Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 23

Sundown

“The day we’ve waited for so long is finally upon us, brothers and sisters! Today is the day when we dethrone the sun tyrant! Today is the day when one pony will no longer hold absolute power over an entire nation. Today is the day when Equestria will no longer be at the mercy of Celestia, who can destroy it whenever she wishes!” the hooded stallion proclaimed to his followers. “Today, we will take Celestia’s rule. We will take back her sun, floating in the sky as her sword, ready to destroy us at her whim.”

He smirked as the ponies in front of him let out a shout before pointing his hoof towards the ballroom. “Go forth and bring Equestria’s leadership back to the ponies. Bring the sun and the moon back to the unicorns, to guard as our ancestors once did. Go and make us proud!”

The hooded stallion smiled devilishly as his followers, filled with excitement and determination, left to fulfill their orders.

“Nice speech. Shame you didn’t tell them why you’re really doing this.”

The stallion turned around to face his accomplice, who was smirking at him from under her hood. “Should I have? I only offered you all something you’ve wanted for a long time, and once Celestia’s thrown off her throne and Equestria’s plunged into a civil war, our dark master can finally take over after his return, and—”

The mare held up a hoof to stop him. “You’ve told me multiple times already. You get to rule alongside him because you’re part of his ‘chosen.’ Now shoo. While you may not want to keep an eye on your henchmen, I am most certainly going to make sure they get the job done right, especially since I’m the only one who knows how to check a pulse properly around here,” she said as she trotted past the three dead guards on the floor. The stallion snorted before turning to leave in the opposite direction, the gears already in motion as the seeds of betrayal they’d planted had finally begun to bloom.

“Cadance, really?” Shining Armor said, raising an eyebrow at his marefriend. “I’m okay with you telling about how we fell in love, but did you really have to mention that I had an Oubliettes & Ogres character from when I was young? I stopped playing that years before I even met you!”

“Awww, but you looked like you invested so much time in your paladin, and it had such lovely illustrations! I just had to keep your character sheet, though you should probably roll up somepony new,” Cadence said, looking amusedly at Shining Armor. “You had absolutely no charisma points at all.”

Spitfire smirked at Shining Armor’s reddened expression. “I think there was a buuurn in there somewhere, but don’t worry about anyone remembering that you had a role-playing character,” she said happily. “Just wait ‘til you hear about what Soarin’ did when we tried to divert a few dragons from a town’s treasure vault.”

Soarin’ suddenly looked very self conscious. “T-that sounds like a great idea, but maybe we should check on the princess first?” he said, an awkward smile on his face. “She’s been gone for an awfully long time.”

“She has, but after getting a big bite out of Twilight after trying to enjoy a slice of cake, I can imagine why she would want to step outside for a breath of fresh air,” Spitfire said, shrugging before she put on a devilish smile. “Now hush, Cadence was about to get to the good parts. So what happened after Shining—”

The door to the ballroom suddenly opened, and a group of hooded ponies walked casually into the room. The party members rose from their seats, Spitfire, Steel Blade, and Shining Armor in particular looking suspiciously at the newcomers as they approached.

“Excuse me,” Twilight Velvet said, an apprehensive look on her face as she approached one of the hooded ponies, “but I don’t remember inviting anypony besides us. Who are you?”

A hoof shot out from under the pony’s cloak, grabbing Velvet as a restraining ring was swiftly placed on her horn. “Attention everypony!” the stallion announced, pushing his hostage to one of his followers to guard as the rest of the hooded ponies fanned out around the room, about forty in all guarding the other entrances and windows. ”From today onwards, Equestria will no longer belong in the hooves of a single pony, and in order to bring freedom to the nation and accomplish our noble goal, everypony in this room is now our prisoner.”

Night Light stepped to the front, pushing past Overwatch to take a fighting stance, his horn aimed at the intruders. “Release my wife this instant!” he shouted.

“She’s our hostage now,” the pony with Velvet said, “so you’ll do as we say or else—”

He was quickly cut off as Twilight Velvet’s horn suddenly lit up in a blinding glow, wrapping him in a levitation field before tossing him into a group of his companions. She quickly took advantage of the distraction, dashing back to the protection of the three guardponies in their party group.

“H-how?” the hooded stallion stammered, looking at the broken pieces of the restraining ring on the tiled floor.

Twilight Velvet stuck her tongue out at her. “Please, Night Light and I may not be as powerful as Shining Armor or Twilight, but if you think a basic model will work on us, think again.”

The stallion snorted. “Enough. I don’t believe that you realise the situation you’re in.”

“Really? Then maybe you can enlighten us before I lock you all in the dungeon myself?” Shining Armor said, glaring at the intruders as he widened his stance.

