Authors note: This fan-fiction will include both alternate episodes, and original conflicts. I'm sure all of you know which type this chapter is. If any of you are interested, feel free to PM me about any ideas original conflict you have, that you'd like to see done in Equestria Occupied. Describe the setting, characters, and the conflict, and I'll do my best to take care of the rest. Anyway, if you notice any misspellings in this chapter please let me know so I can correct them. Thanks for reading.
Chapter 10
"In there?" Forman pointed his gloved hand towards the overgrown forest.
Twilight nodded. "In my vision I saw Princess Celestia say that the Tree of Harmony controls the growth of the Everfree Forest." Twilight cast a glance at the assaulting vines. "Obviously, something's gone wrong with it."
"Yes… obviously," Forman muttered, dryly.
Twilight ignored him and addressed the rest of the group. "We have to hurry and find the Tree of Harmony. Soon Ponyville will be overrun and the rest of Equestria will be next!"
"Princess, I have a question," Captain Becker said. "Where exactly is the Tree of Harmony?"
"I don't know," Twilight admitted. "We're going to have to look for it."
"That's… not much of a plan," Forman remarked.
Twilight shrugged. "No, but it's all we've got to go on. You guys coming, or not?"
Captain Becker turned and looked at Colonel Davis. "Sir, permission to take Lieutenants Forman and Marshall to assist Princess Twilight Sparkle in her search?"
"Granted, Captain," Davis nodded. "I'll gather the rest of our forces and organize a defense of Ponyville."
"Good idea, sir." He looked now at Twilight. "Lead the way."
"I don't like it sir. It's too quiet."
Captain Becker looked over at Lieutenant Forman, who had just made this remark. Becker had to agree with him; he'd expect more activity from a forest that was invading a town. Yet, despite the think vines that covered the forest floor and hung from trees, they encountered no resistance.
"Hmm…" Becker made his way over to a vine that was as thick around as his torso.
"What is it?" Twilight asked.
"There are vines everywhere, but we're not being attacked. Why not?" He drew cautiously closer to the vine, and it trembled slightly. However, his presence elicited no further response from the normally aggressive plant.
"Maybe… it doesn't have enough energy to attack us?" Marshall suggested.
"How do you mean?"
"Well… think about it. I'll bet it takes a lot of energy to keep all those little vines going. So, all the energy is going there," Marshall pointed in the direction of Ponyville, "instead of here," he finished, gesturing around him.
"And these bigger vines are carrying the energy to all the smaller ones," Forman said, catching onto what his friend was saying.
"Exactly," Marshall agreed. "They're like power lines, or big extension cords."
"And where there's a power line, there's a power plant," Becker said.
"What are you guys talking about?" Dash asked, cocking in eyebrow in confusion.
Becker brushed her question aside. "Twilight, the Tree of Harmony is powerful, right?"
Twilight nodded. "That's what Princess Celestia said."
"Well, if what Marshall suggested is correct, then that tree is providing the power these vines need to execute their assault. If we follow them, we might be able to locate the tree."
It was a good idea, Twilight thought. In fact, she was a bit disappointed that she hadn't thought of it sooner. She was a princess, after all.
The vines were gnarled and twisted across the forest floor, but they did seem to be coming from the same direction, more or less. After following the vines for several minutes, they came to a small pond full of water.
"We need to get to the other side," Captain Becker said. "Who wants to go first?"
"It's probably full of leeches," Forman shuttered, peering into the murky depths.
"We can use these to cross," Twilight said, pointing at tall rocks spaced just within jumping distance of each other.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Forman asked.
Twilight shrugged in reply. "Well, if you'd rather wade across with the leeches…" She trailed off as she walked to the edge of the water.
Twilight leapt onto the nearest rock and let out a cry of alarm as it shifted beneath her. She felt herself being lifted up several feet and when she looked down, she realized it hadn't been a rock she had jumped on to; it had been the back of a submerged Cragadile.
It flicked its tail, sending Twilight soaring back to the shore, where she landed with a painful-sounding grunt. Then, with surprising speed and agility for a creature of its size, the Cragadile turned around and began advancing towards the Humans and Ponies.
"A Cragadile! Run for your lives!" Rarity shrieked.
