The air was hanging heavy in Canterlot, and the streets were laying deathly silent. Sunlight peered through the thick layer of smoke surrounding the atmosphere of the city, as several fires burned in it's quiet streets. A soft crackling echoed throughout the hollow streets of Equestria's finest monument of architecture. Along with silence, pieces of ruble and broken brick lined the streets, blasted off by the initial attack, covered in a green, goey, goop, that only one creature in Equestria left behind. Changelings. Chrysalis wanted hers, and she wanted it bad. As she walked along the broken and barren streets of Canterlot, she stifled a small chuckle at her crowning achievement, or at least soon to be crowned. Her dark-blue locks flew along with a gentle gust of wind that swept by among the destruction. She looked to the soldier at her side, one of the many Changelings she had raised since hatching. A general, adorned in a shining set of armor.
"Where is it?" she hissed in a venomously happy tone.
The general grinned and looked to her through two sky-blue eyes, as he pointed a hoof in the direction of Celestia's castle in the distance.
"There, my queen... We've already got the Princess subdued, and the Element is yours to take." he said, the wicked grin on his face growing.
She smiled in response, and began making her way down Mane Street as the fires raged on. A scream of agony suddenly broke the silence of the city, followed by a contented sigh from the Changeling Queen.
"Don't you just love it, my subject?" she said in a sinister tone.
"After this..." he replied with a chuckle, following closely by her side as the two stepped carelessly through the streets. "we'll have more than enough love to give."
She shook her head.
"No... We're keeping it all... First that prissy show-mare... Then all of Equestria."
As the two continued making their way through Canterlot, they eyed various Changeling Soldiers slaughtering the remaining survivors of the initial attack. At least any survivor that wasn't smart enough to duck in cover as vicious bug-ponies fell from the sky, that is. It was like music to her ears, the screams of fallen foes. It reassured her that her massive family would have just a bit more food. A bit more power to conquer the world.
Loud hoofsteps echoed as the Queen and her general made their way across the bridge leading into Canterlot Castle, along with a yawn from her.
"This went perfectly... Whoever suggested the strategy for our last attempt should be executed immediately." she said.
"Certainly." the general replied.
Finally, Chrysalis and her soldier reached the double doors to the main throne room of Canterlot Castle, it's massive wooden doors towering over the two as the Queen dramatically shoved both open. Inside, the room was lined on either side by several pillars, each expertly crafted and now covered in Changeling goop. The messy substance was slathered in every corner of the regal throne room. At the end of a long red carpet leading from the doors to Princess Celestia's throne, rested the princess herself, a strip of green goo covering her mouth, most of her body and horn coated in the substance. Despite being the consistency it was, the goo was strong, stronger than any rope. The princess was trapped, and the look in her eye nearly screamed it.
As Chrysalis entered, several Changelings in various spots of the room instantly stopped, and turned to salute her. Her hoofsteps continued to echo as she made her way towards the fearful Princess, a victorious stride in every step.
"What has been done with the sister?" Chrysalis asked, nearing one of her saluting soldiers.
"She's been taken out of the city for immediate harvest, my Queen." he responded sternly.
Chrysalis nodded and sauntered a few more steps towards Celestia's throne.
"Hear that, 'Tia? I don't think you'll be seeing her anytime soon..." she said, narrowing her eyebrows, a vicious smile crossing her face.
The Princess tried to lash out at her and speak through the wrap around her mouth, but it was a fruitless attempt. Both bindings stayed firmly in place.
"I'm afraid you'll have to speak up, your holiness." Chrysalis replied with a mocking chuckle. "But now down to what I came here for..."
She sharply clicked her tongue and gave a low hiss as she looked to the corner of her eye. Immediately, a Changeling approached her, a golden tiara in his holy hooves. The ornament looked of divine elegance. Perfectly crafted to fit the head of its owner, with a pointed, purple star completing the beautiful design at the top.
"Ahh... Here we are..." she said, reaching both hooves towards the golden tiara.
Celestia cringed as the Queen's appendages nearly reached the ornament, her eyes twitching wildly, and her pupils shrunk down to unbelievable size. Chrysalis stopped completely, and turned her head slowly towards the princess.
"What? Is something the matter with me taking one of the most powerful elements known to pony kind?" she asked in a sarcastic tone. "Is what I've done here not enough?"
She stepped slowly in the direction of the throne, her wicked smile growing with every step.
"Have I not completed every task needed for victory?" she said, reaching Celestia.
The queen wrapped a hoof around the back of the alicorn's neck, and savagely pulled her close.
"I've burned your city..." she spoke low, in nearly a hiss. "I've killed your subjects... I've won... Maybe I should just..."
