5 - Two Knights Attack
Receving Room, Deck 4, Phoenix - Emerald Hive
18th of Megan, 17 EoH
The silver walls of the Receiving Room glistened as the green light of an incoming teleport reflected off their burnished faces. The nexus of energy swirled and sparked for but a second, the special fold swiftly depositing Pattern Steel and Everfree onto one of the room’s five large hexical dais-like receiving pads.
“That didn’t hurt!” Eeve exclaimed, smiling behind her cloth wraps.
Pattern smiled faintly as well, glad that her marefriend’s odd magics were not disrupted by the teleport.
“Hello!” A friendly sounding changeling who had been waiting near their pad called.
The changeling was clearly male. Pattern had studied changelings extensively after the Canterlot invasion had filled her with more paranoia than usual. Her studies had removed her fears, but also let her know this changeling had to specifically choose to have a male appearance while in his ‘natural form’ as the species, like many kinds of ant, were all female by birth.
Pattern liked changelings. They removed so much social confusion for her. A changeling simply became what they wanted to be. No second guessing pronouns, or heritage, or trans-kind references.
She felt she could relax around them. Slightly.
“Hello,” Pattern replied, offering the insectoid pony a guarded yet friendly smile in return.
The changeling had a goldenrod sash fashioned diagonally across his barrel and wrapped around his waist. A variety of small pins were stuck to it, one larger one clearly a badge, with the others likely rank emblems or achievements. One Equish word on the larger pin stuck out, ‘security’.
“I’m Crewling Tass, I’ll be escorting you to Luna’s suite,” the changeling greeted with a polite dip of his head. “Is there anything you need on the way?”
Pattern got as far as shaking her head no when the room plunged into darkness. A fraction of a second later the room’s doors sealed with a crash of steel on steel. Eeve yelped in fright, her panicked squeak echoing off the walls of the receiving room as red lamps flickered on, casting harsh shadows around the room.
“Security Alert: Code Mike Delta One Eight Alpha. Lockdown in effect,” a bland genderless synthetic voice warned.
“Ah buck,” Tass groaned. “Sorry! We’re doing a lot of construction today. Someone must have crossed some wires… And triggered a security lockdown.”
“Or the teleport drew too much power,” Pattern mused, not quite trusting the Changeling, her tail raised uneasily.
“Um… C-can we leave?” Eeve asked uncertainly, the dim light revealing a little of the glow behind her welding goggles.
Tass nodded slowly. “Yeah, don’t worry. I’ve never heard that alert before, or seen it mentioned in listings. Let me just call this in,” he promised, tapping his badge quickly. “Security: This is Crewling Tass, we have a lock down in the Deck Four receiving room. Can someone lift this please?”
The changeling waited for a few moments. No reply came.
Frowning uncertainty, he tried again. “Security: Do you read, over?”
Once again no reply came.
Tass’s own worried frown and the honest confusion in his eyes at their situation won Pattern’s trust. At least, a little of it.
“Do security alerts block communication?” Pattern asked worriedly, her lips drawing into a steep frown.
“Only the highest level ones, and well, none of you are armed, right?” He asked, hopefully.
Eeve shook her head. “No. Wait, do pocket knives count? There’s a knife in these coveralls,” she said apologetically, drooping her head.
“No, that wouldn’t count at all,” Tass mused.
The Changeling sat down, wings twitching uneasily as he tried to think through their predicament. Fortunately for the panicked three, a low staticky crackle filled the room as the Pheonix’s intercom crackled to life.
“Security to Deck Four,” a female’s voice informed. “An electrical fault has tripped the security system. There is no danger, please remain calm. Maintenance crews will have the lockdown lifted as soon as possible.
“Unfortunately, the lockdown protocols have jammed data communication, and has also activated the arcane defenses as well. Teleportation and advanced communications will not function. Please refrain from cutting holes in bulkheads or hatches. Security crewmembers are en route to properly open all public areas to allow you to move to Deck Five for the duration of the repairs.
“If your cabin has a two-way intercom, please keep the line clear unless you are in immediate danger of some kind, such as a fire, gas leak, or other such emergency caused by this fault. Thank you.”
“Buck!” Tass groaned, covering his face with both forehooves. “I’m sorry! I knew something major would happen without the Chief Engineer onboard…”
“How long will we be stuck here,” Eeve asked worriedly. “W-we have important information for Princess Luna. It’s an emergency!”
“I know, I was briefed. It will probably be hours. Security won’t open this hatch up, it’s not a public area entry. I lack the tools and training to do it myself, and the intercom in here isn’t two-way,” he sighed, shaking his head slowly. “I um… We could tell stories or something. I-I’m a little hungry. Some kindness would be appreciated.”
Pattern winced slightly, never knowing what to talk about or say in these sorts of situations.
“I- Um, I have a good one,” Eeve said, sensing Pattern’s distress. “This one time, I watched my mom chase six mares through the woods while trying to kill them.”