Captain Becker, Lieutenant Marshall, and Lieutenant Forman leapt into action, gathering together and opened fire on the reptilian beast. They didn't accomplish much, however. Their weapons were intended for use against much smaller creatures, and they only succeeded in angering the Cragadile, which in turn brushed all three soldiers aside with a sweep of its head.
With the three Americans temporarily incapacitated, the massive reptile turned its attention towards Twilight Sparkle, who was backed against a tree and had no method of escape.
Except, of course, for her wings!
Twilight desperately beat her wings as the Cragadile closed in on her, but in the heat of the moment, she found herself unable to perform the action correctly. Each time she managed to become airborne, she would fall right back down onto the ground.
The Cragadile was imminently close now. It opened its powerful jaws and moved in for the kill. Suddenly though, only a few feet away from Twilight, its massive toothed-mouth snapped shut and it was unable to move any closer.
Twilight's eyes shot open as she realized that her friends were using a vine as a makeshift rope to restrain the Cragadile. One-by-one, her friends secured more "ropes" to each of the creature's limbs, rendering it immobile.
"Are you three alright?" Twilight asked the three U.S. soldiers, who were only now recovering from the incident.
"I'm fine," Becker painfully grunted. "I've been through worse."
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "That," she said, "was close."
"A little too close, if ya' ask me" Applejack replied. "You sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine," Twilight said. "I just can't seem to get these new wings to do what I want them to do, when I want them to do it." Her tone indicated she was, understandably, frustrated by her failure.
"Ah, you'll figure it out eventually," Dash said with a smile, doing her best to reassure her friend.
"Eventually isn't soon enough," Twilight replied, as the group began to move out again. The three Human soldiers formed a protective ring around the ponies, now at an elevated state of caution.
"You have been having an awful lotta' trouble with those," Applejack remarked. "And well… who knows what else is gonna' come after us."
Applejack took in a deep breath and prepared herself mentally for what she was about to say next. "Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for Twilight to go back to Ponyville and let us look for the Tree of Harmony, without 'er," she blurted out quickly.
"What?!" Twilight demanded. "Why?"
"For starters, ya' just about got eaten by a Cragadile," Applejack replied.
"We all did," Twilight said with some heat. "He wasn't after just me."
"Sure, but the rest of us aren't princesses." Applejack's tone was calm and reasonable.
Twilight's however, was not. "What's that got to do with anything?!"
"Actually Twilight, she's right." Captain Becker chose this point to intervene, in Applejack's favor. "Right now, you're Equestria's leader. You can't put yourself in this kind of danger."
"I can't leave my friends here to face that danger alone, either," Twilight replied. "Besides, I've got the Element of Magic; we need to be together to use the Elements of Harmony."
"Once we find the tree I'll radio for you. We can secure the area, and Davis can send a squad along as an escort. But we don't actually need you to find the tree."
"I'm the only one who knows what it looks like!" she countered.
Dash swooped down to her eye level. "Huge tree, cutie marks on the trunk, probably being attacked by something hideously awful; yeah, I'm pretty sure we'll know it when we see it."
Rarity added her own opinion. "Twilight, it's truly touching to see you care for us so, but they're right, I'm afraid. Equestria simply cannot afford to lose you."
Twilight scanned the group before her, trying to find some source of support for her arguments, but she failed to detect any possible allies. Her friends, Human and Pony alike, both seemed to agree she needed to head back to Ponyville.
"All of you feel this way? Feel like I shouldn't be here?" She could feel tears building up at the thought of having to abandon them here and return to the relative safety of Ponyville, but when faced with such overwhelming opposition, she didn't see that she had much of a choice.
"It is probably for the best," Fluttershy consoled.
Twilight tried to find something she hadn't thought of yet, something that would convince her friends she needed to stay with them, but nothing came to her. Defeated, she hung her head and trudged back to Ponyville.
"Sergeant, you've seen these things in action; tell me, do you think we can beat them?"
Colonel Davis was standing around a table featuring a map of Ponyville and the surrounding areas. He was joined by what remained of the First Alternate Reality Groups leadership, including Sergeant Major Erik, to whom his question had been directed.
"Sir," Erik said gravely, "these things are damn persistent. Every time you kill one vine, two more take its place. We can hold them off for a short amount of time sir, but we can't beat them."
"I see. How long can we hold them off, would you say?"
