My Little Pony: Third Gear

Chapter 24: The Battle of Reflected Canterlot

The Everfree Forest teemed with hearty life, the trees either stout or flexible to survive the forces unleashed around them, and the animals’ senses tuned to the hum of magic and to the sight of red dust-like light. Every chirp and rustle conveyed some information, and that information allowed most of the forest’s denizens to survive, where the sisters’ or Iron’s targets did not.

In one moment, the near-constant symphony of humming, chirping, and calling ceased, followed by a long ‘whoosh’ as everything that could move sought the closest, best cover. A new, mechanical humming filled the air, tinged with a deep buzz. After only an instant, that warning fell away before a swarm of metal, flying beasts half the size of an average pony, a trail of that red dust marking their flight paths.

The leading drones did not lose any speed as they wove between the trees, spread out to protect the main force against any enemy who might try to pass through the line and flank them, or attack from behind. They passed through mottled grey and brown dust without any problem, not having detected any explosive or dangerous element among them, and continued onward, to the edge of the forest.

Behind the advance wave of drones was yet another, which Iron had deployed to stay closer to the main force. Behind them, the sight of Celestia, as well as Iron’s massive Great Dragon Armour, sent the hiding animals into a frenzy as they tried to dig more deeply into safety any way they could.

Celestia wore gold and red armour of her own design, covering any vulnerability while also curved to accentuate her statuesque figure. The Great Dragon, meanwhile, featured ridges, horns, teeth, claws, and golden baleful eyes that cast disdain from among the blood-red form. Twenty meters long from the tip of the beak-like blade on its nose to the nastily-barbed tail, and with a wingspan of twenty-one meters, the large armour was extremely imposing. The world still remembered the Battle of Los Pegasus when it had been used last.

Celestia flapped her wings just a little harder to push the dust or gnats away from herself, while Iron saw them with disinterest, but did not really look at the flower-shaped nodes. Thus it was that as the immense force pushed toward the edge of the Everfree Forest, they did not know that they had lost the element of surprise.

* * *

Each of the Flight Leaders had decided to train so they could more easily make use of the full tactical display that Gearhead had created for himself, also making something else for him to change, although the modification was done very quickly. While Gearhead continued to make his final preparations for battle in the borrowed forge, the others practiced maneuver after maneuver, time and time again, so that when it came time to actually do them, they could do so perfectly, regardless of how high or fast they were flying when they did so.

Despite having the sensor net in place, the last two days had been hard on everyone’s nerves, the tension rising every hour and every day. Even the guards expected Celestia to make her move at any moment, eyes darting toward their weapons every few seconds.

And yet when it came to practice, both the guards and Binary Squadron became focused on their task.

When the first node turned red, Twilight called out, “hold,” and caught Rarity, who was her partner at that moment. Everyone focused on her or his own display as they landed to watch more of the net become red. The arrays started sending more information, and Twilight half-turned toward King Sombra, who was watching the exercise from the parapet.

“Multiple small targets, red particles confirmed. It’s hard to pick out much of anything in that mass, but there’s also a large mass of Dark Magic energy, and a large red particle contact.”

“They’re coming,” Sombra said. “Archers and casters to the walls,” he called. “Ready all ballistae and trebuchets. I want a screening flight up ASAP!”

“Remember, you promised to keep them away from those particles,” Twilight said.

“As much as possible,” Sombra nodded. “What about Gearhead?”

Twilight knew that their friend was seeing the same sensor take everyone else in Binary, were. At that instant, a message flashed across her HUD. “We’ll have to buy him some time,” she said, turning back to the others. “Group up, everyone. We’re on Plan J. Skip every phase corresponding to Luna.”

As Twilight spoke, the others scrambled into standing formation. Each being checked to make sure her or his neighbour’s armour and weapon were all secure and did not show any signs of undue or repairable wear or damage. In Gearhead’s absence, his flightmates would be deployed to the other Flights. Rainbow Dash checked Twilight’s armour and Engine as she took up her place at the head of the formation, then she took her own place on Twilight’s wing as well. All movement ceased.

