Chapter 30B: Assault on Canterlot

Gearhead dropped the amethyst disk into one of his vest pouches as he climbed. By enchanting it prior to his return, he had given King a way to get through Shining Armour’s shield without putting too much stress on it, however now the shield was too weak to allow even one more passage without shattering.

Gearhead could see them all around the shield that surrounded Canterlot: thousands upon thousands of soldier-caste Changelings. They kept ramming the shield, each impact lowering its integrity a little bit more. While Gearhead appreciated King’s efforts in disposing hundreds of the creatures, thus slowing their progress, he could see that with their numbers there was no way that just the one Goblin Pony was going to prevent the total invasion of Canterlot.

As the Engine’s computer attempted to calculate the enemy’s numbers, Gearhead thought to ask it to determine exactly how long it would be before they destroyed the shield. Meanwhile, he felt he had to do something to help the others evacuate the city’s population to some part of the palace that was still secure. He called up a schematic of Canterlot Castle and chose the largest room that stood at its heart – no windows, thick walls, and massive doors on each wall that could be secured. If Cadence or Luna was to guide the citizenry to one room, this would be the one.

Gearhead quickly casted a spell to amplify his voice so it would reach all of the ponies in the city. “Attention, citizens of Canterlot and wider Equestria,” he began. “This is Gearhead of Gearhead’s Gadgets speaking. In order to effectively counter the Changeling attack on Canterlot that is about to start, Princess Celestia has ordered that everyone is to be gathered and escorted to a secure location at the castle’s core. Please make your way there now. Security teams will be sweeping around for stragglers, however the more progress you make toward the castle the less time this will take, and the sooner we can begin the counterattack.

“To reiterate, to counter the Changeling attack on Canterlot we are all making our way to the center of the castle. Princess Celestia’s security teams will be sweeping through Canterlot to bring in the stragglers. Meet us in the castle as soon as possible, so we can start the counterattack. Good luck.”

Gearhead cancelled the spell, and looked around. Now then, what should I do about all of this? Some of the ponies below him, who had been running aimlessly around or staring up at the creatures attacking the shield, were already starting to make their way to safety. There might be some citizens closer to the barrier’s edge, and some who were unable to hear the announcement. Gearhead would have to help collect them, but first he had to help to protect them from being attacked.

The computer estimated the Changelings’ number as being at or near 100,000 even with those King had knocked out. Provided he had the time to complete the incantations, Gearhead might be able to knock out a whole swath of them with a big spell like Jove’s Tempest, but that was only likely to work once. He could also take out up to 199 (or 211 if he pushed himself) at a time with his Magic Arrows, although it was probably too much to hope for ‘one hit, one kill.’ This meant that he lacked the ability to cut down their numbers significantly enough that they might consider surrender as an option.

With one hundred twenty seconds on the clock before the shield fell, Gearhead had to think of something that would help to tip the scales in Canterlot’s favour. He thought back on every technique and spell of which he had the knowledge to use, and every trick he had built into the Twin Core that would help him fight harder and faster. He had to think of something before that shield failed!

Gearhead looked right up at the shield, and as he watched cracks form and begin to spiderweb toward each other, he remembered another time a shield had failed, and the accidental trick that had nearly rendered him a paraplegic. Well, would this not constitute poetic justice, using something I learned from the authentic Princess Cadence to defeat the deceptive Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’s army?

But he did not have a lot of time, and he could not make any mistakes. He started his first incantation, knowing perfectly well that the shield would fall in a specific way, and he knew exactly when it would. From a certain point of view, all he had to do was to be in the right place when it happened, and unleash his every salvo on time.

Gearhead ascended to the exact spot that he and his computer agreed would be ideal. He set the Geargem Dagger floating just in front of himself, and drew his bladecasters into firing position, each ready for a different target. As the clock counted down, Gearhead was so focused on his magic that he just barely felt, rather than saw, the cracks expanding to their maximum. As the cracks completed their formation, the computer predicted how each shard would fall.

There would, of course, still be corrections to be made in the actual moment, since there was no way all of the predictions could be correct – but Gearhead would still have an excellent idea of where and when to shoot in order to maximize the carnage on the enemy army. To that end, targeting reticules began to fill his HUD.

The countdown entered the last ten seconds, and then Gearhead, still in Agile Form, began to flex his fingers in final preparation. He swept his sensors for final changes and ran through the final words in the last incantation he could pull off before he really had to get started. And then—

Now!

“Discernere Ardendu!”

Twilight and Cadence hadn’t met many other ponies in the caverns below Canterlot, where Chrysalis had sent them. But they had found Lemony Gems and Diamond Rose, freeing the original bridesmaids from Chrysalis’s control as well as from their prison cells. Unfortunately, Cadence and Twilight had been in a hurry, so they had left the two other mares to find their own way out.

Twilight and Cadence had also discovered that Chrysalis had set Lyra, Minuette, and Twinklshine as guards, to try to prevent them from escaping from the tunnels. But Cadence had discovered the bridesmaids’ weakness (for the throwing of the traditional bouquet), and the two had made their way toward freedom – only to discover that Canterlot was running around in a general panic under the very prospect of being attacked.

All of that meant that carrying out Princess Celestia’s order to help the citizenry remain safe would be one of the greatest challenges the Elemental Six had ever faced. Yes, Prism Flight and some of the more disciplined Royal Guards were trying to help out, but general sentiment seemed to be ‘panic!’

Gearhead’s announcement helped, at least somewhat. Twilight wondered what had happened in his duel with Chrysalis, but since the large Goblin was no longer knocking Changelings off of her brother’s shield, Twilight guessed that the two of them had effectively changed places. Now that the citizens knew there was a plan in place, many of them had started making their way to the palace on their own, which meant that Twilight and her friends did not have to run quite so far for most of them.

Still, it was obvious that Shining’s shield was coming down, and once it did, they would have to deal with the massive army that had previously been on the other side. The friends were halfway to the city limits when the ground shook, and everypony looked up to see the shield falling in from the center, falling apart into smaller and smaller shards.

