//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Marauding Crusader // Story: Laughter is Faith // by Redric Carrun //------------------------------// Princess Celestia winced as the chains binding her to the floor made a great groaning and creaking sound without actually giving way in the slightest. Reluctantly, she stopped straining against them, and they fell the few inches back into their original positions with a crash. Celestia winced again. She very much did not want to attract her sister's attention while she was still restrained like she was. She had only a little time left, she knew, before Luna would be ready for her plan. Celestia had to be free by then, or else – well, she was probably the one who would suffer the least, in the long run. But she still hadn't found a way out. The bonds holding her physical body were too strong, too secure and too numerous for her admittedly limited knowledge of the art of escape. And her magic... A trickle of blood dripped down into her eye again. She blinked to keep it clear. Something moved. Celestia's ears pricked up and she smiled. “Luna,” she said. “Is everything all right?” Shadows ripped themselves out of the crags of the ancient stone floor, twisting together with great speed and complexity before congealing into the form of Nightmare Moon, snarling a step in front of her sister's face and with hatred in her eyes. “You!” she barked, wasting no time in pleasantries. “What did you do to the Elements? Where is the last of them?” “You know what I did with the Elements,” Celestia said. Nightmare was so close she could feel the breath from her nostrils. “You were there.” Nightmare snorted angrily and pawed at the ground with a hoof. “Is this part of your secret?” she asked. “Did something you did to use them on me by yourself break them? Make one disappear? I know you didn't hide it, Celestia! You could never hope to conceal it from me.” Celestia stared at Nightmare Moon for a long moment. Then at last she sighed. “The Elements,” she began, “must be used by a group. The group can be of any number, so long as the individuals themselves, in some combination, meet the requirements for each element. But there must be more than one Bearer, and all of the Bearers be present for the Elements to activate.” “I know,” Nightmare growled. “I know, I know this! What did you do to the Elements?” “I didn't do anything to them!” Celestia said loudly. She paused, and took deep breath. Nightmare Moon merely kept up her steely glare and said nothing. “There is only one exception,” Celestia continued. “... In the case where the Elements are to be used on one of the Bearers themselves, the Elements will act upon the united will of the remaining Bearers, to strike down the wayward member.” She glanced downwards, dropping Nightmare's gaze. “I was only able to use them on my own... because I used them against you.” “Or I could have used them against you,” Nightmare said. Her eyes flashed even darker. “So, I never needed those fillies in the first place. Only even with them it still won't work, because now one of the Elements is missing, and even with a partner I still can't use only five Elements.” “The price,” Celestia said, “for using them as I did. Even if they were all together, they would not respond to either of us now.” “What? What?” Nightmare shrieked. “You did- I can't- you destroyed the most powerful artifacts in all of Equestria?!? How do you expect to keep our little ponies safe without the Elements of Harmony? What if Discord returns?” “It... wasn't easy,” Celestia said slowly. “But somehow I managed.” Nightmare's eyes blazed with fury. And then, all of a sudden, they changed. The fury was still there, perhaps even more so, but all the heat was gone. Princess Celestia was struck with the unalterable feeling that these were not the eyes of the Luna she knew. Nightmare turned to look at the ground at their hooves. With a flash of her horn, dark sigils burned themselves into the stone around Celestia, who could only watch as they formed a complete circle surrounding her, imprisoned as she was. She glanced back up to find those unfamiliar eyes glaring back at her. “I know you,” Nightmare hissed. “I know how you work, how you're always twelve steps ahead of everypony else. Your student and her little friends have made it very close to here now, and even if I wasn't taking them seriously for most of their journey, they've still managed to defy all probability and overcome everything I put in their way. Of course they did. They're your plan to beat me. And maybe they'll do it. Maybe they'll pull of some sort of miracle from out of nowhere and they'll win. Crush little Luna's hopes and dreams like they always do. But there's one thing I can promise you, sister. If I go down, you're coming with me. Even if they blast me with the Elements, the moment my magic is gone, or reduced, or changed beyond recognition, this sigil will activate, and it will kill you. They may win, I may not get what I want, but you will still die. There is no way you're getting out of this, Celestia, not without me having my revenge!” Nightmare Moon stood panting there for a moment in the silence after her rant. Then her eyes