Well this was a fun chapter to write. Good thing too. Life's been pretty inconsistent for me lately (I'll spare you the details) so it felt good to escape into the world of writing for a bit. Hope you all enjoy what I've managed to conjure up this time. And please don't forget to review!

Chapter Two – Army Strong

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Rainbow Dash

Sunlight crept through her window and fell onto her face early in the morning. Dash peeked open one eye, and rolled over to the other side of her bed. She was still too tired to wake up. Last night's spectacular failure to make Twilight feel better had left her with only a few hours to sleep. She was awake now, and there would be no changing that, but Rainbow didn't see anything wrong with just lying in bed for a little while.

A knocking on the door told the exact opposite was going to happen to her.

"Dashie, wake up!" Pinkie Pie's ecstatic early morning voice called out through her door. "The Princess wants all of us downstairs in a few minutes, and I think there's going to be waffles!"

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but grin at Pinkie's delighted attitude. The happiness rapidly declined as Dash soon remembered the events of the past few days. As the cyan pegasus pushed her heavy comforter off her body, she wondered to herself how Pinkie could keep such a positive mood almost all the time.

Before exiting her room, Dash glanced at herself in the mirror and noticed that her mane had been more or less attacked by her pillow last night. She took a moment to straighten it to its usual style.

This particular habit was one Dash had only just picked up. Normally, the cyan pegasus' hair would fall into place after a few minutes of flying. If she didn't get an opportunity to fly, normally she would just ignore it. Something recently had made that change.

Whatever it was, Dash didn't dote on it. She opened the door to the hallway to see a smiling pink face on the other side. Pinkie's excited energy was enough to get Dash to crack her first smile of the day.

"Glad you're up Dashie, let's go." Pinkie Pie said. The two of them started to walk down the hallway towards the dining area. "I'm pretty sure the waffles are going to have chocolate chips in them, though I'm not entirely to sure. I stopped by the kitchen earlier today to ask the chef, but he asked me to leave after I'd been talking to him for ten minutes and I'm not sure why. Anyways, they could be chocolate chip, or they could be blueberry. I'm not picky either way, but then again chocolate chip waffles are some of my most favorite-ist breakfast foods in the world…"

The party pony droned on as the two made their way throughout the castle. Dash didn't mind too much, but there was something she noticed. Pinkie's signature bouncey walk was absent this morning. It was a subtle nuance that most ponies would have missed, but Dash had known Pinkie for years. The pink mare, despite her happy demeanor, was still shaken up a little from last night. Rainbow didn't blame her.

It wasn't long before the two made it to the dining hall of Canterlot Castle. The dining hall was likely the second largest room in the entire castle, rivaled only by Celestia and Luna's throne room. The lengthy table in the center of the room stretched from end to end, and looked as though it could seat about a hundred ponies. This morning, however, it was only seating three.

Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rarity were all sitting down on the far end of the table. Each had a fair amount of breakfast food in front of them, including the waffles that Pinkie rumored about. A quick survey told Dash that Twilight and Frostburn were still missing.

"Hooray! They do have waffles!" Pinkie joyously shouted. Three heads turned to see a pink blur barrel towards their end of the table.

The party pony immediately began helping herself to the large spread of food that was on the table. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and hovered over to join her friends. By the time she got there, Pinkie Pie had taken the lion's share of waffles.

"Wow, how great of Princess Celestia to include syrup too! Then again, what's a good waffle with some syrup? Boy, she certainly has a lot. Let's see, there's blueberry, hazelnut, pecan… OOoooooh! She has strawberry syrup too?! That's like the bestest kind!"

The pink mare did not cease chatting non-stop about the syrup selection, despite an attempt from Rarity to calm her down. Dash took a seat in between Fluttershy and Applejack. Leaning over to the orange farmer, she asked, "What exactly happened with Twilight last night?" The yellow pegasus besider her leaned in as well.

"She wouldn't even open her door." Applejack said.

"I feel awful about not being there for her." Spike said, joining the conversation. "We should have tried harder, or something."

"Spike, there weren't nothing we could do. We'll just hafta talk ta Twi whenever she makes it downstairs." Applejack replied.

"That may be sooner than you think." Fluttershy interjected. The yellow pegasus pointed with her hoof across the table.

Following the direction with her eyes, Dash saw a purple unicorn entering the room. Everypony became silent as Twilight slowly walked in. Even Pinkie silenced herself from discussing syrup flavors.

The bleary-eyed mare said nothing as she slowly walked the length of the table, levitated a plate with a single waffle, and sat down. She barely looked at her friends. She barely acknowledged them. And – as far as Dash could tell – She barely held back her tears.

