Unity 7 - The B Side
"She's going for a swing! Duck!" Moondancer says directly to Twilight's mind through a thin yet visible strand of magic linking their horns. Twilight quickly flaps her wings to duck underneath the attack. With one swift motion, Twilight raises her horn and fires a concussive blast of magic at Unity's hoof, launching the gauntlet off of it. The resulting noise rings loudly like a gong, shockwaves releasing from the hoof and making Twilight and Unity wince. Unity winces from the pain of all the energy flowing into her leg while Twilight's ears ring from the loud noise.
"Eep!" Moondancer says as the gauntlet crashes next to her, the object slamming deep into the earth below, nearly buried entirely by its own weight. "HAH! We got you!" She says with a cocky grin. Unity and Twilight both landed with disoriented stumbles, Unity shaking her head and clearing it first. Glaring directly at Moondancer, the spirit growls lowly.
"You're getting in the way, Moondancer! Don't do something you'll regret!" She says with a deep glare. She knew she had to change up strategies now. Luckily, she had more than one card up her sleeve. "Why do mortals get in the way of everything? Why do you all insist on doing things YOUR way? Don't you realize that higher beings such as myself and Faust herself have plans for you all! Why would you go against the literal spirit of harmony?! If I say something is harmonious, that makes it harmonious!" Unity says as she stomps her hoof.
Twilight blinks. "What? I couldn't hear you over the ringing in my ears. Can you say that again?" She says with a cheeky expression. She could read lips, but it was still funny to mess with Unity. The spirit alicorn glared as she glowed her horn.
"Oh, we're being funny now, are we? You wanna be funny? Let's be funny. Once I get rid of your friend here. You'll be all alone! I'll tell everypony how you helped me oh so nicely prepare the pacification spell, how you designed it. I'll ruin your name!" Unity says venomously, glaring directly at Twilight.
Twilight steps forward. "That was Eternal. Not me!"
"SAME DIFFERENCE!" Unity shouts furiously, disgusted by Twilight's delusional statement. "You and her are the same pony. How long will you deny that? How long will you hold yourself back because you can't accept that you AREN'T PERFECT!"
"I AM NOT A TRAITOR!" Twilight yells out in a mixture of panic and fury as the two clash. Unity's new weapon of choice is a strange, key-shaped weapon. The tool? Weapon? Sword? Strikes Twilight right on her armor. However, the weapon dents the armor instead of deflecting off and is held right in place.
"FREEZE!" Unity says as a blast of cold magic freezes Twilight right in place, frozen in a block of ice. "Now. YOU." She says as she glares right at Moondancer.
Moondancer yelps, "TWILIGHT!" She says as she takes a ready stance. "You won't get away with this!"
Luna appears with Rain Shine and Zera in Canterlot. The trio quickly searches for allies among the creatures in Canterlot, Luna rushing towards the only pony she knows will help if she asks. She has to help! Luna runs right towards Princess Amore, the pink alicorn yawning as she eats some grapes given to her directly in her mouth by one of her guardspony escorts. "Amore!" She says as she slides up to the pink princess, who holds a hoof up.
"If you're going to ask me to throw my soldier's lives away and endanger them to rescue your mom. That's a big no." Amore says flatly, Luna's ears dropping instantly. "Your mother and Unity are far too ahead of anything an average pony can manage to interfere with! At best, we distract her. At worst, we distract your mother. Is that what you want?!" She says as she stands up from her seat.
Luna stumbles in surprise, having never heard Amore so resolute. "But we have to try! Without some sort of help, she'll... She'll die!" She says with a whimper. "Please!"
Amore's ears flatten a little, the alicorn trying to resist the teary-eyed gaze from Luna's face. "Gnh. I'll ask for volunteers. Okay?" She says after a moment of struggle. "I won't promise any direct help or anything of the sort, but as a protectorate of Equestria, we do have an obligation to help out." Luna's eyes brighten in response to this. "BUT. Only if you can get a proper group going. We need more than just you, your sister, a Zebra, and a few Dragon Ponies." She says as she motions to the motley crew, wandering around and quickly trying to speak with as many ponies as possible. Most of the time, they get denied, but a few do accept.
