Re:Harmony

by starcross7

48 - Secrets of the Empire

Chapter 48 - Secrets of the Empire

Posey sensed the apprehension of her fellow comrades as the white coat lab technicians carefully contained the last Metasprite in a giant glass container amongst the rest of the swarm. These black and grinning steel-tooth abominations left airships, tanks, Draftmechs, and Roboponies in ruins. Even for machines, their partially-eaten corpses appeared horrific, and to imagine the same for living ponies was almost unthinkable. Still, these menacing creatures was worthy of study, even if she could clearly see Covalent Bond's hesitation written all over his face. As for his protege and colleague Gizmo, it was hard to tell what he was thinking or if he was still in pain. With a missing mouth, the cybernetic pony was forced to adopt a metal jaw apparatus, which didn't move when he talked. He would instead growl in a raspy electronic voice, and his tone always seemed to lean towards anger. That might have something to do with his inability to move his jaw or missing lips. Posey wasn't sure which.

She left Gizmo and Bond to transport the Metasprite container as Pose approached a uniformed officer she knew to be a Changeling.

"I bring news from the north," said the disguised Changeling. "We trailed a rogue gray mare and a rogue Robopony that the filly had been accompanying in Hollow Shades."

"Excellent," said Posey. "Have you brought her back to me?"

"Um, here's the thing. The mare an the Robopony were too much for my brethren to handle, and unfortunately we lost the filly."

Posey sighed as she brushed the tip of her hoof on the ground. "Mister Changeling, perhaps you may not be well versed about the importance of motherhood since you're nothing but a soldier... thing. So when I have ordered your group to find my daughter, I ordered you to find her and bring her back to me. Isn't that the point of the search in the first place?"

"My apologies my queen. We didn't know it was your intent."

"Indeed."

Nothing the creature could say would be able to dispel Posey's wrath, and it soon found itself being prodded with electric tasers by Clone Soldiers under Posey's behalf. An opaque and beige tarp was thrown over the Changeling once it could no longer hold up its magical disguise, and the Clone Soldiers dragged away to a special brig inside her personal airship.

The Changeling operation was a failure. She needed a more effective pony to find her daughter, and she entertained the idea of hiring the Unicorn Hunters to find her. She wouldn't in the end, lest she risk her artificially inflated approval rating, and she would not associate with scum like them. In addition, the two bounty hunter sisters were currently missing in action, so she heard.

That left one other pony who already knew her secret. Trixie had fought an unruly green dragon to a draw, and the dragon himself was nowhere to be found. How could anypony lose sight of a towering death machine? Wherever that reptile was, Posey was glad to be rid of that giant abomination. Even before entering politics, she always felt that trusting the Cavern of Treasures to a vengeful dragon was a dangerous idea not worth risking.

She dismissed her escort Clone Soldiers to trot alone to a large tent erected for her and whoever she could trust, and already Trixie's handiwork sat on their haunches by entrance drooling in a zombified stupor. Coming in, she found more ponies, mainly her personal maidservants stupefied as if their brains had been magically removed. Not that she didn't care much for them, but Posey would appreciate it that Trixie did not have to zap every ignorant pony who had never seen her before.

Trixie was heard breathing heavily in Posey's personal chambers, and the leader of the Democratic Republic of Gaea entered through the opening of the drapes, ready to give the upstart unicorn a good talking. When she saw the multiple eyes of red and grinning teeth in the shadows, Posey immediately decided to tone down her method of approach. The unicorn sat on the bed cringing in pain while gripping her head with her hooves. The Alicorn Amulet had been uttering an unearthly hiss as its red diamond eye and diamond center pulsated every six seconds. She must have been feeding, or least it was her living cloak due to the various pig and chicken bones scattered about the room. Trixie's eyes glowed red when she sensed Posey's presence, and she launched the dagger tendrils of a living cloak at the earth pony, who stood unfazed at the threat that stopped a mere millimeter from her body.

"The suggestion you have provided me has failed," said Posey, "and my Changelings have returned emptyhoofed. My daughter is still out there, and the only clue is that she was reportedly seen in Hollow Shades."

"It's not like Trixie has any control over those vile creatures," said Trixie. "Then again, a mere earth pony consuming the queen's Royal Jelly has its limits on their full control."

