Chapters The City of Canterlot was bustling with activity, with everypony outside enjoying the grand clear summer weather. Inside the royal palace, their was an air of cheerfulness as the royal staff moved about to perform their royal duties. Even the guards were cheerful, by displaying a smile as they stood guard in several positions throughout the castle, though they weren't chatty like the rest of the staff was. It was just one of those days where everypony was generally in a good mood.
That was why Princess Celestia spent most of the day in her royal quarters, for she knew that if she went outside, everypony would see her unease and the cheerful mood would be gone like the wind. Celestia was nervous, confused, and generally uneasy. She was in tuned to the magical aspects of Equestria and she could feel powerful or strange magics when they happened and, over the last few days, she had felt a strange kind of magic at work. It felt like a subtle ripple, coming over her body and sending unnatural shivers. It was magic she had never before experienced, which was odd, considering who she was. It also gave her a bad feeling, like something terrible was about to happen. Only a few times had she experienced that and, every time, she was right.
Knowing she had to take action, she had several ponies do some investigating as to the source of the magic. Although the ripple felt weak, it also felt close, incredibly close to her. Wherever the magic was coming from, it was somewhere in Canterlot. The Princess sat on her bed, looking over some papers and charts about the general state of things throughout the kingdom when she heard movement outside her doors, and then a calm knock.
"Come in." She said, putting on a calm and friendly voice.
"Your majesty..." Came a male voice, she didn't recognize it but that could've just been muffled by the door. "We've found something during the investigation. You should have a look..."
The white mare placed the papers down and stood up, making her way to the door. When she opened it, she found herself looking into three strange black objects being levitated by several unicorns wearing even stranger clothing and equipment. The objects made a hollow *ping* sound and out exploded three blue-white fireballs that impacted into Celestia's chest. The Princess stumbled back from the blow, before collapsing. Her mind reeled, trying to process what had just happened, she had no strength to move, and she was having trouble remaining conscious.
The mysterious ponies moved in quickly, surrounding the downed alicorn. One of them leaned down and placed a strange device on Celestia's back and, unknown to her, she disappeared from view. The ponies then switched on the goggles they wore, and the lens turned from pitch black to a bright crimson red. They activated their own cloaking devices and the unicorns lifted the semi-conscious Celestia off the ground, carefully and silently making their way out of her royal quarters, where two guards were slumped against the wall, unconscious. One of the ponies turned and softly closed the large doors and then moved back to the group.
Celestia blinked, fighting to stay awake and tried to figure out what was going on. She realized she was being levitated out of her room and through several hallways. Out in the open, she realized, they had past by a few staff and guards but they didn't noticed her, even if the group past right by their eyes. She realized that she and the hostile ponies were using some sort of invisibility spell, but she couldn't feel anything. She suddenly lost strength and briefly lost consciousness again.
When she awoke, she realized she was in the main corridor of the palace. I've got to do something! She thought. I won't let them take me! With that, she mustered all the strength she could and created a shockwave that sent the group into the air, disabling their cloaks and rendering them visible. Celestia fell to the ground, this time falling completely unconscious. Her final hope now rested on her Royal Guards...
The guards who stared in complete shock at what they had just seen. One moment they were standing, relaxed, and the next they hear a *boom* and their princess appears out of nowhere along with several strange ponies wearing even stranger garb and equipment. They were all on the ground, the ponies groggily getting up, but their princess laid on the ground, completely still including her lustrous mane. Immediately the guards ran over to Celestia, paying no attention to the other ponies, until those ponies drew the same objects used to bring Celestia down and fired on the guards. The shots impacted on the guards armour and they fell, immediately knocked out, but the commotion drew more guards into the corridor.
One unicorn guard looked down in shock and surprise and fear at what laid below her. Her horn pulsed and she sent out a special spell known only to the Royal Guards, a special beacon that was a message to all guards; "Emergency! All Guards to the Royal Palace Immediately!"
With that spell sent, more shouting could be heard throughout the castle as every guard rushed to the beacon's source. The guard jumped down and charged at the nearest ponynapper. He spotted her and fired his weapon, which she dodged and fired a stun spell in return, her spell impacted the pony, sending him flying and slamming into a wall. She looked and saw the other ponies surround the unconscious Celestia, one of them shouting something.
"Re-activate the Cloaking fields now, before we're overrun!" He said as he fired his weapon at a Pegasus guard, sending him crashing.
"Fields reactivated!" Another shouted.
"Corro!" The leader shouted. "Evacuation plan Lambda, now!"
"Sir!" A large bulky stallion pulled out an object, a cylinder and threw it in front of the charging guard. She stopped, her gut feeling telling her to not get close to it, the object rolled to her hooves, before it exploded in a cloud of smoke, shrouding the entire corridor and causing the mare to cough.
"What's going on?" A guard asked as several more ran into the smoke.
"Is something on fire?"
"Is the Princess okay!?"
The mare heard what sounded like two pins being pulled and then two loud explosions and screams of pain.
The ponynappers made their way out of the smoke and the outside, where they saw in the distance large numbers of Royal Guards rushing for the palace. A unicorn levitated a detonator in front of him, and flicked the switch. Numerous explosions from cloaked bombs placed throughout the city went off at once, causing everypony nearby to panic and run in fear. The cheerful mood within the city was now a forgotten memory as the rushing guards stopped, confused and conflicted on whether they should aid the city or find out what was going on in the palace.
The Unicorn smiled and activated his cloaking device, fading from view, followed by the other ponynappers and the unconscious Celestia...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What's next on the list, Spike?" Twilight asked as she and her Number 1 Assistant walked through the Ponyville Market.
"Well..." The baby dragon said, looking at the long piece of parchment he held. "Next is... the tomatoes!"
She nodded, remembering the crucial ingredient for her new alchemy project.
