"Spike, can you hear me? Where are you?"
"Twilight? Applejack is safe, we're hiding in Sunset's shop."
"You let Sunset get away, you were supposed to deal with her!"
"Applejack's safety was more important. I talked Sunset into helping me get her somewhere safe so she wouldn't be a threat-"
"That's not what I meant, Spike. Now Nightmare Moon has the Sister of Light's power! That's what was in Sunset's amulet! She can use it to open the gate to the demon realm!"
"Was I supposed to risk Applejack's safety to fight Sunset again? I can't beat her- you know that!"
"If you hadn't- Ugh... Spike, why are you questioning me? You normally don't act like this!"
"That makes two of us, you know. You don't usually send me into battles I can't win."
"You weren't programmed to fear termination."
"I was programmed to be of service to you, Twilight. And I'm not doing you any service destroying myself for nothing."
"I guess that's not your fault, is it? Sorry, I just-"
"Just tell me where you need me next."
"Get to the Everfree Forest. Let me know if anything happens before I get there, but try not to get into any more fights if you can help it."
"Okay. Is that all?"
"No... There's one other thing. Someone else is here. Someone else we know."
"Who?"
-----
Starlight felt her head bump against something. Something hard, flat, and cold.
She opened her eyes, and immediately closed them as she was met with a blinding white light shining down directly above her.
Opening her eyes to a squint, she found herself in the back section of Trixie's RV, her legs hanging off the edge of Sunburst's workbench, laid across it like it was an operating table. Her vision was still a bit blurred, but it slowly became more focused. When she looked down she found her body completely bare, the naked flesh integrating with metal making her feel uneasy. She didn't like being exposed like this. Not only did it serve as a permanent reminder of her previous failures, she also felt ugly, disfigured, and incomplete. Before, she didn't ever think about the way she looked, in body or in clothing, but now...
Her body was designed for practicality, to keep her both mobile and alive. Her limbs, lacking muscle and skin, were little more than sets of dense metal bars that were arranged to optimally support weight, and her torso was just an armored, aerodynamic coffin that contained what few organs she still had. There were glowing lines along her body that connected into four big bright spots on her back, where her power cells were. She was sleek and powerful, but like a machine, not a human. Every aspect of her body was there purely as a means to an end, at realizing this destroyed the bodily confidence she never knew she had.
It gave her a weird sense of whiplash, because she never cared about having a figure, or looking pretty, or what she wore. Only now that she was flat-chested, inhuman, and had rough, sharp edges did those things weigh on her mind, but the only solution she had was to just never think about it; she wore clothes that covered as much of her as possible and avoided mirrors at all costs.
Flexing the fingers of her natural, left arm, she placed a hand on the metal plating encasing her heart, relieved to find that it was still beating. It began to beat faster in alarm as she noticed her right arm was missing. It was detached at the elbow, all she had to move was a metal stump at the shoulder.
She bolted up, finding Sunburst spinning around on a stool to greet her with surprise. He looked both stressed and tired, his red hair disheveled and his hands coated in a thin, dark, greasy substance, but he was happy enough to see her moving again. Behind him, on a counter connected to the mini-kitchen area, was Starlight's detached arm. She let out a breath of relief, he had just been working on it.
"You're awake!" He let out a breath of relief, wringing his hands on a small blue towel, both cleaning them and venting some of his stress. "Thank goodness..."
When she went to talk, she found a cough pushing its way through her throat. "Ugh... What'd I miss?"
"Me and Trixie found you out in the street. What happened to you?"
"Twilight..." Starlight shook her head, slowly dispelling the fog covering it. As she remembered the day's events, she met Sunburst's eyes with urgency. "Twilight summoned the Tantibus. She thinks she can beat Nightmare Moon, but... You saw what happened. I tried to stop her but..." Starlight sighed, and looked down. "I'm not strong enough."
"Hey, we still need you, Starlight. Don't quit on us now." Sunburst adjusted his glasses, and met her worried expression with one he hoped was reassuring, before awkwardly transitioning into the next order of business. "I, uh.... The Head Paladin has another assignment for us, he wanted us to contact him when you woke up."
Starlight was disappointed to hear this, but begrudgingly accepted that she still had responsibilities to carry out. "Great. Let's not keep him waiting..."
They stood, and Sunburst led them both to the front of the RV, and outside Starlight saw a completely desolate Canterlot City. Things were going downhill fast, the black clouded sky now had a sinister red glow that was bright enough to illuminate the streets despite the defunct light posts lining them. Not that there was much to see, though, any opposition to the demons was marked by charred, ashy ground, torn up automobiles, or crumbling city housing. Things were completely empty, except for the stray demon scrambling off the street as the RV sped by.
