//------------------------------//
// A City Spared 
// Story: Strange Bedfellows 
// by BRBrony9 
//------------------------------//

There was a lot of disbelief from the streets of Canterlot. Many ponies and Imperial Guardsmen had witnessed the confrontation above their heads. It had scared human and pony alike, for there had been two of their greatest foes; Queen Chrysalis, and a Greater Daemon from the warp. The ponies had cheered when Chrysalis had been defeated, and cheered again when Princess Celestia returned. When the Daemon vanished, there was silence at first.

Ponies didn't know what had happened. Neither, in truth, did most of the Guardsmen. In other circumstances, just looking at a Daemon could drive men mad, but something here in Canterlot seemed to have eased those fears. Something kept the men calm, and nobody turned their guns on themselves or their fellows. There was fear, of course, nerves and uncertainty. But something kept them under control and kept them fighting. They had to simply concentrate on their task and leave the mission of defeating the Daemon to others more qualified in such things. Since the Crusade's most powerful weapons had failed, and since they had no powerful combat psykers of their own, that meant they were reliant entirely on the ponies to defeat the manifestation of Change, the servant of their arch-nemesis. 

The irony was not lost on many, but it didn't seem to bother them in quite the way it should have. Relying on Xenos for help was anathema to many in the Imperium, and a fight against Chaos especially was deemed to be one that mankind should be undertaking itself. But to others, help was appreciated no matter the source, and in this case, it had proven crucial. The Daemon was gone, banished by the power of magic, not by mankind.

It took some time for the cheers to begin. Nobody was really sure if the Daemon was gone, given that it had teleported numerous times. Only after it failed to reappear was anyone willing to believe that it was actually gone. Even then, the cheers were sporadic at first, coming from areas where the enemy ground forces had already retreated. Ponies, unsure of the true nature of the Daemon, only began to cheer once they heard the humans doing the same. Their Princess had emerged triumphant, with the help of her sister, niece, and the heroic Elements of Harmony. The cheers soon became near-universal across the city, echoing over the rooftops even above the sound of gunfire. In places where Changelings were still fighting, the troops cheered as they fired, battling away to rid the city of the last of their foes. The Chaos ground forces were now in full retreat, harried by Imperial air power and with nowhere to truly go. They retreated into areas held by their own men, but that just made them targets for air strikes. Those who advanced were gunned down by the entrenched and determined defenders, now bolstered by their evident victory over the greatest threat which faced them.

The tide had well and truly been turned now, the backs of the enemy broken. The Changelings were the only real threat that remained, for their magic protected them from most human weaponry other than lasguns, and they could disguise themselves. But they were not bothering with their doppelganger ability any longer; their rage at the death of their Queen meant they just wanted physical violence, to enact revenge. They had helped to distract the Chaos troops during their own attack, however, meaning they had both helped and hindered the defenders in their quest to protect Canterlot.

Imperial reinforcements were arriving, by air and, slowly, by land, as hundreds of tanks which had raced north up the valley were able to close with and wipe out the remains of the Chaos attack force which had already torn to shreds by the orbital strikes. They were swept aside by the tide of Imperial metal, freed from their responsibility to defend the line around Fillydelphia now that the Daemon was no longer there. Enough Imperial forces remained in place to contain the final Chaos holdouts in that southern city while still permitting substantial numbers of men and vehicles to be split off and sent to relieve Canterlot. Air-landing units were also sent from the reserve and from orbit, and soon the skies over the capital were thick with Imperial aircraft. Bombers, together with the pony airships, began to bombard the remaining Chaos positions inside the city, doing their best to avoid too much unnecessary collateral damage, as per Princess Celestia's orders.

Imperial commanders were more keen than ever not to upset the Princess, having seen what she was capable of doing to the Chaos warfleet. Lord-Admiral Marcos had been observing the whole battle for Canterlot from the bridge of the Indefatigable, where he had relocated his command. At least this time the starships of the Imperial Navy had been able to help influence the battle, both by deploying fighters and bombers to support the defenders, and in a more active role by blasting the advancing Chaos troops as they tried to climb the mountainside toward the city. The road that wound its way up was shattered, and would need very lengthy repair work before it could be used to reach Canterlot by anything more than a man on foot. The rail line was also gone, effectively isolating Canterlot from the valley floor below.

Of course, it would not be completely cut off from the rest of Equestria. Airships could be used to fly in supplies, and Pegasi could still fly up to the city. What was becoming increasingly clear to both Marcos and the ponies on the ground was that they would have that chance, something that had seemed to be hanging in the balance until mere minutes earlier. The threat to the city was receding rapidly, and while it certainly could not be declared safe, the existential threat which had loomed over Canterlot and the rest of Equestria had finally been crushed by a combination of pony magic and human technology. The war for Kuda Prime was not quite over, but for the first time in a long time, ponies could look skyward without the fear of Chaos and terror falling from the heavens.




