Chapter Forty: Mental Warfare
~BlackRoseRaven
After checking over Avalon, getting reequipped, and calming themselves, Antares had Tender Trust take the lead and they made their way back into the halls of the fortress. The stallion could feel a rising sense of urgency, and that it was important for them to be as fast and precise as possible... even if with such a large group, they would have to be careful.
Avalon was wrapped up in one of Sleipnir's oversized bags, but her head was left poking out of the satchel and it was cocooned around her: the effect was both to keep her safe, but also to keep her restrained just in case she woke up in a fury. And even through Sleipnir had volunteered, Antares was still carrying her over his back: even wounded, Sleipnir was a better fighter and far stronger than him, and the glossy-black stallion thought it was best not to burden him. Aphrodisia had also wanted to carry the tiny Pegasus, but Antares had pointed out that since the demon was now lugging a reaper's scythe around with her, it might be best not to try and stack Avalon over the deadly spirit-eating weapon.
They came across three Dullahan in the sitting room they had passed through before, and this time, a fight was unavoidable... but it was also short lived. Pinkamena dismembered, Sleipnir crushed, and Morning Glory lived up to her namesake and simply annihilated whatever got in her way with light magic, her purification making short work of the metallic entities.
Tender Trust led them back to the gathering hall, and again, they were confronted by a gang of Dullahan: but once more, the Clockwork creatures were torn apart by the group. Morning Glory seemed to draw on strength from the confrontation... and Antares shivered as the last Dullahan was hefted high into the air by her chains before she slammed it down, and then her horn glowed as she grinned ruthlessly.
Two chains ripped its hind legs off as its body glowed white with energy, before simply exploding in a blast of ashes and purification. Chunks of shrapnel flew forwards in all directions before the Destroyer slung the little that remained of the broken corpse to the ground, and Sleipnir commented wryly from where he was standing over another now-empty shell of armor: “Perhaps thou could relax just a little, dear battlemaiden. Thou cannot tell me thou art enjoying such foes that heartily.”
“I enjoy teaching them pain and suffering all over again before they die. Their pain gives me strength.” Morning Glory replied coldly, her chains snapping through the air around her as she turned. “Besides, would it be better if I risked letting one of them escape to cry to their master? Let me ensure their destruction my way and we won't risk setting off any alarms.”
“Yeah, explosions are real quiet. Why didn't I think of that?” Pinkamena said wryly, and when Morning Glory glared at her, the demon only smiled coldly in return. “Don't get me wrong, I like your style. But your emotions are bleeding through. Save all that pissed-offness for the bitch who did this to us. I'll even be generous enough to let you have the body after we're done putting her in her place.”
“We need to take her alive if possible. She has information about Thesis.” Antares said quietly, and he gestured at Tender Trust, the half-Phooka shifting uneasily before nodding once and striding into the lead again. Morning Glory scowled at the stallion, but he only smiled faintly over at her, saying quietly: “It's for the greater good, and you know that. Besides, Psukhikos is part of Thesis' machine. I know you'll give up the chance to kill this enemy for the chance at an even bigger fish.”
Morning Glory looked at the stallion measuringly again, and then she simply nodded and fell in step as Sleipnir smiled wryly and remarked: “Keep this up, young stallion, and thou shall one day be as dangerous with thy words as dear Celestia.”
They continued on: the passages were twisting and labyrinthine, and occasionally they passed strange and terrible machinery, but there was little in the way of conflict: as they made their way up floor after floor of stairs, however, they could clearly hear the sounds of battle on the other side of the walls, and Antares wondered uneasily how long the forces outside had been fighting for before they stepped into a long cement tunnel, thrumming pipes and wires all along the sides and ceiling of this. It sloped gently upwards, and as they walked along the grated floor, the stallion felt instinctively that they were heading to the highest point in the entire facility.
Tender Trust slowed near the end of this, and Antares strode up beside her, not needing his instincts or his acuity to know that this led into Psukhikos' lair: the enormous, sealed armored door was enough to tell him that. No, what his instincts told him was that the room beyond would be fortified, and this was the only way in and out of what no doubt served as the home and ruling seat of the Replicant, that it would be bunkerized and more than likely protected by nastier means than this door alone... and his acuity told him it was because of her arrogance and her cruelty that she chose this particular spot, so she could look down over her floating fiefdom.
Morning Glory and Sleipnir both strode past without needing to be asked, then shoved their front hooves against either side of the heavy, plated door. They both grunted and pulled to the side, and slowly, the massive, shutter-like doors were forced open inch-by-inch, until both behemoth equines could slip their hooves quickly into the crevice between the doors and yank firmly, the door mechanism snapping with a whine of gears as the shutters were forced to gape wide open.
Antares stared into the room beyond as he led the way inside, gazing slowly back and forth in disbelief: he didn't know why, but everything about it leapt out at him as simply so... so wrong. It was beautiful, sure, with carpeted floors, and a massive skylight above, the moon's radiance shining down into the room and doing a better job of lighting it than the glowing crystals on the walls did. But there were also thick black cables feeding out of the walls, running all along the ceiling around the skylight, and down into the ground over the soft blue silk carpeting. The cables on the ceiling fed towards vents and into the walls above the doorways that led out of the room... while the cables on the floor all seemed to converge into the steel pedestal that sat in front of a beautiful throne of platinum and black crystal, in the very center of the room.
Cupped atop the pedestal was a large, crystalline orb: it thrummed softly with power and light, a twisted green energy burning inside of it. Antares stared at this as the others strode into the room, and then Tender Trust whispered: “That is the Eye.”
Antares began to open his mouth, to ask what they should do, a voice whispering eagerly in the back of his mind that they should take it and see what they could do with it themselves... and then Pinkamena stepped calmly past and yanked her axe off her back, slamming it savagely down into the crystal and cutting it almost in half in a burst of green light and terrible sound. Antares was almost blown off his hooves by the force, but far worse was the psychic static that ripped through his mind a moment later, as the putrid reek of rot filled the room.
