After leaving the station and walking back through town, the ponies all went their separate ways. The sun was already well on its way towards the horizon, and the group needed to discuss a lot with their friends and relatives before they set out on their mission.

As soon as she left the others, Twilight began thinking of what she was going to say to Spike. Not only did she almost die for the third time in just a few days, but now she needed to tell him that she was purposefully going on a dangerous mission. The unicorn could practically hear the young dragon berating her already. Still, she couldn’t exactly blame him. He was just concerned for her after all.

“Poor Spike…” Twilight said to herself in a sad tone. “I’ll have to find a way to make it up to him after all of this is done.” She smiled a little with the resolve that her life would be returning to normal very soon.

Before she could think any further about what she would do for her number one assistant, the library came into view. Twilight smiled with a relieved expression. She could finally take a few minutes to relax peacefully without the looming task of researching hanging over her. She walked up to the door and quickly opened it before stepping inside. Taking a quick look around, she noticed that Spike was nowhere to be seen.

“Spike…? I’m home.” Twilight announced while looking around for the young dragon. Soon after speaking up, she heard tiny footsteps and noticed Spike walking in from the other room.

“Twilight! Where have you been?” Spike asked in a surprised tone while walking up to the unicorn. Twilight looked down and shrugged as she tried to think of an answer to that question that wouldn’t upset the young dragon.

“Sorry… there was an incident down at the station that forced me to stay.” Twilight explained in an uneasy tone.

“An incident? What kind of… incident?” Spike asked with a suspicious tone. It wasn’t hard to tell that the unicorn was trying to avoid talking about something.

“*Sigh*… Those ponies that attacked us yesterday broke into the station. They summoned a giant cloud of darkness that smothered the building and trapped us inside.” Twilight admitted hesitantly. Spike gasped in shock upon hearing the news.

“Oh my gosh… You were attacked?! That’s horrible!” Spike exclaimed in a concerned tone. Twilight immediately felt bad that she was making the young dragon feel bad.

“Don’t worry, everything is fine now. Not that many ponies got hurt during the attack, and we’re all fine. But that does bring up another thing I need to tell you…” Twilight explained while looking down uneasily. Spike felt a small knot developing in his stomach as he waited for the purple mare to continue speaking.

“What? What is it?” Spike asked impatiently while hoping that her news wasn’t of the dire variety. Twilight inhaled and shrugged while trying to find a gentle way to put her next topic.

“I’m going on a mission with the others tonight… we found out where the hooded ponies’ base is, so we’re heading there to confront them.” Twilight explained and watched the dragon for a reaction. As expected, Spike widened his eyes in shock.

“You mean that you’re going to chase after the people that tried to kill you… on purpose?!” Spike said in while shaking his head in disbelief.

“Spike… I need to do this. The princess told me to get to the bottom of this thing, and I’m going to finish what I started.” Twilight said with a determined tone of voice. Spike was still just as confused and shocked as to why the unicorn would want to go anywhere near the hooded ponies.

“The princess told you to find out what was going on, and you did. Why don’t you just let Tom and the others handle this?” Spike suggested in a pleading tone. Twilight shrugged at the dragon’s proposal. He obviously didn’t know that the elements of harmony were needed, and even if he did he would probably still beg her to stay.

“Sorry Spike, I can’t do that. The others need me right now. I’m going whether or not you want me to.” Twilight said in a firm yet sympathetic tone. The dragon frowned and looked to the floor sadly.

“Oh…” Spike muttered with a disheartened tone of voice. It looked like he was trying to fight the urge to break down and cry. Twilight walked up to the young dragon and put a hoof on his shoulder. Once he looked up at her, she smiled warmly.

“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’ll have the others watching out for me. Everything will be perfectly fine. For right now, why don’t we relax? We have a while before I need to go back to the station after all.” Twilight suggested in a loving tone. Spike smiled slightly at the proposal.

