Strange Bedfellows

by BRBrony9

Showdown

The battle continued to rage on outside of the palace. The defensive line was holding, even as the enemy started to throw their tanks into the fray. Their heavy shells tore holes in the buildings occupied by the ponies and Imperials, but lascannon and missiles were able to counter them, as well as air support from friendly strike aircraft. Pinpoint attacks knocked out individual tanks or personnel carriers, while the pony airships hurled heavy shells down onto Chaos infantry concentrations and clusters of Changeling drones.

Into this maelstrom came Twilight and her friends. The guards at the exterior palace wall were as reluctant as those at the catacomb entrance had been to let them pass, but they were accompanied by two guard officers from the command centre who instructed the guards to allow them outside. Cadence raised the bottom of her shield for a moment, and out they went, half a dozen ponies slipping out beyond the protective barrier. Spike remained in the catacombs; it was too dangerous for him. He had, however, repeated the trick used previously when Celestia was in Fillydelphia. He sent a magic scroll to the Princess; hopefully she had been able to catch it as it materialised above her, and read it. If she had, she would know that Twilight and the others were leaving the palace, and that, if she could get the Element of Magic away from Chrysalis somehow, then they just might have a plan.

It was a tentative plan, and moreover it relied entirely on something they had been unable to achieve before. Chrysalis had worn the Element ever since she had captured it, and there was no way she would part with it voluntarily. Whatever prestige and attachment she had to her actual crown, her true symbol of office, she had clearly felt that keeping personal possession of the captured Element was more important than to continue wearing her Changeling regalia. Given the nature of the Elements and how they were rendered useless by even a single absentee item, she was very wise to do so. Celestia had always desired the recovery of the lost Element as an overriding priority, all the way from the volcano Hive assault to the present day. Unfortunately, it didn't seem possible.

The street outside the palace was lined with defensive positions on both sides. Sandbagged firing points and bunkers had been set up, with ponies and humans interspersed along the line, crouching down behind the defences, manning machine-cannons, field guns, missile launchers and stubbers. The ring of steel formed a semicircle around the palace, protecting all of the city-side approaches to it. This was not the only line of defence; the new frontline lay some half a mile out, and Twilight set a course for it, much to the bemusement of many of the onlookers. Six pastel, colourful mares, unarmoured and unarmed, making their way out into a warzone. The humans were confused, but the ponies, some at least, recognised the Element Bearers and knew of their abilities and their past successes. That didn't make them any more confident that the mares could survive in this warzone; many of them imagined they were heading off on a suicide mission, knowingly or otherwise. Maybe they wouldn't be coming back, maybe that was the point. Nopony knew for certain what they were trying to do.

Twilight led the way as they trotted down the street. Several times ponies shouted at them from the windows. 'Hey, get back inside the palace! What are you doing out here?' 'Civilians shouldn't be out here!' Twilight ignored their shouts. They were not civilians; they were Elements, and they had a job to do, or at least try to do. Everything depended on others, however. There was surely no way they could get the Element of Magic back themselves without some kind of help, but they could at least try to get in a position to recover it and be ready to use it if Celestia, or the Daemon, were able to part Chrysalis from her ill-gotten gains.

'Oh, a-are you sure about this, Twilight?' Fluttershy asked timidly, as a particularly loud explosion rattled the windows of the building around them and sent dust cascading down from rooftops. 'It seems a little, um...dangerous out here...'

'Don't worry Fluttershy. It's like I promised my brother,' Twilight replied. 'If we encounter real danger and we can't deal with it, or if everypony else starts falling back, I'll teleport us all back inside the shield quicker than you can say hey presto.'

'Yeah, don't worry too much, Flutters!' Rainbow asked, flapping along slightly above the ground instead of trotting. 'We can handle a few drones. We've shown that before! And these humans? Well, don't you remember how Twi kicked their asses back when they first tried to attack Canterlot?'

'Um, I-i guess...' Fluttershy muttered, though seemingly less than entirely convinced about the merits of Rainbow's argument. Twilight led them on through the back alleys. Occasionally they were passed in one direction or another by messenger ponies or squads moving to redeploy or to reinforce the frontline, but for the most part they were alone. Gunfire and explosions were distorted by the buildings all around them, making it sound as though there was shooting behind them, above them, or immediately next to them, which did nothing to calm Fluttershy's shaking nerves, as she jumped at every blast or roar of aircraft.

