Chapter 30A: Not In Hatred, But In Anger, Forged

The howling, roaring keen echoed throughout Canterlot, and even travelled beyond Shining Armour’s protective shield. So deep was the sense of grief within the sound that everypony stopped what they were doing, stood to attention, and listened in full respect.

Everypony save one, who raced along the corridors and streets, flying unerringly toward the source of the cry, with only one thought in her mind. It only took her a minute and forty-three second, but Fluttershy felt like that was more than a minute too long. She found Snowbelle lying on the ground, her wings limp at her sides, and most strikingly, surrounded by a pile of her crystalline tears.

Fluttershy immediately scooped the Dragon up in her forehooves and wrapped her own wings all around her. The Dragon was not even bothering with her size-changing or illusion magic, instead lying there at her natural size, which was close to a third Fluttershy’s own size.“It’s okay,” Fluttershy said soothingly, “let it all out. I’ll be here to listen once you’re ready to talk.”

Snowbelle let loose with another round of tears, but now she was completely unrestrained, and the howling quality faded. Like most of the other ponies around Gearhead and Snowbelle, Fluttershy often forgot that Snowbelle was just a baby because she could act based on mature knowledge, but then this was knowledge taken from Gearhead through their unique link. Snowbelle ought to be allowed to act like a child, and not have adult concerns, like whether or not her own father had healthy relationships.

The revelation made Fluttershy feel ashamed of her fears and selfishness, and she felt a knot rise in her own throat. Soon she, too, was crying. She felt Snowbelle startle, and then the little Dragon was wrapping her own wings around Fluttershy. I’m doing it again, Fluttershy thought, but she melted into the ring of mutual comfort.

Once Dragon and Pegasus did not have any tears left to shed, Snowbelle drew back a bit, and Fluttershy looked at her sitting in her lap not even a wing’s span away. “I’m sorry it took so long, and so much sadness for me to come back,” Fluttershy said, wiping Snowbelle’s face with a gentle hoof.

“It is okay,” Snowbelle said, her first words to anyone since that confrontation. “We cannot all be super-smart all of the time.”

“What happened? Why were you crying so deeply?”

“Mommy... she is dead.”

Fluttershy was stunned. Of course a child would feel so much grief at the passing of a parent. Even never having met her, except as an egg, Snowbelle would be sad!

“Ah, but Daddy is... that is, Father is alive.”

“You can call him ‘Daddy’ if you want,” Fluttershy said, smiling reassuringly. She berated herself for being so slow in responding that Snowbelle would mistake it as concern for Gearhead. Not that Fluttershy wasn’t concerned for him. In fact, she was starting to get anxious for him, wondering what kind of threat could kill a Dragon.

“Mommy passed a whole bunch of stuff to me,” Snowbelle said, bringing Fluttershy back to the present. “Even her sadness that she won’t be able to take care of me anymore. But Daddy took away all of the anger, into himself.”

“What does that mean?”

“I was starting to feel angry at the ones who killed Mommy, but now I can only feel sad that she’s gone. I don’t have any anger, because Daddy took it. Now he has it all.”

“Then we’ll have to help him, so he doesn’t end up hurting himself,” Fluttershy said, softly patting Snowbelle.

“Okay,” the little Dragon said.

“By the way, what are these?” Fluttershy lifted up a whole hoof of the crystal tears for Snowbelle to see.

“Uh... eh-heh. It might be a really good idea to hide those away,” Snowbelle said.

“Why?”

“Because they are really valuable,” Snowbelle said, “Dragon’s Tears,” she said softly. “I messed up.”

Fluttershy blinked, then they started to gather up all the tiny crystals with their wings and hooves. There were so many, Snowbelle could not fit them all into her bags!

Gearhead flew quickly back to the Great Hall, where the King was stretching and twisting, testing to see how he had healed up. “Oh, so you’re back.” The Goblin registered the Earth Pony’s expression, and sat down heavily. “More bad news, huh?” He took the two halves of his sword and lay them across his lap. “So what now?”

“We cannot ever recover the dead,” Gearhead said softly, “but we can do our utmost to prevent more deaths.” He stared across, intensely, at the Goblin. “If you are in, Your Majesty, then I might have the beginnings of a plan.”

“I,” the Goblin said, “am a king without a kingdom, my people all gone and my stores and weapons destroyed. But if you wish you may simply call me ‘King,’ for I have long since forgotten my original name.”