Luna nods. "We'll have the Royal Guard with us! That's a pretty big group!" She says with a quick double nod. "And once Celestia gets here, she can ask the civilians to help if they can. Mom has touched a lot of lives over the years! I'm sure some will help! Even if it's just to repay her for something she did for them!" Luna bounces in place as she watches the flow of Kirin ponies appear one by one with similar flashes of golden light. Celestia's teleportation magic looks beautiful, but Luna knows her sister won't be able to keep it up much longer.
Amore hums. "No. You do it." She says simply.
Luna blinks, confused. "Pardon?"
Amore leans down and smiles. "You do it, or I'm out. That's the deal." She says with a gentle yet excited smile. "After all, you're a princess too. You need to learn eventually. So go and inspire your ponies. Unless you don't wantttt my help. In which case, I can go back to eating grapes and watching the end times happen!"
Luna blanches a little, looking up towards the stage where the band was playing earlier. She wasn't good at public speaking. That was always Celestia's place to play. But now she HAD to?! Or she'd lose the backup of the only other alicorn on the continent?! "I'd almost instead try to find Dad's map to the Alicorn village and ask for help there," Luna says flatly with a deadpan expression.
Amore smiles cheekily, leaning down to boop nose-to-nose with Luna. "Do you have time to go and appeal to those silly, old, and annoying alicorns that live across the planet? We both know you haven't relearned teleportation yet. So." Amore says as she nudges Luna towards the stage. "Do your job as a princess and appease a foreign dignitary." She says cheekily as she sits back. "And make it good! I wanna see tears in the audience!"
Luna stumbles as she falls forward towards the stage. Huffing. Amore was right. She didn't have time to go anywhere else. It was solidly do-or-die time here. Taking a deep breath, Luna finds herself unable to control her adrenaline. "FINE!" She says in her Royal Canterlot Voice. Everypony suddenly turned towards the princess in a startled fashion.
"EVERYPONY, Griffon, and even you, Yaks! My mother needs your help. We need ponies willing to go out and disorient Unity so we can recover my mom and assist her. We need Unicorns for a shield. Yaks, we need you to stun Unity. Griffons, you can help with the distractions in the sky! All creatures across Equus need to come together to save each other and ourselves. We need to work together! Like my mom always taught us, we are stronger as a unit, as friends and family. Not separated in panic. My mother went alone to protect her family and everyone else from danger. But how are we going to feel if she comes back?"
At this moment, Celestia teleports into Canterlot, stumbling a little as she feels her lack of magic. Her ears twitch in recognition as she hears what Luna is doing. Curiously watching from the crowd.
"I don't want to owe my mother more than we already do. She's done so much for everyone, selflessly even! She stayed behind when my sister and I needed her most. She could have left and gone home to the future thousands of years ago if she wanted. Even in her darkest moments of weakness, she still cared enough to leave behind just enough for us to free her from Unity's control. We need to help her now. We all need to chip in and do our part! Who's with me?" Luna shouts. Celestia giggles as she sees the shadow of her birth father behind Luna. A genuine feeling of sisterly pride forms within the ivory alicorn. Cheers erupt from the crowd as they quickly surround the two sisters. Getting details on the plan and beginning to execute it.
Luna pants heavily as she sits on the stage. After waiting in line for the past five minutes, Amore approached the front with her entire guard. "Where do you need us chief?" Amore says to Luna with a smile. Luna smiles and grits her teeth.
"Don't EVER do that to me again. Please. You never had any intention of saying no, did you? I could slap you if I wasn't so mentally exhausted!" She says as she gives Amore a loving yet still frustrated gaze. "You're all going to the front line. Not because I'm angry, but because well. We need as many casters as we can. Send any pegasi to go with Celestia for the air division. The earth ponies can help with the scouting parties. We need as much land flat for quick movement as possible." She motions to a large group of earth ponies already working to make a straight, smooth path to the battlefield in the distance. Their stomps, shovels, and even their limited magic allow them to mold the earth into a perfectly level environment.
