In the land of Equestria, there exists three kingdoms that keeps the country balanced. Canterlot, the kingdom most in-tune with magic, as well as the one with the deepest bond to the past; Griffonstone, the kingdom of flight and new technological advancements; and the Crystal Empire, a peaceful kingdom isolated in the frozen north that never really makes too much of a ruckus to be noticed too often. Smaller towns off of each kingdom exist, but the bulk of the land is ruled by these three.

There hasn't been a war between the kingdoms for a millennia, as peace has been kept thanks to our equal views on things. There have been arguments, yes, but nothing so bad to start a war over. Each kingdom helped each other out when the need arose, and the world was at peace. Everyone was happy.

Which made a certain lavender Unicorn question why Griffonstone forces would attack Canterlot after so many years of peace. It all began on a seemingly normal morning in Canterlot castle. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and not a cloud was in the sky. It would seem even days like these can hold dark futures.

Today was finally the day she had been anticipating since she was seven years old; Twilight was about to take her magic exam. If she passed, she would be allowed to join the royal court of mages and finally fulfill her dream. Ever since she was a filly, she had been dreaming of the day this would happen, and fourteen years later, her dreams had finally become a reality.

She looked in the mirror one more time just to make sure she was proper for the exam. Well, as proper as being a mage was, anyway. Over her back and along her front hooves was a black coat with gold linings and white stripes down the sleeves. The sleeves themselves were quite baggy, and had a thick gold line wrapping around the end. She removed the hood over her head and saw her now much longer purple mane, now with a streak of lighter purple highlight through it. At her left side was a brown pouch large enough to carry a few spell books, and on her right was a sword sheath for emergencies only.

Without much haste, she grabbed two tomes from her desk with her levitation magic, one Fire and the other Wind, and placed them in her pouch, locking them in tightly. She looked to her right and saw the small steel sword which was just small enough to fit in the sheath on her side. With a bit of hesitation, she took the sword once again with her levitation and placed it on her side. She wasn't the best with a sword, but it never hurt to have one.

"...heh, well, maybe it does a little bit," she thought aloud, giggling a bit "But still, I can't believe this is finally it. Fourteen years have been leading up to this very moment."

"And not a moment of it was wasted," a familiar voice to Twilight spoke with a small chuckle, making her eyes light up dart over to her open bedroom door.

There stood her brother, Shining Armor, now much bulkier in size from all the training he had done. His mane and tail had remained largely unchanged, if not slightly longer than when he was a colt. He wore a bit of silver armor over a blue vest on the upper part of his torso, as well as a brown sheath around his waist that held his trusty iron blade firmly. He still had the burn marks under his left eye from all those years ago.

"Hey, Shining," Twilight greeted politely "Sorry I can't watch your knight exam. I tried talking to Princess Celestia about changing the time, but there's nothing I can do."

"Relax, Twilight, it's alright," Shining smiled "Honestly, nothing would bring me more joy than to finally see you as a royal court mage. In fact, I should be the one apologizing that I'm not able to watch you blow the competition out of the water."

"Do you really think I can do this, Shining?" Twilight wondered.

"After what you did when you were but a filly, I think you have the capability to do this," Shining chuckled, remembering the first time his little sister used Elfire "I know this is going to sound very corny, but so long as you believe in your abilities, you'll succeed without a hitch. Trust me."

"How much longer until the exam?" Twilight wondered.

"About half-an-hour," Shining recalled before remembering something "Oh, Rainbow Dash wanted to speak with you about something. She said it was important, but... you know her and her ideas of what is and isn't important. She's waiting for you in the mai-"

"Or she could have gotten bored and followed you here to her friend's room," spoke a rather tomboyish voice from behind Shining and Twilight. They both turned their attention to the hallway outside Twilight's room and saw that a new pony had either recently joined them, or had been there the entire time.

Her coat was cyan like the sky, and her rainbow mane and tail were long and messy. A powerful set of wings donned her back, giving her the capability of flight. Her entire torso was covered in silver armor with seven long, blue and white feathers sticking out the bottom of the back of the armor. On her side was a javelin safely stored away as not to hurt anyone. Her face showed one of mild annoyance, but also a hint of cockiness.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash," Twilight politely greeted "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"First off, shiny butt over here is gonna have to leave us for a sec," Rainbow stared directly at Shining Armor. Not wanting to cause a commotion, especially around a cross Rainbow Dash, he left the two mares alone, walking to his training area in an attempt to be the first to take his exam. As soon as he was out of sight, Twilight looked at her friend with a glare that could kill.