Trixie turned her head back slightly as she heard the other two enter.
"Hey, look at you. I knew you weren't dead." Despite her dismissive-sounding tone, she smiled slightly as she turned her head back to the road. Starlight knew she was relieved to see her okay, too. "Twilight's at it again? Seems like you can't get a break from her, huh?"
"Nope." Starlight smirked, and took a seat at the short table, sitting sideways in the single booth seat, and crossing one leg atop the other. In the other seat across from her, Sunburst was fiddling with a blocky radio communicator. A cable ran down the wall and into it, connecting it to some signal boosting device he installed in the RV. While most of the common radios only spanned a portion of the city, this one could reach all the way back to Crystal City.
Starlight sighed, and let her head rest against the small, square window above the table.
"So where are we headed now, Trixie?" She asked.
"I was waiting for The Brains of this Operation to get us in contact with your boss. Right now, I'm just looking for a spot to stop that's a little less... demony." A strand of her blueish-white hair fell over her face as she said that. She blew it up out of the way, and mumbled quietly to herself. "There is no good parking in this part of the city."
Sunburst played around with the radio's knob for a moment, and shortly after it made a soft buzzing sound. He took the microphone piece off the top of it, untangled the curled up cord connecting it to the radio, then pressed the button on the side to begin his transmission.
"This is Order Scribe Sunburst, requesting further orders from the Head Paladin. Security code Lamda-13. Order Knight Starlight Glimmer is with me, recovered, and ready to proceed as well."
A soft voice of the operator came through, she spoke her words quickly but clearly. "Security code is valid. Putting you over to the Head Paladin now."
The next moment, the gentle but rough voice of the Head Paladin came through. "Sunburst, Starlight's there? Let me talk to her."
Sunburst looked up at her, and passed her the microphone. She took it uninterestedly and pressed the button to speak.
"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?"
The Head Paladin paid little attention to her less-than-formal tone. "We have reports from external sources, but I want your first-hand account. What's going on out there?"
"Well, apparently Twilight Sparkle is behind all this. She's... I don't know what she's trying to do. She summoned the Tantibus and inadvertently resurrected the Sister of Darkness. Now, the city's going up in smoke and we're looking at the end of the world or whatever."
"We heard she was there in Canterlot, but... I didn't want to believe Twily was connected to this." On the other end of the radio, the Head Paladin sighed. "My little sister, too headstrong for her own good."
Starlight and Sunburst shared a glance at each other, unsure whether to interrupt their commander's lamenting.
Lifting the mic, Starlight gave it a shot. "If it makes you feel better, she thinks she's doing the right thing- She's delusional, but... I don't know, maybe we can get her to come around?"
It wasn't the most convincing she had ever been.
"No," The Head Paladin's voice had a grim certainty to it. "She's made herself our enemy."
Neither Starlight or Sunburst were able to voice an objection.
"The Order is quarantining Canterlot City, and will be initiating a Burning Ground operation." Burning Ground was a systematic sterilization of a tainted area, often involving collapsing demonic constructions, as well as the incineration of any organic materials that came into proximity of infernal entities. The collateral damage it caused was incredible, but was little more than a footnote to the Order. Smaller towns were often reduced to nothing, bigger ones left empty for weeks while they rebuilt. Who knew how much of Canterlot would even be left standing?
"Wait, you can't do that yet. There still could be people here-" Starlight started, but was quickly cut off.
"We'll save as much of the city as we can, Starlight, but demon corruption is dangerous. We can't-"
"Yeah, you can't take chances, I know." Starlight had made it clear to the Order's higher-ups that she didn't like their methods on multiple occasions. The Head Paladin had become used to it.
"We've already secured the outer residential areas, they're safe. The only place of concern is the city's center. We'll keep them under control, but I need you elsewhere."
"And where's that?"
"The Everfree Forest. If the legend is true, that's where the Sister of Darkness will be brought back in full, meaning Twilight will be there too."
Starlight's voice trembled nervously. "Y-You want me to stop her? You do realize she wiped the floor with me without even trying, right?"
"You were weakened, from what Sunburst told me. He's been upgrading your body. You're the only one there right now, so you have the best chance of stopping her. I have confidence in your ability to stop both Twilight and Nightmare Moon."
Starlight grumbled.
