Alicorns are not so Rare

     Chroma looked around at the ponies around her. They were legendary. Ponies with amazing skill and intelligence. What was she doing here with them? It was her who had brought the men here. They wanted their pet back, and Chroma knew they would stop at nothing until they found her. Not unless the Princesses stopped them. Twilight and the others could do this on their own. she was just making it dangerous for them.

     "I can fight them," she said to herself, the roar of wind in everypony's ears making it impossible for her to even hear herself. She had to fight. If the element bearers got to the Princesses, they would end up saving all the alicorns anyway. It didn't matter where she was, but she shouldn't be here, making the journey more treacherous to the others.

     "Twilight!" Chroma yelled to the lavender unicorn, "We need to land!"

     "But we're not there yet!" Twilight yelled back.

     "I know, just tell your pegasus friends to land!" Chroma dipped down towards the ground, and the yellow and cyan pegasi followed her descent. They touched down in the middle of a dark forest. "Twilight, you and your friends must go to Celestia and warn her of the men reeking havoc in Equestria. You need together there as quickly as possible. Send Rainbow Dash if you must, but I would rather you stayed together."

     "But where are you going?" Fluttershy whispered. Chroma looked at the shy mare, determination showing in her rainbow eyes.

     "I must go fight the men. They are here because of me, and you are all in such danger because of me. Only you and the Princesses can get rid of the men, but the least I can do for what I have caused is keep the men from harming anypony." She spread her wings wide. "Go my little ponies, before it is too late." And with that, she disappeared into the black night sky.

     "Come on girls, let's go," Twilight urged, running into through the trees in the direction of the castle. The others followed, hurtling over fallen logs and through thick mud until they reached train tracks. from there on they followed the tracks, knowing that they would lead them straight to Canterlot.

     "Twilight, should I fly on ahead?" Rainbow asked as they ran.

     "Not this time, Rainbow. We should stick together," Twilight said. The others nodded, still running. They didn't want to be split up, especially if the men managed to get close enough to attack without them noticing.

     The ponies weren't bothered by the creepy noises of the forest around them. The random hoots and howls that would've sent any one them running home didn't even bother Fluttershy. They knew what had to be done. They knew that, once again, the fate of Equestria rested in their hooves. They couldn't stop for anything. The noises in the forest would be nothing compared to what would happen if they didn't get o the Princesses in time.

     They didn't stop running. They would never stop running. The fires could be seen behind them, which made them run faster. The faster the Princesses stopped this, the less trees and land would be scorched beyond recognition. The constant clang of hooves on metal traveled along the tracks with them, until they finally came to Canterlot.  The sun was just being raised. All six of them were exhausted, but they labored on to the castle, running past ponies who were unaware of the grave circumstance that the element bearers had for coming to the city.

     "Twily?" A familiar voice asked. Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, the others tumbling over her. All six of them laid splayed out on the ground, panting and unable to move forward. The ponies passing them by gave them strange looks. A figure hovered over Twilight. "Twily? Are you okay? What are you doing here? Twily? Twilight? Twilight?" Shining Armor was kneeling down by Twilight. She knew he was concerned, because he stopped using his pet name for her.

     "We need...to get...to...Celestia..." Twilight gasped, trying to catch her breath, "It's impor...important..." There was a determined gleam in her eyes the likes of which Shining had never seen before. Sure, he had seen determination in here eyes before, but not determination like what he saw now. She and the others stood shakily, and slowly began to trot towards the castle. Shining Armor trotted along side them, taking in the sight of the six obviously tired mares. Even Pinkie Pie was tired, and that couldn't be a good sign.

     "What happened to you? You all look like you ran all the way here from Ponyville." Six sets of eyes looked at him. "You didn't..." They turned away from him and kept their slow walk to the castle. It stretched into the sky ahead of them. "Twilight? You didn't really, did you? Twilight?"

     "Shining, we'll talk later..." The six element ponies shared a look.

     They had no trouble getting inside the castle, because they were the Elements of Harmony. That and Twilight was Celestia's student, so they pretty much had to let them in. Twilight was having trouble focusing, and she nearly lost her way in the castle. It was lucky that Shining Armor had found them, or they would be in the kitchen or something.

     When they finally managed to get to Celestia and Luna's living space, they were even more exhausted than before. Pinkie Pie and Rarity both passed out from exhaustion upon entering the room. "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! We're being attacked!" Twilight said as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash lost consciousness as well.

     "And they ain't like no creature I ever saw!" Applejack managed to say before she too joined the others in unconsciousness. Twilight saw the stars in her vision and the corners of her sight were going dark.

     "Twilight, my student," Celestia said, "What has happened? Who is attacking us?"

     "Men," Twilight whispered as the conscious world slipped away and her face met the ground.