Dimensional hidey hole
Hello! So, I have a bad habit of writing a lot longer chapters. I'll try to keep it on the lower side, but some tend to like it. What about y'all? Is longer chapters okay or should I lower them? 
Also I'm debating on adding a dark tag. Though I'm not sure if it's needed since I'm pretty new to this platform. Advice would be greatly appreciated! 
As always: I do not own My Little Pony Friendship is magic nor the characters contained within. They belong to Hasbro and their respective companies.
The hallway was dimly lit. Just enough light to see forward and the grime along the stone walls. The light source was nowhere to be found but she assumed it was magic.
Though the reason had long since lost meaning as she felt her body walk along the hallway. Her metal-clad hooves clicked along the floor and the robotics covering her hummed and whirred gently. It then came to a stop as she came to a wall.
After a moment of waiting, another wall came down from behind her. Normally this would make her panic, but she felt nothing. Not even as the enclosed space started to fill with water. It quickly flowed around her metal-clad hooves, legs, and belly in moments. The chill seeping through the metal covering her felt refreshing and she wished she could remove her helmet. Just to soak her hair!
Though that wish had lived many lifetimes. She couldn’t remember the last time her helmet was taken off. She didn’t even know if it was capable of coming off.
The water continued. Past her clad sides and metal wings, her covered cutie mark, robotic tail, and eventually reached her helmet. Though it too was submerged after a moment. Her vision blurred as she felt powerful soundwaves pierce the water. With the sounds, she saw bits of material float off her helmet’s visor.
Remains from her last mission. Remnants she’d much rather not think about.
75 more names would be added to her list. She felt like crying again. But she knew that she couldn’t do that. Her initial crying had ruined something with her helmet. So, that ability was removed. Permanently.
The water once more became clear and began to drain. This process took longer than filling the little cube, but she wasn’t really in a hurry. She knew she couldn’t fight time nor the energy controlling her. She’d just have to wait.
Though as the water reached past her knees, she couldn’t help but feel excited. She was looking forward to seeing her friends. It had been hours. She hoped the card game was still intact and that the others were in somewhat good spirits.
The wall in front of her slid down, allowing her to pass. A little of the water remained and flowed forward. Though that too was normal. She walked past the little gap where the wall slid into, then promptly fell to the ground in a heap.
“Fluttershy Darling!” Rarity’s voice called out, “Ready for the cards?”
Fluttershy blinked and slowly got up. The feeling of control would always suddenly leave them. Giving them control when they weren’t expecting it. Though, that too, was expected.
“Of course!” Fluttershy said muffled through her helmet. She shook herself a bit, shaking the little droplets of water into the air. She then trotted over to the table and took a seat.
The room she was now in was her home for the last 5 years. A simple wooden table with five seats stood in the middle. Here was where she’d spend most of her time. In the walls were five ancloves with thin uncomfortable mattresses. Well, they were empty now. The ancloves were separated into three groups, leaving one on its own. Since the group refused to separate, when they had freedom of choice, they pulled the mattresses out of the ancloves and lined them up on the floor. They lay in the back of the room, far enough away from the table to not cause issues. Though the tiny room would barely allow it.
“Don’t forget to plug in darling,” Rarity said with a smile.
Fluttershy nodded. She then got up and located the plug in the wall. It was a large rectangular device connected by a long wire or tube; she was never sure which. For all she knew it could be both. She did know that she needed to be plugged in otherwise she’d die. And she wouldn’t be allowed to not plug in; even if it was tempting at times.
She pulled the plug from the wall and held it close to her side. There was a click, and a matching port was revealed by a moving metal plate on her side. She pushed it in firmly till she heard a click and walked back to her seat.
“How many this time?” Rarity asked gently.
Fluttershy hung her head low, “75…”
Rarity smiled in an effort to comfort the pegasus. It didn’t work well but it was better than nothing.
“Well, the others aren’t quite here yet. Feel free to do your thing darling. I can wait.”
Fluttershy nodded and smiled, even though it was not visible, “Thanks.”
Rarity nodded and lit her crystal horn to shuffle the cards. The originally white cards were beginning to change color with use. Though, they didn’t care. It was a commodity that Celestia allowed them to use. Why? They didn’t know. Didn’t want to know if it meant the possibility of it being taken away.
Fluttershy emptied her lungs and closed her eyes. In her mind, she began to recite the names of the ponies who had fallen to her hooves. She started with her family, the hardest names of all to say.
It didn’t matter that she wasn’t the one controlling her hooves, they were still hers. She couldn’t take the blame off herself. Maybe there was something she could have done? Maybe there was a part of her mind the energy didn’t control and thereby use to stop herself?
No. Simply put it wasn’t possible. She had been trying for five years. So, in some way to pay respects, she memorized every single name of the ponies she had been forced to kill.
Her list.
She didn’t know how long her list was, but she could find out if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to know. She couldn’t know. She just wasn’t sure if she could handle that.
So, it was just name after name. Each name said held her apology. Some sort of plea for forgiveness for something she knew wasn’t her fault.
It just made her feel better. In a small way…
It didn’t matter to her that it would take hours to complete. She would just recite names till she hit the end of her list. Then, she’d add the new ones.
Some days it wasn’t too bad. One or two. Others, she’d have to add another hour to the time. She tried to not dwell on the number. She just added it to her list. The number would then become irrelevant. Less painful.
She was almost done with her list when the other two arrived. The wall opening and closing were followed close by several thunks of her friends regaining control. Though they said nothing as Fluttershy silently hung her head low.
The one nice thing Fluttershy could say about her transformation was the ability to remember. Whatever Celestia did to her mind, it allowed her to vividly bring back words, numbers, and…images.
She frowned as she refocused on the words she was reciting. Not the images. Never. The images.
She did eventually lift her head and open her eyes.
Rarity was still there. Though that was expected as she could go nowhere else. Though Applejack and Rainbowdash were now at the table. Each one had a small fan of cards on their hooves.
“You good Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, gently putting a blue number card on the pile centered between the three ponies. Her metallic forelegs whirring gently in the action. The tubes on her legs had a perk of accidentally moving the cards around. Though the pony had learned to be careful over the years. Though her smile was slightly hidden by her eye augment, Fluttershy could still see the pony’s tired eye behind the green glass. But metal covered most of the pony’s face. Her left side was nearly completely obscured.
She also had a large metal plate covering her back. It had indents and grooves that allowed the pony to bend however she needed to. But it protected the materials necessary for her “nuclear hits,” as it had been dubbed. The pony was also not wearing a hat. Her blonde hair left free to roam in the air. It was weird at first. Though it was hard now to see her with a hat.
Fluttershy nodded.
Rarity smiled, “Here you go,” Her magic levitated a small pile of cards to her where she accepted them from the blueish purple glow.
While the others had gotten mostly robotics augments, Rarity had gotten something quite different. Rather, her body was infected with a type of growing crystal. It would eat at her body, turning her into a living gemstone. Though the crystal was still quite durable it was mainly used to absorb magic. Rarity could win a pure magic fight hooves down. No magical opponent could touch her as the crystal had nearly consumed her entire back half. Her tail, flank, back legs, and half her sides were completely a semi-translucent purple hue. With the exception of her right back leg. The fetlock and hoof had not quite been consumed yet, but it was expected for it to happen in the next year or so. Though the infection had been supplemented at her horn and guided to her back. So, she also had a purplish-white horn looking like a raw geode rather than a unicorn’s pride. The section had also consumed one of her eyes. Though the unicorn said it hadn’t affected her ability to see, it was odd to see the glass-like orb move.
It was hard to see though as the infection hadn’t fully gotten through her head like the crystal on her back half. So unless she was in the light it was just a purple hue where her eye was supposed to be. Tendrils of crystal reached out from the hue, slowly converting the rest of the unicorn.
Rarity had expressed concern about fully turning into a gemstone. Though, now it wasn’t really thought about. She had taken spears into her crystal side leaving nothing; not even a scratch. So, her worries were quelled a bit. She wasn’t too happy about one day turning into a gemstone, but she didn’t have a choice in the matter.
“Sorry Flutters,” Rainbow said with an apologetic smile, “It’s my only blue…”
She then placed a power-up card that would skip the next player. Which was her in this case. Though the yellow pegasus merely chuckled and shrugged.
“No worries. It just gives me time to organize my fan,” she said, beginning to organize her fan by color.
Rainbow nodded, “Awesome. Was pretty sure it was fine but you know.”
Rainbow had by far the least number of modifications done to her. Her wings had been removed but that was pretty much it. Well, except their insides but only Rarity had her’s untouched.
Rainbow now sported a new set of wings that were metal in nature and didn’t look like normal wings. Rather, they were a set of flat rocket propulsors that propelled her much quicker than her biological wings could. Each jet, for a total of four, had gyroscopic movement on all axis. Allowing her to be just as agile as she originally was. Her chest was covered by a large knight-style chest plate with a small rhombus gem in the center. It was stark grey at the moment but would glow white when the pegasus’s shield was active; allowing her to plow through pretty much anything in her way.
A large, translucent visor covered the pony’s eyes. It looked like a more bubble-like ski mask that helped diffuse the wind. It also had a heads-up display that one could see. It was inverted for those on the other side of the visor, but the group found they could read it if Rainbow held still for long enough.
Though the last seat remained empty. The odd mattress remained next to the four used ones.
