A New harmony- Chapter 6

Twilight looked around the table at her friends. They had all come to mourn the loss of Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter, who had left on a secret mission six months earlier and still hadn't returned. Officially declared dead by the Equestrian military, the other six elements and Princess Celestia had gathered around her necklace to pay their respects. None of them had expected to lose her, so news of her death had shaken them right to their core.
"Today, we honour our fallen friend, Pinkamina Diane Pie. She had made it her life's mission to make the ponies of the world smile, and now, we will never see that mission fulfilled again." Celestia said, giving the eulogy with tears in her eyes. Twilight turned her head at the sound of somepony entering the tent. It was Duskheart, a cruel, heartless pony in Twilight's opinion.
"Twilight, I believe you wanted to say something." Said Celestia, nodding her head. Twilight took a deep breath;
"Everypony, I'd like you all to join me in a song that I think represents Pinkie the best." Twilight cleared her throat and began to sing softly;
"Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile. Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine; all I really need's a smile, smile, smile. From these happy friends of mine, from these happy friends of miinnee." She eventually stopped and cried, remembering the spontaneous parades that Pinkie inspired. Fluttershy put her arms around her. An obviously fake cough sounded from Duskheart's direction, the group all looked at him with annoyance. He ignored the looks and walked up to Celestia, handing her a piece of paper.
"Good news Princess, our troops have pushed the griffins back into their territory." He said, pride written all over his face.
"Thank you Commander." Celestia said, her voice still trembling. Duskheart looked over at Twilight, who was still crying, and shook his head, before turning and leaving the tent.
"So what now?" Asked the Doctor. "Do we nominate a new element of laughter?" The group stayed silent, nopony wanting to even think about that right now. They eventually split off and went back to their stations, even though Celestia had given them the day off. Twilight watched Fluttershy ascend to Archer's stage, pick up her bow and continue the assault on the griffins. The Doctor and Derpy were staying close to each other, almost never having some part of their body not connected to the others. Rarity just quickly disappeared back into the research tent, a dark green pony following her in. Twilight walked down a small hill to where the unicorn troops were staying. Walking inside, she found the tent in chaos, books, tables and chairs all flying around the room. Twilight shot a stern look at her second-in-command, a light blue unicorn named Lightstar.

"Just what is going on here?" Twilight asked, causing the other pony to back away.
"I'm sorry Miss Twilight, one of the new recruits spell went amiss and we can't seem to fix it." Lightstar explained. Twilight sighed, bowing her head as her magic reversed the recruit's mistake and putting everything back to where it was.
"Okay, is that it?" She asked irritably. Lightstar shook her head.
"No ma'am, Duskheart wants us to lead the next charge." Twilight sighed even louder this time, turning and walking out of the tent, Lightstar following close behind. They met the rest of the unicorn troops at what had become known as 'The gates of madness', which in reality were just some rocks that led onto the main battlefield. Twilight faced her troops, looking at the strange mix of battle worn and young faces.
"Ponies, I know I say this every time, but it needs to be said; Think of a loved one, and focus on that, now use that as your driving force. They are the ones you are fighting for; they are the ones that will be singing songs of your exploits. For love, for Equestria!" She shouted, the unicorns, all lit up their horns in response. Twilight turned, placing her helmet on her head, and ran out towards the battle already taking place. Twilight could see Big Mac in the melee. Now a corporal, Big Mac had his own platoon, and were seen by some to be the best. The unicorns arrived at the main battle, Minotaur and griffins going rabid at the attacking ponies. A Minotaur ran straight for Twilight, who teleported just as it swung a war axe. She landed on its back, her arms around its neck. The Minotaur tried grabbing her, but Twilight managed to dodge its wild grabs. She extended her hidden blade, and holding on with only one arm, plunged it into the Minotaur's back, right next to the spine. Using all of her strength, she moved it across, severing the spinal cord, just as she had read about in anatomy books. The Minotaur screamed, before falling face down on the ground. Twilight jumped off as it fell, keeping a steady pace as she ducked and dived through flailing limbs and weapons. Her eyes were set on one target; a griffin commander, controlling his troops from the back and not taking part in the actual fighting. A Minotaur fell in front of her, Big Mac's sword sticking out of its chest. Twilight used it as a springboard jumping high into the air in the direction of her griffin target. Extending her hidden blade once more, she collided with the stunned griffin, the blade piercing its chest and into its heart. The griffin fell out of the air, landing on its back, Twilight still keeping the blade planted firmly in its chest. She pulled it out and retracted it.

"For love, for Equestria, for Pinkie." She whispered to herself. When the other griffins saw this, they made a beeline straight for Twilight, who unsheathed her sword and held it in the air with magic. They came at her as one group, well-coordinated, ruthless. Twilight kept her sword moving, blocking attacks and countering with some of her own, not giving an inch of ground. One griffin managed to get past her, swinging its sword towards her head. Twilight was barely fast enough to dodge it; the blade ran along her face, from eyebrow to cheek over the eye. Twilight screamed, before throwing her sword at the griffin, which got embedded in the griffin's skull. Her eye began to fill up with blood, obscuring her vision. She pulled her sword back to her as three more griffins charged, before suddenly stopping.  Two of them had sword tips sticking out of their stomachs and the third spun as it fell, an arrow sticking out the back of its head, pink arrow feathers denoting Fluttershy's handiwork. The swords were retracted, revealing Big Mac and Lightstar, who quickly helped Twilight off the battlefield and into the medical tent. The doctors administered anaesthetic, hoping to save her eye from damage. Twilight swiftly passed out, awaking much later, judging by the darkness outside. Twilight became worried when she realised that she could only see from one eye, before discovering bandages covering the wound. She sat up, and her good eye widened as she saw a shape beside her bed.
"Pinkie?" She asked, blinking. But upon opening her eyes again, found nothing. She began to cry, and beat the bed with her hooves and she shouted with grief.
'Why did it have to be you Pinkie? Why? You always seemed the most untouchable, the most invincible of us all; the only one I thought would leave this war and still be the same pony.' These thoughts screamed in Twilight's head, and she cried for her fallen friend all night.