"Is everypony ready?" asked Twilight.
The ponies gathered around the circle nodded. The black shapes amassed around them did not, but the darkness seemed to deepen where their eyes should be.
“That’s my line, I think,” said Obsidian. He was standing in the center, mirroring his position in the Crystal Tower. He closed his eyes and turned towards Twilight.
“Remember to keep maintaining the spell once we get back. We need the connection to stay on long enough for the chimeras to ride it after us.”
“I know,” muttered Twilight under her breath. She closed her eyes too, and the tiara on her head started glowing. One after another, the other Elements joined the spell, the light from their foci spiralling over Obsidian and joining in his staff, just as they had before.
The discharge was even stronger than the first time, an explosion of magic that seemed to carry the seven ponies in its shockwave, incomparable to the gentle departure back when they left the Tower of Lost Thought. The journey ended as rapidly as it started, with a sudden feeling of slamming back into their bodies. Even before they opened their eyes, the hiss of wind in their ears told them that the magical vortex was still swirling around them.
“Keep it stable now!” shouted Obsidian, his staff pulling harder, the vortex compressing into a funnel around its shaft.
The girls focused harder, the light of their Elements intensifying.
“Get ready to let go,” shouted Obsidian over the noise of the vortex. “Now!”
WIth a soft pop, the lines of magic disconnected from the foci, the vortex collapsing into a thin column of swirling light. Obsidian looked at it with satisfaction. “You keep improving. With things like this, an hour of practice is worth days of lectures.”
“What is this thing?” asked Spike, peering from behind the cover of the door.
“A conduit we have created to Dissonance,” replied Twilight, “so Obsidian could bring in-”
“- his friends on the other side!” finished Pinkie enthusiastically, putting a tall, black top hat on Obsidian’s head.
The stallion turned around rapidly, rearing up and pulling the hat off his head. It was black with a red ribbon, and there was a skull and crossbones on the front of it. Obsidian scowled.
“First of all, they’re not my friends. And this hat looks ridiculous on me. What does it even…”
He pushed the hat back to Pinkie, and paused in thought. “Wait… that’s one of these things that only make sense to Laughter, isn’t it?”
Pinkie scratched her head. “I dunno. I’ve never met any other Laughter.”
“Surprise did it a lot,” he said.
“Surprise?” Pinkie raised an eyebrow. “Was she the Laughter in your times?”
Obsidian nodded. “She was. A great friend, though we often couldn’t quite understand her. She would make seemingly nonsensical comments, make logical connections that made sense to nopony but herself. Many wondered if she was insane, but in the end, she was always right. Those were no delusions. She was a mare of great insight, who understood everypony around her, and could always find some good in everypony. That’s what made her such a good eulogist.”
Everyone stared at Obsidian.
“E… eulogist?” stuttered Fluttershy.
The stallion shrugged.
“Sometimes the best you can do for your friends is remember them fondly. But you haven’t come here to listen to sappy stories, have you? Let’s get this show started.”
He stomped his hoof, and the circle on the ground flashed white, the protective spells around the room unravelling slowly, the gathered ponies moving away from the circle while observing the transpiring event intently. Once Obsidian was satisfied with the effects of his magic, he stomped again. The wind suddenly picked up, growing into a cacophony of whispers, before the column of light expanded again, dark shapes spiralling outwards from it, changing hues until they were streaks of shifting colors, flying past the gathered ponies and out through the door.
“You know the roles you’re to play!” shouted Obsidian behind them.
The light went out, and Obsidian’s staff returned to his side.
“What now?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Now,” said Obsidian, “we move out. We need to be there on time for our diversion.”
***
"Where are you carrying me?" complained Tourmaline loudly, dangling awkwardly in Pierce’s telekinetic grip.
The stallion turned another corner, heading straight to the nearest cellblock.
“Somewhere safe,” he said through gritted teeth.
He reached a cell door, and stopped, putting his right hoof to his chest where he knew a pair of broken sunglasses were resting in his pocket.
The colt turned around, reaching for his bags. “He also said to give you those.” He retrieved a folded pair of sunglasses. As soon as Pin freed his mouth by grabbing the glasses with telekinesis, he added, “He said they’re for you, cause he knows you always wanted to have them.”
With a deep sigh he opened the door and shoved the filly inside. As soon as Tourmaline regained her footing, she turned, facing him with a pout.
“What is all that about?” she asked.
Pierce looked down on her. “You tell me, miss. What exactly were you planning to do tonight?”
