Ten Minutes earlier.
Out in the plains, groups of the Canterlot Elite were making their way into their second air-ship of the week; this time though, back to where they had come from. They weren’t really in the position to complain though; the past night was spent making tents from sticks and leaves when there were perfectly made ‘non-leaf and stick’ tents sitting near the wreckage they were forced to pick up the same night. After all the strenuous work they weren’t accustomed to, if they were able to spurt even a single protest, they would have to wait until they went back into their humble abode and ask their servants to do it for them. While they were making their way on-board, Captain Bullhorn was conversing with an unexpected guest and her companions, away from weary eyes.
Celestia was now without her shades; she could now look upon with ease at the yellow suited embodiment of a loud speaker, “Captain, these are the ponies that have been reported missing for the past few weeks; I need you to take them back to Canterlot with the others. I have made them take a vow of secrecy; when you get back, tell whomever asks that they were volunteers for a new air-ship that crashed the same as yours did. Is that understood?”
Captain Bullhorn gave a look over at the ponies behind his fair princess then looked back to her, “Seems like we have been having many crashes lately…but it can be done; do they know their own backstory?”
“Yes; I informed them before I sent somepony to ask you to come over. If anypony gives you any trouble about the information, just ask them to wait for me to come back from my ‘official charges’ outside of Canterlot. If we are lucky, that will be enough to change their minds,” Celestia looked back to her subjects; seeing that they were just about ready to get back home to a hot meal and their families, not in that order, she gave a nod towards Bullhorn before teleporting herself away.
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Present Time.
The group had made their way down the facility that they had awaited what felt like a lifetime to escape from. Now at their destination, a door that held a room that can take whomever was in it further down at a greater speed than taking the stairs, they talked amongst themselves to see who would be the first to brave the depths of the structure.
Dusk opened the door to reveal the compact room that they were meant to share, “It’s sort of a tight squeeze; it can fit either the two of us,” motioning between the four smaller ponies of the party, “or either you or Luna and one of us, though whichever of you that’s going is going to have to keep your head down.”
Celestia eyed the room for her own examination, something had then caught her attention, “Dusk Strider, would you kindly open that hatch on the ceiling, please?”
Dusk turned back to look into the room to find the hatch Celestia had pointed out. She made her way in and gave herself a lift to see what had been on top.
Celestia’s curiosity had piqued Luna’s own and she decided to speak, “What do you see Dusk?”
Looking about her surroundings, Dusk gave her examination, “It’s just a giant rope that leads to the top of a shaft.”
Satisfied with the answer, Celestia thought of an idea, “Thank you Dusk, you can come down now.” With Dusk now out of the room, Celestia focused her horn towards the ceiling of the lift. With a quick burst of magic, the room quickly descended down the shaft. After a moment, a loud crash echoed through the deep pit. Celestia moved towards the ledge; first looking above, then below. Afterwards, she looked back towards the group and gave a smile, “Now I think we can all move together.”
As all ponies were making their way towards the now roomy shaft, Calyx voiced an unnoticed concern, ‘’I don’t have wings,” he gave an embarrassed smile.
Vesper was the first to respond to her partner’s dilemma, “You can ride on me,” she finished with a crafty wink and a smile to match.
Dusk facehoofed with a smile underneath at the offer and Cloud held an innocent grin. The Princess Sister’s both shared a light giggle before returning their attention towards the shaft.
Calyx walked with his head sunk down over towards Vesper who lowered herself to give him an easier time to ‘mount up’. When he managed to get himself, uncomfortably, over his partner; she let out a devious ‘coo’ that she knew would, and did, have an affect on him before lifting herself up.
With all ready to go, they took turns going down; first were The Royal Princess Sister Champion’s; next were their personal guards; finally were the, as Vesper proclaimed, unofficial couple.
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When they reached the bottom and made their way past the door, they found themselves in a long narrow hallway. The only objects in the hallway was the tall, wooden, double door at the other end; a red velvet carpet with gold brim that lined the floor leading to the next room; and a trio of hanging chandeliers that helped light the way.
