Chapter 16: *Insert Rules of Nature Refrence Here*
Three sets of hoof steps rang out through the back hallways of the Canterlot palace, heading in the direction of the artifact vault. It was the strange unicorns in the black and yellow suits. Their yellow sunglasses had been joined by surgical masks to cover the lower halves of their heads, alongside boxy-looking vambraces on their right forelegs, with a yellow crystal sticking out of the end, pointed towards the floor.
The front one was carrying a briefcase wrapped in a yellow levitation spell next to him, while the other two strode forwards, one carrying nothing and the other with a welding torch.
Soon they arrived at a set of double doors, guarded by two Solar Guard.
"Stop right there tourists." One of them said, stepping forwards. "This is a restricted area, how did you even get this far?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Wordlessly the three unicorns raised their right hooves and pointed them at the guards. Yellow beams streaked out of the crystal rapid-fire and shot forwards, striking the two several times each. Holes were burned through the guards and both of them dropped to the floor. Dead.
Without a second pause, they continued, pushing open the double doors and entering a second room, this one filled with stained glass windows and obviously magical artifacts sitting on pedestals in jars. A crown here, a scepter there.
None of them were their concern, however. Instead, they were focused on the massive vault door at the other end of the room, behind which all the dangerous artifacts were stored. The lead one passed the briefcase to the agent with the blow torch before he and the unburdened one took cover behind the door. The one with the blowtorch quickly approached the vault door and began cutting into it.
"We have 30 minutes before the next set of guards arrive from patrol, then the bombs we planted go off. We have to be out of here by then." The leader said with eyes narrowed behind his shade. The second nodded as he brought his gauntlet up to the side of his head.
"What bug pony planning!" Rutherford suddenly roared, stomping his hooves on the table and standing up, shooting a death glare at King Thorax.
"I assure you I have no idea what is going on!" Thorax said with eyes widened, backing away from the table.
Ember slammed her fist on the table and stared down Rutherford, fire building in her throat.
"Lay off him, hairball. If you think for one-second Thorax has anything to do with this, you're an idiot, or would it also be fair to accuse you of some conspiracy every time a yak smashed something they didn't own?" She hissed, smoke pouring from her nostrils.
Gruff laughed. "Hah! Of course, the fire-breathing monster would take the side of the giant bug." He hissed, a smile coming to his beak.
Ember's eyes shot wide and a fire started visibly building in her mouth.
Johan took a second to nod. "Hmmm... at least politics are the same in this world." He said blankly.
Celestia stood up quickly, her horn glowing. "Everypony, please! Let's all calm down! I am sure we can all settle this like adults!" She shouted in a gentle tone. It did little to clear the tension, but it at least managed to get everyone to sit back down and quiet down.
"Now, let's handle this one at a time," Celestia said, turning her head to her student to talk next. Twilight quickly stood up, looking at Thorax.
"As the changeling representative, do you have any idea what this could be?" Twilight asked in a non-confrontational tone.
"I'm sorry, if I did I would tell you," Thorax said, visibly shrinking under everyone's gaze. "C-can you tell us where you met this guy?"
"We met him in Ponyville, during an invasion led by Queen Chrysalis." Shining Armor said, a firm but non-accusatory tone in his voice. Thorax's eyes instantly widened.
"Chrysalis led an invasion on Ponyville? But how? With what?" The ling cried. Luna quickly raised her voice.
"According to several prisoners we have since interrogated, the queen before Chrysalis hid an army in reserve during her rule, and Chrysalis managed to recruit them," Luna said, eyes narrowed slightly. "They also spoke of a shady one-eyed figure named U'val. Does that name sound familiar to you by any chance?"
Thorax shook his head. "No ma'am." He quickly replied.
A sudden hum of thought came from Gruff, and all eyes turned to him. He was resting his beak on a fist, his eyes closed. He slowly opened them with a glare.
"I promised myself I wouldn't interact, but I can't stand to see you all run around confusedly without asking the obvious questions," he said, his gaze then turning to Thorax.
