Dissonance: A Hidden World

by Braininthejar

Chapter 46: The Stand

“Is everypony ready?” asked Princess Luna, entering the underground chamber.“Is everypony ready?” asked Princess Luna, entering the underground chamber.

The ponies within saluted at her approach. They were mostly Wonderbolts, or had been, she corrected herself. When Eve healed her servants injured in the siege of the Crystal Empire, she did more than just fix them. She worked some improvements into their bodies, making the whole team faster and stronger, and while she was at it, made some aesthetic adjustments as well.

If that had happened a month ago, they would have all been made white - Celestia did like the aesthetics that Libra had picked for her chosen knights. But now, with the
Princess of the Sun dead, there was only one pony that stood for the kingdom - with the exception of Spitfire, who retained her original coloration, the entire unit’s coats and wings were colored midnight blue, to match Luna’s.

Eve must have done some work on their brains too - there was no talking when Luna entered the chamber, and the faces that turned towards her did so with an identical gesture, as if rehearsed. I hope she didn’t go too far, she thought. We need these ponies for who they are.

“We are,” answered Spitfire aloud. The giant, armored figure of Lightbringer shrugged his wings.

“Let us go then,” said Luna confidently. “The spell has already been prepared to transport you.” She walked past them to the door on the far end of the chamber and through it into a small, circular room, where a tangle of metal contraptions surrounded a seven foot wide metal ring.

“Oh, so that was the power I felt,” said Lightbringer, his voice echoing inside his helmet. “I thought we didn’t have enough magic for a long distance teleport.”

“Not if we wanted to fight at full capacity,” agreed Luna. “But since it’s pointless to send in anypony but the most elite against the Elements, the unicorn corps could contribute their magic to charging our capacitors. The portal will bring us within ten miles of our target, where we will meet with the rest of the strike force.”

A couple seconds passed in silence. As soon as it became obvious that the princess had finished talking, all the pegasi but Light saluted. Luna approached the portal, bringing it to life with a pulse of magic from her horn - the contraptions filling the room started humming, and the space inside the ring collapsed upon itself, becoming a tunnel of swirling, blue light.

Luna looked over her shoulder. “You two enter last. The portal has barely enough power, and your magical resistance might collapse it behind you.”

“Do you think we’ll get them?” said Lightbringer to Spitfire, as Luna entered the portal. “Or will they see us coming, and scram?”

Spitfire watched as the soldiers started following their princess one by one. “With some luck, they won’t. Worst case scenario, they will, and will try to ambush us, using the sanctuary’s magic against us.”

“No,” replied Light, “Worst case scenario is they flee, and we’re back at square one looking for them, isn’t it?”

Spitfire nodded. “You’re right. The stalemate works against Equestria. The longer this lasts, the more they can destabilise it. And against an ambush we at least have a counter-plan.”

The last of the pegasi disappeared inside the ring. Spitfire approached next, with Lightbringer close behind.

“One more thing,” she said. “Fluttershy.”

Lightbringer stopped. “What about her?”

Spitfire looked back at him over her shoulder. “During the last battle… Luna is too self-absorbed to notice such things, but I did. Kindness is the anchor of their defence, and it’s important to eliminate her early. What made you hesitate?”

There was a moment of silence. Spitfire slowly turned around to face her companion.

“I don’t hesitate,” said Lightbringer finally. “I always do exactly what I want. And you’re better suited to fighting Kindness. I’ll scatter them and take out whoever I catch. You can take her out yourself, once she’s unprotected.”

“Lightbringer…” growled Spitfire. “We have a battle plan to follow.”

Lightbringer pushed past her towards the portal, bumping her shoulder guard with his side. “And you have a contingency plan for when I don’t follow it, don’t you? Now, let’s get in before the gate closes and we have to fly all the way there.”

***

“Here?” Obsidian pointed his hoof towards the inner sanctum door. The others, gathered around the already prepared circle with their bags, followed his gesture, staring at the ornate door.

“I should've checked it earlier,” continued Obsidian. “I could’ve undone the wards if I had enough time, but I was too busy clearing the rest of the cave, and now… Why here? Of all the places they could’ve put it?”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you?” said Pierce. “It’s a powerful leyline that the Shattered don’t like visiting.”

“That doesn’t explain it,” grumbled Obsidian. “Under their very noses… that’s so reckless!”

“Perhaps they didn’t know?” proposed Twilight.

“That’s true,” said Rarity. “This place had been a secret for centuries, hadn’t it? They probably found some dusty, old book that mentioned the place, but how many ponies ever knew that this was where the Shattered were created?”

“It’s a miracle it worked as long as it did,” said Aurora. “But it won’t work anymore.”

“Is she really inside there?” asked Scootaloo softly. “I mean… Charcoal.”

Aurora just nodded with a sigh, trying not to look at the filly.

“So, what do we do?” asked Applejack, ignoring the exchange. She waved her hooves at the bags gathered around the circle. “We’re ready to go, but if we do-”

“We cannot leave,” said Aurora. “We have to stay and fight.”

“Fight?” asked Sweetie Belle. “But if they know we’re here… they’ll be prepared this time, won’t they?

Rarity gave her a worried look. “She’s right. Last time the fight was really chaotic, and it worked in our favour in the end. But the last time they were fully prepared to face us, we didn’t do so well…”

“Perhaps our situation isn’t quite so hopeless,” said Bluebonnet. “This place is filled with magic, even with the wards that are still in place draining a lot of it. The pattern-based effects will still work here, but their effect will be diminished, while you should find it easier to draw upon your magic.”

