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One Punch Mare

by Komponist

Chapter 9: Faults of the past

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Canterlot Plaza.

Luna was still hugging Daybreaker tightly. After a whole minute had passed, the princess slowly pulled back from the embrace and with big watery eyes, looked into those of the fiery mare.
"Sister, Please! What hath upset you this much?"

Daybreaker just looked at her in silence.

The smaller alicorn thought about what could have brought forth the burning anger that led to this hellish downfall.
“Was it the result of the annual Plot-Awards that irked you so much? I had no hoof in that, I swear! It's not my fault that I have a perfect 'moon'!”

The taller alicorn was still just looking at her, producing no sound beside the crackling of her fiery mane.

Luna gulped.
"W-Was it my behavior? I know I can be difficult and I’m really sorry for that! I might seem ungrateful at times, but I assure that I am working on it!"

Daybreaker remained silent for a few seconds. Then she slowly lifted a hoof and moved it in a circle.
"And...?"

Luna was caught off guard by the gesture, then she nervously thought of an answer.
"A-And I’m also sorry for how annoying I can be. Forgive me, but you are almost always right and it's really frustrating! It’s very hard for me to not vent my anger."

Daybreaker’s hoof made the circling motion again.
"And...?"

Luna cringed and bit her lip. Her pride was starting to get in her way.
"And... I’m sorry for how I take my petty little revenge each time I lose an argument. Like when I boobytrapped your diary. And when I hid all those geese in your bed."

Daybreaker circled her hoof with more gusto and a faint smile.
"Aaaaaaaand...?"

Luna ground her teeth, her patience at its limits.
"And... I’m sorry for putting weapon-grade laxatives into your cake."

Daybreaker chuckled.
"Oh Luna, if laxatives worked on me, my life would’ve been much easier! Not that it matters now..."

Luna looked at her, pouting and eyes narrow in annoyance.
"Are we done here, Sister? Can you please stop this childish folly now?"

Daybreaker smirked, a devilish glint in her eyes.
"Oh yes, I will end it once and for all... that irritating childish folly in front of me..."

Luna was confused.
"W-What do you mean?"

"Good bye, Lulu!"

The fiery demon lifted her hoof and threw a punch at the Princess of the Night.

It hit nothing, just the air. Yet, the resulting air-blast unearthed many of the plaza’s tiles and ripped off the roofs of some buildings further away. Daybreaker cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh...?"

She looked around in order to find out where her ‘sister’ had gone.
She spotted her nearby... in Starswirl’s arms.

The old wizard spoke to Luna, while keeping his eyes on their adversary.
"Beware, Little Moon, that creature is not your sister! I doubt she’ll allow me to teleport you out a second time!"

Luna looked at him in bewilderment.
"But... that MUST be her! No other creature could have this much power!"

Starswirl helped her up, still carefully eying Daybreaker.
"I don’t know how this is possible either, but I can tell that whatever this creature is, there is no Celestia in there! Even at her worst she would never behave like this! ...Unlike you, Luna."
The Night Princess gave him grumpy glance.

Daybreaker grinned at the old Magician and started to slowly stroll towards him.
"Ah... Correct as always, my beloved old teacher... You know, I still remember all those essays you made me write! Those long, long essays..."
She grit her teeth.
"By the way, do you remember that one time I told you that Rockhoof ate my homework? I DID NOT LIE!!! Yet, you still punished me, you jerk!!"

***

About 1115 years earlier.
Late afternoon.

Nine-year-old Celestia stood up from her desk. She rubbed her tired eyes and smiled. She then picked up the piece of parchment in front of her with her magic.

“Phew, finally! That was the hardest essay ever!”

Satisfied with her work, Celestia wanted to stash it away safely, but suddenly a large bulky stallion crashed screaming through the wall. He had apparently been smacked into the air by an angry Ursa Major and got ‘slowed down’ by the castle’s battlements. The stallion was in the middle of a shout (more of a battlecry than a shriek of fear) so his mouth was wide open and, as fate would have it, it was on collision course with Celestia’s homework…

A moment later the parchment was gone. All the afternoon’s work for nothing, lost forever to the depths of Rockhoof.

After punching a hole in the floor, the hero almost immediately climbed out, unaware of his latest meal, and looked at the stunned little filly.
“Don’t worrrree, wee lass! I’ll uprrrrut me a log and thrrrroh it at that wee Urrrrsa!”

A moment later, he jumped out of the castle through the newest ‘window’ in the wall, leaving behind a stunned foal, who just kept staring in disbelief.
This was officially the third-worst Thursday that month.
Celestia didn’t move for a minute.
“My essay...”

Then she started to wail.

***

Present time.

