//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Duel of the Fates // Story: Alpha and Omega // by Revel Montaro //------------------------------// Luna was growing increasing frustrated by the minute. The mindless thralls of the Red Clover had been assaulting their position for nearly half an hour and yet there had been no sign of their controlling master since the first sighting. It was dangerous to send a scout forward from their defensive position, but they were blind. Does she plan to just wear us down to dust by making us hurt our own? There had been no strategy or brilliance to their assault. Just wave after wave, body after body of creatures that charged the guards and their position. Pegasi and thestrals would occasionally dive bomb any that nearly surmounted the barriers and the guards defensing them. Mostly they were having to deal with flyers under Datura’s influence who were attempting to rip helmets from guards by diving at them. It had, unfortunately, worked in a few cases. Those that lost their defenses were either knocked unconscious or, if the helmet was still near, returned and the guard regained their senses even if their nerve had been rattled. It was a good sign that there was a chance the rampaging masses would survive and recover if the total connection could be broken. Numbers-wise, they were still holding strong, but Luna could not shake the feeling they were being diverted. Certainly, Datura had no problems sow chaos and harm, but usually for a purpose, not just because she wanted to do harm. She was an uncaring sociopath with no moral inclinations not a sadist. Of course, that was long ago. They had all changed since the days long past. Luna turned her eyes to Clover the Clever who had said little since the start of the siege as he too continued to scan the crowd for their quarry. Occasionally firing off a stun bolt or sleep spell when an opportunity presented itself. His aim was as precise as always. He was getting no joy out if the engagement either, expression darkening with concern as the minutes ticked by. “This feels wrong.” “I agree.” Clover checked his digital readout on his foreleg. Her energy signature was everywhere, distorting all his sensors. She was here but he could not pinpoint where. Clover next consulted a glowing gem he kept in one of his pockets. Much like his omniscanner, it told him Datura was nearby. However, as he turned the gem, the point of direction where it was glowing the most was behind him. Clover turned and the light remained fixed like a compass on the palace. “Luna!” The dark alicorn fired a bolt before turning her eyes to her old friend. “She has snuck behind us! Datura is in the castle!” Gauge’s ears twitched and turned to the conversation. His yellow eyes wide. “We have air patrols and ground patrols all along the compound perimeter! Did she somehow teleport?!” “The how is irrelevant. The solution is all that matters.” Luna drew her axe. “Maintain this position! I will deal with the witch!” “Mistress!” Gauge cried out, “My wife and princess are in there!” Luna wanted to be cold, the kind of general she had been long ago against ancient and long dead enemies of Equestria. She could have reaffirmed her orders for him to hold this ground with the others. He would have saluted and done so but would have worried about them all the entire time. Mistakes would be made, fatal mistakes, and that was unacceptable against an enemy she had expected to see coming. Now Datura was behind them and his friends and loved ones were in the crosshairs. Hubris. It had been foolish to expect Datura to fight head on. It would be foolish now to go in charging, angry, off balance, and without backup. That was Datura’s game. It was time to stop play her way. I am becoming more like you everyday, sister. “Inform your chosen lieutenants of what we are doing, confirm they can hold this line. Grab at least five guards that can be spared from the front and then join us at the entrance.” Luna turned to Clover. “With me!” ---------- “Get back to the throne room right now. We’re in trouble.” Sunset tapped her earpiece a few times, nearly spilled the crate of precious cargo. “Raven? RAVEN?! DAMMIT!” Tempest turned back from the heavily reinforced armory door. She had checked for hostiles and thankfully found it clear. Their battle lines were holding. “Hey, what’s going on? And how can you still talk to Raven without a SunLight crystal?” Sunset picked up the crate and hurried out, slamming and locking the armory door behind them. “C'mon, Twilight and the others are in trouble." Sunset paused, remembering it was a two-part question. "The quick version, Raven’s MAU unit has a detachable, short range communicator so that the owner can stay in contact with their PAAL even when they are not on their wrist. It doesn’t use magic so it wasn’t affected by the bitch’s spell. At least not entirely. The static is still pretty bad and messing with its ability to reconnect.” “Tartarus below.” Sunset nodded in agreement. “Yeah." Sunset lifted a wing, careful to keep her focus so they would not catch fire. "Get close, I’m going to try and teleport us through the interdiction crystals to the throne room. This is going to feel a bit funny.” Sunset imagined the throne room in her mind. The line of sight of where it was in the palace was good. She imagined passing through the walls, she knew the exact distance she needed. Her horn lit and her, Tempest, and the crate disappeared. Celestia had warned Sunset long ago that the main reason so few unicorns could master teleportation, even multi-spell skilled