What Shall be True

The spell pressed right through what resistance there was to it in Twilight’s horn, like a wave overflowing a dam with sheer physical force of impact.

It burned away the cocoon around her horn completely, in no time at all.

Twilight had just enough presence of mind to aim it for the door. She poured all her hatred, and her fury…hay, every negative emotion she’d felt since getting here…she dumped it all into the spell that tore away ward and seal and doorway and Changeling guard alike.

Then she felt the spell peter out, and the world returned to focus. Except it was spinning again. And little stars and black spots were dancing around Twilight’s vision.

Great. Over-exertion.

The room was silent for a long, long moment, while Twilight did her best to get to her hooves.

“What…just…” Dash broke the silence, only to replace it with more.

Twilight finally managed to stand upright, before nearly falling over again. She bumped into Rarity before successfully catching herself.

“Oh! Twilight, are you…”

Twilight just swatted Rarity’s hoof away. “Nopony touch me right now. I…” she tried to take the hatred out of her voice. “I’m not sure I can control myself just yet.”

There was another brief and infinite silence as Twilight took stock. Legs, hooves, muscles, all functional, if in pain. Doorway…missing, along with the doorway that used to be across the hall and was now somewhere in the infinite primordial void. Mind…

Twilight growled to herself as she felt that itch again. That bloodlust, sitting in the corner of her mind, which had settled down now that it had been briefly satisfied, but probably wouldn’t stay that way forever.

“Twi? What’s wrong?”

“It’s still there.” She glared daggers at Rares, probably more aggressively than she meant to. “I thought you extracted the venom.”

She shook her head. “Not all of it, not nearly. It’ll take the edge off, but it will come back until the venom wears off naturally. Until then, you have to stay put before you hurt somepony!”

Twilight just shook her head. “We don’t have that kind of time. Chrysalis is studying Star Swirl’s book. Celestia only knows how close she is to figuring it out.”

The other five mares in the room just exchanged looks of fear and concern. Except Fluttershy, who looked focused on…something…

‘That pathetic good-for-nothing scaredy-pony. She’s just holding me back.’

Twilight ground a hoof into her forehead, focusing on the pain.

“Um…there’s somepony in the other room.” Fluttershy pointed at where the door used to be. “I think they’re waking up.”

“Wait…Celestia?”

“Hey what now?”

“Chrysalis said I was nextdoor to my old mentor! Celestia!” Twilight sped ahead of the rest of the gang, moving as quickly as her hooves could carry her over the slightly-molten floor. It hurt like hell to move like that, as her legs shook and her side squealed. But she ran like there was no tomorrow.

The other room bore nothing except a bed, covered in sheets and…

…somepony that definitely didn’t look like Princess Celestia. She was an alicorn for sure, but no bigger than a regular pony. She looked skinny and starved. Her once magnificent mane and tail were now made of regular old hair, colored sky blue and dirty beyond comprehension.

“C-Celestia?”

‘She failed Equestria. You should make her pay.’

Twilight shook the thought from her head and rested a hoof as gently as she could on Celestia’s shoulder.

“Come on, Princess, wake up. Talk to me.”

Applejack just nudged her shoulder, and Twilight felt that itch get a lot stronger until she pushed it away. “Come on, Twi. We need to get goin’.”

“No.”

“Twilight,-“

“No, Applejack!” Twilight wracked her brain for a reason the other pony would buy (without murder being involved), before landing on one that made her smile inside. “One alicorn won’t be enough, but what about two? A two-princess war machine, just like you said.”

That perked her interest. She just turned her gaze between Twilight, Celestia, and the other four behind her.

“S……sister…?”

It took Twilight a moment to realize the voice didn’t belong to any of them. She turned back to look at Celestia, and saw her with one violet eye cracked open. She was looking right at Twilight, and yet not quite seeing her correctly.

“Celestia! Oh, thank the princess’ you’re awake!”

Celestia licked her lips slightly, trying to speak. “Is it my turn already, sister?”

Twilight’s heart sank. “No, I’m not Luna. It’s-“

Celestia wasn’t listening. She was busy screwing up her face and struggling to light her horn.

No…oh no…

Twilight cast a glance out the window. Lo and behold, the sun was rising over the distant horizon, too fast and way too early.

“Celestia, please, you have to put the sun back down! Please, we have to go!”

Celestia wasn’t listening. She was too busy struggling to raise the sun with her magic, her face turning red from the effort.

Then, she finished. She breathed out sudden, gasping breaths, collapsing back onto the bed.

Twilight shook Celestia again, but she just curled up and slipped back into unconsciousness, muttering something that sounded like, “I love you…”

And the sun was high in the sky, a signal flare to Chrysalis pointing right to their location.

As if on cue, an incredible shriek shook the Castle right down to its foundation.

Applejack grabbed Twilight, pulling her away. “Ah think that’s our cue t’leave, sugargube.”

Twilight nodded, limping after Applejack and her other friends as they fled down hall after hall. Twilight took the lead, steering them towards the best candidate for where Chrysalis might have put their weapons.

