The Search for Celestia

"Are you sure about this Twilight Sparkle?" Luna asked as she stared at the open tunnel.

Twilight nodded. "Yes, the kidnappers couldn't hide anywhere else for very long, even Cadance and I only saw a fraction of those caves when we were trapped down there." Another tingle, seeming like it came from beneath, Twilight wondered if she was sensing what Celestia had felt, only on a much smaller degree. The sound of hoofsteps broke her train of thought and she turned to see her friends all galloping or flying toward her. Glad to see her friends again, she smiled as they stopped in front of her.

"It's insane out there!" Rainbow reported, her face covered in ash. "There are so many ponies trapped in some of the damaged buildings, I did what I could to get them out and told some nearby guards, hopefully they'll get the others out."

"Commendable work, Rainbow Dash." Luna said, nodding approvingly.

"W-w-what's down there?" Flutteshy squeaked as she pointed a trembling hoof at the tunnel.

"The Crystal Caves beneath Canterlot." Twilight answered. "This was where Cadance and I were trapped during the wedding. It's also where Princess Celestia and her kidnappers may be."

"Alright, let's go smash some heads and kick some flanks!" Rainbow cried out before making a beeline for the tunnel entrance, but she halted herself when Luna extended a wing in her path.

"Not yet, Rainbow Dash," The Night Princess said. "First, we will need help."

With that, she closed her eyes, her horn glowing. Then, several shadows moved from the darkness of nearby alleys, changing into the forms of Luna's Night guard. They bowed silently to their Princess. She turned and nodded to them, her face emotionless, but when she looked at Twilight, she smiled.

"Now we are ready to go." She said.

"Not without us, you aren't."

Luna turned and saw Shining Armour fully suited in gleaming silver armour, a shield strapped to his back as well as a large sword, his helmet in his right forehoof hoof. Behind him, was a full platoon of Royal Guardsponies, their spears pointing high in the sky and gleaming.

"We all swore an oath to protect the Princess from any and all threats." Shining Armour said, staring intently at Luna. "We failed against Nightmare Moon, against Discord, and we were humiliated by the Changeling attack and now we failed to defend Celestia from a direct attack against her. Sure all those enemies were powerful and they had the element of surprise on us, but we have a duty to maintain and we intend on carrying it out to our last breath."

With that, every guard in the platoon stamped a forehoof onto the ground hard, causing a loud clap! that echoed. Shining placed his helmet on.

"You're going to need help in this, and I have gathered the best of the Royal Guards to accompany us."

The Night Princess nodded. "There is no need to ask for my permission, Captain, I gladly welcome the aid."

"With all due respect, Princess..." Shining said, receiving a perplexed look from Luna. "I wasn't asking your permission, I was telling you that we have a duty, and we are going to carry it out whether you wanted us to or not."

Luna smiled briefly before dropping it, going serious. "Your loyalty to my sister is most commendable, Captain, and this goes to all of you!" She shouted to the other guards, who saluted simultaneously. Shining nodded in appreciation.

Luna's Shadow guards glided into the tunnel entrance, looking like they merged with the shadows and became part of the darkness within. Shining Armour, along with Luna and a few guards took point after Twilight and her friends, with varying degrees of confidence, entered behind them. With the rest of the Royal Guard platoon behind them. The tunnel was dark but with every unicorn and princess lighting their horns, they could see a good distance around them.

"This was where you were imprisoned?" Rarity whispered to Twilight, her voice carrying a strong distaste at the dankness of the cave. Despite the situation and the mood she was previously in, Twilight cracked a smirk.

"Just wait until we get deeper, you'll be thinking it as anything but a prison when you see the Crystals."

For a moment the number of ponies walked through the stone path silently before stopping to see a gorge in front of them.

"Cadence and I were stopped by this gorge." Twilight said. "I teleported both of us to the other side, but I don't think I or anyone else here can teleport all of us."

Luna stepped forward and looked down at the gorge and looked to see the other side of it, it was a good distance away. "You raise a fair point, Twilight Sparkle..."

