//------------------------------// // 23 - Zugzwang // Story: Cataclysm // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle - 23rd of Megan Canterlot - Equestria Okay, Twilight. You just scored an unexpected bonus. Dash did half the work for you, she got AJ, and Lily, and her bit of the Elements. You can pick up Pinkie, Fluttershy, and the other Fluttershy, and then everything will be all over and fine again. Then we can sort out this whole family thing. If only to see if my biological family has any interesting history. I looked over at Dash and Lily as they huddled over AJ’s limp body. A part of me wanted to see if I could understand Lily’s biomancy with the fog removed from my mind, but unfortunately I had work to do. There’d be time for that later. I turned back to face Celestia and nodded. “Okay, Pinkie next… She went with Sky, right? They’ll be in his jet. Could you clear a twenty by ten meter square area for me to transport it too? If we want Sky’s help defending Canterlot, he’ll need his toys and I know he keeps an armory on that aircraft,” I asked. Celestia nodded, and dipped her head to cast a simple disintegration spell, a large squarish patch of the garden simply drifting away as a pale ripple into nothingness, as if a fogbank cleared. “Done, and tell Sky he’s clear to use those robots of his. The city is empty, and we have very little reason to worry about collateral damages,” Celestia muttered grimly. I nodded, my ears drooping sadly. I hadn’t had much time to get up to speed, but if Celestia of all ponies was treating this like a do or die situation, well… I didn’t really need to finish that sentence. Shortly after casting her spell, Celestia blinked, turning her head to her left as she gave Dash’s changeling friend Alter a probing glance. Celestia’s face took on an odd expression, somewhere between puzzlement and disbelief. “Twilight, stay here for a moment,” Celestia asked, still staring. “I did a bit of divination to make sure nopony was in that patch I disintegrated, and I got that mare’s aura as well. Could you scan her for me? I would like you to verify something.” “Of course, is it anything bad?” I asked with a worried frown, turning to look at the deep purple and midnight blue mare. “No, just… Tell me what her aura’s chromodynamics are. I think I’m mistaken,” Celestia asked again. Her chromodynamics? The pattern of her aura’s color shifting, basically the aura equivalent of an ID. Did Celestia think she knew this changeling? I cast a quick identify spell, focusing on her aura and immediately took a step back out of reflex. She was NOT a changeling. I had no idea what she was, but it was biological, and not anything like the creatures that had been attacking Dash. That wasn’t too surprising. There were other things that could shapechange, like a unicorn who was extremely adept in Transfiguration. The surprising part was, well… “Uh, she’s just lavender,” I stated in surprise. “No color change at all. Just one energy state, completely stable with no flux. Isn’t that impossible?” Celestia shook her head. “No. It’s possible, just not naturally. Nor would it be reproducible. I read Starswirl’s notes on the accident… There was one pony who had that kind of signature, Twilight, and I’m amazed you don’t know his aura,” Celestia said firmly, turning to walk towards the ‘pony’ with a determined look on her face. I felt my face scrunch in puzzlement for a moment just before it clicked. Starswirl. Accident. The arcane accident which granted him magic beyond the normal capacities. No! No It couldn’t be, that wasn’t THE Starswirl! It couldn’t be, that wasn’t a pony, and Starswirl WAS a pony. I knew that much for a fact. I’d found a fur sample of his in Clover’s Library. “You there, Alter was it?” Celestia asked. The mare nodded once. “Yes. S-sorry about that little outburst. I wasn’t really flirting, I’m just mentally fatigued and well, you’re pretty and I just kinda spat out the first thought I had,” she apologised with a polite bow. “Are you employing any sort of aura masking or altering spells, or using any artifacts with similar properties?” Celestia asked quickly. Alter shook her head. “No. Did you scan me? Of course you did, you want to know what I am, duh. Nothing shady here, I’m just weird. Sorry if it looked like I was spying, or something,” she apologised with a surprising amount of politeness. Celestia nodded thoughtfully. “I see… And this ‘weirdness’ is the unchanging maximum energy state of our aura, correct?” She asked just as quickly, but more carefully than before. Alter nodded. “Yeah. My aura’s always been like that, my adoptive parents claim that they couldn’t fully transform me because of the anomalous nature of-” “You share almost the exact same aura as one of our nation's legendary wizards,” Celestia informed her wings