"Rainbow, you have to stop calling my brother such names," Twilight sighed.

"What? It's not like he really cares anyway," Rainbow shrugged "He's just that one guy who can go into any situation and never feel bad. In fact, I bet you bottoms to bits that he has never cried at a wedding because of how tough he is."

"...I don't understand your logic sometimes," Twilight shook her head a bit before getting back on track "So, you wished to speak with me about something?"

"Ah, right," Rainbow nodded "Apparently, Princess Celestia actually managed to pull through on your request."

"Y-You mean...?" Twilight gasped a bit in excitement "The exam times have been shifted?"

"Now hang on, I never said that!" Rainbow hushed her friend immediately "Actually, she never really made the details all that clear on what she was planning. All she said to me was to tell you that your request was accepted and that she was working on a way to compensate. Bet you it was to just shut all your complaining."

"Hey!"

"Relax, I'm joking!" Rainbow chuckled.

"So did she tell you when my exam is beginning?" Twilight inquired.

"Same time Shining said," Rainbow recalled "By the way, you might want to start going now. The earlier you are to your exams, the higher chance you have of being first in line."

"R-Right, of course," Twilight nodded "Thank you, Rainbow, and have a wonderful day," she excused herself from the conversation, closing her room door behind her and and walking in the direction of the training grounds. Rainbow simply stared as Twilight trotted on down the hall, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

"Dammit, Twi, why do you gotta be hot?" she muttered to herself, chuckling all the while as she walked in the opposite direction "Don't let me fall for you even more, okay?"

(Music Stop)

"Twilight, so good to see you here," spoke the kind voice of her mentor and friend, Princess Celestia, as soon as Twilight entered the training grounds. Her outfit, nor size, had changed all that much since Twilight had first met her.

The training grounds themselves were located in the basement of castle Canterlot. Held together by cracked stone pillars that had faded over time, the entire circular floor was covered in sand, allowing an easy grip for anyone practicing. Seats had been placed around the training grounds as well, should the need for a crowd ever arise.

"And I you, Princess," Twilight quickly bowed "I'm here for my training, or rather, my exam."

"Your exam?" Celestia questioned "But that's not for another fifteen minutes. Nopony is even here yet."

"I understand that, Princess," Twilight nodded "I just wanted to get here earlier as to try and get in line first. I know that sounds extremely childish, but hey, first come first serve, am I right?"

"Oh Twilight..." Celestia giggled "Truth be told, I actually expected you to be here earlier than anypony else."

"Hmm?"

"Has Rainbow Dash told you about my decision?" Celestia wondered, to which Twilight nodded "Ah, good. Then you must know that I've taken your request to heart. However, instead of changing the times of the exams..."

Twilight bit her hooves a bit.

"...I've decided you, Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash should all take your exams at the same time," Celestia finished "Privately, if I may add."

"I... what?" Twilight stood there, confused as to what to say and how to react.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Rainbow Dash swept in from the air and side-hugged her friend "So, turns out we're all doing our exams at the same time! Yeah, we all totally set you up. But wasn't that just the best surprise?"

"Heh... This was all a prank?" Twilight laughed a bit.

"Yes," Shining Armor walked out into the middle of the training grounds and looked right in Twilight's direction "Sorry about that, Twily, but it's been far too long since we were able to prank you without you finding out about our plan seven steps ahead before we could even plan our first, so to say."

"Well, this certainly took my by surprise!" Twilight grinned ear to ear "This is the best thing that could ever happen to me! My best friend since I've known from day one who always wanted to be a Pegasus knight, and my big brother who stayed true to me all the way through training to be a knight himself, and both of them are here with me to aid me in my final test!"

"And you're gonna help us with our own tests as well, you hear?" Rainbow ruffled her friend's mane a bit "Now, enough talking and more smashing something!"

"Right, of course," Twilight calmed herself and turned to her mentor "What's our final test going to be?"

"This last test will be one that will show what you have all learned over the course of fourteen years," Celestia explained "Now, I believe all of you have an idea of what the field looks like, correct? Think of it as like a game of chess, where you are the pawns and those dummies out there are from the opponent."

"Dummies?" Twilight looked over and noticed all the red training dummies littered about the training grounds "Huh... How did I not notice those at all?"