“Ok, I guess if I can’t change your mind... let’s go.” Spike shrugged in defeat before resolving to enjoy what little time he had with the unicorn. Twilight nodded before settling in with the young dragon. She would try to make the most of the time she had with him before she was forced to leave later that evening.

Meanwhile over at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was sitting in the living room with her two siblings. She had a feeling that they might oppose her decision to go on such a dangerous mission, but she was here to spend time with them, not to justify her choice to them.

“So, what happened over at the station?” Big Mac asked curiously while glancing over to Applebloom. The filly shared in her brother’s curiosity at what forced Neon Streak and Applejack to leave so suddenly to head for the station.

“Is Neon ok? What about Twilight and the others? Weren’t they supposed to be there too?” Applebloom asked with a concerned tone.

“Don’t worry Applebloom, everyone is fine. A few other ponies got hurt, but we’re fine.” Applejack said in a reassuring tone to comfort the nervous filly. She hated the fact that so many innocent lives were lost at the station, but she was thankful that her friends made it out relatively unscathed.

“Was it those hooded ponies everyone keeps talking about?” Big Mac asked to clarify. Judging from the troubled expression his sister was giving him, his suspicions were pretty much confirmed.

“Yes… it was. That’s actually why Ah asked you guys to come back here with me. We found out where their base is, and we’re heading down there tonight.” Applejack decided to come clean and get everything out into the open.

“That’s great!” Applebloom cheered excitedly. Her bright smile shifted to an uneasy expression as she put further thought into her sister’s statement.

“Wait… what do you mean we? You aren’t going with them are you?” Applebloom asked in a concerned tone. Applejack looked away from the filly with a troubled expression, further cementing her suspicions.

“Ah am actually…” Applejack admitted sadly. The yellow filly gasped in shock upon hearing that her sister was even considering such a dangerous task.

“What?! You can’t be serious!” Applebloom exclaimed in a frantic tone while glancing over to her brother. “Big Mac, you have to tell her to stay! You’re older than her, so she has to listen to you… right?” She asked with a pleading expression.

“Applebloom Ah-” Applejack started to speak up on her behalf when she was interrupted by her brother.

“Nope.” Big Mac stated in an almost stoic tone. Both Applejack and her younger sister were shocked that the stallion wasn’t protesting her decision.

“Nope…? What do you mean nope?!” Applebloom asked in utter disbelief. Her voice was almost cracking from how distraught she was.

“Even if Ah told her to stay, she would go. Ah can’t tell your sister what to do… you should know by now that once she decides to do something, she is going to do it. Besides… Ah’m fine with her going.” Big Mac explained confidently, much to Applebloom’s dismay and confusion.

“What?! But… but she… and you… Ah… huh?” The filly exclaimed in a confused state of disbelief. She muttered incoherent noises of denial before quieting down and looking between her siblings in utter bewilderment.

“Ok… Ah’m with Applebloom on this one Big Mac. Ah thought you would be more against me going than she would be.” Applejack said with equal confusion while looking at her brother.

“You said it yourself. You wanted to see this through to the end and help the others. Ah’m still worried about you… but as long as you promise to be careful, Ah don’t see a reason to fuss over this.” Big Mac said with a small smirk. The orange mare couldn’t help but to smile at the stallion’s words.

“Thanks Big Mac… Ah promise that Ah will be as careful as possible.” Applejack stated in an earnest tone of voice. She then glanced over to her sister, who was still sporting a sad expression.

“Cheer up Applebloom, Ah will be fine. How about we go get something to eat? We have all day before Ah need to go.” Applejack suggested with a hopeful smile. Applebloom shrugged and looked down for a moment to deal with her emotions.

“*Sigh*… fine.” The filly muttered in defeat. Applejack and Big Mac smiled as their sister lightened up her expression slightly.

Over at Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie was helping out Mr. and Mrs. Cake in the kitchen as she normally did. Nothing was out of the ordinary with the pink mare. She was just as cheerful and bubbly as she always was while preparing the ingredients for the next batch of sweets; which made it all the more jarring to the Cakes when she started talking about the dangerous mission she was going on later that evening.

