The pegasi and griffons came soaring in first, a great wave of fury unleashed upon the city of Maretime Bay, tearing through any resistance offered by the occupying felines. Those who guarded the fringes of the city stood no chance against the united front. The city interior was a different matter. The streets were filled with debris, the felines waiting to ambush any who would pass.

Ponies were cheering at every turn, freed from captivity by the felines. They joined their saviors, sweeping up what weapons they could find. The earth ponies weren't terribly prepared for war, but joined in the effort all the same for the liberation of their own city. The felines were driven back, many fleeing, but their numbers had already diminished before the battle had ever begun.

There was a tiger, the leader, who put up a fierce resistance, striking down several ponies before they even realized they were under attack. They were able to surround him, but he fought all the more viciously for it. The ponies gained a moment to breathe when he slipped away, but the fight continued for some time.

A chubby pony slipped from the battle to Sunny's side. "Thank hoofness you're all here."

Sunny twirled at the voice. "Toots? Hello! Nice to see you, but I'm trying to play leader right now." She laughed nervously, hovering on her magic wings. "Are you fighting or looking for a good place to hide?"

Toots circled to put her between himself and the cats. "Both, but not in the order you're thinking." He puffed himself up. "Comforting may not be around right now, but I know we can handle this."

Sunny smiled. "Of course we can, you don't even have to say that!" She took to the air and looked down at him with a look of concern. "Do we need to talk, Toots?"

"That was it." He waved her away. "Get back to generaling, general." With a satisfied nod, he trotted away from the battle he didn't seem interested in joining.

The pegasi were putting their all in, but the cramped streets in the inner city limited their key strengths. Even worse were felines hiding inside sizable buildings where one couldn't fly much at all. Still, they were able to make the most of it with the aid of the unicorns firing off blasts to flush out the cats. Every street became a battlefield, and despite their initial successes, the cats were pushed back.

Floraugh led the charge into the old factory turned communal space. Cramped or not, he was a griffon, and his talons were as sharp as any cat's claws, with a beak to go with it. The cats fought back, scratching and biting to defend themselves. "Is that all you've got? We griffons are tougher than rocks!"

And yet, a moment after his boast, a cat leaped from an overhead catwalk, slamming into the griffon's back with force enough to stagger him. It didn't stop him, but it was enough to show the others the truth. Griffons were flesh and blood, and could be harmed. The cats redoubled their efforts and Floraugh went down under the sudden surge of cats clawing him. He roared with fury, but it was no use. In seconds, his body was covered in cats.

"Misty?!" Aplhabittle shoved away the cat he had been fighting, having spotted his daughter trotting with determination down a street. "You were supposed to stay back!"

Misty winced and ducked a pouncing cat, throwing herself down an alley. She emerged into a clearing and came to a stop with a gasp, her eyes widening at the sight of the tiger that had beaten her before. The tiger spun and glared at her, and the two faced each other, breathing heavily.

The tiger snarled at her. "Why won't you leave me alone!"

Misty tried a smile, awkward as it was. "Why are you attacking us? This whole thing could have been avoided. Um, we could have been friends. Did we do something to bother you?"

He growled louder, his tail lashing behind him. "You ponies don't know about us. You could have helped us, instead of hiding away in your homes like the cowards you all are. But no, you have to fight us instead. I suppose I'll have to conquer you ponies after all."

Misty swallowed nervously, backing away. "Hiding?" She paused in thought, leaving the leader to battle with a pegasus that had flown too close. "Do you mean when magic was sealed away? I'm sorry if that was a bad time for you, but we didn't know what caused that, and it wasn't a good time for us either."

"You were better off than us!" He roared back. "Without your magic, you still had your towns and homes, you had food and water." His claws dug gouges in the street.

"Well, you're here now." Misty sank to her haunches. "Tell us how we can help now? We can't change the past."

The tiger stared at her with wide eyes. "Help us now?" He stepped forward. Misty flinched, but there was no blow. Instead, he had an almost pleading look on his face. "Is this some trick?"

"N-no! No. I really want to know." She offered a hoof towards the tiger. "You're obviously very upset, upset enough to do all of, um, this. So, how can we fix it? Tell me."

The tiger stared down at her hoof with a blank face, his emotions impossible to read. He finally sighed. "We were beyond the badlands, barely remembered before you fled, and entirely forgotten after." He flexed a finger, claw sprouting and hiding as if a twitch. "Did you even tell stories of us anymore?"

Misty swallowed, nervous. "I'm afraid I don't know, I haven't heard any."

The tiger sighed again. "I thought as much." His eyes were heavy and tired.

Misty moved a bit closer, slowly lifting a hoof towards his back, only to bring it down on the ground instead and abort that attempt. "I can only imagine how hard that must have been. Um, if it helps, at all, we did defeat what started all of this in the first place." She smiled tensely. "But that doesn't undo what you went through. I'm really sorry. Can we help now?"