Avalon jerked awake on Antares' back, then retched loudly and convulsed once as Tender Trust screamed and covered her head, and Aphrodisia groaned and staggered backwards, eyes glowing brightly. Morning Glory only snarled, but her eyes became like spotlights as Sleipnir grimaced, clutching at his face. But Pinkamena only grinned despite being at the center of the blast, leaning forwards as she yanked her axe upwards and shouted furiously down at the broken, shrieking orb: “Reminds me of the good old days in Pinkie Pie's head!”
She slammed the axe down again, and this time the entire pedestal crumpled from the force of her blow and the orb exploded into pieces, the wailing vanishing into the air with a shockwave of force. They were all knocked staggering by it, but with the ripple of power the psychic static was blown away, the world returning to silence as the ponies slowly gathered their wits.
“What have you done...” whispered a voice, and Antares' eyes snapped open as he looked sharply up. Psukhikos was standing in one of the doorways, snarling in fury and leaking blood from one ear, her black and gold eyes glowing with rage and realization... and was that fear, too? “No! You idiot foals!”
Pinkamena only blew her mane out of her face, shouldering her axe as she said calmly: “Shouldn't leave your valuables out if you don't want 'em played with, that's all. Now please make this hard for us so I can cut off your legs.”
Psukhikos snarled, then the Clockwork Pony set herself and hissed: “You dare trample your way into my home, you dare destroy my mindstone... and now you think that gutter-trash like you stand a chance against me?”
Antares readied himself as Sleipnir stepped forwards with Aphrodisia, and Morning Glory strode forwards to fall in line next to Pinkamena, the Destroyer saying coldly: “There is one of you, but many of us. You're nothing but a pathetic little maggot that crawls in the minds of others, and we've broken your trinket. How do you expect to win?”
“Easily.” Psukhikos snarled, and then she grinned savagely before Antares felt a wave of force wash over him, a burst of raw, psychic malice... before he stared in shock, and he saw the others tense as well as Psukhikos vanished from sight, but her voice echoed all around them: “I don't think Thesis will mind if I tear apart your minds, as long as I don't lose most of the pieces.”
“She's tapping into our senses. But I still see her... Pinkamena!” Tender Trust's voice took on a moment of urgency, and that was more than enough to get the demon to react, Pinkamena snarling and lashing her axe out in a wide swing in front of her, and she was rewarded with a cry of pain and a splash of blood from midair.
Morning Glory immediately leapt forwards, beginning to stomp her hooves savagely along the floor, and Sleipnir ran forwards as well, curling in from the side and clearly hoping to box in the unseeable creature. But to Antares' shock, both the behemoth demon and the stallion were blasted backwards by waves of psychic wrath, and then Psukhikos hissed: “You're being naughty, little girl!”
Tender Trust was launched like a rocket off her hooves by a concentrated telekinetic hammer: it was so powerful that Antares was knocked staggering just from the force of its impact, and on his back, Avalon yelped and looked around in senseless confusion. Then Antares cried out in shock and horror as the broken shutter doors both slammed viciously shut as Tender Trust began to pass between them, crushing and pinning the half-Phooka as the metal warped around her semisolid form.
She was left dangling in midair, Antares mouthing wordlessly and Aphrodisia staring, then snarling and running forwards as her eyes glowed, searching for any sign of the Clockwork Pony as she screamed and yanked the scythe off her back: “You'll pay for that! We'll rip you limb from limb!”
“Shut up.” Psukhikos said disdainfully, and Aphrodisia was hefted into the air in a telekinetic hold, tight bands of crushing force forming around her and beginning to twist her limbs into unnatural positions. Her scythe fell from her grip... but was scooped smoothly up by Pinkamena before it could even hit the ground, her battle axe in one hoof and scythe in the other as she spun herself gracefully around in a circle on her rear hooves. Her body flexed as the weapons cut through the air as she built up momentum, before she roared as she slung first scythe, then battleaxe outwards.
They whickered violently through the air, spinning rapidly before the scythe smashed off the invisible shape of Psukhikos: the blade failed to find purchase, but the impact of the pole alone was more than enough to send the Clockwork Pony rearing back and flickering back into reality as her concentration was interrupted. Then the battle axe slammed full-on into her chest, the blade leaving an enormous, awful wound as Psukhikos was knocked flat on her back with a scream of agony.
Aphrodisia fell from the air, and Pinkamena leapt forwards and caught her daughter, expression calm and cold as she gently set the rasping, surprised-looking demon to the ground as Antares gaped in amazement at Pinkamena. But the Devourer only spat to the side as Psukhikos scrambled up to her hooves, clutching at the wound across her breast: her coat was flayed open and enormous bruises had spread over her coat, the Clockwork Pony staggering unevenly as she asked in disbelief: “H-How...”
“Because you're bleeding, you stupid bitch.” Pinkamena replied contemptibly, and then she grinned and reached up, touching her nose. “Makes it easy to see where you are. Makes it easier still to smell your blood. Now go to sleep.”
Psukhikos glared furiously, beginning to open her mouth... and then Sleipnir's hoof slammed into the side of the Clockwork Pony's face, sending her staggering before he slammed a blow into her stomach next, and Psukhikos' eyes bulged as she gargled before the stallion seized the back of her head and slammed her face-first into the ground. And the whole time, Sleipnir was calm and controlled, even as he firmly yanked her head back and then slammed his other hoof once, twice, thrice into the Replicant's face, then he whistled sharply as he dragged her backwards before slinging her fiercely forwards towards Morning Glory.
The enormous demon grinned savagely, eyes glowing as Psukhikos flew through the air towards her before the behemoth reared back, ready to crush her out of the air with both hooves... and then everything stopped. At first, Antares thought it was just a trick of his mind, before his eyes widened and he stumbled backwards in shock as Psukhikos floated slowly down to the ground, breathing hard and bleeding heavily, but her expression terribly cold and calm as she touched down on her hooves.
Sleipnir was frozen with one foreleg extended, just after throwing Pinkamena her axe; the weapon itself hovered silently in the air, and the demon mare had one hoof half-raised, as if reaching to catch it. Aphrodisia had halted in the middle of picking herself up, beautiful and pale, somehow erotic in the way she was posed...