Tourmaline’s expression didn’t change. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
Pierce sighed, then looked at her sternly. “You don’t? Well, I don’t either. But I’ve seen this story unfold once before, and I refuse to do so again. What would your mother think?”
That did get a reaction out of her. Tourmaline’s pupils widened, and in that moment Pierce knew, with frightening certainty, that he was right.
“My mother is a mare of logic,” she said in a forcibly calm tone. “She knows I wouldn’t do anything stupid-”
She was interrupted by Pierce’s magic yanking her into the air once again. The unicorn’s aura flipped the filly around, combing through her mane and tail, pulling out all the small tools she had concealed on her body. Pierce made all the items float into his pocket.
“Well, she will, because you aren’t going to do anything. Whatever it is you’re planning, it must involve the current… disturbance. So, you’ll be a good pony, and stay here until tomorrow, and then I will talk to your mother… and perhaps Dr.Stone on what to do to help you.”
Tourmaline shifted uncomfortably. “You… can’t do that!”
Pierce turned red. “I can’t? I can’t!? Listen, kid. I watched my best friend bleed to death before my eyes because I wasn’t smart enough to realise what he was planning. He thought he was so smart, but in the end he wasn’t lucky enough, and… I wasn’t there for him. I… will… not… let that happen again.”
He turned, and slammed the door. Tourmaline listened to the door being locked, then to Pierce’s hoofsteps moving away. She kept listening, but the sound didn’t disappear.
He’s pacing in front of the cell, she realised.
The cell didn’t have a window like the one Scootaloo had been kept in, just an eyehole in the door, but the rhythm of steps left no doubt about the situation. After a moment, the filly walked towards the small bed at the other end of the room. There was nothing to do now, but think, plan, and wait. This she was good at.
***
The teleport spell brought the seven ponies high into the clouds above Canterlot. They huddled together in the gondola of a tiny dirigible that served as their means of transportation, the night wind whistling around them.
Rainbow Dash was the first to leave, hopping out and dragging the nearest cloud over the airship, to hide its presence.
Obsidian closed his eyes, and focused. The Elements looked at him expectantly.
“It doesn’t seem we’ve been detected yet,” he finally said. “At least by magical means. Guards are a different matter altogether. Rainbow Dash?”
“Yes,sir.” said Rainbow Dash. Then she stopped, staring at her own snout in confusion. “I mean, I’ll take a look,” she finally mumbled, before taking off and diving into the nearest cloud.
They sat in silence, waiting. Minutes passed until finally Pinkie Pie perked up, pointing her hoof far away in excitement. Applejack’s hoof covered her mouth, muffling what would have been an excited shout. Everypony looked in that direction. Now they could all see what Pinkie had - far in the distance there were flashes of flame visible among the clouds.
“Looks like we’re about ready to go,” said Obsidian. Then his ear twitched. He turned around slowly, just in time to see Rainbow Dash emerge from the darkness.
“Report,” he said in a stage whisper.
“I counted two dozen pegasi patrolling around the mountain, but it seems most of them are moving now. Looks like it’s working,” said Rainbow Dash.
Obsidian nodded his head in contentment. “Miss Pie, please take us lower. We’ll take care of the remaining guards before stage two starts.”
Behind him Pinkie Pie started twisting in what space was available, turning cranks and levers. Twilight turned around, enclosing the small propeller on the back of the vehicle in a bubble of silence. Slowly the dirigible pointed towards the mountain, and started descending. Obsidian closed his eyes, and focused.
***
It wasn't a complicated task. Fly over some town outside Canterlot. Roar, breathe some fire. Wait for the Wonderbolts to arrive. Breathe some more.
Right now the green dragon was surrounded by about two dozen pegasi, who were flying around trying to limit its movements, while the three boldest ones were making fly-by attacks. The dragon released a puff of flame, forcing the attackers to swerve out of the way, making sure they wouldn’t get anywhere near its wings.
Then there was a blue unicorn standing on its nose, looking sternly into its eyes.
The dragon stopped rapidly, breaking its flight with a flap of wings that blew the nearest pegasi away. It shook its head vigorously, but the unicorn managed to stay on, seemingly without effort.
“You are a diversion, aren’t you?” he asked lazily.
“And you are Guilt,” said the dragon.
“If you know who I am,” said the unicorn, “then you know it is death to face me. How did they get you to come here anyway?”
