Twilight sparkle rested in her bed, her thoughts distant and dreaming of a time when she and her friends had no hard feelings, no worries, and nothing to do asides from hang around all day and experience some of the magics of friendship-

"WAKE UP RECRUIT!" Boomed a voice right next to ear. Twilight gave a yelp and went rolling out of her bed, falling snout first onto the ground as she looked at the perpetrator.

Dusk Shine stared down at her, covered head to toe in his armor that he had came here with. The saber was at his side, and he had on the helmet and a serious look down to her.

"It's dawn. Get your flank in gear and get outside. The others have already been sent to collect the fillies they need to train." He spoke in a tone that could have frozen a lake solid.

She gulped and nodded her head, taking her standing on shaky legs as she started to walk outside. The sun had barely risen in the east and was slowly rising up, just now gracing the world with its glow.

She heard the soft clopping of hooves on stone and turned her head to see a very alert Fluttershy Standing next to Butterscotch, determination in both their eyes. One with a fiery passion of learning, and the other of passing on the secrets he had learned.

Then came a single heavy set of footsteps. AJ walked forward, carrying his still sleeping female counterpart on his back like it was nothing more than a small basket of apples. He bucked her off as they neared and she fell with a yelp onto the ground face first like Twilight had mere minutes ago.

Rainbow Blitz walked forward alone, with an annoyed frown on his face. Rainbow Dash still wasn't back from delivering the message... A thought that left much to imagination and unsettled Twilight.

Bubbly Berry and Pinkie pie both bounced forward in a rhythm of one then the other. Almost like leap frog.

Elusive was the last to show up. The very handsome male pony reflected what little of the sunlight there was off of his glistening white coat, as he made his way out, with Rarity right next to his side helping him along the way.

"Elusive. Glad to see yah up an' walkin' 'round." Came the deep voice of AJ as he stared at his old companion.

Elusive gave a meek nod and then looked up to his horn. The doctor was amazing to have been able to do this; a replacement chip to fit back into the groove of his horn, and one that was compatible enough to act as a replacement for some amount of time while the real horn grew back, consuming the shard in the long process.

"Yeah, Barely. Lucky to be able to stand up. How have all of you gentlecolts and fillies been without my presence?" He spoke in a sophisticated and somewhat british accent. He smiled and looked out at the others.

"Busy. We've got fillies to train and changelings on the way to mess up our whole hoofin' day. So we should get moving on with saving this place." Dusk Shine spoke as he looked over to him.

"Well I do the best I can with training Miss Rarity, but my horn still has yet to fully recover so things may advance slower." He spoke once more.

A soothing voice from the filly at his side set his mind straight though. "Oh please. A pony as magnificent as you couldn't possible be at anything less than stellar." She spoke reassuringly to him as they took their place in the semi-circle around Dusk.

"Rainbow Blitz!" He started.

The Cyan pony snapped to attention, "Yes sir?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Where is your filly?" He spoke once more.

"Asking Myself the same thing here Dusk. I need someone to go and get her from the military ward." He spoke, looking at his broken wing in the process.

"I'll go. I can fly faster than the rest of you." Spoke Butterscotch as he readied himself for takeoff. Fluttershy marvelled at him. This representation, a pony strong enough to take flight up to the highest peaks of equestria and still be kind enough to laugh and have fun with friends? She turned her head and his behind her hair as she struggled to keep the blush from showing on her face.

Then the boom happened. Butterscotch had taken off with enough force to send out a small dust cloud from the ground to him. He was already long gone by the time they had taken a look back at him, the yellow blur that flew through the skies followed by a trail of dust for several hundred feet was impressive to say the least.

Twilight thought to herself, thinking about how Fluttershy could be like that with the maximum amount of potential she had to reach, if not even further than him. She marvelled for a moment before a whistle was blown. "C'mon all of you! We have a long hike to build up endurance! Don't slow below a trot!" Came Dusk shines voice from behind her as he started to take off in a near gallop in front of them.

AJ and Applejack looked at each other competitively for a moment, joined by Rainbow Blitz before all three of them gave off loud neighs and charged forward in a full gallop, passing by Dusk.

He trusted in those two, they knew the route he was talking about when he had said hike. The ponies would be shocked to find out just how long he could keep them running for.