"Hey guys!" A high-pitched voice called out. All heads turned to see Pinkie Pie standing in front of a perfectly round tunnel in the bedrock, the ground in front covered in shards of rock in various shapes and sizes. Twilight stared wide-eyed.

"That wasn't there before..."

Princess Luna and Twilight and Shining Armour stepped closer to it cautiously and looked in.

"This wasn't naturally formed." The Captain said. "The tunnel is in far too perfect a shape. Not a single out of place crack or anything in the stone."

"Whatever it was that did this..." Twilight commented, her horn glowing as she magically scanned the rock. "...It wasn't done magically, I'm reading no magical trace from at all."

Once again, Twilight got the same feeling as she several times before, only this time it seemed... stronger. She shivered from the sensation, Pinkie noticed her shaking.

"Ooh! Twilight, why didn't you tell me you had Pinkie Sense as well!? Or maybe it's Twilight Sense since that would be silly if you had-"

"Pinkie," Applejack said. "Now's not the time..."

Twilight shook her head. "There's some sort of magical source some where in here, something powerful... But I have no idea what it is."

Luna glanced at Twilight with a look of shock. "You can sense something, Twilight?"

"Yes..." The lavender Unicorn said hesitantly. "...Is something wrong?"

Slowly, Luna shook her head. "We're not sure..."

She looked at Twilight again. "It must be what my sister felt before she was taken. It seems that what she felt and this attack are linked, somehow. Let us go in and see what we find."

Shining Armour nodded and allowed the night princess to walk into the artificial tunnel and followed her and her sister. After some time traveling down the tunnel which was tilted downward slightly, they came to wide area in the cave filled with crystals of all sizes covering the walls and floor everywhere they looked. Rarity squeaked at the sight and nearly fainted from the sheer beauty of it all and even a few of the guards muttered to each other, looking around wide-eyed. Twilight was also entranced by the beauty of it all, last time she was too caught up in escaping with the real Cadance to see the beauty these wild crystals had. Even Luna was, for lack of a better term, starstruck at what she saw.

"My sister told me about the Crystal Caves..." She said. "She told me that it was long time after Canterlot's construction before it was discovered by sheer accident. She had told me that she was struck by how beautiful it all was, now I see why."

Everyone had spread out a little to examine the different crystals, Rarity in particular was looking at her reflection in one large crystal, admiring both her and the crystal. "Beautiful doesn't do these crystals justice! Can I take some with me?"

But Luna shook her head, Rarity stared, disappointed. "Why not? They would go perfect with some of my outfits!"

"My sister had also told me that for a time the Crystal Caves were mined, but she stopped it because-" She stopped as her eyes widened and she gasped, her legs began wobbling and she struggled to maintain balance, but failed. Twilight was then hit with the feeling, but it was more powerful then ever.

"Princess Luna!" Every guard rushed over to her as their voices shouted their concern. Shining was the first to get to her.

"Are you alright, Princess, can you hear me!?" He asked as quickly looked over her to see if their was something, anything, that he could see ailing her.

Luna shook her head and got to a sitting position as she breathed heavily, sweat coming down her face. When she opened her eyes, Twilight almost gasped, they were so wide and filled with panic.

"She's gone..." She said, panting. "Celestia, my sister, is gone... just... gone, I can no longer feel her presence at all!"

"What do you mean?" Shining asked, wondering if he was going to regret asking that question.

"For as long as I have been around, my sister and I have been connected in a very unique and special way. We could both feel each other's spirits, no matter the distance, we could always feel one another's presence... It was what comforted us in times of trouble and danger. Now... she's gone... just gone... this shouldn't be possible, oh by the Infinite Sky this shouldn't be possible!" Her eyes widened further and she began hyper-ventilating, Twilight immediately rushed past the guards and stood in front of the Night Princess.

"Princess? Luna, look at me." She said.

Luna, shaking, turned to see Twilight looking right at her, her stare was intense but also comforting. "You need to calm down. I know this must be terrifying, losing complete contact with Celestia, but if something's happen to her, we must hurry. We have to move fast, not just for our sake or even Celestia's but for everypony out there in Equestria!"

