//------------------------------// // Powerless // Story: Greene Fields under Red Lights // by Europa //------------------------------// Celestia "You." Celestia didn't take her eyes off of Greene. She knew how much power was in that lithe frame, the power to lift a castle and obliterate armies by voice alone. The power to remake the world in her image and shackle millions, perhaps even billions, to her will. Now though... she didn't look anything like a quick, agile, dangerous opponent. Now, with the Evolved on her knees before her, surrounded by a pool of her own blood, Elizabeth Greene just looked frail, feeble. As if Celestia could break her like a twig, despite being so drained that she could actually feel her aurora-like mane flickering into pink fibers here and there. Elizabeth's eyes locked with Princess Celestia's, and she raised her left hand ever so slightly. To her left, Princess Luna was prepared to take action, as was Queen Chrysalis to her right. Every now and then a strand of teal hair shone through Luna's ethereal mane. "No," Elizabeth whispered. Her echoes were so quiet as to be almost unnoticeable, and the psychic pressure that had lately accompanied them was gone. She turned around and scrambled back on her hands. "N-No! No, no no no nononono," she stammered, struggling to get away from them. Celestia stepped forward, the other two mimicking her actions. She pushed down a grimace when she stepped in the biomass puddle. "No, no," Elizabeth breathed. She turned around, facing away from them. Still on her hands and knees, she leaped away... and fell back to the ground with a pained yelp not half a body length from where she'd jumped. "You've lost," Chrysalis said smugly as Elizabeth turned around so she was once again on her back, facing the three of them. "Even with that construct, you couldn't hope to defeat my kind. How does that feel?" the changeling taunted, giving her wings a quick buzz. Greene's eyes were wide, flicking left and right in panic. "No, no no no, can't. C-Can't. Have to, have to. Get away." She scrambled further back, her legs scraping against the smooth street, but her left arm gave out and she fell flat on her back. "Have to, have to get... away. No... stay back!" she screamed, holding out her right hand and making as if to toss a ball. All three of them flinched and prepared to defend themselves when a pony-sized orb of crackling viridian energy flew out... and fell to the ground before it even got halfway, sparking out harmlessly. Celestia looked at the spot where the orb had gone out, and allowed herself a self-satisfied smirk. Greene, meanwhile, eyed it with terror and another whispered, "No, no no, have to, can't stop, not like this..." Even as she spoke, Celestia saw the infected retreating out of the corner of her eyes. Greene continued to deny it, but it was clear even she knew she was beat. "Surrender, fiend," Luna said emotionlessly. "Thou hast been defeated." It was almost surreal for Celestia to hear that. Defeated. They'd beaten Greene and broken her power. After a lengthy, hour long battle that had their barrels heaving in attempts to get enough air, they had finally, finally prevailed. It made her somewhat thankful that it was Elizabeth who'd come to their world and become their enemy, instead of Alex Mercer; he had overcome her monstrous form all on his own. Elizabeth looked down and to the side, breathing as heavily as everypony else was. "No, have to... get up..." She pushed herself up with her hands and shakily got to her intimidating bipedal stance, making Celestia prepare another offensive spell. She didn't need it. No sooner had Elizabeth, shaking horribly, gotten to her full height than she swayed and collapsed down, rolling over onto her left side. She reached out, as if trying to grasp something that would save her. "Keep... keep fighting... gah, not again," she whispered. Greene began coughing, her entire body flickering weakly with wire-thin tendrils. She coughed and sobbed and vomited blood onto the ground, wracked with tremors and adding to the puddle of biomass. Celestia elected to speak over her. "Elizabeth Greene, you are under arrest. You will spend a brief stay in a prison cell until such times as a court can be arranged to try you. You have the right to have such a court arranged in a rapid manner. You will be tried for your crimes to the fullest extent of Equestrian law. You have to the right to speak your case and to be heard in a fair and just manner. Your opposition has the same right to speak. Attempting to resist arrest