//------------------------------// // A Shadow Of Hope // Story: The Shadowborne Rampage of a Winning Pony // by Gavel Coaster //------------------------------// In the beginning, she was there. She was awake. She woke up at the same time they did. The empty void was their universe. She knew the others were there. She could feel them, though they could not speak to each other. There was the sun. She was regal, beautiful, and vastly powerful. From her, all their life came. She rained love and warmth upon each of them. Yet she sensed that the sun would consume them if they came too close, and so she always kept her distance. Then there was the moon. She too was beautiful - but cool, moist and solemn, serving not as a source of warmth, but the bringer of calmness and rest. Though she found the moon’s company more pleasant, she never deigned to look too closely. The sun and the moon were very close though – and as time wore on – she became aware of them whispering to each other… But when she tried to speak up and join them, it seemed as though they could not hear her… And there was another too. The entropy. The spirit of the brightly-colored anomalies that sometimes drifted by. Deep, colorful ribbons of snapping particles, gases, and strange, hard matter for which there was yet no name given. His creations were as beautiful and well-made as any…yet at the same time, they were extremely odd and often useless. But he was the entropy - blessed of a chaotic sense of humor and a desire for change that neither the sun, nor the moon, nor she herself deigned to dignify with a response... The quiet was enough for them. They watched, they whispered, and they slept. There was one other though. One that never slept, never spoke, and seemed to glare rather than watch. He was cold, dark…and she knew he hated them all. He was the end. The cold, hopeless end to all things, waiting for them to fall into his clutches – which were to say, the clutches of oblivion itself. And then, in one single, chaotic moment, all that changed. The entropy reached out across the void, gathering power, particles, and essence from places near and far. And with his many hands, he worked below them.  The three: herself, the sun, and the moon – all watched, but said nothing. It was a vast creation. The entropy wove a large, chaotic tapestry of solid, liquid, and gaseous matter. A long stone basin, with great protrusions of rock next to deep furrows and hollows of loose matter. Great mountains split and melted – growing, flowing and freezing across the basin into a gnarled, tortured rocky landscape. Long rivers of molten lava flowed angrily across its molten surface. A great black atmosphere of ash grew above them – widening the new anomaly in the void. It was…a terrible masterpiece. The moon was horrified and tried to pull away from the sight, but the sun seemed vaguely intrigued – drawing closer so she could illuminate the entropy’s tapestry and see it better. And her? Of course, the others ignored her. She doubted they even knew she existed. Over time, the tapestry began to cool and darken as the great black volcanoes quieted and the rivers of lava ran dry. As the ash settled and it grew cold and dark in places where the sun’s rays could not reach, the sun panicked and became determined to illuminate this new creation fully. She appealed to her sister, the moon, to help her by passing over the tapestry to illuminate it from the other side. But the moon was deeply afraid of the entropy’s creation and refused to draw any closer. She herself muttered to the sun, trying to tell her that she might be able to help – but again, there was no response. The sun knew her not – and therefore could not hear her… Finally, the sun released some of her essence, choosing to sacrifice the eternal peace and tranquility of the void to keep this new responsibility of hers alive. Great ribbons of her essence burst free of her body, flickering across the void. They flew in random directions like startled spirits, before coalescing and coiling into great spheres and diamonds… And before long, each of them had its own place and its own voice, muttering to their mother – the sun. So did the stars come to be. Under their light, the sun beheld all of the tapestry once again. The great dips and rises of the land were cool now…but they were empty. The great rivers of molten rock were all gone, and hard, lifeless places were all that remained. As the sun and moon drifted closer to the tapestry, she knew the time had come to take a hand in this and finally make the sun and the moon aware of her…but before she could descend, the entropy returned… She was startled, and retreated quickly as the serpentine entity descended on his tapestry once again. This time, he brought with him water, grass, trees, and metals that he seeded into the tapestry. He wove the elements of entropy into the earth – but without unity…forcing them together against their will. As the tapestry grew increasingly chaotic, asymmetrical, and ugly, she knew the sun’s heart was breaking. The sun did not intervene though. Not then. The tapestry still belonged to entropy by right of creation. She herself planned to leave for a while and return when entropy had departed. However, it was too late. He had become aware of her. He knew who she was. She shrieked when he seized her tail and she called out to the sun and moon for help… …again though, they could not hear her. Because they did not yet know her. The entropy reached his many hands deep within her, pulling her against her will. He collected her essence and energies as she slowly diminished in power and begged him to stop. However, he was deaf to her pleas and continued. He pulled away enough of her to fuel his new plans, raping her until she was almost empty. Finally, he cast her exhausted, battered body back out into the void and returned to the tapestry. With the essence he stole from her, mingled with his own spirit of chaos, the entropy released his first living creation: the dragons. The great, lumbering, brutish animals were a failure. Their instincts drove them to almost destroy the tapestry and each other. The entropy’s next creations, the river giants, were nearly as bad. Their great hunger drove them to start consuming the land above their homes, sinking much of the tapestry into the great waters and forming new, vast oceans in the place of old rivers and lakes. His final creation, the living trees, were the worst. Their territorial instincts and refusal to share with the other races led to their near extinction as they swept across the land looking to claim the tapestry as their own. Faced with the destruction of the tapestry, the sun finally descended, seizing the entropy by the throat with her fiery hands. Naming the entropy as pure discord, the sun snatched the life essence he had stolen and banished him to the furthest reaches of the void. With the essence of life as well as her powers of light and warmth now in her grasp, the celestial sun spread her hands over the tapestry, claiming it for her sister and herself. She reworked the essence of life into the dragons, clearing their minds and awakening them to the value of life. She took away the sea giant’s desire to eat the land, sending great fish and water-breathing beasts into the oceans to feed their hunger. She commanded the trees into eternal sleep, promising them as much soil as they and their children would ever need, but no more. All the while, out in void, she shrieked in dismay. The sun had stolen her duty! It was her turn to nurse the tapestry. But she had been cheated of the chance to weave the essence of her being into it, first by the discord, and now by the sun, who was using her stolen power of life to remake the tapestry without even knowing she even existed! It was not right! But no matter how loudly she screamed in protest, she remained a mute stranger to the sun and moon. Quelling her fear of the unknown, the moon slowly descended to join the sun in rebuilding the tapestry. Together, they made the birds, the animals, the monsters of the earth…with her stolen power - while she herself remained a tiny, battered, and emaciated entity, near death at the edge of the void. But she was not the only being watching… The dark one was not pleased by the work on the tapestry. Not in the slightest. He knew it would shift the balance of power away from him. He watched alongside her with his soulless black eyes. She was aware of him, but he was not of her. Eventually, when he grew enraged and descended to make his own mark on the tapestry, she clutched at his tail and he involuntarily dragged her along for the ride. She let go just beyond the tapestry. She knew the light of the sun and moon had mingled with the lifeblood of the tapestry and it would reveal her to them if she came too close… The darkness, however, had no such reservation about showing himself. Pushing against the sun and moon, he argued furiously for his right to leave his mark on this new plane. They eventually shoved him away, but not before he rested one single hand on the tapestry… …and cursed it with the scourge of Death. Sooner or later, all life upon the tapestry would perish. All life. Whether from violence, disease, or even simple old age – they would all die in the end… The sun and the moon were shocked and dismayed that they had allowed the darkness to wreak such a fate upon their new, beautiful creations. Wracked by guilt for their failure to stop him, the celestial sun and lunar moon muttered to each other – with her listening and hanging on every word - as they both vowed they would spend their eternal lives comforting their creations against their new, inevitable fate. Joining hands, the sun and moon made their final creation… The ponies. Creatures made to be mortal. Made to live and thrive knowing that one day they would die – because they knew they would always have the sun and moon to care for and watch over them. Made to share a special bond with the tapestry and serve as its caretakers and as the link of the sun and moon to the land... Made to soar the sky above, tend to its weather, and protect its many denizens from the curse of Death… Made to master and control the entropic energies of magic the discord left behind for the benefit of all… And all the while she screamed against the injustice of it - her stolen role. Her heart burst with jealousy as the sun and moon claimed all that had been hers by right. Eventually, the sun and moon withdrew to watch their new creations from afar. But as the eons passed, the sisters became aware of the return of entropy – the discord – who had projected his avatar to the tapestry – now known as the “World” – while they slept. Sharing a silent nod, the sun and moon each projected their own avatar down to the World, to the land the ponies called Equestria, to restore order to the discord’s interference. It was during this time, while their gaze was focused elsewhere, that the dark one descended again. He flew beyond the sun and moon’s light to the eternally-dark underside of the World where the fires still raged, twisting and warping it into his own seat of Tartarus… And again, she clutched at his heel, allowing him to drag her battered, wounded being down with him – all the while unaware of her… She let go of him during their fiery descent, landing at the edge of the World far from the land of Equestria. She was weak, weary and crippled from the pain of the landing and all she had suffered in the void. Her burned skin fused with hard, cracked chitin, which she sharpened to cruel points. Her wings had been shredded by the descent – so she reached out and tore new wings from a nearby dragonfly. She could not eat any plant in such a barren land, so she stole the fangs from a great black wolf and preyed upon the smaller animals as they passed her prone, unmoving form… She then pulled what few shreds of power she had left to manifest a new form, seeding new life in her own image… Pure life… Not the twisted mockery that first the discord, and then the sun and the moon, had made of her essence… She instilled into them a hunger for the life and love that was rightfully theirs and had been taken from them, encouraging them to reclaim it by feeding on the life-gifts of other creatures. And as they fed, her power returned. Her crippled body rebuilt itself and she finally stood from her eon-long immobility. The sun, the moon, the discord, and the dark one… …not one of them knew she was there. After so long of being unknown and unheard, she finally realized secrecy and the ability to hide in plain sight had always been her greatest weapon… And so she blessed her loyal, hardworking children with the same weapon: the ability to mimic the appearance and abilities of their twisted bastard cousins, the ponies… …and named them changelings. It was time to take back everything that had been stolen from her… Chrysalis snorted, clearing the memory out of her mind. Yes. Neither Celestia nor Luna knew. Neither of them knew she had been there since the very beginning… Neither of them knew what they had taken from her… Neither of them knew they had stolen her rightful role in the great creation… Maybe she would tell Celestia just before she destroyed her. Maybe when Celestia heard what she had inadvertently done, she would even wish for death… Maybe the look on Celestia’s face when she learned she was the greatest thief in the universe would make it all worth it… She grinned nastily as she opened her eyes, awakening from her meditation…and the bleeding wound on her head slowly healed over… After the battle, the remaining changelings had scattered. Some of them tried to duck around a corner and re-infiltrate our ranks disguised as yet more emerging militia and refugees – but of course, that didn’t fool us anymore. Any changeling who approached was tested, identified and cut down in a matter of seconds. The hive mind seemed to take the point – no more bugs returned after that… All the while, I had to keep an eye out from the front of the column, making a nice, big show of myself to lure more ponies out of hiding…and in case the bug bitch queen got any funny ideas about lurking around nearby. A lot of ponies had been left in the city after the changelings’ attack, but… …not all of them were prisoners. In fact, most of the ponies joining us had just been trapped, like we were. Shadow was right. When they struck from the shadows and took us by surprise, the changelings had seemed almost invincible, but exposed and under fire…well, they suddenly became a lot less impressive. In fact, I was beginning to wonder how they managed to catch Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and the others.  Sheer weight of numbers probably. I suddenly had a childish and very out-of-place urge to smile at the thought of Twilight and her whole world-saving team blasting, bucking, cannon-balling, rainbow-crashing, and forehoofing the bugs. But that train of thought was derailed rather nastily by the reminder of the exhausted pony sitting by my side… Bon Bon. No serious injuries - thank Celestia - but she was bruised and scraped pretty heavily, not to mention downright filthy. Dirt, sweat, and mashed changeling guts had gotten all over her. She was wearing salvaged Kicker ordnance she’d taken from one of our dead scout parties across the district. With Bons’ two-toned mane and light colors, she looked pretty much like a clown in all that red mail – but the green ichor and changeling brains dripping off the mace she was carrying in her tail clearly showed she’d been involved in the fighting… And if even half of what she was telling me was true – two things had just become obvious. One, my soft-spoken, sweet-baking earth pony friend and casual three-way bang-buddy must have gone ponyfeathering berserk to fight her way here all by herself without remembering it! And two, I had to bring her down from that state. Fast. Bons being Bons, she’d immediately figured something was up from the moment Lyra didn’t turn up at Heartstrings Manor after the rehearsals to meet her. Okay, so Lyra isn’t exactly little miss punctual…or ever even really on time at all, for that matter…but she wouldn’t leave Bons hanging on her own in Canterlot. She had been on her way to find Lyra’s parents when this storm hit and the changelings broke through the shield, and after a few hours of hiding, she fought her way to our barricade after she heard the noise. With earth pony practicality, she stuck to the back alleys and moved under cover to avoid being spotted out in the open. Still, no less than four separate changeling scouts had tried to capture her… Bon Bon had never killed anything bigger than a spider before...let alone something pony-sized. However, she wasn’t fooled by the two disguised changelings that approached her either. Luckily enough, she’d seen their shapeshifting abilities during the outbreak and knew what it meant. The brains dripping off her mace came from the first one that approached her. That was faintly unnerving if you thought about it. Wonder what would’ve happened if it really had been a hiding refugee instead of a shapeshifted changeling when Bons gave it a literal splitting headache… It wasn’t though. And now here she was. The reaction when she’d seen those hand-shaped bruises on Star’s throat had been the worst part… “Bon Bon, come on!” I said, trying to ignore the half-panicked, half-awed look in her eyes as she stared at me. She knew about my past in West Hoof of course, but Shadow Kicker’s armor was a complete mystery to her. “She’s inside the mountain. Lost with the bug queen’s other two bridesmaids. Star and the others couldn’t get her under control in time and by now she could be anywhere…” Bon Bon swallowed. “I have to find her, Cloud Kicker! If she’s down in the caverns, then that’s where I’m going!” I shook my head regretfully, “Sorry, but you’re a lone civilian. It’s too dangerous.” The look she gave me was one I’d seen from her too often. Her face set and her muzzle clenched with the kind of determination that brokered no argument. Kinda scary sometimes, the way Bons just pulls that attitude out of her plot whenever somepony tries to pull any horseapples on her. Was it any wonder she had Lyra so completely under her hoof when she needed? Less like Lyra’s fillyfriend and more like her second mom at times… “Cloud Kicker, she might be lost! She might be hurt! She might be trapped! Or…she might be…” Her face crumpled from rock candy into loose taffy as tears of worry began to swim in her eyes. She didn’t need to finish her sentence. I knew my first priority should still be the higher palace and the throne room, but… …I just couldn’t say anything to Bon Bon’s sad, desperate face. “Stay thy hoof, descendant,” Shadow warned, “I sympathize for thine lost friend and lover…but we have a war to fight. The Commander and her entourage must remain our priority…” I didn’t protest - though Luna knows I wanted to. Shadow was aware of that, of course, and she spoke again. “The first rule of war, Cloud Kicker – do not waste lives.” Shadow’s delivery was cold and clipped inthe tone of an officer talking