“So… you’re going out with your friends to go chase down some ponies in hoods?” Mr. Cake asked in a confused tone as he tried to piece together the bits of information that Pinkie was giving him.

“No, no, no, not ponies in hoods, the hooded ponies! There’s a big difference!” Pinkie explained in an almost casual manner while rolling out some dough. The couple was only further confused as they looked at each other to see if they could figure out what she was talking about.

“Wait a minute, are you talking about those hooligans that attacked the square the other day?” Mrs. Cake asked with a concerned expression.

“Aren’t they the same ponies that attacked the school? And the hospital? And tried to hurt you and the others?” Mr. Cake added with further concern for the pink mare’s decision. Pinkie seemed to be un-phased by the apparent danger in her mission.

“Well yeah, but I’ll be fine. The others need me to be there, so I’m going to be there.” Pinkie stated with a sincere smile.

“Pinkie dearie, I really think you should reconsider this before you go and do anything too hasty. What if you get hurt?” Mrs. Cake said while trying to level with the pink mare. Pinkie could tell that the couple were worried for her, and she understood why. But at the same time, she understood that her friends needed her.

“There’s no way I’m abandoning my friends because I might get hurt. If we don’t stop these guys, a lot more ponies are going to get hurt.” Pinkie said in a determined tone. She paused what she was doing and looked at the two with a serious expression.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake looked at each other before settling their eyes on the pink mare. She seemed to be dead set on going on this mission, and they knew that they couldn’t change her mind now that it was made up.

“Pinkie… if this is what you want to do, then go ahead and do it. Just… be careful ok?” Mr. Cake said with sincere compassion and concern in his face.

“Be sure to get back here safe for us alright?” Mrs. Cake added in an equally concerned tone. Pinkie smiled and giggled in response.

“Okie dokie lokie.” The pink mare said with a cheerful nod. “Now let’s get back to work. I need to make up for all of the time I’ve been taking off lately!” She added enthusiastically while returning to her previous task.

The Cakes looked at each other with confused expressions. Even with how long they had known the pink mare, she still surprised them sometimes with how she acted so strange and spontaneous.

Meanwhile, over at The Carousel Boutique, Rarity was preparing herself for the coming mission. She wanted to be sure that she had everything she would need now that she was voluntarily walking into a dangerous situation. She was caught off guard every time that danger had struck before, but no more.

Sweetie Belle walked up to the white mare and watched curiously as she used her magic to dig through several dresser drawers. The unicorn had briefly explained what she was doing later that night, but the filly had no idea what she was doing now.

“Rarity… what are you doing?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously, eliciting the white mare to glance over to her while still rummaging through every drawer she could get her magical mitts on.

“I’m packing Sweetie Belle.” Rarity replied while levitating a tote bag onto her bed and opening it.

“Packing? What are you packing? I thought you were going on a mission with the others to stop the hooded ponies?” Sweetie Belle asked in a confused tone.

“I am, but I need to be prepared before I go. Let’s see here…” Rarity muttered to herself as she prepared a mental check list of everything she would need. “We’re going out into the Everfree Forest, so I need to pack the bare essentials for such a horrid wilderness. I’ll need to take some boots for the mud, a comb in case my hair gets messed up, a scarf to match the boots in case it gets cold, and a hat to match the scarf.” The unicorn said while grabbing each item from around the room and shoving it into her bag. By the time she was finished, the bag was practically bulging from how much stuff it contained.

Sweetie Belle glanced at some of the items that her sister was taking. She couldn’t help but to wonder if she was over packing pointless items that had nothing to do with the mission itself and more to do with her appearance.

“Uh… Rarity, don’t you think you’re missing something?” Sweetie Belle spoke up in a concerned tone. The white mare gasped in revelation as she remembered something.

“Of course! How could I forget the most important thing?!” Rarity exclaimed in a shocked tone. Sweetie Belle grinned proudly at her accomplishment of helping her sister.

