Mega Mare
Bad Moon Rising
The doors to Celestia's lab slid open, and Twilight trotted inside. Celestia turned from her computer console at her student's entrance and nodded in greeting.
"Welcome back, Twilight. The three Shadow Hunters are in the lab with my aides, we'll work on restoring them as well."
"Good to hear. How are your aides doing?"
"We've recently had a breakthrough with their corruption, the medical ponies were having trouble curing them. We discovered the cause was that they lacked the magical power to conquer the virus infecting them. I'll be taking care of it personally."
"Then it is true after all. The Master's power can match your own," Twilight replied. She remembered the gemstone from Trixie's cloak and opened the hatch on her saddle to float it towards Celestia. "The last Shadow Hunter wore this. She said it contains a fraction of the Master's power. Maybe it can help."
"I'm sure it will, yes…" Celestia had an odd expression on her face as the magic aura over the gem shifted from violet to gold, and she floated it over to her and set it on the console behind her. "I'll take a look at it once we finish here and get you on your way."
"On my way?" Twilight took a breath. "So, I'm not done yet."
Celestias shook her head. "Almost, my faithful student. I have kept much from you, but no longer. You have risked your life fighting this ancient enemy of mine, and I owe you at least an explanation." Celestia looked away, thinking. "I felt it was not right to burden you with such things when there were more pressing matters at hand. But now there is only one obstacle left, and I have no choice but to let you know the true danger you will soon face." Twilight looked up at her mentor, confused. She had never heard Celestia talk this way. "I know what has caused these innocent ponies to become crazed, and I know this mysterious Master they serve." Celestia looked down at Twilight, her face heavy.
"The pony behind all this is my sister. Princess Luna."
Twilight gasped, her eyes wide. "Sister? But, you don't have a sister!"
"Not anymore, no. But I did once, long ago." Celestia turned and pressed a few buttons on the computer console. Twilight looked at the monitors as an image appeared of a dark blue alicorn pony with a crescent moon cutie mark. Her hair was like Celestia's, only a nebula of stars on dark blue and purple instead of a rainbow of blue and green. Thick metal bands ran around the pony's shoulders and stomach to join an armored plate over her torso, the same crescent moon as her cutie mark emblazoned on the front, glowing silver-blue. An armored helmet covered her head and neck, only her eyes, mouth and horn emerging from the steel.
"It was over a thousand years ago, before Equestria shifted to a republic. My sister and I ruled Equestria together as monarchs, as we had been for centuries before. As Equestrian technology began to evolve, my sister immersed herself in the growing world of the future. Luna was always the more spirited one of us, and the hard work of our ponies and what it could invent fascinated her. Luna believed that someday, the technological developments of the ponies might surpass even our alicorn magic." Celestia smiled softly at the fond memories. "She was particularly keen on the assorted gaming devices ponies had created."
"What happened to her?" Twilight asked. Celestia's smile faded.
"Scientists began suggesting grafting cybernetic components into the bodies of ponies. It had never been done before, wiring technological devices directly into a pony's nervous system. They said the potential was limitless, but they needed a volunteer to test the first implants. The scientists in charge of the project were untrustworthy, and I feared that the head was putting ponies at risk in his work. I knew it was a terrible idea from the start. Technology was growing faster than we could understand it, and if they merged it with an alicorn's magic as the project would do, there was no telling what could happen. Equestria was not ready to embrace this new era before it had fully embraced the last. And I was not ready to lose my sister." Celestia lowered her head and closed her eyes. A single tear slid down her cheek.
"I begged her to reconsider, but Luna had faith in them. She insisted she knew what she was doing, and that as an alicorn she was best suited to survive the experiment. I told her that it wasn't right, but I could not refute her arguments as well as I wished I could have. Eventually I relented, and Luna became the first experimental test subject for cybernetic enhancements. I watched her enter their testing chamber and place her trust, her fate, in their hooves. They fitted the armor over her neck and head, she slipped on the hoofguards… and then…" Celestia stopped, unable to continue. But she had said enough.
"Something went wrong," Twilight said, looking back up at the steel armor covering Luna's visage on the screens. Celestia opened her eyes.
"My sister went berserk that day, and attempted to turn her powers on the citizens. With no options left to me to save my ponies, I had no choice but to meet Luna in combat. I could not bring myself to destroy her, however. I had hope that someday, I could find out what went wrong and make it right. So after I defeated her, I sealed her in a capsule that would keep her asleep and alive, until I could restore her to her true self. It has been a thousand years since that dark day. I sealed the capsule behind wards nopony except for another alicorn could break. It would seem that the wards weakened over the centuries, and now my sister has broken free and returned."