Might have. It was such a long shot. But it was worth it enough to lead her friends at full gallop down to the Barracks.

An awful throbbing humming filled the world, from both inside her head and out.

Outside, through the windows, Twilight could see hordes of Changelings appearing from every corner of Canterlot, fully illuminated as they circled towards Canterlot Castle like an ominous black storm.

But…it should be…there!

Just out that window, the Barracks of the Royal Guard was just in sight!

Ahead of them, from around a corner, burst a dozen Changelings.

Rainbow got ready to speed ahead of them, but Twilight caught her tail in her magic. There was no resistance anymore, thank Celestia…

“Everypony, hang on to somepony with wings!”

The Changelings hissed and charged, and Twilight desperately worked to weave together a shield between them.

It worked, but it was harder than it should have been. And there was that throbbing in her ears…

Twilight jumped around and clasped onto Applejack’s back, ignoring the little voice in the back of her mind that told her to strangle the other mare. At Twilight’s direction, she turned to the window next to them.

Rarity was being held by Rainbow Dash, clinging on for dear life. Pinkie was huddled onto Fluttershy’s back, looking fearful of both her companions and their enemies.

The image of crushing Pinkie’s head beneath her hoof returned to Twilight’s mind. But rather than stop it, she focused on it, and channeled it out through her horn.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! A blast of concentrated dark magic shot out of Twilight’s horn, tearing the window to pieces and burning away a few Changelings as they flew toward Canterlot Castle.

They were getting close now. There wasn’t much time left.

“GO! FLY! TO THE BARRACKS!” She screamed, suddenly able to hear herself speak as the throbbing inside her head lessened to nothing.

Rainbow Dash was the first, naturally, clinging to Rarity as best as she could with only her foreleg. Fluttershy went next, following the sound of Dash’s wingflaps with Pinkie latched firmly onto her back.

Then Twilight was speeding across the ground as Applejack’s powerful legs shot them out the window.

Her wings snapped out by instinct, and she angled their glide towards the distant Barracks.

Searing pain went up her side, and she let out a soft scream. But she kept her wings out and angled.

She didn’t try to flap. She’d just mess it up, anyways.

No…

All she had to do now was fall in the right direction.

That was easy.

The Changeling swarm around them pressed closer, and the throbbing on both sides of Twilight’s ears pressed harder and harder against her brain. Which just made it nigh impossible for Twilight to keep herself from dropping Applejack.

She tried to summon a bubble shield around the three oversized flying blobs that marked her friends, but couldn’t focus enough to get it going.

They were barely two hundred meters from their destination.

The buzzing pressed around them…closer…

One hundred meters…

Closer…too close…

Rainbow bashed open the double-doors as she swooped through them, dropping Rarity on the floor as they both slipped into the room.

Twilight could almost feel the Changelings’ breath on her flank as she folded in her wings.

Fluttershy sped in next, screeching to a halt and screaming something Twilight couldn’t hear.

Twilight did some quick geometry in her head, then sucked in a deep breath…

…and threw Applejack forward…

…towards the open door,…

…flared her wings just enough to slow herself down…

…turned around…

…snapped her wings shut…

…and summoned a basic kinetic barrier just as the Changelings hit it.

The magic offered little resistance as it passed through her horn, but summoning it still took more than a little effort.

Twilight was thrown back by the force of the swarm impacting her spell…

…through the open door…

Twilight screamed in pain as her hindlegs slammed up against something (shelving, probably), but had just enough presence of mind to keep her shield going.

As she refocused on it, she reshaped the barrier and locked it against the doorway.

The Changelings backed off for a moment, and Twilight took the opportunity to spare a glance around the room.

Rainbow was beating somepony…no, a Changeling imitating a Pegasus...into the wall, cut up and bleeding from the wingblades the Changeling had on. Rarity was levitating random objects and hitting the other unconscious Changelings with them. Fluttershy was covering her ears, her senses probably overloaded by the incessant otherworldly humming that shook the room. Pinkie Pie was collecting weapons from the walls…hoofblades, wingblades, bows and arrows, swords, studded hoofshoes, bomb bel--

She refocused her efforts onto her shield as she felt something hit it.

The Changelings had gotten smart. They weren’t piling against her barrier like she’d hoped. Instead, they were hanging back just enough to blast it with dozens upon dozens of magical bolts, which could be packed against the shield in much greater magnitude than the Changelings themselves.

Twilight threw everything she could offer to that shield, but the throbbing in her head and the itch in her mind kept her from focusing properly.

‘Come on…just keep it together…’

A few Changelings tried blasting the walls around the outside of the barracks, to no avail. Twilight knew for a fact that the wards on this building could hold back almost anything.

Her shield, on the other hand…

Cracks started to form at the edges from the relentless onslaught.

‘Just let them in. Just give up. You know you want to.’

Twi forced the thought from her head as she focused everything she had onto that barrier.

Rarity’s voice distracted a little piece of her brain. “There’s too many of them! We can’t fight them off! There’s just too many!”

