Libera Mé

by EZTP

03 A King And Queen

03

“Sister you must say something!”

“What must I say? What?!” Luna retreated as Celestia snapped at her. Immediately racked with remorse she came and hugged her sister. The turmoil momentarily subsiding. As she held on Luna awkwardly shifted to compensate. Despite Celestia’s objections she had to comfort her, leaving the monster to its isolation.

The day had been rough for everypony. She had watched in satisfaction seeing the turmoils in the beast as the new frame danced and winded around to hold it safely. She had been patient and loving but it had chosen to hurt them instead. Now it saw what it faced and was humbled by the experience, no threats or curses spoken when she eventually retired to her chamber.

Above all else she hated herself for not being able to comfort her pupil at this time. So many years but an alicorn was rare, she had few opportunities to explain their new abilities to them. Hardest of all was having placed her there to begin with. She had hoped the curiosity of Twilight would cause her to come across the idea on her own or research it in the archives. Now she had finally come to rest, Luna giving her the sweetest dreams she could fathom.

“It is alright sister, she will rise from this. Twilight Sparkle is strong of heart and spirit.”

“I know this but that fails to lessen the sting.” She faced out her chamber window in the early hours of the morning. The room was sadly not as welcoming and sleep eluded her despite Luna’s efforts.

Luna sat by her and placed a wing over the distraught princess, “She will in time. You must give her time.”

“You are right. Time-” she paused and squinted into the distance. Following her sisters direction, Luna could see what appeared to be a large black shadow moving towards the Canterlot kingdom. As it passed over the border there was a shattering sound that could be heard far away where they were and the dome of protection was broken. From this distance it seemed like a dream, yet as the shadow moved to the castle fires and dust were left in its wake.

“Luna. Go and guard the monster, let nothing through or out.”

“Yes sister.”

Celestia called her guard to assemble while donning her crown, the heart safely nestled under the engraved, solid steel from an ancient forge. She spread her wings thinking about her next command carefully. “Go and retrieve Princess Cadenza and the captain. Tell them to meet me at the front gate. The rest of you spread the word and gather the legion, Canterlot is under attack.” She dove out her window into the night and headed for the shadow.

*

Twilight’s eyes eased open, almost immediately burning to close again protesting her waking. Feeling thirsty and reaching over to get a drink of water, there was something unusually soft on her back. She looked over to see Applejack neatly tucked in under her. The familiar country fresh smell rising off with the warmth. Even stranger was Rainbow Dash sleeping on her belly. Then the memories came back of what had happened, the monster, the crying. It had not been an easy time for her.

She felt embarrassed but then saddened. The only thing left in her now was a numb emptiness. No longer could she find reason to carry herself out of bed.

Seeing the dark of the morning did little to coax her back to rest. Despite the need to she could only see her friends there with her and know they would not be there forever. All their comfort and attention served to illustrate what she would no longer have when their time came. Princess Celestia had been shockingly unhelpful. Whenever she asked her a direct question, a long answer in the form of a riddle was presented. Her haunting gaze and evasiveness did little to soothe these clouded emotions. Only the anger to the monster managed to dry her tears and drive her onwards. The intense pain in her had switched to hatred. She liked this feeling, it did not hurt her but energised her. Her thoughts erratically went through new ways to help the kingdom. The monster would not give its secrets willingly, so she would have to take them.

Old spells of stealing memories and diverting thoughts. Incantations and trickery designed to break the strongest or the most mad. An endless array of combinations could be performed with the creative devices in the cells alone. A warmth drew her eye up to her horn, it was glowing a dark red. Such a colour was new to her and she managed to force it back down with a quick guilt at allowing herself to be this weak. She would speak to Discord in the morning, he could break the monster for her instead. For once she enjoyed having The Spirit of Chaos in the castle with her.

There was a faint rumble of what sounded like metal being dragged across the ground. She rubbed her eyes and eased herself out from the sleeping mares to look through the window out to the castle courtyard. Her world shook seeing the pony legion lined up against a tide of black that shimmered under the moon. She pinched herself to be sure and the sting made it clear this was no dream. As she saw Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence leading the front line it became clear amidst the barrage of magic and light, Canterlot castle was under attack.

