Frost gathered at the tips of Luna's feathers as she leaned into the tumult. Her wings made no motion themselves, save for the occasional tilt as the gale force winds carried her through the howling storm. Bolts of magic ripped through the air, striking up and down the dragon's plated form as it screamed out in fury. Thundering skies responded with sleet and lightning that stung at his eyes, and winds to push him back. The damage was negligible, but it kept the princess from the drake's viscous teeth and hooked talons.
His maw parted once again, the familiar glow of fire lighting up the creatures throat. The jet of flame tore through the air, covering the distance the dragon could not. The night princess didn't even flinch at the oncoming blaze, stoic as she slung her free hoof into the winds and was whisked away by a rainbow blur. Rainbow Dash gripped Luna's good hoof with two of her own, face tight as she pushed against the swirling air. Her smaller wings beat against the zephyr as dark forms rippled through the air past her.
The glowing column of fire hadn't even faded, sparks still dancing 'round hail and steam, before the dragon was swarmed by armored fliers. Roaring flame was replaced by raking steel and battle cries, punctuated by the unending shrieks of the frustrated dragon. Arrows, spears, swords and daggers alike punctuated the deep rumbling of the sky, each strike aimed towards gaps in the dragons armor and open wounds, few as they were. His tail and hind legs curled in to protect the heavy stomach wound, but as far as the Guard were concerned, that only meant his shoulder, neck, and eyes were all the more open.
A squadron emerged from the protective shadow of the storm's ceiling, rushing past the princess and her student as they charged the dragon with lethal intent. "This is gonna be a big one!" Rainbow called out to the group, eyeing a massive, swelling pouch beneath the cloud layer. She didn't watch for long, steering herself and Luna farther away from the blast zone. Though none acknowledged her, Rainbow Dash knew her fellows heard the warning.
The dragon's head whipped back and forth as a handful of ponies rushed forward, biting and gnashing it's teeth at any pony who got too close, but one thestral moved with lethal ardor. "Don't let up, give him hell!" Dire Wing slammed into the creatures temple, spurred on by a rage as cold as the rain. The dragon immediately whipped it's head through the air, eager to shake him off, but he held firm as his hind legs wrapping securely around one of the many horns protruding from it's skull.
Despite the rollercoaster he found himself on, Dire Wing pulled himself up and slammed against it's brow with one hoof. The other held to the same horn his hind legs wrapped around, fervently moving back and forth with dual purpose. Despite his pummeling, the beast's dual-eyelids had covered the extremity from any harm. Several seconds went by before the dragon had enough. It's neck stopped swinging about as claws skittered across it's scales and in search of pony flesh.
"Follow up!" Dire Wing called out as he let go, pulling back before a massive talon could eviscerated him. The fatal claw had been no more than a foot away, but his wings tensed as a streak of silver glimmered in the air around him.
Another pegasi suddenly rushed forward, breaking out of a formation to deliver a swift kick into the dragon's snout. It wasn't hard enough to cause damage, but the dragon's eyes snapped open at the impact against it's sensitive orifice. It's eyes locked onto the offender, a mint-green pegasi, but the mare immediately dove downwards as something pulled at the side of the dragon's head.
The sound a furious scream caused the dragon's eyes to flit upwards. Dire Wing came rushing down, gripping one of his blades with both hooves. The dragon reared back, but Dire wing only moved faster. The silver thread, wrapped securely around the dragon's horn and fastened to the stallion's hoof snapped taught, and Dire allowed the momentum to pull him forward.
"This'ns for Wicked you slimy bastard!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, plunging his blade deep into the dragon's eye. The creature shrieked, nearly deafening the stallion as it cried out in anguish. The eyelids closed on Dire's hoof, slamming into it hard enough to crumple his greave, but he barely registered the pain. He felt warm fluid run across his hooves as the knife kept him anchored against the creature.
"Full clear!" He heard Luna's voice echo into the night, and the heavy bass of thunder confirmed the order. The bat-pony didn't bother holding on either, leaving his blade imbedded in his foes iris as he was launched through the open air. The momentum slung him hundreds of feet away, and with a wet crack of his leathery wings, he vanished into the storms shadow once more. Nearly twenty other guards followed his lead, scattering as the Thestral cried out, "Bom bom tarrare!" Corkscrewing high towards his princess, the bat-pony covered his ears in anticipation. Dozens of pegasi above pulled the seam of the cloud apart, filling the air with charge as the cloud struggled to contain the power building within.
Once the dragon has pulled the prick from it's eye, it realized too late all of the prey had fled. It's eyes traced the skyline for the glimmering alicorn, only to be met with a massive black pocket, bursting with white and blue luminescence.
Manes and tails stood on end for the pegasi team nearest the center, as crackling energy supercharged the air. Branching fractals formed as the power cascaded down through the sky faster than the eye could follow. A dozen bolts struck the ground, devastating the ground where they struck and forming into one column of galvanized discharge.
The night sky exploded with light, heat and sound as the bolt surged up from the ground, snapping back into the air as a full-realized column of electricity. Everypony save for Luna averted their eyes as the dark sky turned to brilliant blue. The eruption of light and sound was nearly blinding and deafening, darkness banished in an instant as blue light flooded the air,
and the dragon was lost in the midst of voltaic combustion.