"Alright, I think there was a tomato stall on the edge of the market, let's go see if that's still around."
"Hey guys!" A voice called out, causing the two to turn and see a rainbow-maned pegasus fly to them.
"Hey Rainbow, what are you doing here?" Twilight greeted her friend.
"You haven't seen Pinkie Pie anywhere, have you? I've been looking all over the town for her."
"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight placed a hoof on her chin, thinking back. "I haven't seen her all day, no. Why do you ask?"
"Well, Pinkie was supposed to go pranking with me, but she's apparently playing hide and go seek and I can't-
"GUYS!" A bubbly voice called out behind Twilight, causing them all to jump.
Twilight spun around and saw herself looking at a gasping Pinkie Pie.
"Have *pant* to warn *pant pant* you..." She fell on her rump, sighing in exhaustion.
"There you are!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Where have you been hiding?"
"Consarn it, Pinkie!" Applejack called out as she ran up to the group, followed by Fluttershy and Rarity. "Give us a chance to catch up, will ya?"
"Wow, the whole gang's here." Spike commented.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked as the panting Pinkie raised a hoof, and then shuddered, shaking involuntarily. Twilight's eyes widened, recognizing this instantly. The others realized it too, with Fluttershy cowering, remembering the rampaging hydra.
Pinkie shivered again.
"Doozy! Big one!" She gasped out.
"Where?" Rainbow asked, looking around as if expecting monsters to jump up from out of thin air.
Before she could answer, several loud booms echoed across the market. The group turned, where they saw several smoke columns rising from the city of Canterlot. Several other ponies who looked up and saw the smoke turned and whispered to each other, worried at might have happened. For Twilight, a cold chill ran through her as her mind asked the same questions.
"Spike..." Twilight said, her voice unexpectedly quiet.
"Y-yeah?"
"Letter to the Princess, now!"
Spike instantly drew a quill and parchment like a knight would draw a sword and shield. Before Twilight could begin in telling the baby dragon what to write, however, he belched and a piece of tied parchment appeared before the dragon's tiny feet. Twilight immediately levitated it toward her and untied it, reading it's contents.
"It's from Princess Luna!" She said in surprise and worry, only Princess Celestia sent letters through Spike...
"Well?" Dash asked impatiently, eyeing the smoke columns from Canterlot nervously. "Read it!"
Twilight obeyed and her eyes began scrolling the words as she read aloud.
"Twilight - Gather your friends immediately! A crisis has struck us and all of Equestria is in danger. I have dispatched a chariot to your library, it will take you to the palace. I will explain more in person, but hurry, time is of the essence!"
Twilight looked and knew nothing needed to be said, without a word, the 6 mares and baby dragon galloped towards the library, where a dark chariot and two Night Guards of Luna stood waiting for them. They looked very out of place in the day, and Twilight wondered why the NIght Guard was active with the sun hanging directly overhead. The guards flapped their wings in anticipation as they arrived.
"We know it's gonna be crowded," One of them said.
"But get on!" The other said.
The mares obeyed without question, except for Dash and Fluttershy, who flew next to the chariot as it lifted off and flew at a fast speed towards the city of Canterlot.
"Can you tell us what's going on?" Twilight asked as she saw the smoke once more from the city.
"We aren't sure," one of the Night Guards answered. "But from we have heard, the city was attacked."
"Attacked!?"
Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise. "By who!?"
"We don't know, our Princess will explain more."
It wasn't long before the chariot flew over the city, Twilight looked down and saw several buildings on fire and a squad of Royal Guards run into one where screaming was heard. She looked over and saw the Royal Hospital overflowing with injured ponies and wondered who or what could have done such a thing. As they arrived to the courtyard of the castle, the 6 mares spotted Luna directing several Royal and Night Guards and several high class nobles glaring at her. As the chariot landed and the 6 ponies made their way to the Night Princess, Twilight that, although Luna showed and looked calm, her wide-eyes told her that she was anything but. She overheard what some of the nobles shouting at her.
"We want answer now, Luna! What has happened here and where is Celestia!?"
"All your questions will be answered in due time!" She said frantically, doing her best to remain calm, she glanced over and saw Twilight and her friends. "If you'll excuse me, but I must go and speak to these ponies."
The nobles looked over the 6 approaching mares and scoffed.
"If you can't deal with us," said the lead noble. "You certainly can't deal with common rabble!"
"What the hay did you just call us!?" Applejack shouted out.
"How dare you insult us so uncouthly!" Rarity said, aghast and insulted.
"Why I oughtta knock you a good one!" Rainbow growled.
"These 'common rabble' are Twilight Sparkle and her friends." Luna said, her voice disturbingly calm causing the nobleponies to stare in shock at the six newcomers. "As you are aware, Twilight is the personal student to Celestia herself and she and her friends are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and they are far more useful then you all are so kindly..." She took a deep breath and flared her wings. "SHUT UP!!! "
The sudden force of the Royal Canterlot Voice blew the nobles away, sending them sprawling on the ground. Luna turned and sighed, opening her eyes, which Twilight saw were filled with stress and worry. "Thank you for coming, everypony."
"What happened, Princess?" Twilight asked.
"The castle was attacked by a group of ponies with equipment that has never been seen before. They... captured my sister..."
A shocked silence, before...
"WHAT!?"
"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!"
"That ain't true, it can't be!"
"No way, Celestia's too awesome for that to happen!"
"Of all the things that could happen... This is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!"
But Twilight was dead silent as she stared blankly ahead, her mind trying to process what she had been told. Celestia, captured... Canterlot, burning... That was when she felt something strange...
"What about the fires in the city?" Rainbow asked, eyeing the smoke and the sounds of commotion below.
"I believe the attackers caused that as distractions... and I don't know how my sister was captured by them... or how I let it happen..."
Fluttershy, sensing Luna's discomfort, approached her. "It's okay, it's not your fault, you are the Princess of the Night."
