//------------------------------// // Battle: Part I // Story: The Voices of Day and Night // by gimmick68 //------------------------------// The sun was setting. The light was waning. Shadows grew longer. Celestia and Luna had put their respective celestial bodies on autopilot for the next few days. All their other duties had been either suspended or given to somepony they deemed capable of the task. Eight mares entered into a large courtyard in the middle of the castle grounds. Luna’s team entered from the south entrance, Celestia’s from the north. They stopped about ten yards short of each other at the edge of an ornate cobblestone circle. A gentle breeze swept across the scene. The mares looked at each other, glances and nods to their teammates, glares and smirks at their opponents. The setting sun glinted off their armor; Celestia’s team’s a shameless gold, Luna’s team’s a piercing silver. The air was thick with tension and anticipation. Even though it had only been a few short days of preparation, there was a sense that this was something that had been building for a long time and the release would be extremely satisfying. Like a really good sneeze. As the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon, Celestia spoke. “Ladies, let us take a moment to appreciate this…moment.” She stumbled over the sentence and cursed herself. “This is meant to be fun, even if we are trying to annihilate our opponents. I also do hope none of you will let this come in between your relationships with each other. This isn’t meant to – AHHH!” Celestia recoiled from the sting of a small laser blast from Luna. “Knock it off, chode!” the blue alicorn bellowed. “The time for pleasantries has long since passed. Now we battle!” Celestia sneered at her sister. “Very well, witch. If you are so eager to be humiliated then I will not make you wait any longer. PONIES! READY YOURSELVES!” Horns lit up, hooves dug in, nostrils flared, loins girded. The mares locked eyes with their opposing member – Celestia across from Luna, Cheerilee and Rarity, Fleur and Cup Cake, and Tree Hugger and Granny. For a split second the breeze subsided and all sound departed the scene. And then: “TURN THEM TO DUST!” Celestia screamed as she charged forward. “RIP THEM TO SHREDS!” bellowed Luna, meeting her sister’s action. The princesses collided in a flash of color that sent them both hurtling through the air. They quickly righted themselves and bolted to each other again, kicking, punching and zapping as fiercely as they could. They moved through the air so quickly it was nearly impossible to see them. Bursts of light and the sound of explosions were the only certain ways to track their movements. The rest of the combatants on the ground quickly began exploring their combat abilities. Rarity zapped Fleur immediately, catching the model off-guard and sending her tumbling across the courtyard. While Rarity prided herself in her first strike, she did not see Cheerilee bound in. The fashionista was still reeling from being tackled when she recognized the situation. On the ground Cheerilee was holding her from behind, her front legs wrapped tightly around Rarity’s chest. The unicorn was surprised to feel the rapid kicking of Cheerilee’s back hooves against her armor. Though she was even more surprised to feel the aggressive gnawing on her ear. “Wha?! Biting, darling? Really?! Are you a cat?” Her horn lit up and she tossed the teacher far away. “Pest!” she called. Meanwhile, Cup Cake ran headlong into Tree Hugger, who stood staring at the royal sisters battling in the sky. The hippie soon found herself watching the sky whilst sailing through it. She landed hard in a koi pond. Fleur rushed back into the fray and jumped on Granny and immediately began flailing hooves against the old pony. Granny took the blows well and patiently waited for Fleur to either change tactics or to tire. In the split second that she did, Granny gave Fleur’s stomach a hearty apple-bucking, sending the fancy unicorn a good 50 feet straight up. Granny righted herself and watched her target fall back to earth. Just as Fleur was about to hit the ground Granny gave an almighty buck with her hind legs and sent the unicorn on an arc that would have made any geometer proud. “Granny, deary, are you alright?” Cup Cake asked, running up to the elder pony. “I’m fine!” she barked. “Now stop the chin waggin’ and get to fightin’!” She ran off into the fracas. Cup Cake was just about to follow when she received a kick