As they reached another road, the gunfire ahead became much louder, and it was clear that they were getting close to the frontline, where pony and Imperial defenders were making their determined stand against the enemy. Getting too much farther forward could be dangerous, and so Twilight pointed upward.

'Let's get to a rooftop!' she suggested. 'We can see what's going on with the battle, and see the Princess and Chrysalis. That way we can be ready to act if we see anything happening.' Applejack and Rainbow nodded in agreement at her plan, and Rainbow flapped up to rooftop height to select a suitable building that wasn't already being used as a defensive position. She found one on the near side of the street, just a little detour from the alleyway they were emerging from.

'Over here!' she waved with a hoof. 'Can you get into the building?'

'Don't worry. Gather round, girls,' Twilight ordered, and together she teleported them up, while Fluttershy took the scenic route and flapped up to join Rainbow. The roof was flat and offered decent sightlines across toward the frontline, as well as a clear overhead view of the sky where Celestia was still fighting.

'Yeah, this is the spot,' Twilight nodded her confirmation and approval. 'We'll set up right here. We can see everything we need to see, and we can move easily enough if we have to. I just hope we get a chance to do something.'

The others all nodded their agreement. To have exposed themselves to the dangers of the warzone only to come up empty-hoofed would be demoralising at the least, and potentially fatal at worst, not just for them, but for the whole city, all the civilians and ponies and humans alike. If the Daemon and Chrysalis could not be stopped, then everything was at stake.

Captain Muran pushed his jet into a steady dive. He, like many of the other Imperial pilots, had expended his ammunition fighting the enemy aircraft, and had returned up to orbit using the injection engine to re-arm aboard the Indefatigable, the squadron's new home thanks to the destruction of the Emperor's Judgement. With a fresh weapons load, he and his wingman Rall had returned to the fray, just in time to witness the bizarre comet descending from the heavens. It had flashed past him at high altitude as they had still been descending back into the lower atmosphere, startling him despite the warning broadcast on the emergency channels. The turbulence of its passage had rocked his wings.

Now that they had reached the city again, he could see exactly what it was that had been responsible; a Changeling, wreathed in green energy and surrounded by a shield much like the pony princess. It must have been the same creature who had survived the destruction of the flagship; the Queen. He noted that the Changeling was attacking not just the princess, as one might expect given their apparent history, but also the Daemon. A curiosity, but at least it seemed to prove that the Changelings were not working with the forces of Chaos- at least, not intentionally.

The great beasts were not Muran's targets, however. He had to continue to hit the enemy aircraft to protect the ground forces. Friendly units were on the way, being rushed up from the former defensive line down to the south, but for now, the defenders of the city were on their own, apart from the air support being provided by Muran and the rest of his fellow pilots. Air power could turn the tide on the ground, at least, even if it might not be able to do anything about the two big threats that loomed above it.

A few enemy dropships were still trying to make landing runs, and they were priority targets. Taking them out before landing would likely kill the passengers, saving the ground troops a lot of trouble. Muran sighted in on one of the lumbering craft, keeping an eye out for fighters trying to get in behind him while he was occupied. Rall stayed to the rear performing overwatch for him.

Muran decided to keep his missiles in case he had to dogfight, and locked on with his lascannons instead. He squeezed the trigger and pumped half a dozen shots into the dropship, which seemed to stagger in mid-air, fire belching from one of its engines. It tilted over and plunged into the side of a building, bringing the whole structure down on top of it. An explosion then ripped through the debris, signalling the demise of more Chaos forces. Another small step closer to the successful defence of the city.

The pony airships were still blazing away, all three of them still intact despite the earlier trouble they had been experiencing. The ranks of the enemy air forces had been thinned by a combination of air defences and Imperial fighters. There were only a few more remaining, as well as some bombers and ground attack aircraft which were trying to sew confusion among the defenders. Once they were dealt with, the skies would be clear, apart from the Changeling drones which were too small to target with the Lightning's weaponry and would have to be dealt with by the ground forces.