'My Lord, we have completed a full-spectrum scan of the planet, its atmosphere, and the surrounding system out to a distance of one hundred million miles. The Ferrus Terra has also completed its own survey. Both vessels concur- we have zero warp energy readings, zero hostile contacts, zero indications of warp rifts or other unknown phenomena. The skies are clear.'

Lord-Admiral Marcos nodded. He had adopted his customary position at the command lectern, with his hands clasped firmly behind his back as usual. The bridge staff of the Indefatigable would expect nothing less from their Admiral, renowned for holding his composure during the worst crises that could confront a fleet commander over decades of loyal service. And what crises had befallen the Western Fringe Crusade during their time at the galaxy's edge! Confronted with strange aliens, set upon by the forces of the Archenemy from all sides, losing most of their fighting power and countless souls to the Ruinous Powers, as so many expeditions had before, and so many more would again. They had uncovered a troubling new power source and its unusual equine wielders, only to find themselves forced to rely upon the selfsame Xenos for salvation, first from the blockade, then from destruction, and then from damnation. 

It was abundantly clear to Marcos that, without any sugarcoating or beating about the bush, neither he nor the rest of his fleet, nor the ground forces under General jahn, would still be here if it had not been for the pony Princess. Many of those on the ground knew that to be the case, as did the sensor officers and bridge crews of every surviving warship and transport in the fleet. There could be no covering that fact up, either from the personnel of the Crusade or from his superiors back at Hydraphur. His official report could twist and turn and try to use every possible loose end and loophole to suppress the truth, but there was almost a certainty that wouldn't fly. There was far too much evidence. All Marcos could do was present his honest opinion regarding the whole affair, expressing the belief that, in the absence of any spacefaring capability, the ponies would pose no threat to the Imperium and should therefore be left well enough alone on the fringe of known space where they would cause no problems.

It was entirely probable, however, that Segmentum Command at Hydraphur would ignore his recommendations completely and simply send another fleet, either to complete the goal which Marcos had originally envisaged once he established contact- namely, to learn the true secrets of the pony magic and use them for the benefit of mankind- or to wipe the entire species from existence to protect the Imperium from any future developments which might threaten it. After all, the ponies had mechanised transport, airships, well established electrical distribution, highly urbanised cities, large calibre artillery- how long would it be until they were able to achieve space flight, and become a potential risk to the Imperium in the future? Such a thing was far from being beyond the realms of possibility. Many species, humanity included, developed and advanced rapidly in terms of technology, moving form the cradle to the stars within a few generations. There was no reason the ponies couldn't do the same.

But they had not shown any aggressive intentions. Princess Celestia had stated several times that and her species had no quarrel with the Imperium, or indeed with Chaos until they had invaded the planet. For what it was worth, he believed her. It remained to be seen if the rest of the Imperium would do the same.




The instinctive reaction of all of Twilight's friends was to remain on guard, just in case. It seemed that the Daemon was gone, dead, banished, whatever ultimately happened to such creatures. But it had shown the ability to teleport and to fade in and out of reality seemingly at will; there was no guarantee it wasn't going to return and take them all by surprise. It was only once the cheering began to ring out across the city that the Elements relaxed. Once they did, their new instinctive reaction was to run and embrace each other, a warm, tight hug between the best of friends, and between comrades in arms who had just lived through a period of great danger. The war might not be quite concluded, but it seemed now just to be a technicality, a case of mopping up operations to sweep the shattered remains of the Chaos and Changeling armies from the field of battle. 

Their embrace was long and silent, but the silence said more than words ever could. They were still alive, all of them, by some miracle. The Elements had proven their worth once again, and so had their bearers, and while others cheered the swinging of momentum in favour of the defenders and the destruction of the Daemon, the six young mares just held onto each other, more glad to be together and reunited with Twilight than anything else. There would be time for celebrations later on, once the battle had been truly won. For now they were content just to spend a quiet moment in each other's company.

'Ah knew you'd make the right call, Twi,' Applejack whispered after a few moments. 'Ah knew you'd come back to us. Yer too strong to let that thing beat your mind.'

'There was no way I could have fought it without you,' Twilight replied. 'All of you, and the Princesses. It needed every one of you to help me break away from that thing. It was filling my mind with its lies. It's only now that I see that it had been doing that for a long time. It was subtle at first, but it kept getting louder and louder...'

'Don't worry, darling. It's gone now,' Rarity assured her. 'It won't be able to hurt you any longer. Applejack is right. You are too strong, too smart to let it take you away from us for too long.'