“Shut up, Celestia’s dog. Our ideals have been passed down from generation to generation while you weren’t even born yet. We’ve been observing your ruler for signs of weakness, waiting to strike for hundreds of years, and finally, the time has come!”

Overwatch couldn’t help but smirk at them. “Wow, they sound exactly like a bunch of fanatics and cliché villains,” she said, looking evenly at the ponies around them. “What are you going to do next? Call yourself a liberation army and call Princess Celestia a tyrant? Come on, I know you’re dying to say it."

“C-cliché villains? Fanatics? We’re the only ponies who can see Celestia for what she really is! She manipulates everypony from behind the scenes, and you all are nothing but pieces on her chessboard, too blind to see it! But we... we will expose what Celestia is so desperate to hide! We will open everypony’s eyes!”

With a few flaps, Twilight landed on her brother’s head as she gave the caped unicorns an angry frown. “And how are you going to accomplish that?”

“Very simple, my little pony,” the hooded pony laughed. “Princess Celestia will tell all of Equestria herself what kind of manipulative tyrant she is.” Overwatch rolled her eyes at ‘tyrant’, shooting Steel Blade a smirk. “And if she does not... well, Equestria will simply have to go on without her."

“Go on without her? Oh please!” Spitfire challenged, “I can hardly imagine what a bunch of lame chumps like you can do against the princess! But hey, why should she even bother? I bet we could just knock you all out and continue this party as if nothing happened.”

“I agree with Spitfire,” Shining Armor added, turning to a group of guards entering the room behind him. “You’re all just in time. Arrest the intruders! I’ll interrogate them later,” he ordered, but to his confusion—and to the amusement of the hooded ponies—the guards ignored him. “I gave you a direct order. What are you—”

Two guards dove into their group, grabbing Spike and White Path as they passed through and holding them by their necks threateningly as they darted out. The party group’s confusion was swiftly replaced with fear as one of the guards shouted, “One move, and the colt dies!”

Shining Armor and Spitfire moved forward to intervene, but were captured in the levitation fields of the intruders. The guards walked backwards with their new hostages, levitating their enchanted spears at the party group. “I said, nopony move!”

“Back to your question, Miss Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts,” the stallion said, grinning widely. “Just like you won’t move to keep the lives of these two intact, Celestia will have to cooperate too or we’ll just kill you all.” The intruders threw off their cloaks, exposing vests covered in round, hoof-sized packages. “Each of these are magically crafted explosives, so don’t even think about fighting back. We also have anti-teleportation wards on and around this ballroom, and all the exits are blocked.”

Overwatch blinked in disbelief. “Well ponyfeathers, they really are fanatics, and I suddenly doubt they’re above blowing themselves up for their dumb cause too,” she muttered, looking around warily.

Shining Armor gulped at Overwatch’s remark, but turned to look at the stallion. “Wait, how did you manage to set up all those wards? How you even got in here with all those bombs? We have guards all over Canterlot.”

The pony who seemed to be the leader of the terrorists shook his head, chuckling. “Who do you think we are? Cliché villains who will gladly lay out their plans for you to peruse? All you need to know is that we have our ways and that this scheme is far bigger than you and every VIP in this room,” he said with a smirk. “Oh, and thanks for having this birthday party in secret. I’m sure failing to inform the guards that the most important ponies in Canterlot and the tyrant’s personal dogs would be spending time together in one ballroom was a wise decision.”

“Considering what you’ve said and the actions you’ve taken,” Cadence started, catching everypony’s attention, “I assume that you’ve been observing Auntie Celestia’s every move and have access to quite a large number of resources, even to the point of having moles in the guard.” She looked worriedly at White Path and Spike, still held by the traitorous guards, before continuing. “Why didn't you attack earlier? Why now, of all times?”

“Because the sun tyrant is too powerful otherwise,” replied an impatient guard. “She could easily escape from any trap we could possibly set up to capture her, not to mention she would likely sacrifice the lives of a few nobles and civilians rather than give up her leadership to us.” He tightened his hold against White Path’s neck as his hostage struggled to free himself, redirecting his spear to the colt’s neck. “But will she risk the lives of the most important ponies in Equestria, her closest and dearest friends?”

One of the crazier pegasi suddenly shifted his gaze to Blueblood, who had been slowly backing towards a nearby window. “Going somewhere?” he said, prompting the prince to quietly return to the rest of the group. “If one of you tries to escape, the two cute kiddos here die. Or we could just use our bombs and BOOM. Everyone dies,” he cackled, juggling his explosives haphazardly.

“So you’re willing to sacrifice the life of innocent foals to accomplish your goals?” Fancy Pants asked fearfully, looking involuntarily towards his trapped son.