"If Nightmare Moon is allowed to regain her full power, it'll be the end of everything. Do whatever you have to do to stop her, Starlight. And make sure Twilight is dealt with accordingly too." The Head Paladin said. "Those are orders."
She gave an uncertain mumble. "Yes, sir."
"Right then. Check back in when you've made progress. Out."
The transmission ended, and Starlight let out a defeated sigh, sliding down in her seat a bit.
"We can do this, Starlight," Sunburst said, reaching out and putting his hand over hers.
"You're not the one throwing yourself into the fire." Starlight sat back up, and pulled her hand away, covering her face with it. "Oh, what am I going to do?"
Sunburst stood up, giving her a concerned look. He searched for words that might ease her grief, but couldn't come up with anything convincing. "Come on, Starlight, you can't give up on us... We need you."
The look in Starlight's eyes was almost painful. She really did look completely defeated. "I don't want to fight Twilight. I can't fight her. And Nightmare Moon, I'm not strong enough- You can't possibly expect-"
The RV suddenly turned, then abruptly stopped moving, sending Sunburst stumbling and nearly throwing Starlight from her seat. Both looked up, alert, only to find that Trixie had pulled them over at a curb. The vehicle's parking brakes creaked and hissed, and turning the engine off, Trixie released what sounded like a long held breath, then stood up from her seat. She turned, giving the startled Starlight an extremely disappointed, borderline angry look as she approached.
Trixie reached out, grabbed Starlight's shoulders, and lifted her until she was standing and both their eyes were level. Starlight recoiled, Trixie never had looked this genuinely upset over something this serious before.
"Listen to me, Starlight." Her eyes narrowed, and she spoke with a level of frustration never before heard from her. "A little while ago, you enthusiastically jumped out of this vehicle and ran headfirst into a battle with some of the most disgusting things I've ever laid eyes on. Then, you went toe to toe with the Sister of Freaking Darkness and walked away. You started that fight, but Twilight didn't come in until the very end, then she took advantage of you when you were worn out."
"Twilight is-"
"No!" She snapped, her already high-toned voice peaking out. "Twilight Sparkle is a chump! I am not going to let my best friend sit there and mope around after you get disrespected like that. You know what you do? You get payback. You walk up to her, make her give you a fair fight, and you rub it in her stupid face when you finally take her down."
That last sentence came out through gritted teeth and a growl, surprising Starlight further. Seeing her like this though, it did spark something in her. Somehow, she was passively absorbing Trixie's radiating frustration, and transforming that into a bitter confidence.
"You are a rockstar, you hear me?" Right up in her face, Trixie watched as Starlight's expression changed to a determined one, and in turn, she too gave a determined grin.
"Yeah..." Starlight nodded, her lips softening into a warmer expression. Her arm slipped beneath Trixie's and she pulled her into a close hug. "Thanks."
"I'm just telling the truth," Trixie said, patting her on the back and giving her another, more sly smile. "I believe in you, and since when have I ever been wrong?"
It was strange how someone that was so often self-absorbed could give such encouraging words, but Starlight appreciated it nonetheless. She felt Sunburst's hand on her shoulder, his softer, more collected voice backing up Trixie's.
"She's right, you can do this. And we're right here with you too, remember."
Even if the odds felt overwhelmingly against her, knowing that her friends had her back was an incredible feeling. She had known them for several years now, but it still wasn't something she was used to. Before finding a home with the Order she had nobody to depend on but herself, always desperately feeling the need to display her power, to prove to others that she didn't need anyone, but with her friends behind her? She didn't need to prove anything to anyone, she felt like she could move mountains. A voice of self-doubt still remained, though, but it did little to undermine this powerful feeling.
She knew her strength, but perhaps she still had to prove it to herself.
She took a much more collected breath.
"Alright, let's do this thing."
"Uh..." Trixie shifted a bit, trying to keep her supportive smile but sounding a bit uncomfortable. "You're gonna have to let me go."
"Oh!" Starlight let her arm relax, not realizing how tight of an embrace she held around her friend. A small, sheepish grin crossed her face, and her head tilted down a bit. "I, uh... Sorry, Trixie. Thanks."
Behind them, another sound of static came from the radio on the table, and a voice came through.
"This is Seraph Agent Flash Sentry, are you there, Sunburst?" Starlight looked to Trixie, who went back to the driver's seat and restarted the RV's engine. Sunburst sat back down at the table, and answered the call.
"I read you, Agent Sentry, what's your situation?"
"Almost have our friends rescued- we could use a ride out of here, if you're still in the area."