And, curiously, there were long strands of light energy bouncing between the shards. No, not ‘bouncing.’ They’re being reflected and refracted. They’re splitting and fusing multiple times, and being spread all along the edge where the energy shards are falling!

“Sweet Celestia!” Rarity said. “Have you ever seen anything like that before?”

“My Sonic Rainboom?”

“Okay, that’s close,” Pinkie allowed. “Is it just me, or is there a second round going off lower down?”

“Not just you, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “I see it too.”

“I see Gearhead,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, I see him too,” Cadence said. “Oh, so that’s what it is!”

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“Well, we were training and he threw everything at me and pretty much broke my shield. So I threw everything at him – and the shards ended up focusing everything! But what he’s doing isn’t focusing the energy of his magic, at least not all the time: he’s dispersing it along the outer line, for maximum proliferation.”

“You really are as much of an egghead as she is,” Dash said to Twilight.

“And proud of it,” Twilight said.

“Me too,” Cadence said. “I’m also proud that something I did by accident is helping us so much now.”

“I hate to break up the warm-fuzzies,” Applejack said, “but if we don’t get these folks into the castle soon we’ll have to deal with whatever Changelings get past Gearhead!”

“Looks like it’s time to see how much hard interference we can put up,” Dash said, slamming one hoof into the other.

“Oh, do be careful, Dashie!”

“Not this time, Fluttershy. ‘Cause now’s time for Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash!”

A streak blasted right past Dash, resolving into Rook as he slammed into three Changelings.

“Hope you don’t mind if we help,” Prism said, also charging in.

“You kidding? It’s appreciated!” Dash said.

“So lets show these guys how Pegasi fight,” Contrail said. “Sling up!”

“Oh, I’m gonna enjoy this,” Dash said, getting in behind Contrail. They sped up, and then a ribbon expanded over the stallion. Prism pushed her along it, until she got launched by it. There was a big BOOM! as Dash broke the first magi-sound barrier, creating a rainbow shockwave, but then, just as it seemed like the move might be done, it was followed by another – a Double Rainboom that knocked even more Changelings out of the sky!

Cadence, Twilight, Dusk, and Dawn added their magic to the effort, one of them always ready with a shield in case of incoming fire, or as they found out, the Changelings’ charging landing technique.

Soon there were so many Changelings on the ground or in the air that the friends did not have much of a choice except to fall back to the palace. None of them liked it, but they had to trust that most of the citizens had made it out okay. The ones that had not were hopefully holed up in buildings, and would be okay until they could retake Canterlot’s streets from the Changelings.

Again and again Chrysalis and King clashed, greatsword grinding against crooked horn before the weapons’ wielders forced each other apart. King was resorting to his strength and speed, holding back from using the energy wave attack he had discovered was useful against masses of enemies, like the soldiers attacking the shield. Chrysalis, on the other hand, had discovered that King could deflect her blasts with the flat of his blade, or cut them neatly in half. If he swung his sword quickly when he did so, the blast seemed to pop, not leaving any energy behind. If he swung slowly, however, he could dissect the blast and send the halves to either side of behind him. This was not a good idea whenever he was between Chrysalis and Princess Celestia or Shining Armour.

Many times since the battle with Chrysalis had begun, even when it had been Gearhead who had been fighting her, Princess Celestia and Shining had tried to make their way to the doors and escape from the Throne Room. Unfortunately, Chrysalis kept leaping out in front of them and forcing them back. Worse, she came very close to hitting them with powerful blasts several times, which would have injured them gravely.

Shining Armour was still not in any condition to fight, his magic at minimal levels and still recovering very slowly. He had come prepared for a wedding, not a war, and so he was dressed in his formal wear, without even the ceremonial sword the Captain of the Guard sometimes carried.

Princess Celestia was only a little better off, since her earlier attempts to sneak past Chrysalis’s defences had failed utterly. If not for a few desperate blocks by King, she would have been completely at Chrysalis’s mercy by now. It was far better for her that she simply support King with her magic, bolstering his abilities and healing him when necessary.

Suddenly the whole palace shook, putting a temporary halt to the fight. Once the tremors faded, everypony rushed to a window – they were too high up to simply jump to safety – and looked out. Shining Armour’s shield was in the final stages of falling apart, but there were black forms falling as well. Masses of them. The last traces of golden and white energy lanced about above the edges of the city, and a profusion of turquoise light marked where Gearhead was frantically moving to stay ahead of the enemy that remained. And elsewhere, the ponies in Canterlot rallied to fight a retreating battle.

“Bwa-ha-ha!” King laughed from his belly. “That has got to sting, but you’ve really got to hand it to that one for coming up with something like that!”

“What I’ll give him,” Chrysalis growled, “is the slowest, most painful death I can devise for what he’s done to my children!”

“This is why you should not have attacked Equestria,” Princess Celestia said.

“You think you have any say in the matter? First I’ll defeat this tub of lard –“

“That’s 'formerly-royal tub-of-lard' to you,”

“Then I’m going to stick you into a cocoon and save your torture for later,” Chrysalis sneered at Princess Celestia. “Then I’ll go and kill that Earth Pony personally, and make all his little friends watch while I do it. Or maybe, just maybe, I’ll let my husband do it.”

“I’m not marrying you,”

“You don’t have a choice,” Chrysalis had to leap away, because at that moment King came in with a charging thrust.

“You don’t have time for any of that right now,” he said.

“Yes, first I deal with you,” Chrysalis said, and the fight was back on.

Eighty thousand. That was how many soldiers the computer calculated were left after Gearhead’s brilliant plan. He could not even claim to have taken out the full 20,000 himself, not when many of them were the result of unplanned collisions between fellow-soldiers. Still, that was not something about which he felt ready to complain: He did not have to fight all 80,000 never mind doing so at once, when they were spreading out through all of Canterlot. Also, the idea had never been to kill, or otherwise dispose of, all of Chrysalis’s forces: Canterlot’s forces were engaged in a retreating action in order to put themselves into a situation that would be more ideal for defensive actions.