can and will result in further charges brought up against you. Come peacefully," she finished, just as Elizabeth stopped her gasping for air and vomiting and crying. "No, can't give up, h-have to... won't... n-no no no, no!" Elizabeth scrambled back slightly further, and the three of them closed the distance. "Y-You're wrong, wrong wrong." She gagged again, and spat a glob of biomass off to her side. "Get away from me. S-Stay back... get away," she demanded, despite being in no position to demand anything. Her entire body trembled like a leaf in a storm, but Celestia had no sympathy for Greene's fear. Elizabeth took a deep breath and suddenly flickered intensely. She closed her eyes. "Get..." She opened them, and her irises were a piercing yellow, intense as her own sun. "... AWAY!" she roared. The air before her collapsed and distended outwards, the crimson shockwave washing over Celestia and her companions before she could ready a defense... and it did nothing more than briefly make their manes blow back. "Stop this," Chrysalis said as the monster's eyes turned back to their dusty emerald color. "This is just pathetic. Have some dignity." Elizabeth made another attempt to stand, but didn't so much get to both feet before collapsing back again with a wild flicker of tendrils. "No! No no, can't stop! C-Can't, c-can't. Have to... have to do this. You're wrong, you're wrong, you're all wrong. Have to bless, have to, get away, let me - " "ELIZABETH!" Luna bellowed. The alien snapped her head over to Luna fearfully and paused, still on her back. Luna looked down at the Evolved sadly. "Stop. Please, just stop." She nodded slightly. "It's over." Greene slowly relented, and looked down sadly. Princess Celestia looked at Chrysalis. "Would you do the honors?" The changeling snarled and flared her horn. "With pleasure." A bolt of green energy shot out from her crooked horn and wrapped itself around Elizabeth Greene, forming a cocoon that sealed the Evolved inside. "There. That'll keep her weak." Celestia nodded. "You're certain?" Chrysalis scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm certain! I've been preparing my cocoons to be able to keep her down since I started helping you." The changeling looked at Greene, who was floating motionlessly, and poked the cocoon with a forehoof. "If you say so." She looked at her sister. "Luna?" The Nightbringer nodded. "Of course, Tia." Luna's horn lit up, and the skies lightened. The moon drifted away from the afternoon sun, going backwards to where it had risen, and sank beneath the horizon, revealing a blue sky tainted with red. The eclipse was over. Celestia allowed herself a gentle smile. Finally, at long last, the infection was defeated. They could begin to rebuild, assess the damage, and move on into the future. She had no idea how horrific the losses had actually been, but she knew in her heart that ponykind would rebuild. Then behind her, her most faithful student roared in anger. ***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-*** Twilight Sparkle Twilight all but collapsed in exhaustion as the Princesses faced down Greene, who scrambled away from them fearfully. Applejack sat down beside her, panting heavily. "We... we did it," she breathed. "Yeah," Pinkie said. "We did it!" All around them, the infected were disengaging, heading back to the holes they had crawled out of. The soldiers were moving to those who had been injured; the casualties from the battle with Elizabeth were no doubt tremendous, hidden only by her occasional, scouring shockwaves. So many ponies and so many changelings had died, but it was all worth it. They'd won. Twilight's heart skipped a beat when Elizabeth tossed an electric orb, but then she smiled when it fell down and fizzled harmlessly. She looked left at Rarity and her smile turned concerned. "Rarity, are you okay? she asked the unicorn, who was swaying back and forth on her hooves. Rarity raised a hoof to her horn and wobbled. "Oh, dear. Yes Twilight, I'm fi - whoa!" she said, falling over to the side. Before she could hit the ground Applejack was there, holding her up. "Whoa there, Rares. Ya go around pretendin' ta faint enough, no need to actually do it." Rarity shook her head as if to clear something from it. "Thank you, darling. I feel quite faint..." "You're just exhausted," Rainbow said. "Take it from me, some rest and water will do you fine. Some dragonade couldn't hurt either." "Rest," Twilight whispered, falling onto her flanks. Her mouth was dry and nasty, and she had no saliva to swallow. "Sounds... sounds