"That's not a problem, where are you?"
"Canterlot City Police Station, inner city. Area is still pretty hot, so be careful. We'll be waiting for you in the back parking lot."
"Got it, we'll be there soon. Out."
Sunburst looked up to Starlight, who was leaning back against the side wall and listening to the conversation, arm crossed over her chest. "Let's get your other arm back on. I think you'll like the upgrades I've added to it."
"If you're done working on me, I'd like to get dressed too." While her cyborg body was hardly considered indecent, she still preferred to be clothed.
"Go ahead, I'll go get your arm ready."
-----
The Canterlot City Church of Light was almost disturbingly still. A lone demonic anchor stood in a vacant parking lot before the tall, angle-roofed building, but there was nothing more along the curving road leading from the street to the church. Within the city, a church like this seemed out of place with a field between it and the street, but perhaps the church was out of place, and needed the faux seclusion. The inhabitants of Canterlot City didn't seem to believe in the story of the Sister of Light; the church was just as out of sight as the legend it was built upon.
As they neared the gated plot of land surrounding the church, Selene brought Sombra to a stop and held up her hand, motioning for Twilight to the same with her board. Selene pointed her attention to flashes of light and the sounds of gunfire coming from within the church.
"It would appear someone's beaten us here."
"They must be here for the Devil Sword," Twilight concluded, snapping her focus from one objective to the next. "We have no time to waste, then."
"Wait-"
Selene couldn't stop her. Twilight tilted her hoverboard forward and made her way down the road leading to the church.
Sombra looked back at Selene, giving her a look of disbelief. Was she seriously just going to let her charge in there? She sighed, and gave her response in meter.
"Of closed eyes and confident minds no light can reach,
For only when lost will wisdom teach."
Sombra rolled his eyes in the way he always did to her poetic nonsense, but followed in behind Twilight anyway at Selene's direction.
Twilight found no demons around the church, despite the bloody spire posted there, and as she approached the tall, double doors of the church, the sounds of conflict had died down. Hopping off her board, Twilight pushed the doors open, walking through the front lobby space and looking about for any signs of trouble. She took in every detail of her surroundings, feeling her nerves shake anxiously as she took note of what was only a regular church. Nothing was out of the ordinary here, so why... why was there this lingering sense of electricity in the air?
She approached the doors to the main hall of the church, where they'd hold their assembly, and she hesitantly placed a hand on one, expecting to find a demon army waiting for her on the other side.
There was an army there, but it was in no fighting shape. Remains of many shadowy forms were scattered across the room, strung over pews, and slumped against the wall, all mostly faded away, but clearly identifiable as demonic remains. Whatever army had been here was slaughtered, and their slayer stood victoriously over the last remaining foe, a terrified Battlemaster falling to its knees, and being bisected from its shoulder to its side by an ancient, grey blade.
The demon fell away, disintegrating into shadowy dust, and behind it, on the backdrop of a statue of the Sister of Light, Celestia stood, her blade held low, but ready to cut down whoever was next in line. Her determined expression lit up with surprise as Twilight entered the room, mirroring Twilight's own shock.
"C-Celestia?" Twilight was equal parts enraged and frightened seeing her former mentor at the center of such carnage, standing over a monster twice her size. She wanted to strike her, but a room full of dead demons was enough to make her think twice.
"Twilight Sparkle." She still spoke gently to her. Twilight knew Celestia hated her by now, but she still hid it behind a charade of disappointment. "Still on your little crusade?"
"That sword, give it to me." Twilight pointed to Celestia's blade, certain it was the one she was after, but Celestia raised an eyebrow to that.
"I don't think so. Do you even know what this is?" Celestia asked.
"It's the Sister of Light's Devil Sword." Twilight said, speaking calmly and carefully despite the uncertainty of confronting her mentor. "And I need it to defeat Nightmare Moon."
"You still understand so little, Twilight." The way Celestia talked down to her, it was infuriating. "Stay out of this. I'll put an end to her."
Twilight scoffed, pushing her feelings back to attempt a higher moral standing. "Oh, so now you decide to step up?"
"I really hoped my students would've been able to take care of this..." Celestia paused, sounding somber and distant for a moment. "It seems I was wrong."
For a reason she couldn't pin down, Celestia's words stung her in a way that no one else's could. It was like Twilight still subconsciously wanted her approval, and no matter what she did, she couldn't make that feeling go away.
