Strange Bedfellows

by BRBrony9

We Shall Overcome

Twilight struggled to comprehend exactly what she had just seen. Surely, it could not be reality. Chrysalis had defeated Celestia in battle once before, but only with help from the love energy gained from another Alicorn and her husband. Even then it had been a close thing, and the Queen had only just been able to emerge victorious from the fight. But now, this time, she seemed to have her revenge. This time, it seemed as though she had only been toying with her enemies for the duration of the battle. When she grew bored with it, she had unleashed such power that even Princess Celestia herself had been unable to withstand it, and now, now she was gone.

Twilight couldn't believe what she had witnessed. The ease with which Chrysalis had disposed of her foe was astounding and terrifying. If she could have dealt such a blow at any time, why did she prolong the fight? The only reason Twilight could imagine was merely to gloat, to grandstand and say her piece to Twilight, to Celestia and to the Daemon. Twilight had heard what she had said, and tried her best to ignore it. Everything the Queen pointed out did make a certain amount of sense. The way the Elements had come together, the way she had been sent out into the world from her cosseted position in Canterlot as Celestia's personal student to learn about friendship, when she had perfectly good friends right there in the city at university- Twinkleshine, Minuette, Moondancer. There had been no need, truthfully, for her to go and learn about friendship elsewhere. She could have done it just as well from home.

But Celestia would never have done something so selfish as to drive Twilight away from her position and her studies just to gain some personal benefit from Twilight meeting the other Elements. There had to be some true, long term motive for the Princess to do that, Twilight assured herself. Some future threat that the Elements would be absolutely needed against, a cast-iron knowledge for certain that the Elements had to be borne by six ponies, and those six in particular. That had to be the reality of it, and perhaps this was that very threat. Perhaps this was what Celestia had somehow known would come to pass, and had guided Twilight and her friends to make sure they were here, now, ready to react.

But that seemed doubtful now. There was nothing she could do without her Element. The other five would not function at all without their sixth member, no matter who was wielding them. Twilight faced the skies, faced what was sure to be her death. Chrysalis wasn't going to simply leave her alone. She had made her an offer, Twilight had turned it down, and that would be that.

But she had a reprieve, at least temporarily. The Daemon was attacking Chrysalis again, drawing her away just as she could have struck the killing blow on Twilight. The fight was not yet over, even if Twilight could scarcely play any part in it. Above the Daemon, something was happening, another one of the warp rifts. More Daemons would surely be entering the city now, perhaps a deliberate incursion to counter the masses of Changeling drones that were now swarming through the streets. Twilight could not see her friends. She didn't know where they were. She was alone.

But not for long.

Something tore itself free of the newly developed warp rift and hurled itself down at the city below. Twilight braced herself for another Daemon to join the battle, but her expression of grim acceptance turned to one of surprise when she saw exactly what was diving down upon Canterlot. It was not a Daemon.

It was Princess Luna.

Malaranth turned in surprise as it heard the howl of rage that Luna unleashed, plunging down from the gash in reality. It prepared to defend itself, but it was not her target. Luna raced past the Daemon in a death plunge with only one goal in mind. Chrysalis was taken just as much by surprise as Malaranth, and having just been struck by the Daemon's attack, she had been dazed enough to react slowly to the sudden appearance of somepony she had assumed was dead.

Luna slammed into the Queen at high speed, knocking her out of the sky. Both royals plunged toward the ground as Luna's horn glowed brightly, and then they disappeared below the rooftops. The ground shook as they struck it, sending up a cloud of dust from a street nearby.

Twlight gaped, open mouthed. Like Chrysalis, she had assumed that Luna was dead, gone for good. The reports that she had received while below ground said that the Moon Princess had disappeared, caught in the Daemon's fire. Yet here she was again, returned from the grave, or from wherever the Daemon's powers had banished her. Despite that, her attention was fixated on the Queen, and Twilight continued to stare as they came together and dropped from sight.

Something flashed at the corner of her vision, clinking down onto the cobbled street beside her. She turned to look. Something was lying on the street, just a few feet away from her. Her eyes widened once again, and she made a mad scramble for it, lifting it carefully with her magic, quickly checking. Was it intact? Was it damaged? It looked to be unharmed by all it had been through. She gently lifted it onto her head, its rightful place, where it belonged.

