Solar Vs Lunar - Sibling Rivalryby SwordFlareChaptersPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4ProloguePrologue Princess Celestia and Princess Luna strode side by side down the long, wide hallway to the Canterlot palace throne room, where a mastermind was at work. Strange, buzzing noises could be heard from the room, accompanied by the crackle of a powerful unicorn at work. "When did he say he would be finished, sister?" Princess Luna enquired with her sister, who seemed rather eager in her strides. "He didn't say. Actually, he said it would be a while. A long while." Princess Celestia replied wistfully. "If all goes to plan, then I'm certain It'll be worth the wait anyhow." Silence creeped between them as they imagined the fun they would have. "Sister?" Luna said. "Yes, Luna? What is it?" Stopping in front of the large doors to the throne room, Celestia turned to face her sister. "Well... Thou said so much about this before, We have not really taken it all in yet... could thou explain again for us? We have... forgotten." Luna blushed a little at this. She didn't like to make other ponies repeat themselves, because it made her feel silly. "I'm sure Brainy Horn will explain for you." Celestia replied sympathetically. To be fair, she had explained it in such an excited and bubbly tone that it was understandable that Luna had been unable to grasp any of the information properly yet. With one alicorn to one double door, they majestically opened the double doors to reveal... well, certainly something they had never seen before in all their years of immortailty! All around there were strange, rectangular panels tilted at odd angles, connected to each other, facing one empty large square area with a purple mat. The sisters could not do much but stare at it all in wonderous awe, their minds meandering through the possibilities of how all of the magical equipment worked, and what it was for. "P-professor Brainy Horn? Art thou in here?" Luna called inquisitively, glancing around the huge room, which before the equipment, used to be very large and spacious. However, you could hardly see yourself amongst it all now. "Hm? Who's there?!" A strange, sing-song voice emerged from somewhere around the far left corner of the room. Craning her neck, Celestia being the larger mare, could just about make out a silver mane over the top of all the clutter. "Err, It's Princess Celestia." She answered back. In honesty she was more than a little confused as to why the stallion didn't recognise her voice. Hadn't they spoken for a long while previously? "Oh, sorry princess. I get distracted easily and with my line of work you tend to try to keep the most impo- FAUST DAMN IT!" The professor's odd voice was cut off sharply by a series of loud crashes and sounds of things falling to the floor. Luna slowly turned to face her sister, with her eyebrows raised. Celestia answered with a slow shake of the head, when suddenly a silvery maned, grey-coated stallion stepped out of the mass of equipment to greet them. "Hello there again, Princess Celestia. And you must be Princess Luna. Lovely name.Whoever named you must have been very clever" He grinned at her rather goofily, as Luna blushed at his flattery. "What is it you require of me now, Princess?... Er, Celestia?" The tall white alicorn regarded the stallion warily. "Well, first of all I'd like very much for you to explain to Princess Luna here what exactly you are constructing and for what cause." As soon as she finished the sentence the Brainy Horn's face lit up in excitement and joy. "Okay. So. Basically, I am creating a portal for you two.. and many soldiers of your choice, to step into. It will transport you to an uninhabited world, and your goal is for your team to wipe out the other team. Solar against Lunar. Now, some of you will take camera-ponies for each side to video the progress taking place, and so everypony else can watch it happening. I can assure you, it will be very fun!" He explained quickly. "Is that not a tiny bit violent? We mean, how will we simply kill each other? Dost that not mean we die?!" Luna exclaimed shortly after the stallion finished his sentence. A knowing smile appeared on Brainy's face. "A-HAH! That's where the brilliant part comes in, princess. When you die, you are sent back here, and you can only watch events unfold. No communication can take place between the two worlds. And to answer your second question, you will be sent in with weaponry such as swords, and shields and whatnot. Otherwise, it can all be improvised. Lastly, in reply to your first question, yes, it is violent, but everypony needs to blow off steam every now and then, and I'm sure you two get very stressed whilst running equestria. Don't you often have petty sibling quarrels?" At this, a wicked grin spread across Celestia's face, while Luna glared at her and frowned, answering the brilliant professor's question without words. "When will it be finished, then? What is your progress so far, Brainy Horn?" Celestia asked without taking her eyes off of Luna's eyes. "Ah, well I predict I will be able to send you all off in around two weeks time. Which gives you two..." He paused for a moment, "Plenty of time to find out who will be best for the job! You may each take 40 soldiers." "So what thou says is... we will hoof-pick our best soldiers and guards to fight for us?" Luna recalled. "Not for you, with you. You will both be in the action too." He reminded her. "And yes, that is exactly the case, Princess Luna." To this, Princess Celestia nodded her head, and then suddenly looked at the professor oddly. It was almost as though he had planned all this without their permission. "One last thing, Brainy Horn. What if we don't want to take part in this?" "Once you have seen and know how revolutionary and fun this will be, I'm sure you will. I'm almost 97.8% certain." The stallion said. He certainly did sound certain. The two sisters looked at each other for a while, the ancient competetiveness and rivalry rising between them, neither moving. Then, almost as though they both sensed what the other would say, said, "It is on, sister. May the best mare win!" Chapter 1Chapter 1 "Okay everypony, settle down. No, quiet now please." Pinkie Pie said with excitement in her voice, which didn't make it any better. Whilst Brainy Horn was to be the operator of the game, making sure everything ran smoothly, Pinkie Pie was the commentator, with Spike, Twilight Sparkle's helper, as the Co-Commentator. "Ahem. C'mon everypony, stop talking for a few moments so we can run some checks. The quieter you are the quicker this will be over." Spike instructed firmly to the ponies, along with the princesses who were stood on the purple mat, in the middle of the throne room. The mat had been divided into two, with Princess Celestia and her Solar guards standing on one half, and Princess Luna and her Lunar guards standing on the other. Some of the guards from each side pawed nervously in anticipation. The room, while being set up by Brainy Horn, had received some loving attention from Rarity whom Celestia employed to make things look a little cleaner. While before she had started, everything was messy and over the place, Rarity had placed some dividers, and temporary walls around all the equipment in the room. She had painted all of the equipment in white, and made everything shine, so that it would good for the cameras. The cameras of course were all there now in many different places to film many different angles, ready to film the moment when all of the ponies taking part would be transported to the other world. Officials were walking sternly around each individual on the square of material inspecting them, and checking they looked their very best. Ponies could be heard saying "Have you got your armour on right?" and "Have you got your sword?" and somepony was even being so thorough as to say "Are you carrying your shield on the left side of your back or the right? It shouldn't be on the same side as the sword!" Finally, the officials seemed happy with how everypony looked and all stepped off of the mat. Brainy Horn cleared his throat and said, "We need to go through what little rules there are again, so that you are all certain of what you must do." This was met by a wave of groans and one solar pony said "We know, for Celestia's sake!" earning him a smack on the back of his head by one of Celestia's royal hooves. He was quiet after that. "So, first of all, NO team-killing. If you do, you will also be sent