mages, was because of how dangerous the spell was. The science behind the magic was extremely complex. It required absolute precision to complete properly and could easily seriously injure, scar, or kill the caster. After all, when you shatter yourself down to the atoms and pass through the fourth dimension of space/time matter and try to reappear somewhere else entirely nearly instantaneously, what could possibly go wrong? The answer: A lot. A lot can go horribly wrong. Sunset barely had a fraction of a moment to cancel the spell and pull the two of them and the crate back into reality and then shield herself and Tempest as they effectively slammed into a solid barrier at the speed of light. The shield, combined with Sunset’s armor defenses saved their lives. But it still hurt... a lot. Sunset and Tempest found themselves not far from wall promenade that was outside the hall of heroes. Both were lying on their backs on the ground. The crate had been lost in transition and had reappeared… somewhere. Most likely had shattered against the wall the same way they had but without slowing down at the last moment. The armor itself should have been fine if albeit scattered in the bushes. “What…” Tempest groaned. She checked herself and found that her ribs were bruised and possibly stress fractured plus her head was now throbbing. She had been through worse. “What was that?!” Sunset wiped the blood from her nose. She cast a quick fix to straighten the broken cartilage and stop the bleeding. “There’s a shield barrier over the palace. A strong one. I detected it, but only just barely. Otherwise, we’d be nothing but smears sliding down the side of the place right now.” Sunset double checked herself. Nothing was broken but her armor gems were smoking from overuse. They would need time to recharge. She could not wait. “Alright,” Tempest reached out with her own unicorn senses and found the shield as well. It was not Twilight’s. That much was certain. “So, stating the obvious here. How do we get inside?” “If this is one of Datura’s shields it won’t be easy to break or pretty. I’ve only got one tool that might work.” “Might?” “Last time I cut into a Red Clover shield the damn thing fought back.” Tempest paused before it dawned on her what Sunset was referring to. “Right, that island adventure you went on.” Sunset was about to comment further when her earpiece rang again. With a tiny telekinetic finger she pressed the ‘pick up’ button. “Raven?” “Mother… help me.” “Raven? What’s going on?!” “Datura breached the throne room. Isabella and Twilight have turned. I’m surrounded. They are going to kill me. She’s looking at me… Sh… looki… scan… I.........” “NO! Don’t hang up! RAVEN!” Sunset stepped back, eyes wide and scanning the side of the palace frantically. “No! Not my daughter you fucking yak pucker licking piece of necro horseshit!” “Talk to me, Shimmer. What is going on?” Sunset stomped about. She heard Tempest speak to her, but her mind was racing, her heart was pounding, and she could feel the molten burn in her chest spread throughout her body. Twilight was in trouble, Raven was in trouble. A monster was trying to take her loved ones away again just like they had done with Celestia. Raven’s sentence played back through Sunset’s mind. Isabella and Twilight have turned. What did that mean? Turned how and in what way? Did it really matter? A glint of gold in the bushes caught Sunset’s eye. She ran over and pulled a few of the pieces of Celestia’s armor out of the brush. The only piece that mattered was the helmet. She unceremoniously dropped the rest, securing the helmet to her armor hook. The other pieces did not matter, not now. “SUNSET!” Tempest shouted. “WE NEED A PLAN, NOW!” A golden light poured forth and engulfed Sunset’s horn and spread to surround her entire body. Her wings unfurled to their fullest, turning first to fire and then to shimmering golden light. Sunset’s mane rose upward and waved like a wild inferno. She turned her burning, bright teal eyes to the solar captain, which were now surrounded by a crimson face mask. “No,” said Sunset, her words reverberating off the surroundings with barely contained power, “we don’t.” Sunset Shimmer pulled Tempest next to her with telekinesis. The captain yelped and felt a powerful foreleg wrap around her with unmoving strength and as secured as a cinch strap. Before Tempest could protest Sunset’s golden wings flapped and launched them both into the air at break-neck speed. There was a shallow, smoldering crater where they had just been standing and several shrubs and a tree were now smoking, bare of their foliage. When Tempest finally looked up, she found that they were now above the palace, Canterlot, and the apex of the Canterhorn. The captain never felt she was one to be afraid of heights, combat chariot drops were a part of guard training, but at that particular moment... Even if she would never admit it to a living soul, even her beloved husband, Tempest Fury was terrified of what was about to happen. “S-S-Sun-set!” “Hang on tight.” The alicorn’s voice still sounded disembodied and pulsing with furious power. Years ago. Tempest had borne witness to Sunset Shimmer letting loose her controlled anger against Princess Flurry Heart in the garden following an unprovoked attack. She had seen the goldenrod alicorn’s fur turn blood red and her features change into something that could only be described as ‘demonic.’ That had been hair raising to borderline freaky even by Equestria standards. But the sheer magical power radiating from Sunset Shimmer now as she dove towards the roof of the throne room like an angry golden meteor was somewhere between godly awe inspiring and sheer, mind numbing terror. Tempest wanted to scream. She might have in fact and it was just lost in the wind noise. The world would never know. Sunset extended her open right hoof before her and her soul blade materialized. The black blade burned with red flame for a moment. Then the red became orange and finally the entire blade transformed into a golden beam of light. Tempest blinked her watering eyes as they approached the shimmering shield and solid masonry of the roof. They had not slowed down in the least and she had half expected a sonic rainboom she had heard stories about. “SUUUUUNSEEEEETTT!!!” Datura continued to smile at Raven. It was decidedly uncomfortable, predatory. Twilight and Isabella both scowled darkly, but remained where they were while the Red Clover took a few slow steps closer. “You, are different. There is… some ambient magic about you, but it’s your mind I can’t touch. In fact, if you were not standing before me I would not know you were even here. Why is that?” “Because she is a machine,” said Isabella, her voice monotone as if in a trance. Datura lifted her foreleg and Raven heard it beep. She had likely just been scanned by whatever alien technology went into those metal forelegs that moved with such organic precision Raven was slightly jealous. A pulse of magical energy passed over her and Raven’s illusion disrupted for a second before being restored. “Ah, yes. I see you now. An advanced robotic armature with a sophisticated artificial intelligent core processor that mimics sentience. I have seen others like you in my travels. Crazy, right? Entire worlds, civilizations of sentient machines that can feel love, hate, and more with a spark of life far beyond the simplicity of a mindless programed slave. You are far too advanced for this universe even with as much as things have changed since I was here. Which means you don’t belong here.” “I choose to be here.” Datura closed her eyes for a moment then smiled again. “Yes, thank you for the memories, Twilight. I see it all now. You came from another dimension with Sunset Shimmer. Humans. I remember that place well. I returned a few times trying to find my Memory Stone that Clover stole from me. I had no idea where he buried it though. Too bad, I always like that invention. "One of my first major creations that worked exactly as I wanted it to. I had a little bit of help to perfect it. It actually contained a small amount of water from the Lethe River that has the power to steal memories and wash them away. That was, of course, before Samael was mad at me for attempting to steal from his power source, but that’s a different story all together. Anyhow, yes, you are quite a remarkable thing, but more so, you are important to Sunset Shimmer. I can use that. Or I can just destroy you. That has merit as well.” Raven scowled, narrowing her eyes. “You will not win.” Datura threw her head back and laughed, the sound echoed off the throne room walls and would have sent a chill through Raven's body had she been able to feel such tremors. “Oh? Do tell, sweet little robot?” “You have never known fear and the burn of hellfire until you have met Sunset Shimmer on a bad day. And you, because of what you have done here, have made today an immeasurably bad day. I would feel sorry for you and what is about to happen except that I, as was so recently noted, am a machine and you deserve it. You vile, heartless, bitch.” Datura snorted. She raised her hoof, the center opened, and the cannon extended. Pointed directly at Raven’s head. “Such heroic nonsense.” The cannon discharged, but missed. Badly. It should be pointed out that it is difficult to aim, even at short range, when a large chunk of the ceiling implodes violently. Datura cursed and looked up and moved to cover her head. Twilight raised her eyes and lit her horn, shielding herself, Isabella, and Datura from falling, burning debris. Sunset slammed into the throne room floor with enough force to shatter most of the windows, leaving a spiderweb of cracks from the small crater in the floor. The heat wash from Sunset’s wings was enough to stagger everyone back even from behind the hastily crafted shield. “DATURA!” The name echoed for several seconds, loud enough to rattle eardrums. Sunset retracted her burning wings and leveled her sword at the ochre colored mare. It was then that Twilight unfurled her dark wings to step forward to guard her master. Sunset was not about to give the witch a chance to gloat or laud her position and opened fire with her horn. The blast however was deflected by Twilight and went through the wall, leaving the masonry smoking. Much like the hole she had created from above. The damage to the shield around the palace healed immediately. Datura flashed a fang toothed smile. “Well, nice to see you again too.” “Get out of my Twilight’s head. NOW.” “Maybe you should ask her if she wants me too.” Sunset finally took a moment to lock eyes with Twilight and she felt her blood run cold as one of her greatest nightmares was standing before her in the flesh. The dark purple fur, the black wings, the sickly sclera and mad eyes. Twilight, her fiancé, and dawning light of Equestria itself had gone full Midnight Sparkle. “Twilight, I know yo-” Sunset did not get to finish as she had to quickly conjure a shield barrier of her own when Twilight leveled her own horn and fired without preamble. Sunset’s barrier broke under the powerful blast, but ricocheted off her raised black hoof guards and out the broken window. “You were