"What the-? Pinkie Pie!?" Twilight couldn't believe the pink earth pony was there, hugging the daylights out of a very surprised Rainbow Dash and seemingly oblivious the the battle around her. Looking the way she had came, Twilight saw a scene straight out of the days before the war. A line was cleared in the battlefield, ponies picking themselves up off the ground completely bewildered at the pink blob that had knocked them aside.

"Fluttershy?" It was Applejack and Rarity who had spoken. Sure enough, there was a very frightened and apologetic looking Fluttershy piled awkwardly on top of the other two ponies. Twilight just stared, trying to let her brain catch up with what just happened.

"Oops! No time for hugs!" said Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and off of Rainbow Dash (and narrowly being missed by a spell, but she didn't notice), who didn't move as she was apparently trying to process it all. "We gotta get going! STAT!"

Pinkie Pie inhaled sharply and pulled a megaphone out of her hair, and knowing what that meant all five of the other ponies dove to the ground, covering their ears.

"OVER HEEEEERRREEEEEE!" she bellowed, freezing the entire battlefield for a moment as they recoiled from the noise. Twilight even felt her mane get blown back by the sound waves. She got up dizzily as her ears rang, the only sound on the suddenly quiet battlefield the sound of an approaching cart.

Carriage actually, being pulled by two earth ponies that Twilight and the others knew from Ponyville: Dr. Hooves and Goldengrape. They were pelting at full speed through the swath that Pinkie had paved through the scene, while two pegasi they also recognized as Derpy and Blue, were flying low escort. Well, Blue October was. Derpy was taking her usual lazy path through the sky, happily oblivious to the battle-worn pegasi staring at them in shock.

The truck-style carriage skidded to a stop, back end open and facing Twilight. Actually, it looked more like a prison cart.

"OKAY! LET'S GET GOING!" yelled Pinkie excitedly. In one swift motion, she picked up Rainbow Dash and tossed her into the carriage (oof!), before turning and tackle-hugging Twilight.

"Wait, Pinkie! No! What're you- aaaagh!" Pinkie tossed Twilight in a heap into the carriage, landing ungracefully on top of Rainbow Dash.  Almost simultaneously, Fluttershy and Blue had scooped up Applejack before she could react and had pushed her in (Fluttershy saying sorry all the way), to be joined moments later by Rarity after Pinkie Pie had grabbed her before she could blink. Pinkie Pie then slammed shut the door and fiddled for a moment with what sounded like a lock.

"Ok, what's goin' on," muttered Applejack, who was hooves over head on one side of the carriage and scrambling to right herself. Before she could do so, the carriage lurched forward.

"Hey, wait!" Finally somepony outside was reacting, snapping out of the shocked stupor. The sounds of battle began to raise once again.

"They got Princess Twilight!"

"Stop them!"

-----

What in name of sweet applesauce am I doing!!?? thought Fluttershy as she held onto the top of the carriage with the battle coming to life once again around her. This plan was sounding more and more crazy with every passing second and Fluttershy was beginning to question her own sanity for agreeing with it.

An arrow embedded in the carriage roof a tail length from Fluttershy. We will never survive this! she thought frantically as she crouched her body closer like a cat. Why couldn't everypony just talk it through?

"Fluttershy! We gotta - eek- we gotta keep the way in front clear!" Blue called out, dodging attacks as she flew low. "I'll keep them off behind us, you and Pinkie should watch the front!"

"Yoooouuuu got it!" Pinkie Pie jumped up, landing with her legs on either side of the cowering Fluttershy.

"Party Cannon time!" Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out her trademark cannon and placed it on the front of the carriage. It fired in an a loud array of confetti and party decorations at high velocity, easily batting the ponies converging in the path of the fleeing carriage aside.

They finally busted past the last of the battle lines, leaving more than one pony in the dust, but it wasn't over.

"Fluttershy, you gotta help me! There are a bunch of pegasi coming and they don't look happy!" Blue October exclaimed from behind. Fluttershy got up shakily and took off into the air. Above them she could see several ponies, all of whom she actually recognized as the team that Rainbow Dash had formed in Ponyville and Cloudsdale. And they looked especially scary with their armor and wing swords flashing down.