“So if we do have to fight them…” replied Twilight.

“This is the best place to do it,” finished Aurora. She then looked at Bluebonnet and Pierce. “Can you two fight the Shattered alongside us?”

“I do have the gun,” replied Pierce, leaning slightly to show the contraption off. “Whether I can survive long enough to get a clear shot is another matter. Dr. Bluebonnet is a non-combatant.”

“We should get her somewhere safe then,” said Twilight. “Along with the children.” She then turned towards Pierce. “I think we could keep you under our barriers… Wait, no. You’d dispel them when shooting.”

“While we’re at it,” said Aurora. “What will happen if you shoot a Shattered with a pattern gun? Will it snuff out their souls?”

She looked at Obsidian, who shrugged. “To that I can honestly say, I have no idea. One one hoof, they have very little life left in them, they should be more vulnerable than anypony else. But then again, they have a degree of control over their power. They could be able to mitigate the effects. Worst case scenario…”

“They might seem destroyed, but then show up again centuries later,” said Bluebonnet. “Or stay immortal, but not sentient, bouncing back into new bodies and causing them to die, over and over until we contain them. Still… eliminating one of them like this could be worth it, if it buys miss Twilight enough time to come up with a truly permanent solution.”

“Hey, let’s think of the important things now,” Interrupted Applejack, “We need to keep the kids safe! And that cave won’t be when we start fighting.”

“She’s right,” said Rarity. “There are a lot of hiding spots here, but when we fought in Canterlot, we nearly levelled the castle. These buildings won’t stand either.”

“So, what do we do?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Perhaps we can just send them away to where we were planning to go,” proposed Obsidian. “That would get them out of the way entirely, and the Shattered shouldn’t be able to track their destination.”

“You want us to go without you?” asked Applebloom.

Applejack smiled at her sadly. “We don’t want to, but it might be the best way.” She turned towards Bluebonnet. “Mmm… do you think you could go with them, to keep them safe?”

Bluebonnet considered the question. “That depends on where you’ll be sending us. I can keep an eye on them, but if I have to fight, I don’t know if…”

“They’re here,” said Pinkie suddenly. She had been standing away from the others in silence, as if listening to something only she could hear. Now she was looking towards the main gate. Everypony looked where she was looking, just in time to see Fluttershy flying towards them at full speed.

“They’re here!” shouted Fluttershy. “And they have a dragon!”

“A dragon?” asked Aurora. “What would a dragon…”

There was a loud explosion from the direction of the gatehouse.

Applejack was the quickest to react. “Girls!” she shouted towards the fillies. “Go, hide over there!” She pointed her hoof towards one of the niches to the right, where several houses had been drilled in the rock. “We’ll fight them here!”

The three girls nodded their heads and ran, not wasting a moment on looking back. After a moment of hesitation, Bluebonnet grabbed the bags she had her data in, and followed suit.

Pierce took a look at her and bolted in the opposing direction, towards the nearest house.

“Where are you…” growled Obsidian after him. “They’ve already broken through.” He gazed towards the entrance to the cave, which right at that moment exploded with dust. “They must’ve flown through the blizzard at full speed… form up!”

The Elements were already in a circle behind him, Aurora staying there next to Dash, a multi-layered bubble of defensive spells growing around them. Meanwhile, the cloud in the gateway expanded, and then exploded - the Elements braced themselves as the shock wave washed over their shield.

Then there was a blinding flash of lightning.

“They’re coming!” shouted Obsidian. His staff sprang forward, shooting a burning beam of magic at something only he could see. Winged shapes zipped under the ceiling. The girls regained their eyesight just in time to recognize two Wonderbolt formations, one of them already a pegasus short, aiming to encircle them. There was Luna too, keeping further away as she prepared her attack.

Spitfire was leading the first formation, the air around her roiling as she unleashed another explosion. Twilight reacted by conjuring an extra layer of barriers, this time wide enough to cover Obsidian as well.

“Twitchy Tail!” screamed Pinkie Pie in a warning. Twilight had just enough time to look up, and see Hate plow into the ceiling, causing a huge chunk of rock to come crashing down upon her.

Twilight smirked. “Not this time.” Her barrier pulsed, a crest of magical force extending upward from her bubble, cutting the descending rock clean in two. Six pairs of eyes glowed with one light, and then the cave was filled with rainbow colors.

With Lightbringer out of sight after the first impact, Spitfire was the closest target. The rainbow beam went straight at her, curving to stay on target when she went into a desperate dodge, shaping the air around herself to propel her with unnatural speed and grace. She dodged once, twice, the beam chasing her hitting a group of Wonderbolts who failed to get out of the way, sending three pegasi tumbling to the ground, their faces frozen in surprise as the spell sealed them in blocks of crystal.

A giant beam of silver light struck across the cavern, hitting the Elements’ barrier. Everything was lost in a loud explosion, and the spell unravelled, the last of its power hitting a barrier of rock Spitfire hastily threw behind her as she crash-landed.

Twilight looked around, trying to to reorient herself in the situation. Obsidian was still in front of her, dazed, but kept safe thanks to his own spells, even as the outer bubble unravelled. Then she looked past him, and saw the source of the attack.