changed again and she was back to the hurt, angry pony Celestia knew, the one who was trying to kill her, and in whom she could still see the wounded heart of her sister. “The next time I return will be the last. I will put an end to this, Celestia. Finally, after all these years.” Those slitted eyes drifted over Celestia's face. “You're bleeding,” she said. “You tried to escape.” “You tuned the razor well,” Celestia said. “I thought I might be able to use just enough magic to escape, but it got quite painful quite quickly.” “I can't even tell if you feel pain, sometimes,” Nightmare muttered. With a caress of magic, she wiped away the trail of blood back to where the bladed ring sat around Celestia's horn. Then she frowned. “I certainly hope you do,” she hissed. With rapid steps, Nightmare Moon strode around her sister and made her way towards the door. “Luna!” Celestia called out, trying to follow her movements with her head, but catching on the chains before she had moved two hooves length. The hoofsteps stopped behind her. “When I'm gone,” Celestia said, “if you succeed... make sure it's still you inside.” There was nothing but silence for a moment. Then Celestia knew Luna was gone. “There it is!” Pinkie cried as they burst out into the final clearing. Just ahead, across a slender rope bridge, were the towering remains of the Castle of the Two Sisters. “Come on come on come on, we've got to gooo – Waaah!” As Pinkie was running towards the castle and her destination, her hooves suddenly fell on nothing but air as she stepped out into the opening of a deep ravine. Just as she was about to lose out to gravity, there was a tug on her tail, and Twilight's magic managed to pull her back to safety as the unicorn galloped up next to her, panting with the exertion of her run. The two ponies looked down into the black abyss as the others caught up behind them. “Oh, come on!” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Are you serious? The bridge is out.” “The ropes and boards don't look like they're in such bad condition from up here,” Twilight said, gazing down at what remained of the bridge. “Somepony must have cut them from the other side. But maybe we can-” “Come on, come on, double time!” Rainbow said, already swooping down into the ravine and pulling up the side of the bridge which had been cut. “Get over here, Fluttershy, and help me tie these things back together so we can cross!” The work took only a few minutes, but the ponies felt every second of the wait. The instant the last knot was tied, the ponies were thundering over the bridge and heading for the castle. They were almost at the gates when the heavy doors began to open of their own accord. Up at the front, Pinkie Pie screeched to a halt. “Oh no,” she whispered, her hooves shooting to her mouth. The others caught up to her side and stared at what she had seen, their own reactions ranging between confused and horrified. Standing in the doorway was a pony whom none of them had ever seen before. A pony with the body of an adult, with wings and a horn. A strange and unfamiliar alicorn. The Pony glared at them. “You're not stopping us!” the Pony said, voice bold but cracking at points like it was new to her. “I don't care if Nightmare Moon is planning on banishing the Princess. We know how it feels to have a sister that's always better than you, Rarity!” Rarity stared, wide-eyed, as one trembling hoof found its way to her chest. “Yeah! That's right!” the Pony said, as if agreeing with herself. “You tell 'er, Sweetie Belle!” “S- Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked. “We're too late!” Pinkie cried out, voice filled with anguish, as she pointed at the strange pony. “Nightmare Moon already fused them!” “That's them?” Applejack asked, a wild look in her eyes. “That pony – that pony's Apple Bloom?” “She must be,” Twilight said. Her face was scrunched up in pain. “And Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle too. I... I don't know if there's any way...” She stepped forward. “Girls? H-how are you feeling? Are you all in there?” “We're feeling better than we ever did with you, thank you very much,” the Pony said. “Or our sisters.” “Or with Rainbow Dash,” the Pony added to her own sentence. “Scootaloo?” Rainbow asked, ears perking up. “Scoots, is that you?” “Oh, so you know her name now,” the Pony said, backing up a step on the top of the stairs. “You didn't seem to care about her before.” “They still seem to have separate personalities,” Twilight commented. “That's good news! If we can only separate the bodies, then maybe there's a chance...” “Is that all of you fillies?” Rainbow asked, floating up the steps towards them. “Look, I get that you've all gone through a lot of stuff tonight, but just come with us and we'll get you help. Get you back in your own bodies-” “No!” the Pony shouted, striking Rainbow Dash across the jaw with one hoof. Dash was caught off guard, and crashed headlong back down the stairs. The gathered ponies cried out, Fluttershy rushing forward to pick up her fallen friend. “Hey!” Applejack said. “Apple Bloom! What in tarnation are you doing?” “You're not my sister!” The pony blurted, her voice suddenly taking on a familiar