to the cheek from Cheerilee, who flew in from somewhere. The hit wasn’t enough to knock her off her hooves but certainly send her staggering. She shook off the kick to find the teacher already attacking again. Cheerilee t-boned her, her head colliding solidly with the side of the baker. Fortunately for Cup Cake, her armor – combined with the fact that her midsection had some natural padding – absorbed any bodily harm. However, the force was enough to knock her off balance and send her stumbling to the ground. She quickly got into a defensive position and prepared for another hit but surprisingly found none. Cheerilee had disappeared. In her place was a smoldering crater. “Eyes up, cake master!” Luna advised as she zipped by, smoke wisping from her horn. Cup Cake barely saw her team leader pass when she was blasted into her own little crater. Celestia rushed by, chasing Luna. As she did she used her magic to pull Cheerilee out of her crater. She brought the teacher next her. “Are you okay?” “Fine. Just a little disappointed I didn’t see Luna coming.” “It’s okay. She’s fast. But egocentric and terrible at poker.” Cheerilee tried to figure out how that was relevant to the current situation but was interrupted but Celestia. “How about the Goodbye Hug?” Cheerilee smiled mischievously. “Absolutely.” The pair chased Luna around a few towers of the castle, occasionally dodging some laser blasts fired back at them. When they got a good straightaway they performed their move. With a curt nod Cheerilee acknowledged she was ready. Celestia quickly teleported the teacher from her side to directly in front of Luna. “Hello!” the teacher chimed happily. “What?!” was all Luna managed to get out before Cheerilee glomped onto her face. Luna stopped her flight to try to free herself from the face-hugging pony, desperately thrashing about. Cheerilee clung tightly. From behind Celestia shot forward at breakneck speed. Just as she was about to collide with Luna she teleported Cheerilee away. Luna screamed as she took the hit and crashed into the castle garden below. Celestia brought Cheerilee back to her side and the two looked down at the cloud of dust that rose from the garden. The two mares shared a hoof bump. “Quickly, let’s help the others while we can,” said Celestia. They dropped to the ground and quickly found plenty to do. Celestia discovered Fleur struggling to get out of a headlock by Mrs. Cake whilst Rarity pelted the poor model with a barrage of thread spools. The princess ran over and picked up Rarity and threw her like an elegant lawn dart. She also quickly dispatched of Cup Cake, tossing her aside with her magic. “Are you alright?” she asked Fleur, straightening her armor. “I’m sorry, Celestia. I didn’t see her…I was so focused on Rarity. I’ll...I’ll do better. I promise.” “I know you will,” Celestia replied with a nod. Upon landing, Cheerilee had spilt from Celestia and immediately began searching for an opponent. She had seen that Celestia was dealing with Rarity and Cup Cake and knew that Luna was probably still climbing out of her hole in the garden. That left only Granny Smith unaccounted for. Cheerilee began searching for her. Back in the garden Luna dusted herself off. She had been surprised there hadn’t been an immediate follow up to the attack. More surprising was that Celestia hadn’t stuck around to gloat. The most surprising thing had been the attack itself. It had been well-executed and undoubtedly well-practiced. She’d never admit it – at least not to Celestia – but she was impressed by the attack. Especially by the boldness and confidence of that teacher pony. She’d have to keep an eye on her from now on. Still, the surprise made her feel alive. She grinned a somewhat masochistic grin and bounded back into the fray. Meanwhile, Granny creaked about, searching for that lazy pony she hadn’t taken a likin’ to. She left the courtyard, having seen hippie nonchalantly trot off after crawling out of the koi pond. The old mare peered around an archway and scanned the cobblestone alley that extended either way. Tree Hugger was gone. At her languid pace she couldn’t have gotten far. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the alley – save for the absence of Tree Hugger – but there was definitely something peculiar about the scene. Granny chose to go right and cautiously made her way down the alley. The sound of the other mares fighting was still close enough to mask most other sounds, which made the old mare even more uneasy. Still she continued. She’d gone about a hundred feet when she stopped and peered over her shoulder. Nothing. But something was off. She could feel it. She was being watched, that much was certain. She continued on, her hooves, despite being covered by the metal armor, softly padding on the cobblestones. She came to a T intersection and looked to all three directions. The new alley to her left led between two buildings that looked like they were likely used for clerical purposes. Granny decided to try this new direction. She moved slowly – or slower than usual. She scanned every window she passed, even the ones shuttered. All the ponies had gone home for the day so all the rooms were dark. She stepped to her left and looked into one of the open windows. There was only darkness inside. Then a noise from behind her grabbed her attention. It came from the window on the other side of the alley. She squinted at it, scanning the shutters, which were closed. Silence fell over the alley. Tree Hugger quickly snatched Granny from behind, pulling her into the darkened room. “Welcome to the dark,” she said. “Embrace the blackness and engage your other senses. Be one with your surroundings.” “The only sense you need to engage is common sense,” Granny snapped, breaking free of Tree Hugger’s grip. She quickly bucked at her opponent but failed to connect. She turned to find that the hippie was gone. “Just relax, bruh, you’re harshin’ my vibe” a disembodied voice sighed. “C’mon out now, y’hear?!” Granny called. “Naw. I’m just going to meditate on the matter at hoof. You should do the same. We’ll find each other that way.” Granny did a quick once over of the room, which appear to be some kind of office. When she didn’t find anything that caught her attention she started trotting in the direction she thought the voice had come from. It was deeper in the building. She walked out of the room and into the hallway. It was almost pitch black and she was having trouble making out exactly what were her surroundings. Judging by the room she just left and the austere hallway, it appeared to be some kind of administrative building but she couldn’t be sure. Slowly, she made her way down the hall, constantly scanning the darkness. She passed a room to her left and looked into the blackness. It was still. Quiet. It felt wrong but not wrong enough. No, the hippie wasn’t in there. She passed two more rooms on either side of her but found nothing. In the third room on her left, however, she found a faint glow. Inching into the threshold she saw Tree Hugger meditating, surrounded by a few candles. Her golden armor shimmered and sparkled off the candlelight. “At long last we meet again,” Tree Hugger breathed. “It ain’t been but a few minutes,” Granny scoffed. “Long enough,” replied the hippie. She opened her eyes and an impish look lurked in her otherwise distant irises. Granny wasn’t about to be looked at like that. She lunged at Tree Hugger. She hit nothing save for darkness. The candles had gone out and her target was no longer there. Granny growled and searched around, finding nothing. She left the room disgruntled and continued on, determined to strike her target. Back at the increasingly damaged courtyard, Fleur was having trouble with a certain fashionista. Although her early attacks had largely consisted of inaccurate flailing of hooves and shoddy laser blasts, Rarity’s approach had quickly refined itself. Her punches and kicks were accurate and her blocks were consistent. She learned the weak points on Fleur’s armor and body, attacking those points more frequently. However, even though she was taking a beating, Fleur was not about to give in so easily. Having been backed against a tall stone wall she waited for a break in Rarity’s assault. Finding a split second’s easement, she shoved Rarity back a few paces and shot a quick laser from her horn to push Rarity back even farther. “Sorry, Rarity, I just…Oh my! Fancy Pants! What are you doing here?” Fleur looked in shock past Rarity. Rarity turned around quickly in hopes of seeing the stallion. He was not there. In fact, nopony was behind her. Her eyes went wide as she realized what happened. She turned back just in time to see the wall behind Fleur tumble forward. “Oh, horse apples,” muttered Rarity as the large stones crashed down on her. Fleur emerged from her braced stance and the aura around her horn sputtered out. She looked at her work. A few stones of the wall immediately behind her remained in