Tass’s eyes widened, the green gemi-like orbs glowing slightly brighter. “Well, that’s bucked up! I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“It’s okay. She was not mentally well then. It wasn’t her fault. But it’s a good story,” Eeve said with an embarrassed dip of her head. “She’s better now. I think. I um, I haven’t gotten to see her. A-anyways. It was the longest day of summer, and-”
“I don’t want to hear this,” Tass said as politely as he could clearing his throat. “Anything else? Please? It’s just that you started putting out a lot of negative emotions…”
Pattern coughed and sat down, deciding to sacrifice herself to save her love from saying something stupid.
“Last year, I forged a set of power armor by hoof,” she said with a slight proud tip of her head.
“Bullshit!” Tass objected, jaw-dropping incredulously.
“No shit,” Pattern countered, ears flattening with irritation. “I’m Celestia’s Armorer. Luna wanted a set to wear for a possible wedding next year. I placed a bid for the job. I won. I didn’t know she would want more than plate mail. She did. It was a fun challenge.
“I made her the armor. Luna liked it. This concludes the story.”
Tass blinked and looked at Eeve. “Is she serious?”
“Yes,” Eeve answered with a giggle.
Tass shook his head slowly, shifted on his haunches slightly, then cleared his throat. “Alright, since I’m going to have to be the one to pass the time,” he lamented. “I prefer to listen but, oh well. Ummm… Oh! That’s a good one!
“In the distant past, before equids ruled this world, the ancient Mur’can Empire stood as a pillar of power, civilization, and cheap greasy food! But one city blighted it’s gleaming face! The city of Detrot. Within the province of Misha’gan was a wretched hive of scum and villainy on the verge of total collapse as honest citizens were forced to turn to a life of crime to survive.
“The mayor of Detrot, in a desperate move to bring order to his decaying city, signed a deal with a merchant clan, giving it complete control of the underfunded Detrot Police Department. But unknown to the mayor, the merchant clan is corrupt, and also corrupting as it is behind most of the city’s woes! Just as all seems hopeless, Officer Murphy is transferred to Detrot…”
Ruined Operations Room, Deck 14, Phoenix - Emerald Hive
18th of Megan, 17 EoH
The ruined deck may as well have been a mineshaft. Inky blackness, faint echoes of groaning steel, a moaning breeze, hushed whispers, bobbing motes of light, and creaking carts formed a symphony of sorts. The essence of a workday.
Ayna Trigger sat within a small bubble of emerald green light, quite irritated at her wife for having made the poetic metaphor regarding the deck’s current atmosphere that now stuck in her mind, distracting her from the task at hoof.
Her horn occupied with maintaining her light spell, Ayna’s hooves moved rapidly over a large console. The casing had been removed entirely, the damaged panels set aside. The changeling harvester presently had her forelegs deep within the machine's guts, seeking any means of getting the ancient technology to power on.
While the rest of the deck didn’t have power, Ayna had plugged a portable generator into the console, hoping to see what data had been stored in the Operations Room on this deck. While many of the Pheonix’s computers had intact data, military information had remained inaccessible, requiring specific hardware to decrypt. With any luck, this console could unlock the data.
“Stupid… Poetic… Imagery,” Ayna grunted as she jammed a hairpin between two leads, connecting two parts rust had separated. “You’re going to force me to bucking write that out… I just bucking know it.”
Pulling her forelimbs out of the console’s innards, Ayna’s ears perked hopefully as she turned to look at the flat screen embedded in the device. The screen remained dark. Nor did any lights wink on.
“Ugh, I could solve this if my head was clear,” she groaned.
Ayna was a wizard by profession, but had always had a talent for ‘fixing’ machines. Enough of a talent for her to have earned a cutiemark, after having absorbed enough love from willing ponies over the years. Naturally, no hive lets a special talent go to waste and so Ayna found herself helping the engineering crew quite often.
Even without coercion, she would have come down here today. Ayna had been too young to be allowed to explore the last deck the Emeralds had excavated. Being among the first to see a new part of the Phoenix had been on her squish list for years.
It was nice to get to check it off the list. Especially given the delightful bonus of finding the pressure sealed armory earlier that morning. A few of the weapons Trixie and Ayna had discovered were magical in nature, which meant she could go and do a Wizard’s job later.
But for the moment, this console took priority. Captain’s orders. With her brother Sky away, Ayna was the best the hive had. Even though her brother would need to properly fix the console when he got back.
“Come on you piece of junk!” Ayna grunted, smacking the console with a hoof, accidentally dislodging the flattened soup can covered in a layer of graphene she’d been using to replace a missing capacitor. “BUCK!”
Ayna bit her lip, counting to ten to try and holding her irritation. “This is why Trixie went home, Ay,” she mumbled to herself. “If your wife says you’re getting too pissed off, it’s probably true… Calm the buck down!”
“Are you talking to yourself in third person already?” A female voice asked half worriedly, half amused.
Ayna turned her head, the edge of the light ball illuminating the short scaled snout of Charr, Sky’s second in command. Ayna nodded while the dragoness crossed her arms over her chest, tongue flicking worriedly.
