Twilight Daylight: Dawn of Equus

by thedarktome

Chapter 31 - The Final Switch

Author's Note:

And I am back!!! Sorry, friends. I know it's been almost two months. I've been working a lot.

Thanks for sticking around!

The fight left Twilight winded. But not winded enough to keep her from running. She, Luna, and Cadance quickly caught up to the army, who waited for them in a warehouse full of military transport vehicles. How convenient.

They were lined up, and smelled of new material. No doubt they would've been en route to Lavender, had Psera not floated into the sky in pieces. A flash of guilt flooded into Twilight's soul before diminishing. She would fix everything and end this war.

Everything would go back to normal.

Through the army, Twilight could see their leadership at the front, standing at the entrance of the warehouse. Dawn speaking to the captains and lieutenants of each team.

"Over here!" Celestia called out. She waved her hoof in the air for them to see. She was quickly approached by Twilight, Cadance and Luna.

Upon arrival, Dawn wrapped Twilight in a hug. "What was that? Who attacked us?"

Dawn's embrace put pressure on Twilight's wound, pulling a grunt out of her. Dawn backed away and scanned her mother up and down.

"You're hurt," she deduced.

"Just a scratch," Arcadia stated. "I'll be fine."

"Mom, you're magic, you don't get scratches."

"I'll be okay." Twilight walked through the concerning gazes of their military leaders towards the doors. She pressed her ear against the surface, listening through to the other side. "We have more pressing matters."

Luna explained, "There was another individual. A Pseratep with a weapon on top of this rock."

"Based on her position and our location..." Twilight turned to them again. "We're in Area C of Serl. It's in the rear of the city where warehouses lie. My lab is a little ways back from here. Now that we're above ground I can start making my way there."

Before they could continue, three knocks on the door cut their conversation.

Weapons were immediately aimed. Dawn pushed Flurry behind her, who was then pushed behind Arcadia. They snuck up on them. How did she not feel them in her aura?

"Oschena~!" A feminine voice on the other side sang. "Amino peesa catta eelo kay! Armana me!"

"What is she saying?" Luna whispered.

Twilight raised a single hoof and slowly lowered it to the ground. All weapons were laid down.

"She knows we're here and that she's friendly. Stay on your hooves." Arcadia carefully drew out the blade from Dawn's sheathe. She grabbed hold of the door and suddenly swung it open.

The blade found its home pressed against the pony's neck. She yelped and dropped a rifle much bigger than her on the ground to raise her hooves and wings.

She was a small mare with a white coat, and eyes the color of the ocean. The rain pelted against a tinfoil hat wrapped around her head hiding a short mane of golden hair, soaking her coat and dirtying her hooves against a dirt road.

"Sorry, sorry!" She quickly apologized.

"Inside." Twilight yanked her within the safety of the warehouse and shut the door behind her. There's no telling who was on the other side watching them. After Molten Ice, it was clear a few surprises were lying in wait.

Secured, Twilight sheathed the blade back with Dawn and faced their guest.

"Who are you?" She asked.

The mare bowed. Her tinfoil hat fell to the ground that she quickly placed back on her head. "I am Dohora Teek, a technician working on project Tinitus, your majesty."

"What are you doing here?" Dawn asked. "All ponies were ordered to drop everything and evacuate Psera."

"We got left behind. A few hours ago, we were preparing to leave by an Aquata in Serl. But then..." Teek walked towards the door and listened. "One of our alarms based in Cop went off, alerting us of a magical anomaly. We looked into it."

She turned back to the leaders. "We were astounded."

"What did you find?" Novo asked.

"You'll have to see for yourself. It's so hard to explain that even we couldn't figure it out."

It would probably explain their attacker from before. Speaking of...

"Is Serl secured?" Dawn asked.

Teek shook her head. "No. We've cut all operations to ensure we stay hidden. As of this moment, we have no security. Serl is as open as a Veneenia. But as usual, Serl has been off the radar. There have been no threats or visitors since Psera was evacuated."

Twilight opened the door suddenly and stepped out. "Good. Let's keep it that way until I return. Secure Serl and don't venture out."

"I'll be going with you," Cadance offered. She walked to Twilight's side. "How will you be transporting the weapons?"

"There are methods of transportation already there. Secure the city and yourselves here in Serl until we return," she said.

Without so much as a glance, Twilight and Cadance rushed out the door and took to the air, flying through the storm behind Serl, where mountains and hills lied.

They were gone. The weapons were being retrieved. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long.

