Strength

Canterlot was doomed. Everypony knew it even if they tried to hide, flee, or fight. The changelings had overrun the entire city and now they were simply cleaning up. Divided against superior numbers pocket after pocket of resistance fell. It would take a miracle to save them and most of them had given up on the idea. Huddling behind a hasty barricade Golden Coin and his family hoped that they would be saved but it seemed impossible. As changelings outside banged at their door shouting that Celestia had fallen and they should just surrender Golden pulled his family close trying to ignore them. There was a rather loud cracking noise and then silence. Confused Golden and his wife looked over the flipped table they had been hiding behind at the door that, a second ago, seemed like it was about to come down. Somehow the lack of noise was more disturbing than the noise of changelings trying to enter.

“Are they gone daddy?” His son asked innocently.

“I….I don’t know son.” Golden sighed. Disentangling himself from his family he slowly made his way over to the window. Peeking through the curtains as if the in-laws were visiting he almost fell over from his awkward position. When he finally was able to see through the window he froze. There were about thirty or so changelings outside the house all looking at it intently as if they were trying to melt it by staring really hard. Why did they stop banging the door if they have so many out there? Golden wondered.

Not getting any answers from his current position he shifted too look at what was in front of his house. Standing in front of his house was a bipedal creature with a pair of massive metal gauntlets. She was wearing a black sleeveless dress with a matching hood and white flames adorning the bottom of the hood. On her legs she was wearing a pair of black boots with a pair of white knee high socks. On her back was a metal tail that twitched as if whatever was standing there was angry.

Strength was furious. She didn’t know how long she had been imprisoned, but right now she didn’t care. All she cared about was that these things were hurting innocent ponies. Ponies she swore to protect all those years ago. As her tail twitched angrily she stared at the offending creatures. What are they waiting on? I didn’t unnerve them that much, did I? She wondered. Suddenly the wall of creatures parted to reveal a much larger one holding a large green cocoon in its telekinetic grasp.

“Greeting stranger I am Queen Chrysalis leader of the changelings. I have come here to bargain with you. May I ask your name?” Strength felt a smile start to pull on her lips as she observed the queen.

“Well since you were polite enough to give me yours I shall reciprocate. My name is long forgotten, I go by Strength now.” She said giving a little bow to punctuate her name. Chrysalis returned it if only to help smooth out the negotiation.

“Well I see no reason to dance around the subject. You have attacked my subjects during a very important operation. While I understand it may have been in self defense it still is a distraction and time is of the essence. So I propose a trade.” Chrysalis showed a predatory smile allowing her fangs to be seen by all. “As I understand it you were imprisoned by Celestia many years ago. What if I gave you a way to get your revenge?”

“Well I do have a personal vendetta against that conniving....” Strengths voice trailed off as she tapped her chin in thought. “..Bitch.” She spat that last word like it left a nasty taste in her mouth.

“Well then what if I gave you Celestia in exchange for leaving us alone to take what we want from the city?” Chrysalis smile grew. Strength stared at the queen, not quite believing what Chrysalis had just said.

“You mean to tell me you captured Celestia?!” She asked with a mix of disbelief and surprise. Chrysalis beamed as her horn lit up and the cocoon split open, spilling Celestia and a large amount of a strange green substance onto the ground. Strengths eyes widened as Celestia coughed and sputtered, trying to remove the offending goo from her lungs.

“So what do you say Strength, do we have a deal?” Chrysalis asked, barely able to contain the excitement in her voice.

“Gah Dammit dammit dammit!” Strength shouted punctuating each word by slamming her tail into the ground. “Why does it have to be so hard! Served up to me on a silver platter at the worst possible time!” She shouted through gritted teeth while clutching her head in her massive gauntlets. She seemed to calm down a bit before addressing Chrysalis. “I am sorry but…” taking in a deep breath she continued. “I have to refuse. I made a promise a long time ago to protect these ponies. And I can’t break that promise.” She looked down at Celestia with disgust. “Not even for personal reasons.”

Chrysalis shrieked in rage and fired a blast of green energy at Strength. The beam slammed into her causing her to slide back several feet. The only thing that saved her from being thrown through the house behind her was her hands and tail pierced the ground leaving long scars. Strength smirked at the attack.

“Bring it on you overgrown bug!” She shouted, charging forward to smash the queen. Chrysalis lit up her horn and charged into strength. A blast of green energy erupted from the point of contact as both parties flew backwards. Using her wings Chrysalis recovered first, flying above Strength she fired another beam slamming her foe into the ground. When the dust settled Chrysalis was standing over Strength with a triumphant smile on her face.

“Victory is mine fool.” She dramatically proclaimed. Strength rolled her eyes in annoyance as Chrysalis charged up her horn. Her maniacal laughter was cut off early by a sharp pain in her side. Looking at the source she saw that the hard chitin on her flank had been pierced by Strengths metal tail. As the wounded queen struggled to pull away from the offending tail Strength laughed before throwing the queen off of her.

Having no strength left in her the queen ragdolled through the air before landing with a hard crunch. She sputtered and gasped for air but a punctured lung made breathing extremely difficult. A shadow loomed overhead and Chrysalis looked up to see Strength standing over her, arms raised to smash the queen. “I win.” She mocked at the wounded queen.

Chrysalis salvation came from the most unlikely source. A golden beam came from behind Strength, the unexpected impact sending her flying head over heels. Recovering Strength turned to see the source was a weakened Celestial, who was attempting to stand. Seeing that her executioner was distracted the queen sent a quick mental command to her troops. All soldiers retreat, the day has been lost. I repeat retreat to the hive. Turning her head she spat some resin on the wound to keep anymore blood from spilling out and then sent out a call for aid.

Strength noticed the queen being carried off by a few drones and moved to intercept. Only to be forced back by another blast from Celestia who had finally conquered gravity and was now standing, albeit shakily. Strength muttered more than a few unkind words at Celestial while attempting to knock her over again with a stare.

“Y-you will not leave this city….St-Strength!” Celestial panted out with as much zeal as she could. Strength smirked at that.

“You can barely stand, how do you propose to stop me?” Strength asked pointing out the obvious, her tail swishing back and forth angrily.

“Princess!” Came a shout from down the road. Both parties turned to see a large group of royal guard running towards them. Thier golden armor riddled with dings, dents, and scratches from the recent battle. “Are you safe princess?” He asked. He didn’t ask if she was okay as she clearly was not.

“Yes I am fine.” Celestial stated with authority. “However we have a new threat to deal with.” She never stopped staring at Strength who returned it with double the intensity. “Strength, as the defender of my little ponies and ruler of Equestria, I have determined that you are a threat to not only Equestria but the entire world. As such I cannot allow you to run free. Guards arrest her!” The guards looked at one another for a moment before looking at the strange creature called Strength.

“I warn you I may not kill anyone but i don’t intend to go quietly.” She said bloodlust sparkling in her eyes. She then fell into a combat stance with one arm raised for a punch while the other was held in front like a shield. The guards readied their weapons despite the nervous looks in their eyes. “ready when you are.” Strength said mockingly knowing none of them were ready.

Though despite her attitude she did not want to fight these ponies. After all, she made a promise to protect them over five hundred years ago. And even if it kills her she is going to keep it.