The Element of Magic was finally reunited with its bearer.

Applejack had ducked into a shattered store front to escape the attentions of Chrysalis, and had lost the rest of her friends. She considered returning to the point in the defensive shield where they had exited the palace grounds in case the others had decided on the same course of action, or heading to the frontline to see if they had moved there for protection. She peered out from the broken shop window. The street was clear; no sign of her friends. No sign of drones, or humans either.

She moved through to the back of the store. It had sold hats before the invasion, and there were still some samples and boxes dotted around the stock room. There was a back exit, and she forced the door with a swift kick, peeking out. There was an alleyway there, and she slipped out into it, trotting slowly in case of encountering any trouble. She had no weapon; any enemies she encountered would have to be avoided.

At the end of the alley, she peeked around the corner again, looking both ways. This street was not empty. Twilight was standing in the middle of it. 'Twilight! Psst, Twilight!' Applejack called, beckoning her over. Twilight looked around at her, and Applejack gasped in surprise.

'Ya found the Element...?'

Twilight galloped over to her and gave her a quick hug. 'Applejack! Thank goodness you're ok. I didn't find it...' She shook her head. 'Princess Luna...'

'Luna? Luna's gone, remember?' Applejack pointed out.

'No! She's back!' Twilight replied. 'I don't know how and I don't know what happened to her, but she just...appeared, coming out of one of those Chaos rifts, up in the sky. Didn't you hear her scream?'

Applejack had heard some kind of howl when she had been secreted inside the store, but she imagined it had been from the Daemon, not from a Princess. 'What happened?' she questioned.

'Luna attacked Chrysalis,' Twilight explained. 'She must have caught her by surprise...I guess her shield was down. I saw them fall to the ground, and Luna's horn was glowing. I guess she teleported the Element to me. I grabbed it...it looks like it's still intact!'

'Then we gotta find the others,' Applejack replied. 'If we have all the Elements again, then...then we can finally do somethin! We can finally make a difference. We gotta help, Twi. We can save everypony!'

Twilight nodded determinedly. 'Yeah...yeah,we have to. It might all be down to us. I don't know what else Luna can do. I doubt she can defeat Chrysalis and the Daemon. And...' she swallowed. 'I guess...I guess Princess Celestia isn't going to be able to help us.'

'Well, if that's true...then you gotta make her proud of ya, sugarcube,' Applejack assured her. 'Ya gotta carry the torch. She put her trust in you fer a reason, Twilight, and we all do too. We know you're the right pony to lead us and to use that Element of Magic.' She put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

'Thank you, Applejack.' Twilight replied with a brief smile. 'I guess I needed to hear something like that. I just hope we can actually use the Elements. We don't even know if they will actually work against that Daemon...or against Chrysalis. Not when she's so powerful.'

'Well there's only one way ta find out,' Applejack replied, adjusting her hat more squarely on her head. 'Now whaddya say we go find the others and put these trinkets to the test?'

Twilight nodded. 'Alright...we'll do what we can. Do you know where any of the others are?'

'Not for sure.' Applejack shook her head. 'Everypony scattered when ya shouted. Had ta get away from the Queen, but ah dunno where they are now. Maybe ya can teleport us onto a roof where we can get a better view?' she suggested.

'Maybe...I really don't want to keep teleporting, though,' Twilight replied. 'If we're going to have to fight Chrysalis and this Daemon, then we're going to need to be as strong and focused as we can be. Every time I teleport, it saps some of my energy, especially when I have to move multiple ponies...'

'Then we'll get up there ourselves,' Applejack replied confidently. 'Let's find a ladder or a fire escape or somethin', n' get to higher ground! At least our friends ain't too hard to spot. None of them are brown or grey or anythin' that'll blend in to the city.'

Twilight nodded and trotted with Applejack. That, of course, was true, but it also meant that conversely it would be easier for their enemies to locate them, also. It was not just Chrysalis that posed a threat; the city was swarming with Changeling drones and Chaos infantry. Trigger happy Imperials taken by surprise might also pose a potential problem especially if they saw Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash in the air and assumed they were Changeling drones in disguise. They had to find their friends as soon as possible, round them up, explain the situation to them, and get them ready for a fight. One way or another, they were going to be going into action sooner rather than later- as long as they could all be reunited.