"Have you considered that, maybe, there are other Changeling hives around?" He stated. "Maybe there was another hive who went through that same eyesore transformation as you, but instead of turning into pussies they stayed warriors. Trust me it happens, there is no race on this planet more divided than us Gryphons, so I am sort of an expert on the matter.”
Thorax instantly shook his head. "There is only one Changeling Hive." He said.
"And how do you know?" Celestia chimed in.
"In a thousand years of history, We never found so much as a drone from another hive, never mind a hive itself. And not for lack of trying, Chrysalis sent scouts to every corner of the world." Thorax said, clearing his throat. "We also have, well... I feel silly for bringing this up..."
He inhaled. "We have legends and stories. Stories that reinforce the idea that we are the only hive. But you know, they are probably just mythology."
Johan suddenly spoke up. "All mythology has at least the smallest basis in reality, such as historical figures being aggrandized into being deities." Everyone's gaze instantly shot onto the deer. Twilight opened her mouth and looked over the rest of the group.
"I was just about to say that." She said with a nod.
Thorax gulped as all eyes returned to him. "Well... our legends do speak of a cataclysm that hit the changeling race: some kind of war, or a natural disaster. The specifics are a little... vague, but they do claim that practically all changeling life was exterminated, and only a single city remained. Before the cataclysm reached them too, a blacksmith by the name of Ka'vad used his apron as a banner to lead the people away into the wilderness to escape." Thorax explained. "Ka'vad was real of course. He was Chrysalis's great grandfather... which I guess makes him my great great grandfather, but we changelings don't know if this is all really true or not. It might have just been a story Ka'vad's daughter made up for legitimacy which passed down the years as fact."
Twilight grimaced. "Well, I can see why you would think there aren't other hives," she said grimly.
Johan piped up once again. "Hold on a second..." He said looking at the antler. "This Platinum Guard guy. What if he is what you changelings were like before the cataclysm?"
The door to the room suddenly slammed open and an obviously old unicorn marched inside. He was grey in color, with a white beard. He was wearing a rather cartoonish robe and wizard's hat covered in bells and stars. A knapsack full of books was resting over his back.
"I do believe you are correct Mr..." he said, narrowing an eye at Johan.
The deer, and everyone else in the room for that manner, blinked in confusion. "Uh... it's Johan."
"Thank you." The unicorn said, placing the bag on the table between Gruff and Rainbow Dash, pulling up a chair and sitting down. "Mr. Yawn is correct."
Johan's confused blinking turned into a scowl.
"Ah, yes. Derek, Johan, this is Starswirl the Bearded, the greatest unicorn wizard to have ever lived. Previously in limbo for the past thousand years. If anyone knows anything, it's going to be him!" Twilight said with a smile. Starlight Glimmer rolled her eyes.
"Unless that something includes common sense or respect." She whispered to Derek. Derek snickered.
"While I will admit that I know more about the topic than most of you. I will admit I too am in the dark as to exactly who these... creatures are." He said, throwing a suspicious glance at Thorax and Ember. "Like citizen Thorax here, I am merely going off legends, though mine has only gone through a couple of centuries of corruption, rather than a millenia."
Johan's eyes widened for a second and he threw a glance to the changeling. Referring to a king like that could be taken as nothing but disrespect and he expected an explosion of rage. Instead, Thorax pursed his lips and put a hoof on Ember's shoulder, who looked like she was about to jump over the table and bite the Unicorn's head off in his stead.
"In my day, legends of Alicorns were extremely plentiful, though they were mostly extinct at that point as Celestia and Luna and their Mother and Father were the only Alicorns that I am aware of at the time," Starswirl said setting his hooves on the table. Johan noticed Luna and Celestia's eyes lower to the ground at the mention of their parents. "The most prolific legend of the time was what was referred to at the time as a 'War of Gods.' Every race had a legend similar, though I consider the pony one closest to the truth."
Starswirl pulled up a book, an old one covered in dust with a ragged cover, and set it on the table. The title read 'Bellum Deorum', old equestrian for War of Gods.