twitching in an emotion I didn’t understand. “The only difference is the color, yours is lavander, his was a white-gold.” OH! My eyes flew wide open with the realization of exactly what Celestia was implying. An aura match of that level could be an impossible coincidence, but the likeliest option was inheritance. Your aura is a mixture of your parents properties. Starswirl the Bearded was known to vacation in other universes. Frequently. This mare could EASILY- No, was almost CERTAINLY his daughter. YOU LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY PONY! I would cut off all of my legs WITHOUT using magic, and never eat anything with flavor again if it meant I could grow up again living NEXT to Starswirl’s house. Let alone be his actual child! Wait, she said caretakers, that meant she didn’t grow up with Starswirl. No one calls their parents ‘caretakers’. Alter tilted her head to one side then frowned worriedly. “Uh, we’re not talking about a Lord Voldemort situation, are we? Wait, that’s a human book. We’re not talking about an evil overlord, are we?” “No!” I objected, the fur on the back of my neck standing up. “Starswirl the Bearded is one of the single most important figures in the history of Wizardry! I-” “That’s not important right now,” Celestia said, cutting off the the three and a half hour verbal biography I’d written and memorised before it could begin. Admittedly, that was a good thing. If Equestria fell because of my fanfillying… “What is important right now,” Celestia continued. “Is that your aura indicates you have an immense magical reserve. On par with a Lesser Alicorn like Cadence, or Sunset. I don’t believe you are an Equestrian, I hold no dominion over you, but if you choose to help defend my little ponies-” Alter held up a hoof, gesturing for Celestia to stop. “I’m sorry. I can’t help. Not that I won’t, or would not, I came here to help. But I just held off a few hundred very powerful creatures, by myself, after using an illusion with tactile feedback, while also using a complex spell to separate AJ from the crotch stain responsible for all of this, and keeping him at bay with a taxing spell lance. “I am completely done. I’ve got nothing more to give, other than maybe shape changing into something that can do damage and hoping I’m not killed in melee, or casing a flare spell to make camera flashes in the enemy's eyes a few times.” Celestia nodded, as if she knew when she’d asked for help. Alter was right, Celestia… She’s done enough this day. Let her go. “Yes,” Celestia agreed, nodding her head in acknowledgment. “However, since your aura is close enough to Starswirl’s to be his filly, some of his artifacts will work for you. I have one in my vault which may be of interest to you. It enables you to borrow energy from your past self, the little bits you didn’t use on previously lived days of your life. You can be fully replenished in-” “Let’s go,” Alter said immediately, a serious expression on her face. Celestia and I blinked, more than a bit surprised. “Just like that? After the day you just had?” I asked, tilting my head to one side. “This is war. I’m a telepath. I know for a fact that Dawn once…” Alter trailed off, grimacing at whatever she was thinking of. “I don’t want to say. For moral reasons. It will just disgust, depress, or enrage anyone here.” “I’d still like to know,” I said, instantly regretting it. “That’s not what your brain says,” Alter replied instantly. Celestia pursed her lips for a moment then sighed. “I need to know. You can’t fight an opponent you know nothing about.” Alter nodded, her eyes hardening. “I picked this up from his subconscious, and also from a minion of his. He remembers it fondly. Like, in the way a mom remembers her child’s first steps. He once possessed a male cultist of his, used them to forcefully impregnate six randomly chosen mares, as in, he dartboarded one of your communication gem frequency listings, then chained them to a wall in his castle for the duration of the pregnancy, and when they gave birth, while the infants were still attached, he had the infant's skin-” “Okay, yes, that’s enough of that,” Celestia growled, her lips pulling back into a vicious snarl which did NOT belong on that face. Her expression of honest rage shocked me to my core. More so than- Had she been about to say skinned alive? “WAIT!” I yelped. “Was that last word ‘skinned’?” I asked fearfully. Alter nodded. “Yeah. It was. He’s an absolute monster and needs to be destroyed beyond all possible resurrection,” she declared adamantly. “It's my duty as a living being with a conscious to destroy actual evil, like him. Let’s go get that artifact.” Okay, no, that expression belonged on her face. And my face. I just… Why? Why would you do that? What could possibly ever make that an okay thing to do in anyone’s