Humani Victoria

Chapter 31~ Godly Blood Will Come To Bleed

"I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any."

                                                                                                                ~Lao Tsu

The Royal Caverns, Canterlot, Equestria, Friday, 29th of February, 2:30pm, 2206 AC

"Shit, ass, cunt, motherfucker, fucking, frig, crap, God fucking damnit..."

Jason groaned and swore as he rolled over onto his side, his whole body hurt. His tailbone throbbed uncomfortably and the scrapes on his joints stung painfully, after using up the rest of his available cusses Jason did eventually sit up and took in his surroundings. It was very dark, save for some dim ambient light that seemed to radiate off of some strange purple crystals that surrounded him. The sound of a groan hit his ears and Jason searched the darkness for a moment before he could just barely make out a familiar form in the gloom, it was Twilight.

"Hey," Jason said. "Hey, Twi, can ya' hear me?"

"Ughghhhh... Buck me," Twilight groaned. "My everything hurts."

"Yeah, that was one fucking hell of a fall," Jason said. "Can you give us some light?"

"Yeah, just give me a sec..." There was a pause before Twilight's magic sparked and came to light, shining across the bare rock and reflecting off the crystals that surrounded them.

"Where are we?" Jason asked, now trying to sound less irritated.

"Royal caverns, a natural deposit of Purple Crystallite right under the palace. It used to serve as a prison for powerful Unicorns back in the day," Twilight said. "That Changeling must've teleported us here."

"About that..." He began, "Sorry I didn't believe you about Cadence, well Fake-Cadence anyway."

"It's alright, I guess. I wasn't exactly boosting confidence with my paranoid rants," Twilight admitted. "Anyway, that's not important, I don't know what the Changelings are planning exactly but we need to get back to the surface before the wedding."

"Right you are, now..." Jason looked around, with the aid of Twilight's horn he could see much farther. However it didn't seem to matter as they were completely surrounded by solid Purple Crystallite, no exits, no paths, nothing.

"Well, what now?" Jason asked. "I don't suppose you can just blast through this, can you?"

"No, that's why it was used as a Unicorn prison, each individual crystal has a unique molecular structure. To break through them you have to magically map out each particle and vaporize the crystal completely, most Unicorns can't do it."

"...Can you?"

"Foal's play," Twilight said with a smirk on her face. Her horn burned brighter and it reached out to a nearby crystal which began to glow a bright purple. Twilight closed her eyes and her brow creased in concentration, nothing seemed to happen for a moment or two before the crystal began to shake and then slowly dissolve into dust. Within a few seconds the crystal evaporated into the air revealing a wide cavern.

"Come on," Twilight said, opening her eyes.

The cavern continued on straight for about forty meters or so, before it gave way to a much larger chamber. After further looking, they discovered that there was several branching paths all leading to different directions, some straight, others went up or down.

"Well now what?" Jason asked.

"What about that way? It goes up after all," Twilight suggested.

"Maybe... But, what about..." Jason trailed off as a sound reached his ears, the faint sound of hooves on stone. It was coming from one of the paths to their left, Jason gripped the hilt of his Gladuis tightly as he peered into the darkness. The hoofbeats seemed deafening as both Jason and Twilight tensed up in extreme anticipation until finally, the source of the sound stepped into the light.

It was Cadence.

Twilight acted immediately, her horn brightened to a blinding level and she shot a powerful beam of magic at Cadence. It never hit its mark as immediately a pink shield was thrown around the Alicorn which absorbed the energy with ease, Twilight tried to push against it, but she was no match for a goddess. Her horn began to smoke, overheating, and Twilight was forced to stop, once she did Cadence lowered her shield.

Jason stepped forward and began to draw his blade before the Alicorn raised her hoof.

"Wait! I'm not a Changeling!" She said rather desperately.

"How can we believe you?" Twilight demanded.

"Here, I'll prove it," Cadence said, her horn glowed pink and the light constructed itself into a transparent dagger, before Jason or Twilight could react she brought the blade to her forearm and drew it across. Golden Ichor began spilling down her fur and onto the stone ground, it glittered and shined from the light of Cadence's horn.

"See?" Cadence said, dispelling the dagger. "Golden blood, pure Alicorn, believe me now?"

"Chrysalis is an Alicorn," Jason stated suspiciously. "How do we know you're not her?"