When King said ‘weapons,’ Gearhead grasped the two parts of the greatsword in his Wind Magic, and sent one of the Ice Gems into the middle. He then touched his unshod forehooves together, and worked his Geomancy over the halves to make them into a single sword again. But thinner, with a purer, more intense light this time. “Let us try to arrange it so you have the time to tell me about that time later. For now, I do not know how much time we have. Will you hear me out?”

“For a chance at that big bug’s neck? Undoubtedly,” King said, standing straight.

“Then let us go over this: we must be swift, but careful. No more mistakes,”

“And no more unnecessary deaths,” King nodded.

On his return flight, Gearhead did not make any attempt at all at subtlety or stealth. Twin, overlapping rings of compressed particles highlighted his energy tail as he flew toward Canterlot Castle at full throttle, determined to make it back before any other misfortunes struck. It was bright, so he knew he had spent the entire night and then some investigating the caverns. He knew he would have to go back, to perform proper burials, when the time allowed for it.

Gearhead was concerned about what would happen with the shield as he approached it. He was prepared to slow down, but apparently it recognized him this time, and opened up a port hole so his quick passage would not affect its stability. Gearhead checked the sun again. At this time, everypony should be in the Throne Room for the rehearsal. Gearhead adjusted course, and picked up his pace.

Not yet in normal visual range, Gearhead lined himself up so he could see through the open columns and grand windows. Using the zoom function on his glasses again, he was able to see far enough to pick out individual forms, and wondered who might have been replaced by Changelings. Regardless of who it was, he would need solid evidence.

What greeted Gearhead was the curious sight of Twilight lying on the steps to the raised dais, clearly in distress. She had created a simple light construct of herself, and was playing with it, her purple magic aura clearly visible – the Engine’s system was able to identify her instantly from the library of signatures that Gearhead had loaded into it.

When the goggles showed an arrow to the left, Gearhead knew that his sensors were picking up another magical signature nearby, and zoomed out so he could spot the source. It was Cadence, but why was she approaching from the direction of the throne, and why was she so calm when Twilight was unhappy? Gearhead used Shift Focus, feeding the read-out through the onboard computer.

She is limned in green, so is this my proof? “Memory – Record!” Gearhead said over the wind, calling on the recording magic he had discovered in the prototype’s Ring-5. The Engines immediately responded by positioning themselves sideways, facing out. This meant Gearhead was flying far more slowly, but hopefully this ‘Cadenza’ would not try anything big yet.

Gearhead watched as ‘Cadenza’ approached Twilight, stepping on the construct Twilight and smashing it to pieces before it faded out. Twilight looked up at Cadenza, and said something. At this distance and speed, Gearhead could not hear what they were saying. An instant later, he realized he did not have to have heard anything: A brilliant green aura erupted around the Deceptive Cadence, and a matching green fire erupted from the stairs, but it only encircled Twilight without burning anything. The fire formed a ceiling above the younger mare, and then it seemed to smother her into the stairs before beginning to vanish. No sooner was that done did Cadenza walk off, her expression satisfied, and that green aura of hers quelled somewhat.

Gearhead continued to record as he flew in and landed on the steps near the spot where Cadenza had trapped Twilight to scan it. Fortunately the magic residue was still fresh. While the computer had started to identify Cadence based on visual evidence, it had been unable to do so based on her magical signature, and so it had discarded that possibility.

The library was organized in relation to Gearhead himself. The more distantly Gearhead knew a pony, the further down the entry was. To cut down on time, the system also started a cross-check based on more recent additions. So when it started to pull up readings from the signatures that the Changelings had left behind on their victims in the tunnels, the computer came up with six direct matches. One of them was King’s chest wound.

The more damning one was the Ice Dragoness’s fatal wound, and the matching rate was 100%, a complete match: the same Changeling who had killed Snowbelle’s mother was the one who had taken Cadence’s place and her life. Intellectually, Gearhead could understand clearing away enemies who sat on one of your flanks, but many among those the Changelings had killed would never have harmed them. For being responsible for so many deaths, regardless of how needless, Gearhead felt his fury burn steadily colder – he would never forgive her!

And he had the perfect plan for bringing the Changelings’ deception down around their ears... assuming that was a part of their anatomy.