Twilight shook the others from their sleep, Rainbow Dash no longer complacent when hearing the sounds from below. Applejack galloped out to wake the other three, “Go. We’ll meet you at the entrance.”

“Alright. Rainbow Dash, try to see what we’re up against.”

“On it.” She flew out nearly breaking the window and dived below.

Spike woke to see his panicking friends face. The little dragon assistant was immediately as distraught as she was.

He was a fairly small, purple scaled infant with emerald green spines. Found as an egg he was hatched by Twilight and from that moment they were inseparable companions, him aiding her in her studies wherever he could. Last night had been terrible, he was eventually forced to retreat to his bed when Twilight snapped at him and Pinkie Pie. They had tried to cheer her up with a medley but instead received a barrage of cruel words. He had understood why she said those things, Pinkie Pie made that clear to him. It still hurt. Now though it did not matter, she needed him again.

“Spike! The castle is under attack, I’m going to help. You stay here.”

He leapt onto her back, now trying to avoid the new wings.

“Sorry Twi, I’m coming with!”

She hesitated for a moment, her friend was surprisingly positive despite her words from yesterday. He was always there for her and she never felt stronger, “Alright Spike, please be careful.”

As she made her way through the winding corridors, the fear of the monster returned with the terrifying thought that this attack and it were connected. It was no coincidence this was happening now. Darting down the stairway she was met by a force of Pony Guards standing to her attention. The shock was now sinking in of what was happening. The soldiers looked to her and she saw Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts awaiting her. She did not have her uniform on, the scrapes along her battered body told a different story though.

The main doors had been sealed and the unicorn soldiers were holding it back against some force attempting entry. Twilight quickly came up and grabbed the weary pegasus.

“Where’s my sister and my brother? Are they coming?” the pony could not answer, “Where’s Celestia!?” she cried out.

Spitfire hesitated and looked away from the frantic princess. Despite this nagging feeling she had to hear the truth, they were meant to trust her now as they did Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, “They fell in the first wave.” Twilights hooves slid off the pegasus and her head dropped. She was startled as a hoof shot out to hit her across the cheek. “Understand this Princess, they are still alive and you are in command now! The enemy is tough, and does not appear to have any plans aside getting in here. We can only assume they are after that monster. Princess Luna remains below by Princess Celestia’s orders and stays standing guard over said monster. You are the only, I repeat, only one who can lead us now. What are your orders?!”

Twilight looked at the hopeful faces of the legions behind Spitfire. Each was a pony who was there to follow her, pegasus, earth pony and unicorn. Each were fully clad in golden armour carrying shield and spear, ready to stand by her. Spike was by her side and held her leg as the towering doors shook once more. He smiled up at her embarrassed by the shock and she turned to her friends galloping down the steps to her, equally ready.

“At your command Princess!” Applejack proudly spoke.

Shaking off the shock she felt an energy rise up in her. She summoned the Elements of Harmony, mythical artefacts entrusted to her and her companions for each embodying the true spirits of Friendship. Kindness: Fluttershy, Truth: Applejack, Generosity: Rarity, Loyalty: Rainbow, Laughter: Pinkie, Magic: Princess Twilight. They were as powerful as the Princesses when all six were together, only to be used as a last resort.

Rainbow Dash had still not joined them and Twilight began to fear the worst. Immediately a wave of guilt came over her thinking what could have happened. Fortunately Applejack’s hoof was quick to her shoulder, “She said she will be along in a moment.”

Twilight chose to accept her friend was safe, especially a pony as tough as her, and motioned to the legion pointing in a triangular pattern, catching her directions quickly they formed a wedge of soldiers, standing shield to shield to create a golden spearhead wall. Twilight was not an experienced commander, but she understood strategies and had played more than enough boardgames in her time to know how to stand against an overwhelming force. She set her friends a set distance apart from each other, their own formation at the tip of the wall. All their practice was about to be defined by whatever came through those doors. The Elements had burned the monster, it would burn the others too.