The group made their way to the towering doors, each step echoing throughout the hallway. Before they breached through the gate that shielded the answers they were looking for, Celestia and Luna had a few words to share.
Celestia halted just before the door, stopping the rest of the group in their tracks. Before she spoke, Luna made her way and stood by her sister’s side; then she began, “Before we take aggressive action against whomever lies behind these doors, allow Luna and I to question why it is here and why they took you and our subjects away from their homes and families.”
After getting himself off of his partner, Calyx gave a concerned look, “What if they decide to attack us before you’re able to ask any questions?”
Before Celestia could answer, Luna gave her response with a stern face, “We will then beat the information out of whoever lies behind these doors,” lifting her hoof in aggression.
Celestia turned to her sister with a look of confusion before turning to readdress the rest of the group, “Yes; we will…‘beat’ the answers out of them as we defend ourselves.”
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With everypony showing their understanding, Luna and Celestia turned to the doors. With one deep breath, they pushed the doors aside to reveal the amphitheater sized room.
The room was huge and vast but far from empty; there were consoles along the bottom of the walls that could have been mistaken for arcade machines, and crimson banisters upon the upper parts of the walls. The ceiling was covered with a single, monolithic chandelier that illuminated the whole room on its own. The one major thing though that stood out; yes, even more than the chandelier; was the lone desk that sat in the middle and the chair that had its back turned to its most recent visitors.
With all eyes finally lying upon the chair, a stalliongrad accented voice spoke, “So…you have all finally made your way down here after destroying all the hard work we have put into our base and disposing of all my kin; save your questions for I shall answer them now. I have already sensed that you know that I and my kin are not of this planet. We took this appearance because we thought it to be easier to infiltrate your kingdom and destroy it from within like we have with all the other worlds we have visited. Now on to your next question; we took your ponies from their homes and families because they had seen us while we scouted the lands near your home. Even if they had denied it, we made sure they were able to make truth out of what they said. Finding those ponies were difficult at first, but when we managed to…’strike a deal’ with those in your Royal Aviation Club, we had a far easier time having any pony mention a ‘U.B.O’ reveal themselves and their whereabouts instead of us having to find them ourselves,” A brief pause came about the room, but no pony dared to speak; then the voice began again, “I know that I will not leave this room without having to fight, and I won’t allow you to leave without giving the same fight either. Take a moment to prepare yourselves…you are allowed the first strike.”
The group took the advice to heart and readied themselves. Celestia and Luna’s horns shined as brightly as the orbs they held dominion over. The pegasi stretched their wings from side to side to make sure they didn’t cramp during the intense battle that was about to ensue. As for Calyx…he just shook off the kinks he felt in his legs before giving a wide grin towards his partner who gave him a disappointed look.
With everypony ready, Celestia and Luna closed their eyes and began charging their horns towards the chair. When they felt they couldn’t hold their magic back any longer, they let loose their immense power. The sound of thunder being shot into the same theater as the all bass drum choir had occupied the room. All the components on the walls had shut off, the banisters had all fallen off or were hanging, and most of the glass on the chandelier had begun falling. Smoke had taken ahold of where the flash of light had been; debris had fallen to the ground. When the shroud of dirt and smoke had cleared, a giant hole had revealed itself; within the giant hole though, stood a red stallion with his back towards the dumbfounded group.
The red stallion slowly turned to face his aggressors. His eyes were a glowing green; his face held a wicked grin, and his flank was covered with what looked like a half-eaten globe. He took a step before becoming a blur of red rushing towards the group. When he reached his destination in front of the party, he let loose a wave of power that moved past the ponies and bounced off the wall behind them that forced the group to be launched forward, deeper into the chamber.
