CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 12
“Both creators and created must complete their halves of the equation. The geth cannot solve for peace alone.”
The chariot touched down just outside of Appleloosa, kicking up a large cloud of dirt and dust from the arid landscape. It was dark now, Luna had had to raise her moon on the ride to the small settlement. All throughout the town there was no movement at all. Of the 850 inhabitants, almost all had fallen ill, and those who still were not affected had been quarantined in the hope that they could be saved.
Through the dark outlines of buildings that made up the small town, two shadows began to move towards the chariot. Their horns lit up and began casting light, revealing them to be two of the Nighthawks that had been sent in advance several hours before. They approached the princesses and bowed, awaiting orders.
“Your highness, the geth arrived several minutes ago,” one of the soldiers said, standing back up. “It said that you should meet it in the town center, where it is setting up the device.”
“Thank you, soldier,” Princess Luna said, stepping out of the chariot. “Please take us there. And… alert the other Nighthawks to be extra vigilant tonight.”
“Yes, your highness.” The two soldiers turned towards the town and began walking back into the lines of buildings. Celestia, Luna, and Twilight followed them through the winding streets and alleyways, watching all of the corners for movement. Even with several squads of Nighthawks at the ready, Luna still did not like the plan. Coming here while the changelings were still performing their clandestine operations was a great risk, one that even the princess was not fully willing to take.
But she was committed now. They were here, Legion was preparing his electromagnetic pulse device, and if she gave up and decided to run away with her tail between her legs, then her ponies may not be saved. It did not matter how much she disliked the plan, it had to be done. The soldiers led the three princesses through several more rows of buildings before they turned and entered a large clearing in the center of the town. It was lit by several large floodlights, all of them pointing down into the middle of the clearing, where Legion was standing over a strange device.
The main body of the device was cylindrical, and was made out of a metal similar to the hull of Legion’s ship. Several tubes looped around it, all of them feeding into some other part of the cylinder. One end of the main body curved inward, forming a slight depression, in the center of which was a hole that intruded into the cylinder. The walls of the hole were lined with blue circular lights which flashed at varying rates from the back of the hole to the front. A soft hum emanated from the device while Legion stood over it, pressing on his omni-tool. The Nighthawks stepped away and allowed the three princesses entry into the town center. The three alicorns all approached the device, ogling over the technology.
“I assume this is the electromagnetic pulse emitter?” Twilight asked, causing Legion to turn around to face them. She stepped closer to the device, closely examining it with her curious eyes.
“Affirmative,” the machine responded. “We are making final preparations. We recommend that you rest and save your energy. This will take quite a lot.” The princesses nodded and stepped away, sitting down a few feet from the device.
“Do you think this will work, Celestia?” Twilight asked her mentor. Celestia shook her head and sighed.
“I do not know, Twilight,” she replied. “If it does, we will gain valuable time while the changelings are unable to kidnap our subjects. If it does not, then we shall simply have to try something else.”
“Healthy Heart is still up at the crash site,” Luna observed. “Perhaps she will discover something.” Celestia nodded, hopeful, though she doubted that it would happen.
“Even if this does work, what will we do?” Twilight asked curiously. “There are going to be a lot of confused ponies, and when the nanovirus reactivates they’re just going to slip back into their comas.”
“We can take the opportunity to reinforce the towns even further,” Celestia answered. “Even those towns which have not yet been attacked will be reinforced. It always pays to be prepared.” The other two princesses nodded in agreement. There was a brief silence between the three of them as they all sat awkwardly, waiting for Legion to finish.
“… This was a bad idea,” Luna said, breaking the silence. “Coming here, I mean… No matter what I do, I cannot shake the feeling that we are making a mistake.”
“Luna, we will be fine,” Celestia said. “As soon as Legion is ready we will magnify the pulse and then be on our way back to Canterlot. Everything is going to be fine.” Luna nodded, but did not feel any better. To her, coming here felt like she was asking the changelings to try something.
“We are ready,” Legion said, coming up behind the princesses. They all stood up eagerly, ready to get the task over with. “We will remain online throughout the process. This unit is too powerful to be disabled by such a low-level burst of electromagnetic energy. However, we may experience some minor reduced functionality.”
The princesses followed Legion back to the cylindrical device, which was now emitting a far more intense humming noise. Luna folded her ears down against it in an attempt to block it out, but it was ineffective. Looking around, she noticed that Twilight and Celestia had tried the same thing, only to find it didn’t work for them either. Sighing, Luna stepped up to the device, and waited for Legion to walk them through the process.
“The presence of the electromagnetic field should become obvious once it is emitted,” Legion continued. “All you will have to do is amplify it using your magic. Understood?”
“Yes,” all three princesses said at once.
“There is a simple energy amplification spell that we all know,” Celestia said. “We can use that.” Legion nodded, then activated its omni-tool and began to type on it.
“Are you ready?” he asked. The princesses nodded, and prepared the flow of magic into their horns. “Initiating electromagnetic pulse in three… two… one…” The humming noise from the device peaked and grew incredibly loud, before suddenly a wave of invisible energy rushed from the device and spread out around the town center. The three princesses latched on to the release of energy and used their amplification spells in conjunction with one another. The pulse was amplified by dozens of times, soon encompassing the entire town. Once the town had been covered, the princesses released their magic and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
“Did it… did it work?” Celestia asked, shakily standing up.
“Unknown,” Legion replied. “The effects may not be immediate. We will have to wait.”