"No! It has to be me!" Her voice rising and her hands shaking, Twilight's anger began to trickle back into her. Halfway through her sentence, she tightened her control over herself, and spoke slowly, but still with force. "I will be the one stop Nightmare Moon."
"No, my faithful student..." Celestia whispered, just loud enough for her to overhear. "Not like this."
Not like this. Those three words threatened to break her walls, the dam she had constructed to keep all of her emotions at bay. Celestia thought she was better than her? That she somehow had all the answers? No, she concluded. Celestia was just as responsible for Nightmare Moon's return as Twilight was, if not moreso.
"I'm not your student anymore," Twilight said, drawing her blade and pointing it towards Celestia threateningly. "And if you won't give me that sword... I'll have to take it from you."
"Hmph..." Celestia brought the blade up into a high guard, ready for Twilight to approach. Her entire demeanor seemed to shift with the stance change. Her disappointment was no longer present in her voice, and her eyes seemed to look at Twilight differently. It was like a switch was flipped inside of her, and she was no longer the loving mentor Twilight knew. She was someone else entirely, a person she had never completely seen.
Her voice was just as determined as Twilight's, and she spoke with an almost cocky confidence.
"You'd like to think you could, wouldn't you?"
Was that the hint of a smile on her face?
All at once, Twilight understood. She was no longer being viewed as a student, someone to guide. She was being viewed as a proper adversary. An equal.
And for some reason she couldn't explain, this terrified her.
Twilight's heartbeat quickened. She wouldn't let her fear get the best of her this time. Things would be different.
The voice in the back of her head seemed to agree, encouraging her with the faintest of whispers.
Strike her down...
Twilight bolted forward at full speed, drawing her katana into a full horizontal swipe as she neared her old master. Celestia didn't try to interrupt her, instead she backflipped out of the way, landing atop the altar behind her. Twilight chased after her, swinging her sword up from the floor, splitting the altar in two parts as Celestia jumped away again, this time landing behind her with enough time to ready an attack.
Twilight spun, holding her sword up to block, but Celestia kept her momentum, not letting their blades touch for more than a moment before retracting just enough to slip her weapon in behind Twilight's guard. All she needed to do was shift her angle of defense over a little, but then Celestia would poke in again from somewhere else, all while keeping her body out of attack range. Forcing Celestia's weapon out of the way, Twilight stepped inside her striking range and took the offensive.
Celestia met the far end of Twilight's sword with the close end of her own, and used the leverage to redirect Twilight's first attack completely. Their arms both shakily guided their weapons around in a complete circle before Twilight was forced to take a step back, giving Celestia the opportunity to poke at her again.
When she did, Twilight ducked under the attack, and engaged her Demon Reflex. Twilight knew Celestia no longer had this power after years of not using it, and she was certain it would give her the upper hand in this fight. However, as she jabbed forward with a counterattack, she found that Celestia was already holding her blade in the perfect guard position, and the clashing of their weapons was enough to shake her from her time-slowed state.
Startled, she tried again, activating her Reflex the moment she was ready to attack, coming in with an overhead swing. Again, without breaking the flow of time, Celestia already had her sword held in perfect guard position by the time she had committed to the attack. Time resumed again as their blades collided.
It had to be a fluke. Even if she could still feel when Twilight was stepping out of time, without the power to keep up with her, there was no way she could reliably block her attacks.
One more time, Twilight came around Celestia's right side, and confirmed that she was going into a blocking position. Twilight smiled, she had her. As her Demon Reflex went off, she didn't follow through with her attack, she only feigned the strike before redirecting it into an attack on her left side. She had to bring the sword around in a risky, full circle motion to complete this, but with her time advantage she had more than enough time to complete the move without risk.
To her horror, the instant she had committed to changing direction, Celestia's arms shifted. Nowhere near as fast as Twilight appeared to her, but she was just fast enough to switch over to a perfect left side block. With nothing to boost her natural reaction speed, she intercepted Twilight's fake-out attack and knocked her out of her Demon Reflex, throwing her off balance a third time. Celestia wasn't even looking at her. She had her eyes closed.
Opening her eyes, Celestia only shook her head.
Impossible. She was moving in real time, while Twilight was moving faster than she could possibly conceive. There was no way she could react that fast. Twilight would've felt if she was keeping up with her, but there was no moment of her tapping into any form of magic at all.
"So predictable, Twilight Sparkle."
Again, Twilight was shaken. "How... You don't even have magic anymore!"
Twilight rushed in to fight her again, not giving her the chance to respond, but no matter what she tried or how she attempted it, Celestia knew everything she was about to do.
