A/N: Apologies for the shortness of this chapter. It was really meant for transitional purposes and I felt this was the best way to separate things. Again, enjoy! R&R :)

Chapter 6: Ready and Willing

It had been about two weeks, and a full mobilization of Equestria's armed forces was in effect, and the border between the two nations gradually became heavily militarized. Although the two opposing forces rarely saw each other, save a few accidental occurrences, they were there. In the deep, canopies of the forest which respected no boundaries, tens of thousands of soldiers hid out in anticipation for anything. Everypony knew that an invasion would take place. It was inevitable. Diplomacy broke down almost immediately as it started. War was looming, and whether the Gryphons knew or not that the Equestrians knew of the upcoming invasion, it was overwritten by the fact that they most likely didn't care. At this point, Gryphonia had numbers over Equestria. They simply had not had enough time to mobilize quickly enough. Soon, forces would equal the number of Gryphons, and they would not want to lose the advantage. Intelligence reported that if they were to strike, it would be within the next few days. Otherwise, Equestria would be able to hold its borders with great efficiency since reinforcements were arriving each day.

Celestia and Luna knew that if the invasion could be stalled, they could buy Equestria time to get the necessary defenses and ponypower in place and possibly counterattack if necessary. Gryphon preliminary preparations were almost complete. They needed to form an operation and strike. Tonight. It was high noon when Luna decided to commission and authorize an operation, but who would she send? She pondered for a moment, and then decided there was time to inquire.

"Let's pay a visit to Twilight." She muttered as she strolled out of her room.

Twilight was sweating profusely on the field in one of the hottest days of summer at high noon. She had just completed her hind leg support exercises which consisted of ridiculous amounts of squatting, and over six hours of standing on those legs only. Two weeks she had been at this, and upon gazing back at her flank, she noticed how toned she was getting. Despite the excruciating pain she endured, especially on her first day, she was able to almost fully perform normal tasks on just her hind legs.

From over 100 potential HOOF candidates, only 15 had made the cut so far or dropped out. One was seriously injured in the process and needed physical therapy, and another had her horn rendered paralyzed and unusable to magic due to the over exertion. This was only in two weeks! There simply weren't enough ponies (unicorns) that could endure the physical and mental exertion of both body and magic respectively. This caused great concern to military leaders, but they took comfort in the fact that the remaining ponies that made the cut were the best of the best. The best soldiers in all of Equestria.

Twilight was on a rest break. Her head was killing her due to the constant magical exertion, and her flank and lower legs were on fire. Granted, her ability to use magic was stellar beyond comparison to other unicorns, so it was a bit easier for her. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for the others. She levitated a bottle of water (with magic channeled from her right fore-hoof. She mastered it in a little over a week at the cost of near constant migraines) and began to drink as she was met by General White Noise. She took the liberty of standing up on her hind legs and saluting him.

"At ease, Twilight… show-off" He smiled at her jokingly, eliciting a laugh from her. He continued.

"Follow me to the barracks. Princess Luna is waiting for you" he said, to which she followed, wondering what could be going on.

They met the Princess at the barracks and she wasted no time in speaking.

"Twilight, the situation is growing worse by the day, and the Gryphons are expected to strike within three to four days. Maybe even sooner." Twilight became worried at the news and was about to inquire, but the Princess continued:

"Celestia and I are authorizing an operation to covertly go into the Gryphon territory and sabotage preparations. General White Noise here has expressed is utmost pleasure and is truly impressed with your progress. You are far exceeding expectations, Twilight. So I ask you, are you comfortable in your abilities to go into Gryphonia and do some sabotage work?"

Twilight took all but a few seconds to answer:

"It would be my honor. With my training, I believe I can handle a bit of dirty work. What are the specs of this mission?" she inquired, seemingly determined to not displease. After all, if she could get to the border, she could see Rainbow Dash who was undoubtedly stationed there.

"YOU would be the mission, Twilight. You'd be going in alone. The other HOOFs are not ready in the General's eyes, and frankly, the less numbers, the lower the chance of being compromised, which in turn is a higher chance of success. You will be given your equipment and a special uniform at our border post. We will explain the full mission there. I ask you again, are you comfortable with this task?" Luna asked one last time.

Twilight was hesitant at first after learning that she would go the mission alone. But nevertheless, her resolve got the best of her.

"Yes, Luna. I will be at the post tonight." She replied with full confidence in her voice.

"Excellent. I would trust no other pony to go it alone. I have full confidence in your abilities, and this will buy us much needed time. You are doing a wonderful thing Twilight." Luna said as she nuzzled Twilight. Twilight smiled and spoke:

"It's my duty to my friends and Equestria, Luna. But at this time, if I'm to be prepared to fight, I'm going to need to rest up." Twilight said, her eyes were a bit droopy from the exercising.

"Of course, Twilight. Be at the post on the border by 22:00. The operation launches at 23:30." Luna said as she embraced Twilight one last time and took her leave. The General saluted and smiled at Twilight.

"You leave when you're ready Sergeant Sparkle. Or should I say, Captain Sparkle…" he smiled again at her. Her eyes went wide as she was essentially promoted multiple times.

"Thank you, Sir!" She said as she saluted him back. He turned to walk out the door and then called over his shoulder.

"As I said, just leave when you're ready. A chariot will be by to take you to the border when you're ready to depart. No teleporting there, as we need you to have full magical capability for tonight. Best of luck, Twilight" The General said genuinely as he walked out.

Twilight gave a small smile and then collapsed on her bunk in the barracks.

"Oh dear Celestia, what have I gotten myself into?" she said as she rubbed her temples and eyes. She then drifted off to sleep in preparation for a night which would undoubtedly change her life.