"Make a twister!" Fluttershy and Blue began flying in a circle, their pegasi magic gathering the wind to form a tornado in the path of Rainbow Six's members, forcing them to peel off. The carriage shot on unabated, Blue primarily controlling the small twister to follow the carriage while Fluttershy went back to holding on for dear life to the roof.

-----

"Fluttershy! I'm warning you if you don't let us out, I'm gonna....gonna," Rainbow Dash sputtered, not sure exactly what she would do the the gentle pegasus or the bouncing pink pony for that matter.

"There ya go, talkin' before ya think, Rainbow Dash," said Applejack cuttingly, finally righting herself in the bouncing carriage.

"Oh, you're one to talk Applejack," spat Twilight.

"Oh yeah?" Applejack shot back, getting nose to nose with Twilight. Rainbow Dash shoved her back, placing herself between Applejack and Twilight just as Rarity tried to do the same but thought differently of it.

"Keep talking, Applejack, and we'll finish what we started two nights ago!" said Rainbow Dash, flaring her wings. Suddenly Rainbow looked perplexed, then shocked realization came over her face.

"Wait! Where did my Pegasi Blades go?" she cried, searching over her wings and then around the carriage wildly.

"Silly Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie was hanging down from the room and looking in the barred window of the carriage. "You could of poked somepony's eye out with those things!"

"Wait... what... when... huh?" Rainbow sputtered. Pinkie Pike had managed to take off an incredibly complicated contraption that had been practically glued to her feathers without Rainbow even noticing!

Applejack was laughing at the pegasi's confusion, though was interrupted when the wagon bounced her from the bench and onto the floor, which Twilight took a turn to laugh at, earning a glare from the earth pony. Rarity was struggling to look dignified, but had already been so ruffled from the battle before and now a bumpy cart ride that it was a hopeless endeavor, and it was finally straining her patience.

"Well, I for one am not just going to let them take us where they wish. We do have magic after all," she said with a huff. Rarity concentrated, remembering her fantastically improved piercing spell, and aimed at the back door. Before she could, however, Pinkie Pie suddenly reached in with her unnaturally long reach and flicked Rarity's horn. The simple act broke her concentration and she fell backwards in surprise. Nopony had done that to her since Sweetie Bell before the war, and it was enough to stupefy Rarity for the moment.

"Pinkie! Stop messing with us!" Twilight called out in frustration. "Where are you all taking us?"

"Are ya helping us out to win, Pinkie Pie?" Applejack perked up. They had just taken one of Celestia's leaders after all.

"Give me a break, Applejack. Pinkie and Fluttershy aren't traitors like you two," said Rainbow Dash angrily, snapping out of the confusion over her wing blades. Applejack glared back with a low growl.

"If she's on your side than why would they take you too?" challenged Twilight, shaking her head.

Pinkie Pie, who had been hanging from the window and watching the conversation with great interest, started laughing loudly.

"Sillies! You're all right! and wrong...and right ...and wrong! Wow, that's hard to think about," snickered Pinkie Pie, only laughing harder when she finished.

"We're so sorry for just dropping in like that," Fluttershy joined the conversation, peeking in behind Pinkie Pie. "But we came to save you."

"Fluttershy, thanks but no thanks," said Rainbow Dash. "I was doing just fine. Now let me out!"

"But Dashie I planned a really really big surprise for all of you!" whined Pinkie Pie. She was genuinely downtrodden at the sour response, and that response took all four of them a little off guard. A few awkward moments where the only sounds were the wagon and Blue's guarding tornado passed as they exchanged uncomfortable glances. Twilight finally sighed and was the first to bite.

"Alright, what's the surprise," she grumbled. Pinkie's countenance immediately sprang back to life as she squeezed through the bars (is she made of rubber or something?) to get into the carriage with the other four ponies.  She bounced in place in the middle of the already unsteady carriage, forcing the girls to take a seat so as not to fall over. Fluttershy, who had been hovering outside the window, flew up and out of sight.

"So Fluttershy and I have the bestest news ever!" announced Pinkie Pie. "You've all been infected by dark magic!"

.

. cricket     cricket    

.

"Seriously?" Applejack and Rainbow Dash said simultaneously, voicing what Rarity and Twilight were thinking as well.