eyes? My own gaze hardened as I remembered. He told you Twilight. He said he does this because it’s funny. I’m a pacifist. I abhor violence. This is a deeply seated part of who I am. But here I am, honestly feeling the deep seated urge to kill someone without an ounce of shame or regret. Because there is a line. It was absolutely clear to me that there was a line that once something crossed, it had to be destroyed. No matter what moral qualms you have over such things. Because a little blood on your hooves is more than outweighed by the need shared by literally everyone to live in a place free of true evil. Congratulations, Dawn. You’ve removed all ethical consideration for you which I had been holding on to. You just taught me that not everyone deserves a second chance. Those who do not so far number one, and hopefully you’re the only exception to the rule, but you have made your last mistake. “We could use your help if the Elements can’t be used in time,” I said with a dutiful nod. “I should go and pick up Pinkie. I’ll be right back.” I closed my eyes and focused on trying to sense Pinkie. I remembered how the Element’s bond felt for Dash, and tried to look for the same thing, but from another pony. But that didn’t work. That bond was hers, and hers alone. My initial panic at failing to feel Pinkie was quickly thrown aside as I felt a different, but similar connection. It was definitely Pinkie, nopony else could try and keep a flawless mask of bubbly happiness while also honestly depressed deep down. What had happened? I felt my heart skip a beat. She failed to get her part, didn’t she? I had to know. Now. I closed my eyes, and traced the connection to her, double teleporting to get through Shining’s shield without making the whole thing crash down. Unfortunately, Shining must have felt my breaching his shield and not recognised my magic touch. He’d reinforced his shield spell to a degree I didn’t know he was capable of, which ended up eating up five minutes as I slowly made a big enough opening to move through. I’d have to get a messenger to let him know I was doing that, not the enemy. Engine noise filled my ears as I felt my spell conclude, and not the engine noise I remembered Sky’s forgettably named aircraft making. The smooth hum-like roar stuttered, groaned, and gurgled in a way which made me know for a fact the aircraft had been seriously damaged before I even opened my eyes. When I did I saw the industrial, ship-like interior, in somewhat of a messy disarray, but intact. The damage had to be external. Meaning they had encountered some sort of major hazard. “Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed in surprise. I turned around to discover I’d appeared just to Pinkie’s left. Shed been sitting on one of the fold out couches, slumped over the arm if her position was any indication. Which made sense as she felt depressed through the link, and the subtle ‘errors’ in her smile showed the look to be a mask put on for other’s sake. But what others? “Fluttershy, Twilight’s here!” Pinkie called urgently pausing for a moment before adding. “Both Shys, I mean.” I blinked in surprise. “You picked everypony up?” Pinkie nodded. “Y-yeah… Separating everypony was a mistake.” She didn’t need to say anything. I could tell something horrible had happened merely by how she said it. I reached out, pulling Pinkie into a tight hug as Fluttershy and her android counterpart entered the main room from the bathroom and elevator respectively. The first thing I noticed was Fluttershy had a hollow, shellshocked look on her face. As if she’d been completely devastated by something horrible, or had to present a public speech. That wasn’t something to be concerned about. Fluttershy looked like that after any dangerous adventure. In most likelihood while getting her part, one of Neighpone’s famous Kaiju had attacked. The second thing I noticed was the android had one leg replaced by a crude ‘field rigged’ servo and simple metal rod to make a sort of peg leg. She’d been damaged. Was that what Pinkie was sad about? She would definitely see any version of Fluttershy as her friend, and we would all be very sad if Fluttershy lost a leg. But well, this one was a robot. She could just make a new one. So that couldn’t be it… No, no it could. This was Pinkie Pie. “Shy will be fine. I’m certain your husband can fix her up good as new!” I replied cheerfully. “A-after he’s gotten sleep, yeah,” the android said with a light blush. “He’s- He hasn’t slept in days.” I blinked. “Days? Over… Over what?” I asked worriedly. Pinkie tightened her grip around me, the mask she’d been using to comfort Fluttershy crumbling away. “Rarity’s dead!” She cried, sobbing into my chest. My skin went cold. “R-rar.. I… What?” I stammered, unable to form any sort of response. “She’s dead!” Pinkie