"I thank you, kind Fluttershy... But I should've been more alert..."
"Was anypony hurt?" Applejack asked.
"Many ponies are injured," Luna said. "But none are serious, the Royal Guards that were harmed have slightly more severe injuries but they'll all recover in due time. Right now, our priority is finding my sister and finding the ones who have done this."
"How are we going to find her?" Rarity asked.
"Any moment now, Shining Armour will have- Ah!" Suddenly, a large purple bubble appeared, surrounding the city. "My sister has not yet been taken out of the city. Now the culprits can't escape with her!"
"Good..." Twilight said, her eyes closed. But when she opened them, there was a fierce fire in them. "...because somepony is going to pay dearly for this!"
Luna nodded and her horn glowed as she levitated the Elements of Harmony to the 6 mares. "Keep them with you in case they are needed."
They all nodded eagerly as the necklaces and crown were placed on them.
"So, the princess is still inside the city?" Applejack asked.
Luna nodded. "Yes, I would've felt her presence weakening if she passed beyond the boundaries of the city."
"Perfect!" Rainbow cried out, clopping her hooves together. "I'll do a fly around and see if I can find anything!" With that, the cyan pegasus took off, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Luna opened her mouth to speak when she heard panting and the ponies all turned to see a gasping royal guard, who managed a salute.
"P-princess..." He gasped. "There is an injured stallion in the marketplace, which we have converted into an encampment for the injured until the hospitals have more room, he claims that Princess Celestia had sent him and sent others to investigate something strange early this morning."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Has he found anything?"
"He says he has, Captain Shining Armour believes you should be informed so he sent me."
"Commendable work, guard, rest and then see what you can do to help with the damage." Luna nodded as the guard saluted before stumbling off, still out of breath. The royal princess then looked at Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle, I wish you to accompany me to the market, we'll see what this stallion has to tell us."
Twilight nodded. Luna then glanced at the other mares. "The rest of you, go out and help with the damages, there are likely other ponies in need of rescue, I will send out a beacon if you are needed."
The other mares bowed before running off toward different parts of the wrecked city. For a moment, Twilight stood there, overlooking the once great city now in chaos and gripped in panic. It shook her to see her home city in this state. "Does everypony know about Celestia's capture?" She asked.
Luna shook her head. "Nay, Twilight, only those in the palace know, I feel if it were found out she was captured, all of Equestria would be in a panic, nevermind Canterlot."
The princess glanced down and saw Twilight looking at the ground uncomfortably. "Are you alright, Twilight?"
The unicorn shook her head. "No, I'm anything but alright..." Again, Twilight suddenly felt shivers up her body from... something, she wasn't sure what, maybe a gust of wind? "...We better go, I want to know what's going on."
"Same... what did my sister have ponies looking for, anyways?" Luna muttered, more to herself then to Twilight. The two mares then charged down, heading for the market place.
The Market place was always crowded when Twilight came to it, but instead of ponies shopping at the stalls, now many ponies were lying under the stalls now converted to house them in their injured and there were so many. Twilight was taken aback at how many bandaged ponies there were, including small children squealing in pain. How could anypony be so cruel? One glance at Luna and Twilight could see that she was visibly shaken as well, almost on the verge of crying, but she was also on the verge of a rage.
Twilight looked away and her eyes widened at a silvered-armoured stallion directing several other guards, who saluted before running off to carry out whatever orders they were given.
"Shining Armour!" The unicorn called out.
Immediately, Shining spun around and saw his eyes shine upon seeing his sister. "Twiley!" Then, the siblings galloped to each other and embraced in a tight hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay..." Twilight muttered as a few tears began falling, feeling momentarily safe in her brother's embrace. She looked up and saw his face covered in ash and his mane askew. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine..." He said calmly, his smile dropping as he glanced back and saw two Royal Guards helping one of their injured comrades, who groaned in pain. "A lot better then many others..." He released his little sister and saluted Luna.
"Princess," he said simply.
"At ease, Captain." Luna said. "Your messenger informed us that there was a Stallion who found something of importance?"
Shining nodded, and made a gesture. "Follow me."
The three ponies then walked down further through the market, Twilight staying close to her brother.
"Where's Cadance?" She asked.
"She's in the hospital." The stallion answered.
Twilight gasped and her heart began beating faster in fear that her sister-in-law was among the many injured. "Oh no! Is she okay!?"
"Don't worry, Twiley, she's just fine. She's helping the injured in the hospital right now."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight calmed down. The three stopped at a covered stall, Shining levitated the tarp away and made way for Twilight and Luna to enter. The night princess strode in without hesitation, followed closely by Twilight. The unicorn blinked as she saw a familiar brown stallion with both his hind-legs wrapped in bandages and an hourglass Cutie Mark.
"Inspector Time Turner!" The lavender unicorn said, shocked.
The brown stallion turned, blinking. "Oh! Allo Twilight," he said in a Trottingham accent. "Fancy seeing you here! I must apologize for not returning that book to the library..."
"You two know each other?" Luna asked.
"Yes, he's one of the residences in Ponyville," Twilight answered. "He's a regular at the library, always taking out books of all kinds... and he usually brings that back overdue..."
Time Turner gave a sheepish smile.
Luna nodded at the unicorn and stared at the Earth Pony. "How are your injuries, Time Turner?"
"Well, I'm sore all over, can't feel my hind legs and I have a splitting headache, but other then that I'm just fine, thank you." He gave a smile before going serious. "I need to talk to Princess Celestia, it's very urgent."
"Uh..." Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but she wasn't sure if he was to be told of her capture.
"I know that the city is in a terrible state right now, but Celestia said that this was of the highest priority, no matter what. Plus, I think it has something to do with those explosions in the city."