Deafening booms layered one upon the other, rocking the air as the pulsing energy devastated the air. Most pegasi covered their eyes and ears, but a large enough group added their own shouts and cheers to the mix as the combustion continued to echo through the sky. Rainbow Dash's lips split into a startled grin, almost getting caught by a draft as she flew.
Dire wing saddled along side her, whooping and cheering with the rest. "That's what ye get ya overgrown gecko!" He shouted, rapping the cyan pegasus with a hoof while shifting some of Luna's weight onto his shoulder like before.
"Do you think we nailed him this time?" Rainbow Dash asked, turning to Luna with a hopeful look. Her smile faltered instantly, seeing her Princess grimacing with clear frustration. The alicorn only shook her head, eyes fixed on the fading thunderburst. A screeching cry suddenly pierced through the display. The two mare's could make out a curled form within the crackling obelisk. Even as branches of lightning coursed through the air, the dragon suddenly thrust out his wings and launched himself to one side, roaring and gnashing his fangs as he sought to free himself from the blistering assault.
His long form was pocked with black marks and collapsed scales, and the scythe like blade at the edge of his tail was hanging at an angle, the tip barely attached. A small victory as they had yet to do any real damage since the battle had restarted, but the damage was superficial at best. The only major difference seemed to be a few fresh tears in his wings, and small chunks of flesh taken out of his limbs. The fight was no where close to being over.
The celebrating ponies quickly fell silent, doubling back and falling in as they began the arduous process of preparing for another assault. This dance had been going for several minutes, and though they'd struck a heavy blow than before, the dragon didn't seem like he would be beaten anytime soon.
Rainbow Dash let out a groan, locking her hoof with Luna's and pulling them high and right, keeping the dragon in their shadow. "He's not gonna let up, is he?" The creature was already scanning the horizon, brutish face sweeping through the air before it's eye landed on the still glowing alicorn.
"Evidently not." Luna replied, eyes glazing over the creatures body.
"We can't do this much longer." The pegasus scanned the hurricane, eyes lingering over the warped edges of the eye-wall. "The storm is already starting to pull itself apart, and the weather team are gonna start tapping out soon." She chewed her lip in thought, a flicker of nervousness shading her grimace.
"Ill be honest, princess." Dire Wing sighed, disappointedly looking over a heavily dulled blade. He threw it to the side, already drawing another pair from slots in his armor. "I'm thinking we might need to collapse the storm an' hope for the best."
"Lets not even consider that." Luna said flatly, fixing her eyes on the thestral. The deluge receded partially as the trio emerged into the moonlight and the moon's cool power filled Luna once more. "Not unless it's a last resort. The Regular's would be in just as much danger from that going badly as they are from the dragon, if the storm doesn't entirely scatter to every town in a hundred miles."
Even though she was certain it was the wrong move, the idea hung in Luna's mind. 'Storm Collapsing' was an extreme weather protocol that was rarely ever used. Originally created as a way to combat storms created by Wendigo, it was more commonly used in coastal cities and near islands where storms could more easily spiral out of control. Everypony in a weather team was taught the maneuver, but most would go their whole lives without having to use it. As far as Luna could recall, only a few present pegasi had earned the title 'Thunder Jockey.'
Dire Wing merely shrugged, falling wordlessly from the two mare's as he dove towards the dragon once more. Rainbow watched as Dire went, seeming to chew on his words. Luna could tell Rainbow was considering his suggestion. Truth be told, the thought weighed heavy on her own mind.
"We just have to hold on a bit longer, just hold it off until Celestia finishes this." She glanced once more at Canterlot. The odd splashes of light that flickered like candles in the distance spoke of a battle yet raging.
"Oh shit. Princess!" Rainbow Dash said, suddenly angling herself down. Luna snapped from her thoughts, horn alighting once more as she saw the drake snaking towards them through the air. With each rhythmic breath, puffs of fire filled the air around his head and left a burning trail through the crashing storm. Immediately she could see something was different. The dragon's eyes had been fixed on her the entire night, drawn by her constellation, but this time he seemed to be looking past her.
She looked back, seeing nothing but large sections of cloud and the scattered weather team moving along the cloud formation as they-
The Princess's eyes widened as drew in the star's power. "Take me down to him!" Luna yelled, the constellation immediately reforming around her and lending their strength to her wings. She dove down, magic raising the volume of her voice as she shouted into the darkness, "Guards pull back, protect the weather team!"
“'They see your weakness, and think you kindling to be cast aside and burned.'"
Heat and light flared all around Twilight, but the unicorn didn't move her gaze an inch. Despite the burns across her legs and neck, the bruises that rooted in her bones, and the battle being waged by a goddess and a monster, she didn't give a thought to anything save her mission.
Despite dry, cracked lips and a parched throat burning for want of a drink, every word she spoke was clear and powerful. Verbal components were tricky, a stutter or pause could have disastrous consequences. Twilight had narrowly reigned in the spell once tonight, and didn't care to try a second time.