"The legends speak of a war between Alicorns and a race of extremely powerful creatures who claimed to be Gods and fed off the worship of, in the words of the author, 'lesser races'," Starswirl explained. The non-ponies at the table couldn't help but frown. "I am ashamed to admit that the thought never reached my mind that the pretenders in the story were Changelings."
"Of course," Luna said, nodding along. "After all, what is worship but a stronger form of love."
Starswirl nodded. "I asked Queen Mundus and King Solis," Johan assumed he was talking about Celestia and Luna's mother and father respectively. "But they refused to answer my questions. They claimed they wanted to 'keep the past buried.' I can only guess why."
"So wait," Derek said, eyes narrowing. "You're telling me we are going up against a god?"
Starswirl shook his head. "No, I am telling you we are going up against someone who claims to be a god. It is a big difference."
"That difference being?" Gruff asked with a raised eyebrow.
"One is a near-omnipotent being, the other is a bug with delusions of divinity," Starswirl said with narrowed eyes. "I doubt he can do anything to stop five alicorns, the pillars of Equestria and the Elements of Harmony. We merely need to track him down and finish him off. Then we can focus on more... important matters." The unicorn said, turning his gaze to Derek.
"A new alicorn, and a male one at that. This could prove... useful to my studies." He said with a nod, a smile coming to his face. "Especially if my theory about you is correct."
Derek smiled back. "Hey, so long as you can teach me some magic. I'm up for anything!" He said.
"Wait a minute," Rutherford said with a frown. "Rutherford not been paying attention. Yak spaced out. Rutherford did not notice green horse and small antler horse until now. Who are you?"
Almost everyone else in the room facepalmed/face hooved.
"Oh, well, I am Derek, and this is my friend Johan." The alicorn replied with a smile as he wrapped a hoof around the deer's shoulders. "We're foreigners. Like... really foreign. I don't want to get too much into it yet, cause it'd take a while to explain, but we are here to help!"
Gruff rolled his eyes. "Yes well, between Derek here, your fancy jewelry and those two." he waved a claw over to Celestia and Luna. "I think you have this handled. Let me know next time you offer free food, and stop calling me because some random new unthreatening villain just showed up in the future, please. Thank you." Gruff sat up and turned to leave.
Just then, the skylight at the top of the room went dark. All eyes shot upwards. Something massive and cyan was passing over it. Then it was gone and the sunlight returned. There was a second of dreadful quiet.
"What the..." Gruff started.
Then there was a massive earsplitting crash coming from the castle courtyard. The entire mountain shook for a couple of seconds. Everyone in the room could hear the screaming. Then alarms went off and the shouting of guards became apparent outside of the room.
The first agent struggled to keep his footing as the room shook. The second had to brace himself against the wall to keep steady.
"What in Equestria was that?" The third one asked, looking back from the vault. "The bomb wasn't supposed to go off for another ten minutes!"
The first growled. "Something's wrong. We have to get out of here. Now."
"I agree." The third agent returned as he finally breached the vault door. Tossing the blow torch aside, he rushed inside with the briefcase, coming upon his target. Resting on a pedestal, in the middle of the room, was the Alicorn Amulet. The agent quickly picked up the amulet and shoved it inside the briefcase.
"We are leaving. Come on." The second agent finished, and quickly all three of them took off.
Johan gulped as he, and everyone else in the room for that manner stayed still and kept quiet, the all-encompassing feeling of dread kept them from doing anything else.
"Could it have just been an earthquake?" Derek asked. Twilight shook her head.
"We're aren't near any fault lines." She said.
Then it happened. Like the lid of a can, the roof of the room was ripped clean off and then tossed aside like useless trash. Rocks and rubble rained down from above, large enough to smash someone flat. Shining Armor sprang into action, jumping into the center of the room. His horn lit up, and a purple barrier formed above everyone.
Wooden beams, boulders, and shards of broken glass fell from above, piling onto the shield. Cracks formed in it, making the shield resemble a window that had a dozen rocks thrown at it, yet it held. Shining Armor let out a grunt as the shield creaked. Then he saw what had just deroofed the room.
A towering monstrosity of cyan and white stone slowly came into view, looking down into the room from above. One of its two massive antlers blocked out the sun as it slowly and curiously tilted its head to the side staring down at them. Its eyes then started to glow.