“I’m s-scared, dad,” White Path stuttered out, hardly able to draw breath. “And s-super pony can’t use h-her magic... or regain her f-full size... to save the day,” he murmured as his tiny friend lowered her head in shame. White Path looked around frantically before focusing on the reassuring smile of his mother.

“Shhh, everything will be fine. There are still many strong and brave ponies here, and they’ll protect us,” Fleur said, attempting to soothe her son despite her own fears about the situation.

Spitfire stamped a hoof into the ground. “There’s no way we can get all the ponies out of here in time. I don’t like this, but we’ve lost, no matter what we do,” she muttered, looking agitatedly between the terrorists surrounding them.

“It’s not over yet,” Overwatch murmured, her gaze focused on a hooded mare near the back of the group, still in her cloak amongst her stripped-down companions. “Situations can change quickly, and there’s always a way out.”

The stallion grinned widely, before levitating up a multitude of shackles and restraining rings. “As much as I’d like to gloat about how hopeless your situation is, we need to leave, and I expect you won’t make much of a resistance if you value your lives.”

Feeling refreshed with the cake’s rather original flavor no longer in her mouth, Celestia flew back towards the ballroom, only to notice a multitude of ponies guarding every window and entrance. Out of curiosity, she landed in the hallway and walked closer to investigate, only for two royal guards to fly towards her and block her way, stern, impassive expressions on their faces.

“Is something the matter? What is all this commotion?” Celestia asked calmly, finding it odd that her guards hadn’t bowed as they always have. “Who are those ponies?” she asked, pointing her hoof at the mob inside.

“Your Highness,” one guard said condescendingly. “The ponies that were inside this ballroom. Are they really dear to you?”

Celestia furrowed her eyebrows into a frown. “Save them? What is the meaning of this?” she asked confusedly as her guards walked into a narrow side hallway, gesturing with their hooves to follow them. Celestia, concerned and confused about what was happening, followed.

She caught up with the guards, stomping her hoof on the tile. “I demand an answer!” she stated authoritatively. “What is the meaning of this? And who are those ponies?”

“Those ponies are here to liberate Equestria from your singular control. No pony should possess absolute power like you do,” one guard said firmly, his face serious and stern.

Liberate Equestria? No, they wouldn’t... They wouldn’t dare. Celestia scowled at the two guards as unwelcome thoughts surfaced in her mind.

“If you are cooperative and do as our leaders say, then the ponies you care about so much will not be harmed. If no—”

The guard’s words fizzled out into a gurgle as a levitation field lifted him up by his neck. In a split second, it snapped, both breaking his neck and crushing his windpipe, and his lifeless corpse was dropped unceremoniously to the ground before the other guard was soon captured in the same powerful force. Celestia looked at the dead body on the floor, surprised by her own actions but careful to maintain an impassive expression through her magical outburst. Calm yourself. Don’t lose control of your power again. She took a deep breath before looking at the remaining guard, who was struggling fearfully in her grasp. Too late to go back now. I’m going to have to improvise.

The guard wheezed out a weak breath as she looked wide-eyed into his ruler’s vengeful glare. “You dare... to use those I care about… to manipulate me? To trade their lives for my obedience?” Celestia asked, her teeth grit angrily as she barely weakened her levitation field enough to let the guard nod and speak quietly.

The interrogation didn’t last very long, and the guard told her most of what he knew, begging for his life. Celestia, her anger rising like lava in an active volcano, levitated the guard to her eye level. “Is everypony still in the ballroom, or did your leader move them?” Celestia asked sternly.

Celestia’s eye twitched as she resisted the urge to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. “I asked you a question, and I’m not going to take ‘what’ for an answer. Where. Are. They?”

The group of hostages walked restlessly through the hallway leading from the ballroom to the kitchen. Twilight lied flat on her brother’s head, her wings spread in defeat as she poked her brother’s horn lightly with her hoof. Still a pegasus, Twilight felt more defenseless and useless than ever as she looked at Spike and White Path, still being carried by the two traitorous guards a considerable distance in front of her. They looked back at her with hopeless looks in their eyes.

She turned her head around to look at the armed ponies flanking them, the unicorns continuing to draw anti-teleportation runes as they walked. They kept a close eye on her brother and foalsitter, not giving any openings for Cadence or Shining Armor to take action. Twilight looked back at her friends, now with shackles on their legs, wings tied up in chains, and rings on each horn, this time special military ones with a much higher tolerance against being broken. She lifted her own foreleg and looked at the threads tying her to her brother’s horn, shackles or ropes being too big for the tiny mare.

