Regrouping
The war had ravaged Ponyville into a frozen wasteland, but the forces following Luna's command had claimed a hard-fought victory. "General Dash, status report?" She asked as she walked along a row of recovering ponies.
Rainbow Dash was gingerly flapping an injured wing. "Since the battle last night, we've lost thirteen pegasi, forteen earth ponies, and seven unicorns to colds and such, then there were a few from all groups that deserted us to go have snacks at Sugar-cube Corner, otherwise we have about two dozen of each that were injured but expected to be ready for battle at a moment's notice, ma'am." She explained while Rarity walked beside them as she levitated a clipboard for Rainbow Dash to read from.
Luna looked troubled. "The casualties suffered are most disheartening... We will need even more numbers if we are to march on Canterlot." She replied tentatively.
"Way ahead of ya, I just sent Lightning Dust to Cloudsdale to recruit more pegasi, and Lieutenant Pie is on her way to Manehattan, uh, just don't ask me why she volunteered." Rainbow Dash replied obediently.
"And what of the prisoner?" Luna asked critically.
"He's just through those doors, but I must say I don't feel right holding him here." Rainbow Dash replied uncomfortably as she followed Luna into what was left of the Apple family barn where Big Mac was tied up.
"We'll address that later, for now, you, earth pony, I need a full detailed report on the strategies my sister and her former pupil have planned." Luna ordered as she stepped in front of Big Mac. Though the pony of few words kept his silence. "Did you not hear me?" She asked impatiently.
"E-yup!" Big Mac exclaimed.
"But you won't tell me anything." Luna surmised.
"Mm-nope." Big Mac replied.
"Is that so..." Luna paused. "Well I have ways of making you talk." She replied.
"Uh, Commander Luna, ma'am, not that I disagree with wanting him to talk, but we let most of the other prisoners bow out on their word that they wouldn't join back up with Celestia, so..." Rainbow Dash trailed off nervously.
Luna seemed to consider Rainbow Dash's response before letting out a heavy sigh. "Fine, release him." She ordered before Big Mac left the barn. "How long before this Lightning Dust returns, and what of Lieutenant Pie?" She asked in a bored tone of voice.
"Lightning Dust should be returning swiftly, but Lieutenant Pie will surely be several hours yet, maybe even a few days." Rainbow Dash replied quickly.
Luna seemed less than pleased. "Send word to both of them that we need to begin marching on Canterlot, they must join up en route or as soon as they can in Canterlot." She ordered firmly.
"Yes ma'am!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed obediently as she flew off.
Meanwhile in Canterlot, Cadence was just arriving with a squad of crystal ponies armored to the teeth and ready for battle. "Princess Cadence, welcome, and I thank you for your swift arrival." Celestia greeted the alicorn.
"Thank you Princess Celestia, tell me, how is Twilight?" Cadence asked as she followed Celestia back to the palace.
"She's resting now, last night she was shaken up pretty hard, and has been out ever since, but I expect she will be waking soon." Celestia explained.
"And Luna, she's really returned to her old ways as Nightmare Moon?" Cadence asked nervously.
"No, she hasn't reverted to that form, nor do I expect she will. However she demonstrated great power that could be somewhat problematic in the days to come." Celestia explained.
"Yes, if we are not careful, she may very well win... The snowball war." Celestia replied grimly.
"Then I will send word to Shining Armor at once to send... Wait... Did you say snowball war?" Cadence asked as she cocked an eyebrow.
"Yes, the fate of Equestria's pride is at stake, surely you recognize the grave severity of the current situation." Celestia replied sternly.
Cadence was speechless. "Eh... Well, uh... What!?" She asked as she struggled to wrap her mind around what Celestia said. "I don't understand, in your letter you sounded as though Luna was trying to overtake you as supreme ruler of Equestria." She explained as she looked between Celestia and the direction of Ponyville.
"Cadence, you don't seem to understand the severity of what is going on... We must not lose this fight." Celestia replied grimly.