Butterscotch ripped through the floor of Cloudsdale, leaving a small hole that rapidly closed up as he broke past the guards and dove through the Rip-wind Shield without a problem. his body having been used to flying through this multiple being a field medic and all. He landed and was quickly surrounded by several guards with spears.

A voice feminine and cool sent them back to their stations, "Its alright guys. He's with me." came Rainbow Dash's calm tones. She looked at him with a grin. "So whats up?" She asked him in the same cool tone.

Butterscotch gave her a quick glance, "We have training for you to do back in ponyville." He spoke without losing that same soft tone he had been using for some time.

Rainbow Dash looked at him and raised an eyebrow in question, "If I had wanted training I would have joined the military." She spoke in a little quip back to him, turning and starting to walk away.

Butterscotch allowed his self control to wane a bit and he leaped over her and pressed his head against hers, shoving her down onto the floor of clouds, "Looks you stupid little filly. I don't know if you've noticed, but we are all part of the military now, like it or not. We all have to play our parts in defending Equestria, and that includes a little lazy rainbow pony like yourself. So shape up and get your flank moving down to Ponyville before I chase you there myself." He spoke, his soft tones becoming more of a growl.

Rainbow Dash gulped and gave a nervous chuckle, "Right, on my way to Ponyville. Hehehehe..." She spoke as she turned. She didn't want to go through that shield again, even though her friends needed her that pain was enough to completely disorient her.

Then she felt a firm wing shield her as Butterscotch spread his. "Follow my path, as fast as you can, and we can make it through unscathed. Just not fast enough to sonic rainboom Dash." He spoke as he took off.

Rainbow Dash looked at him for a moment, blinking stupidly before taking off like he had ordered. She followed every one of this ponies quick twists and turns through the shield and she found herself being able to hear, floating on the rapid winds of the shield. She felt almost as good as the first time she had unleashed a sonic rainboom.

Then the roar died off and it was over. She was flying straight, right next to a yellow pegasus aiming straight for Ponyville.

By the time they had gotten back, all of the other ponies were winded, or at the very least, panting. Even the very fit ones were taking deep breaths. Applejack looked over to AJ's heaving form, and then to Blitz. She gave a chuckle and flipped her hat up onto her head with a single twist, wiping the sweat off of her forehead before it landed.

AJ looked at her and flipped his hat onto his tail, using it to wipe the sweat off of his forehead before letting it roll off his tail, down the center of his back and then back onto his head. The pair of orange show ponies looked at each other, both of them smiling as the competition had been started.

"Dusk. Imma go teach this fill a thing or two about fighting." AJ spoke as he started to turn away from the group and walked back to Sweet Apple Acres. Dusk Shine gave him a nod as he passed and motioned his head fro Applejack to follow him.

She trotted up to his side and the two bumped shoulders more than a few times along the way, and generally playing kinda rough until they made it to the yard.

Three fillies looked at the two. Apple Bloom called out, "Have y'all seen Big Macintosh anywhere? We can't find 'em!" She yelled to the two.

This made Applejack immediately dash into the house and open his door. The younger fillies probably missed the note on his well made bed and instead thought to go looking in ridiculous places.

She picked up the note and read it aloud for both her and AJ.

"Dear Apples,

I've taken some of my things and a few apples. Headin' off to Manehatten for a bit to reconnect with some of my old friends and bring 'em back here to help out with protecting the town. Not much to say other than I'll be back soon.

Love, BIG Macintosh."

Applejack looked at the note, "Well those fillies got me all worked up over nothin'!" She angrily spoke as she set the note back down onto his bed once more. She just nodded and walked back out to the yard where the three fillies waited, all of them looking like they had been in a tizzy trying to find Macintosh.

"You silly lil' fillies didn't read the note on his bed! Big Mac has gone off to Manehatten. He'll be back soon though with some of his friends." She paused at this. Big Mac Only ever went to Manhattan once before, and that was during an unnaturally long winter that lasted for about six months. He had gotten an invitation for something but never said what. For six months she had to take care of Apple Bloom and Granny Smith.

They were at the limits of their money when Big Mac came back and dropped a bag of bits that had to weigh at least 100 pounds. That money allowed them to get seeds for next year, last through the rest of the winter, and get them a bit more land added onto their farm. Applejack never asked where the money came from, but she really didn't care. She assumed Big Mac had done some good construction work or something up there, but maybe not.