A loud explosion roared through the air, the blast’s shockwave causing the floor to rumble below them. The group turned around, noticing that the doors to the ballroom had been thrown off their hinges as curling black smoke and dust drifted out from the open entrance.

“Curse you, Celestia! You just had to make it hard for all of us,” the leader of the rebel forces said, pointing a hoof towards the door. “What are you waiting for? Somepony check it up!” At his words, the cloaked mare scoffed at him, waving a few of the pegasi terrorists to follow her as she trotted back to the ballroom.

The stallion turned back to the hostages, a snarl on his face. “Keep moving if you don’t want to share your former ruler’s fate.”

Twilight stood immediately upon hearing this, fearful and confused, as Shining Armor asked angrily, “What do you mean by ‘share our ruler’s fate,’ traitor?”

The leader growled in response, and one of the rebel ponies punched Shining Armor hard across his face. Twilight would have fallen off if not for the thread holding her to her brother’s horn. “Shut up and go!” the stallion shouted.

Shining Armor bared his teeth as he took a fighting stance against the leader. He could feel his sister struggle against the threads, pulling it with all of her strength and attempting to gnaw through it with her teeth. The commanding terrorist stood to face the captain, looking at Twilight disappointedly. “Pity, and here we hoped that this would end without bloodshed.”

Twilight snapped the threads and flew towards the enemy leader, flying in front of his face. “What have you done? What’s happened?” she said, giving him a suspicious glare. “You didn’t try something as stupid as trying to hurt the princess, did you?”

The leader simply glared at her impassively until the hooded mare and the pegasi under her command returned, pieces of gold in one of the pegasus’s hooves. The sight put a pale expression on Twilight’s face as well as on her friends as they began to recognize the familiar shapes. Cadence, however, looked at the pile suspiciously.

“We found it next to her motionless body,” the hooded mare said. “She was quite burnt up, but we were able to identify her by her cutie mark. Checked her vitals myself, and I’m pretty sure she’s dead as a doornail. Unfortunately, the ponies who were setting up the bombs in the ballroom weren’t fast enough to finish before Celestia entered.”

The stallion looked at her calmly and shrugged. “Not a big loss; they were expendable,” he said coldly, before he noticed the uneasy expression on many of his followers' faces, some even angered. He snorted in response. “Sometimes, you can’t earn freedom without a few sacrifices,” he added, before he was suddenly struck in the face.

“Who dares?” he demanded as he swiveled his head around, only to see the tiny unicorn with wings tackling his head with her body. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, smirking. “Missing your mentor already?”

“You monsters! You dumbheads! Do you even realise what you’ve done?” Twilight screamed in rage as she once again threw herself at the leader, this time striking him in the opened eye and causing him to take few steps back as he covered the injured eye with a hoof. “Why would you do this? Why would you want to kill the princess? Why would you sacrifice your own ponies to accomplish this?” Twilight tried to strike the other eye, but a giant hoof blocked the attack. “Who will control the sun? We are all going to die because of you!” she shouted, slamming herself against his nose. “I can’t believe you ponies!”

Annoyed by the constant assault of the little unicorn, flying at his head like a bee, the stallion swatted the mare to the floor. He then swiftly grabbed her in his levitation field, glaring at the struggling winged unicorn. “It’s her fault. We gave her the choice to be obedient in exchange for your lives, but considering that the guards pointed her to a ballroom full of bombs instead of the meeting place, she didn’t quite intend to cooperate.”

Shining Armor, Steel Blade, and the Wonderbolts had begun to struggle in their restraints, though the leader’s escorts kept them back from the tiny unicorn. Overwatch’s ears perked up and she looked around briefly, as if searching for something, before fumbling with her scarf. “That’s it. I’m gettin’ out the hair pins,” she grumbled quietly, moving to position herself out of sight behind the other ponies.

“It was meant to be our plan B,” the leader continued. “Eliminating the princess was supposed to be our last resort, so if you want to blame anypony, blame her now dead body or her spirit in the afterlife.”

“But without the princess, there will be anarchy! The unmoving sun will turn Equestria into a burning wasteland! Why?” Twilight asked desperately as she struggled fruitlessly against his hold over her, tears falling from her eyes.

The giant stallion laughed in her face. “For so well educated a pony, you sure are clueless,” he remarked, Twilight glowering back at him. “Unicorns will once again control the sun and the moon as it should be, and a new government will be formed in your ruler’s place, headed by our factions in the nobility. As you can see, we have prepared ourselves quite well.”

“Nopony will submit to the rule of the princess’s murderers!” Twilight shouted.

“Oh, this is where you come in, Miss Sparkle,” he said, shaking her violently in his aura. “Or should I say, the most powerful unicorn in Equestria.”