sobbed. “Everypony got attacked by a horrible evil creature.” “Sh- she was attacked ove… Over the… Ocean,” Fluttershy murmured quietly. “Airship destroyed… Sharks… We went back to look. Found part of her ribs… Her leg...” I shook my head, ignoring the tears forming in my eyes. “No! NO I refuse to believe that. She’s here, and I know she’s fine! You’ll see, I’ll trace her Element and learn exactly where she is and I can teleport her RIGHT HERE!” I declared, closing my eyes and clenching my teeth as I tried to divine Rarity’s location. Finding her was easy now that I knew how the bonds felt different. I could feel her, she was… In an inky black void of nothingness. Okay! So she’s in a dark dark cave. And in a zen-like emotional calm. Let’s just focus my teleportation targeting on that feeling and- She wasn’t anywhere in the world? But also looking down at us. Calm… Dark… Not in the world. Looking down... “Oh… Oh no…” I whispered to myself. She was gone. Truly gone. All I was feeling was the echo of her soul. The crushing well of despair I felt myself slide into only barely budged enough to let me notice the sound of the cockpit screen crash open amid the clink of empty coffee mugs as Sky staggered out of the cockpit, eyes wide and bloodshot. “PONYVILLE!” He shouted, one eye twitching. “Attacked now is!” Even with Rarity’s death crushing my heart, I felt a pang of sorrow for the poor haggard stallion. You could tell from his eyes, slumped posture, and degraded speech that he quite literally had not slept in days. Kept awake by the combination of grief and the need to fulfill a mission which could now no longer be completed. His normally well educated demeanor was completely gone, replaced by the sputtering dregs of a barely functioning mind, slowed to the slowest possible speed by an incomprehensibly vast legion of exhaustion. “Y-yes, Sky,” I replied, crestfallen. “Ponyville is… Gone. I haven’t seen. But Celestia sa-” “No!” Sky snapped, not even reacting to my having appeared on the ship, merely accepting that I was there as if I’d always been. “Town’s there, under attack now! Moonbutt!” The string of nearly incoherent babble made me pause for just long enough for Sky to stumble to the wall to our left and slap a button with his hoof, which opened a set of shutters concealed to the point of having been invisible before, which revealed a large window. Not only could I see one of the airship’s engines had been clawed savagely by something truly monstrous, but beneath the wing I could see all of Ponyville. Or rather what was left of Ponyville. This was not the empty crater Celestia had reported. This was a pile of rubble and ruined buildings, a warzone. And far below, a small dark blue dot stood in front of my castle, Luna’s unmistakable blue-black starry mane and tail just barely visible at this altitude amid the flashes of arcane fire while she held off a hundred twisted monstrous creatures in what was unmistakably a last stand. “Purple Smart!” Sky blurted as he rushed over to grab me by the shoulders. “Lost good friend. Will NOT also lose best friend. Or wife! Especially wife. Take everypony safe. I’ll save Moon-” Before I could even say anything Sky’s grip weakened and he fell forwards onto the deck with a thud, too tired to hang on to me for more than that second. “Ayna will save Moonbut,” Sky corrected, voice muffled by the floor. “I’ll make sure she does.” Ayna? Oh, right! Sky’s sister. Changeling Wizard, actually pretty good. She specializes in portals, she could definitely get Luna out of there. Just like how I could get everypony out of here, including Sky. Failing that, I could come back here and get Luna myself. Luna didn’t look like she was struggling yet. She was the warrior princess after all. She’d be okay for the minute I’d need to take everypony to safety. “You can call her from Canterlot,” I told Sky. “Everypony, get ready to teleport, I’m going to move the whole aircraft-” “NO!” Sky snapped, managing to stand up. “I’m staying. Need see Moonbutt safe. Take them, go. Now!” “I’m NOT leaving you here like this,” I snapped. “I’m not losing anypony else today either! What would Pinkie do if you died?” “Nanomachines, son!” Sky exclaimed, sleepily with a stupid grin. “Download... Livestreamed backup file,” Sky grunted awkwardly. “Replace memory loss from death… Be fine. Hour or so.” “Uh, what?” I asked, too taken aback by the statement to feel anything. “Sky will be fine, Pinkie Promise,” Pinkie said honestly as she sniffled slightly. Sky’s words suddenly clicked, and I felt my ears lay flat as the anger began to build. “D-do you mean you invented a machine that resurrects people!?” I shouted, looking at Sky with a brewing rage. “Why are you not bringing back Rarity!?” “Attempt to fix Emerald shortened lifespans. Take decades to set up… Really