"There is no need for you criticize how I run my country. Winter is searching for Rebel Applejack, who has fled in an airship to the Crystal Mountains. Find my daughter, and destroy the rebels, Twilight Sparkle, and anypony who gets in your way."

"You dare command the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

"What do you think? I am not intimidated by your lot's witchcraft. Go ahead and cast your spells, but know that if I should fall right here and now, you will suffer a wrath beyond what I have dealt to thousands of pegasii warriors on the Cloudsdale Fortress."

The yellow earth pony stared steadfast at the nightmarish possession of Trixie the unicorn, even as her living cloak drooled and hissed louder than before. The earth pony before her eyes feared losing her daughter, but she certainly did not fear unicorns, let alone death. Eventually, Trixie relented with a smirk, and the smiling shadows retracted into her cloak, revealing more bones of the devoured.

"Trixie acknowledges your order," bowed the unicorn. "She shall head to the north to defeat her enemies and retrieve Winter Tulip."

With that, the living crimson cloak wrapped around Trixie and she teleported away like burning embers. She left a mess in Posey's tent-room, and several ponies in the tent overall were left drooling in stupor. These things were minor issues compared to the safety of her daughter. Posey might have made a deal with the devil, but she wouldn't mind sacrifice a hundred underlings just so she could be reunited with Winter Tulip, her only bright constant in the world.

So far, the devil known as Trixie has yet to ask for a price for her services. Posey made mental note to up the number of Changelings to guard her should the unicorn turn rogue.

Chancellor Posey stepped out of her tent and ordered a nearby Clone Commander to clean up Trixie's mess. A snowflake landed on her snout. Winter was coming early.

---

A crystal labyrinth. Darkness.

Going deeper, and deeper. Shackled ponies marching down to a dark pit of a hell. Five silhouettes of unicorns stood on a balcony watching the fruits of their labor come at the expense of the Crystal Ponies with sadistic smiles.

A black diamond mechanism stood overhead, wired to a dark mishmash of high technology and enchanted crystals. In their individual partition, foreboding fluids flowing through clear tubes forcibly inject themselves into each Crystal Pony.

Their mental agony was unbearable. There were hundreds of them. She wanted to scream as well.

Then the pegasus woke to see a familiar pink face smiling over her.

"Rise and shine, Fluttershy!" cried Pinkie Pie. "Or rather, it's sunset and shine?"

She was back in the room where she first woke up to. That's right. After coming back to the castle, Fluttershy felt a little ill and had to lay down while, she vaguely recalled, Twilight and Applejack confront Lord Umbra about the reason why they couldn't leave the Crystal Empire.

But it wasn't as if they would like to thrust themselves back into the violent blizzard. Fluttershy could sense that Rarity was too at a lost as to why she couldn't pass through either. If nopony could pass through, their journey would be hindered, even if they did manage to locate the Fourth Element within this peaceful kingdom.

Yet the visions of the suffering ponies appeared more and more frequently ever since she arrived here, and the mere contact with the Crystal Heart made it frighteningly clearer. Fluttershy hoped she wasn't under stress or just seeing things, but no matter how much she tried to find an explanation, something was deeply wrong with the Crystal Empire, and the inability to leave added credence to this fact.

Alas, she didn't speak up when she had these visions, and so far she hadn't told anypony should they dismiss them as folly or, she feared, be taken seriously to the point that her friends would confront Lord Umbra in a more direct manner. Fluttershy didn't want to break the peace of the Empire, and she didn't want to break the trust she and her friends established with poor Rarity, who seemed to be blissfully unaware of the supposed problems of her kingdom. She wasn't cut out for this adventure. Fluttershy was just an abandoned pegasus who lived in the forest all her life and raised by Gran-Gran and her animal friends. What was the meaning of her being the Bearer of the Element of Empathy?

Twilight and Applejack returned to their rooms, and the expressions on their faces indicated that whatever answer Lord Umbra gave them was not to their satisfaction. Both of them had motioned to the other two ponies to gather over to the table for a clandestine conversation, but aside from their animal companions, Spike was currently absent.

"He's too love-struck over the Diamond Princess," explained Applejack, "but none of that don't matter right now."

"What did the King say?" Fluttershy asked.

