Mega Mare
Chapter 7 – The Ponies of Shadows
Twilight emerged on one of the glowing cyan teleporter pads, waiting for the effect to wear off for safety concerns before dashing down the elevated platform. Quantum Drive was at the command console overseeing Rainbow Dash's arrival on a second pad. The dark red unicorn stallion had a cutie mark in the shape of a blue spiral galaxy and a mechanical saddle full of assorted tool attachments hanging off his body. Twilight's attention, however, was on the blaring sirens and spinning red lights that were lining the hallway out of the room.
"Quantum, what's going on?" Twilight ran up to him and looked up expectantly. The gruff older stallion didn't respond right away, his dark green eyes trained on the control panel in front of him. The silver goggles pushed up on his forehead lit up in an aura of orange light and pulled down.
"There's been an attack, missy," Quantum Drive said, looking at Rainbow Dash to make sure she finished teleporting before turning to face the mare. "I've been told to stand by 'ere if you came back, now that you 'ave, you'd best leave, for your own safety. I 'ave my cousin Flux Capacitor on standby in Hoofington, he'll see that-"
"Whoa whoa, stop! I'm not going anywhere!" Twilight shouted. "What do you mean we've been attacked? Is the Princess safe?"
"In a sense of the word, aye. She's 'oled up in the medical wing with the other four ponies you've sent back, went to protect them. Someone infiltrated us through the docking bays, an army of ponies wi' glowing red eyes."
"It's the same ponies I fought out there!" Twilight looked down the hall. Quantrum Drive pressed a few buttons on his control pad.
"Aye, that's what the Princess figur'd. Now I 'ave my orders, missy, to get you to safety, so if you don't mind-"
"I do, actually." Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Quantum Drive, stay here and watch Rainbow Dash!" Twilight tore down the hall out of the teleporter room, ignoring the sirens and the shouts of Quantum Drive behind her. Instead she headed to the lifts up to the main halls of the building. "Spike, scan the building, I want enemy locations and I want them now."
"Already been on it, gimme a minute." Twilight reached the lifts, glass tubes stretching from floor to ceiling, just large enough for a pony to stand inside comfortably. She knew the building by heart, these lifts should take her right to the floor with the medical wing. Pressing a hoof to call one, it didn't respond. "It's shut down, the building is in lockdown," Spike said. Twilight growled.
"Great, stairs it is." She turned and ran up the stairwell beside the lifts, her hooves skidding on the smooth floor as she turned around on the landing. These stairs only went one up floor to the ground floor of the building, then she'd have to find the main stairwell higher up to reach the medical wing. Twilight emerged on the ground floor in record time.
The Republic Headquarters had once been a castle, renovated centuries ago when Celestia shifted Equestria's government from a monarchy to a republic, but it still had the architecture of a royal castle. These lower floors were from the original castle, made of stone and wood with carpeted floors over black and white checkered tiles. Gold details decorated the doorways and the edges of ceilings and floors, and tapestries depicting artistic interpretations of ponies and Celestia hung from the walls, lit in various tones by the light of stain-glass windows. Alcoves had been dug out in the walls to allow for security measures like cameras, force fields, and information screens and intercoms. One such security measure now blocked the exit to the courtyard, the doors covered by glowing yellow force field of stored alicorn magic from Celestia. Twilight began running down the hall, her Multitool clanking loudly and leaving imprints on the carpet behind her.
"T-Twilight?" She skidded to a halt as a familiar voice warbled in her head, her hooves scratching the carpet.
"Princess Celestia?" She thought back.
"I was able to link to the medical lab's computers, but there's a lot of interference even at this range," Spike said. Twilight almost didn't hear him, her focus on her mentor's voice as she began to speak again.
"Tw – light, you m – stop them. – eed my ai – to stop the Ma –." Celestia's heavily distorted voice crackled in between bursts of static and high-pitching whining. "They can br – my shie – not sure how much –." The transmission went dead, static filling her mind, and Spike closed the channel. Twilight looked up at the ceiling. Somewhere overhead, her mentor, the ruler of Equestria, the Princess of the Sun, was in a medical lab with her four incapacitated research aides. Cornered, possibly alone, and from the sounds of it, not secure. If one of these berserk ponies got to her, could Celestia herself being infected by the Master's corruption?