down a protesting subordinate, “I sense thy wish to rescue this Lyra. Every moment thou wouldst delay action ‘gainst Chrysalis to do so would risk the lives of other innocent ponies…certainly more so now thou hast rallied the resistance…” I knew toying with words and making sentimental excuses was just going to get me even less respect from Shadow, so I put it as bluntly as I could manage. She’s a liability – Chrysalis may try to use her as a hostage against me… Shadow’s reply was just as hard. “If that cometh to pass, then she is hardly unique in that respect…” Ouch. Okay, like I needed a reminder Chrysalis had plenty of ponies important to me anyway… I straightened, forcing myself to think coldly and rationally. Like it or not, Shadow was right. Lyra wasn’t the only one in danger. Besides, if I pressed the advantage we had now and took down the bug bitch queen for good, then Lyra would probably be saved along with everypony else. I shook my head regretfully, “I’m sorry, Bons. I love Lyra too, but it’s just too risky! According to Star, she dropped her tracker hours ago. She could be anywhere!” “Cloud Kicker!” I know, Bons. Sweet Celestia, do I know! It was Lyra. I couldn’t help but think about her right there and then – her bright, smiling face when I looked at her, her serene, peaceful expression as her magical hands strummed her harp, the sweet sound of the strings, the silly way she sat on her butt on that park bench, her lazy moaning and swatting when I shook her awake on my couch, her drunken dancing down at the Sun’s Flank, the gurgle and delighted moaning she made when I nibbled my way down her neck… …and the way she always looked so happy when she hung on to her fillyfriend out in Ponyville square. There and then I was almost ready to tell Shadow to go clop herself and take wing for the caverns with Bon Bon right away, but then reality seized me again. The Undermountain was known to be extremely dangerous…there was a reason ponies had abandoned it and most of the maps had been lost after all… If Lyra had been down there that long…it wasn’t likely she was even still alive… My thoughts must have shown on my face, because Bon Bon gulped and looked away. I sighed heavily. “Bons…I…” She cut me off sharply, “I know, Cloud Kicker. I know – it’s hopeless.” And with that, she turned and stamped off. Part of me wanted to run after Bon Bon and scream that I’d go with her…but I knew I couldn’t. Instead, I sat heavily and beckoned to two nearby pegasi, “Keep an eye on her. She’s going to make a break for the Undermountain first chance she gets. Stop her when she does.” They gave mute nods of acknowledgment and moved to follow Bons. Suddenly, I was aware of my injuries again and I wanted to collapse on the turf, feeling like an utter mule. But I knew this wasn’t the time to start feeling sorry for myself. The bite on my cheek didn’t burn anymore, but it was tender to the touch. Thank Celestia for Shadow’s Pegasopolan noseguard. If Chrysalis had been able to chomp me directly I’d probably have no face left. I didn’t doubt she’d cracked some of my ribs when she managed to buck me and from the ache I was certain the cartilage and ligaments in my foreleg were either popped or strained. Breathing was a minor ache, and the dozens of tiny scratches from Chrysalis’ spiny hide stung when I poked a hoof at my chest. “You need a doctor, Cloud Kicker,” Sparkler said, approaching when she saw what I was doing, “You pulled a real number on that nag, but she got you too…” I shook my head, “No time. I’ll just slap on a bandage or two. There’ll be enough time for all the right checks once this is over…” Sparkler, predictably, dug her hooves in, “Star’s already getting her bite cleaned up! And now you need to…do some battle planning with her or something now, right?! Well, the docs we saved can check you over while you do that, right?” I knew that would probably be possible. Since we’d broken the cordon, a lot of ponies had pushed out of hiding to join us, including several doctors and medical support staff who were busy tending to our injured. But then again, the injuries I had were hardly life-threatening and, thanks to the armor, the pain wasn’t so bad. Hay, I hurt worse than this when my DI broke my forehoof in boot camp. I had to keep moving before Chrysalis stole a march on us and cut off our new momentum…and besides… “You need to go back with the doc we’re sending to your uncle, Sparkler…” I said grimly. “Cirrus needs you now, and you’ve been stuck here on the battlefront in the heart of danger for too long already.” Sure, mentioning Cirrus was sorta hitting below the tail. Didn’t make it any less true though. The teenaged unicorn glanced back, but didn’t budge, “Uncle Cirrus is safe. H-he’s sleeping. He told me to stay with you where I’d be safe…and that’s what I’m doing!” Damn! I groaned inwardly, wondering for the hundredth time that day just how Derpy managed to stay so patient with this teenage impulsiveness. Maybe Sparkler thought she was just doing what her uncle said, but she probably didn’t realize Cirrus was in so much pain he couldn’t be thinking straight. Or that he wouldn’t have dreamed of telling her to stick with me if he had any clue I’d be charging into the thick of battle soon afterwards… I groaned and stood up. “Don’t be stupid, Cloud – I know you’re hurt! You’ve got to get that armor off and get cleaned up!” I shook my head again and tried another tack, waving a hoof over myself vaguely, “I can’t take the armor off. I don’t dare do that!” I narrowed my eyes, “If I take it off…I might not be able to get it on again afterwards…” She raised a skeptical eyebrow at that, “How in Equestria could a suit of armor-?“ I pointed at the re-gathering shadows over the breastplate for emphasis, “Even when it’s empty, it’s not exactly empty, Sparkler. You get what I mean? I just can’t risk it yet.” She gave me a look - probably remembering the illusion of Shadow Kicker - and her eyes narrowed. I already knew Derpy’s adopted daughter had issues about living up to the Doo family name, including the fact that during the Rebellion they stood against Shadow Kicker to the bitter end and then some… But after a moment, her shoulders slumped and deflated. Practicality can take a toll on a pony’s ego…especially the stubborn, teenaged kind. “Fine, but at least get the cuts you can get at cleaned up!” Hmmm…well, if it would shut her up it wasn’t really a bad suggestion. I did need to have a word with Star and briefly give orders to some of our other conscripted officers about our next move anyway. I guess getting a few small patches while I did that wouldn’t hurt- THRUMMM!! Before I could say another word, there was a massive, painful humming the air like somepony had just twanged a low note on a ten-storey-tall cello. I swiveled my head from side to side – wondering if Octavia had just joined the battle with lethal sound frequencies – when I saw the look on Sparkler’s face. Her eyes went as wide a dinner plates – before they abruptly hardened and narrowed to slits, and she muttered something foul under her breath. She was gazing over my head in the direction of the palace… When I turned and saw it, I suddenly felt like busting a few bug heads myself. Chrysalis must have put Shining Armor under duress or something… A bright green bubble shield – exactly like the one the bugs broke a few hours ago – had materialized around the royal palace. Ten minutes later, I was in a makeshift medical shelter in a tent under one of the floating gardens (we set them up directly under the basins on the off-chance the changelings spying above wouldn’t spot them). One of our docs was urging me to keep still as she would a bandage around my forehoof. She looked haggard and exhausted, and I could hardly blame her. We had more refugees arriving by the moment into our growing safe zone, many of them wounded. I had given orders to Catch and some others to begin sending our rescued ponies back to the Kicker compound, slap some weapons on the healthy refugees and get our newly-swelled unicorn ranks in place to to prevent another air assault with anti-air magic artillery. Another round of tests too. The bugs wouldn’t catch us by surprise again with the detection magic Shadow’s armor had placed on the Kickers…but still, better safe than sorry. And we couldn’t afford to stay out in the open much longer. I was surprised Chrysalis hadn’t sent the whole swarm after us yet, now that she knew what she was dealing with. My best guess as to the delay in enemy retaliation was that there were other places the bug bitch queen needed to keep locked down and she couldn’t afford a full-scale attack yet. Or maybe she had kept the majority of the swarm with her inside the bubble shield. All the better. We needed time to make a good strategy if we were going to take back Canterlot palace… The doc groaned and facehoofed as I shook my forehoof at a protesting officer, loosening the gauze she’d just finished wrapping around it, “A full frontal attack will cost too many lives, sergeant! The second we make a big show of marching up to pound on that shield, the whole swarm will know it! They’ll be on us before we can even get there!” “I agree,” Star put in, wincing as another doc smeared some white cream on her bite, “Even with Shadow Kicker’s armor empowering the lieutenant, we couldn’t take down the whole swarm all at once…” “Cut off the head and the body will die…” said Lefty sagely from his seat next to us, “We should probably focus our efforts on finishing off Chrysalis first. Hopefully, the changelings will retreat