Chrysalis did not stay surprised for long. With a growl of anger, she hurled a pulse of magic from her horn, tossing Luna back into the sky with the same speed which the Princess had shown on her downward flight. Luna quickly stabilised herself as Chrysalis flapped back into the air, now protected by her shield once more. 'Princes Luna! Well, well. And here I believed you to be dead already. Fear not. You shall share the same fate as your sister soon enough,' Chrysalis laughed, her forked tongue slashing out maniacally.

'You will pay for this,' Luna replied coldly. 'Both of you!' She included the Daemon in her address, and her appearance truly betrayed her anger, for she was not in her usual clean, pristine condition. Her coat, mane and tail were spattered with ichor, unknown substances that looked somewhat like blood but were clearly not, that adhered to her body all over. Her face looked as though she had applied war paint, but again it was some other substance that gave off a gentle steam. Whatever it was, it was not of this world- but then Luna had clearly returned to Canterlot from somewhere else entirely.

Where exactly that may have been was unknown to Chrysalis, though clearly Malaranth must have had some idea, given that it had been the Daemon's actions which had sent her there. Whether it had expected her to return, however, was a different question entirely, and one that only Malaranth could answer.

Luna's rage manifested itself in the form of a huge, powerful blast of magic which ripped across the rooftops of the city, engulfing Chrysalis completely. Beyond her, it slammed into a row of brick buildings and demolished them entirely, leveling the entire block and blowing a crater in the street. Luckily it was not a part of the defensive line, or else dozens of ponies and Imperial soldiers would have met their demise as a result of her attack. Even though it was her capital city, the city of the royal pony sisters, Luna was clearly consumed with anger, both at the Daemon for trapping her, and at Chrysalis. Somehow, she had known what had happened to Celestia, even though she had been absent, not even on the same plane of reality as her sister. Perhaps she could have observed the fighting from her location, or perhaps it was some kind of psychic link. Neither Chrysalis nor Malaranth knew the answer, but Luna was not exactly in the mood to explain it to them anyway.

When her magic died down, it revealed that Chrysalis was still alive, still there, and still protected by her shield. Luna's attack had not been enough, fueled by anger and hatred though it may have been, to defeat the overpowered Queen. So the Moon Princess tried again, and again Chrysalis disappeared in a cloud of magic. Yet she remained not just alive, but perfectly active, and very able and willing to return fire.

Luna teleported away and appeared behind the Daemon instead, turning her ire upon the fore who had sent her away. 'My dear Princess,' Malaranth began. 'I did not expect to see you again so soon...or indeed...ever.'

'I do not know where you sent me, Daemon,' Luna replied with a growl, 'but if that was your home, then it explains a great deal about your character and those of your followers. I can quite understand why you would go mad in a short space of time.'

'I imagined that is exactly what would happen to you,' Malaranth admitted. 'Either that, or you would find yourself torn apart by the denizens of that domain. But it seems that your magic perhaps acted in the same way as the Gellar Fields that Imperial vessels use to navigate the Empyrean. Your kind just continues to become more and more intriguing.' The Daemon let out a light chuckle as Luna tried to catch it napping with a blast of energy. It deflected with its staff. 'More intriguing, perhaps, but also more troublesome. Are you absolutely certain you will not accept my offer? Your sister was prideful, but I can sense that you are sometimes more pragmatic. That was how you found yourself banished to the moon, after all, wasn't it? Accepting the influence of some dark force, allowing it to control you, guide you toward what you believed was your true destiny, to rule over this planet. Why not allow me to help you in the same way? I can make that a reality.'

'Because I was a fool then, and I am no fool any longer!' Luna replied. 'It is creatures like you that reaffirm what I now know to be true. That my sister and I were destined to rule together, not apart, so that Equestria may be protected against the likes of you!'

'Yet here we are,' Malaranth answered. 'Here we are. Your sister is gone, and you were meant to be gone as well. It seems you are stronger than I gave you credit for, Princess Luna. To escape from the realm the Imperials refer to as the Warp is quite an impressive feat, even I must admit. I was not expecting to see you return, but that is just another of the possible strands of fate which my Lord Tzeentch weaves and follows at all times. It was always a possibility, no matter how small.'