"He's givin' us the usual bull. He's sayin' that that's somethin's wrong with the way the castle systems is putting up the barrier, and he's sending a pair of unicorns named Flim and Flam to look into it. Somethin' stinks to high hog about this Empire, and I wanna get to the bottom of it."

"Ooh, are we gonna do some super secret slithering snake sneaking?" Pinkie Pie quipped.

"Something like that," said Twilight. "It seems a little too convenient for the barrier to block any exit when the Diamond Princess was able to pass through not too long ago."

"Which is why Twi, Pinkie Pie, and I are gonna distract Umbra and his fellow unicorns while you Fluttershy search the castle for clues," said Applejack.

"Me?" asked Fluttershy. "What can I do? And didn't we already tour the castle already?"

"Not all of it, and with you bein' able to fly, you can get to places where no other pony can reach with there bein' no other pegasii around."

"But we might get in trouble, and if I get caught, they'll kick us out of the Empire."

"They can't when the barrier is blocking our exit," said Twilight.

"Worse thing they can do is imprison us," said Applejack. "Whether it's the Crystal Empire or Rock Prison, we'll find a way to break out quickly."

She wanted to speak up and protest, but then the guest room doors burst open and Rarity daintily trotted in with Spike pulling up behind her to push in a clothes rack while carrying a crystalline sewing kit. The Diamond Princess devilishly had in mind in modifying existing dresses to fit the color and personality of her newfound friends. After four relatively roughhoofed measurements and hectic adjustments behind the dress curtains, the four esteemed guests were garbed in dresses that felt so right for the dinner gala.

Twilight had a star-studded cape. Applejack had an apple-themed and faux-leather boots and skirt. Pinkie Pie had a colorful candy-themed ensemble. And Fluttershy was garbed in a dress similar to her last one that further emphasized the flowery delights of nature. The pegasus has spent almost a minute admiring herself while a strange sensation of deja vu had befallen over her. It was almost like she had tried this dress before. She felt as if Rarity had her in mind way before they met.

Such thoughts could not be dwelled upon for too long, for Rarity presented herself in a purple crown complete with her tiara crown, and Spike appeared dapper in a tuxedo. That meant that the five girls and the baby dragon were ripe dinner gala, and they marched downstairs to the very same hall where they encountered Lord Umbra.

Here, the dining hall was even brighter from earlier before, and the crystalline chandeliers seemed to be magically floating as they glowed in a rotating assortment of colors. A band ensemble played traditional instruments of crystal lutes, flutes, drums, and flugelhorns in medieval fare, while many unicorns mixed in with crystal ponies of the same or similar class dressed in the most extravagant dresses befitting of the eyes of royalty.

"Presenting the Diamond Princess Rarity," bellowed a dapper and mustached unicorn crier, "and the Esteemed Guests Spike the Dragon, Fluttershy of Everfree Forest, Lady Pinkamena Diane Pie of the Rocks, Applejack of the Clan Apple, and Twilight Sparkle of Unicornia."

The high class ponies clopped in the ground in suppressed excitement, and while they wanted to speak with the Empire's guests immediately, the immediately filed orderly to their assigned seats at the table. Thank heavens. Fluttershy felt that all of them were going to immediately maul her with incessant questions of where she came from or how she came to be. She could handle Rarity's inquiries well enough, but a horde of them was a challenge she couldn't face. She tried mentally preparing herself, but she found herself unable to absorb Lord Umbra's grandiose speeches while being distracted at Pinkie Pie's lack of table manners. Sure, with all ponies being equal here, there were no silverware, but with Pinkie digging her snout in to bowl after bowl while leave food pieces on her cheek grossed out a snobbish blonde unicorn who sat next to her. His only spell he cast a as transparent tarp that separated him from her.

Fortunately, Fluttershy's friends answered many of the questions for her, but dessert was almost finished. The traditional dance was coming up, and Pinkie Pie continued to annoy the snobbish unicorn as she quaked in her seat while pestering him about what his golden star-shaped Destiny Glyph. Fluttershy was worried that her other friends would be mobbed by the other ponies, leaving her defenseless with their relentless sociability.

There was one way out of this, and it was a technique that Pinkie Pie taught her during her "Lessons of the Real World" during the trip on the airship. Fluttershy took a deep breath, and she yelled out:

"I HAVE TO GO THE BATHROOM!"

