Children of the Night

Chapter 8

Victory and defeat

It had been several nights since Moonsinger had sent out word of their mothers return,and the request made by her sister. Most of the lawenforcement branches from all over the garden had voted in favor of the request, some however did not want to involve themself with the matters of the daylight Ponies. Moonsinger sat in her office in the town hall of Gemini, reading the reports that had come in shortly before sundown. Out of fourty settlements, thirtysix had voted in favor. The remaining four, she would have to split up and make them patrol the barrier in shifts. After all, if the changelings chose to come here, it was not a good idea to leave the garden defenseless. She sighed and put a hoof up to her forehead. For centuries this place had never had to prepare for war. She just didn't know what to do anymore. She turned her attention to one of the other piles of reports on her desk. These were from storeowners and Innkeepers that were complaining about her lawenforcers acting out of line, or ruining business for them, since they wanted a place to sleep and supplies without paying for them.

Of course she knew that these Ponies had to make a living, but they needed the supplies. Gemini was to be the launching point for their counter invasion, but she just hadn't thought about the supply situation when she had made that decission. Her mother and Celestia had warned her, and told her to choose a bigger town, but she had refused. At the time it had seemed like such a good idea to choose the town closest to the barrier.... But now? Gemini had barely a thousand citizens at the best of times, and about a hundred tourists who wanted to visit the gardens very first settlement... The problem she had to deal with now was, that about two thousand lawenforcers were already here, and another nine thousand were on their way....

She threw the reports into the air, letting a scream of frustration escape her mouth. There was just no damn way Gemini could support that many Ponies! All day she had tried to calculate and delegate tasks and supplies, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't find a way for this town to handle the strain....

That moment, there was a knock at the door. Moonsinger waved a hoof and shouted to leave her alone, but the door opend anyway. As she rose her head, which she had slammed into the desk when throwing the reports into the air, she saw the dark blue coat of her mother.

"You seem to have a problem. Why won't you let me and Celestia help?"

"The only problem IS Celestia... Had she not asked us to do this, I wouldn't be drowning in reports!"

"I asked you to do that as well."

Luna clarified. Moonsinger stared at her mother, her anger slowly washing away, like it always did in the presence of her beloved mother.

"You're right.... But we just don't have the place here to provide a place to stay for THAT many Ponies. What is worse, there are still Ponies from outside the barrier coming in. I have several reports here from Patrols outside the barrier who have found some Ponies that tried to hide in the forest. To top it all off, I COULD make the other settlements in the vicinity provide food, but we still have no place for them to sleep."

"Is that all? Celestia and I saw something like that coming, that's why I am here."

Luna sat down next to her daughter, unrolling a map of the garden, that she had brought with her.

"You make the surrounding town deliver supplies here."

She tapped her hoof on the icon that stood for Gemini.

"And Celestia and I will expand some of the houses with the same magic I used for the garden. More accuratly, we will put a shrinking spell upon the inns, so one room will be able to provide housing for hundreds of Ponies."

Moonsingers mouth dropped wide open, her eyes wide as saucers. She hadn't thought of that. Of course! The garden itself used that kind of magic to expand a clearing of only a few hundred hoofs in radius. Using it on the Inns...

"That's GENIUS!"

"Not really. We wanted to propose that idea to you the first time we asked to help you, but you wouldn't even listen to us. Ever since then you havn't come home a single time, but locked yourself away here. By the way, I have been outside the barrier today. I think tonight would be a good night for a counter attack."

"But not even half our forces are here. We are still not organized enough...."

But Luna put a hoof on her muzzle, stopping her from protesting any further.

"I have seen how well you children can fight. I'm asking you to stay behind, so don't even TRY asking to come along. I need you here, keeping an eye on Celestia. She is getting restless, and had it not been for her, we would have started our attack two nights ago when only a little over a hundred Ponies had arrived here. Also she is not used to being ripped of her status as a princess. She may not show it, but it annoys her greatly."

"Is THAT the reason you want to act rashly?"

Moonsinger had shoved aside her mothers hoof and started protesting again.

