//------------------------------// // Ensemble Cast // Story: The Stars Will Aid Their Escape // by Drhoz //------------------------------// The alicorns glowed with beauty and grace as they stood regal and supreme on the dais in the palace gardens. Behind them, banners waved in the gentle breeze, showing the sisters and the sun and moon, stylised, and overlapping, dancing, coming together to create a scene of beauty. The crowds milled in excitement - the dawn had been impressive enough, with Sun and Moon rising above the mountains simultaneously, the sisters choreographed magic perfectly framed by the design of the garden and decorations, and the hard work of the pegasi. Now the celestial bodies were moving together, gliding to cross paths in the sky, and the preliminary entertainments could be enjoyed by the public as they waited for the big moment. But there was still an air of unease behind the festivities. Perhaps it was the royal guard, Dayguard and Nightguard both, standing at more than ceremonial attention. Or the presence of all six Bearers on the dais behind the sisters - some of the ponies had very clear memories of the last few times all six had been in Canterlot at once, and sincerely hoped that their unexpected presence was an innocent surprise. Or perhaps it was the way Twilight Sparkle slumped in her wheelchair, drooling and staring, the blanket over her lap concealing the restraints. Or the expressions on the other five Bearers, and on the little dragon pushing Twilight's chair, and the way the one with the hat avoided meeting the eyes of the cyan pegasus. Shining Armor shuffled into the space behind the dais, and coughed politely. "Report from the archives, your majesties." "Did they find anything, captain?" murmured Celestia, without taking her gaze off the crowd. The breeze sweeping off the ornamental lake and rim of the Canterlot Falls swept her mane into a shimmering dawn panorama, contrasting pleasingly with the colours of the morning sky behind her.. The unicorn hesitated. "I'm afraid not. They've checked three times, but if anything significant by Ivory Tower was ever in the stacks, then it was misfiled decades ago. Certainly nopony has opened the chambers it should have been in, in at least that long." Celestia sighed, very gently. "I was afraid of that. My little ponies did their best to rediscover his avenues of research, that I could prevent the same mistake in future, but he left so little to go on. Whatever he had learned, we were sure his knowledge died with him." Luna looked very serious, even as her exhaustion made the stars in her mane flicker. Behind her, the moon was the thinnest of crescents, but still perfectly visible thanks to her magic. "Then we must capture the madmare Trixie and her associate, and determine how they know Ivory Tower's work, and who else they have told. And the bestiaries? What have you learned about the monsters?" "Nothing, Princess Luna. Nothing resembling them has ever been reported from the Everfree, as far as the archivists can tell. I'm still waiting for replies from the Griffin and Dragon lands, in case they know anything. As for the one you captured... the Spellguard are almost sure it's intelligent, but it keeps trying to kill anypony who goes near enough to try a communication spell. I've had to triple the ponies guarding it - it already broke out of the railyard once." Fluttershy gasped, "Oh, don't worry! We got it back under control before it got far. We just hadn't anticipated it being THAT strong. But we still have plenty of ponies to watch the rest of Canterlot too. And, ah, you've got those." He dipped his horn towards Spike, and the case tucked into the back of Twilight's chair. Spike looked back, deadly serious and responsible, and nodded. "So..." And here, Armor's voice took on a trace of pleading. "How's Twili?" Celestia turned to look down at him, sympathetically. "She is aware of her surroundings, at least. But we will keep her sedated for now. Talk to her if you wish - there is still a chance she can hear and understand you." The white unicorn, smiled, weakly. "Well, that's something. I'll let Mom and Dad know, when I go off duty." "Armor - you have already been awake for more than a day. You know you could go off duty at any time." "No, I can't, Princess. I really can't." One of the pegasi guards flew in, at speed, and came to a halt alongside. "Captain Armor? We got a problem - a big problem." *** Trixie was annoyed again by the time she and her trees had pushed their way past the last gate, and into the open gardens near the falls. "Trixie thought you were her publicity agent - the ponies aren't even looking at her!" Herald shrugged "Perhaps they're shy? Or too distracted by the eclipse?" Overhead the Sun and Moon were minutes away from touching. Trixie fumed. "This is your fault - if you had arranged Trixie's audience on any other day, then everypony would be free to bask in my magnificence." Herald tut-tutted. "You're thinking about this all wrong, Beatrice. The eclipse just means you'll have to produce an even better spectacle. And what better time to show off your prowess than when all these extra ponies - and both alicorns! - are in town? But