All ponies were now separated and on the ground. Luna was the first to recover, when she got herself back upon her hooves, she retaliated fiercely. She fired less powerful bolts of magic in quick succession at the red target that had been running in a serpentine fashion towards her. When he was a hoof reach away from Luna, a sudden crash at his side had knocked him away into a wall. Cloud had been second to recover from the stallion’s overwhelming attack. After making sure he wouldn’t be up within the next few seconds, she retreated back to Luna’s side. Dusk and Vesper joined along her as Calyx made his way towards Celestia, who had been trying to raise herself up in the corner. Before they could form one major force again, the red stallion charged towards Luna’s group with more ferocity than he has ever shown. The pegasi trio stood before her and took the bulk of the attack that sent them into the wall behind them, letting Luna gain enough time to fire a more focused beam of magic towards him, forcing him into the far wall near where the battle had begun; while he was recovering, Celestia and Calyx made their way towards Luna.
Before they could check on the downed trio; a loud roar came from where the dust hid the red stallion, followed by a very angry voice, “I TIRE OF THIS FOOLISHNESS, WITNESS THE POWER OF KLADE!”
From the shroud, eight large tentacles that acted as legs shot out and took ahold of the ground; two slimmer tentacles that acted as arms and a colossal pillar of reddish-orange flesh that was meant to be the body, followed. At the very top though had been the waist up of the stallion they had been fighting for the time they had been down there, acting as the head. He let another bellowing roar before he smashed and planted his arms to each side of the room. Before he tried to attack, to everypony’s surprise, he had decided to speak in a more calm tone, “Now that I have revealed my true form….see to your wounded and prepare yourselves, I shall allow you the first strike.”
The still standing group rushed over to the fallen by the wall. Dusk pulled herself up with a groan while Vesper managed to get herself up with relative ease. When they checked on Cloud, she had been writhing in pain, indicating that she had been the one the last attack had been meant for. Dusk quickly lowered herself to examine her dearest friend more closely; she noticed that Cloud was having trouble breathing, making a heart-wrenching rasping sound. The rest of the group left the pair alone to ready themselves, but Celestia stayed to see how she could help.
Dusk looked back to Celestia, on the verge of tears she spoke with a trembling tone, “Will she be alright?”
Celestia gave a sorrow look, “I am not sure…,” she turned her attention to Cloud, seeing that she would need to use every bit of magic she could conjure up to at least sustain Cloud well enough for the trip back to Canterlot. She focused her attention back on Dusk who was now watching her friend with pained eyes, “Dusk, I will watch over Cloud; I need you and the others to help my sister defeat this vile monster. Can you do this for me?”
Dusk wiped the tears she had felt were ready to slide down her cheeks and gave a nod to her fair princess. She gave one last glance to her dear friend and placed her hoof softly upon Cloud’s shoulder before regrouping with the last of the fighting force. With Dusk gone, Celestia focused a magical barrier that covered both her and Cloud in a glowing aura.
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When Dusk had finally reached the fighting force, she was greeted with grave looks. The trio tried to speak but Vesper was the first to make her words audible, “Dusky, I’m sure she’ll be alright,” she was motioning to give a hug but was stopped by the touch of Luna’s hoof against her chest.
Luna was the second to speak, with a tone mixed with anger and sadness, “Dusk, the sooner we can defeat this monstrosity, the sooner we can tend to Cloud.”
Dusk lifted her head to show her rage filled eyes and nodded to Luna.
Luna gave a nod back; she then took a step back to have the rest of the group in front of her. Attacking with sheer force hadn’t worked the first time, so she thought she would make a plan this time, “Dusk and Vesper, I need you both to try and distract him by attacking the head at the top. While you do that, Calyx and I will focus our magic together into a single, powerful and concentrated spell that will be able to banish him from our world,” all nodded in agreement and took their positions. Vesper and Dusk readied themselves in front of Calyx and Luna who were both focusing and charging their horns together. With everything set, the pegasi began their charge towards the red dot taking domain on top of the behemoth before them.