“Wow…” Twilight said, coming to her hooves. “That took more out of me than I thought!” The young princess tried to activate her horn, only to find that it would not respond. “My magic isn’t working!”
“Mine isn’t either…” Luna said, looking up at her horn. “We must have overexerted ourselves. It should return shortly.”
“We should return to Canterlot. We can wait for news from--”
Suddenly, the floodlights that previously illuminated the town center all went out, one by one, as the magical flames inside of them died. The clearing was thrust into darkness, the only source of light coming from Legion’s bright blue photoreceptor.
“’Tia?” Luna asked, worried.
“I do not know, sister,” Celestia said. “Come, we must--”
Celestia was cut off as something slammed into her side, knocking the wind out of her and forcing her to the ground.
EARLIER
“That is your plan?” the collector captain asked, looking down upon the changeling queen.
“Y-yes,” Chrysalis replied. “And I know how risky it sounds, but it is our only chance. I cannot think of anything else.” The collector remained silent for several moments, staring down at the queen. Chrysalis looked back up, struggling valiantly to keep looking him in the eyes.
“I will lead it myself,” Chrysalis said, trying to convince the collector. “There is no other way.”
“… Very well,” the collector said. “I will send several of my collectors with you, as you requested. But we are few in number. If even one of them perishes, it will be on you.” Chrysalis gulped in fear, but nodded her understanding. She stepped back from the collector, then turned around and hastily left the room, ready to assemble her team.
Chrysalis lay down on the grass, the individual blades tickling her chitinous stomach. Slowly, she crawled forward, constantly aware of the collectors and changelings crawling behind her, doing their best to keep completely silent. Ahead of them, only around a hundred meters away, was the town of Appleloosa. It was a large town, but even from their distant vantage point the Nighthawks swarming the perimeter were easily visible. Chrysalis waved a hoof, signaling two collectors to join her. They quickly crawled to catch up with the queen, making several clicking noises.
“Those two Nighthawks,” she said, pointing at two soldiers guarding a discreet entrance to the town. “Eliminate them. Quietly.” The collectors both nodded, and crawled ahead of the group. Crouching, the collectors pulled two strange devices off of their backs; they appeared organic, and the front halves of each device were split up into three arms with teeth-like protrusions on the inside. Chrysalis did not know how they worked, all she knew was that they were very effective at killing, and were mostly silent.
The two collectors lined up their shots, then quickly squeezed the triggers once, sending two glowing bolts flying down towards the Nighthawks. Each bolt connected with the ponies’ heads, sending them to the ground, dead. With the coast clear, Chrysalis, the changelings, and the collectors all stood up and sprinted the rest of the way to the town. They all ducked into the entrance that had been cleared, sneaking into an alleyway between two buildings.
“Very good, now we--” Chrysalis was cut off as a wave of energy blasted through the air, encompassing the entire town and heating the air around them.
“What was that…?” she said to herself. “Never mind it, we have a job to do. You two, eliminate the lights.” The two changelings that she had pointed to took off into the sky and soon disappeared from sight, their dark bodies allowing them to blend in with the night. A moment later, the large floodlights that illuminated the town center went out, plunging the entire town into darkness.
“Come on, let’s go,” Chrysalis whispered. Keeping low, she began running through the buildings, leading her changelings and allied collectors through the rows of buildings, heading to the town center. Because changelings lived deep underground where light was scarce, seeing in the dark was no issue for her and her changelings. The collectors also seemed to have no trouble seeing, though Chrysalis was worried that their glowing eyes could give them away. Fortunately they were not spotted, and a moment later Chrysalis was staring right at the three princesses, as well as something else.
Chrysalis had no idea what it was. It was taller than Celestia, though only by a small amount, and was definitely not a pony. It stood on two legs, and had a bright blue eye right in the center of its head. It looked around cautiously, likely attempting to discover who had turned out the lights. Sighing, Chrysalis debated about what to do. She had not anticipated something else being with the ponies, and she had no idea how it would react if attacked. On the other hoof, this could be the only chance that she had to weaken the Equestrians. She was about to order her changelings to attack when suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, Chrysalis came face-to-face with one of the collectors.
“There is a geth present,” he said.
“What is a geth?” Chrysalis asked.
“The machine with the princesses,” the collector explained. “It is a geth. A machine race, not from this world.”
“Can you deal with it?”
“Easily.” Smiling, Chrysalis nodded, and turned to face her changelings. She waved her hoof at them, signaling them to go through with the plan. They all bowed, then turned and sprinted into the clearing, unseen under the cover of night.
“I do not know, sister,” Celestia said. “Come, we must--”
Celestia was cut off as something slammed into her side, knocking the wind out of her and forcing her to the ground. She instinctively flared her wings, trying to knock the attacker off. It had the desired effect, and Celestia quickly jumped back to her hooves.
“Princess Celestia, attackers detected!” Legion said loudly. Celestia looked to the geth, and found that he had the weapon usually kept on his back held in his two hands. He fired it twice and two incredibly loud shots rang out, filling the air and making the princess wince. There were two bright flashes of light, and Celestia just barely saw two pony-shaped attackers fall to the ground, dead.
Legion made ready to fire again when suddenly he came under fire himself. Several glowing bolts streamed toward the geth, but were stopped by a blue barrier that suddenly formed between the geth and the shots. As more and more shots impacted on the barrier it began to grow brighter and brighter until it popped, and the glowing bolts began to land on the outer shell of the machine. Beginning to take damage, Legion backed away and disappeared from Celestia’s view.