"A-alright, we won't lose, it's just... You are joking right?" Cadence asked worriedly.
Celestia merely stared back at Cadence for a moment before turning around. "Just follow me, I'll explain things on the way." She replied shortly.
Up in one of the guest rooms at Celestia's palace, Twilight was waking groggily. "Oh, wha-what happened?" She asked delirious as she hazily glanced around the room.
"Twilight, oh I'm so glad you're awake, how are you feeling?" Fluttershy asked softly.
"Huh? Fluttershy? Uh, where am I, what happened last night?" Twilight asked before her eyes widened as far as they could. "Spike, where's Spike!?" She asked frantically before Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hoof.
"Shh, poor little guy's all tuckered out, and he's been asleep since last night. Please don't wake him." Fluttershy replied quietly as she motioned to the foot of the bed where Spike was curled up. "As for what happened, Celestia gave a brief account of it on the way here." She continued before going into detail.
Hours earlier, while the ponies were on the train headed for Canterlot, Celestia filled the survivors of Ponyville in on what had happened at the library. "When I had arrived, Princess Luna had already come into possession of an old spell book written by Starswirl the Bearded. She used one of the spells to counter one from me and Twilight." She lamented as she conveyed the events only a short while earlier. "While I could handle such force, I'm afraid Twilight has not been an alicorn long enough to withstand such a frosty aftermath. Though most harrowing about all of this is that I realize as Twilight rests unconscious, that as I am, I cannot defend against the spell on my own, but with help I can." She explained.
"She wouldn't go into much more detail other than that, but we arrived here only a couple of hours ago, and we've been waiting for Princess Cadence to arrive with help." Fluttershy explained after her explanation.
"So... We lost?" Twilight asked sorrowfully.
"According to Princess Celestia, only the battle last night, but now that we're here, she's pulling her forces to make sure Princess Luna doesn't beat us here." Fluttershy explained.
"Oh, I see... What about Applejack?" Twilight asked worriedly.
Fluttershy began to tear up. "When we left it was as if Discord had gotten out of hand again, and many ponies were unaccounted for... When we arrived, we discovered that Big Macintosh was missing, and so was little Applebloom... Applejack is with Granny Smith as they wait for the next train from Ponyville to arrive." She explained in a sob.
"I see... So is Cadence here yet?" Twilight asked as she climbed out of bed.
"Maybe, I don't know for sure, but they'd probably be in the throne room." Fluttershy replied as Twilight wrote a note for Spike letting him know where they'd be before leaving the room.
As the two ponies walked down the halls of the palace they soon came across Spitfire. "Hey, you're Twilight Sparkle, you didn't look so good last night, heh, not that I probably looked any better, but it's good to see you up and about after what you went through." She explained hollowly.
"Spitfire right? I'm sorry about the Wonderbolts turning their backs on you, it must be hard swallowing their betrayal like that." Twilight replied.
"Nah, don't worry, I'll be alright... It's you I'm more concerned about, are you sure you're alright?" Spitfire asked warmly.
"Yes, I'm fine now thanks." Twilight replied.
"Well okay then, let me know if there's anything I can do for you." Spitfire replied caringly as she started walking.
Twilight perked her head up. "Um, now that you mention it, there is something you can do for me. Currently Cadence is meeting with Celestia to discuss strengthening our numbers, if you could fly to Fillydelphia and spread word that Celestia needs help, I'd be forever in your debt." She replied warmly.
Spitfire gave her a strong grin. "It would be an honor Princess Twilight, I'll be back by the end of the day on my honor as a Wonderbolt!" She exclaimed before flying off.
"Twilight, do you think the ponies of Fillydelphia will really come?" Fluttershy asked as the two continued on their way to the throne room.
"I have to have faith, Fluttershy. Celestia is doing her part, and surely Cadence will do hers, so I need to help anyway I can as well, even if this is all I can do for now." Twilight replied as she hung her head lower and lower.