Shining Armor's eyes widened. It didn't take a genius to know what came next!
"Everyone! Out! Quickly!" He roared.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Gruff cried as he quickly rushed out of the room accompanied by the others. Johan however hesitated for a second. He gulped before rushing to where Twilight was sitting, grabbing Tza'ak's antler in his mouth, then rushing after Derek.
Shining dropped the shield as soon as the last creature was out of the room and ran, dodging rocks and wood and glass as he went. Just before he made it out, the statue fired.
Two pure white beams of energy shot out of its eyes, disintegrating stone and wood-like nothing. The beam landed just behind shining, following after him as he ran. He felt the heat of the beam singe the back of his tail, which only inspired him to run faster.
When he reached the exit to the room, the unicorn jumped out of the way of a falling support beam, landing in between his wife and sister. Unfortunately for him, he landed at an awkward angle. He felt the bone in his right foreleg twist in a very unnatural way, and both of the Alicorns heard a very loud snap. Shining grunted out in pain as he grabbed his leg.
"What is that thing?" Rainbow Dash cried, shortly before a massive hoof smashed through the ceiling a couple of meters down the hall in front of them, crushing pillars and shattering priceless stained glass windows. The hoof moved around like it was looking for something for a second before quickly retracting.
"I don't want to come off as a prick," Johan growled, glaring at Starswirl. "But I think it has something to do with the 'bug with delusions of divinity.’"
Starswirl snarled back, turning to a wall to their left, on the opposite side of the building that the statue was ripping through. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we need to get out of here. Now," he said looking to the Alicorns of the group.
"I am going to blow this wall and lead everypony into the secondary courtyard. I need you five to destroy the statue so it doesn't cause any more damage," he said, powering up his horn.
"Uh yeah... there is a problem with that," Derek said, rubbing the back of his horn. "You see... I am very, very, new to this whole magic thing. All I know how to do right now is levitate stuff and shoot combat beams and something tells me that that isn't going to cut it!"
"And I damaged my horn yesterday, the best I can manage is simple projection spells and minor enchantments," Twilight said pointing to the crack running down her horn.
Starswirl facehooved. "Great, the fight has only just started and we are already down two alicorns," he said. Then Cadance spoke up.
"Three," she said as she slung Shining's unbroken foreleg over her shoulders. "I am not leaving my husband."
Starswirl growled. "Fine then, I guess we should hope that the two of you should be able to stop this thing. Though considering your magical skill you probably will be able to handle this."
Celestia and Luna both nodded. Ember spoke up next, "Don't worry, if not, I think I can bring some guys in who can even the odds a little once we get outside."
Starswirl turned his eyes back to the wall and with a single spell, blasted the wall open. Then the party broke, Celestia and Luna taking to the air out the hole in the ceiling in the hall, and everyone else quickly rushing through the hole in the wall.
Celestia and Luna hovered in the air, about a hundred meters above Canterlot Castle, surveying the damage as well as the creature, trying to spot any possible structural weakness in the massive statue. They watched as it ripped a wall tower off it's foundations and used it as a javelin, throwing it into the castle proper, lancing off an entire section of the building. Then it turned back to the hallway Celestia and Luna had just left and started literally wading through the castle.
It was going towards the secondary courtyard, where the elements and the world dignitaries were fleeing to.
"This destruction isn't random," Luna said quickly, eyes narrowed. "That thing is looking for something... or someone."
Celestia nodded. "We need to stop this before it hurts anypony else. Come on," she said, determination filling her gaze. Then she flapped her wings and shot down from the air horn glowing.
Luna nodded after her, then she too quickly followed down after her sister.
Johan blinked the dust out of his eyes as he dove through the broken wall. He found himself in a large ballroom with a checkerboard floor, one of those fancy red carpets, and a grand staircase to their right. Johan gulped, barely having enough time to contemplate his surroundings before everyone else took off.
"Come on, the courtyard is this way," Twilight cried, gesturing for them to follow her.
"Are you sure?" Derek asked before there was another earth-shattering crash nearby causing the castle to shake once again.