A dragon, black with vermillion spots and bigger than a barn, had squeezed his way through the gateway. He was now in the air inside the cave, looking down towards them. And in front of his chest, strapped to him with a huge harness, he hauled the pattern siege engine. He squeezed something at the side of the chassis, and the device came to life again, bathing the entire sanctuary in silvery light that made colors dull and details sharp.

“Watch out!” shouted Twilight, gathering as much power as she could manage in the moment she had left. It wasn’t quite enough. The Elements had overcome the machine before, and now they were far stronger; but the spell that combined all of their powers required precious seconds - seconds they did not have.

Obsidian teleported out of the way. The beam struck the Elements’ force bubble, blew up several layers of it before skidding off and continuing inside the cave, trailing a wide line along the floor before finally hitting the inner sanctum entrance. It broke the protective wards with such force that it blew the ornate metal doors off their hinges.

The Elements pushed, and the rest of their shield expanded forward, cutting off the beam, and pushing it away as the magic gained strength. But in doing so, they made the barrier asymmetrical, creating weaker spots that could be exploited.

The attack came from both sides at once; a blinding stream of lightning from the left, and a wave of rippling rock from the right. Twilight could feel that it was more than mere brute force - the Shattered were pushing their pattern against the barrier to further weaken it. She saw Hate fly towards them, catching a boulder bigger than himself that Spitfire had launched in his path, and driving it in front of him like a ram.

Many things happened at once: the barrier broke, the Elements scattered to avoid Hate crashing down on them. Obsidian’s staff struck the floor beside them, grounding Luna’s lightning long enough for them to get out of the way, but then the pegasi soldiers charged in from all sides. Twilight saw a wing blade flying at her face and desperately teleported when it was an inch from her eyes. The spell, suppressed by the powerful pattern discharge, only took her a couple meters, the beam passing between the Elements as they scattered, Luna’s soldiers barely avoiding its lethal touch.

There was another beam of silver, but it wasn’t directed at her - thinner and more precise, it shot from one of the windows at the side of the cave, and struck the dragon in the side.

The mighty monster gasped, his eyes going blank as the hit dimmed his lifeforce. Suddenly the giant body was many tons of deadweight, the membranous wings laughably small for the task of keeping it aloft. It came down with a crunch of breaking bones, the pattern beam fizzling out as the cannon chassis was crushed beneath the enormous bulk.

Luna turned her attention to where the attack had come from, a blast of magic piercing the stone, collapsing a large part of the wall. Twilight hoped Pierce was able to get out of there on time, but she had no time to think of anypony but herself. The beam was gone, but the magic of the cavern had been distorted, no longer able to suppress pattern as she had hoped. The weapon the Shattered had brought with them had managed to level the playing field, if only for minutes.

A dark-coated body fell at her feet. She flinched away, already forming a personal bubble of shields. The pegasus, his side pierced by Obsidian’s staff, looked vaguely familiar to her. In the corner of her eye, she saw Dash and Aurora high-hoof, coating their bodies in red light, then take to the air together. Pinkie had apparently managed to get Rarity and Fluttershy out of harm’s way, but Applejack was still in the middle of the cave, hind hooves scraping against the stone as she was trying to wrestle Hate to a stop. Twilight was about to help her when the ground around her erupted upwards, stone spikes grabbing her shield bubble tightly. She teleported away and retaliated against Spitfire, her beam only missing because a pair of pegasi soldiers chose that moment to ram into her barrier.

***

Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth to suppress a scream. She had no time to look behind her to confirm, but she knew. The pegasus that had charged her a moment before, that Aurora cut down without hesitation, was Sun Chaser. The dark blue coat couldn’t hide the looks Dash had memorised so long ago. And now she was gone and Dash…

… had no time to think about it. Luna had just avoided a pattern shot headed her way, a teleportation taking her across the cave and closer to Rainbow’s ground bound friends. Dash fell backwards, flipping herself over with a quick flap of the wings, and dove down towards her, narrowly avoiding the other Wonderbolts trying to keep her busy in the air.

There’s only three of them! We need to take them down now!

Twilight had managed to get Arrogance out of the way, forcing her to dedicate her abilities to avoiding harm. Rarity was doing her best to shield Applejack from Luna’s lightning attacks, but missed a Wonderbolt, who managed to slip past, narrowly penetrating Applejack’s barriers to cut a line just above the collar of her armor. Though she wasn’t seriously wounded, she cried out in pain, and lost some traction, Hate instantly pushing her back.

Dash flew over her, holding back her instinct to dive down and help - she had to trust the rest of her friends to help Applejack, while she did her part. She dropped lower with a barrel roll that put her at hoof’s reach from the offending Wonderbolt. She kicked away, doing her best to not recognize the face, then continued her flight horizontally, straight at Luna. Her magic flowed around her face, a reflex not her own forming a protective visor just before the Alicorn exploded with blinding light. Dash kicked again, this time creating blades - she felt herself striking metal, Luna rolling in the air to deflect the hit away, and send Dash flying past her. Dash extended the magic around her wings, recovering instantly, ready to strike from another direction. As she did, she got a brief, upside down view of the battlefield; It seemed Pinkie had managed to produce something slippery under Hate’s hooves - the huge pegasus could still use his power over momentum to make himself immobile, but against Applejack’s magical strength, it wasn’t enough to keep him where he stood without traction.

