SKETCHES!

Well I mentioned it before and here we are, a few sketches of some of our story's characters. Just one of our main protagonists at the moment but I think it’s the one that matters most!
A fair warning: I know this story has been going for a while now and most of you probably have pretty solid mental images of the cast by now, so if you don’t want to conflict or corrupt those images then you may not want to partake- I certainly won’t be upset if you want to maintain your personal view of the characters.
They are still kind of sketchy and yes, references were use pretty liberally, but I think they turned out pretty nice. They’re not quite how I imagined them but close enough.

First we have a couple of the mane six
Rarity – Had a lot of trouble coming up with an outfit that worked so I just dressed her up in a modified Mitsuru outfit, I think it suits her.
Fluttershy – Feathers are a pain in the ass… loose clothing at odd angles too
And yes Ladies and Gentlemen, our leading lady now has a face – I give you:
Maze

If you guys like these (hoping at least Some of you do) and would like to see more, let me know in the comments.
But for now; back to our irregularly scheduled story.

Twilight stared at Maze and her little group in front of what looked like Trixie’s wagon, only now it seemed to be some kind of van. She mentally berated herself for allowing them to trick her so completely, only seeing the illusions once they didn’t care to maintain them.

“What the buck Maze?!” Rainbow shouted, hovering a couple feet off the ground “You think you can just come back here and pull something like this?!”

“I think we just did” Maze replied smartly.

“An’ what about the rest of ya!? Lyra yer from this town!” Applejack scolded the unicorn “Fer Celestia’s sake, Bon Bon is in ther Ly!”

“The hall occupants are completely unharmed” Wolf informed the farm mare as he and the rest fanned out slowly, surrounding the clustered six “They are simply detained.”

“We grew up together Lyra!” Twilight shouted at the mare.

“Sorry Twi, but you’re on the wrong side of this; you can’t see what’s really happening” Lyra answered back, adamant resolution in her voice.

“Well then just tell us silly!” Pinkie suggested joyfully, though her usual smile was tinged with a wary concentration. Even she knew better than to not recognize the seriousness of this.

“Pfft, as if you’d believe us” Crystal scoffed, her tentacles carrying her as they continued to circle the group “Or like it would matter even if you did. Sunbutt’s had it out for us since day one!”

“We don’t have to do this” Twilight began.

“Ah yes, because Little Miss Perfect always has the solution, doesn’t she?” Trixie taunted “Face it Sparkle, there are forces bigger here than your ‘Magic of Friendship’. You’re just too blinded by your mentor to see the truth.”

Twilight was about to argue when Rarity stepped forward, hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t bother darling, they’re right… this is only ending one way” Rarity stated grimly, gripping her rapier tighter “Friend or not, we know their crimes and we have our responsibility to the princesses and all of Equestria.”

Twilight nodded sadly, a faint aura surrounding her as her eyes began to glow with the necklace around her neck. The others following suit as they all rose slightly off the ground.

“Oh no you don’t! I know better than that girls!” Maze called as she launched herself at them with an explosion. Closing the distance between them almost instantaneously, gripping her blade in preparation as what seemed to be embers trailed in her wake.

“So do we!” Dash darted to the front, her blades ready to strike.

“Dash wait! It’s another-!” Twilight tried to warn too late as Dash lashed out, her blades passing right through Maze as if she wasn’t even there. Dash stared confused as the cyborgs image grew faint and translucent, a subtle bust of smoke and embers forming a shape at the back of the group.

“Sorry Flutters” Maze delivered remorsefully as she pressed the back of her blade into the surprised pegasus. A scream escaped the mare as the volts coursed through her. She fell back already unconscious before Rainbow crashed full force into Maze, her twin Kabutowari grinding against Maze’s much longer HF sword as they slid away from the group.

Applejack caught Fluttershy before she hit the ground, her glow fading from the disruption between the linked elements. The rest moved to assist Dash before a cylinder landed in their midst, exploding in a great plume of smoke and forcing them to split up in retreat.

Applejack and Pinkie burst through the smoke in front of the hall were they found Lyra and Wolf waiting for them. The party mare stepped in front of the farmer who turned to expose as little of the unconscious Fluttershy as possible. Wolf and Lyra merely waited and stared, Pinkie standing ready while Applejack cautiously moved to place the yellow mare at the top of the steps.

