A unicorn aimed their horn, but a feline warrior knocked them down before they could cast a spell. A pegasus swept by and managed to pick up the feline and toss it aside. Many cats were climbing over each other to try and reach the trailer mounted on the Marestream. But a rain of horn bolts sent the structure toppling down.

"I hope you like fighting in the rain," came a shout from above. Rain Shower, cackling with glee, did as her cutie mark and name demanded. With a little dance atop the gathered clouds, rain poured down over the battlefield at her command. She danced to bring the wind and lightning too.

Many of the cats hissed, fleeing to hide under rocks and trees to avoid the storm, but they had to stay in the open battlefield to fight and have any hopes of victory. Their leader thrust his hand forward. "Stay in the fight, the ponies only have so much spirit left in them."

Meanwhile, Sunny was throwing her own punches and kicks at the felines, knocking back several. Her magic wings glowed and she threw a punch with a glowing hoof, sending a feline soaring back. A cat landed on her back, which turned into several more. With a yelp, she was buried under felines as they busily tied her up.

Sunny squirmed beneath them, but there were too many claws and teeth for her to move freely. "I'm stuck!" She called, "Help! Please!" But they were too busy fighting.

Most of them, at least. Misty soared in on her floating disc to send out a stream of heart bubbles. The felines popped them as they rose, and with each heart burst open, they fell asleep. The weight eased from Sunny's back. "Thank you!"

"I was not sure that would work." Misty laughed nervously, looking to the rest of the battle going on before them. "Let's get back to work!" They leaped back in the fray. Misty used her disc to keep out of reach, firing off heart bursts whenever a cat seemed to be gaining on her, putting them to sleep.

A great shadow loomed over her, the leader of the cats. He grabbed her by the scruff and hopped to the ground in one pounce of a motion. "What a naughty pony you are." He casually threw her at the ground without letting go, bashing her like an especially unliked bag of produce. "Stop."

Misty felt pain lancing through her abused form, the world spinning around her. It was hard to make out who or what was where, or why the sky was moving. With a groan of effort, she tried to cast her spell again, but the tiger was prepared, slapping her down to the ground before the hearts could get too high.

"I tried asking." He kicked her in the side and she went limp with a low groan. "Hard way it is. Attack, their wizard is down! To victory!"

"Misty!" Alphabittle rushed in, a look of rage painted across his face. He was upon the tiger a moment later. "You hurt my daughter, you monster!"

The tiger snorted and swung his claws, met with an equally determined horn. Alphabittle was no wizard, but he pressed his bulk against the cat, gaining nicks and slices for his effort. He had to knock the tiger away before it could get any good hits on him. With a grunt, Alphabittle lowered his head and charged.

He crashed into the tiger and they went tumbling, exchanging blows the entire way.

Lightning crashed down, catching a feline mid-pounce. They yowled, jerking and twitching as they slapped to the ground. "You're welcome," shouted from the clouds above, Rain Shower still laughing as she worked the clouds with her ancient skill.

Hitch lashed a hind hoof, knocking one feline back with a pained yelp. Stepping forward, he swung a hoof into the shoulder of another cat, knocking them free of a pegasus that had been caught. "This is, whooof, more fighting than usual." He ducked just in time to avoid a sweeping swipe. His head swung in low, cracking into the cat's stomach.

He'd been untied a good while ago, though it was only recently he was able to escape with Sparky. Speaking of that dragon, they belched flame just over Hitch's head, driving the feline ahead of them back with its heat. Sparky clapped his hands with joy, confident that he was helping.

Hitch couldn't be so confident, not with how many cats he could see. "We're losing numbers." He threw a punch, but it went wide, leaving him open for a paw to the stomach that shoved him back.

"No, you're not." The voice was new. Hitch looked up to see new flyers joining with the pegasi and veering down into the frey. They had talons in the front and paws in the back, with lashing long tails as they screeched like angry birds of prey. The griffons had joined the battle.

The leader of the cats gasped, stumbling backwards in shock. "How, where? No matter! Fight, soldiers! We can win this yet!" He turned to Alphabittle with a glare of hatred. "You're just a pony!"

Alphabittle had to agree, he was. The tiger pounced onto him. With a grunt, he braced his hooves against the tiger's chest, his hooves digging into their flesh while his hind legs kicked, fighting against that thrown bulk.

"Pathetic." Allura pounced on Alphabittle, his bulk meaning little to her large form. "This battle is going poorly. Are you certain you can win it?"