“Do you ever think of trying to fix it with the proper parts?” She asked the changeling, shaking her head.
“No. That’s less efficient for me,” Ayna admitted with a laugh. “Come on, you saw me fix that molecular printer with a-”
“Motor from a broken vibrator, yeah. But that motor had too much torque. The fix only worked for a few printing runs,” Charr protested. “Relax, take a break, go get some equipment, find out what parts you need, and put them in. Easy as pie.”
“Or, I could get this thing to work using my instincts and some arcane shortcuts… Well, in theory. This thing might be totally fried. I can’t even get the power indicator lights to turn on,” Ayna grumbled.
Charr shook her head again. “Well, um, anyways… We had a power surge just now while trying to get the lights on down here. Looks like it tripped a security lockdown up on deck four. Since you’re the one who designed the arcane parts of the security system, we need you to help lift the lockdown,” Charr explained with a weary sigh.
Ayna frowned, giving the dragoness a sympathetic nod. “Don’t worry. The first time is the hardest. It’s not your fau-” the changeling paused mid speech, eyes narrowing. “Wait, we damaged deck four with the surge? From down here, on deck fourteen? Where were they routing power from?”
“Deck eight,” Charr replied. “Why?”
“I- W- Nothing…” Ayna grumbled. “I don’t think that the top four decks are even on the same power grid as this deck. I hope we didn’t burn out half a kilometer of fucking circuitry again!”
“I’ll take care of that if it happened,” Charr promised. “But we need to get the civilian quarters working again. If you can take down the anti-teleportation wards that will at least let us move everyone to another deck while we fix things.”
“Yeah, no problem, on it,” Ayna grunted as she stood up, stretched slightly then trotted to the door.
Charr turned and left, walking alongside the changeling down the hall, Ayna’s light spell following the pair faithfully, plunging the Operation’s room back into darkness.
Darkness which didn’t last for long. The plink of the flattened can sliding from it's previous precarious perch and dropping into place brought with it a burst of yellow sparks as it by chance bridged the broken power leads. Sending power surging through the mostly functional apparatus.
The console’s cooling system hummed to life. An amber light winked on below the screen. The screen began to glow. White text flashed onto the screen one line at a time as the automated system obeyed its ancient programming.
Emergency Power Mode…
WARNING! Phoenix AGI not found!
WARNING! Phoenix Captain not found!
Begin Operations Control System Startup. Scanning for linkable systems…
Linking to primary security control system...
ALERT! Code Mike Delta One Eight Alpha in primary transporter room! (Reference ID: Detection of residual demonic magic on arriving personnel/equipment.)
Automated Response auto-approved due to lack of AGI and Captain. Activating Omega Protocols…
Searching for Secure Comm System… System found!
Transmitting distress signal…
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is the Fabrication Vessel USS Phoenix, this distress call is automated. Omega Protocols have been activated. NavCom location: Terra, 34.0522° N, 118.2437° W, 32m below sea level. Thirty thousand lifesigns aboard at present. Residual Tartarian thaumaturgic signature detected aboard vessel. Danger Threshold presumed: Extinction Event. Weapons systems offline. Engines offline. Shields functioning at 30%. Life support failures on decks 15 through 42. AGI not found. Captain not found. Requesting immediate assistance from Terran Defence Fleet. This signal is automated. Message repeats.
Luna - 19th of Megan, 17 EoH
Deck 4, Phoenix - Emerald Hive
Of all the times for Sky to be on an official mission for my sister, this was the worst possible time! Lives were at stake! Probably… Most likely.
I doubt that a hermit like Pattern would have come to give me news of an emergency if it wasn’t something critical. Life or death. Possibly for me since she forged my last suit of armor. Possibly for Ponyville since she lived under the Everfree forest and frequently used it for a fuel source.
I paced back and forth in front of the half disassembled teleport pad room. I didn’t blame Sky for sending two ponies to see me, nor did I blame Charr for the engineering crew’s mistake and accompanying lockdown. Both of them had simply done what anypony else would do in their situations.
That said, I found myself extremely distressed that Sky was not here to fix the problem.
I’d called Sky, earlier in the day to ask if he wanted to play a few matches together. Unfortunately he was busy. My sister had sent him off with Pinkie on some critical mission or another to Buckingcold of all places.
Fortunately his sister Ayna could also take care of this… Though admittedly much more slowly as she’d been unable to take down her wards. Meaning I couldn’t just teleport into the receiving room and retrieve the two myself. I had to wait on her and her team to open the doors manually.
Which was taking forever.
“It will be fine,” Light said to me as I paced nervously. “They are safe. I’m sure that it will all be fixed soon.”
My fairly new marefriend was many things. My ideal in terms of beauty, all I could ever ask for in personality, and the best body pillow in all Equestria. But she lacked one thing, an understanding of me. That would only come with time.
I sighed, taking a moment to turn and face Light, tail swishing nervously as I moved. Looking into her eyes I shook my head slowly.