"I estimate we have enough ammunition for an hour of fighting. No more than an hour, sir."
"And once that hour is up?"
Erik shrugged. "How fast can you run, sir?"
Davis muttered a curse under his breath. The more he found out about their situation, the worse it looked.
"Sir," another soldier began, "now might be the best time to begin evacuations."
"Perhaps; any ideas on where we would evacuate to?"
"Canterlot, sir; it's in a good defensive position, their guards can back us up if the need arises, and it's the closest city to us."
"I agree. If we need to evacuate, it will be to Canterlot," Davis said.
"Sir, you might consider instructing the civilians to proceed to Canterlot at this time. It'll be much safer for them to go now, instead of during an attack on the city."
"Right. Lieutenant Covey," Davis said to the soldier who had been speaking, "locate Mayor Mare and advise her on the situation. Have her get her citizens ready for evacuation to Canterlot. We'll provide them a small squadron for escort."
"Yes, sir," Covey saluted, and went off to execute his task.
"Sir," Erik said as he watched the lieutenant go, "what about Captain Becker and the others?"
"What about them, sergeant?" Davis asked.
"They went into the forest to try and stop the vines; do you think there's a chance they might succeed?"
The colonel sighed and looked at the drawing of the Everfree Forest on his map. "I don't know, sergeant. We haven't been able to raise them on the radio. It could be equipment malfunction, or it might be magic interference from the forest similar to what brought down our Osprey. Or it could be that they're all KIA," Davis shrugged. "Whatever the case may be, without a clear status report we have to assume the worst."
Erik solemnly nodded his agreement, and then he noticed a familiar unicorn trotting up the path from the forest.
"Well sir, it might not be by radio, but I think we can get a status report," he said, pointing towards Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight had passed through the Everfree Forest without incident. Spike had followed her silently, keeping watch over his friend. She was approaching Ponyville now, and she heard her name being called.
"Princess Twilight!"
She looked towards the source of the noise and saw Colonel Davis bounding over to her.
"Colonel?"
"Princess Twilight," he repeated, and paused for a moment to catch his breath. "What's happened? Did you succeed in your mission? Where are Captain Becker and the others?"
Twilight shook her head sadly. "They sent me back; said I was too valuable to be taking risks."
Colonel Davis nodded. That made sense to him, with Twilight being a princess. "Well… just sit tight. Captain Becker will do everything he can to stop these damn vines."
Twilight nodded silently back at the colonel. She didn't doubt that Captain Becker or any of her others friends would do their best to find the Tree of Harmony, but she still wished she was there to play a more active role.
Twilight's head shot up rapidly. "Maybe I could help you, here?" She might not be able to search for the Tree of Harmony, but that didn't mean she was completely useless. Maybe she could help in Ponyville, instead.
Almost apologetically though, Colonel Davis shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Not unless you know some form of combat magic."
Twilight's spirits sunk again; combat wasn't one of her strong points. "Maybe something else, like planning? I'm great at planning," she said hopefully.
Colonel Davis let out a sigh and gave her a look of genuine sympathy. "Princess, I appreciate how difficult it must be for you to stand by and do nothing, but let's face it; this is a battlefield, and you have no military experience."
He was right, Twilight knew, but she loathed the feeling of being so useless. The Ponies in Equestria were her citizens, and she felt responsible for them. The thought of being unable to help them when they so desperately needed it was causing her to question whether she was qualified to even be a princess, in the first place.
Davis sensed her need for something to do and thought up a task. "Actually, we are planning to evacuate Ponyville. Maybe you could get down to the town hall and oversee it?"
Her mood shot up instantly; finally, something useful to do!
"They could probably use some motivational words down there," Colonel Davis added, "and maybe you can put those organization skills of yours to work."
"Yes; of course. I'll get over there right away," Twilight responded enthusiastically, and galloped off towards the Town Hall, followed closely by Spike.
"Are we there yet?" Dash droned, as they trudged through the Everfree Forest.
"No Dash. We are not there yet," Lieutenant Forman replied, rolling his eyes. This hadn't been the first time he'd answered this question.
Dash let out an audible groan of irritation. "How much further?"
"I'm sure we're getting close," Forman replied through gritted teeth. He was typically fond of the Pegasus, and she had saved his life earlier that day, but she desperately needed to learn some patience.