place while a pile of the cyclopean blocks lay just before her and a cloud of dust gently rose into the air. She could hear the muffled indignation of Rarity underneath the huge stones and quickly decided to leave. Her movement was labored, however, as she used a significant portion of her energy to bring the wall down. The pain from her previous beatings was beginning to surface as well. She hobbled away but remained determined to be of more use. Granny climbed the stairs to the next floor and proceeded to walk down the hallway. While the second floor let in more light, the dimming on the horizon left the hall just a dark as the floor below. It didn’t take her long to find another candlelit room. Tree Hugger was in this room as well, meditating. However, she’d managed to find a different position for her meditation, specifically a few feet above the floor. “Just ruminate on the occurrences,” whispered Tree Hugger, finding no reason to open her eyes. Granny didn’t waste breath on conversation and again pounced at the hippie. Like last time she failed to connect and was left in a pitch black room. Granny quietly cursed Tree Hugger and went about searching the rest of the floor. As she approached the end of the hallway she found a third room with a dim light. She peeked in and once again found Tree Hugger meditating. She tried a different approach this time. “Ain’t very sporting of ya to keep trickin’ me like this,” she accused. “Tricking? No, I’m not…well, perhaps. Upon review of my conscious actions I have determined that I am indeed tricking you. But my motivation is not malicious. Entirely. I only wish to help my sisters in their endeavor. I mean you no harm. Personally.” “Feelin’ ain’t mutual, missy,” growled Granny. “I do apologize for the negative vibe between us,” the hippie said ethereally. She kept her eyes shut and floated gently above the candles. “Since there doesn’t seem to be any alleviation in these negative feelings towards each other perhaps I can persuade you to talk to somepony else. To help mediate our differences, of course.” With that she disappeared again and the room went dark, save for the light of one candle on the floor. “Yer always runnin’ off!” hollered Granny. “On the contrary, Granny,” said a voice from the darkness, “she’s never been here.” From the depths of the room came Cheerilee, slowly stepping into the light, the faint glow of the candle ominously flickering off her golden armor. She smiled wickedly. “Boo,” she said quietly. “You,” growled the old mare. “Ya playin’ games, too, I see.” “Who said I’m playing?” Cheerilee sneered before landing a couple of quick blows to the old mare’s face. “Spunky lil’ thing, ain’t ya?” Granny said, retreating a few steps. “Very well.” She did not hesitate to engage in a boxing match with Cheerilee. It was like any other boxing match expect there was a lot less dancing around and a lot more punching. In the dim light of the lone candle the mares exchanged demonstrations of their approach to boxing. Granny preferred the direct method, hitting as hard and as often as possible. Cheerilee preferred a tactical approach, her hits softer but well-placed and well-timed. As the metal of their armor collided is sent sparks flying, lighting up the room. After nearly a minute of unrelenting blows the mares finally separated. They took a moment to catch their breath and to analyze each other. Their armor was chipped and scratched, manes and tails disheveled. “Got some spunk in you as well,” Cheerilee stated. “Apples got plenty of it,” Granny replied proudly, before turning around and bucking Cheerilee square in the chin. The teacher hit the ceiling and then continued into the floor above. Granny followed her up. “If ya had any more you’d make a good Apple yerself.” “Oh, Granny, don’t go down that road,” Cheerilee warned. “Or what?” “This.” Cheerilee delivered a roundhouse kick that sent Granny through the wall. “Ah see,” Granny growled, shaking off the rubble. Cheerilee crawled through the hole and was immediately met by Granny, who slammed the teacher against the wall. The two fought viciously in the small room. They kicked, punched, bucked, and bit. They bounced off the walls and floor and ceiling, zipping all over in maroon and green streaks. By the time Granny finally punched Cheerilee out of the building the room was naught but a box of severely damaged or completely damaged office furniture and supplies. Fleur scurried through the Royal Canterlot Garden, taking absolutely