“There ya go Suger Cu-” the apple mare found a metal fist smashing against her face as soon as the pegasus left her grasp, the force sending her through the railing and tumbling across the yard.

“HEY! You can’t just-EEP!” Pinkie squeaked as she narrowly dodged a glowing chainsaw as Wolf spun past her. She pulled her bright pink bazooka from her cotton candy mane, leveling it at the pair “Why you little!”

Twilight heard the explosion and tried the run around the smoke until a lance of light exploded against the ground in front of her. She was tossed back, landing on her plot as she looked up to the caster.

“Oh no you don’t Sparkle, you’re mine!” Trixie threated as she threw another lance at the fallen mare, the element disappearing in a violet flash before it could connect. Trixie scowled and with a flare of her horn snapped her hand out and clutched the air, a very surprised Twilight reappearing short of her goal.

“When did you-” Twilight began before Trixie thrust her other hand out, a blue force wave sending Twilight flying. The bearer managed to flip and land on her hooves as Trixie raised her hands for another spell, foregoing her usual boasting. Twilight steeled herself; hijacking spells was no easy feat, and Trixie took hers in an instant “Well this is new.”

“You have no idea” Trixie taunted as they began their duel proper, spells and counter spells flying across the battle field as each mare fought for superiority.

Rarity braced against the dark streak that flew out of the smoke at her, the metal tentacle ringing out against her blade. The changeling exited the cloudy cover, lithely gliding over the ground as her extra appendages walked for her.

“You think you can intimidate me with those ridiculous contraptions?” Rarity spat as she held her sword aloft, a cluster of magical imitations sparkling into existence surround her; glowing a light heliotrope and bathed in the mares signature blue aura “I doubt even I could make those fashionable.”

“Ooohh nooo, the village bicycle thinks my weapons are unfashionable” Crystal delivered in a false whine, batting one of the floating blades away with ease “Strong words from a pony wearing a fur coat to a fight.”

“Please, what would you know about fashion anyway?!” the designer lunged, the blade dancing between the tendrils as she struggled to find an opening she could reach “The gothic look went stale ages ago darling.”

“I know fashion is the only form of ugly so hideous we have to change it every few months” she taunted, dodging a swirling ring of magic blades sent after her.

“How DARE Yo-EK!” Rarity sputters as the changeling ducked her attack, slinking close enough to the ground to kiss it; one of the tentacles slipping under her guard, its pincers clamping around her neck as it lifted her off the ground.

“I also know form follows function; for what they may lack in looks they make up for in ability” Crystal taunted as the unicorn’s blade swung harmlessly at her out of reach “But what you know about style and grace?”

Rarity’s eyes practically burned, her scowl so enraged. Several of the pinkish swords flashing above her and shot straight down at her foe. Crystal swore as her metal limbs wrenched her away, forcing her to drop the coughing Rarity.

“OH, IT-IS-ON!” the mare challenged as she caught her breath, sprinting at the changeling as the magic blades spun like a buzz saw. Crystal’s tentacles pulled her away as Rarity ducked an errant spell from the two mages, the rapid clang of blades to be heard behind her.

“That was not the teleport Twilight taught you!” Dash yelled, she blades spinning and striking at the cyborg with blinding speed. Sparks flew between razor edges as Dash grew frustrated at Maze’s defensive focus.

“Technically it was actually” Maze bantered as she parried the blows, glad it was her fighting Dash over some of the others; the pegasus’s speed enough to match even her “Just modified a bit by some changeling tricks.”

Dash managed to catch Maze's blade in the hook at the front of her own, forcing it down she swiped the other out in a wide arc. A flash of violet stunned Rainbow, forcing her to blink away the distortions as she looked for her opponent.

“See?” Maze asked from behind the rainbow maned mare “Same spell, just less flashy.”

Dash snapped a wing out and caught Maze by surprise across the face, the stunt mare smirking at her reward of a small blood trail running from the human’s nose. The cyborg hadn’t expected her to use her wings offensively; she flashed away again as Dash spun with her blades and leaving her striking nothing but air again.

Dash’s head snapped back and forth until she spotted Maze wiping the blood from her face and launched herself at her again; falling through a puff of smoke and embers before hitting the ground. She sprung off the ground with a single flap of her wings and hovered in place, glaring at the reappearing cyborg who smiled mischievously at her.

“STOP DOING THAT!”