saying?” snarked Datura. Tempest, who landed behind Sunset with the grace of a feather thanks to her own magic, had quietly snuck off to check on Raven. The PAAL nodded to the captain that she was well. Neither spoke lest draw unwanted attention to themselves again. Tempest used the horn blasts exchange to inch her way closer to Isabella. The griffon had stood silently, mostly unmoving and barely blinking. While the others were distracted, the captain saw her opportunity to pull one back to their side of the line. Sunset caught Tempest’s movement out of the corner of her eye and tried to both further distract and attempt another cheap shot at Datura. Unsurprising, the blast ricocheted off another Twilight shield uselessly. It had been enough. Tempest led with the borrowed lunar guard helmet in her hoof, disrupting part of the barrier over the griffon with her horn and slammed the helmet down on Isabella's head before she could turn or protest. She would apologize later for any rash or discomfort the maneuver may have caused. Isabella screamed and moved to remove the helmet when she stopped part way, blinked and scanned about as if she had just awoken from a nightmare. The cloudiness left her eyes and she tested all her limbs, thrilled to see them respond as they should. “Oh, thank the ancestors!” Isabella and Tempest both looked up and to the right at a ferocious Twilight whose horn burned with blackish magenta fire. “Perhaps a bit premature.” Sunset screamed and charged Datura with her sword. She slashed downward, easily cutting through Twilight's barrier and forced the witch to jump back. The burning, golden blade cut through a section her cloak that fell away to the floor in flames and left a small, blackened gash on the stone. “Twilight, be a dear and kill Sunset Shimmer for me.” “At once, master.” Twilight lit her horn and a dark magenta long sword form before her. Sunset turned and swore as she lifted her own blade to deflect Twilight’s powerful, downward slash. The purple alicorn quickly followed up with a blast from her horn that bounced off Sunset’s shoulder guard. Sunset cringed as the over wash heat singed the fur on her cheek. “Dammit, Twilight, I know you can hear me! You’re stronger than this, fight back!” “Of course I can hear you. You would have to stop blabbing long enough for me not to hear you but you just looooove the sound of your own voice too much. You’ve always been an arrogant little shit like that.” “I know this isn’t you. I love you, Twily. Come back to me,” Sunset said between clenched teeth. She pushed Twilight back who drew herself to her full height. Datura had retreated farther to stand back and watch when she noticed Isabella and Tempest had recovered and prepared their own attack. “I’m feeling a bit outnumbered.” With a flick of her horn, the throne room doors opened again and a dozen thralls rushed in. Tempest sighed and turned her attention to the new threat. “Get them back into the hall!” Isabella stretched her shoulders and neck. “What about the princesses?” “Two alicorns fighting is a little out of our weight class. One problem at a time.” Raven took one look at Sunset and Twilight crossing ethereal swords that sparked lightning on contact and blasting horns that turned stone to molten slag and turned to help Tempest and Isabella push the thralls back. She was not a fighter, but she was more than strong enough to shove a pony back out a door. A green stallion raised his hooves to stomp Raven, but she ducked under, and led with her hoof to shoved his head back and the body followed. Stumbling into another pony behind him. “Graaaahh!” Isabella took the lead and smacked several thralls upside the head with the flat of her blades. As she had hoped, the impact and the ferronite disoriented them enough to make it easier to safely shove them back. Tempest deployed her staff that extended to two meters in length. Holding the staff horizontal in her telekinesis she shoved it forward and pushed the group back out the door as if sweeping out the trash. Tempest glanced at Raven and pushed her back into the throne room. Much to her surprise though, the doors began to close. Tempest dropped the staff and jump rolled back inside as the doors slammed closed and locked with Isabella still in the hall with all the thralls. Isabella did a doubletake at seeing she had lost her support and beat the pommel of her dagger into the door, but it was solid iron wood and might as well had been solid steel. “Well, that’s just perfect.” Her eyes turned back to the crowd that was beginning to recover from the push. Isabella sheathed her daggers and picked up Tempest’s staff. “I guess I was due for a workout.” Sunset blocked, deflected, dodge, all in the hope that if they danced about enough she could get close enough to either attack Datura or place Celestia’s helmet on Twilight’s head. But Twilight had not been holding back in any of her strikes and if not for her armor would have drawn blood or worse by now. The throne room was getting absolutely trashed once again, but that was hardly a concern at the moment. I just need an opening. “This is all your fault, you know.” Sunset grunted, taking a moment to catch her breath. “It’s my fault that another power crazy baddie came to Equestria to take over? I mean, sure, a lot of things are my fault, but last I heard you were dealing with ‘villain of the week’ all the time before I stepped back into the lime light. Let's be honest with ourselves, if they really understood how mind numbing running a nation is they would never try to rule. The paperwork alone...” “It’s