“I have been ordered,” replied the dragon, “and death is not an issue to me. I exist to keep you busy, and you can’t ignore me, or else whatever I do will be your fault, won’t it?”
Around them, the pegasi all stood their ground, but did not continue their attacks, instead observing the confrontation, trying to understand what was going on.
Enigma kept his position, but swung one foreleg to the side, a thin blade extending from his bracer. “That’s why you’re flying right over the town, so I can’t cut your wing membranes. You’re underestimating me.”
The dragon chuckled. “Oh, no, I’m not. I know exactly who you are, Guilt. What you’re capable of.”
Without moving a muscle, Enigma shifted forward, his blade now well within swinging reach of the dragon’s giant eyeballs. His face was starting to show the first signs of anger.
“You don’t sound like any dragon I’ve met,” he said. “Come to think of it, I think I’ve met all the dragons old enough to be of this size. With what you’ve said so far, I believe you are no dragon at all.”
He pointed the tip of his blade at the eye. “What are you, really?”
The eye glowed briefly, and then turned translucent, like a plain glass window or a surface of a pond. From the darkness on the other side, a pony looked at Enigma with a condescending smirk, a pale grey pegasus stallion with sharp fangs and a moon behind a cloud for a cutie mark.
“Can’t you guess it yourself?” he said, staring into Enigma’s eyes, “I’m everypony you’ve ever failed.”
***
"Don't come back until morning," said Obsidian slowly. The guard saluted and then flew away, his expression blank.
Obsidian turned to face the girls. “See? Nopony got hurt, just like you wanted. Now, let’s see that ledge.”
He jumped out of the airship and onto the rock ledge in front of him, his staff propping him from the side as he balanced on a path barely wide enough to support a pony his size. The girls waited as he walked closer to where the entrance into the mountain was hidden. The stallion’s staff flashed as he tapped it lightly on the walls.
“The first line of alarm spells is off,” he said. “You can hop in.”
A moment of awkward shuffling followed, the six mares using a combination of teeth, hooves and telekinesis to get the flightless members of the group safely onto the ledge. They followed Obsidian, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flapping behind them, ready to catch anypony who stumbled. Pinkie Pie was the first to follow Obsidian into the darkness.
“Wooow,” she said, a bit louder than it was appropriate, “It’s all just like in your dream.”
“That was the point,” said Obsidian, “except there are traps and alarms here. Nopony move ahead of me. And stay silent. We need to reach our positions before the alarm is sounded. I don’t want any distractions.”
They moved down a flight of stairs, then through the winding tunnels, Obsidian leading the way. Twilight watched him work, taking in the details as he located and unravelled one alarm spell after another.
The first device is just behind the corner, she realised. We will soon face princess Celestia. What am I going to do?.
Swallowing loudly, Twilight turned around to look at her friends, desperate for any distraction. The Elements were formed in a tight group with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie on the sides, Fluttershy and Rarity in the center, and Applejack covering the rear. They were lightly armored, but all were wearing helmets, even Rarity, who for once did not complain about her appearance. They all looked serious, even Pinkie Pie, in her own, overly energetic way.
Are they really so determined? thought Twilight, Or are they just trying to look tough? Am I the only one whose stomach is twisting at the thought of what we’re going to do?
Obsidian turned the corner, and stopped, his staff scanning the area around a bulky metal device covered in twisted pipes.
The girls stopped behind him, joining in gradually, until they were all staring over his shoulders. Obsidian kept examining the device,
“There is no magic in it,” he finally said, “it’s not a bomb. I can’t detect any poison in it either.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “Our diversion is almost ready.”
With a wave of his staff, a bubble of silence expanded in the room. Then the staff fell, smashing through the device. A very distinct nothing happened. Obsidian dismissed the field with a shrug.
“Perhaps it’s just here to waste your time?” suggested Applejack, poking the junk on the floor with her hoof.
Obsidian frowned in thought. “That’s… possible. But if it is a bluff, it’s an effective one. We cannot ignore it.”
There was a distant whine of an alarm horn. Everypony looked in that direction.
“And here is our cue,” said Obsidian. “The time for stealth is over. Go, and remember to stick to the plan. I’ll be joining you shortly.”
He then rushed down the corridor, the staff projecting a blue cone in front of him as he ran.
The girls looked at each other. Twilight swallowed.
“Well, it’s time for us, girls,” she said. “Let’s go save your families.”
She stumbled toward the exit, trying to look confident as she started to weave her own protections. Halfway through she felt a touch on her withers - Fluttershy walked up to her, and put her in a comforting wing hug.
