//------------------------------// // Twenty Five - Love and War (1) // Story: The Infestation of Canterlot High School // by Bonster //------------------------------// Twenty Five - Love and War (1) Chrysalis and Sweetie Drops whirled around each other, taking out the lumbering changelings one after another with flawless teamwork. Sweetie had separated the two blades of her dual-pronged dagger into two separate knives, holding one in each hand. Each blade was smaller than their combined state, but the changelings on the receiving end didn’t last any longer for it. Wherever her blades didn’t reach, Chrysalis was there, kicking, punching, and shooting. Her hands and heels proved just as deadly as her gun, which she was mostly using as a bludgeoning weapon anyway, only firing when she absolutely needed to. It wasn’t like she had an infinite supply of bullets, and it wasn’t like she couldn’t get by without them: a swift elbow to a changeling’s neck left him crumpled and useless on the ground; a kick to the stomach would incapacitate him long enough for Bon Bon to clean him up; the hard metal of her gun’s pommel to his skull could outright kill him. The changelings were clearly not at their peak performance—it was obvious from the dazed look in their eyes, the slow shuffle at which they walked, and the fact that they had yet to see a single glint of magic. Whatever the Dazzlings had done to them, it had really thrown them for a loop. Maybe they’d thank them when they finally showed up. Celestia and Luna, on the other hand, were hiding inside an old donut shop, attempting to work out how to harness the power of celestial bodies. So, let me get this straight, Luna thought icily. As long as the Moon isn’t up, I’m not allowed to do anything useful. You could still be useful. You simply won’t have my help. I don’t think you understand the situation we’re in. You are correct. It is not my concern; what need do I have to understand it? I’m going to die, you ass-backwards hunk of rock! I shall ensure you do not; yet, as it currently seems as though my powers are not necessary for your survival, I have no need to lend them to you. Are you saying you won’t let me do anything unless I’m about to die? And, wait, does that mean you can give me powers during the day, but just don’t feel like it? Our connection does not fade during the day, but it grows much weaker. I can only allow its use for emergencies. During night, you have much greater access to my boons. So, hypothetically, if it were night, I could start turning into smoke and summoning shadows and that kind of thing. To a point, yes. But it is not night, and it shall not be for three hours more. Ugh. Next to her, Celestia was having her own mental conversation with the Sun, and nearly having a panic attack. Calm mind? CALM MIND?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HAVE A CALM MIND WHEN OVERSIZED INSECTS ARE TRYING TO EAT MY EMOTIONS? Take deep breaths, Celestia. If it helps, your counterpart calms her mind by counting backwards through the prime numbers by sevens. Wow! Thanks for the tip! My magical forces will be balanced before you know it! Was that sarcasm? What do you think?! I do not think. I simply am. Can’t you make this any easier? Hmm… Let us try again. Find your center, and summon your weapon. Celestia took a deep breath and reached out her hand. Nothing. What did I do wrong? Most everything, by the looks of it… The hand motion was superb, though. Do not lose hope. Ha! I lost hope a looooong time ago, buddy. Suddenly, a changeling crashed through the window of the shop, spraying Celestia with glass. She shrieked and threw up her hands, bracing herself for the pain, but it never came. She cracked open one eye, and saw a harsh yellow glow in the air before her; the glass shards were melting inside it, evaporating before they could reach her skin. “I did it,” she breathed. “Holy crap I did it!” This does not make sense. You access your powers through a calm mind, and you were quite far from calm just now. No, the other Celestia accesses her powers through a calm mind. I’m never calm, so I’m different. I mean, that’s what I think. Maybe it was just a fluke. Hmm… No, you appear to be correct. Well done! Now, do it again. …Right. Chrysalis kicked a changeling hard in the chest; it flew through the air and into the window of the donut shop Celestia and Luna were hiding in. She heard a shrill screech from inside, and spared a quick “Whoops” before returning to the fight. The amount of changeling were getting increasingly smaller, and they had yet to give either agent any more trouble than a scrape or a bruise, but Chrysalis knew they were far from victory. They were still waiting for the puppeteers to arrive, after all. “Aaah, aaah! Ah-ah-aaah! Aaah, aaah, a-a-aah, AAAH!” “Speak of the devil…” Wait. They’d forgotten something. “Sweetie! The earplugs! Put them in!” The singing had apparently rekindled whatever force was driving the changelings, for they attacked with renewed vigor. Two leapt for Bon Bon, and it was all she could do to keep them off of her. “I can’t!” she shouted. She