Spitfire donned a helm from a nearby guard, winking at his stifled objection as a shield from the line behind was passed to her. Even without the uniform she looked every part the leader of the Wonderbolts. As she stood now she did so for them, the fallen. “Show them how its done!”

The doors splintered and burst open, “Barrier!” Twilight threw a massive shield over the army with the unicorn soldiers to aid her. The scraps of wood sharply deflected from the bubble to land harmlessly at their hooves. The smoke and dust swirled high from the freshly gaping hole into the dark morning, obscure dark figures marching in. With each step forwards this wall grew louder and larger. Twilight’s mind raced to the monster now, this was most certainly its army come to reclaim it.

The shadows stepped into the light and Twilight was horrified to see what was illuminated by the castle chandeliers. It was a wall of golems; mythical creatures said to have used their surroundings to build their own bodies. Unmistakably so, precisely as described by Princess Celestia herself during her bedtime stories. The figures stood on two thick legs supporting a large upper body with a menacing head atop, two small yellow eyes peering out at her. The arms hung low with large fists. As they drew closer she felt the ground tremble under the marching rhythm. The bodies glinted with each movement bearing an exaggerated form compared to the monster, but larger. The hide appeared to be a moderately transparent black stone. Hesitating to admit it she had to conclude the obvious, it was the black crystal of King Sombra. A familiar contemptuous laugh accompanied the shadows as a deformed alicorn flew high above the force.

“Chrysalis!”

“Did you miss us?”

With no time to reply the golems took their cue to break forward into the ranks. They let their magic fly to hit the enemy at full force. All Twilight saw was a blackened blur followed by a sharp pain that catapulted her high and away. Forcing herself up trying to ignore the spinning and burning in her jaw she felt for her horn, it was still there to her relief. She did not understand why her spell did not work, it was a standard immobilising spell. Back in the fray she threw a shot at one currently decimating four guards with little effort, swinging those large arms to sweep them to the side and advance to those next. The spell reflected off it to bounce to a guard who was stunned and fell paralysed with a frozen expression of terror. Darn it Twilight!

She fired her element now but that had a similar result, thankfully the ricocheting blast removed a section of wall and not more guards. She remained calm as the fray grew smaller. The guards were trying their best but their weapons broke on the hide, their tactics were ineffective against the tide and force of their opponents. The front line was being broken quickly despite the formation, it seemed futile but the soldiers fought on. Running up to Applejack, Twilight turned up a section of the floor to tip over three golems going after her. She strained with the effort not expecting them to weigh that much. It was scary thinking how she was the only one who could help. She wished Princess Luna was here now, doubts began to surface over her abilities compared to Princess Celestia. Now though was not the time, she ignored those nagging voices and quaked the ground with a spell to topple more. Sadly they got back up unscathed. She darted to her friends staying close together watching each other and making a little headway.

“Where's Pinkie Pie and Rainbow?!”

“We don't know.” A swing missed Applejack, ducking under and kicking out as hard as she could against the body. It failed and the shock hit her system quickly causing her to stumble only to be met by a large palm opening and crushing her to the floor. As she tried to move she could feel it squeeze tighter and restrict her very breath. Fluttershy jumped on the golems head and pulled sharply back on the eyes, as she struck it each time her hooves hurt and her forelegs grew weak, but she would not stop.

Rarity was managing to trip the golems using the wreckage scattered about. As they hit the ground however they only learned and became more adept in their stance. As more of them set about on her a sense of dread settled in when she saw Fluttershy’s golem reach behind her to throw Rarity as an improvised projectile. It failed as the stunned pegasus was caught neatly to settle down at Rarity’s hooves.

Backing up Rarity bumped into something and spun round to see Twilight facing her prone. They nodded to each other and turned away to face the ring around them. The golems seemed at ease with the situation, almost strolling while approaching. Seeing the now scattered ranks being taken down Rarity could see this was not going as she had hoped. The force of the charge had dazed nearly all of them, Fluttershy had been hit hard, she could feel the impact from the sound as an arm came up to send her upwards into a pillar and spinning back to the floor. She was surprisingly resilient almost instantly regaining herself and charging to the Golem that pinned Applejack. She lay under her friend now, still unconscious. Thinking more clearly there was only one solution.