One would think that with all this noise, nopony would hear her, but by strange coincidence, the band had just paused, and everypony suddenly stood silent to stare at a floating, if not nervous pegasus. And she had to be the only pegasus in the room.

"Nopony is stopping you," said Umbra. "It's just outside, two doors down."

"Um, thanks," Fluttershy squeaked. She didn't have time to listen to the whispering comments of the other ponies, nor did she want to. Upon landing, she rushed out and after a few wrong turns, she made it to the tiny bathroom. She went anyway, not that she really needed to, and she had an unexpectedly pleasant time relieving herself on the crystal toilet.

Back in the hallway, she could hear Pinkie Pie entertaining the Empire's royalty and upper class with song, dance, and whatever Pinkie Pie does, and most of it involved a crashing or shattering a few plates and dining carts. Clearly not everypony enjoyed her entertainment, and even after apologizing, the same blonde and snobbish unicorn that sat next to Pinkie dashed out of the grand dining hall in tears and covered in the remnants of a cake explosion. He flew past Fluttershy and locked himself in the very same bathroom Fluttershy had used.

Now what? This was the perfect time for Fluttershy to begin her mission, and she did not want to disappoint her new friends by idling by. She didn't know where to start. She didn't even know what to look for. She barely knew how to read and speak thanks to Twilight's rigorous training. Fluttershy thought about going back inside to tell her friends that she wasn't up to it, but the prospect of facing the crowd again froze her in place.

"Fluttershy, is it?"

The pegasus squeaked. Her legs went stiff, and immediately rolled on her back to play dead to whatever adorable threat that surprised her. She pretended to close her eyes, but had them opened slightly to see Princess Sweetie Belle looking down on her.

"I didn't mean to frighten you," said the petite princess.

"It's okay," said Fluttershy as she rose back up and dusted her green dress. "Um, you're not attending the dinner gala, Princess?"

"Just call me Sweetie Belle. I already ate, but sis insisted I get my beauty sleep early. But she doesn't know that I snuck out so I can meet you girls. I wanna learn more about the outside world, especially about the ocean."

"I never been to the ocean."

"That's okay. You say you lived in a forest, did you? Is that why you have three butterflies as your Destiny Glyph? How did you get them?"

Fluttershy opened her mouth ready to answer, but she realized the events leading up to the revelation of her marks on her flank wasn't a pleasant memory.

"Maybe next time, Sweetie Belle," said Fluttershy. "If your sister told you to go to bed, then I should escort you back to your room."

"Um, no. I mean, you're an important guest and all, but it's gonna be weird for me to take orders from you."

"But..."

"Besides, you look like you were about to sneak around the castle, weren't you?"

Oh no! She found out! Fluttershy might have to go the bathroom again!

"In that case, let me help you," said Sweetie Belle. "I know all the secret passages, and I'll give the insider tour than what Rarity knows. Where do you want to go?"

Fluttershy had no choice to accept her offer, as the crystalline unicorn filly was very eager to go on an adventurous game. As much as she didn't want to disappoint her friends, Fluttershy did not want to disappoint Sweetie Belle. That, and her adorable blinking green eyes swayed the pegasus to play into her whims.

"Maybe, some place that has information about the magical barrier," said Fluttershy.

"The Secret Library," said Sweetie Belle. "I like to go in there when I want to hide from Rarity. Come on!"

Fluttershy followed the filly to an innocuous corner, where Sweetie Belle pressed a hidden switch on the wall. A narrow opening slid open to reveal a dark stairwell. The pegasus had second thoughts, and she wanted to abandon the mission due to claustrophobia. But when Sweetie Belle ran up the stairs, and stumbled on one of them, concern overcame fear, and Fluttershy flew in after her, with her wings disturbing the multitudes of age-old cobwebs as it brushed against the walls. She knew not how many floors she ascended, but soon enough the unicorn filly and the pegasus found themselves a small circular library with an old chipped crystal desk in the middle. A light tap to the crystal candle caused the device to glow, giving some semblance of light.

The books here, on the other hoof, weren't bound in the same manner as the ones in the castle library or the public library in the city. All these appeared unusually plain with flat glossy spines or were simply papers bound with brads or staples. They had writing on them unlike what she had seen in the Empire thus far, but Fluttershy had seen similar in the Cavern of Treasures.