“We’ll do it together,” she said softly.
Twilight Sparkle felt her fears fading, giving way to a feeling of warmth. She exhaled, and smiled. “Thank you, Fluttershy. We will. Now, everypony follow me.”
***
Pierce was getting tired of pacing back and forth. The only thing that kept him from taking a break was that he knew it was the best way to ensure he stayed awake. He was about to take a short break anyway, when the alarm sounded, shaking him fully awake in an instant. Reflexively, he made sure all his weapons were in place.
It’s on this floor, he realised. It should be in the upper levels. What are they doing here? Have they entered through the palace?
“Hey, what’s going on?!” he heard Tourmaline shout from behind the cell door.
“This does not concern you!” he barked, turning away from the cell door and listening intently.
What he heard was not good news. A distant explosion echoed over the sound of the alarm.
Instantly, Tourmaline’s voice grew panicked. “What’s going on!? Something’s just blew up. You cannot keep me locked up here if there’s a fire!”
Pierce looked down the corridor, then towards the door. “This place is well away from anything flammable. You should be safe if you stay here. I… need to go. Sit tight. I’ll be back as soon as the alarm is over.”
Taking one last look at the door, he ran down the corridor towards where he had heard the explosion.
Tourmaline listened to him go. She then took a deep breath and approached the door.
It was similar to the one in her own bedroom, sturdy and with no access to the hinges from the inside. But Tourmaline had learned long before that every door had some sort of a weakness.
She turned, and tapped her hoof on the doorframe, then scraped her hoof upwards. The loosely attached horseshoe came off, a tiny hidden compartment on the inside surface spilling a small toolset on the floor. Tourmaline bent forward, picking the first tool with her lips.
***
Celestia felt the intruders long before they entered the hangar; four ponies breaking through the compound towards her position, with no regard for the alarm spells. She focused, and listened, her ears picking up more sounds. The intruders were the main source of noise, but not the only one.
Casting a quick spell, the princess silenced the alarm. She needed no distractions now. Still as a statue she stayed on her spot, waiting for the ponies to approach.
And approach they did. Celestia blinked in surprise. This was not what she had expected.
They were three mares and a stallion, two unicorns and two pegasi, all covered in armor. Three of them were wearing gorgets with glowing gems. The stallion, a red pegasus, was wearing a streamlined helmet with a big red gem replacing his right eye.
As the four entered the hangar, one of them, a white pegasus flew towards the cages. The two unicorns stopped in the center of the room, a ring of violet hexagonal force shields springing into existence around them. They looked around warily, before charging up their gems, shooting two beams of energy straight at the balcony where Celestia was concealed.
The magical veil fell as metal and stone shattered, the magical beams colliding with a golden barrier that Celestia conjured up at the last moment. She was revealed, standing on the balcony, dressed in gilded armor with slender blades running along the edges of her wings. The princess took a fighting stance, the two pegasi already charging at her through the clearing smoke.
“Your time has come!” shouted the red stallion, flying at Celestia with a pair of curved blades extending from his bracers. The princess jumped forward and to the left, blocking the oncoming points, the weapons colliding in a shower of magical sparks. The pegasus pushed on, his magical aura flaring up as the red gem in his face lit up, but Celestia pushed him off regardless, just in time to spin in the air and out of the way of the other attacker, her wing blade swinging at the level of the white mare’s throat as she flew past.
“You’re not Shooting Star,” stated Celestia coldly. “I saw him die.”
Behind her the other pegasus stopped, seemingly beheaded by Celestia’s counter, before her head popped up impossibly from inside her collar, accompanied by a small puff of confetti. “We can’t die until you’re stopped,” she said, turning around with a sharp-toothed grin.
Celestia used a hard flap of her wings to send herself flying backwards, and then bucked hard, propelling the mare into a hangar wall.
“Are you trying to scare me?” asked the princess, teleporting away as the stallion charged her again. She appeared over the two unicorns, a sharp sheet of stone shooting from the floor right in front of them as they tried to get to the cages. “You’re impostors,” she continued as she landed hard with her hooves, the mares teleporting out of her way. “Poor copies.”
Two energy blasts came her way. She formed a bubble, and exploded it outwards, sending the shots back at the attackers. The white unicorn blocked her own shot. The lilac one was a bit too slow, the attack glancing off her protections and knocking her off balance.
Before she could recover, a stalagmite shot from the floor, piercing through her torso with such force it lifted her into the air. Celestia conjured another force bubble, watching as the body dissolved into wisps of black, leaving nothing behind.
