The bird circled the castle from high above. Anyone inside would probably think it was just a passing bird if it was noticed, or simply wouldn't notice it at all. It looks in a random window, looking down the hall to see that nobody was there. The bird faded away into a red mist which flowed through the cracks in the frame of the window before reforming into a small stone. The small stone randomly floats about the halls, inspecting parts of the castle. With a red portal, she proceeded to basically steal anything not tied down, and as long as there was nobody inside.
Before she proceeded to enter into a fitting room, some sort of large storage room in the castle. She turned back to her pony form and proceeded to set up the rune.
On Cali's end, there was the sound of a commotion from the main area of the castle, the sound of a dozen sets of hooves quickly moving down the halls towards the throne room. More likely than not, new of the Element's disappearance had reached the Princess.
Cali listened to the sound of the commotion. She smiled at the sound. She proceeded to write a note that she was going to enact the distraction long enough for Blu to do his part of the plan and stuck it on the floor and left. Flowing outside of the window with a red mist.
She almost cackled at the thought. She proceeded to transform into a large construction that resembled a tall metallic android, with the beak and head of a bird. The android walked outside making itself appear quite obvious however she didn't do anything too destructive just yet.
She didn't need to do anything destructive for the citizens of Ponyville to start panicking. The mere sight of the towering monstrosity was enough to send the populous running for their homes or the hills.
It wouldn't be long before a set of guards would come out to see the source of the commotion, take one look at Cali, then run back in to report what they had seen. A few minutes later they and the rest of the guards would file out of the castle to begin fighting her. Unicorn guards took to vantage points to fire magic bolts at her, pegasi flying around her in an attempt to draw her attention, while the earth pony guards did their best to bring order to the panic and get the citizens to safety.
Twilight herself however, was nowhere to be found. Perhaps if enough of the guards were taken care of?
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Blu noticed that the rune was beginning to be formed as the connection to the sender rune he had was beginning to charge, "That was fast."
He actually felt a little nervous as he waited for the rune to complete and fully charge. What he was about to do, it was so unlike anything he had ever done before. Sure, he had thought of taking Princess Sparkle down a peg, show her just how wrong she was to discourage his constructs and rune magic, but he had never thought before now that he would actually have the chance to do it.
He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves, it wouldn't do to lose his resolve right at the pivotal moment.
Blu took one last deep breath before he approached the rune. He had the compiler and the staff with him, they would be crucial to doing his half.
Once on the other side he saw Cali's note and hoped that she still had the book on her, signalling her to bring the princess back would be difficult without it. He quickly disguised himself with the staff and sent out a specter to see if the map room was empty, unfortunately Princess Sparkle was there, pouring her magic into the table trying, likely, to locate her friends. Blu decided to stay put until the Princess left the room.
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Cali watched the guards fight her. While they were able to secure some damage onto the huge bird like android, it seemed to fire lasers from its eyes and hands at the pegasi flying around. Certainly not enough to be fatal, just enough to stun them and knock them out of the air or at the very least, disrupt their flight patterns. It then focuses its attention to the unicorn guards. The android suddenly faded away into a red mist to avoid their attacks and took the form of what appeared to be a huge, John Deer Tractor.
"Guards of the castle, cease your firing! You are dealing with an interdimensional being such as I, thus it is foolish to continue firing upon me! I will spare you, as I always spare those who are innocent. However, step aside from the castle or I will be forced to knock you all down like I did with some of those Pegasi. I am not from this planet, thus it is your duty to stand aside, and take me to your leader." said Cali, as red lasers continued to attack the unicorn guards, firing from the tractor's headlights at them. Bright green lights seemed to form from the tires, likely as a form of some type of distraction.
The guards did not stop what they were doing, for the most part. The few pegasi she had struck were quickly recovered by the earth ponies on the ground amidst the new frenzied wave her words had caused among the citizenry.
A pair of unicorns teleported away from their vantage point, while the others scrambled to evade her attacks against them.
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Blu noticed, through his specter, when a pair of unicorns warped into the map room, "The creature outside, it's come for you. We should get you to safety."
