A/N: This chapter contains graphic descriptions of gore. Read at your own risk.
Rainbow Dash saw Fluttershy plummet to the ground but was unable to assist her as Flutter-bot and Rainbow Bot attacked her, distracting her from being able to save her friend. Upon seeing the helpless pegasus hit the ground, the aviatrix screamed at her attackers, redoubling her speed and swirling around the two flying pony-bots. Her fury was unleashed in a torrent of blistering attacks, her fore-hooves smashing against their wings until they fell from the sky and hit the ground hard. The pegasus robots had not been built sturdily enough to withstand a fall from such a great height and their bodies broke apart on impact. She then flew to Twilight's side to grieve with her, Fluttershy's body still cradled in the librarian's fore-legs. Spike wept, his sobs wracking his body.
"Spike, take a letter," the librarian requested softly through her tears as they streamed down her face.
"Okay, Twi," he replied flatly. He pulled a sheet of parchment and an ink quill, readying them in anticipation.
"Dear Princess Celestia -- Ponywille is under attack from evil robots. I need your help immediately. Twilight," she stated in halting tones. "Okay, send it."
The drake quickly rolled the parchment into a scroll and turned it to ash with his breath. The wait was an anxious one as they could hear screams and wailing off in the distance.
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The pony-bots attacked randomly, targeting whichever ponies happened to be nearest. The unicorn robots used their magic to wield whatever objects could be used as weapons, the few remaining pegasus pony-bots lifted large rocks and used them as projectiles, the earth pony robots used whatever weapons they could find to attack the frightened ponies. Chaos and panic were the order and it appeared the town was in danger of being lost to the robots. A flash of blinding light heralded the arrival of the Solar Princess, who expressed deep dismay at the scene. Her immediate concern was for her student, so she teleported again, this time tracing Twilight's magic signature to locate her.
"Twilight, what madness is this? Where did these robots come from?" asked her mentor. The Alicorn winced when a particularly loud shriek of fear reverberated out to their location. "We must act quickly -- how many of them are there?"
"I think there are 27 more of them -- Rainbow knocked these two out, but Fluttershy's dead!"
"Speaking of Rainbow, where is she now?"
"She flew off to take out more of these robots."
"Twilight, where did they come from?" the Alicorn reiterated.
"I built the first one as an experiment, Princess -- I had no idea it was capable of replicating itself the way it did! Now --"
Twilight was interrupted by Lyra-bot, who was wielding several large rocks in her telekinetic aura. Princess Celestia witnessed this and used her magic to lift the mint-green pony-bot and slam it against its intended weapons. The rocks fell from the sky and the Alicorn levitated the robot over to her.
"Tell me, what were you doing?" the Alicorn asked sternly. The pony-bot struggled in the Princess' magic aura in an attempt to escape.
"You release me at once! I have ponies to kill!" Lyra-bot screeched. Her right fore-leg had been rendered useless after having been smashed against her rocks and hydraulic fluid was dribbling from multiple fractures on her right side. A small trickle of that fluid was leaking from a corner of the pony-bot's mouth.
"You will not be harming my little ponies, you vile construct. Tell me where the other robots are," Celestia demanded, scowling at Lyra-bot darkly. The pony-bot's expression turned to a sneer.
"You will never get that information from me, Celestia!" the pony-bot cackled, then coughed a few times. More screams and wailing could be heard in the distance and the Solar Princess groaned in disgust. Using her telekinesis, she lifted the mint-green robot very swiftly into the sky, then slammed it down onto one of the rocks it had been wielding, smashing the construct into many pieces of varying sizes. Lyra-bot screamed out as she was forcibly smashed against a rock, drawing the attention of a certain lavender pony-bot.
Princess Celestia took to the air to survey the chaotic scene unfolding in Ponyville -- the carnage which had been unleashed caused her stomach to churn and brought tears to her eyes. She made a mental note to chastise her student for her carelessness, but was distracted when a large rock was hurled at her by Rari-bot. From a distance, the alabaster pony-bot very closely resembled the Element of Generosity. The Alicorn glided to a landing not far from the construct.
"Rarity, what is the meaning of this?" asked the Solar Princess. The chaotic scene was still playing out around her as ponies were ganging up on some of the robots, defeating them one by one -- but for every pony-bot destroyed, five ponies were killed. The Alicorn's expression was one of fury, determination, and sorrow as she tried to comprehend how things could have deteriorated so badly.
"Well, well, well -- Princess Celestia! Perhaps we can add a Di-arch to our kill list!" the fashionista's robot chortled.