Luna nodded. "I believe you are right, Time Turner, but I'm afraid my sister is unable to, right now. I will hear what you have to say."
Time Turner looked at Luna. "Alright, uh, do you why what I was sent for?"
At this, Luna shook her head.
Time Turner nodded slowly, his face grim, he was a very intuitive pony, Twilight knew, and seemed to see the hidden meanings in Luna's words. "I see... Princess Celestia had me and several others look around the city for the source of a mysterious magical force. She wasn't sure what it was, so she had me and several others look around to see what we could find."
"A magical force?" Twilight and Luna asked simultaneously. That was when Twilight got another feeling, almost a tingle over her body, like it came from beneath the ground...
Time Turner nodded. "Yes, apparently Celestia didn't know what it was, and it worried her. I was in the middle of exploring the crystal caves beneath Canterlot when Celestia sent out a call to me and a few others. I soon discovered a strange object placed on a wall in a nearby alley. I don't know what it was but it was of a technology I had never seen before, it was incredibly advanced."
"What was it?" Twilight asked.
"Some kind of explosive, it began beeping and I had a bad feeling from it so I bolted out of there. Good thing I did, otherwise I might be far worse off." He gestured to his bandaged hind legs.
"...an explosive?"
"Yes, Twilight, it was designed to cause destruction, having some sort of dangerous material as a catalyst. I couldn't look at it for very long. One moment, the wall was clear, and then the next, it was there. I saw it appear out of thin air! Fancy that, object appearing out a thin air with vastly advanced technology..." He shook his head. "Sorry, I went off on a tangent."
"It's alright, inspector..." Luna said. "Thank you for telling me this, do you need anything?"
Time Turner thought it over briefly. "Yes, could I have some English muffins with a side of butter? That would be fantastic..."
"I'll see what I can do." With that, the dark alicorn turned and left. Twilight nodded her goodbyes before leaving. When she walked outside, she saw Luna looking very disturbed.
"Is something wrong, Princess?"
Luna slowly nodded. "Yes, my sister and I are rather magically in-tuned and we can sense when powerful magics are being used. But it seems my sister felt something when I didn't. I'm worried that, during my thousand year banishment, I may have lost this ability."
"So, the princess felt something strange and had several ponies investigate... and then this happened... then Time Turner mentioned finding some sort of explosive that appeared out of nowhere."
"No doubt there were several others placed throughout the city, causing this mess in the first place." Luna commented, Twilight nodded, before continuing.
"I highly doubt that these are simple coincidences... Luna, you said the attackers had equipment never before seen?"
The night princess nodded. "Yes, why?"
"Time Turner mentioned that the explosive also seemed highly advanced... I have a feeling that this was planned a long time beforehoof..."
"Hmm... but we still don't know anything else, or more importantly where to find my sister..."
"No... but it's odd, why did Time Turner mention the Crystal Caves? It had nothing to do with..." Suddenly, Twilight got another tingle and she suddenly got an idea, her eyes widened. "Luna... Can you send out the beacon calling my friends back? I think I know where Celestia has been taken..."
The Battle Within Crystals
"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..."
The Portal and The Unknown...
Twilight anxiously paced across the wide hall nervously as Luna sat in front of a large window, her horn glowing and her eyes shut tightly. Her other PFFs stood by, nervous themselves at what was happening. Nopony was too worried about Applejack, who rubbed her bandaged side as it began to sting again. Thankfully the doctor told her that she was fine and would recover by the end of the day. Nor was anypony worried about Rainbow, although she was shaken by the electrical shock she had received, nothing was damaged. Pinkie was completely silent ever since the battle, which was worrying. Twilight guessed she was feeling guilty about having given their position away and losing the element of surprise... Was it just her, or did Pinkie's mane seem a little... straighter?
She shook her head, although Pinkie's silence was worrying, it was not what was stressing her out. She stopped mid-stride when she heard a familiar voice.
"Twilight!"
The Unicorn turned and saw her Number One Assistant on the back of a Night Guard flying in. The Pegasus landed and Spike jumped off. After thanking the guard, who bowed and then flew off, he began walking toward Twilight. Somehow, upon seeing Spike, who hadn't gone through what she had hours ago, something came over her. Without thinking, she galloped at full speed and grabbed the surprised dragon in a tight hug, holding him close as her face scrunched up from the rush of memories of the terrifying experience she had went through.
"Gah! Twilight!" The baby dragon protested, but Twilight ignored them, holding her assistant tightly. Her eyes opened up when Spike's struggles snapped her out of it. She let the small dragon go with a hasty apology, Spike grumbled.
"Yeah, that's not all you should be sorry about..."
The unicorn tilted her head in confusion and opened her mouth to inquire what he meant when Rarity walked with a hoof to her mouth in a 'shush' manner. Twilight nodded apologetically and returned the gesture to Spike, throwing her head in Luna's direction.
"What's going on?" Spike asked in as quiet a whisper as he could.
"Luna's trying to lower the sun..." Twilight answered in a whisper, the worry heavy in her tone and eyes.
Spike's eyes widened and his mind exploded with questions, 'what on earth happened here' was among the most prominent. He stared wide-eyed, his heart pounding when he saw the strained look in the night princess' face and the sweat starting to pour down. Suddenly, he completely forgot about his anger at being left behind in Ponyville.
For Luna, it was an intense battle of domination of the unfamiliar force that was the sun. Come on... she silently pleaded. So much depends on this... She slowly opened her eyes to peek at the sun through the window... Celestia's sun, the bright orb that she raised for 1000 years ever since the Unicorns gave her the power to control it. Now she was gone, now nothing was controlling the sun and it remained where it was, high over Equestria. With Celestia gone, Luna now had no choice but to take control of the very thing that provided life to flourish.