"Pinkie Pie, I think we could tell if we were possessed or anything like that," said Twilight. "We've had more than our fair share of experience with it, and so have both the Princesses for that matter."

"And I'm sorry dear, but, how would that be good news?" asked Rarity, deciding to humor the pink pony figuring they would have no real chance to get away until she had done so.

"Because, it means that it can be fixed!" answered Pinkie Pie, still bouncing and not letting any of them answer as she started talking again. "Fluttershy figured it out in the Crystal Library! Yeah! She read that war has happened before and that it was really really bad!"

"Of course it's happened before Pinkie," replied Twilight more irritably. "I've studied history before too, you know, and there's no evidence that dark magic had anything to do with them! Only the philosopher Isle Tarpan believed that theory, and most ponies thought he was crazy."

"You getting any this?" Applejack asked Rarity, who promptly shook her head in the negative while Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

The carriage suddenly screeched to a stop, sending all five of the ponies crashing into the front wall.

"Oops, sorry, just had to make a stop," Fluttershy apologized through the window

"It'll only take a minute then we'll get moving again," Blue October chimed in, finally done and obviously a little dizzy from doing the tornado formation for so long. A loud thump sounded from on the side of the carriage.

"That was Derpy wasn't it?" asked Rainbow Dash, trying to extricate herself from the pile on the floor, finding it difficult with Pinkie sitting comfortably on top. Fluttershy peeked around the corner, "Yes."

"So, where ya'll taking us anyways?" asked Applejack grumpily, as she pushed Twilight and Pinkie unceremoniously off of her. Pinkie got uncomfortably close to the orange earth pony, giggling the words, "That's a secret!"

The carriage suddenly lurched again, this time up and sideways before being suddenly dropped, once again upsetting the ponies inside.

-----

Fluttershy watched as the other ponies used a series of ropes and pulleys to swing the carriage into a train box car (dropping it a little farther than they had planned) and then glided inside as they closed the door. The two stallions followed her in along with Derpy, who crashed into the carriage's side again ("Somepony stop her from doing that!" Rainbow Dash yelled irritably.)

It didn't take long for the train to start moving. The conductor was a Crystal Pony that they had paid quite handsomely to risk coming near Ponyville. The train itself had been stopped outside of Ponyville near a small roundabout, so as to avoid the battle. The conductor opened the throttle, accelerating the train northwards for the long trip.

The box car they were in was really just a converted passenger car. One wall had been totally replaced, creating the freight door they needed, and the benches had been torn out. The windows were boarded up in a simple X pattern, blocking them but allowing them to see outwards. It was by far the ugliest car on the train, with handful of others being traditional crystal empire including the engine.

"Are we on a train?" Twilight posed the question from inside the locked carriage.

"Yep," it was Derpy that answered.

"So, can you tell us where we're going?" asked Twilight in a shrewd tone. Pinkie Pie slipped out of the bars again (seriously, her head shouldn't be able to do that!) and landed on all fours before putting her hoof to her mouth and saying and a loud hush, "It's a secret!"

"The Crystal Empire," Blue October answered curtly. She had never been much for games, and just ignored the disappointed glare from Pinkie Pie.

"The Crystal EMPIRE?" all four of them replied. They had obviously not expected their destination to be so far north.

"Did Shining Armor or Cadence put you up to this?" asked Twilight in a tone that was hard to read. It was somewhere between shock, hurt, and bewilderment.

"Oh no, it was all our idea, Twilight," assured Fluttershy quickly, wishing she could see Twilight's reaction to know whether or not she said the right thing.

"So, what's in the Crystal Empire that's so...secretive?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy thought about answering straight, but a hard stare from Pinkie Pie made her think differently.

"Ms. Pie is right, it is a surprise," answered Dr. Hooves. There was no response from within the locked carriage for a few minutes as they processed what was going on, and as Fluttershy searched for something to say. What do you say to ponies you are holding against their wills, even if they're friends? Applejack would be the one to break the silence.

"So, are ya'll gonna force us to stay in here the whole way up there? 'Cause I don't think I could stand bein' cooped up with Rainbow Dash that long."