At the wedding ceremony, Gearhead discovered that the Deceptive Cadence had decided to replace her replacement bridesmaids with the Elemental Six – minus Twilight, since the Changeling had sent her who-knew-where. He also discovered that nopony was asking where she was because, after Twilight had confronted Cadenza about her strange behaviour around her friends and Shining Armour, Cadenza had fled crying, and everypony went to console her after Armour had angrily told Twilight not come to the wedding.

That would have upset most ponies too much to attend, however Twilight could get obsessive about matters that bothered her. Gearhead felt she would have shown up anyway, just to see if her hunch could be confirmed. It surprised him that none of the others seemed to have concluded similarly.

While most of the others seemed to be entranced by the proceedings, and the Deceptive Cadence’s appearance, Gearhead noticed that Fluttershy kept glancing in his direction. Gearhead had taken up a position on the outside third row on the groom’s side of the pews, which also meant that Fluttershy did not have to turn her head much to be looking directly at him. He was wearing his formal blacks, but he also had his glasses down over his eyes, as though he needed them. The Engines were hidden underneath his longcoat, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

But Gearhead was certain that Fluttershy was still wondering what was going on with Snowbelle. Gearhead had keenly felt her grief, taken her anger so she would not have to deal with it, and after his return investigation, he had spoken to her about her heart-to-heart session with Fluttershy. And as part of Gearhead’s plans, already in motion, she was getting into position, rather than staying with Gearhead as part of the assembled congregation.

Gearhead suddenly had to turn his full attention to Princess Celestia, presiding over the ceremony, as he nearly missed his mark. “Excuse me, Your Highness,” Gearhead rose. “It is my understanding to be given that there may be something of some importance that you may have, in your eagerness, overlooked, which is relevant to this ceremony.”

“And what is that?” Princess Celestia asked, seeming perturbed at being interrupted, but clearly leaning on her patience.

“That we would join two individual and very different beings in the holy institute and societal contract of matrimony would require the deepest, most profound, and most basic of understandings between both beings involved,” Gearhead began. This was phase two of his plan, to stall for as long as possible, in the most verbose way, while Twilight was hopefully finding her way back, from wherever she had been sent.

As Gearhead continued to try to say nothing at all in as many words as possible, he scanned the room. Mentally he nodded whenever he found an ally on whom he knew he could count: Uncle Windwalker and Aunt Aerial together with Prism, Contrail, and Rook. Midnight and Nightstar Shadow, with Dusk and Dawn. Curiously, he did not see any representatives from his own family. Maybe they were dealing with an emergency on the farm.

Dash yawned.

“Can we get on with it?” Cadenza asked, irritation in her voice.

“I hold full faith in my students,” Princess Celestia said, “however in this case I may have to agree with you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”

The younger Alicorn nodded.

“Would you please get to your point?” Princess Celestia asked.

“If he has one,” Dash muttered.

“Rainbow!” Applejack elbowed her friend, but gently.

“Very well,” Gearhead said, striding up the side aisle and mounting the stairs. He moved so he was more in the center of the room. “But why should I tell you when I can show you?”

“Ooh, a wedding and a show!” Pinkie said.

“What do you mean?” Princess Celestia ignored Pinkie’s comment, and not for the first, or probably, the last time.

“A small technique, and nothing more,” Gearhead shook off his longcoat, and called on his Engines so the cones were pointed toward the ceiling. He then put his coat back on. “Memory – Playback!” He called, and then cones began to spin.

Turquoise particles flowed to coalesce above Gearhead. When they were focused enough, they resolved in a three dimensional picture that everypony could see, regardless of their viewing angle. At first only the particles’ colour was present, but then, as Gearhead continued to compress more into the picture, it gained colour, but always maintained a slight tint.

The picture showed the Throne Room from the outside, through the secondary tint of Gearhead’s glasses. In a moment the picture began to move, and played out the sequence that Gearhead had witnessed earlier, including the system’s tentative, and ultimately failed, identification of ‘Cadenza.’

“Is this what happened after we left?” Rarity asked in hushed tones.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy said, “now I feel bad about leaving her all alone.”

Then everypony in the room gasped, when Cadenza’s green aura flared, and she called up her magical fire to suppress Twilight, apparently into the same steps that the former was standing near at that very moment.