'What a touching reunion!' Chrysalis snarled as she hurled herself into the attack again, engaging both of her enemies at once with a forked blast of magic, like her tongue reaching out to strike the Daemon and the Princess. Malaranth was caught a glancing blow, but Luna teleported away just in time. Like her, Chrysalis was angry. She was angry at the Daemon for its apparent manipulation of her life behind the scenes, and she was furious at Luna for stealing away the precious totem she had gone to such great pains to take and hold, ever since she had stolen it from its rightful owner. Yet Luna was not in possession of the Element of Magic. It was nowhere to be found on her, nor was she carrying it with her magic. So where had she sent it?

Luna had to hold the attentions of both of her foes, and she had to do it without her sister. She had to keep them busy until Twilight could gather her friends, bring them together, get into position, and use the Elements. It might work; it might not. But she knew that it came down to her and her alone to make sure they had a chance to try.

But Chrysalis was not stupid. She knew that Luna had not gone after the Element for no reason, nor did she believe it may have simply been lost in the struggle. Luna had deliberately gone straight for it, and teleported it away somewhere. There was little reason for her to be so determined to grab the Element unless the others were nearby, and having already spotted Twilight and her friends thanks to her drones and the Hive Mind she shared with them, the Queen knew exactly what Luna's plan was. The other Elements must be with their bearers, just waiting for the chance to unite them all together. And so Chrysalis turned her attention away from Luna's attempts to distract her. She only had one prize in mind now; recovering the Element of Magic- or perhaps obtaining all six of them.

Applejack and Twilight scurried through the streets, sticking to the shadows as much as possible. The frontline, so far as they knew, was still holding, but Changeling drones could fly, and that meant they could appear anywhere. Likewise, Chaos troops could be air-dropped behind the lines, if there were any dropships and landers still flying. A careful lookout had to be maintained while they searched, but Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had to be found if they were to be successful. It was a race against time, for there was no doubt that Chrysalis was aware of them, and would be keenly feeling the loss of the stolen Element. If she spotted them, any one of them, then it could be all over for Canterlot- perhaps all of Equestria.

They found Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash quickly enough. They were together, having flown in the same direction when the group had scattered to escape the Queen's magic, and had taken cover inside the upper floors of an apartment building, from where Rainbow had called out and waved to Applejack and Twilight. Reunited with some of their friends, at least, the pair headed upstairs to join them. Now, they had to find Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

'Thank Celestia you two are alright!' Rainbow exclaimed. 'We didn't know what had happened...'

'We're fine...do you know where the others are?' Twilight asked. 'We have to find them. I have the Element of Magic and we have to use it!'

'Huh...how?' Rainbow blinked. 'How the hay did you get that back from Chrysalis?'

'I didn't. Princess Luna did,' Twilight replied, drawing confused looks.

'I thought Princess Luna was...' Rainbow began, before Twilight interrupted her.

'There's no time to explain! I don't know how either, but she came back from...wherever she went. Now come on, we have to find Rarity and Pinkie Pie!'

'I saw Pinkie ran west when we split up,' Rainbow replied. 'Should we start in that direction?'

'Good idea.' Twilight nodded. 'Hopefully she and Rarity haven't gone too far. We need to catch up with them as soon as we can.'

'Then what are we waiting for?' Let's go!' Dash exclaimed, and the four ponies set off quickly in search of the two missing Elements. At least heading west would take them farther from the frontline, and farther from the Queen, who was still fighting Luna, although her attention could turn their way at any moment, especially if one of her drones managed to spot them and relay the information.

They passed several squads of pony infantry heading to reinforce the line, who recognised them and let them pass without incident. Even if there had been doubts over their identity, or indeed if they were ponies or Changelings, there was no time to question and quarrel with them. The troops were needed at the line, and the Elements were needed elsewhere.

They found Rarity shortly after. She had run into an army patrol, and had explained her plight of being cut off from their friends. Rarity encountered them first, hurrying over from the squad she had been trotting with and rejoining the group thankfully. She was unharmed, and meant there was only one more friend to find, but there was little time to celebrate.

Chrysalis had detached herself from combat with Luna, despite the best efforts of the Princess, and was roaming the sky seeking the sextet of mares. She did not have to search for long, even as Luna tried to bring her back to battle, desperately firing off futile magic. Chrysalis simply ignored her efforts.