"But now we can stop her!" Twilight gave her mentor a confident look. "It's like you said, there has to be a way to bring her back, right? We've figured out how to turn the others back, we can figure out how to change back Luna too!"
"Twilight's right, Celestia!" Spike chimed in. "She's been able to beat everything else this far, even if she's an alicorn, we can beat your sister too!"
"I'm afraid it is not that simple," Celestia said. "Luna is the source of the corruption itself, and it is strongest in her. The virus is likely deeply ingrained on her core consciousness now after all these years. I hope that the loving sister I lost still waits for rescue in the depths of her own mind, but there is no promise." Celestia looked back at the monitors and pushed a button. "But, if there is a way, it is with these." Twilight looked up to see the monitors display a schematic of her cybernetic components. Five glowing stones were surrounding the image. "When I fought my sister a thousand years ago, I was able to weaken her enough to contain her with this."
"The Harmony Program."
"The what-now?" Twilight tilted her head.
"It is a digitized version of the Elements of Harmony, once the most powerful magical forces known to ponydom, shining symbols of friendship and magic. The original Elements are now lost to us, but I knew the day might come when we needed them again. I attempted to recreate the powers they had in magic as a computer program, one that could be wielded as a weapon to combat evil."
Twilight cocked her head and looked at her mentor strangely at the explanation. "So, you were trying to weaponize love and tolerance?"
"I know it may seem strange to hear, but the Elements of Harmony had powers that were very real, and if possible we had to recreate them. I felt if I could convert their powers into programming language, it could allow a deeper understanding of how magic and technology interact. But, despite decades of work back then, my efforts came up short. The Harmony Program I used to combat Luna was incomplete, at full power it might have restored her, but there wasn't enough time for that. And I have spent the year since trying to perfect the Program to no avail." Celestia sighed heavily. "The Harmony Program is a pale imitation of the original Elements. Something is missing, a misplaced byte or a line of data incomplete. Whatever it is, the spark that once made the Elements so powerful has been lost, and I have not been able to rediscover it."
Twilight listened intently, turning over all she had learned in her mind and comparing it to what Celestia was saying. "But if the Harmony Program doesn't work, then why would the Shadow Hunters be afraid of it?"
"Because a few years ago, I thought I finally had a breakthrough. I'd long given up hope, but the answer came to me in a sudden epiphany. I gave a fragment of the Program's coding to each of my five aides, and tasked them to study its powers while living in Ponyville. If my theory was correct, then I would finally have the means to restore Luna. And, if the Harmony Program can restore her, then surely it can restore all the ponies she has infected with her madness." Celestia pressed her hoof on a few more buttons to call up a map, then looked down at Twilight.
"Now that my five aides have all been rescued, I can compile their findings, and if we are fortunate my hopes will be validated. Once I have purified their viral corruption, I will be able to retrieve the fragments of the Program from their databanks. For now, however, we cannot let Luna cause any more chaos. I've tracked the source of the interference in our signals the virus causes, and have narrowed it down to the most likely location for where Luna is now; the Castle of the Two Sisters, deep in the heart of the Everfree Forest. It was the seat of power for Luna and myself long ago, but when the forest grew too wild we abandoned it. I sealed Luna there when I subdued her, hoping the perils of the forest would keep her secret."
Twilight looked up at the map. The mere mention of the Everfree Forest was often enough to strike terror into the heart of any pony, but after all she had been through, Twilight wasn't as frightened as she may have once been. The realization surprised her.
"The adventure has changed you," Spike said mentally. Twilight thought back a sense of agreement.
"Just what is Luna planning anyway?"
"I'm not sure," Celestia replied. "Contrary to her aspirations of global domination when I sealed, it seems that Luna's objective so far has simply been to spread chaos across Equestria. Perhaps she is biding her time for a larger plan, and if so that is all the more reason to act now before she is ready. We have to rein Luna in before she infects even more ponies."
"So I need to go to the Everfree Forest then." Twilight nodded.
"Yes. I will work here to gather the research my aides have on the Harmony Program, as soon as I have it I will send it to you, regardless of its state. Even if it I can't complete it, you'll need it to stop Luna. It was able to bind her once, and it should be able to do it again, even with your levels of power compared to mine."