But the sun was far larger and more powerful then the moon was. So much so that the night princess could barely comprehend the power of what she was trying to control. She grunted and her horn flared as she made another powerful push to make the sun obey her. She strained, pouring all of her power into making the sun move, to recognize her. But she felt no movement or a hint of recognition. The sun stubbornly remained where it was. The dark alicorn's horn stopped glowing and she slumped down in defeat. The six ponies and dragon behind her glanced at one another worriedly, if Luna couldn't move the sun, and if Celestia wasn't found soon, what was to become of their home?
Luna sighed and looked up at the sun again, anger at her powerlessness, she was Celestia's sister! Why couldn't she control her elder sister's sun even for just a little while? Then, she remembered what Celestia had told her when she had taken control of the moon for 1000 years. Although the moon was reluctant to move at the command of an unfamiliar force, Celestia used her sheer power to force the moon to move. Luna was nowhere near as powerful as Celestia, at least, not in the direct way. It was obvious Luna couldn't use the same tactic as her sister used with the moon, she just wasn't strong enough.
There has to be a way! She thought angrily. I am Luna, the Princess of the night, guardian of Equestria during the time of dreams! If I can't even control the sun during my sister's absence, what gives me the right to control the moon or the stars!?
Her eyes popped open when a thought crossed her mind. Wait... the stars...
Tentatively, Luna's horn began glowing as she cautiously felt the power of the sun, which ignored her completely. Then, she felt the light of her distant stars and quietly gasped. Though far fainter in their intensity, they felt almost exactly like Celestia's sun. Luna's intrigue quickly dropped when she began wondering how this could help her in controlling the sun. Then, she realized something. Individually, a star's power was nothing to the sun, but with every star in the sky put together... Maybe... She directed her callings from the unresponsive sun to her more familiar stars. Immediately, they responded as she felt their magical energies touching with hers, wondering what their master and dear friend needed. It brought a smile to Luna's lips.
My loyal, quiet friends... You are loyal to nopony but me, no matter what I become, you will always be with me, always their to help me... Now, I call on your aid... With that message, she gathered all of the energies of the stars together, which they willingly and unquestioningly gave. Slowly, the powers of the stars began flowing throughout her body, their power strengthening her as she felt a new sort of energy building within her, a new energy that may be able to challenge the sun and force it to move to her commands.
The others saw only Luna's horn glowing brightly again, but this time there was something different around her, they didn't see anything major, only subtle differences in Luna's body, her feathers were bristling, her ethereal mane began to look more translucent yet seemed to be glowing slightly. Twilight felt some new form of power surge through Luna and wondered with wide eyes what she was doing.
What may have been minutes or hours, Luna did not know, but eventually the stars stopped giving their power to Luna, because they had none left to give. Even though they were without any power, she felt them all looking at her with curiosity, for she had never asked for their power before. The only time they did anything for her was when they helped shatter her imprisonment on the moon, and that was of their own free will. She slowly breathed out a breath she did not know she was holding, basking in the sheer power she was given. She felt like she would be overwhelmed and burst open but she did not. Now, she directed the energies onto the sun. The past few times, the sun swatted her power aside like an annoying insect. Now though, it saw an actual threat, a competitor trying to establish itself as the dominate power, but it was the power of the stars combined, and Luna could feel the sun hesitating, knowing what it was up against. But she felt the sun bristle its powet, hoping to intimidate the Stars but the stars and Luna were unimpressed.
With Luna's command, the night princess sent the full power of the stars smashing against the sun, which was caught off guard by this sudden assault and was pushed back.
"Hey!" Applejack called out to her friends. "The sun's moving! The sun's moving!"
The six mares and dragon rushed to the window next to Luna, who remained still and quiet but no longer strained, and looked out, gasping as they saw the sun moving. Or rather, the shadows on the ground showing the sun's movement as no one but the Royal Pony Sisters could look directly at the sun. Then, the shadows stopped moving, they looked concerned at the dark alicorn, whose face scrunched a bit.
The sun recovered and halted, trying to push back at the star's power that dared strike at it. The stars held strong against the counter-assault, but Luna knew that the sun would prevail if she didn't think of something quick. That was when she felt an odd magical nudge. Risking to feel what it is, she immediately recognized it as the moon, who observed the whole situation, both what Luna was doing and what was happening on Equestria, and then, without warning, Luna felt a sudden boost as the moon lent its power, or rather the power of the sun reflected back at it in a neverending loop. Luna then felt the sun's surprise at the sudden turn of events, not only were the stars trying to move it, but now the moon itself was aiding them. Reluctantly, it relented, dropping its assault on the power of the stars and allowing itself to be pushed, this was a fight it could not win.
Luna sighed with relief as she opened her eyes to see dusk outside and the six mares cheering. Thank you, my quiet friends...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How long is he gonna keep gawking like that?" Applejack asked as she looked at Spike, who had his jaw wide open and stared blankly ahead. "He's been like that ever since you told him what happened."
Twilight simply shook her head, not knowing the answer to the cowpony's question and continued idly observing the walls of the throne room, completely empty of a certain alicorn who used to always sit in the large seat, governing the kingdom.
Fluttershy glided overhead and almost silently landed next to the baby dragon. "Well, it is very shocking to hear what had happened." She carefully patted the baby dragon on the head, his expression still as it was. "The poor thing."
Pinkie bounced up and giggled as she waved her hoof in front of the dragon's still face. "Wow, I don't think he's even conscious..." She said in a very amused tone.
The sight of Pinkie making a whole bunch of goofy faces and gestures trying to get some kind of reaction from Spike and giggling caused smiles to appear on the other mares faces, Pinkie had been too quiet since the battle beneath Canterlot.
Then, Pinkie poked the dragon in the chest and suddenly, he jumped into the air, screaming at the top of his lungs. "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! IF CELESTIA'S GONE, ALL OF EQUESTRIA - NO - THE WORLD IS DONE FOR!" He grabbed Pinkie's face and brought her down to his eye level. "We're doomed..."