“Binary Squadron, launch!” And with that order, everyone leaped into the air, the flying members either taking the grounded ones up on their back, or carrying them by the forelimbs.

Unlike with Plan A, Plan J demanded that the Flights have as equal an amount of power as possible, so that once they were split up into Flight or duo levels they could still deploy their abilities effectively. Twilight possessed both flight and magical power, and it was fully expected that she and her Flight would be taking on Celestia directly. As a result she had Rarity, Silver Quill, and Smart Alec in her Flight.

Gearhead was Two Flight Lead. In his absence, Aurora Mage, Doc Wolf, and Fluttershy flew under Rainbow Dash’s command as Three Flight.

Four Flight therefore consisted of Applejack, KP, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. Pinkie flew using yet another of her contraptions, which she had whipped up seemingly out of nowhere. Four had originally been planned to be integrated into the other Flights, but Twilight had realized that was bunching things up a little too much, and decided to trust in Pinkie.

Plan J had two branching options: Option One included isolating Celestia from her allies and capturing her with the gem-implanted cable spells. If they could not do that, they could at least do Option Two and repel the enemy, forcing them into a retreat. Binary could then engage in battle with all preparations in place, at a time of their choosing. All of the Elemental Six agreed that the closer to the Castle of the Two Sisters they fought, the more likely they were to win, given the proximity to what they considered the origin of the Elements of Harmony.

Phase One in either case was to intercept the approaching army as far away from Canterlot Castle as they could. Twilight and Rainbow pulled ahead of the rest of the squadron to get eyes-on contact on the opposing force as early as they could, as well as to issue advance and final warning to the enemy.

Soon the two leaders had to stop to take a closer look at the approaching black swarm, flecked as it was with red. They used the sensors and cameras built into their helmets to get a better sense of what they faced. “Too small to be ponies,” Rainbow Dash said.

“They’re drones, just like I said,” Sombra said into one of the spare earpieces. “Them, you don’t have to worry about destroying.”

“At the very least they’ll help us demonstrate how serious we are,” Twilight said. She casted a spell to help project her voice past the enemy’s vanguard and to the waiting ears of any living thing nearby.

“Attention Celestia and Iron, this is your only warning. Turn back or surrender, or we will open fire to protect Canterlot and Equestria.”

There was barely a pause before Celestia responded with the boom of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “We’re not scared of you, little filly, but you should be scared of us!”

“That answers that,” Rainbow said, while Twilight cancelled her own voice amplification spell.

“Yeah it does.” Now that the last opportunity to avoid a fight had been rejected, the Unicorn flipped her shoulder- and hip-mounted railguns into firing position, raised their levels to the highest possible settings, and set her sights on the highest concentrations of drones. Unlike the Stabilizer’s original railguns, these were more compact and shorter when not in use to blend in better with the wing sections. When they charged, however, they extended and expanded, revealing the flicker and steadily-growing glow of the particle charge.

In order for this part of the plan to succeed, Binary Squadron needed to use enough force to completely halt their enemy’s advance. Twilight realized this was going to be extremely difficult given the vast number of drones Iron had brought. The sight of them reminded her of Chrysalis’s army. Then, Gearhead had vastly reduced their numbers by reflecting and refracting numerous beam attacks through falling shards of shield energy. This time the defenders did not have any of that.

But they had each other.

Twilight opened fire, four turquoise-and-purple blasts lancing out and punching their way through the swarm as it continued to close. Even drones that were not hit directly were caught by the energy and destroyed or disabled, but the blasts only left four deep columns of vacant space for a few moments.

Twilight let the railguns flip back to let them cool off a bit, and switched to the four canons, each of which fired a blast at about the same strength as a single Magic Arrow, and opened fire. It took two hits to take out a single drone, she soon discovered, and managed to fire one more salvo with her railguns before she and Rainbow had to start falling back to avoid being flanked or overtaken.

Fortunately that was when the rest of Binary Squadron caught up. Rarity and Mage began by unleashing their own magic blasts into the mass of drones. Flyers spun as they worked up the momentum to launch their earthbound charges right into the fray. Applejack, Doc, and Alec flew into the enemy with hooves or claws leading.