‘Wow, she’s depressing sometimes. Don’t you just wanna kill her?’

“Pinkie, remember when yeh told me about them shotgun-bombs? You got any?”

‘She’s gonna be armed! Kill her before she kills you!’

“Yeah, I’ve got some right here, and my party can-“

“HOLD IT! Applejack, I can forgive, but I am NOT letti—“

“GIRLS!” Twilight ground her eyes shut as she refocused on holding the shield together. If only there weren’t that damn headache, she could do this!

She didn’t stop to see if Pinkie could hear her. “Please, Pinkie! I know you messed up, and I know you did some horrible things, but we’re your friends! And we need you right now, more than ever! Please...!”

She would have gone on, but she couldn’t hold focus and talk at the same time. Not with the way her hooves were shaking. In fact, her whole body seemed to shake with the rhythm of her heartbeat as it pounded throughout her entire body.

Every piece of her told her to let go.

Everything about her told her she was finished.

But she held on.

Gnashing her teeth together until she tasted blood in her mouth.

Grinding her eyes closed until tears were leaking out from sheer pressure.

And it was still barely enough.

Between the throbbing in her brain and the screaming voice in her head telling her to just let go, she knew she wouldn’t last much longer.

“Twilight…” she barely heard Applejack over the blood rushing through her ears. “Twi, when Ah say three, lower the shield.”

She almost dropped it out of pure shock. “WHAT!? That’s suicide!”

“Just trust me, Twilight.”

It took everything out of her in more ways than one. But she just nodded.

“One…”

“Two…”

“THREE!!”

Twilight immediately let go, expecting flaming death to descent down onto her.

Bo-Bo-Bo-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

The rapid-fire explosions knocked Twilight out of her stupor, and she opened her eyes to see the world outside the Barracks was on fire.

She noticed something else, too.

All her friends were lined up by the door, decked out in armor and weapons that made them shine majestically and powerfully.

Somepony had decked her out, too.

Hoofblades, Straight-edged wingblades like Rainbow’s, Studded hoofshoes like Applejack’s, and a sword to levitate like Rarity was doing. No armor, though.

The explosions outside died down slightly.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!” Rainbow screamed at the top of her lungs, and the five of them shot outside to slash, break, slice, shoot, and burn every Changeling in sight.

Twilight got up, feeling only slightly reinvigorated, then limped out into the thick of the fight.

There were millions of Changelings, only barely held back by the five of them. Rainbow and Pinkie handled the flying ones with the Bladed Painbow and the Artillery Cannon, respectively. AJ and Rarity fought on the ground, the latter handling six swords in her magic with expert precision. Fluttershy was shooting arrows like crazy, aiming everywhere she could. Magic bolts and shields and explosions rang out everywhere, to the point where Twilight was briefly stunned motionless.

Then the swarm parted, and Twilight saw her target.

Chrysalis flew almost casually down to the ground. She was safe in this bubble, and she knew it,  since the other five were otherwise occupied.

Twilight charged, screaming a roar of rage and agony at her tormentor.

“Stop!” Chrysalis shouted, and while none of the Changelings reacted, Twilight was overcome with the urge to jam to a halt and freeze in place.

She fought it as best she could, but the urge was overwhelming.

Chrysalis walked up to Twilight, deflecting the occasional arrow from Fluttershy absent-mindedly. Then she leaned in close to Twilight’s ear and ordered, “Lay down and surrender.”

Twilight nearly dropped to the floor then and there, but she fought it as hard as she could.

“I looove you, Twilight. I’d hate to have to hurt you. Please lay down?”

That part of her brain telling her to surrender seemed to soar sky-high at the word ‘love’, and the pressure from it forced Twilight’s hindquarters onto the cobblestone floor.

‘NO! I AM NOT GIVING UP NOW!’

‘But you’re tired, Twilight. Why don’t you lay down? Chrysalis will make everything better. She does love you, after all.’

Twilight ground her eyes, pressing as hard as she could against the confines in her mind that Chrysalis’ venom had trapped her in.

Her forehooves started to tremble.

‘NO! I have to save them! I have to help my friends!’

‘Why? All they’re going to do is hurt you. Just go to sleep, and when you wake up, everything will be better.’

She bit her own tongue to force back a yawn, the pain knocking her system back into place just the tiniest bit.

'You'll all be alive,and all healed. It'll be just like old times.'

‘Just stop fighting. Just-‘

“NO!” She screamed the word as she forced herself back to her hooves, and it seemed to clear the entire space around her, reverberating through the air as it pushed away Chrysalis and the rest of her children.

She stood up as full as she could, feeling power pouring forth from her body as she stared down Chrysalis.

“I am Princess Twilight Sparkle!” She declared, her words cutting through the din of battle like nothing else could. “I am the Last Alicorn Princess, and the rightful ruler of Equestria! And by the power vested in me by the ponies of this nation, I DECLARE YOUR REIGN IS OVER!”

The words seemed to shake Canterlot down to the roots of the mountain it clung to, and blast their way to every corner of Equestria.

Then they echoed back.