“Go Twilight, I'll hold them as long as I can.”

“What?”

“Please go, get help. Fly away quickly.”

“Rarity I won't -”

“Go!” She yelled, using her magic to throw Twilight away from the group as it closed on her. A furious blast echoed in the foyer and a section of golems were sent flying to collide with the walls. The force of it pushed the others back to clear some room for her. Although short lived it was enough time to secure a stance and hold her ground. Rarity pushed them with all she had, her eyelash falling out as she brushed past a closing arm. Her horn was smouldering and white hot. Forcing herself to go on she cut clean through a nearby pillar to let it drop on the advancing group. She was happy to have bought this much time for Twilight already, disheartened when they pushed up through the rubble she gathered her courage and remained in her place to face the next charge. As the eyes all drew to her she took solace in knowing they were no longer on Twilight.

Twilight forced herself to her hooves but could only see three golems pin Rarity down. She was conflicted needing to stay but wanting to run to regroup, and felt her wings opening. Turning sharply to the opened door she gasped seeing the deformed alicorn blocking her, she recognised the form of Queen Chrysalis; insect like wings, perforated body, serrated horn and twisted emerald green mane. For a moment she was stunned when next to her a dark cloud dissipated to reveal an old stallion with black mane and sharpened teeth, this was the form of the old King Sombra; an evil stain once responsible for oppressing an entire empire.

The moment she took to look upon the old king was enough for a golem to capitalise and grasp both her wings placing its heel on her. Her legs buckled instantly under the weight and her body hit the ground, the shock knocking the wind out and choking her. Although she tried to lessen it and make the heel slip off it only pressed down harder into the bone. The ensuing battle was short lived.
Applejack focused through the blurred motions and tried to lift herself up again. A great weight held her down, one of the golems towering over her, the large hand wrapping around her body. Its yellow eyes were focused on battle and the queen.
Looking out to the scene ,her heart sank watching Spitfire fight on. The pony was alone now. Using her skill and experience she could topple the brutes, cause them to stumble and trip. The impacts did little to the thick bodies, getting back up once more. She was tired, sweating and panting heavily through gritted teeth. The shield she had was now dented, her spear shattered. It only served to emphasise how hard the front line was hit. It felt like solid rock brought to their heads as she darted through the charge and made for the queen. Knocked abruptly back she had scrambled to her hooves to be pushed to the side by a guard only to receive the blow meant for her. The line was shattered instantly and the formation failed to retain their barricade, the force was simply too much. Trying to ignore the sharp burning in her shoulder, she tried to keep her shield high as it slumped to the floor. Realising the vain attempt she let it fall and spun around to see the golems behind her.

The floor was covered with splintered wood and crushed metal. The ponies atop all motionless as the enemy drew in around her slowly, as though to savour the moment. She quickly came to realise victory could not be had here. Looking past them there was no sign of a scratch on the queen. The Princess and the elements were all defeated, now being held down by the golems awaiting their queens instruction. She was alone now but a thought passed through her. She thought of all those who were not there now. All the destruction caused and those yet to fall. She would fight on, to her last breath she would fight. “I AM A WONDERBOLT!”

Seeing Spitfire being buried under the golems assault crushed Fluttershy’s hope. As she gazed over to her friends, she felt the cold stone of another golem close in and pick her up to place her in line with the others.

Queen Chrysalis peered around confidently at the surrounding scenery. To her the beauty was marred only by the lack of those six. Still the pink and blue one remained to be captured, the pink one chased around the castle by a horde of her army and the blue one missing. She assumed it had fallen in the wave when those Wonderbolts were torn from the sky by her Kings might, instantly encasing them all to fall as hail on the unsuspecting line. It had been a pleasure to finally silence the arrogant Princess Celestia, now being dragged close behind to soon be drained of her power.
Seeing the once mighty Twilight Sparkle at her mercy as well, she could only feel complete satisfaction in the efficiency of her take over. Using the moment she addressed the former nuisance, “Well...it seems the new alicorn princess is you little sister. Why didn't you tell me? No invitation or anything...I’m hurt.”