She gently prodded her hoof at Celestia's stomach, trailing it up and down agonizingly slow.
"gut you right here... Harvest your love and put on a show for my loyal subjects."
The queen paused for a moment to capture the fear in Celestia's eyes. The princess whimpered in terror beneath her touch, and tears were nearly welling in her eyes. She'd lost to Chrysalis before, but the Changeling Queen had never been this brutal. Somebody with that sort of power chilled her to the bone, and made her uncontrollable whimpering grow even more intense. After several agonizing seconds, Chrysalis burst into a maniacal laughter and backed away from the throne.
"You've got nothing left... Nothing!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, a psychotic smile on her lips.
"I wouldn't say that..." a mare's voice called from across the throne room.
Before Chrysalis could turn around, she heard the several cracks and pained grunts, instantly signaling that her soldiers had been quickly dispatched.
"Twilight..." she hissed, slowly turning around. "Sparkle."
Standing on the opposite side of the room was the very bane of her existence. Six ponies she despised with the burning passion of a million Celestian suns. Applejack and Rainbow Dash dusted themselves off as the Changeling Soldiers fell unconscious at their hooves, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie stood confidently at the back of the group, and Twilight stood tall in front, a scowl plastered on her face.
"Chrysalis." Twilight replied.
The queen chuckled and began pacing back and forth slowly in front of the throne.
"You know... I actually counted on you being here today." she said in a snarky tone.
"Is that so?" Twilight replied, narrowing her eyebrows.
"Oh let us cut the cliche' banter and get straight to the part where I slaughter all six of you and steal your elements, hmm?"
Twilight snorted angrily and prodded at the ground with her hoof, ready to attack. Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged a quick glance before assuming the same position. After several seconds of dead silence, Twilight, Dash and AJ charged forward towards the queen, the echoes of their barrage of hoofsteps blaring and echoing throughout the throne room. As the gap between the two sides closed, Chrysalis briskly aimed her horn and shot a quick bolt of green towards Twilight, but she instantly jumped to avoid the deadly battle magic. The Queen narrowed her eyebrows in anger and sent a string of shots towards the three, each of them evading the bolts of magic just in time, with perfect precision. Applejack and Rainbow jumped towards the Changeling Queen, ready to strike, but were both met by sharp blows of either hoof, sending them flailing away in pain. Twilight lunged as well, but met the Queen's body and sent her onto her back with a sharp thud. Immediately following up with her attack, Twilight re-steadied herself, and aimed her horn to the Changeling. She was instantly surrounded in a purple glow, and savagely thrown sideways into one of the various pillars lining the room.
She fell with another harsh thud, along with several pieces of cracked pillar landing on her. Mustering all of her remaining strength, she cocked her head upwards and captured Twilight in a similar green glow. After only seconds of struggling, the glow faded into purple and brought Twilight directly to her. Just before she was about to connect, the unicorn broke the glow around herself, and aimed both back legs for a sharp kick. Both hooves connected with a sickening crack, sending the queen flailing helplessly backwards as she groaned in agony.
"You can stop all this now Chrysalis, avoid the inevitable!" Twilight shouted, landing on the ground with yet another thud.
The Queen groaned and stumbled to her hooves once more, a hot pain burning in her midsection.
"What... Death? You're going to kill me?!" she said, breathing heavily.
"I'll do what I have to!" Twilight replied, her voice faltering slightly at the thought of ending a life.
"Ha!... Twilight... Sparkle... A killer... Your whole life has been built upon sunshine and rainbows you miserable little foal, what would you know of killing to survive?!"
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off as Chrysalis looked to the throne, eyeing the golden tiara she'd fought for. A smile crossed her lips as she briskly reached for it, but was beaten by a cyan hoof, who tossed it in Twilight's direction.
"Heads up!" Rainbow Dash shouted as the Element of Harmony flew through the air, and landed safely in Twilight's hooves.
Chrysalis growled and glared daggers into Rainbow Dash's eyes.
"You little blue brat!" she shouted, throwing a hoof in to the pegasi's stomach.
A sharp oof! sounded from her open maw as the hoof collided, knocking the wind from her stomach. Acting on her surprise attack, Chrysalis scooped Dash up in her forelegs and viciously tossed her away. She landed with a harshly on the steps beside the throne, cracking them as she rolled down each step limply.
"Rainbow!" Twilight called in horror, noticing the blood beginning to drip from Rainbow Dash's torn forehead.
Her eyes came to rest on Chrysalis, who was charging towards her. Time began to slow for her as she looked to the element in her hoof, her own heartbeat thumping in her ears like a stomping bass drum. She looked back and forth between the tiara and charging queen for a moment before closing her eyes softly. With a flick of her foreleg, the Element of Magic was tossed high into the air, Chrysalis's eyes darting upwards as the gold reflected the sunlight from outside. With her eyes closed, Twilight processed her thoughts at incredible speed.