from the city if she falls.” Since our counter-attack, I could see the old soldier had returned to his practical, hard-as-nails self. He had been worried and doubtful last time I saw him - Lefty was the kind of officer who was cool as a cucumber when all the cards were on the table, but tended to fall apart pretty quickly when unexpected circumstances emerged. Not ideal for field work, but good enough for strategy. Shadow murmured something, and I understood. I shook my head. “Too risky. Even if we could coax her out from where she’s probably hiding, she’s not an enemy who just stays put and waits to die. I had her on the ropes back at the floating gardens when she teleported away, remember? We could only hope to take one shot at her if we busted in there – couldn’t afford to blow it.” “Trap her then? Cut off her magic escape?” he suggested, looking to our close-at-hoof unicorn with an inquisitive eyebrow raised. Star frowned, “That’d take a lot of power from a large group of battle magi. Magi we don’t have. Most of the higher-ups were all at the wedding…” I had a thought, “Princess Luna could probably manage it though.” Star looked at me, quirking an eyebrow, “Yes Lieutenant, I bet she could. But she’d take too long to get here.” Shadow spoke again, and another one of her memories flashed through my head. A glistening full moon, emerging from behind a storm cloud to shine moonbeams down into Shadow’s vision. Shadow’s face visibly tightened as a familiar haughty laugh drifted down to her… Though it was harder this time – I caught what she had been trying to tell me when I thought back over it. “Maybe not…” My mind flashed back to last Nightmare Night in Ponyville. No, not to the first time Luna kinda, sorta flirted with me…the moment she first arri- I leaped out of my seat (ripping up the tearful, overstressed doctor’s work again). “OF COURSE!!” I ran out the tent flap into the daylight – the startled Star and Lefty following close behind. “Look at the sun!” I pointed with my forehoof, “It hasn’t moved all day!” It was true. It was early evening, almost time for sunset, but the glowing orb was still in the same place it had been that morning. “Yeah,” Star agreed, “I noticed that too. Must be ‘cos the bug queen got Princess Celestia…” “We need to lower it…we need to set the sun!” I could feel my new plan taking shape every second, “As long as that’s up there, Princess Luna can’t raise the moon and night can’t fall…and if night can’t fall, she can’t get back here and trap Chrysalis!” Star stared at me like I’d just turned my wings upside down and declared myself Empress of Tartarus. I facehoofed, “Don’t you get it?! Princess Luna can travel on the moonbeams – I know, I’ve seen her do it!” I pointed up again. “If Luna can raise the moon, she can be back here with the Long Patrol and the Night Guard right away! We’ve got to lower the sun!” Star and Lefty looked at me, and then at the sky – along with the dozen or so Kickers who’d come over to see what the shouting was about. After a moment, Lefty coughed, looking to the side. It was obvious he badly wanted to speak, but felt it wasn’t his place. Finally, Star chimed in. “Cloud…how in Equestria are we supposed to do that?!” I grinned savagely. “Remember your history…” The Sanctum Solarion was one of the many magical contingencies that had been put into place after Nightmare Moon’s near-return centuries ago. When Princess Celestia had been temporarily inactive in the aftermath of the war, the Sanctum Solarion had been constructed in the lower levels of Canterlot palace and empowered by the princess to act as an alternative means of controlling the sun whilst she slumbered. It was an enormous magic beacon that contained a solar battery powered by Celestia herself – a massive feat of arcane engineering. When properly manipulated by unicorn magi, it could be used to raise and lower the sun without the princess. But it needed a large number of powerful casters all through daylight hours to keep it working, which kinda made it more of an emergency measure than Celestia’s ticket to an early retirement… I’d heard some magi had briefly tried to reactivate the thing again during Nightmare Moon’s return…but we all know the story of how a certain group of six crazy ponies put an end to that threat in a few short hours…and the Sanctum stayed dark. I pointed to the subterranean chamber that housed the Sanctum Solarion on the large-scale plan of Canterlot palace we’d placed on the table. We’d repurposed the medical tent as a temporary war room, and Star, Sparkler, Lefty, and some other officers we’d conscripted or rescued were standing around the table with me. “The Sanctum Solarion is located in the library tower of the palace. It’s underground – which should make recapturing and defending it a simple matter until our unicorns can activate it. After that, with any luck, Princess Luna will travel back her on her moonbeams at once and engage the bugs in the city…” Star looked up, “Are you counting on Princess Luna to defeat Chrysalis, Lieutenant?” she asked formally. I shook my head, “I hope she can, but right now we need certainties. We need to turn every advantage we can on Chrysalis! The bulk of our troops will join Luna’s attack…but the attack will only be a diversion. Most of the swarm, and – hopefully – the bug queen will head off to deal with our forces – and Luna if she shows up – while we make our way through the palace to rescue Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, Paterfamilias Tornado Kicker, and all the others the bugs must be holding captive.” Star lit her horn momentarily to make a point, “My trackers should tell me where they are as soon as we get inside! Finding them should be easy.” Sparkler pumped a hoof, “And then – with you, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Twilight and Rainbow Dash all on our side – we grind the bugs into mush between us!” She grinned, an eager gleam in her eyes that was faintly amusing and made me wonder if perhaps our little Sparkler had a future in the Guard… But then she was suddenly aware of herself, “Ah, I’m sorry, Cloud Kicker…” She gulped like she’d suddenly remembered she was in a room full of stick-up-the-plot military types and was speaking out of turn. I turned my head and grinned at her, “No worries…that’s just what I was about to say!” Lefty cleared his throat. “There are just two problems I can see, Lieutenant…” he looked at me with some doubt, and then frowned at the old plans, “First, can we even be sure the Sanctum Solarion still works? Remember, the unicorns never had time to fully reactivate it during Nightmare Moon’s return two years ago…we can’t be sure it’s still capable of controlling the sun after all these years…” I shook my head, “No...we can be fairly sure it does, Lefty. Princess Celestia will probably have thought of that and kept it tuned up. Anyway, most of these Canterlot magic artifacts are hundreds of years old anyway, and they still work…” It was true – the floating gardens, the eternal waterfall, the all-seeing aeroscope – all made to withstand the years and still working just fine as far as I knew…although, it was possible that was only because of continued maintenance… “Very well…” Lefty went on, “the second thing: we will almost certainly be attacked when the bugs see us trying to breach that shield! They won’t miss a force this large and we have no way of knowing how strong it is or how big a window we’ll have to breach it before the enemy overwhelms us…” I nodded, “I’m glad we agree on that, Sergeant, because that’s exactly what we won’t be doing!” He pulled his eyes up from the map and looked at me, “You have a plan.” It wasn’t a question. I nodded, “We aren’t going to attack the shield directly. You’ll stay here, Sergeant Left Hoof,” I tapped the map of Canterlot, “and command the bulk of our troops to lie low and prepare while I take a strike team into the palace to capture the sanctum…” I drew my hoof over the map to the palace. His eyes widened momentarily, and then tightened, “Lieutenant…you’d be lucky to breach the guard patrols the enemy has in the area – let alone the shield – with just a small force…not to mention the opposition you’d face in the palace itself the moment the hive mind became aware of you! I respect your talents and the power of Shadow Kicker’s armor, but…” he drew a deep breath, “that sounds like a suicide mission!” I cut him off with a hoof, “Already thought of that. We’re not going in through the front door…” I pointed to Star, “Her recent expedition into the Undermountain came in handy. Thanks to this clever West Hoof cadet, my team can infiltrate the palace through a hidden entrance in the caverns. No shield, no patrols, and probably no alert until we’re already inside and got the sun going down…” Sparkler jerked her head up and stared at me. Star, on the other hoof, grinned proudly and buffed a hoof against her chest. Lefty looked at the map again, “I see…and if the enemy detects you before you reach the sanctum?” I flexed a wingblade wordlessly and Lefty nodded in understanding. “We’re taking some of our unicorns with us to power the sanctum. They should able to weld the doors to the chamber shut too if we need to barricade ourselves inside…and when Luna returns…we strike simultaneously. With luck, the changelings will be out in the field without a clue what went wrong, and their hostages will be as good as ours!” Star pumped a hoof with a vengeful growl, “I’m with you, Cloudy!” I nodded – of course, I needed her to find our way into the palace and track the whereabouts