"You've been saying that same thing for the past half hour," Dash complained.
"You've been asking that same thing for the past half hour!" Forman snapped back.
"Pipe down; both of yeh!" scolded Applejack. "You're acting like foals on a road trip!"
Really, Applejack thought, they should know better. She let out a sigh and picked up her pace, drawing parallel with Captain Becker.
"So, Captain," she began, "are we there yet?"
"I think we're getting close," Becker replied. "These vines seem to be getting thicker, so I imagine that indicates were getting closer to their source. Then again, I could be totally wrong about how these things grow," he shrugged.
"You know, we're almost at Celestia and Luna's old castle," Rainbow Dash cut in. "Maybe what Twilight saw when she took that crazy potion wasn't real," she said. "Maybe there is no Tree of Harmony; we could be walking right into a trap!" she gasped. "Maybe—!"
"Maybe it's right down there," Applejack interrupted and pointed a hoof towards a cave located in ravine.
"Hmm…" Captain Becker mumbled as he surveyed the cave with his binoculars.
"See anything?" Lieutenant Forman asked.
Becker shook his head. "Maybe; we'll have to get down there to tell for sure."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Rarity asked, eyeing the steep walls of the ravine. Trying to scale those rocks was akin to suicide.
"Take the stairs, silly!" Pinkie called out from the base of a staircase leading down into the ravine.
"Pinkie," Becker chuckled, "what would we do without you. He stuffed his binoculars back into their pouch and signaled to the group. "Let's go."
Twilight went over her check list for a fifth time. She didn't believe that she had missed something; rather she needed something to do; something to occupy her time while she waited for Captain Becker to find the Tree of Harmony. If she broke from her routine for even a moment, she knew that the feeling of total uselessness would return.
Exactly as it was doing right now, Twilight thought, with a sigh. She set down her checklist and shook her head. Twilight knew that she was only using this task to distract herself. Oh sure, the preparations for the evacuation had gone smoothly with her guidance, but she belonged with her friends.
Her friends, she thought, who were risking life and limb to put the Everfree Forest back to normal, while she sat safe and secure behind the defensive line set up by U.S. troops.
"Why so glum, Twilight? Weren't you able to find your tree?"
Twilight raised her head up and saw that Discord made his way over to her.
"We ran into trouble," she muttered, "and my friends decided it would be best for me to return to Ponyville; Equestria will need me if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna don't return."
"You returned to the safety of Ponyville while your friends remained in harm's way?" Discord asked, with mock awe. "Twilight, I never thought you'd be the kind of Pony who thought she was more important than everypony else."
"I don't think I'm more important than anypony!" she barked back at him.
"Oh, well, how silly of me to assume that," he retorted. "After all, when your friends ran into danger, you only chose to gallop back to Ponyville to keep yourself safe, at the expense of others I might add," he said, as a Human soldier passed them by, carrying a wounded comrade over his shoulder.
Twilight felt her knees go weak at the sight of the unconscious man's limp form dangling from his friends back. Then she felt them become weaker when she thought the same thing might very well happen to one of her friends, while she was safe in Ponyville.
"I never should have agreed to come back here!" She stomped a hoof as her fear was replaced by a fiery spirit of determination. She would not sit idly by as other Ponies, and Humans for that matter, took risks for her; especially not her friends.
Twilight took off at a gallop towards the Everfree Forest as while Discord waved a farewell at her, wearing a self-satisfied grin all the while.
"Come on Twilight," Spike panted as he ran alongside her, "Discord may be reformed, but he's not that reformed! He's just trying to get under your skin!"
"Well, it's working!" she replied, and quickened her pace into the forest. As she sprinted towards her destination, she failed to take notice of distance yelling and gunshots as the vines from the Everfree Forest began to make their final assault on Ponyville.
"Okay, so, guess this is it, huh?"
Lieutenant Marshall looked on with the rest of his group as they stood before a massive crystalline tree, which was covered in distinctive black vines.
"The Tree of Harmony," Forman said to no one in particular.
"Alright everyone… and uh, everypony," Captain Marshall said as the returned to the Ponies and Humans waiting in the cave. "I'm unable to raise Ponyville on the radio, meaning Twilight isn't going to be coming; looks like we're going to have to figure out what to do on our own."
