//------------------------------// // A Blade and a Cinder // Story: Upheaval: Reckoning // by Visiden Visidane //------------------------------// Upheaval: Reckoning Chapter 41: A Blade and a Cinder “There’s a gate opening within the Royal Palace itself!” Celestia’s warning left everypony in the Chamber of Elements alert and hesitant. They heard Black Rose clear enough and knew that they should be on the defense. But who was attacking them? And how did one defend against gates that opened within the place to be defended? “A gate from where?” Luna asked. “Can you tell what’s coming out of it? And where is it exactly?” Celestia closed her eyes. “From the Eternal Herd,” she said. “It’s in the throne room. As for what’s coming out…I do not recognize them. They’re neither alicorns nor enforcers.” “Of course.” Luna tapped a hoof against the floor and frowned. “Enforcers cannot harm mortals, so Gravitas is relying on something else. Why hasn't he sent some of his officers?” “These are advance troops,” Celestia replied. “Their leaders will come afterwards. I expect an alicorn or two at best. Gravitas’s arrival alone will mire the Council of Elders in a great deal of discussion with the other heavenly realms. I doubt he’d have been allowed to bring many alicorns with him.” “Regardless, the rest of the Legion must be warned!” Vanguard growled. Applejack was about to take his side when he shook his head. “The Elements of Harmony will move as the princesses direct them.” “Be careful, Vanguard Clash,” Luna said. When the doors behind him closed, she turned towards the others. “If this is a move from Gravitas, he will go after three things: he will seek to detain both me and big sister, acquire the Crystal Grave, and gain control of the Elements of Harmony.” The blank looks that answered her quickly brought another problem to her attention. “Your Highnesses,” Twilight said. “Who is this Gravitas? And why is he attacking us?” “It will take too long for me to tell you in detail, Twilight,” Celestia said. “For now, it is enough to know that he is a threat from the Eternal Herd’s side.” “That’s all I need to know!” Applejack said. “Question is, what do we do to stop him?” Celestia’s expression hardened. “There is only one thing that can get through to Gravitas and his followers." She tapped the floor forcefully with a hoof. “We fight back. When they see that their ‘destroy the mortals’ solution is not as easy as they thought it would be, they would be more willing to try other things.” Celestia now had enough power to get a feel of the Elements of Harmony and she saw the renewed radiance within them. It wasn't enough to take on the likes of Gravitas or Black Rose on their own, but their improvement did strengthen her hope. Perhaps there was some merit in her brother’s methods after all. Particularly worrying, however, was seeing that it was Twilight Sparkle who was now having the most difficulty. “Big sister,” Luna said, “What about Black Rose?” The power of sunlight remained where Celestia had detected it earlier. It was now flaring up strongly. Black Rose was using it on something...or against somepony. Still, Black Rose was behaving like a friendly stranger; waiting by the doorstep until somepony invited her inside. How long was she going to going to keep up this act? Celestia shook her head. No. “Act” was a simple way to look at it. Black Rose showed something different with each encounter. Which was an act and which was her true self? Underneath the gambling and the ruthless manipulation, however, there was indeed the intention to aid Equestria. “It is likely that Black Rose and her allies will come here to fight Gravitas,” Celestia said. “We will neither aid nor fight them.” She paused, her ears perking. An alicorn just stepped out of the gate. The others looked to her in concern. “We will focus on driving back Gravitas’s forces. Now, let’s head for the throne room. The Legion cannot contain this threat by itself.” She flung open the double doors and flew ahead. “Captaiiin!” In a blink of an eye, Scarlet Rabbit was flying alongside Vanguard Clash as he galloped towards the throne room. Word had already spread to all legionnaires stationed in the Royal Palace. Runners were sent out to warn the rest of Canterlot and evacuate the residents. “You in fighting condition, Scarlet?” Vanguard asked. “We’re up against otherworldly enemies this time.” “Otherworldly, underworldly, bring it!” Scarlet shouted. “I’ve been cooped up in that hospital for so long, I’d charge Fenrir’s gullet if I have to!” “What about the rest of Special Operations?” “I just flew past Sixth and First squad! They were already heading towards the throne room!” Vanguard pulled out his two-bladed sword. He could count on most of the unicorn magi to be alert from sensing that burst of magic. By the time they get to the throne room, they should have