His eyes sharpened, and he realized there was a faint aura surrounding all these frozen in time objects. A pale, whispery whiteness... and the stallion swallowed thickly as Psukhikos slowly looked up and towards him, her mismatched eyes glowing with light and darkness as the same conflicting aura swirled around her horn, saying quietly: “No. Forget what Thesis said. I think I'm going to kill all of you slowly. If he's lucky, I'll save your remains.”
The Clockwork Pony rolled her head on her shoulders, and Antares cursed as he set himself, barely feeling the wiggling on his back as Avalon looked back and forth stupidly, trying to make sense of what was going on around her as she slowly dragged herself to full consciousness. The stallion was too focused on the enemy, studying her: injured, but furious and in a corner and no longer holding her powers back on any account, no longer daring to underestimate them, scared of them... but that just made her all the more dangerous.
Then she snapped her horn forwards, and the ponies that were frozen in her psychic grip were flung in all directions by a psychokinetic shockwave, along with Pinkamena's axe and even the massive platinum throne. They were all slammed into walls with enough force to crack the stone, before Psukhikos turned her cold eyes towards Morning Glory as the Destroyer hauled herself to her hooves with a roar: the others were stunned, but the behemoth unicorn demon's instincts compelled her to concentrate on one thing, and one thing only: hurt her enemy as much as possible.
She began to charge as Antares ran forwards himself, and Psukhikos only smiled coldly before she glared at Morning Glory. The Destroyer gurgled as she stumbled to a halt, and her eyes took on their own unnatural glow before she gritted her teeth, then twisted her head violently back and forth, rasping almost desperately: “No... r-run... run away...”
Antares snarled as he flicked his horn down, sending a blast of white fire at the Clockwork Pony, but Psukhikos simply glanced disdainfully towards him and the magic dissolved, as the stallion shouted: “What did you-”
The Destroyer roared furiously, and it was nothing but primal rage and wrath, her eyes glowing white before she leapt towards Antares with a cruel grin, raising a hoof. Antares stared in shock, eyes drawing upwards before Sleipnir dove over him out of nowhere, tackling the mare backwards as Psukhikos laughed and asked derisively: “Please, do you really think it was a good idea to bring easily-broken demon toys along? They're slaves to their urges, and with a flick of my horn, I can give them whatever urges I so desire!”
Antares snarled desperately, before Pinkamena's axe whickered by... but halted just before striking Psukhikos, the Clockwork Pony smiling coldly, the blade an inch only an inch away from her nose as she looked calmly down either side of it at Pinkamena. Then she flicked her horn forwards, and the axe shot violently backwards to hammer weighted backside-first into the demon, crushing her in a flat sprawl in a burst of blood from her skull before Antares charged.
He was buffeted into the air by a telekinetic blast, then hammered across the room by a second, as Aphrodisia roared in fury and ran forwards, her eyes glowing, losing control as her demonic self began to emerge. But Psukhikos only smiled cruelly as her eyes flashed, and the demon staggered to a halt and grabbed at her face with an animal whimper. “How weak and pathetic. Even without my assistance you gladly put your freakish true face on display. Now be a good little filly and let's turn all that focus onto someone else, shall we?”
Aphrodisia spun around with a snarl, glaring at Antares, and Antares stared back for a moment. He felt helpless to do anything, and Sleipnir was already locked in combat with Morning Glory, the two giants grappling and slinging each other into walls and the floor. Pinkamena was out cold, Tender Trust was trapped, Avalon was senseless... and he couldn't do a goddamn thing. Not just because she was so much stronger than him, because she was his best friend, and he couldn't fight her again.
The Dominia demon growled at him, her eyes glowing... before to his shock, she spun back around and snatched up her fallen scythe, leaping forwards and roaring furiously as she lashed out with it. Psukhikos barely managed to step out of the way, before the demon lunged again and slashed outwards, but this time the Clockwork Pony snapped her horn to the side and blasted the weapon out of the demon's grip with telekinesis.
Aphrodisia lunged forwards, but she was caught in a telekinetic bind, struggling to bring her claws forwards, biting like an animal at Psukhikos' face before she vomited out a blast of orange smog over the Clockwork Pony. The psychic staggered with a curse and a snarl of fury, then slung Aphrodisia savagely forwards into Morning Glory, shouting furiously: “Your toxins might work on the weak-minded, but I am not weak! Let me show you how strong I am!”
But none of them were paying attention: Morning Glory only attacked the thing that had hit her, snarling and grinning as she stomped down and Aphrodisia was almost crushed beneath one mighty metal hoof, but Sleipnir roared in denial and slung an uppercut into the metal demon to knock her backwards. Antares ran towards Pinkamena to try and get her up, panicking, needing help, and Tender Trust was calmly, slowly wiggling herself free from between the doors.
Psukhikos trembled with fury, then leaned forwards and unleashed a psychokinetic wave through the room that was so powerful it ripped up chunks of carpeting and tore thick cables from the walls, black corruption vomiting out of the tubes as she screamed: “I order you to pay attention to me!”
The force blasted their bodies and tore at their minds, restoring their senses as they staggered in mid-conflict. Morning Glory gasped as her mind returned, and Pinkamena snarled as she snapped back awake, her eyes turning with the others to the Replicant... and Psukhikos grinned through her bloody tears before she rasped: “Good. I want to watch you all suffer.”
Her eyes glowed brightly, and Antares felt the world fall away as psychic hooks ripped into his mind, screaming in agony as he fell forwards. The others collapsed one after the other, and even Tender Trust went limp with a gurgle, even as her body fell free from between the broken doors. But all their eyes were drawn to the terrible, godawful right and wrong, black and gold, light and darkness of Psukhikos' gaze, the Clockwork Pony drinking in their agony and fear as she channeled her powers into the mind of each and every pony there.