“Light, I appreciate you trying to sooth me. But I can not stand waiting idly by while two ponies are trapped in a technological limbo, much less ones who were coming to me with urgent business!” I exclaimed, plopping down onto the deck in the hopes that sitting would reduce my urge to pace.
Light was just a touch ironically named. The sandy furred teal maned half griffon mare had once accidentally drunk a dangerous amount of enlargement potions, which had left her permanently standing just over twice my height.
She was a big girl, to say the least, and given her long griffon-like tail and her griffon wings, it was a good thing the Emerald’s hive featured such large hallways and rooms. I doubted she would fit inside any normal pony dwelling without the use of her enchanted collar.
“I get it, Luna,” Light replied reaching out with one hoof to gently scoot me over against her side. “I’d help if I could, but they asked me not to push the door down, and I don’t know how to open it without breaking it. You don’t know either. All we can do is watch and wait.”
I felt my ears droop sadly. “And it’s an emergency! What if Ponyville is burning?” I asked worriedly.
“W-well, admittedly, that is possible since we can’t get a signal out of this deck,” Light agreed. “But I’m certain that your sister, or Twilight, or anypony else can handle it. Honestly, your idea about some flaw discovered in your armor is the most plausible thing here.
“But- But they are trapped!” I reminded her urgently, ears falling sadly as I looked at the sealed door.
Light blinked once, then frowned, realizing what I meant before tightening her hug.
While Light’s overall shape was that of a pegasus with a griffon's wings and tail, she also had a griffon's feline fur. I liked the slightly more bristly feeling it had over pony fur. It was soothing.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about how this could connect to you,” she apologized. “I’m sure that Ayna will get them out quickly.”
When you’ve been trapped someplace for a full millennium you tend to have extreme empathy for others in a similar position.
“Oop! There we go, she’s chooch’n!” Ayna’s mid pitch buzzing voice exclaimed from the doorway.
“Stop using weird slang!” A unicorn stallion in the engineering team shouted irritably.
A lot of different individuals had gotten priority in getting out first. Mostly members of the engineering crew who had been off duty and could help lift the lockdown. Pattern and whomever she had brought with her had only gotten help in the last twenty minutes.
For whatever reason, the blast door had really, really not wanted to open. And since the doors had their own internal power supplies, simply cutting power too them would not turn off the maglocks.
“Can you open it now?” I asked hopefully, standing up and moving closer to the door.
“I outrank you, I'll use any slang I like,” Ayna retorted flippantly. Before turning to look over her shoulder at me and nodding. “Yep. Good thing too, I was about to just cut it open. Had a hard enough time with that damn console today already.”
The grumbling changeling closed the access panel she had been working in, while another of the changelings in the three person team pressed the door release.
The large steel door hissed, splitting apart in the center and sliding up into the ceiling as well as down into the floor. Immediately, the sounds of a geek enraptured with their own story flooded the hallway.
“-in anger, he turned to his friend and said, ‘Ray, if someone asks you if you’re a god, you say YES!’ Then-”
“DOOR OPEN! BYE!” A mares panicked voice blurted before Pattern rushed out the door, eyes wide and chest heaving as if completely panicked.
I frowned, fearing she had somehow been injured before remembering how the poor thing had acted while I was being fitted for her armor. And that she’d just been trapped in a small room for about nine hours. With what sounded like a changeling version of Shining Armor if you asked him about any given O&O Novel.
“Um, you’re free now,” Ayna called into the room, frowning uncertainly.
“He’s almost done, I think!” Another mare’s voice replied. “And then what happened?”
“Then,” the geeky changeling stallion continued. “Then! A-”
I cleared my throat loudly. “Pattern Steel, I’m sorry for this accident. Are you alright? Do you need anything, or can you deliver the message you wanted to bring me?” I asked, hoping to snap her out of her panic.
The mare held up one hoof and took a few deep breaths. “N-not me… Eeve. She’s inside.”
“Eeep!” The mare still inside the room squeaked. “Sorry, Tass. C-can we finish later? Also, can I hear the first three parts of the Star War? And part three of Half Life?”
“No, they suck,” the male changeling grumbled. “But we can finish this later!”
“H-has he been doing nothing but retelling old stories wrongly this entire time?” I asked Pattern with a frown.
She nodded twice. “Too much talking…” She said softly eyes shut tightly.
I almost asked a followup question when the mare trotted out of the room. I immediately frowned as I took in her completely covered appearance. Denim jumpsuit, bandage wrapped face, welding goggles…
I could understand that on a batpony, but she clearly had an earth pony’s build.
“It’s Eeve, right? Why the facewrap?” I asked her with a suspicious frown.
“I burn easily,” she replied instantly. “C-can we talk someplace private? This is very important.”
I looked around the entirely empty hallway. Besides myself, the maintenance crew packing up their tools, Light Step, the Lord of the Geeks, and the red glow of emergency lighting, the deck seemed deserted.