“Not as bad as I do now,” Dash said, while Princess Celestia expression suddenly became dazed.

“Just what in the hay happened?” Applejack demanded.

“That is what I would like to know,” Princess Celestia said, as the recording continued with Gearhead’s scan of the stairs.

“What happened,” Gearhead said, “is that this individual standing before us all succeeded in isolating Twilight Sparkle from her friends and loved ones. She was completely discredited because that being there decided that Twilight was the only threat against her plan.

“But that is not the worst of her crimes on the road to this particular action: she also had her forces completely slaughter two of Equestria’s allies right in Canterlot’s own backyard, and just to be certain the rear flank was clear, she even killed an ailing, friendly Dragon.”

“’Ailing?’ As in she was going to die anyway?” Cadenza sneered.

“Perhaps, eventually, but not yet. But your biggest mistake was in not seeing all of the connections. Certainly, you removed Princess Cadence’s and Shining Armour’s best friends from the occasion, because they would have known that you are not behaving as she would. And you removed Twilight Sparkle successfully. But you caused great grief to a Dragon’s daughter.”

Taking her cue, Snowbelle unleashed a sharp blast of snow and ice from her spot on the ceiling, aimed at the Deceptive Cadence. Cadenza had to raise a defensive shield and angle it above herself to protect herself from freezing.

“Big mistake,” Gearhead said quietly, and his cores snapped into the forward position, unleashing twin spirals of twisting turquoise.

“Is that so?” Cadenza grinned, still holding up her shield, as Shining Armour leaped to her defence. He put an arc of his shield up, and it successfully fended off Gearhead’s spirals.

But he was ready for that too, charging in with his Engines at full throttle. “I will forgive you for forgetting that I know how to defeat your shields,” Gearhead said, the Geargem Dagger glowing orange as he flicked his tail to swing it, “since you are not yet yourself.” Since he was already past Armour, and his cores were already facing back at him, Gearhead simply repeated the spiral technique. The particles overran and flowed through the Unicorn stallion, pushing out something that was shaped like him, glowing green, and shattered it. Shining Armour stumbled, and turned, breathing hard.

It would take a little longer before Gearhead could use his Purifying Spirals again, so he signalled for Snowbelle to fly a short distance to safety.

“I have to thank you,” Cadenza said, “for putting an end to this ruse. It was tiring, being so very sweet all the time, so I guess I started to slip. Even so, Twilight Sparkle was the only one who suspected, and so, it’s a case of ‘too little too late.’” Green flames erupted from all around the false Alicorn, making her black and green, with strange holes in her legs, a twisted horn, glowing green eyes, and insectile wings. Dazed amazement turned to panic, and ponies began to run from the room. Prism Flight took off to try to coral them.

“I am Queen Chrysalis, and it is my duty to ensure my children are all sufficiently fed. Unfortunately for all of you, there isn’t a place in the world more filled with the love we consume than Equestria. Now that I’ve absorbed so much of Shining Armour’s love for Cadence, he no longer possesses the strength to reinforce that vaunted shield of his.”

While Gearhead kept his eyes on Chrysalis, he saw Princess Celestia look to her captain. “It’s true,” Armour gasped. “I don’t have the power anymore.”

“My Changelings are chipping away at it, even now. And when they break through, nothing will stop them from feeding to their contentment.”

“I have my doubts,” Gearhead said. “After all, I have more than a few allies of my own. One of them has arrived to chip away at your ‘children’ chipping away at Armour’s shield.”

“You’re bluffing,”

“But I am not,” Princess Celestia said, stepping forward. “Now that you have foolishly revealed your true self and your intentions, I can protect my ponies from you myself!” Princess Celestia launched into the air, and launched a blast from a forty-five degree angle at Chrysalis. Gearhead thought this was an odd angle to pick, as the Changeling Queen launched her own direct counter-blast.

Yes, very odd, he thought as he flew to intercept the blast before it could collide with the Princess. Gearhead spun laterally, his cores once again in their forward position, but this time deploying swirling particle shields. They delayed Chrysalis’s blast long enough for Gearhead to knock Princess Celestia out of the way. He looked at the pockmark that the blast made, still smoking, in the ceiling. “That would have hurt,” he said softly.

Dash and the others ran to Princess Celestia’s side. “What should we do?” The speedster asked, clearly looking for an order.