“That was an insult to Diamond Dust,” said Celestia. The other three ponies assaulted her barrier, but she just blasted them away again, teleporting into the air to follow up with a series of slashes at Shooting Star. Her horn flashed brightly, bathing the hangar in blinding radiance.
“You need more than that, monster” spat the pegasus back at her, closing his good eye, but still keeping up with her.
“A monster?” Celestia’s face turned into a mask of pure disdain. “And what are you then?”
She saw a shape in the corner of her eye, and turned just in time to block. The white pegasus pounced at her, fangs bared, oversized sunglasses perched on her muzzle. “Surprise!” she yelled as she swung her hoof blades down on the alicorn.
Celestia rolled with the attack, allowing the impact to send her flying before turning around and breaking her fall, landing back on the balcony. She shielded herself from a shot coming at her from the ground level, then fired one of her own, hitting Shooting Star square in the chest as he flew at her, sending him flying away.
With a loud noise the ruined metal railing in front of her ripped itself out of the balcony, and twisted, lashing out like a snake and grabbing the white pegasus before she could retreat. The mare screamed, first in surprise, then in pain as the merciless metal coiled tighter and tighter around her body. Celestia flew forward, her horn ablaze once again, and stabbed with it, dealing the final blow.
“There,” she said. “Just two of you left. Now this can’t be all. Where are the real Elements of Harmony?”
The two ponies looked at her, then at each other. But the question was answered without their input, six mares rushing into the hangar to join the battle, a purple wedge of magic pushing ahead of them.
The alicorn princess nodded in satisfaction. “Finally.”
***
Pierce skidded to a halt as the second explosion sounded. He inched away from the cloud of smoke coming from the open door, hoping it wasn’t anything poisonous. His ears moved, searching for the sound of any intruders.
He didn’t have to search long. There was a loud bang one intersection down the corridor, and after a second a helmet from an animated armor rolled from behind the corner, the lights in its eye slits fading as it came to a stop.
Pierce cast a spell to muffle his hoofsteps, and then ran straight into the corridor, sliding from behind the corner, needles ready to fire. He just managed to catch a glimpse of a pony disappearing behind another corner. Three needles flew after the intruder, and as Pierce sent an impulse of magic to adjust their direction in flight, he knew they found their mark. He started after his target, expecting to hear the sound of a falling body at any moment. Yet there was just the clopping of running hooves on the stone floor.
Three hits should have taken him down. Is he immune, or just armored? he thought as he ran, holding his breath as his path took him to another patch of smoke.
The intruder ran into one of the labs. It was, Pierce realised, the chemical lab where the first explosion took place, but what fire there was had already burned itself out, leaving mostly smoke. No longer able to hear his target, Pierce looked warily around, searching for a possible ambush.
There was a crack under his hoof as he stepped in some broken glass. Then he saw movement in the corner of his eye, and teleported out of the way, just as a small cabinet was kicked through where he had stood a second before. He turned, and shot a trio of needles at the enemy stallion, one for each foreleg and through the neck. There was a sound of more glass breaking as the intruder fell back among the cluttered tables.
Coughing from the smoke, Pierce approached the prone shape. He pulled three more needles just in case. The intruder was not moving, his body covered by a coat that obscured most details, only the minty green legs visible from underneath. Pierce wondered if he was wearing some armor under it too.
Then he saw the blood, trickling from under the body and spreading on the floor.
He shouldn’t be bleeding that much, he thought, not from the needles. Or did I hit an artery?
Then something clicked in his mind. Pierce stopped, the needles quivering in his telekinetic grip. The blood, the shattered glass, the smoke, the coat, and the minty green fur underneath. His breath stuck in his throat, he pulled with his magic, turning the body over, knowing even before he did that he would see a familiar face.
“Uh, Hi,” whispered Smarts, coughing out blood. “How are my glasses?”
Pierce blinked, trying to make sense of the situation. As if guessing his thoughts, the earth pony turned his head to look at him, “No changeling, I’m afraid. I don’t bleed green… or anything.”
Pierce’s expression turned from confused to angry. “I saw you die.”
“And you’re going…” replied Smarts, fighting a coughing fit “to see it again. Funny thing… blowing up the lab was the best way to… get your attention.”
Pierce leaned closer, his weapon needles floating down to the ground, momentarily forgotten. “What are you saying? What’s going on?”