Hide it.
Hide the Element.
Safe place... Where....
Planet...
Other planet... What planet?
Chrysalis growled as she noticed Twilight's horn beginning to glow, and charged forward even faster, hissing through her fangs.
Planet. Unknown Galaxy.
Light Years away; ... Uncountable.
Life-Supporting? Possibly.
Perfect.
The room went silent for a split second as a large ball of purple, magical energy shot from Twilight's horn. Chrysalis followed it with her eyes as it met the Element of Magic, and dissipated, taking the magical tiara with it. Her eyes then came to rest on Twilight's, just as they opened. She finally reached Twilight and tackled her to the ground, standing over her, inches from her face.
"Where did you send it?!" she screamed in seething rage.
"You'll never find it..." Twilight replied groggily.
The Queen growled and hissed in intense anger, staring up at the spot the element had been not even seconds ago.
"D-Did.... Is it invisible?! What are trying to pull Twilight Sparkle?!" she hissed, looking frantically around the room.
Taking the quick window of opportunity, Twilight mustered as much strength as she could, and made her way to her hooves. After a moment of regaining her senses, she cupped a hoof over her mouth and shouted;
"PLAN B!"
Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity turned around, startled at the tone in Twilight's voice.
"We're already done with guard-duty?!" Pinkie asked, confused.
"Twilight said not even to think, just act!" Rarity said, rushing into the main room.
Applejack eyed her friends as they approached the windows on either side of the throne room, each one depicting a turning point in Equestrian History. With Chrysalis still distracted, Applejack sprinted to Dash's unconscious body and briskly scooped her up, and continued full speed towards the window. Without hesitation, she threw her head down and crashed through the window, tiny pieces of glass showering the floor just in front of it. Nervously, the other ponies followed suit, bursting out of the windows with several loud crashes.
The Queen's attention was quickly diverted to the rapidly breaking windows, her face askew in confusion. She understood completely as soon as Twilight rushed past her however, and tried to run after the lavender unicorn. As Twilight threw herself through the window, a gust of cool wind hit her, the massive decent beginning to send air gushing towards her, causing her mane to fray in every direction. She looked downwards and noticed her screaming friends as they plummeted to their doom as well, and closed her eyes. Her thoughts came back once more, and she painted a vivid picture of Ponyville in her head. By the count of three, a massive purple light had enveloped the six ponies, and dissipated slowly, taking the ponies with it.
Chrysalis rushed towards the window just in time to witness the flash of light and her enemies disappearing.
"No... No! HOW?!" she screamed, her voice cracking slightly.
Rage boiled in The Queen's veins as she stumbled limply back into the middle of the room, searching frantically for the Element of Magic. But it was no where to be found. She stood in the center of the room for minutes, pondering and processing her next move, what had just happened, and any possible solutions. She'd come this far to steal the damn element, and she would die before giving up on having it in her hooves, so she could harvest the divine love of its holder. Something suddenly clicked in her mind, and she slowly turned her head towards the whimpering princess on the throne, locking eyes with her almost immediately.
"You're going to help me find that element... Whether you like it or not..."
* * *
"Ha-Ha! 20-Mother-fucking-13-ha-ha-ha!
"Dude, get back in the car!"
"Haha, can't stop me Sand-Bag!"
"Just shut the hell up and get back in the car you dumbass!"
Darek sighed as the wind flew through his hair, the crimson sedan rolling down the freeway at high speeds. The massive gusts of wind threw his long, scraggly, mop-top hair in every direction, creating a blur of of brown that covered the entirety of his pale face. The bright daylight reflected off of his fluttering yellow shirt, causing the Pinkie Pie design printed on it to thrash around wildly. As the car barreled down the road, the man's short, bony frame hung out of the window, both of his hands beating at the roof of the car. The window had caused his olive-green pants to slide down however, revealing his Pinkie Pie boxers as he thrashed about outside of the vehicle.
"Shaun, get him back in the car." Trevor said, an irritated tone ringing in his voice.
"Oh, what's the matter Sand-Bag, can't handle a lil' fun on the way to PONY-FUCKING-MANIA?!" Derek replied, still slamming his hands on the roof of the car in-sync with the song.
"No, I just don't want somebody to die the first time my mom let's me borrow the car." Trevor replied.
Trevor gripped the wheel with both hands tightly, veins nearly popping out of his thick, lightly-tanned hands. The Rainbow Dash on the front of his jet-black shirt was nearly drowned in a nervous sweat as his friend thrashed to the music outside of the car. Being a tad bit stocky didn't exactly help either, and the fact that his head was nearly bumping against the roof of the vehicle only added to his nerves.
