//------------------------------// // The Pieces are Moving // Story: The Cutie Mark Crusaders Bring About the Apocalypse // by BronyWriter //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle didn't even care that her precious library was, for all intents and purposes, obliterated. She didn't care that hundreds of books that had sat in the library since its inception were nothing more than mere memories at this point. She didn't care that she was pretty much homeless at the moment. All she cared about was the fact that her mentor had just collapsed on the ground in utter exhaustion. "Princess Celestia, are you okay?" asked Twilight. "I'm fine," said the alicorn. "That took a bit more out of me than I thought it would." "How powerful are they, Tia? asked Luna. Celestia slowly got up to her hooves and gave Luna a grim look. "Far more powerful than either you or I," she said. "But...does that mean that we can't stop 'em?" asked Applejack. "It's hard to say," said Celestia. "While they are powerful, they still do not understand how to fully use their powers yet." "How much of an advantage does that give us?" said Rarity. "As of right now, the ancient evil that they have awoken has some influence in Equestria and it is poised to destroy the world, but it cannot just yet." "Why not?" asked Twilight. "Um...excuse me," said Fluttershy quietly but the others didn't hear her. "Those three still need to give the final go ahead. Since they are the ones that awoke the evil, they are the ones who can completely unleash it with the second ritual," said Celestia. "So, they have some control over the evil that they have awoken?" asked Applejack. "Um...not to be a bother or anything--" "For the time being, yes. Once they succeed in talking over Equestria the spirits in question will not have anything to oppose them." "But why would they let the Crusaders control anythin' right now?" asked Applejack. "If I could just get a word in--" "That's probably one of the more disturbing aspects of this situation," said Celestia sadly. "You see, what they are doing is giving the three of them so much power that they cannot fail. Throughout the entire ordeal, they will give the Crusaders the illusion that they are in control and that they are the ones who will rule the land. However, once they succeed the demons will remove their power and they will suffer the same fate as the rest of us should they take over. In a way, they are the biggest victims in all of this. They are going to be at the height of power and control before the demons tear them down." "How do you know all of this?" asked Rainbow Dash. At this, Celestia actually gave a wry smile. "It's actually a funny story," she said. "You see, I was rising--" "Seriously, can I just say something!?" said Fluttershy angrily. The other ponies in the room looked at her quizzically and she shrank back a bit. "I mean...if that's okay with you that is...I guess..." "What is it, darling?" asked Rarity. "Um...well, you see, this expository dialogue is very interesting, but aren't we forgetting something?" "Like what?" asked Twilight. "Like the fact that three nearly all-powerful alicorns possessed by evil spirits and tartarus-bent on taking over the world are currently traveling to get the book that will help them achieve that?" The others in the room pondered this for a moment before each of their eyes widened. "Oh no!" said all of them at once. Immediately Celestia and Luna took action. They bolted out of the library towards the chariots that had brought the two of them to Ponyville. Both of them got in their respective chariots, followed by Twilight and her friends. Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack went into Celestia's chariot while Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity went into Luna's. Before Fluttershy could bring up how nervous she was about all of this, Celestia and Luna combined their magical powers to raise the chariots up before they rocketed towards Sweet Apple Acres. None of them had ever flown so fast before. The ground beneath them was a mere blur and no distinct features were visible anywhere. They were going so fast that Twilight couldn't even see two feet in front of the chariot. All of a sudden, the ride stopped and the chariots screeched to a halt in front of Applejack's farm. Twilight quickly jumped off, eager to be back on the ground. Rainbow Dash jumped off next to her, a look on her face that one could only describe as three levels above pure elation. She turned back to Celestia and, to the surprise of everypony, hugged her forelegs. "That...was amazing," she whispered. "When...when we stop the Cutie Mark Crusaders from destroying the world, can we do that again, and again, and again and--" "Yes Rainbow," said a half-amused Celestia. "But right now we have to focus on the issue at hoof!" "Based on your interactions with us so far, I'd say that we're the issue at hoof right now," said Apple Bloom. The others gasped and wheeled around to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders standing in the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres, evil grins on their faces. Luna looked at them angrily. "Thou would do well to stand down!" she said. "Uh...or what?" asked Scootaloo. Luna flew a few feet into the air and fired up her horn. "Thou shalt have Us to deal with!" she said. "You may have power greater than Our sister's but We are more powerful than she is as well!" "Rub it in why don't you?" mumbled Celestia. Sweetie Belle looked at Luna confusedly. "Wait, you're more powerful than Celestia?" she asked. "But of course!" said Luna with a hint of pride in her voice despite herself. "Why else do you think she