Applejack plowed right into her first drone hooves-first, and made enough of a dent in its armour to send sparks flying. Looking at all the other drones flying nearby, she had an idea. Instead of trying to jump out and return to KP, she jumped further in, kicking off hard with her hindquarters. Twilight saw the original drone explode, and a moment later Applejack was kicking into her second target.

Alec used the Tuck and Roll, bowling into his first target with enough speed, and with enough magic attached to his ballistic flight, that he radiated energy from his mane and tail. That aura only lasted long enough for him to bisect his first target, but when he found another drone flying in to intercept him, the stallion snapped open and planted all four hooves on the machine. He quickly jumped to a third target, leaving his exploding second behind.

Doc would not be outdone by either of his companions, although he lacked an Earth Pony’s legendary durability and strength. The bipedal wolf had, however, discovered that if he focused enough on one thing, if he took a swipe at it with his claws facing outward, he could cut steadily through it. Flying at his first target, Doc started by swinging away, again and again, with his forepaws, each swing digging deeper and deeper into the drone’s armour. When he finally landed on the thing, Doc started clawing away at it with his rear claws as well. He did not have to cut far, only far enough to reach one of the drone’s vital systems. With that out, Doc leaped back to give himself time to strategically choose his next target.

Pinkie had attached her Party Canon to the front of her whirligig, and smaller confetti canons to the sides and back, so that no matter where she was facing an enemy, she could blast it with the assortment of objects that she had stowed away – some, but not all of them, on her strange but wonderful machine. Right off the bat, Pinkie fired one steady shot of streamers into a group of drones, which just happened to draw a large quantity of the colourful and shiny material into themselves through their intakes. The drones coughed a couple times, and then their cores stopped and they fell out of the sky.

Keeping an eye out for their wingless friends, the flyers charged into the fray themselves, punching, kicking, or slashing away with their swords to decimate their enemy’s numbers as quickly as possible. Alec and Doc also remembered that they had weapons of their own, and switched to them to make jumping from target to target easier for them. While Alec, Applejack, and Doc could wade further into the group, the flyers had to stay ahead of the drones’ advance so they could pull back and regroup more easily, and also so their flying would not be hampered.

This, unfortunately, meant that they were constantly falling back, and losing a lot of the ground that the plan had originally given them.

Despite the loss in ground, no one flagged in their efforts for even a moment. When Twilight added her magic to her barrage, they only added more metal to the wrecks falling to the ground, and yet there were many, many more and no one had caught more than a glimpse of Celestia or Iron through the swarm. It was obvious then that their enemy’s plan was to simply roll over any defence Canterlot managed to mount.

“I won’t allow it,” Twilight growled. “Binary Squadron, regroup and push back with everything we have!”

“Roger that,” Rainbow said, and she was echoed by everyone else. Flyers recovered their living missiles. Unicorns recharged their magic.

Twilight aimed all of her Engine’s weapons right down the middle of the encroaching group. “Now!”

The air filled with energy and coiled muscle, and even as Twilight took stock of all the falling or exploded drones she spotted a flash of white as it raced past her in the direction of the castle. “Celestia!” Twilight flicked her eyes toward the scanner, but the Alicorn was cloaking her signature somehow. “Does anyone have eyes-on contact with Celestia?”

“Negative,”

“No,”

“Sorry, Twi,”

Twilight managed a deep breath. “Sombra, Binary Lead. You may have Celestia incoming.”

“Thank you, Twilight. Her, we’ll be ready for,” Sombra said, and Twilight understood: with the rest of Celestia’s forces engaged, and Luna still restrained, Celestia would be a far easier opponent on her own. In an all-out fight, of course Celestia had more offensive power, however this Sombra had a great deal of defensive power. Maybe he could contain her when she was on her own, without even the assistance of her own soldiers, nevermind her own sister, another Alicorn.

Or at least, Twilight hoped that was the case.