back to the real world. So that you don't get any funny ideas. Also, if your princess dies, then your team loses. So protect them as well as you can. And lastly, DON'T kill the camera ponies. We'd really hate to think of what might happen if something went wrong, and we couldn't monitor what is going on." Brainy Horn finished, having explained every rule. "Am I understood?" A chorus of around a hundred and two 'Yes's rolled around the huge room like thunder. Two princesses, 80 guards and 20 camera-ponies, ready to film, were these ponies. For the hell of it, Pinkie Pie shouted "Everypony, ARE YOU READY?!?" Receiving the same response as last time. "I SAID ARE YOU REA-" She was quickly cut off by Spike. "Pinkie..." He looked at her disapprovingly and shook his head. "Oh, erm, sorry. Hehe!" Pinkie giggled shyly. "I must have got carried away... ANYWAY. Will everypony not taking part please step back!" Everyone gathered to watch stood back, as Brainy Horn and Twilight Sparkle, who was helping with the magic power needed to complete the transportation, stepped forward. They lit their horns and aimed at a central panel behind the mat on the otherside of the room. Everypony held their breath while the two unicorns concentrated, their magic growing in power until suddenly, two twin rays of pure magic were released, flying through the air at high speed. One was silver, and the other purple, and they entwined together as they flew at the panel. All the ponies were encased in a bright, white light, and only the outlines of their figures could be made out, two of them tall and the rest a little smaller. As quickly as this had happened, the light turned into a rainbow of colours, and then shrank, taking the outlines with it. Everypony stared at the square, breathless for a few moments, then broke into passionate and joyful cheers! The two princesses and their guards were gone. *************** Princess Celestia padded through the the forest of tall, leafless trees, her hooves crunching on twigs and making crackling noises on the leaves. 50 excited ponies followed her close behind, kicking up the leaves and making a noise with their hooves and voices combined, chatting and laughing. "If I remember rightly about what Brainy Horn said one time... The world is large, but not that large that we will never find each other. It's to give us time to build forts, and establish scouts, defenses and other things necessary. Not only that but there are different climates spread around the world." Celestia spoke to herself, in wonder. Then cleared her throat. "Okay everypony! Listen up now. We can't simply walk around in a group of 50, I need to split you up into squads. Each squad will have a leader, and 9 other ponies, and will also have either two or three camera-ponies to follow them. Now then, let me see..." Her eyes ran over all of the guards, remembering who she thought was the best leader, and fighter. And also who looked the best. "You there!" She pointed to a light turquoise pegasus mare with a blue mane, who previously stood proudly on her legs, but now her legs shook a little. "M-me?!" The mare said in awe that she had been chosen. "Yes you, silly, come out here." Celestia said kindly. The mare walked gracefully out of the crowd and stood tall in front of the princess. It became apparent why she had been chosen. She walked with such elegance and beauty, but there was also much intelligence in her light blue eyes. "What is your name, soldier?" The mare looked nervous at first, and then stated, "Razor Leaf, your majesty." The princess nodded regally. "Stand beside me here, then." Celestia instructed. The mare did as she was told and walked to the side of her princess, turning to face the crowd. Then, Celestia began skimming over the crowd again, and this time, picked out a young, strong looking stallion with a yellow coat, and a golden, more solidly coloured mane. "You over there, to the left." The stallion being pointed to looked at Celestia in surprise. "Your majesty... with all due respect, I'm standing on the right." Did he just say what she thought she said? "No, you're standing on the l- Oh nevermind. My left, your right. Very funny, stallion. Step forward." The stallion with a grin on his face stepped forward and looked up at the princess. "What is your name?" The stallion, anticipating the question, answered almost immediately, "Camo Flash." "Right then, Camo Flash, stand beside me." "Left or right, your majesty?" Camo Flash snorted. "Don't push it, stallion." Celestia frowned at him and gestured to the side not taken by Razor Leaf. Once again the princess repeated the process, picking out another mare with a white coat and a blue mane, who named herself as Snow Flake, who was a unicorn, and took her place next to the princess. Finally, Celestia made 'Hmmm' noises looking over the crowd of 47 ponies, who all looked up with pleading eyes. After a while, she made a decision and pointed to a pegasus stallion with a light brown coat and a darker brown mane, with a streak of gold in it. "You, step forward." This stallion walked more confidently forward and stood solidly in front of the princess. "Sword Flare, your majesty." "Ah. I hear you have an aptitude for swords. It goes with the name, of course. Very well, stand beside me." She gestured to one of her sides, where there was another pony waiting. "NOW THEN! You four will pick 9 other ponies to go with you in your squad." Many of the squad leaders chose their friends, or the handsome stallions, or the pretty mares, but in fairness all of the guards chosen were pretty much equal. Once the picking was done, the princess assigned two camera-ponies to the mare's squads, and three to the squads belonging to the stallions. "As for me, I will go mainly with Sword Flare's squad, but I will occasionally visit and check on what progress is being made. Now, squads form!" She ordered, and at this, as though it had been practiced before, (it had) the four squads formed 2 lines of five next to each other, with the camera-ponies behind their respective squads. *************** Meanwhile, somewhere in a crevasse large, rocky crevasse between two mountains, stood Princess Luna and her Lunar guards. They were doing much the same thing, as great minds thought alike. Luna was trying to choose her fourth squad member. She then pointed to an earth stallion with a light grey coat, and a yellow mane. "Thou over there to the left, with the yellow mane! Come to us," Luna instructed, keeping eye contact with her last chosen leader, who slowly walked towards her. "Tell us thy name, stallion." "My name's Lightning Strike, your majesty." Unlike the others, the stallion did a courteous bow to his princess, which earned him a chuckle from her. "Very nice, Lightning Strike, very nice." She giggled at him. She was a princess easily pleased by flattery, it seemed. The squad leaders of the night chose their soldiers, just as the solar leaders had. And curiously, they formed up in exactly the same way as Celestia's soldiers had. Great minds really did think alike. It was going to be a very strategic game... Chapter 2Chapter 2 Princess Luna walked through the crevasse with a noisy band of Lunar Guards following her, in full suits of armour, having sorted out the order of things. She wondered how they were going to find her sister. She had heard everything that had been said to her about the size of the world, and how they should build fortresses. She sighed. That was yet another task at hand before she could brutally kill her sister. She didn't have the malice she once did, when she had first been sent to the moon by Princess Celestia. Oh, the hatred she had felt that night. It had been almost unbearable, that she was unable to do anything, while her sister gained more of the love and respect of her subjects. She didn't feel that now, but she felt it as a necessity to show her sister that she was not the weak mare she might think she was. It was also an opportunity to get Celestia back for all the mean pranks she had played on her. Luna hardly ever did anything like that. She needed revenge. But for now, she was going to focus on the task at hand, at present. To set up ca- "H-hey! Would thou stop that, for the FINAL time?!" Luna exclaimed as her thoughts were interrupted when a camera was shoved in front of her, a grinning stallion walking backwards in front of her. This was the fifth time this had happened in the last five minutes! "What? I'm just showing everypony at home what they want to