needed the Elements to defeat Us when We became Nightmare Moon?" "So...if you and Celestia got in a fight right now without holdin' back, you'd come out on top?" said Apple Bloom. "Uh Luna, do not answer that," said Celestia nervously. "But of course!" said Luna. "We would surely be the victor!" Celestia facehooved Luna and gave a frustrated sigh. "She may be stronger but when it comes to basic common sense I wipe the floor with her," said Celestia. "So...can we maybe get a demonstration?" asked Scootaloo. "I mean, we're just curious to see if you’re actually right." "We don't want to see you obliterate each other or anythin', we just want to see if you're right." "Just out of curiosity." "NO!" said Luna. "We are here to defeat you three, not fight each other." "So you're here for this then?" asked Sweetie Belle. Twilight gasped as she saw Sweetie Belle hold up the book. When Luna saw it, she fired the spell she had been charging up and fired it directly at the book. However, the spell stopped just short of both the book and the Crusaders and dissolved harmlessly. Luna's jaw dropped. "What is the meaning of this!?" she asked. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "We put a protection spell up because we knew full well you'd do that, duh!" she said. "I mean, how dumb do you think we are?" asked Scootaloo. A dark expression crossed Luna's face and she fired up her horn once more. "You would do well to hand over the book," she said angrily. "We will go much easier on you if you do!" "Uh...we'll go much easier on you if you give up right now too!" said Scootaloo. "So there!" Luna's eyes narrowed. "So be it," she said. Celestia's eyes widened and she put up a force field over Twilight and her friends. "Tell me she isn't..." whispered Celestia. "Isn't gonna what?" asked Applejack. "Applejack, how much does one of your apple trees cost?" asked Celestia. "And while we're on the subject, how much would your house and barn be worth too?" Applejack's eyes widened. "NO!!" she screamed, running towards Luna but it was too late. Luna's horn shone brighter than any of them, sans Celestia, had ever seen it glow. In that moment, the sun itself fell from the sky, giving way to the moon which was raised with a speed that they had never seen before. "Oh this is gonna be good, I can tell!" said Scootaloo excitedly. Somehow Luna's horn shone even brighter and to the surprise of everypony in attendance, even Celestia this time, the moon's glow began growing steadily darker until it was nothing more than a dark rock in the sky. Luna on the other hoof, was glowing brightly and violently convulsing in the air. The fear in everypony's eyes kept steadily increasing as Luna was possessed by the sheer power of the moon itself. Luna gave a loud shout that nearly deafened everypony before releasing the power of the moon upon the unsuspecting farm. Instantly everything that wasn't behind a shield of some sort was disintegrated and the sheer force of the spell also blew the dust of what had once been Sweet Apple Acres away. The shields of both Celestia and the Cutie Mark Crusaders shattered instantly and the ponies behind them were flung in all directions. It was all that Celestia could to to protect the wielders from becoming nothing more than a red stain on the ground. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were sent flying as well and the book was flung from Sweetie Belle's grasp. However, despite the fact that the effects of the spell seemed to last an eternity, it was really over in a few seconds. Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes. She was vaguely aware that she was lying on the ground, but every joint in her body felt like somepony had set them on fire. She began trying to move, but her body violently protested that action by bestowing more pain upon her. "Princess Celestia, help me," she said weakly. However, no reply came from her mentor. She managed to turn her head enough to see the alicorn of the sun lying on the ground not far from where Twilight herself was. She was shakily getting to her hooves. Twilight bit the bullet and got to her hooves as well, despite every inch of her body telling her to do otherwise. She walked up to Celestia who was casting spells to heal Twilight's friends. Slowly, the other five stood up as well, all still clearly in pain despite Celestia's spell. When Celestia cast the spell on Twilight, Twilight felt much of the pain recede. Or at least, enough pain went away that she could stand up. "What was that?" asked Twilight. "That," said Celestia. "Is a spell that is known by many different names. One tribe of the ancients called it 'wirklich mächtiger Mondzauber', while another called it 'kouzlo, které spisovatel dělal, protože to znělo v pohodě'. I think you would know it best as Luna Rising." "Speaking of which," said Rarity. "What happened to Luna?" The seven ponies looked over to where Luna had cast the spell. They were horrified to see Princess Luna lying on the ground, whimpering pathetically as tears streamed from her face. Celestia's eyes widened and she rushed over to her sister. Twilight and her friends followed suit. "Is she going to be okay?" asked Twilight worriedly as she looked at the whimpering princess of the night. Celestia put a hoof on Luna's forehead. "Shhh," she said soothingly. "It's over now. You just need to relax for now and we'll take care of everything." Luna continued whimpering and shaking on the ground. "She's going to need months to recover from this," said Celestia grimly. "Nopony can have that much power at one time and not suffer serious consequences." "Consequences like 'it didn't work as well as you had hoped'?" asked Scootaloo. The