"Twilight, I'm scanning a lot of ponies around here," Spike said, bringing up the map. Twilight heard him, and saw the map he was displaying which was swarming with the red dots of hostile entities.
She didn't care.
It was one thing to harm corrupted ponies to stop them before they hurt her or somepony else. But this was a deliberate attack, on Canterlot of all places. And whoever was leading it, if Celestia's mangled words meant what she thought they did, they were after the Princess and she was having trouble fending them off. That meant whatever was doing this was dangerous, to her, to Celestia, and to Canterlot, and had come with intent to seize her. To capture the most precious pony in Twilight's life, her mentor and idol. While she had been out there fighting the Master's servants, the Master had planned this attack behind her back.
There was only one option.
Twilight steeled her nerves, pushing her fears and hesitations and doubts away until only her determination and anger remained. Her horn lit up in a violet aura, the steel plates on her hooves clicking in anticipation. Twilight pawed the ground and snorted, glaring angrily.
"Come on, Spike. Let's move!"
Twilight dashed down the hall and turned to the passage leading to the stairs. Two unicorn stallions turned as she appeared, their horns wrapped in magic-focusing metal bands. Their horns lit up in blue and gold auras and they lowered their heads to fire blasts of like-colored magic down the hall. Twilight noted with disinterest these were stronger than her concussion blasts, perhaps they were guard ponies off-duty. Didn't matter, she had already been shifting her hoof before the blasts fired. The Rare Shield detached from her Multitool and floated up into the air, the gems catching the blasts and shooting them back, blue and gold bursts of magic accompanied by Twilight's own violet. The two unicorns took the blasts full in the chests and fell to the side with sharp cries of pain as Twilight galloped past them, the Rare Shield gems disassembling and locking around her hoof again.
Twilight rounded the corner and found three earth pony mares charged towards her. One had a head above the eyes covered in metal, the other two had Multitools. One of them was already transforming, something with a pointed spike of some sort. Twilight barely even noticed. Her own Multitool changed fast and she threw her it up and fired, the claw of the Apple Whip digging into the hallway wall. Twilight retracted the chain to swing over the mares, withdrawing the whip into her hoof as she turned in the air and reconfiguring it in an instant. The three-ringed construct widened and shortened into the Pinkie Cannon, and Twilight fired. The carpet tore apart and the walls cracked as the energy orb exploded in front of the three ponies, flinging them back through the hall. The trio was only dazed, but by the time they came to their senses, Twilight was already gone and around the corner to the next hallway, scraps of torn red carpet and chucks of white rock falling in her wake.
"The passage to the stairs is up on the right, but the ceiling has caved in. We need to circle around on the balcony," Spike said. Twilight ran past said collapsed hall, turning her head and jumping to avoid an energy blast from a unicorn standing in front of the blockage, and landed to fire her own return shots. He stumbled and cried out, which was enough for her. Twilight ran down the hall, seizing the door in her magic and flinging it open, never slowing down.
On the balcony, two pegasi ponies flew at her, weather generator Multitools whirring to life on their hooves. Twilight saw them out of the corner of her eye and didn't even bother to turn her head, her saddle whirring to life. The Flutter Stare flashed and the two flying ponies lost control. They crashed into the wall and dropped to the ground behind Twilight as she kept running.
Three biological hooves and one steel one skidded on the tile as Twilight turned and galloped through the doors back into the castle. She stopped as two golden armored royal guards turned to her, eyes glowing red. Twilight didn't bother to think it over any further than the fact they were corrupted. She switched her hoof functions and rolled aside as one of the guards ran past, then climbed to her feet and fired the Pinkie Cannon. The armor took the brunt of the blast, sending the guard sprawling to his side in a shower of pink energy.
His partner was a unicorn, a magical energy cannon on the side of his armor. The cannon was glowing yellow, the unicorn's horn pouring power into it. Twilight didn't give him a chance to fire it and reconfigured her hoof, vents popping open and propellers extending from their hubs. The Rainbow Tornado launched the guard backwards along the carpet, a barrage of energy bolts shooting between the winds. They caught him on the hand and he slumped down unconscious, and lavender hooves galloped past him as his eyes drifted closed.