The air around the now mature alicorn became so hot, it flickered.
“You had me walk door-to-door telling ponies what a terrible little liar I was and then gave Luna all my dessert for that month! She’s always been your FAVOURITE!”

Calming down a bit she added “I think it is time we settled the issue, it’s been long, loooong overdue!"

Starswirl stepped forward.
"So, you have her memories then? And apparently some of her feelings too. Probably not the good ones, I’m afraid… Also, I like you both the same!"
Then he started mumbling grumpily to no pony in particular: “Unbelievable, that I have to repeat that over and over again even after a thousand years and on top of that you aren’t even the real Celestia. I’m getting too old for this but it’ll be over soon, since I’m not getting any younger, and my bones aren’t what...

Daybreaker huffed.
“It’s far too late to make amends…”
A single tear of lava ran down her cheek.

A thunderclap resounded and lightning flashed in the sky. It was Luna, who had stepped forth and stomped her hoof furiously to the ground.
“WHAT HAST THOU DONE TO OUR SISTER?!!!” she boomed in her Royal Canterlot voice.

Daybreaker saw an opportunity and smirked at the Night Princess.
“If you want to know, you’ll have to beat it out of me!”
The fiery alicorn looked at Starswirl.
“You can help her if you feel like it.”

Luna and Starswirl exchanged glances. Then they nodded.
“Fine!” said the midnight blue alicorn.
“If it’s ‘physical diplomacy’ you want, you shall get it! I was always a fan of the ‘big stick policy’.
Both mares rubbed their flanks discreetly, recalling the spanking their tutor was so fond of in the olden days.

The princess assumed a fighting stance as Starswirl lit his horn up.
“Use brute force, little Moon! Trust your feelings! I will support you with my own power.”
His magic enveloped the Night Princess, who was already charging her own horn.

Daybreaker chuckled.
“How sweet… You think that a little more energy will make a difference towards the power of the Sun?”
She sat down on her haunches.
“Very well! Let’s see if you can pierce my defenses.”
Her magic lit up, ready to counter whatever meek attempt of an attack might come at her.

Luna pulled an enormous amount of energy into her horn. It was, as if she drew the power from a very deep well. The night seemed to get darker while she did. Starswirl had to concentrate very hard to feed her with his magic. On the tip of Luna’s horn a bright blue orb of light was growing bigger and bigger and her eyes were starting to glow pure white. Then she pulled up her head, readying herself to unleash the monstrous spell. Daybreaker just sat there unimpressed, her horn mildly saturated.

Suddenly, Luna disappeared in a flash and reappeared behind the fiery alicorn. She unleashed a bright thick beam of blue magic towards Daybreaker’s back.
A golden shield of magic appeared a few inches behind the mare and easily deflected the attack. Daybreaker turned around smiling.
“Come on, Lulu! It was obvious that Starswirl couldn’t give you more power and would pull off something like this. ‘Teleports behind you’ is a foal’s trick!”

She lifted her hoof and gave Luna a patronizing pat on the head. Or she would have if her hoof did not go right through it. Daybreaker was surprised.
“An illusion?”

“I’m still here!” Luna said, still standing exactly where she had been before the cast. She flung down her head and unleashed a gigantic blue beam at Daybreaker, much bigger and much more powerful than the previous one. Before the fiery alicorn could turn around and react, she was hit square to the face by the incredible wave of magic.
What Daybreaker didn’t know, was that with Luna’s dream magic and Starswirl’s time magic, the two were able to communicate without words, in what was just a heartbeat for everypony else. The moment they had glanced at each other, right before the start of the fight, they had enough relative time to work out a strategy… and have a conversation about the old times, but that is a story for another time.

When the blinding light had dissipated, Daybreaker was frozen in a huge ice crystal. The hellish alicorn started to emit a glow just a moment later and it was already making the ice crack and melt. Luna, however, wouldn’t make it that easy. The ice crystal got enveloped in blue magic, stabilizing and reinforcing it. Daybreaker’s glow became more intense, painful to look at, but the disintegration of the ice was minimal. Luna was panting heavily and sweat was running down her forehead, while her determination only grew.

Everypony present held their breaths, witnessing the titanic struggle. The wrestle went on for a few minutes, with both opponents upping one another multiple times, but of course this couldn’t go on forever…
In the end, Luna was worn out. She could barely stand and her magic, still enveloping the ice, became dim and flickering. With one bright and powerful burst the whole ice crystal vaporized and Daybreaker was once again unleashed to the world, eyeing her prey. Luna sat down on her haunches, breathing heavily.

Her foe strolled over to her and grinned.
“Nice try, but I have to ask: What were you hoping to accomplish with that? In the end, you've only gained a few minutes.”

Luna looked up at her…

…and smiled.
“Enough time!”

“For what?”

“For Starswirl to perform a summoning!”