of Dad and the others. “Me too!” Sparkler declared, predictably sidling up to her fillyfriend’s side, but I shook my head. “Sorry, Sparkler, but this isn’t something an untrained teenager can do. And if things go bad…well, your mom’ll find a way to bring me back to life just so she can kill me again for letting you get hurt…” Sparkler opened her mouth to argue, but I raised my voice and let a little scowl slide into my voice, “And you know you should be with your uncle! He needs you now, more than ever!” I’m not going to pretend I didn’t know where Sparkler was coming from by wanting to stick with me and Star, and I appreciated it. But the fact remained – an infiltration wasn’t something an underaged, untrained, conscripted unicorn could manage without becoming a liability…and my irritation at her leaving Cirrus’ side was genuine. I understood he was in good hooves and doped up, but that didn’t mean Sparkler shouldn’t have been with him. It was hard to believe Sparkler had grown so loyal and loving to her adoptive family only to somehow miss that one and only little nugget of family duty… …Oh, look who’s talking... “Indeed,” Shadow muttered, a funny note in her voice. Sparkler deflated slightly at that, looking slightly guilty as she must have only just realized what she was doing. But in a flash, it was gone and her muzzle was set tight again, “Okay, fine. I do have Uncle Cirrus to take care of…and yeah, I guess I should leave this one to the pros…” she said sulkily, “but that doesn’t mean I have to like it…” Star took away some of that hurt by leaning towards her slightly – not so close or with the kind of contact that would be inappropriate for a military setting – but just enough to let Sparkler know she appreciated her. Lefty cleared his throat uncomfortably, bringing us all back to the matter at hoof, “I am to command our forward base and assault team while you are gone, then? Lieutenant Cloud Kicker…forgive me, but…once you are gone…” I understood his point – without me in sight anywhere, the bugs might eventually realize I had left the field and launch another assault – not to mention they’d know for certain if they spotted us in the Undermountain. Sure, we had larger ranks now with all the ponies we’d rescued…but still not enough for them to take down the whole changeling swarm without me… “Fortifications?” I raised one eyebrow. As I suspected, he shook his head, “Won’t hold against a prolonged assault…too many approaches.” I tapped my head with a forehoof in thought. Could I really afford to leave the main force out here in plain sight and bet on getting the moon up before they were attacked? I was no expert, but that didn’t sound too likely… Groaning, I regretted my decision to major in field operations instead of strategy back at West Hoof – my talent for cloud manipulation made fieldwork more sensible at the time, but if I had more strategy training n- Shadow whispered in my ear again. I grinned slightly as her idea took shape, “Then we beat the changelings at their own game…” I gently pulled Bon Bon off the young officer she’d just beaten halfway-senseless, “Oh, Bons! You’re already here! Great! Saves me the trouble of tracking you down…” She wheeled on me furiously, “Don’t try to stop me, Cloud Kicker!” She hefted her mace from her tail threateningly. While normally I would have considered the sight of Bons with her tail in the air extremely pleasing, that was best done from the rear…and I was in no mood to let her try the thing on me – I didn’t like the sight of the poor cadet she’d just clubbed on the muzzle when he tried to stop her from leaving our camp. He was sprawled on his back, dazed and barely conscious as he pulled his helmet off and rubbed his noggin. I gave her the ol’ Cloud Kicker get-away-with-anything cheesy grin, “Stop you? Why in Tartarus would I want to do that? After all, you’re joining us in the Undermountain, aren’t you?” “Huh?” Bons backed down, lowering her tail and looking bewildered, “B-but you said…” “C’mon!” I took her by the forehoof and yanked her along. Okay, I’m not ashamed to say I normally wouldn’t have been able to drag a sturdy earth pony like Bon Bon anywhere, but with the armor…well… “What the hay, Cloud Kicker?!” From the disbelieving tone of Bons’ voice and the wide eyes, she probably figured that out too, “Let me go! I’ve got to go find Lyra!” “That’s why you’re coming with us!” I fired off my words in rapid succession, to give Bons as little time for deliberation and formulating responses as I could, “My team is the only one heading for the caves. We’re getting into the palace and that’s where Lyra is bound to be, right?” “But-“ “After all, all the paths and the mining routes lead back up there, don’t they? Says so in the histories. Wherever Lyra went, she would’ve gotten back to Canterlot palace eventually!” “But-“ “Chances are, when we get through the caves, Lyra’ll be there waiting for us. We can pick her up and take her with us. After all-“ “CLOOOOUUUD KICKEEEERRR!!” Bons stomped her hooves into the turf and dug in. Suddenly, even with Shadow’s strength, pulling her got a hay of a lot harder. After tugging for a couple of seconds, I sighed and gave up, turning to face her, “Yes, Bon Bon?” Crack! The hoofslap got me quick and hard. My head rocked on my shoulders and a tiny explosion of stars swam into my vision. And before I could even manage to be shocked, I saw Bons’ angry face inches from my own. “You think I don’t see what you’re doing, Cloud?!” she growled, “Don’t give me any of that horseapples! You’re not going down there to search for Lyra. And that means I’m not going with you!” After I recovered and shook my head, I fixed her with a hard glare. “If anypony here is shooting off horseapples, it’s you, Bon Bon. You’ll just get yourself killed if you randomly wander off into the Undermountain. You want to find Lyra, and survive, your best chance is with us.” She looked faintly aware of what she’d just done, but Bons wasn’t backing down. Hay, Bon Bon might have been too proud to admit it, but Lyra was the only thing that kept her going. Before the unicorn arrived in Ponyville, Bons had been just a simple waitress with no ambitions beyond getting through the day and baking her next batch of sweets for pocket money. But after Lyra arrived, Bons immediately hit the ground running to get ready for their future together. She was probably twice the mare she had been before the minty unicorn arrived in town, and I was one of the few who knew that, despite all of her hard encouragement and tough love with her fillyfriend, Bons probably needed Lyra even more than our precious little Harpflank needed her… I admit I almost envied the bond they shared at times…thank Celestia Lyra met Bons before she could waste herself on me… I decided to switch tactics. Sighing, I slumped and looked down before Bons’ angry stare, “Bon Bon, please. I want to save Lyra as much as you do, but I can’t abandon my command. But I don’t want to give up on Lyra or let you run off into danger either…” I slowly reached out and gently took her hoof, “Please, give me the excuse I need to do both! Come with us, and I can do my duty to Canterlot and to you at the same time…” Okay, okay, I know. How on earth could I even contemplate bringing a civvie like Bons on an operation this delicate? Especially after I’d just booted Sparkler out of it for precisely that reason? But I meant what I said – I knew Bons would just slip my troops and go after Lyra alone if I left. The only way she’d stand a chance down there was with us – and I wasn’t going to sacrifice Bons or anypony else if I could help it. She pulled her hoof out of my grasp, snorting in disbelief, “Since when was it ever about duty with you, Cloud Kicker? All I can ever recall is you ducking out of whatever responsibility you could and keeping things too simple for yourself…” Okay, now that was going a bit too far on her part. Yeah sure, I’d kinda done a lousy job recently dealing with my mare troubles, but Bons was conveniently leaving out the part I never meant for any of it to happen and started working on it after I found out it really was a problem. And if she was talking about my life in Ponyville and running away from the Guard, well…was she really the one to judge? Considering how badly she wore that mail, I doubted it. I shook my head, trying to calm my rising hackles. I tapped a hoof on Shadow’s armor for emphasis, “You see this, Bon Bon? There are big things at stake now. This is a whole other game of horseshoe-throwing we’re playing…” I almost added that the little things didn’t matter now, but I stopped myself when I realized Bons might take that the wrong way if she thought I was talking about Lyra. “And I was telling the truth about one thing…if you do want to find Lyra, your chances only get better if you come with us…” She deflated slightly, “I guess you’re right that she’d try to get up to the palace eventually…” She groaned, “Alright Cloudy, I’m with you, but if we don’t find Lyra before you get to the palace, I’m not staying with you. I’ll go find her on my own.” “Fair enough,” I nodded, knowing full well I couldn’t allow it. And Bons knew that too, from the way she was looking at me. Please, Celestia, let us find Lyra before we get there. For both our sakes. Many uneasy eyes were looking up at the sky. The sun should have set more than an hour ago, and yet it still hung there in the sky. By now, everypony in Equestria had to know something was wrong… Chrysalis relished that fact as she peered through her changelings’ eyes at the Kicker compound. Her