“It’s going to be more humid than a swimming pool on a boat out in the ocean during a rainstorm out there! I need to bring my hairspray. Thank you for reminding me darling.” Rarity said happily while levitating a small bottle of hairspray into the bag and cramming it in alongside the other items. The filly shrugged in annoyance.

“I was thinking more along the lines of something more important than hairspray.” Sweetie Belle explained suggestively.

“What could be more important than hairspray?” Rarity asked with genuine confusion.

“What about medicine or water? Maybe having a compass wouldn’t hurt either.” Sweetie Belle suggested with a helpful expression.

“Well I would take those, but my bag is full already.” Rarity said while pointing to the bag on the bed. Sure enough, it was full to bursting with all of the items she was already taking.

“I want to pack light Sweetie Belle. It is the wilderness after all, and I don’t want to be carrying a lot of things… I’m sure that one of the others will bring anything I can’t carry anyway.” Rarity said in a confident tone.

“Whatever you say…” Sweetie Belle shrugged in defeat while shaking her head slowly.

All over Ponyville, the elements of harmony were preparing for their mission. Some of them were trying to think of what they should bring along to the mission, while others were simply enjoying their time before they had to leave. However, there was one mare that was unsure of her actions.

Fluttershy was sitting in her living room while looking around at the various animals scurrying around. She had so much on her mind that she had scarcely moved since she got home. She was going on the mission tonight, that much she was certain of, but she was scared out of her mind about what would happen once she did.

For the past week, she had borne witness to the atrocities committed by the hooded ponies, sometimes a little closer than she would have liked. She knew what they were capable of, and what they wanted. They had made it clearly known that they wanted her and her friends dead. The mere thought made her terrified and mortified all at the same time.

“Oh… what am I going to do?” Fluttershy asked herself nervously. “What if something happens to Twilight and the others… and I’m the only one that can help them… and I freeze up!” She could see a hundred scenarios flying through her head about her letting her friends get hurt. She had stood up to the monster at the school to save Twilight, but that was sudden and uncontrolled. What if she hesitated when things got more serious and someone got hurt because of her?

“I can’t just stay home… they need me to go. But I just know that I’m going to panic at the worst possible moment.” The pegasus shuddered fearfully at the thoughts she was having. She knew that she was timid, and she knew that if she saw something remotely scary that she would freeze up.

“Come on Fluttershy… you can be brave. Your friends need you to be brave, so you need to be brave.” She stated in an attempt at gaining confidence. Suddenly, a series of knocks came at her front door.

“Eeek!” Fluttershy jumped in fright at the sudden noise. She looked around for a moment before realizing that someone was at her door.

“*Sigh*… I’m hopeless.” She muttered in a disheartened tone while getting up and walking over to the door.

“I wonder who could be looking for me at this hour?” Fluttershy thought out loud. Her friends were probably still spending their time off at home, and there wasn’t anyone else she was expecting. After grabbing the door and opening it, she was surprised to see a cyan pegasus standing outside.

“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?” Fluttershy asked curiously. Rainbow Dash smirked as she responded.

“Well, I was going to take a powernap before we headed back to the station, but I figured that I should check to see how you were doing.” Rainbow Dash said while stepping inside and walking over to the couch with the confused pegasus in tow.

“You came to check on me? Why would you do that?” Fluttershy asked with a puzzled expression.

“You seemed pretty nervous back at the station about coming. I wanted to give you some company so you didn’t scare yourself into not coming along.” Rainbow Dash replied in a friendly manner.

“I’ll come along… I wouldn’t go back on a promise I made you guys, it’s just…” Fluttershy looked away with a saddened expression as she tried to put to words what she felt. Rainbow Dash could tell that something was bothering her friend.

“Just…?” Rainbow asked curiously while pleading with her eyes for the pegasus to elaborate on her words. Fluttershy shrugged and glanced to the cyan mare hesitantly while slowly mustering the courage to answer.

“I’m scared that I’ll get scared…” Fluttershy explained in what she thought was a straightforward manner. Needless to say, the cyan mare was just as confused as ever.