"Doomed?" Pinkie asked, not looking particularly worried.
"Doomed!" Spike assured.
Then, both the baby dragon and the pink mare then screamed at the top of their lungs, one panicky, the other smiling like nothing was wrong. "DOOOOOOOMMMMEEEED!"
"SILENCE! " A voice shook the walls of the throne room and brought all heads to see Princess Luna, Shining Armour, whose helmet was tilted slightly on his head but his face expressionless as he quickly righted it. Immediately Luna's face turned apologetic.
"My apologies," she said. "I have been rather stressed of late."
"Ah think we all have, Princess." Applejack said.
It was then that a Unicorn mare with a bright silver mane and blue coat, her Cutie Mark that of some sort of twirl, walked up from behind the night princess.
"Oh, who is this?" Twilight asked.
The mare smiled and nodded as Luna cleared her throat.
"This is Whirlpool, a resident of the Crystal Empire, I called her here as well as several other scientists from across Equestria to examine the strange..." She paused, trying to find the right word. "...Thing that we discovered in the caves. Shining Armour has also had several of the prisoners we captured interrogated."
At this, the Captain sighed. "For all the good that did us..." He muttered.
"Did any of them tell you anything?" Rarity asked with a hopeful expression, but it disappeared when the stallion shook his head.
"None of them gave us any information. Despite our best techniques, they just laughed and insulted us."
"Surely you've got spells to help with this, though, right?" Twilight asked. "I've read that the Royal Guard had magical spells to force ponies to speak nothing but the truth and-"
"None of them worked, Twilight..." Shining interrupted. "Our spells had no effect on them. They just laughed and insulted us some more... if you could call them insults, that is..."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"Well, they were very odd. They kept calling us primitives, and sons of breaches..."
"Sons of what?"
But Shining simply shrugged. "No idea what they mean, and frankly, I don't think I want to know."
Luna shook her head. "These are the strangest ponies I have ever seen, but that does not hide the fact that they destroyed parts of the castle and captured my sister." She sighed and walked over to the window overlooking the city. "Nopony knows about Celestia's capture yet, but as more of Equestria learns of what has happened here, ponies will want answers and it will only be a matter of time before it is revealed Celestia has been captured. When that happens..."
Luna did not speak further, but shuddered. It didn't need to be said, Equestria would be in a panic, and Luna was all too aware of how some ponies may treat this as her making another claim to bring about eternal night as Nightmare Moon. Fear has always inspired the most drastic of actions were the words of one pony philosopher who had bore witnessed to the Gryphon Revolution over 300 years ago.
The dark alicorn turned to face the six bearers. "Whirlpool here believes that what we have found may be a portal of some kind, a portal that was created by those ponies."
Twilight glanced at Whirlpool, shocked. "But I've studied portals and the theories surrounding them, is this some kind of new portal we've never seen before?"
Luna nodded. "It would appear so. Though over the course of our lives, my sister and I have seen many different types of portals, many of them we never recorded down, for the better of everypony, but I have never in my life seen or heard of something like this..."
"So, if it's a portal," Twilight said. "Where does it go to?".
Whirlpool nodded and made a gesture with her hoof, Luna nodded in response. "Ah, yes, right..." She cleared her throat before continuing. "Whirlpool would like me to say that, though she is not at all sure, she believes that this portal may connect to somewhere... beyond our world."
Twilight gasped and blinked. "Beyond our- I- Wha- but how is tha- I mean- aah!" She paused and took a deep breath, but her eyes remained wide. "How did she come to that conclusion?"
"Whirlpool realized that the portal was not created through magical means, but it was powerful enough that even my sister and I, and of course you Twilight Sparkle, could sense it. And it is clear that these ponies have far more advanced technology then anything I have ever seen on Equestria. Whatever created that portal had to have been powerful, and Whirlpool's special talent is energy manipulation, she was able to figure out that whatever created is was using a massive amount of energy. But there is no link to anywhere on our planet. Therefore, it is only logical to assume that they are beyond our world."
Twilight stared slack-jawed at Whirlpool and Luna, completely shocked and more then a little giddy (though the shock was more prevalent at the moment) at what she was hearing.
"Hold on..." Rainbow said. "If their from another world, then they're aliens!?"
"Aliens, Rainbow Dash, means foreign and outside, you could call anything from outside our country an alien." The princess replied.
Rainbow glared and stopped when she realized she was glaring at the princess of the night. "I-I mean extraterrestrials! Creatures from beyond our planet! Like in those sci-fi books and the latest Daring Doo book!" She gasped. "Oh my gosh, could this be the beginning of a massive invasion!?"
"It's... possible." Luna admitted.
"Wait a sec, if they're bein's from another planet," Applejack asked. "How come they look exactly like ponies?"
"They weren't using any illusion spells or anything like that." Shining Armour stated. "They were ponies, just like the rest of us."
"Perhaps..." Luna said. "But these ponies have technology far beyond anything on our world... I don't think we've even scratched the surface of what they have nor can we comprehend what they're capable of..."
For a moment, everyone was silent until Luna cleared her throat once more. "If everypony but Shining Armour and Twilight Sparkle could please leave, we must discuss what should be our next course of action."
The other ponies and baby dragon hesitated but obeyed and left the throne room, the large doors closed behind them. Luna sat down with Shining Armour and Twilight looking at each other concerned.
"Are you alright, your highness?" The captain asked.
"After all that has happened today, I would be very surprised if I was... My sister captured by ponies that may be from beyond our world with technology we have thought of possible only in fictional novels. And now, Equestria will be in an uproar as to what is happening and I am more then certain that many will think of this as another ploy on my part to bring about eternal night, which may lead to the ponies bringing... Revolution..."
"How can you even think that?" Twilight asked, shocked at what she was hearing.
