Twilight sat on the balcony outside her room in the Canterlot palace and looked out towards the eastern horizon, where the military was currently fighting against the enemy. She breathed a long sigh and glanced at the helmet set on the ground next to her. She always knew being a princess would come with responsibility, but she never in her wildest dreams expected to lead ponies into battle. She turned around at the sound of small footsteps and saw Spike in the doorway.

"Thought you might like some company." He said as he sat down beside Twilight.

She gave him a half-hearted smile, "Thanks Spike, it's appreciated."

He took a seat next to her and the two gazed into the distance.

"Twilight, we will win right?" Spike asked. Twilight didn't know how to answer him, in fact she thought about making a list of the things she didn't know. But rather than alarm the baby dragon she decided to give him the most logical and honest answer she could think of.

"I'm not real sure of anything at the moment, but we've survived Changelings, King Sombra, Discord, Tirek, if we can beat them I'm sure we can beat this Denthar."

"And besides," Spike added, "We're the good guys. And the good guys always win."

Twilight felt slightly elated at his optimism, it sure was more than she could muster. She has been letting the pressures of the war get to her.

"Hey Twi,"

"Yes Spike?"

"The rest of the girls are stationed in town. Who's to say we can't have one last little gathering before whatever's supposed to happen?"

Twilight loved the sound of that. Just because Equestria's at war doesn't mean she and her friends can't enjoy themselves.

"That'd be great Spike."

---

"Spike, we have to wait for the others to get here first."

"But I'm really hungry!" He groaned

Cantorlot's streets were empty. All civilians had gone to the evacuation sites and charted off to the far north. Since military personal were allowed outside they had no problem getting out of the castle. They chose the first outdoor cafe they could find and set up there.
Twilight put in a call for the rest of the girls about ten minutes ago, and Spike was already complaining about his hunger.

"Spike it's rude to start eating before everybody arrives." Twilight said in her manner-teaching mother voice.

Before Spike could respond his ears caught the faintest sound of a pony breathing in his ear. He turned his head but saw nopony behind him.

"What was that?" He asked in a shaky voice.

"What was what?" Twilight didn't even bother looking up from triple-checking the picnic basket they packed. It was then she felt a hoof flick her ear. The alicorn yelped in surprise and looked around in bewilderment.

"Twiiiiiillliiiight" an eerie voice seemed to resound from everywhere at once.

"Spiiiiiiiike" the two dived under the table and clutched each other in terror.

"W-who are you?" Twilight asked as she prepared a spell to defend themselves.

"It's the pony of shadows!" Spike wailed.

Th supposed "ghost pony" let out a very familiar chuckle.

Twilight recognized the voice immediately and quickly switched spells.

RAINBOW DASH!!!!

Twilight released the spell and everything within a twenty-meter radius became lit up with a purplish hue, including the pegasus hovering above the table. Rainbow Dash cursed under her breath and landed. When everything returned to its normal colors, Twilight crawled out from their hiding place. Rainbow Dash was visible and in her full combat armor helmet included, and wore a smug look that Twilight was ready to wipe off her face.

"What's up?" The pegasus asked casually, keeping the same victorious expression.

"What's up?!" Twilight, however, was not at all amused with her stunt.

"Rainbow Dash I was ready to hit you with ten tons of lethal magic! And your response is 'what's up?'"

"Yep."

Twilight gritted her teeth. This is not what she came here for. Not to be played yet again by the infamous multicolored prankster before her.

"Oh lighten up Twi." Rainbow Dash moved to her side and wrapped a foreleg around her, "I'm only trying to have a little fun."

Twilight took deep breaths to calm down. Fun, that's why they were here.

"You're right it's only a joke. No need to get so worked up about it."

Rainbow Dash hugged her tighter, "That's the spirit!"

She took a seat at the table and looked under it to see Spike still recovering.

"You okay little dude?" She asked trying to suppress a laugh.

"I........ah.........why......" too out of breath to form coherent sentences, the dragon walked out from under the table with eyes the size of saucers, and hopped up back into his seat. Rainbow Dash was trying her best not to keel over at the display.

"Although Rainbow Dash I do have to ask..."

"Mhm." The pegasus began rummaging around in the basket.

"How in Equestria did you do that?!" The excited alicorn pulled back Rainbow's chair to look down at her.

"Invisibility spells are one of the most complicated spells in history. It took Starswirl eight months to develope it." She began to dive into a detailed explanation of light reflecting, rambling on and on about the workings of the spell. Rainbow Dash simply closed her eyes, waiting for a break in the lecture. When none were to be found she attempted to make one.

"Twilight."

She continued on with her speech, not even paying any attention to the pegasus. Rainbow Dash still had yet to fully grasp the concept of patience, but her friends were a special case. Almost all of them got excited over some topic from time to time, Pinke Pie being the most frequent.

Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped open when Twilight suddenly gasped.

"But you're a pegasus!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, Twilight I am."

"That's impossible then!" Still holding the chair, Twilight stared intently at Rainbow Dash, her eyes pleading for an answer.

"The suit." She simply replied.

"What?" Twilight blinked in confusion.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and scooted out of her chair, of which Twilight then lowered to the ground.

The pegasus proceeded to gesture to the combat armor she was wearing.

"It's the suit that casts the spell not me."

Twilight processed this information slowly. Everything she read about the laws of magic screamed that was impossible.

"Really?"

"Yep."

Spike had recovered and was staring in amazement at her.

As to prove her words, Rainbow Dash activated something on her foreleg and quickly faded from view.

Twilight's head reared back in bewilderment. Spike, however, actually began to clap and cheer.