"Oh, Twilight, please don't blame yourself for what happened." Fluttershy replied sympathetically.
"But it was my spell book that Princess Luna got a hold of. If I would have thought that they would go for it, maybe I would have hidden it... Then there was what happened to Spike... How can I forgive myself after everything that happened, how isn't this all my fault?" Twilight asked sorrowfully.
"Because none of us could have expected that, and Spike doesn't blame you for what happened." Fluttershy replied soothingly as the two ponies entered the throne room.
Cadence was relieved when she saw Twilight approaching her. "Oh Twilight, I'm so glad you're alright, how are you feeling?" She asked as she turned away from Celestia.
"To be honest, I feel like I've failed Equestria, if we could have stopped Luna last night then this would all be over now." Twilight replied sorrowfully.
"No Twilight, by what Princess Celestia has told me, even if you had prepared for what happened, it would not have changed the outcome." Cadence replied warmly.
"You really think so?" Twilight asked.
Celestia folded her wing around Twilight. "Of course we do... You did everything you could have done." She replied warmly. "Still we must prepare for what is to come. Having tasted victory last night, Luna will surely be craving for more, and it will not be long before she comes our way. Twilight, I need you to run down to the train station and stop the trains from leaving the station. We cannot stop them from coming here indefinitely, but we can at least slow them down." She explained gravely.
Twilight's confidence was renewed as a firm expression swept over her face. "You can count on me Celestia!" She exclaimed. "Come on Fluttershy, we must hurry." She continued as she ran for the exit.
Meanwhile back in Ponyville, several young ponies were getting anxious as they bided their time. "I just don't see why we have to wait so long when we have the element of surprise, I mean, who even elected these blank-flanks as our leaders anyway?" Diamond Tiara grumbled as she approached the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"What, like you could do a better job?" Scootaloo asked defensively. "We are talking about going against not just one, but three alicorn princesses, and that's not even counting Princess Cadence who might have joined up with Twilight and Celestia." She explained.
"Yeah, do you want to fight against them?" Applebloom asked.
"Well, no, but surely there's something we can do in the meantime." Diamond Tiara retorted.
"No, we need them to continue to weaken each other down, and then we strike!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
"Still too loud." Sweetie Belle spoke up.
"Heh, sorry." Scootaloo replied bashfully.
Over at the train station, Rainbow Dash was starting to get impatient. "I don't get it, shouldn't the train be here by now?" She asked as she flew higher into the air to see farther into the distance.
"Perhaps the other ponies have foreseen us using the trains, and sabotaged them to hinder our advancement." Rarity suggested from the ground while Rainbow Dash floated down.
Rainbow Dash looked irritated. "You might just be right about that, Lieutenant Rarity, I need you to convey that to Commander Luna at once, she'll want to know of this development." She ordered.
"I'm on it." Rarity replied before galloping off.
"If those ponies think they can buy themselves enough time to prepare for our arrival, they have another thing coming." Rainbow Dash uttered.
Once Rarity told Luna of the situation surrounding the trains, Luna gave the order to assemble the forces. "My faithful soldiers listen carefully... It seems that in preparation of our approach into Canterlot, Celestia has suspended train services for the time... However our will cannot be so easily derailed! If she thinks she'll be safe with us stuck in Ponyville, then we will show her how very wrong she is, now, march! To Canterlot, to victory! To Glory!" She exclaimed prompting a roar of cheers from the crowd once more as the small army began to leave Ponyville.
In Canterlot, Twilight, Fluttershy, and now Applejack were waiting out in front of the castle for Spitfire's return. "Now I get why you wanted to suspend the trains, but couldn't y'all have found a better plan?" Applejack asked solemnly. "I know Big Mac could take care of himself, but... I'm worried about Applebloom, she's only a filly after all." She continued.
"I know Applejack, but she is a good friend of Scootaloo, and that little pegasus is close with Rainbow Dash, I don't think we need to be worried on this one." Twilight explained as compassionately as she could.