"Umm… Twilight?" Fluttershy tentatively began. "Are you feeling any better?"

The purple mare's lips pressed together as she tightly shut her eyes and shook her head.

"Ya'll still need some time before ya wanna talk?" Applejack inquired. Twilight nodded.

Spike, who was closest to the lavender unicorn, put a claw on her shoulder and said, "It's okay Twilight, I… we understand. Take all the time you need." The purple unicorn put on a brave smile and nodded a little.

A weary looking ice-blue pegasus was next in the room. His presence was dully noted by each of the ponies, but only Rainbow Dash and Rarity partially turned some of their attention from Twilight to him. Frostburn seemed to have gotten the least amount of sleep out all of them. Either that, or he had not slept much since arriving in Canterlot. He quietly made his way to the table, taking an empty seat at the edge of the group next to Rarity. Silently, Dash resented this, but her slight animosity to Frostburn's seating choice was soon replaced by a new thought.

Rainbow realized that this was the first time they were all in the same spot since Pinkie's One Hundredth Party Bonanza. They had all silently drifted in two days, trying to make sense of what happened. Fluttershy seemed to vanish and reappear every few hours, never telling anypony where she had been. Pinkie had been cleaning the throne room by herself, insisting that she had to dig through the debris to find a few mementos of the epic party. Twilight spent some time in the library, at least until learning of the disappearances, and Spike had been with her for the most part. Applejack had really just been wandering aimlessly. Rainbow had been wandering too, but with more of a purpose. Both she and Rarity had been searching for Frostburn, who had been very reclusive in the past two days.

As for Rarity and Rainbow, they searched, but not together. Despite the reconciliation they had had in the Crystal Empire, they hadn't interacted much. It was an ambience of cold indifference whenever they did.

Now all eight of them were in the same room, Dash could only wonder what was about to happen.

Aside from a few awkward eye glances around the table, and a few stifled sniffles from Twilight… not much. It wasn't until the princesses arrived that things began to happen.

Celestia appeared in the room in a very underwhelming fashion. In fact, Dash didn't notice her arrival at first. The Princess of the Sun was flanked by her sister, and one or two royal advisors. The rest of the Mane Six, Spike, and Frostburn began to take notice of the coalition heading their way. Princess Celestia walked alongside the table parallel to Twilight, stopping just before she reached her student.

"Good morning, everypony." Princess Celestia said to the group.

"Good morning, Princess." Eight voices replied.

Silence.

"Have you tried the waffles yet?" Pinkie asked suddenly, mouth full of breakfast foods. "They taste a-maz-ing!"

Celestia smiled thoughtfully. "I'm sure they do." Her expression darkened slightly. "I assume you all are wondering why I've called you all here."

Several pairs of eyes focused on the white alicorn. Dash heard Pinkie swallow her waffles. The Princess spoke, though her words were more clearly meant for the mares in the room.

"I'll get straight to the point then." The Princess declared. "In these dire times of war, it's important that we do everything we can to end the fight before any civilians get hurt. Because you six wield the Elements of Harmony, weapons that have restored balance to Equestia many times already, I would like to ask that each of you travel to the front lines and lead the Elements into battle to defeat the changeling army."

The first pony to react was Pinkie, who began choking on her waffles. Whether it was from excitement or shock Dash couldn't tell. As Applejack help Pinkie recover, the rest of the Mane Six looked at the Princess in disbelief.

"You can't be serious!" Rarity almost screamed. Then she realized whom it was she was almost screaming at and calmed down.

Fluttershy's eyes widened in fear and discomfort. "Are… are you sure?" She squeaked out.

"I am quite sure." Celestia said. "You six have faced danger before and overcome it. Is defending Equestria from the changeling armies any different?"

Glances were exchanged between the ponies. "Well…" Twilight began. "We've never actually led an army into battle before."

"I understand that this is a lot to ask." Princess Celestia admitted as she surveyed the ponies of the group – namely Rarity and Fluttershy – who still looked unsure. "However, I give you my assurance that you will be safe."

"As safe as you can be on the front lines of a war." One of the advisors muttered. A quick glance from Celestia shut him up.

"And you won't be going alone." The Princess of the Sun continued. With that remark, the deep blue alicorn next to her stepped forward.

"I will be accompanying you into battle." Princess Luna said. More eyes widened. Dash had to admit that going into battle with nothing but a necklace shaped like a red lightning bolt was not too promising. However, having a goddess fight alongside them was an entirely different story.

"I realize how big a request I am asking each of you." Princess Celestia said. "But it is only a request. I will not force any of you into the front lines of this war against your will."