“‘Tia, behind you!” Luna called out. Celestia quickly whirled around, swinging her hoof. She felt it connect with something, thought through the darkness she could not see her attacker. But given the events of the past week, Celestia did not have to guess who she was currently fighting.
More glowing bolts flew through the air, temporarily illuminating small patches of the town center. In the small patches, Celestia could see changelings running at her. But with the changelings were other creatures. The flashes of light did not last long enough for the princess to get a good look at them, but she thought they resembled the image Legion had shown them a few days before…
“How many are there!?” Twilight yelled, using her hind legs to buck a changeling that had wandered too close. Luna did the same to another one of the creatures, shaking her head.
“I can hardly see!” she exclaimed, trying once again to activate her horn. This time she was met with a light flicker, but the energy fizzled out a second later.
Luna continued looking around as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. She could see shapes more clearly now, and she could easily see them coming straight at her. Before they could reach her, the changelings fell as three loud shots rang out. Luna looked to the side, and found Legion standing behind a set of barrels. His head poked around the containers, and he held his weapon at the ready. But before he could fire again, more of the glowing bolts filled the air, shredding the barrels to pieces and forcing Legion to run to another piece of cover.
Luna returned her attention to the attackers, dragging her hoof through the dirt. She snarled; if the changelings wanted a fight, she was going to give it to them. She raised her hoof as a changeling drew near, but before she could strike, the princess felt something impact her head. She went down hard, her vision blurry and her head swimming. As she tried to pick herself up, she felt another impact, and once again Luna was on the ground.
Luna looked around, the shapes in the clearing blurring together. She faintly saw a splotch of purple fall to the ground, and a moment later it was followed by a patch of white. And as her vision began to clear, she saw Twilight and Celestia on the ground, several changelings surrounding them. Looking up, Luna found herself in the same predicament. She groaned, trying to stand, but was forced to the ground by one of the changelings. As much as she wanted to resist, she could not. Her head pounded, and she felt nothing but fatigue.
Suddenly, the darkened town center filled with light as the magical flames in the floodlights reignited, revealing the rest of the assailants. Completely surrounding the three princesses were over a dozen changelings, all of them with some kind of bladed weapon held either in hooves or in a telekinetic grasp. Luna looked around for Legion, but could not find him. He has nowhere to be seen.
Luna looked around as a cackling filled the town center. Her pupils shrunk as she recognized the laughter, and a figure entered the light, heading toward the three princesses.
“Chrysalis…” Celestia hissed, glaring daggers at the queen.
“Hello, Celestia,” Chrysalis said, approaching the solar princess. “A bit of déjà vu, is it not? You completely helpless, and me with all the power.” The three princesses were lifted from the ground by a pair of changelings, held at eye-level for the queen.
“I seem to recall that that ended with your defeat, Chrysalis,” Luna said angrily, trying unsuccessfully to shake the grip of the changelings. Chrysalis turned around to face the princess of the night, and slowly approached her.
“And Luna, how are you?” the changeling queen asked. “I do not recall seeing you at the wedding. I assume that my minions kept you properly entertained in your tower?” Luna simply responded by spitting at the queen, who stepped back at the action.
“Oh my, that was uncalled for,” she said. “Anyways, I’m not going to do any sort of stalling. I learned my lesson last time. I’m simply going to do what I came here to do, then get on with my night.”
“Whatever you’re going to do, you won’t get away with it!” Twilight cried defiantly. “The Nighthawks are probably converging on your position as we speak?”
“What Nighthawks?” Chrysalis asked, smiling. “The ones that the collectors are in the process of killing?” The collectors? Luna thought. They are here? She recalled the glowing bolts, and the figures she had seen in the flashes of light. Chrysalis stepped back over to Princess Celestia, gently grabbing the blade from the hooves of the changeling holding her down. The changeling stepped back, and Chrysalis wrapped one of her arms around Celestia, keeping her in place. She lit her horn, and the blade was enveloped in a green light. Luna could feel the energy radiating from it, and she instantly knew what Chrysalis intended to do.
“No prisoners this time,” Chrysalis whispered, smiling.
“No…” Twilight said, panic entering her voice and tears beginning to form in her eyes. “Please… wait!”
“Luna!” Celestia called as the blade came ever closer to its target. “Luna, sister, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I love you, sister!”
“’Tia!” Luna yelled. “You have no need to apologize! We are going to make it out of here!” She began shaking, trying in vain to break free from the grip of the changelings. They responded by hitting her once more, dazing the princess. Luna looked back up, and caught sight of a blue light in the background, standing just outside the town center. Luna looked to Legion with pleading eyes, begging him to do something. But the geth did not move. He simply stood, watching.
“Twilight!” Celestia said, turning her attention to her student who was watching with her eyes wide. “You have surpassed my greatest expectations for you! I’m proud of you! I’m so--”
The blade cut across her flesh, staining her white coat with a trickle of crimson blood. Her magenta eyes went wide as her pupils shrunk to small black dots. She let out a choked cry, and along with it went her last breath. Chrysalis released her arm, and Princess Celestia fell to the ground, motionless. As she lay in the dirt, more blood poured out of the cut, with no signs of stopping.
“NO!” Luna shouted in despair. Summoning all of the energy within her, Luna concentrated it in her horn and began to charge a powerful blast. Her horn glowed a brilliant blue, then released the beam of devastating magic right at Queen Chrysalis. A moment before it hit, the queen lit her horn and teleported away, taking the motionless body of Celestia with her. Without pause, Luna continued to stream her magic into a beam of destruction, cutting it across the town center and obliterating any changelings that it hit. A moment later all of the changelings were on the ground, burn marks cutting across them.
