Equestria Heroes

"Friendship is magic!"

"Of course."

"Verily."

Celestia's Sun hung high and bright in the sky as it shone down upon the capital city of Canterlot for Equestria's Royal Summit. Within the conference room, three alicorns took their seats, ready to discuss the main issues important to the land of Equestria. However, one of the seats around the table were empty, and this did not go unnoticed by the Princess of Friendship.

"Where's Princess Cadence?" Twilight asked, looking a bit thrown off by the absence of her sister-in-law.

Celestia cast a sideways glance at the empty seat as she replied, "That is quite odd. The Crystal Empire train has yet to arrive, and we honestly are not sure what could be keeping it. We've already sent a pegasi messenger to the Crystal Empire, but I doubt we'll get a response in time."

Luna directed her attention to Twilight and asked, "Speaking of absentees, might I ask where your faithful assistant is?"

"He has a cold," Twilight said, looking greatly crestfallen, "He begged me to let him come, but the fact remains that a dragon spewing fire all over the place probably should stay in bed."

"Don't despair, Twilight," Luna replied confidently, "You made the correct decision. As for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, I am sure we will have an explanation soon enough. Regardless, Equestria's Royal Summit waits for no pony."

Celestia nodded, "Indeed. Now, if we can avoid any interruptions."

"PRINCESSES OF EQUESTRIA! HEAR MY WORDS!"

The three alicorns received a jolt of surprise as the loud voice echoed throughout Canterlot Castle and the city below.

Luna stood up boldly and shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice, "WHO DARES ADDRESS US SO AND INTERRUPT OUR ROYAL SUMMIT!?"

Twilight looked up gravely and said, "I know that voice. . ."

"Chrysalis. . ." Celestia said with a darkened expression and a voice dripping with scorn and pure loathing.

"IN THREE DAYS, I SHALL UNLEASH MY NEW ULTIMATE WEAPON UPON EQUESTRIA TO GET REVENGE FOR MY PAST DEFEATS! I ISSUE A CHALLENGE THE PRINCESSES! THEY, AND ONLY THEY, MUST FIGHT MY ULTIMATE WEAPON IN THE BADLANDS! THEY MUST TRAVEL ALONE! IF ANYONE ELSE JOINS THEM, I WILL SEND MY WEAPON TO DESTROY A RANDOM CITY IN EQUESTRIA AND EXTERMINATE EVERYONE THERE! THAT IS MY ULTIMATUM! COME, ALICORNS. . . AND FACE ME! THAT IS ALL!"

When the echoing finally ceased, Twilight stood up tall, looked over at Celestia and Luna, and said, "It looks like fourth time is going to be a charm, and this time, we defeat Chrysalis for good."

"It most certainly will be," Celestia said with a harshness scarcely heard from the benevolent ruler, "I will never forget the disgrace Chrysalis had brought upon me. Due to her machinations, I was struck down before the ponies I have sworn to protect. . ." Celestia hung her head in shame, ". . . and doubted my most faithful student."

Twilight was before her former mentor in a flash to lift her chin and say, "Don't talk like that, Celestia. Chrysalis was powered by Shining Armor's love at the time, and my accusations against the fake Cadence really were flimsy and overly emotional. I should have spoken to you in private, not burst in calling her evil."

"The past is past," Luna said impatiently as she briskly trotted towards the door, "The present concern is Chrysalis' ultimate weapon. Although she may be lying, we can't afford to gamble a city full of innocent lives. We must do as she says and fight her ourselves."

Just as Luna got to the door, it opened, revealing a white pegasus Solar guard and a grey thestral Lunar guard, who both gave quick bows to the royals in the room.

"Captain Akatosh," Luna said as she nodded to the Solar guard, and then she nodded to the Lunar guard, "Captain Arkay."

"Your majesties," Akatosh said reverently, "We cannot allow you-."

Celestia stepped forward and cut the Captain of the Solar Guards off, saying, "We cannot risk the destruction of city just to keep ourselves safe. If we do nothing, Chrysalis will attack where we least expect it. Equestria is too large to give ample protection everywhere. And if anyone accompanies us, I am sure you heard Chrysalis' threat."