“You’re scared that you’ll get scared? That sounds ridiculous Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash stated in a puzzled tone.

“I mean… what if a monster shows up and I get so scared that I can’t help you guys, or one of you gets hurt trying to save me?” Fluttershy said in a concerned tone. Rainbow Dash put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder before looking at her with a sincere smile.

“Fluttershy… you are one of the bravest ponies I know.” Rainbow stated in a confident tone. Fluttershy was nearly stunned into silence by her words.

“What? That isn’t true at all… if anything, I’m probably the most cowardly pony you know.” Fluttershy said in a self-pitying sort of way.

“As a wise pony once said, bravery is not the absence of fear. Bravery is the ability to move forward despite the fact that you are afraid… I think. The details are a little fuzzy… I haven’t read that book in a long time… and I’m pretty sure I fell asleep half way through it.” Rainbow Dash explained with an awkward chuckle.

“Anyway… the point is you don’t need to be courageous like us to be brave Fluttershy. You are the most timid pony I know, and I love you just the way you are, but you have stood up to a lot of hardcore scary stuff recently. How about back at the school? You saved Twilight’s life if I remember correctly.” The cyan mare said in an impressed tone. Fluttershy swelled with pride a little bit from remembering her brief act of valor, but then she remembered how terrified she actually was at the time.

“Back at the school, I moved on impulse alone to save Twilight. If I had time to think, I wouldn’t have been able to move I would have been so scared of that monster.” Fluttershy stated while looking down sadly.

“What about when we were out in the Everfree Forest looking for Angel? You jumped over two zombified wolves and saved me from a third one. You had plenty of time to think there.” Rainbow Dash said while thinking back to her near death experience out in the forest.

“Yeah… I guess I did.” Fluttershy said with a small smile. “But… I was only trying to save you. If you weren’t in danger, I probably would have either ran away or curled up into a ball and cried.” She shrugged sadly as she further cemented her lack of confidence. Rainbow Dash groaned uneasily. The yellow mare was trying to belittle herself at this point.

“And what about earlier today? Rarity says that you didn’t freeze up when you guys were running through the station with all of those monsters around.” The cyan pegasus said in a last ditch effort to cheer up her timid friend. She stared at Fluttershy with a hopeful expression and waited for a response.

Fluttershy thought back to her time at the station. While it was true that she was scared out of her mind, she still found the strength to move forward. She even managed to save Cool Breeze, a pony she barely knew at the time.

Still, despite the warm feeling of pride she felt, Fluttershy couldn’t shake her apprehension of the future. She could still envision herself freezing up in terror and her friends getting hurt because of it. No matter how many times she was brave before, she didn’t trust herself. In her own eyes, she was unreliable.

“Rainbow Dash… I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, I really do… but I just know that I’m only going to put you all in danger. What if I come across one of the hooded ponies and get so scared that I freeze up? I mean… I know I’ve gotten by in scary situations before, but-” Fluttershy’s self-pitying speech was interrupted by Rainbow Dash speaking up.

“But nothing Fluttershy! I think you just answered your own question. You have been ok in scary situations before… look, I get where you’re coming from, and it’s ok to be scared. It doesn’t even matter if you freeze up like a statue anyway.” The cyan mare stated in a confident tone.

“What…? It doesn’t?” Fluttershy asked in a confused tone. Rainbow Dash smirked and nodded in response.

“Nope, it doesn’t matter one bit. I’m going to be there with you, and so are all of the others. Between me and Tom alone, I think we have enough pent up aggression towards those hooded jerks to last the whole night. If one of them gets anywhere near you, I will personally send them flying into next week. And then I’ll come back next week and give them a punch in the face for good measure.” The bold pegasus said while punching into the air to accentuate her words.

“Wow Rainbow Dash… you would do that for me?” Fluttershy asked with a heartfelt smile on her face. The fact that the cyan mare would go to such lengths just to make her feel comfortable with her own fear made her feel tingly and warm.