“NO!” Maze replied playfully as she continued teasing the flyer, blinking about the battlefield as the mare fruitlessly kept trying to land a hit. Both she and Dash had to dodge what looked like a barrage of arrows made of fire and ice, shooting a look back at the impressive light show between the two magic specialists to their side before returning their attention to one another again.

“T’were some mighty cheap shots you two! And here Ah thought we might have an honest rumble” Applejack called out the two as she stood back to back with Pinkie.

“We did wait until you had set your friend down” Wolf pointed out as he and Lyra circled the pair, covered in glitter and confetti from pinkie’s cannon ball.

“Got the right ones loaded this time Sugar Cube?” AJ whispered to the excitable party pony over her shoulder, hands twitching near the holsters on her hips.

“YEPPERS!” Pinkie cried as she launched the explosive ball at Lyra, the latter’s fist flying out in response and the ball flew back at Pinkie as a kinetic pulse reversed its momentum. The party mare simply ducked under it as she charged Lyra and pulled a comically large mallet from nowhere, leaping into the air for an overhead smash “WHACK-A-MOLE!”

Lyra leapt out of the way as the hammer left a sizeable dent in the ground, its wielder still hanging in the air awkwardly and giggling like filly. Lyra raised her gauntlet at the pink earth pony but gasped when the hammer’s head snapped open and suddenly expelled fire.

“WWHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” Pinkie screamed as the rocket propelled mallet spun her like a top. Threatened by both blunt trauma and fiery exhaust Lyra could only retreat from the spinning party planner, waiting until either the fuel ran out or Pinkie grew too dizzy.

Wolf had his own paws full with the Apple farmer, dodging shots from her oversized revolvers. He tumbled and flipped through the air, even the rounds he deflected somehow managing the ricochet right back at him. He decided a close quarters fight may be more preferable and launched at the farmer, a cone of orange energy surrounding him mid-flight.

“Nice try!” AJ shouted as she met the Fenrir with a clothesline, halting his advance as a rope uncoiled form the earth pony’s belt. She flipped the metallic hound over and in record time had his entire form hogtied; she rose clapping the dust off her hands “Ya may be one of tha princesses’ dogs but Ah’ve tussled with bigger varments than you”

“An impressive, but ultimately pointless display” Wolf replied, the blades on his legs snapping out and easily freeing him from the simple binding. His tail flipped him off his back as several oddly shaped darts launched from his form. Applejack batted most away with a swing of her pistol but missed one as it embedded barely skin deep into her shoulder.

“How’re ya supposed ta hurt anypony with these?” AJ scoffed at the minor injury. She reached to knock it away when she suddenly tensed, electricity coursing into her and causing her to convulse.

“It is not my intent to kill” Wolf informed her plainly as he sat to observe her managed to overcome the current and wrench the Taser out, glaring at the relaxed IG “An impressive fortitude you have. Shall we continue?”

Pinkie finally stopped spinning, stumbling about with her hammer as she fought to keep her balance. She bumped into a small box mounted on a tripod and quickly stepped back, only to see several more surrounding her.

“Whoopsie” She chuckled uneasily as Lyra just smirked, snapped her fingers and the turrets rattled off at the surprised mare. Pinkie quickly jumped and shot her bazooka at the ground, propelling her above the turrets’ lines of fire; somehow doing so without the explosion hurting her “ROCKET JUMP!”

“HOMING BARRAGE!” Lyra imitated the earth pony’s announced attack voice as she launched a multitude of tiny rockets from her gauntlets, Pinkie gulping audibly as she hung helplessly in the air.

“Pinkie!” Dash called, losing sight of her friend in the dust of the several small explosions.

“PRIORITIES DASH!” Maze shouted as the pegasus received a knee to the stomach for her lapse of concentration. She scowled at the smirking cyborg and renewed her attack, sparks still flying as Maze continued to parry.

“Are you even gonna fight back!?” Dash demanded, frustrated at the strategy Maze was taunting her with “You’re the one who started this after all!”

“Oh fiiiine” Maze answered with false exasperation and performed her typical palm thrust, the shock wave carrying the pegasus away from her. Dash growled until she saw Maze draw a bead on her with an advanced looking pistol; with a small ‘eep’ she began cutting the rounds away as Maze stalked slowly towards her.