An odd detail that no pony was willing to elaborate on. It was just too difficult to discuss.
“Let’s make it green,” Applejack said, placing a wild card.
Rarity huffed but said nothing as she drew a card.
Fluttershy placed a green card on the pile, then looked to Rainbow.
The pony placed down a card and the round continued. Though such rounds never seemed to end. It wasn’t a problem though. Time seemed to warp inside the tiny room they were in. They could be in there for years, hours, days… They never knew. The tiny sense of time was comforting. As little as it was.
Though Fluttershy felt the familiar blanket start to stuff its way into her every cranny of her body.
“Already?” She thought glumly as the feeling penetrated her mind.
She then jumped up and slammed her fan onto the card pile. A frown attempted to form on her face, but she could feel it smile.
“I win!” She said shrilly. She then laughed heartily and got up. She unplugged the wire from her side and started to walk to the entrance she came in from.
The others merely frowned and silently picked up the cards to reshuffle them.
Her vision became a movie as she felt herself walk, regardless of her commands. The hallways were the same grimy stone walls till they would suddenly shift into another blank slate. Black stone walls while a few torches lit up the space. They were surprisingly effective. Effective enough to make out tiny little devices embedded in the walls. She had no idea what they did but she’d likely never find out about those either. She passed a few ponies but even she couldn’t even ask. So, the mystery remained. Though it continued to perpetrate the walls in an ever so familiar pattern. So, she had little clue where she was going. But she had a pretty good idea.
Left, left, right, two straights then a diagonal strafe through the odd security door. Forward twice then four consecutive rights.
The launching tunnel. Why was she being deployed so soon after a mission? Did she leave some pony?
No. That never happened. Celestia was way too thorough to miss somepony. Nor was the makeshift camp able to support a hiding spot that could hide from her scans.
The door to the tube opened in front of her. She got into the tiny space and grabbed the little rod that pierced both walls. The door closed behind her and hissed with an air-tight seal. She felt herself look upwards to see the tiny little light at the end of the tunnel.
The walls around her hummed as the tunnel rotated into a position. It clunked as it locked, and she could feel the air around her thrumming. The little bar then shot along the tunnel, pulling her along with it. It got faster and faster and the G force she could feel was strong but familiar.
The light at the end of the tunnel expanded till it took up the entirety of her vision, revealing it to be daylight. Her eyes had the ability to auto-adjust so she was still able to see the moment she was outside.
For a brief moment, she got to see a little part of where she was kept. The edge of the Canterlot castle was now blackened. Very little of the white surface remained now. Technology seemed to anchor itself into the palace like a parasite, spewing black smoke from its buildings filled with light. She soared past the half-ruined houses and struggling shops and saw a massive wall. Though she was already past it before she could blink. Only seeing it so many times helped her make a picture. That and when she came back.
But she was normally too distraught to care.
She continued her airel trajectory and only opened her mechanical wings after a few minutes of flight. There she continued over little towns, both alive and dead. She also passed over Ponyville. Or what was left of it.
It was utterly destroyed. Only Sweet Apple acres remained under a massive force field. Not even the Everfree forest existed anymore. Celestia had already vaporized the entirety of the magical forest. The only landmark left was the old castle of the two sisters. Its scorched remains giving a reminder to those who could remember it.
She continued past it to another forest. Though this was common. Trees were pretty much everywhere now. It was the quickest way to provide shade in the scorched lands. But even they didn’t last as long as they used to. Burnt alive under the constant sun. Though they were more hearty than the old tree she was used to. The ones that were left anyhow.
She suddenly felt her wings extend sharply outwards, slowing her down significantly. She dropped in altitude and quickly landed. She quickly slinked forward through the trees and brush. Her mechanical legs not pausing in the deep mud. She also had scanners to help her avoid the deep pits that would eat a hoof or leg. So, she had little difficulty traversing. Transversing to where though?
The destination came into view a few moments later.
A small bar was built out here. Its wooden building and blackened windows looked like an eyesore as it stood among the trees. Why would somepony build a bar out here?
There was a pathway leading to the bar and she could see it leading outwards to somewhere outside her vision.
It must have been built along a path through this forest. So, it probably wasn’t just a bar but rather a small hotel. A resting spot even. Though why would Celestia call her out here? What was out here that was so important?
That answer too revealed itself as she felt panels along her skin fill with energy. She silently exited her foliage cover and trotted towards the building with intent haste.
An assassination.
Starlight practically used the wall of the stairwell as a cushion to slow herself down. The key to her room was floating in her magic as she threw herself down the stairs. She magically caught and reorientated herself at the bottom then launched out the stairwell. Fluttershy’s cuite mark was still burning on her leg but didn’t change in intensity as she continued to run.
“Thanks for the room!!” She said urgently as she placed the key on the kirin’s table, not stopping her run. He gave her a concerned look, but she turned away as he began to speak.
But any sort of cognitive resources needed to understand were immediately yanked away as she felt her leg burn. Though on the front side of her leg.
Front, slightly up… She thought as her mind calculated a practiced motion. She ducked and slid, lowering her head as much as she could.
Her hair was caught in a sudden air current as something whipped above her, removing a small chunk of her hair. She covered herself with a magic shield and charged forward, using her shoulder like a ram. As expected, she hit something that her eyes couldn’t see. She pushed into it, magically amplifying her efforts.
Something moved out of her way. That something then smashed into a table, reducing it to splinters.
The impact caused the object to flutter in and out of view. A black-suited pony. Glossy metal armor and a familiar metal helmet.
“Shyborg!!” Rang out among the bar, spoken by a few bystanders.
The single word seemed to cause panic. Filling the room with sound as the group tried to get away from the pony. Though she was already gone. The table shifted; the only clue of her presence.
Starlight was already gone as well. She was out the door as soon as the pony was out of her way. She only heard the cursed nickname follow her out. She hated that nickname for her friend Fluttershy, no matter how fitting it was of her situation.
She just couldn’t believe the pony was doing it of her own free will! Nor the rest of the Elements of Harmony. She shook her head, she needed to focus. She had gone through those thoughts before, and she’d dwell on them later.
So, she continued to gallop away from the bar. She was now using her magic to harden the mud into a suitable running surface, paying close attention to the pain on her foreleg. It wasn’t too strong but was steadily growing with every step.
She heard the air thrum before the sound of some pony landing nearby. She didn’t even look back. The action would be useless as Fluttershy would no doubt be cloaked.
The pain on her leg started to grow sharply, making her eyes flick to her right.
Right, higher up, she thought then dove left just before the pain spiked. She manifested a shield on her side and used it as a sled to avoid another hidden blow. She pushed herself forward a little with her back legs before she could get herself up onto her forelegs.
Top, she noted, and delayed getting onto the rest of her legs by ducking. Again, her hair flew into motion as something whirled right above it. Starlight then strained her forelegs and threw herself forward. She again used her magic to harden the mud she would be landing at, then used it to scrape the top layer, arising a large dirt cloud to land among.
Then she surrounded herself with it, tightly weaving it around to avoid it getting into her eyes. The last thing she needed was to be blinded.
The cloud glowed slightly brighter as she ground the dirt into fine dust. She held it around her on standby. She had prepped for this…
She idly shifted her legs, waiting. Painfully aware of her surroundings. Her leg was slowly burning with more intensity as she waited. Though it was slow, gradually reaching a peak.
She struggled to control her facial expression but maintained a controlled face, waiting ever so patiently.
Fluttershy was right in front of her if her magic was telling her right. While she had trained for this, her nerves would not settle, no matter how hard she tried to quell them. She felt her lungs demand more air and she wanted to jump back, teleport back, something! But she had gone through this scenario. She already knew she couldn’t teleport with her around. Too risky. But if her plan worked out, this battle could turn in her favor.
So, she waited. Slowly feeling the pain increase. Then, when she saw a tiny puff of dust spawn just in front of her, she threw herself back, using her back legs as a fulcrum. Her magically protected forelegs snapped to her chest where she caught an invisible object. Continuing the motion, she then threw the hidden object over her head, rolling onto her back in the process. She winced with effort and pain as the object had cut her face. But it was too small to warrant any concern.
A large skid mark marked the landing of the invisible object. Though it was much larger than the object she had caught. She rolled to a crouched position and aligned the dust cloud to her will. She shot the cloud towards the skid mark, accelerating it to a blur.
The hardened mud made tiny little puffs as the granules hit. Though there was an area where no puffs spawned. Rather, white-edged color streaks appeared midair. They appeared and disappeared for a few moments till parts of the metal-clad pegasus were phasing in and out of view.
Starlight smiled. Her plan had worked! Though she frowned as the phasing stopped and the metal cladded Fluttershy stood in front of her in all her infamous glory.
She was covered hoof to mane with metal. Black and glossy, if a bit scratched at this moment but the metal still looked quite intact. The metal covering her friend looked like a slightly thicker jumpsuit with extra plates around joints and where saddlebags would be. Her wings were no different. Metal feathers glimmered silver along their black fittings. Her robotic tail idly shifted back and forth as she faced Starlight. Its triangular pieces brushing against one another without a sound.
She couldn’t see the pony’s face with the helmet she was sporting. It seemed to be made of the glossy metal, but portions of the helmet reflected the light just a little bit more. It also wasn’t spared from Starlight’s attack with large scratches scoring the helmet. Some deeper than the ones on the rest of the body. Though she could still envision her friend’s gentle eyes beneath it. Her being wanted to rip off that helmet and give her friend a big hug. Though she knew under Celestia’s control it would end very poorly.