The monster kept to its word and didn’t even try to defend itself from the initial attack. He took the strikes the two pegasi threw at his head with a steadfast stance. When there was a pause in their attack, he swiped his long tentacle through the air at them but had missed by a hair and collided into the opposite wall. The force of the swing was still strong enough to generate a gust of wind which caused them to lose balance in the air. When they regained their balance, they continued their focused attack upon the miniscule target that lay on top of the not-so-miniscule body. The head reacted like a punching bag with every hit it received; it showed that every smack was starting to have an effect on the rest of the body. He cried out in pain throughout the whole bombardment while Luna and Calyx were nearly at their peak for the spell they were charging. The attacks he threw were much slower, making it easier to dodge and escape than the lightning fast attacks he gave before. The only real threat that had occurred were the blasts of wind that followed each swipe which caused the pegasi to lose their balance and leave them vulnerable for a time.
After a while of hitting and flying, a bright light had distracted the aggressive duo. When they turned to see what it could have been, they were both struck by the unnoticed tentacle and were drove far back to the wall near Celestia and Cloud. Celestia strained her magic to bring Dusk and Vesper’s unconscious bodies within the barrier she had erected to protect Cloud and herself from the battle ensuing within the chamber.
The bright light that helped cause the fall of the pegasi had come from Luna and Calyx as they casted their long awaited spell that pierced the creature in an efflorescent beam of purple and green. When it made contact with the beast, he let out a holler that boomed and echoed throughout the room, shaking the very floors it had stood upon. His form had then started to shift from solid to ethereal many times over. As he shook his tentacles about, they would pass through the walls they had been swung into, not even leaving a dent anymore. After a moment though, there was silence overtaking the whole room; the monster frozen in a ghostly form. All that were still conscious had laid their eyes upon the still figure, the same figure that mere seconds ago, ravaged and wailed fiercely within the now quiet room. Just as they all took in the sight, the monster had started to dissipate from the top, making its way to the bottom. As quickly as it started, it had finished; no trace left of the colossal being.
Luna jostled herself from her astonishment and went to her sister and friends with Calyx following. Celestia still had her barrier up, with Cloud still in pain under her wing; Dusk and Vesper were laid upon their sides, still unmoving beside her.
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“CLOIE!” Dusk shouted; finally awaken from her involuntary rest. She scanned the room she had been in; her eyes were met with darkness all around her. Something had caught her attention as she felt around with her hoof, it was what she was lying upon; a soft and comforting bed but not of her own. Before she could fully comprehend where she had been, the door opened and a dark silhouette walked in.
When Dusk’s eyes had adjusted to the light behind the tall figure, she had seen who it had been, “Luna, where am I? Where are the others?” she paused for a moment to focus on a more broad question, “What happened?”
Luna walked towards her friend with a smile and sat beside the bed, “It has been a week since you fell unconscious but do not worry Dusk, all is well. After the fight, Celestia and I took you back to the castle to heal you and your friends; we found it easier to keep things a secret if we did not go somewhere public as the hospital. After we had mended them, Vesper and Calyx took it upon themselves to help my sister by rooting out all that were affiliated with the beast in the Royal Aviation Club. ” seeing that wasn’t the real answers Dusk had been looking for, she addressed a different matter, “Cloud Treader is alright now; she just had a few broken ribs,” she saw Dusk wince at the words and kept herself from continuing with any other details, “when you feel that you are ready, I will take you to her personally. She has been resting in the guest room by Celestia’s room.”
Even though she felt pain in every part of her body that she moved, Dusk still made the effort to stand. After firmly planting all four hooves on the ground, she looked up to Luna, “I am ready.”
With that, Luna and Dusk made their way down the hall towards where Cloud was being kept.
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When they opened the door to where Cloud had been, they walked into a sun lit room with a peach mare resting under the sheets of a large round bed. There was a half-eaten lunch lying on a tray on top of the nightstand and a book at the side of the bed.
Luna stood by the door as Dusk made her way to her friend’s bedside. When she reached the bed, Dusk examined her friend who was resting peacefully. It took every ounce of her willpower from taking Cloud into her arms and embracing her in the worried love she held from within. For the time being though, she thought a light nuzzle would be enough to keep her in control until Cloud had fully awoken. When she felt satisfied with her act of affection, she turned away as to not tempt herself any longer. When she looked towards where Luna had been standing, she found that another had stood behind her.