"I'm in." Twilight said, standing up. Spike looked at her with the most shock, unable to comprehend what just happened. Dash however, noticed that the solemn look in Twilight's eye had been replaced by something more defiant. It took her a second to process the purple unicorn's sudden change of attitude, but Dash understood. Twilight had an opportunity for revenge against the monsters that had taken her brother and sister-in-law. And she was going to take it.

"Ah'm in too." A southern accent that belonged to Applejack said.

"Me too." Dash said, her heart beating in excitement. She could see herself now on the battlefield, taking down changelings left and right. Adrenaline coursed through her just thinking about it.

"Let's do it!" Pinkie declared, before shoving another waffle in her mouth.

"… I suppose I'll be going as well." Rarity said. "Provided that I can make a more fashionable military uniform than what is currently offered." Dash got the feeling that the white unicorn was only half-joking.

There was only one mare that had yet to choose. Several pairs of eyes turned to Fluttershy, who was practically shaking from all the attention. It was clear the timid pegasus was not at all comfortable with going to war, or letting her friends down. Dash could only wonder which of Fluttershy's conflicting views would win out.

"I… I'll go." Fluttershy said, avoiding looking anypony in the eye.

"Excellent." Princess Celestia said. "And Frostburn…"

The red-haired pegasus – who had been watching the whole ordeal with an unreadable expression – glanced up at the white alicorn.

"I would like you to also be at the front lines." She said. Dash's heart skipped a beat. The cyan pegasus could hardly contain her excitement about going not only to the frontlines, but about having Frostburn at her side as well.

Frostburn, however, didn't share her thoughts. His irises shrunk to the size of a bit, before he said, "What?"

"I was hoping you would also be a part of the battle. Your power alone could…"

"NO!" Frostburn shouted. An icy silence permeated the room suddenly.

"I'm sorry." The Princess said confused. "But I've been led to believe you're in control of…"

"I'm not." Frostburn said.

"But… on the train…" Dash said. "You were able to control your ice powers. You saved me."

"I know what happened on the train." Frostburn said. "But my power is still unstable."

"Are you certain?" Princess Celestia asked. "Perhaps you simply haven't–"

"My power is still unstable." Frostburn said adamantly. "My answer is no." He stood up from his seat swiftly. Before Celestia, Luna, or even Dash could react, Frostburn firmly walked out of the dining room, slamming the door behind him.

It was quiet for a moment. Princess Celestia looked by far the most shocked, not used to having ponies speak to her that way.

"What in tar nation was that all about?" Applejack asked, speaking everypony's mind.

Rarity gingerly stood up. "Perhaps I should go talk to him." She said.

Dash reacted quickly. "I'll go." She said, already hovering.

"Oh don't worry, dearie." Rarity said. "I've got this one."

"No." Dash said through clenched teeth. "I've got it."

"Fer heaven's sakes!" Applejack said. "Both of ya go."

After a brief pause, both the cyan pegasus and the white unicorn both made a mad break for the door, pushing each other out of the way to get through.

---

Shining Armor

A splitting pain tore through his hind leg when a loose thorn bush reopened an already fresh wound. Despite gritting his teeth, the white unicorn could not suppress the grunt of pain that escape his mouth. His wife, Princess Cadence, gave him an empathic grimace. She had similar – if not worse – wounds of her own, and knew the pain he was feeling.

The dark brown Earth pony walking just ahead of was not as understanding.

"Hurry up." Sergeant Swift Sword said. "We've got to put more distance between ourselves and the Empire by nightfall." The dark brown stallion did not have nearly as severe wounds as Shining Armor or Cadence. Aside from a grazing cut on his chest and a fresh set of bite marks covering his forelegs and back, the sergeant had suffered very little during the onslaught of the Crystal Empire.

Shining Armor bit his lip and said, "All right" in a very resentful tone. He hoisted Cadence's foreleg around his neck (for she couldn't walk without assistance) and tried to pick up his pace. He shouldn't speak to Swift Sword with resentment. After all, the sergeant had saved their lives when they came out of the Empire. Shining had collapsed from exhaustion and pain, and Swift Sword found him before the changeling search parties had. The brown pony had allowed them to rest for a day, before insisting they begin a trek through the Gemstone Forest to find help.

Even though the Gemstone Forest was relatively small – so small that it almost never appeared on any official Equestrian maps - the trio had a rough time going through it. Princess Cadence had severe injuries from the battle and could not walk for very long periods of time without needing rest. Shining's own wounds would have done the same, had it not been for his physical fitness, and resolve to keep pace with Swift Sword. But despite all of that, he would scarcely be able to move without using his spear as a walking stick.

The dark brown pony resumed walking, pausing only when he needed to use his sword to clear a path. Shining Armor moved forward too, but much more cautiously. His wife was wheezing heavily with each step. The white unicorn was no doctor, but he assumed that Cadence's broken rib had also punctured one of her lungs. She needed medical attention soon. Unfortunately there was none for miles.