ALL YOUR FAULT!” Twilight spat and growled. “You told me to wait here. So, I stood here, just like I always have to do. With my little crown and being all poised and princess-like while you ran off to play hero… again! I begged, pleaded for you to come back and where were you? Where were you as I watched innocent ponies die in front of me!?” “I left to get you something that would help.” Stay focused. It’s not her. “You mean this?” Sunset glanced over to Datura who had Celestia’s helmet in her hooves. Sunset cursed. It must have come off or been lifted when she had been switching between targets, Sunset thought. “Certainly a nice piece. Celestia’s I presume? The sun motif is a dead giveaway.” Datura did not bother waiting for an answer as she crushed the helmet down in her clawed hooves as flat as a mangled pancake. “Dammit!” Sunset had to roll to avoid Twilight’s horn blast at her distraction. “Sunset needs help,” said Raven. Tempest nodded, retrieving a second extendable staff from her armor kit. “If you can block some of the witch's horn blasts with your armor cuffs that might let me get a shot in on her.” Raven glanced down at the decorative and functional sleeve cuffs Sunset had given her and nodded. “Together.” Datura unceremoniously dropped the ruined helmet. Her smirk disappeared when she had to quickly dodge to the side as Tempest fired a horn blast to the left and then tried to force the other unicorn back into her staff strike. As anticipated, while Tempest pressed her attack Datura raised one of her hooves to try and fire in retaliation. Raven slipped forward low and batted the hoof away, clanging metal against metal. The blast went wide into the thoroughly damaged wall. Tempest jumped over Raven as she ducked and pressed her offensive, forcing Datura to jump back again. Tempest took note that her ethereal wings and the dark glow about her eyes were beginning to flicker in and out. She’s losing power! Just have to get inside her defense! “You're a liar. You don't love me,” said Twilight in the darkest, most cynical voice Sunset had ever heard uttered from those lips. “You left me here because you wanted more.” “What are you talking about?” Sunset felt her heart burn with anger at what Datura had done to her fiancé. She drew on that righteous fury and poured it into her sword. Sunset’s golden blade flashed and pushed Twilight back with a grunt. “History refresher! You fled our world like a spoiled, selfish coward! You, the great crafted weapon, the guardian against all those who would threaten our land and left Celestia, your own mother, broken and vulnerable. If not for my friends and I Nightmare Moon would have killed Celestia and left our world in eternal night! Or the Athanatoi would have killed us all! "And what did you do in response? You schemed and skulked and tried to steal my Element of Harmony for MORE power and personal gain. Then you tried to kill me! I had to bloody your stupid nose and foolishly spared your miserable life. How did you thank me? You picked HER over ME!” Sunset’s jaw hung open, flabbergasted. “W-What?! Are you talking about Twi? You can’t be serious! You never said you were interested in me back then! Not even a little bit! Hell's bells, you wrote us a speech of blessing encouragement in the journal that I read at our wedding! You said you could not imagine a happier couple in your life!” “What was I supposed to say?!" Twilight spat, keeping Sunset on the ropes by slashing powerful downward strokes that Sunset strained to deflect. Still refusing to go on the offensive. "You were trapped in your blissful little human world after you picked my COPY over ME! And worse yet. You got to play wife and mother and live the life of freedom while I was stuck dealing with Equestrian nobles, angry nations, and a dying Celestia! I had no time for a partner or family and yet you got to raise TWO foals with HER.” Sunset winced. She tried to fight back tears but knew her eyes were starting to glaze a bit. Datura had access to Twilight's memories and was reaching deep and fighting dirty and it hurt. It’s not her, not really. Don’t let her get in your head. Don’t make a mistake! “Because of you, to save YOU, Celestia was left weakened and frail. Slowly dying a broken, old mare. A shell of the alicorn she had once been. Because of you, our mentor and mother figure DIED!” “BULLSHIT!” Sunset screamed, her wings snapping out and burning as golden light once more, pushing Twilight back. “I call so much bullshit on that!” Tempest twirled her staff, swung, spun, upstroke, swung again. Each time she would almost connect a hit or the witch would barely block. It did not look as if Datura was even breathing hard, much to Tempest’s annoyance. Tempest paused for a moment to huff while Raven stood ready to press the attack. This was not working and Sunset did not appear any closer to subduing Twilight either. Finally, a thought came to fruition and Tempest leaned closer to Raven knowing the PAAL had excellent hearing. “I have a bad, Sunset kind-of plan.” Raven arched one brow, but kept her eyes on Datura in case she tried to take advantage of the pause. “I should be more offended by that statement, but go on.” “It’s risky, but I think it might work. Take the charge and try to punch her, then duck. I’ll swing, she’ll dodge, but then come up and be ready to block me from her view. I’m going to jump/blast myself over her and attack from behind.” Raven did not wait for acknowledgment. She charged Datura, who had already been ready to fire, Raven blocked and deflected the horn blast and threw a hoof punch that Datura