Yet now she could read them, and one of the books was titled Crystaltech Defense Barrier Operations Manual, and another titled Crystaltech Transference Core. There was even a set of architectural plans that Fluttershy unrolled on the desk with each page titled Crystaltech Research Base, and all these sheets had diagrams of the Crystal Castle in various angles in deep technical detail. Even if she could read it, Fluttershy couldn't understand what the specs mean, and the plans she looked out seemed to focus a lot on the very top of the spire. Something about a "energy focusing beam."

Between the castle plans, Fluttershy found a hoof-written letter in the same language as the books she had skimmed so far. Her curiosity compelled her to read it, even though she might not have understood the technicalities of what she looked at so far.

We have made success in the final test of our crystal energy organisms, but I fear that with the war draining our forces and resources, the true fruition of our research will have come to naught. The Empire has expended all their energy in retrieving the Pandora's box known as the Element without understanding, or rather, respecting the untold power it possesses. The Crystal Organism Project was designated as a fail-safe plan should the Element fall into the wrong hands.

As I write this, the Republic is whittling the Defense Barrier at an exponential rate. Our automatons cannot withhold their Dragomechs. Many of us have already entered suspended animation deep underground, leaving B.B. and me to manage things up here in the control spire. At this rate, we may have to enter suspended animation ourselves. For good measure, we may have to copy our memory imprints into two of the crystal organisms we currently have hidden away should our original bodies be discovered and destroyed. I don't know when we will wake up or if we will be able to retain our bodes. The memory imprint process is still untested, so I am not certain if we will remember each other.

But B.B., know that I will find you, not matter who or what you are. You are my soul mate. You are the love of my life.

The letter from the distant past described the dire situation with such forlorn hope that easily made Fluttershy shed a tear. Never mind the questions raised about the Empire's past. The author wrote the paper letter in the midst of a terrible war, and all he could think about was reuniting with a pony named B.B.

"Fluttershy, you can actually read this?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I can," replied the pegasus. "Sweetie Belle, how old are these books?"

"I dunno. Viziers Flim and Flam said that they date way back to the Before Times."

"You don't mind if I borrowed a few of these, do you?"

"Flim and Flam said that these aren't allowed to leave the castle, but since you're staying in the castle, I guess it is okay."

Fluttershy grinned with a squeak. It was providence that she ran into Sweetie Belle, and expressed her thanks by petting her mane, but not before cleaning her hoof. The little filly further assisted the pegasus by loading on her back the books concerning the Crystal Empire's barrier and the Transference Core, as well as the rolled plans of the Crystal Castle. With no saddlebag to put them in, Fluttershy had to resort to using her unfurled wings to keep them balanced on her back.

Carrying such important info on her back made Fluttershy smile at her success of her mission that she would fly for joy. Then right as she and Sweetie Belle stepped out of the Secret Library, they heard an explosion downstairs followed by shouts from the guards. Then silence.

Eventually they heard the secret door opening up, and a set of three hoofsteps started growing louder and bearing towards their location. It seemed like they were found out, but whoever those ponies were, they were aggressive, and Sweetie Belle tensed up.

"Sweetie Belle?"

"Uh, um, let's go this way!"

Quickly, the filly and the pegasus went through the opposite direction of the sounds and advanced further through the narrow passage ways. They took a breather in a tiny corner, and listened as the intruders burst into the Secret Library to noisily rummage through its contents, which involved pages being flipped and books being thrown to the floor.

"It's not here!"

"Keep searching. I know for sure they kept the Operation Manual here."

"Aurea, this is a small library. We searched twice already."

"Hey, is that a feather?"

In their rush, Fluttershy had molted in the most inopportune time, or they simply fell off when she dragged her wings against the wall. Whatever the case, she had left a trail for the intruders to follow. Those intruders immediately gave a loud chase to the pegasus and the filly, who then hoofed their way through the narrow passageways while receiving various scrapes along the way. Upon reaching a dead end, Sweetie Belle frantically pushed the hidden switch to open the hidden door, and she and Fluttershy leapt out into the second floor hallway where the guest rooms were located.