"No."
"But Princess!"
"No! I'm not going to let others take my place. My friends are missing because I didn't go myself. I'm not going to go hide while my ponies are at risk. I'll deal with this monster myself."
With that she left the room, the two guards in tow.
Blu took the opportunity to quickly get himself to the map room. He closed off all the doors and windows with the shield runes he had learned, then cleared away the chairs from the map, clearing the floor so he could center the rune on the table, the nexus of the whole castle.
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Cali was soon greeted by the sight of Princess Sparkle herself, flying up to 'eye' level, she didn't look happy. "I suppose I have you to blame for my missing friends. What do you want?"
Cali bursted out laughing. "Well, if it ain't the princess of friendship! It sure is a pleasure to see you after all this time. You and I have a lot to discuss! But alas, I shall assume the form of that of which you find, relatable." the tractor bursted into a mist, that then assumed the shape of a unicorn mare. Dark blue coat, gleaming red eyes and with an orangy-red mane and tail. Cutie mark of a key unlocking a lock.
"Tell me Twilight, have you ever considered those not as fortunate as you? If you claim to be so tolerant here, oh princess, then you will listen to what I am about to say. I have seen so many dimensions, but I find myself trapped here after a horrible mistake. You see, I am not meant to be here." Cali said, although taking upon quite a defensive posture should Twilight attempt to attack her.
"Being in this equine form is quite limiting, you know. I shall reveal my true form to you in due time. I am not of this world. I come from another planet called Earth." she said, trying to be reasonable here but wouldn't hesitate to attack if Twilight proceeded to attack her.
Twilight was surprised to say the least, especially when Cali's whole tone shifted. "Well I, um..."
She spared a quick glance away, "Why don't we discuss this somewhere else? You'll forgive my not trusting you implicitly, you having attacked the town and all."
She pointed to an isolated hill outside of town, "Does there seem reasonable?"
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Blu noticed that the sound of fighting had died down rather quickly, and sent a specter to the window to investigate while he continued setting up the trap, though he hesitated when he heard Cali's words and Princess Sparkle's response. "Might not even need this trap then." Nonetheless he kept working, this could all be a ruse on Cali's part after all.
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Cali shot a look at the hill. "So be it, Twilight. I could easily rip your entire town and this castle to shreds with my magic, but I am not that type of person. I assume you are one for books, from what I have gathered about you here. What I am about to show you is not something to take lightly." she pulled out a book from...somewhere.
"My name is Cali. I have traveled many dimensions but this book carries the history of my home world, Earth. Earth is a world where there is no magic..." Cali spoke, leading Twilight to the hill. "The intelligent race of this world, Humans of which I am one of knew nothing but how to feast, hunt, and procreate. It was a sad waste of existence until we invented fire, stone working, crafting...all of that exploded into civilization. Various nations were ruled by ruthless kings in the great past before time, before civilization was truly recorded. The human mind is one of greed, lust, and desire and that transcends everything even as humanity progressed into the modern era." Cali passed the book to Twilight, it was not one unlike the one she left in the guard's office.
"I have been trapped here for the past year or so. It's a long story but I found myself in another dimension in which my main enemies and rivals were there. I managed to destroy them however, my friends and I created a system known as a dimensional beacon, due to this system we were able to teleport ourselves out of that dimension. We collected oil, trees, and various plant matter in order to fuel it. I forgot how it functioned but we set up 3 tall metal rods and clicked them into place, and this shot us off into another dimension. I am separated from them due to an accident, and I have found myself here." she frowned slightly, by the time she had finished her words she sat down on the hill. Yet she was quite aware and alert should Twilight attempt anything to attack Cali.
"I am not meant to be here. I am not of your kind. This world is vastly different from my own. And thus, I reveal my true self to you." with a red flash, Cali was sitting next to Twilight in her human form. She more or less resembled a girl in her late teens, with brown-salmon colored eyes and with brown long straight hair. She was wearing white boots, jeans, and a black jacket.
Twilight was further surprised at being offered a book, and it took quite a bit of will within herself to not sit down and read it right then, she patiently listened to the rest of what Cali had to say.