***

“What’s going on there?” asked Scootaloo, peering through her hooves. She was curled on the floor of a house, with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle at her sides. Dr. Bluebonnet, who was curled closer to the window, raised her head, but did not peer out; there was nothing she could learn that would justify the risk of being seen.

“They’re fighting,” she just said instead.

The cave echoed with another explosion. The fillies shuddered, and huddled closer together. “I wish we could do something to help,” whispered Scootaloo.

“Are you crazy?” whispered back Apple Bloom. “Even if there was something you could do-”

“It would be too dangerous,” said Sweetie Belle, “You can’t do that.”

Lightning flashed, thunder cracked. The ponies cowered.

“It’s not about the danger at all,” said Scootaloo. “It’s never not dangerous. See, they’re all there, risking their lives for us, and we’re just…” A sudden tear appeared in the corner of her eye. “Hiding here and shaking with fear. It shouldn’t be like this! I’m tired of not being able to do anything when my friends are in danger!”

There was an explosion, so close that the shockwave blew in some dust and grit through the door and the windows. Both the girls and Bluebonnet yelped in sudden fright, squeezing into opposite corners of the room. “We’re still too close,” said Bluebonnet, forcing herself back onto her hooves. “We need to find a safer place.”

Slowly, the three fillies rose. Bluebonnet was right.The building they were in wasn’t the safest around, just the furthest they’d managed to get to before all Tartarus broke loose in the main cavern. They hit the ground after the first big explosion and hadn’t risen since.

But the room they were in did have another door, one leading further away. Bluebonnet peered in there, making sure there were no chalk lines indicating any hazardous areas, before pointing the way to the children. “This way.”

Something hit the building directly, somewhere above them. With a deafening noise, the ancient stone walls started to crack and give way. Bluebonnet managed to swipe Apple Bloom with her foreleg, and lunged forward. Scootaloo, who had been the slowest to rise, saw the doorway crack out of shape over Sweetie Belle’s head. Without thinking she pushed, hitting her rump with both front legs, sending her friend rolling forward after Bluebonnet, while causing herself to roll backwards onto her back.

Everything disappeared in swirling dust as the doorway broke down. Scootaloo beat her wings frantically, skidding on her back away from the cave-in.

The wall had been the strongest point of the structure, and when it gave way, most of the ceiling followed. Scootaloo clenched her teeth to not scream in fear, squeezing her eyes shut to protect them from the dust while wishing fervently that she could see through tons of rock and find out if her friends had gotten out safely.

She had just managed to scramble back to her hooves when somepony fell in through the broken ceiling. Scootaloo could only catch a glimpse - the room was a huge pile of rock slabs, with just three feet of space between it and the wall, just where the filly ended up. But she saw a glimpse of orange light atop the pile - Applejack was there, fighting Hate, the two exchanging blows that shook the rubble, making pieces slide down a bit every couple of seconds.

I need to get out of here! thought Scootaloo in a panic. Keeping her head down, she half-crawled along the wall, towards the remains of the broken window. Flapping her wings once to help her jump, she climbed over the window sill. Landing outside, she heard a primal scream from the ruin - perhaps Applejack had realised what building she and Hate had hit. Scootaloo had no more time to think of that - she just ran away from the house, pieces of rubble falling behind her.

She finally stopped, realising that in her panic she started running straight toward the main fight.

Where to go? Scootaloo looked around. The building behind her had collapsed completely; being carved out of rock, it had been superbly stable, but Applejack and Hate had collapsed the top floor, and its weight caused each level to give way in turn. Scootaloo thought of running deeper into that part of the cave, where hopefully her friends had gone, but before she could, the remains of the building exploded, as Hate and Honesty brought their fight back into the open. While Applejack had so far avoided serious injury, it was obvious she was losing the fight.

As Scootaloo turned towards the main cavern, one of the buildings on the opposite side blew up, clouds of dust and smoke bursting through the windows. Spitfire turned around to return to the fight, Aurora, Twilight, and Pinkie chasing her around the cavern, one in flight, the other teleporting, while the last bounced into the air like a rubber ball. On the other side Luna was trying to take part in the fight, but Fluttershy was keeping her in check: supported by Rarity’s magic from the ground, she would follow the alicorn, keeping up with her while keeping her within her pacifying aura, even teleporting to follow her when the princess tried to confuse her.

Obsidian seemed cut away from the fight by a bunch of soldiers, but there were just three of them left, and it didn’t look like they could stop him for long. The last one, a young mare leaving a lightning contrail as she flew, was exchanging blows with Dash, keeping her from rejoining Aurora.

The good news was, the Elements seemed to have an advantage. The bad news was that there didn’t seem to be anywhere to run - in her haste to escape imminent danger, Scootaloo had inadvertently herded herself into the open.

Scootaloo wanted to cry for help, but bit her tongue before she did - attracting attention to her would put her in even more danger. Instead she ducked towards the closest cover - a ridge of stone spikes that had burst from the ground earlier, probably created by Spitfire. It went across the field, but seemed to point in the only direction that didn’t lead towards the fighting, at least as long as she followed it quickly. She crawled alongside it, eyeing nervously the cavern wall on the other side. The house across the cave was still smoking from the explosion, but there was a small branch of the cave next to it, partially obscured by large crystal formations. If she could get in there before another big blast hits the floor, she would be safe… relatively. She started crawling forward, doing her best to stay behind the stone spikes, hoping that those fighting in the air would be too busy to look in her direction. She fell flat on her belly when a loud explosion sounded overhead. She couldn’t linger there.