"No. I have been out of the forest during the day, and spied on Ponyville personally. Tonight there is an execution planned there. Some of the Ponies who are immune to their mindcontrol are to be executed, and I just can't let that happen. With the spectacle of this event, most of the changelings stationed there will be in the town square. Not only that, but there aren't as many as I had anticipated. When I walked among them, using a transformation spell, I found out that there are only a little over a hundred changelings there. With our current strength, we can overwhelm them before they know what hit them. Even more so, we will have an additional base of operations, that can serve to house our forces and supply us with food."

"But we can't stay in Ponyville. It would weaken and ultimately kill us!"

Luna did not grace her daughter with an answer this time. Once again, she bend her neck and took something out of her saddlebags. Shortly after, she pulled out a small medicine bottle that contained several glowing orbs.

"What are those?"

"I've been very busy over the last few day's Moonsinger. These are Mana Chrystal's, infused with my magic. I have stored several such bottles back in my quarters on the upper floor. They will replenish your sparks energy, as if you had stayed a few days inside the barrier. They are no subsitude for the barrier, but they can extend the time you can stay outside."

Moonsinger took the small bottle and there was no doubt that there was magical energy radiating from the orbs.

"But how to admister them? Is it enough to just carry them around with us?"

"Well... you will have to swallow them... But that is also a reason why I suggest not to rely on them too much... They might cause some mild problems with your digestion."

"Well, better then nothing I guess. I am still not satisfied that you want to attack when we are barely ready, but it's as it has always been."

"And what wold that be?"

"If you ask something of us, it will be done."

Luna chuckled.

"Ok then. I will take five hundred lawenforcers and head out as soon as I can. Don't tell Celestia. If she knew, there is no way we could stop her from coming along, and since she is injured, that wouldn't be a good idea."

Moonsinger nodded and hugged her mothers neck before Luna turned around and left her office again. Finally she had a means to provide housing to that many Ponies.... With her most important concern laid to rest, she began making arrangements to have food from other cities transfered here.

Two ours later, at the edge of Everfree forest

Luna stood in the shadow of a tree near the edge of the forest. The five hundred Ponies she had rallied for this attack were hiding in the shadows as well. All of them had been excited to leave the barrier with their mother, but not so much about fighting. Most of the ones she had taken with her, were Earthponies and Pegasi. That was not only to the idea that the magical spark within them would wither away faster if they used magic, but also there were not that many Unicorns among the lawenforcers. Most of her children who were Unicorns, were working in peaceful buisness Moonsinger had told her that the other night. Luna couldn't blame them. Pegasi and Earthponies were more sturdy, while a single swipe from a Timberwolf was enough to break most of the bones in a Unicorns body. She was uneasy with the idea of a fight, even more so to lead her children into battle. She had never wanted to have them fight, but there was just no helping it.

For a while now Luna was observing the Town Square, where a line of several Ponies had gathered. There were only about twenty of them, but they were surrounded by about eighty Changelings. The other twelve were patroling the perimeter and the streets of Ponyville. Obviously they didn't think anypony would atteck them here. Luna took a deep breath before adressing her children through the spark of her magic that resided in all of them. Due to that, she was able to speak directly to their minds, if they were close enough.

"There are six ways to the Townsquare. Each of them is patrolled by a pair of Changelings. We have twelve Unicorns with us. I want all of you to hold your hooves on the ground. Circle around the town, and divide up into groups. Make sure that every group has two Unicorns. When you encounter the Changelings, leave them to them. Use silencing spells to keep them from raising the alarm, and then take them out. All others are to check the houses on the way, to see if there are Changelings in hiding and if the Ponies inside are ok. then everypony will rally at the townsquare and take out the remaining Changelings. After that is done, I will raise a barrier to keep them out of this settlement. If I can't do that for some reason, that task falls upon you Unicorns. Don't let anything keep you from raising the barrier. The safety of Ponyvilles citizens is the TOP priority here."

When she had finished, she turned around to look at her children. All of those she could see were nodding, and already started to move out. She herself headed to Sweet Apple Acres, the local applefarm. The farm was a little way out of town, and she just wanted to make sure that there were no Changelings hiding there. Also it would be a great place to cast that little spell she had learned, after the Changelings attack on Canterlot....