“Summoning who?”

A huge rubber-hammer hit Daybreaker on the head from behind, pounding her into the ground with a loud squeaking sound.

Said hammer was wielded by none other than the Spirit of Chaos himself, Discord.
“Usually, I wouldn’t even pick up the phone when I see ol’ Starsy’s number, but considering we have a score to settle, Celly, I just couldn’t refuse!”

Luna got up on her feet shakily.
“Well, actually that doesn’t seem to be Cel…”

The ground exploded, breaking down most of the giant rubber-hammer into smithereens and sending Luna and Discord flying. The Night Princess was caught in Starswirl’s magic, who levitated her gently over into his arms. Discord caught himself, literally, and stopped in midair. Daybreaker ascended from a crater filled with glowing slag. Her face was showing annoyance and amusement at the same time.
“Ah… looks like the real fun is about to start!”

Discord glared at her.
“Fun?! You think violence is fun?! Have you any idea how long I needed to recover from your punch?! That was NOT funny! How about I show YOU how that feels like?!”

Daybreaker took off towards him with the speed of sound.

Discord flinched.
“Yikes!”
He dashed high into the sky on a scooter he pulled out from behind his back, closely followed by the fiery alicorn.

Luna and Starswirl were watching intensely.
“We have bought us some more time. Let’s think of a new strategy… and pray for a miracle.”

Meanwhile, Tempest Shadow stood up from where she lay forgotten all this time after being dropped by Daybreaker.
“Huh! It really isn’t that bad letting others do the work!” she said to herself, while musing how being a princess must feel like.

***

Canterlot Castle, the throne room.

The large double-door swung open and Celestia, supported by the unicorn guard, entered the large hall. When they reached the middle, not far from the throne, the princess told the guard to stop. He looked at her.
“Your Highness, if you want to reach your sister, why didn’t you take a chariot?”

“That would take too long!” Celestia responded, still too weak to fly or teleport.

The guard was confused.
“But how is the throne room going to be any faster?”

“Cover your ears!”

“Yes, your Highness.”

He did as she told him. The princess looked towards the throne and uttered the secret phrase:

“Do you like bananas?”

A trap door in the floor opened and the barrel of a huge, candy-colored cannon rose into the room. The guard starred at it in bewilderment… and awe.
“Your Highness… what IS that?! …It’s beautiful…

With the little bit of magic that Celestia could muster, she flipped a switch somewhere, causing the cannon’s barrel to lower down, so that its muzzle was within reach.
“That’s a giant party-cannon, a gift from Pinkie Pie for my birthday a few years ago. I only ever use it to... ...to shoot stuff I don’t like to the Moon… ...when nopony is looking. However, now it will serve a different purpose…”

She started climbing into the cannon’s barrel. She was able to get her upper body in, but lacked the strength to lift her significant bottom up. After a few undignified attempts (and some annoyed squeaking) she gave up.
“Would you be so kind...?” she asked the guard behind her.

As attractive as this request might be to most stallions (and some mares), it was unthinkable for an honorable Royal Guard to touch the Celestial Buttocks with their hooves or even their magic. Yet, he HAD to help his princess somehow; it was his duty! And at that point, he knew precisely what had to be done: he started unwrapping the plunger from the gift-paper.

Upon hearing the rustling, Celestia’s eyes went wide.
“Oh no! No no no no no!”

But it was too late…
The cup of the plunger pressed against her cheeks (not the facial cheeks) with a smacking sound. The princess was pushed inside the cannon completely. Fortunately, nopony could see her furious blush.
“Thank you for your assistance…” Celestia grumbled, once inside.

“I live to serve, your Highness!”

“My buttocks have noticed…”

With a firm pull and some muffled smacking sounds, the guard tried to levitate the plunger away. Unsuccessfully so.
“Your Highness… hmpf! ...you must relax! Hugh! Let it go!” he said while trying further.

But(t) to her annoyance and embarrassment the plunger had clamped tightly and would not relent.

“Nevermind, there’s no time! Step away now! I’m going to fire it!” she growled in an attempt to keep the little bit of dignity she had left.

Startled, the guard galloped further away.
“Good luck, your Highness!”

“We are all going to need it.” She muttered quietly to herself.

Again, she magically flipped some hidden mechanical switches, which made the cannon lift its barrel again. She set ‘Luna’ as the target of the magical aiming system. The roof split in two and once the cannon stopped moving, pointing at the opening, Celestia yelled:

“TO THE MOOOOOOOON!!! …oops, sorry! Force of habit! I mean: TO LUNAAAAA!!!”

BOOM!

Author's Notes:

The cannon is a reference to this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4f9m4OYkCY

Next Chapter: Battle of the Gods Estimated time remaining: 34 Minutes
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