//------------------------------//
// Eclipse 
// Story: Strange Bedfellows 
// by BRBrony9 
//------------------------------//

The Auspex arrays of the Emperor's Judgement had been working hard to provide continuous coverage of the volcano and the valley to its south where battle was raging. The pony attack seemed to have stalled, their airships, visible on the scanners, being stationary, their battle formation having been maintained the whole time, but making no progress. They were not getting any closer to the volcano, though there were countless thousands of flashes that signified the discharge of cannons or psychic energy- 'magic,' to use the pony terminology. 

A fierce fight was underway, observed by the humans in orbit even as the volcano rumbled and shook, its tremors each detected in turn by the seismometer scans of the flagship. The mighty peak was getting set to erupt, and erupt it did, a brilliant flash overwhelming the thermal sensors as a huge gout of ash and magma launched itself free of its rocky confines. Quickly the ash cloud was caught by the wind, spreading out to the west as a pyroclastic flow raced down the hillside and into the valley, toward the pony ground forces. Lord-Admiral Marcos and his junior Auspex officers watched on, intrigued by the drama unfolding hundred of miles below them. The princess, her sister, and the Changeling Queen appeared to still be fighting. But even as Marcos watched, one of the figures broke away from combat. Where was she going? Was it the Queen fleeing? No, it must be one of the princesses, because they suddenly threw up some kind of barrier that appeared to be protecting the positions of the pony infantry on the ground. A massive spike in the unknown particle was registered by the sensors, evidence of the tremendous power needed to unleash such a shield that could protect against the great fury of nature. To hold back the flow of such a vast quantity of ash and rock took energy on a scale that could only be replicated by an Imperial void shield, and whichever princess was providing the power was doing so almost casually, simply holding position while their magic did its work. 

Though he could only see vague silhouettes, Marcos was impressed once again by the work of the princess. It had to be Celestia, he assumed. He knew relatively little of her younger sister, but what he did know was that Celestia had been betrayed by her in the past, in the same way that the Emperor had been betrayed by his beloved son, Horus. It seemed more likely, he reasoned, that Celestia would be the one most concerned with the welfare of her subjects, and thus the most likely to have thrown up the barrier that now protected them. The airship fleet, however, had been lost to their view, engulfed by the smoke and debris thrown up by the eruption and the pyroclastic flow.  A few surprisingly tense moments passed before the dust cleared enough for them to become visible again, evidence that their own shield, showing up as glowing spheres on the thermal scans, had protected them from the maelstrom. Marcos was impressed by their resilience. Even an Imperial Titan would have had trouble against such an onslaught of rock and ash, thousands of tons of debris having been ejected to race down the valley, or climb high into the sky.

Other sensors tracked the plume as it was carried by the winds towards the west. At least the eruption was not a threat to their own men on the ground to the south, nor would it impede any planned operations. Marcos still did not know, however, what its true purpose had been. There had been no contact with the princess or her sister, or anyone with any knowledge of the plan. At least, none who would admit to it. There had to be more to the story. The princess had shown herself to be too shrewd and wise of an operator to simply throw her forces into the fire, literally in this case. Such a frontal assault was not necessary, surely, just to destroy the Hive or lure out the Queen. To attack without alerting her Imperial allies first was even more suspicious. They had been working relatively well together, both at Manehattan and Canterlot. Why the sudden deception and lack of information when these Changelings were involved?

Marcos hoped to receive answers once the princess was back in Canterlot. Assuming she survived her run-in with the Queen, but he had little doubt that she would. She had fought against guns and daemons alike and not suffered harm. He doubted this Changeling would be any different. A big operation was being planned against the city of Baltimare, south of Ponyville, and the Lord-Admiral was hoping to be able to count on the support of the ponies, even though their assistance would likely not be needed. Given Celestia's demonstrated talents, however, it seemed wise to have her on hand and willing to offer assistance, assistance which had proven vital several times already. 