"Your goal is to take out those dummies using the skills you've all learned up to this point," Celestia explained "The dummies that appear just out of reach will be targets of Twilight, who's magic has a range to it. The dummies that are on the ground will be the targets of Shining Armor, who's on-land combat will make short work of them. The dummies on the higher ground-"

"Will go to me!" Rainbow interrupted "Yeah, I can take them on! They're just dummies anyway, right?"

"Well... no," Celestia admitted "These dummies are not your average training dummies. They have the full capability of fighting back. Well... to an extent. They can't kill you, but please do take caution."

"I'm ready for this if you are," Shining went up next to his little sister.

"I was born ready, brother," Twilight nodded "But I was also trained ready, because I-"

"I get it, Twily, thank you," Shining chuckled a bit.

"Everyone prepare yourself..." Celestia raised her head high in the air

"On your marks..." she prepared a spell from her horn

"Get set..." everyone anxiously anticipated the moment when they could begin. The thought of failing itched at the back of their minds, but quickly faded away once they focused on their goals again.

"GO!" Celestia shouted, firing her spell into the air, which made a loud banging noise.

(Music Stop)

Player Phase

The three dashed off immediately and went straight for their targets, pulling out their respective weapons of choice.

Twilight went straight for the first two dummies she saw, which happened to be the closest ones to her. Flipping open one of her books with her levitation, she began chanting some words that eventually caused her horn to glow, eventually creating some fire that absolutely destroyed a few of the nearby dummies.

"Haha! Got you!" she laughed a bit before moving onto the next ones. However, to her surprise, one of the dummies had actually attacked her back with some magic of its own.

"What? Hey! You can't do that!" Twilight crossly stated "I-I mean... You're going down next by my hoof!"

At the same time, Shining Armor had gone up to one of the dummies with an axe lodged in its side, acting as if it was an axe user on the battlefield. He grinned before pulling out his sword with his magic and striking the dummy with everything he had, eventually causing it to collapse and break apart.

"Swords beat axes..." he recalled from his training "Axes are too slow to truly counter from sword attacks, therefore they are weak to them. On the other hand-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he looked to the sky and saw that a spear was headed right for him. He just narrowly dodged the attack. Looking to his right, he saw that a dummy just out of reach had thrown that spear at him. He wasn't one-hundred percent sure, but he swore he saw a glint of amusement in the dummy's button eyes.

"...spears and lances are strong against swords, as they have a much longer reach than the latter," he remembered "So you really want to be taken out that much? Then I'm coming for you next!"

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had been flying around, striking her javelin, which she held with her hooves somehow, into any dummy she happened to see. Some had attacked with their fire and thunder magic, but everything had been dodged by her thanks to her amazing agility. She grinned and impaled her blade into one of the dummies with satisfaction.

"I don't know what Celestia was talking about," Rainbow let out a hearty laugh "these things are easy!"

It had been at that moment when two dummies had actually teamed up and fired their magic attacks at her at the same time. She was knocked down by the second fire attack. She hit the ground and rubbed her head a bit.

"Ow..." she groaned "Note-to-self: don't be cocky."

Enemy Phase

The dummies, lacking any sort of soul or brainpower, could not therefore did not move. Instead, they opted to attack anything in their reach. The dummies close to Twilight reared up their magical attacks, which hit Twilight and sent her flying back a bit. As soon as she got back up, she looked at the cotton statues with daggers in her eyes.

"Okay, so I see that's how you all wish to do this?" Twilight asked the inanimate objects, knowing full well they could not respond back "Then have a bit of this!"

She opened her second book and called forth fierce winds to quickly dispose of the attacking dummies. Three of the dummies went flying so far, they actually knocked over the rest of the dummies as well, making them unusable.

"Huh... Well, I guess that's that then," Twilight shrugged.

The dummies close to Shining and Rainbow were unable to attack the two, save for one javelin-throwing dummy that attempted to strike Shining down again. Thankfully, he was able to dodge once again, more effectively now that he was focused on it.

"Alright then, if you really wanted to perish so badly..." he grumbled.

Player Phase

Shining Armor took no time in rushing straight for the dummy that had attacked him twice now and had stricken it down with his sword, absolutely decimating it and causing it to fall apart in a pile of fluff and patching. He swung around his sword in victory before sheathing it and grinning a bit.

"And that is how you do that," he nodded before looking to his next targets "Now, time to finish up the job."