“Very clever Starlight, very clever…” Fluttershy said but not how a pony should talk. Rather than a single voice, there were two. Fluttershy’s timid worried voice was in the background, while Celestia’s smooth voice spoke with amused boldness. The princess’s voice was quite prominent, nearly smothering the timid pegasus’s voice.
“But I can assure you it’s merely cosmetic damage,” The two voices made a strange harmony of fear and amusement.
“Then why aren’t you cloaked if it’s cosmetic?” Starlight replied taking a step back.
The pegasus laughed. A slightly muted laugh that contained mirth and fear, “Because I want me to be the last thing you see…” The pegasus’s helmet gained two glowing orbs where her eyes ought to be. Orange circles that contained a smaller circle of redder color that wasn’t obscured by the scratches in the slightest.
Starlight’s ears plastered themselves to her skull as the golden eyes stared at her. She took another step back, but fear locked her mind.
Every line on the pegasus’s armor glowed with a fiery orange, only for flames to emerge from the lines. They expanded as the armor plating moved and shifted, allowing the pegasus’s form to grow. The legs lengthened, sporting solar flames that tasted the air. Starlight heard a whimper of pain for a moment as her barrel lengthened as well, allowing more flames and light to emerge. Her wings extended and began to enlarge into a massive wingspan of dancing flames. The robotic tail made up of several segments sparked and turned into a tongue of flame, bouncing to and fro.
The helmet of the pegasus clicked and clanked as it too changed shape. The muzzle piece lengthened, while the overall height shrunk slightly. Portions of the helmet swung into hidden compartments, allowing more fire and light to emerge. A large swathe of flame swung behind the pony’s head to become a familiar fiery mane. A long horn made up of dancing flames swirled up from the pony’s approximate forehead while Celestia’s cuite mark glowed red hot on the pony’s metal flank.
In a matter of seconds, there was an alicorn. An alicorn using the form of another pony. But still had the strength, size, and intimidation as one. She still couldn’t see the face but the glowing limbs and dancing flames among the metal sure sent a message.
Starlight swallowed gently, unsure of what she should do next.
Celestia chuckled, her voice still mingling with Fluttershy’s now pained voice, “Let’s make this fun, shall we?”
Starlight shook her head and took off. Though she had barely taken three steps before she felt the mark on her leg burn sharply. She ducked to avoid another blow. And when she looked up, the alicorn landed briskly in front of her. Starlight couldn’t see her smile, but she could vividly imagine one stretched along her friend’s lips.
“Oh Starlight, no escape this time…” Celestia said with a gleeful voice while Fluttershy’s voice carried despair.
Starlight found her mouth far too dry. Though she couldn’t help but notice a tiny red dot along the alicorn’s shoulder. It was quivering slightly but vanished as the alicorn dashed forward. Starlight barely jumped backward to avoid the bladed forehoof that swung at her. Though she had forgotten about the mass behind the pony which smashed into her, sending her flying.
She landed with a roll to avoid getting hurt too bad. However, the impact site was burned, and she could feel a bruise in the area. Since it was directly on her chest, every breath caused a small amount of pain to flood the area.
Starlight turned to face her opponent once more. She had been hit harder, battled under much more serious injuries, and had trained herself to overcome much harder obstacles.
Though Celestia wasn’t something she planned for in its entirety. She considered the chance the Princess may come in pony to face her but never truly prepared for it. The Princess never possessed the Elements to do their job. Only when the resistance had mounted a defense powerful enough to need it.
The resistance would then be crushed. Utterly.
Starlight had planned that if the Princess were to show her face, then she would need to get away. There was no way for her to fight the alicorn. If the Princess had shown up in her form, well, there would be nothing she could do.
Here though she had a chance. Celestia was possessing Fluttershy, so her magical abilities wouldn’t be as strong. Still strong enough to flatten her but not decimate her.
She took a step back, summoning her sword from her dimension. She had a very finite amount of magic around her. And since it was fueling her sleep-deprived body, she needed to make sure that store didn’t run out. Or she’d probably just fall asleep.
In front of a fiery, death alicorn that wanted her soul.
She took in a breath, letting the alicorn close the gap to her with slow steps. She so badly wanted to just teleport away. She had plenty of firecrackers that when charged with magic, would disrupt the magic that could be used to trace her.
Though the last time she tried when she was in view of the Elements, she reappeared with an iron spike in her mane. Somehow, they had tracked her, then shot at where she was going to appear. Before she had materialized into the physical space!
If it hadn’t missed, then it likely would have been the end right then and there. So, she didn’t dare risk teleporting till she was sure of her cover and the location of Elements. She still didn’t know who had fired the spike. She only got away from Fluttershy last time because of some paint and thick steel buildings.
But here, Celestia wouldn’t care about paint nor buildings. Starlight swallowed dryly and pulled her gauntlet out as well. It would allow her to connect her sword to her foreleg without the need for magic. But she still hovered her sword close.
“Are you ready yet?” Celestia asked, Fluttershy’s timid voice full of hopelessness. She had almost closed the entire gap.
Starlight shook her head, stalling for as long as she could. It didn’t work.
“Oh, okay,” Celestia said but Fluttershy’s voice relayed warning in tense tones. Starlight tensed as Celestia dashed forward. Her sword clanged as she deflected a blade. She made extra care to avoid the tongue of flame flowing behind the alicorn as it contained Fluttershy’s razor-sharp tail. Though Starlight barely had a moment to breathe before the alicorn spun on a hoof to attack once more.
Clang!
Her sword reverberated in her magic as it deflected the blow. It however chipped the blade. A tiny triangle bit by the alicorn’s hoof blade just near the top.
Clang!
Again, Celestia jumped over her, wildly swinging the red hot blade. Though, when she landed, flames appeared on the ground and stayed as she attacked once more.
Clang!
Starlight’s mind was racing as she watched the alicorn place another section of fire. It was probably magic as there was only mud and little brush. Not nearly big enough to sustain the bonfire that sprung to life. Celestia chuckled and leapt at the unicorn again.
Starlight parried the blow but received a cut along her shoulder. She looked at it briefly to check if it needed care, but it had been cauterized. She turned her attention back to the alicorn in time to block another blow.
What could she do? She couldn’t teleport until she desperately needed to. Though she couldn’t help but feel that she was only alive because the alicorn was playing with her. She had been seen vaporizing an entire city with a single flare. Her magic could melt through 150 mm steel with ease. Yet, she, a mere unicorn, was still alive. Why?
Qui-ting!
The top half of her sword snapped, sending the shrapnel glancing along her flank. She winced as a healthy cut appeared just above her cutie mark. Fortunately, it wasn’t deep, or at least her initial inspection told her that before she had to block again. But it was bleeding, not heavily, and it stung every time she moved her back leg.
She also noticed that she was now completely surrounded by fire. Though that wasn’t completely terrible. The fire was magic in nature, and she could use that energy to sustain herself. The terrible thing? Celestia was now using those thick flames to hide herself before attacking.
Starlight still wasn’t terribly frightened. Despite seeing the fiery creature reminding her of demons straight out of Tartarus. She could still feel where the alicorn vaguely was because of the mark on her foreleg.
Starlight yelped as the alicorn leapt at her, but her sword was on her other side. She instinctively used her gauntlet to block, jarring her shoulder from the blow. It also made her stumble back. Far enough that her tail caught fire. She growled as she put it out with a little magic. She blocked another blow but still received another cut along her shoulder. She ignored it and poured a little magic into the flames surrounding her, attempting to put them out. The flames dimmed but rose back up as she aborted her spell. She could put them out, it would require quite a bit of energy though.
But what would she do when she got out of the ring of fire? She needed cover, yet the thin coverage of trees would not help her. She needed something larger that wouldn’t be so easy to guess where she was hiding.
She couldn’t hide behind a tree when any shot through it would go through her as well.
Celestia jumped again through the flames, though, this time she was a lot lower than Starlight had anticipated. Her broken sword was way too high.
Clang!
She blocked it with her gauntlet once more. This time it dislocated her shoulder. She cried out accordingly, feeling tiny shards of metal cut into her skin from the piece. She gave it a look of pain and noted that the locking mechanism for her blade was still intact. She gritted her teeth and grabbed her leg with her magic, intending to put it back into place. Then she froze.
The flames in front of her were swirling together, unnaturally so. The thin lines of light came together and formed a long waving rod. From the top of the rod formed a large, recognizable blade.
The fiery ax slowly materialized from the magic fire and hurled itself at her.
Starlight immediately brought up a shield. It exploded with a thud and emitted a torrent of burning sparks.
Starlight heightened her senses of magic, wildly looking around for another to appear. Her foreleg burned and she whipped around to hastily block another blow before the Princess once more disappeared in the flames. Her ears perked as she felt magic forming behind her, so she whipped her shield to face it.
Sure enough, the front side exploded as another axe collided with it. Though she knew what it felt like now. She wouldn’t have to look.
She instead focused on the burning mark on her leg, making sure she was facing Celestia at all times. Her shield spun around her, blocking the axes while distracting her for a mere moment. Though she could feel her eyes flickering to every movement past the waving flames of light.
Celestia laughed after a tense minute, “How interesting! Oh, how fun!! I didn’t expect you to last this long!”