Gearhead did not have the time or space in which to complain, not when he had Changelings behind him in the air, and some already in the streets below him. They were still so thick around him that he merely had to fire or swing a bladecaster to hit a target. Unfortunately, some of them were tougher than the ones he had already knocked out. Fortunately, he could fire more than one shot very quickly. The availability of so many targets simply made Gearhead wish that he could call upon his old stabilizer’s Railgun Mode.

Gearhead went into a mid-air flip, performing a double-cross slash to take out four close-flying Changelings at once. He switched to gun mode, and lay down suppressive fire all around himself while he continued to fly in a backward, counter-clockwise arc. Near the end of that movement, he leaned forward and shot straight ahead, again switching to sword mode so he could slash the enemies he passed in rapid succession, spinning to enhance the power of each swing.

Eighty thousand had been the count just after his 'Discriminate Firing' tactic, but nothing said that Gearhead had to retreat with the full measure of soldiers still out there. He soon noticed that the Elemental Six (plus Cadence), Prism Flight, Dusk and Dawn, and many of the guards and regular citizens who had joined them were having similar thoughts. He was grateful for the support, but knew they had to pull back all the same.

When the last of the defending guards finally pulled the great doors to the palace closed and jammed it to stay that way unless broken down, there were far more Changelings lying, twitching or otherwise, in the streets of Canterlot. Nopony was interested in making this an easy conquest. One might even say they wanted their city back!

As large as the Great Central Hall was, there was hardly any space by which the ponies moved between groups to attend to those who needed help. Wing Commander Windwalker had taken it upon himself to divide the refugees into smaller groups, and then arrange them into clusters of defensible circular formations. He had also placed those who needed medical or other care in the center of the room.

During the retreat, Windwalker had commanded the City and Royal Guards to grab as much usable food and water as they could. These provisions were stacked in each corner of the room. Kibitz and Twilight Sparkle went through everything to catalogue what they had, so they could ration everything and still manage to keep as many ponies as possible happy – an endeavour made somewhat easier when Pinkie Pie did her best to entertain them. She even had Octavia Melody’s band, and Vinyl Scratch, pitching in.

Occasionally, of course, there were still cries from the younger foals, however that could not be avoided when dealing with cranky ponies whose day had been thrown wildly off course. Despite the provisions, everypony was upset, hungry, and under a considerable amount of stress thanks to the invasion, and not knowing who had not made it out safely.

Windwalker sent out small teams of three or four to bring back some information about the situation outside. He made sure the teams knew never to lose sight of any of their members, to avoid the possibility that a Changeling could sneak an agent in by replacing one of them. Just in case, each reconnaissance shift, consisting of four teams, included one mage with the Shift Focus ability, with which they could easily spot a Changelings’s aura.

It was quickly obvious to the teams on recon that the Changelings operated under a strict military model, with regular patrols and patrol routes as they looked for citizens who had been left behind. There were also guard teams posted at intervals down the halls to try to keep the refugees contained, however Windwalker’s scouts were fast and quiet, moving mostly undetected.

Snowbelle was especially effective, as long as she was not too tired to go out. She took on the aspect of a small dirty-brown bird and infiltrated right to the Throne Room to watch the continuing fight between Chrysalis and King. When the Dragon got too tired to keep going, Luna relieved her using her powers as the Dreamwalker to get past the Changelings without raising an alarm.

The pace of the fight between Chrysalis and King had slowed significantly, with the combatants taking longer breaks where they just sat or lay glaring at each other across the room. King always stuck his greatsword in the ground between them like a flag, and he was especially wary when Changeling soldiers started to come into the Throne Room as well. Fortunately, Chrysalis made it clear that they were not to touch King, Princess Celestia, or Shining Armour until Chrysalis was done with King: this was a duel, and subversive as the Changeling methods were, the Queen was not about to leave her enemies any room for complaint when she had them all captured.

Gearhead took the opportunity to catch up on some of the sleep he had lost exploring the Caverns. At first he was reluctant to do so, thinking that what he had seen would haunt his dreams, but he was so exhausted that he slept deeply the instant he lay down. He knew it was more important that he recover some of his lost energy and wits, so he did not mess up at a crucial moment during the next action. He also knew that he did not know when he would get the opportunity to sleep again, so he took it while he could.

Gearhead was not the only one to rest: most of the others did as well, although there were always enough guards awake to defend everypony else if necessary. There was also always one mage awake, in case the Changelings tried to sneak an agent in when everypony else was sleeping.

In the Throne Room, Princess Celestia discretely marked the hours, and then when it was time, Luna lowered the moon, and Princess Celestia raised the sun. The night had passed, and as Chrysalis blinked her eyes clear, she realized that her people held Canterlot, despite there being a cell of resistance somewhere in the castle.

She also realized that it was true that Celestia raised the sun, and wondered if it was possible for her to do it. “Shall we continue where we left off?” Chrysalis got up.

“If you want,” King said, likewise standing and drawing his sword out of the ground. Neither had truly slept, weary of attack.

Chrysalis sucked in a long breath. “Yes,” she said in a low voice, “lets finish this. And no more handicaps.”

“No, not my power,” Shining Armour said, as he felt his strength being sapped: Chrysalis’s ability to feed on Love was back, and just being in the same room was enough for her to feed on Armour’s and Princess Celestia’s love for Cadence, even when she was not present.

“You got it,” King flipped his sword over his hand, then under his wrist. He extended all the way to the left, then to the right as he stretched before bringing his weapon back into a ready position past his right shoulder.