see!" The stallion chuckled. Luna seethed with anger, and her face twisted into a furious scowl directed at the silly grinning stallion, her horn lighting. She would show everypony at home 'what they wanted to see'. But then, she reluctantly remembered what brainy horn had previously said to her, and the rest of the ponies taking part. No killing the camera-ponies. Sighing again, she made a swatting motion at the stallion. "Will thou just try not to be so intrusive next time?" She told him. A few minutes later, a dark purple pegasus mare with a navy blue mane named Starry Wings, who had earlier been established as one of the squad leaders, partly because of her deftness when it came to flying, walked up to stroll by Luna's side. "Hello, princess. Would you like some company? You look pretty lonely up here." The mare said genuinely. Luna turned around and smiled at the mare. "We would love that, Starry. Actually, we have been... troubled, about certain dilemmas ahead of us." "You have? What do you mean by that in particular?" Starry Wings asked in concern. "Well, we will need to establish a base, a fortress, if thou would say it that way. Now, this fortress cannot be in a bad position. We need to be in a position of power when Celestia tries to attack. We will have supplies to build with somewhere around here, that will have been placed for us to use. However, we need to take them to where we need them. This fortress cannot be surrounded by trees, neither at the bottom of a hill, more preferably at the top of one, and it must be on ground we can solidly build on. But, we have not even surpassed this crevasse yet! How are we to find such suitable terrain?" Luna explained, with a troubled look in her eye. Starry Wings thought for a few moments, and then said. "Well, maybe I could round up some other good flyers, and scout out for some suitable ground for us to build on? There's gotta be some terrain suitable enough for us to use around here. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair! Maybe Celestia has already found some great place to build on!" The pegasus explained passionately. Luna nodded regally. "Yes, that seems to be a suitable solution. Very well then, Starry Wings. The task is yours." With that, both mares smiled at each other with friendship in their eyes. *************** As a matter of fact, Celestia was far from finding a 'great place' to build on, and was becoming frustrated to the threshold of losing her temper, however she was managing to barely hold it together, for the benefit of her troops. They still, were in the thick of a forest with no perceivable way out. However, the troops didn't appear to be benefitting. Sword Flare and Camo Flash walked together behind Celestia, near the front. They too were losing their temper a little. "GREAT. So now we're in the middle of a forest, that we have no idea where it is, or how to get out. I mean, for CELESTIA'S SAKE! Why the hay won't it e- AGH!" Sword was cut short on his rant, for he had received a hoof to the head from Celestia. "Uh, yeah. To be honest, I seriously think they should be thinking about how they develop the worlds in future games of this. It's supposed to be challenging, and all, and I get that. But why the hay is there an endless forest, that we seem to have been placed in the middle of? It's a little stupid, don't you think? Why in Celestia's name would they think that's accept- OUCH!" Unfortunately, he had been so frustrated with their current situation that he hadn't noticed Sword's punishment, and ended up getting exactly the same treatment. Both stallions rubbed their heads pitifully. Celestia's hooves HURT. "Well, I guess there's only one thing for it." Camo Flash spoke up. "What do you mean?" Sword replied, narrowing his eyes. He was hoping Camo wasn't going to do anything overly stupid that might lose them the game, or something. "You'll see." A big grin spread across the yellow stallion's face and slowly, he lost a bit of pace and melded into the large, groaning group at the back, who were mumbling about their hooves hurting from all the walking and such. Suddenly, he galloped out in front of them with an excited, beaming grin on his face. "Look everypony! There's open ground over there!" Camo shouted, pointing. A gasp followed quickly and everypony looked to the direction he was pointing. Of course, there was nothing there but more forest. It took a while, but after a lot of craning necks and squinting, everypony realised that this was in fact, a big, fat, lie. "Hey, you liar!" One angry mare piped up. Luckily, some ponies found it funny, but the majority of them just bristled a little at his annoying prank. "SORRY EVERYPONY! I guess my eyes are going funny after all this walking..." He shouted to the rest of them, chuckling softly under his breath as he returned to Sword's side. "You know, that probably isn't the best way to gain everypony's respect." Sword said, who had seen the funny side but was concerned for his fellow squad leader. "Ah well, there isn't much else to do, is there? Drastic times call for drastic measures..." He said mystically. Sword Flare nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I bet somepony is gonna pull the same thing again anywa-" He was cut off as there was another loud groan of disappointment from the group. "Yep, I told you." Celestia meanwhile, was walking a little ahead of the group, going through battle strategies and formations while she walked, how to build their base, what would be the most effecient defensive structure, and how to fit everypony in, and so many more things. The list extended. She glanced up quickly, scanning the horizon, when suddenly she noticed a bit of a lighter area to the left. Was that what she thought it was? She almost she thought she could see... grassland over there, not too far away. Was it really? Staring and squinting harder, she could make it out more as the group got closer. It WAS open ground! "Hey everypony! There's open ground over there!" She cried out happily, pointing to her left. The group groaned at what they thought would be another prank. Surely their princess hadn't decided to stoop this low too? But then happy cries of 'It's true!' and 'Open ground! Yay!' broke out over the group. Celestia started to trot towards it, and following suit, so did everypony else. Slowly but surely, the large, green field of long grass, swaying in a soft breeze they had been unable to feel in the thick forest, came into view. The look of such luscious green grass had the mouth of everypony watering. The field expanded for miles into the distance, in what seemed to be a slowly sloping downwards hill, starting off flat from where they were. And, as the field came into view, so did their building resources and tools. It was time to build a fortress. Chapter 3Chapter 3 "Everypony, don't shove! No, don't push either. Wait, they're the same, aren't they? HEY- NO BARGING!!" Pinkie Pie tried to speak over the rowdy crowd before her. This crowd was gathering at Sugar Cube Corner, which had been partly converted to house all the betting for the game. Everypony liked to bet on things, as ponies had seen in the past, and news of this game had been echoed far and wide around all of equestria. Ponies from Manehatten, Canterlot, Trottingham, and even some strange beings from the everfree forest had travelled for a long time to search for the infamous Sugar Cube Corner. Some ponies had heard of it before, because the cakes they made had a reputation for being absolutely divine, but, now that it had another use to it... well, let's just say it wasn't built for the amount of ponies that had attended opening evening of the betting. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were not ignoring the opportunity, and with all these rich ponies from Trottingham and Manehatten visiting, they were willing to pay a high price for what they considered 'High-Quality confectionaries'. "Come in, come in everypony! Cakes for all!" Mr Cake shouted joyfully. A bead of sweat was forming on his brow as he struggled to keep up with the selling of the cakes, the making them, and on top of it all, looking after two naughty, new-born foals. "That one's for 10 bits, dear." Mrs Cake told a light blue stallion in a top hat. "10 BITS?! That's an outrage! I simply for the life of me, cannot stand for this!" The stallion cried out, feigning disinterest in the cake. "Well then, why don't you sit for it? There's a seat over there." Mrs Cake pointed out to the stallion with a hurried,busy expression on her face.The stallion, looking disgruntled, took the cake and dropped 10 bits onto the counter, which were quickly swept up by the femenine hoof. Meanwhile, while Pinkie Pie was trying to calm the crowd so she could make a slightly inspirational, but probably more eccentric speech, which might have some tidbits of useful information, Spike managed to find a megaphone from somewhere behind the Cakes' counter, probably kept there for emergencies. "Everypony, everypony. Testing, one two three." Spike talked quietly down the megaphone, which unfortunately had been set to the highest setting. Therefore, this was received by groans from everypony in Sugar Cube Corner, many of them falling to the ground clutching their ears with their hooves. "Uh oh. Sorry everypony." Spike looked embarrassed. This only stimulated more groans from the crowd. He STILL hadn't turned it down from the highest setting. Realising, Spike did so. "Well, I guess it got their attention, eh pinkie?" He said to Pinkie Pie, turning to her. "Yes, Spike. Yes it did. Anyway, as I was about to say when I was so rudely interrupted- No, that's not right. You were all interrupting me from the start..." Pinkie Pie said to herself, looking puzzled. Everypony in the crowd could see Spike had put down his loud weapon, and removed their hooves from their ears. A couple of them didn't, though, for they knew Pinkie Pie well. "IN ANY CASE, as I was saying, everypony here is here for the betting, right? Well, if you've seen the latest footage, you must probably have noticed that Luna's team can't seem to find any place to build their fortress at the moment!" She commentated on events already past, for those who had been unable to watch. This part of the speech also provoked murmurs within the crowd. "Quieten DOWN, everypony. But, although Celestia has found somewhere to build her fortress, there's a forest behind her, although she has a clear view ahead. I don't know, everypony, but that gives me some baaaaad vibes!" Pinkie Pie said, once again riling the betters. Clearly, she was really getting into the swing of things, passionately talking to the crowd. "SO! Everypony, you are welcome to bet on who you think will win, but the odds don't come in until two days time! However, my Pinkie sense has been talking to me, and let me give you some advice..." She trailed off, leaving everypony literally cocking their heads to try and hear what she had to say. They had heard of her revered "Pinkie sense". "Well, based on the current information... I think......" As she trailed off again for dramatic emphasis, a mare cried out from the crowd, 'GET ON WITH IT ALREADY, PINKIE!' and once she had said it, she blushed and crouched down a little, hiding behind her mane. "Yes, thank you Fluttershy. We all know how you deal with stress, there's no need to put it in the spotlight..." Spike said nonchalantly, as though it was normal behaviour for her, so as not to make the guests in Ponyville think EVERYPONY there was crazy. "Anyway, at the moment, I think Princess Celestia has the upper hand. That is all, everypony!" Pinkie finished off with. Suddenly all the ponies surged forward to place their bets with volunteers who had stepped up to be the 'bookies'. Pinkie Pie looked pleased with herself, and grinned. After all, SHE was up by 500 bits, and Princess Celestia, suspiciously, was down by 500 bits. Chapter 4Chapter 4 Starry Night soared over the quickly dimming sky, the sun struggling to hold its weight against the grip of night. They needed to find a good, defensible place to rest and keep watch, and even with luck find a place to build on. If there was an ambush, there was a chance of heavy casualties, and the princess could be killed. Being ambushed or offering themselves up for one, just simply wasn't an option. Flying over the crevasse between the two, grassy hills, she could get a better view of the surroundings and give herself a mental situational report. Surprisingly, the gap that someone seemed to have torn in between the two hills widened out and ended almost as soon as she, and the rest of her elite Lunar flying team got up to a faster speed. Starry thrust her two front hooves out to each side, signalling for the pegasi flying alongside her to branch out widely. Almost immediately, they angled themselves left, and fell away to the left and right. Some of the farther pegasi even disappeared from view from where Starry was in the centre. Within two minutes, the end of the crevasse had disappeared from sight if the Lunar pegasi were to look behind them, and now, more long grassed hills had come into sight, as far as the eye could see. Star looked for any sign of forest land nearby, but from where she could see, there was none at all. Eventually, she stuck her hooves out again to the side, drawing attention to herself from the nearest pegasi behind her, and then she snapped her hooves down, facing the ground, and the pegasi fell in, making others further out who hadn't seen Starry signal understand, and fall in. A chain of events, of sorts. She slowed, with the others slowing with her, and pointed to a nearby hill. With less air resistance around her because of the decreased speeds, the others would be able to hear her again. "That hill over there looks suitable, it's large enough and has a flat space around it for a long distance. And look," she paused, pointing to the left. "there's our building equipment, not too far off from the location!" Starry continued. The dark, grey mares and stallions around her nodded and murmured in approval. Slowly and carefully, in unison the team touched down on the hill, which was relatively smooth, flat ground until it sloped down steadily, but not steeply. It would be easy for them to climb with their equipment but easy to defend. "This looks good enough, don't you think? All raise a hoof if you think this is adequate land." Starry Night said democratically. Un-surprisingly, everypony raised a hoof. It was settled, this was where they would build. *************** Camo Flash walked quickly over to some planks of wood, with a mare behind him to help him with it, and together, with a huge heave, they crouched and then lifted it up. Struggling it against the back-breaking work, they carried over to where the foundations of the large stone base were being built. To build things with wood, convenient devices had been placed to attach the ponies' chests, like harnesses on the wrong way. They consisted of square flat shovels attached by strong metal beams, eventually touching the ground when a pony crouched, and then could be moved underneath an object. When the pony stood up again, the object would be on the shovel. Again, it was back-breaking, but it was one of the only ways, besides being a unicorn. The pegasi had to take the objects higher, their wings taking the weight. They had the hardest jobs. However, earth ponies could also operate crane systems that were operated by clever leavers. "Hrrghh-UGH!" Camo grunted, along with the mare as they lifted the wood onto another two similar shaped pieces, holding their breaths and letting it go as the pressure came off of their bodies. "Urgh... thanks." "No problemo, Camo Flash. You needed someone stronger than you anyway." The mare smirked at him, making him Camo chuckle. "What's your name, 'strong mare'?" He asked her with a grin on his face. "Name's Ice Wing. I'm in your squad, remember?" She said with a question mark written over her face. Something then clicked in Camo's brain as he remembered. "Ohh yeahhh! I picked you first, didn't I? I remember your colours now. Pretty neat!" He complimented her. Her colours were indeed quite 'neat', suiting her name. She had a very light blue coat, like ice, and a white mane, and since she was a pegasus the second part of her name fitted. Suddenly, Ice Wing punched him, hard. "Hey! What was that for?" Camo exclaimed sharply. "The compliments. Don't do that." Ice glared at him. Luckily, he hadn't earned hatred here - there was a slightly playful tone to her face. "Heart of ice huh? That's too ba- HEY! Okay, tough mare. You win." Camo said wittily to her, rewarded with yet another punch to the same place. That would bruise tomorrow, but compared to the various broken bones, wings and black bruises he got in training to be a guard, this was nothing. "Thank you. Now, let's go get that next piece of wood, okay?" Ice said, turning from him to walk to the pile of wood they had started at. Grinning, Camo scored a point to himself in his mind. Yep, she was definitely interested.
