Silver surrounded herself in a firm bubble, only for it to shatter with the sound of glass on the impact of the first bolt. They didn't have sharp tips, instead blunt ones that stuck to her. Her magic was pulled violently from her.
Night had several of the bolts affixed to her, but she brushed them off with a hiss, looking largely unimpeded, unlike Silver, who sunk to the floor a moment, trying to regain her strength.
"Last mistake." Night soared down on the line of crossbow ponies even as they reloaded much sharper looking bolts. She crashed into one and hurled him with the force of her impact, sending him into another to careen together to the wall. The others took aim at her and she flashed a bright smile. "Go on." Her invitation was accepted, but she was too fast. Ducking under the closest, her wings snagged the markspony and held him up in the path of the dangerous barrage. The pony weakly wailed as he was perforated, only to be tossed aside.
Silver got her mouth over one of the bolts and pulled it free. It was like a magnet, drawn to her, or perhaps her magic. Each one needed a tough yank to work free, and there were too many to get quickly. With a rush of wind, Nefertari appeared beside her and hefted Silver into the air. "Be free!" She gave a firm shake and let Silver fall to the ground, rattled, but rid of the horrible magic-draining darts.
Night caught a sharpened bolt in the leg and returned the favor with an extended hoof across the pony's face, driving him back as she flipped in mid air and came down on his spine, driving him to the floor with an unwholesome crunch. "Giving up is allowed. Just put up your hooves."
One of them took her up on it, putting his hooves in the air. In a flash, dodging other arrows as she closed the distance, Night grabbed the crossbow of the yielder and dashed it against a wall. "Thanks, you can go now." She jigged to the left as more bolts came at her, dancing as much as battling. She laughed as she moved. She was fighting. She was doing what she had trained so long to do.
One of the sharpened bolts flew at Silver. Nefertari was gone. Her magic felt too sluggish to try a shield, so she collapsed instead. It caught her in a wing in an explosion of pain and the sensation of warm wetness running along her back. She grabbed onto that pain, using it to focus as she gathered her magic in a building internal heat. "Out of my way!" She conjured her mental hands and spread them wide in a violent gesture, knocking the remaining crossbowponies off their feet. "Bring me my foal and stop jerking me around!"
They were routed, and began to scatter. Silver had won, with the help of her family.
"Come out here," boomed a loud female voice. "You wanted me? Here I am."
That voice was familiar, too familiar. Night landed with a perplexed look on her face. "This wasn't even on my probabilities..."
Silver reached back and pulled the arrow that had struck her wing the rest of the way through with a wince before she tossed it aside and moved for the window Night had come in through. "You should go."
Night snorted and moved beside her. "Got any other orders I can ignore?"
Silver smiled, and hopped through the empty window frame. The source of the shout became clear in a burning nova in the sky. Celestia had arrived, and wore her look of stern disapproval. She was mother to all ponykind, and she was very disappointed. "Prince Silver Stars. You have explaining to do." She descended on wings that burned as the sun she represented. "You have hurt so many of my precious little ponies."
Night scowled at Celestia. "Maybe they shouldn't be so eager to hurt us first, your majesty."
Silver nodded in agreement. "They have my foal. I'd like to believe you're not involved in this, but that's becoming increasingly unlikely. Why?"
Celestia brought down a hoof in a wave of heat that drove them both back. Onlookers fled before the fury of their highest princess. "Spawn of two royalty, laced with the touch of alicornhood before he was even born. Like his father and mother, he is special."
Silver put a hoof to her chest. "That's all well and good, but where's the part where you decide sending me off--"
"Enough." She frowned at Silver. "We will discuss this in private."
A quivering voice called out. "A-auntie... is it... Was it always you?" Prince Blueblood approached, wearing heavy clothes to conceal much of his identity, though he let them slide off.
Celestia smiled with relief. "My dear boy, you're not hurt as I feared." She reached for him. "Come here."
He stopped where he stood. "No. Auntie... Princess Celestia... How could you? What have I been doing all these years?! Why did you let me try so hard, just to find you, and why would you allow this in the first place?"
Celestia shook her head slowly. "We will discuss this later. Silver, are you prepared?"
Silver slide closer to Night. "Not without my wife."
"Wives!" One of the bystanders suddenly became a familiar red unicorn and trotted up beside Silver. "You never did the signal for me."
Celestia spread her wings, and everything become light, until they were somewhere else. It was quiet, save for some bird calls. Beyond a radius of warmth, it turned to snow. "Welcome, to a place of privacy." She turned to Silver after gesturing at the peaceful solitude. "I imagine you're waiting for an explanation."
"A few! Celestia... I thought we were closer than this. Why?" Silver's face was a mix of anger and confusion. "You're tugging fiercely at my last shreds of sympathy for you, and I don't even start to understand why."