She was near the end of the ridge now, preparing for a desperate run towards the cover of crystals. She looked around to see if the moment was right, and saw something she did not expect. The inner temple… the door is open!

Scootaloo’s brain, so far focused on getting to cover alive, ground to a halt. The door is open. That means the spells are broken, doesn’t it? They can get in now, and if they find Vengeance, she’ll be free! I have to do something, but what? She looked up, at Dash, who had just got rid of her opponent and joined the fight against Spitfire. What would…?

The conversations of the previous days replayed in her mind, distorted snippets of her friends begging her not to put herself in danger. They’d be sad without me. I don’t want to be like Minty. Or… was Charcoal like Minty? She felt her jaw clench. I can’t stay here! I need to move now, and… somepony has to make sure!

She got up to her hooves and ran, as fast as she could, but not towards safety. She dashed through the open field between the ridge and the doorway, leapt over the threshold and skidded to a halt on the dusty stone floor inside.

The round chamber was surprisingly cold and silent - it almost seemed like the sounds of the fierce battle outside were muffled despite the open doorway. Scootaloo stopped, her confidence that she was doing the right thing melting away rapidly. The black diamond was there, on the dais in the middle of the room, just like Twilight and Aurora had described, its red glow illuminating the whole chamber in blood-colored halo. The four alicorn statues cast sinister shadows over the back wall. And around the dais… Scootaloo shuddered. There were bones, crumbled remains still dressed in what had been ceremonial robes, but would become clouds of dust at the slightest touch.

Swallowing loudly, Scootaloo approached the dais. There was one skeleton different than the others, right in her path. A pegasus skeleton with still visible outlines of black feathers. Suddenly the filly was sure she wasn’t alone in the sanctum. There was nothing to be seen… or was there? The dust, disturbed by Scootaloo’s breath, seemed to draw shapes in the air, as if outlining something invisible and elusive. With every step she took, the filly experienced a sensation of being watched. She carefully stepped between the bones, and looked close at the diamond.

“Uh… is anypony here?” she risked. There was no reply. Scootaloo reared, putting her front hooves at the edge of the stone. She felt a jolt of power that made the hair on her back stand on end, but nothing more dramatic happened. She looked around once again. Just then something exploded just outside the door, the wind disturbing the bones, and filling the sanctum with swirling dust. Scootaloo clenched her mouth shut to stop herself from a coughing fit. “I’m very sorry, but it’s not safe here anymore. I need to take it,” she whispered, and then grabbed the gem with her teeth.

***

Applejack was in pain, and her bleeding was only a part of it. When it turned out the Shattered were trying to divide them, she volunteered to keep Hate busy, so that the others could turn their enemies’ plan against them by ganging up on Arrogance. She was doing a good job of it too, until Hate managed to surprise her by breaking the ground beneath their feet, launching Applejack and himself into a house at the edge of the battlefield.

As they crashed through wall after wall, Applejack realised that this was the house Apple Bloom and her friends had run off to. Were they crushed under tons of rock? She couldn’t tell, and Hate wasn’t going to let her find out. She could not see his face under the helmet, but she could feel he relished her suffering, mercilessly exploiting her distraction. Applejack knew, with certainty that only the power of Honesty could give her, that Hate wanted her broken, in despair, and then dead.

Another blow broke through her shoulder pad, bringing him closer to his goal. She could match him in pure strength and durability - even without the fancy tricks others had learned, the awakened Element granted her immense raw power. But Hate was both more experienced and more vicious, the greatest expert in the world in breaking pony bones. And she could not focus properly on fighting him, not when every fiber of her being screamed at her to abandon the fight and search through the rubble for Apple Bloom.

The shoulder pad flew through the air, landing on the ground with a rattle. Applejack had managed to move out of the way enough to avoid a dislocated joint or torn tendons, but the edge of Hate’s hoof still managed to rip through her magic and her hide, leaving behind a bleeding gash. She jumped away, turned, and bucked, sending two spectral horseshoes flying at him - they managed to dent his armor, but not enough to even slow him down. He pounced, forcing Applejack to jump out of the way, her body protesting painfully at the vigorous movement. Then he laughed, a horrible low sound distorted by his helmet into something that sounded like the noise of breaking metal.

Applejack tried to strike him again, but he met her head-on with a blow of his own, then swung his wings inward, trying to box her ears; she barely got out of the way, the tips of the tattered feathers swatting her with the force of metal bars. She saw the next attack coming, but had no time for anything but a desperate block - her spectral armor became a tight ball, and the kick that would have compressed her ribcage sent her flying instead. She was aware of hitting a wall; something collapsed around her, and her shield went out. She looked around in a daze, trying to find somepony who could help her. Her gaze found Rarity across the cave from her - the tailor was using her powers to support Fluttershy. But as Applejack focused on her face, she saw the matching expression of despair - she too had seen the building collapse.

Hate pounced again, intent on catching Applejack against the rock behind her back. In response, the floor erupted in spikes - they broke uselessly against the pegasus’ armor, his pattern aura nullifying the magic that hardened their tips, but they did slow him enough for Applejack to roll out of the way.