A large mass on the visual sensors seemed to be heading to the east with some speed. Additional zoom revealed that it appeared to be the Changeling drones, departing the fight in large quantities. Marcos ordered them to be tracked, in the hopes of finding out where they were going so that, if they attempted to build a new Hive, it could be easily destroyed. Despite being cold blooded, as a large unified formation the drones were relatively easy to detect on the visual scans, but no sooner were they out of range of the battlefield than the large group began to split up. Individual drones could not be tracked from orbit, and soon the contact had been lost entirely, and with it any hope of following the drones to their new home, wherever on this planet that might be. 

Despite the tracking failure, Marcos was still happy to have collected a significant amount of data regarding the Changelings, both in terms of their movements, the way they reacted to threats, and the way they fought in open battle. It would be very useful if Imperial forces found themselves in direct conflict with more than the mere handful of Changelings who were known to have infiltrated the ship. The Imperials, however, still knew only a bare minimum about the creatures. Their biology had been thoroughly gone over with a fine toothed comb by the Magi of the Ferrus Terra, but of their social, military and cultural ways and customs, it was almost a blank slate. The combat footage obtained by the Auspex cameras would help develop strategies against them, Marcos hoped, though he also hoped not to have to put those strategies into practice. Fighting the Archenemy and a few scattered infiltrators was enough to have on their plate, so far from home and with no chance of reinforcements.

He returned his attention to the battlefield displayed on the holo-map, and the vid-feeds from the Auspex arrays. The princess and her sister were still fighting, an intriguing contest of will and strength between the two of them and the Changeling Queen, their sworn enemy. The two sides seemed evenly matched. Who would emerge victorious remained to be seen.




With the force of the pyroclastic flow spent, Princess Celestia was able to return to aid her sister. She flapped higher in the sky toward the duel. Chrysalis and Luna were still swirling around each other, teleporting to and fro, hurling magic back and forth.

'Coming back for more after your oh so noble detour?' Chrysalis mocked as Celestia rejoined the fight. 'A fool's errand, as well you know. You may be able to save your precious subjects from this, but you will not save them from me.'

Celestia didn't bother replying, but merely lowered her horn and unleashed a great wave of magic in an attempt to catch Chrysalis off guard. It didn't work. The Queen was ready for a sudden attack and teleported out of the way, getting behind Celestia, who in turn anticipated just such a move, immediately turning and firing again. Chrysalis ducked before returning fire. Luna dropped down to add to the Queen's woes, but the Changeling was ready for that, too.

The stalemate between the royals had been continuing for some time, with neither side seemingly capable of achieving the upper hoof over the other for long enough to deal a finishing blow. Chrysalis was outnumbered, but the extra strength she had gained from so much extra love was helping her stay on an even keel while fighting both royal sisters at once. Her assaults were relentless, but the shields and teamwork of the sisters were equally unceasing.

Two of the airships left the battle line at the direction of the flagship's signal lamps to try and break the deadlock, or at the very least distract the Queen somewhat, while their fellows licked their wounds and conducted emergency repairs and medical treatment of the wounded. The Illustrious and the Vulture powered forward, noses swinging round to drive toward the melee before turning to present a broadside to the target. The Queen, however, was busily flitting here and there, and hitting such a target would be very difficult. The gunners crouched over their weapons, peering through their sights, eagerly awaiting a clear shot at Chrysalis. She was not keen to oblige.

One enterprising machine-cannon operator managed to get a bead on her as she happened to materialise directly in his line of fire after teleporting. He quickly squeezed the trigger and rattled off a burst of shells, in the fruitless belief that they would somehow manage to penetrate her shield, which even Celestia's strongest magic had so far failed to do. He was rapidly disabused of that notion as his shots bounced off with no effect, other than to alert the Queen to the presence of the airships and their attempts to attack her.