was forced to block with both forelegs. Raven then quickly ducked as instructed. Tempest swung her staff and as expected, Datura stepped back. Raven rose up tall as if to do a front hoof stomp, but did not lean forward to complete the attack. Datura had already raised a hoof to fire a laser blast. Instead of hitting Raven in the face the blast fell short and burned off some of Raven’s wig mane at the side. Datura gasped as Tempest, with the aid of a kinetic horn blast to the floor, somersaulted over both of them and landed back and to the left of the ochre unicorn. Tempest stabbed the sharp end of her staff downward directly through Datura’s back and out her chest cavity. Sunset was furious. She knew her emotions were getting the better of her, but she was getting tired, her magic had been burning on overdrive, and was beginning to give her a throbbing headache from overuse. They needed to finish this soon. “Now I know it’s not you speaking, Twilight,” Sunset spat through clenched teeth. “Yes, I was taken to the In-Between, but Mom chose to come after me. I had no control over that. And when Aethon separated us I wanted to go back and save Celestia, but YOU told me we had to protect the city. I wanted to be selfish, I wanted to save my FUCKING MOTHER! Don’t you dare try to pin that all on me!” Twilight’s lip curled and she launched herself at Sunset again, cutting more burning slashes into the already thoroughly gouged throne room floor. “Then that just proves how weak and useless of a protector you are! I don’t know why I ever fell in love with you to begin with! All you have ever done is either outshine me or hold me back!” “Hold you back?! Are you fucking kidding me with this? You sit on the fucking solar throne for Celestia’s sake! The only pony that has ever held you back is you and even that was just a crisis of faith in yourself that either I or any number of your friends were there to help you with! Are these your honest personal doubts or is this all that bitch can dredge up and twist in your head because it is all the biggest steaming load of horse shit I have ever heard in my life! “The Princess Twilight Sparkle I know and I fell in love with never feared any challenge, any enemy, ANYTHING as long as she had friends and loved ones by her side. Come on, Twily! Fight that bitch! If you can’t do it alone then restrain her, let me touch my horn to yours, and we will do it together.” Sunset searched her lover’s eyes as they both huffed and puffed for air and held their burning swords down and in defensive positions. She needed to see it. Just a crack in the hold. That was all she needed was a sliver of hope that Twilight could break the hold long enough for Sunset to get inside of her defense and take the fight to the battlefield of the mind. Just in case, Sunset had her empathic connection spell primed and ready to go. She would not get more than a second or two to engage, if that. Datura gasped and growled as she stumbled with Tempest bearing her greater mass and strength down upon the staff to ensure the other unicorn could not pull it free. Tempest could not see from her angle if the staff had pierced the witch’s heart, but it was a moral blow regardless. The last of the ethereal wings faded and just for good measure, Tempest twisted the staff to keep the wounds from sealing shut. “Just… DIE already!” Datura groaned a bit more, and finally she began to stagger and slacken. Tempest let out the breath she was holding. “Tempest,” the captain glanced up to see Raven’s jaw hanging open and eyes wide, “something is very, very wrong.” “What?” “There is almost no blood!” Datura chuckled. Tempest could feel the vibrations of the heckle through her staff and the sound of it made the short hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. It was one of the most unnerving sounds the vermilion unicorn had ever heard. The Red Clover did not fall despite being fully impaled and instead switched to a sitting position while Tempest continued to hold onto the staff, unsure what else she could do. If a stab through the heart could not kill her, what could? “Magnificent technique, captain,” Datura said in a mocking tone of approval with an undertone of humor. “I have not fought a capable warrior such as yourself for many years. Not sure if you can see it from back there but you got me right through the heart." Tempest felt her anxiety and fear spike as her heart began to race and her hooves shook ever so slightly. No creatures should have been able to speak so casually with a staff spear completely through their chest. "However, you can’t kill someone who is already dead.” “Oh, shit.” Tempest’s eyes went wide. She made to let go of the staff, but Datura bent backwards, her forelegs reaching back to seize Tempest by the back of her head to prevent the other unicorn from escaping. Datura further contorted her head backwards while still impaled and touched her blackish green charged horn to Tempest’s and discharged the gathered energy. The powerful blast disintegrated nearly all of Tempest’s horn and sent the captain flying backwards. Tempest landed on her back and rolled, her burnt and partially melted helmet flew off and bounced away as she screamed. Raven stared on unable to decide what the next best course of action was. She had no precedence or data to rely on for dealing with such a situation. She needed someone to tell her what to do. She needed Sunset. Tempest Fury had known pain well. Every guard did. Pain was a great teacher. It taught you what to do and what not to do. It reminded you, you were still alive. But that