"'For why else would they forget you, and leave you to suffer?'” She intoned, her voice shifting as she spoke not in a chant, but as if she were weaving a tale before an eager audience. With each word, the magic took shape. Glowing wisps of light from the two spells circles flowed through the air and mingled with one another. The bound to one another, Twilight's magic serving to act like rope as she fastened and anchor to the legendary power of the Elements of Harmony.
It was brutal work, but she didn't waste a spark of magic to ease her pain. Only drawing further and further from her flowing reserve beneath the city. Her posture, the placement of each hoof, every move she made effected the flow of magic through her, all while dozes of calculations flew through her mind as she shaped the magic to her will. While most magic was learned through feeling and following the flow of magic that passes through a unicorn's body and horn, the more advanced spells required mathematic equations, runic scripts, and extremely precise flows of mana. All these and more were required for Twilight.
Managing the steady flow from within the mountain and beneath the city, and most importantly, the creeping stress of the nearby battle made nothing about her task easy. Without years of preparation and memorization, the entire spell would have come undone two-dozen times over by now. Her battle with Celestia and having to summon Dementis, feeding the monstrosity, had taken a large portion, but by her estimate there should be just enough to complete the un-binding.
She was already two-fifths done now, and nearly finished with the third seal. Each one was different, having to combat the harmonic element with a countering, yet similar emotional bond. She needed to keep her emotions steady as much as possible in order for it to work, so calmly and clearly she continued to speak,
"Swallowed by it's misfortune, the tree lost who it was and who it had once been-"
Twilight's smooth words tightened suddenly, words almost dying in her throat as her concentration suddenly deteriorated. Images and sounds suddenly flooded her mind, filling her with a wild surge of emotions and feelings. Warm sunlight on a spring morning, the clap of dancing hooves, flowing waterfalls, the crackle of a Hearthswarming fire. All at once her fierce concentration became unsteady as she felt an influence come over her mind. She didn't have to turn or glance up from her calculations to know who hung in the air just behind her.
Twilight's words seemed to echo through the air around Cadence. The pink alicorn glided gentle through the air, hardly making a noise as she hovered above the mare she once watched over. Where it not for the column of purple energy, Cadence could have nearly touched her with an outstretched hoof. So close, yet so far away. Despite their proximity, Twilight hadn't seemed to take notice of Cadence yet. Twilight's attention was squarely on the ground, channeling a steady beam of power into it's hilt. The act seemed so simple, but as she moved closer, Cadence could feel the effect it had. Waves of power filled the air, soft enough to be felt but with enough force that Cadence could feel herself being gently pushed back. An aura of power that seemed to push any influence away.
There was something odd about the magic that Cadence couldn't quite identify. It felt ancient, primordial even, yet there was something simple about it. A feeling that pushed her away, yet drew her in at the same time. She likened it to sun-rain, a combination that didn't make sense yet had a uniquely pleasant sensation that was hard to describe.
Reaching out with her magic, she felt the aura of her power stop at some sort of boundary. Breathing deeply, she pushed gently against the wall. She'd expected this, but the wall was different than the one's Twilight had summoned earlier. In the midst of battle, Twilight had tried to create hard barricades against her mind, bit emotional magic could easily penetrate through such. This one was different. Softer, like a net woven from silk. Her magic creeped through the air around Twilight's form, like a translucent sky-blue fog. Sweet thought's filled her mind, partially spurred by the draw of her own magic, but she didn't let me then run wild. Not with Celestia and Shining Armor relying on her.
She glanced away from Twilight; still guiding her magic gently as she watched the continuing struggle. The battle was intense, all three ponies moving in constant flux as the Alicorn and unicorn tried to pin down Dementis.
Celestia danced across the ravaged landscape, appearing and vanishing in the air as flamed followed her. Dementis howled and cackled, moving like a shadowy hound as she chased Celestia back and forth. Shining Armor stood a healthy distance away. He conjured barriers every where the apparition ran, trying to catch her in bubble or shaping the terrain to slow her. Every so often he threw out beads of magic, bullets tat tore through her body, but to little effect. Doing so only seemed to please her, only briefly distracting Dementis from her pursuit of the shining alicorn.
A glimmering weave of harmonic followed Celestia everywhere she appeared. The effervescent magic coiled in the air, being fed from the magic drawn through Celestia's regalia. It was clear that intense focus was required, as Dementis had begun making ground on Celestia. Not say she was helpless. The alicorn waved her horn as Dementis sprinted towards her, causing the air around the demon to shimmer as particles superheated and boiled the creature alive. As flesh began to slop from her body, she reared back and the mist that was her true form pulled into the air while a twisted black skeleton continued to charge the alicorn. Shining Armor seized the carcass in a bubble just as it exploded into corrosive vapor. Dementis merely re-formed in the air cackling wickedly. The distraction served them well however. Celestia gripped the harmonic strand with one hoof, and the magic weaved into a chain link. She slammed her hoof down, binding the chain into the ground before teleporting away, Dementis resuming the chase.