no time to smell any flowers or acknowledge any of the wildlife. She did notice that some of the vegetation seemed burnt but looked as though it was already several days old. She quickly put that aside and kept looking for a potential victim or assailant. She stopped. The bugs had stopped chirping as had the birds. She wasn’t alone. Something dark zipped down into the garden in front of Fleur and she felt it land hard. It was Luna. “Why hello, sister,” the Night Princess chortled. “Oh…wait…” She squinted at Fleur. “Never mind. I thought you were my sister.” She took off but then stopped. “Wait, I can still fight you.” She landed about ten yards from Fleur and studied her opponent. “You prefer the night, yes?” ask Fleur, not waiting for Luna to analyze her. “Of course!” Luna replied, slightly offended that she would be asked her preference. “Too bad.” Fleur’s horn lit up and produced a dozen stage lights. With another flash of the horn a shimmering outfit appeared on the model. “Light rules!” The stage lights lit up and shone on Fleur. The outfit reflected and refracted the lights and immediately blinded Luna. “AAARRGH!” the princess shrieked, recoiling from the force of the display. “Take this!” cried Fleur, striking a pose and blinding Luna again. “And this! And this!” The model worked through half a dozen poses, each one forcing Luna to retreat further. “You wretch!” yelled Luna. “’Tis unfair!” “No such thing in this game!” Fleur posed again. “Hyaa!” she yelled, puffing out her chest. “Waachya!” She thrust her flank at Luna, the light from the professionally modelled posterior assaulting the princess. With Luna stunned Fleur readied a new attack. Her horn lit up again and Luna was bombarded by a flock of garments. Temporarily dazed and disoriented by the light attack, Luna could not fight off the horde of fabric that assailed her. She couldn’t compose herself enough to prevent the clothes from stripping her of her armor. As soon as she was bare she fitted with a pencil skirt, a very fuzzy and very itchy sweater, and a scarf longer than Discord, all of which were far too tight. Fleur used the extra length of the scarf to tie Luna’s front legs together. After losing her balance, Luna fell forward and hit the ground with a royal thud. Fleur huffed and puffed as she watched Luna struggle. She was tired and she knew she didn’t have enough energy to counter Luna when she was free. Deciding to take the small victory she quickly left, zig-zagging through the garden until she finally escaped the castle grounds. It didn’t take Luna long to get out of the clothes but it did take a few minutes to gather up her armor that had been strewn about. All the while she was dressing she was cursing Fleur for the attack. Still, it was a good attack – it was clever and showed a knowledge of the enemy. But it also drained her. Luna knew Fleur didn’t have much energy left. She took off in the direction Fleur ran, intent on claiming the first knockout. There was still plenty of fighting in the courtyard. Cup Cake had taken a defensive position against Celestia. Despite her relatively sluggish mobility and larger target area, Cup Cake proved a difficult pony to damage. Laser blasts had some effect but were hard to land due to the baker’s infuriating ability to deflect them. Also, any sort of physical assault was deemed nearly as ineffectual due to her extra cushion. Celestia had to change tactics. After a moment’s thought she removed all of the cobblestones beneath her and quickly dug down. Mrs. Cake, who had hunkered down behind a pile of bricks, dared to look up, having not been assaulted for a good ten seconds. She didn’t see Celestia. All she saw a Celestia-sized hole in the ground. “Uh-oh.” That was all she was able to get out before the ground erupted from beneath her. She was thrown across the courtyard and partially buried under the debris from the explosion. Celestia climbed out of the hole and walked over to Cup Cake. The baker was trying to free herself from the debris. It was easy pickings for the princess. She didn’t bother with a speech or snide remark. She simply blasted Cup Cake, who tumbled across the ground. The princess sent another blast her way only to have it returned to her, smacking her in the face and pushing her on her backside. She shook her head and saw Cup Cake getting up, holding a cookie sheet. Then the blue mare ran at the princess. Out of curiosity Celestia let Cup Cake strike her with the cookie sheet just to see what