Smarts rolled his eyes, then closed them, as the gesture made something well up in his throat. Finally swallowing, he looked back at Pierce and smirked. “What… do you think is going on? Somepony wanted to end the big war once and for all. So… I’ve been sent to death again.”
Pierce stared at him. “What? But… you weren’t. I didn’t send you to death. You did it yourself. You knew it was crazy! I… wasn’t able to save you, but…”
“But that’s not what you’re… blaming yourself for, is it? That’s not why you wanted to die… or have you forgotten?” whispered Smarts. He smiled, and Pierce could see his teeth stained red. “It’s what you said… what you made me do… You say it was my choice, but what other choice did you leave me?”
Pierce started grinding his teeth, small tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “It wasn’t like this! I Didn’t want that!”
Smarts nodded his head. “I know, you didn’t. That’s why you make such a good servant… a slave to guilt… always eager to atone… to do his best… That’s why you’re here… taking care of her.”
Pierce waited for more words to come, but none did. Smarts was staring at him motionless and silent. The unicorn knelt down, suppressing a sob, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Suddenly Smarts’s eyes opened wide, and he breathed right in Pierce’s face, “You will fail again.”
His form blackened and exploded into a mass of shadows, pushing Pierce away, and sending him rolling through the ruined lab. For a moment everything went black.
***
Pierce awoke with a start. He was on the cold stone floor, among the wrecked lab equipment. He could feel the pricks from some shards of glass he had rolled over. His face was covered with a mess of soot mixed with tears. He stumbled back on his hooves, trying to make sense of the situation.
It was some kind of a monster… it must have hypnotized me or something. I shouldn’t have fallen for it that easily. It took the shape of Smarts to catch me off guard, but… how did it know all that? And why didn’t it kill me?
He stood there for a moment, replaying the conversation in his mind, picking out important details from between painful memories.
“You will fail again.”
Pierce’s stomach twisted with horror. He spun around and ran out of the lab, galloping back towards the cell blocks.
***
“There she is!” shouted Pinkie Pie, rearing up to point her hoof at the princess.
Twilight’s wedge of force dispersed, turning into wisps of purple that flew around the room, arcing from wall to wall. Twilight watched them intently even as she replaced the wedge with another barrier, a ball encompassing her and her friends.
The two remaining ponies landed on the balcony, one flying, the other teleporting, surrounding Celestia from the sides.
Celestia paid them no mind. “Welcome, Twilight. I don’t see Obsidian with you. Does it mean you’ve seen through him already?”
Twilight did her best not to look at her former mentor. She watched as the last of her sparks disappeared into the walls. “No traps, I think. Now, girls, as we practiced!” she shouted.
Her friends formed at her sides and above her. Six gemstones, real ones this time, lit up, the light flowing into Twilight Sparkle.
The floor shook right underneath Twilight, but the unicorn’s barriers held. On the balcony, spikes of stone shot out against the two faux elements, but they both moved out of the way, shattering the stone with single blows.
Celestia focused, but did not shoot a beam. Instead her spell erupted in golden rings, spreading from her like waves on water before disappearing into the walls. Behind her, the device on the balcony sputtered to life.
***
Obsidian dashed through the dimly lit corridors. He wasn’t teleporting, not out of concern for tripping alarms, which was pointless at this point, but fearing some more complex anti-intrusion spells; getting his teleport forcefully redirected would be bad at this point.
He had just reached the third device, shattering it without breaking stride, when he felt a magical disturbance spreading. It went right through him with no effect, but by the time he reached another device, he knew the spell was merely a signal.
Then the device activated, and suddenly he felt his magical senses collapse around him. He now knew what the machines did.
***
Twilight was almost ready to shoot when her barrier started shimmering, almost fading for a moment. Then Celestia pointed her horn at the ceiling, and a cube of stone, bigger than Twilight’s entire bubble, fell on top of the Elements. Twilight couldn’t hold the barrier, only managing to make it burst like a bubble, spreading her friends around and out of the way. Once she managed to return to her feet, she saw the hangar changed.
None of the objects in the hangar had moved, apart from the giant stone block and the cloud of dust it created. But even so, everything seemed different. The colors were duller, the edges sharper. Suddenly Twilight realised that she could see much more details than normally - in the corner of her eye she could see single hairs in her mane.
But what was more important, she felt that the spells Obsidian had made her cast on herself during preparations were fading one by one. She focused on her horn, and found it way harder than usual.
What is going on? she thought.