hard… Risk of permanent memory loss. Like, all of it. Could wipe personality, make new person in old body on installation… Self testing was stupid. Too risky. Sister using it on herself, cuz stupid. Afraid to die. I destroyed installation device… Cuz others would use it too. Because stupid! But kept stuff to keep mine and sister’s working. Cuz not stupid. Already done. Right? “Recently thought about rebuilding. For Pinkie. And friends. Havn’t done it yet,” Sky mumbled bitterly. “Cuz risky, and stupid idea. Probably. Also maybe they want to grow old. Don’t know. Individual wishes… Respect… Stuff.” I had the distinct feeling that if he had access to his full mental facilities that he could have explained himself better. As it was, I could feel the regret and sorrow in Sky’s voice. I also realized that I was not really mad at Sky. Especially since as exhausted as he was, he’d still put in the energy to try and explain that whatever he did was risky and dangerous enough for the guy who casually makes giant robots armed with enough weaponry to level large cities to destroy an invention. I was mad because one of my best friends was dead. And she was dead because the Elements had broken. And they broke because Dawn wanted to commit genocide upon us. Which meant he’d been the one to send those creatures Pinkie had mentioned, after my friends. Which meant that he’d murdered Rarity. Something deep inside me snapped. It had snapped once before, when Tirek had destroyed my home, and I’d believed he’d also killed my friends. I felt my eye twitch. “Sky. Call your sister. Girls, I’m taking you to Canterlot, then I’m going to make sure that Dawn can never hurt anything ever again.” Princess Luna - 23rd of Megan, 17 EoH Ponyville Ruins - Equestria Dreams asked me worriedly. I answered silently. A thickly built creature of bone and obsidian rushed up the rubble pile towards me, shrieking a wordless cry of hunger. It would have been scary if I hadn’t just been in a nightmarish realm of ever shifting excessive terror, and excessive pleasure. At the moment it was just annoyingly loud. The quick pulse of magic I sent its way blasted the creature to fragments, showering myself and its allies with its dry remains. I laughed at the demonic creatures massed around the base of the rubble pile I stood atop. I’d feared being swarmed when I stepped out of the castle to provide this distraction, but then one of them offered a personal reward for the one who was able to kill me, and our little game of Princess of the Hill started. I’d always loved Princess of the Hill as a filly. I’d have probably liked this game if it weren't being played for keeps. Dreams asked amid stunned disbelief. I chastised while conjuring an energy blade to swat a thrown ball of green fire aside before lancing the caster through the face. That didn’t kill it. So I followed the lunge up with a wall of arcane darts, which did the trick quite well. Dreams pleaded. I agreed with a nod. Wheeling around at the sound of taloned feet scraping against stone, I threw a small avalanche of rubble into the advancing, twisted, dragon-like, hunched daemon which had been running at me with a spear, knocking it back down the rubble pile into the massed horde below. Unfortunately, it's spear fell down with it. My halberd was mysteriously not summoning itself to me from my room in the Palace, which was making things a lot harder for me. I was adept with magic, but I could quite literally use a halberd with my hooves, while blind. That’s how I’d learned to fight in the first place. Melee combat had always been far more natural to me. Oh hey, spear! At a last stand. That reminds me of that song Ayna likes to loop for hours. Let’s sing it intimidatingly. “All embrace me! It's my time to rule at last. / Fifteen years have I been waiting, to sit upon my throne,” I bellowed, in what was admittedly an off key rendition of the power metal ballad. Clearly objecting to my singing, a rather large, brutish, rhinoceros-like monstrosity, best described as a cement inflated Bulk Biceps, roared and sprinted full tilt at me, wielding a pair of flails in the single most dangerous display of stupid weapon pairings I had ever seen in my life. I ripped a wall stone off a nearby building with my telekinesis and crushed it. That wouldn’t have worked a minute ago. My singing must be making them a bit mad. Good! Nothing fights better when angry… Aside from Sombra. “No allegiance! I will swear no oath. / Crowned by god not by the church, as my power is divine!” I continued while whipping up a wall of black fire around a quarter of the circle to dissuade the giant demon-crab from settling up towards me until I worked out how to deal with it. “They thought I was too young to rule the land / just as they failed to understand born to rule. / My time has come!” I