Sunlight, Silver, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and their army quickly mobilized and left Manehattan for Canterlot. The looks on their faces were as concrete as statues. Sunlight had never felt more determined in her life. She tried to lead by example, and she wanted her soldiers to look as impenetrable as she did. The small fire that had been born with her three years earlier had turned into a raging inferno. It blazed its way through her heart and into her eyes.
But that didn't mean that there wasn't some sense of doubt inside her. It was small, but the seed had been planted when Flurry had severed their connection. She didn't think she could do this without her cousin by her side. She had nightmares the night before they marched about meeting Flurry Heart in the heat of battle. She saw the two of them spilling buckets of blood in order to see who was the best cousin. That won't happen, she swore to herself, we will rescue Equestria…and I will rescue Flurry.
Their army quickly reached The Friendship Express's train tracks and marched alongside them until they reached the royal city. Some of the soldiers were incredibly shocked to see what had happened to the Equestrian capital. It was in ruins, just like their homes had been, yet to see the most important city in the nation that way was cause for apprehension. They all felt that their towns had been secondary to this grand city, and now to see it completely destroyed was heart rending.
Sunlight sighed and turned to her army. "Everypony, listen!" She shouted, "we are going into Canterlot to save it! You all know what you must do! Only use deadly force if you absolutely have to! Silver and I are going after Midnight! We also have it on good faith that my mother and my aunt are roaming the city, killing anypony who doesn't comply with Midnight's dictatorial standards! They have lethal blasts and they are completely under my sister's control! That is a killer one-two punch! Don't let them beset you, but please, for the love of Celestia, don't kill them! Stop them! Pin them down and have one of our unicorn agents blast them with the antidote, but don't kill them! Even if you have to die in the process, don't kill them! We'll need them to help reinstall Celestia and Luna!"
"Your Majesty, what's happened to Celestia and Luna?!" One soldier called out.
"One of our scouts managed to get inside the castle and he found out that they are being held in cages! They are beaten almost to death every single day, and Midnight uses them as her own personal…playthings." Sunlight shuddered when she said that word. She knew that her sister was performing incredibly perverse acts with them every night. She would alternate between the two princesses, first having her way with Luna, and then Celestia. Sunlight couldn't see inside her sister's twisted mind, but she knew that she enjoyed it.
Her soldiers gasped. "Do you mean to say…she rapes them?!" The same soldier called out. Sunlight nodded, unable to say anything. Tears began forming, but she wiped them away. She had to remain strong in front of her soldiers. She couldn't break down into a weeping, blubbering mess when they were about to go into battle.
"But, what about their magic?! Couldn't they stop her?!"
"Their magic has been siphoned out of them," Sunlight replied, "they are completely helpless. They are at the mercy of the evil of Midnight, which means that they are trapped. We must save them. We are their only hope! Which is why I have assigned Fire Hoof and a brigade under her command to help us."
Fire Hoof stepped up beside Sunlight and nodded. Thirty ponies also came forward out of the crowd and stood next to her. "These are the elite special forces of our army," Fire Hoof announced after Sunlight gave her the power to be heard by everypony. "They have been chosen because of their speed, intelligence, strength, or some combination of the three. I believe every soldier in our army has some type of skill, but these are the ultimate soldiers. They have dedicated their very lives to our cause, and I have no doubt that they will succeed in this mission."
The ponies all cheered and wished their brothers and sisters in hooves a lot of good luck. Fire Hoof turned and signaled her team to follow. They dashed down the hill and into the bushes around Canterlot, trying their best to disguise themselves while the main body of the army attacked.
"Good," Sunlight said, "that's Phase One. Now for Phase Two. Silver?"
Silver nodded and raised his wing in the air. Everypony stomped a hoof in unison, showing that they were united and ready for battle. When Silver dropped his wing, a great cry was heard from all of them. They charged down the hill and ran through the gate of the city. But when they got there, they saw something they weren't prepared for.
"CHARGE!" A fierce voice rang throughout the acrid air. Suddenly, a huge army of enslaved ponies from all across Equestria came running out of the buildings, nooks, and crannies of the city. Sunlight gasped as she recognized ponies from Ponyville. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were at the head of one of the columns.
"BUCK IT!" Sunlight said harshly, "MIDNIGHT'S TRAINED THEM! EVERYPONY, DEADLY FORCE! DEADLY FORCE! FIGHT FOR EQUESTRIA!"
With that, the two armies clashed in a fierce melee of hooves, horns, wings, fur, and blood. Sunlight used her small wings to fly above the battlefield and direct traffic. She saw Crystal Sky in massive combat with four or five fillies who were three times smaller than she was. But they worked together and bit down on her in various placed. She scrabbled and tried to get to a better fighting position, but they were too much. They drug her to the ground and attempted to kill her.
They think they're fighting their nightmares, Sunlight said to herself, but they don't realize that they're fighting their friends!
Sunlight swooped into Crystal's battle and flung the fillies off her friend. "CRYSTAL! GRAB MY HOOF!" So Crystal did and Sunlight flew her back to safety. "For Celestia's sake, Crystal! You're a division commander! Don't get so involved in the fighting!"
"You told us to fight for Equestria," Crystal said, out of breath, "that's what I'm doing!"
"But you're one of my most trusted generals! I can't lose you!"
"If I die and Equestria is saved, then it will have been worth the loss. Please, let me return!"
"I just can't!" Sunlight yelled. She didn't want to lose Crystal. She didn't want to lose anypony she loved. But she realized that, as they were having this conversation, other ponies were putting their lives on the line. She loved them all, and they were dying for Equestria. So what made Crystal so special?
Sunlight reluctantly let go of her friend's hoof. "OK, go. Just promise me you won't get killed, OK?"
"Sunlight, you're the head of this army. You know better than anypony that I can't guarantee something like that." Crystal turned and dove back into the fray, biting and pawing her way towards the center of the melee.
Sunlight watched in horror as ponies tore each other apart. I've done this. I've sent them in there to kill and hurt ponies that they should be saving! But I had no choice! The ponies in Fillydelphia and Manehattan weren't trained in hoof-to-hoof combat! Somehow, Midnight's trained these ponies!
She realized that her line had completely collapsed and there was no order. It was a free for all, and nopony could tell which side was winning. As she watched, she saw Silver Wing taking out pony after pony. Only he wasn't killing them. He was pinning them down and a unicorn would come over and heal them. Then they would quickly join up with the free ponies and begin fighting the enslaved ones. She couldn't help but smile at her colt friend's compassion.
But she didn't get the chance to watch for very long. Suddenly, something hit her like a freight train. She was knocked off her hooves and hit the ground with a loud thud. She blacked out for a couple of seconds and when she came to, she noticed that something was hissing at her from above. Whatever it was held her down with a great deal of force. "GET OFF OF ME!" She suddenly screamed. "Why should I?!" A voice challenged with spitting hatred. Sunlight gasped as she finally got a look at her attacker. She would know that voice and that face anywhere. It was Flurry Heart.