Celestia could barely track the activity, as magic still shone and dance from all around her. The distant storm didn't help either, with massive bolts of lightning striking and illuminating the sky enough to show Princess Luna was still engaged with the dragon. She turned away closing her eyes in concentration to ensure she didn't become distracted. She had a job to do in order to save her family, and she wasn't about to disappoint them.
The mental barrier suddenly fell, and Cadence felt her magic seep through as she made contact with Twilight's mind. She looked down at the. As soon as Cadence's magic flowed over Twilight, the unicorn's entire body tensed. Her mane seemed to bristle like a wolf as tried to push against the pink alicorn's influence, momentarily pausing in her chant.
Cadence seized the moment, pushing as hard as she could to further dissrupt the spell. Warm sunlight on a spring morning, the clap of dancing hooves, flowing waterfalls, a crackling Hearthswarming fire, friends laughing together, festival music ringing across open fields. Everything she could think of, Cadence pushed into the unicorn's mind.
Twilight's whole body tensed as she fought against Cadence, desperate to both maintain control of her grand spell. Light and shadows still formed in the third circle, dancing back and forth as they awaited to be drawn together by her command. The struggle lasted only a second, but to the mare's it seemed to stretch on for ages; Twilight trying to push Cadence away, as the alicorn defiantly held on.
"Are you sure you should stop her?" A voice bloomed beside Cadence, sweet and gentle. The young princess suddenly felt a force come over, disrupting the struggle and easing the strain in Twilight's expression.
Twilight nearly fell forward as Cadence's hold was weakened. She could still feel the alicorn trying to pump images and feelings into her mind, but not enough to stop the incantation. Pressure grew in her temples, but Twilight forced herself to speak the words necessary to form the third link.
"Wicked deceit... bent... the world." Each word was strained and heavy, but the magical flow didn't stop.
The alicorn's head flew up, rising to meet golden eyes that looked into her own. Benevolentia hung in the pillar of light, hooves still outstretched in a protective gesture. The mare stood so still that Cadence had forgotten she was there. Without knowing how, the young Princess was sure it had been her.
"Of course I do, look at what she's doing!" Cadence motioned towards the battles raging behind her, both in the sky and in the garden. "How in Equestria can you think this isn't wrong!?" She nearly shouted, her grip waning as she felt anger welling inside her chest.
"The... purest truth...blinded..."
The golden unicorn didn't break eye contact, her soft smile only deepening as she held the Alicorn's influence back. 'It's true, there is much for you to lose if you do not.' Cadence was surprised by the tender look in the unicorn's eye, almost as admiring as it was sympathetic. 'No-pony would blame you for trying, but have you considered the cost of victory?'
"What are you saying?" Cadence shouted, almost unable to believe what she was hearing. Her wings flared out as if to fight against a windstorm, till feeling her grip on Twilight slipping. "She's going to hurt everypony, we have to stop her."
"...by His foul mischief." Despite Cadence's efforts, with each phrase, each word Twilight spoke, the column was growing brighter and denser. The light within the column was different from the others, a mix of shimmering light and milky blackness that swirled around one another. An odd gentle sensation rippled over Cadence as the light and shadow grew stronger. Even some distance away, Celestia and Shining Armor exchanged worried glances as they too felt the sensation.
'Not every good action is met with good in return.' Benevolentia's words seemed to flow into Cadence's mind, taking shape as images began to fill the alicorn's mind. It was a memory she remembered well, a day she had taken Twilight on a picnic. She saw the same day through the filly's eyes instead, snapshots flickering by. They had gone a hill just outside the city, but their lunch was ruined by an unscheduled storm. Instead of becoming dower, Cadence had led the young unicorn on a run back home. The pair jumping through every puddle they found before arriving at the filly's modest home soaked to the bone. She swore it was the happiest she had ever seen the young filly, but the memory suddenly turned dark.
After a bath complete with splashing and bubble-fights, the pair's story-time was interrupted by the royal guards arriving to bring Cadence home. She remembered Twilight beginning to cry, telling her that she would come back again the next day, but a feeling of crushing loneliness set into the young Princess unlike anything she'd anticipated. It was almost enough to take her breath away. She always knew Twilight hated when she left, but she never comprehended so much hurt within the filly.
'Neither does evil always return evil.'
"Certainty became..." Twilight's strained words seemed to fade away as Cadence as more and more images flooded Cadence's mind. So many, that she wasn't even sure if her magic was still effecting Twilight's mind. As the purple unicorn's words faded into silence, Cadence was struck by a furry of faces, memories. She saw Chrysalis, the cruel changeling snarling down at Twilight with contempt written in her torn features, yet within her eyes was a glimmer of compassion. A diamond dog held a bloodied hammer in one paw, yet gave her cool water to drink with the other. A grey earth pony mare hurled words cruel words at her, only for the same mare to hum a gentle tune as she embraced Cadence. 'Even the wicked can give good gifts.'
"Hey Cadence?" Shining Armor shouted from across the way, a sinking filled him stomach. The air was growing heavier as waves of power seemed to emanate from the brightening column of magic. Even the elder Alicorn felt it, busy as she was keeping the ravenous phantom off of her as much as possible. "Gonna need you to hurry, hon!"