"Could it be. . ." Arkay said with a raised eyebrow, ". . . That you wish to even the score with the Changeling Queen?"

Akatosh glared with disgust at the thestral, while Luna merely turned around to give Celestia a nervous look.

Celestia gave Arkay a look that lacked any interest or concern, and replied, "I won't deny that, but the other points I made still stand, making your point inconsequential. Nevertheless, I commend you for being observant." She then looked over at Twilight and said, "What do you say about all this, Twilight."

Twilight's eyes widened briefly with a touch of nervousness within them, then she quickly composed herself and said with great conviction, "We have no choice. We must go and defend Equestria from this threat. That's our duty as the rulers of this land. We'll put an end to anything that would try to destroy our peace and harmony."

Luna nodded, "Then it is settled. We leave at once." Luna turned to Arkay and said, "Maintain order until we return."

As Luna left, Celestia and Twilight followed after her, with Celestia turning to Akatosh saying, "You will share in that responsible. Be wise in your decisions."

After the alicorns left, Akatosh turned to Arkay and said, "You ought to learn when to hold your tongue."

Arkay smirked and said, "Celestia commended me. Has Luna ever commended you?"

Akatosh let out a loud breath and turned saying, "Let's go. The populace are all in a panic after that headache inducing message."

And so, for three days the three Alicorns traveled by wing and hoof towards the Badlands, the very outskirts of Equestria. It might have taken them only two days if it weren't for the fact that they were constantly besieged upon by groups of Changeling marauders. Luckily, Changelings never were very strong fighters, and they went down like flies to the alicorns' powerful magic.

However, near the end of the second day, as they got close to the Badlands, they received their first true challenge.

Luna peered out towards the horizon and said, "Ha-ha! I can see the beginnings of the barren wasteland approaching!"

As Luna landed back on the ground amid the edge of the forest were the team had stopped to rest, Twilight took a moment to stretch her back and her wings. "Those Changelings attacks are so aggravating!" she said, "But they certainly are ingenious. Chrysalis really wants to make sure we don't get there sooner than three days!"

"I am glad that you acknowledge my superior intellect, fools!"

The alicorns all looked up to see Queen Chrysalis herself hovering in from behind, accompanied by three larger, burly Changelings wearing smooth, black armor.

"Chrysalis! You're days of harming the ponies of Equestria are over!" Celestia shouted in righteous fury, her eyes fixated directly on the Queen.

"You have no hope! I doubt that you'll even be able to defeat my Elite Guard to get to my ultimate weapon in time!" Chrysalis said with a vile grin.

Twilight flared her wings and charged her horn, readying herself for battle. Luna and Celestia followed her lead.

"Destroy them!" Chrysalis shouted and pointed, and the three large Changeling warriors flew at them.

Twilight teleported in the nick of time, and one of the warriors slammed into the ground face first. It quickly got up flew at her again. Twilight teleported again, and this time reappeared upside down and underneath the warrior. She kicked hard with all four hooves, knocking the  wind out of the warrior and sending him sprawling. Twilight then flew in close and touched her horn to his head, zapping him senseless.

Luna fire lighting out of her horn at the second warrior. The warrior tucked and rolled, and the lighting was deflected off of his armor. Seeing this, Luna quickly took off and flew right towards the warrior, much to his surprise. The warrior fired a beam of green energy out of his horn, but Luna created a magical shield to block it, and then bashed him with it. Luna then spun around and kicked him square in the face with her rear hooves.

Celestia didn't waste any time. First she hammered the third warrior into the ground with a scorching blast for her horn, then she raised her head regally and cast a spell that ignited the patch of ground where the warrior lay. Badly scorched, the Changeling cried out and rolled out of the flames, just in time for Celestia to swoop down and cast a sleeping spell upon him.

Seeing that things were going badly, Chrysalis quickly started to fly in the direction of the Badlands. However, Celestia spotted her.

"You are not getting away from me!" Celestia shouted as she charged up her horn.