"Sensing a lot of enemies up ahead," Spike said. Twilight didn't bother to confirm she heard him, he'd know already anyway. She turned down the last corner leading to the stairs and saw five ponies standing there, two unicorns and three earth ponies, one of the three in guard armor. The two unarmored earth ponies saw her and charged, Multitools shifting into elongated spears, and the unicorns lit their horns up in magic auras. Twilight simply dodged one of the earth ponies as he leapt at her, his spear tearing a gouge in the carpet, and she ducked the other's spear. Her hoof reconfigured and the Rare Shield gems popped up in front of her, absorbing the red and yellow energy blasts from the unicorns and firing them behind her to incapacitate the two earth ponies.
Twilight recalled the gems back to her hoof and launched a counterstrike. A barrage of magic bolts took out one of the unicorns, the earth pony guard however defended the second, Twilight's shots bursting against his armor and fizzling out. The second unicorn fired another trio of magic shots, but they failed to find their target. Twilight flew through the air, the Apple Whip's claw lodged in the wall. The guard pony attacked her as she landed behind them, Twilight fired the Apple Whip again to pull herself against the other wall, and she reconfigured her hoof as she rolled to avoid the unicorn's attacks. The earth pony guard was still standing in front of the unicorn protectively, but not for long. Twilight swung her hoof up and fired the Pinkie Cannon directly at the guard's chestplate. The blast knocked him back into the unicorn, sending both flying, bright pink energy exploding in a deafening burst of noisemaker sounds.
Twilight turned away and ran down the hall, finally finding the stairwell to the upper floors. The passage filled with the sound of her hooves clicking on the stairs as she dashed up them, stumbling on a few steps but not stopping. The medical bays lay on the sixth floor, she kept track of the doors back to the hallways of the building as she passed them. As she reached the landing for the fourth floor there was a clamor below and Twilight looked down the gap between the winding stairs to see several more ponies running up after her.
"We're gonna be cornered if they catch up to us," Spike said. Twilight raised her hoof as she circled the next landing and fired the Pinkie Cannon three times. The stairs exploded in a flurry of confetti and debris, the shockwave blowing Twilight's mane out behind her as she watched through the dust. The landing of the stairs and parts of the stairs themselves fell below, stone and steel and neoplast raining down in pieces as big as her hooves. She heard cries of surprise from below and scanned what was left of the stairs. Satisfied there wouldn't be anypony following without the aid of wings, she turned back and continued her ascension.
Twilight stepped out on the sixth floor. From the fourth floor and above, these were the renovated and new areas of the old castle. The walls were shining neoplast alloy with light blue steel pillars running along them every few hooves. Information postings projected on the walls from emitters set opposite them, and a flat blue beam of light for transport carts and medical capsules ran along the center of the floor under a pane of clear neoplast, pulses of white light shooting down it. While the original castle was for aesthetics and culture, the modern additions were for function and practicality. Twilight ran down the hall towards Celestia's lab and skidded to a halt, the doors sliding open. She ran inside and looked around.
"Celestia!?" Twilight's eyes quickly scanned every corner of the room, but there was no sign of the Princess.
"Twilight, she's in the medical labs with the aides, remember? Down the hall, take a right, room six-oh-fiiiiiii!" Spike's explanation turned into a shout of surprise as Twilight spun around and sprinted out of the room, nearly banging into the opposite wall as she turned to head down the hall.
"STOP!"
Twilight's Multitool suddenly stopped moving and she pitched forward over it. Laying on her back Twilight glared, recognizing the claws of the Apple Whip digging into the floor, gouges scraped into the neoplast. Spike's hologram had vanished from her back and was projecting itself in front of her eyes, the dragon's claws folded and his eyes narrow.
"What!?"
"We're gonna save Celestia, yeah, but there's a problem," Spike said, his holographic eyes flickering. Twilight felt control of her Multitool return to her and rolled to her hooves. Spike kept looking up at her. "I'm detecting seven ponies up ahead, and judging from these familiar signatures, they're guards. And considering what we saw downstairs, they're probably not friendly." Twilight looked over her shoulder and down the hall where the next passage branched off. "Yeah, its guard ponies alright. Three earth ponies and two each unicorns and pegasi. Now, do you wanna run in guns blazing, or do you want to think of a plan?"
Twilight took a few deep breaths and looked down at her Multitool.
"I don't see why we need to pick one over the other," she replied. Spike smirked.
"Good enough. Now, watch and listen." Twilight's display flashed to life and she looked intently at the diagram Spike was laying out.