"Stop." Cadence begged. So many images poured through her, she thought her mind would explode. More and more memories, faces, experiences flashed by. An empty wasteland covered in ice, a dragon drinking a toast before choking on poison, a broken bed, a stallion as dark as shadow grinning at her, mismatched eyes coursing with the deepest abyss of madness. She gripped her head in her hooves, whimpering past tears as she tried to hold to Twilight's conscience, reaching out for every happy memory, every beautiful picture in her mind.
'For you to succeed, she must lose. I say this to help you, Cadence.' A gentle feeling settle over Cadence's shoulders, like an embrace that kept her from getting too close. 'Do you understand?' Benevolentia whispered, so softly Cadence thought the mare was speaking into her ear.
The young alicorn hung in the air for a moment, sniffling as all at once the images plaguing her mind seemed to fade. Her mind caught in the unicorn's words.
"Yes." Cadence looked up suddenly, her eyes hardening as they settled on Benevolentia. For a moment, she withdrew her grasp from Twilight's mind, the purple unicorn gasping as the mental pressure released for a single moment. Cadence imagined herself pushing the golden mare away, throwing the gentle hooves off of her shoulders and denying the mare's kindness. "I reject your gift." Cadence declared.
Benevolentia's tender look didn't fade as the mare curtly nodded to the princess. 'Very well.' She said. Cadence felt the invisible force vanish from around her as Benevolentia dropped her hooves to hover Twilight once more. The Alicorn reached for her magic, lowering her horn as she once more tried to reach into Twilight's mind.
'But the others will still have their own say.'
Just as Cadence felt Twilight's mind open to her, another forced slammed into her like a steel door. Pure rage flowed through her mind, like a wildfire gone out of control. A vision of a white unicorn with flames for hair appeared, deep red eyes scowling at Cadence.
Saevio's arrival was so abrupt, Cadence felt her influence repulsed briefly. Just long enough for the purple unicorn to recover her wits.
"As the world turned upside down!" Twilight suddenly cried out.
"No!" Cadence shouted, trying to seize hold of Twilight again, but it was too late. The glowing lights and swirling shadow within the third circle pulsed and danced, flowing into one another and mingling in strange ways. It seemed unnatural, and hurt Cadence's eyes to look at, but the light began to take the shape of a unicorn's body. Her features were sharp, hawkish even, unlike anypony Cadence had seen. Her head was held high, chin pointed so the mare could look down her nose at everything she saw. Narrowed eyes seemed to stare into Cadence's heart, scrutinizing her for every flaw that could be found. The dancing shadows flowed over her body in fine tattoos that spiraled over her legs, hips, shoulders, neck, and even pointing into the corners of her black-tipped scleras.
The other three ponies paused in their struggle. Shining Armor stared in awe and wonder, the spell at his horn's edge crackling as it faded. Celestia and Dementis both turning towards the expanding column as they felt immense power within the mare, threatening to burst free.
"Thus Honesty was obscured." The mare spoke quickly. Her words short and pointed. "as cruel Judgment was wrought upon the world."
The circle of light expanded rapidly at her word, sweeping across the garden to quickly for anypony to react. Cadence cried out, reaching for her husband as terror filled his eyes. A tsunami of black and gold swept across the mountain side, and for a moment Cadence thought she was about to lose the stallion she loved.
But as the light spread into the distance, fading in the night sky, Shining Armor stood unharmed. Even Celestia and Dementis paused their battle for a moment, glancing at the tattooed mare before looking at each other again in confusion. The situation would have been comical, but Cadence was nearly overwhelmed with relief that Shining Armor was safe.
Until the air seemed to crack around her, and a gust that didn't seem to quite be there rustled through her mane. A strange feeling filled Cadence. Within her, Celestia could feel the Element's power flare, warming her breast as she felt an odd weight within her, like an anchor. Cadence felt similar, though hers was more akin to holding onto the edge of a cliff, still grappling with Saevio for Twilight's focus.
Dementis gasped, drawing everypony's attention. A slow realization dawning across her features. "Judicia." She spoke the third mare's name like a lover she fondly remembered, hugging herself with a sigh. "So strict, so proper. And yet..." The mare leaned back, suddenly moving diagonally into the air, drifting away from Celestia like a flower in a stream.
Shining Armor was momentarily lost in the feeling, trying to make sense of it. The floating feeling surrounded him, gentle at first as he gazed high towards the stars above. They almost appeared to be falling towards him, the sky shifting in it's place as the ground rose up to meet him. It was not until he felt his tail and mane begin to fall sideways, strands lifting as gravity's hold over him began to shift, did he realize the ground neither rose, nor the sky fall, but the very axis of the world had begun to change.
"Oh no..." Was the stallion had time to say. The whole landscape tilted higher as down was suddenly behind him and Shining Armor had only a moment to scream before he fell into the horizon.
Something changed in the wind, that much the alicorn knew. Even as Luna flew down, chaining one spell after another down towards the rampaging dragon, something seemed to bend in the air around her. Like a ghastly voice who's whispers skittered down her bones.