"Think about it, Twilight Sparkle, I know I don't have to tell you about my Fall, Celestia suddenly goes missing, I can now control the sun giving me ultimate power. And Ponyville wasn't the first town I visited on Nightmare Night and... let's just say the inhabitants of Ponyville showed the least hostility towards me."
"Princess..." Twilight spoke but couldn't find any words to help her in this situation. She did not know that Luna had visited other towns in Equestria and shuddered to think what had happened there. Shining Armour stood upright and saluted.
"Princess Luna, I can assure you that as Captain of the Royal Guard, you have our full support. We know you have done everything in your power to help get Celestia back, and we know you mean no harm on any of Equestria. And I promise you we will be as loyal and devoted to you as we are to Celestia."
Luna smiled. "I thank you, Captain Armour, you and the rest of the guard have preformed beyond all expectations on this day, and I am so sorry about what has happened to those who were killed below the castle."
Shining's face hardened slightly. "We all knew the risks when we joined, your highness."
The mention of the battle earlier also reminded Twilight of another thing. "Pinkie probably feels guilty about giving us away and starting the battle." The Unicorn said.
"I'll talk to her later," Shining replied. "It wasn't her fault."
Luna nodded in agreement. "Indeed, ponies would've been killed whether we had the element of surprise or not, it was unavoidable. But now we must discuss our next course of action... There is a portal that my sister has been brought through that may possibly lead to another world, which would explain how I lost complete contact with her, the distances would be so vast I can hardly comprehend it."
The dark alicorn looked at Twilight and Shining Armour. "What do you think should be done?"
Shining Armour spoke first. "I think it's obvious, Princess. We send a group in to go rescue her."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "I agree, whatever reason those ponies captured Celestia for, it can't be good. We have to move as quickly as possible before they do something to her."
Luna nodded slowly but the Unicorns could see the doubt in her eyes. "Do you think we could do that successfully? Those ponies are probably prepared for us coming through to their end. Anypony going through would likely be walking into a trap..."
"Princess, I can rally more guardsponies," Shining said. "And there are some scientists examining their weapons, it might be possible that in a few hours we can learn how to use their weapons and equip some of our guards with them. They can take point and fend off any attack that might be waiting for us."
"We should also have some Unicorn guards take point as well." Twilight commented. "They can cast spells to aid in the fight."
Luna was silent as she listened to them, nodding at their suggestions. "It would also help if I came too, I can help push any threat that could be waiting on the other side."
But both Shining and Twilight shook their heads.
"Your highness," the Captain of the Royal Guard said. "With Celestia gone, Equestria and your subjects need you. Some of them may not like it and may think you're responsible for this, but I'm sure after a few days, they'll believe in you."
"And you're the only one who can control the Sun now, nopony alive has the capability to control night and day." Twilight added, but upon seeing Luna's distressed look, she continued. "I'm sorry Princess, but you are needed here... You can count on Shining and the Guards to rescue Celestia, and you can count on me and my friends..."
Shining glanced at his sister, he was hoping she wouldn't say that. "...So you are coming, then..."
Twilight looked back. "Of course I am, Equestria's in danger... Celestia's in danger and I'm willing to go into the deepest pits of Tartarus for her. I won't fail her."
Shining nodded, smiling at his sister's resolve. You've grown up so fast, sis...
Luna cleared her throat. "You are right, Twilight Sparkle, and you as well Captain Armour. With both of you leading the rescue, I can rest easy now and remain here."
"You can count on us, Princess."
Luna smiled kindly. "I just have one personal request, aside from rescuing my sister..."
The two siblings raised their eyebrows and waited for Luna to continue. They were caught off guard when Luna moved in a flash and grabbed them both in a hug. "...Be careful, both of you... It would be an unbearable blow to us if we lost either of you."
Twilight returned the hug immediately, followed by Shining Armour.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hours had passed as the citizens of Canterlot helped rebuild their once pristine city. Ponies picked up pieces or rubble or recovered items that mattered to them personally. A few were calling out for loved ones that went missing, some of them ending in happy, tearful reunions, others that kept searching, calling and calling even as their voices became sore and broken. Dawn was nearly approaching, at least, it was supposed to. A few guards looked from clocks and the sky expectantly as they searched the horizon for the sun's light.
As the minutes approached, some ponies lost hope, fearing the worst, while others began feeling desperate, for the more ponies that lost hope, the more at-risk other ponies were of losing theirs. Then, some ponies noticed the edge of the sky change in colour ever so slightly, brightening in colour. They also noticed an approaching mass of ponies, armed in golden suits of armour with strange equipment on their hooves. They marched in perfect sync, their hooves clopping on the ground at the same time. Some of them flew tall banners flying the Royal Colours of Equestria.
At the forefront of the march was Princess Luna, her face emotionless as she stared straight ahead, but her eyes alight with a hope that spread to all those who watched, standing tall among those that were charged with protecting Princess Celestia, following her loyally. But that was not the only inspiring thing, for those ponies who had stood in front of her, seeing her horn glowing, they would've seen the Sun raising just behind her, briefly shadowing their silhouettes as the sun shone in all of it's glory, their silhouettes completely black save for a line in Luna's mane, which somehow glowed pure white, standing apart from the sun's light, the sun continued raising, making them completely visible and symbolizing that hope was not lost. Nopony cheered, but not out of dislike or anger or fear, but out of sheer shock and awe.
Beside Luna was Twilight Sparkle, flanked by her best friends and assistant, the Elements wrapped around their necks, ready for use. The march continued on, past all the ponies who stared, shocked but hopeful at the sight. They didn't know what was going on, but they were assured that, whatever was going on, it was in good hooves. Soon, Luna and the march of guards and the Element Bearers arrived at the tunnel entrance, which had two Night Guard watching it, they bowed as their Princess passed, in some ways more inspired and proud, for this was one of Luna's finest moments.