kind of damage it could do. It was more than she thought. After a few blows she swatted the sheet away only to be staggered back from a swift punch to her cheek. She looked shocked. “Sorry, deary,” offered Mrs. Cake, “but I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be able to strike a princess. Just making the most of it.” “Understandable,” conceded Celestia with a cordial nod. “However, I admit to a nostalgia for the days I could openly strike my subjects. Like this!” She uppercut Mrs. Cake, sending her straight up. The baker was not in the air long before she collided with Luna and Fleur, who had been tumbling across the sky. The collision sent all three mares flying in different directions. Luna managed to right herself before she hit the ground but Cup Cake and Fleur crashed into a jewelry store and condominium, respectively. “Oops and wow,” breathed Celestia as she watched the plumes of dust and smoke rise from the impacts. She focused on Luna, who was looking for whoever struck her so solidly. Rarity pushed aside another large stone and finally crawled out from the rubble of the wall. Her armor had taken a beating but she was particularly upset about her mane. “My coiffure!” she mourned. Then she snarled at nopony in particular. “That insidious trollop!” she seethed, marching off to find the mare responsible for this crime against fabulosity. She didn’t go far before she saw fighting at the other side of the courtyard. The royal sisters were locked in and epic punching fest. They held on to each other and repeatedly pummeled the other with swinging and flailing hooves. Given their unnatural proximity to each other Rarity wasn’t sure if they just preferred fighting that close or they’d gotten their armor stuck together. As she rushed to help Luna a small explosion from her left forced her to stop. Granny and Cheerilee had just smashed through a wall and tumbled across the courtyard. Before Cheerilee could even stand she was blasted by Rarity and sent tumbling far away. “Wuahaha!” the unicorn laughed. She was promptly tackled by Fleur, who had just rushed in from her crash landing. The posh unicorns took to wrestling and flailing at each other again. Between the royal sisters Celestia briefly got the upper hoof when she whacked Luna’s horn with her own. This was something that Luna always hated and reacted accordingly. “ARRGH!” Luna screamed, rubbing her horn. “Personal space, please!” The momentary distraction was enough for Celestia to jump and, with the assistance of gravity, punch Luna’s face into the ground. Unfortunately, Celestia barely got to land when Luna’s back hooves connected with her chin and sent her hurling through the air. Luna laughed maniacally but was cut short when tentacle-like things wrapped around her and picked her up. In the blink of any eye she was being repeatedly slammed into the ground. After a good ten seconds of savage pummeling, the tentacles released her. Groggily she watched the things retract to Tree Hugger until the hippie’s mane was again nothing more than dreadlocks. “Groovy,” Tree Hugger breathed, admiring her mane. Luna wobbly got to her hooves and was just making ready to retaliate when she was launched into the stratosphere by a blast from Celestia. “Good work, my sister!” approved Celestia, smiling at the hippie before she bolted once more into the sky. “No prob, Luminous One,” she said, giving a lazy salute as she basked in the connection she shared with the princess. The moment was short lived, however, as an apple arced across the sky and exploded at her hooves. The green pony was sent hurling across the courtyard and crashing into a wall. She tumbled out of the hole and searched for her assailant. More apples rained down toward her but she rolled out of the way. Granny had managed to materialize a bushel of apples and was lobbing them at will. Tree Hugger flipped and dove and rolled all she could to avoid the exploding fruit. Eventually, her luck ran out and an apple bomb struck right under her hooves. “Y’all are a quick one,” Granny grumbled, loading another apple into her hoof. “But ya ain’t quick enough.” The smoke cleared and Tree Hugger was nowhere to be seen. Granny squinted her eyes, trying to find any trace of her target. “Where are ya?” she growled. “Ain’t got no time for slackin’ off now!” she called. “Come out and do yer job!” She scanned the area but still found no sign of Tree Hugger. Celestia and Luna once again battled across the sky, zapping, punching