Starlight growled, “Cut the crap! I know you could have ended me at any moment; why are you playing with me?”
She only got a light chuckle before a response, “I’m surprised that sword can block mine. Most get cut clean in half. You should see the looks on their face when that happens!”
“Made it myself,” Starlight muttered unhappily. The heat from the circle was beginning to make her sweat. The little burning sparks from the axes along with the Princess’s unwillingness to tell her were not helping her mood either.
“Why is that?” The Princess’s head pushed through the flames, making Starlight twitch, “Got no friends to make it for you?”
Starlight snarled but said nothing.
The alicorn laughed, “Oh? The Great and Powerful Starlight has no help?”
Starlight thought her teeth would crack with how much pressure they were under. But she slowly released her jaw. The Princess was just getting under her skin, trying to make her mad. Which would make her sloppy.
She took a deep breath of hot air and stared at the head, “Well? Come on then! I don’t got all day!”
“Oh! I’m sorry! I just need one more thing,” Celestia said in an unnaturally timid tone, “I mean, if you don’t mind that is,”
Starlight growled once more as the alicorn maniacally laughed and withdrew her head. It then came back with another flying hit. She blocked it, once more chipping her sword.
The conversation had left her blood boiling and her mind turning. Her great and powerful friend had shown her how she made her famous smoke bombs. She even added a bit of magic to prevent magical eyes from seeing her. Though it was useless when the opponent had thermal vision. Though she might be able to use the heat of the flames to her advantage…
She had a way out. She just needed to know where to go. She blocked another hit, losing a small chunk of her sword. She felt her shield reorientate itself to block another axe. They were getting more frequent but the magic around her was still strong. She wasn’t worried.
Her leg was still stinging, so she pulled magic into her leg and reset the joint, blocking another swinging hit from Celestia. Her worry was bouncing around her head. Why was she still alive?
She wasn’t complaining. Though, she would have to make a much better plan for the next time. Though, if she got out of this, she dearly hoped there wouldn’t be a next time.
She pocketed the thought and began to fire magical blasts through the flames. She made sure to fire them close to where Celestia was, to hide her true intentions. She blocked another hit, listening to the trees crash to the ground. She didn’t dare smile. But she had aimed well.
“Does the little pony want to fight back?” Celestia taunted, “Or does she have a plan?”
Starlight didn’t respond but held what was left of her sword at the ready. Celestia came through the wall of fire again, walking menacingly. Well, it was just her walking, but Starlight’s heart seemed to stop, restart, and skip a beat, all at the same time. She swallowed and located the smoke bomb within her pocket.
Celestia jumped forward and swiveled on a single back hoof, throwing her entire body into a deadly swing. Starlight moved back, allowing her sword to slow the momentum. Though, Celestia’s hoof blade only slid across it, leaving much of the momentum.
Celestia used it to continue to spin, catching Starlight’s sword in the kinks of Fluttershy’s tail. It stuck fast and was ripped around. Starlight let the sword go and summoned the smoke bomb to her hoof. As she jumped to avoid the fiery tail, she made sure to land on the smoke bomb.
It exploded in a sparkly blue that obscured the air with a tight haze. Starlight however wasn’t using her eyes to guide her movements. Trixie had helped train her to guide herself without the need to see.
“When Trixie uses the smoke bomb, the audience can’t see her. Even Trixie can’t see Trixie! The Great and Powerful Trixie must plan, visualize, then act to perform her stunning escape.” The words rang through her mind as she felt for the fire surrounding her. She poured her magic into it, quenching it. She then dashed through and out of the cloud.
The moment she could see, she realized she had made a slight error.
She had exited the cloud where she had anticipated but the trees, which she had collapsed into a makeshift barrier, were farther than she had thought. She didn’t stop to think but ran as fast as her little legs could take her.
She heard hoof steps behind her along with the burning on her foreleg increasing. At the height of the burn, she whipped around and put up a special shield.
Fluttershy had become infamous for her hoof blades. They were very sharp, capable of cutting through a lot of metal before stopping. Though, it was also really good at cutting straight through magic. She had heard numerous stories of her cutting straight through personal shields.
This shield was different though. It was meant to be cut through, delivering an explosion that would send herself away. Hopefully, in this case, to where she wanted to go. She also put on her own personal shield moments before.
As expected, Celestia’s blade was moments from entering her back. Though, it entered the shield with Starlight’s action. The spell took effect, sending Starlight flying with a small magical explosion. Starlight grunted as the flight suddenly stopped with her hitting the fallen tree.
She let her personal shield go and scurried up and over the tree. She crouched and moved a bit to the side to hide her true location. Her back felt the rough bark as her lungs enjoyed the cooler air. She ignored it and charged her horn.
She had made several checkpoints as she traveled. In case she ever needed to get out of a sticky situation. She had only used them twice but was glad she made them now. She thought about the nearest one and let the spell go.
The energy flooded her body and reacted with the air around her. Making a small flash.
Though her location didn’t change. Her eyes went wide.
But she was suddenly shoved forcibly into the mud by the tree behind her as it was sent flying. She tried to get up but was forcibly pushed to the side till she was on her back, looking towards the sky. Unfortunately, the pressure had been applied to her injured shoulder, making it twinge in response.
Celestia was above her, and with a swift movement, placed a hoof on her chest. The sides of her legs fell outwards and down till they became a clamp, anchoring her to the ground.
Starlight tried using her hooves to buck, kick, and pry to release herself despite the mud obscuring her vision. She, again and again, tried to use her teleportation spell, but it got blocked every time. Her forelegs were then forcibly pushed outwards till they were straight out on either side. Warm magic held them there, despite her efforts.
The warmth spread to her head as it was forcibly turned to face the burning alicorn. Her mind went quiet as the mud was gently removed from her face.
“Last thing, you see. ME.” Her voice was filled with dark determination, followed by desperation. She reached back her fore hoof, where it again sprouted a large thin blade. She brought it down, flames engulfing it.
The blade froze as Starlight pulled the residual magic from the area and tuned it to the blade. Since it was filled with Celestia’s magic, it acted like a magnet. Her instincts created the magic without thought but she consciously poured energy into it. Keeping the spell alive.
But it required a lot of magic and she had to spin the energy, giving the spell a fiery line spinning around the blade.
Celestia chuckled with both amusement and worry, “Clever as always Starlight! But this little spell won’t help you now…” She physically put her body onto the blade, leveraging her weight and strength. The blade dropped an inch before stopping.
Starlight’s heart seemed to edge away from the blade as much as it could. Nestling itself somewhere in her back. What could she do?!
Celestia laughed, “Finally got you! It took way too long to put this plan into place.”
Starlight frowned, “What?” Her voice was strained and cracked when the blade dropped a little more.
“Well, you love to teleport all around your enemies, easily outmaneuvering them. That’s how you avoided Rareflect! As you clearly couldn’t use magic against her and that’s your thing. So, I had to stop that little habit of yours.”
Starlight’s heart jumped once more as the blade dropped again but noticed what she was getting at.
She must have shown it on her face cause Celestia chuckled, “Put it together so fast?”
“You had something else shoot that spike at me,” Starlight said with a growl. Her concentration broke a bit as she saw another small, bright red dot appear on Celestia’s shoulder.
“Right you are! I had to make you think I had something to track your teleport and shoot you before you materialized. It’s a shame it missed but it’s much too big to put into these things,” she said, using her wing to tap her head as both legs were occupied.
Starlight wasn’t in the position to frown but she didn’t like the Princess referring to her friends as, “things.”
Celestia continued, “Though you had no idea! You just thought you got fortunate and never teleported again! Unless you had an impenetrable cover... So, I had to let you plan. Make you think you had a chance to get away. You obviously wouldn’t fight me, cause, well, duh! While your little brain was running around in circles, I was placing an anti-teleportation field coded to your energy.”
“And you’re telling me this now because?” Starlight said straining. The blade was now close enough that her eyes couldn’t focus on it.
She chuckled darkly, “What’s the fun if the pony doesn’t know they got outsmarted? You’d do the same thing in a game, right?”
“So this is just a game?” Starlight said. She had an idea but needed time to gather the energy. The blade was magic resistant, and she couldn’t teleport. But it was still technically metal, and she could use magnetism to warp it. Hopefully, that would weaken it enough for it to break on her personal shield.
“Yep! Game over…” she said chirpily, then darkly. Hopelessness and anger were in Fluttershy’s voice.
The blade dropped again but Starlight managed to stop the blade just in time. Well, sort of; the tip of the blade had pierced her chest a bit. It barely broke her skin; instantly cauterized.
Starlight gritted her teeth, trying to focus on her magic. Though she seemed to get a lucky break when a small dome-like chunk of metal appeared on Celestia’s shoulder.
Celestia gave the object a curious look, then chuckled, “Ah, Sunset shimmer. It’s been a while! Do get in line though, dealing with somepony else at the moment,” She turned to something Starlight couldn’t see, “You’ll get your turn,” She added darkly.
“Well, that’s my friend. I’m sure she won’t mind me going first,” The voice of Sunset shimmer reached Starlight’s ears.
Celestia laughed again though this time much more heartily, “You think this little piece of human tech can stop me? Humans have no magic! Little heat resistance!” She said mockingly. The little dome attaching itself to Celestia’s shoulder started to glow as her heat was fed into it.