“Princess Luna,” a mechanical voice said. Luna turned around, rage still filling her, and found Legion approaching her. He placed his weapon on his back, moving to the electromagnetic pulse device. It was still sitting where it had been left, completely untouched by the previous events. “We must leave. Collectors are still here. It is unsafe.”
“You…” Luna said, beginning to glare at the geth, her horn glowing once again. “… You DAMNED MACHINE!” Before Legion could react, Luna grabbed him with her telekinesis and lifted him several feet off the ground. She began to tighten her grip, not holding back on the damage that she would cause.
“YOU COULD HAVE HELPED!” she screamed, holding nothing back. “SHE IS GONE BECAUSE OF YOU!” Legion struggled against the invisible grasp, trying in vain to break free. He struggled to speak, but found that the pressure being forced upon him made it difficult to do so. Mere moments before the force would have crushed the geth, Luna relaxed her grip and dropped Legion to the ground. He landed on his hands and knees, then shakily stood back up.
“Leave this place…” Luna quietly commanded, looking away. “Leave and never return…”
“… We are sorry,” Legion said. He turned around and, activating his invisibility, walked out of the town center.
During the entire exchange, Twilight Sparkle remained frozen in place, her eyes never leaving the large pool of blood that had formed on the ground. A puddle of crimson, and it was all that remained of her mentor. Inside, Twilight had no idea what to think. Celestia had always been there for Twilight. Watching her get taken away like that was like losing a limb. Twilight was still having trouble actually accepting that it had just happened. It felt almost like a dream, like at any moment she would wake up and Celestia would still be there, ready to teach another lesson or support Twilight in her time of need. Thousands of years’ worth of memories, wisdom, and experience, and they had all been destroyed in a single second.
Twilight broke from her frozen state as the sound of engines overhead filled the air. She looked up and saw Legion’s ship lifting off, before it rocketed away, disappearing in seconds. Twilight puzzled over where the geth was going, when suddenly she felt the presence of Princess Luna behind her.
“Come, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears. “We must go.” Nodding, Twilight stood and followed Luna through the maze of buildings back to the chariot.
Amazingly, it seemed not to have been touched at all throughout the attack. The pegasi guards who flew the chariot all held their weapons at the ready, but none of them seemed to have suffered a scratch. They bowed as the two princesses approached the chariot, but seemed confused as to the whereabouts of the third one. Luna and Twilight each stepped into the chariot and took their seats. Luna then commanded the pegasi to return them to Canterlot, which they did without question. They attached themselves to the reigns, and with several powerful flaps, the chariot was once again in the air.
The flight back to Canterlot was quiet. Neither of the two princesses felt like speaking, for them the grief was still too near. As soon as they landed back in the courtyard at Canterlot, the princesses stepped out and entered the castle, then hurried to their respective bedrooms. Luna ignored all of the bows offered by the guards and staff, simply trying to keep her tears hidden.
But when Luna finally entered her private quarters, it was like a floodgate opened. She collapsed onto the floor, her body wracked with sobbing. Her choked cries came out loudly against the silence offered by the rest of the castle. And this time, Luna did not try to stop them. She let herself cry like a foal, fully aware that the guards outside could hear. She cried for what felt like hours, until there were no tears left for her to shed. When her crying had been reduced to nothing more than sniffling, Luna shakily stood up and crossed to her cluttered desk. She picked up all of the papers on it and dropped them on the floor, then pulled out a clean sheet of parchment and a quill. Dipping the quill into an inkwell, she began to write.
It was not a long document that she drafted. It was a simple address to the ponies of Equestria, informing them of the recent events. Even with it all written out, Luna did not know how she was going to deliver it. The reaction would not be good, that much was obvious. And, reaction of the ponies aside, Luna did not know if she had the heart to read it. Her sister, the one pony who never doubted her, who accepted her after her return, was gone. Even the thought of it threatened to renew her tears. Luna instead decided to save it for another time. She opened her desk drawer and stashed the address inside, making sure to put it on top so it would not be lost. Just as she was closing the desk, Luna’s eyes passed over something. She picked it up with her telekinesis and her eyes scanned over it, then immediately glistened with tears once more.
It was an image, a photograph, taken three years ago. When she had returned to Canterlot, Celestia insisted that they get a picture taken to celebrate the event. Back then, Luna had not even known what a photograph was. When she had been banished, the process had involved standing still for hours while a painter did all the work. In the picture, she and her sister smiled widely at the camera. Luna was still in her weakened form, standing no taller than Twilight Sparkle. Her coat was a paler shade of blue, and her mane had not yet regained its ethereal qualities. Despite the sad memories it brought up, Luna allowed herself a smile amidst her tears. She put the picture at the back of her desk, making a mental note to frame it at some point.
Suddenly, there came a knock at her door. Forcing her tears back, Luna stood up and walked in front of her mirror. Between being held in the dirt by a changeling and all of the tears, Luna looked a mess. Her mane was disheveled, her eyes were red and her coat was unkempt. Sighing, Luna used a simple spell to make herself look a bit more presentable, though it didn’t do too much in the end. She moved over to the door and opened it, revealing an equally-unkempt Twilight Sparkle. They both stared at each other for a few moments, their eyes feeling the same expressions of despair. Luna then stepped aside and allowed the young princess entry, before closing the door. They stayed silent, simply staring at the carpeted floor. Neither of them had the heart to speak right now. Finally, Twilight Sparkle broke the silence.