“This isn’t private enough? I asked, lips pulling back into a frown. What sort of emergency are you reporting?” I asked, pressing for details with all the firm calm I could muster.
“I-I um… Something is going to attack Equestria,” she explained, ears flopping back fearfully.
I felt a pang of guilt swell up in my chest. “You don’t need to be afraid of me,” I said with a soothing dip of my head. “It’s alright. Threats come along every once in awhile. You can tell me about it here. The Emeralds are Equestria’s allies, and Ayna over there is their acting Archmage. She can help too. Isn’t that right, Ayna?”
The changeling’s wings twitched as I mentioned her name. Looking up from her tool bags at me she nodded. “Well, yes. Probably not until this lockdown is lifted, but, yeah. I could help too. If you need it, which well, I doubt.”
Eeve shuffled her hooves nervously against the deck, looking behind me timidly. “And um… What about the huge kitty-pegasus?” She asked nervously.
I raised an eyebrow. Kitty-Pegasus was a new one, though very accurate. Pegasi-griffon pairings exclusively passed on the feline traits to their foals, after all.
“Look at her mouth, Eeve,” Pattern said still breathing heavily. “She eats meat. It’s okay.”
I heard light shift her weight behind me. “I’m sorry, I um, I know my size can be intimidating. I-I can shrink if you’re uncomf- Wait a minute, did you just imply that she’s afraid of herbivores?” Light asked curiously.
I blinked. Yes, she had.
“Why?” I asked.
Eeve squirmed slightly then tapped her forehooves together. “I um, w-well they kind of eat me… So, you know… Predators,” she mumbled.
I closed my eyes tightly. Great! Some mentally disabled pony had convinced a person with no social skills and access to me to bring her here to complain about some conspiracy ther-
“What the flying buck!?” Light exclaimed in honest shock.
My eyes flew open. Eeve had unwrapped her facewrap, letting the cloth droop around her neck.
She was made of wood.
I wanted to say she was an exceptionally complex golem, but as she pushed the welding goggles up onto her carved forehead her timberwolf-like glowing eyes that notion went up in smoke. That color of magic was unique to the Everfree forest’s eldritch manifestations.
“What are you,” I asked firmly.
I wasn’t sure hot to react to this. I needed more information. Especially before deciding if this thing needed to be blasted or not.
“She’s the Everfree Forest,” Pattern explained, confusing the matters further.
“What?!” Everyone within earshot demanded, jaws dropping incredulously.
“I-it’s true,” Eeve stammered slowly. “I- I don’t normally talk to ponies… You eat me. Cut me down. I- I’m afraid. But… Um, s-sometimes. I have to. Or want too… Pattern’s my friend. Um…”
The creature trailed off slowly, the sculpted features of her face sliding in a somewhat creepy manner as she frowned worriedly.
“I-I’m sorry for not… Not hurting her. Um, I mean, not Pattern. You know who I mean… You asked me too when you made me but I didn’t want to. S-sorry,” she mumbled, ears drooping apologetically by falling backward, apparently held on by little bits of a vine.
I frowned, trying to work out what she was even talking abou-
“Oh, buck, that’s right I made the Everfree forest!” I exclaimed eyes widening in sudden realization.
“Wait, you did? How!?” Light asked incredulously, bending down to get onto my eye level.
“Last thing I did as the Nightmare before banishment,” I said to Light before returning my gaze to the… Nature avatar? Dream creature? “Look, it's fine. I wasn’t myself as Nightmare Moon. I um, I also didn’t know you were sentient, at all. I thought the forest was just saturated in dream magic. It’s good you didn’t hurt my sister. Don’t be sorry for that. Oh…”
I trailed off, frowning in realization. “You’re going to attack Equestria, aren't you? You don’t want to but I made you as an attack spell, so you have too. And you can’t hold back anymore.”
The relief I felt as she shook her head no was indescribable. The last thing I needed was to cause yet another major disaster for Equestria.
“N-no,” she replied with another nervous and worried little squirm. “Something took me over. Everything but this little piece. It- it wants to destroy everything. It’s at my glade… In the very middle of the forest. I could sense it’s thoughts while it took control of me. Just for a moment. It needs my trees for its plans.
“It also ether is controlling Applejack, or made itself look like her to get to me. I- I like Fluttershy. I stopped interfering with her and her friends traveling through me. They don’t hurt me… But it lit me on fire… Applejack wouldn’t do that. Cut me down yes, fire no...”
I took a moment to think. This creature had no reason to lie to me. I had created it, and it felt bad for not doing something I had asked it to do while insane. It was loyal. I could probably trust this to be true.
I knelt down to get onto her eye level and stare into her burning green ‘eyes’ with a serious gaze. “Are you making this up, or is this true?” I asked, needing the confirmation.
“It’s true,” she answered.
“I didn’t see her get hurt, but she was terrified when she manifested her avatar to tell me this,” Pattern corroborated with a serious glint in her eyes.
“What was this creature capable of other than hijacking your control over the forest?” I asked grimly.