“Focus!” shouted Obsidian, following his first spell with a charge, a spear tip of crackling energy forming at the end of his staff. Hate saw him coming, and managed to dislodge himself from the wall just in time - he jumped out of the way, and then came crashing down, breaking the floor underneath into a fan of stone shrapnel.

“Tie him up like last time!” shouted Applejack, as Obsidian dodged the shot by turning into a cloud of blue smoke. But Hate wasn’t having any of that; he charged in, kicking Obsidian’s staff away, and then followed up with a kick after kick, forcing him to dodge back into cloud form whenever he was about to reform. Then Applejack saw a splatter of blood appear out of nowhere, when Hate punched through the cloud.

He’s hurting him! she realised to her horror, He’s breaking the spell somehow.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, she charged back into combat.

***

Gloria transformed the air behind her. The explosion threw off her pursuers while propelling her forward, but there was only so much she could do with hydrogen. In the corner of her eye she could see her companions tied up in their respective battles. Lightbringer was winning his fight, and clearly having fun, but Absinthe was unable to fight at all, and getting more frustrated by the minute.

We cannot let them play their game here, she thought. Twice already had Pinkie Pie almost got her tangled in streamers. She seemed to have gotten rid of the traitor Pierce, but with her retinue already eliminated, that still left her one against four; Twilight kept following her persistently despite all the attacks sent her way, and the duo of Aurora and Dash were keeping constant pressure on her. Sharing Loyalty between the two of them, they lacked the power to face the likes of Lightbringer, but Gloria wasn’t nearly as durable as him - Eve’s upgrades made her stronger and tougher than an ordinary pony, but not nearly to the level magic was capable of. She had to rely on her powers to stop or nullify attacks, and on her magic-resistant composite armor to stop those that got through.

And right now it was not enough. The two pegasi flew at her from opposite sides, leaving her too little space to form an explosion, or even dodge - she ended twisting awkwardly in the air, flying between them, while trying to deflect both at once. Dash was easier to defend from, though she struck harder. Aurora… Gloria felt the pain as a spectral blade trailing the tips of Aurora’s wing slid over her armor, clipping some feathers as only a last second turn prevented her from losing the whole wing at the joint.

The was close, she thought as she went into a spin, leaving behind a cloud of nitric acid to force her pursuers apart. She could have… no, she could have struck the neck if she wanted. She had enough of a window. Why would she try to cripple and not kill? The answer was obvious. They are not trying to kill me. They are setting me up for a sealing spell.

She needed a solution, and fast. The attack did cost her some maneuverability, and Twilight was already neutralizing the acid. Gloria flew up, under the ceiling, causing a line of stalactites to emerge behind her, forcing Rainbow Dash to expend her magic on crashing through them, as she was too fast to stop her own momentum.

She needed a second to think of a plan.

Centuries of battles flashed before her mind’s eye, strategies she had tested and rehearsed in the past with the other Shattered. She looked around the battlefield, and the right solution clicked into place. She avoided one more spell from Twilight, and turned upside down in the air, her hooves briefly hitting the ceiling, as she transformed a long line of rock above her.

“LUNA! Indirect bombardment!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Their eyes met, just a couple subtle moves needed to pass the information about positioning. Luna flew towards Rarity, then up, as Fluttershy followed her again, keeping her away from the battle. Gloria couldn’t see the rest of it because right at that moment Pinkie caught up with her again, a toy pig snout across her face snorting in Gloria’s next cloud of gas before she could detonate it. They collided in the air, and Gloria had little choice but to follow the impact, launching her away until she realised she was being pulled back - a long string of bubble gum connected her chest plate to the Element of Laughter.

“Not good enough,” she growled, and flew up, two sheets of rock erupting from the ceiling like giant scissors, cutting the tether off, and shielding her from a salvo of glowing rings that Twilight had shot at her to tie her up.

Meanwhile, Luna had got into position. She could not attack anypony directly with even her cold mind affected by the power of Kindness. But she could overcome the effect to small extent, and that was all Gloria’s setup needed to work. A thin line of lightning struck the ceiling. Luna flew aside, switching to magic to project a protective bubble around herself, as a part of the ceiling exploded, the rocks that had been dislodged from their positions by Hate's first charge coming down.

Pinkie saw it coming first. Gloria saw her grab Twilight, and push her out of the way. The others weren’t quite that fast. Aurora and Dash managed to swerve out of the way, despite the sudden shock wave that hit them. But Fluttershy and Rarity hadn’t expected a successful attack from Luna. Fluttershy managed to shield herself, but her hastily erected bubble only barely stopped the falling rocks, knocking her out of the air, and making her barrier bounce like a rubber ball, with the frightened pegasus tumbling inside, until she rolled to the ground, stunned, her aura of peace flickering out. On the ground, Rarity had to break the link that supplied her friend with power, instead forming a tiled roof of barriers to try to stop the tons of rock falling over her. She strained, but just before the shield gave way, Aurora flew underneath it, swiping the unicorn along as she passed her.

That is better.

Gloria wasted no time. With everypony else distracted, either rescuing their friends or being rescued, she could focus her attention on Rainbow Dash. The swirling dust in the air rose towards the pegasus, the power of Arrogance transforming the silicon into tiny glass shards. Rainbow’s eyes were protected, but for one breath she was taken by surprise, inhaling the irritant, which sent her into a coughing fit.