"No," Twilight said, surprising Jason. "It wouldn't make any sense, why would she leave Shining alone without her to keep him under her spell? Not to mention it would seem very suspicious to everyone she's already fooled... You're really Cadence aren't you?"

"Yes," Cadence said, a smile gracing her features. She cantered closer as the tense air dissolved. "And you're Twilight right? Shiny's little sister?"

"Yeah, sorry we had to meet like this."

"Better late than never," Cadence commented, she looked at the Human in the room. "Jason, right?"

"Yep, nice to meet'cha."

"Same, Celestia speaks highly of you," Cadence paused. "I suppose you two met our resident Changeling Queen then?"

"You could say that," Jason said. "How's she get the drop on you anyway?"

"It was on our way to Canterlot, she ambushed me, I should've seen it coming honestly."

"Well, cé la vi," Jason said. "So any ideas on how to get out of here?"

Cadence frowned at the expression, but shrugged it off, "No idea, this place is like a huge maze, even when I break down the Crystallite I can't find a way out," Cadence said. "I haven't been here though..."

"Well that's a start at least," Twilight said. "We know we're the exit isn't."

"How do we know there even is an exit? We did get teleported down here after all," Jason said.

"No, there must be a physical way out, when this was a prison they didn't teleport ponies down here," Cadence said. "The question is; how do we find it?"

"There might be a way..." Twilight said, deep in thought.

"Go on."

"Well there is one spell, Clairvoyance, it's extremely difficult and complicated," Twilight said.

"Well it's worth a shot, right?" Jason asked.

"I could try... Cadence, would you... Be willing to help me with it?" Twilight asked. "Only if you're comfortable, I know a lot of Unicorns think Magical Linkage is rather... Personal."

"We're sisters aren't we? It's fine," Cadence said warmly, Twilight nodded and they both sparked their magic. Pink and purple reached out and mixed with one another and both mare's faces contorted in concentration, nothing seemed to happen for a while before a smoky blue trail bloomed across the ground. It lead across the floor and into one of the paths that mead upwards where it disappeared around a corner.

"Come on," Twilight said, her eyes opening and her magic fading from her horn, the trail remained. "Before it dissipates."

They broke out in a run, the magical trail lit the way as the cavern curbed upwards. It seemed to go on farther with not much change until eventually the dim cavern gave way into a huge chamber with no roof, sunlight streamed into the cavern and set the crystals on fire.

"Take a deep breath, both of you," Cadence ordered as her horn flared brightly, within seconds all three of them were encompassed in her pink magical field and with the sound of a whip the world melted away. By Jason's perspective it was only a second of two before the world reconstructed itself around them, they were standing just outside the maw of what must have been the entrance to the caverns; a dirt trail lead up the steep mountain slope where Canterlot rested not far in the distance.

"Come on, no time to waste," Cadence said, her voice becoming strained as the worry for her husband became greater.

Grand Hall, Castle of the Two Princesses, Canterlot, Equestria, Friday, 29th of February, 2:57pm, 2206 AC

Cadence smiled to herself as the door to the grand hall creaked open magically, all the heads in the crowd turned to look at her, her, the bride. Beautiful in her white dress that not only made her look like the princess she was but also hugged her slim form just enough to announce to everypony just how much of a mare she was, yes many stallion's eyes were immediately smitten with her as she began to walk regally down the aisle. It gave a form of pleasure inside at the thought that so many wanted her so badly and yet they couldn't have her, it made her smile grow.

At the end of the aisle, standing by the altar of the Two Princesses stood her soon-to-be husband. His eyes were glazed over as he stared dumbly right through her. He belonged solely to Cadence, the love practically radiated off of him and gave Cadence strength. It almost seemed to drown out the aura of Celestia who stood nearby, a small ignorant smile on her lips, yes she was such a fool, she didn't even know one of her kin was right under her nose...

Everything was going perfectly, Cadence found herself swelling in self pride. Indeed, this day was going to be perfect. At least that's we she thought, as she climbed the few steps and stood next to Shining Armour and as Celestia began to speak.

"We are gathered here to bear witness to the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armour by the gods, if there are any whom object to this may they speak now or-"

Suddenly the doors slammed open, startling everyone. They were even more surprised when they saw what appeared to be a roughed-up dirty but still unmistakable Cadence standing in the doorway, accompanied by Jason and Twilight. A ripple of pure confusion made its way across the sea of guests, many began swiveling their heads between the two, trying to dis concern what in the world was going on.