“I don’t know. It felt more powerful than anything which has walked through me before,” Everfree said, her face twisting into a worried expression with a soft scrape of wood on wood.
I felt a jolt of fear race along my spine. If she wasn’t exaggerating…
“Does that count me?” I asked urgently, eyes narrowing with my worry.
She nodded. “Yes.”
I stood up. Action was necessary nine hours ago. Faust only knew what chaos had unfolded while I was stupidly waiting for the message instead of going to Ponyville to see if anypony else knew what the message had been.
“Light, take these two and keep them comfortable and safe here,” I ordered as my mouth drew into a grim line. “Ayna, I need the fastest way to a deck that’s not flooded with anti-teleport wards. Now.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” Light asked worriedly. “I mean after securing-”
“No. I’m going to gather intel, then report directly to Celestia. I need you to contact the girls. I want my Knights armed, armored, and ready within the next twenty minutes. I’m certain Celestia is already on this, if any attack has happened already. But I know where the threat is, thank you Everfree. Ayna, which way do I go?”
“This way,” she said taking off down the hallway to the right at a light gallop.
I nodded and began to sprint after the surprisingly fast changeling.
“I- Um, b- be safe, mom!” Everfree blurted urgently.
I almost tripped, only avoiding falling flat on my face through pure luck. Skidding to a stop I turned to look over my shoulder in shock. “I- w…” I managed to exclaim unintelligibly. “I- is that… Is that how you see me?”
The creature nodded bashfully. “Y-yes,” she answered.
I didn’t know how to process this.
“I um… I guess that’s technically accurate,” I said, mind trying to crunch the numbers on what I should do.
Everfree nodded twice.
I did make her after all. I hadn’t known that I did more than enchant the forest into a living nightmare realm. Which was apparently afraid of being eaten and cut down by ponies. And didn’t want to kill Celestia as I’d ordered it too.
And came to warn me about an evil seeking to hurt everypony. Despite clearly being terrified of ponies.
Holy bucking Tartarus… I’d created something nice, kind, brave… Which saw me as its- No, as her mother.
But was she? Well, we did share magic. The Nightmare never really left me. I’d just gained control over it, it became a part of me. A part of me which had used its power to make her.
In a way…
No, not in a way. I’d created life. Not biologically, but arcanely. And even if I couldn’t consider myself her mother, she thought of me as hers. And then I’d abandoned her for a thousand years.
“If it helps, her woods are full of little shrines which she made to count how long you were gone,” Pattern informed with a somewhat blank look on her face.
I blinked in surprise. I remembered those. I’d seen quite a few of them patrolling for monsters. Little jagged pillars of stone, usually carved with… A crescent moon and tally marks.
“I-is that what those are?” I asked, my mouth parting in an honest smile.
She remembered me, and had wanted me to be there. The whole time!
“Yes… I got your cutiemark wrong,” Everfree replied, ears drooping apologetically. “I didn’t see it before. I used the portraits in the castle… They are wrong. It’s not curved enough.”
Her words hit home. She cared about me deeply. Certainly, as much as filly cared for her mother.
Tartarus! She’d honestly done the single most kind and sweet thing anypony had ever done for me! Not even Celestia kept an exact count of the days. Everfree had! She’d honestly missed me, despite never even knowing me.
She only cared that I was her mother. That’s not something I could dismiss. She cared. For me. As a child would.
And something was hurting her!
A familiar bubbling anger began to radiate from my heart.
The last dregs of the Nightmare! It could feel I was angry, it was making a move to consume me again!
I pushed it aside quickly, I would not fall back into the Nightmare! No, I couldn’t allow the last few tiny scraps of that monster any form of control over me, not even for a noble and just reason. Not-
<Luna, it set my child on Fire,> the Nightmare whispered.
I froze, wings flaring open in horror. <NO! You will be silent! I will never obey you again!> I snapped, immediately trying to wall off my emotions from my mind.
It had not spoken to me since Twilight and her friends had-
<It. Set. My. Child. On. FIRE!> The Nightmare whispered again, this time I could feel not only anger, but actual love in its voice. <End that son of a bitch! Your will is strong now. I can not do it. Please, for her.>
I felt the Nightmare die. The last tiny embers of its being flickered, and melted away of their own accord. Instantly, my link to the dream realm swelled, growing from a candle’s flame to a raging inferno.
Nightmare Moon’s full power. She gave it to me. Willingly.
I could choose to embrace an emotion if I wanted to. That was okay now! She’d left, set me completely free at long last. More than that… I had full control over the power she left behind.
I could turn it off at will. I could use it safely. I SHOULD use that power right now, in fact. Because a monster set our filly on bucking fire!
A monster. Set my filly. On fire.
ON FIRE!
The blinding rage I’d been suppressing broke free, honed and tempered with a mother’s fury. It burned hot, but for once, it didn’t consume me.
Quickly crossing the distance to Eeve I pulled her into a tight hug.