“Well, one thing I’ve learned about humans: they like to find solutions to impossible situations,” Sunset said with a smile that Starlight could hear.
The little dome suddenly started to glow as a white ring of molten metal appeared on the dome. It popped and lost the top part of itself. Then, a white-hot flame burst out of it. It applied a massive amount of thrust to the alicorn, sending her flying off Starlight. But the flame vanished a few moments later.
Celestia growled and the flames dancing around her grew brighter. The blast had sent the pony into the surrounding trees and mud. Though the mud was already flaking off as dirt as the pony got up.
She growled but exclaimed in surprise as the device exploded into a tan foam that hardened in moments. She then gave a shout of frustration as the foam cracked with her struggle but held fast.
Celestia chuckled, “You better run,” she said in a sing-song voice, further pushed by Fluttershy’s urgency.
Starlight took the cue and stood up, despite her body’s complaints. She looked for Sunset and found her easily.
She was in her human form that Starlight had met her in. Black jacket and all. Though she was carrying a device that she didn’t recognize. It was a tube of sorts. With a tiny little visor on the side and a carrying grip meant for human hands.
Sunset was crouched with the tube over her shoulder. Her face was by the visor, covering one of her eyes. There was a click, and a thoom as another projectile was shot out of the tube. It was another dome device she had seen earlier. It landed on the foam blob that contained Celestia and started to blink red.
“That won’t hold long! Quick, follow me!” Sunset said, looking Starlight dead in the eye.
Starlight nodded and rushed to her. Her steps faltered a bit as she threw the tube into the air. She then pressed her necklace and disappeared in a flash of light. When she reappeared, she was back in her pony form.
The discarded tube now floated along in the air, suspended by a bright red glow. Starlight felt the question rest of her tongue but didn’t get a chance to say it.
“Later,” Sunset said urgently, “We need to move!”
Starlight swallowed her question and followed the unicorn as she took off into the trees. The unicorn wasn’t caring about the mud along the ground, sending it flying as she ran.
Starlight made sure to be to the side of the unicorn to avoid the muck but noted that she wasn’t doing any better on the ground. She was tempted to use her magic to solidify the ground but decided against it. She wasn’t sure where she was going. For all she knew she could be going to where little residual magic was. She’d rather have energy at the ready, little as it would be.
There was a thunderous crack behind them, shaking the branches of the trees and the dust on the bark.
“Already!?” Sunset exclaimed, worry set in her voice, “Hurry Starlight! Double time it!”
Sunset increased her speed, Starlight following suit. She heard the princess behind them take to the air in a blast that could be heard from a mile away.
Though she then saw where Sunset was taking her.
Tucked among the trees with a little foliage barely covering it, was a truck.
Starlight only knew about the vehicle because she visited the human world. It was like a wagon but didn’t need pony power to get it moving. It could also move a lot faster than a carriage. Well, more times than not. This variant of the vehicle had a large flatbed on the back, sacrificing passenger space for storage. Though it still had room in its cab for about 5 humans, depending on the model.
“The truck?” Starlight asked plainly.
Sunset nodded.
Starlight gathered her magic with a nod and teleported them both to the vehicle. Sunset dug her hooves into the now hard ground to stop but gave Starlight a thankful look. She hovered the tube close and magically opened the passenger side door. Starlight would have gotten in but found she couldn’t.
Both the back seat and the passenger side were taken up by some sort of device. It looked like something Twilight would have made years back. Metal fittings, glowing wires and tubes, and a mess of wires and diodes to boot. The dashboard of the vehicle was covered in a multitude of multicolored buttons, switches, and leavers. Underneath was a mess of wires that contained an inconceivable amount of wires. She could even follow the path of a single one.
But a glowing cylinder rested in between the two seats caught her eye. It had a simple turning device on the front, kinda like a “T.”
Starlight was about to ask where she was going to go but Sunset had already started to speak as she tossed the tube into the depths of the back seat, “Hop in the bed! The floor is magnetic, so I think Megnes’s Spell of Metal Allurement would help you stay in place.”
Starlight nodded and quickly levitated herself into the bed while Sunset traveled around the front. She tapped on her necklace again. She disappeared once more as she transformed back into her human form. This time, Starlight was able to glimpse a look at the jewelry as she opened the door.
It was a simple dull red metal piece. A circle plate that had a small engraving of a circle with lines inside leading to a smaller square. A silver chain held it in place.
She lost sight of it as the human got into the driver’s seat of the vehicle. Though both creatures jumped as Celestia landed hard in front of the vehicle.
“I told you,” Celestia taunted, “Humans have no magic! So are inferior to mine!” She then blasted the windshield with a magic bolt of fire. Starlight ducked and saw Sunset brace.
“Oh Glyph! Do not fail me now!” She cried out.
Starlight had seen the magic penetrate bunkers of full steel. Buildings were cut in half and even mountains were gouged with this attack. Though, the glass seemed to take it in strides, fully dissipating the energy harmlessly.
Starlight merely blinked as she stared through the truck's open back window, impressed.
Though Sunset didn’t react much. She instead began to hastily press buttons and switch switches along her dashboard. Though froze momentarily when Fluttershy’s hoof blade went through the windshield next to her. Though the glass didn’t shatter. Rather, it bent and stretched while filled with thousands of cracks. It looked like it had been turned to fabric!
Celestia then began to tear the crinkly fabric away from the truck in large chunks. Sunset’s dashboard suddenly pulled Starlight’s attention with the appearance of a bright green button. It looked as if Sunset was about to hit it when she froze, trapped in a bright orange glow.
Starlight paled as Sunset struggled against the magical levitation to no avail. She was gently lifted out of the truck and levitated over the hood.
“Fun tricks from everypony today!” Celestia said with a chipper voice, “It’s so much more fun when they can actually fight back! Right Shyborg?”
Starlight growled and once more banished the anger out of her mind. What was she going to do now? She felt utterly hopeless as she watched her friend float in midair. She had to hurry, cause Celestia’s favorite method of execution was not fun.
Celestia laughed with mirth while it echoed with sadness and anger.
“It’s not your fault Fluttershy!” Sunset said with her efforts to get free.
“Oh? But it truly is! This is her body after all!” She then cackled for a few moments, “Well, I’ve never toasted a human before! Let’s see how long you last!”
Sunset paled as the energy surrounding her glowed brighter. Sweat immediately formed on her brow and her breathing quickened. A blue circle suddenly started to glow on her belt. It beeped and Sunset was surrounded by blue pulsing rings that overlapped each other as they circled her. Her face immediately relaxed and she muttered silent words.
Celestia turned her head a bit, “What’s this? Another fun toy?” The magic surrounding her began to glow brighter, causing the blue to glow brighter too.
Though Starlight wasn’t truly paying attention. She was trying to figure out the dashboard. Sunset was obviously trying to do something in the face of the Princess. Though she saw the green button, was there anything else she needed to press?
She frowned and condensed air with her magic, just in front of the little button. She pressed it, hoping that other buttons would light up and guide her to victory. Though the button went dark, and nothing happened.
At least inside the vehicle.
The outside clicked twice before a large section of the vehicle swiveled outwards, just behind the headlights. Two large cannon-looking devices snapped out and shot two bullets of foam.
They exploded on Celestia’s face, covering her in more tan liquid that expanded and began to harden. The alicorn took a few steps back, wiping off the unpleasant-smelling chemical. Though it stuck to her hooves, still expanding and hardening.
It cracked as Celestia poured heat into it, making it start to flake off. But the cannons shot again, scoring more hits. Then the cannons took turns firing, each shot hitting the Alicorn with hardening foam. The Princess merely growled as she was nearly completely covered in blackening foam.
The initial shots had been able to push her back, but she was making slow progress back to the truck. Starlight watched with worry as the human Sunset crawled back into the truck. She got back into her seat and pulled something she had to crouch to reach, just to the left of the steering wheel.
The broken windshield hissed as it was blasted off with pressurized air. The hood then lifted a few centimeters, and a new windshield began to slide into position. Though Sunset didn’t wait for the windshield to get into position. She quickly buckled herself up and grasped the steering wheel. The truck lurched into motion, throwing Starlight back a bit before she caught herself. It took a hard left and quickly gained speed.
Starlight heard the cannons click as they folded back into their hidden compartments. But she wasn’t looking at them. She was instead looking back towards the Princess slowly getting free of the foam. Starlight swallowed, her mind reviewing what she was saved from. Then her thoughts bounced as the truck took a sharp right, left, and right in rapid succession. The poor unicorn bounced against the walls of the bed but managed to stay in.
“Are you okay?!” Sunset called through the back window.
Starlight nodded, “Yeah! I’ve been through worse!” She had to shout over the wind.
“Do you know Megnes’s spell?!”
Starlight nodded again, “Yeah!”
“Use it on the metal floor! It’s going to get bumpier!” Sunset repeated urgently.
Starlight gathered magic to her hooves and lifted one at a time to enchant them. When she put them back down, they snapped to the smooth bed as the spell turned her hooves into magnets. She carefully walked towards the center of the bed, then crouched to lower her center of gravity. She was still able to see over the gate of the truck, but it was a lot easier to stay on when it took a sharp turn.
Her hair was flowing wildly in the wind the truck was pushing through. She gave it a sour look as she could see now how much her vanity had suffered in the past few years. Rarity would have a heart attack if she saw her, so she resolved to fix it before that happened.