Twilight blinked her eyes confusedly before the levitation field slammed her against the wall, pinning her to the surface of the stone. “You have made quite a show at your party, Miss Sparkle. A mare the size of a rat levitating a bunch of nobles. A mare that our dear princess looked at with pity and even offered to teach and take care of. A mare too dangerous to be allowed to stay at her normal size,” the stallion said, slamming a hoof into her pinned form.

Shining Armor and Steel Blade fought against their chains to aid Twilight, shouting in anger, but their struggles soon stopped as the guards pushed their spears lightly into White Path and Spike. Thought Spike’s scales resisted it, the terrified colt let out a small peep of pain as a trickle of blood slid down the tip of the spear. “May I advise you to stay calm, for the child’s sake.”

Steel Blade snarled at the traitorous guard, but was quickly silenced when he felt something draping around his shoulders. He looked down to see Overwatch’s scarf and was about to turn around before he heard her whisper quietly, “Just keep looking forward. Also, guard that scarf with your life, lest I come for you later.”

Twilight could feel punch after punch as the giant unicorn paid her back for striking him in the eye. She grit her teeth as she refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out, the fact that she now had elastic pegasus bones the only thing preventing them from breaking under the her opponent’s blows. The hostages glared at the stallion, unable to stop him from his revenge as he began to mock the little unicorn. “How tragic that our dear princess decided to dispel her shrinking spell from this dangerous mare as her birthday present, only for the dear student she taught and cared about so much to kill her and the other guests in an uncontrollable magical surge!”

“N-no one w-will… b-believe th…” Twilight tried to say between punches, which were now beginning to tear down her strength and durability.

“Oh, they will. After all, Equestria has been a very peaceful nation for hundreds of years and your mentor hasn’t exactly had a chance to remind them of how powerful and durable her magic makes her. A few announcements and rumours, and they will all blame you, believing foolishly that unicorn magic could destroy her alicorn flesh,” the leader said as he lit his horn, annoyed at how ineffective his punches appeared to be against the tiny mare and now ready to smite her with offensive magic instead. “Any last words?”

Twilight looked up at him, a determined glint in her weary eyes as she opened her mouth to speak, only to hear a familiar voice call out.

After knocking out the interrogated guard and stowing his body away, not wanting to let her anger purposely claim another victim, Celestia flew towards a window into the ballroom, which was by now closed and covered. She lit her horn and sealed the mouths of the hooded ponies guarding the windows so they wouldn’t alarm anypony inside before trapping them in her magic and bringing them back with her to the isolated area. The furious alicorn put her enemies to the ground by striking them one by one with stunning spells before knocking them out and stashing their bodies with those of the traitorous guards.

With that task of the way, Celestia flew back towards the ballroom and gently pushed the window open, immediately noticing a few ponies inside doing something she could not recognize. Where are they? Have they relocated them after all? She snorted under her breath. I don’t have time to wake that traitorous guard again. I’ll just have to ask the ponies in here instead, Celestia thought as she rushed in and grabbed everypony in her magic, sealing their mouths in the process. However, the several bombs set up across the room suddenly ignited in a blast of magic at her intrusion.

To Celestia’s surprise, the years she spend adventuring with her student, training with the guards, and practicing with the Wonderbolts had improved her reflexes significantly. Before she knew what was happening, her wings threw her away from the blast points as she set out a barrier instinctively. Moments later, the huge explosion reverberated through the air, a sea of flames slamming against her barrier before breaking it apart.

Celestia shook the rubble from her body as she slowly opened her eyes, dust from the explosion all over her. Though her reflexes had minimized the damage she received, she still had a few burn marks and her golden regalia was shattered by the shockwave. A trap, most likely set up in case I would not cooperate. I should have seen this coming, Celestia thought as she stood and surveyed the area, looking pitily at the ponies who were setting up the bombs, now burned beyond recognition. She sighed. If they think I’m dead, maybe I can use it to my advantage.

Celestia used her magic to transform fragments of a damaged pillar, covered in blood and ash, into a copy of herself, casting an illusion spell on it to make it look like a dead version of herself. To ensure that her assailants would buy it, Celestia used what she learned from Cadence and added on an illusion spell of the highest level, making any living creature touching the illusion feel it as if it was real.

Celestia could hear hoofsteps behind the doors, so she charged her horn and, as she had done many times over the past years, shrunk herself to her student’s size before hiding behind a damaged pillar.