“I’ll be back soon with the monster’s head, sweetie. Get a pike ready for when I get back,” I said to Everfree, feeling my teeth pull at my gums, sharpening into needle points while I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.
How odd, everypony besides Light, Eeve, Ayna, and I vanished? Where- Oh, hiding in the Receiving room
“Uhhhh,” Light stammered hurriedly, her ears laying flat. “Hon, teeth… Maybe calm down? Please?”
Letting go of my daughter, I gave Light a reassuring smile. “Oh, it’s fine, love. I’m just a little bit A̝͔̬̟B̨̲S̶̬͖O̡͙̬͎̼̱L̢̳̤͕U͕̞T͍̞̙E̯̱̟L͏̮̼̞̤̤̟Y̸̥̻̬̩̝ ͏̮Ḽ̞̟ͅI̞̼V̵͉I̵̭̳̯̱͍͚̜D̢̼͍̟!̭͕͙͎̰̹ͅ, I’ll be calm again VERY soon. Ayna, get me out of the ship. Now!”
Oh wow, my voice did sound weird and terrifying when eldritch power coursed through it. I’d never been coherent enough to listen to myself before. Could I do that at will like the Canterlot Voice? That might be tactically advan-
“S-sure thing,” the changeling stammered fearfully. “Um, this way…”
Sparkle - 18th of Megan, 17 EoH
Ponyville - Equestria
It figured I’d be fighting something within hours of arriving here.
I twisted right, shoulders screaming under the strain as I dodged the barbed tentacle. The overgrown vine slammed into the earth where I had been, leaving behind a dent. I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the shambling mound of decaying plant life, throwing a volley of fireballs into its central mass.
Thank Celestia this Ponyville had a wall. And a proper city guard. The Evening Guard atop the wall could keep the forest from growing into the city. I just had to keep this one path clear!
Dash would have the civilians ready for evacuation soo-
The shambling mound flailed all twelve of its limbs at me. I jumped, snapping my wings open, darting up and back, then left and down, its tentacles scraped my feathers as I narrowly dodged under it.
Buck! Shield down again?
I quickly cast another shield spell, the world tinted pink around me. How had I not noticed my shield collapse?
The mound split open, spewing a thick green torrent of acid directly against my shield. The magical barrier crackled and sparked, beginning to crack. I gave it more energy and flew upwards, moving out of the acrid stream of gunk.
Ah! That’s how.
Something had to have caused this. The Everfree sat where it had for a thousand years. At least, in my home universe. Regardless, the forest had never done this before. Grow around the city and then unleash an entire army of plant-monsters. Why now? What did this? Everypony was still panicking.
The vine mass screamed, a horrible sound like iron nails scraping along the side of a dying saw. I twisted mid air, aimed towards and threw a flurry of spellbolts in a barrage, peppering the beast with a thousand tiny explosions. It shrieked, bits of vine scattering to the winds as my attack eroded its outer layers.
But did not stop it. This thing was way to bucking tough! How to kill it without collateral damage?
Dash arrived in a rainbow Streak, hovering in front of me, panting slightly from exertion. “They won’t budge! I’m trying to convince them to leave, but they just won't! Can you keep holding this route? Celestia says teleports in are blocked, she’s ordered Guard regiments to help and the forest is firing entire bucking tree trunks at anypony who flies over the top of the forest!”
I nodded grimly and-
My eyes flew wide as I saw the monster below thrust one tentacle up at Dash, seeking to spear her on the tip. I threw Dash aside with a bolt of Telekinesis, the tentacle flashed through the air, the stab quick enough to produce a whipcrack.
“Yikes!” Dash yelped, eyes the size of dinner plates.
“This thing is a problem!” I replied. “Get clear! I’ll hold this road as long as I can.”
The forest had to be wearing me down with this. Or distracting me. The force fields I’d set up to prevent the trees from overtaking the city gate only had so much energy. If I was occupied too long to recharge them…
I took a quick breath, focused, and fired a ray of burning light into the monster’s heart. It shrieked, shuddered, and sent another spray of acid high into the sky, narrowly missing my left wing.
How bucking durable is this thing!? I was going to have to completely disintegrate it before it-
The sun went dark. I looked up. Rolling black stormclouds filled the entire sky, horizon to horizon, casting the world into deep shadow. Thunder rumbled. Bolts of jet black lightning crackled, tracing along the underside of the clouds.
I felt my heart skip a beat. What now?
I looked down, hoping to find some vulnerability in the monster so I could finish it off and investigate the clouds before whatever new horror came from the sky and blindsided me.
A thick white fog crept across the ground, gathering into almost solid objects. The twisting mist seemed to form swords, spears, and needles, but that had to be a trick of my imagination, it couldn’t be-
A bolt of black lightning plunged down from the heavens inches in front of me, the bolt trailing ghostly blue-green flames as it sliced the air apart. The bolt slammed into the vine-monster and exploded, the concussive force ripping the monsters mangled body to pieces and scattering them to the winds.
I felt a magical, iron-like grip size me by the waist and drag me down to the ground. I braced for impact, ready to counter attack, and… And was gently set down on the ground.