"Know your enemy, know yourself..." Celestia began, perfectly focused while repelling Twilight's attacks, "And you need not fear the outcome of any battle."
Twilight growled. At this point, the pseudo-lesson mid combat was nothing more than a cheap insult. "You don't know me..."
Celestia jumped atop a row of the pews, balancing along the backboard, and held a leg down, firing at Twilight with one of her boot mounted guns. Using her Demon Reflex to assist her, Twilight deflected the shots off of her blade, but as time resumed she found Celestia kicking the pew from the other end, nearly smashing Twilight between it and the one behind her.
She managed to jump up and out of the way, landing atop them in the same manner Celestia did, and drew one of her pistols, firing forward as she closed the distance. Celestia lifted her sword, and twirled it around in a circle, bouncing the bullets up towards the ceiling while turning her weapon into a saw blade at the end of Twilight's path.
Twilight put her gun away, and gripping her katana firmly in both hands, she cut a portion of the pews off and flung it up at Celestia, who only brought her spinning sword down to properly shred the furniture, sending harmless pieces of wood behind her. Seeing Twilight had stopped, Celestia kept her blade moving, and tossed it straight at her.
She found this attack strange, as Celestia was now swordless, all she needed to do was jump over the weapon, and she would have her beaten. Twilight did just that, she kicked off the pews and jumped high into the air, lunging straight for Celestia with her sword held outstretched, intent to drive it straight through her. For good measure, she even engaged her Demon Reflex, so she would fall faster than Celestia would have time to make a plan.
But Celestia didn't move. She only looked up at Twilight, expectantly. Not accepting her fate, no, as gravity pulled Twilight down closer towards her, she saw...
Her breath trembled.
She saw the faintest hint of a smile on Celestia's face.
She was violently torn from her Demon Reflex as she felt a burning cut in her back. Celestia's blade had made a round trip, returning along the course it came and piercing straight through Twilight, pinning her against the wall behind its owner at full speed. It hurt like hell, but the reality of the situation began to sink in and she dangled there helplessly; from the very beginning, she had no power in this fight.
Not only had Celestia expected her to use her Demon Reflex, she was counting on it. Had she not used it, had she let herself fall in real time, the sword might've missed her, and she might've been victorious. But she didn't, she never would've, and Celestia knew that.
"I do know you, Twilight." Celestia said, the slightest sadness in her voice as she pulled her sword free and let her former student fall to the floor. "All too well."
Twilight rose to her knees. The wound in her chest and back healed rapidly, but the damage done to her crumbling perception still lingered. Celestia took a step back from her, but didn't strike her again. Instead, she looked alert, like something beyond her vision was shifting.
There was, in fact, someone there.
Behind Celestia, low to the ground, a shadowy form emerged, taking her attention away as the real threat jumped out from the opposite angle. Selene came in with a butterfly kick, striking twice across Celestia's face and knocking her back into the dark form, which suddenly erupted into Sombra beneath her feet. The shadow unicorn thrust his head forward, launching Celestia up over the pews and towards the remains of the altar.
"Stay down, Twilight Sparkle!" The concern in her voice surprised Twilight. Was she risking herself to save her?
Celestia righted herself mid-air, twisting around and finding the mysterious blue-haired woman flying after her with her bladed rifle at the ready. Her dark steed had launched her into the air as well, albeit in a much more controlled manner.
Selene jabbed forward with the bladed end of her weapon, but then swung it to the side as Celestia blocked with her sword. The heavy ended weapon knocked the lighter blade from her grip, sending it spinning through the air away from them. Still with rising momentum, Celestia had more than enough time to return the favor, kicking up against the rifle and sending it out of her hands.
As they fully began their descent, Celestia summoned her other set of pistols to fill her hands, and in kind Selene drew her own burst-fire and machine pistols. Noticing the boot mounted guns, Selene flipped herself feet first, grabbing Celestia's waist between her legs so she wouldn't be able to use them against her.
The two then exchanged a quick series of gun punches as their fall neared its end, blocking each other perfectly until Celestia spun her whole body around, launching Selene off and away from her as they faster approached the floor.
Celestia's blade landed on the Sister of Light statue behind them, sticking right out of her forehead, and Selene's rifle clattered to the ground in the aisle.
Both of them landed on their feet, equidistant from the statue. Their eyes were locked, and their guns were lined up with each other, ready to go.
Despite being able to predict her perfectly, Twilight knew Selene was a complete unknown to Celestia.
Maybe she'd have a better chance against her.