"I can't say I know much about travel through dimensions. I have however been to a place that called itself Earth, which had inhabitants that called themselves humans. Perhaps the two are similar? I could get you there if you desired. I'm sure with time the School could figure it out, you got yourself here, which indicates that you should be able to leave."
She sighed, steeling herself, "Not to sound accusatory, but the reports I got from Stratusburg spoke of an arua not dissimilar to yours. If I am to help you, in any capacity, I must require that my friends be returned, unharmed."
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Blu was surprised that Cali and Princess Sparkle were walking away peacefully, it seemed quite the turn from the personality she had displayed in the town and the library. She seemed intent on wiping the floor with the princess before, he wondered what had changed.
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Cali smiled knowingly. "Your friends won't be returned, at least not yet. I can assure you however they are completely unharmed. Maybe even better than unharmed." she said and was quite surprised by what Twilight had just said before smiling. "It would be far too easy for you to have a portal to my world, as I am convinced that you don't. Read the book." Cali felt rather strange now. This pony, Twilight Sparkle was not one she expected to see so soon and she almost couldn't bring herself to fight her. When she saw Twilight for the first time, something seemed to click in her mind. Perhaps conversation could resolve things better, if not however, then fighting would.
"You misunderstand something. With my power I can't choose where I end up and I am not going to be leaving anytime soon due to that. So for now, I am here to stay whether you like it or not. From what I know of you and your 5 friends, you seem to go about teaching lessons about friendship. I can teach you so much more, than just that. For starters, there is no good and evil, only self interest. You seem to believe that everyone is good and that everyone can be saved. That is not the case, sadly. When you have to protect yourself, you have no time for anyone else." Cali said to her, looking into Twilight's eyes.
Twilight sighed, "What do you want then? Are you resigned to staying here? Or do you want us to find you a way back to your world? In either case, I will not be able to help you until my friends are returned."
Twilight shook her head, "Things may be that way in your world, for your kind, but they are not so for us. Is selflessness not a form of good? Selfishness a form of evil? It is the duty of the strong to defend the weak, a truly selfless act."
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Blu was finished with the trap, once Princess Sparkle and Cali were inside he could activate it.
He sent a message to Cali through the book, indicating that the trap was set, and then he waited.
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Cali hadn't bothered to check the book yet. She hadn't thought of checking it yet, and she was talking with Twilight so she wouldn't dare take the book out. In any case, Cali laughed darkly at what Twilight says there. "You have it all wrong my dear. You help the weak out of your own self interest. Whatever you want in life, it is self interest above all else. Good and evil are concepts that have been used to defend the minority rule over the majority, often which are denied knowledge and what they deserve. Good and evil are concepts that aren't seen in nature and thus are irrelevant to the nature of conscious beings. It is the nature of every conscious form to strive, achieve, and learn from one's mistakes in order to improve the self for any tasks that need to be dealt with in the future." Cali smiled to Twilight, grinning slyly.
"If you are truly a good pony, then why are those out there suffering in poverty? Or suffering from loss, or being punished unfairly. Your leadership hasn't dealt with those problems. You abandoned your citizens and left them to fend for themselves. I've seen many small towns in these areas that can't even afford basic amenities. And you have the gall to say you defend the weak? No, you keep them down with your good deeds Twilight. You rule through good deeds to make yourself look better, that is your own self interest and you abandon those less fortunate enough." Cali laughed darkly.
"Just be lucky your population isn't pushed to the brink. As is what happened in some areas of the world, the peasants and working class overthrew the monarchies and elite through a revolution, establishing an ideology known as Communism. Where the working class and peasants rule the state, and where all wealth is spread Equally. I am not a supporter of such things, as it is the nature for everyone to drive out a place in the world for themselves, as we are all conscious beings are we not? Do you not think and feel? Do you not see the world in your own light? If you are conscious, the world is yours." Cali did some sort of poetic pose, looking to Twilight with sly, yet knowing eyes. "Say, what do you think of an Equestria where it is a Republican state, where the citizens themselves elect their leaders?"