"Yeah, maybe you're right, but still..." Applejack trailed off.
Before long, the group noticed a train rolling up to the station. "Hey it looks like reinforcements from the Crystal Empire!" Twilight exclaimed. "Look! There's Shining Armor, we should greet him!" She continued excitedly as she ran off with Fluttershy and Applejack in tow.
When the girls reached the train station they wasted no time in finding Twilight's brother. "Twily, oh am I glad to see you!" Shining Armor exclaimed as he trotted up to his sister. "Cadence has told me everything in her message, are you alright?" He asked as he looked Twilight over.
"I'm fine, a little sore from last night, but otherwise fine." Twilight replied. "So, reinforcements?" She asked as she looked at the knights of the Crystal Empire filing off of the train.
"Yeah, Cadence asked me to muster up all of the guards, even the reserves, I guess they're taking this fight pretty seriously." Shining Armor replied as he looked at the knights that had accompanied him.
"Yeah, but from what we've been through so far, so is Luna." Twilight replied as the four set off for the palace.
"I heard, is it really true that Ponyville was practically frozen over by one of her spells?" Shining Armor asked.
"Oh my, you have no Idea, it's as if the snow accumulation had doubled." Fluttershy spoke up.
"That bad huh?" Shining Armor asked solemnly. "Well don't worry, they may have taken Ponyville, but we'll stop them from taking Canterlot." He continued.
A few seconds later, the group turned their heads when they heard an approaching pegasus frantically calling out to them. "Bad news!" He exclaimed as he landed in front of Twilight. "Please, you have to tell Princess Celestia, Cloudsdale has sided with Luna, and they're on their way here, and the pegasi that were supposed to go to Manehattan should have been back by now!" He exclaimed breathlessly before collapsing from exhaustion.
"Oh no, thank you, and be sure to get some rest. Come on girls, Celestia and Cadence need to hear about this!" Twilight exclaimed as the group ran into the palace.
Celestia looked even more troubled when Twilight had finished. "So Luna has also been gaining supporters... I fear that this may be a little worse than I originally thought. Perhaps we might not have enough strength when they arrive." She explained as she grimaced at the situation.
"Maybe not... Or maybe we will, I forgot to tell you earlier that I sent Spitfire to Fillydelphia, and she should be back by the end of the day." Twilight replied proudly.
"That may be true, Twilight, but Spitfire is a Wonderbolt, they're all fast, but can you say the same for every pony in Fillydelphia?" Cadence asked grimly.
"Well we have to hope they'll arrive in time!" Twilight replied desperately.
"Perhaps... Perhaps there is another solution we could potentially rely on..." Celestia mused as her gaze centered on Fluttershy.
"You mean me?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh, I appreciate you thinking of me so highly your majesty, but certainly I could not make much of a difference." She explained nervously.
Celestia gave Fluttershy a warm smile. "You give yourself not enough credit, Fluttershy, but I was speaking in reference to a close friend of yours." She explained calmly.
Fluttershy returned Celestia's warm smile with one of her own. "Say no more, and I'll be back as soon as possible." Fluttershy replied before flying off.
"Princess Celestia, while we wait for the hopeful reinforcements, what are your orders as far as the knights of the Crystal Empire are concerned?" Shining Armor asked as he stepped forward.
"For now they need to form a line of defense, and prepare as many snowballs as they can for when Luna's forces arrive. It will be hard but we can win this if we prepare thoroughly." Celestia replied. "Cadence, I'll need you standing by to help heal the injured once the fighting starts, can you do that for me?" She asked firmly.
"You can count on me Celestia." Cadence replied strongly.
Meanwhile Luna's forces were drawing ever closer to Canterlot. "General Dash, Lieutenant Rarity, when we arrive we will most assuredly have to break through several walls of defense, however, for the first waves, I want you to only give direction, do not engage the enemy, I'll need you both when it comes time to take the castle." Luna explained as the two ponies marched and flew on either side.
"Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense." Rainbow Dash replied as she looked out into distant skies before her eyes widened while a smile spread across her face. "Hey look! They're here! The pegasi from Cloudsdale have caught up!" She exclaimed as she flew up to greet Lightning Dust.
"Rainbow Dash, oh am I glad I caught up to you. Not as many as I had hoped joined the cause, but hopefully this will be enough to win." Lightning Dust explained as several dozen pegasi flew past them.
"I'll say, and once Pinkie Pie comes back from Manehattan will have an unstoppable force!" Rainbow Dash replied. "Oh man, this is going to be so awesome!" She exclaimed as she flew down to Luna's side.
"So how much further do we have to go?" Rarity asked as she looked to Luna.
"Be patient, we will arrive soon enough, and I need you to save your strength." Luna replied sternly.
"Hmm, not that I'm too worried, but they managed to rescue Spike last night, won't that be somewhat problematic for us?" Rarity asked.
Luna chuckled. "Trust me, with the spells I have at my disposal, the dragon won't be much of a defense... Look, Canterlot is within sight!" Luna exclaimed as she pointed a hoof at the distant city.
Meanwhile in the throne room, Celestia was still going over the strategy. "What do you need me to do your majesty?" Twilight asked nervously.
"I want you and Applejack to start organizing a second and third line of defense. If you can do this, we will most certainly pull through the initial attack." Celestia replied before an earth pony burst into the throne room.
"Your majesty, the enemy has appeared on the horizon!" The earth pony called out frantically.
The two alicorn princesses stepped out onto a balcony as they gazed out into the distance. "There must be well over a hundred ponies out there!" Twilight exclaimed fearfully, but her nerves were calmed when Celestia once again folded a wing around her.
"My dearest Twilight, we will overcome this. It may be difficult yes, but we will overcome this." Celestia replied, but as Twilight looked up to her former mentor, even she didn't look completely convinced.
Over in Luna's front-line, Rainbow Dash was surveying the defense. "It seems that they have one front line established, and they're making a second by the looks of it." She reported when she returned from flying over the city.
"I see... Send in the unicorns! Thin their ranks!" Luna called out fiercely, and Rarity gave a firm nod as she stepped forward.
"All unicorns cast snowball spells on my mark!" Rarity called out. "Ready, aim, fire!" She exclaimed eccentrically, and a dense wave of snowballs started soaring up into the air before arcing in the direction of Canterlot.
Celestia saw the initial attack, but was not fearful. "Raise the defenses, all unicorns cast a shield to protect the front lines!" She called out over the crowd of defenders. "Well my dear sister you have certainly amassed an impressive force to be sure, but don't think for a second that I'll go easy on you." She thought as she watched the first snowballs slamming into a wall of magic around the city. "And so it begins." She uttered in contempt.
Meanwhile just outside of Manehattan, Pinkie Pie was not gathering recruits, but she was working hard with another part pony on a massive secret. "So do you think it'll be ready for when the fighting starts again?" Cheese Sandwich asked as he took a step back to admire their work.
Pinkie Pie took a second to consider his question. "Of course it will, I wouldn't have bothered you with this if it wouldn't." Pinkie Pie replied excitedly as she too admired the monstrosity the two were working on. "With this, Commander Luna will win for sure! And then we can throw the biggest victory bash in history!" She screamed excitedly.
Part 2-end So there's part 2, not much action, but I decided for the climax I wanted to do, I needed to build up the story a little more, and once again I apologize if the characters were out of character, a reader of the previous part said it felt scripted like it was written by the creators (blushes) so I guess I succeeded in that area, as for what Pinkie Pie and Cheese are working on, that will be revealed in the next and final part. So see ya then!
Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, nor any of the original characters or story elements, and only retain partial ownership of this fic's storyline, last chance to fellow brainstorm partners, if you want mentioned in the last set of disclaimers, comment on the post I posted the link at before part 3 goes up.