The three stopped and gave nervous frowns to the ground. All three of them spoke at once, "Oh..."

AJ nearly tackled Applejack into the three with the sheer force of the buck of his head, his mouth opened a bit in anger. The three luckily scattered before Applejack skidded on her feet and then fell forward. She rose and turned her head to AJ screaming at him,. "WHAT IN THE HAY WAS THAT FER?!"

AJ chuckled, "First rule of Fighting in War. Never let your guard down." He spoke with a grin on his face and a snort. Applejack looked at the pony and then rushed at him, ready to buck him in the face. He merely turned out of the way of her buck and slammed his massive side into her with a body check, once again sending her rolling.

"Rule Number Two...keep a level head... Now come at me again." He spoke taking the calm stance once more.

Applejack wiped some of the dirt off of her scraped side and looked at him, and then she charged.

Rainbow Blitz looked at his recently returned female counterpart, telling her to do the normal workouts he was used to...well...if he had a good pair of wings right now. By the time it was over she had done over 100 wing ups, fifty of the one thousand pound wing shoves, and over 500 laps in a large circular area. She stopped and looked him, her eyes hungry for more...

Rainbow Blitz smiled a bit, his eyes never losing their harsh crease in his eyebrows. He stared at her, and laughed at her eagerness. "Too much hot blood running in your body. Alright then. I want you to try and hit me, as hard as you can." He spoke as he held out one hoof and then gestured her to come at him.

Rainbow Dash wasted no time, her wings unfurled and she burst forward, letting her arrogance take the better of her she tried for a flashy rising uppercut, only to feel a massive hoof impact her in the middle of the back and send her rolling.

She gave off a soft whimper. He had hit right in between where her wings connected, a place that all pegasi tried to protect for it was one of their most sensitive spots and here he had hit her hard enough to send her rolling along the ground.

"Big mistake you made there. War is coming, and you can't afford to hot dog in the middle of a fight that could decide the fate of a city or a town. Now get up, I didn't hit you that hard." He spoke in an uncaring tone as he looked at the filly slowly get to her feet.

She turned to him and stretched the now burning pain in her wings. She blinked away the small amount of tears that came to her eyes and nodded at him, taking a much more serious stance this time and then rushing. She would go for a small punch followed by a swift roundhouse jump-

Her thoughts were cut off at the first punch as he knocked it to the side and then sent her up into the air with a rising uppercut of his own.

Rainbow Dash felt the ground hit hard, and gave off another whimper. He had nearly taken off her head and she could see a few drops of blood hit the ground involuntarily as she stood. "Another biggie to learn, never take on a stronger opponent head on." He spoke as he walked over to her.

He looked at her and using his one good wing he patted her a few times on the head with it. "But still, nice speed and endurance for a rookie in war." He spoke caringly. She blinked away the stream in her eyes once more and looked at his soft smile, his eyebrows having went from a frown into something much more gentle.

She couldn't help but smile back. "Now take a rest. We start up again in about a half hour, then we get lunch, and continue till about evening. Then you are free." He spoke out his plan as he fell flat onto his rump. He shook one of his front hooves a bit, before setting it back onto the ground. She took a seat besides him.

She gave a tired sigh, letting the true exhaustion from the earlier activities hit her head on. Then she felt something... Something good...

She felt a soft hoof rubbing that spot in the middle of her back that he had slugged earlier. She gave a soft sigh and turned to him, his face gentle for just the slightest moment. "I know how much that hurts, but I had to get the lesson across Dash." He chuckled afterwards, looking up to the blue sky and the clouds. "The first time I was taught that lesson was with a captain, an extra head taller than me. He didn't hold back with his punch either. Even as strong as I was at the time, it still hurt enough to make tears come to my eyes." He spoke without turning his glance from her, or massaging that sore spot.

She gave a peaceful sigh, "Well I'm glad you held back. After All, what's the point in training me for war if you break me?" She looked up at him with a mischievous grin. He gave her a quick smile before taking her head, moving it to his chest and giving her a small noogie. She shoved him away and punched him in the shoulder lightly.