Another target appeared in his vision, this time a strike aircraft. Its missiles and autocannons would prove a severe danger to friendly forces down below if it was allowed to continue to roam free through the skies. Muran throttled back to settle in on its tail. It had no point defences, and while it was a lot more maneuverable than the dropship, the strike aircraft was not designed to dogfight with an interceptor. In fact the pilot seemed to be mostly unaware that anyone was behind him at all. Muran found it an easy kill, a burst of autocannon fire shattering its port wing and sending the strike jet down in flames, bouncing along a wide boulevard as it disintegrated.

'Got one on my six!' Rall called over the vox. 'Trying to shake him...standby...break, break, break!'

Muran did just that, swinging to the right and pulling into a tight turn. 'I'll get behind him,' he informed his wingman. 'Keep him busy.'

'Copy that,' Rall replied. Muran brought his jet around and spotted the foe. It was a sleek aircraft, with swept back wings, and it was in pursuit of Rall, who was climbing and twisting. Muran tucked in behind the enemy fighter, trying to get a missile lock on it, but Rall's maneuvering to escape was causing the fighter to bounce around the sky as it tried to match him.

'Hold him steady for a second,' Muran requested. 'I can take him.'

'Copy...' Rall stopped his rapid maneuvering, and so did the enemy fighter. Muran had to act fast before the pilot could get a lock on Rall. He dispensed with the missile and brought the crosshairs over the enemy, firing the lascannons again. The enemy jet exploded in mid-air, and Muran's jet raced through the could of debris, fragments of metal pattering off of his cockpit canopy. 'Got him.'

'Nice shooting,' Rall replied, leveling off. Muran pulled alongside his wingman again. They were high above the city after their rapid climb. There were no enemy fighters up here; they were all involved in the swirling melee a few thousand feet or less above the city rooftops. Muran dipped one wing and looked down at the city. He could still see the battle between the powerful creatures, even from this altitude. The flashes of their magic and warp energy marked them out clearly from on high. He had seen the Daemon take all kinds of firepower down at Fillydelphia, and by all accounts the Changeling Queen had shrugged off the heaviest guns of the fleet.

He himself had tried attacking the Daemon, and seen how ineffective his jet's weaponry had been. No doubt the result would be similar if he tried to attack the Queen. Best to leave that task to the pony princess, although, he noted, she now seemed to be alone. Weren't there two ponies earlier? What had happened to the other one?

Suddenly, and quite to Muran's surprise, they were no longer alone at their high altitude. The swirling combat between the powerful creatures had risen above the city, climbing higher into the sky within moments, until they were level with the two jets. Blasts of magic cut through the sky ahead of Muran, and the Changeling Queen whizzed across his vision. Crackling green energy encased her crooked horn, and Muran pushed the stick down to avoid her. His aircraft dipped beneath her as he tried to stay clear of the fighting. Taking a hit from her magic, or from that of the princess, would likely destroy his Lightning, and a hit from the warp energy of the Daemon could cause any number of untold and bizarre things either to his jet, his body, or his mind.

Rall followed him down. 'Shit, that was close...' he muttered over the vox. 'What should we do, Captain?'

'Best get ourselves out of here,' Muran replied. 'We can't fight these things.'

'Shouldn't we at least try?' Rall questioned. 'Aren't we supposed to be allies with these ponies?'

That was certainly true, but surely attempting such a thing was tantamount to suicide. Two Lightnings would have no effect against creatures of such power. That had already been ably demonstrated by the inability of an entire fleet of aircraft to inflict any damage on the Daemon in Fillydelphia. There was no reason to believe that they would be effective against the Queen, either.

'We're allies, but we can't do anything against these things,' Muran pointed out in reply. 'Our weapons just aren't powerfu enough.'

'Well...couldn't we at least distract them?' Rall suggested. 'The princess is fighting by herself. If she's the only thing that can stop these enemies, then we have to do anything we can to help her. Otherwise if they kill her, then...'

'Then they will turn against each other,' Muran replied. 'You saw them fighting each other down there. There's clearly no love lost between them. They're not allies.'

'And whoever wins that fight will have free reign to do whatever they want,' Rall answered. 'If there's nothing else that can stop them, then everything we've been fighting for here will be for nothing. The city will fall, the planet will fall. All of those deaths will be in vain. Every lost member of this squadron will have died for nothing.'