She took a peek from behind the pillar to see a group ponies walk in and begin to search the rubble. One of them, a hooded mare, immediately walked over to her illusion, placing a hoof to its neck before checking for signs of breathing. She gave a dark chuckle before turning to the others, shaking her head. They took fragments of her golden regalia and departed, failing to notice as Celestia began to follow them, teleporting from pillar to pillar until they returned to the main group and began to speak to who she suspected was their leader. Another quick glance confirmed that her friends were chained up and restrained, though she bristled at the sight of White Path and Spike being held at spear point.

Think, Celestia, think. They’re using military rings to keep them down, which means they’ll have self-destruct mechanisms. Without the key, any attempts to remove it by force may damage their horn beyond recognition, but the self-destruct mechanism can be averted if the pony manages to overload it with their magic. Celestia turned to focus on the chains on Spitfire’s and Soarin’s wings, a determined look on her face. But I can still break those chains, since it seems everypony is distracted.

Celestia flew swiftly to Spitfire, hiding in the pegasus’s mane and sealing her mouth with magic to ensure that she wouldn’t attract any attention. “Shhh... It’s me. I’m going to damage the chains, so stay quiet for now,” Celestia whispered, lighting up her horn in a small laser and carving the metal locks until she could remove them.

Overwatch had surreptitiously maneuvered out of sight behind the other ponies in their group, and before Celestia could wonder what she was doing, the charcoal unicorn produced a few thin black pins from her scarf and began to pick the locks on her chains, efficiently working through the complex mechanisms. Celestia raised an eyebrow at the guard’s work before she turned to work on Soarin’s chains, leaving the question of where Overwatch had learned that particular skill to be answered at a more convenient time.

Once she was done, Celestia looked from behind Spitfire’s neck, noticing White Path and Spike close by, still being held as hostages behind the enemy leader. Ponyfeathers, it seems that taking out their commander is out of the question for now, Celestia thought as she whispered, “Once I give you the signal, you will rescue Spike and White Path. They should think that you’re still shackled, so you should catch them off guard.”

Both Spitfire and Soarin’ nodded their heads gently, though a loud sound caught all of their attention, and Celestia turned to look as her student was slammed against the hallway wall. The princess could feel her hooves trembling as her horn and muscles stood ready to unleash their power and save her student, but she decided against it. Hang in there, Twilight. Just a little longer.

Noticing that everypony’s attention was focused on her student, Celestia flew towards Cadence to hide in her mane. She repeated what she said to Spitfire and Soarin’ before adding quietly, “Cadence, I know that you didn’t have to raise the sun and the moon for a millenium like I did, but I know that you are not a pushover. The moment I give the signal, I want you to overpower your restraining ring and push the intruders away. Once they are out of range, cast as strong of a shield as you can.”

She felt Cadence’s head nod slightly, and she looked out from behind the pink alicorn’s neck, planning to go to Shining Armor. Oh no. Celestia’s eyes widened as she noticed the enemy leader charging a spell at Twilight’s beaten body. Without thinking, Celestia spread her wings and flew towards the enemy leader as fast as she could, her horn lit as her determination pushed her onwards.

“NOW!” Celestia shouted as she shot a powerful beam from her tiny horn, striking the enemy commander in the face and causing his spell to discharge safely away from her student. She used the opportunity to grab Twilight in a levitation field and toss her over to Shining as the rest of the group took action.

A blinding light burst from Cadence’s horn, and the startled rebels were suddenly taken up in a light blue aura and slammed against the wall. The two Wonderbolts flew above her head to strike the confused guards, returning rapidly as they took Spike and White Path from the enemy’s grasp and bringing them to safety. Overwatch had leapt out like a cat, bringing a hoof to the hooded mare’s face as she tackled her into a nearby hallway, taking them both out of sight as she rounded the corner at the T-intersection.

“What’s the meaning of this?” the enemy commander shouted, the eye next to his burned cheek scrunched close as he pointed a hoof at the hostages. “Restrain them!”

The fanatics had recovered from the surprise attack and and begun throwing bombs at the group, only for the explosions to splash harmlessly onto a shimmering pale blue shield. Despite the apparently impenetrability of the shield, Celestia looked at Cadence worriedly as more bombs detonated against its surface. Without Shining Armor’s help, her barrier won’t last under the continued assault of so many bombs. It seems I have no choice, she thought as she lit her horn and enveloped herself in her own magic.

“C-Celestia? You’re alive? How?” the leader asked in shock as Celestia’s tiny body grew before the terrorist’s very eyes, too paralyzed by her sudden presence to even consider attacking her. Celestia regained her full size, her lightly burned wings spread intimidatingly as her face expressed nothing but anger.

The unicorn stallion was about to speak when he was suddenly cut off by another voice. “You incompetent idiot!” the hooded mare shouted as she rounded the corner again, this time with a restraining ring on her horn. “How did you let that mare get through and how did you not secure her ring properly—” Her mouth opened in surprise as she looked at Celestia. “I thought she was dead! I checked her myself!”