All except for Avalon, who finally yanked herself free from the saddlebag before trying to leap into the air... but her dislocated wing sent a blast of agony through her, and instead she fell to the ground with a grunt of pain, knocking Antares' saddlebag open and causing a loose stake to bounce free with her. She grabbed at her injured wing, unable to remember what had happened before she trembled and she looked over her shoulder at the others... then gritted her teeth as she glared at the Clockwork Pony and snatched up the silver stake from the ground, shouting: “Why don't you fight like a goddamn mare?”
Psukhikos didn't look up, concentrating on the mental link, feeding off the psychic pain of her victims and unable to see in the real world: instead, she was in a mental paradise, where she was all-powerful, toying with her wounded and broken victims. They were delicious swarms of pain and emotion and fatigue, the injuries to their bodies making it all the easier for her to tap into their minds like this. Oh, a few of them were still strong enough to struggle, but she was draining power rapidly from her other victims to add to her own reserves of strength, and nothing could go wrong at-
Avalon leapt up in front of her and drove the blessed stake down into Psukhikos' skull as hard as she could, and the Clockwork Pony staggered backwards as her horn sparked violently, screaming in agony as her link was broken by the magic-disrupting weapon, and all that psychic pain she had been enjoying turned into razors inside her mind, blood bursting out around the stake pierced through the front of her skull. She staggered blindly backwards, barely feeling Avalon's hooves following up with furious slams back and forth against her features in a vicious tattoo, before the Clockwork Pony snapped her head up and unleashed a raw shockwave of force with a scream of fury and frustration.
The tiny Pegasus was launched backwards with a yelp to crash painfully down on her back amidst the others, and Psukhikos was left panting hard, shivering violently, blood and clear fluid running from one ear. More crimson spilled out of the hole beside her horn, making her tremble as the silver stake finally hit the ground on the other side of the room, nothing but a twisted ruin from her psychic outburst. And yet in spite of all her power, she could still feel her mind writhing in painn, as she glared furiously at the group that dared to stand against her.
These weaklings, these pathetic little ponies... they all were picking themselves slowly up, despite ruptured organs and half-blindness and all the damage she had torn through their minds and bodies. They were continuing to fight her, kept sneaking up on her, for all her superiority to them, and the Clockwork Pony snarled in fury as her eyes glowed and she strode forwards. No, even the Destroyer was drained now, all their minds were broken-open and vulnerable, and now she would rip them apart one-by-one. Nothing was going to stop that from happening now. Nothing.
Psukhikos opened her mouth... before there was a loud thud above her head, and the Clockwork Pony glanced dumbly up before the skylight exploded, shards of plate glass falling in a beautiful and deadly hail around her. The mare staggered backwards with a shriek, her eyes wide with disbelief before a large satchel was slung down at the Clockwork Pony's hooves, and this was followed by a sapphire fireball that cut through the hail of tinkling glass and struck the cloth bag directly.
A massive explosion ripped through the air, flinging the Replicant skywards with a scream of pain and knocking the ponies grouped against her backwards from its force. Cracks tore through the floor as the room quaked, and then Psukhikos crashed down onto her back, gargling in pain for a moment before the room shuddered again as the cracks through the floor spread wider, dipped slowly... and then gave away completely with a rumble of sound, burning carpet, rock, wood and metal all falling into the gaping pit that Psukhikos spilled into with a scream of denial, along with the broken remains of the pedestal as half the room collapsed and the gaping chasm swallowed her up.
All eyes stared in disbelief, and then Antares looked up, feeling both relieved and stupefied as he saw Meadowlark leaning down through the hole in the skylight above. Little Luna was beside her, grinning widely despite the cracks in her armor and the blood over her face, shouting: “Need a hoof, friends?”
“I think this is a sign it's time to go!” Antares said quickly after a moment, and Morning Glory grimaced but nodded moodily in agreement as the others grunted, all slowly picking themselves up before the stallion grinned widely. “But are we ever glad to see you.”
“And we you. Let's move quickly friends, I am glad we do not have to spend time debating: most of the army still fights these endless swarms of creatures, but we think we've found a better way to deal with this fortress!” Little Luna replied firmly, and Antares smiled a little: he didn't know what it was that he saw in her at that moment, but it was enough to let him know that he should trust her, as he gave a quick nod before looking over his shoulder at the others.
“I have no idea what the hell is going on.” Avalon said honestly, rubbing slowly at her head before glancing down at her hoof, but her reaction to seeing blood was only to absently wipe her hoof against her armored chest. “Where are we, again? What are we doing here?”
“We are leaving, young Avalon. Come, thou shall ride with me, I have more than enough strength to make the way back to Canterlot even through whatever strife lurks outside.” Sleipnir replied with a smile, and Avalon nodded awkwardly, hurrying over to him... then squawking a little when he scooped her up and dropped her on his back with a smile.
Pinkamena only grumbled moodily as she turned to pick up her axe, while Aphrodisia whimpered nervously as she grabbed her scythe, almost hugging it close and still in demonic shape, before Tender Trust said worriedly as she strode silently through the group: “We did not defeat the maci-manitow, though... it is below us, I can hear it in my mind. How it screams and writhes and hates us...”
“Fear not. Whatever that monster was, this place will become its grave. Let us make haste, friends, please, it will not do to tarry here.” Little Luna said hurriedly, and Antares looked up at her, smiling faintly as he felt a reassurance of a different kind: even though it was a symptom of the sapphire mare becoming more anxious and slipping back into old habits, for a moment it was like he heard his mother's voice, and enough of an omen to let him know that they had done what they could, and they should move on.
The stallion spread his wings and flapped them firmly: they ached, but he could survive one more flight. He gave a nervous look towards Morning Glory, but she only cracked her neck moodily and muttered: “Next time, though, we show no mercy. And there will be a next time. Child, I will carry your toy.”
Aphrodisia rumbled quietly and smiled awkwardly: a strange expression on the skull-like features of the demon, as she nodded once and held her scythe out. Morning Glory grabbed this with one of her chains, then twined the metal tendril around it and pulled it down against her back before muttering: “Let's go.”