"What was that?" was the spitting reply. "Well, I'm not the one that smells like rotten dirt all the time!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"I think you mean compost, Rainbow."

"No, I mean dirt."

A loud, solid thud rang from one side of the carriage, followed by what Fluttershy assumed was wrestling. If the carriage hadn't been made of the thick oak it was, Applejack's kick probably would have shattered it, even with just her front hoof.

"Oh, knock it off you two!" Twilight exclaimed.

"There's no room for such ruffian behavior!" Rarity added somewhat exasperated.

We better get there fast thought Fluttershy worriedly. or they might kill each other before we even get there.

-----

Applejack rested on her back on one of the benches, restlessly tapping one hoof on a side of the carriage. It had been several, uncounted hours since their abrupt abduction, and all Applejack had to fill the time was worry about the ponies they had left behind. And the occasional smart remark to Rainbow Dash and sometimes Twilight, though none of them had even spoken to each other for well over an hour at this point.

Rarity was nodding off, trying to stay awake as she sat on the end of the bench but finding it difficult even sitting up. Twilight was on the opposite bench, wide awake but staring off into space, and Rainbow Dash was on the other side snoring loudly. For the past several minutes, Applejack had been stewing the idea of waking her up, just to get her dander up, but her own boredom was translating into apathy.

It was dark now, the sun having gone done long before. Applejack wondered if that meant the battle was over, for them to take the time to lower the sun and raise the moon in it's place, or if it was just a break to rest the armies. Applejack turned over to her stomach, dangling one hoof of the bench and idly playing with one of the armor pieces that Twilight had taken off earlier. She was particularly worried about Big Mac, Applebloom, and Granny Smith, though only Big Mac was supposed to have been in the fighting. Though she wouldn't put it past either of the other two to get into their own special brand of trouble.

"What if Fluttershy is right?"

Applejack didn't move but simply looked sideways at Twilight, who had posed the question. Her expression was unchanged, and Applejack wondered if the alicorn had just been thinking out loud. Twilight looked at Applejack, making it clear that it really was an open question.

"Right 'bout what?" Applejack said edgily.

"That whole idea about....no never mind, I would have noticed."

Twilight set her head on her hooves and continued staring out the barred window at the featureless ceiling. Applejack went back to her own blank staring and her own wandering thoughts. Did Twilight mean that mumbo jumbo about dark magic? Or something else? She also wondered if that was why Twilight hadn't even tried to use her magic to get them out. It would be easier than apple pie for somepony as skilled as her. Maybe she wanted to see if Fluttershy and Pinkie were right.

Applejack yawned, feeling sleep coming on. She was far too tired to worry about what Twilight was thinking. Her last thought before drifting off was that maybe she should be worried what Twilight was planning. She was with the enemy after all. Then again, maybe the others would be worried if they knew about the background of a couple of the ponies outside in the train car.

-----

A glint of morning light woke up Rainbow Dash, a small beam cutting through the corner of a window and through the bars. She immediately began stretching the tiredness out of her body, spreading her wings out. She wondered why her body was so stiff, then groggily realized she had slept still wearing the armor and it hadn't made a very comfortable night gown.

She looked around the stuffy carriage, remembering where she was and with it remembering her annoyance. Particularly at the two ponies sitting next to each other opposite of herself and Twilight. She was also itching to fly. She hadn't flown at all since Pinkie Pie had tackled her the evening before, and combined with the small space was feeling a level of cabin fever.

She started to pace the middle aisle, keeping a wary eye on the others, trying to burn off some of the restless energy.

"Are you all there?"

Rainbow Dash stopped short at Fluttershy's call through the door, "Yeah, Fluttershy. We there yet?"

"Yes, we are."

Rainbow Dash was about to ask if they would let them out now, but was preemptively answered when she heard the lock being undone. Fluttershy pulled the door slowly open, a timid look that Rainbow knew very well on her face as she did so. Realizing that the shy pegasus was worried about what her friends thought of her, Rainbow decided to give her a small smile, even though she really was mad at them for dragging them all the way to the Crystal Empire.

The train car door was open, letting what Rainbow assumed was the morning light through and causing her to squint against it. Behind her Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity filed out of their temporary prison and into the train car. Twilight had an inquisitive look that Rainbow didn't quite get, while Applejack and Rarity wore similar expressions of frustration.