kicked one changeling off of her blade only for another to lunge and take its place. “Do something!” “Ah ah aaah! Aaah hah aaah hah, ah Hah!” Chrysalis could already feel the chords seeping into her brain. Shit shit shit. What do I do? Sweetie. She had to help Sweetie. Hastily, she pressed a button on the communicator in her sleeve. Bon Bon winced as her earpiece let out a continuous high pitched squeal. It drowned out the singing, which basically meant it would save her life, but, god, at what cost? Chrysalis immediately grabbed the ear plugs from her jacket pocket, but she was hit hard in the face before she could put them in. She unloaded into the changeling’s skull, threw her gun as far away from herself as she could, and scrambled to block out the music. “Aaaah… AAAAAAH… AAH, AH HAH!” Well, at least she’d managed to get rid of her pistol. Hopefully she wouldn’t kill Sweetie Drops. The sirens’ song washed over Chrysalis, and she paused, her plugs halfway to her ears. Celestia and Luna rushed out of their refuge and stared at the sirens. “Crap,” Luna observed. The blue one—Sonata, was it?—noticed them, grinned, and swooped down. She opened her jaws wide and sped towards Luna. “NO!” Celestia screamed, and she thrust out her hand; a cloud of golden sparks erupted from it and slowly congealed into a regal gold glaive. The lengthy handle was wrapped in a fine white cloth, a gold sphere served as the pommel, and the blade, which seemed to be made out of some sort of semi-transparent light blue crystal, was set into an elaborate gold head. But Celestia didn’t waste time admiring its beauty; no, she flung it as hard as she could towards Sonata. By that time, Luna had already leapt to the side, and Sonata’s eyes widened as she saw the glaive spearing through the air towards her. She shot upwards at the last second, but not quite quickly enough; the glaive left a deep gash across the bottom of her stomach, and she let out an ear-piercing scream. Blue blood dribbled onto the pavement as she spiraled back into the air. Celestia opened her hand again, and the weapon rematerialized in it. Goddammit, Moon! Luna thought, as angrily as one could think. I was about to die! Aren’t you supposed to help?! I was confident our sisters were able to handle the situation. But what if they didn’t?! Your rules are going to get us all killed! That’s it, I’ve HAD IT! Luna let her thoughts travel back to earlier that day, back when they had first gotten their powers. She pointed her palm straight towards the ground, and when she felt the magnetic connection of the Moon, she lifted. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! the Moon roared. You will upset the balance once more! I’m doing whatever it takes, Luna answered, promptly tuning out of the psychic link. One hand clutching her wrist and the other guiding the Moon, she led it through the sky and deposited it next to the Sun. Her hair began to flow in the lunar energy that surrounded her, and when she reached out her hand, a saber appearing in it. The sword was a black so complete that it looked like there was a hole in the world, sucking in all the light that got too close. Luna smirked. “Let’s do this.” “Chrysalis, snap out of it!” Sweetie Drops shouted as she danced backwards, away from Chrysalis’s flurry of attacks. She could barely hear herself over the buzzing in her ear, but she wasn’t about to get rid of the malfunctioning earpiece. She wasn’t stupid. Chrysalis didn’t so much as blink at her. Instead, she dropped onto one hand and swung her legs at Bon Bon, who only just managed to jump in time. Chrysalis was on her feet before the girl could land, and went for a left jab, which Sweetie blocked with the dull edge of one of her blades. Chrysalis seemed to be dealing with the sedative effects of the sirens’ enchantment much better than the changelings. She still wasn’t at her peak performance (which was good, because otherwise Bon Bon would be dead), but she moved faster than any of the changelings could keep up with, and her attacks were far less predictable. Sweetie didn’t know if that was because the Dazzlings had focused more on her, or if was a testament to Chrysalis’s skill, but it was certainly a problem. At least she didn’t have to worry about the changelings interfering; their fight was far too quick for their audience to properly follow. As Bon Bon handsprung away from a particularly nasty flurry of kicks, she caught a glimpse of a battle raging in the sky. So, they’d figured out their powers, then. That was good. Maybe they had a chance. Celestia thanked her time as a flight attendant for helping her get over her fear of heights. It came in handy when one grew a pair of golden-feathered light-wings. Flying via magic turned out to be surprisingly simple; if she concentrated on her fear of getting eaten or ripped apart by the sirens, she would be able to channel that into flying as fast as she could out of danger. She found that all her magic worked in a similar fashion: she concentrated on her anger at the sirens, and a fireball would launch from her fingertips; she concentrated