They succeeded in their objective, in the sense that Chrysalis turned her attentions away from the princesses to deal with the nuisance. Her shield held firm as she lowered her horn and let loose with a blast of green energy. The Vulture's barrier did not prove as hardy, as the powerful magic cut straight through, through the gasbag, and out the other side of the shield. Above the hopeful gunner, a great billowing mushroom of flame was erupting from the envelope, spilling down upon the deck. Ponies were covered in flame and became screaming torches. With the gasbag punctured and the fire spreading rapidly along its length, the airship began to lose height. The crew abandoned ship almost immediately, for a gasbag fire was the death knell for any dirigible. So it proved in this case, as the Vulture fell to earth, crumpling up into a flaming mass of metal and charred wood upon the valley floor. Chrysalis had immediately turned her attention to the Illustrious which had accompanied the other airship, and within moments, it shared the same fate. This time her shot struck the middle of the gondola, ripped straight through the wood and armour plating, and detonated one of the main magazines, ripping the whole gondola apart in a huge explosion. The gasbag was also punctured by shrapnel from the blast, and turned into another great fiery candle in the sky.

Even as the two airships burned, Chrysalis returned to engaging the two sisters directly in battle. More magic flashed and flew across the sky. Once more, the Queen focused her attention on the younger sibling. Luna's shield had already fallen once, and Chrysalis was determined to make it fall once again. She teleported behind Luna, fired, teleported away when she turned, appeared behind her again, fired, and repeated the process. Luna tried her best to counter the attacks, but Chrysalis was proving to be too fast. Celestia tried to intervene, but Chrysalis just changed her pattern, appearing below the younger sister instead of behind, pounding her with magical strikes. 

Celestia managed to intercept Chrysalis and hurl a strong beam of magic at her, but she dodged and retaliated. Celestia's shield took a hit, but it held. Luna's, on the other hand, was weakening with every blow that Chrysalis managed to land upon it. It quavered with each impact, shuddering and wobbling like jelly under the repeated strikes of such powerful magic. Despite her best efforts, Luna could not get clear of Chrysalis, who stuck doggedly to her, somehow always managing to keep one step ahead, always keeping the advantage. Celestia's attempts to lure Chrysalis away by presenting an easy target failed, as did her attempts at knocking the Queen out of the fight. Chrysalis had a target in mind and she was not going to deviate.

A particularly strong blast of magic struck Luna's shield from behind, and it collapsed, the stress and the mental torture of such powerful and repeated strikes overloading Luna's ability to maintain her defence. She was vulnerable, and quickly teleported away while Celestia dove in to try and distract Chrysalis with a string of magic bolts that bounced off of her shield. But the Queen was not going to be denied this time. Luna reappeared after teleporting, and Chrysalis was ready for her.

A great blast of magic erupted from her horn and sped towards Luna. The younger sibling could not dodge away in time, and she was struck; only a glancing blow, but the magic scorched her left side, tearing through her wing and her flank. Luna let out a strangled cry of pain, and began to fall, spiraling to the ground far below to gasps from the surviving airship crews who were watching the battle.

Celestia was at her sister's side almost immediately, teleporting down to catch her. She gently brought Luna to the ground and laid her upon the earth. Chrysalis, floating above, gave a menacing laugh as she watched.

'How touching! The moon has fallen, and the sun rushes to its aid. Do what you will, Celestia, but know that I will be the victor, whatever you may plot, however you may scheme. I need not defeat you here today, on this battlefield. When I am through, you will die a thousand deaths when you see what I have done with your precious Equestria. And see it you shall, for you will be enslaved beneath my hoof, in your rightful place as you bow before your new Queen! Soon, this whole planet will be mine!'

Celestia's horn glowed a furious gold, but before she could unleash her anger, the Queen had gone, disappearing with a pop of magic and displaced air. This time, she did not reappear behind, above, or beside the princesses. She had vanished from the valley. Celestia turned her attentions to Luna.

'Sister...' She gently cradled Luna in her hooves. Luna's eyes were open, though faded, and she managed to turn her head to look up at her older sibling.

