Briggs rushed through the thick forest, dodging energy bolts that were raining down from Hazel's scouts above. Briggs was lucky, he was able to weave through the branches higher in the canopy, providing him with better cover. His friends below didn't have the luxury of wings, or the luxury of advanced military flight training. He looked up at the beige pegasus above. Briggs tried to figure out a way to bring Hazel to the ground without being shot out of the sky by the other soldiers swarming around him, firing down on his friends.

Gates, Twilight, and Fluttershy galloped as fast as they could through the lush terrain. Jumping over rocks and small streams, trying desperately to avoiding facing the same fate as all of their friends. Fluttershy weaved between the trunks of trees, having to use a lot of energy just to stay off of the ground. She knew all to well that if she tried to get away with her hooves on the ground, she would trip up and get herself caught. Or worse, have one of her friends be taken away. Fluttershy had barely held things together when Applejack was still around. Now, she felt like a shell of the pony she had used to be. Her friends were the things she had cherished most in her life. And now most of them were gone. For all she knew they could be dead. Chills ran down her spine at the very thought of such an idea. Fluttershy knew she couldn't think like that. She had to hold out hope that somehow, some way, they would be okay.

Gates stopped, turned and fired at the pegasi who were attacking, hitting one on the wing, causing him to crash into another. Gates wasn't left with any time to rest, he ran as fast as he could to catch back up to his friends. He had to think of a way to lose them. He knew they wouldn’t be able to beat them. Not like this; they were all beaten up pretty badly after their fight with the minotaurs, now they were in unfamiliar territory and heavily outnumbered.

Briggs slowed down within the canopy and waited for the flock of pegasi to pass overhead, waiting for his opportunity to rise up above the tree line and take out a few of their attackers.

The brown pegasus broke through the trees just before the scout on the tail end of the pack was about to pass. Briggs grappled with him, breaking his staff off of it's brace. He dove back into the treeline, still with his adversary in his grasp. He charged towards a large tree truck and broke off just before the pair hit the surface. The light-green pegasus he had been wrestling with had crashed headlong into the tree, and slid down the truck to the ground.

Briggs streaked out of the trees once more and rose high above the team of pegasi. He searched for Hazel in the crowd and finally spotted him at at the front of the pack. Briggs lined up Hazel and dove at the caramel pegasus from above. One of the scout's tailing behind Hazel shouted out a warning," Do a barrel roll!" Hazel looked back and saw Briggs streaking towards him out of the corner of his eye. He rolled through the air as Briggs rushed by, being singed with dozens of magical bolts. He fell through the canopy as Hazel ordered all of his scouts to dive into the treeline.

Briggs' wings hurt like they never had before. He had no doubt that he had fractured at least one of the bones that ran through each wing. He flapped his broken wings frantically, just barely managing to hit the ground in stride, now running alongside his friends.

The soldiers were now weaving through the trees behind them, firing at the fleeing ponies with opportunity they were presented. Gates looked to the side and saw one one the scouts flying next to him just a few feet away. The pegasus swooped in and swung it's staff at Gates' side. Gates raised his own and blocked the attack, locking his staff with his opponent's. The gray earth pony rolled to ground and whipped his staff violently, sending the pegasus rolling to the ground ahead of Gates and his friends. The soldier was left to be run over by the small herd of ponies.

The four ponies came across a small cliff in the terrain ahead. Briggs and Fluttershy passed over the obstruction with ease, just flapping their wings a few times and gliding over it before putting their hooves back on the ground and running. Gates cleared the cliff with a well timed jump but turned as he saw Twilight suddenly stop behind him. She hadn't been able to make it all the way up the cliff. Two soldiers landed next to the impeded unicorn. Gates fired his weapon, hitting one square in the head. He bucked the other off of his friend as he ran to her aid. Gates pulled her over the edge as quickly as he could, but froze as a shadow fell over him.

Fluttershy and Briggs looked at the sky and saw Hazel floating over their two friends with a slight smirk on his face. The harness wrapped around his chest was glowing. Fluttershy gulped nervously, she knew that could only mean one thing. She closed her eyes tight. Fluttershy couldn't bear to lose her friends. She couldn't be left alone. After all they had been through, this was how it ended. Weeks of fighting, weeks of running, weeks of fear and now it was all coming to end. Her whole world was crashing down around her, and there wasn't a thing she could do to save it. The only pony who could save everything was about to be swallowed by a mysterious portal of unfathomable power. There was nothing she could do. Tears fell from her eyes before she realized that there was one thing she could do.