The aerial battle had once moved like flocks flying in tandem, but it now buzzed like a beehive under assault. Pegasi flew in ever direction, formations broken as the rampaging dragon streaked across the sky every way he could, gnashing his teeth and swiping his claws at anypony near enough. Vitreous fluid leaked down his face, but Luna could see the slitted orb gazing back at her. Furious, raw, and most certainly not blinded. Stallions and mare's alike scattered in terror as the dragon's full fury was wrought upon anypony it could see.
Squall Strider, and several of his juniors, tore back and forth through the sky, moving their fellows and corralling loose storm clouds as they went. Hundreds of Pegasi moved too and fro, the majority pulling back to the storm ceiling as he gave chase, but smaller groups still trying to whip gusts and clouds together to halter his movements. Armored guards, those that remained, did everything from running interference to pulling the others farther from danger. The dragon moved with savage abandon, tearing recklessly through any attempt they made. Already five more guards had fallen, bringing their total number down to less than thirty, and his frenzy had seemingly only just begun.
It seemed to Luna that he had lost all control his primitive mind had. A sign of intense wear in a dragon, but a perilous one to boot. The Lunar Princess was on the chase now, diving down past the falling rain as she felt her magic flow through the stars as she moved. "Go for it's wings, full charge!" She yelled out. Her dark wings fanned out to slow her rapid descent, as the stars realigned and rained bursts of magic down on the creature. Crystals and frost grew where the magic struck, but was shaken off before it could fully spread across his scales.
Even with all these things pulling at her attention, demanding her fixation and exact focus, Luna could not ignore the shudder that stretched into ever corner of the sky around her. She could barely spare a second to look, but those lights and waves of power surrounding Canterlot we growing stronger. With every shimmering pulse that echoed into the night, she felt a terrible marching dread fill her heat.
A group of armored pegasi curved through the air, flying in a V-formation as they charged from below towards the dragon's belly. The dragon seemed to sense the movement, jack-knifing suddenly and slicing through the air with it's mangled tail. Had the appendage not been mutilated the blow would have eviscerated half the group, but the loose protrusion flailed through the air and only struck two pegasi. One immediately vanished, as the blade tore into his armor, while the other was batted away into the wind like a sack of flower.
Rainbow Dash immediately dove down, rocketing past Luna and closing the distance as loosed a beam from Albireo. The dual-beam struck at the dragon's head, distracting it long enough for Rainbow Dash to swoop in and catch the stunned pegasi. "Stay in it's blindspot!" She yelled out to the others, pulling back as she tried to rouse the dazed stallion. "Come on stallion, name and rank. Name and rank!"
Luna waved a hoof and rain ceased to fall in a fifty foot circle around her, the water suddenly drawn to her in lengths. A cold flash burst from Deneb and the water froze into enormous spears of ice. Dozens of frozen blades launched towards the dragon with a push of her magic, but a wide burst of flame all but reduced the volley to steam.
Luna dove right as another burst was aimed at her, wrapping the steam around her and vanishing from sight. As the serpent searched for where the alicorn would reappear, another twin-beam of light surged towards him from the haze. Sparks and smoke may have obscured Luna's vision, but not her memory. The beam cut through the smoke and steam, striking the dragon's face with searing heat and piercing cold. He recoiled with a shout, and Luna shot to the right out of cover. The movement sent pain through every inch of her wings, but she had no time to think about that.
The princess pulled back, stars realigning to reduce her mass as the dragon rushed forward in a blur of teeth and fire. She held her movement, waiting to shoot straight up as the once the dragon got near enough to be unable to follow. She held for the space of a breath, her gaze deadlocked on the dragon's with absolute precision when everything went completely wrong.
A wave of power flowed through the air, striking both Luna and the dragon as the hung in the air. Suddenly Luna felt her body crush in, as if a great fist had grabbed her and began to squeeze the life of her. The Night Alicorn's whole body stiffened, every muscle tightening despite her willing them to move. "What in Equ-" She tried to speak, but even her jaw seemed locked shut.
The dragon veered in the air, yelping in shock as a flap of his wings suddenly sent him spiraling high into the air above her, and swinging him into the Hurricane's eye like a leaf caught in a gale. Luna spun as well, dragged down as she could only watch the massive serpent be slung higher towards the storm ceiling.
The Princess tried to cry out, to tell the others to flee or to call Rainbow Dash for help, but all she could manage was a crushed groan as an opposite force pulled her down through the freezing rain. The silver glow of Cygnus turned dark, and she could have sworn she heard her stars cry out along with her as crushing weight surrounded her. Faster and faster she plunged downwards, spinning in a viscous cycle as the lights merged into one, and her vision went black.
"Shiny!"
"Captain!"
Both alicorns cried out, watching as the white unicorn was uprooted from gravity's hold and pulled swiftly into the night sky. Cadence lunged forward, ready to fly after her husband, but before she could take flight a golden barrier immediately formed in front of her.