Somewhat surprisingly, the other ponies that had come with Pinkie and Fluttershy were not there.

When Twilight asked, Pinkie Pie sang, "They're going to get everything ready." as she bounced out the door. Rainbow Dash sighed, stretched her wings, and flew low out the door, hovering for a moment to let her eyes adjust. It was closer to midday than morning, the sun straight up in the sky, the crystal prism towers reflecting small rainbows onto the ground.

Rainbow Dash, however, was stunned by the tent city spreading in every direction. Even the train station, which was on the outskirts of the city, was not near the edge of the tents, the tracks the only break. There were miserable looking ponies everywhere, which Rainbow assumed was due to resources being stretched to the breaking point. This far north the growing season was shorter, and with a huge portion of farmers preoccupied (including what amounted to most of the Apple family) with the growing conflict, a food shortage was already taking affect.

"How many are there?" asked Twilight to Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash listening in. They had all known about this refugee camp, but they had no idea....

"Shining Armor told me a couple days ago that that count is over 200,000 now," said Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash didn't know how many ponies lived in Equestria, but she did figure that a massive chunk of the population was right before her eyes. She found herself drifting higher as she tried to take everything in. A cloud of dust hung over the city, giving the normally shimmering metropolis a brown hue that was everywhere, with only the Crystal Palace rising above it.

Even the ponies, for all their colors, looked dirty and hopeless. Rainbow Dash couldn't remember seeing so many downtrodden faces since the time their cutie marks, and Fluttershy just didn't have the same mirth-making abilities of Pinkie Pie.

"Landsakes!" Applejack exclaimed.

"You said it," breathed Rainbow Dash.

"Well, it seems this place could use a bit of a touch up since the last time we were here," said Rarity.

"Well, come on! The surprise awaits!" Pinkie Pie called, and Rainbow Dash glided back to a hover as she followed the group. As they winded through the city turned camp, ponies would often stare at the group with confused looks. Even Rainbow could figure out why: Here was a Princess and an already famous member of Celestia's air force moving side by side with two ponies that were still dressed in their black, NLR uniforms being led by a pink earth pony bouncing like a deer and a yellow pegasus that looked like she wanted to sink into the pavement.

"You might want to take those off, Rarity. Who knows how ponies will react when they realize what you two were doing," Rainbow Dash taunted.

"If they knew half of what you've done, they'd prob'ly never wanna go anywhere near ya," Applejack retorted. Rainbow Dash flinched involuntarily, flashing back to events of the previous days. Faces blinked in front of her for a moment, but she willed them away. They already haunted her dreams, she didn't need them now.

-----

Rarity felt like this was the last place on earth she wanted to be, walking down the streets of a declared neutral zone wearing Luna's mark, unprotected and with the only backup she could really count on being Applejack. She knew that there were some supporters who had come here to the Crystal Empire, but if they had stayed it didn't bode well for their commitment.

She drew instinctively close to the others, avoiding the crowds with as much distance as she could put between them. As they approached the castle, however, it changed. Suddenly, everything looked like a slightly rougher version of the festival they had put on here when the Empire had first reappeared, and even more amazing there were scores of crystal ponies milling around the fair.

"This hardly seems the time to have a festival, wouldn't you think?" Rarity posed out loud.

"Don't they know what's going on out there?" Rainbow Dash seethed.

"We had Octavia get it organized while we went to get you," Pinkie Pie explained happily.

"That doesn't make it any better, Pinkie," replied Rainbow angrily as they neared the Castle Courtyard. The Crystal Heart hovered in it's place, glinting as bright as ever. Rarity had loved it ever since she first laid eyes on it, the most beautiful gem she had ever seen then or since. It always made her inner magic surge, lifting her spirits every time she came near.

Even just nearing the Heart, Rarity felt her mood lighten. Lighter than it had been in over a month.

"Wait.....Fluttershy, there's no way you mean...." Twilight began, just as the dots connected for Rarity.

It was Pinkie that answered, "Ta-Da! Your surprise!"

Next Chapter: The Best Laid Plans... Estimated time remaining: 49 Minutes