a sizeable force to- “Hey, Captain, check that out!” Scarlet hollered, waving a foreleg wildly. Something was shambling towards Vanguard and Scarlet. It looked like a typical-sized earth pony except that it had no coat, only a pale, translucent skin with a pinkish hue from the muscles beneath. Its eyes were bright golden lights, easily spotted even from a distance. “Stop right there!” Vanguard called out. He doubted that these things would even understand him, let alone prove cooperative. Still, if a fight was going to break out, he would not be the aggressor. True enough, the thing’s only answer was to quicken its pace. It moved with loping gait, bizarre given its pony-like shape. Over a dozen more rounded the far corner of the hallway and followed the first one. Scarlet pulled out his crossbow and aimed. “So, what do we do?” he asked. The eyes of the things flared and their loping gait sped into a near-sprint. “Kill them,” Vanguard said. With a shrug, Scarlet fired his weapon, plunging a bolt deep into the skull of the lead creature. A glowing, silver liquid spurted out of the wound, spraying all over the floor as the impact sent it flying into its allies. The other creatures didn't even slow down. Vanguard stepped back as one of them lunged clumsily at him. He swung his weapon, cutting the thing’s throat wide open. Silvery liquid poured out of the wound, rapidly pooling beneath it. “Woah!” Scarlet cried out. “Check that out, Captain!” To Vanguard’s horror, the creature Scarlet had shot was back on its hooves. Its bolt wound continued to leak silvery fluid, but it continued to advance. Likewise, the one that he had cut down had also stood up, its head shifting unsteadily on its nearly severed neck. “Stay cautious, Scarlet,” he said. “Focus on hampering their movement if they can’t be killed.” He slashed at another shambling thing, cutting open both its front knees. Silvery fluid spurted, and the thing collapsed. “You’re not even surprised?” Scarlet asked. He hovered just out of reach of the shambling creatures while he reloaded “I expected troops working with an alicorn general to have some kind of edge,” Vanguard replied. He hamstrung a second shambling creature, then slammed his shoulder against another. “I suppose ‘unkillable’ is their choice.” Even with their legs badly damaged, the things dragged themselves across the floor to get at the two. Both of them fell back to keep from being surrounded and overwhelmed. “Fire!” A barrage of bolts whistled past Vanguard and Scarlet, bowling the first of the enemy into the ones behind them. Half a dozen pegasus legionnaires started reloading while six earth ponies rushed into the fray. “These things don’t die!” Scarlet yelled at their reinforcements. “Put more bolts into them until they can’t stand up!” “By the prince!” one of the pegasus legionnaires shouted. “What’s happening to that one?” One of the fallen things had extended a foreleg, which was wracked with violent spasms. The skin tore off as chunks of bone grew at an alarming rate, shaping the limb into something else. A crossbow’s prow began to take shape. A long, thick line of sinew served as a grotesque bowstring. Three more creatures followed suit. Several of them loaded splinters of bone and drew their strings back. “Crossbow fire!" Vanguard shouted. "Take cover!” The pegasi swiftly dispersed. One unlucky legionnaire took a large bone splinter to the hind leg. The earth ponies slammed into the pale-skinned creatures before they could reload, knocking them down and brutally stomping on them. The stone floor ran silver. The pale-skinned creatures twitched and convulsed, but did not utter a single sound. Vanguard shuddered at the crunch and snap of bones moving around and the squelch of muscles rearranging themselves. He bit into his weapon’s grip tightly when one pale-skinned creature, the one he had cut down, approached him. The still-gaping wound on its neck looked smaller. Its cheek bones bulged and stretched into long, curving, blade-like protrusions that pierced its flesh and skin. “It takes more than imitation to get this weapon style down,” he growled. He lunged at the thing, ducking its first swipe and swinging his neck from side to side. His blades slashed through its snout, severing muscles that attached its lower jaw to the rest of its head. One of its bone-blades clattered to the floor before it could even swing. When it did, Vanguard met its blow with an armored shoulder, sending it reeling back. “Terrato’s broken horn!” one of the earth ponies snarled. “I'd have killed a dozen wolven with what I've thrown at these things!” Their enemies were moving more and more fluidly. Thick bony plates covered them where a legionnaire’s barding would go. Their hooves had grown to twice the size of a pony’s, also reinforced with bone. Another bolt whizzed past Vanguard, striking one of the