ProloguePrologue Princess Celestia and Princess Luna strode side by side down the long, wide hallway to the Canterlot palace throne room, where a mastermind was at work. Strange, buzzing noises could be heard from the room, accompanied by the crackle of a powerful unicorn at work. "When did he say he would be finished, sister?" Princess Luna enquired with her sister, who seemed rather eager in her strides. "He didn't say. Actually, he said it would be a while. A long while." Princess Celestia replied wistfully. "If all goes to plan, then I'm certain It'll be worth the wait anyhow." Silence creeped between them as they imagined the fun they would have. "Sister?" Luna said. "Yes, Luna? What is it?" Stopping in front of the large doors to the throne room, Celestia turned to face her sister. "Well... Thou said so much about this before, We have not really taken it all in yet... could thou explain again for us? We have... forgotten." Luna blushed a little at this. She didn't like to make other ponies repeat themselves, because it made her feel silly. "I'm sure Brainy Horn will explain for you." Celestia replied sympathetically. To be fair, she had explained it in such an excited and bubbly tone that it was understandable that Luna had been unable to grasp any of the information properly yet. With one alicorn to one double door, they majestically opened the double doors to reveal... well, certainly something they had never seen before in all their years of immortailty! All around there were strange, rectangular panels tilted at odd angles, connected to each other, facing one empty large square area with a purple mat. The sisters could not do much but stare at it all in wonderous awe, their minds meandering through the possibilities of how all of the magical equipment worked, and what it was for. "P-professor Brainy Horn? Art thou in here?" Luna called inquisitively, glancing around the huge room, which before the equipment, used to be very large and spacious. However, you could hardly see yourself amongst it all now. "Hm? Who's there?!" A strange, sing-song voice emerged from somewhere around the far left corner of the room. Craning her neck, Celestia being the larger mare, could just about make out a silver mane over the top of all the clutter. "Err, It's Princess Celestia." She answered back. In honesty she was more than a little confused as to why the stallion didn't recognise her voice. Hadn't they spoken for a long while previously? "Oh, sorry princess. I get distracted easily and with my line of work you tend to try to keep the most impo- FAUST DAMN IT!" The professor's odd voice was cut off sharply by a series of loud crashes and sounds of things falling to the floor. Luna slowly turned to face her sister, with her eyebrows raised. Celestia answered with a slow shake of the head, when suddenly a silvery maned, grey-coated stallion stepped out of the mass of equipment to greet them. "Hello there again, Princess Celestia. And you must be Princess Luna. Lovely name.Whoever named you must have been very clever" He grinned at her rather goofily, as Luna blushed at his flattery. "What is it you require of me now, Princess?... Er, Celestia?" The tall white alicorn regarded the stallion warily. "Well, first of all I'd like very much for you to explain to Princess Luna here what exactly you are constructing and for what cause." As soon as she finished the sentence the Brainy Horn's face lit up in excitement and joy. "Okay. So. Basically, I am creating a portal for you two.. and many soldiers of your choice, to step into. It will transport you to an uninhabited world, and your goal is for your team to wipe out the other team. Solar against Lunar. Now, some of you will take camera-ponies for each side to video the progress taking place, and so everypony else can watch it happening. I can assure you, it will be very fun!" He explained quickly. "Is that not a tiny bit violent? We mean, how will we simply kill each other? Dost that not mean we die?!" Luna exclaimed shortly after the stallion finished his sentence. A knowing smile appeared on Brainy's face. "A-HAH! That's where the brilliant part comes in, princess. When you die, you are sent back here, and you can only watch events unfold. No communication can take place between the two worlds. And to answer your second question, you will be sent in with weaponry such as swords, and shields and whatnot. Otherwise, it can all be improvised. Lastly, in reply to your first question, yes, it is violent, but everypony needs to blow off steam every now and then, and I'm sure you two get very stressed whilst running equestria. Don't you often have petty sibling quarrels?" At this, a wicked grin spread across Celestia's face, while Luna glared at her and frowned, answering the brilliant professor's question without words. "When will it be finished, then? What is your progress so far, Brainy Horn?" Celestia asked without taking her eyes off of Luna's eyes. "Ah, well I predict I will be able to send you all off in around two weeks time. Which gives you two..." He paused for a moment, "Plenty of time to find out who will be best for the job! You may each take 40 soldiers." "So what thou says is... we will hoof-pick our best soldiers and guards to fight for us?" Luna recalled. "Not for you, with you. You will both be in the action too." He reminded her. "And yes, that is exactly the case, Princess Luna." To this, Princess Celestia nodded her head, and then suddenly looked at the professor oddly. It was almost as though he had planned all this without their permission. "One last thing, Brainy Horn. What if we don't want to take part in this?" "Once you have seen and know how revolutionary and fun this will be, I'm sure you will. I'm almost 97.8% certain." The stallion said. He certainly did sound certain. The two sisters looked at each other for a while, the ancient competetiveness and rivalry rising between them, neither moving. Then, almost as though they both sensed what the other would say, said, "It is on, sister. May the best mare win!"
Chapter 1Chapter 1 "Okay everypony, settle down. No, quiet now please." Pinkie Pie said with excitement in her voice, which didn't make it any better. Whilst Brainy Horn was to be the operator of the game, making sure everything ran smoothly, Pinkie Pie was the commentator, with Spike, Twilight Sparkle's helper, as the Co-Commentator. "Ahem. C'mon everypony, stop talking for a few moments so we can run some checks. The quieter you are the quicker this will be over." Spike instructed firmly to the ponies, along with the princesses who were stood on the purple mat, in the middle of the throne room. The mat had been divided into two, with Princess Celestia and her Solar guards standing on one half, and Princess Luna and her Lunar guards standing on the other. Some of the guards from each side pawed nervously in anticipation. The room, while being set up by Brainy Horn, had received some loving attention from Rarity whom Celestia employed to make things look a little cleaner. While before she had started, everything was messy and over the place, Rarity had placed some dividers, and temporary walls around all the equipment in the room. She had painted all of the equipment in white, and made everything shine, so that it would good for the cameras. The cameras of course were all there now in many different places to film many different angles, ready to film the moment when all of the ponies taking part would be transported to the other world. Officials were walking sternly around each individual on the square of material inspecting them, and checking they looked their very best. Ponies could be heard saying "Have you got your armour on right?" and "Have you got your sword?" and somepony was even being so thorough as to say "Are you carrying your shield on the left side of your back or the right? It shouldn't be on the same side as the sword!" Finally, the officials seemed happy with how everypony looked and all stepped off of the mat. Brainy Horn cleared his throat and said, "We need to go through what little rules there are again, so that you are all certain of what you must do." This was met by a wave of groans and one solar pony said "We know, for Celestia's sake!" earning him a smack on the back of his head by one of Celestia's royal hooves. He was quiet after that. "So, first of all, NO team-killing. If you do, you will also be sent back to the real world. So that you don't get any