Pinkamena grunted moodily in agreement, and then she and her daughter burst apart into streams of dark smoke that shot quickly upwards, and Morning Glory leapt up through the broken skylight, ignoring the pain from the large dents and gouges that covered her metallic body. Sleipnir followed as Avalon clung to his mane, Tender Trust flew next into the air, and Antares leapt up last, flying upwards and joining the rest of the group as Little Luna nodded and ushered them onwards, and Meadowlark only smiled in relief at the fact that they were all still alive.
But there was no time to celebrate or talk further, as Little Luna turned and led them quickly across the floating island: they were near one of the enormous, strange cliffs of crystal and stone, and the edge of the fortress that faced on Canterlot was a good distance away. And between them and there were swarms of Thunderbirds engaged in aerial combat with Pegasus Guard, and Dullahan that were both fighting on the ground and gathered around mobile cannons that had been rolled out, firing salvos carelessly into the sky, destroying friend and foe alike.
Little Luna's horn glowed as they flew forwards, and a moment later, she was surrounded by a spherical barrier. She led them fearlessly onwards, wincing only slightly when a cannonball slammed into the barrier protecting her and bounced off, leaving the energy cracked like glass before her horn glimmered brightly as she restored the shield. “Come, come, my friends!”
Antares looked down, but Morning Glory and Sleipnir were keeping pace with ease as they leapt from rooftop-to-rooftop behind them, both plowing down Dullahan and other Clockwork creatures that got in their way. Sleipnir moved with surprising grace for such an immense pony, while Morning Glory simply battered and bashed her way through anything that got in her way, at one point veering slightly off course just so she could lower her head and then viciously smash her way through a cannon. A massive explosion went up as she tore the artillery weapon in half, but the demon didn't slow as she emerged through the blast, leaping out into thin air before her hooves glowed bright gold and left trails of sparks behind her, looking like she was sliding on an invisible rail to another roof below before rejoining Sleipnir's side.
Meadowlark and Tender Trust flew on either side of Antares, the stallion breathing hard as he tossed a worried look at the Pegasus, but she shook her head and pointed quickly, and the stallion nodded sharply. He forced himself to refocus, even through his surprise that Meadowlark was holding up so well: not just because of the chaos of the battle around them, but because flying was a strain for her to begin with.
Then the stallion winced and looked up as a Thunderbird shrieked and dove down towards them... but to his surprise, Little Luna shot upwards, drawing its attention before she twisted sideways as the Thunderbird attempted to grab her, smashing into its wing with the spherical barrier and lunging forwards with enough force to bend the Thunderbird's appendage backwards.
The metallic bird shrieked as it was sent flopping backwards, spiraling violently our of the sky as Little Luna twisted her flight around to continue to lead them onwards, shouting over her shoulder: “Just keep moving! Don't let the the monsters slow you down!”
Antares nodded sharply, then he grimaced he saw another Thunderbird flying in towards them... but this one was taken out by two Pegasi that slammed into its side, knocking it rolling out of the air with a cry of fury. The stallion winced as he pushed himself hard to keep up to the others, feeling his wings beginning to cramp up before he realized the edge of the floating island was just ahead, and Little Luna ordered firmly: “Antares, with me! The rest of you, head to Canterlot!”
Below, Morning Glory and Sleipnir looked up at this instruction as they landed on top of a rooftop side-by-side... then dropped their eyes forwards at the Dullahan surrounding them. Mixed into the ranks of these were insectile drones of silvery material, ticking forwards on thing legs and raising large, mantis-like forelimbs... but as they moved, they rippled like water, a limb here transforming into an axe-like blade, another sprouting an extra set of clawed appendages. Shapeshifting Soldier Drones: Clockwork World's basic but all-too-deadly infantry.
The shapeshifters clicked and the Dullahan breathed quietly through their gaping collars, and the enormous earth pony grinned as he asked easily: “'Tis a score or so more of them here, isn't there? Well, there is always a minute to spare, and no crime greater than haste that wastes good sport and good times. Shall we play a game, Morning Glory?”
“You know just how to help a mare cheer up, don't you?” Morning Glory grinned despite herself, as Avalon stared incredulously past Sleipnir's shoulder, two long chains snapping eagerly back and forth around the Destroyer's head. “Knight's rules?”
“And with an endless sea of ale as the prize!” Sleipnir shouted cheerfully, and then he leapt forwards and slammed a vicious uppercut into the nearest Dullahan, sending it rocketing through the air and its sword and shield flying in either direction. “Luck bless all my foes!”
“Save the luck for yourself, Sleipnir!” Morning Glory charged forwards with a grin, smashing a drone underhoof before slapping aside a Dullahan that leapt at her like a toy.
As the two tore into the enemies that were scattered across the rooftop, Antares and Little Luna dove down along the side of the floating fortress, and the stallion's eyes widened in surprise as he saw Pegasi working industriously below the island, fitting blocks of what could only be explosive into place while others fought back the occasional Thunderbird that dove down to attack them, using nets and crossbows to stay at a safe distance.
Antares looked back and forth in amazement as Little Luna explained quickly, grinning slightly as she led the stallion onwards: “The horde above seems endless, but while we fought, a messenger came to me from my sister. Apparently several injured soldiers decided that even if they were forced to retire from the battle, they could still scout beneath the island for any vulnerabilities. They told us about strange metal hubs, and Celestia and the Archmage believe these to be what keeps the fortress in the air... so we are going to destroy two of them, and see what happens.”
“But we need your help!” called another voice, and Antares looked up with surprise to see Silvergrim was hovering just ahead. Little Luna halted in front of him, and Antares awkwardly coasted to a stop, wincing and rubbing at his shoulders as Silvergrim explained calmly: “These charges are a little different, because they're inert until magic energy has been added, they can't be set off by fire or electricity alone. It was the only thing left the Archmage had available on short notice.
“There are four hubs, and we're going to blow out the ones on the far side.” Silvergrim pointed towards where most of the workers were, his eyes locking on Antares' as he explained: “You and the Princess of the Night will have to charge them both at once, then fly like hell. If we're right, the fortress is going to tip and fall in that direction... away from Canterlot. If we're wrong, it could fall right on top of the Sunset District. And since that's where we're all standing we'll all be the first to die, so don't screw up, kid.”