"We have to worry about Defense now," one of the rulers said, pulling Dawn's attention away from the door. She turned to Luna who was speaking. "Serl may be a secret, but whoever attacked us down there knew we were here. No doubt they were sent by Narmeelah."

"Narmeelah?" Dohora asked.

"We'll tell you all about it later. But for now, we have to secure Serl. We can have the Pegasi and Dragons secure the air."

"No need," Dawn interrupted. She walked away from the Royalty towards their army awaiting instructions, at ease. Then Dawn stomped her hoof.

"Soldiers of Psera!" She shouted. All of her military quickly rose up and aligned themselves with their teams, high-ranking officers in the front and lower in the back. Saluting, they stared ahead.

"Secure Serl!" Dawn ordered. "No ponies in, no ponies out until Arcadia Nova returns! Shoot on sight! Operation Blacklist!"

Dawn stomped her hoof loudly once more. "Go."

Immediately, in a straight forward line, Psera's military trotted out the door of the warehouse. They took to the sky, flooded the streets and investigated buildings thoroughly while the rest of their army and leaders watched.

Once they were out, Dawn turned back to Teek. "Take us to the others so we can finally get a read on Psera."

---

Cadance had no idea where they were going. According to Twilight, her lab was in the mountain range. But how? Even from here, Cadance could tell that not a single building would stand on those rugged rocks for long.

"Your lab is there?" Cadance asked above her.

"Yes," Twilight answered. "Inside of them, actually. How much do you trust me, Cadance?"

Well, that's an odd question.

"Do you mean now, after everything that's happened or in the general scope of our relationship?"

"Whichever works better for my odds."

"I trust you enough to say that whatever idea you come up with will work."

"Good. We're flying into the face of the mountain. I need you to slipstream with me."

Cadance repositioned herself so she was flying directly behind Twilight. She had to slow her flapping lest she fly directly into Twilight's backside.

The mountain crawled closer, the rocks growing more defined upon their descent. Cadance was certain they would deviate off at some point. But it seemed Twilight had other plans, considering they had yet to ascend to get over the rocks.

"Uh... Twilight?" Cadance said over the wind.

"I told you. It's inside of the mountain. Get close."

She could make out the wet dirt on the mountain. Each crack and crevice. It took every nerve in Cadance's body not to swoop upwards. Instead, she squeezed her eyes as tight as she could and followed Twilight "into the mountain." Whatever that meant.

Cadance would soon get her answer. The speeding wind suddenly died out. The coolness of this winter faded away into a warmer environment. She was still flying. She could feel the air flowing between her feathers, her body was still moving.

"You can open your eyes now, Cadance."

Carefully, Cadance opened one eye before widening them both.

"Wow," Cadance whispered. They were actually inside the mountain. As if it were a hollow shell. All around them were glowing orbs of different hues that provided light. This must've been Twilight's biggest laboratory to date! All on the walls of the mountain were different inventions of all shapes and sizes, secured in blue metal pods luminant with a white light.

Directly beneath them were more of those LiVams, littering a laminate flooring, spotless of any dirt despite the growth of earth around them.

Twilight slowed her speed and landed directly in the middle of the lab. Cadance followed suit. Unlike the lab that was hidden beneath the castle, this one had a lot more room to it. Twilight was able to stand in the center and expand her wings to their full length without touching a single table.

Cadance landed gently and looked around.

"Roomy," she commented. Her voice reverberated around the laboratory. Despite the small amount of orbs, they were still able to see around as if the sun were shining directly inside. Who knows, maybe it was.

Twilight trotted over to a LiVAM and began typing away at a keyboard. "We're going to be bringing all of these over to Serl."

"How?" Cadance ventured off and looked around Twilight's lab. Her hooves clacked loudly along the floor, echoing off the walls containing all of Twilight's weapons and tools.

She stopped at one nearby and raised an eyebrow. Despite its small size and form factor, it was extremely locked up. It was merely a remote with a single red button and a small keypad of four numbers on a black casing. It reminded Cadance of a small changeling egg.

The entire invention was kept inside of a glass box surrounded by violet lasers. Guess somepony really didn't want any pony to touch it.

"What's this, Twilight?"

Twilight looked over her shoulder. Her eyes suddenly widened.

"Cadance back away from that!" She shouted.

Cadance instantly did. "Why, what is it?"

Twilight walked over and they both peered down to it.

"It may not look as dangerous," Twilight said despondently. "But I promise you, it's the most dangerous weapon in the world. I designated this weapon... The Final Switch."