"We need to hurry," Fluttershy said, with concern. "Look at the tree; I think it's dying!"
"So let's save it!" Applejack said, and leapt into action, grabbing one of the smaller vines with her teeth and trying to pull it up. It didn't budge, and when she lost her grip on the vine, she landed hard on the ground.
"Nice try," Dash called out sarcastically, and rocketed towards the vines covering the tree. Her attempt was foiled as well, when a tendril shot out and knocked her out of the air.
"Valiant efforts on both your parts, but the tree remains in jeopardy," Rarity sighed.
"And I suppose you've got a better idea?" asked Applejack, cocking an eyebrow at her friend.
Rarity opened her mouth to reply, and then shut it; she actually didn't have any better ideas.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"I'm sure we can come up with something if we just put our heads together," Marshall said, trying to be the voice of reason. "I mean, sure our situation isn't ideal, I'm sure we have time to think of a plan. After all, we don't have anything that suggests there's any imminent danger."
As soon as he said this, a low humming noise filled the air and the vines leeching onto the tree began to grow slightly in size.
Marshall nodded. "Right," he said, calmly. "Forget what I said; there is very much an indication of imminent danger. Now, do any of you have any idea what the hell these vines are doing?"
"If these vines do what we think they do," Forman said, "I'd guess that they're taking more power from the tree."
"Meaning there's a good chance that another assault on Ponyville is under way," Becker theorized. "We need a plan, now."
"I know who would know what to do," Fluttershy said, sadly, "but we sent her home.
"Actually sir, I've got one," Forman said, "but I don't know how popular it'll be."
Captain Becker indicated for Forman to proceed.
"Well, seems to me that if these vines need the tree for power, if we deprive them of that power, then they'll starve out." He waited for the mummer of general agreement to die down before continuing.
"The problem is we'll need to destroy the very roots of the vines to kill them. And those roots are embedded in their power source; the Tree of Harmony." This time there was no mummer of agreement; his small crowd waited to see what his next words would be.
"So," he said, hesitantly, "if we were to rig the tree with C4 charges, we'd take out both the roots, along with their power source; an attack on their logistics route, if you will."
"And these C4 charges; they'll do what, exactly?" Applejack asked, skeptically.
"They'll ahh… blow the tree up."
"Blow the tree up?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Are you crazy?!"
"Listen, I know how it sounds, but the vines are feeding off of the tree. If we destroy the tree, then they'll starve."
"So, just to clarify," Applejack began, "you want to blow up the Tree of Harmony."
"Yes."
Applejack glanced sideways at Captain Becker, who nodded slowly. "Lieutenant Forman has a valid idea," he said. "Perhaps a bit extreme, but we don't seem to have any other options. I support his idea."
"Well, Lieutenant Forman, if you'll forgive me," Rarity said, apologetically, "I for one find it simplistic and destructive. There simply has to be a better way."
"Such as…?" Captain Becker asked.
"We could… destroy the vines connected to the tree, instead," Rarity suggested.
"If we do that, my guess is that the vines will just grow back from what's still connected to the tree," Forman replied. "We have to kill the roots, which seem pretty much embedded in the tree."
"We couldn't okay ya' to destroy that tree, even if we wanted to," Applejack said. "That'd have to be Twilight, or Celestia, or somepony like that."
"Yes," Rarity agreed. "Twilight is the princess; you cannot destroy that tree without her approval."
"Well, Twilight isn't here," Marshall pointed out.
"Meaning, of course, that you cannot destroy the tree," said Rarity, with a nod.
The cave was filled with silence as the group tried to figure out what to do. The problem was, what Forman said made sense. The Equestrians knew this, but they couldn't bear the idea of destroying the Tree of Harmony. Finally, Captain Becker broke the silence.
"We're out of time," he said, shaking his head. "Here's what I'll do; unless all of you," he indicated the Equestrians, "order me not to, I'm going ahead with Lieutenant Forman's plan."
The five Ponies watched as he marched past them, but none of them said a word. They were silent as the three Humans placed explosive charges around the tree, they were silent as they retreated a safe distance away from the cave, and they were silent as Captain Becker brought out the detonator for the explosives.
"Fire in the hole!" he called, and flipped the plastic safety cap off of the detonation switch.