* * *

“Look at ‘em go through your drones,” Rarity said through a barely-hidden sneer. All six accomplices flew around Iron’s Great Dragon, waiting for him to give them the signal to attack.

“This is why I always bring so many,” Lord Iron said, his tone sibilant and impatient. He was starting to remember why he hated dealing with these six.

“Playing the long game?” Rainbow Dash asked. “There’s only one problem with that.”

“Someone else can get there first,” Pinkie said through her wicked grin. Like Fluttershy, she had filed her teeth to points, the better to gouge flesh and inflict more pain. Both of their helmets reflected this, in that they did not cover their mouths or chins.

“And there goes Celestia, off to get her personal revenge before anypony else,” Applejack said.

“Except that’s not where Sombra is,” Sparkle said.

“Ah, since they can’t use Luna’s placement to their advantage tall, light, and lousy’s out to get slightly less tall and dark back, and into the fight,” Iron said.

“You want to take a shot at Somby?” Pinkie asked.

“I don’t care for him, so the sisters can have their fill of the king. I only want my imposter.”

“Is he hiding, maybe?” Fluttershy asked.

“He didn’t seem like the cowardly type before. More likely he’s trying to finish making something. But it’ll be too little, too late.”

“Isn’t it about time you gave the go-ahead for us to get into the fight?” Applejack asked.

“Are you so eager?”

“Just curious,”

“Let them waste their energy and spells on the drones: that’s what they’re there for. In a few minutes we’ll be within striking distance of Canterlot, and that means more collateral. These are heroes. They’ll do anything to avoid loss of life.”

“Ah,” Pinkie said. “That’s another place we can hurt ‘em.”

“I know we haven’t even met, but the more I watch ‘em fight, the more I wanna rip ‘em apart,” Fluttershy said. Her eyes became flat, and she started to salivate. “I wanna go, I wanna go!”

“Soon,” Sparkle said, knowing that the further she could drive Fluttershy and Pinkie into their bloodlust, the more chaos they could cause for their enemies.

* * *

Sombra and his guards kept scanning the skies and the walls below and around them. “She’d be here by now,” one of the archers said.

“Maybe she doesn’t know where we are?” Another suggested.

“Of course she knows,” a third said.

Which means I am not Celestia’s target, Sombra thought. There wasn’t much else at the castle that could be of any importance to the white Alicorn, and so discerning her target was –

“Luna!” Sombra immediately turned, taking a detachment of guards in his wake as he trotted toward Luna’s room, where he had insisted she be kept under lock and key until she could be returned to the side of Good. I am such a fool to be taken in so easily: now they can strike out from within the castle if they choose!

* * *

Practice was one thing, but actual combat, and against a foe of such great numbers, was an entirely different beast of an entirely different colour. Binary Squadron had started out vastly outnumbered, and while they were carving through the drones, particularly when Twilight and Mage started using Magic Arrows and its multiple projectiles instead of single-blast magic, there were still more to take their place.

Where Binary Squadron had intercepted the attackers just short of the halfway point between the Everfree Forest’s edge and Canterlot Castle, they were now a stone’s throw from a number of buildings within the city. Twilight was not quite surprised that Sombra had not raised a protective shield, however he had not uttered a word about Celestia’s approach either. Had they engaged in battle so quickly that he did not have the opportunity to call, or had she chosen a different target instead?

Besides being pushed back so far, every member of Binary Squadron was also tired from fighting constantly, and from evading constantly.

When the drones got close enough they deployed a three-bladed weapon from their mouths and tried to ram a fighter. The Earth Ponies often side-stepped the attack and used their hooves to smash the blades, but that left red dust in the air for a few seconds. They also had to avoid getting behind a drone, where its core was, so they did not breath in any of the degenerative red flecks.

Mechanical drones did not tire, did not get hungry, and did not need rest of any kind. It might seem like for every unit the squadron shot down there were three more to take its place, but Twilight knew that nothing was infinite. She blocked three different drones with her magic barrier, then smashed the nearest with the barrier itself, shot the second with a blast, and focused her four arrow barrels at the last one to blast it apart.