Both the Rainbow's had the same thought at the same time. They had finally found someone they could truly relate to, not as a friend, but as siblings. "Screw waiting! I'm ready now!" Rainbow Dash spoke as she stood up. Rainbow Blitz looked at her and smiled, "I had a feeling you would say that."

"Now C'mon, land a single punch that isn't something hot dogging today and I'll be impressed." He spoke as he turned to her, a smile on his face. She nodded and rushed in once more, the same smile and serious crease in her eyebrows as his.

Twilight Sparkle looked around the area her mentor had chosen. A deep part of the Everfree forest, shaped in a wide circle, much like an Arena. His eyes were closed in concentration, and after the run, walking this deep into the woods was pretty exhausting.

"Twilight, before we begin...I will warn you. War is not something to be taken lightly neither is this training. If you should so wish, I will let you drop out at any time. But know that you will have to fight sooner or later, whether you like it or not." He spoke in a more friendly tone to her, his eyes closed in concentration.

She looked at him, "I will never drop out and leave my friends behind! No matter how much it takes my own body to harm, I will do whatever I can to make sure my friends stay safe!"

"Good answer Twilight. Now make yourself ready. I have to test the power and potential of your magic." He spoke as his horn started to light up a bright violet.

Twilight knew he wouldn't hold back, so neither would she. Stepping forward her horn glowed a bright purple the same as his, and then fired it at him. The moment just before it hit, his beam fired, and almost immediately overwhelmed her, the resulting blast sending her flying across the arena, her entire head pulsing with a pain much like a migraine.

She barely was able to stand, her thoughts all scrambled and all over the place. "Strong but you still have a ways to go." Dusk spoke as he walked over to her, nudging her back to her feet and then leading her to a stump in the middle of the Arena.

"Alright. When you recover, we work on weapon forming, and on how to take out targets efficiently with minimal energy." He spoke. But it seemed so Distant to Twilight. She had just gotten her mind nearly blown open by a simple magic from this Pony.

Her with more training and usage of his powers... She was scared of her own potential, scared of the war, scared of everything that was going to happen, and yet she pushed it to the back of her mind, still wanting to continue on and make sure that her friends survived this entire ordeal. No matter what it cost her in the end.

Butterscotch looked at Fluttershy and saw her heaving on the ground, not used to running that far or at that pace for a great amount of time. He walked over to the filly calmly and stuck a hoof under her chest. She gave a squeak and tried to push him away, but he lifted her head to the clouds and straightened out her back so that she was staring straight into the sky.

Her breaths came in with a new freshness, a new rush of wind hit her and her breaths became slow and deep to compensate for the feeling of refreshing going throughout her body.

"To be a medic you have to know how the pony body works. And to be a Combat Medic, you need to know how to use those points on creatures and how to be able to analyze before striking or tending a wound. You are in a rest and relaxation position right now, commonly used by-" His sentence was finished by her.

"Spa Workers, to make your breath flow to remove the bad energy while they work away all the problems in your body."

He smiled and nodded, "Correct. I assume you go to the Spa often enough then?" He asked. She gave a slight nod as his answer, never thinking about using this position to remove stress.

"Well then. you take a breather. I'm going to bring a few things here for your first lesson. one of the basic ones." He spoke as he walked away, leaving her to sit and wonder at the sky. She didn't move from the position and closed her eyes, taking deep breath. She could faintly hear the sloshing of water, and the sounds of cloth hitting the ground.

"Alright, take a look." Butterscotch spoke calmly as he looked at her. She moved her head down and looked at him, his prosthetic limbs blade out in the open. With a single long cut he moved it across his real front leg, making a deep gash as it started to bleed.

Fluttershy nearly fainted right then, "Alright. Treat it. I've gotten everything you need to do it set up on that bench over there." He gestured with the blade. Fluttershy nodded nervously and walked over to it, and he set his still bleeding arm on the bench for her to treat.

"Wash the wound..." She spoke as she grabbed the rage from the bucket of water, wiping away the blood and then pouring some of the water over his arm to rinse away what was left. "Apply medicine if you have it..." She looked around and saw some odd leaves. She recognized them as something she had to apply to the woodland critters every now and again. She popped the leaves into her mouth and chewed for a moment before spitting out the pulpy mass and spreading it over the wound, making sure to use a dry towel nearby to soak up the excess saliva.