continued, pausing for a moment to parry a flurry of slashes from a surprisingly nimble imp. “I was chosen by heaven! Say my name when you pray / To the skies, see Carolus rise!” Dreams objected. I laughed mentally while throwing a thaumaturgic lance randomly into the crowded below me, enjoying the satisfying thud of the hardlight weapon hitting home. I hoped I’d make it through this. I’d miss the few real friends I had. I spent most of my life recently at the Emerald’s hive for a reason other than my new marefriend, after all. Dreams muttered sarcastically. I remarked defensively. No one insulted my friends! Everypony has a flaw or two. That’s not their fau- Wait, was I hearing something above me? Gods damn it, Luna! You forgot that half these monstrosities fly! I tilted my head back just enough to aim my ears better, to try and pinpoint any sound which might be coming from above. Yes, there was something… It sounded like one long continuous furious cry of ‘AAAAAAA!’, growing ever louder as it approached. What on Equis- The gleaming white and gold armored warrior fell from the heavens, dropping like an anvil with one elbow extended to focus all the force of their fall directly onto the base of the demon's skull. The demon collapsed with a sound similar to a ceramic vase covered in cake falling a hundred stories. The battle stopped for several seconds as everyone took in the fact that a newcomer had arrived on the field via flying elbow drop. This gave the winged biped enough time to stand upright, towering a full four times my own height as it spread its golden metallic feathered wings intimidatingly, drew its blade, and then looked at me, speaking with a smile hidden behind its sculpted helmet's blank lips. "Hello, newfound horse friend! Let's break some demonic skulls together, then have lunch," it greeted. I must admit, I squeed a little. Then the warrior was joined by four large gold colored obelisks which fell from the sky like spears, only to stop just short of the ground and split open to reveal internal weapons which bathed the area around us in a sea of blue-white fire and laser beams, allowing the warrior to leap forwards and bisect a large daemon with what was clearly a monomolecular blade. Then I squeed a lot. “If we’re still singing badly to annoy the enemy, might I suggest Stan Bush's, The Touch? Do you know that one?” The warrior asked me hopefully. Newfound friend indeed! Twilight Sparkle - 23rd of Megan Canterlot - Equestria I appeared before Celestia inside her personal vault, depositing Pinkie and the Fluttershys around me in safe locations. I didn’t have to look. I knew they were safe. I’d made sure of it before casting the teleport spell to get us TO the shield. “Rarity is dead,” I said to Celestia, knowing that my heartbroken wrathful expression would be all the evidence she needed. I saw the hope drain from Celestia’s eyes, that sight almost physically hurt. “Then there’s no means to resolve this without a lot of ponies suffering…” She said bitterly. “There is,” I disagreed, shaking my head. “I’m going to teleport straight to him, and atomize the entire area. We’ve been nice long enough. He shows no mercy, and needs to learn what that feels like.” “That’s not a very good plan, Twilight,” Celestia objected, worry flooding her face. “We don’t know about his true level of power, nor do we-” “I know that he’s an idiot who likely succeeded previously by stacking the deck and through blind luck,” I insisted angrily. “I know that he’s made many mistakes when simply trying to manipulate me with words. Unless he wanted me to attack him with an all consuming rage!” “Actually, he probably does,” Alter said quickly. “He may be foolish, but he’s good at manipulating things. If you fight him this angry, you WILL make a mistake, and he WILL kill you.” I blinked in realization. Alter was right. Also that was totally Starswirl’s cloak pin on her jacket’s lapel, and I really really wanted to touch it! Alter smiled. “Wow, you like that old mage so much a cloak pin can just evaporate your anger?” She asked with a smile. “Go ahead and touch it.” “Uh… H-how did you know that?” I asked, trying to hide my blush. “Telepath,” she replied simply. “Emotions are not something I get to ignore… Other Martians can, I can’t. Sorry if it bugs you. Also, we should definitely still go hit that asshole before he attacks us. If there’s a time for a preemptive strike, this is it.” “When you think he’s expecting Twilight to attack him head on?