Twilight barely got her shield back into line before the massive energy blast hit. She fed power from her Engine into her defences, and muddled through. With the red and black blast still ripping itself apart, she found herself looking down the barrel of a giant red dragon. Iron, she thought, before she turned her attention to the pony screaming, literally and figuratively, right at her.

And it was her.

Sort of. A reflection, this world’s version of her. A Twilight Sparkle with a different sense of the way the world worked existed, and yet she still had the same five friends, so she could not be all that different.

Except that she was firing at Twilight with the two railguns mounted to her hips. Since there were not any civilians detected in the blast’s path, Twilight evaded these attacks by throwing herself into a climbing spiral. She flipped up and over, and then came down on the other Unicorn with an overhand slash of her sword. Her attack got caught between a pair of wicked, serrated blades, and then she was pushed back.

“You must be Twilight Sparkle,” the other said.

“And you,”

“You won’t be taking anyone’s place,”

“We’re here to restore things, but then we’re going back.”

“Sorry, but we’ve been promised the opportunity to collect some great loot. And we won’t be disappointed.” Fluttershy came out from behind the other Twilight, and as she leaned forward Twilight was shocked to see that she had fangs. The Pegasus chomped down on Twilight’s shoulder, but the Unicorn did not feel it. Still, all she could see was that her friend’s reflection was trying to eat  her, so she flew around and around to try and shake her loose.

And Fluttershy slid free, easily, her target’s micromail armour barely even scratched. Startled, the Pegasus felt around in her mouth, and then spat shredded material out. “My teeth! You’ll pay for this with your blood,” she said, charging again with metal claws extended.

Only to get partially wrapped by a capture cable. “Not happening, Darling,” Rarity said.

“Thanks,”

“I saw you could use the help, and I am your wingmare.”

“Right. Now lets see if we can stall them out,”

“Not happening,” a voice boomed, and the other Twilight grabbed the trussed Fluttershy and flew upward as fast as she could in order to avoid the large red blast from Iron.

Twilight and Rarity combined their power, and yet they were both pressed into the ground. Iron had clearly decided to raise his settings, as the blast shattered both their shields before it shredded itself away.

Twilight checked her status. It would take a moment for her Engine to get itself back up to speed. “Are you okay, Rarity?”

“Not for long, it seems,” Rarity said, staring up at Iron’s other barrel.

“The armour can take a hit,” Twilight said.

“In theory,”

Twilight blinked. Why rely solely on theory? She thought as she suddenly remembered that the armour came equipped with condensers for particle storage. Not a lot, she saw, but maybe enough. Around came her railguns, expanding to charge.

Iron chuckled, audibly. “It seems I can get some entertainment from this after all,” he said, and fired.

So did Twilight. Red and black clashed against turquoise and purple. After a moment when it seemed like they were roughly even, the darker energies started to wrap around the lighter ones, and suddenly both Unicorns became very worried.

“Percusserit me inimicus,” a familiar voice said as an unfamiliar silhouette became framed in the blast.” The stallion leaned his left shoulder and the actuator-mounted shield equipped there into the blast first. A silvery magic circle lit visibly from above the surface of the shield, and what energy the shield did not absorb from the blast flew harmlessly over all of them, following the curve of the triangular shield.

Gearhead swung the shield aside even as the last lingering effects from the attack got cleared away. “Magica Sagitta quingenti tres Lucis.”

Incantation completed, the five hundred and three Light Arrows lanced out from behind Gearhead’s bladecasters to clear away an equal number of drones and leave Iron and his companions with little immediate protection. He brandished his large sword, easily as large as the shield, for the first time as he stared right at Iron.

“Binary Squadron, please regroup on me, and push them all back!”

“Alright!”

“Lets do it!”

Perhaps fazed by the squadron’s renewed spirit, the opposing Six did fall back a bit, and even Iron hesitated to advance with a new factor on the field.

“Bwa-ha-ha!” The laughter rang out clear, and jarring, even as an explosion shook the city. Smoke and fire poured from one of the castle’s upper rooms, and Twilight saw that it was coming from one of the towers. She zoomed in just in time to see a blur shoot into the sky, followed by another, a white one.