“I see you are doing well, Dusk Strider,” Celestia said as she stepped further into the room. She stopped suddenly when something then caught her attention behind Dusk, “and as you are too, Cloud Treader.”
A light murmur came from behind Dusk that had caught her attention and caused her to look back, “Dusk…is that you?” Cloud was now groggily sitting up from her comfortable position on the bed.
Dusk’s eyes widened into the shapes of saucers and her smile represented the shape of half a watermelon meant to be put on the saucer shaped eyes as she saw her friend sitting up as if she was never harmed at all. Dusk ignored her previous self-warnings and leapt towards her friend with arms wide open. They held and nuzzled each other, forgetting that anypony else was even watching, let alone being in the same room as them.
As much as she didn’t want to break up the heartwarming moment that was needed between the two mares in front of her, Celestia cleared her throat loud enough to make her point across. When she noticed that she had gotten the attention of the still smiling companions, she spoke, “I am happy to see you both are now alright. My sister and I wanted to thank you for the service you have bestowed upon us for the past years. We would also like to thank you for helping us defeat a terrible creature that was bent on destroying our kingdom. My sister and I have not had to fight our own battle for so long since we passed on the Elements of Harmony. Defeating that monster without having to rely on the elements helped freed us from our monotonous time as rulers, even if it was just for a day. We are sorry though that you and your friends were hurt during the battle. We did not think the battle would be so…overwhelming for us. If there was anything either of you desired, please do tell us and we will try with all our power to retrieve it for you; we truly see you as our friends and family.”
Dusk looked to Cloud who had still been in her arms throughout the whole speech. As if they were communicating with their minds, they continued to stare into each other’s eyes. When they were finished, they looked back towards Celestia; Dusk was the first to speak, “It was our pleasure and duty to stand by you in battle, Princess Celestia.”
Cloud was the second to speak, as if continuing Dusk’s thoughts, “We have always seen you as family and our friends, and we would protect you just the same.” Her smile glowed more than it had before.
A loud grumble from Dusk’s furious stomach echoed throughout the room, causing her amorous smile to turn into a sheepish smile, “Umm…about that request---,” she was stopped when Celestia had raised her hoof to pause her.
“When you both are ready, join us for dinner in the dining hall,” Celestia finished with a smile before walking back into the hallway; Luna gave her own smile before reuniting with her sister.
Now with both mares alone in the room together, they looked to one another again. They gave each other one last hug before getting themselves off of the bed; Dusk stood by the bedside, assisting Cloud with getting herself out. Seeing that she was still in more pain then herself, Dusk gave Cloud a ride on her back to the dining room below. As they made their way down the hall, Cloud held onto Dusk with a warm hug as she nestled her head upon her friend’s neck.
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Instead of sitting at the dining room that was bigger than they had first thought, the group moved where they would have their meal to the garden grounds just behind the castle. They sat around each side of a medium square table that they had the servants retrieve and set up near the edge of the garden. The sight they shared was of the sun setting on the horizon as they were about to order their meals.
“I will have a salad with a hint of grated blue cheese and hot tea, please,” requested Luna as she spoke to the servant taking the group’s orders.
Celestia had been mulling over what she would have, but decided to keep it simple since she wasn’t really hungry, “Mmm, that sounds good; I will have the same but instead of cheese for the salad, make it slices of banana, please.”
Having already eaten a big meal earlier, Cloud tried to think of something small to eat, “I will have…an apple.”
“Just an apple?” asked the servant with a bemused look on his face.
“Yes, just an apple, please,” Cloud tried to give a sincere smile, but it was fairly easy to see past it.
The servant just jotted it down on his notebook and turned towards Dusk Strider, “and what will you be having, milady?”
Out of the whole group, Dusk had probably been the most famished; she put a lot of thought into what she wanted. When the servant asked for her order; she was ready, “I would like two R.L.Ts with extra crispy hay fries, two stalks of celery, two carrots, half an apple pie and for a drink I will have ice tea with a lemon slice and a touch of sugar, please,” she then gave a delighted smile to show she was finished ordering.