creatures on the forehead. He followed it up by cutting down its front legs. “Hey, Captain!” Scarlet yelled. “That one’s not moving so much anymore!” True enough, one of the creatures was simply twitching in place. A dozen bolts covered its head and shoulders. Its bone armor had been shattered and its crossbow had been pulled off. All four of its limbs had also been broken in several places. “Well, that’s one,” Vanguard muttered. He brought down his front tramplers on his opponent, snapping its remaining bone-blade and crushing half its face. Two more of the creatures rushed him. These ones swung their bone-blades wildly, flinging red blood at him. A legionnaire limped past him, carrying a badly wounded comrade out of the fray. “We’ve got more of them coming in!” Scarlet yelled. A look of horror crossed some of the legionnaires' faces. They panted hard and had to drag themselves into fighting stances. A few were down and bleeding. The sight of enemy reinforcements left Vanguard wondering where his were. A bolt of purple magic streaked past Vanguard from behind, blasting several of their enemies off their hooves. He turned towards its source. The color of that magic was familiar. Shining Armor stood at the head of a squad of unicorn royal guards. His horn crackled with magic as he waved a hoof to order his troops to fire. “Clash,” he said with a smile. Vanguard answered with a smile of his own. “Armor,” he said. “W-what’s going on here?” Twilight Sparkle stared at the battle raging before her and her friends. Legionnaires and royal guards clashed with bizarre, pony-shaped…things. Spells and bolts flew through the air echoed by clangs and crunches. “Captain Nightcanter!” Pinkie Pie shouted. The high-pitched yell shook Twilight out of her daze. Nightcanter glanced towards them and grinned. “I’m a little too busy to be foalsitting you today, Pinkie Pie!” she shouted. “Try not to get mangled by these things!” One the creatures brought down its hooves on her head. Nightcanter smiled and gently shimmered. The real Nightcanter emerged from behind the creature, slashing its throat out with a knife so savagely that its head lolled to the side. Silvery fluid pumped out of the open wound and all over the floor. Pinkie Pie looked away and covered her mouth, her face looking a little green around the edges. Twilight's own stomach protested at the gruesome kill. “We've got to help them!” Applejack said. She uncoiled her chain and whirled it. “No,” Celestia said. “If we insist on starting with the rank-and-file, Caro will bury us in a mountain of flesh. If we strike her down, they will all fall dormant.” Applejack looked at the princess. Her lips twisted, but she put away her chain. Twilight wasn't quite sure how to feel at the moment. It was strange to hear Princess Celestia advocating striking down anything. Since the mention of this Gravitas, the change upon the princess was obvious and unnerving. “Princess, what are these things?” she asked. “Flesh constructs,” Celestia replied. “I know the pony who would use such things: Caro Artifex, the worst of Gravitas’s lackeys.” “I've never met that pony before, big sister,” Luna said. Celestia smiled wryly. Golden light gathered at the tip of her horn. “I envy you so much in that regard, little sister.” A brilliant ray of light burst from her horn, neatly slicing through several of the flesh constructs and leaving a clear passage through the crowded hall. There was no sign of blood or any fluid save for a brief sizzling. The constructs, even the ones cut perfectly in half, crawled around, still trying to fight. “Legionnaires, keep that path clear!” Celestia took to the air, slicing her way through the battle. Twilight expected these legionnaires who had served Terrato all their lives to hesitate at Celestia’s bold orders. Instead, they gave a rousing cheer and plunged into the path, driving the flesh constructs back. There was little time to marvel at the sight, Celestia had flown ahead. They pushed through the battle and went through a few more hallways. As they came closer to the throne room, the fights grew thicker and more gruesome. Bodies littered the place, with some even piled up. The floor was slick with blood and silver fluid. In one instance, Twilight’s hooves failed to find any traction and she nearly slid into a pile of still-convulsing flesh constructs. It was only a timely pull on her tail by Celestia that kept her standing. They eventually reached the area where the invaders had taken control. There was no fighting here, only a long, steady stream of flesh constructs making their way towards the contested sections of the Royal Palace. “We have to go through!” The tip of Celestia’s horn began to glow again. Before she could finish the spell, however, an arrow flew past her, piercing the knee of the closest flesh construct. Several more arrows followed