“Regroup and brace,” Twilight called out, and Binary assumed a more defensive posture, trying to prepare to be hit by not one, but two Alicorns.

Only when Luna straightened out and put more power into her flight, she was going far too high and fast, and her course was angled incorrectly for her to be joining the fight effectively. Everyone held their breaths just in case, but the younger sister, and then the elder, flew overhead and past them all, heading directly toward their own castle.

No one moved for a few minutes, even then, just to be sure the mercurial Alicorns would not turn back and rejoin the fight anyway. Even the other Six and Iron seemed to be reserving much of their attention for the skies. Twilight checked all of her readouts, and then the skies herself. She looked at the remaining drones, then Iron.

“Binary,” she called, “advance!”

Gearhead unloaded a focused blast from his railguns, and followed that up with Lightning Hammer, his fastest spell. Twilight joined him, and Mage and Rarity added their own magic blasts to their hard-light rain.

The Malcontent Six were slow to pull back at first, but when Iron turned his armour around and flew away at full speed, their motivation to continue the fight seemed to evaporate. The remaining drones closed in behind to act as a screen.

“Destroy as many drones as you can, please,” Gearhead called, switching back to Magic Arrows. Twilight could see his reason: the less there were of them at the end of this, the less Iron would have for the next battle.

And, despite this battle having ended with the attackers repelled, that next battle would come all too soon.

“Area secure,” Gearhead said.

Twilight took a deep breath. “Good job, Binary. Return to base.”

* * *

Celestia paused to close the door behind her, only turning to the waiting figures in the hall once she was certain the room was secure.

“So, care to share what that was all about?” Iron asked, not bothering to disguise his impatience or his anger, although his words were distorted, made tinny by his full-helm.

“Shh,” Celestia held one hoof to her lips. Her eyes were half-lidded, but Sparkle, standing with Rainbow and Pinkie, took three steps back, perhaps feeling the Alicorn’s magic aura batter against her. Iron, without a touch of magic of his own, didn’t feel a thing. “Not here,” Celestia said, and she led the way to the audience hall on silent hooves. The others followed.

When they arrived at the audience hall, only Rarity was present. As Celestia climbed to her throne, Sparkle and the others of her group came to stand with their last companion.

“How’s Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked.

“Still upset, although I don’t know what’s got her worse, her teeth being blunted or being blocked from getting a real taste of the enemy.” Rarity said.

“She’ll get over it,” Pinkie said, chuckling. “Still, even I recognize she’s not right in the head, the poor filly.”

“I don’t remember her being any other way,” Sparkle said, “but I guess she’s not the only one recovering.”

“Correct,” Celestia said, and although she spoke softly her voice carried to the furthest reaches of the room. “When I found Luna she was not herself. She decided to return here to recuperate, and I agreed.”

“More like you didn’t have a choice,” Sparkle said, “because it looked like you were chasing her. What could possibly have the Ruler of Night spooked?”

“Nothing important to us at the moment, I’m sure. It certainly wasn’t the restraining system Sombra’s new pets were using on her: She and I broke them with ease.”

“But she was running, and fast. No consideration given to rejoining the fight, or even for attacking Sombra head-on,” Iron said.

“You leave getting the whole story to me, once she wakes up,” Celestia said. “I understand if you’re upset about the drones you lost in the battle, however we must move forward from where we now stand.”

“You’re damned right I’m upset,” Iron said, “but more because we lost every tactical advantage we had: a hundred thousand units against a mere thirteen? We would have rolled right over them, given enough time.”

“Surely you can replace the lost units, even now?”

“I’ve already started, however our enemies will be better-prepared the next time around. The drones were easily defeated already. Sombra’s countermeasures, or rather those of my other self, will be even more effective now. I should know: I know how he thinks. And yet we have little information about his equipment.”

“And what do you suggest we do about that?”

Iron began to pace as he thought. “General modification won’t be enough. I need information on their capabilities if I’m going to prepare specific countermeasures of my own against Sombra’s allies.”