"Thank you, Celestia," Twilight said. "I promise, we'll find a way to get your sister back." Celestia smiled and lowered her head to nuzzle Twilight's cheek.
"Thank you, my student. If anyone could find a way, I'm sure it would be you," she said. "And, though I cannot aid you in the field, I have not been idle here. I have prepared something I believe will be quite useful for your final trial." Celestia pressed a button on her control panel, and four panels in the ceiling slid apart. Twilight turned and looked up at a platform descended from the ceiling, mechanical claws and wires holding a construct in place. "I began work on this when I realized it was Luna we were facing." Twilight's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she saw what the platform held.
"Holy guacamole…" Spike whispered.
"The body is reinforced armor plating with shielding spells and shock systems to cushion impacts and disperse magical attacks. The front hooves have a back-up generator to increase your Multitool's energy reserves. The rear hooves contain low-power rocket thrusters that will allow you to slow your descent from a fall, or to provide a boost to the force of your jumps. The helmet contains a power crystal that can absorb energy from your horn, and after a brief charging period will divert it back when you attack to increase the power output of your concussive blasts."
Twilight stared dumbly, one thought crossing her mind over and over as Celestia rattled off the capabilities of the device. She voiced it. "It's mine?"
"Yes." Celestia turned back to her and nodded. "There's no telling what Luna has in store for you, so I want to make you as ready as I can." She gave Twilight a sympathetic look and spoke in a lower, more humble tone. "I understand your reluctance to fight, and I regret that the trials you have endured have transformed you into what you have become. But now, even my most elite guard ponies do not have the variety of weaponry you do, or the experience to use them. And I do not trust Luna to not attack Canterlot again, if she does they will need my aid here."
"I must ask for your forgiveness, Twilight. I must also ask you to finish this mission. To fight my sister, and stop her before she plunges Equestria into darkness. Please, do not make this decision lightly. Luna is an alicorn like myself and more powerful than any foe you will have faced thus far. I have no idea what you will find when you meet her, and there is no telling what other allies and creatures she has marshalled to her side." Celestia looked back at the construct before them. "If you go, Twilight, I cannot promise that you will return."
Twilight stared at the devices in front of her blankly, thinking over all that Celestia had told her, and all that she had been through up to this point. She turned to her mentor.
"Are you sure they fit?"
Celestia smiled, and Twilight returned it. Celestia's horn lit up in an aura of magic, and the devices before her lit up in the same glow.
"Shall we find out?"
Twilight simply nodded.
"Quantum Drive, prepare teleportation to Ponyville immediately."
Quantum Drive perked up at the voice from behind him and began punching buttons on his control panel.
"Sure, sure, missy, keep your saddle on," he replied. He saw a form pass him to step on the teleport pads, and looked up. His eyes widened. "Whoa nelly…" Twilight Sparkle turned on the teleport pad, smiling proudly.
Shining steel boots encased her three biological hooves, light gleaming off them. The steel was a deep purple, between her mane and her coat in tone, with accenting lines and armored portions of the boots a darker color. A matching purple saddle was around her torso, the chest and sides reinforced with armored plating and ringed with round violet lights. Stylized etchings of two folded wings emblazoned the sides. A streamlined purple helmet rested on her head, her horn emerging above a shining pink crystal in the shape of her cutie mark. Her mane streamed out the back, the tips of the hairs brushing the top of her saddle.
Twilight unicorn gave Quantum Drive a knowing look. "Something wrong, Quantum?" He grinned and returned to his instruments.
"No, missy, Nothin' at all," he replied.
Twilight looked over herself. Her fears and hesitations about fighting and having to face the threat that endangered Equestria had long faded, and her determination to end the threat was now as reinforced and strong as the armor covering her body. For the first time since she had set out on a simple errand from her mentor to investigate a backwater little town, she felt ready for anything that might come at her. Even if an insane alicorn princess from a thousand years ago was awaiting her at her destination.
"Coordinates locked in. Ready?" Quantum Drive asked. Twilight looked up at him and nodded. The teleporter pad lit up, and Twilight closed her eyes as the system sent her streaming across Equestria at the speed of light.
It was time to return to Ponyville.
UPGRADE ACQUIRED – ALICORN ARMOR
ON-BOARD SYSTEMS UPDATED – CHARGE SHOT, THRUSTER BOOTS, DEFENSE +50%, WEAPON ENERGY +100%