Half an hour later

Flametail and his group had taken out the two Changelings patrouling their part of town. The houses they had inspected, had also been ok. There were mind controlled Ponies inside, peacefully sleeping in their beds. Only a few of them had been minorly injured, and so he had left two of the Earthponies in his group behind to take care of those once they woke up. Now they were hiding in the alleyways between the houses that were closest to the townsquare. In the middle was a crowd of Changelings, surrounding several Ponies that were waiting for their execution by beheading. Where in the hay was their mother? He couldn't sense her presence in his vicinity, and he would be even more uneasy to attack them without her present. She would, most likely, be able to take care of them all by herself, so her absence was unnerving. That was when, due to a loud scream, his attention was drawn to a red Earthpony stallion with half a green apple as a cutie mark. He was thrashing against his restrains, trying to buck at the Changelings that held the ropes on his neck and hooves. They had started the execution, and he seemed to be the first one... Flametail couldn't wait any longer. They had to act now, or that stallion would die, before they could.

Big Mac was fighting against those who kept him. For some reason the strange magic they had used on Applebloom and Granny Smith, had not worked on him. He had heard a whisper in the back of his mind, that tried to push him into obidience, but he didn't listen to it. There were some other Ponies who seemed to be immune as well, but their fate seemed sealed. Even so he tried to resist, the Changelings pulling him towards a block that had been placed on a small stage. Next to it stood a Changeling with an ancient Battleaxe on the ground next to him. It looked like it was from the Canterlot royal museum, but that was the least of his worries. Big Mac threw all of his weight against the ropes that pulled him forward, but it still wasn't enough. He would die. He would die a meaningless death, and would never see Applejack again, whom he learned thanks to the guards was held in the Canterlot dungeons. Finally the Changelings had suceeded in pulling him all the way to the block, now pulling his head down, securing him in place. Big Mac glared at the Changeling holding the Axe in his magic now, raising it into the air with a cruel smile on his face. Just before he could bring it down on his neck however, the changeling was knocked into the side of the town hall by a red flash of magic. Everything that followed, happend so fast, that Big Mac would never be quite sure, which order it had actually happened in.

Frostmane saw the signal that Flametail gave with his glowing eyes, and threw a punch of telekenetic Energy towards the Changeling executioner, just before she and her group charged into the frey.  From all sides, the children of the night were now charging into the townsquare, it was like her spell had been a shot from a starting pistol. The Pegasi in each group, obviously eager to be airborn once again, raised up and charged down into the group of Changelings. They picked up their suprised foes, and flew back up, before diving back down and releasing them only inches before they crashed into the ground. That short time to recover from such a fall, was not enough for the Changelings to safe their lives. Frostmane herself, made good on her namesake. Her mane, quite simliar to the one her mother had when she had been Nightmare Moon, swiped away six of the enemies at a time, while her Earthpony guard kept others from flanking her. They were a well trained team, and had already repelled several Changeling attacks on the garden in the past. Frostmane would NOT let a single one of them escape. Each and every one of those who touched her magical mane, froze to a lump of ice if she wanted them to. Her magical skills were not that great though. Moonsinger and others had always been stronger then her, but her mane was what made her unique. Imbued    with her own magic it lashed out at the Changelings, while the other Unicorns used Telekenisis to throw them against buildings, or the ground. The Earthponies bucked at these insects with all their might, and some were hit so hard that their necks bent into odd angles and their skulls caved in. What soon became obvious to Frostmane, and any other, was that the fight was dragging on longer then it should have. It should only last seconds, but now it had already been almost ten minutes! They had come here with an advantage in numbers and still, as Frostmane looked around, she could see that two of their fronts were being pushed back. The dead or injured bodies of her brothers and sisters, lining the way of these fronts retreat.

She levitated herself into the air, and soon saw what was causing the battle to drag on. The double doors to the townhall were standing open, and hundrets of Changelings were storming out of it like a river of black ink. They must have used the underground archives, which stretched out under all of Ponyville, as makeshift barracks. It then struck her. They HAD anticipated such an attack. This was a damn trap, and their mother was nowhere to be seen. For the first time, since she had joined the lawenforcers three hundred years ago, Frostmane was afraid for her life. A look into the night sky revealed that even the Pegasi had their fair share of fighting up there. A quick estamination of how many Changelings were already pushing them back, revealed that they were outnumbered almost ten to one. If that fight dragged on any longer, if there came any more Changelings, they would NOT get out of here alive.