on her love for Luna, and a shimmering light shield would appear around her sister; she concentrated on her sense of responsibility in saving the world and her friends, and her glaive would cut through the air or return to her hands. This is not how magic is meant to be wielded, the Sun said in her mind. Emotions are unstable, capricious; using them as your tie to my magic will leave your control unreliable, too. This is the only way I can use your stupid magic! So, sorry if I don’t feel like dying today, but I don’t exactly have a choice, do I? The Sun didn’t answer. Celestia thought it just as well. To her left, she saw Aria charging her. She shot out a fireball, but the siren belted out a note, and the fireball stopped dead in its tracks, fizzling out a second later. Celestia willed her glaive out to slice at Aria, but she slammed it away with one hoof, and her tail swooshed up from below, sending Celestia tumbling. Fear flooded her mind and her wings automatically righted themselves, and a second later the glaive was back in her hand. She caught her breath and looked wearily at the siren, who sneered and gave chase. Luna had always wanted superpowers. She’d always daydreamed about what she could do if she could fly, teleport, turn invisible, you name it; so, naturally, she was more than prepared when her dreams finally came true. She’d immediately gone after Adagio, because she figured that if they could take her out, the others would be disorganized and a whole lot easier. Unfortunately, she was no pushover. Luna gripped her saber in both hands and pumped her new, shadowy wings, launching towards the siren. Adagio wiggled, swam, and danced around her barrage of slices, and nearly had her jaws around Luna’s waist before she knew what was happening. Adagio clamped down, but snarled as dark smoke billowed out from between her teeth. The smoke sped around behind her and coalesced into Luna once again, who swung at the tail dangling in front of her. Adagio whipped it away as fast as she could and Luna only managed to slightly rip the membranous fin on the end of it. Adagio flipped backwards and came at Luna from above, but she shot away on her wings. Adagio opened her mouth wide, sending a series of pulsing sound waves towards Luna. The first one that hit her sent her bones rattling, and she gasped in pain, only barely managing to throw up a hand in defense. To her surprise, a swirling black vortex sprouted from her palm, and the circular waves shrunk and disappeared into it as they got too close. Adagio grinned evilly. “It seems we are evenly matched. Such a shame you two are outnumbered, isn’t it?” Oh, right. Luna whipped her head to the side, and saw Celestia and Aria staring each other down a few blocks down. Celestia was completely unaware of Sonata rushing towards her from behind. Adagio charged forward while Luna was distracted, but let out a huff when her prey vanished into smoke, shooting off towards Celestia faster than any wonderbolt. Bon Bon was not having a fun time. Sweat cascaded down her face and her breathing came in ragged bursts, but Chrysalis showed no sign of slowing down. It was all Sweetie could do to counter each attack, and she was giving ground. At the speed Chrysalis was advancing on her, she was forcing Bon Bon to practically run backwards as she defended. Sweetie Drops let out a muffled curse as her back rammed into a building. She was cornered. Acting fast, she ducked under one of Chrysalis’s punches, grit her teeth against a hard kick to her gut, and managed to dodge to the side. She tossed the blade in her right hand at Chrysalis as a distraction (Chrysalis easily batted it away) and shot her grappling hook to the roof of the building, yanking herself up after it. She landed deftly on the roof and paused to catch her breath. She should’ve known better. Chrysalis hadn’t been delayed a second, and had climbed the roof in nearly as much time as it had taken Sweetie to grapple up. She pounced on Sweetie from behind and knocked her to the tile of the roof, the rough shingles biting into her shoulder blades. Bon Bon looked into her mentor’s eyes—glassy and unseeing—as she lifted her hand, no doubt planning to break Sweetie’s neck. As Chrysalis’s hand came crashing down, Bon Bon threw up the remaining half of her blade in desperation. It caught Chrysalis on the wrist, but Chrysalis’s hand kept going, and Sweetie shrieked as she was showered with blood. The pain seemed to have jolted Chrysalis out of the enchantment. She took one look at her bloody stump of a wrist and fainted, dropping to the floor with a soft thud. Bon Bon reached into her jacket, took out a roll of bandages, and did her best to stop Chrysalis from dying of blood loss. When the bandaging was done, Sweetie collapsed onto her back, closed her eyes, and went out like a light. It felt weird to consist entirely of smoke. She couldn’t feel her body, so it felt like her consciousness was floating around by itself. She could still see, and hear, and smell, but everything was distorted, like she was looking through a dark filter and listening from