“I’m impressed Dash!” She called after the Pegasus as she took flight, still having to block the rounds as Maze kept firing “I haven’t met many others who can deflect like that unassisted, bravo!”

“I don’t need you to remind me of how awesome I am!” Dash shouted angrily back as she rose higher out of Maze’s reach. She drew a small pump shotgun from her back, the element of loyalty flaring around her neck as her eyes began to glow with concentration. She fired but instead of fine spray, a dense slug of prismatic light shot out that blew a small crater into the ground where Maze stood moments before.

“CRYSS! SWITCH!” Maze called as her flying opponent pumped the weapon to fire again. A cloud of inky, black smoke suddenly erupted in front of the mare and broke her concentration and line of sight.

“WHAT!? GET BACK HERE-AH!” Rarity began as her tentacled foe threw herself into the air but was quickly cut of as Maze appeared right in front of her in a burst of embers, her blade crashing against Rarity’s “Oh fine, whatever!”

Dash flinched as metal tentacles burst from the smoke, their grippers headed right at her face. She let herself fall a ways to avoid the attack but found herself punched further towards the ground by the kinetic pulses now raining down from above.

Dash landed in a crouch with her wings held high and immediately shot back into the air at the hovering changeling, a rainbow trail in her wake. Dash knew with those heavy tendrils she couldn’t hope to match her maneuverability and speed. She collided into the metal appendages at full speed, delivering a heavy cross slash that stopped dead on impact.

“What the buck?!” Rainbow cursed, flapping away from the uncoiling limbs before they could grab her. She scowled as she saw a pinkish-red aura encasing the obstructions fade “I should have cut right through!”

“You really think I’d just let you hit my babies with armor breakers directly?” Crystal asked incredulously “What are you? SLOW?”

Dash went from upset to straight up pissed as she unslung the shotgun again and emptied it at the changeling. Crystal yawned as a pair of her tentacles coiled into a shield against the buckshot. Dash growled in frustration and moved to engage again when a frenzied wind threatened to blow the two fliers away.

All the combatants braced as a gigantic sphere of chaotic energy swelled at open space’s center. Two forces of violet and blue swirled and sparked as the ball grew, sending shockwaves and random bolts of magic in all directions.

“WHEN DID YOU GET SO MUCH POWER!?” Twilight demanded as she struggled against the onslaught, the sky seeming to darken in comparison to the still growing maelstrom of magic. She knew Trixie was actually no slouch but she never expected this!

“WHEN DID YOU BECOME SUCH A PUSSY?!” Trixie shouted back as sweat drenched her brow, both casters being steadily shoved away from the conflicting forces. Trixie’s sleeves tore away, revealing the amplifying runes drawn across the arms; runes that began to glow as she fed even more power into her attack. Twilight responded in kind as the element of magic gave light to her eyes.

The rest of the fighters could only brace against the forces assailing them, staring on at the dazzling display. The two mages screamed with exertion as twin beams of pure magic erupted into the sphere and a virtual hurricane of arcane power began surrounding them.

A single, white spark of lightning arced suddenly across their creation and both mares blanched as the winds grew even more chaotic.

“Oh Buck” they said in unison as the forces exploded outwards; sending everyone scrabbling for any available cover. Most failed as they were lifted by the shockwave and thrown from its center.

Trixie groaned as she lifted a large piece of wood off of herself and looked over the barrier around the town hall to see it shimmer but hold; she tried to divert the blast skyward and it seemed Sparkle had done the same. She now just had to hope Crystal was alright.

Twilight coughed, crawling out from under her own chunk of debris before looking up to see Trixie searching the sky for her ally. The two met eyes in matching scowls, sighed and charged each other once more; the magic about their hands and horns far fainter than before.

“Well that was a thing” Maze muttered before a pink sword shot past her face, inches from her nose. She readied her blade against a disheveled but still very able Rarity.

“To think I actually flirted with the likes of you!” Rarity spouted as she thrust her main weapon at the cyborg. Maze knocked the blade to side and spun with surprising grace around her counter. Rarity snapped her blade out to find it thrust back at her, Maze pressed against her shoulder as she fought to regain control.

“Somepony’s been emulating Moonbutt I see” Maze commented softly into the designers ear “I supposed you do have the grace and focus for it.”