“Bring it, then,”

“Take this!” King charged, starting with a stab that was aimed at a diagonal toward Chrysalis’s left forehoof. Although she was surprised by his speed, Chrysalis still leaped into a loop and evaded the blow. King reversed his grip and swung upward, falling into a fast rhythm as he continued to fight. He stepped, pivoting, and swung one-handed before spinning while he retracted to follow up with a series of tight diagonal swings and parallel stabs.

“Chrysalis has her power back,” Gearhead said, rising.

“What do we do?” Fluttershy asked from his side.

<Do you want me to go relieve Princess Luna?>

<Not yet,>

“We need to either split our forces so we can defend these folks from a counterattack, or put all of our kick into a single offensive,” Windwalker said.

“So then you have a plan?” Spitfire asked.

“We can either hit all the halls at once, or concentrate everything on just one and make a dash for the Throne Room. But then we’ll have to watch our flanks for counters.”

“I’m not about to leave all these citizens undefended,” Spitfire said.

“Agreed. So we split our forces, and use a single thrust to quickly achieve the Throne Room so we can relieve King.”

“But do we have enough to get through?”

“We do if we can avoid getting bogged down,” Nightstar said. “But we’ll need a strategy to sting the enemy so they can’t unify properly.”

“Won’t that be tricky?” Twilight asked.

“Of course, but then ‘tricky’ is what we do. Dusk. Dawn. How are you on portals?”

“Ready to go, Father,” Dusk said.

“Same here,” Dawn said.

“Here’s an idea,” Windwalker said. “We’ll do this in three different phases. Phase-1 is to advance and harry the enemy. You two,” Windwalker looked at Dusk and Dawn, “and anypony who can support you will sting the patrols the recon teams found earlier. Just for a couple seconds each time before you pull back, if you can manage that.”

“We can,” Dusk said, looking at his sister with a grin.

“Good. Hit as many targets as you can without exhausting yourselves while the Advance Team presses through to the Throne Room, because I want you in there to cause as much havoc as you can. Hit every soldier you can, then fade to pop-up elsewhere.”

“Those are some fine guerrilla tactics,” Midnight said.

“Not to mention them being fairly simple,”

“Then lets ‘complicate’ them a bit,” Twilight said. “We need to get Princess Cadence to my brother so she can heal him: he should be able to put up a shield that will force the Changelings away.”

“And if not, we fight until the last Changeling, or until they retreat or surrender, whichever comes first,” Windwalker said.

“How should we know what stage we’re in?” Hasty Hoof asked.

“Princess Luna, can you pull off a Battle Link between all of us?” Gearhead asked the air.

<You seek to give me a challenge? Who do you think I am?>

“The Dreamwalker, of course,” Gearhead said. “So this is how we will communicate. And if I could make some suggestions about the teams..?”

“Go ahead,”

“I think we should go small but powerful. The Advance Team will consist of Prism Flight and Rainbow Dash. The Harriers will be Dusk and Dawn with emergency support from Midnight and Nightstar who will remain here. The Main Team will be myself and the Elemental Six.”

“Why leave the Wonderbolts out of this?” Spitfire asked, suspicious.

“Yeah, we want in too,” Soarin’ said.

“It will be your duty, of everyone who is able, to protect the citizens we have gathered here, just as we promised we would protect them.”

“I think you’re cutting your strength too much. If we can tip the balance for a win, I think we should go,” Hasty Hoof said.

“No. Luna left Prince Blueblood in charge of the defences here, and he is going to need back-up with experience. That is you, and the Wing Commander. I would also have Snowbelle relieve Luna partway through the mission, so she can return here.”

“You’re going to remove one of our most powerful pieces from the board?” Windwalker said.

“Yes, because the shift will be completely unexpected. Besides, our highest priority should be recovering those caught in the Throne Room, even if we cannot defeat Chrysalis in a single attempt. We can still gather our strength.”

“But they’ll be on their guard for any subsequent attack.”

“Yes, so I hope this works.”

“What will you be doing?” Windwalker asked.

“It will be my job to coordinate our efforts in the field, especially once Luna is able to return here.”

“So you mean you won’t be fighting?” Twilight asked.

“I still have not recovered fully from my efforts last night. I am also hoping that if we are able to coordinate our actions tightly enough it will throw the Changelings off their own rhythm. But if not, I am not afraid to get my hooves, or hands, dirty.”

“Alright,” Windwalker said, “change of plans: Harriers as before, Advance and Main right behind them. Defenders, keep your eyes out for anything, and I mean anything. Just one change, though: Wonderbolts, you’ll strike at the signal. There won’t be a better symbol of our victory than the show you’ll be able to put on, after all.”

“That’s more like it,”

“And Harriers, the more you can distract each guard station with their own distress, the better.”

“The acoustics in the halls should help,” Dusk said.

“No objections? Are we agreed? Then lets get our preparations underway. We’ll get the mission started in... fifteen minutes?”

“Twenty,” Dusk said.

“Then I hope your friend King can hold out that long,” Windwalker said to Gearhead.

“He will hold,”

<So far so good,> Luna said, <as long as he keeps his guard up!>

The Changeling wished he was with one of the units searching the city for ponies on whom to feed, but then they all did. Patrolling the castle was boring, especially since none of the fighting ponies had come out since their retreat into the castle.

All of the Soldiers were bred for battle, eager for war. They were spoiling for a fight because they had not gotten a real one for a long time. Even in the mountain on which the city was built, none of the residents there had put up much of a fight against the Soldiers. It went against the Soldiers’ instincts that the only one to challenge their warrior instinct had been taken on and defeated by their Queen instead.

And now the Soldier was part of a five-stallion patrol unit tracing prescribed routes throughout the castle, over and over again. Boring, was the thought on the mind of at least one of the five at any given moment: where was the fun battle after breaking through the shield? Where was the thrilling chase and the sensation of hard-won love, sucked fresh from a victim? Not here, that’s for sure!

Not that any of them would begrudge their Queen any of her pleasures, but she had the only fight that was going on right now. At least if they were walking the streets the patrol might have some hope of seeing action!