The old camp where the battle had taken place looked almost the same, except for the extra Night Guards and the Equestrian banner placed at the camp's center, a reminder that a battle was fought and won. The guards soon broke ranks when Luna gave the signal, and they relaxed as best they could. Whirlpool and some Unicorn scientists approached the guards armed with the alien weapons, who were code-named the Star Lancers.
"We will make our final preparations before you are all sent." Luna stated as she looked at the six mares and dragon. "If you'll excuse me, I must see to the Lancers."
Twilight and her friends nodded, then turning to her friends when Luna left. "Alright girls, I have no idea how long we'll be gone or what we'll find. There's a..." She hesitated, before changing her mind and altering what she was going to say. "...a large chance that we'll be gone for a while. So, if you have any messages you want to tell to Spike for him to deliver to, like family and other friends, now's our last chance."
"Huh? I'm not coming?" The baby dragon asked, his voice quivering slightly.
Twilight nodded in confirmation. "I'm sorry, but it'll be too dangerous for you, and I'll need someone to watch the library and Owlowliscious."
Spike opened his mouth to protest but closed it. She was right, as usual. He wanted so badly to come, but a part wanted to stay, too afraid for what could be waiting past the portal. The other mares' faces turned sad when they it finally hit them that they were leaving not just their country, but their world and that they could be gone for a long time. Applejack bit her lower lip and tugged her hat down as she approached Spike.
"Spike? Ah... Ah just want ya to tell mah family about what's goin' on an' where Ah am... and tell 'em Ah love 'em all, kay?"
Spike nodded. "Sure, AJ..."
"Thanks, sugarcube."
The cowpony backed off when Rarity walked up. "Spike, darling? Could you also tell my family? and tell them that nothing is more important to me then they are?"
"Of course, Rarity and... please be careful..." Spike looked away, blushing slightly, it was absolutely adorable to Rarity.
"And, for what it's worth..." She leaned her head down and gave the baby dragon a light peck on the cheek, causing his eyes to widen and his blush to grow dramatically. "...Take care while we're gone, Spikey-Wikey..."
Spike couldn't say anything from his love-struck shock, so he quickly nodded.
"um...Spike?" Came a very quiet voice behind him, he turned and saw Fluttershy standing behind him, shaking slightly, she cleared her throat quickly before speaking louder. "I... If you don't mind, can you take care of the animals in my house while I'm away? All you have to do is feed them, and... and maybe tell them that I'll be gone for a while...?"
Spike nodded. "Don't worry, Fluttershy, I'll take care of it."
"...thanks..." Then, the shy pegasus glided closer and gave Spike the softest hug she could give, which Spike returned just as lightly. When she let go and flew to her friends, Pinkie bounced up, still holding her cheerful smile. In fact she seemed a lot better after Shining Armour had talked to her.
"Hey Spike! Just tell the Cakes to take care and tell them that we'll throw a big 'Homecoming' party when we come back, okay?"
Spike chuckled. "Okie-dokie-lokie, Pinkie..."
Twilight looked around but didn't see Rainbow Dash anywhere. "Dash? Where are you?"
"In a minute!" Dash's voice yelled out. Twilight and her friends turned to see the cyan pegasus near the Equestrian banner, scribbling as quickly as she could on a piece of paper. After a few more seconds, she breathed a sigh.
"phew, done!" She said, folding the paper up and putting it into an envelope, before tossing the pen to a nearby Unicorn. "Thanks for the pen!"
The pegasus then flew and landed next to Spike. Handing the letter to him, she cleared her throat, as if holding something back.
"Just mail that normally through the post, don't you dare read it... got it?"
Spike nodded with a perplexed look on his face. "Sure, Dash, whatever you say."
Content, Rainbow walked up and sat down next to her friends, who eyed her curiously.
"Who's that to, RD?" Applejack asked.
"None of your business..." The mare replied.
Before anyone could ask her further, they heard running hoofsteps and turned to see Shining Armour running up to them.
"Sorry I'm late." He said, panting. "I had to say my goodbyes to Cadance and my parents, don't worry Twiley, I said goodbye for you as well."
Twilight nodded as she blinked. Was it her or was something in her eye? She shook her head, now was not the time to get emotional.
"EVERYPONY, MAY WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!
"Heroes that will go into the unknown, braving whatever may be facing you, heroes who are willing to give up everything for the one being who has protected them all these centuries, heroes who will be remembered for all time. No matter what happens, I wish to say thank you, all of you, and my the light my sister's sun and the stars and moon guide you back home."
With that, the guards all immediately saluted their Princess, who returned the salute and nodded to Shining Armour, who lowered his salute and returned the nod, now was the time for him to take command.
"Alright, everypony, let's move in, Star Lancers will take point, followed by Silver Squad and Razor Squad, when it is safe to enter, we'll give the signal for the rest of the guards, led by the Element Bearers, to come in. Then, it all rests on us... so let's move!"
The Guards of the said squads formed up into as tight a square formation as they could, then on Shining Armour's signal, he and the Star Lancers marched towards the portal, upon touching it, the guard's immediately vanished, a shadow of light remaining in their places before disintegrating. Several minutes later, Silver squad marched in, followed by Razor Squad. Then, the rest of the Guards and Princess and Bearers watched the portal intently, their hearts all pounding as they waited for the signal.
After what might have been an hour or ten minutes, a Guard flashed through the portal. He stumbled, then quickly gained his composure.
"Clear!"
"Alright, go now, my little ponies..." Luna said to the Element Bearers. "The fate of Celestia is in your hooves."
"Come back safe, okay?" Spike asked.
Twilight nodded, before turning around and walking toward the portal, it's energies swirling around. When she came face-to-face with it, she hesitated only to take a deep breath, and stepped through the portal, leaving behind her home, and family, everything she knew and into the unknown.