"FROM US!" Luna corrected as she and Twilight also charged up their horns.

Three beams of magic were fired upwards, and Luna's and Celestia's beams wrapped around Twilight's, forming a spiraling blaze of light that smashed into Chrysalis' back, resulting in a huge explosion.

As brutal as the blast had appeared, Chrysalis didn't look too bad as she fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. By the time the Changeling Queen hit the dry dessert ground, Celestia was already there, standing over her still form.

"I believe the appropriate term for this situation is, check-mate," Luna said confidently.

"Not yet, Luna," Celestia said with a note of disappointment in her voice as she stared down at Chrysalis.

"Hmm?" Luna asked as Twilight timidly got closer to the Changeling Queen.

Twilight gasped, "I don't believe it!"

Luna got a closer look at the Queen, and was taken by surprise by what she saw. What lay on the ground was a lifestyle wooden dummy painted to look like Chrysalis.

"A Golem," Celestia said, "Enchanted with illusion magic to look real. Our attack dispelled both enchantments."

"Golem Magic. . ." Twilight whispered, "That's in the same realm as Age Manipulation! How on earth did-?" Twilight gasped again and said, "You don't suppose Chrysalis has the Alicorn Amulet?"

"I most certainly hope not," Celestia said gravely.

Luna kicked sand at the wooden dummy and said, "Enough of this! Chrysalis must still be waiting with her weapon. We must go there now and end this for good. Let us go!"

Luna promptly took the the skies, and after a moment of exchanging glances, Twilight and Celestia followed.

Once the alicorns were a good distance away, the wooden dummy began to change. It vaporized into a cloud of black smoke, and a distorted voice neither male nor female said, "AliCorn mAGiC, aBsoRbeD."

The alicorn stood in slight awe of the large, black, egg shaped structure that towered into the sky before them.

"So, this is a Changeling Hive," Luna said in both fascination and disbelief.

Twilight nodded and shuddered, "It looks even worse than the one I went to when she kidnapped the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

Celestia scrapped at the ground and said, "I swear upon the Sun I raise and lower every day, that this will be were Queen Chrysalis is defeated for the final time!"

"THE ONLY DEFEAT THAT WILL OCCUR HERE, IS YOURS!"

The alicorns were caught of guard by Chrysalis' voice, and caught off guard even more when the very ground started to shake. Suddenly, right in front of the massive hive, something just as massive burst out of the ground. It was a massive red dragon decked out in jet black armor similar to that of the Elite Guard. It's tail armor was spiked, as was it's arm armor, and it wore a horrifying black horned helmet. And seated atop the helmet was Queen Chrysalis herself. She cackled maniacally as her eyes blazed both hatred and victory down at the three alicorns.

"BEHOLD!" she shouted down at them, "My ultimate weapon! His armor is made by the hardened chitin of mighty Changeling warriors of the distant past! He is invincible, AND HE WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!"

"WE MUST DIVIDE AND CONQUER AND REUINITE! GO NOW!" Luna roared, and the three alicorns flew off in different directions just as a huge burst of fire blasted down right where they stood.

Twilight flew towards the dragon's tail and fired a few magical shots at it. Predictably, the tail swung towards her, and she teleported. When she reappeared, she fired a much stronger magic blast behind the tail's swing, sending it further than what the dragon intended. This sent the tail right into his legs, the spikes biting into his ankles, which did not have armor on them.

The dragon roared out in pain and stumbled, which allowed Luna to get in close and kick the dragon square in the draw with her rear hooves. She began shooting magic blasts where she had kicked. Furious and still in pain, the dragon reached out to grab Luna with his claws. Luna immediately looped in mid air and sent a strong blast at the dragon's left elbow. At the same time, Twilight did the same to the dragon's right elbow. This sent the dragon's arms smashing into each other, causing the spikes on the arm armor to lock together, pinning his arms together. The dragon roared and snarled with frustration as Chrysalis screeched and raged at the dragon to attack. However, the dragon didn't seem to be paying attention to her.