Suddenly there was an odd noise, like air being pounded out of a semi-hard cushion, and then another like a muffled thump. The Soldier stopped and turned toward the sound, curious, but there was no one there. Wishful thinking, maybe? He turned back and quick-stepped to catch up to his unit.

Someone shouted, and he stopped, looked at his companions. Only one was shaking his head, so they all continued on their way.

Seconds later, a faint sound like something ripping in the air made the soldier stop and turn toward the source. Suddenly the Soldier could not focus for the stars exploding behind his eyes, and he fell to the ground, barely registering the two other Soldiers who went down.

The last two members of the squad galloped to check what was going on, but whatever had happened, whoever it was, was already gone.

And then someone in the halls to the left screamed as his squad was hit.

Dusk prepared the first portal, making sure it opened in a clear space, so as to avoid anything messy from occurring. A small portal, one could use to see through. It was when the portal became full-sized that one could step through to the new location. They always hit a squad after its members had passed the portal, or before a turn in the hallway to maximize the shock value.

Dusk and Dawn stepped into the portal together, and opened fire as soon as they spotted the Changelings who were confirmed as their targets. They were always in teams of five, so after a few quick shots there were only one or two of them left. The siblings could have easily stayed long enough to finish them, but then they would be seen, and Windwalker did not want to leave any traceable sign.

While Dusk kept up the covering fire, Dawn moved the old mouth of the portal to the next location, so that when they stepped backwards through the portal they had been using, they got instantly transported to the next spot. Then the two switched roles, with Dawn keeping up her fire and Dusk moving the portal.

They never hit a squad that was right beside one they had just finished hitting when they could help it. There was one near the beginning, but it was part of the psychological aspect of this war to make the enemy wait for the attack. That was why, after that first one, they asked Midnight to find them some targets outside the palace. And there were plenty of patrols looking around for somepony to eat. Their mother and the Matron of the Conclave passed them a set of mental coordinates, and one of the siblings would move the portal so they could jump on time.

So far their luck was holding: none of the Changelings had seen them. But soon they would probably jump into someone’s line of sight while they were attacking another team, and then the cat would be out of the bag. Before that happened, Dawn and Dusk wanted to make sure they had done as good a job as they could

Gearhead waited for Nightstar to nod to Windwalker, who signalled a ‘go!’ to him that the Harriers had hit their third target. “Mission start,” he whispered. “Advanced, go forth!”

“Aye-yo,” Prism said softly, launching out the open western doors at the head of her four-Pegasus formation. Contrail fell in beside her, with Rook and Dash directly behind them. The four of them winged quickly down the corridor, flipping as they turned a corner.

Contrail pumped his wings to take the lead position when they spotted the patrol at the end of the hall. The ribbon of his booster zone started to extend, longer back the way they had come than it was ahead of him. “Five,” he said softly, counting the enemy’s numbers. The words drifted back and reached Prism’s ears. She nodded to Rook, who flew up behind Contrail where the boost ribbon could grab him.

And launched himself directly through three of the Changelings in their formation. Dash was right behind him, knocking into the fourth member with her forehooves. Prism took the last one, and then they flew on ahead to scout out the next stretch.

Prism Flight only looped back once they were certain the hall was clear for a good distance. There was no point underestimating the distance between the Pegasus flight and the group that was coming on hoof: get too far ahead, and an enemy patrol could insert itself between them, possibly forcing them into a battle that could consume too much time before it was done, or end up getting somepony injured. As Flight Lead, Prism refused to let any such thing happen. She would follow the plan, and so would the ponies acting under her command.

The Main Team was hoofing it as quickly as their slowest member would allow, all of them (except for Pinkie) with a determined look on her or his face. Prism would have expected dainty Fluttershy or the prissy Princess to be the slowest member of the group, but that dubious honour belonged to Twilight, who must have spent much longer with her muzzle in books than sniffing the air outside. Still, they were all pumping their legs to go as fast as they could, so Prism could not really complain. She used the tall corridor to loop lazily back around, and led the others in gliding forward again. They would lose a lot of time just going back and forward like this, but there was no helping that they had to always be ready for action.

<Your Majesty, Castle Patrols 2, 5-8, and 11 and City Patrols 1, 3, 5, and 20 have ceased reporting in.> The Soldier immediately slowed his running pace and carefully closed the doors to the Throne Room, but he could not take back his telepathic message.

“What’s the matter: you look distracted,” King smashed his greatsword into Chrysalis’s shield, sending her back nearly five meters.

“Shut it!” Chrysalis spat, and charged up her horn as she continued to back away to try to preserve some of her distance. So many patrols have gone silent? There’s almost no pattern, but it has to be—Chrysalis had to focus to block the incoming swing, because suddenly King was there. No, not suddenly: it’s like he said: I’m allowing myself to be distracted. But I must do my best to feed my children... which starts by defeating this one. Chrysalis roared as she swung her head, trying to slash into King’s belly. Instead he neatly flipped his grip and deflected her with his guard.

Chrysalis growled as she regained her composure. <Do what you must, but contain the enemy fighters. And let me fight!>

<Yes, Your Majesty.> The other Changeling departed.

Chrysalis returned her full attention to King. Their battle had taken far too long to unfold, with them taking frequent, long breaks. There were only a couple things that Chrysalis knew could be considered weaknesses on King’s part: he could not make use of projectile attacks, and he could only block projectile attacks that came within a certain range of his arm. It should be easy to make him overextend himself, but only from a certain range: close quarters combat was King’s strength.

Chrysalis flew to a height of seven meters above the ground, firing small blasts almost constantly. King grunted, but he lifted his sword to block. It easily took the blasts, so Chrysalis began to slowly increase the amount of charge she put into each subsequent blast. Soon she was raining a withering fire, and because she was flying out of reach, King could not break from defence to offence very easily.

King’s grunts grew louder as he struggled against the strain he took each time he intercepted one of the blasts. In addition, he had to be putting himself under a considerable amount of physical stress to swing and spin that large blade of his. It was almost all he could do to fall into a pattern of more easily-made blocks, hiding behind the flat of his blade the rest of the time.