Amore smiles. "Well, I'm glad you grew a little because of it, Luna. No slapping, though. The face is my money maker." Luna gives Amore a death glare, causing the pink alicorn to stiffen. "Alright, alright! You heard her, everypony get moving!" She says as she rushes ahead, mainly to get out of Luna's slapping distance.
Celestia giggles a little bit as she watches Amore run away so quickly. With a gentle step, she sits next to her sister and hugs her tight. "I'm proud of you, Sis. You did great. Hey, wanna be my general instead of co-princess when mom goes home?" She says cheekily, causing Luna to roll her eyes and push Celestia on the shoulder.
"Oh shut up, you dork," Luna laughs before the two stand up. The battle had quieted down in the distance. "I can still sense Mom. So she's okay. Hopefully, they're just taking a break or something." Luna mumbles, "But we should hurry anyway. Everything we need should be ready in a few minutes."
Celestia nods. "Well, you made the plan, so I trust you." She says as she nuzzles Luna on the head. The blue alicorn smiled a little.
"Well, it was on the fly since Amore put me on the spot. But it looks like everycreature agrees with it." Luna lets out a small sigh before smiling up to Celestia. "Let's get this done. After all, this is the first time everyone is working together!" Luna laughs happily. "Maybe after this, Equus will be united once and for all. Maybe."
Celestia giggles a little. "I wouldn't count on it, but at the very least. We're all working together this time." Celestia says as she pulls out a sketchbook from her room, using a swift teleportation spell. Flipping through the pages, the alicorn opens the book, showing off an Equestrian flag with all the races of Equus united on it. It's just a drawing in crayon, but the meaning was there. "One day, right?"
Luna smiles. "Yeah. One day, for sure!"
Moondancer yelps as she ducks a buck from Unity. The tom colt smiles as she catches a leg and pushes up, causing Unity to flip forward. "HAH! Ah." She says as Unity sees herself in mid-air, flapping her wings. Moondancer smiled sheepishly. "Oh right, you're an Alicorn. Does that mean I have to call you Princess Unity?" She says with a curious expression. "Or would it be Unity the Princess of Idiots?" She says with a cheeky smile, Unity growling as she swoops down and tries to attack Moondancer again! The unicorn ducked and dodged every blow at the very last minute. Before raising up and hitting the spirit in the chest!
Unity doesn't even flinch as she looks down at Moondancer. "STOP DODGING!" She says as she attacks the slippery unicorn, the swings always missing at the last moment. "You can't even hurt me anyway! You're too weak! Just lay down and submit!"
Moondancer giggles. "Heh. You said submit." She says with a chuckle before ducking another attack. "And hey! What? You think I'm just gonna stand there and take it?" She says with a wink before yelping as she ducks, grabbing her helmet that was somehow floating above the blade swing. Moondancer puts it back on her head before teleporting behind Unity. Trying to rush towards Twilight.
Unity quickly turns around, "GRRRNNN." She says as she furiously glares at the escaping Moondancer. Diving towards her and continuing her assault! Moondancer escapes every attack untouched.
"Oops! You almost got me there!" She says as she balances on one leg on top of the blade. Unity tries to swing up to hit Moondancer, who gracefully lands on the ground before her. "Normally, I'd say something like, 'Oh, there's a good person in you somewhere. Please stop this friend!' But you're an irredeemable jerk. You're probably proud of it too!" Moondancer giggles a little. "But I can keep you busy forever. You hear me? I will not let you hurt ANYPONY else!" She yells out.
Unity pants heavily as she stares down Moondancer, glaring at her with extreme disdain. Before an idea hits her. "Oh, fine. You're right. I can't hit you. Gee, you remind me of a smiley trashbag from another universe." Unity says as she glows her horn. Moondancer preparing to dodge the attack. "If there's one thing I've learned about creatures like you. Is that you're WAY too easy to play!" She says as she rears back and fires a blast of magic right at the frozen Twilight.