"And lastly, bind the wound." She spoke as she grabbed some of the bandages and wrapped them around the wound tightly. Making sure that it would not come off any time soon.

Butterscotch smiled, "Excellent! At least you have natural talents for being a medic. Now answer me a quick question, in the steps that you listed off. How do you set a broken bone properly?" He asked her with a grin.

"Dull the Pain, push the bones back into the right place, bandage and clean the area, set up a tourniquet, and then finally bandage or put it into a cast." She spoke her eyes meeting his calmly.

He gave off another smile, "Good girl. Anyways, we will be working more on vital parts of ponies and changelings alike after lunch, but you seem to know enough about medical skills to work past the easy part of being a Combat Medic." He spoke to her gently as she hid her face behind her hair once more.

She gave a small sigh, unnoticable to him..."Oh my... Easy Part..." She thought to herself. She had just conquered one fear, and now she had hundreds of others to fight along the way.

Bubbly Berry giggled and looked at his companion, she could not help but share the giggle, "so how are we gonna learn to fight the bad guys? Gonna go all karate on them and teach them a bit of judo or-" Bubble Berry interrupted, "We are Sappers! We make bunches of traps and explosives! Sorta like pranks but dangerous-er!" He spoke as he produced a small bomb from almost nowhere.

He threw it at a large target in the fields and watched as it exploded. He gave off a happy giggle as the chunks of said target started to rain down, the massive amounts of stuffing in the air looking like cotton. Pinkie Pie gaped at this and couldn't help but light up at the idea of using pranks during war.

"OOH OOH! CAN I MAKE SOME?!" She nearly screamed into his ear. Bubbles bounced and spun around to show her. He started to bob up and down to a rhythm, and looked at her.

Why yes my dear I'll show you how

To make those things that go KA-POW!

The explosive things that I love to chuck

And show them baddies that they are out of luck.

And how to turns pranks into fun

and to make them changelings turn and run!

He sang as he produced a few more bombs, throwing them and having the desired effect as they blew up more targets. Pinkie Pie continued the song.

Well then Bubbly Show me How

I really like those things that Go KA-POW

Bombs and explosive are my things

like fireworks they make me sing

I'm loving this training already and want to know more

So please teach me and help me before-

He jumped into her spontaneous verse.

My fuse gets to short, my bomb is ready to throw

My explosives and traps are ready to blow!

My fuse can't get too short, or the party might just end!

So lets get to making bombs to save our friends!

Bubbles carried on with his verse.

So you need a bit of black powder, stuffed in an iron shell

And then you need something to light it, fire rocks as well!

You take this and make sure it blows up real good

Before you chuck and make a crater where people once stood!

Or you can set them into the ground and make a nasty surprise

And make those bad guys go poof in front of your eyes!

Pinkie Pie Started up hers again.

This is one Recipe I sure can bake

A lot more explosive than any cake

I think I might like this after all

And blow up things after a fall!

Pranks are another thing I do adore

so please teach me before...

And then they sang the chorus one more time before they both broke down laughing in the middle of the field, now filled with a few craters here or there because of the two's antics...

They laughed and continued to entertain each other with bomb puns and other things until lunch. Not getting much done overall, but becoming that much closer for it.

Elusive had moved into the boutique with Rarity, several large metal plates scattered out as well, made up of silver, gold, and other precious and semi-precious metals. He looked to her and then gave a gesture with his horn.

"We have one of the most crucial of roles here in the war effort. We must make the armor for the soldiers, a very important thing,because if the soldiers lack armor, well, I believe you are bright enough to figure something like that out." He spoke with a smile. She smiled back, noting the implications of what he meant.

He walked over to the drawing paper and grabbed her charcoal, sketching out a very basic type of armor for ponies, a single plate of metal that protected the chest with a helmet and basic greaves. "In my world, this was the standard style of armor, uninventive but effective. Though I think with as much time as we have to prepare, we can make more types of armor for different ponies, don't you agree?"

Rarity nodded, "This armor was hideously bland...I honestly think that a bit more flair here or there would be nice. Like if..." She took the charcoal from his hand, and she added in small grooves to the greaves, making them appeared layered and segmented. She also added a segmented neck guard and made the helmet have a long slot for the ponies mane to come out of. She also added a slot in the back for wings, and one in the front of the head for horns.