drone was perched atop a nearby tower – out of range of arrows and spells, but close enough to make out some of the details as to what the wretched nag was up to. Since Cloud Kicker had secured the outer compound area against her children and thrown up defenses, the rag-tag army of watchponies and conscripts had gone strangely quiet. Chrysalis would have liked to believe they had realized the futility of their cause when she had forced Shining Armor to raise another shield around her new palace and that they had simply chosen to try to hold out… …but she knew Shadow Kicker would never make that mistake. And so, Cloud Kicker would not. She scowled to herself. Even with that bitch nine hundred years in her grave, there was still no escaping her for Chrysalis… At her own reminiscent anger, she almost sent the order to her children to attack the ponies in full force – before she saw a flash of red fly up over their forward camp. She’s still there. A light lavender pegasus with a two-toned blonde mane clad in red Pegasopolan armor. Chrysalis felt her scowl tighten. What is she up to?! “You do unwisely in this, descendant,” Shadow said, “Bringing civilians on a military operation – especially an infiltration – is a grave mistake…” I know, Shadow. But there just aren’t enough powerful unicorns in the Kickers. Besides, it’s the only way Bon Bon’ll survive the Undermountain. “You could have confined her.” I can’t do that. She was right. Shadow didn’t dignify that with a response as we trotted deeper into the caverns. Star stood by my side, the light from her horn illuminating the passage ahead of us. Bon Bon was behind us with the three able pegasi watchponies I’d chosen for this and five other unicorns. One of them was a retired Kicker battlecaster, another one his grand-colt, and the other three were civilian conscripts Star had chosen from personal examination of their magical prowess. Six unicorns…it might take a while to kick the sanctum on, but any more would probably be too many and we risked compromising the mission…I prayed to Celestia and Shadow it could be done… …And if we do find Lyra… I groaned. Considering Lyra was pretty much a slouch in the magic department and could barely power a lantern, that thought didn’t even make much sense. But the deeper we got into these crystal caverns, the harder it was not to ponder what might have happened to her. The caves were long, winding, and full of way too many creepy shadows. The only light came from the crystal and gemstone deposits which pulsed and hummed in tune with the flickering light from our unicorns’ horns as we passed them by. A lone, minty unicorn could easily get lost…or worse. Those pitfalls didn’t look too shallow… I shook my head to clear it and forced myself to think about the other problem. We had entered this tunnel through an old well in the Canterlot public gardens - lucky it was so decrepit and forgotten nopony had ever bothered to seal it up with concrete – though I suspect the Canterlot Guard might have had a hoof in that too. The hidden stone wall entrance had been so clogged with moss and weeds Star had to briefly risk a fire spell to burn it away for removal. After we eventually cracked the lock and got in, we found our way blocked by… I groaned and shivered in reminiscent fright… I’d faced a lot of things in my life. I’d been smacked around a bit by thick-skulled bullies, I’d gotten my nose broken by drill instructors more than once, I’d eaten baked bads in one particularly horrific episode, and I’d recently been bucked and bitten by giant, shape-shifting bugs… …but nothing in the world filled me with more flavors of painfully awkward, highly embarrassing and slightly arousing torment than coming face-to-face with them again! Apparently, a pack of itinerant diamond dogs had decided to take advantage of the chaos in Canterlot to try and steal the gemstones from Undermountain – something the magic of the princesses usually stopped them from doing… “Freeze, intruders!” Star had yelled, “You have no business being here! Lieutenant Cloud Kicker, I recommend we run these looters off, and-“ She suddenly broke off and looked sideways at me, squinting in confusion, “Cloud…why are you looking at them like that?” … So, yeah, glad that incident was behind us now. Although if we got through this alive, I had a feeling Star was going to be snickering behind my back for days… I shook my head to clear out any lingering thoughts of carnal canine conspirators and tried to refocus on the mission. We were approaching a long underground chasm which had been crossed with an old mining track. It looked old, but probably still sturdy enough to support our groundbound. I called a halt and ordered Star and the others to wait as we pegasi walked across first – that way, even if the thing collapsed and we had to find another way over, nopony would be lost. Star promptly floated three balls of light to guide us as we took our first steps onto the bridge. Sure, I might not have needed them with Shadow’s helmet, but the other pegasi did. The glow from the crystals didn’t reach across the chasm. Still, it was a risk I probably could have done without. Not to sound paranoid, but this was a rickety old mine track with a great, yawning chasm to either side and only two narrow exits for unicorns and earth ponies. A perfect ambush location. Shadow murmured, and her helmet immediately sprouted a glow over the faceplate. Night vision. Perfect. After about three minutes of gingerly trotting across the chasm – which appeared perfectly harmless to pegasi, but was probably going to give our followers some reasonable sort of scare – the other side finally came into view for me. Empty. Except for one large boulder and a crashed old mine cart, there was nothing else there. I motioned silently for the three Kicker pegasi to wait there and flapped my wings. As I headed back to the other side to tell Bon Bon, Star and the others it was safe to cross...well, I couldn’t help but feel a faint sense of nerves. Everything was going a little too smoothly. Star’s last report was our glamored (and very attractive) decoy in a souvenir copy of Shadow Kicker armor was keeping up her routine of circling the base topside, without any significant enemy activity. We hadn’t seen hide or nonexistent hair of the bugs down in the caverns. And the only thing that had slowed us down so far was a roving pack of long-co-…er, long-pawed canine looters… So why was this cold knot of dread still growing in my guts? Call it soldier’s intuition – I knew something was going to happen soon… I saw Star, Bons and the others long before they saw me, thanks to the helmet. As I landed, and told them it was safe to cross, even I could tell I sounded strained and nervous. Star gave me a worried look, as if she was asking if she should expect something…as we began to trot across the bridge again. The sheer drop on either side was obviously making the unicorns nervous, and they huddled together in the center of the track. Okay, that was maybe a bit dumb since I could probably catch anypony who, by some miracle, managed to fall off the side - but somehow, their spooks seemed infectious. Only Bon Bon appeared unaffected, trotting across with almost no hesitation while she swiveled her head in every direction. She was probably hoping to catch sight of Lyra huddled somewhere in a corner. Poor mare. But something still felt…off. I gulped slowly as we reached halfway, and tried to calm myself down by replaying all of our descent until this moment… There was something…somehow…let me see…something that- The answer hit me like a ton of bricks and I froze up in realization just a second before I heard it… “SKREEEEEEEE!!!” I immediately shot up into the air and broke for the far side where I’d left the other pegasi. I could already hear them shouting. I was hardly aware of the canter as Star and the others broke into a run to follow me. I had a terrible idea what we were going to see and prayed to Celestia and Luna I was wrong… But no, as the far side came into view, I could see the three Kickers up in air, hovering warily away…from the boulder that wasn’t a boulder… Yeah, that was it. The flicker in Shadow’s vision earlier hadn’t been the gems stuck in that rock. It had been the rock itself… I don’t know where to begin. Right before my eyes, the boulder sprouted two pairs of legs, raising itself up in the air. Its dull gray surface flashed with bright green fire, and turned into thick, jagged plates of splotchy, black-brown chitin. It unfolded a crossed pair of enormous, pincered arms from its front, raising up its broad, squat head from beneath a protective hood of chitin plates on a thick, scaly neck. Tiny blue eyes that glimmered with murderous intent showed in its face over a fanged maw crossed with external mandibles. And we were looking at an eight-foot tall, thousand-pound monster changeling. I hung there in mid-air, my jaw sagging open, as the thing took one round look at us all before it threw back its head and roared again. “SKREEEE!!!” Most of the changeling drones’ screeching had been loud, high-pitched and painful – but this one…with its massive size, cut loose with a deeper, longer roar from the belly of the animal kingdom that reverberated through the cavern. I swear the walls were shaking and the crystals hummed as the sound bounced off them… Which made it even more downright scary. The changeling behemoth reared up on its massive, multi-plated legs as the pegasi rapidly backed away. I noticed its limbs didn’t have the light chitinous plating or hollow