Twilight was taken aback a bit at Cali's forward accusations, "You make such baseless accusations, clearly you've never met me. I may get a sense of fulfillment when I help others, does that make such an act not good? Irregardless I act in the best interest of as many as possible as often as occasion permits. You speak of poverty, yet by our last count not one pony in Equestria has gone without food or shelter, our social services have assisted all those in need, not turning any away. Those who go without do so of their own free will. Not all loss can be prevented, nor all unfairness eliminated. I'm not Faust, all powerful, or perfect. I've never claimed to be. It's not that we haven't dealt with these problems, as we are devoting what resources we can to advance medicine, better our public education, and improve society, with sizable improvements since I was first named Princess. In no occasion have I abandoned my ponies, I personally fought Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, and Tirek. I would do most anything if it would be in the best interest of my ponies."
Twilight shook her head, "Blu once spoke of such things to some of his friends. I think he said it best when he said: 'Equestria is so fundamentally different, because its residents are similarly discongrous. He said that ponies, despite their flaws, were better than humans, because we know how to care and love each other. Humans know only how to love themselves.'" She sighed, "I should have given him more credit."
She firmed up her position as she looked back at Cali, "Now, you've told me your motive, you have some interest in keeping my friends. What is it then? What do you hope to gain by keeping them? Say it already so it can be done and we move along."
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Blu wondered what was going on between them, they were too far off for him to make out what they were saying, and it being daytime he couldn't send the shade far enough to hear. He decided he would work on his other objective while he waited, recalling the shade he passed it the description of a certain pony, quickly wrote out a message and passed it with one of his construct gems to the shade to take them to the young pony he described. He turned back to the compiler, setting it to finalize the plans it had made for the portal rune. With the glasses of foresight and enough power, he would be able to see where the portal would lead before it was opened, making changes and testing without risk. Already the rune to make the portal was finished, the compiler would be able to extrapolate the way to control it given enough time, and potentially the aid of the best gem engraver he knew.
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Cali simply laughed and then sighed at what Twilight had said there. "You help others because it is your self interest. There is no good, there is no bad. It is just what you want, and what I want. I've been around this place quite a bit and there lots of a different story than what you said there. I will pretend I didn't hear it. As to your friends, don't worry about them. They are safe. I'm not going to tell you why I captured them or if I will release them. For a mind of your...intellect I would be willing to bet you will deduce that on your own." Cali said and patted Twilight's shoulder.
She smirked upon mentioning Blu. "He has been helping me all of this time. His impressive mind has made him my only....friend here. He is off attending other matters as of this moment. Let's just say we found a few...trinkets that helped us along the way. He doesn't like you very much, I will tell you that." Cali winked to Twilight. "And lets just say, that I have also learned this! So don't even think of trying anything with me...!" Cali said and aimed her eyes at a distant hill and shot solar beams from her eyes, the hill being scorched harshly. It was broad daylight so that it was easier for her to cast such magic.
"I got my powers from a special gem I found in a lake when I was young. Its power merged with my consciousness. In my world, there is no magic."
Blu's actions within the castle were un-interrupted although there were likely a few guards within the castle he would have to watch out for. The guards would be on high alert in all likelihood.
Twilight let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing her forehead with a hoof, "Believe what you want, you're clearly delusional."
When Cali mentioned working with Blu she was initially startled, but then an idea struck her as she continued, "By your own logic, Blu's doing this out of his own self interest. And if I know anything about Blu, I'm sure he told you something resembling a motive. I wonder what he actually plans to get out of this. After all, he never told you his real name."
When Cali shot the next hill over Twilight simply yawned, "Was that supposed to be impressive? Here I thought you'd actually pose a challenge. Now I see you're no threat at all. So lets cut right down to it shall we? You want something, but your too full of yourself to say it outright, you want me to guess don't you? Would that make you feel powerful? Make you feel important? Pathetic. I see it now. You're just a scared little filly who was pushed around until you got some powers and you think that makes you special, so you get your revenge on those who hurt you and decide to justify it just so you don't have to face what an evil creature you've become."
