Spark looked out of the window of the palace meeting room. He could see for miles from the castle's high altitude - most of the Everfree Forest, Ponyville, and small parts of Fillydelphia. It really was a beautiful country, even the dark Everfree Forest had a natural beauty to it. The unicorn let his mind wander a bit as he waited for his colleagues. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the large door, followed by Gyro and Sterling Moon entering.

"You're late," Eastern said annoyed,"what kept you this time?"

"Just making sure everything we'll need for tomorrow is in order," Gyro replied,"our teams are ready to strike at any moment."

"Good, and you Sterling?" Spark questioned.

"Things are prepared in Everfree, and Luna has gone to Manehattan to deal with a small hydra problem."

"Prefect - now, when Celestia leaves to deal with our little situation in Everfree, we can set our trap. And when our moon princess returns to cover for Celestia in Royal Court, we strike," Spark said intensely. "Now my only concern is the Elite Guard..."

Spark was cut off by a low voice from the corner," You have nothing to worry about Eastern, they won't be a problem at all."

= = = = = = = = = =

Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy left Sugarcube Corner, after a long day of trying out some of Pinkie's new cupcake recipes. "Those cupcakes were simply divine, Pinkie Pie, you simply must give me the recipe," Rarity complimented.

"You really did out do yourself this time Pinkie Pie," Twilight said as they continued towards the the library,"...Pinkie Pie?" the pink pony was looking into a crowd of ponies inquisitively.

"Umm... are you okay Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked nervously, Pinkie still staring intently into the crowd.

"It's just that I've been noticing a lot of new ponies around Ponyville, and I know everypony in Ponyville, but lately there have been a whole lot of new ponies," Pinkie Pie said quickly.

"Well, maybe more ponies are just moving to Ponyville," Twilight noted.

"Maybe...OH! I have an idea! I can throw the ponies a party! Then they can get to know everypony else," Pinkie paused,"...oh, look at that - my tail's twitch-a-twitchin'!"

"That is a truly marvelous idea Pinkie Pie!" Rarity chirped.

"Yes it is..." Twilight froze," wait, what did you just say?" At that moment Rainbow Dash crashed into the group of ponies.

Pinkie Pie, who had somehow been standing on top of the pile of ponies simply squeaked out, "Hi Rainbow Dash!"

The rest of the ponies got off the ground. "How is it that you only seem to crash into us?" Twilight groaned.

"Heh, sorry girls, I lost control up in all those clouds," the cyan pegasus said looking up at the sky. It was covered in thick, light gray clouds.

"Oh my... isn't the weather team going to take care of those?" Fluttershy asked.

"That's what I was thinking, but the head of the weather division in Canterlot himself said we were supposed to let them blow over," Rainbow Dash said with Pinkie Pie still standing on her back.

"Well since you won't be so busy clearing away those big gray clouds, you should totally come to the party I'm throwing for all the new ponies in town," Pinkie Pie said happily as she bounced off Rainbow's back. "There will be balloons, and streamers, and..." Pinkie Pie rambled on carelessly as she began bouncing down the street.

Rainbow Dash laughed,"Pinkie Pie, you are so random!"

= = = = = = = = = = = =

Luna's chariot arrived in Manehattan late in the day. The mayor informed Luna, Leo and Gates that a hydra had been terrorizing farmland outside the city, saying that it seemed as if it came out of nowhere, as if somebody just dropped it right in the middle of the nearby farm.

Luna and her guards went into the very center of the farm. The princess tried to simply encourage the hydra to leave, using the powers of love and tolerance.

"You might wanna get your weapon ready, rookie, this thing doesn't look like it's gonna go down easy," Leo said intensely.

"Yes sir," Gates acknowledged and began to charge his weapon. Like most ponies in the Elite Guard, he was equipped with a magical staff that had two long areas on the end that would shock anything it touched. The staff could also fire small beams of light blue magic energy - one at a time. It was fixated on a mechanism attached to Gates' left leg, where it was compressed when it wasn’t activated. The staff began to glow blue as Gates got ready for his first real action in the Elite Guard.

"So you still say we don't need armor rookie?" Leo joked as the hydra lunged at Luna, who flew out of the way. Leo hit the hydra with a magical lightning bolt from his horn.

"Yup, if that thing gets us, we're dead, armor or no armor," Golden Gates shot back as he stepped forward and fired a beam at the massive beast. Luna flew low to the beast’s left. As its far left head snapped at her, the moon princess looped around and bucked the hydra on the top of the head.

Gates heard Leo call from behind him, "Hey rookie, gimme a lift!" he shouted as he galloped towards Gates. Jumping, the unicorn used Gates’ back as a springboard, soaring through the air. Leo's horn began to glow as he flipped with incredible speed, quickly becoming a wheel of magical energy. He crashed into the hydra's head. The hydra had trouble even getting that head back off the ground after that blow.

Gates took the opportunity to get on the hydra's back, shocking it it with his staff several times on the way up. He weaved around the hydra's necks and with some help from Luna, he managed to get the far right and middle left heads tied together. As Gates hopped off running in front of the hydra, the mid-right head lunged at him, but Leo created a brilliant flash of light from his horn making the hydra miss.

The three took that time to regroup. "You two go to the right and hit it from a distance, it's time to finish this," Luna said tiredly. Gates and Leo moved to the right, firing magical beams and lightning at the hydra, which barely phased it. Luna hit the hydra on the right with a magical pulse, throwing it off balance. She wrapped her magic around the monsters tail, attempting to sling it into the distance. The hydra took this close engagement as a time to strike. Leo and Gates both attempted to hit the hydra's head with magic energy. Leo's shot missed the mark, but Gates' seemed to prevent it from taking a bite out of the princess. Luna tossed the massive beast through the air. It crashed to the ground, and slowly whimpered away, knowing it had been beaten. Cheers erupted from the crowd of ponies that had gathered to watch the spectacle.

Luna had just raised the moon when the celebration began. All three of the ponies where exhausted after the fight.

''You handled yourself well out there rookie, I gotta say, I'm impressed," Leo said proudly. It was clear they were both beat, the Elite Guard rarely got action on this level. Leo was certain there was something different about that hydra - it seemed stronger than other ones the Guard had faced. His thoughts were cut short by a pegasus flying towards the princess.

Clearly exhausted from a long flight he panted,"Your Highness, I have an urgent message from Canterlot..."

Next Chapter: Chapter Three - Calm Before the Storm Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 24 Minutes