"You'll find I'm a lot harder to kill than it looks," she warned. Her visage turned dark, her horn glowing red as she shot a powerful beam of magic at the pony-bot, causing it to melt into a puddle, the hydraulic fluid catching fire and burning the robot, which screamed in agony as it melted. Celestia returned to the sky to seek out more robots to destroy, though her previous action had been witnessed by TS.
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My plan is falling to shambles -- I have to do something, the lavender pony-bot thought as she scrambled around, trying to avoid detection by the Solar Princess, but also trying to reconnoiter with the remaining pony-bots. She lit her horn and issued her command for all remaining robots to meet with her ASAP, causing them to stop what they were doing immediately and gallop to her location. The Solar Princess noticed this and decided to follow two of them who were fairly close together. Within about five minutes, about twelve robots converged at a point between Sugarcube Corner and Sweet Apple Acres. TS was waiting for them, though her expression seemed somewhat pained as she saw how many of her constructs had been destroyed.
"Fellow pony-bots, we have a larger problem, I'm sure you're aware," the lavender pony-bot stated flatly. She looked up to see a furious Solar Princess descending from the sky. "Robots, take defensive positions. We shall attack her simultaneously!"
"ALL OF YOU MUST STOP IMMEDIATELY!!" the Alicorn thundered in her Royal Canterlot Voice. The assembled pony-bots winced a little at the volume but stood their ground. There were seven unicorn and five earth pony robots remaining, who formed a circle around the Princess. Suddenly, the pony-bots started glowing with a white light behind them as they began levitating above the ground.
"I COMMAND ALL OF YOU TO STOP!! NOW!!" Celestia bellowed. Again, the same reaction from the robots, though the glowing intensified. TS was levitating as well, her horn also glowing with the same intensity of blinding whiteness, her eyes pure white as she channeled magic energy through her entire body, directing it through her constructs. The Alicorn's expression turned to one of shock as she realized what was about to happen. Time seemed to stop as a blast of pure magic energy poured from each of the levitating pony-bots, simultaneously converging upon the Solar Princess who allowed a scream of terror to escape her lips before she simply disappeared. The pony-bots fell to the ground, as TS had spent all of their magic to banish her. The lavender pony-bot rested on her back, trying to recover from over-channeling.
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"Spike, we need to get to Carousel Boutique immediately! We need to check on Rarity!" Twilight implored. Spike nodded his head eagerly, hoping the fashionista would still be all right, then climbed onto the librarian's back and clung to her neck as she galloped as swiftly as she could, racing to get to the boutique. She had to dodge random ponies who were scurrying in fear and panic. She also had to dodge projectiles being hurled at her by a few of the unicorn pony-bots who were still functioning. She reached the boutique after several minutes of top-speed galloping and had to catch her breath as she rang the doorbell, pushing the button several times in a panicked attempt to get the fashionista to hurry. A few minutes of silence elapsed, though the frazzled librarian continued to push the doorbell, getting nothing in response.
"Come on, Twi, bust on in there! Maybe she's hurt or something," Spike offered, hoping against hope that Rarity would still be alive. With a small burst of magic energy, Twilight forced the front door of the boutique open, then nearly vomited upon seeing the carnage which lay before her and her assistant, who screamed and started wailing, "NOOO!" over and over. His sobs renewed, his chest heaving as he saw the worst possible thing ever.
Rarity and Sweetie Belle had been laid out on the floor of the main room of the boutique, having been repeatedly stabbed and slashed and cut, their bodies laying open with blood spattered across the room. The entrails of both bodies had been strewn about as decorations, the dark red blood making for a hideously grotesque display of ruthlessness. Twilight screamed at the sight and picked up Spike with her telekinesis, placing him on her back.
"We've got to get out of here, Spike. We have to find the Princess," the librarian said through choking sobs. She left through the front door and was intercepted by Rainbow Dash, whose expression seemed to match Twilight's.
"Dash, what's going on?" the librarian asked.
"Um, Twiley, Celestia's gone," the aviatrix responded glumly, gliding down and picking up her friend and assistant.
"What do you mean, gone?"
"I mean, gone! As in, GONE GONE!" Rainbow shouted through her tears. She flew the two as swiftly and safely as she could to the last spot she saw the Alicorn occupying and glided down to let Twilight and Spike survey what had happened. The lifeless pony-bots whose energy had been used to banish the Princess were scattered in a circle, but TS had disappeared after having recovered enough to get moving again.