“If you should be worried about anyone screwing up, it's me, General. I am not a soldier or warrior like Antares is...” the sapphire mare interrupted quietly, before she looked up and said firmly: “And I am not Princess Luna right now. I am Little Luna.”
Silvergrim looked at her for a moment, and then the grizzled Pegasus nodded once before he looked over his shoulder at a shout, and the Pegasi rapidly began to disperse from one of the hubs. “Then don't screw up... Little Luna. That's your cue to move in. We'll light a flare up as a signal when you two should begin.”
Little Luna saluted sharply with a smile, and then she patted Antares on the shoulder before flying quickly onwards. Antares breathed hard, looking up at the floating fortress and grimacing a bit, and Silvergrim studied the stallion for a moment before he said quietly: “I've seen that look before. You got a hunch about this, yeah?”
“No... well, yes and no.” Antares admitted after a moment, nodding slowly as he looked up at the floating island above, and then he said quietly: “It's not that I don't think it's going to work. In fact... if we do this right, this is the best course of action we can take.”
“Then why do you look like you have a dragon chewing on your tail?” Silvergrim asked, narrowing his eyes slightly, and the stallion looked up uneasily and rubbed slowly at his battle-scarred breastplate: Silvergrim caught this, and then he frowned after a moment, asking slowly: “And why the hell do you look like you've been through a blender, son? Considering you walked into that hellhole with not one, but three one-pony armies...”
“That's exactly what I'm worried about.” Antares murmured, then he said quietly: “You're going to have to keep patrols here, and ponies at a safe distance, too, watching over things. Just... trust me on this for now, okay? I'll explain everything later when you and Aunt... I mean, Princess Celestia, when you and Celestia debrief us.”
Silvergrim nodded slowly, and then shouts came up from the other Pegasus workcrew as they dropped quickly away from the floating hub, and the grizzled stallion grunted and waved Antares onwards. The glossy-black unicorn nodded, his leather wings flapping firmly before he twisted past the stallion and flew quickly into position beneath the hub.
He winced as his wings cramped again, then tossed a look towards Little Luna: the other hub was a good distance away, but with his strong eyes that were long used to the darkness, and her glowing, starry mane, it was easy to see she was already hovering right beneath the hub. The glossy-black stallion nodded a little at this, before he turned his eyes upwards as he let himself draw closer to the dome, inspecting the gray explosive layered over much of the dome before he muttered: “Let's just hope this works. And that it doesn't drive Psukhikos into a full-out assault...”
He shifted uneasily for a moment, then shook his head slowly as he wondered awkwardly if he was supposed to try and charge the entire explosive or something. But as he turned his eyes upwards, he realized there were cables of some kind attached between the large layers of clay-looking substance... possibly something to channel magic through the substance with.
Antares turned slowly around , then cursed as one of his wings cramped again, flexing a bit and gritting his teeth as he grabbed at one of his shoulders. His whole body was beginning to ache, and his back kept flaring with pain, and he was somehow pretty sure that if they didn't deal with things here soon, he might end up falling out of the air before he had a chance to do his part.
Then he looked up with both relief and anxiety as there was a flare of light in the distance, the glowing, bright-red torch snapping back and forth through the sky, and Antares drew up all the magic he could as he spun around and flapped his wings hard, sending him closer towards the network of explosives as he concentrated on the center block of the spiderweb of clay bombs.
He snapped his horn forwards, sending out a blast of raw magical force that hammered into the inert material, and Antares cursed as nothing seemed to happen. He wondered for a moment if he simply didn't have the strength left, or he had to get closer, but then shocks of lightning burst suddenly over the clay: these arcs of electricity shot along the cables, sparking over the blocks of gray before they all began to swell violently, starting to glow a bright, dangerous red.
Antares' eyes widened, and then he spun around and scrambled madly at the air with his hooves like he was trying to sprint, his wings flapping hard to send him shooting forwards. But he only managed a short distance before the muscles in his back seized up and one of his wings refused to flap, and the stallion zigzagged awkwardly through the air as he let out a shout of pain and frustration.
He twisted back and forth with a curse, his other wing flapping wildly a few times as the other simply stood stiffly out of his body, hooves kicking at the air as he went into a roll before gritting his teeth. It hurt like hell, but he had been through this before, and he wasn't about to panic: instead, he forced himself to move with the spin before snapping his still-working wing out as he arched his back and hauled himself upwards with another loud swear, tearing painfully free of his spin and for a moment gliding back up into the air... then tipping forwards as gravity caught him, gritting his teeth as his body began to little-by-little descend.
He was slowing, too, and considering there was still a massive floating island above him very possibly about to fall out of the air, the stallion knew that even if he managed to keep himself flying, at this rate he wouldn't get out from under the flying fortress in time. Especially since-
There was crackle behind him, and then a massive bang ripped through the air, and the stallion winced as he looked over his shoulder to watch as enormous gouts of flame burst outwards from the obliterated hubs. The explosions had destroyed the domes completely, but whatever had been inside there was now going up with explosion after explosion that was sending chunks of rock and steel collapsing off the bottom of the floating fortress, before...
Antares' eyes widened as he looked up at the underside of the floating fortress above, before flinging himself to the side with a yell as a massive, broken girder tore loose from the island above him and fell just past. He avoided being crushed, but leaned too far, losing his balance in the air as his stiff wing twisted and lost the air beneath it, the stallion yelling as he didn't go into a spiral, but simply fell.
And above him the floating fortress was quaking violently, chunks of debris hailing off it as cracks ripped through the brittle stone walls, machinery sparking and overloading as alien technology exploded. Dullahan were knocked spilling in all directions with any other infantry of Clockwork World still on the island, and Sleipnir and Morning Glory both staggered at the edge of the roof, before they traded a sharp look and nod, then simply leapt off, Avalon yelling and clinging to Sleipnir's mane with a look of both excitement and terror.