'You have a lot more confidence in me than I had in myself,' Twilight answered with a small, sad smile. She had long underestimated her strengths and abilities, even with Celestia's personal help to develop them. It had started with her interpersonal skills and friendship, building up her social confidence and knowledge so that she could have productive relationships with other ponies. Then it had moved on to more advanced things, schooling her for leadership, taking command, first of the Elements and perhaps, ultimately, of more than that, if she was given the opportunity. It had seemed for months now that she would be denied anything of the sort, under the constant threat of Chaos and Changeling alike. But now, all of that was gone, like a storm cloud rolling away, leaving a bright summer day behind it. It wasn't that simple, of course, but it lifted a huge mental weight from the minds of those who had been struggling for so long against the forces of darkness.

'C'mon sugarcube, that ain't like you,' Applejack gave Twilight a comforting smile. 'We know ya have confidence in yerself, and in us, and that's why we have confidence in you. That's why we follow you. That's why we do what ya ask of us. It's the same reason we all follow the Princess.'

Twilight nodded. 'I understand...I know you're right, girls. I just can't help feel that I nearly cost us everything. All of us.'

'Well don't worry about that,' Rainbow chimed in. 'It wasn't your fault, what happened to you. But what you definitely did was fight back. What you did was know who you are and what you can do, and what you can do is kick some ass!' She grinned and gave Twilight a warm embrace, a friendly hug, one on one this time, to express her personal gratitude for Twilight's actions. Physical toughness, that embodied by Applejack and Rainbow Dash, was one thing, but mental fortitude of a level required to fight off the intrusions of a Daemon which had taken control of her very soul was something else entirely. Only an Alicorn, or an extremely talented unicorn, could have done such a thing. Celestia and Luna had clearly resisted the urges, for they had spoken to Twilight of hearing disquiet in the corners of their mind right from the start of the invasion, perhaps, in Celestia's case, even before that. But apart from the Princesses, none save the most powerful wizards, Starswirl The Bearded perhaps, could have hoped to overcome the powers which had afflicted Twilight and bent her mind to their will.

Twilight had calmed down, thanks to being around her friends once more. it was a constant help, seeing them there, and when she looked up, she saw the Princesses, too. Celestia was flying down toward her from above. The Princesses' usual unflappable expression still remained on her face, but with it, there was a clear undercurrent of relief in her eyes. Relief for herself, for her city, for her subjects, and for Twilight. They were past the worst of it, and Celestia was clearly glad of that fact. She wrapped her broad wings around Twilight.

'You have done well, my faithful student,' the Princess spoke softly. 'You have all done well. You have made me so proud once again. Proud of every one of you. Equestria has a long memory when it comes to such heroic acts, and it will not forget all you have done here today.'

'Thank you, Princess...' Twilight replied, her voice wavering a little even now. 'We couldn't have done it without your support, or without your sister. She saved us. She saved us all. If she hadn't returned when she did...then we would have lost this battle, and the city...and maybe everything.'

Celestia nodded. 'My sister did exactly what she had to do to ensure we will be victorious in this fight, as you did, Twilight. Only the bravery of ponies can hope to keep Equestria safe. That is how it has always been, and that is how it shall always be, no matter the threat we may be facing.'

Twilight nodded as well. So many ponies had been lost; nopony knew the true figure. The bureaucracy of the state had been torn apart by the invasion and towns, sometimes entire regions, were still out of contact with the capital, hindering efforts to figure out the true death toll of the Chaos attack. It might take years to get even broadly accurate casualty estimates. Another census would most likely be taken at some point in the future, assuming enough civil servants had survived the slaughter to actually carry one out. But that was a different time. That was the future, not the present, and Twilight could only be happy that Canterlot had seemingly been saved at the eleventh hour- not by her, not even really by her friends, but by Princess Luna, who had taken the brunt of Chrysalis's magic at the crucial moment. A second's hesitation, a second's doubt in her mind, and the situation right now would be very different indeed. That was what made the sight all the more tragic. Twilight gasped, and Celestia turned to follow her gaze.

Where Luna had been floating, flapping her wings gently to remain aloft, now she was falling. Cadence reacted quickly, using her magic to arrest Luna's plunge before carrying her gently to lay her on the ground beside her sister. Celestia quickly examined her.

'Sister! Can you hear me? Luna!' She scanned over the face of her fallen sibling. Luna's eyes were closed, her breathing shallow, just as before, when Twilight and her friends had found her after they had defeated Chrysalis. 

'They took her to the hospital before!' Twilight spoke up. 'After she saved us...but I guess she discharged herself. She knew we needed help...'