Celestia could feel the satisfaction welling up inside of her. Although they had no idea what they were going to face, they were still able to put several plans together based on what they thought they would find. Luna's Divide and Conquer and Reunite plan was genius, and it was the best choice for a creature like a dragon. Everything was going according to plan. As Luna and Twilight attacked, Celestia was up high, charging up her horn for the one mighty blow that could knock the dragon out of sheer blunt force: the power move they had all used earlier.

Luna and Twilight flew up next to Celestia and join her in charging up for the attack. It seemed as if nothing could go wrong. However, in all their planning, they had neglected to see the obvious flaw.

Angered beyond comprehension, Chrysalis jumped off of the dragon's helmet and flew out towards the three alicorns, snarling and looking ready to kill with her bare hooves.

Celestia felt a dreaded sense of deja vu grow in her, and her thought flew at a mile a minute, "No! None of us can strike back! We're still charging our magic, and if we move we'll miss our chance! I can't loose to her again!"

Luna and Twilight had similar worried thoughts as they realized that they were easy targets in this position. Twilight closed her eyes and braced for impact as Luna clenched her teeth and glared back at the angered Changeling Queen.

Suddenly, a sphere of magical energy formed around the alicorns. Chrysalis slammed into the shield and was blasted back into the dragon's helmet, denting it with her impact.

The alicorns stared in awe at the sudden miracle, but then they suddenly saw it. To the left of the dragon hovered Princess Cadence, and to the right hovered Flash Sentry, holding Shining Armor in his forelegs.

"Don't give up! You're so close!" Cadence shouted.

"Come on, you can do it, Twily! Do it!" Shining Armor shouted.

"Do it! JUST DO IT!" Flash Sentry shouted.

The alicorns were struck speechless, utterly dumbfounded by the sudden arrival of unexpected backup.

However, Queen Chrysalis was beyond livid, and she send a massive blast of magic down at the dragon's arm armor, shattering it. The dragon roared in relief, and he raised his hands to grab the three interlopers.

"No!" Twilight shouted in fear, "Look out! Move!"

Twilight's warning was too late, for the dragon had already snatched the team from the Crystal Empire out of the sky and held them tightly in his grip.

Then, there was an explosion. It burst right underneath the dragon's chin and sent a shock-wave of rainbow colored light out from the point. There was no mistaking what it was, or who was responsible for it. Only one pony could perform a Sonic Rainboom.

The force of the Sonic Rainbow knocked the dragon backwards and made him loose his balance. He instinctively let go of his captives, who quickly flew to safety.

Not sure how or why Rainbow Dash was here, but not having time to think about it right now, Twilight felt her magic reach it's pinnacle strength along with Celestia and Luna, and all three alicorns fired their ultimate attack down straight at the dragon's head. The explosion completely knocked all consciousness out of the dragon, and he promptly began falling backwards.

Queen Chrysalis had been knocked off of the dragon's helmet by the Sonic Rainboom, and was hovered over the scene when the alicorns' attack hit. With a scream of intense rage, she quickly turned to fly towards the hive.

Celestia was nearly exhausted from the attack, just as Luna and Twilight were. But when she spotted Chrysalis flying away, she dug deep within herself, and brought up just enough magic to send one concentrated fiery beam out towards her. The beam struck Chrysalis in her right wing, disintegrating it instantly. The crippled Changeling Queen screamed in fear, all courage and anger cone from her, and she fell into a dive and slammed into the ground. After just 3 more seconds, the massive dragon landed right on top of her in a thunderous crash.

Both magically and physically drained, the three alicorns landed on the ground, breathing heavily.

"We . . . we did it . . ." Luna gasped out, her eyes widened with disbelief.

"Not . . . without. . . our friends," Twilight said, smiling in spite of her exhaustion.

Celestia matched Twilight's smile with with a smile of her own, this one of self satisfaction, closure, and redemption as she gazed upon the sprawled out form of the red dragon. "Yes, Twilight," she said, "It's like you've always said. . ."

Twilight nodded and declared proudly, "Friendship is magic!"