"I object!" Cadence declared. "That is not the true Cadence! I am! She is an imposter! A Changeling!"

Scared murmuring bloomed like disease in the crowd as they looked to the supposed Changeling who stood at the alter, as they watched she slowly closed her eyes and took a calming breath.

"Damn," she said, almost to herself. "It almost worked."

Without warning green fire bloomed around her and seemed to consume her entire form. The crowd took this opportunity to turn tail and run, the hall cleared within minutes leaving only Celestia, Cadence, Jason, the Mane Six and a few guards left with the Changeling. The fire began to dissipate and reveal the creature within, it was some sort of insect with dark flesh underneath thick black chitin with the occasional hole through it. Clear insect wings sprouted from her back, her hair grew long and stringy, turning from pink to a greenish blue. Her horn grew long ragged and curved and her eyes, her eyes glowed with the sickly green light of the fire she cast.

"No matter," Chrysalis said, she began to descend the steps and walk into the centre of the hall. "I'm always one to have a backup plan."

"Do you?" Celestia said behind her and began to circle around her, Cadence joined her and soon Jason found himself doing the same. His hand on the hilt of his Gladuis, the three of them slowly circled Chrysalis who seemed amused at the sight of them.

"Twilight," Celestia said. "Take your friends and retrieve the Elements of Harmony, guards go with them."

"Are you sure Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Quite sure," Celestia confirmed. "Us three can handle this."

"Confident are you?" Chrysalis said as Twilight left, accompanied by her friends and the few guards that were there. "Unfortunately for you they won't get far, Shining, my love?"

"Yes, dear?" Shining said dumbly.

"Do lower the shield, dearest."

"Of course," Shining said, his horn glowed and there was the sound of thunder in the distance followed by what sounded like thousands of mirrors shattering around them and the buzzing of a million flies.

"Good, now," Chrysalis said, her own horn beginning to brighten with magic. "Perhaps you would all consider surrendering?"

"No, I don't think so," Celestia said. "But... Why? Why do this? We are no threat to you, I was content to leave you and your... Children, alone."

"Yes, no threat at all, but what would you do if you watched your subjects slowly starve to death with only the most meagre of scraps, this nation of yours is a beacon of nourishment for us and yet we cannot even cross your borders. You've given me no choice, we must take what we need," Chrysalis said.

"And this is the way you do it?" Cadence cut in. "How dare you control my husband and how dare you ruin my wedding!"

Cadence's horn sparked to life and the air beside her began to shimmer, sparks of pink fire bloomed into existence and knit together forming a familiar shape. The fire died down leaving a long polished rapier with a hilt jewelled with heart-shaped rubies, Cadence gripped it with her magic and pointed the blade at Chrysalis. Celestia then stepped forward and stopped her hoof on the ground causing the entire hall to shake, the sun shifted behind her casting a brilliant and blinding light to enter the hall. Orange flames burst forth on the floor and slowly out of them came a tall golden warhammer, the entire weapon glowed with power as Celestia began swinging it in a slow deadly arc.

"I haven't seen that in a while," Chrysalis admired, staring at the hammer. "Back then it would only smite Humans, and now.... It fights besides one."

Chrysalis' glowing green eyes shifted to Jason who felt quite small as he drew his Gladuis, why was he even here among these gods? The mere magical aura coming off the three was enough to make Jason's hair crackle like he had been given an electric shock. For the first time since he arrived in Equestria Jason wondered how in the world the Humans fought such power for so long, and even began to win.

"Well," Chrysalis said casually. "Let's just cut the fat here shall we?"

Without warning her horn flared to life and shot a green beam of magic at Jason, time seemed to slow to a crawl as the blast inched itself towards him. There was no time to dodge out of the way so Jason found himself throwing up his free arm in a fruitless effort to shield himself. The blast struck but... He felt nothing, nothing except a jarring buzz in his arm, Jason opened his eyes and looked up. The blast met his hand and then curved around him, as he watched his hand began to glow with a silver light and a transparent silver shield formed around him.

Chrysalis ceased her assault and the shield dissipated, leaving Jason to stare at his glowing hand that seemed to be wreathed in an ethereal silver flame. His entire body buzzed like he had been given a shot of expresso and then shocked with lightning, his head pounded painfully and his vision swam. But... This power, this magic, it felt good.