“You must get the Elements of Harmony and use them to defeat Queen Chrysalis,” Princess Celestia said as Applejack and Pinkie helped her back up to her hooves.

“In Canterlot Tower?” Gearhead asked. “Past the lock only you or Discord can open?”

“And without Twilight?” Pinkie added.

“My mistake,” Princess Celestia said. “It seems I haven’t been thinking clearly for quite some time.”

“I suspected you were being influenced as well,” Gearhead said, “but I did not have any proof at the time.”

“And now?”

“The proof is before us,”

“I am sorry, my little ponies. She had us all fooled.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

“You must find the other citizens of Canterlot and keep them safe from the Changeling army,” Princess Celestia said to Dash and the others.

“What about you?” Dash asked.

“I will try again. Surely Chrysalis cannot be so strong a second time.”

“I’m ready whenever you are, Princess.”

“You know,” Gearhead said, “I have quite the substantial amount of anger built up. This seems to be the perfect opportunity to expend it. If the two of you do not mind, I would like to take care of this battle.”

“Wait, Gearhead! You must be careful when using such an emotion.”

“I know, and that is why it is ‘anger’ and not ‘hate.’ Furthermore, I control it, and not the other way around.”

“You think that’ll help you to defeat me when I’m more powerful than Princess Celestia herself?” Chrysalis laughed.

“Maybe my Twin Engine will give me the edge I need, but then I do not need to defeat you myself.”

“What’s that?”

“I shall let you figure it out, if you can.”

“You impudent--!”

“Be careful, Gearhead!”

“’Careful’ is not the word – Cantus Bellax, plenum potestatem!” Gearhead’s magic aura blossomed to a degree that nopony else had ever seen before, even covering three meters all around him, before he focused it, wrapping it tightly around himself like a second skin. He transferred his Geargem Dagger to his mouth, and then launched a flying charge at Chrysalis, weaving so he would not get caught by her blasts. Sword clashed against horn, and the combatants pushed each other away to try again.

Clad in blue and gold heavy plate armour, King spun and jumped among the Changelings who were using short charges to put stress on Shining Armour’s shield. He had gotten to the top of the dome using a large, folding glider that Gearhead had made for him using his Geomancy and the contents of a couple Goblin houses. Now that he was able to smash the Changelings to pieces with his sword or gauntlets or boots, King was more than happy to have paid the cost of a few houses – especially since nobody was around to use that material but him anymore.

King liked this part of Gearhead’s plan, since it was so simple and its effectiveness depended mostly on his rage against the Changelings. And whether he used the leading or trailing edges, the flat of the blade, the guard, or the pommel to deliver a blow, a Changeling usually went flying at least a little, diverted from its appointed task of breaking the barrier. And when a Changeling noticed King in time to fight, the latter enjoyed overpowering the soldier with sheer force and a one-two-three right past its defences.

The feel of battle, the sensations of the sun and the wind of the surface world – they brought back memories long buried, from a time before King could call himself a ruler. There was a time when he had lived under the sun and the moon and the sky, serving as a warrior, blooded in an old battle, an honoured and honourable veteran. The memories mixed with his current feelings of failure as the Goblin King, and his rage against the enemies who had slaughtered his people.

King brought his greatsword back, around his body, and roared as he swung it in a great horizontal arc. Besides the Changelings that were caught directly in the slash and thrown from their place, knocking other Changelings away in the process, the sword unleashed a great red swath of energy that marked even more enemies.

The surviving Changelings took notice, and decided that this interloper was a threat to their queen’s plan. “Today is a good day,” King growled, shifting to a two-handed grip. “Bring it on!”

From all around him, the Changelings charged, but King answered with his own charge, at the Changelings directly ahead of him. He slashed once, to the side, with his full strength, and then released his grip on his weapon with his left hand. With his right hand, he followed through with the swing into a full arc, slow at first, but then gathering speed as he pivoted and put his hips into the move. He spun, catching the soldiers in a twister of steel teeth.

Dash looked down, away from the sky and the roar that had distracted her. Princess Celestia had personally tasked her and her friends with finding everypony gathered in Canterlot for the wedding, and keeping them safe, and Dash was not going to fail her. Of course, she didn’t like leaving Gearhead and the Princess to deal with Chrysalis on their own – not any more than she liked not knowing where Twilight was – but what could Dash do when they didn’t have a clue about where that imposter had sent their friend?