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow. Alter nodded firmly. “Yeah,” she giggled. “Twilight goes in, uses that rage that’s reigniting in her right now to make a convincing show of being pissed off and wanting him dead, and once she’s got his attention, you, me, and every other powerful mage you have in this castle teleport in and dust that son of a bitch.” “That… Is a very Luna plan,” Celestia mused. “Is that a bad thing?” Alter asked with a frown. “No. Luna is my sister, and she’s our nation's military leader,” Celestia replied before nodding. “Yes, this could work. If we take down their leader, they may surrender. More likely they will disintegrate into a mob of rampaging monsters, which is admittedly much easier to deal with than an army of organized monsters. Twilight, are you willing to risk your-” “Yes,” I agreed with a firm nod. I was more than ready. But on the other hoof… “Wait a moment,” I said slowly as the realization occurred. “Blindly agreeing to follow one pony’s plan is what led to Rarity… Dying… W- we can’t just jump into action. We need a more solid, well thought out plan.” “We simply don’t have time for that, Twilight,” Celestia objected. “This is battle, and the enemy could-” An explosion rumbled in the distance. The distinct sound of a shield spell repelling energy bolts echoed through the entire city. Shining’s Shield had just repelled a massive attack spell. One which had been meant to destroy the shield, and based on the glass-like scintillating sound, had nearly breached it. The battle had begun. “-drive my point home for me,” Celestia finished. Princess Luna - 23rd of Megan, 17 EoH Ponyville Ruins - Equestria Tides can only turn so much. While my unnamed ‘alley out of nowhere’ had definitely enabled the two of us to drive the demons away from Twilight’s castle and secure it’s grounds, they still had us pinned within those grounds. The two of us simply couldn’t be in enough places at once to go after any real objectives. A shame, as I could now see the glowing orange portal which had to be the enemy's door into our realm. I didn’t have much experience with portals, but I’d like to try smashing it. Dreams quipped. I asked, not quite having ‘heard’ her clearly due to dodging a rather vicious crackling bolt of green lighting a creature I was fairly certain was a succubi had thrown my way. she explained. I objected. A bolt of green fire exploded against my shoulder, sending spidery lines of pain through my body for a burning fur scented instant. I cried out in pain, the laughing demon shrieked as a metallic smelling gout of flame from one of the warrior’s obelisks immolated the thing. “Hey! Only I get to burn things!” The warrior shouted through the beacon. I took a deep breath and quickly cast a healing charm to replace the damaged skin. Dreams said apologetically. I answered before yelling to my ally allowed. “Is there anyway we can make a push for that portal?” A few bolts of fire splattered against the warrior’s shield, which I couldn’t help but notice was not responding as energetically to each hit as it used to. Whatever spell or equipment provided the invisible untill struck barrier was starting to be depleted by the continued strikes… “One, but we wouldn’t survive it. Is a suicide run out of the question?” She asked honestly. “No… But I’d like to hold out for reinforcements a bit longer,” I called back, taking advantage of an opening in the demons orange-red crackling shieldwall to blast a limb off a half-slime half-pony demon. “I’m afraid that there’s only me up there,” my friend apologised. “Or do you mean your people?” I guess it was too much to ask for another technological angel. Darn! “I meant mine. My sister will probably send anypony she can spare to help us. And if not, I just saw Sky’s jet a few minutes ago. So he’ll probably show up with some artillery support soon,” I informed with a hopeful smile. Probably not soon enough. But a mare can dream. “What’s your name anyways?” I asked as a quick follow up. The enemy took our brief conversation to throw another volley of fireballs our way. They’d worked out it wasn’t a good idea to get into close quarters with us, and we’d worked out that their shields were stronger against attacks the more distance there was between the attacker and the shield. Meaning they could just stand back and pelt us with fireballs until the end. Fortunately, the volley of bolts were easy to dodge. And sometimes an opening let us drop one or two of the enemy. Unfortunately, I was starting to tire. The power up Dreams had provided was intense, but not as long lived as my own natural supply. Ironically enough, I estimated I had a quarter of my normal power. In terms of time, not quantity. “Righteous Indignation,” the warrior called loudly as she responded to the demon's fireballs with a quick series of shots from the large rifle she’d retrieved from one of her obelisks. I needed to get autonomous obelisks of doom for myself. Those looked really useful. “That is the single most apt name I have ever heard in my life,” I laughed, nearly getting hit by another fireball due to the amusement her name