“Of course! When I get done with those guys, there won’t be enough of them left to put in prison. I’ll just fly up to the first one I see and KAPOW!” Rainbow Dash shadowboxed in the air excitedly before ending on a solid uppercut.

Fluttershy smiled warmly and felt comfortable for the first time since she learned that she was going on this mission. She had been so worried about what she was going to do that she forgot the most important detail. She was going to be surrounded with her best friends in the entire world. They would do anything to keep her safe, and she would do anything in return to keep them safe. The power of the bond she shared with Rainbow Dash and the others was enough to make her realize that she didn’t need to be courageous to conquer her fear. She just needed to be with her friends.

Rainbow Dash was surprised slightly when the yellow mare reached forward and hugged her. Fluttershy was resting her head on the cyan pony’s neck while remaining otherwise still. Rainbow Dash looked down at her friend in confusion for a moment before wrapping her own arms around the timid pegasus.

“Thank you so much Rainbow Dash. You’ve helped me put things into perspective. I’m not worried about going anymore.” Fluttershy lifted herself up and smiled brightly at her cyan friend. Rainbow Dash was even more confused now than she had been before.

“You’re not…? I did…?” Rainbow asked in surprise while recapping everything she had just heard. She meant every word she said to the shy pony, but truth be told, she didn’t expect it to work.

“Don’t get me wrong… I’m still scared about what’s going to happen, but I know that everything will be ok. As long as we’re all together, nothing will keep us apart.” Fluttershy said cheerfully. Rainbow Dash smiled at the sudden turnaround in her friend’s outlook.

“Glad I could be of service… *Yawn*.” The cyan mare suddenly remembered what she was going to do before she came to see the yellow mare.

“I guess I really did need that powernap. Do you mind if I crash here until it’s time to go?” Rainbow Dash asked in a hopeful tone while looking out the window to see how much time was left before sundown. Judging from the sun’s position in the sky, she could still get in a decent nap before it was time to leave.

“Not at all.” Fluttershy replied with a smile while getting up from the couch so the cyan pegasus could lay down. “Is there anything I can get you? Maybe some pillows or a blanket?” She asked in a courteous manner while thinking ahead to see where such items would be in her house.

“Nah… I’m good. You just be sure to let me know when it’s time to leave. I can’t beat up any ponies, hooded or otherwise, if you leave me here.” Rainbow Dash replied with a slight smirk. Fluttershy smiled at the cyan pony’s statement.

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving you here… who else am I going to cower behind?” Fluttershy said with a playful smirk. Rainbow Dash laughed cheerfully at the yellow mare’s statement, eliciting her to laugh as well.

As the sun moved ever closer to the horizon and the sky turned a bright shade of orange, most ponies in Ponyville were winding down for the night. They were closing up their stores, making last minute trips through town, or enjoying a short moment before heading off to bed. But while most ponies were preparing to end their day, a select few were preparing to begin something a lot more important.

Twilight Sparkle and her five friends had all made their last minute preparations for their mission. They had all said their goodbyes to their friends and family and were currently walking through town towards the station.

One by one, the girls all joined the purple mare and added to her group until all of them were together. Now that they were united, the elements of harmony were finally prepared to undertake their daunting assignment.

Twilight looked around at her small troop of ponies. Everyone was sporting eager or determined expressions. Even Fluttershy seemed to be resolute as she walked in line beside her friends. The lavender pony smiled as she looked forward to the road ahead. Nothing could stop her and her friends now, not even a cult of magically powered ponies hell-bent on world domination.

Soon enough, the royal guard station came into view. It was quiet outside, with not a single pony to be seen. Twilight figured that everyone must have been inside preparing for the raid.

“Come on, we don’t want to keep them waiting.” Twilight said to the others, who all nodded in response. Without further delay, the group walked up to the front door and went inside.

Once the group entered the main lobby, they saw a familiar pony sitting behind the front desk. Apparently the receptionist they had seen earlier in the day had survived the attack. She seemed to be slightly shaken up, but otherwise unharmed.