Moondancer's smile changes to a look of horror. "NO!" She says as she rushes forward, hitting Twilight out of the way. The ice holding the alicorn in place shattered as she fell to the ground. Time slows down in Twilight's perception as Moondancer just gives her a smile. "Sorry."
And everything moves again. Moondancer being launched right into a nearby rock. As the magic blast vanishes, she falls forward. Falling to the ground face first. Lifelessly lying on the ground.
Unity just laughs. "Oh, that was SO incredibly predictable! How beautiful! What a LOVING sacrifice! How worthless it'll be in the end! How easily forgotten it will be!" She laughs boisterously, her horn steaming gently.
Twilight just looks in horror. "No... MOONDANCER!" She says as she rushes to her friend. "Please... Please wake up. Please!" She says as she holds her friend tight. Unity just giggling a little.
"OHhhh, should I let the little guard wake up? Should I give her a second wind? Maybe a 'Oh, she dodged at the last second?' HMMM... Nah. Sorry, Twilight, but I'm not going to help a hero who's fighting against the commandment of a greater being. Your friend can stay in the dirt, where she belongs." Unity says with a laugh... although tears stream from her face. "Ugh... why... am I crying?"
Twilight just buries her face into her friend's chest. "No... I told you to stay home. Why didn't you listen? Why is this happening? No. Please let this just be a dream. I didn't want this. I didn't want any of this."
'And yet it happened.' Eternal says behind Twilight. The two are back in their black space within their mind.
'Twilight. You can't keep denying everything. You have to accept it and move on.' Eternal says quietly as she kneels down by the two ponies. 'There will be a time for grieving. There will be a time for forgiveness. But right now, you have to accept what happened.'
'NO. I don't. I can't. I can do something. We can do something!' Twilight shouts.
'There is NO WE!' Eternal says as she makes Twilight look at her. The two doppelgangers stared at each other. One panicked, and the other serious. 'There is only you. Please. Stop this. You can't keep running away. They will forgive you. Just like... Moondancer did.' Eternal says before hugging her other self.
Twilight pants and heaves. Breaking down into tears as Eternal mumbles, 'Don't let Moondancer's sacrifice be in vain.'
Twilight closes her eyes as she holds onto her friend. 'I... I did it all, didn't I? It was my feelings, my desire to go home and see my friends. My want to not be Queen. My fear of losing myself. It was all me. I gave that power to Unity. It wasn't you.' She says as she looks up at Eternal, who smiles and hugs Twilight. The other Twilight begins to fade away gently.
'We were always one pony. Sometimes, you need an imaginary friend to help you see the bigger picture. Sometimes, an evil spirit unicorn makes the friend real. But Twilight. In the end.' Eternal says as she fades away. 'It was you. You are the Princess of Friendship.'
'And you are the Queen of Equestria.'
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11720525
I think even she’d agree with you about that at a certain point. Shame she’s just stubborn.
11724942
Been working on it a lot. Some snuck through yeh. Original drafts were pretty full of it. Any that ended in the final draft was uh. Well just some I missed really. Although I do admit that there is some I left in on purpose too.
11726676
Exactly~! Twilight in this timeline adores cooking. That's a given. She's basically the reason why Celestia took up making pancakes in the first place. However, when she started, she could basically burn water. Somehow. Now, she actually makes good food. Is it as good as the royal chef? No, she can't make those insanely detailed dishes of food and such, however, when it comes to pancakes, well. She can at least stand toe to toe with him. Granted, it's an extreme example because she's had [Data Redacted] years to perfect the craft, but still.
11726782
One thing I'll say, please make an attempt to go to the chapter in which the comment was posted to make a reply. Doing it the way you're doing it outs the comment on the last chapter, and crucially, doesn't notify the commenter.
11727625
ACK. I didn't actually know that! I just usually use the front page. My co-author was the main face of things, so this is the first time I've been handling comments myself. Thanks for the FYI, though. Really appreciate it!