The next thing she knew, she was diving in front of Gates and Twilight. She hit the ground below hard as she found herself surround in magical energy. The last thing she could remember was seeing her two friends staring in disbelief at the portal before she was pulled completely in.

Gates and Twilight began to turn and run back to Briggs before the remaining guards landed in a semi-circle around them. Hazel landed in front of Gates and approached him slowly.

"It's a real shame you know?" Hazel said in a cocky tone," you came so far, you were so close!" He turned and looked away from Gates with his eyes on the sky. "Then again, you weren't all that close. You really didn't have to try so hard to be reunited with you friends. You could have just allowed the authorities to bring you in through one of these portals. It will take you to the same place you're heading. There you can live out the rest of your miserable lives with the ponies you love."

"I wouldn't sound so smug, Hazel," Gates said annoyed," as soon as we bust in there and rescue Celestia and Luna, it's all over for you and your little uprising."

"If you were to rescue the two 'royal' sisters, maybe," Hazel replied with a devilish smile," but you're a long way from Canterlot aren't you?"

"Canterlot?" Gates asked quickly," what the hay are you-"

"Yes, Canterlot," Hazel went on," when Spark executes the princess in Canterlot two days from now it'll all be over. What? You didn't think we had everything just hidden away in the forest? This is a government, and when Spark gives the order for the death of the so-called 'true rulers of Equestria', it will the government that rules this nation. And for once in thousands of years, it will rule it the right way."

Gates didn't know what to say. There was no way they could storm the old castle and get to Canterlot and save Celestia and Luna in time. They didn't have enough ponies to help, they didn't have supplies, and they didn't have time. It seemed completely hopeless, but he couldn't just give up. He could still win, he always did. When the smoke cleared, no matter what, Gates was always still standing strong, no matter what had been thrown at him.

"Well, I have to be in Canterlot by morning," Hazel said, finishing his speech,' please, give Dauphin my regards, his plan worked absolutely splendidly if you ask me."

"Yeah," Gates said as he saw something moving in the branches above," you can tell him yourself." Briggs streaked towards Hazel, flipped in the air and hit the beige pegasus in the side with his hind legs. Hazel was thrown backwards into the portal behind him.

Twilight thought quickly as she turned her attention the guards surrounding them. Her eye fell upon a medium-sized log lying on the ground a short just behind the crowd of ponies. She lifted it into the air and rammed it into the guards, sending half of them sprawling into the portal. Gates rolled to avoid being knocked into the portal. He knocked the legs out from under two guards with his staff and he kicked another soldier into the portal with his hind legs. He knocked the remaining two back into the portal with his staff just before it closed.

The three ponies left in the darkness of the forest walked a short way in the direction they were heading before stopping a short distance away from the chasm where Rainbowdash had been tempted by the Shadowbolts the first time Twilight had been to the castle.

"So is it over, Gates," Twilight asked grimly," did they win?" It was a good question. It looked like there was no possible way they could win.

"It's not over 'til it's over Twi'," Gates replied without actually answering the question. The question was whether or not it was already over.

"I don't know if we can get Canterlot in time to save the princesses," Briggs commented," we might not get another shot at freeing everypony in there."

'What are you trying to say, Briggs?" Gates asked lowly. He already knew what Briggs was getting at, he just didn't want to think of it on his own. He didn't want to think about what Briggs was going to say. The sad truth was that he had to. Whether he wanted to or not.

"What I'm saying is..." Briggs hesitated, he didn't want to say what he was about to say," I'm saying that maybe Celestia and Luna are lost causes. We might still have a chance at winning this thing."

"I was hoping it wouldn't end up like this," Gates walked over to a nearby tree and slammed his hoof into the trunk, leaving a indentation in the now broken bark. "Maybe you're right... flank, I hate saying that."

Twilight racked her brain for an idea, anything that could help them save everypony. Save themselves. Save their friends. Then an idea came to her head. An idea that made her stomach turn. "There is one way we can save them..." Twilight said uneasily," I could go into the castle alone. I can free everypony inside while you two go and save the princesses in Canterlot."