Whoo. Shivers crawled down Cadance's spine. She was afraid to ask, but...

"What does it do?"

Twilight turned around and walked back to her LiVAM. "I'm sure you know as well as the rest of IHT that Psera has an astounding amount of secretive weaponry."

"At this point, I'm sure it's no longer a secret," she deadpanned.

"Right, well, in the event that we lose against Narmeelah, and worse comes to worst, and we've exhausted all of our options..."

Twilight looked back down to the weapon. "Just one press of that switch... Will launch every last single mass weapon Psera has in their cache directly upon its location."

Silence. Twilight continued pressing buttons on her LiVAM.

"Railer One?" Cadance whispered.

"Yes. All seventeen of them."

"The projectiles that wiped out the Zebras?"

"All of our Marrials. Even the Portal Project and our Skybombs."

More silence. Twilight continued typing, vaguely aware of the look Cadance was shooting into her back.

"Why... On Equus... Would you DO THAT?!!" Cadance screamed.

"Because Narmeelah has to be defeated," Twilight calmly responded. "No matter the cost."

She pressed a final button. A sea of red dots suddenly appeared on all of Twilight's weapons before an alarm blared. A panel on the floor beeped and slid out of the way, probably for a vehicle based on its size.

Cadance jumped away from the glass box and jabbed accusingly at it. "Does Psera even know about this?!!"

"If they did, it wouldn't exist." Twilight powered off the LiVAM and walked over to The Final Switch. The lasers deactivated and carefully, she picked it up and carried it over with one hoof over to the rising Pod, revealing itself from the floor on a steel platform. It was small, made only for two ponies. Colored brown with no doors and a truck in the back. The wheels were large, for traveling over a rough terrain.

She jumped into the driver seat and looked to Cadance. "Come on, we have to get back to Serl."

Cadance jumped into the passenger seat and pointed at Twilight. "You are insane! There are more strategies than total obliteration!"

"I know, and I'm already stressing every one of them. Here, hold this." She tossed the glass cube into Cadance's lap.

"Holy stars, don't give me that!!" She grabbed the cube and tossed it in the backseat.

At the press of a button, Twilight turned on the Pod. It roared to life and was switched to drive.

Cadance looked out the back to the armory, at the wide array of hundreds of red dots spotting each glass case holding a single weapon each.

She asked, "What about the weapons?"

"They're going to follow in a train." Without warning, Twilight took off, nearly throwing Cadance out of her side of the Pod.

Immediately, the cases holding all the weapons spun along the wall in a spiral and exited on a slope, following them through the lab towards the face of the mountain.

Cadance tracked how they seemed to catch up to them and cruise at their speed in a straight line. Beneath the pods were wheels, designed like their pod's. At the fronts and rears were bright blue lights, likely some kind of technology that kept them linked together because there certainly wasn't any other way that Cadance could see from her seat.

She turned around at the moment they exited the mountain face, back into the rainy environment of Psera. They certainly had a long drive, as well as a long train of weapons. This was more than enough for their army.

She looked to Twilight. "I don't know what to think of you right now. On the one hand I'm happy you're prepared. But that?!"

She pointed to The Final Switch in the back. "THAT is insane, Twilight. Dawn is not going to have that."

"It's not for her. It's for me." She looked to Cadance as she drove. "A backup plan to the backup plan."

"And even if that doesn't work?"

The ride delved into silence. Cadance and Twilight faced ahead, uncertain of the future with a horde of backup behind them.

"Just watch out for Dawn," Twilight said after awhile.

"Of course."

Cadance looked around the Pod and discovered an odd case in the floor in the back. It was black and opened with four latches. She reached back and pulled it open.

As if she was staring at gold for the first time, her mouth popped open in awe. Her face was washed in a violet glow.

"Wow," she whispered breathlessly.

Twilight smirked. "Dawn has my old blade and access to my old gear. That's my upgrade."

"I wish I was nearly as protected as you all are."

"You all will be. Serl is my homebase of operations for this Narmeelah business. I have gear for all of you at the site."

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "We just have to get there."

---

The tower Teek took them to in Serl was active with survivors of Psera's collapse, with many of them being operatives and scientists of Serl. Including what had to be Arcadia's own lab employees. They were walking around with violet lab coats with an embossed starburst on the back and front right pockets.

The tower they were in had a great view of Serl. From their windows, Dawn could make out their army positioning themselves around the city. Standing on rooftops and watching from the walled entrance.