Lightning flashed behind Gloria, casting bizarre shadows across the cavern, the thunder booming deafeningly. No longer restrained by Kindness, Luna rejoined the battle with her full power, strands of electricity lashing towards her foes. One struck towards Fluttershy, breaking through her remaining defenses as she was trying to get up, and sending her reeling. The other struck at Aurora, who barely blocked it, and then arced aside towards Rarity, forcing her to hide behind her shields again.

Gloria caused another rock to fall from the ceiling at Dash, then, when the still coughing pegasus swerved to dodge it, flew into her , kicking her in the chest with her front legs. As the magic and pattern collided, the defensive spells on the armor were dispelled and the chest plate broke apart; Gloria couldn’t transform it into jagged shards as she liked to do, but she did manage to send Rainbow Dash falling. She followed her, forming a maw of stalagmite teeth where the pegasus was about to hit the ground.

Something washed over her, making her head spin, a wave of magic that didn’t originate from any of her opponents. It came from the center of the mountain, from behind the broken doors of the inner sanctum. She could see the world around her gain color, and lose its edges, and she could feel her powers wane rapidly.

They’re all here! What did they do?

A cupcake flew through the air, falling inside the stone maw. Against all logic, it closed, and started chewing, Rainbow Dash bouncing off the front of its teeth. On the other side of the cave, there was a loud explosion, the duo of Obsidian and Applejack somehow pushing Hate off his feet and into a wall. Rarity erupted with a purple halo, her magic stretching in thick strands to reach Aurora, who rapidly accelerated, colliding with Luna.

This is bad. The balance has shifted sharply towards magic. Should we retreat?

Her brain filled with calculations. It seemed that, overwhelming as it felt at the first moment, the current level of magic was just the cave’s ambient aura. It wasn’t a magical attack - something had been blocking all this energy and must have been removed. Have they planned it? she thought, To draw us in and spring the trap when we thought we had the advantage? Unlikely. If they had, they wouldn't have waited so long to do it. There must be a factor at play here that is beyond their control. Is this the mysterious ally supporting them that I have hypothesized about? I must know.

While she was thinking, she didn’t stop fighting for a second, reflexes honed through millennia guiding her out of harm’s way. A ring of force closed around her, but she managed to disrupt the spell before it could ensnare her. She clashed with Rainbow Dash again, causing a burst of freezing air to ice over her visor, then buck her in the face just as she reflexively dismissed the outer layer of barriers to clear it. She followed with a cloud of flammable gas, but Pinkie dispersed it with a giant paper fan before it could be detonated.

Gloria flew straight at her, dodging an ice blast from Twilight in the process, but as she struck with her front hooves, she already knew she had missed - the blow only shattered a wooden cutout of Pinkie.

How is she so powerful?, she thought, she should not be able to operate on this level without awakening. She is thwarting my every effort. Is there something I have missed?

Behind her, there was another clash. Fluttershy was unconscious, but Rarity did a good job protecting her from getting finished off, while Aurora engaged Luna in close combat, boosted by Generosity’s power.

She only has one serious opponent to face, thought Gloria. If she eliminates just one of the two, the other will not be a challenge. With her access to magic, she is not as hampered here as I am. She could get rid of all three of them, as long as nopony else interrupts. In that case…

She dove down towards the floor, trailing a stream of gas behind her, before setting it on fire. Dash managed to get out of the way with a barrel roll, staying on target. Gloria tapped the floor with her hoof in a fly-by, causing two rock pillars to shoot out of the ground; one that got in the way of Twilight’s spell, the other shooting out at an angle to knock away Pinky's anvil that was about to fall on Gloria’s head. She swerved, flying low and using rubble as cover. With her three opponents chasing her, she headed straight to the inner sanctum, flying through the doorway at full speed, before flying up to get a bird’s eye view of the chamber.

The sanctum had changed little since she last visited it. The passage of ages couldn’t really do much to deteriorate the stone statues, ancient even before her time. The one thing that did change was a ring of crumbling pony bones scattered over the floor, and a conspicuously empty dais in the middle. Something had been placed here, she thought, and then it was removed. Was it a sealing ritual? That would reroute some of the magic here, and once the binding was broken, it would be released.

She had no more time to analyse. Dash flew into the sanctum, a burst of magic shielding her from the spikes that erupted from the doorway like wicked teeth, then Twilight teleported in, her battle-ready expression melting into panic as she surveyed the room.

“The gem!” she shouted, “It’s gone!”

Dash stared at the dais, then at Gloria. “We won’t let you take it!”

I didn’t, Gloria almost said aloud. What is she talking about? Who could be sealed here that Twilight would be so panicked about?

The realisation of the obvious answer hit her like a physical blow. Here!? Of all the places? How could we have missed it? How did the rebels know about the sanctuary? We had destroyed all the historical-

The pie appeared out of nowhere. Gloria tried to shape the air to deflect it at the last second, but it was charged with too much magic. It hit her face, and for a moment her whole world became custard.

“Now! Seal her!” she heard Pinkie Pie scream. She reached around to shield herself, but the magical mess sliding down her face dulled her pattern senses. She managed to feel the floor underneath, but before she could form it into a shield, Dash sprang forward, and tackled her into a wall. She pushed away with her hooves, freeing herself for a moment, but a beam of magic hit her before she could recover.

How are they doing this? she thought in sudden disbelief, as two more beams converged on her. Is this place making them so powerful? None of these three is even awakened yet…

There was a brief moment where she shook the custard from her eyes, and saw a large, yellow topaz floating in front of her chest. Then her world started to fold upon itself.

