A Stressful Battle
Bringing a hoof to her mouth once again, Luna suppressed another yawn, growing ever more exhausted as the hours dragged on. Having had to rearrange her sleep schedule, the princess was more than ready for the day to end, so she could once more limit herself to the gentle night.
From what she could tell, the wedding event was about to conclude, seeing all the ponies making their way to the hall for the finalizing ceremony. Far below, making her routine check on all the guard postings across Canterlot, Luna couldn’t help feel not only relief but disappointment. A wedding certainly was a grand and joyful experience, even if one wasn’t the bride or groom.
Sighing, the alicorn resorted to simply giving a gentle smile and moving along.
Back to the tower, I suppose.
Once in a clearing, Luna spread her wings and took off, elegantly curving and twisting upwards until her height exceeded the watchtower from where she and her sister had been overseeing the kingdom. Ending the journey in a clean landing that brought her right next to the spyglass, the princess began her usual sweep of the skies above Canterlot.
What she saw caused a puzzled expression to drift onto her face. Aside from the obvious pink hue of the barrier, a bizarre mass of dark blotches were visible across every inch of it. While pondering what the phenomenon could be, Luna’s ear twitched, picking up a subtle symphony of buzzing, not unlike those produced by a swarm of bees.
Taking a closer look, she bent down to look into the spyglass, determined to identify the occurrence. Setting sights on one of the images, she was quickly repulsed by the twisted and insectile nature of the hissing, fidgeting creature hovering just beyond the boundaries of Shining Armor’s shield.
What in Equestria are those horrors?
Even distracted by the swarm of fiends, Luna’s eyes could just detect a bright flash from behind her. Tearing away from the spyglass, she found herself staring at the hall where the wedding procession was being held. Adding to the sudden change in normality, a green glow was being emanated from the chamber’s windows.
Spurred into a state of alertness, Luna frantically lowered her head to call down to the security far below.
“Guards! Get everypony inside! The city is under attack!”
The princess’s concerned thoughts returned to the ceremony.
“Send help to the wedding hall as well!”
Easily able to hear Luna’s booming, assertive voice, several teams of royal guards abandoned their patrols and galloped at full speed towards the designated portion of the castle. The rest began swiftly combing the streets of Canterlot, herding the now panicked and confused population to the nearest form of shelter. Confident that the guards were performing their duties adamantly, the princess spread her wings again, eager to reach her friends and sister. She was interrupted by the sight of the doors to the castle bursting open, expelling none other than Twilight Sparkle and her Ponyville friends.
Luna tracked their path, which was on a heading towards the building safeguarding the Elements of Harmony. Fear grew within the princess as she took off from the balcony. If the Elements were needed, there was no telling how grave the threat was. She had to hurry.
What concerned Luna the most was that Celestia never seemed to have left the hall. Staying behind to protect others was an act expected of her big sister, but also one that fueled the night princess’s worry for her sibling.
Soaring towards her destination at high speed, Luna was oblivious to the rest of her surroundings, causing her to panic as a large pane of glass-like material nearly fell right on top of her. Halting midflight, she gaped in astonishment at the sky. All around her, the barrier shielding Canterlot was shattering into thousands of pieces, raining down upon the area like a rampaging blizzard.
Fortunately, the magical shards posed little threat after falling a short distance, dissipating harmlessly into the air. Amid the chaos, Luna found herself drifting closer to the ground, overwhelmed by the piercing screech generated by the barrier’s collapse. Eventually, the princess’s hooves found Canterlot’s road, completely grounding her.
Luna struggled with the ringing in her ears, until the sounds finally left her rattled mind, allowing her to shake off the dizziness and regain composure. The moment her hearing returned, it was flooded entirely by the same buzzing as before, only now significantly stronger. Daring to examine the sky once more, the princess gasped, observing the dozens of changelings descending upon her home.
The last pieces of the barrier crumbled into magical dust, just as a multitude of invaders surrounded Luna, hissing and brandishing their fangs at their newly acquired prey.
Standing there, facing a horde of monsters, most ponies would have decided to make a break for it. The princess of the night however, had moved past her initial fear and worry. It was clear that not every citizen could be brought to safety by simply fleeing. Now was the time to fight, an act Luna was no stranger to by any means. Taking one firm step forward, she glared at the changeling swarm, which was awaiting the chance to strike the regal pony down.
“Even though it was not a mirror, I assure you will all be receiving a painful amount of bad luck.”
Luna’s horn brightened with the magnified force of her magic, temporarily causing the seemingly mindless creatures to back away. When it was clear the light was harmless, the changelings challenged their foe’s bravado, slowly creeping in for the attack. Their failure in understanding the threat resulted in several dozen of them being thrown halfway across Canterlot, per a blast of Luna’s power.
Reconsidering, the remaining changelings hastily retreated, crawling up the walls or simply darting up into the sky. Luna bared her teeth at the menaces and lifted off as well, unleashing a gust from the force of her wings.
“You will not escape, foul creatures!”
Outright frightened, the swarm scattered, hopelessly disorganized as the enraged princess blew them out of the air one by one. Luna chased each enemy with unrelenting spite. She refused to leave a single threat to her people airborne.
As the changelings’ numbers dwindled, a handful of the aberrations were able to fly around a corner and out of sight, only to have Luna soar after them, readying her horn for a finishing strike. Swinging around to face the cowardly enemies, the princess was met only with horror and shock.
“Luna! Please, help!”