"There! If they block with the front legs they couldn't hit it dead on because of the overlapping plates, and the neck now has some protection without hindering a lot of mobility." Elusive nodded, "Very keen eye. Now lets add in a few more things Mmaybe metal hoof guards or perhaps a slot for a weapon here or there." He spoke as he started to add on a few things.

By the time lunch came around, Twilight had recovered, but still not enough. She would have to continue on with her training after lunch. Rainbow Dash walked forward with Rainbow Blitz. She looked like she had been punched hard in the snout with the small amount of blood under it. Bubbly Berry and Pinkie Pie both jumped out of nowhere and landed at the massive lunch table they had set up. AJ came up next, holding a weak and somewhat bloody Applejack on his back. He set her down on shaky legs as she took her seat.

"Are you okay Applejack?!" Twilight yelled as she rushed over to get a better look at her friend. She smiled weakly, "Yeah I'm fine. Just learning a lot in a short amount of time takes it out of me." She spoke as she waved Twilight away. Twilight reluctantly returned to her seat giving AJ the eye as she walked past him.

Dusk Shine gave a disapproving look over to AJ, "I thought I told you to take it easy on them." He spoke somewhat irritated.

"That was me takin' it easy." He spoke while giving him a calm look back.

Butterscotch walked up next, his leg bandaged, and with a Fluttershy who wasn't hiding behind her hair. They took their seats calmly. Rarity and Elusive didn't show up until much later, or what they thought was them. Both of them held a massive suit of knight armor, half on each of their backs as they walked forward.

"We fitted this armor to the largest of our group. AJ would you be a kind fellow and put this on?" Elusive spoke as he set it down.

AJ shrugged and took off his hat, removing his hair from the messy ponytail he held it in as he put on the armor. First the chest piece and then the neck guard. He worked on the leggings and then the helmet. He truly looked nothing like he did before, silver covering up almost every inch of the orange underneath it.

"How can you move in it?" Rarity asked. To answer her question the large colt took a running leap and jumped clear over the 10 foot long table. He landed with a thud and spun around. Rarity could see the raise of his eyebrow underneath as if to say, "Does that answer your question?"

Elusive and Rarity gave small cheers. "I do believe that we have made the perfect armor for our Chargers." Elusive spoke, barely able to hide the excitement in his voice.

"Which one shall we work on after our little respite from this?" Rarity asked him.

"I believe that we should focus on another important member, maybe something for the Combat Medics."

Rarity nodded, "I concur, that seems to be a marvelous idea. Get better armor to the ponies that keep the others healthy." Elusive smiled as he took a seat down at the table.

Dusk Shine Produced 6 lunch baskets handing one out to each of the pairs. Inside of each were some of the favorite foods of each of the ponies, enough to fill both of the bellies of the pair they were given to. They didn't speak much asides from the occasional joke here or there from Pinkie Pie and Bubbles.

After about a half hour Rarity and Elusive left, having finished early and they went to go work on the medic outfit. Bubbly Berry pulled out a small bomb and threw it down, smoke exploding from it. When it cleared both he and Pinkie Pie were gone. Dusk Shine shook his head in disbelief, "No matter how many times I see that I will always wonder how the hay they do that."

Applejack stood weakly, only to feel a metal hoof push her down. "Don't worry about getting back up. You jus' rest and recover for tomorrow. I was a mite bit rough." Applejack nodded in appreciation as she heard AJ's soothing voice.

Butterscotch and Fluttershy walked off without any other words, and the last to leave were Twilight and Dusk...

Twilight took her place in the forest area, sitting down and concentrating. She heard the voice of Dusk from behind her.. "Concentrate. Envision the weapon that you wish to create. A spear in this case and then give form to it." She shut her eyes and her horn glowed brightly for a moment before making the vague outline of a spear before it faded away.

Dusk gave out an irritated sigh and looked at what time it was. The sun was getting ready to set, and he had been trying to get her to make a simple spear for hours. "Well we made some progress, but not enough. That's all for today." He spoke as he left a tired Twilight Sparkle in the middle of the grove, a sad pony left with her thoughts.

She steeled herself once more and poured her all into it long after Dusk had left. She would not let her friends down. She would perfect this! She almost screamed to herself inwardly. Then with a small blast of magic she fell over, unconscious.