"Yeah, this is the Gala room, I'd remember the ways out of here anywhere, considering how much this room sucks," Rainbow answered for her. Another crash, this time right behind them made them all look back through the hole in the wall. The statue had just smashed a section of the wall and was now walking towards them, wading through the walls and ceiling of the castle-like it was nothing but tall grass.
"It's following us!" Thorax cried, stepping back, his face going white. "Why is it following us?!"
"We have to move! Now!" Gruff roared, before taking off, leaving everyone else behind.
"Get back here bird!" Rutherford cried before him and his guards took after him. Everyone else quickly followed behind him.
The run to the courtyard was fast, but that didn't mean it was over quickly for Johan. All of his adrenaline glands were firing at once, he felt the same fear right now that he did when the Platinum Guard was chasing him, though this time it was amplified by the urge to not get stepped on, cause you know, that probably really hurt.
Gruff at the front ran into a set of double doors. He tried as hard as he could to push it open but no dice. "Locked!" He cried in pure abject panic. Almost everyone came to a stop, turning back as one of the statue's hooves slammed through the ceiling in the center of the room, followed by another.
"Out of the way!" Starswirl roared, charging up his horn once again. Before he could do anything though, Rutherford ran forwards, almost trampling over Gruff, and smashed clean through the door, landing on the other side with a rain of splinters and wood chunks. His guards quickly caught up with him.
"That's one way to do it," Applejack chuckled, as she and the others rushed out of the room.
The second Ember got outside, she slammed the base of her scepter on the ground and put two fingers in her mouth. She gave a deep inhale before she let out a loud and steady whistle, which echoed throughout the courtyard, traveling beyond and reverberating across the mountainside. The Bloodstone Scepter's tip glowed for a second, and then went dim.
"What was that about?" Starlight asked the dragon as the ballroom behind them collapsed in on itself.
"You'll see Twilight," she said with a smile. There was a pause.
"Starlight."
"Right."
Just then with another crash, the statue slammed its hoof down right behind them, then it started to slowly lean down. Its eyes started to glow as they did. Everyone turned to run once again, but once again two lasers shot drowned from its eyes, lancing across the ground in front of them, digging a deep trench in the dirt and igniting the grass and trees of the garden. They came to a stop as the ground before them burned.
The statue let out a hissing sound as steam escaped from its stone mouth and nose. As it came to eye level with the comparatively tiny creatures, it brought a hoof up, which crashed through the wall. Stone claws emerged from the hoof with a grinding sound, making it resemble a hand as it reached down towards them. More specifically, it was reaching for Ember.
In a deceptively quick motion for something of its size, the tips of its new clawed fingers grabbed onto the Bloodstone Scepter and started to pull. Ember let out a roar and planted her feet, digging into the ground, not letting go of the crystalline rod for even a second. Thorax quickly rushed to her side, wrapping his hooves around her and similarly digging in.
"Grn... Ember! Let go!" He cried as he tried to maintain his footing. He was quickly joined by the Yaks and stronger elements, Applejack and Rainbow.
"I can't!" Ember roared back, her arms shaking as the rod slowly started sliding from her hands.
Cadance let out a growl, powering up her horn. "Let her go!" She roared, a turquoise beam of energy shooting from her horn, striking the statue on the right cheek. The statue's head to the side as if it had just been slapped in the face, smoke rising from its face. The smoke faded as it turned its head back to them. The spell hadn't even scratched it.
Everyone's faces went white as the statue's eyes started to glow again. They knew what that meant. Ember's eyes widened as steam started shooting from its mouth as its head started to rear back. She flinched and closed her eyes when it looked back at her.
Then there was an explosion. A golden beam of energy shot down from above, striking the statue in the left antler. It let out an ear-splitting roar as it let go of the Bloodstone Scepter and quickly stood up, its antler falling off its head as it did. It stumbled back into the ballroom, collapsing what remained of its walls and ceiling before scanning the skyline.
Celestia and Luna came screeching down from above, magical energy wrapped around them like suits of armor. Luna flanked it from the left, while Celestia flew to its right. They each charged their horns and fired.