“I am not your sister,” she said bitterly.

“You could have been. You could have and all fighting would have been avoided. Seeing you here under my hoof, how does it feel to know your efforts merely slowed us? That they were all in vain?”

“How does it feel to know you are never going to win?”

“Oh but I already have. Perhaps it has not dawned on you yet but we are not in a negotiation. Your time is up and we have won. The new order will reign in this, a never ending tide!” She threw her hooves up in triumph as more golems marched up the stairs to the room. The guards in the courtyard nowhere to be seen.

She was interrupted when Spike spat his flame in the eye of the golem holding him. He dropped and it staggered blindly flailing to catch him, colliding with the one next to it. The others laughed as the brutes scrambled after the tiny dragon. Before he could make his triumphant escape though he was frozen in black crystal.

Chrysalis cleared her throat to turn to a golem approaching from behind. “And you...” It was carrying Shining Armor, his garments torn underneath the splintered plating. The golem threw the sagging body to the floor to his grunt of pain. “You have proven yourself quite worthy of being a nuisance. Perhaps instead of ending you I will savour your enslavement. Just another mindless beast.” As he struggled to rise a gesture brought the golems foot down on him. He was still fighting her even though his strength had faded. “Perhaps you are wondering how my King came to find me, his queen.” The shadow drifted over the captain and through the golem. The form was frightening, a madness in the wide eyes.

A crash of plates drew her attention, turning sharply to see a pink pony dart in the room and skid to a halt narrowly avoiding contact. As she looked down two lumbering golems came staggering after the pink blur but upon seeing their queen halted to stand at attention. Despite what was happening Applejack had to giggle looking at them now trying to wipe the cake and frosting they wore. The pink pony smiled sheepishly but it faded when they pulled her to the ground to pin her with the others.

Looking around Twilight felt relieved Rainbow Dash was still nowhere in sight, she must have been effecting a plan, something bold and daring. One thing she could always count on is that Rainbow would return.

Chrysalis cleared her throat again and continued. “After my less than graceful departure I found myself obsessed over how these two were able to push me and my entire army out with nothing more than their power of love. Disgraced to have been sent running by the very power I fed off. It was not until an explosion in the frozen wastelands drew me to my King. When I found what remained of him I used all my power to reconstitute his form. Imagine our surprise when we each had you to thank for our misery,” she paced about before the five, “It was not difficult to plot our revenge on you Twilight Sparkle. We realised when our strength returned, when we fell in love, that it had the effect of cancelling out your precious new sisters love. Together we are stronger and we have our minions here to testify to that.” Twilight looked up at one of the hulking beasts. “A magnificent infusion of my Darklings and Sombra’s crystal. Their bodies resist magic and their forms give them superior strength and force. My little darlings were only too happy to become these.”

“Not impressed. Get to the point!” The captains defiance clearly resounding despite the situation. It gave Twilight strength to see her brother still fighting. A sharp kick to the head saw him silenced.

“We will now drain you of your essence and energy much like my King did to those in the crystal kingdom. Without it you will most likely perish. No sense of love to ground you and no sense of spirits to raise you. Truly death would be more kind.”

“You can’t even come up with an original thought. That failed before and it will fail again.”

Chrysalis smirked at Twilights ignorance, “This time we have something special on our side little one,” she laughed.

Twilight tried to understand her reference, soon enough it hit her, “Is that why you sent your monster here?!” Twilight shouted, trying to free herself with a blast of light to the eyes of the golem pinning her. It only had the effect of blinding her with the reflected flash.

“Sent an army, or did you not notice?”

“What about the other one? A scout?”

“I need no scout, we did not concern ourselves with pathetic spying.”