seven ponies wheeled around to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders looking at the scene with grim satisfaction. However, the spell had clearly done some serious damage to them as well. Each of them looked twenty years older and their manes were starting to gray a little. While they stood there with confidence, the seven of them could see that they were slightly shaking, as if each of them barely had the strength to stand. Twilight shifted her eyes around to see if she could find where the book had landed. To her delight, she saw it about fifty feet from where Apple Bloom was standing, unnoticed by the Crusaders. If she could just... "We have to admit that it was the best effort to stop us yet," said Scootaloo. "I don't think being run over by a train would hurt so much as that did!" said Sweetie Belle. "But, in the end we're still a bit ahead here," said Apple Bloom. "I hafta imagine that Celestia's protection and healing spells, plus her battle with us took a lot out of her." "Certainly enough that we could defeat her easily," said Sweetie Belle with a nod. Celestia took an aggressive stance once more but the Crusaders were ready for her attacks so they fired up their horns and sent forth a large blast wave towards the seven ponies, easily knocking them back. As the ponies recovered, the Crusaders slowly walked up to the shivering Luna and stood over her. "Don't you dare hurt her!" said Celestia angrily as she rose to her hooves to defend her helpless sister. "Don't worry," said Apple Bloom. "We won't." Before Celestia could react the Cutie Mark Crusaders fired up their horns once more and shot a spell that hit Luna directly in the head. Luna gave a shriek of pain before she was enveloped in a large white glow. "NOOOOOO!" said Celestia, trying her best to run over to her sister. "No no, that's fine," said Sweetie Belle sarcastically. "We don't mind it if you're being stereotypical and overly-dramatic. As the glowing figure on the ground writhed in pain, Twilight saw it slowly becoming bigger and its features becoming sharper. She turned to Celestia who had collapsed on the ground once more from sheer exhaustion and tried to think of something to say or do to help her. However, there was nothing that any of them could do but watch. Slowly the light began to fade, revealing a form on the ground that Celestia herself had thought long since defeated. "Hi there," said Scootaloo. "We've been expecting you." Slowly the menacing figure of Nightmare Moon rose to its hooves, an evil smile plastered over her face. "I take it that thou art the ones who have freed me from that pathetic princess' mind?" she asked. Her voice was even more menacing and terrifying than Twilight had remembered it. It was like evil itself had suddenly found a voice. "Well, not exactly," said Sweetie Belle. "Then how am I here?" asked Nightmare Moon interestedly. "Well," said Apple Bloom. "It's kind of complicated and involves a lot of math and leaps in logic...or something like that. Basically we're three fillies who awoke an ancient evil and we figured that since you hate Celestia so much, you might as well join in the fun!" "Indeed?" said Nightmare Moon. "I suppose that I can get behind that kind of thinking." Twilight noticed Celestia trying to get up and she did he best to motion over to her. Thankfully, Celestia noticed and looked quizzically at Twilight. Twilight inclined her head towards the chariot and gave a vigorous nod. Celestia returned the nod and went to fire up her horn while Twilight did likewise. "What shalt we do now?" asked Nightmare Moon. "Now we find the book that'll tell us how to gain control of our army of the undead so we can pillage and burn all of Equestria!" said Sweetie Belle. "I'm pretty sure it's around here somewhere if we can just--" At that moment, Celestia and Twilight both fired off their spells. Celestia sent forth a blast wave that, because she was so weak at the moment, did nothing more than make the four alicorns in front of her stumble back a bit. Twilight's spell was a summoning one and it hit the book directly and it quickly zipped over to her before the Crusaders or Nightmare Moon could stop it. When it was close enough, she grabbed the book in her teeth and with every last ounce of strength she possessed, she stood up and ran towards the chariot. She looked back to see her friends and Princess Celestia running towards the chariot as well, each of them clearly in pain from the after effects of Luna's spell. To Twilight's surprise, she saw Nightmare Moon's wings unfold as she went to go give chase to the fleeing ponies but Apple Bloom extended a foreleg and held her back. Twilight didn't have time nor the mental capacity to think about why Apple Bloom wasn't letting Nightmare Moon obliterate them on the spot. She just dove into the chariot, followed closely by her friends and Celestia. Instantly the chariot rose into the air and zoomed away from what had once been Sweet Apple Acres. Nightmare Moon looked at the Cutie Mark crusaders quizzically. "Why did you not let me destroy them when they went to flee?" she asked. "It would have been no trouble!" "I know," said Apple Bloom. "But I get the feelin' that we might be headin' in the same direction anyways. Besides, what's the fun in beating an already helpless opponent?" Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. "Why dost thou feel we are headed in the same direction?" "Well, if they have the book then they're gonna go to the Canterlot library to see how to stop us," said Scootaloo. "However," said Sweetie Belle. "We're going to Canterlot because there's this statue in the Canterlot gardens that I would like to revisit."