I do recommend a variation on your usual fireworks. How about the Red Sign? That one should make quite an impression." She hesitated, and checked the book - the sketch in the facing page did look spectacular... and the text promised it would stun all observers... They were almost at the edge of the crowd now - behind them there were shouts, and retching noises, and Herald noted the reaction of the distant alicorns, perched atop the dais. "But either way, now is your chance. I'll be just over there - you do your best to really impress." Trixie huffed. "The Great and Powerful Trixie always does her best. The Great and Powerful Trixie is MAGNIFICENT!" She threw back her gemstone-encrusted cloak. "Ladies and Gentlecolts! Feast your eyes upon the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!" Now every eye was upon her. *** "They're invisible?!" hissed Rarity. "That explains how they got away from Ponyville, I guess." muttered Pinkie. She looked worried. "My little ponies - you are not safe here, if Trixie and her beasts can conceal themselves from our gaze - we must move you to a more secure location." Applejack was staring across the crowd, and her voice was full of dangerous resolution. "Princess, that ain't gonna be a problem." In many respects, it was like a curtain being pulled away from a stage. One moment, they weren't there, and the next Trixie was posing triumphantly, braced by a dozen black, protean monstrosities. "Guards! Seize that mare!" shouted Celestia over the screams, as she and her sister took flight to battle against the creatures. Armor tried to put up a shield spell around the six Bearers, but was knocked to the ground by the crowd of earth ponies and unicorns rushing to get away as far as their hooves could take them. Rarity gasped. "Oh, what IS she wearing? Are those really rhinestones?" She facehoofed. "Rarity, hon, you're my best friend an' all, but now ain't the time. I got business with that showmare." Applejack pushed her way through the ponies, and leaped down into the crowd of panicky townsfolk. "Jacqueline, no!" *** Trixie was a bit concerned by the audience reaction - she hadn't expected them to gallop away screaming. She hadn’t even surprised them with walking trees yet. "B...Behold my mastery of the magical arts!" At least the Princesses were coming over for a closer look. Luna had seen her in Ponyville, she must have told her elder sibling about her grievance with Twilight Sparkle and that wretched village. Her eyes narrowed. She'd spotted a familiar pony seated on the dais. No wonder the audience weren't in awe, if Twilight Sparkle had been here spreading vicious rumours. Well, she'd put on a show that would knock their horseshoes off! She flung a hoof out dramatically, and declaimed the syllables of the Red Sign. From the detonation of magic that washed over her, and the crimson glow that illuminated her from somewhere above her head, it seemed to work. She was too professional to look up and check, of course. The audience seemed impressed, as well - half of the Royal Guard were on the ground shielding their eyes. Even the alicorns had stopped dead in mid air. Ha! Let Twilight Loser top that! "For my first trick... hey!" she hissed "Where are you going?! That wasn't your cue!" The eyeless Dark Young pushed past her and headed for the crowd. *** "Ow! What the buck is that?!" Yelped Rainbow Dash, as she covered her eyes with her hooves and fell out of the air and into the garden. The crimson symbol burning in the air above Trixie was impossible to describe - simply looking at it sent a stabbing pain and unreasoning terror deep into her brain. There were armed pegasi on the ground nearby, swearing inventively. Something was shaking the ground - the tread of Trixie's monsters, as they marched towards the mob of ponies jammed into the nearest gate. Their slack and croaking mouths drooled and slobbered, and their tentacles extended to seize the screaming mares, stallion, and foals. "No! Nononono!" a different fear filled her - a horror shared by the Princesses it seemed, as they and those guards who had managed to avert their eyes rushed to protect the citizens. Dash launched herself into the melee - there was no way she would see another pony hurt because of Trixie's magic. Fluttershy, Pinkie and Spike were cowering behind Twilight's wheelchair. Every glimpse of the Sign - even reflections of it in the windows of the palace, was sparking unreasoning terror and pain. "Spike! Get the Elements ready!" shouted Pinkie. He fumbled at the case, almost spilling the jewels onto the ground. They'd managed to turn their friend away from the showmare, but she was still moaning gibberish and struggling against her bonds. Rarity was struggling too - Armor was trying to drag her down behind the dais, but she was keeping her eyes squeezed shut and shouting. "We have to stop her!" "I know! But the Spellguard will be here in seconds, if they ca-" "Not Trixie! Applejack!" *** Luna and Celestia were lost in the swirling combat. It had been so very long since they had gone to battle together, and it was frightening how easily the reflex came back. Every time one of the beasts lunged forward, they would move to