“Do not hide it, that monster is immune just like your minions. You know why it is here!”

Queen Chrysalis suddenly looked startled, “What did you say?” She beckoned and the golem held Twilight up by the back of her neck, the hardened crystal pressing in on her throat. “What monster?” Chrysalis hissed again as Twilight shook to try loosen the painful pinch of the golem. “What do you mean ‘immune’?”

The queens concern sounded genuine and it dawned on them all that there was a link between the two. As Rarity lay on the floor watching her friend being interrogated she had an idea. In Chrysalis eyes there was a desire to locate the monster, as she battered Twilight to force her to speak it was obvious the monster was no friend of hers.

It was admittedly far too convenient to be true but if they were not allies perhaps it was wiser to employ their own monster. If even the princesses were stifled by these foes, surely that which already stifled them could be used to their benefit. She repeated the idea again trying to see if it was not as crazy as she thought. The only reason this came to her was because of Fluttershy’s confidence. All the details and the emotion she had been through was not an illusion. Seeing Princess Luna later in the morning confirmed her story, she had come to see if Fluttershy had recovered. She did not speak with Rarity for long but it was noticed then that as the Princess spoke of it she did not bear any bitterness,only sadness. It was confusing at first but having the night to sleep on it gave Rarity clarity to scale the events..

A sharp spark shot around Twilight and her body writhed in agony.

“Last time I made the mistake of underestimating you all. This time I will not!”

“Wait!” an energetic voice cried out, “I can tell you!” Turning from Twilight Chrysalis made for Pinkie, the suspended pony now being brought back to lay next to the others. Rarity seized the chance while Pinkie Pie’s ranting distracted the queen and king, whispering to the pinned alicorn next to her.

“Twilight, we could ask it to help us...”

“What?”

“The creature.”

“That monster?! What are we supposed to say? Excuse me, even though we imprisoned you, and you deserve it, we are going to ask you help us fight an invincible army. Even though after all the terrible things you’ve done-” They lowered their heads as a golem lumbered close, its gem hide cracking the floor as it walked by them. She could see in her friends eyes their desperation and hated herself for it, not being able to help. A thought came to her from an old historical text. Once a general form Cloudsdale befriended their enemy to protect their home. The monster was immune, or at least as resistant to magic as the Darklings, it was clearly still strong and it wanted to be free. The key was its freedom and how to convince it. If history had taught her anything they were right, it could help.

Rarity took her silence as confirmation, “Fluttershy, you go and set it free. Twilight will lower the barrier and we will hold them off.”

“Wh...why me?”

“You know why sweetie. Please, for us? You can do it.” Rarity knew what Fluttershy had been though. From what she understood that monster tried to hide its pain from her. Such an action while probably not intended as compassionate was enough to betray it. She hoped seeing the sweetness of Fluttershy again so distraught would coax it into doing the unthinkable and help them.

“I will try.” she said determined shaking off the nausea.

“Thank you. Now hold on minute, ready?”

“For what?”

She saw the Rarity’s horn alight and felt a sharp rush of warm tingling white run over her. The weight of the golem disappeared and the view changed in an instant to see the back of it. Twilights teleportation spell was difficult to perform, the sparks from a burnt out Rarity only indicating her strain.

The Queen and King spun around to the noise. Fluttershy let her instincts take hold and galloped away with all her might through the false wall and down the stairs.

“There! After her, bring me the monster and the interloper!” Chrysalis commanded. The group rushed forward but the floor lifted to throw them back. Twilight and Rarity transported and blocked the way as the golems charged down on them. A sudden crashing group of pegasus ponies met them from the side knocking the unaware party down. The line reformed and the wonderbolts stood by Twilight, Rainbow Dash heading the squad. It was not much however Twilight appreciated any help right now. As they all clambered back up Twilight saw the slumped form of princess Celestia being taken towards the entrance to her meditation room on the other side. She was being carried by a golem and the wicked smile of the Queen confirmed this was a bad turn.

“Sorry I’m late, had some trouble with traffic.”

“Rainbow you have the worst timing!”