"I'll give you one last chance, tell me what it is you want, or scurry off to whatever hole you crawled out of."
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Blu smiled when he got confirmation that the note was passed on to his target. The Assembler would be along shortly, and his true plan could be set in motion.
The guards remaining in the castle would have no reason to try and enter the map room, so he wasn't worried. The locking runes would keep them out regardless. Besides, they should be out evacuating the town.
He watched the compiler's progress as he waited, he didn't need it to finish for his plan, while getting a specific destination was preferable, getting a stable portal to anywhere was sufficient.
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Cali grits her teeth and laughed. "Oh Twily, this isn't about revenge. I already got that. After all, my previous enemies aren't here at all. Oh whats that you say? Seems very un-friend like to me...now you are revealing who you really are! If you want a threat then you shall have it! You are getting on my nerves here, I thought we could talk this out, and I was sitting here and I was the bigger one to sit down and talk to you, but look at what your saying to me!" Cali was pretty pissed off at what Twilight said. She was enraged now.
"I am already powerful, I am already amazing! And you will now see what I am capable of! Prepare for the biggest threat you have faced in your entire life." Cali growled and backed off quickly. She quickly turned into a a huge hulking Ford F150 which did a massive donut on the ground in front of Twilight and damaged the lawn. And then it proceeded to shoot lasers at Twilight from its headlights.
The fight had begun. Yet at the back of her mind, Cali kept Twilight's words, 'never told you his real name' in mind. She was wondering what Blu was up to. She hadn't seen the signal yet which was a little suspicious. But for now, her focus was on Twilight.
Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes, "Even I know that not everyone can be friends. Friendship requires honesty, generosity, loyalty, all things incongruent with your maxim of everyone only motivated by their self interest. In a sense, you've precluded yourself from friendship."
Twilight snorted, "Trixie teach you that? True power is apparent, it doesn't need proving. If anything, your grandstanding proves exactly the opposite."
She didn't even try and dodge Cali's attacks, summoning orbs of various hues to deflect harmlessly into the ground and partially absorb her lasers, yawning in the process, "I thought you said this would be the biggest threat? I stand a greater risk from this grass via indigestion than you. You thought fighting me with magic, in my domain, would pose me a threat? Like shooting a fish with a water gun."
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The Assembler was able to sneak into the castle the way Blu had shown her back when he lived there, the gem he had sent along unlocking the rune on the door when she arrived at the map room, "Blu? You in here?"
Blu dropped his disguise when she came in, closing the door behind her before giving her a hug. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left without warning you. I didn't want Princess Sparkle to catch wind before I could leave."
She sighed, "I... I understand, Euclid, I forgive you." She withdrew from the hug, "So what's going on? The town gets attacked by some thing like its out of the stories you told me, and some shadow gives me a note from you to go to the castle."
Blu pointed out the engravings he had added to the floor of the map room, "In short, it's a trap, that much is done."
She looked closer at the lines, "You've improved."
Blu blushed, "Still nowhere as good as you. There's a second part to this, it's far more complex, which is why I need your help." He brought he over to the compiler, where her eyes widened at the schematic she was presented with, "That's something else. What does it even do?"
Blu shook his head, "No time to explain, the short of it is that it will take care of the problem once and for all. Take the Compiler downstairs to Princess Sparkle's lab. She has a crystal sphere that should suit for the design, the other half goes into the floor, the sphere serving as the nexus. Try to line it up with a flat section of wall if you can. Hurry, this all depends on you now."
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The hulking mass of the truck seemed to stop and then it seemed to raise an eyebrow at what Twilight had just down. "Ah yes, thats right...Can't fight with magic or else it'll be energy drained or the like. Reminds me of them." she said observantly and with a loud angry roar she transformed into a large red dragon that flew over to the castle in an attempt to draw Twilight's attention. It reached down to rip the stairs off.