“Apparently not, doctor,” the stallion snarled. “No time to argue now. Somepony get that ring off her; we need all the firepower we can get.”

He turned angrily towards Celestia. “You tricked us, you witch!” he shouted, before he was forcefully pulled closer to the furious princess in a golden levitation field.

“You dare to lay a hoof on my faithful student?” Celestia shouted, liberally using the Royal Canterlot Voice as her mane burst into flames. In a second, the rebel leader was smashed into a nearby wall with so much force that he ended up creating a crater in it as two nearby unicorns covered in fear, covering their heads with their hooves, the cracks in the wall branching out like a spider’s web as he fell to the ground coughing.

Many terrorists trembled at the sight of their defeated leader, while some run for their lives, though among them were many who didn't even blink. “Nice display of power,” a hostile pegasus said, snorting as he tossed an explosive haphazardly into the air, “but ask yourself this: do you truly believe that this barrier can stop the combined explosions of all our bombs?”

Celestia paid him little attention as she lit her horn, gathering more and more magic before layering a bright golden barrier on top of Cadence’s. “I will not let you hurt my subjects, nor my friends, as long as I am around.”

The rebel stallion unicorn began to laugh darkly. “Yes, that’ll withstand all of our bombs as long as you put all your magic into your barrier,” he said with a smirk while many trembling and cowering ponies suddenly stood up and smirked as well, bombs ready in their hooves. “How disappointing that you can’t use magic to defend yourself while you keep it up.”

Celestia returned the grin. “I do not need magic to deal with you,” she said, bucking one of the earth ponies with her back hooves, sending him crashing into the golden barrier before he bounced off onto the floor.

Before the earth pony could recover himself and stand again, Celestia jumped on him, raising a hoof. “So you can beat one or two of us with your strength, but can you fight all of us with nothing but your hooves?” the unicorn asked, a confident grin on his face. Celestia looked back over at him with a smirk before turning to the pony below her.

“Wait... no no no—” the earth pony scream as the alicorn, instead of hitting him, slugged one of magical bombs attached to his harness. Everypony behind the two barriers watched in awe as they exploded, the flames and smoke enveloping the princess entirely.

***

“Princess!” Twilight screamed as she threw herself against the barrier, only for her beaten body to bounce off of it, her wings fluttering weakly as she fell into Steel Blade’s hooves. Restrained by the guard so she wouldn’t hurt herself, Twilight shouted her mentor’s name again as the dark smoke and dust slowly began to clear.

Much to her relief, her mentor stood confidently about the remains of the rebel pony, the blast that had obliterated the terrorist and the ground around him accomplishing little outside of spraying soot on the princess’s fur and lighting a few fires around her hooves.

The Captain of the Royal Guards looked in awe at what was happening before shifting his attention to his special somepony. “Hang in there, Cadence!” Shining Armor said encouragingly as he lit his horn, cursing the fact that he wasn’t as strong as her as he began fighting against his restraining ring. He had only seconds to overpower it before the self-destruct mechanism would activate, but it was seconds more than if anypony had tried to remove it from the outside. Come on, break, you piece of junk, break!

***

Celestia turned to glare at the hostile ponies as they watched disbelievingly, some even stepping back as their confidence vanished. “Go ahead. Throw your bombs at me. Detonate them all at the same time if you want to. I will gladly take it as long as my friends and subjects don’t have to.”

“You have ruled far too long! Give up your throne or die!” two pegasi shouted as they removed their explosive harnesses, flinging them into Celestia as they activated their bombs, though not even the princess noticed a flash of green and black smoke in their eyes as it lasted for mere second. The blast threw her back into her own barrier behind her, but did little else besides give her a few more small burn marks thanks to her innate magic.

Celestia walked out of the flames, her wings spread. “I have had a very bad day today! I have been reminded of all of my failures in protecting my student, even eating her by accident. The last thing I want is to deal with ponies like you.” To her surprise, more of the ponies began to run in her direction as their fear suddenly vanished, Celestia launched herself into the air with one strong flap of her wings and let her Wonderbolts training take over.

The fanatic rebels rushed to attack, hitting her with blades and bombs, but her alicorn flesh resisted each hit as if they were nothing more than a mere annoyance. In exchange, Celestia gave more than a few kicks back. Her large hooves left noticeable imprints on each hit, surprising the white alicorn by how greatly her own strength had improved over the past years.