“I… I don’t know what to feel…” she said. “In the past there… There’s always been a solution. A way out. A way to… to undo what was done… But now… She’s gone…”
“Yes…” Luna replied, feeling her tears returning. “She is…” They sat in silence for several more moments, before a knock on the door grabbed the attention of both of them.
“Enter,” Luna stated. The door cracked open, allowing in a small sliver of light from the hallway outside. One of her lunar guards poked his head inside.
“Your highness,” he began. “You have just received a message from one of the doctors in Appleloosa. She says, ‘it worked’.” Luna smiled briefly, happy that her sister’s death had at least not been in vain.
“Thank you, soldier,” she replied. “Please send four more Nighthawk squadrons there immediately. And… send for Princess Cadance. Have her brought her immediately.” The guard bowed his head and ducked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
“Twilight…” Luna said, turning to face the young alicorn. “We… we have a duty to perform. You have not been a princess for long, but with Celestia… with Celestia gone, I will need all the help I can get. That is why I also called Cadance here.”
“I… I know,” Twilight choked out, holding back her tears. “It’s just… I don’t know if I can!”
“Twilight Sparkle, my sister always spoke very highly of you,” Luna said, stepping forward and putting a hoof on the lavender alicorn. “She loved you like a daughter. You are ready. You can do this.” Twilight nodded, wiping a hoof across her nose. The tears still spilled out of her eyes, though she did not make any noise.
“You should sleep,” Luna suggested. “There are… preparations to make. I shall see you tomorrow morning. Good night, Twilight.”
“Good night, Luna…” Twilight said, walking towards the door. “And… thank you…” Luna nodded and sadly watched the young princess leave. Luna was no stranger to death – when one lives for several thousand years, their life is full of it. But Twilight was young, and had a bond with Celestia that even Luna could not fully comprehend.
Luna wandered over to her bed and took a seat, sighing heavily. More tears began brimming in her eyes as the events in Appleloosa replayed themselves over and over again in her head. Falling back onto her mattress, Luna closed her eyes, allowing herself just a bit of rest. Her day had been a long one, and the events would stay with her until the end of time, that much she knew. But she had a duty to the ponies of Equestria, and she would not let them down. She had been gone for a thousand years, but now she was back. Her sister had poured her heart and soul into Equestria, and Luna was not going to see it destroyed.
Twilight Sparkle plodded sadly through the halls of Canterlot castle, her head constantly at a downward angle. It still hadn’t fully sunk in for her. As she walked, Twilight half expected to pass Celestia on her way to perform her duties. They would exchange polite smiles with one another as they had done with Twilight used to live here as a student, then continue on their way. But deep inside, Twilight knew that that was not going to happen. It would never happen again.
Turning down one of the hallways, Twilight found herself already in the hall for the guest quarters. There was no movement at all, as it was well past midnight by now. As soon as she and Luna had returned to the castle, she at first had started to come here. But she feared that her friends might still be awake, and they would want to know what happened. Twilight did not think that she could explain it, it was still too fresh in her mind. Even as she approached her bedroom door, the images of the blade being drawn across her mentor’s throat filled her mind. Twilight shook her head to banish the thoughts, then pushed her door open and stepped inside. The light was still on, and Spike sat in the bed reading a comic book. He lowered the book as the door opened and looked up to see who was entering. When he saw Twilight, he put the book on a nightstand and hopped up, rushing to his friend.
“Hey, Twilight!” he said, appearing energetic despite the time. “So how was... Twilight?” As she neared the bed, Spike began to notice the redness of her eyes. “Are you okay, Twilight?” Twilight paused for a moment, not saying anything, before suddenly her tears returned in full strength and she broke down crying right in front of Spike.
“Twilight, what’s wrong!?” he asked nervously. “What happened?” Twilight did not reply, instead she continued sobbing on the floor, not able to find her voice amidst the tears. She cried and howled for what felt like hours, though it was likely no more than a few minutes. Eventually, once her crying had slowed down, Twilight shut her eyes and let the comforting grace of sleep overtake her.
Legion piloted its ship through the night sky, its destination finally coming into view. Princess Luna had commanded it to leave, but Legion could not, for its mission was still incomplete. The Mass Relay was without element zero, and without that, Legion was stuck here whether the princess liked it or not. Fortunately, no nations had jurisdiction over the arctic north, where the collector ship had crashed. With that in mind, Legion set down its small transport in the snow and stepped out of the ship, immediately walking over to the hole where the hatch to the airlock was buried.
As it walked, Legion took notice of the of the pony chariot that still sat in the snow, realizing that it was the one that carried the two sick ponies from Westrock. That it was still here meant that Healthy Heart and her specialists had not left yet, either. They likely would also not have heard of the death of Princess Celestia.
Legion jumped down into the hatch, landing with a thud on the cold, metallic floor. It turned for the open doorway and walked into the medical lab, where the medical ponies were still present. Most were asleep, as by now it was quite late, but a few, Healthy Heart included, remained awake, busy at work. As soon as Legion walked in, Healthy Heart turned her head and saw the geth, then trotted over to it.
“Legion, I’m glad you’re back,” she said. “We’ve been looking at all of this equipment since you left, but we cannot figure out how any of it works. We were hoping you could help us.”
“We will provide limited assistance,” Legion said, walking over to the screen displaying the scan of the sick pegasus. “However, it is not wise for us to remain long.”
“Why is that?” Heart asked. “Also, where are Princesses Luna and Celestia? Did the electromagnetic pulse work?”