country accent. “And you're not listening! Ah said you're not gonna stop us from doing what we're doing, even if we have to fight you! Nightmare Moon sent us to stall you, and that's what we're gonna do!” It wasn't Apple Bloom's voice. “Apple Bloom,” Applejack said, voice heavy. “What's gotten into you?” The pony did not answer. Instead, she crouched down and sprang head-long upon the group. She hit Pinkie first in a violent tackle that knocked them both to the floor, pulling in close and kicking, even biting at her throat and chest with her dull pony teeth. “Aggh!” Pinkie cried out. “She's gnawing on my jugular! And it's not nearly as adorable this time!” “Get off of her!” Applejack said, jumping at the conglomerate pony and trying to wrestle her to the ground. Applejack was surprised to find that the Pony was much stronger than she had expected, being nearly a match for her own, farm-trained muscles, and before Applejack knew it, the Pony had wriggled out of her grasp and slammed a kick into her face with both back legs. A magical aura surrounded the pony as Twilight tried to intervene. “Now, girls,” she said, trying to keep a calm voice, “Something very serious has happened to you, and we're going to get you all the help we can, but you've got to work with us-” She cut off with a cry as a foreign aura clamped itself down on her horn, pinching it rather impishly and causing her to lose her spell's integrity. The aura around the pony faded away, and the pony turned to glare in Twilight's direction before blinking. “Hey,” the pony said. “I just used magic. I just used magic!” She jumped up and clapped her hooves together in glee, before clapping them to her face in horror. “Ah just used magic,” she said in a very small voice. Pinkie stumbled to her hooves. A sharp gleam was in her narrowed eyes. “Ah'm a shame to the Apple family,” the Pony muttered. “Pie-clan Secret Technique,” Pinkie Pie intoned, reaching around behind her back. “Three Ream Flamingo Strike!” With a sudden lurch, she swung a giant origami flamingo straight into the Pony's face. Papers scattered everywhere as the Pony was bowled over and fell flat on her back, already scrambling to get back up. “Pinkie!” Rarity cried. “We can't hurt them! They're our sisters, they're just foals!” “They sure don't punch like foals,” Rainbow muttered, getting back to a standing position. She wobbled a bit from side to side, but she stared the Pony right in the eyes. Pinkie shrugged. “Well, yeah,” she said, “but what am I supposed to do? They're attacking us! She's attacking us. Uh. Hmm.” She turned to the Pony. “What exactly are we supposed to call you, now that you're all a single pony?” The Pony blinked. “That's a good question,” she said, lifting a hoof to her chin. “Like... Foalmerge? Unity? Purpose? … Crusader!” Her eyes lit up. “We're on a crusade to get right with our sisters! You can call us-” Her pupils suddenly turned to slits as her smile dropped away from her face. “Nightmare Marauder,” she said, voice the same as ever, without inflection. Pinkie blinked. “Huh. That didn't follow at all from what you were saying just befor-” She was cut off as Marauder slammed both hooves into her stomach in a flying tackle, spreading her wings to boost herself above Pinkie as the earthpony bounced to the ground. Marauder reared up, aiming to trample Pinkie against the pavement, but before she could bring her hooves down, Rainbow Dash slammed into her side in a devastating body-check. “Rainbow!” Rarity protested. “Don't you get it?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering at the ready as Marauder got back to her hooves. “We can't just sit back and let her do what she wants. Not when she's doing something that'll mean the end of all Equestria. She's being used by Nightmare Moon, and I'm not going to let her make that big of a mistake without a fight.” “Rainbow,” Applejack said darkly, “if you hit my sister again, Ah'll-” She was cut off by a blast of magic, which slammed against the side of her head and burned at her coat as it knocked her to the ground. The world was spinning for her as she looked up in shock at where Marauder – Apple Bloom – was standing, glaring at her with a smoking horn. “Ah'm using magic,” Marauder said. “And Ah don't care what the Apple family thinks of me for it! They ain't my family no more.” “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity cried. “I'm ashamed of you! That is not an acceptable use of magic, and you know it, young lady!” “Oh yeah?” Marauder replied. “Well, maybe if the way I'm using magic is so wrong already, I should just use it to solve my problem!” She raised a foreleg, and the bracelet around her pastern began to glow. “Let's see how you like being the useless sister, Rarity!” Everypony gasped. “That bracelet!” Applejack said. Twilight's eyes widened. “The Demonstrum!” “Make her weak,” Marauder intoned, “ugly, old and frail. Make her mane turn green, and-” “Knock it off!” Rainbow barked, barreling into Marauder with a flying tackle. Even with the speed and strength behind the blow, Marauder was still able to stay on her hooves as the two slid back together. But even as the incantation was interrupted, Rarity stiffened