suit, each one finding a home in a limb or an eye. Rainbow Dash looked wide-eyed at the arrows. “Longstride!” she exclaimed. She looked behind them, towards the confused mass of fighting. There was no pony with a bow behind them, however. Instead, a pegasus rounded a corner that they just passed. At least, it looked like a pegasus. The blades attached to its wings, the stinger-like contraption on its tail, and the insectoid mask, blurred the distinction. “Sablesteel…” Pinkie murmured. She stepped towards the pegasus, jaw set and resolute. “Sablesteel, I-!” Sablesteel said nothing as she flew towards the enemy in a whirlwind of toxic blades. She lashed out at different directions, vile green liquid splashed where she cut, melting flesh and bone. Rarity whipped around, blades ready. Twilight flinched when one of them flew towards her, whizzing just past her cheek. “Stop right there, Lion Court!” Rarity demanded. Twilight looked behind her. Why was Rarity acting out? It was just Lion Court. He’s always been there to help- she stopped. No, that wasn't true. Why did she even think of it that way? Rarity was right. This was another Thorn! “I’m impressed,” Lion Court said. He also had his blades out, a particularly wide-bladed one had blocked Rarity’s weapon. “You spotted me when I didn't want you to.” “I have an eye for detail, Lion Court,” Rarity said. “You used the same spell on me twice, so I noticed the small things that made a suggestion not mine.” “I’ll keep that in mind when we duel again.” Lion Court knelt briefly towards the princesses. “For now, we are here to fulfill our joint defense against Gravitas. My mistress sends her regards, your Highnesses.” Rarity looked as if she was about to follow Lion Court, but a stern look from Celestia stopped her. “We will deal with the Thorns later," Celestia said. "The longer we take to deal with Caro Artifex, the more ponies will be hurt and killed by these things.” All of them moved on, slipping past the openings left for them by Black Rose’s thorns. Finally, they reached the throne room. Six hulking monstrosities guarded the doors, each one the size of a minotaur and covered with layers of thick bone plates. Their spike-covered hooves looked big enough to crush a stallion with a single stomp. They did not attack when the group approached. Instead, they parted while two of them opened the double doors. “The adaptive body modification is taking longer than expected to begin,” somepony said from the other side of the doors. “Repeated bone armor formation also takes its toll on the already limited regeneration. The harder they become to hurt, they easier they become to kill.” Twilight frowned. It sounded like somepony speaking her notes out loud. The giant flesh constructs pushed the doors open, revealing somepony sitting on Princess Celestia’s throne. The nerve! Twilight ran in, ready to attack. The sight of several piles of dead guards and legionnaires brought her to a stop. Some of the smaller flesh constructs were tending to them, removing barding, setting aside weapons, even cleaning the spilled blood. The arrogant alicorn mare sitting on Celestia’s throne had a nut brown coat and a mane that looked like a constant stream of bluish-white sparks blowing from the back of her neck and head. She rose, standing a couple of inches shorter than Celestia, and smiled. “Good, you’ve arrived,” she said. “Undamaged too.” “Caro Artifex,” Celestia said. She stepped past Twilight and held out a front leg. “Why have you done this?” Caro descended the steps. “Orders,” she said. She spoke as if the slaughter was a chore and nothing more. Twilight grit her teeth, spells already going through her mind. Rarity had already pulled her blades out, Applejack, her chain. “Did the Council of Elders authorize this?” Celestia asked. The princess’s calm tone was disconcerting. Twilight had expected her mentor to be furious at the sight of these dead ponies. “The Council ordered us to secure Regia Carnifex and the Blasphemous Rift. As for the royalty, we are supposed to work with them. Unless they resist. In that case, we were told to execute Princess Luna’s old sentence and detain both Princess Celestia and Prince Terrato.” “You’ve made no effort to work with us at all!” Luna said. “The first thing you did upon gating here was loose these things upon us!” “The mortals struck first,” Caro replied. “They attacked as soon as I arrived.” “You’re lying," Luna said. “It’s what my official report will say. I am so glad to be able to field-test my constructs like this. The mortals are putting up a good fight. By the time I exterminate the ones here for attacking me, I should be able to make enough adjustments to prepare them against Oceanus’s troops.” Caro’s horn glowed blue and she pulled a small glass bottle seemingly out of thin air. “Now, Princess Luna, I happen to have some specially