underwater. But Luna didn’t care about any of that now. All she cared about was getting to her sister in time. She willed herself through the air as fast as she could and managed to materialize in front of Sonata just before she would have struck Celestia. Sonata’s eyes widened and she let out a perplexed “Whaaa?”, but she didn’t slow down, and Luna didn’t have enough time to do more than throw her saber protectively in front of her face. It felt like what Luna imagined getting hit by a car felt like, and she was sent rocketing through the air, coming to a painful stop against somepony’s house. Celestia heard a series of noises from behind her, and a wave of confusion washed over her. The emotion prompted a bright light to shine from her chest, and she was suddenly acutely aware of the magical presences nearby: Aria’s was before her, as was obvious, but there was another immediately behind her, and one she recognized as the Moon moving rapidly downwards directly below her. Another was closing in from the right, but that one was relatively far away. Celestia prepped a fireball in her left hand and swiveled on her wings, turning to Sonata. She had a nasty gash across her face from where she’d hit Luna’s saber, and with the cut Celestia had given her on her belly earlier, she was looking worse for wear. Celestia only added to it with the fireball she let loose in her face. The siren roared in pain and swiveled away, clutching her face in her hooves. Celestia had no time to celebrate, however. She heard deafening singing from behind, and her body locked up, powerful vibrations surging through her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aria slithering towards her. Her mouth was opened wide, and the sound waves were visible in the air, each one bringing a new burst of pain and rendering Celestia helpless. By this time, Sonata had looped back around, fire in her eyes. Celestia couldn’t see Adagio, but she bet she was here, too, or possibly after Luna. When Sonata reached her, she whipped her tail around to smack harshly against Celestia’s cheek. Still trapped by Aria’s song, she barely moved an inch, but it didn’t lessen the blow one bit. Her glaive slipped from her hands, clattering to the city streets below. A shout from below. “ARIA! SHE’S COMING FOR YOU!” Glittery midnight smoke swirled above Aria’s back and morphed into Luna. Far be it from her to tell her sister, but Celestia had never been happier to see anyone in her entire life. Luna dropped onto Aria’s neck, lifted her saber, and drove it through Aria’s skull. Everything went quiet. The blade slid back out as Aria’s body plummeted to the ground, the siren’s blood running off of its dark surface like it was waxed. The silence was broken by the distant thump from far below. “You’ll pay for that!” Sonata shrieked, flying blindly towards Luna in short, jerky bursts. But Celestia was free again. She gestured towards Luna, and her sister became encompassed in shield of hardened light. Sonata’s teeth scraped off its surface with a painful, shrill noise, and, realizing it was hopeless, she turned on Celestia instead. Sonata moved faster than Celestia had any hope of keeping up with. Her eyes went wide. She heard Luna shout her name. Help! she screamed in her mind, just as she threw her hands forward. A light twinkled between her fingers, and a beam of plasma, no thicker than a pencil, shot from her to Sonata, piercing the siren through her stomach and out the other side. Sonata’s eyes widened in shock, and the wound glowed red hot, steam pouring out of her body. Sonata sneered, lunged forward one last time, and stopped suddenly centimeters away from Celestia’s face. Sonata make a strangled choking noise, and dropped next to her sister, dead. But it wasn’t over, not yet. “Whe… Where is she?” Celestia managed. Luna, who was cradling what looked like a broken leg, pointed to the corpses of the sirens. Puzzled, Celestia followed her gaze, and grimaced in horror. Adagio reached out her hooves to the gemstones set into her sisters’ chests, and ripped them clean out. Then, because that wasn’t horrible enough, she shoved the pulsing gems into her own chest, next to the one she already had. Blue blood contrasted starkly against the deep red of the gems as Adagio dug out room for them, and she let out a beastial roar. Celestia glowed again, trying to understand what was going on, and this time, Adagio’s aura was impossibly big, pulsing and throbbing with raw power. It made her and Luna look pitiful by comparison. Adagio’s eyes shone pure red, and she launched into the air, staring down Celestia and Luna. Before they had a chance to act, Adagio opened her mouth. They heard no sound, but the vibrations were proof enough; it felt like there was an earthquake inside them. Their vision clouded with spots, and when they could finally see again, they were already past the borders of Canterlot and still accelerating. Luna grabbed at Celestia, and they held each other tightly, furiously pumping their wings in an attempt to cancel their momentum. In the end, that’s probably why they survived at all.