“The princess saw my potential and offered to teach me herself!” Rarity retorted as one of her magic copies thrust at Maze, forcing her back. The pair exchanged several more strikes with neither landing a hit, though Rarity noticed her opponent didn’t seem to be trying to: Her mistake she thought as her horn sparked “Lessons I intend to put to use!”

A flash of blue light surprised Maze as Rarity suddenly disappeared and reappeared next to her prey. Maze leapt back as the sword pieced the air before her, Rarity quickly adjusting to swing at the retreating cyborg. Their blades locked and Maze quickly stepped forward; thrusting not only the blades up but the two swordswomen against each other, their faces and bodies now intimately close.

“Let me guess… late night in the training room, Luna pressed against your back as she gently guided your movements, her entire being invading your senses” Maze whispered sensuously as her lips hung a hair’s breadth from the unicorn’s “A slight misstep and you both tumble to the mat, laughing until your eyes meet and…”

Rarity’s eyes widened as her pupils shrunk to almost nothing, a heavy blush flooding her face as her mouth sputtered in a failed response.

“OH-MY-GOD!”

“SHUT UP!” Rarity snapped at the laughing cyborg as she kicked her away, glaring at her expression of pure amusement. She snapped her head up and brought a dignified hand to her chest “A lady does not kiss and tell!”

“So you ACTUALLY DID THEN?!” Maze asked through gasps of laughter. Rarity somehow grew even redder before she swung the blade at the seemingly out of range Maze, the separating sections proving otherwise as they whipped out to reach the human.

“Okay, Lulu never had That” Maze ducked the attack as she sheathed her blade and fired a quick burst from her pistol. Rarity’s blade whip swirled with a flick of her wrist and small sparks and pings issued as the rounds hit the sudden grinder of blades.

‘So that’s two that can do that now’ Maze thought absently, knowing the whip would make getting close difficult. She smirked and summoned her newly reincarnated weapon to counter the sword whip’s reach ‘I was hoping to get a chance to test it right away.’

“And just what is that supposed to be?” Rarity asked sardonically, one of her blades duplicates forming in her other hand. It looked like some kind of staff or spear made of thin, reinforced gekko arms “How could you ever think that could be a proper weapon?”

Maze just smirked as she spun the staff at the fencer, Rarity responding in kind with her sword whip and poking at Maze with the magic copies whenever she drew too close. She snapped the whip whole again before shooting it out to its full length at Maze, gasping as it became tangled around her spinning staff.

Rarity stumbled as it was ripped from her grip, narrowly dodging the point of the arm spear as it sailed past her head. She readied her blade against the fully extended and exposed Maze, but faltered at the victorious smirk on the ninja’s face.

“Don’t feel bad” Rarity heard before the staff coiled around her neck, roughly yanking her forward into Maze’s waiting strike “Luna fell for it too.”

All the air left Rarity’s chest as her opponents knee drove into her stomach. She would have fallen to the dirt if Maze’s palm hadn’t punched into her a moment later, sending her flying and bouncing off the town hall barrier. She groggily rose to her elbows as she coughed and gasped.

Maze started casually strutting toward her opponent now across the battle field, glancing about to see how her friends were doing against their own targets. She first saw Rainbow and Crystal land ungracefully to the ground on opposite sides of the space, both looking pretty haggard from the arcane explosion earlier. Maze did see that most of it must have exploded upward. Neither combatant seemed very eager to continue just yet; Crystal sporting a broken tentacle and Dash missing all her weapons save one of her armor breakers.

Lyra and Wolf seemed to be keeping Pinkie and AJ on the ropes, switching back and forth to continuously force them to change their tactics. She paused as Trixie and Twilight tumbled across her path; clawing, slapping and pulling hair as they rolled about. Evidently their exhausted magic had relegated them to a childish slap fight, several curse laden barbs to be heard. They finally came to a stop with Trixie straddled on top of Twilight as the latter flailed against the showmare’s attempts to rub her face in the dirt.

‘At least Trixie seems to be winning’ Maze thought. She turned back and froze, paralyzed by the sight before her.

A pair of bright blue eyes under pink locks GLARED at her, burning into her and threatening to scorch her very soul. She had always thought of it as a cartoony joke, a pouty little stare to scare woodland creatures; but seeing those fury filled orbs chilled her straight to the core.

‘Holy hell, that is TERRIFYING’ was all Maze thought before the yellow mare as on her, slamming her stunblade into Maze’s sword with enough force to buckle the ground beneath the cyborg ‘FUCK ME!’