Johan watched as the statue, its head now held at an awkward angle - the loss of an Antler tended to make your head lopsided, after all, sat back and raised its hooves in a frighteningly quick movement. He saw Celestia's golden beam fly harmlessly into the statue's palm, but he watched as its left hoof missed Luna's attack entirely, the hoof raising in a far more sluggish manner, and when it was all the way up, it wasn't even close. It stood up, its focus on Celestia as it started to walk towards her, bringing its hoof back to try to smash her out of the sky.
He quickly thought back to how every time one of the Alicorns fired a spell at the statue that had done actual damage, it had been from the left, partially because the Statue didn't see it coming. His eyes widened.
Johan quickly rushed forwards and shouted up at Celestia and Luna. "Hey! Princess!" He roared. Both of them turned down to him, Celestia narrowly missing a massive stone hoof. "I think this thing is blind in its left eye! Try hitting it from that side!"
The two nodded at him, and Celestia quickly dodged around to the side in question, before both of them charged their horns at once and fired again. Two massive beams, one golden and one midnight blue, slammed into its left haunch. The statue was instantly swept off its hooves and tumbled onto its side, smashing a castle wall between two towers and almost tumbling off the mountain.
U'val let out a sudden grunt of discomfort, flinching. Both of the Platinum Guard quickly rushed forwards, but he raised a hoof before they could do anything more.
"What's wrong?" Chrysalis asked brow furrowing.
"Hmph, it seems that they found one of the Statue's weaknesses..." he started opening his eye. "Not a structural one, though. Unfortunately, it is a personal issue."
U'val tapped his eyepatch twice before he snarled. "Hmph, the blue dragon did manage to signal for aid before I could claim the first artifact I needed to continue my plan. Fortunately, that one can wait. The other is far more necessary for the short term. I will change my methods accordingly... and how fortunate, it seems three equines just brought it right to me..."
The three agents ran through the castle hallway, ignoring the crashes and explosions everywhere. The one holding the briefcase stood in front, flanked by the other two behind him.
Following their pre-planned escape route took them onto a wall, and then they would jump over the side of the mountain. Said wall was just up a tower with a spiral staircase. As soon as they arrived on the third floor and kicked open a door, they ran into the problem.
The entire wall they were supposed to use, barring a small walkway outside the door, was simply gone. The agents walked to the edge of the walkway and peered down, though their faces showed no emotion, an all-encompassing sense of confusion and, to a lesser extent fear, filled their minds.
A gargantuan statue, no doubt the thing that had been causing all the chaos around town, had smashed their way out, presumably by falling on it.
"What do we do now?" One of the rear agents said.
Before the others could respond, the statue started to stand up. The three quickly took a step back as the statue braced itself against the tower they were in, knocking the top off accidentally, leaving them without a ceiling to hide under.
Its gaze then snapped to them. The three instantly raised their hooves, pointing their wrist devices at it. Yellow beams of magic rapidly shot out but did nothing to the stone armor. In a single movement, the statue raised its hoof and smashed it downwards on top of the two rear agents, squashing them flat. Then its hoof grabbed the first one, lifting him into the air. Without the slightest bit of trouble, the statue ripped the briefcase from his grasp and haphazardly dropped him off the side of the mountain. The statue brought the briefcase to its eye line and nodded. Though it likely couldn't get both of the artifacts it needed, it could make do with this.
Johan watched as the statue reached up and put something it had grabbed from a far-off tower in its mouth, then firmly planted its feet. Two massive stone plates opened on its back. Johan knew what they were rather quickly. Elytra.
There was a roaring, buzzing, noise as two truly gargantuan insectoid wings started to rapidly vibrate on its back. The statue was preparing to fly away.
"It's about to escape!" Johan cried, turning to the rest of the group. "We can't just let it get away right!?"
"It isn't," Ember triumphantly roared with a smile.
Two gigantic shadows then passed over them. Johan turned his gaze upwards just in time to see the statue get tackled to the ground. A massive scaled beast equal in size to the statue stood over it. Its scales were blue, with orange spines running down its back. A second one landed right next to it, perching on top of a wall, this one red and orange. Both were smiling.