Twilight was glad to see that the mare was unharmed. So many people had died during the attack. The body count was still being determined, but at least five guards and three innocent ponies were confirmed to have died during the attack.

“Oh, you’re back.” The receptionist pony stated cheerfully once she noticed the six entering the building. She sounded like she was expecting them.

“Yeah, we’re here to see the princess and the others.” Twilight explained while walking up to the front desk.

“They told me to keep an eye out for when you guys got here. They’re waiting for you in the equipment room.” The mare behind the counter said while pointing off to the side.

“Thanks… I’m glad to see that you made it out ok.” Twilight said with a friendly smile. The receptionist smiled and nodded cheerfully.

“You too… Be sure to find the guys who did this and give them some payback for all of us ok?” She said while waving to the group as they walked away. Twilight turned her head and nodded before walking through another doorway.

Now that there weren’t monsters everywhere, the walk to the equipment room was much faster and much less stress inducing. The group was almost surprised at how quickly they got there, as if the station were somehow bigger while in the dark.

Once they opened the door and stepped inside, they saw Brimstoke and his entire team scattered around the room along with Tom and Princess Luna. Glitterball was leaning on a table while tinkering with some of the team’s equipment, Neon Streak was fitting a spare vest onto Sunspot so she could hold more equipment than just a strobe, Peppermint was going through a medical kit to tally his supplies, and Glimmer Shine was talking with Brimstoke off in the corner.

Once they noticed the six mares walking into the room, everyone looked over and smiled. They were excited to see the group had finally made it.

“Check it out! The cavalry has arrived!” Sunspot exclaimed eagerly while walking up to greet the six. She gave Rainbow Dash a double high-five before glancing around to the others and smiling.

“You know it! I’m ready to kick some hooded tail!” Rainbow Dash replied with an excited chuckle.

“It’s nice to see you guys finally made it. We were beginning to wonder if you had second thoughts.” Tom said while walking over to the group.

“We wouldn’t dream of missing this. Right girls?” Twilight asked while glancing between her friends. Everyone offered an eager nod and an excited cheer in response.

“Now that you’re all here, we can start getting everyone ready to go.” Princess Luna spoke, eliciting everyone to turn to look at her. The alicorn was standing over by a shelf, with a small bag on the shelf next to her with the royal insignia on it. Somehow, the bag exuded an aura of warmth and familiarity as the six mares looked at it.

“Is that them?” Twilight asked curiously while walking over to the blue alicorn and looking at the bag with a stoic expression. Luna simply smiled while reaching over and opening the top to the bag. Once they saw what was inside, the purple mare and her five friends were stunned into silence.

Inside the bag, there were five golden necklaces and one tiara. The accessories themselves were fairly impressive looking in their own right, but it was what they held that made them so breathtaking. Six brilliant jewels adorned each necklace and the tiara, one to represent each element of harmony. The jewels were shaped to resemble the element wielders’ cutie marks, and each of them felt a sense of completion as they stared at their respective element, almost like they had been reunited with a part of them that was kept separate.

“The elements of harmony…” Twilight said in an amazed tone. No matter how many times she had worn or even used the elements, they always took her breath away.

“I’m hoping that you won’t need to use these, but I will keep them close by just in case.” Luna stated while closing the bag again and placing it on her back.

“I will go tell Sargent Fireside to gather up his men. You should all get acquainted with your equipment and prepare to leave. We will come get you when it’s time to go.” The blue alicorn said before walking to the door and exiting the room.

“Ok girls, come here for a moment.” Glitterball asked while beckoning Twilight and the others over to her table. They all looked at each other briefly before walking over to the vested unicorn and gathering around her.

On the table beside Glitterball there were numerous vials, some opened, and some closed, along with several pouches filled with strange ingredients. It looked like she had been experimenting with at least a few pieces of their arsenal since the group last saw her.

“What is it Glitter?” Twilight asked curiously while glancing down at the various items on the table. The white unicorn turned around and placed a vial into her hooves in response.