'I am alright...' Luna assured her. 'I am alright...' A quick glance revealed that she was not entirely accurate. Chrysalis's magic had burned and charred her skin along a good portion of her left torso, from her chest back to her flank. Many of her left wing's flight feathers were singed or entirely gone. Her wounds were not fatal, and with good care she would most likely make a full recovery, but to see her own sister in such a state clearly affected Celestia in a way that she had not displayed for a long time. Her voice was slightly shaky as she replied.

'We will get you home, dear sister...back to Canterlot. You will be fine...' Medics, appropriately from the Luna. flew down to assist, but Celestia waved them away with a message for the fleet. 'Have all craft fall back to the staging area except the Fillydelphia,' she ordered. 'They are to remain in position in case the infiltration team require extraction. I am taking my sister directly to Canterlot.' The ponies bowed their heads and returned to their airship to spread the word. Celestia held Luna tightly. 'We're going home, sister.' Her horn glowed, and the two princesses were gone.




Twilight, watching closely from the rocks of the western foothills, shared in the collective gaps of the onlookers as they watched Princess Luna tumble from the sky. The highly pyrotechnic destruction of the two airships had been dramatic and devastating enough, but they were only constructs of ponies, artificial, though loaded with crew. This was different, and she noted that even the battle-hardened Assault Infantry and special operations forces around her appeared visibly and audibly distressed at the development. The only time Twilight had seen one of the princesses defeated in battle, it had been as a result of Chrysalis's actions at the royal wedding, and now she had struck again. This time it was the other princess who was on the receiving end of her wrath, and Princess Luna who now lay down on the valley floor. Again, Twilight's first instinct was to run to her aid, but the steady hoof of Spitfire touching her shoulder told her that she had to hold back, to watch and wait. Princess Celestia was there, she was helping her sister. That would have to be enough comfort for now, despite Twilight's inner turmoil. It was Luna who had made contact with her, who had been the first to know that she was still alive and in captivity. She had come to help, and had paid the price in turn. Twilight had no idea of the extent of her wounds from such a distance, but she could only imagine Luna lying in agony, sharing her last words with her sister before closing her eyes for the last time. It took all of her willpower just to imagine anything else.

To the surprise of those around her, Queen Chrysalis, far from going in for the kill on a distracted and surely distraught Celestia, simply vanished from the battlefield instead. Moments later, Luna and Celestia also disappeared in a flash of white light. Twilight did not know where any of them had gone, but they did not reappear. She sank back down to rest against a rock, her deep tiredness returning. She had not known any true rest for- what was it Spitfire had said? Twelve days?- and had not slept for at least two, by her estimate, which could be wildly wrong. Her sense of time, normally fairly good thanks to her natural inclination to be anal and neurotic about timekeeping and being 'tardy,' had compltely failed her during her time in the hive. She had no idea how long she had been above ground, either.

The remaining airships that had been forming the battle line began to withdraw, turning and heading back down the valley, away from the smoking remains of the volcano, which had blown its top half apart with tremendous fury.

'Where are they going?' Twilight exclaimed, seeing their retreat. 'They can't just leave us here!'

'Don't worry,' Spitfire replied from beside her. 'Standard procedure. The battle here is over and there's no way they can get into the Hive now, if there's anything left to get into at all...which I doubt. They're falling back to the rendezvous point.'

'But what about us?' Twilight repeated nervously. 'Are they just abandoning us?'

'Of course not.' Spitfire shook her head firmly. 'Don't worry. See that one, over there?' She pointed with an outstretched hoof at one of the larger airships which, unlike all of its fellows, was not heading down the valley, but rather up it, towards them, its shield keeping it safe from the occasional swirling cloud of ash which wafted on some upcurrent washing over from the mountains. A signal lamp flashed from the main deck, though Twilight could not understand what it was trying to say. None of the ponies around her seemed to be returning the signals, but Spitfire produced something from her belt. It was a pistol, or at least it looked like it, a small brass hoof-held weapon. Spitfire cracked open the tube to check that it was loaded, then snapped it back into place. She raised it above her head, aimed it upward, and pulled the trigger.