"Eh? This is the big bad monster stomping around?" The blue one laughed. "It doesn't seem so tough-" He didn't get a chance to finish its sentence before the statue's head turned around a full 180 degrees and fired two eyebeams directly into the dragon's face.
The dragon roared in pain, stumbling back and covering his eyes with two claws. The statue once again tried to take to the air, but the other dragon suddenly intervened. His tail soared forwards like a wing and smashed directly into one of the statue's wings. There was a sound like shattering glass as the wing broke in one hit, shards raining down in all directions. Then the dragon jumped forwards, punching the statue in the face. The statue's left eye exploded into shards of stone as it almost went flying over the edge of the mountain.
It caught itself by grabbing onto one of the castle towers and pulled itself forwards, headbutting the red dragon in the face, stunning it. The red dragon shook his head and took a couple of steps back as the statue reached up with a hoof, grabbing its own antler. It jerked to the side as it ripped the antler off in one move and, using it like a dagger. Shooting forwards, the statue stabbed the knife through the red dragon's left wing, punching a hole clean through it.
Then, it grabbed the dragon and like a trained wrestler, grabbed the dragon by the neck. It threw him over its shoulder, off the side of the mountain. The Red Dragon let out a final roar before it fell out of sight to the ground far below.
The blue dragon let out a roar, staring down the statue with bloodshot eyes. It turned to him neutrally, brandishing it's new antler dagger. The dragon roared and rushed forwards, pouncing towards it. The statue brought the dagger back, but before it could bring it forwards to stab the dragon, two magical beams, one gold, and one blue struck its hoof, knocking the antler from its grasp. The statue turned to look at the antler but was too late to grab it as the dragon wrapped two claw's around its stone throat, pinning it against a tower.
The statue's own hooves shot forwards shortly after grabbing the dragon's throat in turn, grappling him so he couldn't simply push the statue over the side of the mountain. Through the grapple, Celestia and Luna flew around, firing beams and bolts to try to distract it, but doing little but lightly shoving the stone monstrosity.
Johan's breath hitched in his throat as he watched the dragon start to gasp and slow down, desperately needing air. He grit his teeth and turned to Derek who was sitting down desperately trying to slow his breath, his hooves on the side of his head and eyes closed. Everyone else barring Twilight, who was sitting next to Derek trying to get him to move, was already running towards an escape route.
"Come on man, now isn't the time to panic," he said, rushing to the alicorn's side. "We have to move!"
"I'm not panicking," Derek said, opening his eyes again. Johan could tell he was lying. "I'm trying to get Auream to take over again. He can stop the statue. In fact, I don't know why he isn't out here right now!"
Johan shook his head. "That doesn't matter. All that matters is we need to get out of here before one of the massive blue whale-sized monsters steps on us!"
Derek suddenly stomped his foot. "No! I am not letting that thing continue to stomp around! I'm not letting it hurt anyone else, when I know I have the ability to stop it!" He snarled
The deer took a step back, his eyes wide. He wasn't used to hearing Derek snap like that, much less at him. He opened his mouth but a crash stopped him from speaking.
Just then, the statue stood up straight as the Dragon loosened its grip due to air loss. It picked the drake up with its hooves and threw it like a ragdoll. The dragon went sailing over their heads, over the wall, and landed in Canterlot proper, presumably smashing houses and city streets.
Twilight's face went white. "My parents live in that direction," she said, shock filling her tone.
The statue, in one movement, then batted both Celestia and Luna out of the air with a hoof. Both of the princesses went sailing into the castle keep, slamming through the wall and landing in the throne room. The statue rolled its shoulders and turned back towards the broken wall, walking to the edge of the mountain preparing to jump off.
Suddenly, Johan had an idea.
"Twilight!" He shouted, turning to the alicorns. "Do you remember what you said about teleportation at the train station? About what happens when you teleport something into something else?"
Twilight's eyes instantly widened. For a second, she forgot about her fear for her parents. "Of course!" She suddenly said. "Derek, I need you to teleport some of the rubble around her into the statue!"