"Hehehe....this is an old trick I used when battling the incarnation of rage, you may have met them. They go by the name Huntsman, or Snarl, but no matter! At the very least you aren't someone who enjoys ripping out intestines like they did! There were horrible, and I am glad they are gone. Think of this as a duel." the dragon the stairs over to Twilight with an immense speed, however Cali predicted that Twilight would blast or dodge it and had sent a blast of Solar Fire that curved around where the stairs had sent at Twilight. Cali had planned to lure Twilight into the castle and the map room like had been planned but she first had to get Twilight into there.
After Cali sent the stairs and Solar Fire at Twilight, she transformed into a boulder with a barrier of magic around it.
Twilight teleported away when the stairs were thrown at her, appearing behind Cali, though she didn't press the advantage, instead she just hovered there, "All those transformations, must be pretty tiring. I wonder how long you can keep it up?"
She cast a shield of her own around Cali, shrinking it to make contact with Cali's shield, the two magics opposing violently.
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Blu was quick to don his disguise when Cali brought the fight back to the castle. He quickly sent another message through the book, "Try not to damage the castle, I would like it as intact as possible."
He watched the fight with fascination via a specter, "She's really more powerful than I gave her credit for, she makes it look so easy."
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Cali didn't even bother talking back at this point. She focuses her rage to the battle. The boulder spins wildly within Twilight's shield that rose around Cali. She lowers her own shield, and the spinning boulder suddenly extends a long point that bursts Twilight's shield. Since Cali was in the middle of fighting she was unable to check the book. After the shield bursts Cali uses the power of the sun to recharge herself for a bit. Her boulder form with a long point remains. She suddenly jerked forth in a slicing motion with extreme speed in an attempt to slice off Twilight's horn with the sudden motion of the boulder's bladed extended point. Now all of Cali's focus layed in her attacks, rather than her words.
Twilight dodged backward almost before Cali spun to try and attack her, "The sun eh? No reason why I should let that continue to advantage you."
With a great flash Twilight disappeared, then the sun somewhat dramatically set very quickly.
Once the sun had set Twilight returned, appearing a good distance away from where she had left in case Cali had trapped her return. "Now then, where were we?"
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Blu cringed as he watched the sun set, "Ooh, that's going to be an issue. Maybe. Maybe not."
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Cali growled internally at the sun however she seemed to not react to that. She could still charge up spells but it would take a longer period of time in order to do so. The spinning boulder kept it's shape and as it twisted and turned through the air it turned into a rather unpredictable frenzy that got close to Twilight as she did so she was preparing a spell. She proceeded to trap Twilight within a barrier of sorts, but one that combined it's barrier magic with Cali's electrical magic. However a part of Cali's form intersects through the barrier and suddenly a large growth juts out from it and tries to restrain Twilight, once again trying to break her horn through various means. As this happens Cali proceeded to summon a large piano up above where Twilight couldn't see.
"This wasn't part of the plan, pin her to the bucking table!" Blu sat watching the fight via specter, he had underestimated Princess Sparkle's ability to get under Cali's skin, which he recognized he should have foreseen given how hot headed Cali had proven to be thusfar.
If Princess Sparkle lost her horn the magical backlash would be devastating to the area, and that did not conform with his plan.
Twilight once again formed a shield around herself, harder this time than before, if anything she seemed stronger now that the sun had set. She was able to stop Cali from coming near her horn. She would start to push back against Cali's boundary as she did before, looking to drain off as much of Cali's energy as she could through the shield.
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Blu was getting impatient, Cali had Princess Sparkle contained, why not pin her to the table already? Was she planning something else? He shook his head, he wasn't going to entertain thoughts of betrayal yet. He sent a specter to get Cali's attention mentally, "Pin her to the table already so we can be done with it."
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Cali understood now. She wasn't exactly sure when to do it, maybe she had been lost in her thoughts or the battle itself. Cali's form turns into a spider like form that raises a barrier around itself when contracting down onto Twilight. Twilight could only see pitch black when contained and the spider-like thing moved towards the castle, when all was said and done Cali preformed various shapeshifts and alterations to her form to be able to get through the door. All with the attempt to pin her to the table. While doing this, she was aware of Twilight's attempt to drain it off and kept her energy / constructs away from Twilight's barrier but she had to restrain her somehow more or less.