That was certainly true. So far as they knew, the princess was the only creature who could stop the Daemon or Chrysalis. She was fighting hard, but it was possible that she was only still alive because the two enemies were spending as much time attacking each other as they were attacking her. Even the smallest distraction might help her achieve victory, and now that they were at such an altitude, the only distraction that could come would be from aircraft. Ground fire could not reach them, other than the Manticore anti-air missiles, which had already tried to bring down both creatures, to no effect.

'Alright. Alright, we'll try and distract them,' Muran agreed. 'Just use extreme caution, Rall. We don't really know what we're dealing with. Just make close passes, shoot at them if you get an angle. Don't take any risks.'

'Got, it Captain,' Rall answered. Muran turned his jet around. Maybe, despite what he had just cautioned his wingman, they were taking a huge risk. But maybe, they could just make the tiny difference that was needed- or maybe they were simply wasting their time. They were not alone in their efforts, anyway. Dozens of other Imperial aircraft were swirling around the battlespace now. Their combined firepower could destroy an entire regiment of enemy troops or bring down a towering Titan, the walking gods of the battlefield. And, so far as Muran knew, none of it would be enough.

Malaranth had started to rise higher above the city, and both Chrysalis and Celestia followed its lead, gaining altitude, higher and higher into the sky. They were leaving Canterlot behind beneath them. Celestia didn't know why the Daemon wanted to change the location of their battle, but she was happy enough to move away from the city. Fighting so close above the city meant that stray shots could cause more damage to the buildings and potentially injuries and deaths among the defenders. Undermining the efforts to hold the city was not something that she wanted.

What she wanted was to get control of the Element of Magic. She had received the unexpected scroll from Spike, which had appeared in front of her out of the blue. She had managed to catch and rapidly read it, as she had when Spike had done the same thing when she was down in Fillydelphia. While she did not approve of Twilight's rashness at insisting she had to leave the safety of the catacombs, there was no denying that her assistance would be of vital importance, provided the Element could be recovered. She had been looking for opportunities to take it ever since Chrysalis had reappeared. She had imagined it lost, destroyed by the human space weaponry. To discover that it was intact, and that the Elements could, potentially, be used after all, was a great relief to her. She had been fighting the Daemon and Chrysalis, and doubted her ability to beat them in straight combat. Certainly, she could not take out both, even if they were busy, at times, with fighting each other as well as her. Even with Luna present, the balance was not in their favour, and now she was gone...

Celestia knew she would need help. The Imperials seemed powerless to help against these particular foes. While they were more than capable of defending the city, they had shown no evidence of being able to defeat such powerful creatures. Only magic could defeat Chrysalis, and perhaps only magic could defeat this Daemon.

'Having trouble keeping up, Celestia?' Chrysalis mocked, leading the way to the higher altitude with Malaranth. 'Just give up! Can you not see the futility of your struggle?'

'Perhaps I should leave you two to kill each other,' Celestia answered. 'No doubt you would revel in the chance to defeat the creature that claims to be pulling your strings from behind the scenes.'

'This creature lies!' Chrysalis shouted. 'You can see that as well as I. It probably made you a similar offer.'

'Why, I did indeed,' Malaranth answered. 'As I said, you should both join with me. Imagine the potential you could have together!'

'We had a chance to work together a long time ago,' Chrysalis replied. 'Celestia squandered it. There is no second chance, not so far as I an concerned! I am not weak, like she is. She spares all of her enemies, like a child who keeps putting her hoof back onto the hot stove. She cannot understand that mercy is for the weak! If you defeat me, do not spare me, Celestia, for you will bitterly regret it if you do.'

'I am sure the Princess is not so blind as to not be able to see that making sure an enemy is defeated is sometimes the best solution,' Malaranth spoke. 'Perhaps she believes in redemption?'

'And that is what makes her weak,' Chrysalis spat. 'To imagine that an enemy will come to love her like her sycophantic followers is laughable. They will continue to hate so long as they live. That will not change. No amount of false friendship can ever alter their true perception of you and your kind. The real world is not like your cosseted little student Sparkle would like to believe. Maybe it's time she realised that, Celestia! You are the one feeding her those lies, training her to think that everything will be alright. That there is a quick fix to every issue. Not any longer! Not without this.' She pointed a hoof to the diadem on her head, the missing Element. 'Sparkle may be besotted with obeying your every command, but do you know why that is? It is because she fears you, Celestia! She fears your reaction if she fails, if she makes a misstep.'