tunnels of its smaller kin – and there was the lack of wings, which made this one a purely ground unit. Heavy armor or the like. Apparently, changelings like the one that killed Mom hadn’t been Chrysalis’ only special project... Was this one self-aware too? I couldn’t tell. Though it obviously wasn’t going to be impersonating any ponies and it didn’t look like the talking type. I didn’t have any more time to think about it though. The changeling behemoth stopped glaring and immediately started pounding forward towards us, snapping its mandibles menacingly. Okay, definitely hostile. “SCATTER!” I yelled. My pegasi didn’t need to be told twice. They immediately broke for high up, way out of the creature’s reach. The beast roared its displeasure, but then it turned and refocused on Star and Bons watching, slack-jawed, from the bridge. It promptly bellowed again and began stomping towards the bridge on its heavy, plated legs. Star summoned her magic missiles, but they disintegrated harmlessly against the behemoth’s carapace as it slowly bore down on them. No doubt about it – that thing was tough. I grunted and lit the armor. I knew I couldn’t let that steroid-powered bug near them. If it started in on them on the bridge, there was a good chance it’d collapse and take all the groundpounders with it. I was gonna need to pull out a lot of power for this. Swallowing my fear, I pulled a Rainbow Dash and swept right across the thing’s vison, “Hey scaly-face! I thought those other bugs were ugly, but you take the haycake in the grossness stakes! I think you looked better as a rock! A hay of a lot smarter too!” Don’t know how much of that the behemoth understood, but I got its attention either way. With a low growl from somewhere deep in its throat, it halted and swung a claw at me. The attack came faster than I thought, but with the armor, I zipped under it easily, swinging up and bucking it in the face on the rebound. Which seemed to do…nothing in particular. “SKREEEEE!" “Oh cra-“ The thing triumphantly swung its arm back around, knocking me snout-over-plot back into a crystal cluster on the far wall. Thank Celestia for the armor. If I’d hit that thing at that velocity with my bare coat…well, I could never say jewelry was close to my heart but that behemoth almost made a permanent, literal amendment to that. Groaning, I struggled to pull myself together. I could hardly move and I knew I needed to get free. Luckily, my mule-headed assault had given Star and the others the precious seconds they needed to scatter between the beasts’ legs and run for cover. It was wheeling its massive body around, looking for them… At last, feeling returned to my legs and I pulled myself out of the shattered crystals, shaking the stars out of my head. The armor’s magic had prevented any of the larger shards from piercing my coat, but some of the smaller pieces had given me a few scratches, not to mention all the bruises I’d be feeling in the morning… …but I couldn’t think about that now. I needed a plan to take the changeling behemoth down and… fast... I took one step…and stopped. Why was…the cave…spinning so…much…? No, this was no time to get dizzy! I had to take that thing down…there was so much at stake… Mmm, cozy stone floor… Wait, when did I lie down?! “Cloud Kicker!!” Bon Bon screamed as she saw her spin on the spot and collapse unconscious. “Cloud!!” Star Kicker echoed, watching in horror as the behemoth turned towards her. They had taken cover behind the overturned mining cart next to the tracks. The other unicorns had scattered into the shadows on either side and the pegasi were circling overhead, trying to figure out what to do. “Save her!!!” Star called up to the pegasi, pointing to their unconscious leader. They hesitated of course, but only for a moment before two of them looked at each other and swooped down, snatching up Cloud Kicker by the hind legs between them in a practiced motion. Every watchpony was trained for emergency rescue maneuvers. The changeling behemoth roared and swiped at them, but it missed by a mile as the watchponies were already up and gone. It pounded on the rocky floor with its pincers before turning furiously to look at Bon Bon and Star. Bon Bon felt cold dread shoot up her back and freeze up her limbs as the things’ beady, glinting blue eyes landed on her. She shook herself and dived behind the mining cart again, but it was no good since the thing had already seen her. She heard the dreadful thud-thud of its approaching footsteps as Star lit her horn beside her, her face screwing up in exertion. The cart behind them began to glow and tremble – but it did not move. She felt sweat rolling down her face. The thing was getting closer. Thud-thud… “Listen…” the young unicorn hissed at Bon Bon, turning her head slightly, “I need you to get this cart working!” “What?!” Bons replied dumbly, cold sweat pouring down her muzzle. Thud-thud… “Get it back on the tracks!” Star whisper-shouted, jerking her head up the incline, further away from the chasm, “And then up that hill there!” “What?! But why?!” Thud-thud… “Just do it!!” she hissed, before she leapt out from behind the cart, blasting the behemoth with her magic just as it had been poised to bring its pincers smashing down on their hiding place… “COME ON, YOU GREAT SACK OF FILLYBARF!! THIS WAY!!”  The unicorn bolted as the changeling shrieked and pounded on the ground she’d just been standing on, sending fine cracks shivering along the surface. Bon Bon gulped as she saw it wheel and turn away from her hiding place to pursue Star, either forgetting her or losing interest… Okay…okay… she fought to calm her furiously beating heart, whipping her head around in a vain hope to look for help. Cloud’s out, Star’s busy, the others are gone… …it’s up to me. She heard Star yelling obscenities with the telltale hum of magic from behind her as she baited the behemoth, drawing it further away… Okay…okay… Bon Bon slowly pulled herself up, sweating and trembling on shaky hooves. The mining cart behind her was overturned off the tracks and resting on its side. The frame was smashed in on one corner, but the girders and wheels below looked intact, even if they were rusty. And apparently its crash hadn’t tossed it too far from the tracks. More like some kind of blunt force to the side must’ve just knocked it over. It seemed all Bon Bon needed to do was push it back onto its tracks… But why? Was Star planning to use it for an escape? She shook her head. Better to act now while Star Kicker still had that behemoth’s attention. Peeking over the top, she could see two of the pegasi had taken a hint from Star and were playing cat and mouse to distract the thing. Not one of them could pierce its armor, and they were bound to tire out sooner or later… The candymare placed her forehooves under the lower end of the frame and pulled, but it was no good. It was too heavy – all she could manage was a few inches. Grunting, Bons let it fall again. I need a lever or something. Looking around frantically, Bon Bon spotted the unconscious Cloud Kicker and the other pegasus watchpony on a nearby ledge overlooking the pit. Then her eyes drifted to the spear in the pegasus’ mouth… Of course. Bon Bon’s eyes hardened. Now that she had a plan and it was time for some sort of action, she felt braver. She glanced out of her hiding place again. The behemoth had gotten lucky and clipped one of the pegasi, sending it crashing to the ground. It howled furiously and drew back to crush it in one of its pincers – only to be stopped as Star seized its arm in her magic grip until the pegasus scrambled out of the way and took flight, much to the beast’s loud displeasure. She could see Star was grunting and straining with the effort of battling such a large and powerful creature…and she needed help soon, or… One of the unicorns, the old Kicker battlecaster, darted back in out of the shadows and lit his horn, blasting lightning at the behemoth, who roared and switched targets again, to go after him. The unicorn held his ground until the last minute – jaw set in a defiant grimace – until he finally teleported away as the behemoth drew up to stomp on him. Star, meanwhile, cantered a safe distance, panting, and threw a glance over her shoulder at Bon Bon… The earth pony nodded at her and slipped out of her hiding place. The behemoth appeared not to notice – it was too fixated on its elusive prey. She cantered closer to the battle and motioned to the watchpony hovering above. He stared down at her incredulously as she pointed to his spear and began gesticulating wildly to let her have it. Bon Bon didn’t dare yell – the monster would hear and then she’d be in real trouble. After a moment of glancing around in indecision, the young pegasus nodded and tossed his spear down to her. Bon Bon caught the haft neatly in her jaws and ran back to the cart. Not wasting a second, she jammed the blade into a gap under the cart and pushed, trying to lever the cart back up onto the tracks… It was even heavier than it looked. Bon Bon finally realized why Star hadn’t been able to levitate it… The monsters screeches were getting louder. It was apparently running out of patience… She grunted and shoved down with all of her weight on the spear. It bent slightly, wood cracking along the inlay, but, much to her relief, the tough, leaden core did not snap. Slowly, the cart began to move… With a shove and a groan, Bon Bon finally managed to lever the cart up onto its lower two wheels. Thinking quickly, she dropped the spear from her aching jaws and jumped for the side, catching the cart with her back before it could fall and digging her hooves in. There was another roar, and then a smack in the air and a shout of pain. Bon Bon looked up briefly to see a bloody pegasus sailing overheard trailing loose feathers. “No!” somepony yelled, before there was another blast of magic. No time…to lose! She finally pushed with her hooves and levered the cart’s weight back onto its chassis. There was a loud crash as the mining cart fell back onto its tracks, releasing the gasping Bon Bon. She rubbed her aching shoulders and backed off, gawking at the scene before her. The changeling behemoth was coming her way, alerted by the noise. Screeching, it raised a pincer. “AIEEE!”  