The seven guard ponies stared ever-ready at the intersection ahead, the unicorns already charging their horns. Waiting for the inevitable arrival of the mare that had fought her way this far faster than any of their leaders had expected, they were not going to be surprised.
A glowing pink orb of energy suddenly fired from around a corner and hit the wall, sending a cloud of dust and debris into the air in a mighty explosion. The unicorns opened fire into the cloud, yellow and blue bolts of magic piercing the dust rapidly as the other five watched. Stopping as the dust began to clear, the unicorns joined them in looking for the foe. A shadow galloped out of the debris, smaller shadowed forms surrounding it.
The smoke parted and Twilight dashed out, the Rare Shield fired back the energy blasts. The reflected shots focused down one of the unicorns, and he reared up and fell on his back. Twilight recalled the gems around her Multitool as the earth ponies and two pegasi charged. The thick singular band of the Rare Shield split into three, and the Apple Whip fired at the wall. Twilight pulled herself up into the air, the Flutter Stare shining from her saddle. The other six ponies below her cried out and stumbled back in confusion. Twilight raised her legs as she swung through the air to buck one of the disoriented pegasi flying towards her, knocking him back to lay on the carpet.
Dropping down and retracting the whip, Twilight shot several magic bolts at one of the two earth ponies. He fell over, the other two charging her, Multitools on their hooves extending into spears. Twilight responded by raising her transformed hoof and firing the Rainbow Tornado at them. The cyclone blew them back down the hall, and now the second unicorn had come to his senses and was ready to fire. Twilight rolled side, shifting her hoof again as she did so, and when she got to her feet she fired the Apple Whip into the air. It latched itself into the underside of the armor of the pegasus hovering overhead, and with a snap of her hoof, the pegasus came crashing down on his companion, the one shot he managed to get off going wildly and firing past her head. The Apple Whip snapped back into her hoof, resetting to its default configuration, and Twilight spun around ready to fire at any of the guards that might be coming at her from behind.
She found none. Around her littered about the hallway, the seven guard ponies were either unconscious or too dazed and weary to fight any longer, groaning and barely moving. Twilight panted heavily and looked between each of them, her eyes wide. The air still crackled with electricity from the magic and technology blasts, debris from where she had blown apart one wall with the Pinkie Cannon littering the floor. The same wall had a crater blown in it with cracks running out from it. Her on-board energy generator for her systems was almost down to emergency back-up power, too much usage of her Multitool in too short a time draining its reserves faster than it could recharge them.
Twilight looked at one of the nearest guard ponies and cautiously reached a hoof out, stopping before she touched him.
"Are they… did I… "
"They're all alive, and none of them have fatal injuries. But they'll be sore for a day or two," Spike said. Twilight swallowed heavily and looked down at one of them. They were loyal and true guards of Celestia and the Republic, they all took life-long oaths to protect the crown when they finished training. But even they too had been helpless before the Master's influence. Glaring down at her Multitool as if it was the offender in this act, Twilight gritted her teeth.
"We had no choice. We need to rescue the Princess. When they come to their senses, they'll understand."
"Yeah."
"And when we're done this, I want these weapon programs erased from my databanks."
"You said that before. Well, thought it."
"And I mean it… after we deal with the Master."
"Yeah. But first, now that we have a minute." Spike's hologram flashed out of existence from her saddle and reappeared in front of her. "Seeing as I'm just a projection, I can't actually do this, but..." he reached out a claw and lightly smacked Twilight on the cheek. The light-blue limb passed through her to the other side, lighting up brighter where her face interrupted the projection. Twilight stared down at him surprise as he glared.
"Celestia means a lot to me too, and so do you! And I'm not just saying that because she programmed me to think it. She gave me to you to help you, and if that means I have to stop you from acting stupid, that's what I'll do. The next time you feel like getting as reckless as you were down there, I'm taking over that Multitool and I'm not giving it back. Got it?"
Twilight smiled and knelt to face the hologram on eye level. Spike's expression softened.
"Got it. We're a team, right?" Twilight replied, holding out her biological front hoof. Spike made a fist and bumped his projected claw against it.
"Right."
"I promise, the next time I act reckless and stupid, I'll let you help me."
Spike grinned and nodded. "That's more like it." His hologram flashed back to Twilight's saddle. "Now, we have a Princess to save, don't we?"