“It is unknown if the pulse was effective,” the geth said, beginning to type on the screen. It activated its omni-tool, then began downloading all data from the scan. “You will likely know shortly. As for Princess Luna… she has banished us.”
“Banished you?” the mare asked. “Why? What happened?” Legion turned around and looked at the pony, attempting to arrange its eye panels in a way to mimic sadness.
“The changelings were there,” the geth began. “They attacked us. We were forced back by a barrage of gunfire from several collectors who accompanied the changelings. While we were fighting them off, a large female changeling… murdered Princess Celestia.” Healthy Heart froze in place, staring at the geth, not believing the words. All of the other ponies who were awake reacted in the same manner.
“Princess Luna blamed us for her death,” Legion continued. “She is partially correct. We were in Appleloosa because of our plan. We put them at risk. And we were unable to assist in their time of need.” Healthy Heart did not say anything. She continued staring at the geth, sadness beginning to fill her eyes.
“You cannot be serious…” she whispered. “It can’t be true!”
“We are sorry.” None of the ponies responded. Already many of them were letting their tears fall, though most just stayed silent, staring at Legion.
“We must go,” Legion said, turning for the exit. “Data has been downloaded. We will continue our work elsewhere.” No one tried to stop it. Legion walked through the door, the gaze of the shocked ponies still on it as it left. The door closed behind the geth, cutting off the stares of the ponies, and hiding them as their emotions began to take over. As Legion walked to the airlock, it heard the unmistakable sounds of crying from the medical laboratory.
Ignoring it, Legion climbed up the ladder and reemerged into the frozen wasteland. It entered its parked ship, climbed inside, then took off into the sky, still not sure of where to go. The place that made the most sense was to return to orbit. That way, the ship could continue its scans of the planet for element zero, and Legion could work on figuring out a cure from the limited data it had recovered. Angling the ship up, Legion throttled up the engines all the way, beginning to head for the upper atmosphere.
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes slowly opened, letting in the morning sunshine. For a moment, she was content, believing that everything she had seen was just a horrible, awful dream. In only a few minutes she would walk out of her bedroom and go down to the dining hall, where Celestia and Luna would already be having breakfast (or dinner, in the case of the princess of the night). She would forget about her nightmare in time, and then would return to work with Legion on finding a cure.
“Twilight?” Spike said, appearing from the corner of her vision. “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you too, Spike,” Twilight said, yawning and stretching her forelegs.
“So, are you going to tell me what all the crying was about last night?” Twilight froze. Her arms dropped to her sides as she stared off into space.
“Then… it really happened?” she said to herself.
“What really happened?” Spike asked. “I haven’t seen you that upset in… ever! You cried yourself to sleep, Twilight! What happened!?” Already Twilight could feel the tears returning to her. She forced them back down, then stood up from bed. She was about to speak when suddenly there was a knock on her door. Twilight trotted over and opened it, revealing the face of a guard.
“Princess Twilight,” he said, bowing. “You and the Elements have been requested in Princess Luna’s quarters immediately.” Twilight gulped and nodded. She knew exactly why they were being called, but her friends were still totally unprepared. Twilight did not know if she would be able to explain.
“I understand,” she said, her voice wavering. “Thank you.” The guard bowed, then began walking down the hall. Twilight pushed the door open, then one by one she went to her friend’s doors and woke them up. Each time they asked her what was wrong, and each time she simply told them to wait. Finally, when all of them were rounded up, Twilight spoke.
“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you why we’re going to see Luna,” she said. “I don’t have the heart to tell you. But… something awful happened. And… And…” Twilight could not go on. Another syllable and she would break down crying once more. Instead, she turned around and waved her hoof for her friends to follow. Spike walked alongside the tearful alicorn, holding a clawed hand on her shoulder.
The walk to Luna’s bedroom did not take long. By far the longest part was walking up the seemingly endless spiral staircase to the top of the tower, but with all that was going on in Twilight’s mind, she hardly even remembered it. When they came to Luna’s door, the two guards stationed outside opened it and revealing the darkened bedroom beyond. A figure sat in the center of the room, her ethereal blue mane the only thing casting any sort of light. As the door opened, Luna sparked her horn and lit several candles, allowing the Elements to see as they walked inside. The door closed behind them and Luna turned around, revealing her face to the six ponies and dragon. At the sight of her, all but Twilight gasped. Her coat was horribly unkempt, with dirt still coating part of her belly and chest from when she had been forced onto the ground. Deep bags rested under her red eyes, which still glistened with tears.
“Thank you all for coming,” she said quietly. “What I am about to tell you is not yet common knowledge. I realize that reactions may be varied, so if you feel like you may need to step out, please do so…”
“What is it, princess?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering a few feet off of the ground.
“Yesterday, you were all aware that Twilight, my sister, and I returned to the crash site with Legion?” Luna began, receiving nods from the ponies. “It was there that Legion came up with an idea to temporarily stop the disease from having any effects on our ponies. This would prevent the changelings from kidnapping them, and would give us more time to find a cure. With no other choice, we agreed, and went to Appleloosa to see the plan through.
“Once the plan had been initiated… we came under attack. It was personally led by Queen Chrysalis, who has allied herself with the collectors. She… She held us down… We could not escape, and…” As she came closer and closer to revealing the news, Luna felt her tears returning. “She murdered Celestia…” The ponies and dragon all audibly gasped, and Luna and Twilight had their tears renewed.