Luna stared, her breathing slowly becoming calm. She was right, and if, heavens forbid, something happened to Celestia, it was her duty to maintain control of Equestria and maintain Harmony. She nodded.

"I... Apologize, everypony... We must continue on."

The guards stood at attention in response. One of them near the back saw something stir at the corner of his eye. He spun around, his spear raised threateningly.

"HALT!" He cried out. Everypony, at the sound, spun to face it, the guards raising their spears at the dark shape, which quickly formed into one of Luna's Night Guard.

"Lower your weapons..." He said. "...but not your guard, for something comes, I believe it is one of those who has taken Celestia!"

Luna immediately stood up. "Everypony find something to hide, wait for my signal!"

At that, everypony took cover behind the nearest crystal, Shining Armour directing a few of the guards for possible points of ambush, the night guard disappeared into shadow once more. Twilight and Rainbow and Luna hid behind a particularly large crystal. and then, there was a shuffling of the guards armour as they got into position, and then silence. For a moment that seemed like an eternity, there was nothing but silence. Then, there was sound of unfamiliar hoofsteps as an Earth Pony in a strange black suit and gear walked in the wide room, grumbling.

Twilight strained her ears trying to catch what he was saying but couldn't. He stopped by a patch of bare rock on the wall and his forehooves shuffled on something on his suit, before pulling out a small canteen from a pouch, he opened the lid and took a swig of what was in the container. Twilight could see his eyes took a glazed look and a content sigh escape from his mouth.

"Much better..." He said loudly.

Suddenly, with a flash, Luna appeared before the stallion. He blinked once, then twice, before his eyes widened in panic. Dropping what his canteen, he raised his left forehoof which had some sort of object attached to it. But Luna reacted more quickly and fired a spell that sent him slamming into the rock. From the object on his left forehoof escaped a bright blue pellet, it zoomed at incredible speed past Luna and into one of the crystals, disappearing into it, with the crystal mysteriously glowing brighter. At that moment, everypony jumped from their cover and surrounded Luna and the stallion as the night princess enveloped the stallion in her magical aura, restraining him.

The stallion struggled briefly, but stopped when he saw everyone looking up at him, with various looks of hostility.

"Oh Crack..." He swore. "They said you wouldn't find this place so soon..."

"Who are you, pony?" Luna asked, her voice raised slightly and overflowing with authority.

The stallion scoffed. "Hmph, I ain't telling you anything!"

Luna was unphased. "You capture my sister, you seriously damage several parts of the city, and you severely wound possibly hundreds of innocent ponies, why?"

The stallion smiled slightly at the intense glare the alicorn gave him. "You're wasting your breath on me, I've been trained to resist all types of interrogation from the most advanced societies, so don't think your backwards ways are going to get through me."

Luna felt the fear in her turn to anger, and she felt it growing stronger. But when she became worried it would overtake her, something else unexpected happened. Her dark blue aura was pushed aside by a light purple aura as the stallion was smashed even harder against the rock wall, knocking the wind out of him. Twilight Sparkle stormed past Luna and brought the stallion down to her height, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Listen!" She said as she glared daggers at the pony before her. "I don't know who you are or why you've done what you've done, but I want to know where the Princess is and you're going to tell us! Where is she!?"

At this, the stallion began laughing. "Long gone equine," he spat the last word out. "She's long gone. If I were you, I'd stop what you're all doing and just go to your wooden homes or whatever you primitives live in."

"Primitives?" Applejack asked, "what in the hay do you mean by primitives?"

But Twilight growled, her eyes flashing purple and her horn sparking dangerously. "I'm warning you..."

The stallion raised an eyebrow and a look of worry came by his face as he looked at the glowing horn. "Hmm... maybe dying isn't worth it... Okay, I'll tell you..." He sighed.

Luna blinked surprised at this sudden attitude change. "Y-you will?"

The stallion shrugged. "What can I say, I'm a coward. Just... just put me down, let me take one more drink and I'll tell you everything."