Which meant that King was not ready when Chrysalis pulled off a crash landing and unleashed a concentrated blast right under his raised sword and into his center mass. Knocking her opponent off his feet was not enough for Chrysalis. She continued to unleash blast after blast on him, throwing him around the room, until he fetched up, barely conscious, at Celestia’s and Shining Armour’s hooves.

Celestia also fell, knocked unconscious by a pair of Soldiers while she was distracted watching Chrysalis unleash her rage. Shining Armour, though, swayed slowly as Chrysalis focused her mental abilities on him. His head fell forward, bangs hiding his eyes.

“Now then,” Chrysalis said, smoothing her mane with a hoof, “I believe it’s time to get ourselves back on track.” She turned, found King’s greatsword, and used her telekinesis to pick it up and bring it over to herself. She turned it over, inspecting its every line, and even caressed it.

King, groggy from the series of strikes he had received, pushed himself up onto his elbows, grunting, and looked around the room to regain his bearings. He spotted Chrysalis, and what she was doing with his sword.

“A fine blade. I believe it’s time to put it to fine purpose. Shining Armour,”

“Yes,” the stallion looked up, his eyes glazed over and green.

“Kill that creature for me, won’t you, husband?” Chrysalis floated the sword over.

“Yes,” Shining Armour took the sword in his telekinetic grip and walked until he was standing over King. “You will die now,” Armour said, raising the sword.

The great doors to the Throne Room exploded off of their hinges, taking several Changelings to the ground, and pinning them there in the process. Two Pegasi seemed to bounce around the room, kicking or punching any dark form with which they came into contact, with two other Pegasi following closely.

Even the rainbow-maned Pegasus did not concern Chrysalis quite so much as the purple Unicorn and the pink Alicorn who accompanied her, both firing their magic blasts in series to keep charging Changelings off of each other: Twilight Sparkle and Cadence were back. And they had brought friends.

Silvery lines wrapped, not around the raised greatsword or the prone target, but the wielder himself. They pulled the mind-controlled Captain from his hooves and whipped him through a high arc in the air. At the end of the arc, the lines brought Armour down near the doors, where Gearhead was waiting with those unmistakable cones pointing right at the Unicorn’s wide-eyed face. There was a flash of turquoise light, and Chrysalis felt her control over Shining Armour vanish once again.

She began to search for other pawns, wondering if a few of them might lie hidden from sight.

“Reconfig to Setting Four,” Gearhead said toward his glasses, while Cadence saw to Shining Armour.

[Warning: Engine functions now running on Condensers.]

“Acknowledged,” Gearhead said as the light faded from both cores, which returned to their default positions against his back. He looked around the Throne Room as he leaped from his hooves to hover in the air for a better view of the area. <Pinkie, Applejack, King is to your right. Please get him out of there.>

<On it,>

<Okey dokey, Loki!> The two Earth Ponies came cantering around, and swept across to grab King and drag him toward the door, right out from under Chrysalis’s nose.

<Con, Prism, three on your tails.>

<Got it,> Prism said, and while she held steady, Contrail pulled a vertical loop to end up behind the three flying Changelings. Rook dropped from the ceiling and smashed the leftmost flyer, while Dash swept in and took the center one. Contrail pumped his wings, but the last Changeling peeled off, and tried to go head to head with him. That was a big mistake, since Contrail curled up and grabbed his tail, bowling right through his opponent. The Flight split off into pairs again, and flew off after independent targets.

Gearhead kept sweeping the room to make sure he kept up with the changing situation. He kept one eye on Chrysalis, wondering why she had not made a move yet. Suddenly there was a sensation like fuzz rubbing up against the back of his head, and Luna tumbled from her hiding spot to fetch up on the floor nearby.

In same instant she choked out the word, “help,” Gearhead figured out what was wrong. Unfortunately his cores were still reconfiguring, so he used Binding Wind Arrows to make sure Luna could not go anywhere.

<Snowbelle, purge and secure, please: Luna has been compromised.>

<Understood, Father,> As they cut away Luna’s portion of the psychic connection, Gearhead suddenly felt much more sluggish. <We cannot hold this many connections,> Snowbelle whined.

<Team leaders only, then. Keep everyone advised.>

<Right,> The fuzziness and the sluggishness faded: Snowbelle and Gearhead were now only connected to Windwalker, Prism, Twilight, and Dusk. But they still had to worry about Luna, and how Chrysalis had found her in order to take control of her – especially if the original plan was for Snowbelle to take over her post. The Ice Dragon would have to find another place from which she could watch the battlefield.

As Gearhead watched and waited, Applejack and Pinkie brought King in by dragging his massive bulk. “Thanks, girls,” the exhausted warrior said. Applejack offered a salute with her hat, and then the two were back in the battle, Applejack kicking out with her front or rear legs, and Pinkie pulling out her party canon or throwing pies.

Further into the room, Rarity and Fluttershy were providing mutual cover. Changelings would chase after Fluttershy, assuming she could not handle herself, only to find that she was luring them into Rarity’s traps – and they would be out a dropped tapestry or a punch later. Fluttershy herself did not throw any blows, but she took out more soldiers by out-flying them, and leading them into pillars or walls.

Dash and Rook, and Prism and Contrail kept flitting between the other groups, striking at the Changelings that approached them while providing overlapping support to Rarity’s or Twilight’s groups. Twilight was covering Cadence while she healed King and Armour. She was also covering Gearhead while he and Snowbelle coordinated the battle.

While none of them had received any critical wounds, it seemed as though they were not making any progress against the Changelings’ larger force, with more of them coming through the windows by the moment. Canterlot’s defenders would need a new development to turn things around, now that they had lost the element of surprise, and were essentially stalled by having to coordinate so many moving pieces. Gearhead was debating whether he should ask Windwalker to send in more of their fighting force, but if he did that less combat-ready ponies would be left to protect the normal citizens they had gathered.