“Princess…” Rarity said quietly. “Then… you mean…”
“Yes, Rarity,” Luna said, nodding. “My sister is gone.”
There was quiet. The ponies stared on, nothing in their eyes but shock and fear. For them, this was unimaginable. Celestia was synonymous with life itself; she had been alive for thousands of years, and she would remain alive for thousands more. A life without Princess Celestia was not a life than anypony had considered.
Finally, the first few tears started. They were quiet, but they fell nonetheless. Luna frowned, looking away.
“I understand your emotions, and I share them,” Luna continued. “Even now I find myself fighting back at the urge to join you in sorrow. But the time to grieve is not now. The changelings no doubt think that this will weaken us and prevent us from curing the disease. But they are wrong. We have to be strong, and we have to work together. For if we wallow in sadness, then my sister’s death will have been in vain. Princess Cadance will be arriving within the hour. We will plan out what to do, but I need you all to be strong. You wield a great power, and should the need arise to use it, you will need to be ready. Am I understood?” The Elements all stood and wiped away their tears, nodding at the princess.
“Thank you…” Luna said. “For everything. You may take the rest of the day for yourselves. Grieve, if you choose to. But remember what I told you: be strong.” Slowly turning, they all walked single file out of the room, closing the door behind them. None of them spoke on the way back to their guest quarters. They were all too busy digesting the new information that had just been given to them. Twilight still had trouble coping with it, and she knew that it would be a long time before the pain healed.
But she knew that Luna was right. They needed to be strong, or Celestia would have died for nothing. The time for grief would come, but it was not now. While the rest of her friends continued on their way to their bedrooms, Twilight stepped away and instead began to head for the castle library. It had always provided solace for her, and perhaps it would do so again. Princess Twilight Sparkle had a duty to do, and she was going to do it.
“Well done, Chrysalis,” the collector captain said to the changeling queen walking next to him. “I admit I was not sure that your plan would work, but it seems to have gone as planned.”
“Yes…” Chrysalis said, a hint of smile forming on her lips. “I just wish that we had gotten Luna and Twilight as well. That would have made our victory completely assured.”
“From what you tell me, this ‘Celestia’ was the elder princess,” the collector said. “She will have commanded the most power. With her eliminated, the balance of power is disrupted. It will be a long time before they sort everything out. By then our plan will be complete.”
“There is one thing,” Chrysalis added. “My hunters… They are reporting that… That the ponies in Appleloosa are waking up.” The collector stopped and whirled around to face the queen.
“What!?” he snarled. “How is that possible?”
“I believe that the ‘geth’ had something to do with it,” the queen explained. “It’s as if the disease just… froze. Stopped affected them.”
“Hmm…” the collector said. “This is not good, but no matter. I can make alterations to the disease for use in other towns. In the meantime, have your hunters determine exactly how they disabled the nanovirus. I do not want it to happen again.”
“Understood,” Chrysalis said. She stopped in her tracks and left the collector, who continued walking down one of the seemingly endless tunnels of her hive. The queen turned around and entered a side passage, heading for the main chamber of the hive, where the kidnapped ponies were being stored. She would send her hunters out, but first, she had something to do…
Stats
Page generated in 0.046 seconds
Total duration
649 users online
838,332 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
affecting
5461245
Thank you, fixed!
Going to be hard to do that now when you sent away the only being that could help you.
Hmm... So celestia died? How... Unexpected.
The Geth blinded them...
WITH SCIENCE!
Also, I'm upset about Sunbutt's death, but I'll wait for what you have planned. Good chapter!
5461245 wouldnt it be effecting? It just doesnt look right with an A
... Did you seriously just kill Celestia?
With an ordinary knife?
Just like that?
Thousands of years of beating the odds, and someone just walks up and offs her?
I do not like this development.
Feels cheap.
5461430
It would be with an "a", as affect is the verb form. "Effect" is a noun, and is the result of an action. So the nanovirus is having an effect, but it is no longer affecting the ponies.
Didn't see that one coming. I knew something bad was going to happen but I didn't think that someone would die.
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/592/005/f2a.png
Legion is gonna give Celestia the Lazarus treatment, isn't he? That should be interesting.
i.imgur.com/PIRgaPl.gif
While the death of Celestia has left a... bitter taste, I can understand the whole "just bare with me" move for my writing incorporates it as well.
Though personally I think her death was indeed a little cheap and easy. If there was more of a fight or if it even took more to kill her than it wouldn't have gone over so bad with people.
5461417
fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/211/2/9/time_for_science_by_zedrin-d58w4xz.png
Judging by the description in the chapter, Celestia is drugged, not dead.
Dying of a cut throat is not quite that quick, and is way messier.
Especially when the victim is a critter Celly's size, in a panicked state. Fountains of blood. There would be a huge puddle. Chrysalis would still have some on her when she met with the collector.
God I hope I am right.
5461489
I seconded the motion. Her death feels so rushed and simplified to the point where I couldn't feel any emotion and just became confused all the way to the chapter's end. I would advise to prolong the battle scene, have Legion, Twi and Luna fending off the other 'lings while Tia duels with Chrys, or maybe all of them becoming overwhelmed little by little and then have Chrys take the figutative 'sucker punch' with Collector's rifle or something. Point is, Tia's death feels very sudden.
But still, this is your story and I'll still follow it anyway.
Celestia is not dead, that's a relief. The collector needs her to do something.
I think she isn't dead and the queen faked the death so she could help fight the collecters....I'm most likely wrong
5462094
Legion doesn't know how Lazarus works. If it took Cerberus two years with unlimited resources, it'll take one geth platform with nothing almost forever.
Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap.
And where the hell is Discord when you need him!
Is it me or do the nighthawks seem next to useless?
celestia better not have died after all that of bullshit or i will punch someone in the face.
I most definitely believe that Celestia is not dead, Illision magic wouldn't be to hard for her to pull off. Chrysalis just needs to make them think she is dead and then she can use Celestia to help her fight the collectors in return for aid for the changlings. An Alicorn is hard to kill, so I don't think it would be so simple. . . As uneasy as she is working with the collectors it would be easy enough to believe
5461489 Very much so, which is why I am no longer going to be following or reading this story. The story was interesting all the way up to the Collectors being introduced. At that point the story just went down here, and now it's buried itself 6 feet under.
Oh well, so long once interesting story. Maybe you never update past this point, so you don't get even worse.
Man, when you gave Legion the idiot ball you really sent him running.
There is a collector ship. There are no corpses in it. The equipment formerly contained therein — equipment that can be used to make nanoviruses — is missing. The ship is intact and properly sealed. The idea that the changelings seemingly figured out a way to use said equipment to create a nanovirus is so implausible that it beggars belief. All signs indicate the collectors survived and are operating hand‐in‐hoof with the changelings. Legion knows that the collectors are some of the most dangerous entities in existence and are almost certainly armed with highly advanced weaponry. I simply do not see him letting all three eggs put themselves in that one basket without advising the princesses that there is a significant risk of a decapitation strike and that a serious deterrent will be needed.
Even disregarding that, Celestia’s death was cheap, and not cheap in a good way. A collector sniping her would still have been cheap, but considering the set up it makes all too much sense. Knocking the three princesses over only to taunt, gloat, and then slit Celestia’s throat? That wasn’t cheap in the “dangerously genre savvy” sort of way, that was cheap in the “this writer is a god‐damned hack” sort of way.
That’s assuming that she’s actually dead. Slitting her jugular wouldn’t let her bleed out fast enough to seriously impact brain function for at least a few seconds — long enough to allow a quick application of fire, sealing the wound… leaving the bulk of the work to the internal jugular vein (which would still kill her if left untreated for pretty much any length of time) but would leave her conscious long enough to at least put up some sort of fight.
If this was all just so you could keep Chrysalis and the changelings in play then this was a piss‐poor way to achieve it. That goes double for, if like 5468953 suggested, it was so Chrysalis could kidnap Celestia for
keeping the changelings in playreasons.You haven’t lost me yet, but I’m most definitely not up‐voting this now (and be glad I refrained from doing so earlier because this would be enough for me to rescind up‐vote the only way FiM Fiction allows — down‐voting instead); regardless of whether she’s dead or not giving Legion the idiot ball was a really ham‐fisted way of achieving whatever you set out to and you’ve got your work cut out for you regarding regaining my faith.
...............
*faints to ground in heap*
No she is gone because pony's are uselessly defenseless, get it right.
Alright, while I normally wouldn't do this, I'm going to make an exception. Beggin ya pardon sir.
WHAT THE FUCK BRO!
That is all. I shall continue to read with gusto.
I was gonna say “Not Legion.” But i was wrong.
Have her brought her immediately.
Third time I read this fic and only now I spotted that typo, hope it helps
Legion: "Your world is being poisoned by a synthetic disease made by a highly technologically advanced species which we now know has allied themselves with Equestria's number one enemy. We can temporarily disable this disease, but only in one place at a time. If we choose to go to Appleloosa, the device will additionally need to be supercharged by three of the most powerful beings which may be left completely powerless to a potential assault by these mentioned forces. How do you wish to proceed?"
Celestia:
"Let's move to Westrock."
- "The ponies of Westrock are dying as we speak. By disabling the disease there we will give them the time to recover before it inevitably kicks back on."
"Appleloosa needs us."
- "There is far too many ponies in Appleloosa, we cannot ignore them. Stopping the disease there will allow us to safely move more soldiers into Appleloosa and fight the changelings more effectively."
"Let's be smart about this."
- "Three alicorn rulers in a single place are far too juicy of a target for changelings to ignore. Let's send only Legion to set up the device and move all afflicted towards it."
"Time to bring the fight to them."
- "There is no way the changelings will not jump us the moment we enter the city. I say we set up a trap. Instead of activating the device we save our strength and the moment changelings show up, we kick ass. Additionally we should have a battalion of Wonderbolts hiding in the clouds just in case we won't be enough. Oh! And let's do it at noon. Can't believe I would forget about that! And if against all odds we fail and one of us dies tragically, at least it would be a less stupid way to go than this."
"Let's have a family trip!"
- "You know. Just me, you, Twilight, and Luna. It will be great bonding experience! Huh? Oh no, no guards, just the four of us. The fifty or so Nighthawks will be enough as a patrol through the city, without bothering us. Then we do the deed in peace and be completely helpless for a foreseeable future. And let's do this at midnight! SpOooOky!"
In the end Celestia did not choose the last option and everyone lived happily ever after.
10612107
Think Celestia! Think and hard!
Chrysalis... If she killed Celestia than the Changeling Genocide can not longer be avoided.
If she somehow didn't killed her than the Changelings might survive...
Anyway Changeling are screwed one way or another.
Only question is... Will the be Genocide screwed or just 'bloody hard to repopulation' screwed...
What I want to know, is why exactly Legion did not help. Was he out of ammo? Did he decide Celestia was not important? I want answers!