Princess Celestia, struggling to even stand up, was at the mercy of the surviving changelings, who were all cackling and hissing at their captured prey, backing her into a corner. As expected, Luna’s entire presence seemed to press down due to the magic she was giving off. He rage was growing and her patience with the pest-like invaders had worn thin long ago.
“I’ll drop the moon upon your heads, cretins!”
Despite her anger, Luna’s blasts retained their accuracy, removing the changelings standing between her and her sister in quick succession. Not bothering to wait for the dust to settle, the princess of the night galloped on through, at Celestia’s side within seconds. Using her own leverage, she assisted her sibling in standing up. Luna noticed there were no visible injuries, which relieved her.
“Sister, are you alright? Where did they hurt you?”
The younger one’s words held nothing but concern and worry yet again, which unfortunately, was exactly what the changelings wanted. ‘Celestia’ cracked a wide smirk, a disturbing image that forced Luna to back away. Not far enough to avoid a shove from her supposed sibling.
Luna grunted as her side hit the nearby wall, disorienting her long enough for a new batch of changelings to jump her, tackling the princess to the ground. While struggling, Luna gazed in utter confusion and hurt at Celestia’s presence. The solar princess’s eyes flashed to a green hue, sparking Luna’s realization. The shapeshifter revealed its true form, snickering. Luna’s care vanished, replaced with the ever-boiling rage.
“How dare you! You mock a regal authority, a princess, my sister!?”
The pileup of changelings shook, before violently exploding in all directions. Numerous foes were splattered onto the nearby buildings, groggily sinking to the floor. The rest groaned in pain as Luna brought herself up from the ground. After taking a moment to catch her breath, the princess analyzed her situation.
She had bought time, although the value of it was diminishing quickly. By no surprise did the battle she’d just waged attract the attention of even more changeling swarms. Seemingly infinity in numbers, Luna’s confidence dropped heavily with each new set of buzzing wings that came close to her. Worst of all, the princess found it difficult to even remain standing. Her legs wobbled on the brink of collapse and even her vision was blurring and swaying as if in a trance.
Sensing her weakened state, the onslaught of insectile creatures collectively cackled at Luna’s lost advantage. Attempting to unleash another shot of magic proved fruitless, as only a few sparks of power flew off the alicorn’s horn. With changelings on all sides about to pounce, Luna closed her eyes, waiting to be ended, eaten, or drained of all life force; whatever the case.
Remarkably, nothing of the sort occurred. A source of unknown light caught the princess’s attention, opening her eyes to desperately search out the origin of the newfound change. The changelings found even more change in attitude, their already bulging eyes widening in surprise.
A second later, Luna felt a tremendous, concentrated mass of magic pass through her, leaving the princess unharmed. The same couldn’t be said for her enemies.
Every changeling in sight hissed in fear as the wall of magic crashed into them, relentlessly shoving the deceitful creatures away. As Luna watched the skies, she witnessed the swarms being repelled outwards, away from Canterlot’s center. Regaining enough strength to flap her wings, the princess gradually climbed back to her tower, each moment seeing a massive expansion of the magical aura eliminating the changeling threat.
By the time Luna set herself down where she started, all that could be seen of the twisted beings were their shrinking black images over the horizon. Suddenly, below in the streets, the princess could hear a multitude of cheers, prominently from the guards, celebrating the successful defense of the kingdom. How it was done remained unclear to Luna, but didn’t particularly matter to her at the moment.
THUD!
The alicorn was out cold.
Following a few drowsy blinks, Luna managed to fixate her eyes to stay awake. Looking around for a few seconds, she realized she was flat on the floor. Embarrassed by the ridiculous positioning, she quickly collected herself and stood up, tucking in her wings. Shaking her head in self-disapproval, Luna checked the rest of her condition, glad to know she hadn’t received any showing signs of battle with the changelings.
The princess walked to the edge of the tower’s railing, giving another yawn before forming a smile.
It was good to at least get some rest.
Peering down to the streets, Luna found herself confused by the ponies she spotted roaming the grounds. They were all holding puzzled expressions, some scratching their heads, shrugging, or pointing into the air. The princess gazed skyward to determine what they were questioning, only to have her heart skip a beat.
The sun’s light was barely visible behind the mountains, while the rest of the heavens were blank and unappealing.
“Oh no!” Luna cried out in panic.
Quickly activating her magic, she pointed her horn towards the moon’s resting place, hidden away during daytime. Although sweating from urgency and further flustered by her own irresponsibility, Luna successfully raised the celestial body of the night, returning normality to the time frame and unveiling the canvas of stars to all of ponykind.
Letting out a breath and wiping away sweat, the princess took a moment to calm herself before spreading her wings and gently taking off.
As she sailed over the various structures of Canterlot, Luna noticed the vast majority of ponies making their way towards the main courtyard, the location of practically every citizen in the city. Coming closer, she found Celestia, along with Twilight and her friends, standing by while the newlyweds shared a small dance.
With a swift approach, Luna landed cleanly beside her sister, happy to see her as unharmed as the rest.
“Hello, everypony. Did I miss anything?” she asked innocently, fully aware that they’d have some stories to share.
Celestia just smiled back to her sibling, confirming the thought. For now though, the two sisters let events play out, which happened to include Pinkie Pie jump-starting the party, as expected. While music began playing and Twilight herself took the mic, the alicorn siblings happily joined into the merriment, casually dancing away as one of the most bizarre days in Equestria finally came to a close.