A few minutes before at Sweet Apple Acres

Luna had inspected the farm buildings, and the only ones she had found, had been a yellow Earthpony filly with red mane, that had been chained to her bed. Luna could only imagine what horrors that filly had gone through, as she removed the chains with her magic, without waking the sleeping filly.She knew that there should be an elderly Earthpony mare here, but she could not find her anywhere, so she prepared to cast a spell that would make Changelings unable to change their form for a while. As she steped out of the main building of the farm, she felt flashes of her magic in the towns center. Quickly it became clear, that the fight had started without her. But.... there was something that made her dismiss the spell she had wanted to cast. She could feel the sparks of her children who where fighting there vanish. That could only mean, that they died. There had been the possibility of some injuries or even some deaths, but they were vanishing in such an alarming rate, that Luna spread her wings and threw all caution aside when she raced off to Ponyville.

As Luna arrived, she saw the impossible. Thousands of Changelings, not even attempting to fool her children with their powers, fighting her children all over town. She should have known... This opportunity had been WAY to good to be true... Chrysalis had set a trap, and she had stepped right into it. With a scream of rage and desperation Luna threw herself into the battle, lashing out with her magic left and right, killing Changelings as she went.

Flametail stood back to back with Frostmane on an intersection near the edge of town. Their groups had, only moments before, joined in retreat. As much as it pained both of them to having to disappoint their mother, there was no use in fighting a loosing battle, and their mother wouldn't want them to do so either. He noticed Frostmane breathing heavily behind him. The strain on her magic was already showing. He would want to fly her out of here, but there was no way he could. one of his wings had been broken, when several Changelings had knocked him out of the sky. He wasn't in great shape himself either. The exertion of this overdrawn fight was more then he had anticipated. Just when he thought that it was the end, he saw a streak of darkblue magic envelop all the changelings surrounding him and his group. He had just enough time to shield his eyes with a hoof, before his face was splattered with Changeling blood. As he looked up, he saw their mother, already flying off into the direction he had come from. He knew she was heading into the thick of the fighting.

Luna raced through the streets of Ponyville without landing. Every group of Changelings she encountered, she enveloped in her Telekenisis, either crushing them, or ripping them apart. It still wasn't enough. She had to concentrate so hard, just to ignore the corpses of Ponies that she found all over the place. It had been her children, and each and every one of those corpses, made her heart ache. She had underestimated Chrysalis, and THAT was why her children were dying all over town. The stream of changelings, that had come from the underground archive had stopped. That was at least something she could be reliefed about, but the continous use of her magic, tired Luna slowly. There were so many of them, that she sometimes had to crush a hundred of them at a time, which was difficult, considering that they fought back with their own magic.

She could only feel a little under two hundred of her children around town, by the time she finished what she believed to be the last of the Changelings. Back in the townsquare, dizzy from the overuse of magic, she allowed herself to collapse to the ground. The extensive amount of violence she had just used, also was turning her stomach, and she was fighting to keep her last meal where it belonged. Suddenly, she felt herself being enveloped in magic. Magic that felt very cold and dangerous. As she opend her eyes, she noticed five changelings encircling her. All their horns were aglow. Luna tried to fight back with her own magic, but the earlier fight had strained her to much, and as she called upon her magic, everthing began to spin in front of her eyes. Before she fainted and was carried off by the Changelings, she saw Frostmane limping into the townsquare.

Frostmane had decided to go and check if their mother was okay, but was not prepared to see what she did. Her light blue coat was dirty with a mixture of her own, her brothers and sisters and Changeling blood. Her white mane hung limply around her neck, as she limped into the townsquare. Her broken right foreleg was hindering her movement considerably, and her almost depleted magic was no help either. She wanted to help her mother as she saw five changelings cast an imprisonment spell on her and fly off. However, she was unable to do so.... Her mane didn't have the range to reach out to them, and her magic was almost completly gone.... Even if it hadn't been, she didn't know a counterspell for this....All she could do, was scream as her mother was taken prisoner, right in front of her eyes.....