Twilight considered it for a moment before placing the stallion down on all four hooves, he went to pick up the small canteen, popped the lid open, and downed all the liquid inside. He dropped the container again, laughing.

"Heh heh, suckers..." He said as his eyes became completely glossed over and he collapsed, a smile on his face as his eyes partly closed.

"Wh-wha?" Twilight lifted the stallion up again. "What do you mean? Tell us! What have you done to Celestia!?"

"It's useless, Twilight Sparkle." Luna said as she sniffed the container, and put a look of disgust as she closed the lid. "This was no normal liquid he drank. Whatever it was, I doubt he can see, nor hear any of us."

With an angered groan, Twilight dropped the stallion unceremoniously to the ground, who giggled in response as he looked up at something nopony else could see.

"Yeesh, ah've never seen a pony that zoned out..." Applejack said. "What was it that he drank?"

Twilight didn't say anything as she looked down, her face contorted in anger. Luna looked at her with concern, her sister's student's actions surprised her. One moment she seemed perfectly calm, but when they captured somepony who was part of the attack, she lost it... It seems Celestia's capture has been bothering her more then she had let on. She placed a hoof on the lavender Unicorn and nodded in sympathy at her conflicted face. Twilight looked away as she composed herself.

Shining, meanwhile, turned to two nearby guards. "Take that stallion up and throw him in the dungeon, keep an eye on him until further notice."

The guards saluted and began carrying the delirious stallion out as more shadows transformed into Luna's Night Guard.

"Princess..." One of them said. "We've found a large number of the strange ponies a short distance away, they have some strange equipment set up and seem to be guarding some sort of doorway. I think that is where they are encamped."

Luna nodded. "Then take us there."

As Luna's Night Guard shifted into the shadows again, she turned to the rest of the Royal Guards and the six Bearers. "Be ready, I have a feeling this will only end in violence."

The six mares nodded, Fluttershy shivering in fear. Luna walked ahead, following the moving shadows of her guards, while everyone stepped softly behind her. Shining moved next to his sister and glanced at her with a concerned face.

"Are you alright, Twiley?" He whispered.

The lavender Unicorn didn't answer at first, before she shook her head. "No, I'm not... I'm scared, BBBFF... I'm scared for Celestia."

"Hey..." He put a comforting hoof on his little sister. "I am too, I think we all are..."

But Twilight shook her head. "Not like this, Shining... Not like this..."

Luna made a gesture and every guard stood rigid before moving to the walls, Shining grabbing Twilight and gesturing to her friends to follow him to the edge of the stone wall. They obeyed as they heard voices up ahead, as well as lights from around a bend up ahead. The Night Guards reformed next to their Princess.

"Their right around the corner... They seem pretty relaxed, if we strike fast and hard we can take them all out before they have a chance to counter us."

Luna nodded to the lead guard before turning her to Shining Armour, and made some sort of gesture. Shining nodded knowingly while Twilight and her friends gave confused looks. Shining, noticing the looks as Luna turned around and took a few steps forward at the wall's edge.

"She wants us to wait where we are. When she gives the signal, we're going to charge and take them down!"

Luna moved up to the edge of the corner and heard a few voices conversing amongst each other. One of her guards moved to the other side of the wall and quickly glanced around the corner, he frowned.

"They have a lot of lights set up, it will be difficult to sneak in to cause confusion in their ranks. It also looks like they've set up some large weapons of some kind on top of those strange boxes they placed there. No one's armed them yet, but they look very dangerous."

Luna slowly nodded, before slowly peering her head around. There were a few dozen of them, it looked like they had set up an encampment where they were, with tents and several silver boxes, two of them had large objects that looked like weapons. There was also a large doorway of some kind as well as a very large four-legged object in front of it, it was as large as a building and it was reminiscent of that of a four-legged spider. Luna got a bad feeling from it. The Night princess turned her head and gestured for the Royal Guards to slowly move up, they needed to be closer in order to effectively strike. They obeyed and moved up as quietly as they could, the six mares following Shining Armour.

Pinkie Pie was crouched low to the ground as she could, breathing through her nose. But she regretted that when she inhaled some dust that irritated her nose.