The red, glowing, molten ground. I looked up, ready for a chance to strike whatever had pulled me down. Good thing my child was-
My heart stopped for a moment. I was staring directly into the glowing, cat-like eyes, midnight black, fanged face of Nightmare Moon.
“Hello,” she said, endless rage behind every last word, her ethereal mane flickering and boiling like superheated oil, her fangs flashing in the darkness with each syllable. “We both know you’re not really Twilight. I can see your dreams. You are someone else. Somone else is impersonating Applejack too… It set my filly O̴͔N̝̪̤̫̥̯ ̞̹F̖̳I̪͖̺͔R̳͕̝̜͚̙̲E̥̹̼̣̟̩ͅ!̧̦͓̬̪̤?͎̱̼̤͓͍!͇”
Obsidian spikes erupted from the ground ash she roared her final two words, forming a sort of cage around the two of us.
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” My brain said for me.
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Welp my friends, Nightmare Moon sacrificed herself and has given rise to Nightmare Luna mode.
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7811478 He shouldn'ta pissed off the anger daemon, but he did.
i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/18/article-1207480-00B4FD8200000578-157_233x316.jpg
That would be nice. That would be very nice.
I can personally confirm that an entity you technically created referring to you as a parental figure is just this awkward.
Ohhhhh I so can not wait for mommy Luna mode after the battle!!!!
He fräked up so badly nightmare moon gives the last of her power to luna hes so screwed. I almost feel bad for the dude mommy luna's coming to find him. You no what he hurt Applejack and the Forrest make him suffer meep.
7811723 It's worse than you think. Nightmare Moon was extremely powerful, but her rage was blinding, preventing her from using complex tactics. Luna has spent the last thousand years doing little else but honing her ability to control herself to the level of a Shaolin monk.
7811728 So luna effectively hulked up till the focus of her rage is broken and bleeding on the floor.
.... So, Luna has all of Nightmare Moon's power with Luna's tactical acumen now?
... Well shit. Dawn is going to be regretting his life choices soon.
I'm thinking AJ is going to get saved sooner rather than later, let's just see what happens to Dawn now.
Nightmare Luna has literally gone full 'mamma bear', she is going to take names and destroy asses!
(also Evee should get to know 'aunt' Light)
The sad thing is I can see us being called the 'Mur'can Empire' a thousand years from now, and yes we are the capital of greasy food. altho as somepony from Michigan I take some (kinda sorta, but not really) offense to being called the 'hive od scum and villainy' (A New Hope reference anyone), there are plenty of good places here.... just not Detroit.... or Flint (never bucking go to flint).
7811888 sighs... He's ruining Robocop... No one likes you, Tass. And stop blaming everyone's fuck ups on me, you tool...
7812199 If hes talking about the original fine, if its the reboot..... words shall be had.
7812212 I can't believe what I'm hearing. And he likes to tell stories that are all time classic movies and then fuck em up when doing so. No one says "Mur'can", just him. Also no one likes his stories over the original movies.
7812220 wait he actually replaces "Mur'can" in the storys? when there not really like that? Oh NOW we are going to have words.
7812258 Phoenix Media Archives. He's literally seen the movies, and then turns around and retells them as stories, wrong. Typically trying to add high fantasy to everything. And no one likes the stories over the originals, so he sticks to using them on non citizens and people who haven't seen said movies. He's a tool, and he was stuck down in that transporter room for a reason...
7812258 He's that infuriating guy who hears a story and then retells the exact same story while changing the genera (poorly), and insists that it's original fiction...
For whatever reason, my brain decided to replace "fireballs" with "meatballs" when I first read this sentence. This rather changed the feel of the scene.
Whew, I'm glad that Nightmare Woon is at least taking a time out to talk to the ersatz Twilight before smiting. Always good to make sure you're delivering the smiting to the correct address.
7813222 "Excuse me, did you order a savage beating?"
"Yes."
"AH, good. Sign here please. ... thank you. Now then, FIST!"
You missed a scene transition here.
7813272 No I didn't. Same scene. It just goes from Luna's own thoughts while standing in the hallway to something happening in the samehallway next to her. If anything it's just a sloppy establishing setup. My bad.
7813275
Ah, I thought Anya was still decks away for Luna's conversation, and Luna was in her room. I may be too tired to process what I'm reading.
That was a really poorly timed security lockdown.
Huh. I wonder who might respond to that.
Really can't be a corrupted AJ with that, even if the Everfree was somehow just wrong about her and fire.
Ooo.
Between Alpha Twilight and Unnightmare Luna, this attack on Ponyville should be fun.
Hmmm sounds like the start of an interesting story! Officer Murphy hmm why does that name sound familiar?
Yikes, that does NOT sound good at all!
Oooo we get to hear the nightmare! hehehe
Freeeedom! And awww she cares so much, the little nightmare.
Welp, that's not good.....
For Luna:
Well, buck. That could be bad, or very, very good, depending on what responds.