Dusk Shine came back about an hour later, looking at the now sleeping form of the purple pony, and the all too real spear. She had taken what he had said literally. He had meant for her to make a spear out of energy Instead she solidified that energy into a physical object. He smiled and walked over to her, using his magic to wrap her in a blanked before taking the spear in his mouth and lifting her onto his back. He walked to the library and set her down on her own bed, the spear resting next to her.

This pony really did stand a chance against everything out there.

Zephyr gave a few pants as he landed on the balcony to the princesses chambers. Almost immediately he had a pair of massive weapons pointed at him, one held by a pony in heavy gold armor, the other made of pure shadow in the shape of a massive bow. The exhausted pegasus bowed before the mighty earth pony and unicorn, speaking their titles. "Lunari Phantom Star, Solari Radiant Sun. I bring a message from Lord Shining Armor."

They removed their weapons from him and they looked at each other. The Solari slumped down onto all fours and bowed his head, looking to get some sleep. This was their cycle. The Lunari would sleep during the day when things were not in his favor, and the Solari would do the same during the night.

Phantom Star spoke He was a well built unicorn A black cloak covered up most of his body but the elaborate silver greaves and chestplate were still visible underneath it. "What sort of message that would make a pegasus interrupt the Princesses' Beauty sleep?" He asked. The pegasus stood on weak legs. He had been flying for close to 20 hours nonstop. His body was burning and screaming at him for it.

"An attack, and a letter to Deliver to either Luna or Celestia." The Lunari gave him a quick glance before opening the door enough.

Zephyr walked through the door and looked at a soundly sleeping Celestia and an alert Luna staring out of the window towards the moon. She didn't turn her head. "Bring me the letter."

Zephyr did as she asked, pulling the letter out of a small pouch on his side and handing it to her. As she read it she walked over to her sister and nudged her awake. The sleepy sun goddess looked at the now somewhat intimidating pegasus as he stood looking at the two. She had been contacted earlier that day by commander Typhon, and she had to spread her own forces thin enough as it was. Now this news of the Crystal kingdom being attacked?

They had naturally held them off, but not without costs. The changelings were vicious and now reports of changeling commanders? She gave a sigh and looked at Luna, then to Zephyr, "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. You can return to The Crystal Kingdom." She spoke to the pegasus.

He merely slumped down at the thought of having to make that flight again. One time was bad enough but with a second time not even he could do that. "Or if you are tired you may rest in the barracks for a few days until you are fit enough to do so." She spoke again. The pegasus got up and gave her a grateful bow of his head before doing as she had said and tiredly walked to the barracks, falling down into one of the bunks that didn't have a soldier in it and then quickly falling asleep.

Celestia gave a sigh and started drifting back into her own sleep, "Tell the Lunari he and his soldiers will be going around to build up a militia. There is no way that we will be able to fight off the rest of the changeling army if they are already attacking us, without help that is." She spoke as she drifted back off into sleep.

Luna went outside and whispered the orders into Phantom Star's ear, and with a simple nod of his head he seemed to vanish in the multiple shadows and appear in the middle of a mass of guard, all awake and all of them training. These were the night guards, the ones they called the Lunar Legion. The personal soldiers of Princess Luna. Each one of them was a unicorn of some gifts, or a pegasus of quite able powers. They all wore a similar purple armor and had an odd sword that shadows seemed to swarm around.

As soon as his presence was known, they all stopped and gave a quick bow. "None of that. We need to build up a militia to better protect our fronts since our soldiers seem to be lacking in numbers. Now lets go, you should all be plenty awake." They all nodded and gave a small muttering of agreement even as the Lunari rushed out of the gates of Canterlot.

They followed in suit, a small army of close to 100 ponies of mixed gender, each one a mighty warrior in his or her own right. They all ran forward, their own melody playing through their heads as the approving moon of their patron gazed down upon them, seeming to reflect her mood at the time. This served to spur them on to the cities and set up small stations at each. A recruiting station for ponies for they had no other choice now. The threat was too imminent.

Either sign up and die defending your home, or don't sign up and die in it. The outcome of this battle seemed to be almost inevitable...

Ponies would die and it would take generations for everything to go back to normal. If they ever went back at all...