lesson came with a price. And that price was obvious. It hurt. A LOT. As Tempest flailed on her back and screamed to the sky, her eyes tightly shut, she tried to focus on anything else other than the excruciating pain that was surging from the middle of her head and burning down every neuron to the very tips of her hooves. Never in all her years, all her battles, even pushing out two foals had she ever known pain like this. She had heard stories of soldiers saying death would have been preferable to the immeasurable anguish of a broken horn. In that moment, she understood what they meant. How had her great grandmother been able to live with such pain? Datura yanked the staff out of her chest cavity and grimaced sourly at the wound. Raven could see ribs, she could see what was muscle meat and chunks that were likely heart tissue, but it was all blackened mass with a little dripping fluid, but not as much as a large chest wound should have had. It was not possible that this creature before her should still be standing let alone talking and moving. She needed to process it, make sense of it all. She could feel her processor core locking up as her logic circuits overclocked. “Do you realize how much of a pain in the rump it is to keep this vessel in nice shape? How much life force I have to drain to keep these curves? Of course not, because you are a machine.” Datura raised her hoof and fired. She shot Raven in the right shoulder joint, then immediately again in the left. The MAU registered the damage and the warning alarms snapped Raven out of her higher thought lockup. Her foreleg struts failed and she collapsed forward, bouncing her chin off the hard marble floor. She heard Sunset Shimmer scream her name followed by more grunts, but could not turn her head to see what happened because she found her head being lifted at the chin in one of Datura’s clawed hooves. The witch pulled her back up to eye level and smirked. “For vexing me, I want you to watch as your master and last hope dies. Then, maybe, if you ask nicely. I will do you the courtesy of crushing your CPU and letting you die instead of making you watch this universe burn.” Raven attempted to wiggle away, but her forelegs were not responding. “Go fuck yourself.” Datura punched Raven directly in her opal broach, crushing the enchanted stone, denting and cracking her ceramic and titanium chest plate, sending the robot tumbling like a ragdoll across the throne room, into the far wall. The illusion enchantment failed mid-tumble and the MAU crumpled to a pile, unmoving. Datura turned her eyes back to Tempest who was still crying out and growling in pain. The unicorn took a moment flick her eyes towards Sunset and Twilight who were brutally slashing at one another with far more vigor than they had been before. She imagined that fight would end soon so her attention was back on the mare on the ground. She reached out to try and examine the broken unicorn’s mind but found that even without the helmet she could not get in. “Hmm. Perhaps the broken horn caused a magical backfire inside her brain. The pain must be quite terrible if even in this sorry state I can’t sneak a peek. Are your mental defenses so impeccable? All your synapse must be absolutely on fire, dear.” Datura shrugged. “Either way, you are quite strong. Can’t let a soul like that go to waste.” Tempest managed to get a single eye to open slightly as she found the witch standing above her. Her already pounding heart began to accelerate as fear began to replace pain. She could feel the spell being cast upon her with no way to defend herself as Datura’s horn lit up and words she had never heard before slipped from her lips. It was a grotesque, guttural language and it made Tempest want to puke and plug her ears. Then, she felt a tug, but not a physical one. It came from deep in her chest, then next from her guts even all the way down to her cutie mark. Simultaneously, the sensation traveled upward as well. It felt like her spine was breaking, her blood was boiling and freezing simultaneously. Her broken horn sparked wildly and Tempest was afraid her brain might actually explode inside her skull. She felt magical tendrils wrap around her entire body, lifting her into the air. They constricted around her limbs and neck, squeezing her. Tempest felt painful burning in her abdomen and chest and suddenly all of it began to hurt worse than her horn. Her flanks felt like they were being pressed to a hot iron. “Wh… What are y-” It was all Tempest could get out before she felt one of the translucent tentacles violate her mouth and reach deep into her throat and continue downward. She tried to bite down, tried to gag and vomit, but it did not stop it. It felt as if she were burning from the inside out and did the only thing she could do. She choked and screamed all over again. Sunset heard Tempest holler her battle cry, she heard Datura cry out her surprise, she even managed to sneak a glance to find the captain of the guard standing victoriously over the Red Clover. A part of Sunset’s mind blew a sigh of relief. It was not over, but it would be soon. Then, before Sunset could safely let down her guard, the room flashed and a powerful magical discharge echoed through the cavernous chamber again. Tempest was thrown back and was left writhing, her helmet bounced away and ended up sliding into what was left of the tranquility stream at the edge of the throne room. Sunset could not see the extent of the damage, but it did not matter. A close friend was down. She moved to assist only to find Twilight move in turn to attack her