They had a table like the one they used to have in the war room back in Cop. Inside was an entire map of Serl, painted over by that massive rune. What did mom call it? A Central Rune?

Dawn turned into First Light, who their military was prepared for. However, Serl's residents were not.

Teek popped up and screamed, forcing the rest of them to shout as well.

Teek pointed at Dawn. "Who... Wha... Where is the Princess?!"

"It's actually Queen now," Light corrected. "...and you're looking at her. Mother will explain it more when she returns. For now, let's focus on what you saw."

Teek was dumbfounded. As was the rest of them. First Light was beginning to fear the future. Would it always be like this when they get Psera back on her hooves once more?

"Hey!" Luna waved her hoof in front of Teek's face. "Come now, pony! Make haste with the details!"

Right. Right. Although very uncomfortable, Teek pressed on a large LiVAM overhead while making glances at First Light. On the screen, were a collection of camera angles of Psera's many cities. Cop, Lavender, even Fenix. All of it uprooted. However, the destruction was not what they were looking at.

All over those cities were Pserateps standing up and staring in the exact same direction. Their eyes were glowing white, like First Light's blacks.

Celestia walked forward to the LiVAM for a closer look while Teek explained. "We noticed this after the Central Rune appeared. We don't know for certain, but we believe that is what is controlling them all over Psera. Here."

She offered Celestia a tinfoil hat. "Put this on. If you're on your way to Cop, you will need the mental defense."

"Ah, yes, well..." Celestia kindly shied away. "I have a spell, thank you."

"As do I," Luna said.

"The alicorns will provide me with the same spell," Novo reported.

First Light tapped at a helmet nearby. "My tinfoil hat is built into my helmet."

"Nice save," Dawn congratulated.

"I'll take one." Flurry grabbed the hat and plopped it directly over her horn, despite the looks she was receiving from her side of the room.

"What?" She said. "These are the brightest minds Psera has to offer, not to mention Aunt Twilight's personal staff. Did you not see that Atrium back there? If they tell me to wear a tinfoil hat to not become zombified I'm wearing one."

First Light referred back to the map. "Okay, so, here we are."

She pointed at an area on the map, signifying Serl, then dragged her hoof in the direction of the cities they know.

"Cop is directly in the middle of all of Psera's city-states. When we leave here, the first city we'll encounter will be Snow. That may be our most dangerous region, based off of these feeds."

"Snow is a city of business," one of Dawn's generals explained. "A lot of towers and skyscrapers. We'll probably be seen first before we see them."

"Then Narmeelah will certainly know we're close," Novo assumed.

"Right. With an army this size, we'd be seen easily."

Dawn asked, "Is there any other way in?"

"For a full army like this? No. The front door is all we have."

Sky Duster's small stature allowed her to easily trot through their hooves all the way to the front of the room.

"I can go in and clear the way," Sky Duster volunteered.

First Light raised her eyebrow. "You?"

"Yes, me. It wouldn't be my first rodeo infiltrating enemy lines, Your Highness." She looked over to Celestia and winked.

"As much as I hate to," Luna groaned. "I second that. Sky Duster has serial experience getting into secure places she's not wanted, and ridding of guards."

First Light glanced to Luna, then down to Sky Duster. At the front of her mind, she was thinking that maybe she could easily get in. But in the back of her mind...

How on Equus was she so small? She was actually smaller than her. She's never met a pony smaller than her that was actually older too.

"I propose," General Mack Land suggested. "That we come back to this discussion after we understand what we're dealing with."

"As well as Arcadia's arrival and weaponry," General Neon Lightning added.

"I agree," First Light replied. "But your idea will be noted for later, Sky Duster."

Suddenly, a loud beeping emanated from beyond their meeting point. A sound that put Teek into a fit. She gasped and ran towards the console two stallions were sitting at.

"Anya carlsh shall nakal?!" She asked quickly.

One stallion pointed to their screen. "South. Fourteen miles."

"What's going on?" Novo asked.

"One of our motion sensors has been triggered. Fourteen miles south of Serl."

"Could it be Aunt Twilight?" Flurry asked.

"No," First Light answered. She trotted around the table and over to the far end of the room. She stood in front of the glass where she could see over Serl and the land beyond.

"Mom went north towards the mountains. This alarm is in the direction of Snow."

She looked back to General Mack Land with her eyes narrowed. "We have another visitor."

Comments

[Wakijima]

Amazing work i am so glad that ur back.