Celestia shook her head. 'You speak of sycophancy. Just look at your own drones. They do not follow you through choice, they follow you because you force it upon them. You do not give them the option of free will.'

'Nor do you extend that courtesy to Twilight Sparkle and her friends!' Chrysalis retorted. 'imagine what carefree lives they may have led, if you had not engineered events right from the start. You manipulated them to reach the positions they did, where they could carry the Elements of Harmony. And why did you do that? Because you are selfish! You did it so that you could get your sister back, nothing more, nothing less. Nightmare Moon was a deadly threat to the whole planet and she should have been dealt with accordingly. You could have done that yourself. You could have killed her easily. But instead you stage-managed your own disappearance so you could side-step the matter. and manipulated a vulnerable young mare into doing your bidding and putting herself and her only friends in mortal danger so that you could undo the mistakes you made a thousand years earlier! You're a charlatan, Celestia, and I have long seen through you, even if nobody else can!' Chrysalis laughed, a derisive and maniacal giggle characteristic of her.

Celestia paused for a moment. Though Chrysalis was clearly unhinged and full of anger, the Princess had to reflect upon herself. Some of the Queen's words, as much as it pained her to admit it to herself, rang true, clear and loud like a bell. She had manipulated Twilight, and ultimately, she had done it to get Luna back, not necessarily for her own benefit, but for that of her sister. Remorse and regret had been her constant companions for a millennia, and every time she looked up at the moon she knew she had made a mistake. Not in banishing Luna; that had been a necessity, but it had been a necessity because she had messed up her relationship with her sister before that. Things would not have reached that point if she had been more receptive, more open and honest; if she had just listened to Luna a little better. Whatever negative forces had played on the Night Princesses' mind could have been kept at bay with a little more communication and honesty. That was down to Celestia, and she still blamed herself for it.

'I did what I had to do,' she replied simply, a half-truth at best, she conceded, but good enough for the situation. 'The Elements were necessary. How do you imagine you would fare, Chrysalis, under another Discordian rule?'

'Discord does not scare me any more than this Daemon,' Chrysalis answered. 'No matter what uncanny similarities they may share. In fact, I imagine I may have gotten along well with him if he were in charge. You can believe what you want, Princess. It does not change the facts. You led Twilight Sparkle through her foalhood just so you could use her to your own ends when she was fully grown. That is not the act of a beloved ruler and mentor. That is the act of a dictator, a despot! Was that not part of King Sombra's plan, to raise newborn Crystal Pony foals with indoctrination and propaganda to believe his every word? To consider him a god among ponies? To carry out his commands, no matter how brutal and savage they may be? You are no different to him.'

Malaranth kept its distance, content to listen to the two old foes exchange bitter barbs and hurtful truths with each other. All of this, after all, must be part of Lord Tzeentch's plan, as inscrutable as facets of it remained even to his trusted servant. All would be revealed in due time; what will be, will be. What will not, will not. Such was the way of the universe. Such was the way of Change.

'Perhaps if you want to use such an analogy, you should have compared me to yourself!' Celestia snapped. 'Your children, as you call them. Do they have any say in their purpose in life? No! They are soldiers for their Queen. Nothing more and nothing less.'

'They are willing soldiers for their Queen!' Chrysalis laughed. 'They were bred for the purpose, bred to do as I commanded. I am their Queen. That is how Changeling biology works! I do not manipulate them. I do not plant thoughts in their head. I do not force them to do anything. They are not guided by fear of failure, by fear of letting their Queen down. They are not tortured by constant self doubt or driven to the edge of mental breakdown over trying to live up to what they believe their leader wants them to be. They are my children, and they will happily die for me, not because I tell them to, but because they want to. That is the difference between my drones and your student. Your precious Twilight Sparkle, so important to you. That is unfortunate, Celestia. Most unfortunate. For I know exactly where she is.'

Chrysalis rolled over onto her back, and began to plunge toward Canterlot far down below them.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Just one shot, can change the world.

Which shot will it be, and what change follows?

[OneAmongOthers]

Sounds like more shit to me. Constantly get shit on seems to be a trend in the wh40k universe. Oh well not like twilight and the gang did anything anyway. Fuckin Kill em and be done with it.