"Ah-ah-ah..." She quickly covered her mouth and prepared for the sneeze, she had read about this in several books; Somepony sneezes while trying to sneak around the bad guys, alerting them of that pony's presence. Not gonna work... She declared in her head as she held back the sneeze. ...for my name isn't Pinkie Sneaky Pie! In the end, the battle was over and Pinkie won, no sneeze came. She took a deep breath to sigh in relief but stopped, as this was another common thing in sneaky scenes. Somepony sighs and, even quietly, it alerts the baddies.

But Pinkie was too determined not to alert them of their approaching attack, so determined she opened her mouth to declare it to them, but stopped. Yet another sneaky cliche almost ruined everything for everypony. Yikes, sneaking's harder then it looks. The pink mare realized. She thought it over, looking down as she contemplated all the cliches that tried to spoil the surprise. Let's see... sneeze... sigh... foalish declaration... She looked up and stopped, nearly squealing in surprise at a spider dangling in front of her face. Fortunately, she stopped the squeal by stuffing her hoof in her mouth, it tasted of rocks.

and that's creepy insect that appears out of nowhere... Okay, that looks like all the cliches, I think we're good n- suddenly, Pinkie's tail began twitching uncontrollably, she instinctively looked up and saw a large piece of loose stone fall from the ceiling, shattering upon landing on the ground. Nopony was in it's path, but as Pinky saw it fall, she thought Ah, Horseapples, I forgot about the Uncontrollable event Cliche... The noise was deafening.

"Holy shit! What the Crack was that!?" a voice from the camp called out, then there was multiple sounds of stumbling hooves as they got behind the boxes and aimed their weapons at the ponies' direction.

Luna cursed inwardly as she saw them get into position behind the boxes, a few taking the large weapons and pointing them in her direction. She ducked her head back just before she was spotted. Maybe if she and the guards waited long enough, they would lower their guard for the attack, but the longer they waited, the harder it would be find Celestia, no doubt... What should we do? She asked herself.

Pinkie, meanwhile, thought that the sneak attack was a bust, and decided there was only one thing to do... ...And I've got the perfect battle cry... too bad I don't have any chicken... She then took a deep breath.

"Okay everypony!" She yelled out. "Let's do this, PINKKKKIIIIIEEEE PIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" With that she charged past the shocked Royal Guardsponies, her slack-jawed friends and Princess Luna who realized only a second too late what the Pink Earth Pony had done.

She bounded around the corner and galloped a full speeds towards the other ponies, who blinked in surprise before one of them shouted. "Open fire!"

With that, bright blue pellets exploded from the weapons they wielded, some held in their hooves, others levitated by magic. Pinkie skidded to a halt and dodged some of the shots, thanks to her Pinkie Sense, that would've hit her. The Night Guard wasted no time in helping the Bearer of Laughter, zooming in the shadows, they moved around the preoccupied ponies and grabbed the nearest one they could, dragging their prey away before knocking them unconscious. Some of the black suited ponies turned and fired their weapons at the Night Guards. While most melded into the shadows and retreated, one didn't escape in time and was knocked back by the shots, collapsing into a small pile of silver boxes with a grunt.

Princess Luna, seeing Pinkie in trouble and her Night Guard distracting the ponies, knew she had only one course of action.

"CHAAAARGE!" With that cry, she galloped out of cover straight for the battle, followed by the Royal Guards, who roared their cry of battle, and the rest of the Element Bearers.

"Holy Crack..." The lead pony on the other side of the line muttered as he saw the charging force in front of him. He flicked on his red goggles and turned to his two MGs. "What are you waiting for!? FIRE!"

The MGs wasted no time as they aimed the large guns at the crowd. Then, as they pulled the trigger, a stream of blue pellets spilled out, mowing down several guards. Luna quickly conjured a shield as several pellets flew at her, her shield repelled them harmlessly. Shining Armour and Twilight followed suit, creating a wall of magical energy, shielding some of the other guards and her friends. But a majority of them were helpless as the large guns shot them down. The siblings stopped, unable to move as they poured all of their energy into the shield.