block them, stop them from reaching the ponies, and retaliate with their own magic and stamping hooves. Their legs were already black with ichor, but the creatures were horribly resilient, shrugging off stunbolts and recovering in seconds even from the spears their guards drove deep into the abominations. But their numbers pressed hard, and the Red Sign made it so difficult - a unicorn attempting to seize a creature with telekinesis would glimpse it out of the corner of his eye and collapse, twitching and grinding their teeth. A pegasus would spasm in mid-air, and then they would need protection as well. Every time she had one of the monsters pinned, another would try and slip past her. Celestia fought a growing horror - if they did not deal with this threat now, she might be forced to call down her greater powers... no. That would not happen. Never happen again. She shouted over the roars of the things, and the screams of her ponies. "Rainbow Dash! Get a cloud! Block that symbol!" The mare looked up, dropped the foal she'd rescued to safety behind a low wall, and took off into the sky at close to the speed of sound. *** Applejack ground her teeth. She was still half-blind from her glimpse of the crimson symbol, and pain pounded behind her eyes. She kept her head down, staring at the turf between her hooves, then reached up to pull her hat forward, pushing the brim down low over her eyes. "You ain't getting away this time, you-" she began, then hunkered down as one of the tree-creatures was blasted off its hooves by Luna, only to hoot and reform and launch itself back into the fray. She lifted her field of view carefully, no higher than the edges of the garden, and scanned around, until she caught a glimpse of blue, and gaudy fake gemstones. "Gotcha." Trixie stamped her hooves as she pursued her minions across the garden, raising her voice to try and be heard over the commotion. "Stop it! You're ruining everything!" she raged, as the crowds screamed in terror and the Princesses flung potent battle magick into the combat, and the guards charged and lunged with spears and lances. "What is wrong with you all! You're supposed to be paying attention to Trixie!" Somebody snarled nearby. "YOU." Trixie turned. It was an orange earth pony, with a hat and tied-back hair. She looked vaguely familiar. Hadn't she been in Ponyville? "Oh, what do you want, the Great and Powerful Trixie is busy, you may ask for my au-" Applejack kicked her in the face. *** Rainbow Dash pushed the small clouds together, until she had a mass large enough to completely cover the glowing symbol. She moved to the far side, using the towers of Canterlot to judge her course without risking a glimpse of the sigil. Her heart was in her mouth - around her, pegasi rushing to assist would come into view of the symbol, go into convulsions, and fall from the sky. She hoped they landed in the lake at the bottom of the Canterlot Falls, or the pegasi still below the rim of the palace would catch them, or they'd recover soon enough to break their fall. She braced her hooves against the cloud and started to push, as fast as she dared. Too fast and the cloudmass would break up - too slow and the symbol would continue to cripple the defenders, and ponies would be killed. The edge of the falls, then the garden, appeared below her. The crimson light of the symbol made the banners of the Alicorns seem bloody, and the unconscious ponies worse, but she was nearly in position. Her cloud was already lit from within with a hellish glow, but that, at least, had no effect on her mind. She gave the cloud one last shove, and the feeling of relief was palpable. Within seconds the tide of battle was turning, and she looked around for her friends, and the ponies responsible for the attack. *** "Let go a me, let go a me, ya hear! You know what she did, she deserves it!" Rarity and Pinkie had their forelegs around Applejack, and were trying in vain to drag her away from Trixie's prone form. The latter were already bloody, where the farmare had begun stamping the showmare to death. "Jackie, don't, please!" screamed Pinkie. Applejack pulled free, raging "You saw what she did to tha fillies! You saw what she did to mah little sista! She has this coming!" She reared up, to bring both hooves down on Trixie's skull. *** Fluttershy was screaming as well, trying to get the Princesses' attention. Armor had frantically added his efforts to the defence of the crowd, throwing up barrier magic between the tree-things and the ponies, but the creatures were hideously, unnaturally strong. She crept closer, weeping with fear as ponies shrieked around her. She had to find Rainbow, had to get the Element of Loyalty to her so the six of them could try something, anything, against these unspeakable creatures. Rarity and Pinkie were trying to stop Applejack. But everypony was ignoring her. She pressed herself back against a hedge, as two Nightguard lunged past her to drive iron spears into one of the bellowing abominations. She felt sick to her stomach at the violence, the noise, the stench. Somepony stepped between her and the scarlet sigil. "Good morning, Fluttershy." said Herald. "It's time you and I had a little chat."