and collapsed where she stood. Her already white face went pale as death as she trembled, shook, her skin and muscles shrinking and wrinkles forming on her face. Twilight rushed to her side. Marauder struck back at Rainbow Dash with surprising strength. Rainbow considered herself one of the most athletic ponies in Ponyville, but the strength of these three fillies in a single combined body was nearly enough to overpower her. Fluttershy stepped back with a shriek as the two grappled back and forth along the ground and rolled through where she had just been standing. “Fight it, Rarity!” Twilight cried, shaking the fallen pony by the withers. “The bracelet's magic can't control you if you don't let it! Fight back!” Rarity's frightened eyes twitched towards Twilight's face, the rest of her body held in a sinister paralysis. Then her eyes closed, and her breathing began to still. Slowly, the changes began to revert, her face smoothing out and her mane returning to its rich purple. Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, come on!” Marauder complained. A blow to Rainbow's muzzle set her nose to bleeding. Marauder's face turned back into a grin. “What's the matter, Rainbow Dash?” she asked. “Why aren't you using your sword? You're a big-time hunter, aren't you? Are you not taking this seriously, just because we're fillies you barely know?” “Are you insane?” Rainbow snapped back, unimpressed. She kicked out with a hoof and clipped a joint on Marauder's wing which caused the conglomerate to reel in discomfort as a nerve in the joint was compressed. “I'm trying to rescue you. It'd be a little counter-productive to do that by carving you into tiny pieces, don't you think?” Marauder snorted and tried to punch Rainbow in the face again. Rainbow blocked this time, at the expense of her grip. “Uh, guys?” Pinkie asked. Her front leg was bouncing up and down, as if it had a life of its own. “I think we need to get inside. We need to get inside, right now.” “Kinda busy here, Pinkie,” Rainbow grunted. “I won't let you!” Marauder cried. “You're not stopping me, and you're not stopping Nightmare Moon!” Applejack groaned as she tried to pull herself to her hooves. She staggered, and was only able to stay standing with help from Fluttershy, who was looking worriedly at Applejack's burn marks. “We've gotta deal with her first,” Applejack said. She glared at Rainbow Dash. “But Ah ain't leaving everything up to Miss Hits-a-Lot here. Maybe together, we can hold her down long enough to-” “There's no time!” Pinkie stressed, her whole body trembling with urgency. “There's no time, we've got to go now, or something really bad is going to happen!” Rainbow Dash was finally able to wrestle herself into a good position, and heaved Marauder into the air. The nightmare pony, unused to flying flailed awkwardly as she arced through the air and landed heavily on the ground. Rainbow stretched her neck to the side and pawed at the ground. “I'll hold Marauder off myself,” she said. “You five get in there and do what needs to be done. I've got an idea how to end this.” “That won't work!” Pinkie cried in despair. “We need all six of us to-” The bouncing suddenly stopped. Pinkie paused. “On second thought,” she said quickly, “that sounds great. Catch up as quick as you can, Dashell!” “Stop giving me nicknames!” Rainbow said. Marauder leapt into the air, her horn glowing with a spell. “What makes you think Ah'm letting y'all go inside?” she asked loudly. She squawked as a baseball smacked into her horn. Pinkie didn't wait a moment to make sure that her throw has struck true, bending down and scooping up the still wobbly Applejack onto her back. “Come on, everypony,” she cried. “Into the castle!” She darted up the steps and into the castle interior before anypony could object. Rarity was also struggling to get back on her hooves, but after a moment of deliberation, Twilight picked up her fellow unicorn with her magic and followed after Pinkie. Fluttershy paused at the top of the steps to look back at where Rainbow was still facing off against the poor fillies they had come to rescue. “What are you waiting for?” Rainbow asked. “Go on! I'll take care of things here.” Fluttershy nodded. Then she followed the others inside. “Wait!” Marauder called, trying to dodge around Rainbow and get at the others. Rainbow Dash managed to block her, though, barreling into her and smacking the younger pony into the ground. Marauder let out a growl of frustration. “I hate you the most!” Marauder said. “What kind of hero hits the ponies she's trying to save?” “Hero?” Dash asked. “... feh. I'm just some pony who hunts monsters for a living and decided to take on an ancient pony of darkness to save some fillies, the Princess, and all of Equestria.” She blinked. “Actually, when you put it that way, that does sound kind of heroic, doesn't it?” Dash chuckled. “Well of course, if there was going to be somepony worth calling a hero, it would have to be somepony as awesome as me, now wouldn't it?” Marauder screamed and rushed at her. Rainbow Dash laughed, and darted around her and off, over the bridge, back down the path through the Everfree Forest, Marauder chasing after her in a fit of rage.