"Well, what do you know," Chrysalis commented, staring at Jason curiously which distracted her from Celestia launching herself at her back and swinging her warhammer to meet full force with the side of Chrysalis' head.

Chrysalis went flying into the nearby wall, smacking full force into it which cracked her chitin and crunched her bones. She slide down to the floor leaving the golden stain of Ichor on the now crumbling wall, for a full moment Jason thought she was actually dead before she began to shift. As they watched the flesh began to knit itself back together and the chitin fused close, her flesh shifted like loose dirt for the bones reconstructed themselves with the sound of snapping and crackling that made Jason want to puke. Chrysalis' eyes shot back open and her horn flared to life, she teleported herself next to Cadence with a long curved sword now in her grasp which she swung at Candace.

Candace caught the sword with her rapier and was immediately pushed back magically, her hooves skidding across the floor leaving sparks in their wake. Chrysalis then dodged out of the way as Celestia launched forward and swing her hammer overhead, it missed but hit the ground and shook the hall violently, the entire weapon was now smoking with an intense heat. Jason took this opportunity to rush toward and try a thrust, Chrysalis blocked it sideways but Jason punched forward with his free hand that was still consumed by silver flames, he struck true on her chest and the force sent them both stumbling backwards from each other.

Seizing the moment Cadence blink-teleported forward and began a rapid assault, her sword tip became a blur and she put Chrysalis on the defence who was just barely able to block her rapid attacks. That was until Celestia came in with another powerful swing that caught the Changeling in the side, sending her flying once again. She managed to catch herself this time and began flying around, her horn glowed brightly and with small bursts of green fire she summoned thousands upon thousands of what appeared to be locusts into existence around her, she's grinned cruelly and with a flick of her head, the insects shot forth towards Celestia with an angry buzzing.

Celestia met them with fire, they burned easily and fell to the ground as ashes. Once the bugs had been dealt with Celestia began whipping her head in a slow with circle, slowly a long string of flame came out of her horn and began to follow her heads movements. With an expert flick of her neck she lassoed the flame whip around on of Chrysalis' hooves and brought her swiftly down to crash to the floor. Jason was on her in a second, he had taken a moment to concentrate the magic inside of him through his sword arm an into the blade. The Gladuis glowed silver and appeared to be transparent, Jason swung it at Chrysalis' head and it passed right through her like it didn't exist. Yet as it did so it seemed to partially drag something with it, some sort of ethereal double image of Chrysalis was pulled away from the corporeal version for a few centimetres before it dissipated into nothingness.

Whatever it did it seemed to work as Chrysalis howled like an injured animal and fell to her knees, too weak to follow up with another magical attack Jason tried to swing his now fully corporeal sword conventionally only to meet a shield. He wailed on it with no avail, Cadence joined him but even together they couldn't seem to break through but they kept trying until they heard Celestia call forth.

"The Dawn shall take you!" She yelled, she launched high into the air and brought her warhammer, which was now fully wreathed in flame, down to bare with the shield. There was an explosion of blinding light and searing heat that would have caught both Cadence and Jason it it as well if it wasn't for the formers quick shield. As the blast dissipated they saw that the shield was still there but was now consumed in thick green flames, Chrysalis spoke from within and her voice echoed around the hall.

"Enough of this," she said and the fire exploded outwards, tossing all of them back onto the floor. They hadn't a moment to react before she struck, she came for Cadence first with a deadly arcing strike, Cadence managed to deflect it away from her face but the blade still caught her ear and sheered it off, splattering her golden blood onto the floor. Cadence screamed in pain and teleported away with a loud crack! she rematerialized at the opposite end of the hall. She staunched the floor of blood from her severed ear with her hoof as the wound sparked magical lightning as her ear slowly began to reform itself.

Chrysalis then turned and caught Celestia's swing with her blade, a shockwave was produced by the opposing forces that shook the ground. Cracks were beginning to form on the floor and along the walls, Jason worried that the ceiling might crumble in on them. Celestia and Chrysalis pushed against one another and seemed equally matched, Jason was too far away to charge and land a hit so he began focusing that energy once again. His head was pounding like a drum but Jason forced himself to ignore it, his Gladuis began to glow silver and bolts of magical lighting arced from its tip and to the ground. Jason took a step forward and slashed the blade through the air in a wide arc, launching a wide blast that flew across the hall and struck Chrysalis in the side and toppled her over. It was all Jason could muster as he toppled to his knees, the pounding pain in his head becoming too great.