Fluttershy hovered as she slammed strike after devastating strike against Maze’s defenses, electric bursts from the disabling blade washing over her with each blow.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST TAKE OUT THE WEAKEST LINK AND ATTACK MY FRIENDS?!” the yellow pegasus accused as she continue to GLARE into her enemy, her furious assault unending.

“You call this being the weakest link?!” Maze unwisely bantered before having her parry bashed to the side and a yellow fist find her face. Fluttershy slung her blade and moved in too close for Maze to effectively use her sword, landing blow after blow with very practiced martial skill. Maze simply dismissed her sword to match the caretaker’s unarmed assault, still not making much purchase against the enraged element.

Maze felt strong and rapid jabs against several very specific spots, using the opening to deliver an elbow strike before tossing the mare back over her shoulder. She took several quick steps back, severely thankful her cyborg status made her resilient to pressure points. She readied her sword only to see Flutter fall into a rather advanced ready stance as her eyes glowed brightly, matching the other element bearers around her.

“Oh that’s not good” Lyra muttered before she was launched across the battle ground by Applejack's sudden kick. She stood shakily until she felt arms wrap around her chest from behind; AJ somehow having closed the distance in an instant and lifting her as she bent back “OH-NONONONONO!”

Lyra swore she heard something crack as the apple farmer landed her suplex. Wolf ran to assist but tumbled along the ground as countless explosions peppered him with electric shrapnel, Pinkie launching a rapid assault from her party cannon at the fenrir.

Maze blocked as best she could against Fluttershy’s charge, only just keeping herself from being cut in half by the supposedly less-lethal blade as she was hurled back. She skidded along the ground until coming to a stop near Crystal, who was still exhausted but steadily regaining her footing. Their heads snapped to the side as they saw Trixie crash into the side of her newly converted van, magical smoke still wafting from her as she bounced off.

“I wouldn’t have thought it’d be the quiet one” Crystal delivered with dark humor as she rose clumsily on her tentacles, the elements moving to surround them “Way too cliché”

The bearers began to levitate off the ground, the elements radiating power from their necklaces. Rainbows swirled around them as wind kicked up dirt, leaves and debris; the forces beginning to dwarf even the magic display from before. The rainbow arced up before slamming down in front of the pair, creating a colorful vortex around them and beginning to obscure their view.

“Well Cryss…” Maze said sadly as the rainbows surrounded them completely, blocking their sight of mane six completely “This is it.”

The rainbows finally coalesced in a blinding flash that forced Lyra and Trixie to turn away. They turned back to see the lights and colors dissipating, two stone figures standing clear for all to see once the dust settled. The elements of harmony slowly drifted back to the dirt as a static pop rang out and the militia trapped in the hall finally broke free, spilling out into the light.

Trixie and Lyra didn’t even put up a fight, the latter even dismissing her gauntlets as the militia ponies roughly forced inhibitor bands on their horns and hands. They stood silently as the element bearers moved to join their released allies, a short purple and green dragon weaving through the crowd to meet them.

Twilight bent down to hug her assistant, reassuring the dragon they were fine before she noticed an immediate absence. She shot back up and swung her head in every direction, searching for her target.

“Where’s the fenrir!?” She asked almost frantically.

“It was there until the flash of the elements ma’am” a pair of pegasus sisters answered her “But afterwards he was gone, we didn’t even see the blur of active camouflage.”

“DAMNIT!” Rainbow cursed as she threw her blade into the ground.

“Language Rainbow” Rarity gently scolded “Without Maze or her allies, it is of little concern anymore. It will be found in due time.”

“That’s right Sugercube, we’ll still get ‘em in tha end” Applejack added.

“Yeah, I guess” she relented, glancing over at the two stoic unicorns.

“What do we do about them?” Fluttershy asked softly, her earlier rage seeming as if it never existed.

“I could throw them a final going away party” Pinkie suggested literally, not realizing how truly dark and depressing the idea really sounded.

“We bring them to Canterlot with the statues, let the princesses decide their fate” Twilight stated firmly, squinting at the pairs lack of reaction in slight confusion “Spike, take a letter for Princess Celestia.”

“Uh… Sorry Twi, I can’t send letters THAT far” the adolescent dragon informed her.