The tiger nodded. "I believe you. Thank you, for defeating whatever caused us such suffering." He took her hoof, which turned into a little hug between them. A pegasus flapped nearby, looking confused at the whole thing. "So, uh, you got this?"

Misty grinned wide, happy to finally have the tiger listening. "Yes, we got this. If you'll let us help, I'm sure we can make life easier for the cats."

The tiger sank, crashing to his butt in a bipedal sit. "I have a lot to think about."

Misty waved over the city. "Not to put any pressure, but your cats are still fighting. I don't want them to get hurt if they don't have to be."

He stood up with a grunt. "Fine, fine." He stomped forward and whistled, making every nearby cat turn to face him. He raised himself high and spoke, drawing out a megaphone to go even further, "The battle's off! Gather at the center of the city, no fighting."

The cats yowled and slunk into the shadows, but they obeyed. Within minutes, the sounds of battle had ceased entirely. The tiger nodded to Misty. "They're not happy about it, but my word is law to them." He rolled his eyes. "Unlike that cat. A coward and a traitor."

Misty blinked. "You mean Allura?"

"The same." The tiger looked baffled at the mention. "You know her?"

Misty frowned. "I don't think she's a coward. We hurt her feelings before, and she wasn't happy. That's why she joined you."

With a rapid series of clops in a proper run, Alphabittle scooped up Misty into a fierce hug. "I'm so happy you weren't hurt!"

Misty laughed softly at that. "It's okay, Dad."

"No, it isn't! I saw him, I was sure he was going to hurt you, and I don't know if my heart could take that." He set her down carefully. "You're still hurt from the last, uh, oh." He nodded to the tiger watching them. "Glad we're stopping this before things got worse, then."

Misty turned to face the tiger. "I never did get your name. Mine's Misty, and this is my father, Alphabittle."

He purred and gave a small bow. "I'm Prince Grudge." He rubbed his chin. "Perhaps a bit on the nose, now that we're setting this down, but I've grown used to it as names go."

Sunny landed on Misty's other side, facing Grudge. "Nice to meet you. I see we're stopping things? You're the reason why, aren't you Misty?" Misty nodded quietly and Sunny went on, "Thank you." Her wings and horn vanished, their need over. "That wasn't very fun for anycreature involved."

Prince Grudge bowed to her in kind. "And who might you be?"

She smiled warmly at him. "My name is Sunny, nice to meet you." She offered a hoof, shaking with him. "It's a lot nicer to see you when we aren't fighting."

Grudge huffed. "It was for a good cause. I hope."

Misty nodded rapidly. "It is! It's for a good cause. We'll find something." She tapped her chin. "They need our help."

A griffon landed on the other side of Misty. "They need help? They're the ones that did all of this to your city!" He shouted at a volume only the screech of a bird could easily reach. "You're going to be cleaning this up for a while, and you want to help him?"

Grudge looked down his muzzle at the griffon. "Are you their king?"

The griffon gave an affronted squawk. "No! I'm Floraugh. Who are you, besides the one behind this?"

Misty put up a hoof at either of them, cutting off their chat. "Easy easy. I'm sure the cats will help us clean things, but we still need to help the cats. I imagine they have plenty of kittens back home that are suffering and weren't part of this at all."

Grudge cleared his throat. "Yes, we do. I'll take what I can, and help keep my kingdom alive." He laughed dryly. "Not like I'll have much left after this, but that's on me." He put a paw to his face. "This is a mess."

"Sir!" A cat rushed up to Grudge. "Should we really just, you know, stand there?"

Grudge looked between the gathered ponies. "I think so. Let's let them take stock of the damage."

Sunny looked around. "I think this place has seen enough fighting today." She offered a hoof towards the feline soldier. "Let's put that energy into building, instead of tearing down."

The soldier shifted to face her. "What?"

Misty stepped in. "We're going to build, to fix up what we broke, and we're going to help cats once we get done with that. Oh, by the way, what did you do with our sheriff?"

The feline soldier pointed back the way he had come from. "Locked up, and that little lizard he carries everywhere."

Misty let out a relieved phew. "Let's get Hitch out of there." She gestured towards a wall, which was riddled with holes from magic blasts. "We'll have plenty of time to work on the town later."

Watching from nowhere, Comforting smiled at what she saw. "Fighting the pony way, though that was violent at the start." She wriggled her fingers at the image floating before her. "I'm still proud of you all, and you made some new friends." She hugged herself with a little squeal. "Why I love you all so much."

She grabbed her phone and got to texting. "Hey, Together! Did you see that? Of course you saw that. Our ponies were so good!”

Together responded quickly, "Yes! I saw it. It was so cute, and I love it so much! They did so well, and I'm so proud of them."

Comforting typed out her answer. "I'll go visit soon. I think the cats are gonna make good friends for those ponies." She leaned back. "Pity Allura's still on the fence. Why's the big kitty have to be the hardest one."

Author's Note

This is still MLP. A bloody fight to the end would have felt very unpony'sh, in my view. Instead, Misty pulls out her special talent to extend a hoof to the cat.

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