Meanwhile, Rainbow had gotten up from her fall and was now out for revenge. She flew back up and circled around the dummies that she had problems with before and knocked them all down with a simple strike to their nonexistent heart. They all fell down to the ground before they exploded in a burst of cotton.

"How does that feel, dumb, uh... dummies!" Rainbow laughed a bit as she looked around the area for anything else she could destroy "Hey, did I actually get them all? Nice!"

"Guys! We did it! We won!" Twilight cheered as she rushed towards her two friends.

(Music Stop)

Enemy Phase

Out of nowhere, the ground began to shake, as if something horrible had just happened. Any dummy that may have remained after the trio's onslaught was knocked over and considered defeated. But that was the least of their concerns right now. Everyone, including Princess Celestia, heard footsteps rushing down into the training grounds area. They looked to the southern entrance and saw four soldiers come down with spears in their yellow talons, rearing for a fight.

Yes, talons.

These guards were no ordinary soldiers. They had brown feathers on their head and body, with a lion's lower body, complete with legs and tail. They had golden helmets over their heads with gold armor on their upper torso and red vests underneath said torso armor. Proud yellow beaks and nearly unfeeling eyes came from under the helmet. Brown wings were neatly tucked away on their sides.

"Griffons?" Celestia wondered "How were you four able to get in here? This is private property of-"

"Silence!" a fifth griffon emerged from the entrance, shouting his order with pride and confidence. He was much bulkier than the other griffons, with scars along his beak and body and a blue feather protruding from his helmet, but was otherwise the same as his troop.

"Wha... How dare you speak to me in such a manner!" Celestia shouted back "Who gave you orders to be here anyway?!"

"I don't have to answer any of your questions, wench," the soldier stated "After we take this kingdom, you will give us what we want without hesitation."

"Not if we can stop it!" Twilight courageously stood up against the soldiers, bringing out her fire tome again "How dare you even think out saying something like that to us!"

"Griffonstone was always at peace with us... Why would they attack now?" Shining though aloud to himself before looking directly at the griffons "That doesn't matter right now, though. What matters is that I will NOT allow you to fell our kingdom! I don't know why you've come, but I do know you will be defeated!"

"Man, I used to actually like you guys..." Rainbow scoffed, whipping out her javelin and pointing it at the griffons "I really hope you're just a bunch of rebels though..."

"Griffons, attack!" the commander shouted.

(Music Stop)

With next to no warning, one of the griffon soldiers ran up to and attacked Twilight, landing a solid blow onto her and knocking her back a bit. Not caring much for that, however, she got back up almost immediately and used her fire magic on him, doing a hefty amount of damage on him.

On the other side of the grounds, Shining Armor was being attacked by another one of the griffon soldiers. With a mighty thrust from his spear, the griffon managed to successfully get a hit on the knight-in-training. Shining was not one to give up, however, and retaliated with a swing of his sword. Despite being the weaker of the two due to his choice of weapon, he was still able to get in a nice hit.

Player Phase

"Twilight!" Rainbow immediately dashed off to help her friend, swooping in and striking the griffon knight in his side and ending his life once and for all "Twilight, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks..." Twilight nodded "Just a small scratch, I assure you. If it was any worse, I would tell you."

"Well, alright then," Rainbow nodded before looking over to the other soldiers and grinning "Say, why don't you and I team up and take that guy out? It would certainly be in favor for both of us, right?"

"I suppose so," Twilight considered "Alright, follow me then!" she grabbed Rainbow by the hoof and brought her along with her right at the griffon, who prepared himself for whatever attack they had ready. Without warning, as a sign of revenge she convinced herself, Twilight cast away her wind spell and dealt a good amount of damage on him. To finish up, Rainbow flew her javelin directly into her foe's heart and defeated him.

"Easier done than said, that's for damn sure," Rainbow proudly stated, flipping around her weapon before driving into the ground as a sign of victory.

On the other side, Shining Armor had advanced forward and was now about to engage the final soldier. He ran forward and struck the griffon on his arm. With the griffon having more range thanks to his spear, he was able to hit Shining and knock him down for a moment. What he wasn't expecting however was Shining jumping back up and going for another attack, which he was able to pull off. The griffon's life didn't last very long afterwards.

"You invade our home and don't even put up a fight?" he asked the now lifeless corpse, shaking his head and sheathing his sword "Absolutely shameful."

Enemy Phase

"Impressive," the griffon commander raised an eyebrow "You trainees of all things managed to defeat several men of the proud Griffonstone kingdom. But you will not get past me, Gavin of the court of griffons."