"I have him, Cadence! Do. Not. Stop." The elder alicorn spun around to her nephew, turning her back on Dementis as she reached out with a single hoof. The first golden chain suddenly lashed out, following her movement and snaking through the air towards the falling Captain. Shining Armor reached out in an attempt to dig a hoof into the grass that now sped by like a sheer cliff wall, slamming his heavy limb into the dirt. Dirt sprayed across his eyes and face, but he only succeeded in pushing himself farther away from what once was the ground.
Cadence tore her eyes away with a sobbing groan unable to watch as her husband continued to sink into the horizon. Her whole body tensed as she grit her teeth, eyes shut as more and more blue magic flowed and she continued her grapple with Saevio. She merely grinned her twisted grin, watching with glee as the stallion tumbled into the distant night sky.
Celestia turned away from Dementis, tucking in her wings as brilliant magic gathered around her blazing form. The ground erupted as she struck the blackened earth, pushed further in as she channeled her power into the dirt. Hundreds of pounds of earth shifted beneath her hooves, moving across the way towards the falling stallion. The inverted gravitational force dragged the screaming stallion closer to the open horizon, but just before he passed the garden's edge the ground beside him exploded outwards. A massive claw made of dirt and clay snagged the stallion, narrowly keeping him from being flung into the distance.
The catch was by no means gentle, driving the air from his lungs as he impacted the earthy mass. Shining Armor heard a wet crunch somewhere within his torso, but he quickly scrambled to his hooves and waved towards the alicorn "I'm ok!" He yelled out, not waiting for his Princess to call out for him.
Celestia breath a sigh of relief, countered by disappointed groan from Dementis above. She wanted to hold for just a moment as the strain began to weigh on her shoulders. As she had plummeted, she could feel a shift in the air around her no less than three times. Were she not channeling the Element's power directly, Celestia had no doubt she would be in a similar straits as her Captain.
"Beset by the dark influence, the Serpent’s pernicious words captivated the tree."
The voice spoke from across the estate. Power and arcana echoed Twilight's sentiment as she continued to channel. The wind began to shake as she spoke. Something within Celestia, feeling the wrongness within the very fiber of her being.
"From the garden of creation spilled forth plague and desolation, wishing for all to suffer as it had."
Twilight no longer spoke with calmness. A heavy strain was evident in her voice, but whether it was from the weight of her own spell or Cadence's attempts, Celestia couldn't tell. For a moment she was torn between continuing her fight with Dementis, or unleashing everything she had towards the unicorn, but the grating voice above her spoke first.
"Why are ponies always so BORING!?" Dementis screeched, suddenly kicking off the air as if it were stone. The air seemed to carry like a wind tunnel through the air, before she suddenly shifted to float straight up. Celestia watched as the phantom leapt, swam, and floated through the air in a bizarre display of scientific impossibility. The way she moved made no sense, not that anything about her did. She did almost nothing herself, simply allowing shifting forces to carry her along a twisted path towards Shining Armor.
'She's moving through gravity wells.' Celestia realized, breath hitching in her chest as the demon maneuvered towards Shining Armor. Her horn lit ablaze with golden magic and Celestia's eyes glowed brightly as her view of the world shifted. The ground and the sky faded to dull colors, while the air burst to life with every color of the wind. The clouds far above gleamed pure white, while green and yellow ran through the ground at her feet, but those were of little interest to her.
Instead, her eyes hung on the soft blue hues that contrasted with fiery coils of red and orange that snaked through the air in every direction. Cylinders of purple light ebbed and flowed around her, some moving while others remined inert. Gravitational forces had been separated from their magnetic counterpart, which meant the ley-lines were beginning to splinter. With both forces shifting independently, Celestia couldn't possibly guess what would occur, but all that mattered was she had mapped out where to avoid.
Shining Armor was not idle, for his part. Slinging spells as Dementis followed the coursing influences towards him, her grin leering across the way as she rapidly approached. The earthen claw suddenly cocked back in it's place, and Shining Armor's eyes widened. He turned towards his Princess, realizing just what was about to happen.
“'My friends have become idle so let them never be at rest'!”
"Brace yourself." Celestia said in a simple tone, turning her head so her words flowed along one of the orange strands and into Shining Armor's ears. The stallion's eyes went wide as the claw pivoted, suddenly angling him towards the city edge and forest below. Even disoriented by gravity's change, the last place he wanted to go was over the edge. "P-Princess, you aren't actually going to-" was all he managed as the earthen fist suddenly cocked back and hurled him straight over the side of the mountain.
Celestia merely watched with a look of calmness as the stallion disappeared over the edge, screaming as he went. Dementis was rounding one edge of the garden's plateau, and the mare's grin actually altered a bit as she glance towards Celestia in perplexing. Princess Celestia paid her no mind, reaching out with her magic as she felt the power of Harmony entangle in the loose bubbles of gravity and polarity. "three... two... one."
"So cried the tree, as the ground soaked with tears and blood."
The screaming stallion suddenly came flying back over the edge, as if thrust out from a geyser. He whipped through the air, now encased in pink bubble of magic, as he traveled through an undisturbed pocket of gravity and nearly seemed to arch over Luna's moon. Dementis snapped her head back towards the flailing stallion so quickly any other pony would have broken their bones, but her wicked grin reaffixed itself as she realized Celestia's ploy.