"Twilight I could never ask you to-" he stopped himself mid-sentence, Gates could tell by the look in Twilight's eyes that she wouldn't let him talk he rout of it if there was any chance of them pulling it off," you don't think you could actually handle whatever is waiting on the other side of those doors alone, do you?"

"I can get as far as saving our friends in there," Twilight replied, going on to answer Gates' next question before he even asked," I know they're in there, and I know I can save them. I promise you I can get that far. What happens after that.... I don't know. The one thing I can guarantee is that I can pass the torch."

Gates gave Briggs a look, trying to find a flaw in Twilight's plan. If it worked, there weren't any flaws. Gates hated that, because he knew that meant being separated from yet another one of his friends, and this time... it was a suicide mission. Gates exhaled deeply, trying to cope with the idea. It was a suicide mission, but it would work.

"I guess if you're that confident, Briggs and I can find a way to beat Spark in Canterlot," Gates hated himself for what he was saying.

“It's settled then," Briggs went on," let's win ourselves a war. Gates,we should get going if we want to get to Canterlot in time."

Twilight gave a nod as she turned to go towards the ancient castle. Gates said in a barely audible tone," good luck."

Briggs and Gates only walked for a short time before Gates turned to Briggs," You know, you could get to Canterlot a lot faster if you flew. You could scout out what we've got ahead of us and we'll meet up outside the city tomorrow night."

"That's not a bad idea, rookie," Briggs remarked,” but are you sure you can handle the forest alone?"

Gates shrugged,"Wouldn’t be the first time. I'll be fine, you should really go on ahead. We need every advantage we can get."

"Alright, Gold," Briggs said as he patted Gates on the shoulder," good luck, see you soon." Briggs galloped a little faster and then flapped his wings quickly, and winced slightly with pain from the fight earlier. He shook of the pain and took off, flying through the canopy of the forest and towards Canterlot.

Just like that, Gates found himself alone. Again.

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

Spark walked into Luna's dark, cold cell at the top of Canterlot Tower. His horn glowed as he lifted the broken alicorn to her hooves, resting her against the wall so she would stay standing while he spoke.

"Well, Luna," Spark began," you have two days. I thought you might be happy to know that your people will be perfectly fine under my rule. Albeit it wasn't intended to be ruled by me solely, but we all know how war goes."

"Yes, I'm sure they'll be just fine under the iron hoof of it's first dictator," Luna scoffed in disgust at the unicorn.

"Don't be so hostile, Luna," Spark returned calmly," know that I never intended for there to be so much violence. I never expected so much trouble from Dauphin's elites. But fear not, I have a very simple solution for defeating these two rogues." Spark waited a few moments before continuing, he wanted to enjoy his final conversation with the princess. He would only get the opportunity once more, and he had no plans of small talk when that time came to pass.

"It really was a very simple solution, I'm a little disappointed I hadn't thought of it earlier," Spark continued his speech," but that isn't really of any concern to you. I'm certain that you'll be happy to learn that I've fixed my problem with raising the sun and moon day after day."

"Just how would you do that Spark?" Luna asked mockingly," we all know that you're far too weak to even attempt such a spell."

"Hmmm," Spark laughed to himself," that may be true. But you are certainly strong enough milady." Luna turned her head and looked Spark in the eyes, trying to figure out what he was getting at. "You see, it's a fairly similar spell to the one I used to link Sterling, Gyro, and my own energies together. I would simply take some power from you when I execute you, giving me more than enough power to keep days and nights going by as they were before."

"You're sick Spark, you-" Luna was cut off by Spark finishing his lecture.

"It truly is amazing," Spark said," ponies search their whole lives to find power on their own, when in reality some of the greatest powers are just sitting there for the taking. Hay, at this rate I can become more powerful than you and your sister ever will or ever could have been, and Equestria along with me." Spark turned to leave the room before offering his last words of 'solace.'

"So I assure you, Luna, Equestria will be just fine without you living in it. I think it's high time you learn to accept that. Just keep in mind that you are making Equestria a truly great place, even if you aren't alive to see it."

Next Chapter: Chapter Twenty Two - Alone Estimated time remaining: 57 Minutes