funny ideas. Also, if your princess dies, then your team loses. So protect them as well as you can. And lastly, DON'T kill the camera ponies. We'd really hate to think of what might happen if something went wrong, and we couldn't monitor what is going on." Brainy Horn finished, having explained every rule. "Am I understood?" A chorus of around a hundred and two 'Yes's rolled around the huge room like thunder. Two princesses, 80 guards and 20 camera-ponies, ready to film, were these ponies. For the hell of it, Pinkie Pie shouted "Everypony, ARE YOU READY?!?" Receiving the same response as last time. "I SAID ARE YOU REA-" She was quickly cut off by Spike. "Pinkie..." He looked at her disapprovingly and shook his head. "Oh, erm, sorry. Hehe!" Pinkie giggled shyly. "I must have got carried away... ANYWAY. Will everypony not taking part please step back!" Everyone gathered to watch stood back, as Brainy Horn and Twilight Sparkle, who was helping with the magic power needed to complete the transportation, stepped forward. They lit their horns and aimed at a central panel behind the mat on the otherside of the room. Everypony held their breath while the two unicorns concentrated, their magic growing in power until suddenly, two twin rays of pure magic were released, flying through the air at high speed. One was silver, and the other purple, and they entwined together as they flew at the panel. All the ponies were encased in a bright, white light, and only the outlines of their figures could be made out, two of them tall and the rest a little smaller. As quickly as this had happened, the light turned into a rainbow of colours, and then shrank, taking the outlines with it. Everypony stared at the square, breathless for a few moments, then broke into passionate and joyful cheers! The two princesses and their guards were gone. *************** Princess Celestia padded through the the forest of tall, leafless trees, her hooves crunching on twigs and making crackling noises on the leaves. 50 excited ponies followed her close behind, kicking up the leaves and making a noise with their hooves and voices combined, chatting and laughing. "If I remember rightly about what Brainy Horn said one time... The world is large, but not that large that we will never find each other. It's to give us time to build forts, and establish scouts, defenses and other things necessary. Not only that but there are different climates spread around the world." Celestia spoke to herself, in wonder. Then cleared her throat. "Okay everypony! Listen up now. We can't simply walk around in a group of 50, I need to split you up into squads. Each squad will have a leader, and 9 other ponies, and will also have either two or three camera-ponies to follow them. Now then, let me see..." Her eyes ran over all of the guards, remembering who she thought was the best leader, and fighter. And also who looked the best. "You there!" She pointed to a light turquoise pegasus mare with a blue mane, who previously stood proudly on her legs, but now her legs shook a little. "M-me?!" The mare said in awe that she had been chosen. "Yes you, silly, come out here." Celestia said kindly. The mare walked gracefully out of the crowd and stood tall in front of the princess. It became apparent why she had been chosen. She walked with such elegance and beauty, but there was also much intelligence in her light blue eyes. "What is your name, soldier?" The mare looked nervous at first, and then stated, "Razor Leaf, your majesty." The princess nodded regally. "Stand beside me here, then." Celestia instructed. The mare did as she was told and walked to the side of her princess, turning to face the crowd. Then, Celestia began skimming over the crowd again, and this time, picked out a young, strong looking stallion with a yellow coat, and a golden, more solidly coloured mane. "You over there, to the left." The stallion being pointed to looked at Celestia in surprise. "Your majesty... with all due respect, I'm standing on the right." Did he just say what she thought she said? "No, you're standing on the l- Oh nevermind. My left, your right. Very funny, stallion. Step forward." The stallion with a grin on his face stepped forward and looked up at the princess. "What is your name?" The stallion, anticipating the question, answered almost immediately, "Camo Flash." "Right then, Camo Flash, stand beside me." "Left or right, your majesty?" Camo Flash snorted. "Don't push it, stallion." Celestia frowned at him and gestured to the side not taken by Razor Leaf. Once again the princess repeated the process, picking out another mare with a white coat and a blue mane, who named herself as Snow Flake, who was a unicorn, and took her place next to the princess. Finally, Celestia made 'Hmmm' noises looking over the crowd of 47 ponies, who all looked up with pleading eyes. After a while, she made a decision and pointed to a pegasus stallion with a light brown coat and a darker brown mane, with a streak of gold in it. "You, step forward." This stallion walked more confidently forward and stood solidly in front of the princess. "Sword Flare, your majesty." "Ah. I hear you have an aptitude for swords. It goes with the name, of course. Very well, stand beside me." She gestured to one of her sides, where there was another pony waiting. "NOW THEN! You four will pick 9 other ponies to go with you in your squad." Many of the squad leaders chose their friends, or the handsome stallions, or the pretty mares, but in fairness all of the guards chosen were pretty much equal. Once the picking was done, the princess assigned two camera-ponies to the mare's squads, and three to the squads belonging to the stallions. "As for me, I will go mainly with Sword Flare's squad, but I will occasionally visit and check on what progress is being made. Now, squads form!" She ordered, and at this, as though it had been practiced before, (it had) the four squads formed 2 lines of five next to each other, with the camera-ponies behind their respective squads. *************** Meanwhile, somewhere in a crevasse large, rocky crevasse between two mountains, stood Princess Luna and her Lunar guards. They were doing much the same thing, as great minds thought alike. Luna was trying to choose her fourth squad member. She then pointed to an earth stallion with a light grey coat, and a yellow mane. "Thou over there to the left, with the yellow mane! Come to us," Luna instructed, keeping eye contact with her last chosen leader, who slowly walked towards her. "Tell us thy name, stallion." "My name's Lightning Strike, your majesty." Unlike the others, the stallion did a courteous bow to his princess, which earned him a chuckle from her. "Very nice, Lightning Strike, very nice." She giggled at him. She was a princess easily pleased by flattery, it seemed. The squad leaders of the night chose their soldiers, just as the solar leaders had. And curiously, they formed up in exactly the same way as Celestia's soldiers had. Great minds really did think alike. It was going to be a very strategic game...
Chapter 2Chapter 2 Princess Luna walked through the crevasse with a noisy band of Lunar Guards following her, in full suits of armour, having sorted out the order of things. She wondered how they were going to find her sister. She had heard everything that had been said to her about the size of the world, and how they should build fortresses. She sighed. That was yet another task at hand before she could brutally kill her sister. She didn't have the malice she once did, when she had first been sent to the moon by Princess Celestia. Oh, the hatred she had felt that night. It had been almost unbearable, that she was unable to do anything, while her sister gained more of the love and respect of her subjects. She didn't feel that now, but she felt it as a necessity to show her sister that she was not the weak mare she might think she was. It was also an opportunity to get Celestia back for all the mean pranks she had played on her. Luna hardly ever did anything like that. She needed revenge. But for now, she was going to focus on the task at hand, at present. To set up ca- "H-hey! Would thou stop that, for the FINAL time?!" Luna exclaimed as her thoughts were interrupted when a camera was shoved in front of her, a grinning stallion walking backwards in front of her. This was the fifth time this had happened in the last five minutes! "What? I'm just showing everypony at home what they want to see!" The stallion chuckled. Luna seethed with anger, and