"Tricky, tricky Princess!" She chortled in that sing-songy tone, thrusting herself out of the east-moving gravity well and into a beam of soft blue light that swiftly moved her to intercept Shining Armor.
"It’s words echoing a lament with none to hear."
Celestia felt the air bend around her, and the shifting lights bent to her will. Just as Dementis threw out her hooves to grab the falling stallion, a cone of purple energy suddenly appeared between them. Shining Armor was suddenly flung towards the mountain's peak at an angle, all the while displaying an impressive lung capacity. Within seconds he passed through another, pulling him down towards the partially destroyed green maze, before being grabbed by yet another tunnel of force.
Dementis chittered and cackled as she swam with renewed fervor through the shifting wells, black eyes locked on the helpless stallion. "Play!" She cried, leaping from one cone of gravity to the next. "Play with me, fishy!"
'Just a bit more.' Celestia merely watched with an unwavering cool as Shining Armor was brought closer and closer, feeling harmonic power build at her hooves. The stallion dropped out of a funnel and into another, one that led straight to Celestia. The alicorn held out one hoof, exerting her will over the space to bring him near with a low breath.
Dementis moved faster. The creature leapt from a magnetic flow and into a sphere of grey-purple spots. She came to a dead stop in the apparent zero-gravity spring suspended a short distance away from Shining's tunnel. With a horrid wail, she threw her hooves wide and a burst of black energy shunted the sphere to the side, directly into the unicorn's path.
"No, no, no!" Shining Armor screamed, trying to fight the current as it whisked him towards the awaiting grasp of Dementis. She panted and grinned, black magic already gathering at her horn, already savoring the taste of his magic even before she claimed it for her own.
"So impatient." Celestia tutted. Swiping her hoof through the air, the chain that once failed to grasp Shining Armor now sank into the stallion's breastplate. The golden bond pulled him out of Dementis' path and into the one that had first snared him. The stallion was dragged through the air like a fish on a line, landing into the original flow that had nearly swept him off the mountain. The red sparks shifted to blue, and soon he was moving towards her once again.
“If the light of the firmament shall not look upon what she has wrought, may she be blind to all of her children’s woes."
Dementis spun in place, her grin faltering as she glared at the flaming alicorn. Celestia didn't flinch, only waving a hoof at the phantom as if to beckon her closer. "Always acting, never learning." The first chain sprang to life and shot through the air, sinking into one end of the gravity tunnel Dementis had submerged herself in. Quickly the shifting light began to turn a dark purple color. "So typical is madness." Celestia extended the hoof towards Dementis once more, and golden light burst from the ground beneath her front hooves. A new chain shot forward, rooting itself in the opposite end of the flow, and similarly twisting the gravitational forces.
Dementis tried to summon her power again, to force herself or the gravity sink hole out, but with harmonic magic pouring in her efforts were in vain. Celestia reared back, physically pushing with her hooves as the ends of the column began to collapse inwards. The air twisted unnaturally as the space collapsed irregularly, trapping Dementis in the middle. The phantom tried to scream, to siphon Celestia's magic, but to no avail. A thirty foot long column of space collapsed on top of the creature, crushing her body down into a black mist, and then more so until the singularity began to collapse.
Celestia finally had enough, she slammed her hooves to the ground and the gravitational forces reversed and expanded once more. Black mist was slung in every direction, scattered to the wind for a moment as Dementis was shredded at a nearly cellular level.
Celestia panted from exertion. For a moment, she allowed herself to pause as Shining Armor dropped to the ground just a little ways off. Far enough to ensure he wasn't scalded by her flames, but close enough to see he was uninjured. Within seconds of hitting the ground, Shining Armor rolled to the side and began retching as the changes in pressure and gravity caused his stomach to flop.
“Let the heaven’s light scourge the land with fire until the end of time...”
"Get up, Shining Armor." Celestia panted, already gathering another coil of Harmonic energy in the air. "We've only bought a moment." Golden energy surged around her, granting her more power to create the next bond with Dementis banished for a short while. Her molten armor was beginning to blacken in spots, and the rainbow of flames surrounding her seemed to be returning to strands of ephemeral hair once again. She was tiring, but her stoic expression betrayed the exhaustion.
"And may the sky and sea war and clash till the end of days, that serenity shall not linger in any good place."
With great effort the stallion rolled to his hooves, wincing as he clutched a bruise quickly growing on his right side. It was probably a broken rib, but he wasn't eager to complain when the world seemed to be ending around him.
"Alright." He panted, steadying himself as he watched a cloud of black form in the air once more. "Ready for round two."
"The binding will hold you for now, but it is temporary at best." Celestia spoke quickly, both ponies watching as Dementis swung through the air, moving with the closer with magical tides. "I will need it once the others are finished, but it will keep you from being swept away in the meantime.
"Cadence is giving us the opportunity to finish this." The pink alicorn hadn't turned back since Celestia had forbidden her to leave, eyes closed in deep concentration. Rainbow flames coiled around her as a haunting smile formed just a few paces away. "Let's not squander her effort."