She ran for it just as the behemoth slammed its claw to the floor. It made a grab for her with its other arm, but Bon Bon, panicked and panting, slipped through the grasping vice before the behemoth could get a grip. She felt her borrowed armor scraping against the inner spines of the claw, but they didn’t penetrate… And then she ran, as fast as she could. Bon Bon didn’t know where she was running, and was so panicked she hardly cared.  She’d almost been squashed and skinned by a giant bug! Which was still following her. Thud-thud… Then there was a sudden crash and a roar. “SKREEEE!” Bon Bon noticed the creature had stopped following and glanced over her shoulder. One of the two remaining pegasi had dive-bombed the behemoth and was trying (unsuccessfully) to grapple with its two pincered arms. The beast had obviously been caught off guard, but it was beating away at the weaponless watchpony even as she watched. Bon Bon spotted a crystal cluster nearby and dived behind it just as the changeling slammed the loudly-cursing pegasus to the floor and crushed his neck in a pincer. The brave pony stiffened, and went still. The monster howled in triumph before picking the pegasus’ body up and flinging it into the wall. It turned it’s stubby, hooded head – obviously looking for her…before Star caught up and shot her magic at it again. “HURRY UP!” Star yelled, and the monster seemed keen to oblige, turning towards her and snapping its mandibles fiercely. Bon Bon, however, knew the command had been meant for her… …but she was too scared to move… Bon Bon could hear the blood rushing in her own ears, trembling and biting her lip to keep from screaming. She had never been through anything like this before. Unbidden, the memory of her quiet candy stand in Ponyville swam to the forefront of her mind. She wanted nothing more than to be back there, selling her tasty treats and soaking in the happy smiles and bouncing of her favorite colt and filly customers, with Lyra by her side… …Lyra… That snapped Bons out of her shock. Lyra was still somewhere down here. She had to find her. And this overgrown stag beetle wasn’t going to stop her from getting her special somepony back. She slowly levered herself back up onto her hooves, battle cries ringing in her ears… Whatever Star’s plan was, Bon Bon hoped she knew what she was doing… She leaned her head against the mining cart and began to push, digging her hooves in and slowly driving the cart back up the incline away from the bridge. At halfway, she risked a glance over her shoulder, seeing Star cantering over to the bridge behind them, the beast advancing on her slowly. Then she realized what the young unicorn had in mind… Gasping, Bon Bon redoubled her efforts. She knew there would only be a few seconds… Her back ached, her skull throbbed with the promise of a headache, and her hooves cracked from digging them into the stony ground. Bon Bon felt none of it. At last, she levered the cart back over the incline threshold, leaving a high ramp down towards the battle… The behemoth roared and jumped for Star, smashing into the tracks as she bolted and sending up a crack of thunder… “NOW!!” Star yelled. Bon Bon ran to the other side of the cart and suddenly felt a cold sense of dread. She looked back. The monster was staring straight at her… Terror shot up Bon Bon’s spine and froze her legs, but not before she had planted her forehooves and bucked the mining cart. Maybe Bon Bon was lucky, maybe the thing’s wheels weren’t as badly rusted as she thought, maybe the adrenaline rush had cranked up her earth pony strength. Whatever the reason, the cart shot right back down the incline… …straight into the torso of the changeling behemoth. The thing roared – either in pain or rage, Bon Bon couldn’t tell, and was lifted off its four colossal legs by the impact… …and landed right on the bridge. It creaked and groaned ominously…but it didn’t give way. Apparently, it had been built for heavier loads than that… NO!!! Star’s plan hadn’t worked! The beast flailed and clambered onto its legs. Slowly, and with a deliberate grace. It planted its front legs first and then slowly levered its back up. It knew where it was. It knew what too much lumbering and clumsy banging would do… It fixed them with a beady, glinting blue glare that – somehow – looked mocking to Bon Bon. You’ll have to do better than that, it seemed to say. Suddenly, the monster jerked and screeched in surprise. Right before their eyes, an enormous golden object materialized in mid-air over the chasm, pulsing with magic. It was a hand. The same shape as a minotaur or centaur’s…but much bigger and with a golden hue… Lyra… The agile, spidery hand dived forward in an open, grabbing claw shape. It slammed into the changeling behemoth’s chest and wrapped its long fingers around its torso like an octopus enveloping its prey. The behemoth roared and dug in its legs as the hand began to push, laying on force after force. It beat its arms and snapped its mandibles on the magical hand, but they only passed through the golden energy. Before the stunned ponies’ eyes, the hand pushed harder and harder. The changeling behemoth began to shriek loudly as its legs loosened and it began to tilt… …and the hand pushed one last time, shoving the monster off the bridge. The scaly, hooded insect face with its large grinder mouth and tiny eyes was obviously not made for expression, but if there was ever a face that said I’m screwed and I can’t believe it - it was the behemoth’s right then as its legs grasped at thin air. “SKREEEEEEeeeeeee….!!!” The changeling behemoth’s final howl echoed all the way down the pit. The splat at the end was so faint Bon Bon could have imagined it... Star, lathered and out of breath, cantered up to join her… “Don’t relax yet…” she said, narrowing her eyes and looking around, “We’re not out of danger…” But the older mare didn’t answer. She was too busy swiveling her head around. Golden hands… The air was silent except for the flapping of their remaining pegasus guard, who was carrying the still knocked-out Cloud Kicker down from the high ledge. There was the rustle of the unicorns emerging from their hiding places, also looking around in confusion for the source of the magic that just saved them. Then there was another soft trotting noise somewhere in the gloom. Bon Bon promptly whipped her head in what she hoped was its direction. “LYRA?!!” Slowly, a cloaked and hooded figure approached from the shadows. Forgetting herself, Bon Bon immediately started running over to her. “Lyra!! It is you!! Oh, you silly filly, where have you been, making us all worry?!” She threw her forelegs around her lost fillyfriend, almost crying with relief. Lyra returned the gesture slowly, looking up and revealing her smiling mouth under the hood. “Bon Bon!!” Star Kicker’s voice sounded hollow and faint, “Get away from her! She’s dangerous!!” Her words barely registered as the candymare felt all the adrenaline drain out of her and exhaustion set in…she had come so close to death just then and now she’d found her beloved Lyra nothing was going to stop her from hugging and squeezing… …and squeezing… …and…s-SQUEEZING… Bon Bon gasped for air as a large golden hand lifted her by the scruff of the neck, choking her as her own weight pulled at her windpipe. “Ly-lyrrra?!” Her vision was starting to dim... Three blue orbs of magic rocketed in from out of nowhere and pierced the golden hand. It dematerialized at once with a loud crack at the magic clash, releasing the gasping Bon Bon. She immediately backed off, eyes wide with pain and disbelief. The unearthly cackle that erupted from Lyra’s throat was like no sound Bon Bon had ever heard her sweet, lazy, and eternally adorable fillyfriend ever make… The unicorn threw back her hood, and Bon Bon knew at once that it wasn’t really her. Lyra’s eyes had been the shimmering gold she had always adored, shining with happiness and life… But the creature before her glimmered green with malice and spite… The pony who couldn’t possibly be Lyra lit her horn a bright, poisonous green – with a fierce glow of magical power that Bon Bon knew her beloved could never have managed on her best day – and a pair of large, fiercely-clawed golden hands erupted from the air on either side of her. The evil unicorn gave the cold, vicious smile of a predator that had cornered its helpless prey. “Handsss…” the creature hissed in a high, cold voice that chilled Bon Bon to the core of her being, “The very sssame ssspell by which the Otherssss and I created all - the universsse, the tapessstry, your very worthlesss livesss…” She leaned forwards on her hooves and glared, “Fitting, issssn’t it?! The sssame ssspell that wove the world and gave all ponyfolk life…” Her horn glowed more fiercely, and the clawed monstrosities grasped at the ponies with the speed of a striking snake… “…now comesss to take it all away…”