"Yes. Let's go." Remembering what had driven her rage in the first place, Twilight galloped down the hall and turned to the hall that contained the medical labs. It wasn't hard to figure out which one Celestia had hidden in with her wounded aides, a glowing yellow barrier of energy was surrounding one doorway. Standing outside the door to the sealed lab was an orange unicorn with a bright red and orange mane. Her left hoof was a steel Multitool, and a steel implant covered her horn and ran down to her skull. Said mechanical horn was glowing cyan-blue and was firing a beam of energy at the yellow barrier. The unicorn's eyes pulsed with red light.
"They got her too!?" Twilight cried in her mind.
"Her? Who's her?"
"Sunset Shimmer. She's another student of Celestia's, has some major ego problems though. I've only spoken to her a few times."
Celestia had four students that Twilight knew of, hoof-picked several years ago from the School for Gifted Unicorns to teach personally. Twilight knew the other three but only met them rarely since Celestia preferred to keep them separate to discourage competition. Aside from her, there was Moondancer, Twinkleshine, and Sunset Shimmer. The other two, when she had met them, Twilight got along with fine. Sunset Shimmer on the other hand had always had a chip on her soldier, acting like she was the best of the four and making remarks that Celestia was wasting her time with the three of them.
As Twilight watched, curious more than cautious, Sunset focused and pressed her horn towards the barrier. The blue energy of her magic was being absorbed by the yellow of the barrier, the colors were slowly changing.
"There's no way a unicorn could break through alicorn magic...is there?" Twilight asked in her head.
Spike gave the mental impression of a shrug. "As far as I know it's impossible. But, it looks like she's doing it somehow. It's taking time, but the barrier is getting weaker."
"Hey!" Twilight shouted. Sunset jerked at the sound and turned her head, her attack on the barrier ceasing. At the sight of Twilight, recognition dawned in her eyes, and she smirked.
"So, at last Twilight Sparkle arrives." Sunset walked away from the door and stood down the hall opposite Twilight. "You're too late. Our leaders have what we need. You're wasting your time here."
"Really? Because to me it looks like you're still after Princess Celestia," Twilight replied. "And I'm not about to let that happen."
Sunset laughed and tossed her mane. "And who's about to stop me, you, Sparkle?" She stood up on her hind hooves and snapped her Multitool out to the side.
Twilight rose on her hind legs and snapped her own Multitool out. "I may not have combat spells, but I've got weapons now. What do you have?"
With a smirk, Sunset Shimmer responded by activating her Multitool.
A gout of solid orange flame shot out of the Multitool, forming a blade of fire in the air. Sunset lowered her arm and held it behind her, the tip of the blade bathing the floor beneath her in orange light. Twilight gulped, her eyes wide, and took a step back.
"Wasn't expecting that."
"Me neither." Spike replied.
"Any ideas?"
"Run?"
Twilight about to agree with him, when Sunset Shimmer charged. Twilight rolled aside as the blade of fire slashed the air, scorching heat in its wake. Sunset turned and brought the blade down again. Twilight ran aside the blade struck the floor beneath her, leaving a long black scorch mark. With some distance between the two, Twilight raised her hoof and shifted it into the Pinkie Cannon. The glowing pink energy orb exploded at Sunset's feet and sent her flying back down the hall. She landed on her back and bounced, landing on her feet and skidding backwards, her torch extinguished for a moment.
"Well, you weren't kidding about picking up some weapons at least," she growled. "Good. That makes this sporting!" Sunset stood upright and held out her hoof, firing a large orb of flame towards Twilight. Twilight rolled to avoid it, the floor glowing orange and her coat heating up as the fireball passed by her, and got to her feet in time to see a second fireball coming towards her. She dodged this one as well and got to her feet to see Sunset coming at her, her torch-sword extended again.
Sunset Shimmer leapt through the air and stabbed down, the torch deflecting to the sides as she hit the ground. Twilight however had already moved and was about to fire the Pinkie Cannon, but Sunset swept her arm up. Twilight leaned back, staring in horror as the flame sword passed only inches in front of her eyes, the air rippling in the heat. Sunset advanced, pushing Twilight back down the hall with wide, sweeping swings and spinning in place to keep the blade moving towards her.