On the balcony, the two chimeras swayed, suddenly indistinct black shapes, as their disguises were stripped away. They blurred, struggling to stay upright for a moment before unravelling with a gasp. Celestia looked down onto the hangar floor.
“Look out!” shouted Twilight. She cast her next spell not with her horn, but with her Element, directing it at the floor beneath their feet, a split second before the stone erupted with long spikes. The film of purple force field could not stop the attack, but gave her friends a second more to escape. For a moment everypony was busy keeping themselves alive, the thoughts of teamwork forgotten as the survival instinct took over.
In front of Twilight, Rainbow Dash leapt into the air, avoiding two spikes that would have trapped her on the ground. She flew straight at Celestia, a nimbus of red light forming around her.
“No! Don’t!” shouted Twilight, but Rainbow didn’t seem to hear her. Celestia leaned forward, and the balcony became a viciously spiked rampart.
Dash is slower too, realised Twilight.
The pegasus spread her wings wide, losing her momentum with a single, powerful flap, just inches from the pointy doom. She took off, even as the balcony stretched after her. The structure folded back, just before it would've collapsed under its own weight. Celestia watched the pegasus fly away, and then stared intently at the air between them. Her horn sparked, and the air along the hangar ceiling turned ablaze, the explosion tossing Rainbow Dash towards the ground.
The pegasus spun, recovering from her fall and landing on all fours. She sprang back into the air before another attack could reach her. Celestia was about to strike at her again, but right then Twilight tossed a couple of broken stalagmites her way, forcing her to form a stone barrier instead.
“Everypony okay?” called Rainbow.
There was a series of grunts in confirmation.
“Something’s wrong with our magic,” said Rarity. She was casting her spells anyway, the violet glow from her Element streaking in twisting lines to reach her companions.
“We’ve got to end this before more of them come,” said Applejack, looking up at the balcony with a worried expression.
“And why would they?” came a voice from above. The stone shell opened, Celestia walking out with all her practiced majesty. “I am the one who made you who you are. What you have become is my responsibility and mine alone. And I have more than enough power to put a stop to this disaster on my own.”
“A disaster?!” shouted Twilight, the gem on her forehead glowing brighter, some of the protective enchantments returning to her armor. “Is that what I am to you!?” She fired a beam, but Celestia stepped off the balcony, allowing the shot to pass above her as she spread her wings.
Twilight felt something strange in the air around her. She had just enough time to comprehend her predicament, when a sudden gust of wind blew the forming poison away from her. Pinkie Pie put the bellows back inside her mane.
“Focus, girls!” shouted Rainbow Dash, “Don’t give her more time.” She charged straight at Celestia, who responded by swinging her wing blades, the air around her twisting to push Dash off course and onto an oncoming blow. Sparks flew as metal collided with metal, the pegasus twisting away into a barrell roll that kept her just out of range.
Celestia’s horn sparked again and the middle of the room exploded. Twilight could only roll with the impact, her hastily erected shield too weak to keep her safe.
Applejack ran out of the swirling dust, launching herself at the princess. The two ponies collided with a mighty clang, and the alicorn was forced back, robbing her of the chance to use her opening.
Celestia exhaled, and her breath turned into acid. Applejack flinched away with a yelp, squeezing her eyes shut. The alicorn dashed forward with a stab, aiming her wing blade at the exposed flesh just above the collar of the earth pony’s armor.
A rhomboid of purple light appeared in front of Applejack. It shattered from Celestia’s blow, and disappeared, but stopped the blade from reaching its intended target. As Applejack turned around, and bucked in Celestia’s general direction before moving away to recover, the princess was pelted with pieces of rubble Twilight and Pinkie were throwing. She frowned, and the rocks disintegrated, amounting to nothing but a cloud of dust. She stomped, and the floor rippled like water, spitting out a wave of debris that knocked the two mares off their hooves.
Rainbow Dash dove at her back from the air. Celestia’s horn sparked again and she leaned forward as the air above her exploded, tossing the pegasus away.
Celestia looked around the room. Rainbow Dash had crashed to the ground, but recovered with a roll, and though she was singed and dazed, was already trying to get back into the air. Rarity was at the far end of the room, trying to cover herself , Twilight and Pinkie Pie with her purple shields. Applejack was hiding behind the huge stone block, an orange aura of Honesty flowing in gentle waves over her face. That left…
There was a loud noise of breaking metal; the pattern generator fell off the balcony, and hit the ground hard. Fluttershy peered from over the edge and looked down. “Um… I hope this helps.”