“My agents can’t get close to Canterlot Castle any longer. And your scout drones?”

“I haven’t used scouts in a long time. Haven’t had to. Besides, the other guy’ll be working deep in the castle to stay out of sight. That’s what I'd do.”

“Rainbow Dash?” Celestia asked.

“Sombra’s goons’ve been on the look-out for us for ages,” the Pegasus said. “We ain’t getting’ close either.”

Iron sighed. “That limits our options, but surely you can prepare a new, unknown team to infiltrate and get us some info. In the meantime, I can continue working based on what we do have, which admittedly is more about the others Sombra fielded than about the other me.”

“Then do so. Please. We must all prepare, and allow my sister her rest. We will take the pretender king in our next attack, and then we will be able to reach into sweet Princess Celestia’s soft world.”

* * *

Upon close inspection, Gearhead had not changed his equipment all that much. He had attached the Great Sword on an actuator that bent over and past the right-side wings on his Stabilizer.

The Great Shield was likewise attached to the left side. The shield was a massive triangular tower shield that could easily provide cover for Gearhead even when he held it at an angle. He had it done mostly in white, and trimmed in forest green instead of his signature turquoise. It took critical eyes to see the magic runes engraved in light silver all along the slightly-curved surface. As somepony who was knowledgeable in the field of magic, Twilight marveled at how the sigla for protection, ablation, reflection, and deflection were integrated, flowing from one to another. Clearly Gearhead had taken the time to invest great magicks in it, on top of the specific defensive spells with which he had imbued the Artifact.

The Great Sword’s width, height, and generally-triangular design made it the perfect companion piece to the Shield. It was slimmer even at the widest part, the guard, which tapered quickly before leading into the massive straight blade. The handle was cylindrical, so it could be wielded best either using actuators or in Agile Form. Like the shield, the sword was engraved with runes, but this time boosting offensive power and energy projection. The sword was done in white with blue filigree. Curiously, there were thick gold lines around the central lines of the blade and handle.

“So these are what you’ve been working on for so long,”  Sombra said, looking them over.

“Well, not only,” Gearhead said. “Come, let me show you the rest of what Twilight, Mage, and I have been constructing.”

“You too, Twi?” Applejack asked, as they all walked toward the forge room together.

“As much as I could, which wasn’t quite as much as Mage,” Twilight admitted.

“You switched to practice early on, but I followed not long after,” Mage said. “The finished product is going to be a surprise for me too.”

“Still, I think you will be pleased by where I took the concepts you both shared with me,” Gearhead said. “Or, I suppose I should say, ‘concepts picked up here and there from everyone from the Rift.'”

“Is there a hammer? I hope there’s a battlehammer,” Alec said.

“Here we go,” Dash said as they approached a set of wide doors. The guards pushed them open for the group, to reveal a still-hot forge and a small mechanized assembly line.

“I like surprises,” Pinkie said. “Well, most of them.”

“These ones, at least, are to our benefit,” Gearhead said, and he waved a hoof to indicate what looked like a giant, slightly ovoid bullet and three camel humps.

“I don’t get it,” Fluttershy said, quietly.

“It’s okay, neither do I,” Pinkie said loudly.

“I like the drapes,” Rarity said, clearly trying to be helpful. When she followed Rarity as the other Unicorn trotted up to a large scaffold that was holding an even larger swath of material, Twilight could not help noticing that she could see the walls behind the scaffold through the fabric, but not the scaffold itself.

“These will help us get much closer to the Castle of the Two Sisters than Celestia's forces were able to get to Canterlot Castle.”

“So what you’re saying is that they’re back in the Everfree?” Doc asked.

“And you know this how?” Quill asked.

“He slipped a tracker into Luna’s crown, or shoes,” Mage said.

“It is both, and there are even some suppressors mixed in, so she will not be as much opposition as she was before.”

“Which is good ‘cause we’re not catching her by surprise again,” Dash said.