"Oof! Ow! Ug!"
Captain Becker paused with his finger about the flip the switch, as he heard someone's apparent cries of pain. He looked over at Forman and Marshall, who shrugged, and then to Equestrians, who were apparently as confused as he was.
Then he saw it; a purple dragon sprinting towards them from the base of the stairs. Twilight's assistant, wasn't he? Spike?
"Twilight! Trouble! Help!" he called, stopping in front of them.
The Ponies and Humans crowded around the out-of-breath dragon.
"Where is she?"
"What's happening?"
"How far is it?"
Spike brushed all their questions aside. "C'mon, follow me! Hurry!"
Most of Twilight's trip through the Everfree Forest had been without incident. It had seemed that Lieutenant Marshall had been right when he assumed they weren't likely to encounter any hostile vines inside the forest. That was, until now.
Now, Twilight was barely conscious and laying on the ground. She had been attacked by some new kind of vine, which had released some sort of gas which was slowly rendering her unconscious. It seemed that her friends had been right, after all, Twilight thought, glumly. The Everfree Forest was no place for a princess.
Three loud, sharp, bangs echoed through the forest and hammered against Twilight's ears; one of the plants that had been attacking her let out a pitiful hiss, and fell to the ground. The remaining plants faced the source of the noise.
"Listen here, you rabid rhododendrons! You mess with one of us; you mess with all of us!" drawled a familiar voice.
Twilight looked up and saw Applejack standing nearby with Lieutenant Marshall at her side, holding his rifle to his shoulder.
The plants let out angry hisses and swiftly advanced towards the pair. That was the precise moment when the rest of her friends began their assault, charging in from concealed positions around the plants.
With the combined efforts of both the Humans and the Ponies, it didn't take them long to defeat the offending vines. Once reasonably certain the area was secure, Captain Becker made his way over to Twilight.
"Guess I should've stayed in Ponyville, huh?" she coughed.
"Yes, you should have. But, we're all glad you're here." He helped Twilight onto her hooves.
"Yeah; Equestria may need its princess…" Rainbow Dash began.
"But we need our friend," Fluttershy finished.
"You were going to… blow it up?" Twilight asked, with some disbelief. They were back in the cave with the Tree of Harmony now, and just having the situation explained to her, Twilight was very glad she had come along when she did; even if she had been attacked by vines.
"Lieutenant Forman had the idea to starve the vines of power by destroying their roots, along with the tree, but I fully supported him, and I was the one about to hit the detonator switch when Spike showed up. If anyone's to blame, it's me, not him," Becker replied, sternly.
Twilight shook her head. "I don't think we'll need to someone to blame," she said. Like her friends, she saw the logic in Forman's plan. She too wouldn't be happy about the destruction of the tree, but she supposed if it meant saving Equestria, it would have been worth it.
"But now that yer here Twilight, all the Elements of Harmony are together and we can stop these vines from attackin' Ponyville," Applejack summarized. "Without destroying the Tree of Harmony," she added.
"Hmm…" Twilight flew up and tried to look the tree over from the air; perhaps she'd see some detail that could be important later. She saw her cutie mark engraved into the trunk and flew in for a closer look.
As she drew closer to the tree, tendrils shot out and ensnared her front hooves.
"Gah!" she yelped, and severed them with a blast from her horn.
"Careful up there!" a voice called from the ground. Looking down, Twilight saw that the three U.S. soldiers had been prompted raise their weapons and were covering her as best they could.
Twilight nodded and returned her attention to the tree.
During her vision of the past, Princess Celestia had said something important, Twilight thought. What was it, now? Even without these elements, the Tree of Harmony will possess a powerful magic. As long as that magic remains, it will continue to control and contain all that grows here. Looking the tree over, she saw where each of the Elements would fit into the branches.
The elements; of course!
"I know how we can save the tree," Twilight said, definitively, and she landed back on the ground. "We have to give it the Elements of Harmony."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hey! How are we supposed to protect Equestria?!" Rainbow Dash protested.
"How are we meant to rein Discord in if we can't use the Elements to turn him back to stone?" asked Rarity.
"Twilight, the Elements of Harmony… they're what keep us connected no matter what," Applejack said.