“Oh… right… She’s in Saddle Arabia” Twilight remembered, realizing that must have been why Maze chose this moment to attack “Princess Luna then, inform her we’ve sealed Maze and her changeling accomplice and will be arriving soon with prisoners.”

“I missed you” Lyra cooed softly as she rested her head on the shoulder of her personal escort, the airships engines humming around them. She be hugging her but her bindings leaving the leaning the closest she could do.

“Lyra stop,” Bon Bon delivered halfheartedly, but doing nothing else to discourage the contact. “Don’t you realize what’s about to happen?”

Lyra didn’t respond as she just nuzzled closer to the earth pony, drawing concerned glances from the militia guard present. The elements had insisted they and the militia be the ones to deliver the group, having just been fooled by fake guards already.

“They’re going to take you away Ly” Bon Bon sighed as she rested her head on Lyra’s, ignoring the guard’s scowl “Why did you follow that monster?”

“You remember that little food cart we ate at on our vacation to Manehatten?” Lyra asked, still ignoring her questions “It’s still there! I ate there almost every day as I waited to see you again. Remember those spring rolls you were so iffy about? They were actually really good, you should try them if you ever get back there.”

Tears began to run down Bon Bon’s cheeks, hearing the ‘you’ instead ‘we’ told her that Lyra knew exactly what was about to happen. She kissed the top of the unicorns head and hugged her closer, knowing whatever time they had left wouldn’t be enough.

“It’ll be okay Bonnie… don’t worry” Lyra told her calmly, returning the kiss “I was doing what I thought was right… my only regret is not having more time with you.”

The militia pony finally huffed and moved to intervene when a tan hat suddenly filled his view.

“Leave it” Applejack ordered, blocking the stallion’s path.

“But-” he started to object.

“Ain’t noth’n gonna happen, juss let ‘em have their time while they still can” she stared out from under her hat; it may not have been anywhere near Fluttershy’s level, but the stallion still faltered under her gaze “Bon Bon knows whut’s at stake here, and she ain’t gonna try anything. Even if she did, ya really think she’d ever get away with it?”

The stallion mumbled something along the lines of an apology before making himself scarce. Applejack sighed as she glanced back at the couple, Bon Bon still crying as Lyra snuggled under her chin. She left the room, leaving the door open just a crack before she saw Twilight tiredly walking out of another cabin.

“Any luck?” The blonde earth pony asked.

“No, I never thought I’d want Trixie to ever NOT be quiet” Twilight lamented “The only words she spoke were a request for a glass of water… how about you?”

“Naw… Lyra just keeps talking to Bon Bon an’ ignorin' tha questions” Applejack sighed again as they moved to a nearby bench, giving them a view of Dash and Pinkie guarding Maze's and the Changeling's statues at the other end of the ship “I did'n' think this would feel so crummy.”

“I know… I knew it’d be a little awkward with Maze being sort of a friend and all, and I still know what she did a thousand years ago was horrible but… This just doesn’t feel right” Twilight admitted “And now Lyra… I knew it was most likely she HAD joined up with Maze, it was way too much of a coincidence her disappearing at the same time but still… I didn’t see THIS coming…”

“Ah don’t think any of us saw this comin’ Twi, especially goin’ down like it did” Applejack offered.

“That’s what I don’t get, what was the purpose of all this? First they lock everypony up, except us and then drag out the fight. They didn’t even have to fight really; They could have just taken us out while under the illusion or blown up the hall!” Twilight ranted “I just don’t… I don’t get it.”

Applejack didn't have an answer so the two just sat there, the hall silent other than the occasional stifled sob from the other side of the door. Yet another heavy sigh escaped both as they wondered if it really had to end this way.

Luna sighed as she waited at the front gate with a contingent of guards, this didn’t feel right. She had received the letter and to say she was ambivalent would be an understatement at best; any comfort that this was all finally over was a very cold one indeed.

She mostly just felt confused; according to the preliminary report in the letter, Maze had declared an open attack against the elements for no discernible reason. By Spike’s own admission she hardly seemed blood thirsty or cruel, if anything she was playing with them. Attacking the six served little purpose outside of maybe trying to obtain the elements, which Luna was fairly certain Maze couldn’t wield. There was also the fact they had no lethal intent, Applejack reported that her former fenrir even plainly stated that ‘It is not my intent to kill’.