The battle only lasted for a minute or two. Celestia breathed heavily as the fight drew to a close. Burn marks were scattered all over her body, and her muscles and hooves were sore from swatting down ponies. At least half of the intruders lay around to her, knocked out by the alicorn’s physical attacks or by their own bombs catching them in the crossfire. Most of the remaining enemies were pegasi, their elastic bodies having better resisted Celestia’s blunt force attacks.

Celestia steeled her scorched hooves, preparing herself for round two against the pegasi as she suddenly noticed an additional tint already present under her shield. She released her own barrier, smirking. It seems that Shining Armor did it. You truly make your noble house and family proud, Captain.

As she expected, a barrage of bombs flew above her head to explode against Cadence’s barrier, shattering it, but stopping short on the second one. The rebel ponies gulped as they took stock of their nearly depleted arsenal, the unicorn stallion backing off unsteadily.

“Do you have anything to say in your defense, my little ponies?” Celestia asked calmly as she lit her horn, ready to use her magic to force them to submission.

“Y-you weren’t supposed to survive the trap. How did you manage to win against us without the help of your magic? You were supposed to be weak, too softened by your royal duties and obligations to stand against us!” he said as he took a few more steps back, only for all his followers to be captured in a powerful golden aura. The stallion focused on the barrier, scowling. “It was you, wasn’t it, Twilight Sparkle? This is all your fault! You were meant to be our trump card, our main hostage against the tyrant, and now it turns out you helped prepare her to prevail against us inste—”

Celestia threw him into a wall for the second time, creating another crater before bringing him to her eye level. “I would like nothing more than to return the favour for hurting my student, but I am not like you,” she remarked as she released the unicorn, dropping him onto the floor. “It’s over. Tell me who sent you and who gave you your resources. Who are the other moles in my guards? And by the way, if you think you can hide any information from me...” Celestia smirked as she lit her horn. “I know a certain spell that will make you tell me everything.”

***

Shining Armor released his barrier, seeing that all hostile forces were either unconscious or too injured to be a threat with their leader in Celestia’s grasp. Everypony walked carefully towards the enemy leader, giving him angry glares.

Steel Blade looked around warily. “We seem to be missing somepony. The hooded mare’s not among the bodies.”

“And Overwatch is nowhere to be seen either,” Soarin said, suspicious of the fleety mare.

“I wouldn’t worry about her,” Steel Blade said. “Overwatch isn’t exactly the type to run from something. My guess is she’s either off stalking somepony or lurking in the background.”

Spitfire snorted. “We’ll figure out where both of them are later. For now though, It’s over,” she said, before turning to the captured leader angrily. “You and your bunch of terrorist friends lost, so for your own good, you’d better speak up.”

“I would understand using me as a hostage,” Fancy Pants said sternly, “but to think that you would use my son and a baby dragon as hostages against us? How shameful.” He paused as he nuzzled White Path, his son returning it with a tight hug. “I will not rest until those responsible are locked behind bars.”

Twilight ignored the pain in her body as she fluttered up unsteadily to sit on Celestia’s shoulder, looking at the wounds covering her mentor’s body worriedly. “Princess, you’re hurt, and some of these look pretty severe. We need to get you to a hospital.”

Celestia shook her head as she drew on her magic again, quickly covering her foe’s horn with dark crystals and stopping the flow of magic through it. She hurled the bombs attached to his harness away from him, making sure that he would not try to hurt anypony in a last act of desperation. Once the enemy commander was defenseless, Celestia looked to Twilight, lingering once again on the injuries her student had accumulated by the enemy’s hoof.

Celestia sighed. “Do not worry about me, dear Twilight,” she said in a motherly voice. “My wounds are nothing compared to yours.”

Unnoticed by anypony in the party group, one of the hostile unicorns slowly lifted his head and, noticing that the princess was distracted, hurled a pack of bombs towards them. “Boss, it’s not over yet! Don’t give up!”

Everypony turned their attention forward him, Shining Armor and Cadence quickly capturing the bombs in their levitation fields. However, before Celestia could hit him with a stunning spell, he levitated Twilight from her shoulder right into his leader’s grasp.

Celestia quickly turned towards the stallion leader, her eyes wide at the bomb in his hoof from the body of an unconscious pegasus follower. The distraction had bought him dear seconds to turn the tables, despite the dark crystals blocking his magic.

“I won’t stand for this humiliation, nor will I tell you the names of my superiors,” he said, Twilight held tightly in his hoof, his eyes green as black smoke streamed out of them, “If I’m going down, then I will take your smallest, most valuable treasure with me!”

The seconds he spent talking felt like minutes as Celestia dashed towards Twilight with a flap of her wings, and everypony stared in horror as the leader activated his bomb, the bright blast of the explosion enveloping the princess and her student.

Celestia's Tiny Student

by CommanderX5

Ch23 - Sundown