Though her thoughts popped as she felt the mark on her leg burn. Her head snapped up and she saw a bright glow above scorched leaves.
She tensed and began to pull up a magical shield but paused as the sides of the bed opened up and two large cylindrical pieces of metal came out. They were just a tad longer than she was and looked a lot like rockets.
They swiveled upwards and the sharp cones faced the sky. A few moments later they launched, a bright light propelling them upwards. They ran towards the much brighter light Celestia was producing as she dived down. They didn’t hit her though, rather came near her and snapped to her sides. The little lights on the ends glowed brighter as they gained more power.
The alicorn then was subjugated to an uncontrollable flight as she fought against the rockets for a few precious seconds. The flight was ended on the ground as the rockets melted off the sides of the red hot alicorn. Starlight felt fear gather in her chest as the glowing eyes glowed brighter. Her jaw tightened as she poured more magic into her shield.
Celestia fired a fiery bolt at the truck, only to have it hit Starlight’s preemptive shield. Though in blocking the shot she could feel the energy of the environment get pulled into the shield through her. She felt like a riverbank. One wrong move and she’d feel the full force of the magical current she was channeling. It lasted a few seconds, but her shield successfully blocked the blow. Her legs shook for a moment as if she had just finished a marathon she hadn’t trained for.
She wearily kept up the shield as she watched Celestia charge forward, chasing the truck on hoof. She thought it was odd as she had wings and there was still room to fly around the speeding vehicle. Though that could just be a ploy. Or maybe she knew something about human technology she didn’t.
She frowned, hating not knowing. But she kept the shield up and kept the solar Princess in her sight. She turned her head back a bit and called out, “What’s the plan?! I can’t keep her off us forever!”
“There’s an old train tunnel nearby! We need to get to that!”
Starlight had to cut off her question why, “Okay? I know the tunnel you’re talking about, I can teleport us there!” She began to gather her energy for such a big target but stopped when Sunset shouted.
“No! Don’t! You’ll mess up the Quantum resonation signature!”
Starlight was now even more curious but let it go as she blocked another shot from Celestia. The pony was now gaining on the truck, making Starlight’s gut turn into knots.
How was a tunnel going to help them now? If she had some superweapon, then that could make sense but surely the Alicorn wouldn’t allow herself to be such a big target.
She fired lasers from her horn, directing them at trees around them. They crumpled with their bases destroyed and landed in front of the alicorn. Yet she either crashed through them or hopped over them. It slowed her down a fraction of a hoof step.
Starlight looked at her surroundings, suddenly recognizing the riverbed she had put one of her checkpoints at. The abandoned beaver dam still stood above the flowing river as the heat caused its levels to drop considerably.
“Sunset! We are getting close to the tunnel! What’s the plan?!” She cried out desperately. She was now able to make out the scratches along Fluttershy’s armor. She could only see the large ones across her helmet but that would change soon.
Sunset didn’t respond for a moment, turning the truck sharply to avoid a tree.
“Sunset?!”
“I can’t tell you! She might hear us!” Starlight shouted over the wind, “Just get down when I say!!”
Starlight gulped. Normally she’d challenge that since it could be a Changeling in Sunset’s form trying to get the bounty on her head. Or some elaborate spell she didn’t bother to check because she was just in the hooves of death.
Though Sunset’s outfit and the truck strongly suggested that she had come from the human dimension. Though Sunset probably hadn’t seen Equestria’s downfall, right? How did she know so much? And why did she have devices specifically made to counter Celestia’s overwhelming powers?
She watched another makeshift barrier get blasted to bits by the Princess. Was that why she wasn’t flying around them? Surely she could get in front of the vehicle! Why was she trying so hard to catch up?
Had Sunset and Celestia fought before?
Starlight blocked another shot, feeling her limbs lose all their energy and gain it again. Assuming that, what was Celestia weary of? A thought ran through her brain coupled with the memory of the glass not shattering under Celestia’s attack. She blocked another attack and shot a laser of her own.
It wasn’t aimed at the Solar pony chasing them, rather, at the bed itself. It wasn’t high-powered in case it bounced but it didn’t do that. The material merely seemed to absorb the energy, leaving a faint light blue mist that was whisked away.
She blocked another shot and then dropped down below the gate. She kept up her shield, however, placing it by the open window behind her.
The truck was mostly magic-proof! So, she would be able to stay safe by staying low. Likely using the Deepstone crystal the changli—
Thunk.
Starlight looked up to see the head of a grappling hook lodged in the top of the gate. There was a whirr and before Starlight could remove it, there was a flaming head above her.
Celestia’s hoof clicked as the grapple disengaged and retreated into her leg. The rest of her legs were holding onto the gate, with the exception of one as it was waving at her. Starlight could almost see the smile on the alicorn’s face as she looked down on her.
“Hello!” She said cheerfully, her waving hoof sprouting a hoof blade.
“Hi!” Starlight said curtly, reaching her magic into the gate. While she couldn’t touch the truck itself with her magic, she pressurized the air inside the latch. It clicked open and Starlight gave the gate a push.
The gate swung open, taking the Princess with it. Heavy-duty strings stopped the gate from going too far, but the Princess was tall enough to say hello to the ground with the force of a moving truck.
She was thrown off, tearing up the ground before disappearing into a large dust cloud.
Starlight watched the dust cloud intently as the surroundings suddenly changed to a scorched dirt plain. Dozens of holes remained of countless explosions on the too scorched dirt and sand. There were remnants of metal carriages and other devices too destroyed to recognize.
A battleground. Starlight felt her frown increase as she dared a look around. This happened cause Celestia decided to quell an uprising herself. At least there was a lot of residual magic sticking to everything.
Her thoughts popped as her eyes snapped back to the Princess as she erupted from the dust cloud, sending it everywhere till it was no longer visible.
Her head looked up as the alicorn shot to the sky. Her figure seemed to be blotted out by the sun for a moment as she dove down, her hoof blades already drawn.
Starlight immediately wished she had finished making those extra swords she had planned, “Oh, they’d never break! You said,” She pulled two ingots of metal from her pocket dimension. The ingots she was going to use for the tools. While their grainy, grey surface didn’t look good, they’d work as shields at the moment.
The Princess came on her like a diving eagle, delivering several blows before soaring back into the sky. She did this repeatedly, gouging the sides of the truck.
Starlight was acutely controlling her breathing. She had to make sure the tires of the truck weren’t hit, nor could she allow Sunset, the device in the back, nor herself to be hit. She also noted that Celestia didn’t go in front of the truck.
Her two ingots of metal were quite chipped when Celestia rose much higher than before. Her form glowed, nearly blocking her out from view.
Starlight immediately put up a large shield above the truck, almost immediately feeling a large magic blast collide with it. She held it, pulling energy from the environment through her like a young foal would a straw and chocolate milk.
Her shield suddenly shattered, and she felt herself get pushed onto the back of the truck. Her hooves snapped to the leg that was holding her down, her eyes locked on Celestia’s.
“Last thing you remember…” Celestia said darkly. Her other hoof came down quickly, but Starlight used the gauntlet still on her leg to divert it away from her face. Though it was much too close for Starlight’s comfort. She quickly gathered some magic to her back legs and bucked the alicorn’s chest.
She heard a crack as the metal cracked, lifting Celestia up in the air a bit. Though not enough to get her off the truck. She came down as Starlight tried to get up, crashing on her like a bag of rocks.
This time Starlight had to use the spell she had used earlier to stop the blade, another vortex of orange sparks barely holding back the blade. She grunted as the blade was slowly inched towards her.
A loud bang left her ears ringing as Celestia’s shoulder suddenly jerked back. Starlight growled with discomfort as she heard Sunset shout in annoyance.
“Oh of course you’re bulletproof!”
Celestia chuckled, but Starlight heard the confusion in both voices, “I didn’t even know that!”
Starlight was again looking at the blade much too close to her face. Though as she continued to struggle, she realized something and disappeared with a pop. She reappeared around the alicorn’s neck and pulled back as hard as she could. The motion got the alicorn off balance, pulling her off the back of the truck as she tried to stab Starlight. Though she defended with her trusty bricks of metal.
Before the Princess of the sun hit the ground, she teleported back to the truck but missed her margin a bit. She hit the roof of the truck with a jarring thud, stunning her for a moment as her magnet hooves grabbed the roof for her. She shook her head, trying to clear her head.
She also caught a glimpse of two large craters next to them. If they were much closer, they’d become a single crater. Though the ground between the two seemed unstable as it suddenly dissolved with the truck rushing over it. Starlight hung to the roof as the truck seemed to slide on ice and quickly changed directions.
Starlight’s foreleg burned and she quickly put another shield above them, quickly feeling power rush through her. She also felt the truck turn sharply. Throwing her unsecured back legs around painfully.
Her shield stopped consuming power, so she looked behind and saw the Princess getting up from another mini crater. She had missed, though she was quickly catching up thanks to her wings.
Starlight felt her face trying to further the frown she was sporting. The alicorn had to be grounded for the two to get away. Otherwise, the pony could quickly catch up at any moment. She teleported to the back of the bed and quickly closed the gate with a hoof. She then pulled the empty glass bottle of Apple cider from her pocket dimension and quickly inscribed a spell onto it. She then pulled off the label and inscribed a spell to it before the Princess was above her again.