"The Elements of Harmony might be what brought us together, Applejack. But it isn't the Elements that will keep us connected. It's our friendship. And it's more important and more powerful than any magic." Twilight met the eye of the other element bearers as the spoke.
"My new role in Equestria may mean I have to take on new responsibilities, and our friendships may be tested, but it will never, ever be broken," Twilight said, beaming brightly at each one of her friends.
"Besides, it beats blow the tree up, right?" Twilight asked, offering a friendly smile to Forman, who shrugged in return.
"I don't mean to be an ass, but…" Captain Becker tapped his fingers against his watch, and Twilight nodded, understanding.
"Right," she said, flying up into the air again. "Now c'mon, Everypony; there's no time to loose! Ready?"
"Ready!" her friends replied, in unison.
Twilight lifted the Elements off of the necklaces her Equestrian friends wore, and carried them into the air with her magic. She removed the jeweled element from her own crown, and the elements began to spin around her, leaving behind a rainbow-colored trail.
"Lookie there," Marshall said. "A rainbow."
"They are pretty awesome," Rainbow Dash agreed.
Suddenly, several tendrils shot forward towards Twilight, and wrapped around her torso.
"Watch out!" Forman tried to warn her, but he was too late. By the time he had called to her, Twilight's limbs were completely immobilized.
The three Americans opened fire on the attacking vines. Unfortunately though, their vines were close enough to their power source that they were healed instantly. They ceased fire when they realized their shots were having no effect.
Despite the vines wrapping over more of her body, Twilight managed to keep her wits about her. She knew that the Elements of Harmony needed to go into their appropriate places on the tree, and focused all her effort on making that happen.
Twilight's own element reached the tree right as the vines wrapped their tendrils around her face, completely obscuring her from the view of her friends below. For a moment, nothing happened. And then, the Elements began to glow, restoring the trees power.
Now fully healed, the tree took its revenge on the parasitic vines that had leeched so much of its power away. All the vines connected to the tree were burned away, freeing Twilight, leaving behind no trace of their existence.
"Look out!"
Corporal Garnet heard the shouted warning only a second too late; a vine slammed into him from behind, and the soldier landed hard on the ground.
He had felt his rifle leave his grip when the vine attacked him, but his pistol was still secure in his holster, he knew. Garnet rolled over onto his back and drew the handgun, firing a shot into the tendril. Only one shot, because his slide locked back after he had fired. The corporal realized, with horror, that his magazine must have had only one round in it, and that one round had failed to stop the attacking vine.
The vine reared back to strike down on the soldier, and Garnet knew it was over. He wouldn't be able to reach a new magazine in time, so he simply dropped the gun and closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow.
And waited.
Still waiting.
Shouldn't he be dead by now? Garnet risked cracking open one eye, and taking a look.
There was no vine, but Corporal Jackson was standing in front of him, giving him a worried look.
"Whatcha' doing there, man?"
"The vines… they're…"
"Gone; burned up." Jackson shrugged, and helped Garnet onto his feet.
"So…"
"They did it," said Colonel Davis, who appeared to have materialized out of nowhere. "Becker, Forman, Marshall, and all the Ponies; they did it!"
"So, what then? Three cheers for Becker, Forman, Marshall, and all the Ponies?" Garnet suggested.
Some of the men around him laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of how it sounded. Then, being men very glad to be alive, that was exactly what they cheered.
All the vines had been cleared away, Twilight noticed, except for two, both which appeared to be wrapped around something. She wasn't curious about them for long, though; in the same fashion as the others, these vines were burned away, revealing the forms of Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. Both of whom appeared to be totally unharmed.
A smile broke out over Twilight's face and she shot forward to embrace the two sisters.
"We know how difficult it must have been for you to give up the elements," Celestia said. "It took great courage to relinquish them."
She took notice of the U.S. soldiers standing amongst the Equestrians. Disengaging herself from Twilight, she walked over to them and addressed the three Americans.
"Your colonel requested that a demonstration of your capabilities be presented," Princess Celestia looked them over. Their uniforms were dirtied and showed signs of damage in several places. The necks and faces of the soldiers were covered in minor cuts and scratches. It was obvious to her that they had faced hardships right alongside her own citizens.
"I do not think," Celestia continued, "that there could have been a better demonstration of determination, courage, and loyalty to ones friends," she said warmly, and inclined her head slightly. "You have my gratitude."