good." Meanwhile, the air forces were beginning to fall back, the changelings guided away by an invisible hoof while the few pegasi descended to ground level. The Princesses continued to accost Elizabeth, who tried once to stand and then collapsed back to the streets. Twilight's head buzzed, but the buzzing was going down and her thoughts began to flow clearly. "It's over, isn't it?" she asked. "The infection?" Pinkie nodded, a surprisingly gentle smile on her face given the magnitude of their triumph. "Yep! Meanie Greenie's not gonna hurt anypony else. And aaall the soldiers can go home for a good long rest." She tilted her head. "Hey Twilight, speaking of soldiers, where did you send your brother?" she asked cheerily. Twilight gasped, a little more of the fog of exhaustion fading from her mind. "Shiny! I'm such a terrible sister, I forgot about him so quickly, even after he threw himself into the line of fire to protect the Princesses and - " Rainbow flew before her and grasped her by the shoulders before she could keep spiraling. "Easy, Twilight. What's this about your bro? I was busy trying to get Spitfire off my tail." Her eyes turned downcast. "Spitfire... even her." "He got hit by one of her rocks," she said. "I teleported him away right after, into a building so he'd be safer." She nodded. "I think I can get him back - " She was cut off by a roar. Twilight snapped her head to where Greene was, catching sight of a conical, crimson blast flickering, the Princesses and the Queen standing unscathed. She breathed a sigh of relief. Of course they had it under control. They'd won; how could they not have it under control? She continued. "I think I can get him back," she breathed, and lit up her horn. The signature for where she'd sent Shiny was still easy to spot; there was little point in hiding it, after all. There was a flash of light and a pop of displaced air next to her, and Shining Armor was returned. He collapsed limply, and Twilight moved to quickly grab his head before he could knock it against the ground. She bit her lip as she set him down gently; he was heavy and her forelegs didn't have the strength to do much more than lift her own weight. "Yikes," Applejack said, stepping closer to him. "He ain't lookin' too hot, Twi." She was right. Shiny had taken a hit from Elizabeth Greene's rock stream. Luckily the dizzily fast rocks hadn't hit him directly, but their jagged edges had left very long gashes along his flanks, dyeing his fur pink. Twilight gagged again upon that realization, but forced herself to examine the full depth of his injuries. A deep and long cut along each of his flanks. Shattered ribs. Broken legs, all four. And he was light, so light, and he... he... Twilight's prior dizziness returned. He wasn't breathing. His barrel was not rising and falling. He was... he was... "Get back," she whispered. "Get away! Give him space!" she screamed desperately. Applejack leaped back. Desperately, Twilight lit up her horn and rolled Shining onto his back, then clambered over to his head. She redirected her magic to where his heart was, and started contracting and expanding the atriums and ventricles. She also reached to his diaphragm and moved it up and down. Then she blocked his nostrils with a forehoof, tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and gave him mouth to mouth. When her lungs were empty of all air she came up, took another deep breath, and went down again. After five breaths, she briefly let go of her magic to see if he'd come back. She scooted down and laid her ear on his chest. Terror-inducing silence. "No, no no!" she shouted, lighting up her horn again and giving him another dozen breaths. Once those were done, she pulled away to check his heartbeat. Her friends didn't move; what could they have done to help? Suddenly she knew what they could, and looked up at Rainbow. "Lightning! NOW!" she ordered. Without pausing to salute or acknowledge her, Rainbow vanished into the air. With her gone, Twilight stepped off of Shining and lit up her horn. "Wake up!" she screamed, shocking her brother in just the right places with the proper amount of electricity. Nothing. Zap. "Wake up!" Magic, breaths. "Wake up!" Rainbow flew back with a tiny storm cloud the size of her head. Twilight ripped it from the pegasus and positioned it above Shining Armor's heart. "WAKE UP!" She reared back on her hind legs and lit her horn, ordering the cloud to deliver a lightning bolt straight down. It dissipated when her magic did, and she leaned back down to check his pulse. Still