The attack was followed up by Celestia, swimming her hammer down with Chrysalis only just rolling out of the way. She thrust her own sword forward and slashed across Celestia's cheek, drawing the Godly blood out. Celestia grit her teeth and lifted her weapon for another stroke but not before she was struck in the chest by Chrysalis' magical blast. Her hammer went flying out of her grasp and clanked to the floor, Chrysalis was on her in seconds casting a powerful blast that bound Celestia to the floor via thick slime that coated her hooves and body.

"Do you not see this is pointless?" Chrysalis said. "I have won, as my mind shall always win, the time of the Old Gods are over, both you and the Human are relics of the old world. It is time for my kind to rise and retake the land."

"Your kind?" Celestia asked. "Fallen, corrupted Alicorns? You had a purpose and you threw it away... Aphrodite."

Chrysalis shook her head as if confused and her entire formed seemed to flicker, in a moment her dark flesh and chitin was replaced by soft pinkish white fur and a long golden mane, her eyes were emerald and as beautiful as the jewel. Aphrodite looked like Cadence in the way, at least from what Jason could tell before her flesh turned black and the chitin returned.

"That is not my name," Chrysalis said defiantly.

"Just as mine is not truly Erotia?" Cadence called from her end of the hall, she was still mending her ear. "You cannot deny who you are forever."

"And whom decides who I am?" Chrysalis demanded. "Who proclaims to twist our fates and guide to paths? And what given them the right? No, I am whom I say I am."

Before anyone could do anything more the double doors burst open and the Mane Six were dragged in by several Changelings, the lot of them were bruised and battered but seem relatively unharmed for now.

"Ah, there we are," Chrysalis said as Twilight her friends were tossed to the floor. "Good, now go and feed my children, you must be starving." The Changelings left at once leaving Chrysalis to canter over and smile down at Twilight who glared defiantly up at her.

"Fret not little ones," Chrysalis said, placing her hoof under Twilight's chin. "I shall be a fairer Queen than Celestia or her part of a sister were, unlike them, I shalt not force you into a destiny that does not favour you nor shall I try to control your path."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked angrily.

"Oh dear, she hasn't even told you yet, no matter my child, I have better plans for you..."

Jason grit his teeth and slowly began to stand up, Chrysalis was too preoccupied with her taunting to notice. Jason's head was pounding and his vision swam, the magic he had been performing was an extreme drain on him, somewhere in his muddled mind questions flared like wildfire about how he was able to perform such feats. Looking around Jason searched for options, Celestia was still stuck underneath the slime and didn't seem to be escaping soon, Cadence was still healing her ear but seemed able to move, Jason managed to catch her eye and the shared an understanding nod.

Cadence's horn flared and the healing sparks around her ear dissipated, she teleported across the hall stuck forth with her rapier. Chrysalis was quick enough to catch it with her own blade, Cadence disengaged her sword and followed up with a rapid assault. While Chrysalis was distracted, Jason began concentrating what energy he had left. He remembered when he had charged his Gladuis with his magic, that had seemed to have the greatest affect so Jason began doing just that. The blade began to glow and spark before it turned transparent, Jason wondered why it did that, but his head felt like a nail was being driven into his skull so he reserved the thought for later.

He knew he couldn't maintain the energy for long so gritting his teeth Jason broke out in a charge, his glowing sword leaving tendrils of silver magic in his wake. As he neared her, Chrysalis pushed Cadence away and turned to face Jason but she wasn't quick enough time time, she only presented her chest for Jason to run her through. Like before the Gladuis passed through her as if it didn't exist, immediately Chrysalis' sword clattered to the floor and dissipated into smoke. Jason eyes met hers, those green eyes were filled with confusion and fear as her entire form shimmered and shook, she seemed to disappear for a few moments leaving nothing but a small glowing white orb in which Jason's blade was piercing. She reappeared and continued to shimmer, a piercing pain shot through Jason's head and the world seemed to melt away.

The hall was replaced by a city, tall white buildings surrounded Jason as he made his way down golden streets. In the distance a tall spire reached up into the clouds and what seemed like giant birds circled around it. As he made his way down the street Jason saw... Alicorns, hundreds of them, big, small, young, old, most without a Mark but all stopped to acknowledge him as he passed.