"It was nothing," Captain Becker shrugged. It had been Twilight and her friends who had saved the day, after all.
"Cancel tomorrows treaty talks and we'll call it even," Marshall said to her.
"I doubt there will be much further debate on the treaty," Celestia said with a chuckle.
"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Look at this!" Twilight was calling them over to a spot near the base of the tree. Upon their arrival, it was discovered that Twilight had found a small crystal box, with a keyhole on each of its six sides.
"What's inside it?" asked Twilight. "How am I supposed to open it?"
"Six locks, six keys," Luna said, and Celestia nodded.
"I do not know where the keys are. But I do know this is a mystery you will not be solving alone." Celestia looked meaningfully at Twilight's Equestrian friends.
"Bravo ladies, bravo!" Discord cheered, as they exited the Everfree Forest. A small crowd had gathered at the edge of the forest, and among the onlookers was Colonel Davis, joined by several other soldiers.
Captain Becker, Lieutenant Forman, and Lieutenant Marshall made their way over to him while Discord left with Twilight and her friends.
"Well done; all of you," Davis congratulated. "You managed to pull us out a quite a bit of trouble at the end, there."
"Thank you, sir; it was mostly Princess Twilight and her friends, though; we were just along for the ride." Captain Becker paused. "Sir, how bad did things get here?"
"Cuts and bruises mostly, maybe a broken bone or two. No fatalities, but there were some close calls. We'll be getting some reinforcements in soon to replace anyone who's injured."
Captain Becker nodded. This was good.
"So, Captain," Davis said, preparing to change the subject, "any chance this'll speed along the treaty?"
"Princess Celestia made it sound that way, sir; she said this was a good demonstration of our capabilities, as any."
"Another thing, sir," Lieutenant Forman began. "Twilight and her friends had to give up the Elements to Harmony to stop these vines."
"Meaning that now they just lost a valuable defensive asset, and will have to find some way to compensate for it," assessed Davis.
"That would be my guess, sir," Becker nodded, "and that might be where we come in."
"We won't know for sure until we get it all down on paper, of course, but I think our chances of getting that base just went up."
"Captain?" Twilight Sparkle had detached herself from the group of Ponies, and had made her way over the Humans. "Pinkie is throwing a party back in Canterlot to celebrate both saving the tree, and the Summer Sun Celebration. I thought I should invite you." She looked at Colonel Davis. "You're all welcome to come, of course."
Davis shrugged. "Go ahead," he said to the three soldiers. "You guys earned it."
"So," Marshall asked as they walk off with Twilight, "will there be cake?"
A lone Earth Pony walked slowly through Appleloosa's massive orchard of apple trees. It was late at night, and the trees overhead blocked out most of the moonlight, amplifying the darkness. The orchard was still and quiet, almost unnaturally so, putting the Pony on edge.
These sorts of late-night patrols had become commonplace in Appleloosa. The trees here were their primary source of food, and they couldn't afford to take the chance that they might be damaged. Therefore, each night, several Ponies from the town were expected to work in shifts, guarding the trees.
He heard a noise, and swung his head towards the source. "Anypony there?" he asked, praying it was the Pony scheduled to relieve him, even though he still had another hour on his shift.
There was no response, and he gulped nervously. It must have been the wind, he thought, even though the leaves overhead were perfectly still. After all, a large animal, the kind that would pose a serious threat, would have made a much louder sound, the Pony further rationalized.
Reassured, he continued patrolling deeper into the orchard. That was, until he heard another minute sound, directly in front of him.
It's just the wind again, he told himself, but he knew that it couldn't be the wind. Wind would rustle the leaves, but it wouldn't break sticks lying on the ground.
It was too dark to make out shapes, but he was sure he thought he saw something moving in front of him, followed by the sound of another twig cracking. Then another.
The Pony retreated backward until he bumped into a tree. He looked frantically left to right, regarding every shape, every shadow, as a hostile entity. He calmed down slowly, and realized that the orchard was totally silent once more.
Maybe whatever it was had been scared off, he thought hopefully, until he heard a deep, booming voice speak right into his ear. Not loud, but powerful; commanding. Three words which caused him to frantically bolt off into the night.
"Run, little pony."