prepared liquid enchantment here. A single dose and you’ll be censured quickly and painlessly, without damaging your mortal remains.” Her eyebrows furrowed as she touched a hoof to her chin. “The data should be interesting.” Luna’s horn flashed dark purple. Celestia placed a hoof on her younger sister, drawing a confused look from Luna. “Big sister, this alicorn just asked me to kill myself so she could experiment on my body!” Celestia walked over to one of the piles of dead legionnaires. “Gravitas only sent you, Caro? He’s being complacent.” “He trusts in my ability to defeat Princess Luna,” Caro replied. "The Elements of Harmony are not yet ready. We knew that it would be Prince Terrato who would meet with the general. I do hope he proves to be civil. I need to consult with him regarding a lot of necromantic theory. As for the mortal who stole your power, she will not be coming here. The general has sent somepony else to deal with her.” “I see.” Celestia bent over the piles of weapons neatly stacked next to the dead bodies, then picked out a sword with her magic. The point had been shattered, but the rest of the weapon was still intact. “You have no respect for the mortals, Caro. As such, you do not belong here. I’m going to censure you now.” She grasped the sword with her mouth. Caro chuckled. “Really? I’d be worried if you still had your power, your Highness. You used to be the princess of sunlight. Right now, you’re just the princess of ci-!” Celestia took exactly two steps, then leaped. By the next instant, she was already standing in front of Caro Artifex, her head low and turned to her left. Faint golden light bathed her broken sword, forming a blade-like shape past the metal. Some time passed before Twilight remembered that she should breathe. The motion should be simple enough to understand. Princess Celestia leaped towards Caro Artifex and slashed with her sunlight-enhanced sword. The simplicity belied the impressiveness in that move. Her mentor jumped such a great distance with no support from her wings. Not even with a running start. It happened so fast that nopony so much as winced at the killing blow. Caro Artifex had not moved from her spot. She stared at Celestia, her mouth wide open and her eyes bulging. She looked down towards her chest. A clang resounded throughout the throne room as the lower half of Caro’s breastplate struck the floor. Across her chest was an enormous cut, a blackened horizontal line that stretched from one shoulder to the other. Thin wisps of smoke escaped from the bloodless cut. Behind Caro, an enormous, crescent-shaped cut had sundered the stairs leading to Celestia’s throne. The light faded from the sword when Celestia spat it out. “Tell the Council of Elders that I will do the same to any alicorn who comes here with the same disregard for mortals as you do,” she said. Bright light burst from Caro Artifex’s wound, her open mouth, and her eyes. She pitched forward, her knees buckling under her. By the time she struck the ground, she resembled nothing more than a burnt-out shell. None of the flesh constructs in the room moved. After a while, Twilight tipped one over with her magic. The flesh construct collapsed into a moldering heap, turning into clumps of dust in a minute. The others followed suit. “Well, that takes care of things,” Applejack said. She looked warily at the princesses. The rest of her friends did the same. “Big sister,” Luna said. The stern look on Celestia's face made all of them stand up straight. “We have to go,” she said. “Terrato has gone to negotiate with Gravitas, but it is plain to see that there is no negotiating with that fanatic. He must be censured before he destroys everything.” “Big sister, if we go to Sky Mirror Lake to attack Gravitas, what of the Elements of Harmony?” Luna looked towards Twilight and the others. “If we leave them here in Canterlot, Black Rose will take advantage of our absence.” “We are taking them with us.” Luna raised an eyebrow. “And take them that much closer to the Blasphemous Rift? I agree that Gravitas is the worse threat, but we shouldn’t just ignore Black Rose!” Celestia looked over to the burnt out remains of Caro Artifex. “It seems that ever since I lost the power of sunlight, everypony has been underestimating me,” she said. She smiled slightly. “Black Rose thinks that she is the only gambler in all of this. I can place bets too. We’ve been on the defensive for too long. This is why she has had so much space to move around.” The smile disappeared and her eyes narrowed. “We will censure Gravitas and call her bluff. Let her try to open the seals. She will lose this game she loves so much.” “Princess…” Despite the gravity of the situation, Twilight smiled. “Black Rose gave me but a cinder of the power of sunlight,” Celestia said. “This cinder will spark the flame that will burn her plans away.”