“Relax Rare! Now show them what us wonderbolts can do!”

With Rainbow Dash in command of the squad they manoeuvred tightly around the bulks dodging and causing them to hit one another in the chaos. It appeared to work as one staggered back with a crack along the side of its head. Unfortunately Rarity saw that crack reseal very quickly.

A brilliant flash of light blinded them. Their eyes adjusted in time to see Princess Celestias horn spark as she slumped unconscious while the smile was removed from a distraught Chrysalis. An exhilarating rush filled the ponies as they saw to their amazement the once fallen legion was standing once more. The golems made to block the way to reach the princess as she was carried further to the room.

The scene seemed frozen as the factions stared at each other. It was as if the guards had never been harmed. Their armour was still intact and their bodies were clear of injury, this was the power of Princess Celestia. The calm was shattered by the familiar voice of Spitfire, who used her opportunity and energy to twist around and pivot the Darkling to send its head crashing to the floor.

“ATTACK!”

As the large doors parted to the meditation room Twilight seized her chance and raced after the Princess, spreading her wings and flying off to sidestep a golems fist as it was nearly brought down on her. The queen and King were almost strolling, easily thwarting any attempt to reach Celestia.

“Twilight?!” Rainbow Dash Could not withhold her shock seeing her instantly take off. However she quickly spiralled back towards the floor upon noticing she was using her wings. Darn it Twilight! She angled herself to the gap of the doors and dived through to collide with the golem carrying Celestia, sending the three of them to impact the far wall. The doors Swung shut to seal the five of them in. She did not understand how but almost as if guided she righted herself and searched for an exit, scarcely believing there was no pain after such a hit. Transporting away was not possible here, the walls of the room imbued with great power. She deduced this is how the queen was going to drain them, twisting the good magic around them to her needs. Sickeningly clever. Twilight projected a barrier as the queen threw a spell to her. She could not understand it but she felt fully revitalised, celestias power flowing through her. In this room she could harness the magic around to give her strength and beat back the King and Queen. The golem she had hit lay unconscious, the impact was more than enough to do so. It made them more vulnerable in her eyes, they were not as powerful as she thought. Princess Celestia lay behind her motionless. Twilight would fight on and either win or hold out until her mentor could join her.

*

Although she could not see it, the cracking of stone under the weight of the golems forced Fluttershy to gallop faster. Despite her friends efforts, some had broken past and were in pursuit. Almost falling after a stumble she spread her wings and scrambled to fly down faster visualising the golems arm reaching out to grab her.

She hated fleeing, leaving her friends there alone. Focusing on what Rarity said her wings flapped harder and her speed grew greater; for us. “I will do it for my friends!” She told herself, she would reach the monster and force it to help them. There was no time for doubt.

When she landed heavily at the base of the stairs the force from winding down the spiral had made her dizzy. All the scrapes from the narrow path on her wings ached and throbbed.

Hearing the stones behind her being crushed she galloped forwards trying to avoid falling over. Looking back one of the golems rolled down and landed face first, it had tripped. Pushing itself to get up the second came down harder to land on top. It would have been funny if they weren’t trying to hurt her.

As they scrambled to stand Fluttershy felt her spirit leap in her seeing Princess Luna waiting, now bearing the form of Nightmare Moon, her darker and more powerful self. The two guards on either side glowing with her magic. Another problem was now presented of how to convince the Princess. Before she could speak though the door to the cell swung open.

“Go Fluttershy, seek refuge with your monster.” Hearing the groundbreaking stride of the golems behind she did not wait to question and galloped to the dark. “Hold fast brothers, you are warriors of the Princess Of The Night! Hold fast my faithful, my strong! Show them the meaning of nightmares!” A pleasant shiver ran through Luna as she grinned, just like old times.

As Fluttershy galloped past Luna and her two guards, engulfed in the darkness, she did not know what to be afraid of anymore.

Comments

[Enderstorm]

Looks you have 2 chapter 3s.

Also wow what the hell that all came out of nowhere. It was so OTT that I thought Twilight was just having a nightmare at first.