The group stared at Dusk with astonishment plastered on their faces. After a short moment, Luna turned to the servant, “Change my order please, I will have what she is having,” she then smiled towards Dusk who still held her own smile as she looked back to Luna. They then both turned their smiles to the servant who was shifting his eyes between the two in a nervous manner. He erased and jotted the order on his notebook quickly before leaving to the castle kitchens. When he was gone, the diners looked to one another and released a laugh amongst themselves.
They didn’t wait long for their food to come by; they began to feast as soon as their dishes landed on the table. Cloud took her time with her apple, making sure to take small bites so she would manage to finish at the same rate as everypony else. Celestia stood true to her royal self, eating with poise and grace. Unlike her sister, Luna ransacked her food along with Dusk when they had decided to combine their meals. They each grabbed a hoof-full of hay fries in one hoof and held their R.L.T’s in the other, switching between bites. Sometimes they would even bite into the others sandwich without even realizing it. When all the solid food had been eradicated, they moved onto their drinks. They discarded the straws the tall glasses had come with and guzzled down the sweet liquid brought to them. Feeling satisfied with their meal, the two mares of the night fell to the ground and laid in pure bliss as their friends watched them from over the table.
As she lay on the ground letting her stomach enjoy its victory, a thought had crossed Dusk’s mind, “Princess…” she let out a burp, “oops, sorry, umm…Princesses, what ever happened to the base? There was so much technology there; we could have had our engineers here make it into something that could have helped us with our daily lives.”
Celestia swallowed the last bite of her meal before answering, “A few days after we made sure you and Cloud had been comfortable and resting, we came back to the island. We thought of what help the technology that was stored in the facility could have been, but then…we realized that we and our subjects have been living well enough with how much we have progressed so far. We felt satisfied with what we have already accomplished on our own that if we took the technology there, we would be missing valuable lessons that the beings might have learned when they created the technology on their own. So…we sank the facility; far below the waters depths, erasing the last trace of whatever had happened there. The technology that Vesper and Calyx had recovered from the Royal Aviation Committee was carefully examined to see which was of our own make and what was influenced by the beings technology. Whatever was not ours was destroyed and removed from the files they kept in storage. The ponies involved with the monstrosity were banished from our lands with their memories erased of all that had happened,” Celestia then lay on the floor by her sister and Dusk, staring into the skies above, “Huzzah?”
Luna kept her eyes to the sky and let out a chuckle, “Huzzah, indeed!” she said, waving her hooves towards the sky.
When Cloud had finished her meal, she took her place by Dusk’s side. As she stared at the sky by her closest friend, a sudden thought of her own crossed her mind which caused her to stand from her comfortable spot, “I was supposed to meet Fluttershy the day after we were abducted!” she looked upon the faces that quickly shifted their attention to her.
Celestia responded in her usual reassuring tone, “Do not worry Cloud, she had asked Twilight Sparkle to send a message to me asking if you were alright a few days after we came back to Canterlot. I told her that I asked you to stay over at the castle to help me with a few personal matters and that I was sorry to have you miss your get-together with her. Now lie down, relax and watch the sky while Luna raises the moon.” She then gave her sister a light nudge to signal her to do her job.
Cloud relaxed and lied herself down with a smile to watch the sky as her princess had suggested.
“Tia…,” Luna spoke out, still suffering from her satisfaction of the feast she had, “I am still a bit too weak to raise the moon by my lonesome…will you kindly assist me, dear sister?” she looked towards Celestia with a puppy look.
Celestia rolled her eyes towards her sister and returned a grin, “Ok Lulu.”
From their laidback position, they met their horns together and fused their magic, giving off a bright shine. As Dusk and Cloud watched the sky, they saw the dark canvas slowly emblazon with white dots all over. For the finale, the moon itself took its position amongst the stars and gleamed through the sky. The group spent the night staring off into the painting above, enjoying the cool air and good company they were in.
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End of Chapter 1: "Nice Night to Crash"