“No,” said Celestia, another cloud of fire expanding from her horn and engulfing the balcony, sending Fluttershy flying across the hangar, flailing widely. Rainbow Dash flew up to catch her, and Celestia prepared to hit them both with another explosion before they managed to stop.
Her horn was about to spark when a pie hit her in the face, turning everything into a sticky mess. The alicorn glared at Pinkie through the dripping custard, and then a ring of stone walls shot up around her.
“Quickly girls, together!” shouted Twilight, charging up her Element. The others followed her example, six points of light growing in intensity.
Then the ground exploded under their feet, showering everypony with shrapnel. Twilight was thrown to the ground, and everything disappeared in a cloud of dust. She tried to get up, her ears ringing so much that for a moment she didn’t know where she was. As her power pushed, clearing the dust from around her, she could see Dash falling to the ground, apparently after shielding Fluttershy. One of the blue wings was stained red, and didn’t quite flap properly when the pegasus tried to get up. Suddenly Twilight’s own pain caught up with her, and she looked down at herself. Her chest plate was dented, and she could feel something warm trickling down her leg.
If not for my spells protecting me, I’d be…
Celestia emerged from the floor, like a surfacing fish. Her mane was no longer flowing, and her regal demeanor was all but gone. She sent another blast of fire towards Rarity, who was trying to get up, then she made a spike erupt from the floor underneath Twilight. The unicorn rolled aside, the desperate dodge leaving her exposed as the shifting stone ripped through her armor and tore the whole chest piece away.
Something flew through the room, hitting Celestia under her right wing, just as she reared to deliver the finishing blow. The alicorn flew away in a shower of blue sparks, coming to a stop beside the opposite wall, a dome of stone rising up to shield her. Obsidian ran into the hangar, the staff returning to his side.
“I see I’m just in time.”
***
“Open the door!” shouted Bluebonnet for the tenth time, banging her front hooves on the entrance to her daughter’s room. There was no reply.
For a moment Bluebonnet considered turning around and bucking at the door, but then her brain registered the fact of where she was. This door was just like all the others on the level, purposefully made sturdy enough to resist the efforts of even over-average earth pony.
“What to do, what to do?” she muttered under her breath as she looked around frantically, trying to find a solution. The labs were under attack, partially on fire, with the smoke reaching even here. And her daughter was locked up in her room and not responding!
Finally, something clicked in the mare’s head and she turned around, running down the corridor. She burst into her room and started digging through her things.
“Where is it? where is it?” she repeated, a growing hint of hysteria in her voice. She cringed as the tunnels echoed with a distant explosion many levels above her. As she did, she caught a glint of metal on one of the shelves. Grabbing the spare key with her teeth, she ran out of her room.
There was another explosion from the upper levels before she got back to the door. She almost dropped the key the first time, then almost broke it, twisting it awkwardly in her hurry to get inside. The lock opened, and she pushed the door inside.
Bluebonnet froze in surprise. During the couple minutes between the alarm waking her up and opening the door, her mind had managed to create a lot of different scenarios, each more horrible than the last. But it never occurred to her that the room would be empty.
“What? It can’t be…” said Bluebonnet, looking around the room before running out again. “Tourmaline! Where are you!?” she shouted, as she ran down the corridor, towards the smoke-filled lab rooms.
“Tourmaline!” she called again and again, until she caught a gasp of smoke and collapsed in a coughing fit.
This makes no sense. She wouldn’t be here, where it’s dangerous. She should have evacuated, she kept repeating to herself, but deeper inside her mind there was another voice, frantically pulling her towards the labs, a sinking feeling that she had missed something terribly important.
She heard hoofsteps approaching in the distance. With a lump growing in her throat she ran in that direction. She stopped in the door of what turned out to be her lab workshop. Even in her current state, she couldn’t miss the the obvious truth waiting for her inside.
.
That’s how Pierce found her, standing there staring forward, pale on the face, as he emerged from the opposite door.
“Bluebonnet? Doctor! Tourmaline has escaped! I can’t find her anywhere!” he shouted.
Bluebonnet opened her mouth, and slowly looked upwards, as if her eyes could penetrate the many meters of rock above the ceiling.
“It’s gone… she took it.”
Pierce ran up to her, rearing up to grab her with his front hooves, and shaking her slightly. “What is gone? What are you saying?”
Bluebonnet looked him straight in the eyes.
“The prototype. She took the pattern gun.”