A blazing red fireball shot skyward in a gently curving arc, a flare burning bright against the blue. The colour red had been chosen for two reasons; firstly, it would show up better against the sky, and second, green was the colour of Changeling magic, and it would not be a good idea to potentially be confused with an enemy. Spitfire cracked open the flare gun and loaded a second cartridge, raising it up again and firing. Another fireball arced across the sky. Upon seeing the second flare, the airship began to turn its nose towards them.

'Told you not to worry,' Spitfire reassured Twilight. 'Alright everypony! Grab your gear and get ready for pickup,' she called. The survivors of the assault force had been resting among the rocks, and those that were not on watch grabbed their rifles and helmets. The airship came in closer, turning again to come in sideways toward the mountain. Spitfire left Twilight in the care of Arcwing, and took off, flying over to the airship.

She found a good number of guns trained on her. The airship crew were clearly taking no chances; the possibility that she was really a Changeling infiltrator was quite real. She came to a stop near the gondola. On the quarterdeck, Captain Ironside called out the challenge, both the daily password, the operational password, and Spitfire's personal password, all of which she readily supplied. 

Even with a triple check, mere words were not enough to confirm her identity- a Changelings who had taken over her body would have her memories as well. While a Changeling could manifest the appearance of wearing a dead pony's clothing, they could not create accessories or equipment; if Spitfire were a Changeling, she would be unable to remove her uniform, as it would be part of her magical deception. To prove herself the real deal, Spitfire removed first her helmet, then her wing coverings, and finally her tunic. From the pocket of the tunic she then produced the final confirmation, a passcode printed on a slip of paper that had been given to her before their departure from Canterlot. A crewpony flew out and retrieved it, returning it to Captain Ironside, who possessed the second half of the code on another piece of paper. The two halves matched up correctly, meaning it was the code she had been issued. While it was always possible that a Changeling could have killed her, rummaged through her uniform and found the passcode, then transformed itself into her and put on her uniform, all the evidence pointed to it being Spitfire herself. All reasonable precautions had been taken, and, as the ponies had found over the years, there was a certain point where one just had to accept that what they saw before them was the truth, and not a concealed lie. It was all but impossible to be absolutely, one hundred percent sure with cast-iron proof that anypony was not a Changeling, unless you had seen that pony die with your own eyes. The precautions carried out in this case were greater than would normally be used, since Spitfire and her ponies had not just engaged the Changelings in battle, but had actively entered their home, and as such the danger of an infiltration was high. There was no way, other than the confirmatory checks, of telling whether the entire assault force had been wiped out and replaced by disguised drones.

Ironside, at least, was satisfied that his old student and friend was real. He welcomed her aboard, shaking her hoof warmly. 'Did you succeed in your mission, Major?' he asked.

'Partly...' Spitfire replied. 'We recovered Twilight Sparkle, but there was no sign of the Element.'

'How sure are you that it's actually Twilight?' Ironside questioned. 'Could it be an impersonator?'

'I don't think so,' Spitfire shook her head. 'I'm pretty convinced it's really her. I've met her before a few times. She was in some kind of torture chamber, strapped down...doesn't confirm anything, I know, and I wouldn't put it past the Changelings to play a dirty trick like that, but the princess will be able to tell for sure.'

'Right.' Ironside nodded. 'Bring her aboard, and we'll set course for Canterlot.' Spitfire took off from the deck and returned to the mountain peak where Twilight sat.

'Alright, let's go. Arcwing, bring her aboard.' Spitfire offered a helping hoof as Arcwing lifted Twilight, and together, they flew her out to the Fillydelphia, setting her gently down upon the deck. Twilight looked around as a pair of Air Corps medics approached to tend to her. She was surrounded not by bare rock walls and snarling drones, but by ponies. Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus; all the familiar shapes that she had known since foalhood. All of them were in uniform, most of them were armed or manning weapons, but nevertheless, she knew that, for the first time in twelve days, she was safe.