Her thoughts were broken as the gates opened, the gathered crowds of citizens mumbling as the first ponies marched through the opening. The first sight was a colorful van being towed, what Luna assumed to belong to the Trixie the letter mentioned. She remembered hearing guards mention a popular showmare in passing, one with a unique talent much like her sister's pupil.

‘Great’ She lamented internally ‘now we must waste that obvious potential as well.’

Next she saw what everyone had gathered for; there on the back of a flatbed, flanked on all sides by guards and militia ponies, were the two unicorn and a pair of statues surrounded by the six element bearers. Some ponies murmured either excited or frightened, others merely stared in awe at the sealed bloodletter and her allies;

Brought through the front gates, for all to see.

Luna stood in the hedge maze gardens studying the statue that was once her old friend as it reflected the pale moon light, her sister's sun having set nearly an hour ago. She had sent the majority of the militia back to Ponyville, only the elements staying along with Agent Sweetie Drops, still under her Bon Bon cover. She had only then remembered she was the significant other of the prisoner Lyra Heartstrings.

‘Poor mare’ Luna thought, even the most lenient stance on her association with Maze would still most likely mean treason. While Equestria didn’t practice capital punishment, even in the most extreme of cases, things still didn’t look very good for the mare’s future.

“Oh Maisie” Luna bemoaned “Why did it have to end this way?”

The statue, of course, didn’t answer.

“What happened to you? Even the nightmare gave me little insight into your sudden madness back then…” Luna continued “And even now after a thousand years slumber, your motives still allude us… allude me...”

The stone face continued to stare blankly back, still not revealing the secrets of the woman sealed within.

“You seemed better, like your old self… if a little insulting” Luna jested, remembering the old age crack so many months ago “I tried to convince Tia of an alternative but… she was right; I am truly sorry, but we could not risk a repeat of the past…”

Luna trailed off as she placed a hand upon the stone, thinking of how her sister mentioned a possible attempt to rehabilitate Discord. It was one of the few things that still gave her hope for her friend.

“If it works for him then perhaps there is hope for redemption yet…” she unintentionally muttered aloud. She gave one final glance into the stone eyes, sad resolve held in her own “Goodbye Maze… I can only hope this isn’t the end of your story.”

Luna abruptly turned away, passing the stationed guards without a single glance back.

“It probably just doesn’t come through in the stone work Spike” Luna overheard Twilight tell her assistant. She walked into the throne room to find them standing in front of the changeling’s statue, the guards having been instructed to place it here until they decided what to do with it.

“I could have sworn one of those tentacles was all broken up” the young dragon grumbled and pouted, Luna suppressing a giggle at the adorable sight “And we’re sure she’s really a statue?”

“Yes Spike; if the elements worked on a demi-god like Discord, they would work on a single changeling” Twilight assured the dragon warmly.

“But that’s just it! She’s a changeling! Couldn’t she have just disguised herself as a statue!?” The young dragon asked with poorly hidden worry.

“There is nothing to worry about young Spike” the young dragon jumped as he only then noticed the princess behind him “The city’s security spells detected her presence pass though as you brought her to the city and would have dispelled the shift of all but the most high caste changelings. We also performed several disillusion spells on both statues; they would not have been able to fool such advanced magics.”

“Not without some heavily enchanted octocamo and exceptionally serious alchemy at least” Twilight added off-handedly, not noticing the princess stop dead at her words.

“Princess Luna?” Spike asked the unmoving leader, her face having shifted several shades paler “You feeling okay?”

Luna suddenly sprinted from the room, barreling through the halls until she reached the garden. She flew right over the hedges and landed hard at her destination, leaving deep trails as she skid across the grass.

All that met her were two unconscious guards and an empty pedestal. She numbly stumbled forward, seeing a small scrap of parchment fluttering under a stone on the raised display. She picked it up to find only a single line etched across its surface.

DAAAWWW!!! You Still Care!

She read in disbelief as music began to ring out across the city

“Oh Fuck Me…”

Author's Notes:

Yay! Drawing and art and writing and... almost 600 views! WOO! EDIT: OVER 600 VIEWS! DOUBLE WOO!

...I'm tired

Hope you guys liked the sketches and like I said, if you want more just let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do. Or if you DON'T like them you can still comment too! I do ask you try to keep it constructive but criticism still usually helps.

But until then, as always: I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope to see you for the next! Have a good one!