Celestia sat on her haunches and was quiet for a moment. Night and Fast watched her intently, but neither spoke. With a little sigh, she flapped her wings. "Silver, what are you?"
Silver perked her ears. "A lot of things. Can you be more specific?"
Celestia brushed a wing over Silver's face, forcing her to sneeze. Silver smirked at her. "Yes yes, that is cute. If you wanted me to be your cute pony, you could have had that."
"Could I have?" Celestia tilted her head. "I met you as a colt, bursting with the desire to grow up and become powerful. I met you as a former human, confused, but determined. I met you as a mare, angry and resentful. I met you at many times, Silver Stars, but you were never mine to take." She pointed at Silver's wings. "You gave yourself to my sister."
Night clopped a hoof on the ground. "Can we get to the part where you abducted our foal?"
Fast rolled a hoof. "And the foal of your prized student, who looks up to you so hard, it's surprising her neck hasn't given out. Do you think she'll be happy hearing about this?"
Celestia looked away a moment. "I expected you to fail."
"Fail?" Silver raised a brow. "You expected me to start murdering for you?"
Celestia bore her teeth. "Not for me. I expected you to run, or lash out at them. Anything but to wait, and wait... And wait. I expected you to arrive at the first meeting, ready to weave a path of destruction. Instead you spend all your time trying to sympathize with your captors, and to convince them you were harmless." She leaned forward. "Well, here we are. Are you going to run from me, or lash out at me, or will you try to sympathize with me as well?"
A powerful tremble ran through Silver as she recoiled a bit, then reached out, putting a hoof on Celestia's chest. Celestia glanced down, but didn't stop her. "Is it over?" Silver smiled gently. "Please tell me this is over."
Celestia suddenly exploded in heat and pressure, knocking all three ponies back. "It is not. You who would claim the pony ideals for yourself, who is no pony. Face me. Face me and win, if you can." She rose to her hooves. "Win and take your prize, if you are capable."
Silver looked at Celestia, the pony of the angry sun. The expression of she who would not be called queen seemed sad and withdrawn. "Celestia, we've fought too much. Just tell me it's over. Tell me that and mean it."
"Unacceptable." Her wings ignited and with a flick, several balls of fire were hurled at Silver. Her other wing trembled, shaking loose fire at Fast and Night. Night grabbed Fast in her teeth and took off away from the balls as Silver drew in the heat and formed her own ball of fire, hovering over her head.
"Go on, strike back." Celestia brought down her hoof in a sharp crack. The ground split violently and the jagged line raced for Silver, forcing her to jump aside. "Defeat me!"
Silver gave a toss of her head, hurling the ball of fire back at Celestia. It detonated against her front and washed over her. The fire smoldered, but refused to harm her. "You won't best me in flames, strange not-pony. Go on, choose your path."
Tension suddenly immobilized Silver. Choose your path. It was something the text would say. "I won't take the ones that make us enemies. Where's the Celestia I traveled alongside? The one that cried with me, that hurt with me, and triumphed together. The Celestia I was willing to die for, if it would make her happy."
"You were never that loyal." Her horn glowed brilliantly. Meteors fell from the heavens with the density of snowflakes, and the ground began to be pounded under the rain of them. "Don't flatter me with empty claims."
Silver tried to deflect them away while keeping her eyes on Celestia. "I'm not lying, and you know it. I even learned a way for you to get what you want, with who you want." A rock flying faster than the speed of sound smashed against her shield, bursting it and striking her across the shoulder. Before she knew it, she was laying across the ground.
The rain stopped around her. Fast, then a dragon, had moved over her and was taking the blows with low grunts.
Celestia snarled. "When danger comes, my sister and I have nopony to turn to. We had to learn to face it, alone, or be run over by it. Even... Even Twilight can only fix the problem after it has come on us. You saw it. Nightmare Moon, my sister gone mad, sealed me away. The plunder seeds, claimed us both... Chrysalis handed me a humiliating defeat. I've heard you cry before, Silver. You would shout it. 'Where is my rainbow?'" She spread her wings wide, heat building as she became hotter and hotter. "Where is my rainbow, Silver? Why must I wait for another who doesn't even understand me to act?" She leaned forward as Silver scrambled to her hooves. "Where is my rainbow, Silver? Why do you get this?"
Night darted in from the left, swinging in a wild hind-hoof kick, only to be caught all-too-casually by one of Celestia's forehooves. "Your toys are impressive, but the adults are speaking." Celestia brought her hoof down with a frightening force, slamming Night against the cobbled ground hard enough to shatter the stone. A rough wheeze came from her as she rolled to her side, stunned, but alive. Celestia's eyes fixed on Silver. "Explain how this is fair?"