“Don’t stop!” She shouted behind her and teleported to the Princess. She teleported to the back of the Princess with an anti-fire spell wrapped around her and grabbed one of her wings. She gave it a good yank, pulling the pony out of the air and to the ground. She held the wing till the ground was close enough, and then teleported to it.
Celestia landed with a thud on the ground, bringing up more dust. Though it was spun around as Celestia quickly regained her footing, launching a flurry of attacks her way.
Starlight teleported back to avoid them, quickly placing the sticker from the bottle on the ground. It began to glow as she teleported back to the Princess in a swift kick from below her. Her form vaporized and she reappeared above her with one of her ingots in hoof. She brought it down on the Princesses’ s head with a sharp crack.
Celestia growled and jumped back. Her steps were slow and wary.
Starlight had the now three pieces of metal orbit her. She needed about 15 seconds for her other spell to complete. Then, provided her timing was right, she’d be able to take out a wing.
“Oh? Well come on then! I’ve don’t got all day!” Celestia said with an annoyed tone.
Starlight took a breath, paused, then obliged. She rapidly teleported around the Princess, putting in hits where she could.
She hated to have to hurt her friend, and avoided particularly painful spots, but she needed to make sure the pony would be grounded. She needed to look like a pony going all out, not a pony aiming for a particular spot.
So, she threw in hits where ever she could, teleporting as frequently as she needed to. She also destroyed any devices Celestia left from her back hooves. She couldn’t afford to have her teleportation stopped now.
Though her teleportation was being analyzed by Celestia, and she was getting good at predicting where she was going. Twice the sword missed her by centimeters. Once it got close enough to cut the fur off her face.
Though it didn’t faze her. She felt her spell complete, and she warped to the alicorn’s back. She warped the spell’s completed spear to her hooves and reared up.
The sticker’s spell grabbed residual metal from the environment and compacted it together into a magically compressed piece of metal. It would decompress the moment the magic ran out, but the ends were sharpened to unbelievably sharp points.
She rammed the sharp point down into the joint of the alicorn’s wing. It sparked and she heard a harmony of Celestia and Fluttershy screaming in pain.
Starlight teleported off and faced the pony, ready to enact part two of her plan. Though she paused as she watched the cursing pony.
The flames were much darker, and Celestia’s voice sounded miles away. The helmet looked up towards her, the glowing circles no longer.
“I’m sorry…” Starlight mouthed, unable to use her voice.
The pony didn’t respond but rather shook her head and motioned forward with a swift movement of her head. Then she painfully grunted as the flames roared back to life. The glowing circles in the helmet blazed back to life and Celestia’s voice returned with a vicious growl.
She turned her head to her broken wing, now laying limp on her side. The edge of the wing was resting on the ground and no flames emerged from it. It glowed with Celestia’s magic and was ripped off. It was glowing orange in her grip till she threw it away. It caused it to crumple into a ball as it bounced, making a line of glowing glass where it rolled along.
She whipped her head back to Starlight, “Oh you will pay for that!!” She screamed with fury and pain. Her whole form began to glow as rays of light seemed to extend from the lines of Fluttershy’s armor.
Starlight had so badly wanted to talk back, but quickly activated her return spell she had etched into the glass bottle in the back of the truck. She switched places with the bottle and promptly crashed into the gate of the truck. She shook off her pain and quickly looked above the gate.
Behind the truck, right where she was, suddenly was enveloped in a flash of light. It extended for a good bit before slowly diminishing. Though a large cloud of dust was quickly approaching them.
She placed her shield back on the open window behind her and ducked behind the gate. The soundwave hit first, assaulting her ears much more than the weapon Sunset had used. She quickly filled her lungs with air and held it, hearing the approaching dust cloud.
It fell on them like a large storm. Depositing dust and debris wherever it could. It quickly settled, and Starlight let out her breath with a sharp gasp, then a cough as she breathed in more dust.
“Starlight? What happened?!” Sunset’s shrill voice said.
“I took out one of her wings!” Starlight replied, removing the shield she had placed and getting closer. In a much quieter tone, she said, “We weren’t going to get away with Fluttershy able to fly. So, I had to take a risk. Though it was much easier now that I know I can teleport around them.”
“Wait, how did you get back? The truck’s magic-proof and moving! You couldn’t have placed a return marker!”
Starlight smiled, “I had an empty glass bottle.”
Sunset laughed, “Of course you did! But how did you--”
Another voice filled the cabin, demanding for Sunset, “Sunset! Do you copy?”
Sunset quickly pressed a button on the steering wheel and replied, “Yes, I copy!”
“Rainbowdash has been deployed! We do not know if it’s related to you but it was a very quick departure!” The voice said, bringing curiosity into Starlight.
“Wait. You can tell when they are deployed?!” She asked.
Sunset merely nodded and pressed the button, “Roger! We are coming up close to the relay point, is the deck ready?”
Starlight took a moment to look behind her, feeling her hooves hold her in place as Sunset took another turn.
There in the distance was a glowing pony running along the ground towards them. Though, much more concerning was the fading rainbow ring in the far distance.
“Sunset! I think Rainbow is coming this way!” She hastily turned back to the window, “I saw a rainboom!”
Sunset pressed the button, “Be advised! We just saw a rainboom! The deployment of Rainbow is probably for us!”
“Is this a code Solar?” The voice was a restrained calm, fear and worry underlying her words.
Sunset took a moment to reply, “I don’t think so, but we should treat it as such. Just in case.”
“Okay, code Solar confirmed. Bay 4 is ready to accept. Are you ready for the resonation code?”
“Yeah,” Sunset replied, a keypad appearing in the center of the wheel.
Starlight looked through the front windshield to see a large hill in the near distance. The large dark tunnel carved into it stood for longer than she had been alive. She could still imagine the pink train chugging through it. Its tracks were long gone because of looters and Celestia, leaving behind a solid tunnel made of stone.
Sunset avoided another crater while putting numbers into her keypad. But she then lined up her truck with the tunnel and accelerated.
Her keypad however gave her a beep and blinked red.
“Sunset! You need to turn off the Spatial tear engine before loading the Resonation code into the QRC!” The dashboard said in a panic.
“Right, right!” Sunset said hastily, her voice equally panicked.
Starlight frowned nervously, keeping her mouth shut as Sunset messed with the dashboard and turned the “T” on the cylinder. Its glowed dimmed but remained.
She looked behind her as her fear demanded it. The glowing pony running along the ground was still far away. Not too much of a worry. Though she could now see a streak of color ripping open the sky.
“Sunset! She’s getting far too close for comfort!” Starlight said with panic riding her voice.
“I know!” Sunset said firmly and laid a finger on a button on the dashboard. She turned to Starlight for a moment, “Get down!”
Starlight immediately obeyed, getting as low as she could. The top edges of the bed sunk into the gouged frame, allowing glowing rectangles to take their place. Soon after a semitransparent, something, appeared above her. It looked like a fabric if fabric could be made out of glass.
Starlight gulped and made sure her hooves magnetized to the floor. She jumped out of her skin when she heard the back window slam shut but hit her head on the solid glass fabric that was above her. She rubbed her head and gave the mystery material a glare. But saw something that erased it.
Lightning. White and sharp bolts of lightning were flying around the truck. She blinked and saw tiny spatial tears appear around the truck, only to vanish in a little flash.
Starlight immediately put a protective shield around herself, staring at the appearing flashes. Then, the tunnel vanished with a loud crack. She saw the edge of the universe for a brief moment, then a very large white room.
Though her curiosity vanished as she heard the sound of supersonic engines entering a tunnel. Then they vanished.
She gently lifted her head, finding that she was able to, and looked around. She was still in the truck. Though the truck was now in a very large room and on a conveyor made up of tiny wheels. The truck’s wheels were still spinning but they weren’t moving. And she could feel them slowing down.
She allowed her lungs to breathe normally only for them to stop in shock. To her right was the barrel of a very large laser cannon. It was the size of Ponyville’s former town hall and glowed along tubes and panels with a very intimidating glow. It was only intimidating cause she had seen one fire. Only once.
It had destroyed the wall around Ponyville. Made in haste after Celestia’s take over. One-shot had dismantled the work of a year. Dismantled nearly 20 meters of stone and metal.
The discovery of what happened to her friends happened soon after they breached the walls. She had barely gotten out, after seeing several of her close friends fall.
She swallowed hard, warping the purple star encrusted hat to her hooves. She held it close as the truck stopped, and then some.
“You, okay?” Sunset said after she had entered the bed of the truck. She sat on the edge of the truck, still in her human form.
Starlight sniffled, “Yeah, sorry. That cannon brought back some bad memories is all…”
Sunset nodded and had a comforting smile when Starlight looked towards her.
“Well fortunately it’s not a cannon,” Sunset began.
Starlight warped the hat back to her pocket, “It looks like one…”
Sunset frowned, “I suppose I can’t say I’ve seen one. But this is a photon force disrupter. It shoots condensed light that can absorb the kinetic energy of its target and push them away. It’s designed to stop intruders trying to enter the portal.”
Starlight gave the large device another look, then looked at the plain wall it was facing, “Portal?”
Sunset nodded with a smile, “Yep! Welcome back to the human world Starlight!”
Starlight gave her an incredulous look, “What?”
Sunset chuckled, “Yep! Come on, I’ve got some friends you’d probably want to see.”