They crossed the open atrium, and Rarity used her magic to throw the next pair of great doors wide open. Dash had to put on the airbrakes hard, because there, also skidding to a stop, were Twilight and somepony who looked like a very dishevelled and tired Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

“Are you real, or a --?” Twilight cut off Pinkie’s question, tackling the nearest of them, Applejack, in a hug.

“Thank Celestia! I was beginning to think we’d never find you,”

“She’s real,” Rarity and Dash said.

“Oh my,” Cadenza and Fluttershy both said.

“By the way, we’ve met your doppelganger in the Throne Room,” Dash said.

“Changelings and Doppelgangers are completely different things,”

“Wait, are you an egghead just like Twilight?”

“You have that backwards, Rainbow,” Twilight said, “I’m an ‘egghead’ just like her. But how are things in there? Where’s Princess Celestia?”

“And Shining Armour?!”

“The Princess asked us to go find everypony who came for the wedding to keep them safe,” Dash said.

“We left Gearhead fighting Chrysalis, the Changelings’ leader. Princess Celestia and Shining Armour were still in the room, but Gearhead did something to Shining that seems to of snapped him out of Chrysalis’ control,” Applejack said, while Twilight helped her back up.

“Changelings feed off of one’s love for another,” the pink princess said. “Shining probably doesn’t have the strength to cast many spells at this point. I’m Cadence, by the way. Twilight’s old foalsitter.”

“And a Princess,” Rarity added.

“Yes, that too.”

“No, my brother will have even less strength because he’s been putting so much into the shield surrounding the city. Now, when it actually needs to keep something out, it’ll be low on power and brittle.”

“We have to get everypony to safety before it breaks!” Fluttershy said softly.

“But we also have to get back to the Princess and Shining Armour and Gearhead,” Pinkie said.

“First thing’s first,” Cadence said. “Lets head into the city and gather up the citizens. We can tell them to head for one of the palace’s inner chambers, where we can set up a secure zone. Once everypony’s there, we won’t have to worry about them getting caught by the Changeling soldiers, and being used as fast food.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Applejack said.

“So lets get a move on,” Dash said, taking the lead.

To say that Chrysalis was able to keep up with Gearhead’s speed and power would not be an accurate analysis of their strengths. True, the Queen of the Changelings still possessed a significant power boost from Shining Armour’s and Princess Celestia’s love for Cadence, but Gearhead had the Twin Engines and boosts courtesy of Cantus Bellax, his Wind Magic, and the high state of his emotions.

What gave Chrysalis her advantage in this battle was that regardless of where in the Throne Room Gearhead managed to shift the battle, she always managed a counter-shift to reverse whatever advantage he might have gained. Worse, she only needed to threaten Princess Celestia, whom she could completely overwhelm, or Shining Armour, who was still trying to recover enough magic to reinforce his shield. When Chrysalis threatened either of Gearhead’s friends, he immediately had to move into a blocking position or force Chrysalis into an angle where her line of sight on them was completely blocked. And that brought him well within her firing range.

Gearhead skidded to a stop in mid-air, and deployed particles into a double-braided field around him. Then he put the cores into their forward position, and deployed the swirling Particle Wall. He intertwined both fields with his normal magical defensive shield, and finished off by bracing himself with his sword just an instant before Chrysalis’s blast hit.

Any one of Gearhead’s defensive measures would have been easily swept aside and shattered. Even paired, they would have likely offered little resistance. Winds and magic energy rippled throughout the room, and the ponies, including Chrysalis, shielded their faces, but Gearhead, able to look through his glasses, simply kept his eyes on Chrysalis and his instrumentation. I cannot let her keep, or regain, the initiative.

“Quattuor Magnae Spiritus. Evoco ex vacuo et percutiam me inimucus. Fulgor Securis!” Gearhead had discovered that because his Activation Key called on the Four Spirits, he did not have to call on another elemental spirit separately in the incantation phase of his spell. Still, even with a short incantation like this one, there was plenty of opportunity for Chrysalis to dodge. That was why, as he unleashed Lightning Axe, he thought to follow it up with another spell even as he charged at her directly.