"We have to alert the guards!" Fluttershy cried.

She said so too late. All over the hallways, the castle guards lay splayed on the floor unconscious, many of them with their crystal armor and weapons shattered. Fluttershy dropped her books and castle plans to use her wing as a shield for Sweetie Belle just as three bodies tumbled out of the secret passageway from whence they came. The three intruders, one young green stallion, a yellowish mare, and a bluish mare, landed lightly on the crystalline floor. Each were equipped saddlebags and pouches filled with earth knew what, possibly grenades for the explosions of the initial attack. They were earth ponies. They were crystal ponies, and yet neither of them had the sparkling sheen in their hairs or the bright colors like the rest of the Empire's citizenry. Their manes and tails were flatter, and unlike the other crystal ponies, they did not force themselves to smile. They frowned and furrowed with the honest vengeance that boiled in their hearts.

"They finally hired themselves a pegasus," said the yellowish intruder.

"Then we can't take any chances," said the bluish one, their leader. "Take care of her."

The blue mare was apparently the leader of the trio, for the green stallion and the yellow mare spread out and slowly advanced towards the frightened pegasus. The yellow crystal mare leapt in, but landed immediately before a flash that appeared between her and Fluttershy.

With hooves flinging in the air, the upside-down blonde and snobbish white unicorn manifested in a teleportation gone wrong. He immediately corrected himself by flipping over and tossing his head so that his flowing mane followed after in a sparkling fabulous gesture. He even took his time to fix the existing tuxedo vest and bow tie.

"Second Lieutenant Blueblood is here to rescue these fine damsels in distress," proclaimed the unicorn. "Surrender now you ruffians, or taste the horn of justice!"

"Away with you pansy," said the green stallion as a clear punch to Blueblood's snout sent him flying. During his fall, the unicorn had accidentally discharged a spell that set the two ancient books and the plans ablaze.

"Castle, look what have you done!" cried the yellow intruder.

"Me?" cried the green stallion. "Quicksilver, you weren't supposed call me by my name! Now we gotta eliminate the pegasus."

"And the Princess?"

"We have no choice," said the blue leader. "Princess Sweetie Belle, forgive us what we are about to do to you."

The three intruders advanced with even colder expressions on their faces. Fluttershy shook so hard that she collapsed on her knees. She wasn't a fighter. She might have gotten lucky in her forced duel against Twilight, but now she had the full obligation of protecting a unicorn filly. She had no animal friends to help her in this strange new land, and aside from having wings and a being a novice in Atoms Arts, she had her Element of Empathy. She could use it to transfer whatever pain and damage back to her attackers, but even she did not want to wish any harm for these intruders. They might be killers, but their intentions were pure and focused.

Help me, please, the pegasus prayed.

The butterfly jewel in her necklace glowed. Soon, another teleportation flash appeared, and this time it was above everypony. From the air, the Diamond Princess dove down with a kick that narrowly missed the leader. Following her landing with their Elements activated were Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and Twilight was the last to appear with her horn glowing.

"Apart from ruining my dress, I will not tolerate anypony who threatens my little sister's life!" Rarity declared.

"I don't know who they hay you are," Applejack said to the intruders, "but you mess with our friend, you mess with us."

How did they know Fluttershy was in trouble? Did her Element resonate with the others? Or did Pinkie Pie had another one of her senses? Her prayers had been answered, and the pegasus was both glad and ashamed that her friends had showed up to her rescue. The three intruders didn't seem all that intimidated at the appearance of reinforcements, and they coldly calculated through slight nods and gestures to one another to divide and conquer the heroines.

First it was Pinkie Pie versus the yellow intruder who was named Quicksilver. Pinkie's Pinkie Gear allowed her to accelerate her speed so fast that if she slowed down at random intervals, it looked as if she cloned herself dozens of times. Normally, this would overwhelm and confuse most opponents, but Quicksilver only needed a moment of meditation to find out where the real Pinkie was. The yellow crystal pony spun around with a roundhouse kick that sent the real Pinkie Pie hurtling from the second floor and down the stairs. Several shrieks from the other guests and crashes were heard on the floor below, and as good as anypony's guess, Pinkie was out.

