Celestia was sitting in her throne, listening to yet another commander talk about how his patrol was attacked, in a similar pattern to every other time this happened to the royal guards of canterlot. She knew exactly who did it, and why; Sunset Shimmer, former apprentice to the Sun Princess, and current menace to society.
Celestia, unfortunately, had a bit of a soft spot for the rebel, and she had tried many times to peacefully get her to stop her deeds against the crown, but they all failed. Sunset Shimmer did not feel the same way about the princess, in fact, she hated the entire monarchy, and regularly made her hatred known by attacking royal guard patrols.
Even though Celestia tried to be as Benevolent of a leader as possible, this didn't stop Sunset, and this worried Celestia even more. It felt like time was running out for the Princess, and she needed a solution quickly. She’d somehow managed to incite the majority of the Thestral population into rebellion, and it didn’t help her nerves. It pained the ruler of Equestria, but it was about time for the army to step in.
“Derpy Hooves, send a letter to General Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia was already somewhat regretting this. Twilight was still somewhat inexperienced in combat, still, her beloved pupil was still the strongest warrior she had, and her unit was conveniently nearby.
“Understood, Ma'am!”
Celestia raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, your highness.” And with that, the ex-mailwoman left. Celestia smiled. Derpy’s enthusiasm for her job was endearing, even if she did have… mishaps, often.
“General Twilight Sparkle! Letter from Princess Celestia!” Said a familiar gray Pegasus. (The people with wings were nicknamed this for them, and eventually the name stuck.) Derpy descended too quickly into the military camp, crashing into the flap of Twilight’s tent. She hit the ground hard, tumbling into a bookshelf and knocking it over.
“HEY! I just organized that!”, Twilight was just about to go on a rant about how reckless Derpy was, but she saw the letter from Celestia and immediately forgot about it.
“What is it this time? Hmm.. Sunset Shimmer? Who’s that?” Twilight had taken the letter from the Mailwoman without even a thanks, and was now reading it intently. “Hmm… Multiple royal guard patrols decimated… highly dangerous… Entrusting me with her capture!?” Twilight brightened at that. Finally! a real mission! For the last 2 months Twilight had only been called for missions like unnecessary patrols or checking on the state of the military’s weaponry, but now she got exactly the kind of mission she hoped for. She looked up to thank Derpy, but all her eyes were met with was scattered books and a few scuffs on the ground marked with gray feathers.
After reorganizing her bookshelf, again, Twilight was on her way to meet with Princess Celestia.
Which squad should she bring? She had more than a few available, but she decided to bring Rarity and her squad of archers and a few musketeers, along with a few more hands on soldiers from the Royal Guard reserves.
She just couldn't wait to put all the military strategies she studied to practice! She had seen combat before, but not against an opponent as strong as Sunset Shimmer! At least, if she was as powerful as Celestia claimed. she'd finally prove herself to her mentor, and move on to bigger and bigger battles, and get to learn the strongest spells and techniques there are! Maybe she could even become an Archmagi, like Celestia.
Twilight and Rarity were traveling to Canterlot, along with a squad of musketeers, one of archers, and two of infantry, from Rarity's platoon. The musketeers were the only squad with non-magi members, as the archers used spells and enchantments on their arrows, and the Infantry relied mostly on magic shields and attacks, all abilities only usable by Magi, Changelings and Zebras.
After gathering up the troops, Captain Rarity and her General, Twilight, had headed up to the castle where Celestia resided. The castle was located in the highest mountains of Equestria, some even say that the castle is hanging from the mountain, and could slide down the rocky slope, as the mountain is what has kept it from figuratively falling to enemy hands. Something that Sunset would love.
“My, you look rather jubilant today, darling.” Rarity commented,as the 2 leaders walked up to the castle to discuss the plan with Celestia. The soldiers were hidden on a train close to the castle in question, in order not to attract Sunset's attention.