With those words having been said, Gavin pulled out his own spear and prepared to engage his opponents.

Player Phase

"I'm too weak to try and fight someone like him right now," Shining Armor admitted, feeling the pain from his previous enemy encounters begin to inflict themselves on him "You two have to finish the job. Don't worry; I'll pray for you to succeed. Think of him as your final test!"

"Our... final test..." Twilight repeated "...of course, yes! If I defeat him here and now, I would not only help my kingdom, but pass the test as well! Rainbow, let's get a move on!"

"Those are the words I want to hear!" Rainbow grinned, following Twilight until they were face-to-face with Gavin.

"So, you two will be my opponents today?" Gavin wondered.

"Don't make this some kind of friendly game, you bastard," Rainbow rolled her eyes "You think you can just waltz in here and try to kill us, huh? Well, we have something to say about that! Go for it, Twi!"

Twilight nodded and shot a blast of fire at Gavin, to which he managed to dodge somehow. Laughing, he struck his spear into Twilight, injuring her and causing Rainbow to become increasingly angry.

"How was he able to dodge my fire?" Twilight gasped in shock "It's magic; you shouldn't be able to dodge it!"

"And yet, I did," Gavin smirked "It seems you two were only lucky when it came to defeating my troop. I guess there was no real challenge after all. Now, take this!"

He ran forward and attacked Twilight once again, hitting her front leg and surprising her. She collapsed onto the ground and clutched her leg in a desperate attempt to stop the flow of blood.

"Why you..." Rainbow grumbled before her entire body began to glow a faint light "You're going to hell!" she charged up her javelin before throwing it at Gavin, dealing massive damage to him and leaving him near-death on the ground. Twilight took this final opportunity to cast her fire magic on the griffon, finally ending his life.

"H-How... Im... Impossi... ble..." were his last words before his soul left forever.

(Music Stop)

Victory

"Twilight, are you alright?!" Shining Armor ran over to his little sister the best he could.

"Shining, I'm fine, thanks," Twilight winced in pain "Well, at least I'll live anyway. Nothing a little vulnerary can't fix..." she brought out a small flask and dripped some of its contents on her wound, rubbing the pain away. She then got right back up as if nothing happened, much to the relief of both her brother and friend.

"So, those guys really were from Griffonstone, huh?" Rainbow wondered "What could make them attack us after years and years of peace between us?"

"I do not know," Celestia came up to the three with a look of seriousness on her face "What I do know, however, is that you three must escape this place as soon as possible. Those weren't the only soldiers who have advanced their forces into our castle, I'm willing to bet. Griffon aren't stupid."

"Where would we go?" Shining asked.

"Anywhere but here," Celestia sighed "Please, you must go. I wish not for my students to be killed."

"C'mon, you two, you heard the lady!" Rainbow proudly stated, flying up the southern entrance towards freedom "If you're still feeling out though, take you time."

"Shining, are you okay?" Twilight concernedly asked her brother.

"Yeah, I'll be good," he nodded "Like you said, nothing a vulnerary can't fix, right?"

"Just take it easy, okay?" Twilight tried to keep him out of trouble "A vulnerary can only do so much. No big maneuvers of attacks if we're faced with a problem, and nothing-"

"Hahaha... I get it, Twily, thanks..." Shining laughed as he rubbed his own vulnerary on his wounds "Okay, I'm all set to go. Let's meet up with Rainbow Dash."

"Right!" Twilight nodded as she and her brother ran up the stairs as fast as they could before stopping all of a sudden "Princess, are you going to be okay? Maybe you should come with us or-"

"I'll be fine, Twilight," Celestia smiled a bit "Besides, there's something I must do here first before I can escape."

"...right, of course. Best of luck to you, your highness," Twilight nodded and continued up her path with Shining Armor. As soon as the duo were out of sight, Celestia let out a small sigh.

"Maybe one day I can tell you, Twilight," Celestia shook her head "But today is not that day. I wish you all the best of luck."

Author's Notes:

And this is the first chapter, in case anyone read the last AN.

I understand that some people may be turned off by the whole Player Phase and Enemy Phase thing, but I want to make it as close to the source material as possible. I so far included the literal Fire Emblem, vulneraries, phases, and the weapon triangle. There will be a lot more included, but that's all for now.

And yes, there will also be the OP lancer on a horse at the start of the game, like all Fire Emblem games have. She'll be included in the next chapter, I promise.

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!