***

Aurora was flying faster and faster. Luna was growing more frustrated by the second. Of course she was fighting alone against the two, but neither of them had access to their full power, while she had a superior alicorn body with the power to shift between magic and pattern. They should have been dead by now, and yet, she was still being opposed, Rarity standing over Fluttershy, shielding the both of them, while Aurora kept up with Luna in the air.

Luna split into mirror images, but Aurora followed her unerringly. Then she used a blast of light to blind and burn her, but Aurora used her magic to turn her barrier mirror-like. Luna turned to swing at her, a coruscating line of lightning extending from the tip of her horn, but Aurora weaved around it, returning the attack with an energy blade of her own forming at the tip of her wing, forcing the princess in turn into a desperate dodge.

“A thousand years, and you haven’t any new tricks!” jeered Aurora, striking a blow after blow while Luna blocked.

“I’ll show you a new trick,” growled Luna in return. She shifted her body’s balance towards magic, and teleported from the corner Aurora had driven her into, across the cave, coming up behind Rarity.

She could see Aurora turning around, rushing back towards her, but she couldn’t possibly make it in time. The Shattered charged in, shifting modes again, Rarity’s protective barrier popping like a soap bubble at the touch of her horn.

Rarity and Fluttershy weren’t there. The princess was briefly surrounded by scattered pieces of images, as if she had just broken a huge mirror.

“Where are you?” she turned around. Now that she knew of the trick, she could feel the true source of magic concealed against the background magic of the cave, two faint sources of electricity that she knew were neural systems. Rarity wasn’t standing very far - indeed she might not have moved at all, instead using illusions to play a perspective trick.

Luna could feel Aurora approach, but not soon enough to avoid her. She only had the time to project a simple barrier when the angry pegasus collided with her in an explosion of light colored like her namesake. The shield was broken, and Luna was sent tumbling, finally coming to a stop in a pile of rubble. She tried to get up, but Aurora rammed her again before she could reestablish her shields.

She could see Rarity standing in the distance, radiating more power to help the former Element of Loyalty. Further in the distance Obsidian and Applejack had managed to bind Lightbringer, wrapping him in ropes of living light that slowed him down until they finally dragged him down to the ground. She blocked a hoof blade coming her way, only for it to emit a pulse of magic on impact, disrupting her own magic before she could teleport - no running away for the next couple of seconds. She struck back, forcing Aurora away with whipping strands of lightning, Then the entrance of the inner sanctum erupted with multicolored light.

A sealing spell?

Luna froze, staring wide-eyed. The next blow from Aurora hit her in the chest, breaking the gorget of her armor, and sending her to the ground again. Her response was a surprised yelp. She came to a stop, and gazed up into Aurora’s eyes, a soft and confused expression on her face. “Aurora… is that you?” she stammered.

The next blow didn’t come. Aurora threw her wings wide, stopping her momentum, and came to a halt at hoof’s reach, staring at the Moon Princess.

“A… Aquila?” she gasped in disbelief.

A blade of lightning extended from Luna’s horn, piercing the battered armor and sinking into Aurora’s chest.

“No,” said Luna. “I told you she was gone, you moron.”

Then her horn exploded with lightning, filling the cavern with blinding light. A stream of energy washed over Aurora’s body, then arced towards Rarity, catching her off guard and overcoming her defenses.

Luna lunged, coming back to her hooves in a flash, her customized neural system ignoring the pain signals as she pushed her damaged body to the limit. She could hear Obsidian curse loudly as he abandoned his attempts to capture Lightbringer alive, driving a glowing spear his staff had turned into through the restrained pegasus before rushing towards her, disappearing in a puff of blue smoke.

Not fast enough.

Luna rammed into Rarity. The unicorn was still stunned - she reflexively wrapped herself in multifaceted shields, diverting the lightning blade away from her vital spots, and cutting it off before it could fry her, but it still went through her shoulder, sending her reeling in pain. Luna landed where Rarity had stood. She could feel the spell that had been barring her from teleporting had already unravelled. As Obsidian appeared above her, swinging to strike, the alicorn grinned triumphantly, and reached down.

***

Seconds later, Twilight, Dash, and Pinkie Pie emerged from the inner sanctum. They found Obsidian fuming with anger, Applejack screaming her head off as she searched frantically through the far end of the ruins, and Rarity shocked and injured, sitting over Aurora's smoking body.

“Aurora!” screamed Dash, flying to her side, slowing down and slumping to the ground as it dawned on her what she was seeing. “What…” she started weakly, her ears dropping.

“It was Envy,” explained Obsidian. “She tricked her, injured Rarity, and escaped.” He turned angrily towards the exit. “More importantly…”

Rarity swallowed a sob. “Fluttershy… she took Fluttershy.”

Comments

[DDDDDDDDD23]

they made a mistake telling the crusaders about charcoal. They will think about her being just like them when she was acutally a filly raised in a war zone who most likely was given combat training.

[DDDDDDDDD23]

Hope you have a sequel after this.

[Braininthejar]

10037510
What do you mean by a sequel?

[Braininthejar]

10037506
Not exactly combat training, since she WAS a kid, but she did have a life style that came with its own set of skills. While she didn't have the width of experience that the CMC had, she was much better at stealth and generally staying alive.