'Then I shall take her back there at once,' Celestia replied. Her horn glowed, and she and Luna disappeared inside the palace, where the field hospital had been set up. Luna had pushed herself to her limit to get back in the fight, and then to use every ounce of magical power she had to help banish the Daemon, and it had clearly taken its toll on her. Her wounds had not healed after Chrysalis's attack, and they were just the superficial external ones. She had paid a heavy price for her courage, and Twilight and her friends could only watch on with renewed fear in their hearts as Celestia whisked her sister away.




With the Chaos troops and the surviving Changeling drones pinned in to the eastern section of the city, the Imperial forces were able to attack them with abandon with no danger of friendly fire. The drones, driven now by only their base animal instincts and perhaps a desire to avenge their fallen Queen, were disorganised and fighting both Chaos and Imperial troops, but despite their magic, Imperial firepower began to tell. Bombs rained down from above, pounding the survivors, their numbers dwindling, morale failing, ammunition depleting.

A small band of Chaos troops holed up inside a public library, which was pounded into rubble by Imperial artillery. Another group snuck away into the sewers, but Imperial and pony troops were waiting for them, having taken advantage of their knowledge of the city layout to ambush the enemy, clearing the sewers one tunnel at a time. They did the same above ground, once the enemy had been hit hard by air support, going house to house, sweeping and clearing each building. The city had to be cleansed, completely cleansed of the taint that Chaos had brought upon it, and even a single Changeling could pose a problem if it could disguise itself as a pony. The city had to be wiped clean and given a fresh start. There was no possibility of rebuilding if there was any danger of further attacks, even if by scattered bands of infantry or drones.

The Imperial operation was as thorough as it had been on a hundred other planets, bringing the Crusade across the galaxy's edge to this, their final stop, the end of the Milky Way. Many had fallen to defend this alien city, at the behest of their Admiral, but soon, there would be no more death, no more violence for them to suffer through. The Crusade's journey was at an end, and they would be surely returning to friendlier climes once this battle was at an end. There were no more worlds left for them to conquer, unless they wished to strike out across the endless void to the next nearest galaxy. 

Imperial reinforcements crushed any remaining Chaos resistance outside of Canterlot, clearing the valley entirely and reestablishing control over the surrounding area. The situation was monitored closely from orbit by the Lord-Admiral aboard the Indefatigable, in case of any unexpected developments. But there were none. No more Chaos warships appeared from the Immaterium to come to the aid of the surviving enemy. There were no hidden clusters of enemy tanks emerging from some cave, no wave of infantry rushing down from the mountaintop. The forces that had laid siege to Canterlot were all that remained of the enemy, save for a few scattered units in Fillydelphia, which Marcos sent a detachment to destroy. It would not be long before the whole planet was completely cleared, and then attentions could finally turn to what was to come next, both for the fleet and for the planet.




Smoke drifted lazily across the rooftops of Canterlot. The guns had fallen silent, and night had fallen, the moon shining brightly in the clear sky through until the early hours of the following morning. The battle was finally over, for the city and for the planet, and while the civilians were still being held in the catacombs just in case, there was cautious optimism that they might be able to leave the palace on the following morning. Many would be fearful, of course, nervous about leaving the relative safety of the underground tunnels which had shielded them from so much over the past few weeks, but their city was finally safe again.

That was small comfort to the cluster of ponies waiting in the grand hall of Canterlot Palace, desperate for news. The wait had begun in the afternoon, just as soon as they knew that the situation in the city was under control and the Imperial forces had things dealt with sufficiently that the attentions of the pony commanders could turn elsewhere, and had lasted now into the early hours of the morning. Ghostly light streamed into the hall from the heavens, illuminating the group. Princess Cadence, Shining Armour, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie. All gathered around the vacant thrones of the royal sisters, both notable by their absence and explaining the anxious looks on the faces of those assembled under the moonlight.

The hours had passed while the doctors and military trauma surgeons had been hard at work in the makeshift field hospital, the most important and complex procedure they had ever undertaken. But none of them had ever worked on an Alicorn before; their physiology, while similar in almost every way to any other pony, was distinctly different and more intricately linked to their own magic. 

Silence had mostly reigned during the long and lonely vigil in the throne room. Nopony knew what to say. Shining Armour occasionally moved to confer with a messenger pony who brought news from the final mop-up operations in the city, but other than those interruptions, most ponies stayed quiet.

The main doors opened. Princess Celestia entered the chamber, her armoured horseshoes clicking on the stones of the floor. Every eye in the room turned to her. She looked up, scanning the room, locking eyes with each waiting pony. 

Over the rooftops of Canterlot, the golden rays of the sun crested the mountains, bathing the city in its glow as morning came. With it, drowned out and obscured, the moon slowly faded from the sky.