her face twisted into a furious scowl directed at the silly grinning stallion, her horn lighting. She would show everypony at home 'what they wanted to see'. But then, she reluctantly remembered what brainy horn had previously said to her, and the rest of the ponies taking part. No killing the camera-ponies. Sighing again, she made a swatting motion at the stallion. "Will thou just try not to be so intrusive next time?" She told him. A few minutes later, a dark purple pegasus mare with a navy blue mane named Starry Wings, who had earlier been established as one of the squad leaders, partly because of her deftness when it came to flying, walked up to stroll by Luna's side. "Hello, princess. Would you like some company? You look pretty lonely up here." The mare said genuinely. Luna turned around and smiled at the mare. "We would love that, Starry. Actually, we have been... troubled, about certain dilemmas ahead of us." "You have? What do you mean by that in particular?" Starry Wings asked in concern. "Well, we will need to establish a base, a fortress, if thou would say it that way. Now, this fortress cannot be in a bad position. We need to be in a position of power when Celestia tries to attack. We will have supplies to build with somewhere around here, that will have been placed for us to use. However, we need to take them to where we need them. This fortress cannot be surrounded by trees, neither at the bottom of a hill, more preferably at the top of one, and it must be on ground we can solidly build on. But, we have not even surpassed this crevasse yet! How are we to find such suitable terrain?" Luna explained, with a troubled look in her eye. Starry Wings thought for a few moments, and then said. "Well, maybe I could round up some other good flyers, and scout out for some suitable ground for us to build on? There's gotta be some terrain suitable enough for us to use around here. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair! Maybe Celestia has already found some great place to build on!" The pegasus explained passionately. Luna nodded regally. "Yes, that seems to be a suitable solution. Very well then, Starry Wings. The task is yours." With that, both mares smiled at each other with friendship in their eyes. *************** As a matter of fact, Celestia was far from finding a 'great place' to build on, and was becoming frustrated to the threshold of losing her temper, however she was managing to barely hold it together, for the benefit of her troops. They still, were in the thick of a forest with no perceivable way out. However, the troops didn't appear to be benefitting. Sword Flare and Camo Flash walked together behind Celestia, near the front. They too were losing their temper a little. "GREAT. So now we're in the middle of a forest, that we have no idea where it is, or how to get out. I mean, for CELESTIA'S SAKE! Why the hay won't it e- AGH!" Sword was cut short on his rant, for he had received a hoof to the head from Celestia. "Uh, yeah. To be honest, I seriously think they should be thinking about how they develop the worlds in future games of this. It's supposed to be challenging, and all, and I get that. But why the hay is there an endless forest, that we seem to have been placed in the middle of? It's a little stupid, don't you think? Why in Celestia's name would they think that's accept- OUCH!" Unfortunately, he had been so frustrated with their current situation that he hadn't noticed Sword's punishment, and ended up getting exactly the same treatment. Both stallions rubbed their heads pitifully. Celestia's hooves HURT. "Well, I guess there's only one thing for it." Camo Flash spoke up. "What do you mean?" Sword replied, narrowing his eyes. He was hoping Camo wasn't going to do anything overly stupid that might lose them the game, or something. "You'll see." A big grin spread across the yellow stallion's face and slowly, he lost a bit of pace and melded into the large, groaning group at the back, who were mumbling about their hooves hurting from all the walking and such. Suddenly, he galloped out in front of them with an excited, beaming grin on his face. "Look everypony! There's open ground over there!" Camo shouted, pointing. A gasp followed quickly and everypony looked to the direction he was pointing. Of course, there was nothing there but more forest. It took a while, but after a lot of craning necks and squinting, everypony realised that this was in fact, a big, fat, lie. "Hey, you liar!" One angry mare piped up. Luckily, some ponies found it funny, but the majority of them just bristled a little at his annoying prank. "SORRY EVERYPONY! I guess my eyes are going funny after all this walking..." He shouted to the rest of them, chuckling softly under his breath as he returned to Sword's side. "You know, that probably isn't the best way to gain everypony's respect." Sword said, who had seen the funny side but was concerned for his fellow squad leader. "Ah well, there isn't much else to do, is there? Drastic times call for drastic measures..." He said mystically. Sword Flare nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I bet somepony is gonna pull the same thing again anywa-" He was cut off as there was another loud groan of disappointment from the group. "Yep, I told you." Celestia meanwhile, was walking a little ahead of the group, going through battle strategies and formations while she walked, how to build their base, what would be the most effecient defensive structure, and how to fit everypony in, and so many more things. The list extended. She glanced up quickly, scanning the horizon, when suddenly she noticed a bit of a lighter area to the left. Was that what she thought it was? She almost she thought she could see... grassland over there, not too far away. Was it really? Staring and squinting harder, she could make it out more as the group got closer. It WAS open ground! "Hey everypony! There's open ground over there!" She cried out happily, pointing to her left. The group groaned at what they thought would be another prank. Surely their princess hadn't decided to stoop this low too? But then happy cries of 'It's true!' and 'Open ground! Yay!' broke out over the group. Celestia started to trot towards it, and following suit, so did everypony else. Slowly but surely, the large, green field of long grass, swaying in a soft breeze they had been unable to feel in the thick forest, came into view. The look of such luscious green grass had the mouth of everypony watering. The field expanded for miles into the distance, in what seemed to be a slowly sloping downwards hill, starting off flat from where they were. And, as the field came into view, so did their building resources and tools. It was time to build a fortress.
Chapter 3Chapter 3 "Everypony, don't shove! No, don't push either. Wait, they're the same, aren't they? HEY- NO BARGING!!" Pinkie Pie tried to speak over the rowdy crowd before her. This crowd was gathering at Sugar Cube Corner, which had been partly converted to house all the betting for the game. Everypony liked to bet on things, as ponies had seen in the past, and news of this game had been echoed far and wide around all of equestria. Ponies from Manehatten, Canterlot, Trottingham, and even some strange beings from the everfree forest had travelled for a long time to search for the infamous Sugar Cube Corner. Some ponies had heard of it before, because the cakes they made had a reputation for being absolutely divine, but, now that it had another use to it... well, let's just say it wasn't built for the amount of ponies that had attended opening evening of the betting. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were not ignoring the opportunity, and with all these rich ponies from Trottingham and Manehatten visiting, they were willing to pay a high price for what they considered 'High-Quality confectionaries'. "Come in, come in everypony! Cakes for all!" Mr Cake shouted joyfully. A bead of sweat was forming on his brow as he struggled to keep up with the selling of the cakes, the making them, and on top of it all, looking after two naughty, new-born foals. "That one's for 10 bits, dear." Mrs Cake told a light blue stallion in a top hat. "10 BITS?! That's an outrage! I simply for the life of me, cannot stand for this!" The stallion cried out, feigning disinterest in the cake. "Well then, why don't you sit for it? There's a seat over there." Mrs Cake pointed out to the stallion with a hurried,busy expression on her face.The stallion, looking disgruntled, took the cake and dropped 10 bits onto the counter, which were quickly swept up by the femenine hoof. Meanwhile, while Pinkie Pie was trying to calm the crowd so she could make a slightly inspirational, but probably more eccentric speech, which might have some tidbits of useful information, Spike managed to find a megaphone from somewhere behind the Cakes' counter, probably kept there for emergencies. "Everypony, everypony. Testing, one two three." Spike talked quietly down the megaphone, which unfortunately had been set to the highest setting. Therefore, this was received by groans from everypony in Sugar Cube Corner, many of them falling to the ground clutching their ears with their hooves. "Uh oh. Sorry everypony." Spike looked embarrassed. This only stimulated more groans from the crowd. He STILL hadn't turned it down from the highest setting. Realising, Spike did so. "Well, I guess it got their attention, eh pinkie?" He said to Pinkie Pie, turning to her. "Yes, Spike. Yes it did. Anyway, as I was about to say when I was so rudely interrupted- No, that's not right. You were all interrupting me from the start..." Pinkie Pie said to herself, looking puzzled. Everypony in the crowd could see Spike had put down his loud weapon, and removed their hooves from their ears. A couple of them didn't, though, for they knew Pinkie Pie well. "IN ANY CASE, as I was saying, everypony here is here for the betting, right? Well, if you've seen the latest footage, you must probably have noticed that Luna's team can't seem to find any place to build their fortress at the moment!" She commentated on events already past, for those who had been unable to watch. This part of the speech also provoked murmurs within the crowd. "Quieten DOWN, everypony. But, although Celestia has found somewhere to build her fortress, there's a forest behind her, although she has a clear view ahead. I don't know, everypony, but that gives me some baaaaad vibes!" Pinkie Pie said, once again riling the betters. Clearly, she was really getting into the swing of things, passionately talking to the crowd. "SO! Everypony, you are welcome to bet on who you think will win, but the odds don't come in until two days time! However, my Pinkie sense has been talking to me, and let me give you some advice..." She trailed off, leaving everypony literally cocking their heads to try and hear what she had to say. They had heard of her revered "Pinkie sense". "Well, based on the current information... I think......" As she trailed off again for dramatic emphasis, a mare cried out from the crowd, 'GET ON WITH IT ALREADY, PINKIE!' and once she had said it, she blushed and crouched down a little, hiding behind her mane. "Yes, thank you Fluttershy. We all know how you deal with stress, there's no need to put it in the spotlight..." Spike said nonchalantly, as though it was normal behaviour for her, so as not to make the guests in Ponyville think EVERYPONY there was crazy. "Anyway, at the moment, I think Princess Celestia has the upper hand. That is all, everypony!" Pinkie finished off with. Suddenly all the ponies surged forward to place their bets with volunteers who had stepped up to be the 'bookies'. Pinkie Pie looked pleased with herself, and grinned. After all, SHE was up by 500 bits, and Princess Celestia, suspiciously, was down by 500 bits.
Chapter 4Chapter 4 Starry Night soared over the quickly dimming sky, the sun struggling to hold its weight against the grip of night. They needed to find a good, defensible place to rest and keep watch, and even with luck find a place to build on. If there was an ambush, there was a chance of heavy casualties, and the princess could be killed. Being ambushed or offering themselves up for one, just simply wasn't an option. Flying over the crevasse between the two, grassy hills, she could get a better view of the surroundings and give herself a mental situational report. Surprisingly, the gap that someone seemed to have torn in between the two hills widened out and ended almost as soon as she, and the rest of her elite Lunar flying team got up to a faster speed. Starry thrust her two front hooves out to each side, signalling for the pegasi flying alongside her to branch out widely. Almost immediately, they angled themselves left, and fell away to the left and right. Some of the farther pegasi even disappeared from view from where Starry was in the centre. Within two minutes, the end of the crevasse had disappeared from sight if the Lunar pegasi were to look behind them, and now, more long grassed hills had come into sight, as far as the eye could see. Star looked for any sign of forest land nearby, but from where she could see, there was none at all. Eventually, she stuck her hooves out again to the side, drawing attention to herself from the nearest pegasi behind her, and then she snapped her hooves down, facing the ground, and the pegasi fell in, making others further out who hadn't seen Starry signal understand, and fall in. A chain of events, of sorts. She slowed, with the others slowing with her, and pointed to a nearby hill. With less air resistance around her because of the decreased speeds, the others would be able to hear her again. "That hill over there looks suitable, it's large enough and has a flat space around it for a long distance. And look," she paused, pointing to the left. "there's our building equipment, not too far off from the location!" Starry continued. The dark, grey mares and stallions around her nodded and murmured in approval. Slowly and carefully, in unison the team touched down on the hill, which was relatively smooth, flat ground until it sloped down steadily, but not steeply. It would be easy for them to climb with their equipment but easy to defend. "This looks good enough, don't you think? All raise a hoof if you think this is adequate land." Starry Night said democratically. Un-surprisingly, everypony raised a hoof. It was settled, this was where they would build. *************** Camo Flash walked quickly over to some planks of wood, with a mare behind him to help him with it, and together, with a huge heave, they crouched and then lifted it up. Struggling it against the back-breaking work, they carried over to where the foundations of the large stone base were being built. To build things with wood, convenient devices had been placed to attach the ponies' chests, like harnesses on the wrong way. They consisted of square flat shovels attached by strong metal beams, eventually touching the ground when a pony crouched, and then could be moved underneath an object. When the pony stood up again, the object would be on the shovel. Again, it was back-breaking, but it was one of the only ways, besides being a unicorn. The pegasi had to take the objects higher, their wings taking the weight. They had the hardest jobs. However, earth ponies could also operate crane systems that were operated by clever leavers. "Hrrghh-UGH!" Camo grunted, along with the mare as they lifted the wood onto another two similar shaped pieces, holding their breaths and letting it go as the pressure came off of their bodies. "Urgh... thanks." "No problemo, Camo Flash. You needed someone stronger than you anyway." The mare smirked at him, making him Camo chuckle. "What's your name, 'strong mare'?" He asked her with a grin on his face. "Name's Ice Wing. I'm in your squad, remember?" She said with a question mark written over her face. Something then clicked in Camo's brain as he remembered. "Ohh yeahhh! I picked you first, didn't I? I remember your colours now. Pretty neat!" He complimented her. Her colours were indeed quite 'neat', suiting her name. She had a very light blue coat, like ice, and a white mane, and since she was a pegasus the second part of her name fitted. Suddenly, Ice Wing punched him, hard. "Hey! What was that for?" Camo exclaimed sharply. "The compliments. Don't do that." Ice glared at him. Luckily, he hadn't earned hatred here - there was a slightly playful tone to her face. "Heart of ice huh? That's too ba- HEY! Okay, tough mare. You win." Camo said wittily to her, rewarded with yet another punch to the same place. That would bruise tomorrow, but compared to the various broken bones, wings and black bruises he got in training to be a guard, this was nothing. "Thank you. Now, let's go get that next piece of wood, okay?" Ice said, turning from him to walk to the pile of wood they had started at. Grinning, Camo scored a point to himself in his mind. Yep, she was definitely interested.