"Hold still!" Sunset swung the sword down over her head and Twilight dodged aside, but too late. She screamed as the flaming blade made a glancing blow down her front biological hoof. The smell of burning fur hit her muzzle and her dodge turned into a tumble. Twilight groaned and looked down at her hoof. The fur had been scorched black, and trying to move it sent searing pain up her body. A shadow fell over her and Twilight forgot that as she saw Sunset Shimmer leaping through the air towards her. Twilight swung up her mechanical hoof and fired. The force of the Pinkie Cannon detonated on a direct hit and threw Sunset through the air. She landed on her back and slid back along the ground, groaning loudly.
Twilight stood, ignored the protests from her injured hoof, and charged, hooves clacking against the tiled ground as her horn blazed a stream of energy bolts. Sunset cried out from the blasts and swung her torch to block them, violet bursts of magic filling the air as the fires dispersed the attacks. She rolled onto her feet as Twilight approached her, and stabbed forward. Twilight saw the attack coming and dropped into a roll. The torch sword passed over her head, heat making the air ripple before her eyes. She rolled to her hooves behind Sunset and raised the Pinkie Cannon.
The explosive sound of noisemakers filled the air as Sunset Shimmer catapult forward. She hit the ground heavily and didn't move, her torch sword dying down and vanishing back into her hoof. Twilight didn't need to ask Spike for an analysis, the short-range blasts she had delivered from her most powerful weapon was assurance enough of her victory.
"We did it, she's out." Apparently though he didn't catch that thought.
Twilight fell to her stomach and looked at her saddle. A hatch clicked open with a small hiss and she floated a healing salve in front of her. The cap popped off and Twilight poured the blue gel over the burn, wincing and forcing herself not to whimper at the cool liquid hit the skin. The pain of the burn soon faded to a dull ache as the gel absorbed into her flesh, and after several seconds it was little more than a slight tingle. Twilight let out a breath. The fur was still blackened, but at least the pain was gone.
"You'll be alright," Spike said.
"Yeah... still, let's not do that again," Twilight replied. Restored, she stood and approached the shimmering yellow barrier over the doorway to the lab. "So, now what?" She pressed a horn to the barrier, and was not surprised by the amount of magic repulsing her. Twilight had to physically keep herself upright, the barrier's energy could have thrown her down the hall. "Spike, can we contact the inside of the lab again?" She pulled back and turned to her assistant's hologram.
"I'll give it a shot," he replied. Twilight felt her components whirring, and after several more seconds of silence from Spike, the barrier shimmered and faded away. The doors opened soon after. Twilight ran forward to wrap her hooves around Celestia before her mentor could move to greet her.
"We made it… you're safe…" Twilight whispered into her mane. Celestia raised a hoof to return the gesture.
"Yes. And so are they." Celestia stepped back and nodded at the side of the room. Twilight turned. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, lay asleep in transparent floating white and blue medical capsules, covered by panes of blue-tinted glass. Wires connected to their various cybernetic components, and computer monitors at the end of each capsule displayed vital signs and other data.
"Any luck finding out what's wrong with them?" Twilight asked, approaching them.
"Yes. They all share the same type of viral corruption in their databanks; it overrode their biological functions to drive them violent and aggressive. I've been using my magic to cure them. It's taking time to fully purge their systems, but they'll be back to their normal selves soon."
"Rainbow Dash is down in the teleporter room, if the crisis is over we can have her brought up," Spike said. Celestia walked over to the medical lab console, and with a glow of her horn data streams and maps appeared on the monitors. She looked over them, her face tightening in a look of concern.
"Many guard ponies fell victim to this corrupting virus, and now the enemy's forces are withdrawing with them in their ranks. And it seems that they compromised the building's central core."
"Did they take anything of value?" Twilight asked.
"No, just medical data and telemetry for Equestria's satellite systems. Nothing of value, much of it is publicly available. But it is more the act than the target that troubles me. Canterlot's central core has a magic-tech security system that locks down the entire core if breached. It's the best virus defense in Equestria, only alicorn magic can bypass the locks. And only alicorn magic could break my barriers, but Sunset Shimmer was slowly succeeding at doing just that."
"So how could these ponies do it?" Twilight looked up at Celestia. Celestia just kept staring at the monitors, her expression one that Twilight didn't recognize: sadness and fear. "Princess?"