"As lovely as ever, Lady Aphrodite," one said.

"More radiant than Lady Celestia's sun, My Lady," another complimented.

"Thank you, thank you!" A voice that was not Jason's said, it sounded like Chrysalis but was much happier and full of joy. The scene shifted and suddenly Jason was in a different part of the city, a huge crowd of Unaligned Alicorns both male and female of varying ages stood before him.

"Please Lady Aphrodite! Can you not allow us this pleasure!"

"We all desire you, My Lady, we are willing to share!"

"Can you not claim your superiority over the other Aligned? You are clearly the fairest, the wisest, the most powerful!"

"Please, please!" Aphrodite said. "I-I'm flattered, but you're all under a spell! This is just a by-product of my magic! You must learn to love others besides me, I should not be the focus of all love in the world!"

"Why not?" The unanimous answer was, the world shifted once again before Jason could her Aphrodite's reply. This time he found himself inside a large room, the floor was covered in a thick carpet with silks, pillows, and blankets piled everywhere. Scented candles purveyed the air and created a thick haze that seemed to dull the mind. Aphrodite stood above a kneeling Unaligned who seemed to be kissing her hooves.

"You're sure?" Aphrodite asked.

"Of course, My Lady! I would know what to do if you fell in battle!" The Unaligned said.

"I know it's just... You'll be weakened for weeks, maybe months, you won't even be able to levitate anything," Aphrodite said in concern.

"A small price to pay to preserve the beauty My Lady, fairest of all creatures and highest of the Aligned!"

"...Right," Aphrodite said. "Well, just... Think about someone you love and, uh, just relax alright?"

"I have been thinking about whom I love since I entered your home, but please proceed My Lady."

Aphrodite nodded and sparked her magic, green tendrils reached out and grasped the Unaligned's horn. Sparks shot out and Aphrodite felt like she was being filled with energy, which she was, it felt... Good, really good, it caused a swelling in her chest and a flutter in her heart. It was if she was young and she had just spotted her crush, or the feeling she had when her mother wrapped her in a warm hug and told her everything was going to be fine. Within a moment Aphrodite retracted her magic leaving the Unaligned to almost fall over, he caught himself and managed to stand on shaky legs.

"T-thank you," Aphrodite said a tad breathlessly. "Perhaps you should go rest?"

"Yes I think you're quite right, My Lady," the Unaligned answered woozily and staggered out of the room.

The room melted away and was replaced by what appeared to be the inside of a temple, with wide pillars lining the sides and tall windows streaming light through. Aphrodite stood on a lifted platform above a crowd of Unaligned Alicorns whom cheered and chanted her name.

"My children!" Aphrodite said, her voice echoing powerfully. "Your faith shall be rewarded! Your love returned! I only ask that you profess your love for me!" There was a unanimous positive answer from the crowd, Aphrodite smiled largely and reached out with her magic. Hundreds of green tendrils shot out at lighting speeds, they latched onto every Unaligned horn in the room, suddenly everyone shared the same dull glowing green eyes for a moment as Aphrodite absorbed their love as pure magical energy. It took a minute or two but eventually Aphrodite pulled back her magic, she was glowing brightly at this point, the entire massed swooned as the ritual ended.

"Return home my children! Rest! Remember, my love goes with you!" Aphrodite called, soon all of her followers staggered out. Aphrodite made to follow them but an all-too familiar voice stopped her.

"You walk a dangerous path, My Lady."

Aphrodite turned to face the direction of the voice, there standing partially obscured by shadow was King Solaire himself. Had stepped into the light which threw his tired and worn face into sharp relief.

"My Lord Solaire," Aphrodite greeted. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't feint ignorance," Solaire said tiredly. "Your purpose is to spread love, not horde it, that is not the purpose of Ap'Rhol whom you play host to."

"And who are you to declare that?" Aphrodite said defiantly. "Am I not entitled to love as well?"

"I do not think it is the love you crave, rather the power it gifts you," Solaire said sadly. "Do not do this my dear, continue as you are and you will end up as Dispono has, corrupted, fallen, mad."

"Dispono was mutilated, tortured, I am nothing like him!" Aphrodite shouted and stormed out of the chapel.

"You're right," Solaire said at her back. "Dispono was forced into his fate, you chose your path all your own."