"I don't know how! And you said that that was a really complicated spell!" Derek cried back. Twilight shook her head at him.
"Only when you are teleporting yourself. All you have to do is grab an item with your magic and imagine it somewhere else. Don't imagine it moving there, just imagine it disappearing and then reappearing where you want it!"
Derek nodded before his face scrunched up, he reached out and grabbed a piece of rubble with his magic, and then it disappeared. Johan's eyes widened for a second before he turned his eyes to the statue. The statue froze for a second before there was an explosion of stone on its left haunch. The statue stumbled to the side as it looked back at its wound. There was now a car-sized crater where the cutie mark of a pony would have been. It quickly turned around to stare daggers down at Derek.
Derek laughed. "It worked!" He cried. Then he smirked and lit his horn again.
The statue's remaining eye started to glow as it readied an eyebeam, but before it could fire, Derek teleported another boulder. This time, it was its eye that exploded with a mix of stone rubble and magical energy. The statue roared as Derek started to teleport more and more rocks, rapidly.
Johan watched in awe as it looked like the statue was being shot by an uzi, holes, and craters opening all around its form. The statue then collapsed onto its stomach, desperately trying to stand up. Derek's smile widened.
"Time to finish you off!" He cheered as he reached out with his magic, grabbing the largest chunk of rubble he could.
Just before Derek could teleport it, Johan noticed the statue reached into its mouth and grabbed something small, square, and black. It looked like a briefcase, which made the deer raise an eyebrow. Just the rubble disappeared in a flash, the statue reared its hoof back and threw the case like a baseball. Johan followed it as it sailed over the horizon heading southwards.
Then its entire head exploded, popping like a grape. Chunks of stone and crystal flew in all directions as the statue started to crumble. Soon all that was left off the statue was a cyan and white pile of rocks.
U'val suddenly cried out in agony, grabbing the side of his head, collapsing to his knees. This time he didn't stop the Platinum Guard as they rushed to his side and helped him up.
U'val suddenly stomped a hoof. "Damn it!" He growled, though his voice more so registered as a slight annoyance than anger. "I was hoping I could have kept that Eramassu. Those things are so dreadfully rare in this day and age."
"I take it you failed?" Chrysalis asked, a smug tone in her voice.
"I never said that," U'val responded as he held out a hoof. Suddenly, a black briefcase landed on the floor next to Chrysalis, smashing open. The single item inside bounced, flying through the air and landing perfectly in the changeling god's outstretched hoof.
Chrysalis's eyes widened at what she saw. "That's..."
"Yes," U'val said as he held the small red, black, and grey item up. "The Alicorn Amulet. Unfortunately, only usable by ponies. The good news is, I know the perfect candidate to use this against our enemies."
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11060426
moar has arrived
Pretty sure Alicorns also count into claiming that they are gods,god like
What XD?
That just selfish and stupid?
Literally, everyone else can help Shining
Did she just call her dad to pick her up XD?
Why he couldn't take it?
Ember isn't that heavy,so even if is she wouldn't let go of the scepter she should have been picked up by golem along with the scepter.
She is essentially alicorn sized Spike.
Also, the golem just smashed walls,it shouldn't have been a problem
Well is that dragon dead?
Was that dragon Ember mother?
Two yeses make it epic execution
Yoy know-how in certain games you can brutally execute enemies with special moves
i am still wondering what role does johan have in this? awesome chapter by the way!!!
Great chapter. And feels like some old wizard has race/species issues that might need some fixing.
11063218
Well you see, he can stay calm under pressure.
As such, he's the calm brain to Derek's brawn.
And also to Twilight's constant state of mounting madness.
...
And there might be something else...
Man, I tell you. Equestrians have a really bad habit of leaving evil, dangerous, and world-ending magical artifacts either lying around where anybody can pick them up, or in easily accessible "secure" locations where anybody can pick them up.
It's like how all of Zecora's potions look exactly the same and none of them are labeled.
11063756
11063218
Hey, keep in mind Johan was the one who actually figured out how to stop the statue lol
I'm going to go out on a limb here & say "Trouble".