“Quattuor Magnae Spiritus. Consinnant sagittas meas complebo. Percusserit me inimicus. Magica Sagitta centum nonaginta novem Lucis!” Gearhead followed the Light Arrows, and launched into yet another incantation as soon as he finished the previous one: “Quattuor Magnae Spiritus. Maturarent procella Ventis Austrinos. Torquent Aquae Aquilonis gelida. Congregate, et efficiamini mea ensis. Iovem Tempestas!”

Each spell forced Chrysalis to back off a bit more in order to avoid taking the brunt of the attack. She avoided Lightning Axe completely, however she could not avoid all one hundred and ninety-nine Light Arrows. Nor did she have to, considering she also possessed her own defensive shield, just as most mages did. She looked like she might have shrugged off the small stings from the Arrows if not for the immediate follow-up with Jove’s Tempest, a high-level, mid-tier Lightning Spell. Gearhead noticed Chrysalis register that he was not stopping when he started his third incantation, and she started charging a spell of her own.

The massive, whirling magical blast that was Jove’s Tempest should have stopped Chrysalis’s casting, even if she had been able to avoid its full effects, which she was not able to do: Gearhead had managed to place her squarely in the center of the spell’s target zone with his Light Arrows, and even as she tried to escape the forward edge of the blast, its winds simply sucked her back in. Even when her shield shattered and the blast dissipated, however, she still managed to keep her charge going.

Gearhead continued to press his attack, starting with a charge directly at Chrysalis. He even had chosen his spell before he realized that she was launching her spell first. Even as he stopped his casting and pulled back, he realized that the resulting blast would overwhelm his shields this time. He landed on the floor, all four hooves solidly planted, as he realized that he only had one technique that could possibly take this sort of punishment.

And he had not wanted to use it, if he could avoid it. But then again, he had designed the Twin Engine to provide enough power to challenge Discord. Who would have guessed that as things stood, it would be insufficient against somepony like Chrysalis? When you have no choice, Gearhead thought, watching as the massive green blast closed the distance between him and Chrysalis. No, this is something I must choose!

“Quattuor Magnae Spiritus, da me Forma Agilis” The four petals rose around Geahead, enveloping him just before the blast could reach him. Any vibrations from the impact faded from his consciousness as bones and muscles reformed, his coat vanished and his tail and mane became one piece on his head. His ears shrank to nubs and moved lower down, and the temples on his glasses changed to accommodate them. Durable shoes, black pants, a black undershirt. His black formals changed a little, and the horseshoes that used to be on his forehooves became a pair of gloves for his pentadigital hands, the fingers of which he curled around the now-cylindrical handle of his sword.

The tops of the flowered shell seemed to wilt down and part slightly, showing Gearhead bright green energy still flowing over his head. He waited a little longer, and then launched himself at top speed from the cocoon. As he cleared its protection, the cocoon lost its strength and got blown away.

“So much for your champion,” Chrysalis said.

“Shall I show you,” Gearhead said, flying near the ceiling, “what these are for?” He took up his bladecasters in both hands, switching the Geargem Dagger onto one of the actuator arms so he could still make use of it, if the opportunity presented itself.

“What... are you?”

“Who knows?” Gearhead launched himself at Chrysalis at full speed, wrapping his arms around the front of his body so his blades came up just behind his cores. Chrysalis read the move well enough that she got her horn, and a trident she had been hiding, into line to accept the double-cross slash, however the high output of particles pushed her back a meter and a half.

Gearhead spun to face her as he came about, but instead of making another charging attack, he opened fire with his bladecasters’ gun mode. As Gearhead had found out through use of his Magic Arrows, a straight energy beam was too straightforward, and easily blocked. The casters’ second shooting mode, however, fired from above and below the blade at the same time, creating crescents of energy that could be enlarged if Gearhead put more particles into each shot. No doubt seeing these rain down on oneself as rapid fire could be confusing.

While Chrysalis was shielding herself from the 'deadly' rain, Gearhead decided to combine this tactic with another one. “Quattuor Magnae Spiritus. Veni Spiritus Fulgoratio centum nonaginta novum. Stagnet et integrare in mea ensis.” He had the actuator move the Geargem Dagger close to the swirling Light energy so it could be absorbed while he continued to fire on Chrysalis. Then he charged at her, still firing.