Twilight watched Rarity look behind the ‘curtains,’ and then all around them. When she moved them more quickly, they rippled and shimmered a bit more, but they still showed the wall.

“So, how is all this supposed to work, ideally?” Sombra asked.

“It is a shell game of sorts,” Gearhead said. “While we insert as quickly as we can under several layers of cover, we provide Celestia’s lookouts with a distraction.”

“Making them think we’re somewhere we’re not,” Rarity said.

“At the same time, because our opponents are the ones who are most capable of fighting us, we know they will come out to face us. We pick our ideal targets and engage them before they can adapt. Then we knock them out of the fight as quickly, and as painlessly, as we can.”

“They’re not gonna make that easy,” Applejack said.

“Which is why I have begun to integrate the data gathered during this last battle into some upgrades for your armour. They should provide you with better protection against red particles and Dark Magic, so you can fight without having to worry for longer.”

“But you’re still not going to let us fight Iron with you, are you?” Twilight asked.

“We have many targets, not least of all this world’s version of you six, and now Luna as well as Celestia. I foresee having to use our Flights to smart advantage. But I will probably require Two Flight’s help against Iron. Still, I will most likely be the most effective against his Great Dragon Armour. And if Iron is equipped with a transmitter of some sort of that allows him to control his drones, maybe I can shut them down in the process.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Twilight said.

“This all looks very complicated, but also worth the gamble. So I’m coming too,” Sombra said.

“But you’re the king,” Twilight said. “Don’t you need to stay here just in case?”

“There is a time to delegate and coordinate while you send in the best beings for the job. There is also a time when you are one of the best beings for the job. And I feel it would be for the best for me to be the one to deal with Celestia. I know my defensive power can tip the battle in our favour.”

“I guess that means you’re taking command then, Your Majesty,” Applejack said.

“No,”

“I’m sorry, say what?” Dash asked.

“You all chose Twilight Sparkle as your Wing Commander for a reason, so commander she will remain,” Sombra said.

“Me? But I don’t know how to command a king. I don’t even really want to!”

“Regardless of your personal preferences, though, I have seen you rise to the occasion,” Sombra said with a compassionate smile. “You, Twilight Sparkle, are growing into the role of leader brilliantly, and so I will support you as Princess Celestia has. As your friends do. So have confidence in yourself.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said, pawing at the floor.

“I have studied beside you, watch you learn about techniques and technology quickly despite them staying beyond other Unicorns’ comprehension. You know my gear’s limits, but you also understand its potential. I am with you, Twilight Sparkle,” Gearhead said.

“You may freak out every now and again, but you’ve never let us down, Twilight,” Dash said.

“We’re friends because we love you,” Fluttershy said.

“We’ve seen what you can do,” Applejack said.

“We can’t wait to see what you do next,” Rarity said.

“In a way there is no greater burden than potential,” Doc said. “On the other hoof, there is no greater freedom either.”

“Through the Rift we’ve witnessed much of the same great growth as your friends here,” Alec said.

“It’s funny, but you’re barely recognizable by the way you were before. The things you can do so easily now would seem impossible to the you from back then. But hey, I don’t think there’s anyone who can tell you what is and isn’t possible,” KP said.

“So lead on, Twilight Sparkle, knowing that we, your comrades and friends, support you. Even if that means occasionally having to knock the sense back into you,” Quill said.

Twilight looked around at those gathered, her friends, old and new, and wiped away the few tears that had gathered. “Okay, so Plan D?”

“Modified, but essentially,” Gearhead said. “I have some more preparations to make, but they should be quick.” He went to a table and collected a folder. “I would recommend practicing the enclosed exercises for the insertion.”

Twilight took the folder, and opened it for a quick glance. Several of the others read over her shoulder.

“Ooh,” Pinkie said.

“How daring,” Rarity said.

“That’s pretty crazy looking,” Mage said. “A one-in-a-million shot they won’t be expecting.”

“I like it,” Alec said with a grin.

“Then lets get to it,” Twilight said, snapping the folder shut. They had their plans. They had preparations to make. The only other thing they needed was to turn the plan into action through practice.