"I have a theory… I pray it is incorrect…" She didn't say anything more, and Twilight let the matter drop. The medical console's communicator beeped, and she answered it when Celestia didn't react.
"Twilight Sparkle here." She heard a low groaning before a familiar voice answered her.
"This is… ugh… Quantum Drive…" The engineer sounded faint, and Twilight narrowed her eyes.
"Quantum, what's wrong? Are you alright?"
"They… got away… sorry, Twilight…" Quantum Drive's next words were difficult to make out through the pained mumbling, but he had said enough.
Twilight sighed and hung her head. "I'm sorry, Princess."
"Don't be, my student," Celestia replied. "We were not ready for this."
The two mares had accompanied a trio of guard ponies to the teleporter room to find Quantum Drive laying wounded from a high-powered blast of magic into his side, his red coat turned black. The room was otherwise empty, and he had stayed awake long enough to confirm to Celestia and Twilight that a trio of cloaked ponies had swept into the room and teleported away. He had been able to hide Rainbow Dash's unconscious body in a maintenance hatch under the floor, thankfully the guards had successfully retrieved her and took her to the lab. Rainbow was now in a medical capsule with the other four ponies awaiting healing from Celestia.
"So, what's our next move?" Twilight asked. Celestia hesitated and looked up at her computer.
"I told you before, Twilight, that my aides were doing very important research for me. I believe these ponies attacked because they desired this data from me and my aides."
"What have they been doing for you?" Twilight came closer and waited for the answer.
"A particular computer program, fragmented for each of them to research an aspect of it. A program I believe this 'Master' of the berserk ponies fears. Without all five fragments, the program is incomplete and useless. Had they found Rainbow Dash, or been able to penetrate my barrier, an even worse crisis could be facing us now. We have been fortunate, though." As Celestia explained, Twilight realized what her mentor wasn't saying as well, and patiently let her finish before voicing it.
"You know who the Master is." Celestia's eyes widened at the calm accusation and she looked down at her student. Twilight met her gaze evenly. "You know… no. You've known who it is."
Celestia hesitated. "I had suspicions before. This viral infection and their usage of the Everfree Forest as a base confirms it."
"You didn't tell me."
"If I was wrong, I didn't want to make you even more fearful. You were having enough trouble without knowing there was something even more dangerous waiting for you."
"And do you plan to tell me now?"
"…no."
At Celestia's flat refusal, Twilight glared up at her. "That makes perfect sense! This enemy that's been trying to kill me, it's not as though I should know who it is!"
"Twilight, you do not understand what you ask," Celestia said. Her voice was shaky, her eyes clouded. Before Twilight could respond, the lab doors slid open. A golden-armored guard pony entered and bowed low.
"Your Grace, Lieutenant Valiant Spirit reporting. We have scoured the building, but it seems the enemy has fully withdrawn. The attackers injured many of our ponies, but we have suffered no casualties." Valiant Spirit didn't see Twilight's face twitch as he brought up the injured guards. "Though we found none of the enemy remaining behind, we did find this in the teleporter room." Valiant Spirit's horn glowed as he floated a small computer chip over to Celestia. She took it in her own magic and slotted it into the computer behind her. Her playback monitor displayed only static, but a clear audio message began playing.
"This is a message for the unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle." The voice of a mare played from the speakers. Twilight came up beside Celestia.
"We are the elite warriors of the Master," a second mare said.
"We are the Shadow Hunters," a third voice said. "And we issue a challenge."
"You have been a pest in our Master's plans, and you will now answer to us for your actions." The first mare was speaking again now. "You do not yet realize that your efforts to stop our Master have been in vain, but she still demands punishment for you. We will await you at the following coordinates. Meet us there, alone, and face up to your crimes. Or, remain cowering behind Celestia's flank. And let the citizens of Ponyville suffer in your place."
The audio ended, and the still image of a map of Equestria appeared on the screen, a single point marked.
"Ghastly Gorge," Twilight read.
"That's not far from Ponyville," Spike said.
"Your Grace, I can have a team of guards mobilized within minutes," Valiant Spirit said. Twilight lowered her head and stared. The finely polished white floor of the lab displayed her own slightly distorted reflection. Twilight looked over herself, first the reflection, then her body. She had bruises, scrapes, and small cuts all over her body. Sweat, dirt, and in a few places, dried blood, matted her fur. Not to mention the patch on her hoof Sunset Shimmer had burnt black. She was tired, she was sore, she was dirty.