Luna didn't stop however as she charged at the enemy barricade, she jumped over and slammed her forehooves into the face of one of the grunts, knocking him out cold. Immediately, several of them turned their attention on the Night Princess, firing wildly in a desperate effort to push her back. Luna flared her wings, her eyes glowing pure white as she magically slammed two grunts against the stone wall. One Unicorn who levitated a large weapon grunted as he tried to look through the scope and aim at Luna.

"Ugh, we are not trained for this!" He shouted as he fired, the shot hit Luna in the back, but her shield protected her. However, she could not keep up the shield forever, and then she would be overwhelmed. She glanced back and saw the Royal Guards and the Bearers pinned down by the larger weapons which constantly fired on them, keeping them where they were. Several brave guards tried jumping out of cover to aid the Night Princess, but were quickly shot down. Those guns had to be destroyed! With a flare of her magic, she fired a blast of pure moonlight which melted one of the large guns and caused it's wielder to stumble back and collapse.

Her shield almost gone, Luna retreated back behind the protective shield she set up, passing a few guards who took cover behind a large crystal, which glowed as the pellets impacted into it.

The lead pony on the other side saw the downed MG and gestured with his forehoof. "Someone get Nano-mites on that gun, stat! We have to hold them off!"

The gunner quickly got up, opening a pouch on his suit and tossing some dust onto the melted gun, which began reforming almost instantly. One the other side, one of the guards saw what was happening.

"Unbelievable!" He shouted, ducking as a blue pellet nearly hit his head. "They're repairing the weapon the Princess just destroyed!"

In a matter of seconds, the gun was fully operational and the pony quickly took control and began firing suppressing shots at them.

"This is no good, sir!" Another guard shouted at Shining Armour. "They have us pinned and this shield won't last under constant fire!"

"Where the hay are the Night Guards!?" Another guard yelled, peering his head over just as a pellet impacted into his face, he collapsed in front of Applejack, who was having trouble staying behind the shield. His sudden appearance startled the cowpony and she stumbled back, just far enough for a pellet to hit her side. Applejack fell back from the blow with a scream.

"Applejack!" Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow shouted out. Although Twilight heard the cries and was terrified for her friend, she was busy by Rarity trying to look over the shield for an opening. The lavender Unicorn managed to grab her friend and pull her down just as a pellet bounced off the tip of the shield.

"Stay down, Rarity!" She called out.

Princess Luna, seeing the wounded Applejack, rushed out and quickly moved the wounded Earth Pony back behind cover. She glanced up at some of the Guards pinned behind the glowing crystal ahead of her. The crystal was glowing and began humming dangerously. Before she could shout for them to get away from it, the crystal exploded as the energy from the shots caused it to overload. The explosion sending the ponies flying into the open, one guard quickly got back into his senses as he desperately tried removing his armour, where was mysteriously melting from the exploding crystal, when he was gunned down by one of the MGs.

"That's it!" Rainbow shouted out, flaring her wings. "I'm going over!"

"NO!" Luna shouted, magically enveloping the Pegasus' tail. "IF YOU GO OUT THEIR, THOU WILL SURELY BE KILLED! THOU MUST REMAIN UNDER COVER UNTIL WE HAVE AN OPENING!"

However, Rainbow kept struggling. "Argh, let me go! Ponies are dying, we have to stop them now!"

Twilight, looked up and got a quick one second glance, it was all she needed.

"Shining, can you handle the shield on your own for a while?" She quickly asked.

"Ngh, what?" Her brother looked at her with strained eyes as he desperately tried to keep the shield up from the withering fire. "Why? I can barely maintain it with your help."

"I know, but I may be able to give everypony an opening!" She looked to see a guard scream as he was shot down. That settled her resolve. "Order the charge when those large weapons stop firing!" She cut her magical support for the portal, causing Shining Armour to groan like 20 pounds were added to his shoulders. Then, with a flash, she teleported herself to the other side behind the two gunners and just in front of the spider-like object.