"Swift." He said when the sergeant was beginning to get too far ahead. The brown stallion's head whipped around. "We've been hiking for hours. It's time for a break."

For a moment, he feared the sergeant would refuse, however his expression softened when he saw the weak and weary Cadence give him a pleading look.

"Fine." The Earth pony said, sheathing his sword. "You can rest. But no longer than a few minutes."

Shining Armor slowly unhooked his wife's hoof from around his neck and gently helped her to sit down. Breathing heavily, Shining also sat down, letting his spear lie on the dirt next to him. They avoided conversation, leaving the only sound to be a few straggling breaths and the buzzing of insects.

"How… could this… have happened?" Cadence asked. With each breath the distraught pink alicorn took, her voice came out raspier. It made Shining want to wince.

"I can think of one reason." Swift Sword said, voice grim. "You've probably heard of him. The outlaw known as Frostburn."

Shining Armor felt his eyebrow rise, despite the tear jerking pain it caused. "What makes you blame him?" He asked cautiously. Both he and Cadence knew Frostburn. The blue pegasus was an interesting case to say the least. But being the cause of the changeling invasion was not something Shining Armor considered a possibility.

Swift Sword's steely gray eyes glanced away temporarily. Then he spoke, "Before that outlaw showed up, the Crystal Empire was fine. Once he arrived, an entire army of changelings attacked. You fill in the rest."

Shining Armor narrowed his eyes. "You're certainly insinuating a lot, aren't you Sergeant?" He asked.

Sergeant Swift Sword returned the glare. "Just a hell of a coincidence if you ask me." The two stallions did not break from their intense gaze. The only sound that could be heard was the occasionally hoarse breath from Princess Cadence.

Then a twig snapped.

Shining and Swift reacted immediately. The white unicorn's spear was in his hoof and pointed to the sound of the noise. The Sergeant had redrawn his weapon. The two stood side to side, guarding over Princess Cadence. All animosity between the two had suddenly dissipated, as they waited tensely.

An annoyed hiss came from behind a tree, and slowly, three changelings emerged. They sized up the two stallions in front of them. The changeling standing in front grinned manically.

"Three of them. Two of us." Swift said. "I'm not liking these odds."

"One of me is worth three of them." Shining said, a determined glint in his eye. Swift Sword eyed the white unicorn's mangled leg.

"Even in your current state?" He asked. Shining gritted his teeth and did not reply.

"It's the princess." The shortest changeling spoke with recognition in his voice.

"And her husband." The burliest changeling added.

"Apprehend them." The lead changeling ordered.

"What about the brown one?" Short Changeling asked, meaning Swift Sword.

"Expendable." Lead Changeling replied.

They all rushed forward, their bodies becoming a gray blur. The Short Changeling and Burly Changeling went straight for Swift Sword, probably expecting an easy kill. The sergeant did not comply.

The brown stallion lived up to his name as his weapon leaped through the air, slicing open a wound on Short Changeling. A sharp kick sent it sprawling. Swift had little time to gloat over his victory before Burly Changeling launched several well-aimed strikes at once. Swift deflected a good deal of them with his sword, and that left only a few punches that glanced off his chest and sides.

Shining Armor had his hooves full with Lead Changeling. Clearly the more expert fighter of the three, Lead Changeling could deftly dodge the stabbing motions Shining made with his spear. He changed tactics, and swung the blunt end in a wide arc, hoping to catch the changeling off guard. The bug-beast – as blind as it was – heard the spear whistling through the air. It leaned back just enough for the spear to pass by harmless. Shining wasn't done yet, however. As soon as the changeling leaned back in, the white unicorn reversed the direction of his spear, and cracked the unexpecting changeling on the side of its head.

Lead reeled in pain for a moment, before retaliating. Its holed leg snapped forward, colliding with Shining's already weakened hindleg. He felt a painful snap, and fell to the ground. Lead Changeling stood over him, already gloating.

"One of you is worth three of us, huh?" It sarcastically repeated. The changeling prepared for a finishing blow. Before he could, a beam of light blue magic struck him across the head and sent him flying.

Shining turned his head to see Cadence just as a blue glow was fading from her horn. His eyes silently thanked her and inquired how she still had enough strength for that spell.

"Weak…" She croaked out in response. "…Not helpless."

Shining turned his head to see Swift, who was driving his sword through the neck of Burly Changeling. After the sick noise of the changeling drowning in its own blood, it died.

Swift Sword wiped the blood off his weapon in the forest brush. He turned his head to the royals. "Break's over." Was all he said.