and kicking as they went. Despite Celestia’s larger size she was faster than Luna. Eventually, Luna knew she had to get away. With a bit of patience, she socked her sister directly in the snout and then teleported out of there. Celestia rubbed her snout and growled at the disappearance of Luna. Not wanting to waste any time looking for her she decided to find her team. Granny was slinking about – well, as much “slinking” as Granny could do. She was struck violently from behind by Celestia, who had dived faster than a cannonball. The two slid destructively across the courtyard, tearing up cobblestones and dirt along their path. After they stopped Celestia began jumping on Granny, smooshing her into the dirt. Just as a gleeful smile spread across her face, Celestia was walloped from behind. She and Luna somersaulted over each other, rolling like a pair of combative tandem gymnasts. Granny stood up and shook off the debris and spit the dirt out of her mouth. She looked around for something to do. She could help Rarity with Fleur. Celestia and Luna had taken off again. And Cup Cake had just reentered the courtyard and was chasing Cheerilee with a rolling pin. And then she saw her. That damned hippie. Tree Hugger sat nonchalantly on the other side of the courtyard. The two mares stared at each other. Well, Granny glared daggers. Tree Hugger possessed a dazed look that suggested she wasn’t quite certain or aware of her location and situation. She did, however, possess just enough wherewithal to recognize that Granny was a threat. The hippie acted to defend herself. She grew blurry, as though there were several ghosts of her overlapping each other. And then each of those ghosts slid away from the central Tree Hugger and became opaque, looking like an exact copy of the hippie. Granny was looking at least two dozen Tree Huggers, each one as real as the next. They started walking around, milling about, not paying the old mare any attention. Granny lost track of the central Tree Hugger. She huffed and threw an apple at the closest one. The apple exploded and the Tree Hugger dissipated. She threw another. Same result. “Ain’t got time for your games,” snarled Granny. She tossed the bushel up and then bucked it high into the air. The apples spilled out, falling over a much wider area. Tree Hugger – the real one – was focused on maintaining her illusions did not notice the flock of apples approaching her. “Watch out!” The warning came from somewhere but before Tree Hugger could locate it she was roughly pushed out of the way as enormous explosions erupted behind her. The blasts propelled her even further away and she tumbled. She quickly stood up and looked at the smoking crater where she recently stood. Moving swiftly through the haze she saw Fleur barely conscious in the bottom of the hole. Her armor was badly damaged and pieces were missing. She was scuffed and bruised all over. Tree Hugger scrambled down to her. “There there, sister,” she soothed, gently patting Fleur’s hoof. The unicorn was breathing heavily and seemed to be trying to get up. “Just breath with me.” She began a slow rhythm of breathing, hoping to get Fleur to calm. Celestia landed in the crater and put up a shield just in time to repel another blast. “Is she okay?” “Her energy is almost gone. She needs rest,” replied Tree Hugger. “I’m sorry,” wheezed Fleur. “I haven’t been of much aide.” “Nonsense,” dismissed Celestia. She cradled the unicorn. More apple grenades rattled the shield around them. “You have fought bravely. You fought well. And you sacrificed yourself for your teammate, your sister. I am proud to have you on my team and I would gladly call for your services again.” “Thank…you,” the unicorn managed to get out before she lost consciousness. A small shimmering white orb appeared above Fleur and an iridescent force field wrapped around her. “Rest easy, my sister,” Celestia whispered, bowing her head. “You are balanced,” added Tree Hugger, writing some sort of sign with her hoof. Another blast hit the force field around the crater, jarring Celestia and Tree Hugger out of their solemn moment. The alicorn gently let Fleur to the ground and turned to the hippie. “So, it is three of us now. Let us refrain from holding back.” With that Celestia lowered her force field and shot out of the crater toward the source of the blasts. Tree Hugger couldn’t see much through the smoke but she heard an almighty explosion. A small mischievous smile crept across her face. “Righteous.”