Horn glowing, she fired a stunning spell at one of the gunners, sending him crashing against the wall from the force of her spell, before turning and firing it again before the second gunner could react. With the two large guns no longer firing, Luna saw the opportunity.

"ROYAL GUARDSPONIES, NOW IS THE TIME TO ATTACK!! FOR EQUESTRIA, FOR HARMONY, FOR CELESTIA!!!!" She galloped over Shining's shield as he closed it, and charged, drawing his shield and sword as the remaining guards charged with a roar.

But, in a rainbow-coloured blur, the cyan pegasus slammed into two of the black-suited ponies, knocking them to the ground. Several of them immediately turned their weapons onto Dash, when shadows moved around her, forming into 3 Night Guardsponies with black shields that looked they were partly made of shadow, standing between Rainbow and the rival ponies. One of the Unicorn Guard's horn glowed, a thin aura connecting between his horn and the dark shields as he muttered in a strange language.

"Tenebras protegit..."

The black-suited ponies fired their weapons, the blue fiery pellets streaking to the shields, only to be engulfed by the shields, dark tendrils within strangling the fire out of them.

"...Tenebras consumit..."

They continued firing as the guards marched toward them. One of the black-suited ponies clicked a few buttons on his weapon before firing it, this time though a giant fireball escaped from it, streaking towards the dark shields, their dark tendrils retreating from the bright fireball. But upon contact with the solid shields, the dark shadowy tendrils engulfed it before the shields melted from the intense heat.

"...Tenebras nunquam moritur!"

Rainbow stared, completely shocked at what she saw. She snapped out of it when she saw Luna jump over the barricade, knocking down 3 ponies with one of her wings. The lead black-suited pony, growing desperate, pulled out a large canister, twisting the top as a frantic beeping was suddenly heard from it, he then tossed it over the barricade. Upon landing on the ground at the hooves of a few Royal Guards, it exploded in a bright blue and white flash, completely enveloping them as a sonic boom escaped from it. But the majority of the Royal Guards didn't even falter in their charge, and more and more reached the barricade and engaged what was left of the fighting black-suited ponies.

No good... He thought as he turned and retreated, firing wildly behind him. We can't possibly hold them off! He turned his head back at the door, the only thing that stood between the ponies. He had no choice, he had to destroy it. He pulled out a small detonator within a pouch, but before he could click the button, he was rammed by a cyan pegasus with rainbow-coloured hair. The pony grunted as he rolled on the ground from the force, before being pinned by Rainbow Dash.

"Game over, buddy!" She yelled as she lifted a hoof to stamp his face in. But he saw his opening, and jammed his weapon into her side, its Electrical Bayonet sending volts of electricity coursing through her body.

"Aiii-eee-eee-eeee-eee!" Rainbow gurgled as she shook from the volts, wide-eyed and her body jerking. With a shove, he pushed the slightly smoking cyan pegasus off of him and got back to his feet. That was when he saw the spider-like object that continued sitting where it was, unmoving.

The Arachnid-class Battle Drone! How did I forget about it!? Then, remembering the codes to activate it, he shouted.

"Activation Code: 1-9-4-0-4-2! Defensive strategy! Eliminate all hostiles!" Then, he looked to see a purple blast of some kind hit him at his side, sending him to the ground, losing consciousness, he saw four robotic eyes glow red as the Battle Drone activated. "For Lord Eclipse..." he mumbled before letting his head drop to the ground completely as he lost consciousness.

Twilight had seen the black-suited pony with the red-tinted goggles shout something and fired a stun spell at him. Then, she heard something move, stamping into the stone floor. The Unicorn turned and her eyes widened as the large object began moving on its own, it had several eyes as it looked around, surveying the situation. It was like it was alive! But it couldn't have been, she sense no heat from it, nor any magic of any kind. But then, she had a few pieces of technology that gave off very little heat and no magic was needed on them at all. Could this be... But how? How could technology be this advanced!?