"Ugh, dude I can see his ass!" Shaun called from the back seat.
"I'm working on it, man!" Trevor said, jerking the wheel as he reached a hand over to Derek, trying to pull his friend back into the vehicle.
After several moments of trying, Trevor finally yanked Derek into the car, his friend landed with a stern thud on the seat. Facing defeat, Derek simply rolled his eyes, and raised an arm to thrash his hand about in Trevor's short, black hair. He quickly raised his own hand to bat away the bony fingers however, and stared daggers into his friend's eyes.
"C'mon, lighten up, dude! This is going to be awesome!" Trevor said, his voice hoarse and slightly breathy as it always was.
"It's not about me lightening up, it's about you being an idiot... People die young that way." Trevor replied.
Derek raised an eyebrow and looked to Shaun in the back seat.
"You hear that? Sand-Bag is getting all philosophical and shit..." he said in a jokingly serious tone.
Shaun narrowed his eyebrows, causing the wrinkles in his dark forehead to come out. Everyone in the car knew, wrinkles meant business. Shaun rarely got serious, he was usually the most laid back of the group, but when he was upset, it would shut some one up pretty fast. The contrast between the happy ponies on his shirt and the angry look and cornrows atop his other friend's head caused Trevor to stifle a chuckle as he glanced back to him.
"He's right, man. You've been acting stupid this whole trip. Chill out." Shaun said, his voice low and stern.
Derek rolled his eyes and crossed his skeleton-like arms in frustration.
"And turn that crap off!" Trevor shouted, pressing a button reading 'ejct' on his stereo.
As the CD popped out of the stereo in the dash, he tossed it into Derek's lap, causing his jaw to drop and his eyebrows to narrow in disbelief.
"Dude!" he said angrily.
"Yeah man. I'm all for shutting up weeabo over here, but you don't disrespect the tombstone." Shaun said, looking to Trevor in the rear view mirror.
"Whatever man... Let's just see what's on the radio." Trevor said, pressing another button on the stereo.
After a few seconds of fuzz, a song began to softly play through the speakers, causing a smile to split across Trevor's face.
"See, here we go." he said calmly.
Darek groaned and placed a hand to his forehead, instantly coating it in sweat. He growled at the sudden misfortune and rubbed it on his pants, looking to Trevor once more.
"We're in the middle of the desert, and it's hotter than hell! When can we get out of the car?!" he asked, annoyed.
"In aboutttt... 4 hours." Trevor replied.
Darek sighed loudly in return and let his head roll back onto the headrest.
"Leave it up to the Sand-Bag to plan the world's worst trip... You know planes exist, right?"
"Hey, Weaboo?" Trevor asked, looking to Darek out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeah?" Darek replied.
"Anyone ever tell you you talk too much?"
"Anyone ever tell you you're kind of a bitch?"
"Hey, shhh... Trying to read this." Shaun chimed in from behind the two.
"Read what?" Darek asked curiously.
Shaun turned over a magazine in his hands just as Darek turned around. The magazine depicted something he was very familiar with, the Element of Magic.
"So? They make those things all the time." Darek replied.
"No... Listen to this, man. Says this thing was found in a small crater outside of Faust's house like, ten days ago. She's letting them auction it off at the con." Shaun said, pointing to the article just below the picture of the element.
"What? No way... Probably just some bullshit story to get people bidding high at that auction."
"I dunno man... I've never seen a replica this well-made before." Shaun said, looking closely at the picture.
"Let me see." Trevor said, reaching a hand back for the magazine.
Shaun passed it over after a moment and looked to Darek with a shrug.
"Maybe the two worlds are coming together, finally..." he said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, and I'll find out your alicorn OC is actually a real character and shoot myself." Darek replied.
As the two joked, Trevor looked at the picture intently. Shaun was right, the detail work was perfectly crafted, exactly like it was on the show. Maybe they just payed a jeweler to make a good replica? Nah... They wouldn't spend that much for an auction item...
Trevor's thoughts were quickly silenced however as a passing car honked their horn loudly. Passing beside them was a faded-green muscle car, with the words "PONY-MANIA" spray-painted crudely on the side. Trevor instantly jerked the wheel in fear and began breathing heavy before he noticed the car, and it's occupants cheering.
"Jeez'... Guess some people go all-out. Must've seen me hanging out the window, huh?" Darek said with a chuckle, looking back to Shaun.
Trevor didn't pay too much attention to the wild car of bronies beside them. His mind instead thought about the picture over and over again, how life-like it seemed.
Could the Elements of Harmony actually be real?