He looked up at her with a glare. "I am certain! The cats are superior! We will win this battle, for the glory of all cats!"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You said this was a winning move, and I don't see that." She flicked her great tail across the tiger's face. "I'm leaving. Good luck." With a single, massive leap, she was gone, vanishing into the distance. Twitch laughed from her shoulders.

The leader sputtered, "Wait, what?" He stumbled off of Alphabittle, who lay still a moment before struggling to stand. "Stay down!" the leader practically screeched with frustration.

All around them, the felines were losing, their numbers driven to the ground. The griffons had tipped the balance, and they had finally reached the point where there was no return. They began to flee with pegasi and griffons harrying them until they were captured or driven clear off the mountain.

The sounds of battle started to fade. "Don't think this is over!" shouted the leader. "Cats will rule!"

Alphabittle gave them a swift hoof to the stomach and he fell back with a wheeze. "Not as long as we ponies stand together."

Haven landed beside him. "Brilliantly said." She put a wing over him. "As I'd expect from any coltfriend of mine." The two shared a kiss as the leader scrambled away, but found nowhere to go, surrounded by pegasi and unicorns. "You can go with the rest of your kind. You may walk to your prison cell."

The tiger snarled, charging right through the line with terrific strength. "I'll be back, later." Then, they were gone. Into the wilds, but now, they were alone.

Zipp landed beside Haven. "Mom, you alright?" She looked over her queen of a mother, finding no marks at all. "Or did you not fight?"

Haven laughed at the question. "Dear, I'm a queen. Queens give orders for others to fight, so we win. We don't wade into battles ourselves unless things are truly dire. It would be bad for morale to see their queen not looking her best."

Alphabittle sighed. "That's queens, I guess. How's Misty?" He rushed to her side and gently stroked her head. "Sweetie?"

Misty woke with a start. "Wha, where? Oh." She sat up, wobbling a bit. "Did we win?"

Alphabittle hugged her close. "Yeah, we won. They're running. A lot of cats are in jail right now."

"That's great." She smiled and returned the hug. "So, um, we're not done."

Alphabittle recoiled. "Not done? But we definitely won here. How isn't that done?" He waved a hoof at the field, bereft of combat as things were being cleaned up in the aftermath. "There's nothing else to do."

Misty shook her head, her mane waving with her. "Maretime Bay is still controlled by those cats. We have to go free them now that we made sure they wouldn't take Zephyr Heights."

Alphabittle blinked and groaned. "Right. I forgot about that." He paused and frowned. "You're not coming."

Misty gasped and reared back. "What?"

He took a hissing breath. "You're hurt. You can sit this one out and let the rest of us go charging in this time." He gave her a smile. "It's okay, I promise. Your friends can handle it, and so can I."

Misty was still unsure about that, but she nodded anyway. "Okay, dad."

Alphabittle hugged her gently. "I love you, Misty."

The same conversation was had in many places, with the injured being taken off for triage, willingly or not, and the rest forming up together to discuss the next step. The rain abated overhead, the sun peeking out moments later.

Rain Shower descended to join them. "Looked like we won from up there. We all done?"

Zipp shook her head. "Maretime Bay still needs to be freed from the cats. I'm sure that's not the only place attacked either. We have a lot of work left."

Haven spread her wings. "Let's get right to it, then." She turned to face her pegasus warriors. "You all did splendidly today! But our work isn't finished. Maretime Bay is being held by those brutes, and we don't abandon fellow ponies, do we?"

The pegasi called out a firm agreement. "No, we don't!"

She nodded. "Let's move, then!" Her hooves clopped against the ground with purposeful power. "Let's fly, we'll get there faster."

The griffons lifted off as the pegasi did, becoming one enlarged column of warriors.

Izzy waved for the other unicorns, herding them into the trailer for another ride. "To Maretime Bay! Let's clear it up, then we can get a shake from Sunny. They're super good, let me tell you. If you haven't tried one before, this will be the perfect time!"

They settled into the trailer. It lifted off the ground shortly afterwards and zoomed into the sky with the others. "I can't wait for my smoothie. I hear they're really tasty!"

Sunny laughed at that. "You've tried my smoothies plenty of times, Izzy. Don't act like you never did. But if even half of those unicorns want a taste, I'll be really busy after this."

Everypony ready, they joined the flying brigade as they swooped down from the mountain, Maretime Bay off in the distance. "Let's save my home." Sunny leaned forward with a little determined frown.

Author's Note

The fight isn't over until all ponies trot under a free sun!

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