The Drone then brought all four of its eyes onto Twilight, who stepped back from it fearfully. Then, 2 large cannons appeared from the side of its 'head', aiming at the small Unicorn. Twilight gasped as she saw them glow white before firing. She quickly created a shield that absorbed the white-hot projectiles, but they were powerful shots, pushing her back, her shield flickering, and it kept firing.

"Twilight!" Shining called out as he smashed his shield at a black-suited pony's head, knocking his opponent out, before charging at the massive structure that was attacking his little sister. One of the eyes swiveled at him, seeing his approach. a hatch opened at its top, launching three metal spiked balls that landed just in front of the Captain. Frantic beeping sounded from them as he skidded to a halt, before he quickly teleported away from them. Just after he vanished, they exploded, sending red-hot twisted pieces of shrapnel every where. He reappeared in a flash to the side of where he was, but the Drone fired a shell from the same hatch, the shell landed just in front of him, and the concussive blast blew him back as he was slammed against the rock wall. He collapsed with a grunt of pain.

"Shining!" Twilight called out to her brother, trying to move, but the Dront kept up its intense barrage, taking steps toward her. She grew panicked, she didn't have a lot of energy left, and the moment she lowered her shield to try and cast another spell, like teleporting, she would be open to the deadly energy of whatever it was firing at her.

Then, just before she couldn't not longer hold against it, a beam of pure white light struck the Drone, part of its head exploding from the powerful beam. The Drone stumbled back from the force of the blow it took, causing its attack on Twilight to stop. The Unicorn collapsed, her energy spent and her shield disintegrating, as Luna stepped past, facing the Drone down.

"You are not alive..." She stated as her horn began glowing and the Drone regained its footing. "Therefore... WE DON'T HAVE TO HOLD BACK OUR POWER!!!"

With that, her eyes glowed a pure white as she fired another beam of pure moonlight, blowing one of its legs off. Then, before it collapsed from its lost limb, she magically levitated the whole Drone off of the ground, before crushing it into a tight cube or as close to a cube as she could. Explosions from the intense pressure began rocking the whole Drone, before Luna smashed it into the ground, causing the Drone's reactor to overload, disintegrating the whole thing in large explosion. When the smoke cleared, only a small crater remained.

A few moments after the Drone was defeated, the rest of the Black-suited ponies were subdued, and the prisoners, most of them unconscious, were taken to the dungeons above in the city. Fluttershy was tending to Applejack, who bit down on her stetson from the pain of her burnt wound. Rainbow Dash woozily stood up, helped by Pinkie, who seemed to be trying really hard to not look at the injured guards, and Rarity. Twilight sighed as she finished looking over her brother, relieved that he was only dazed, minus of few bruises and scrapes. She looked over at some of the injured guards, who screamed or groaned in pain, but some of them were completely silent and unmoving... They were not so lucky.

She made her way to Luna, who stared at the door intently, but she stopped when she saw one of the silver boxes. She placed a hoof on it, it was made of some kind of metal, what could be in there? She then noticed some sort of insignia. A black orb almost completely covering a gold orb. It reminded her of a total eclipse... She looked back at Luna and came next to the Night Princess, who stared emotionless at the door.

Again, Twilight felt the same feeling she had experienced numerous times since coming to Canterlot, only this time it was stronger then ever, and it was just behind the door.

"Twilight..." Luna said. "Do you feel that?"

The lavender Unicorn nodded slowly.

"I feel it too, but it is like a whisper... Whatever is there, be on your guard..."

Then, before Twilight could say anything, the door's glowed in Luna's magical aura, where they were forced open, sparks exploded out of the door from the freshly ripped electrical wires. With a final grunt, Luna ripped the doors open and then opened her eyes to look at lay on the other side. Her eyes widened as well as Twilight's and anypony else that happened to be looking. Behind the doors was a stone wall like the rest of the cave, but the rocks were twisted around unnaturally like they were made of putty as a bright white orb embedded in the stone (or was it? it was hard to tell...) sat there, warping everything near it. Blue clouds briefly appeared around the orb, before vanishing and reappearing.

"Princess..." Twilight said. "What is that?"

Luna hesitated, before she cleared her throat and spoke. "I... I don't know, Twilight Sparkle..."