again. “Dammit, Twilight! Tempest is in trouble! Your captain! OUR FRIEND!” “You should worry about yourself more than soon to be dead ponies.” Sunset heard two laser discharges. She pushed Twilight back and fired a long horn blast at Twilight’s hooves. Her teal eyes widened as she watched Raven fall, then be lifted up and punched so hard the illusion stone was destroyed and the MAU smack against the wall and did not get back up. “RAVEN!” If there had been unbroken windows left in the throne room they would have finally shattered from Sunset’s powerful scream. She spread her wings to leap to her friend’s side when she fell back from Twilight’s telekinetic grip tightly around her red and blonde mane. Twilight dragged Sunset back across the floor to close striking range of her sword. Sunset lifted her blade to deflect Twilight’s downward stab. “Graaah! Twilight! Tempest and Raven, OUR FRIENDS are in trouble! Get it together, woman!” For some reason, the use of the human word only angered Twilight more and she snarled and tried to shoot Sunset with her horn. Sunset once again deflected with her hoof guard, the blowback disoriented Twilight and threw her back long enough for Sunset to scramble back to her hooves. She found Datura lighting her horn and casting some high-level dark magic spell on the solar captain as the helpless unicorn struggled without avail. Sunset prepared to fire her horn when once again she felt the telekinetic grip of Twilight’s magic once again seize ahold of her mane. Without hesitation, Sunset used her sword and lopped off half her flowing mane, letting the severed strands fall to the ground and causing Twilight to stumble, dumbfounded by the unexpected choice. Sunset held onto her attack spell and instead fired it at Twilight, who deflected it with her own dark, miasmatic blade. “Dammit all to Hell, Twilight! She is KILLING HER!” Sunset had, in fact, been pulling most of her punches, both physical and magical. She had chosen to deflect or attempted to disable Twilight rather than try to hurt or cripple her. All her sleep spell blasts had been blocked or dodge and the few times she could have landed a moral blow Sunset chose to push back or not slash or fire at all. It broke Sunset’s heart and infuriated her very sense of being that this monster had her claws so thoroughly into Twilight’s mind that her fiancé had not been able to dislodge her for even a second. She knew in her heart Twilight was strong. Stronger than her, stronger than all the alicorns. But seeing Raven badly damaged, seeing Tempest wounded and now about to be brutally murdered. That last straw in Sunset Shimmer broke. Sunset’s teal irises turned red. The golden blade sparked with red fire and threw Twilight back once more. The searing heat from Sunset's wings left scorch marks on the marble floor. While stumbling backwards, Sunset slashed outward and caught Twilight across the face with her blade tip, burning a gash from her right ear down the side of her muzzle. Twilight screamed in pain and curled up to protect the deep cut. Sunset spun back around and leveled her horn at Datura. She channeled all her anger, hate, determination, every fiber of her being as the Ignis Ferrum Incarnate into the tip of her horn. The blast would disintegrate the Red Clover and the thrones behind her and the wall and likely continue on out of the planet’s atmosphere and beyond. That was something to worry about later. Sunset snarled and released her gathered spell. At the exact moment Sunset’s powerful, tight beam blast of fury left her horn she felt her circlet crown get yanked upwards, pulling her horn and aim with her. The blast missed Datura, who smiled wickedly. Sunset caught that smile out of the corner of her eye as her head was forced back and the circlet pulled free. Before she could counter, Sunset felt every latch, strap, and tiedown on her armor let go at the same time in dark magenta magic. All at once, her entire armor set was pulled free and violently discarded around the room. Sunset blinked once and felt pain rip through her back and out of her chest. There was a burning sensation right through her and eyes, that were once again teal and wide, looked down to find a glowing black blade sticking out of her furry, goldenrod chest. She could smell the burnt fur, the charring flesh and did not want to guess what it was doing to her insides. Sunset felt Twilight’s body pressed into hers, hot breath on her left ear right above her engagement earring. “Thanks for showing me how to remove the armor all at once, Sunny. Now who is full of horse shit?” “T-Tw... Twi-light-t.” Sunset choked as blood slipped pass her lips and dripped. Her eyes began to blur as tears poured down, staining her face. Sunset tried to move, but her legs only shook and were quickly going numb. She could not breathe. She could not feel her heart beating. Tempest screamed. She cried and screamed there was nothing else she could do. The burning passed through her core, up her chest and finally out of her throat. When the pain finally stopped so did the screaming. Tempest looked down and found that she was still floating, but her body was translucent. It was then she noticed herself, lying on her side, eyes wide open and unmoving. Hysterically frightened eyes turned to Datura who grinned devilishly. The witch’s horn lost most of its glow but held a leash upon Tempest’s soul as she casually sauntered over to where Sunset was slumped and Twilight was standing victoriously over her. Sunset struggled once more and choked out through bloody teeth a desperate, warbling cry. “NOOOO!”