The temple crumbled away and suddenly they were standing on the steps outside a huge palace, it's walls reached high with marble turrets and tall windows. The tall spire that they saw before was closer now and pierced the dark clouds above that thundered and spewed rain atop of them. The water only added to the salty liquid that flowed down their cheeks as Aphrodite stared down at her hooves, magic sparked from her as her flesh seemed to boiled and froth like soup. Chucks of it slid off and splattered to the ground to reveal darker flesh and black chitin underneath, soon the water washed away Aphrodite's sift fur and beautiful mane leaving a ragged and twisted insectoid form underneath.

"I-I didn't know!" Chrysalis sobbed, looking up at Solaire who stood at the top of the steps looking down at her in disappointment.

"I warned you," he said. "Over and over, you failed to heed me."

"Please, please, just help me!" Chrysalis cried desperately.

"You are beyond my help," Solaire said sadly. "You have corrupted your purpose and thus Ap'Rhol has left you, you are no longer the Goddess of Love... I am sorry, truly."

"You lie!" Chrysalis yelled. "You wanted this! You couldn't allow me to gain so much support lest your rule be challenged! But if I go then my children go with me!"

Chrysalis' shorn flared a sickly green and before Solaire could act a magical shockwave shot forth in all directions and spread out through the city. In the distance the sound of screaming could be heard along with the buzz of what sounded like thousands of insects.

"Let this be known, if you can't learn to give us love then we will take it from you," Chrysalis growled.

"So be it," Solaire said, and his own horn flared a bright white. "I, Solaire, God of Sentience and Intelligent Life hereby banish you and your children henceforth from the realm of the Alicorns... On pain of death."

Solaire's horn exploded into a blinding white flash and the world melted away. Jason returned to reality, his Gladuis still stuck in Chrysalis' chest, the flesh around the blade glowed silver and suddenly Jason was pushed back. He landed several meters away on his back with his Gladuis clattering to the ground we'll always from him, Jason looked up to see that Chrysalis hadn't budged. She caught his eye and Jason saw a hint of fear in there before it was covered up by anger and defiance.

"This isn't over," she said. And suddenly cracks began to form along her chitin, thin openings that glowed gold and spread across her body, fully encompassing her. And in a moment she shattered, Chrysalis' body broke apart by the seams into a thousand pieces which dissolved into golden dust leaving only the glowing white orb that Jason had seen before, and even that faded away in seconds.

Taking a breath Jason laid back down on the floor, very content to lie there and rest. He was soon joined by Cadence and Celestia, the latter had escaped from the slime she had been entrapped in.

"Hey, good job guys," Jason said tiredly. "What'cha say we take five and retry for that wedding hey?"

"Sounds fine to me," Cadence said, her ear sparking and beginning to heal again.

"Cadance?" Shining called from his spot at the end of the hall. "What's going on? What happened? What's wrong with your ear?"

"I'll explain later, dear," Cadence said, laying her head down.

Castle of the Two Princesses, Canterlot, Equestria, Friday, 29th of February, 3:21pm, 2206 AC

Cadence and Shining were married quickly, with Celestia rushing a shorter version of the ceremony, they didn't even bother to call the guests back in. Soon after everyone retired to their respective chambers for much needed rest, with Jason accompanying Celestia on a walk.

"So any idea what I did back there?" Jason asked.

"I'm not sure on the details but it appears your magical abilities have fully awoken, this is good," Celestia answered. "I shall have Twilight begin tutor you, we might as well try and understand your new powers while we can... You will be remaining in Canterlot yes?"

"Might as well, seems I'm almost always needed here," Jason said. "What will you be up to?"

"Oh, well after order is restored I think I shall do a bit of traveling," Celestia said as they stepped out onto a balcony.

"Travelling? Where?"

"North, with Luna, I think the both of us need to meet this Edward that you spoke of."

"Really? Are you going to free him?"

"We are going to meet him," Celestia said. "We will see what happens after that, that is all I can promise."

"Okay," Jason said. "Just one more thing, what-"

Before Jason could complete his thought there was the sound of flapping wings and a shadow was cast over them. Luna alighted on the edge of the balcony, she looked quite worried.

"Sister!" She exclaimed. "I saw the damage from the air, did something happen? Did I miss anything?" Celestia seemed a tad too shocked to respond but Jason was all too happy to oblige.

"Fuck you, Luna."