As Glitterball went around giving five more vials to the others, Twilight examined her vial to see what it was. Judging from first appearance, it wasn’t a strobe, and that was pretty much all the purple mare could deduce. It was filled with a liquid like the strobes were, but the liquid was yellow rather than blue.

“Umm… Glitter? What is this?” Rainbow Dash voiced the curiosity of the group while staring at the vial she was holding.

“That’s something me and Tom whipped up. It fires a blast of energy that should temporarily cancel out most of the shadow magic that these guys use.” Glitterball explained while pointing to the six vials.

“That’s great!” Twilight exclaimed happily. Now that they had a weapon against the hooded ponies, she felt much more confident about their chances.

“Hey… I don’t see one on your vest. Where’s yours?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously. Glitterball shrugged and looked disappointed for a moment.

“There were only enough ingredients to make six vials. We want you guys to have them… we’ll make due with our other gear.” Glitter explained with a small smile to make the six mares feel better about taking the vials.

“Oh… Glitter, we couldn’t possibly take these. I’m sure that you guys could make better use of them.” Twilight said while offering her vial back to the rainbow haired unicorn.

“Don’t worry about us. We can handle ourselves… Besides, we have these to help us out.” Brimstoke said while holding up a pair of hoof cuffs with strange looking symbols inscribed into them.

“What are those?” Twilight asked curiously.

“They’re magic suppressing. If we put these on a unicorn, they won’t be able to use any magic. We even have a few pairs that work on shadow magic.” Brimstoke explained while tossing the cuffs to the purple mare. Twilight caught them and examined them closely.

“These don’t look like they could suppress magic.” Twilight muttered while inspecting them for anything suspicious. Other than the markings, they looked like regular hoof cuffs. The notion that mere runes could completely disable a unicorn’s magic baffled her.

“Well unless you want to try them on, you’re going to have to take our word for it.” Glimmer Shine said with a small chuckle. Twilight put the cuffs down on the table and looked away awkwardly. She had been contemplating putting the cuffs on before the yellow stallion spoke up.

Suddenly the group heard the door opening. Everyone looked over to see Princess Luna and Princess Celestia walking into the room.

“Ok everyone… If you’re all ready, we should head out.” Luna stated while looking around at everyone in the room.

“Yes!” Sunspot cheered in excitement while eagerly rushing to the front of the room. Soon enough, all of the others joined the orange pegasus and walked over to the two alicorns and stood at attention.

“We already have a team of guards waiting to meet you at the edge of the Everfree Forest along with Sargent Fireside. Just follow my sister and she will take you there.” Celestia explained while looking to her younger sibling with a proud expression.

“You aren’t coming with us princess?” Twilight asked with a slight twinge of sad disappointment in her voice. Celestia frowned slightly and sighed upon seeing the ponies shift their excited grins to sad frowns.

“I’m sorry Twilight. I will be staying here for the duration of your mission. If anything bad happens, one of the guards can come back and tell me about it so I can send the appropriate help... myself included if need be.” Celestia said with a hint of sadness in her voice. It was easy to tell that the princess wanted to go, but the logical option was to have her stay behind to serve as backup should the need arise.

“Don’t worry Twilight. I’m sure that Princess Luna can take care of us just fine.” Rarity spoke up to ease her friend’s concerns. Luna smiled slightly from hearing the white unicorn vouching for her.

“Thank you Rarity. I will not let you down… you can count on me.” The blue alicorn said in a determined tone. Everyone looked to the princess of the night with confidence and trust.

“Ok everyone… let’s move! It’s high time we show those hooded ponies what it means when you try to mess with Equestria.” Luna stated while raising her voice so everyone could hear. Everyone stood at attention and quickly followed as the alicorn walked out of the room.

Celestia watched the group of ponies exiting the room. They all had confident smiles on at the moment, but she wondered how they would hold up under pressure. Spotting Twilight glancing back at her, she shifted her worried expression to a smile and waved at the purple mare as she joined her friends in marching towards glory.