caused. Amusement which was abruptly snuffed out as the demons parted ranks, allowing the huge crab-demon I’d seen before to scuttle through their line and into the grounds of Twilight’s castle. Ponyfeathers! I’d still not thought of a way to properly deal with that thing! It’s shell repelled magic, and with it’s size would be substantially hard, likely equivalent to enchanted plate st- “Oh my god! A giant enemy crab! I’ve trained for this day,” Righteous exclaimed in a mixture of surprise and giddy delight. “Miss Rarity, strike its weakpoint, for massive damage!” The Obelisk closest the the crab tilted to point it’s top at the crab, opening up for a brief moment to fire a rocket into the creature, which vanished inside a bright orange and white perfectly spherical explosion. “Good shot! You’re a natural at brain interface weapons,” Righteous praised. I blinked. “Rarity? As in Rarity Belle?” I asked, completely baffled. “Yes, she’s riding in here with me. She’s an excellent gunner as it turns out,” Righteous quipped. “Thanks for letting me use that old meme, Rarity. Hehe.” Rarity had found and enlisted the help of someone who had access to Old Terran technology! Incredible! What a stroke of luck that was! Also what the hay had happened while I was in the Dream Realm to allow that to happen? A green-white portal suddenly flickered into existence on the battlefield. The demons universally looked at it, uneasily shifting their line to compensate. Righteous took a few steps back, training her gun on the opening portal. I smiled. I recognised that portal. A swirling vortex, like water going down a sink. With the distinct color of changeling magic. Sky’s sister, warping in whatever toy he’d fetched from his armory. Yes! To my surprise two voices came from the three ponies wide portal before any item, or soldiers. “I’m still sorry,” an unknown mare’s voice said. “I hope you can see how I would make the mistake that I-” “Yes, yes, my wife is remarkably close to you in appearance and arcane signature, you used to be evil, parallel universe, blah, blah, blah. Best friend is fighting off demons, your help more than make up for it,” Ayna replied, clearly highly aggravated as the buzzing tone her voice carried announced. Or his sister was coming to the battlefield in person, did she even know combat magic? The two emerged from the portal. Ayna was dressed in a lightweight suit of armor fashioned from what almost looked like an old shed exoskeleton. An odd choice for a changeling, but one which went quite well with the black hooded robe she’d donned. It gave her an over all intimidating look. At least in my opinion. The other mare was also dressed in black. Black jumpsuit with fine silver runes. Black hooded cloak. Silver- No! An Arcanite mask. Featureless, save for the eyeholes, which are present were leaking purple and black moats of energy. Oh. Great. A dark magic user… Please don’t be mad with power! No, no Luna, don’t jump to conclusions. Ayna had said ‘used to be evil’. Redeemed Dark Wizard. Okay. Good. Maybe? The portal closed behind the two, prompting a wave of mocking laughter and jeers from the massed horde. “Only two foolish enough to die for their Princess?” I heard a demon mock. Even Righteous chuckled. “You know… Only two people showing up for reinforcements is a bit funny. In a dark comedy kind of w- Oh? The changeling is a Wizard? Will that be enough to-” “Foolish? HA!” Ayna intoned loudly. “Do you know who my sister-in-law is? Pinkie Pie. Do you know how much she loves her family members? Neither do I. Because it’s literally outside the range my instruments can measure! As a Changeling, this provides me with-” Ayna reared up and pointed her forehooves at the line of demons before her, twin arcs of lightning leaping from her hooves with a sickly hiss of electricity, slamming into the demons and arcing through their ranks as those struck by the arcane lighting screamed in agony. “-UNLIMITED POWER!” Ayna screamed at the top of her lungs like a mad mare. “Uh, wouldn’t Pinkie need to be in your feeding range for that to be true?” I asked rather stupidly, realizing what I did only after I said it. Ayna stopped throwing lightning, and facehooved. “Damnit, Moonbutt! Now they know that.” “Sorry,” I apologised with a feeble grin. “Enough talking. Crush them while they are still surprised,” the Dark Wizard ordered. The black and purple aura leaking from her eyes crackling like water thrown on hot coals as she enveloped herself in a shroud of dark magic which grew into a hardlight body which stood six ponies tall. “Preferably literally.” “Yeah, two is definitely enough,” Righteous decided. “Okay everyone, portals that way,” I said pointing with one hoof. “Let's see if we can’t get there and smash that thing.” We had a fighting chance now. I wasn’t about to waste it.