nothing. How long had it been? How long did he have?! She began manually operating his heart and lungs for the umpteenth time, covered his nostrils, leaned over, pressed her mouth to his, and blew in. Then again. Then again, and still nothing. "Why... why won't you wake up?" she asked, pulling away. Her eyes were so hot, hotter than her horn. "Oh, Twilight," Rarity said weakly. "Oh Twilight, I'm so..." She didn't hear the rest of what she said. She looked down. Her brother was... dead. The boulders had sliced him and he'd bled out after she teleported him away. He was... dead. Elizabeth had killed him. Elizabeth. Had. Killed. Him! She sat down numbly, staring at her hooves. She was vaguely aware of somepony's hooves on her withers, but did they matter? No! Nopony else mattered. Her BBBFF was dead! Something dripped. He was... he was d-dead, and he was never coming back! She was never going to joke with him again, she was never going to be teased by him again, never! She tried to stifle a sob, but failed. It was all Greene's fault! She did this! Why had she killed him? Why had she betrayed them? Why had she destroyed her parents, her brother, her family? Why had she come to Equestria? Why hadn't she just stayed dead?! She glanced up. Through blurry eyes she saw that Elizabeth was in a changeling cocoon, the alicorns and changeling stepping back from her ever so slightly. She looked back down and shook her head, a tear escaping. Then Twilight gritted her teeth, looked up, and screamed. Energy she didn't know she had came flooding into her veins, through her mane and tail, filling her with strength, magic, and above all else, heat. There was a flash and a bang of orange light, and then she was right before Elizabeth Greene, who looked up at her fearfully through the cocoon. The entire world shimmered, as if engulfed in intense heat. "She killed him!" she roared, her horn lighting up and sending a blast of white energy at her. A tiny blue square of a shield formed and absorbed her shot, breaking in the process. "She killed him!" Blast. Blue square. Blast, yellow square. "She killed him, she killed him, SHE KILLED HIM!" Twilight shrieked, only matched in volume by the crackling flames of her mane and tail. "Why?! Why did you kill him?!" she demanded, ending her blasts of magic. She fell to her hooves and ran up to Elizabeth, but felt something wrap around her hind legs. She looked back and saw the green glow around her hooves, keeping them in place, then screamed like a caged animal and bucked against it. Chrysalis grunted and stumbled back, and Twilight lunged at Elizabeth. She raised a white forehoof into the air and brought it down, only to be met with another shield, and then another. "WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! Why?! Why, why, why...?" she shouted, slowly trailing off. Suddenly there were large forelegs around her, pulling her away from Greene and pressing her snout into Princess Celestia's chest, white fur turning back to purple. Instinctively, she wrapped her forehooves around the Princess, sobbing. "She killed him, she killed him," she whimpered, pressing her eyes tight. Her throat was sore and her prior exhaustion had returned. Princess Celestia said nothing to her; nopony said anything to her. She was aware of Princess Luna giving orders to others, far in the background, but that didn't matter. It didn't come close to mattering. Her brother was dead, how could something like Princess Luna talking matter? Princess Celestia stroked her back soothingly, saying nothing and letting Twilight cry into her fur, repeating that she killed him why she killed him over and over. Finally, she stopped talking, and was... not content, but okay with staying there motionlessly. "Oh Twilight," the solar alicorn whispered at last. "Oh my dear Twilight, I am so, so sorry." Another strangled sob found its way out of Twilight's throat. "What..." she said at last, then stopped because her throat hurt so much; it was like somepony had rubbed sandpaper all over it. When she felt she could talk again, she did. "What are we going to do? She killed him, she killed him..." "I don't know, Twilight." A hardened note crept into the Princess's voice. "But rest assured Elizabeth Greene will be held fully responsible for every last iota of suffering she has wrought." Celestia's voice softened again to impossible limits, squeezing Twilight as tightly as ever. "Come, Twilight. Let's get you back to the Crystal Empire." Then there was a crackle of magic, and a flash of golden light. They left Canterlot.