“Well, Princess Celestia finally trusted me with a real mission! We'll almost certainly be in Sunset Shimmer’s camp this very evening!”
“Well, that is an exciting prospect to me too, but don't you find it a bit… odd?” Rarity seemed deep in thought.
“What do you mean?” Twilight inquired
“When you showed me the letter, I noticed Celestia seemed to be quite familiar with this ‘Sunset’ individual and her abilities.”
“That could just be from royal guard reports, of course Celestia would keep record of magical abilities when dealing with a skilled magi like Sunset.” Twilight explained, not believing there to be anything other than face value when it came to the terrorist.
“That… You're probably right, dear.” Rarity replied, despite not seeming quite content with Twilight's answer. “Do you think Celestia… might have a connection with her?
Twilight seemed taken aback. “What do you mean?” The general had stopped walking, and was now staring at Rarity.
“Not like that, darling!” Rarity quickly corrected. “Maybe they knew each other once, before Sunset started the attacks?”
Twilight regained her composure after that, and kept walking. “Either way, I don't see how their relationship could be of any relevance to the mission.”
The duo had arrived at the castle, being greeted by more royal guards than usual, and of course, the princess.
“Greetings, Twilight.” She smiled warmly at her pupil. “And your name is?” Celestia looked at the captain.
“Rarity, captain of the 24th Magi Ranged Division , your majesty.” She bowed, honored to finally see her ruler personally .
“I see.” Celestia then added, amused; “I appreciate the formality, but it will not be necessary.”
“Oh? uh, understood, ma’a- Darling.” Rarity said, no longer bowing, and seemingly regretting calling the ruler of Equestria ‘Darling’.
“Well as i'm sure you already know, there have been a lot of attacks in multiple places throughout Canterlot, all of those attacks being caused by one particular individual, you may know her as Sunset Shimmer.”
The two leaders nodded in accordance, walking with the Princess through the main hall of the castle.
“Twilight, you might be wondering why I haven't just bombarded her camp, that is because I want you to fight her.” Celestia looked at Twilight as she said that.
Twilight smiled. This was it, her time to shine! then Celestia spoke up again. “Because I trust you can bring her alive.”
Twilight was somewhat confused, why keep her alive? She's a warlord! then again, she could reveal Thestral secrets. “...Understood. I’ll avoid killing her, whatever it takes.”
“Good.” The Princess turned her head away from twilight to look foward, where they were walking. They stayed silent the rest of the way.
Twilight, Celestia, Rarity and Shining Armor, leader of the royal guard, decided that they'd have the Magi lead by Rarity engage the thestrals, while Twilight was going to look for Sunset with a handful of royal guards, who would cover her in case she needed it.
The camp was located between Canterlot and Ponyville, which meant if Sunset and her troops retreated, the town would be in danger of being occupied by the insurgents.
The Equestrian forces were getting ready for the assault, having the camp in sight. The soldiers were getting off the oxen-pulled wagons and getting in formation to march into battle.
It was a sunny afternoon, with relatively few clouds on the sky. This was going to be a quick, easy victory.
Twilight ran her eyes over the soldiers, and her small complement of armored royal guards, the latter bearing polearms about as long as the men's heights, and large hexagonal shields with the Equestrian flag painted at the front. The general was completely confident. Celestia trusted her with this, and she would make her mentor proud.
Soon, their opponents began to take the field. Ranks of Thestrals, gray skin at odds with the silver of their armor. As they formed up, a figure with striking red and yellow hair walked through, until she was at the very front of her forces.
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” The figure, who Twilight now recognized as Sunset Shimmer, had her sword pointed at her. “I’ve been waiting! Seems Celestia’s still too lazy to come herself, eh?” Somehow her voice carried across the plain, easily reaching Twilight. The woman began to slam her sword on her shield, soon followed by every soldier with a shield that she led. The rhythm sounded like thunder, and the army across from them began to shift uneasily. And with a final beat, the Thestral army began to advance.