Just three meters away from Chrysalis, Gearhead went from shooting mode to sword mode, and used a double-thrust with both blades past his left shoulder so the points would impact Chrysalis’s shield close to each other. The cracks that had been appearing in the new shield spread, and then it shattered as Gearhead continued to move closer. Gearhead let go with his right hand and reached back to take hold of the Geargem Dagger, all the while pulling the other bladecaster back as though for another swing. His right arm came over and down, and he shouted “Emissa!” as his swing connected. And then he was flying past Chrysalis.

Gearhead kept low to the floor, and when the sensors detected his discarded bladecaster nearby, it sent the free actuator to recover it. As he skidded to a halt, he looked over his shoulder to see how effective his attack had been.

Chrysalis stood, still facing the other direction, seized in a series of small spasms that shot throughout her body. She tossed the remaining half of her trident to the floor, disgusted, and turned, pure hatred in her eyes. “Did you really just zap me? Me, the Queen of the Changelings?”

“That was not quite so effective as I thought it would be,” Gearhead said.

“You thought you could defeat me with a glorified bug zapper? You seem to have misunderstood the nature of my kind, and that will cost you. Unless you have more surprises in store for me. Oh, but I don’t think you’ll have much more time for those: it shouldn’t be long now before that shield shatters, and my children begin to feed. I wonder how your dear friends will fare against those numbers?”

Gearhead muttered a curse under his breath: he knew Chrysalis was right: Canterlot was not ready to deal with the Changeling soldiers. At the same time, he could not leave Princess Celestia and Shining Armour at her not-so-tender mercy. Fortunately, that was not a choice he had to make. “King, switch!” He called to a hole that had been blasted into the ceiling during the battle.

As the others looked on curiously, the call came back almost instantly: “Okay. Aim me!”

Gearhead returned his bladecasters to his back, and sheathed the Geargem Dagger as he launched toward the hole. King leaped right in, but the place he would land was completely empty, so his entry would not have much impact – until King and Gearhead clasped hands, and Gearhead spun the other before releasing him between Chrysalis and Princess Celestia, so the former had to skip back out of range.

King landed with a resounding THUMP! and drew the greatsword from his back in an exaggerated, slow gesture. Turquoise light reflected off the blade as the twin spiral snakes reached past King and enveloped Chrysalis for a few moments, and then Gearhead was gone.

Chrysalis grunted slightly as she straightened back up. “I was expecting more,” she muttered. She looked at her opponent. “You’re not as strong as he is, so what challenge are you?”

“I’m angrier than he is, so that ought to make up some of the difference. Also, I can’t fail to note that you’ll now be fighting with a handicap as well.”

“What?”

“No more little magic boosts for you, Queenie. That’s what old Gearhead up there told me was the side-effect of that there spiralling technique you just took. ‘Temporary immunity from all magic,’ was the way he put it. But I like my way better.”

“You look a little different, but I know you. You’re one of those creatures from the mountain. Yes, the one with the big sword. I remember.”

“It’s good to be remembered,”

“I remember leaving you to bleed out.”

“Unfortunately, I got found, and healed.”

“How considerate of you to come down from the mountain so I could finish the job,” Chrysalis sneered.

“I came down to take revenge for the kingdom you took from me,” King said.

“You’re not strong enough,”

“Yes, well, I started with your smaller bugs up on the shield.”

“What?!”

“Didn’t get them all, mind you, but I’m glad: now I get the chance Gearhead promised at you.”

“It didn’t look like he was trying to save me for you, though,” Chrysalis said.

“Then I guess I should thank you for forcing his hand. But only for that. For everything else you’ve done to me and mine, well, if I still had a kingdom I’d put you to death.” Princess Celestia looked panicked at the prospect, after all King was a large, well-muscled creature. “But I’m a visitor in another’s land. I will defer to the Princess as to what ‘justice’ is for her.”

“My thanks,” Princess Celestia said, bowing.

“Enough talk,” Chrysalis said. “Lets see how quickly I can kill you this time.”

“I was the Goblin Pony King of Canterlot Mountain’s Lower Chambers. You can call me ‘King.’ Ready,” he said, bringing his greatsword into a two-handed hold over his right shoulder, blade tilted slightly toward Chrysalis.

“Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, soon-to-be Queen of Equestria.” Chrysalis crouched into a battle stance, and charged her horn. “I hope you’re ready for me.”

“Here I come!” And they charged at each other. Next Chapter: 30B. Assault on Canterlot Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 11 Minutes