Just as another fresh wave of soldiers made the Throne Room’s windows, an explosion from behind threw some of them forward. A Shadow Portal opened near the middle of the room, and Dusk and Dawn came sliding through, the former closing the gate once they were both clear. The siblings both used Wind Magic to move more swiftly as they came about, still firing, and moved toward Twilight’s group.

“Thank you for the assist,” Twilight said.

“It’s fine,” Dusk said.

“But what happened? It’s hard to believe Chrysalis managed to get to Princess Luna like that,” Dawn said.

“Changelings use a pony’s love for another pony to infiltrate the larger group, so it must’ve been through Luna’s and Princess Celestia’s love for Cadence, their niece. Anypony with a connection could have been compromised,” Twilight said. “How can we know where this will end at this rate?”

“Just keep your guard up,” Prism said as she and Contrail swung past on their way to take on a group of twelve Changelings. Dusk and Twilight both sighted past the Pegasi, and provided cover fire, taking some down on their own.

“That’ll be easier for those of us with Shift Focus than for you,” Dawn said.

“Then we’ll rely on you!” Contrail said.

“Like you have a choice,” Dawn muttered, blushing slightly.

“Hey Field Commander,” Applejack called, “what now?”

<Keep moving and striking,> Gearhead said, still thinking about what Prism and Dusk had said. Maybe there was something he could do to take away one of the Changelings’ biggest advantages, but as long as Chrysalis was around to command them, they would always have their numbers.

[Reconfiguration complete. Condensers using 95% Particle-G. Purging.] Because higher-order particles overwhelmed lower-order ones in testing, the turquoise energy that the Twin Engine produced by default would be forcibly ejected from Gearhead’s condensers before being replaced by the particles the cores would produce at their new configuration.

Part of the trade-off for more potent particles was the additional stress they would place on Gearhead, as well on the Engine’s rig, so he could not use it for as long as he could use the default first configuration. But it still was not bad, considering that all that had changed was where each section of each ring was now, compared to earlier.

Also, Config-4 required a synchronization rate of 80% or higher between the two cores and Gearhead for it to work. If the rate ever slid to 79% or below, the cores would force-reset to Config-1, which would also mean that Gearhead would not be getting any power from the Engine for the minute or so that would take. This made using Config-4 incredibly risky if he was holding on to any doubts whatsoever about what he was doing.

Since the system was purging all of his stored particles, Gearhead decided he may as well put it to good use. He had his actuators position his bladecasters in front of the chest unit, and aimed them at Luna. The blue-green Purifying Spiral only lasted for two seconds, during which Luna screamed as though in pain. “Ha!” She said, panting. “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”

“I know,” Gearhead said as he watched his condensers fill with the new particles. Once they were all above 75%, the same particles began to flow more thickly from both of his cores. The golden and silvery-blue light began to illuminate the room as he drew more fully on them – golden to the right, and blue to the left. Several of the others in the room turned to stare, including Princess Celestia, who had regained consciousness, and Luna, who was still under Chrysalis’s direct control.

<Now,> Gearhead said to Applejack, Dash, and Rook, <retrieve the Princess while they are distracted!>

<Right!> Applejack lassoed three of the Changelings guarding Princess Celestia, then Dash knocked two more away. Rook slid himself under the still-groggy Alicorn, and, carrying her on his back, began to gallop to Gearhead and the others. The others, meanwhile, either provided further cover or distracted the Changelings by intensifying their fighting in their parts of the room. Despite the focus required for this tactic to work, they still occasionally glanced in Gearhead’s direction.

“That... that’s my magic, and... and my sister’s,” Luna gasped. “How?”

“I shall explain later, perhaps,”

“’Perhaps?’” Luna widened her eyes in surprise at the doubled size of the twin lances that formed from the cores. They slammed into her, and into Celestia as Rook brought her over, without any physical force. That was because they were designed to blow away other things, like the green Changeling magic that clung to both Alicorns.

“Thank you,” Luna said.

“Be careful,” Twilight said to both princesses. “You’re both now immune to all magic, so we can’t heal you so easily.”

“Do not worry about that, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia said. “Worry, instead, for what we will do to those who have done this to us.”

“Hey, it sounds like falling back is being removed as an option for us,” Dusk said. “Is that okay?”

“I’m okay with that,” Prism said.

“I’m with Princess Celestia on this,” Twilight said.

“Me too,” Cadence said.

“There is little point in wasting this opportunity, is there?” Gearhead asked.

<An all-out battle, eh?> Windwalker asked. <Go for it!>

“So that means –“ Prism started,

“No restraint?” Dusk finished.

“Eh? What’s going on?” Luna asked.

“What’s going on is that Wing Commander Windwalker just greenlit us putting an end to this,” Dash said.

“This being out of the loop is annoying, but I’ll get behind that!”

“Or rather, Sister, would you like to double-team their queen?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Forgive me, Your Highnesses, but neither of you are up to your usual best. Please provide support from our lines here,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re right,” Princess Celestia said. “Besides, we can send in a stand-in.”

“What about field command?” Gearhead asked.

“Leave that to us,” Cadence said. She was finished tending to King, and motioned for him to stay resting for awhile. Next, she moved to Shining Armour. “Just promise me that you won’t hold back.”

“I think I can handle that,” Gearhead said.

<Go, Father!>

“Okay. Be prepared for a big finish at any moment, then.”

“Yessir!”

“All units, continue your attacks.”

“Yessir!”

Prism, Dusk, and Applejack redeployed along a center-line. Rook and Dawn, and Fluttershy took the leftmost flank, while Dash, Rarity, Pinkie, and Contrail took the right. Twilight and Princess Celestia provided covering fire while Luna and Cadence continued to provide recovery magic to King and Shining Armour respectively.