'Stand and fight me, Chrysalis!' Luna cried, almost pleadingly.

'Oh, I shall,' the Queen replied. 'Once I have seen off another threat first.'

The five united Elements searched high and low for their sixth member. Time was running out. If they couldn't find Pinkie before Chrysalis found them, then possessing five of the six Elements would prove just as useless as it had when the Element of Magic was in the Queen's grasp. As they ran through the street in the direction of Pinkie's last confirmed sighting, a blast of magic suddenly struck a building just ahead of them. The mares screamed as it erupted out into the street, showering them with debris. But Twilight had reacted fast, shielding them with her magic from the splinters and shattered stone.

Chrysalis had found them, and lunged down toward them as the Elements sprinted for cover again in the buildings that lined the street. A squad of pony infantry had been advancing from the other direction, and now, confronted with the Changeling Queen, some of them dropped to one knee and opened fire with their rifles, and others turned and fled blindly.

Alongside the squad, a particular pink pony had been bouncing, having encountered them in much the same way as Rarity had met up with another unit. Twilight just about spotted the flash of the familiar shade through the smoke, and teleported alongside her.

'Pinkie! No time to explain, just stand close to me!' she shouted.

'Twilight!' Pinkie managed a smile even in the face of fear. 'Where did you g...' She was cut off as Twilight's horn flashed and teleported the two of them farther down the street, back where the rest of the Elements had been standing. Chrysalis snarled, climbing higher into the sky and aiming her horn down. They were out of time, surely.

'To me, girls!' Twilight yelled desperately. 'Hurry! Everypony get out here, NOW!'

Her friends scampered to comply. Their Elements were glowing gently at being in the presence of each other, but they weren't close enough yet. They had to be in tight proximity, and while Rainbow Dash was there in a flash, and Applejack not far behind, the others were slower, unable to sprint or fly as fast as the two athletes.

Chrysalis's crooked horn glowed a blinding, emerald green, and Twilight braced herself, throwing up a hoof to shield her eyes. They were too late. There was nothing she could do.

'NO!'

The cry had not come from her, but rather from above. Princess Luna flung herself into the line of fire, between Chrysalis and the Elements, just as the Queen unleashed her magic.

Luna's shield blocked the attack, lighting up the sky, but it was clear that it was not going to hold for more than a second or two against the onslaught. But a second or two was all that was needed. The six mares on the ground below came together at last, and as Luna's shield failed, her body first engulfed by Chrysalis's magic and then tumbling away in flames, the Queen's powerful attack, enough to destroy half the city, was met in mid-air by a brilliant chromatic arc, a shimmering rainbow of pure magical force.

Chrysalis snarled in anger, hatred in her eyes. She lowered her head, trying to apply more power to her attack, channel more magic through her horn. But it was not enough. There was a reason she had stolen one of the Elements, and that was because she knew that, even if she became as powerful as she was now, even if she had succeeded in her entire plan and absorbed all of the love in the galaxy, the Elements of Harmony had a fundamental power over every magical creature in Equestria, be they pony, Changeling, or Draconequus. She did not know if that would be enough to defeat her, if she had gained enough power to resist, but she was about to find out, as were the bearers of those Elements.

The rainbow of light gradually gained traction and headway, pushing hard against Chrysalis beam of magic and steadily driving it back toward her. She redoubled her efforts, but even pouring every ounce of her massive power into fighting it, she could not stop the peculiar force that the Elements possessed. She could not turn back the tide, and the power of friendship, and of fundamental natural energy, overcame the power of love and hatred. The Queen found herself engulfed in rainbow light, stripping her shield away. She screamed in anger, a final statement of now-impotent rage as she was consumed by the raw magic of the Elements.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Welcome to the wideband polyphasic inverted feedback loop Chrysalis.

You just gave it more power.

[Divine Avenger]

10552486
Ponies in the holy power Armor of the spaces marines?
That super cringe and heresy on the level of the cursed damn warmaster horus

[OneAmongOthers]

So the fates of the two sisters now lie unknown as it seems finally the changeling queen is to be vanquished. Hopefully they survive, but only time will tell. Also have you guys seen Astartes?

[ShiningBeacon]

Hell yeah

[Eight Bit]

About friggen' time