Morning Glory's hooves burst into golden flames as she concentrated on her magic, sprinting through thin air as her hooves left ripples of light with every stomp. Her run sloped downwards towards the square, where the gathered ponies were staring up with shock and awe at the shivering fortress.
Sleipnir, meanwhile, fell past, his teeth grit as he flexed his body, prepared for impact... and then slammed down just at the edge of the square, shattering the stone with his landing as he felt bones fracture beneath him and one foreleg wobbled violently. But the stallion didn't show the pain, breathing calmly through his mouth as he straightened with a grunt and shook himself out, Avalon staring around as the ponies near Sleipnir gaped, but he strode past them with only the barest limp, calling clearly: “Are all here? Have all returned?”
“Antares hasn't.” Meadowlark said worriedly, hurrying through the crowd with Tender Trust, and Sleipnir frowned a little before the crimson Pegasus said quickly: “I think his wings were acting up, he... he might be-”
“I'll find him.” Pinkamena brushed past them, and Sleipnir smiled as he reached a hoof up: without looking, the demon slapped her own against his as she passed, then she paused and added wryly: “I'll have to beat you when I get back, Sleipnir. Sex and games are one thing, but inviting Morning Glory to a slaughter and forgetting about me? Now that I just don't like.”
“It will not happen again, darling phoenix. I assure thee, though, 'twas only because she is a shieldmaiden of old. Thou art my one love.” Sleipnir replied kindly with another honest smile, even as he looked straight ahead, and Pinkamena nodded without gazing back at the enormous stallion behind her before she burst apart into dark smoke, twisting quickly up through the air and shooting down over the edge of the mountain, fearless of the collapsing fortress.
But others weren't without worries: Silvergrim was hovering high in the air, gritting his teeth as the colossal floating island continued to tremble and shake. They could hear other explosions going off inside it, but couldn't see what was happening, apart from the occasional explosion of fire and stone that seemed almost at random. Destroying the hubs had crippled it, and he thought it was going to fall... but he also thought that it was moving slowly towards Canterlot all the same, and it might end up tipping in their direction anyway. Those hubs had maybe been shielded power sources for some main engine, or maybe the evil-feeling fortress was alive enough to want a little revenge before it died... or hell, maybe they just had bad luck, he didn't know.
“Tell Princess Celestia we're going to need to evacuate!” Silvergrim shouted at a nearby Pegasus in a Wonderbolt uniform, and the stallion saluted sharply before turning and shooting over the square. Then the grizzled General frowned as Little Luna grasped his shoulder, looking anxiously up from where she was hovering on his other side.
“Antares, he has not... he must still be down there! We must save him!” Little Luna said sharply, and when Silvergrim shook his head, she glared at him. “No, we have to-”
“I'm sorry, your highness, but I can't let you go down there and risk your life for him. He knew what he was getting into, I saw that in his eyes. The outcome of every battle isn't pretty, and we aren't done the fight yet.” Silvergrim replied quietly, shaking his head and pointing at the floating fortress, and then he bit his tongue for a moment before looking up and ordering sharply to a Pegasus in Captain's armor: “Give the command to evacuate the area, we can't wait for the Princess' acknowledgment! Head back to the square and spread word to move out!”
The Pegasus saluted crisply, and Little Luna snarled, shaking her head fiercely before she looked at the floating island, lit up so brightly by the moon and stars... and the sapphire mare's eyes widened before she spun around suddenly and shot across the square, heading straight for her sibling.
Princess Celestia was speaking calmly with the messenger, trying to wrap her mind around what was going on even as she shivered a little: it was hard to process this. It was hard to think logically, as Cadence and Twilight looked up fearfully, and even Shining Armor had worried eyes for all the calmness of his features.
Then Celestia looked up in surprise as Luna almost plowed into the group, the Archmage and his students staggering out of the way as the sapphire mare skidded to a halt in front of Celestia, breathing hard before she looked up almost desperately and shouted: “Sister! We must move the floating island away from from Canterlot, we must push it with all our might!”
“I... we tried that before, Luna, but it's massive, and-” Celestia began, and then she stared in disbelief when her younger sibling stomped her hooves furiously and glared up at her challengingly, shouting loudly and cutting her off.
“No! Listen to me, we are the Princess of Equestria, we move the sun and moon! This... this is nothing more than a piece of brittle rock, falling apart, now thou shall listen to me, Celestia, for I shall not stand by, nor flee from the fight today! Thou must listen!” Luna's voice slipped, gaining more power as she bared her teeth, her eyes glowing unnaturally as something visibly tried to writhe towards the surface inside her... and then she trembled once before looking up and whispering, as her eyes lost their glow, her voice its unnatural echo: “Please. We can do this. We can stop this.”
Princess Celestia hesitated for a moment... then she closed her eyes and murmured: “Maybe not alone... but we aren't alone, are we? Twilight Sparkle, Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Archmage Wand Elf... all of you, lend your power to myself and my sister. Let's push that fortress as far away from Canterlot as we can.”
The ponies all looked up to Celestia as Luna grinned and nodded firmly, and then the sapphire mare spun around, her horn beginning to glow brightly as she shouted: “We can do this! We must do this! If we work together, even these monsters won't be able to stand before our combined might!”
Celestia smiled faintly despite herself, feeling her sister's energy, determination, and dedication. And more, she saw Luna's confidence spread through the others, as Twilight nodded firmly and the Archmage chuckled quietly, Wand murmuring: “You remind me there's still plenty of life in these old bones yet, Princess Luna...”
“Little Luna... I am Little Luna!” the sapphire mare shouted as she rose her head proudly, and her horn flashed brightly before she leaned forwards, as those standing with her all focused their own magic forwards, urged on by the energy and the drive of the Princess of the Night. “Now push!”
Magic flared through the air, in a surge of raw power and light that slammed into the side of the floating island with tremendous force: a moment later, the entire floating island began to glow with a wild, multicolored aura, shuddering even more violently as Little Luna snarled in exertion and Princess Celestia bared her own teeth in effort, Twilight Sparkle gasping as her eyes started to glow brightly, calling on reserves of power she didn't even know she had...