Starlight frowned, knowing who she was referring to. The mane 6’s counterparts in the human world. The thought of seeing them didn’t instill hope in her.
“And one friend who has been positively dying to throw you a party,” Sunset said with a wink.
Starlight gave her a wary look but got out of the truck. She took care not to touch the edges as they seemed to smoke with water vapor. The truck suddenly had a thin layer of ice on its metallic skin. She took a wary step on the conveyor but found the wheels not moving. She gave it an odd look, “Uh, these don’t turn? I thought they would,” she said confused.
“They do. The people on the control deck can control it. Right now, it’s locked, so we can safely walk on it.” Sunset replied walking a little past her.
Starlight nodded and followed her. She took a look around the room they were in but found it to be quite bare. It was just a white room with a photon force disrupter, an ice-covered truck, and a large conveyor reaching from the targeted wall, around the cannon, and further along the edge of the wall.
She looked back at Sunset, her height only matching her waist, “So, you’re telling me you’ve taken me to another dimension? And that truck was just a vehicle for dimensional travel?”
Sunset stopped next to the wall and gave it a knock. A large door-sized panel slid inwards then out to the side.
She then nodded with a smile, “The one place that Celestia couldn’t get to. Well, maybe the moon but that’s relatively harder than dimensional hopping.”
Easy?! Starlight shook her head, making her feel lightheaded but it didn’t fade. She frowned as her reply was lost in her mouth. Her legs trembled as they struggled to stay upright. Her breathing suddenly became much faster.
“Starlight?!” Sunset said worriedly and walked over to her.
Starlight fell to the ground but lifted her head the best she could and chuckled, “There’s no magic here…”
Sunset ran over shouting something, but her mind was already going to sleep. She blinked and fell soundly into blackness.
Fluttershy was back in the cube again once more being surrounded by water. Though this time a little arm had emerged from the wall and placed a little panel where her broken wing joint was ripped out. The memory made her frown, but she was now impatient.
She finally had good news for once!
She could feel the need to twitch as the water rushed over her back and began to cover her helmet. The coolness of the water no longer enticed her, she just wanted it to go. The excitement continued to build as the water then began its journey downwards.
Much too long later the door in front of her opened and she walked through to fall to the ground in a heap. This time she practically jumped back up and rushed to the table.
Another section of the wall opened up, near the opening she had just come through, and Rainbow walked through to fall to the floor. She didn’t get up quite as quick but was at the table in a moment or two.
“Welcome back,” Rarity said in a forced cheerful tone.
The two pegasi nodded their heads. And Fluttershy opened her mouth to talk but stopped when she noticed the others were looking at her with concern.
“Wow. You alright?” Rainbow asked, “I saw that you had lost your wing but sheesh! What did you fight?”
Fluttershy tilted her helmet at her to show her confusion.
“Sugarcube, you look like you had a fight with a hundred Timberwolves in a glass pit. You got scratches everywhere!” Applejack remarked.
“I do?” Fluttershy asked looking at her leg. Indeed, she did. Long white scratches covered the black metal adorning her, no matter where she looked.
“Can you see alright darling? The worst ones are on your helmet.” Rarity asked getting up to get a closer look.
Fluttershy nodded, “I didn’t even notice.”
Rarity got close and ran a hoof along her helmet, “Hmm, the glass seemed to hold up fine, but your holographic plates are completely ruined. They are probably going to send you in for that.”
Fluttershy frowned. She hated the repair clinic. She never got a chance to see it as they blackened her vision when she got hooked up to the various machines. She would then be left in darkness to feel unknown devices poke and prod her while her limbs would lose all feeling in them.
She shook her head, shuddering.
“But before ya are taken to the repair clinic, what in tarnation did you end up against?” Applejack asked incredulously.
“Yeah! Did the resistance make something strong enough to stop us?” Rainbow asked excitedly, “This is the first time they have been able to do damage that’s not cosmetic! Well other than, well, you know…” Her gaze drifted towards the extra mattress.
Fluttershy shook her scratched helmet, “No, unfortunately not.”
“Darn,” Rainbow said then took a deep breath of resignation.
Fluttershy cleared her throat of the sadness that seemed to tighten her muscles, “No, I was sent after Starlight again.”
“Oh, do you need to go through your list again? She put up quite a fight to get you in your current position.” Rarity asked with an understanding smile.
Fluttershy shook her head happily, “I didn’t kill her! She got away!”
The group gave her a collective look of incredulousness.
“She escaped you twice?” Applejack said in disbelief.
Fluttershy chuckled, “Yes!”
“Sheesh! Her name is going to get mighty popular if any pony gets to know that little tidbit.”
“That’s not all!” Fluttershy said excitedly, “She survived because Sunset Shimmer saved her when Celestia took my hooves!”
“Whoa whoa, whoa. Celestia took you over? And she survived?” Rainbow asked, asking the question on the surprised Rarity’s face.
Fluttershy nodded quickly, “Sunset had some, human tech that completely immobilized me! It didn’t last long and I don’t think it was easy for them to, you know, stay alive. But after Starlight broke my wing, she was able to teleport away!”
“Hmm, were they in some sort of, black carriage?” Rainbow asked, putting a hoof to her chin, “Celestia deployed me to that old train tunnel. I saw a glimpse of a, white room? And a black carriage thing. Four wheels could move on its own. It disappeared in front of me and she had me destroy the hill.”
“Is your displacement core still giving you issues?” Applejack suddenly asked.
Rainbow shook her head, looking to her, “Nah. Whatever they did in the Repair clinic fixed it,” She turned back to Fluttershy, “But you’re saying she was in that carriage? I, I didn’t see her.”
Fluttershy frowned, “She may have not teleported back to the carriage, but I know she teleported before Celestia flared.”
“Sheesh! Celestia must not have been happy!” Rainbow replied.
“Yeah, she wasn’t,” Fluttershy replied with a faint smile on her lips, “She’s the one that tore off my wing.”
“Well fortunately it can be replaced,” Rarity said with a smile, “The one benefit from our situation I suppose,” She paused, her face wrinkling in thought, “Rainbow, you have footage, don’t you?”
Rainbow slowly nodded and took a seat at the table. Fluttershy followed suit.
“Don’t forget to plug in darling,” Rarity said with a faint smile.
Fluttershy nodded and quickly grabbed the plug that went into her side. The panel took a little longer to open and complained as it ran over scratches. But soon she was sitting back on the table, fervently watching the hologram of Rainbow’s vision from her flight.
The group watched as the previous Rainbowdash flew towards the large hill. The carriage rushed through it through the large train tunnel. She gave pursuit easily flying through the tunnel, but the tunnel seemed to lead elsewhere.
“Freeze it!” Rarity said quickly, and the video froze mid-frame.
The tunnel had led to a large white room. By the time Rainbow had entered the tunnel the carriage was already in the room and moving sharply to the left.
“Okay, go slowly forward,” Rarity said quietly.
The video snail-paced forward. Showing the truck move out of the way of a very large, laser cannon. The group could stare down the glowing barrel. But it didn’t fire. Rather, the room simply vanished; cannon and all.
It simply left behind the tunnel how it should have looked. Black darkness that would make Fluttershy scrunch up in fear.
The video vanished as Rainbow’s visor darkened and she looked thoughtful once more, “I then destroyed that little hill and displaced out of it.”
“Hmm, could you go back before the truck vanished?” Rarity asked.
Rainbow nodded and the holo-video appeared once more. The white room was once more visible with the truck getting out of the way of the cannon.
“Well,” Applejack started, “It looks like a portal if ya ask me.”
Rarity nodded, “I agree. Rainbowdash? Could you zoom in on the back of that carriage, thingy?”
Rainbow nodded and the details in the image got larger and began to pixelate. Though they could still very clearly see the purple mane of the pony hiding in the back.
“Oh my word! Her mane is turning brown it’s so filthy!!” Rarity complained.
Applejack laughed, “Oh not that’s she’s alive!” Her voice wasn’t accusatory but filled with mirth.
Rarity chuckled herself, “I do suppose old habits die hard… But it is filthy.” She added softly.
Fluttershy nodded, a grin on her face, “Yeah, she also lost chunks of it during her fight with me and Celestia.”
Rarity laughed in mock despair, “Oh! The horror!!”
The group laughed for a few moments, enjoying the mirth they rarely got to feel.
But when the laughter died down, they looked back at the video floating above the little table.
“Where do you think that portal leads?” Applejack asked curiously.
“Well, because Fluttershy saw Sunset I’d assume the human dimension.” Rarity answered.
Fluttershy frowned in thought, “She did look like what Twilight described as a human…”
“That’s, odd…” Rarity said, “Aren’t ponies supposed to turn to humans and vice versa when they go between dimensions?”
“Wait!” Rainbow suddenly exclaimed, the video fizzling away, “Do you think that’s where Twilight has been?!”
The group didn’t have an answer.
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In love with this story, can't wait to see how it turns out! So far, I'm loving Celestia's character and her willingness to use the elements as generals to squash any rebellion under her watchful eye. The little happiness the mane 4 have scraped together in the one place they can be themselves is nice too.
11243382
It's nice to see I'm communicating my thoughts correctly 
Thank you for the feedback!
Are you going to continue this story ?
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I will.
Don't worry
The next chapter is in final revision and editing. Sorry for the wait! But I've been unsure of my writing style recently. It seems to change every week