And when Twilight looked back at her reflection and saw the eyes looking up at her, she knew she wasn't done.
Twilight turned around to face Valiant Spirit. "If I don't show up, or show up with help, you heard what they'll do. They still have a lot of ponies from Ponyville under their control. It's not an idle threat." She looked back at Celestia. "I have to go."
"Your Grace?" Valiant Spirit looked at Celestia questioningly. The Princess didn't turn, her eyes closed and her head low. Twilight reached out a hoof and brushed it against Celestia's own.
"Princess?"
"Do not say it." Celestia didn't move, her voice a whisper. "Do not ask me to choose between you and Ponyville. I cannot give that order." Twilight pulled her hoof back and let out a long sigh.
"You know I have to. I've got weapons now, and I've had to fight a lot out there. I can take them," Twilight said.
"Can you?" Celestia opened her eyes and looked at her. "You heard what they said. The elite warriors of the Master. Above all others, the chosen three to serve at her side."
"I can take them," Twilight repeated. "And if I don't try, Ponyville suffers. You know I don't have a real choice in this."
"Yes, I do. But I do not have to approve of it," Celestia said. She looked around the lab and pulled open a hatch on one of the support columns in her desk. Several healing salves and some other items she didn't recognize floated out and piled themselves at Twilight's feet. "Healing salves, energy capsules, homing beacons. Take them, you will need them."
"Thank you. Twilight lifted the items in her magic, sorting them apart. Three hatches slid open in her saddle with a click and the supplies slotted into them. The steel slid shut again.
"If you are in danger and cannot handle it alone, please, retreat, contact me, ask for aid," Celestia said. "I cannot risk you, even for Ponyville. I must ask you allow me selfishness in this."
"I'll be fine, Princess."
"Listen to me." Celestia's eyes bore into her own. "This is a royal order, Twilight. If you find yourself overwhelmed or believe you cannot continue on, please, retreat, find shelter. Those homing beacons have a range of dozens of miles, even with this interference we should be able to track them. Do not do something rash. If something were to happen to you, we are lost. I am lost."
Twilight fought back a tear at her mentor's words and came closer. She raised up on her hind hooves and embraced her again. Celestia returned it, her mane falling over the both of them.
"Don't worry, Celestia. I'll defeat them and come back to help you with your aides. I promise. I'll come back."
"Don't forget Princess, Twi's got me looking out for her!" Spike said. Twilight pulled back from Celestia and gave Spike a look.
"Twi?"
"Yeah, it came to me. What, you don't like it?"
"I didn't say that." Twilight smiled. Celestia chuckled slightly.
"When you two get back, I'll explain everything, I promise. An explanation is the least you deserve for all you have done and wish to do now, but for now it is not prudent to waste your time with a story as long as mine. But, please believe me, Twilight. I hide nothing from you that could endanger you."
"I do believe you, Princess." Twilight turned her head to look at Spike. "Ready Spike?"
"Ready, Twilight." Twilight looked past Spike at Valiant Spirit.
"Do you know how to use the teleporters?" She asked. Valiant Spirit nodded. "Good. Let's go." The two left the room, Celestia watching as the lab doors slid shut behind them. Once they were gone, she turned to her console and called up a room. The speaker crackled to life.
"Engineering, Data Byte here," a female voice answered.
"Data Byte, this is Celestia. Will the project I commissioned earlier be ready by tonight?" Celestia heard Data Byte grumble under her breath before replying.
"Princess, it is an honor to receive a personal request from you, of course. But the best we can do is tomorrow morning. We're working as hard as we can, I have my two best engineers on it along with myself."
"Then assign more to get it done sooner."
"Assign more? But, Princess, we have city projects, headquarters maintenance, not to mention repairs in the aftermath of this attack we just had!"
"Data Byte, aside from repairing our headquarters, reassign all present engineers to my project."
"But-"
"And inform them that they will have tomorrow off with triple pay if they can get it done by tonight."
Data Byte sputtered. "T-Triple... yes ma'am, Princess! We'll have it done within an hour if Her Grace needs it so greatly!"
"She does. And thank you." Celestia closed the channel and looked up at her console, blueprints and data feeds flashing on the screen.
"She needs it very greatly."