Shining Armor, Cadence, even Wand Elf were almost swallowed up by the power radiating from the three, even as they poured all the strength they could forwards against the floating fortress. And finally, under the force of the magic, the floating fortress began to rumble slowly backwards, even as something else inside it exploded and it began to tilt violently back and forth, now supported more by the magic of the ponies than its own alien propulsion.
Antares gaped in shock from where he had crash-landed in the mountains around Canterlot, looking up with disbelief as the fortress sailed slowly backwards. Pinkamena was beside him, the demon whistling slowly as the shadow of the floating island passed away from them completely, and then she muttered: “Maybe those ponies aren't so bad after all.”
And then there was a roar that tore through the night, as light flashed and the floating island gave a graceless twist as it slowly rumbled backwards, like it had been shoved by a lethargic giant: the aura flickered out from around it, and slowly, the floating island tipped over, away from Canterlot, away from the ponies, away and into the barren air of the empty mountainside.
It fell with one final blast, hurtling down through the sky, a massive meteor of stone and metal and vicious machinery that crashed with an immense burst of dust and debris. Chunks of stone hailed up the mountainside as the world rumbled, the earth shaking violently beneath their hooves before silence filled the air for a few moments... and then Antares closed his eyes, smiling faintly at the yell of triumph that rang up clear and true through the night.
It swelled: far above, but so loud the stallion could still clearly make it out as Pinkamena shook her head slowly, then smiled wryly and punched him firmly in the shoulder, making him wince as she said mildly: “Come on, then, kid. Let's get your sorry ass out of here. Looks like the road's just below us, you going to walk or do I need to throw you?”
“I'll walk. I think I can walk.” Antares replied quietly, sitting himself up on the stone ledge, and then he glanced carefully down the rocky slope: Pinkamena was right, the sandy, likely-softer road was just below. He smiled a little, then bit back a curse as he forced himself to stand up fully: he had a twisted ankle, a broken wing, and was battered halfway to Helheim... but he'd been worse.
He laughed a little despite himself as he carefully slipped off the ledge and skidded down the slope, Pinkamena jumping smoothly down ahead of him and waiting patiently until the stallion made the road. Then they turned, and he smiled a little as she let him lean against her, helping him make his way up the path.
They walked in silence for a while, and then Antares hesitated before glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the fallen fortress. He couldn't see it, of course, but all the same he felt... a presence. A malice... anger, and fear. Things that were translating more and more into growing hatred as he sighed a little, before looking forwards and murmuring: “She's not dead.”
“Yeah?” Pinkamena didn't sound surprised, and nor did it sound like she doubted him at all. Antares glanced at her curiously, and the demon only gave him a calm smile before she looked ahead, saying softly: “Good. After what she did to us, I want a rematch with her. And I want to cut out her eyes and break open her pretty face.”
“You're scared of her too, huh?” Antares asked in a murmur, and Pinkamena grumbled and yanked on him a little, making him stumble and groan in pain as his injured leg shivered. “Yeah, real nice, Pinkamena. Real nice.”
“Shut up, little brother.” Pinkamena said absently, and Antares smiled faintly in spite of himself: he had always called Pinkamena his 'big sister' instead of his aunt as a kid, and it had always stuck. Apparently with them both... and admittedly, he still felt that way about her. He trusted her, could talk to her about anything, felt comfortable with her. There was no distance, no need for secrets, no need to be anyone but himself with her.
For a little while, they were quiet again, making their way calmly up the mountain road until Antares smiled despite himself when he looked ahead to see Meadowlark and Tender Trust approaching. The crimson Pegasus smiled back at him in relief, and then she winced when Pinkamena halted and shoved Antares firmly away, the stallion yelping as he staggered to the side before the demon said mildly: “Time for me to go, kids. You two take care of him from here, I need to hurt Sleipnir a little and check on my daughter. Don't be late getting back.”
With that, Pinkamena burst backwards into a stream of black smoke that shot quickly towards the sky, and Antares sighed and shook his head before he smiled awkwardly at the two approaching ponies. Meadowlark suddenly jumped at him when she drew close enough, and the stallion caught her with a hug and a wince as the mare blushed, then murmured: “I... I was worried. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay.” Antares said softly, nodding and smiling a little at the mare, and then he shook his head out before gazing from one to the other, asking quietly: “What about everyone else? And that magic... the Princesses did that?”
“With some help from their friends, yeah.” Meadowlark said softly, nodding back and gazing quietly at the stallion, and then she reached up and touched his face gently, guiding it back and forth as she murmured: “Look at you. I'll give you a tonic, help you heal and numb you a little.”
“No, no, honestly, I just want to walk back, debrief, and then... lay down. I think for once I might be able to sleep.” Antares smiled a little, and then he hesitated before turning his eyes to Tender Trust, saying softly: “It was pretty stupid for you to hide away, T, and sneak in with us. But I'm glad you did, because you helped a lot today. Your mom is going to be proud of you for being so brave. I'm proud of you for being so brave.”
Tender Trust only bowed her head forwards, smiling embarrassedly as she murmured: “I just wanted to help. It mixed badly with the Phooka instinct for mischief... to me, stowing away felt like a wonderful idea. But it was no game, and I'm sorry for causing the trouble I did.”
Antares only smiled again and shrugged a little, and Meadowlark reached up to touch her friend's shoulder, saying softly: “Don't worry about it, Tender Trust. Let's just get moving for now... we should all get some rest, and figure out where to go from here.”
The stallion nodded in agreement, and the half-Phooka bowed her head politely in respect to the two before Antares Mīrus began to limp forwards. Meadowlark gazed at him with affection and relief as she slipped up beside him to help him, despite how tired he knew she must be, and Tender Trust strode up to his other side, offering her own support with a kind expression. And Antares looked warmly in return to them both, able to push onwards with ease thanks to his friends at his side, and with all the reasons he had to stand against the darkness glowing in his mind.