Flying in a corkscrew path above and past the rest, Gearhead headed directly for Chrysalis, gold and silver particles weaving together in his wake. He drew the Geargem Dagger, expanding it to its full length, even as he charged.

“Not going to use that weird transformation?” Chrysalis asked as she gamely met the charge, borrowing one of her soldier’s pikes.

“I am not going to give you the time to press me to use it,” Gearhead said, pressing the Engine for more power. He followed a cross-down slash to the left with a cross-cut, also to the left, then used his Engine to give his horizontal spin a speed boost, forcing Chrysalis back.

“Ah, I know this game,” Chrysalis charged her horn, and unleashed a salvo of blasts, one after the other. Gearhead deflected the first two with his sword, then pumped his mana into his defensive shield as he focused more on charging, aiming a thrust directly at Chrysalis’s center mass. She side-stepped that, and he turned his head to slash right out to the side. Chrysalis evaded directly into the air.

This would have opened Gearhead’s back to a direct attack from blast or pike, and indeed, Chrysalis thrust the latter, aiming to strike his spine. Gearhead deployed his particle field just a little late, catching the pike-head within the swirling energy, and then kicked himself into a spin to wrench it from Chrysalis’s grip. Unfortunately, this was a magical grip, and she quickly recovered her weapon, although not before Gearhead managed to regain even ground in the air.

Gearhead flipped in from the side, leading with a pair of underhead slashes, followed by a trio of thrusts. Chryaslis took the first set with her pike, but each hit sent her guard a little more off to the side. The thrusts set her back, and then there was only the faint click to alert her that Gearhead’s metal arms, and the swords they carried, were in play. She went into an evasive spiral, Gearhead right on her heels.

Near the ceiling, Chrysalis barely turned in time to take a triple-slash with her pike – a triple slash she quickly realized was coming from three different weapons! Next Gearhead led with the Geargem Dagger from the left instead of from the right, but instead of two more slashes he loosed two rapid-fire shots from his bladecasters, and the pike’s haft spun away to the ground. The Earth Pony did not give Chrysalis any time to complain, nor the room to get away. He charged at her from just one and a half meters away, those three blades thrusting in quick succession to force her further back.

Gearhead heard the fanfare from Soarin's horn as he and the Wonderbolts arrived to rip through the Changelings' ranks in formation. He trusted them enough to keep his focus on his own battle.

Chrysalis tried to counter with her magic blast, but Gearhead used a burst of speed from his Engine to get above her and tweak her horn with the flat of his third-length caster’s blade. It took until that moment, apparently, for Chrysalis to realize that Gearhead was faster than she was at the moment. Or at least, that was what Gearhead gathered from her shocked expression.

Chrysalis backpedalled as fast she could, and this time Gearhead allowed her to open up some distance. He held the bladecasters over his chest condenser, as he had just before the system purged the Particle-Gs from his consensers. This time, however, he allowed a charge to build between the blades, compressing the particles his Engine was sending there. The gold and silver blast was similar in power to Jove’s Tempest, when he released it two seconds later. It sent Chrysalis and a number of other Changelings grazed by it spinning to the ground.

“What is that unfair power?” Chrysalis gasped, recovering.

“I am certain you already know,” Gearhead said, landing lightly. He took up his dagger in a traditional grip, the bladecasters returned to his back, and charged with the Engine providing full thrust. The two circles of thrust that formed behind him might have resembled the sun and the moon, but he did not know if one was eclipsing the other. He only knew that his swing knocked Chrysalis off of her hooves and sent her flying to the wall.

“I see,” she said, picking herself up again. “It’s like them, but not the same. Fine, there’s no sense in holding anything back, when you have me literally up against the wall.” She began to charge her horn again, and Gearhead did not have the distance to stop her this time. Instead, he looked right down his blade at her, and allowed it to split like it did when he charged it for Spiral Javelin.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, Gearhead never got to unleash his blast, because there was a magical resonance building somewhere behind him. The magic power building up in his hilt got swept into the purple, pink, and white mass, along with the green from Chrysalis’s horn. Both turned, and could not do anything else but watch.

The magic had Cadence and Shining Armour floating above the ground. The waves that Gearhead had begun to feel earlier were coming off of their horns, expanding outward from where they touched to fill every portion of the Throne Room. Before that power, all fighting stopped. The very air vibrated with the resonance. A feeling of deep awe and inspiration filled Gearhead’s heart and mind. “Memory – Record,” he whispered.

White energy pulsed three times, each time stopping from a little further out before returning to the focal point between Cadence’s and Armour’s horns. With the first two waves, they appeared more energized, and with the third Gearhead realized that they were completely healed, and their clothes were even fully repaired. He started to feel sheepish for leaving his formal blacks behind, where they would not end up shredded, instead of just torn in places from the previous battles: he would now have to mend them himself.

Cadence and Shining Armour suddenly rose so their full forms could be seen from outside through the windows, and all the swirling magic around them expanded in a single massive energy wave. Gearhead saw Dash and Applejack do double-takes as their opponents were swept away on the wave, like all the other Changelings in the room.

“Nooo!” Chrysalis shouted, grasping for a nearby lintel. She found her grip, but Contrail put himself into a leaping spin, stomping on her hoof. Rarity also jumped in, bumping the other’s horn to cancel her spell and sending her flying who-knew-where with all of her soldiers.

Gearhead landed between the two on the ledge to survey the rest of the opposition, only there was not any to be had: the energy wave had grabbed every single Changeling within its range and flung them from Canterlot.

Or at least, it seemed that way.

[Recording complete.]

“Save record...” Gearhead had to think for a moment of what would be a good name. “Repel the Darkness,” he decided.

[Record saved. Reconfigure to Setting #1?]

“Yes, do it.” Now that the threat was over, Gearhead preferred not to stay in Config-4 a moment longer than he had to: he had already experienced one core overload, and did not want a repeat of what had happened with the prototype during the fight against Discord. Next Chapter: 30C. Mourning, and Celebration Estimated time remaining: 31 Minutes