Second, Applejack challenged Castle head on, but the stallion stood his ground deflecting each of the katana's strikes with little or movement from his front hooves. The clashing sounded like steel against a hard wall, and after many attempts, Castle knocked the Sword of Truth out of Applejack's mouth without even trying. The force of the deflection was enough to make the orange pony's gums bleed, but she was not ready to give up. Spitting blood on the floor, Applejack rushed in, literally head first for a direct head butt, but she made a feint towards the left to target his torso. She managed to hit him, but it did not knock him down. Instead, Applejack staggered back and collapsed. She knocked herself out.

Twilight and Rarity engaged in a two-on-one battle against the leader, Aurea. The blue crystal pony didn't seem to be possess any special skills, other than the fact that she easily avoided every spell Twilight threw at her while blocking Rarity's succession of punches and kicks. It was if Aurea's herself had two components: her body focused on Twilight while her hooves focused on Rarity, and her movements were highly reminiscent of psychic precognition. Aurea wasn't unicorn, let alone a pegasus, but she had an unseen ability that none of Fluttershy's friends have encountered.

Aurea managed to push Rarity away at twice the normal fighting distance. That gave her time to prepare her next attack, and that involved tossing with her mouth a green diamond-shaped weapon on an empty spot on the floor. She knew that Twilight was going to manifest there, and when the unicorn did, the diamond-shaped weapon exploded to send its intended target crashing against the wall.

It was impossible, but it happened. It was four against three, but these intruders easily defeated Fluttershy's friends without much effort, almost as if they could predict their movements and withstand their magic-enhanced attacks. Here, the Diamond Princess, while retaining her elegance in a torn dress, stood ready to defend Fluttershy and and her sister against the three crystal intruders who were also ready to fight to the end. Simultaneously, the three charged in at Rarity, but immediately slid to a halt when a magenta barrier stood between them and the Diamond Princess.

Teleporting en masse on the floor were armored unicorn and crystal pony guards, and prominent among them were two high-ranking officers, a white unicorn stallion captain and a mustard yellow lieutenant mare, advanced towards the three intruders just as the magenta barrier dissipated.

"Nuts, it's Captain Armor and Lieutenant Shimmer," said Castle.

"Boss, we can't take them all," said Quicksilver.

"My thoughts exactly," said Aurea. "Castle, provide us an escape path."

Castle nodded. He rose up high with his right hoof in the air, and Aurea surrounded herself and her companions with marble-like balls that exploded to produce smoke. Even obscured, everypony knew that Castle descended down to throw a hard punch on the floor that shook the entire castle. When the smoke had cleared, the intruders were gone, and their place was a giant hole quickly covered by a smooth layer of melted crystal.

Comments

[BronyPonyMan]

who the fuck were those three?!

[Xaldon Ajide]

2982749 The original Crystal pony's

[Lelouch Vi Britania]

Looks like twi finally caught up with her brother

[Coco-mix]

umbra umbra hmmm, sounds familiar, where have I heard that before?

nice chapter btw, this keep getting better and better

[djthomp]

Those guys were just a little OP for random OCs.

[Echo Night]

2984900 Latin for Shadow,Dark,Silence and other things about dulling senses or hiding yourself

[Aburi]

I found this recently and made it through chapter 48.

I really want to like it. It's a fascinating world with deeply ingrained problems and great characters. The story is intense and satisfying. But every plot point is a Dues Ex Machina. Every single one.

It was not Too bad in the beginning. But around the time roboponies started showing up, it became hard to take this story seriously.

Applejack has too easy a time cutting through clones and normal opponents? Suddenly, limitless machines appear from nowhere!
Oops! Can't get away? Suddenly Twi's Dad happens to be a ghost in the prototype! (as literal a "ghost in the machine" as you can get)
Things are hopeless? The next element fixes all problems as Pinkie goes supersonic, defeating all enemies and curing all those pesky tragedies.
hopeless again? The next element cures the sick, healed the wounded, and punished the wicked.
too easy? Here's another unlimited army of unstoppable machines!
too hard? Pinkie it!
Time for another opponent. Make them faster than the supersonic, stronger than the strongest, uncutable by ultimate magic swords, blah, blah, blah. But they run away for plot convenience.

So, yea. This story pretty much became a satire of itself.

[Weeb trash]

Captain Armor

SHINING ARMOR!