their spears skewer the griffons before many can react. Even if they do, a lethal blow seems to glance off of them as if they're all being protected by magic. They squawk in panic and attempt to flee through flight.

But Twilight will have none of that.

She reaches out towards them and shoots down every sky-bound Griffon before they can make it five feet off the ground. She knows she's on a magical high right now, but she'll make use of it while she can. As much as she hated to admit, she might be running on limited time. Even then, she'll count this a large victory for herself and them.

All of them.

She walks her way through the one-sided gorefest a target locked in her mind. Said target has unfrozen and orders his men to focus on grabbing what they can and flee. The two make eye contact and they both show defiance within them. The Gryphon frowns and retreats into the woods with what few men he still has.

Twilight focuses her mind on teleporting to them before they can get too far but finds herself frowning. She turns and looks back to the cheering ponies. Seeing the birds fly from them has raised morale and joy by ten-folds. If the Gryphon had to die, he had to die meaningfully.

Plans begin to form and file themselves away. A slow grin, pleasant and sadistic, sketches itself across her face. An eerie chuckle escapes her throat as she looks back at the way they ran. Celestia might have had her own plans for them, but Twilight would show them all how it is done. Word will spread about them. This means unity is everything from now on.

She turns and lets the magic go around her. Despite this, she still glows with power from the ambient magic of the world. And her own released magic. Every creature shot down by her magic seemed to leach into her. It was delicious and cold. Much like minty ice cream.

"All hail Twilight!" The ponies roar as she approaches them, "Hurrah!"

Twilight can't help but let herself melt into the environment. This is what she missed. Being locked away on and around the wall taught her so much. She could see nearly everything, but could only do so little. Even now, she can tell the first spells she was able to cast in her death was starting to fade with the presence of the Gryphon. She taps a finger to her chin in thought.

She supposes that now that she is alive once more, she can finally find the time to actually take a good look deep inside some Gryphon's guts. Find out how they tick and what makes them so magical resistant. If the powers she has now lasted for a while, she might be able to test pain tolerance and the most effective way to break the Gryph race.

A subservient race of hunter warriors would do well as fodder for taking down other empires. After all, she remembers quite distinctly that any Griffon who disobeyed often were fed to the rabid Diamond Wolves. So, yes. Fodder will do quite nicely.

Food treating food as it should rightfully be. Plus, in some year's time, perhaps she can figure out how to get other ponies to grown canines like that of the Kirin race or Pegasi. Now that would put some fear into their enemies.

But another time and another place.

For now, she has to focus on the here and now. The present time of what's happening before her. To make do with the time she's managed to reign away from Celestia. The crowd of ponies quiets down and part as an elder stallion and mare make their way forward.

Their coats mimic one another being dull in coloration. The manes and tails are tied or cut to prevent getting in the way of whatever work they partake in. And their eyes are worn and sullen from what looks like a lack of rest and water. Something Twilight had never really noticed when Celestia had first approached. Nearly everypony here looks haggard in sleep or just slightly too skinny and sunken. How long had they been living like this?

"Is it true? You're Twilight? The aura is uncanny, but your form. It fits much of your notes of the mirror world, but I thought you couldn't take it into this one?"

"You're correct. I gained this form through... other means. I'm not able to tell you as much as I would like to about this whole situation, but I can assure you that it is completely safe as long as I remain in control. But enough about that, I'm assuming that you're the leader of this area?"

"Yes. My name is Burst Forge and this is my wife Golden Alloy."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both! I'm, as you probably know, Twilight and I came here with a new friend of mine named Sturdy Hoof. We're here to bring you back to the main settlement under Canterhorn to keep everypony safe and sound. We could also take the time to bring about the council and discuss what we should do about Equestria as a whole."

The two Earth ponies share a look before the stallion speaks up, "I... I don't think we'll be able to do that Twilight. This place here is our home. And we could never abandon it. Not with how much we've made and built here."

"You can bring whatever you have with you. We would never abandon your home. Just like how I and my friends never gave up hope in our own homes, I'll be sure to never give up your homes either. We just need to come together once more to show the heathens of the other nations what Equestria truly means. We should never be measured by our worth, but by our actions. We've gone too long being nice. It's time to show them what an angry pony looks like." Twilight nods her head at each pony she can see, " I have a few ideas, but I need some great forge workers to make it come true. We already have the material and the ideal space to build what we need in, but it would be hard to bring everything back and forth through the tunnels and alleyway without getting harassed by the Gryphs."

"Plus there is so much I'd like to learn from you all. such as the metal lances that shoot their points. How are they made, how do they work, can we mass-produce them, and are they easy to learn."

Forge lifts up a hoof cutting Twilight off from continuing, "I understand what you mean. But that isn't what I was referring to. I wish to show you something. Something that we have constantly been working on that might make Canterlot hospitable again. To help fight against the threat of the Gryphs. But also, make it so we can travel around under the sun again."

"I'm assuming that is the reason why everpony looks haggard and starved. I hope you're not putting your ambitions before others. A leader is nothing without their people. Celestia knew that the most."

Forge hesitates, "No. Food is... hard to come by here. We grow enough to get by, but not enough to properly feed ourselves. But we give it our all so we might one day give more to our foals and colts after us."

"I understand, but those same colts and foals still require their mothers and fathers to look after them and make sure they grow up ideally to fit into the environment they grow up in. If you're forcing the two to be apart or, Celestia forbids, making the foals and colts work on your project as well, I might have to pull the plug on your idea."

A beat of silence before Twilight continues, "But I haven't seen any evidence of that. And hopefully, I won't, for your sake. For now, go ahead and show me this project of yours and we'll talk about everything else after."

"Of course, Princess."

"Not Princess. Friend. Just call me Twilight."

"Of course, Twilight. Right this way."