The alicorn yelped when Rainbow Dash reappeared beside her.

"Our good friend Guardian whipped up a batch of prototypes and I was one of the few honered to test them."

"Who were the others?"

"Why me, of course!" Twilight jumped once again as a pink earth pony manifested on her other side.

"Yay! Pinkie!" Spike cheered.

"Pinkie please! I've had enough scares for one day."

"Sorry Twilight but that is so much fun!" The party pony was also dressed in full combat gear.

Twilight began to wonder why she hadn't gotten one of these prototypes.

"Please tell me Applejack isn't suddenly going to appear behind me."

At the name, both Rainbow Dash's and Pinkie's smiles simultaneously disappeared.

"Actually Twilight that's the bad news."

The alicorn looked back and forth from her two friends with a worried look.

"Only we could make it." Pinkie said in a dejected tone.

Twilight's jaw dropped, "What?"

Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her shoulder, "All of Equestria just went berserk when the sirens went off, Applejack especially."

Twilight still didn't understand, "What do you mean?"

"Applejack has been training super duper hard everyday. Like, even after Mr. Drill Sergeant gave us break time. She didn't want to come." Explained Pinkie.

"But what about Rarity and Fluttershy?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged, "Nopony knows what they've been up to."

"But there in Cantorlot, aren't they?"

"Nopony knows." Rainbow Dash repeated.

The pegasus debated wether or not to tell them about the incident with the knife. She decided against it, that there was enough sorrow right now.

Twilight took a deep breath, she wasn't letting this time go to waste. They were going to enjoy themselves whether they were all here or not.

"It's alright you two, we can still enjoy ourselves while the moment lasts."

The other two ponies perked up at this and were filled with the same determination.

Yes, they would enjoy this moment.

---

The command centre was in full panic. Luna was having to hold up everything on her own. She was frantically shouting orders, ponies dashing left and right to fulfill them. The princess could barley keep up with the reports coming in. But she did know that bases all over Equestria were falling within seconds of each other. She had learned that the main front to the east has been overrun, and their forces were falling back to Cantorlot, bringing the enemy with them.

Luna didn't know what to do. Her subjects were dying rapidly and she struggled to keep up. She desperately wished either Guardian or Celestia would walked through the door and take control. But as desperately as she wanted it, she knew it wouldn't happen. The events that transpired earlier that day put an emotional strain on Luna, left Celestia a sobbing mess, and Guardian missing in action.

She had a moment of clarity to give the order for every base still in contact to fall back to the capital. Since as many civilians as possible had been evacuated from Equestria and into the mountains, there was no need to hold those stations.

With the worry of the bases lifted, Luna could focus on the biggest problem, defending Canterlot.

Cantorlot, the Crystal Empire, and the safe shelters are all that matters. If any one of those are eliminated we've already lost. She remembered Guardian's words from this morning. If that was really the case, and Luna had to believe it was, then it was time. They had to be ready.

"Give the order General." The General saluted and pushed a large red button on his console.

For the second time that day the sirens started up.

---

Twilight was in the middle of hounding Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie about the stealth suits when the sirens began to wail. The four ponies plus baby dragon all snapped out of their conversation.

"Oh Celestia..." Rainbow Dash whispered.

Twilight's leader instinct kicked in almost immediately.

"Rainbow Dash fly up and give me a full report of the situation. Pinkie, take Spike to the command centre to the princesses. Find Applejack and bring her here on the way back."

The party pony put on a stern face and gave a quick salute. But before she could grab him, Spike rushed forward, "But Twilight," he protested, "I wanna help!"

Twilight shook her head, "Spkie this is very serious. I need you to cooperate with me and go with Pinkie."

"But-"

"Twilight, you got to see this!" Rainbow Dash called from above.

"Spike please, you have to go."

Spike refused to give in, "But I can help! What if you need to send a message to the princesses?"

"Spike!" Twilight yelled, "This is a life or death matter. I need you to go now!"

The baby dragon looked as if he were stung. But he looked down and nodded sadly. Taking that as her cue, Pinkie grabbed Spike and zipped off in the direction of the palace.

Twilight's face softened. It broke her heart to be so harsh, but she needed to know he would be safe. She couldn't bear it if Spike got hurt.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash called frantically.

The alicorn took to the air and came along side her. When she got there, she saw pure terror spread all over Rainbow Dash's face. The same happened to Twilight when she saw what the pegasus was looking at.

Out towards the east on the ground was a giant black mass stretching as far as she could see that was slowly making its way towards the base of the mountain. High in the air above the infantry was three massive, sinister airships. Surrounding the ships was a swarm of what could have easily been mistaken for bats. But Twilight remembered studying them and knew that those were black dragons. Twilight could feel the evil radiating off the dark army. She blinked a couple of times and regains her focus.

"Okay back on the ground." She ordered Rainbow Dash.

As the two made their descent Twilight saw that Pinkie had returned with Applejack. She noticed that the farm pony was standing at full attention, and realized that Pinkie and Rainbow Dash may have not been exaggerating about Applejack's excessive training. The pair touched down and Applejack immediately snapped even more upright.

"Sergent Applejack, reporting for duty sir!"

Twilight.looked on in bewilderment, "Applejack, there's no need for that." However, Applejack refused to relax.

Twilight decided that there wasn't any time for it and addressed all of them.

"Okay girls.this is it, the moment we've been preparing for. Just remember your training and you'll be fine. Understand?" Four of them simply nodded their heads, Applejack shouted "Sir yes sir!"

"Then move out!"

Author's Notes:

Ugh that took way too long.

Okay I'm done lighting the candles, done icing the cake. It's ready. Time for the real show to begin.