Tartarus Hath Frozen Over

Celestia reappeared on the outskirts of Appleloosa, troubled by what Twilight had relayed about a dragon attack. Her eyes were met by a horrid sight, the town was in flames. Partially collapsed buildings, piles of ash, and scorch marks on the ground greeted Celestia. Determined, Celestia rushed toward the center of town in search of survivors.

The smoke grew thicker as Celestia raced toward the town square. The possibility of ponies trapped by this inferno spurred the princess to run faster. As she ran down the dilapidated street, she began to doubt if anypony survived. All she could hear was the roar of the flames and the occasional sound of a collapsing building. The smoke began to sting Celestia’s eyes and throat.

“Is anypony out there,” Celestia desperately yelled as she barreled down the ruined street. No reply, Celestia was about to yell again but tripped over something heavy. A sick sloshing sound reached her ears as Celestia momentarily glided through the air. With a loud thud, Celestia’s muzzle struck the ground quickly followed by her flailing legs.

After she ground to a halt, Celestia spat out the ashy ground that forced its way into her mouth. She turned to see what had tripped her and screamed at the sight. There laid behind her was a partially burnt corpse of a pony. From its midsection down was charred black. The upper half appeared to have once been a vibrant shade of blue. Rigor mortis had frozen the pony’s anguish upon its blackened face.

While its glazed eyes stared beyond infinity. Celestia began to cough as the smell of sulfur and burnt flesh reached her nostrils. Celestia slowly got to her hooves and cautiously trotted onward. According to her memory, the town square was a few more blocks and to the left. Another fit of coughing overcame Celestia, smoke inhalation caused her mind to become groggy.

A voice sounded from a distance, it came from high above Celestia. Looking skyward Celestia’s vision was unable the pierce the heavy smoke. A high pitched squeal was all that escaped from Celestia’s dry, smoke coated throat. Celestia’s ears caught a far-off sound, almost like the flapping of several wings. Reluctantly Celestia spread her wings and attempted to blow the smoke away.

Again Celestia suffered a fit of coughs, she was torn between self-preservation and her honor bound duty. Celestia redoubled the force of her flapping wings. The safety of Equestria’s citizens took precedence over my own she told herself. The sounds that Celestia had heard was coming closer. I have to hold on until help gets here, she thought.

Celestia could feel her wing muscles slowly getting weaker along with her dwindling consciousness. With her vision now blurring, she fell to her knees. A look of despair etched across her face. Dark thoughts drilled their way into Celestia’s mind. Hope and determination gave way to pessimism and self-loathing. Laying her head on the ground as the words, you’ve failed to save them, echoed in her head.

Celestia just laid in the dirt as she wallowed in misery. The rumble of flames filled her ears, the scent of death assaulting her sense of smell. Moments past before an almost nonexistent cry resounded from beyond the fire. Celestia’s ears were now erect and frantically scanned the area. After a while her ears drooped, questioning rather or not she had imagined it.

Reluctant to accept her failed rescue attempt, Celestia began to search for an escape. Turning to the left only revealed a blocked path of collapsed brick and mortar from the flanking buildings. Having been staring at the center path beforehoof Celestia dismissed the avenue. Although mostly clear of debris the long gauntlet of fire and heat would surely bring about her downfall.

The path on the right was quite promising as it appeared the best route of escape. Save for a rickety barricade of several wooden beams, the rest of the path was clear. Celestia noted that sections of the beams glowed red, remnants of being burnt prior. Once again Celestia’s ears swiveled around, having caught another faint cry.

Turning a hundred an eighty degrees, Celestia surveyed the area once again. Once again, no pony could be seen, these continued auditory hallucinations worried Celestia. Concluding the heat was the culprit, Celestia turned back around. However, a wet squashy thing had touched Celestia’s barrel. The contact had startled the princess to such a degree that Celestia had jumped several feet backward.

Celestia was unable to maintain her balance on the uneven terrain and fell to the ground. As her body impacted the ground, an agonizing scream filled the air. Ignoring the pain, Celestia leaped to her hooves as if stung by a bee. Turning her head downwards, the princess saw blood oozing from her chest. Her gaze fell to the ground searching for what had wounded her.

It wasn’t long before Celestia spotted what had violated her regal form. A long twisted piece of metal among the debris, its tip painted red in her blood. Celestia… a haunting voice called out to her from the shadows. Celestia’s blood felt like ice in her veins, the voice seemed to emanate from everywhere. Panic along with a shortness of breath began to plague her.

“Celestia, look at what your tardiness has wrought.” “You were charged with the safety of everypony yet here they lay dead,” the voice boomed at Celestia. “If I’d known I would have arrived sooner, I’m not omnipotent as everypony thinks I am,” Celestia bellowed. Utter terror was now quite prominent on Celestia’s face, fear firmly gripped her heart.

“Excuses are like assholes, every species has one and you Celestia are the biggest asshole I know.” “You preach about protecting your precious ponies.” “Yet you employ excuses to wriggle from the blame like a worm on a hook,” the voice sneered demonically. Celestia was about to give her rebuttal but was interrupted as she began to hack and cough.

This was the worse her coughing had been, it felt like her lungs were on fire. Celestia tried and failed to quell her involuntary fit. The voice let out a laughter that boomed and cackled like the thunder of an approaching storm. As the laughter assaulted Celestia‘s ears, the alicorn was finally able to stop hacking.

Celestia’s eyes grew wide as a strange copper like taste lingered in her mouth. That along with the increasing shortness of breath lead Celestia to a very dire conclusion. Her lung had been pierced and was slowly filling with blood. Celestia lifted her head, not wanting to appear meek in her possible final hours. The laughter finally ceased which allowed a sense of silence to return.

“Is that all,” Celestia yelled, “a few discriminatory words and laughter?” “Why don’t you face me instead of hiding like a coward,” Celestia finished. As if replying to her ultimatum the wind kicked up while the smoke swirled into a sphere-like shape. Celestia stood and watched as the smoke parted to reveal the enormous face of a lava red scaled dragon.

Celestia swallowed hard as the dragon stared at the wounded alicorn with serpent eyes. Its gaze was cold as it savored the sight of the struggling princess. “Bravo princess your act of defiance is quite grandiose, yet utterly pointless,” the dragon‘s booming voice chuckled. Celestia narrowed her eyes attempting to look intimidating.

Without warning, Celestia’s chest began to ache and throb in rapid succession. The pain that surged through her body was too much to bear. Falling to her knees, careful to avoid the protruding piece of metal. Her breath was now shallow and weak, Celestia was gasping for air. Another round of laughter boomed from the dragon as he watched Celestia flail and twitch in agony.

Celestia gave another fierce cough which caused her eyes to close on their own volition. However, once they reopened the red dragon’s face had vanished. In fact, the entire smoke and fire infested nightmare she found herself in was gone. Through her blurred vision, Celestia stared at a blotchy darkness. The laughter that taunted her was replaced with garbled sounds and a lone shadow was towering above her.

In a last-ditch effort of defiance, Celestia forced the last bit of her energy into one of her front legs. At first, her leg merely twitched but slowly lifted from the ground. If she was going to expire here, Celestia was going down swinging. Her hoof flew ever higher before she felt it impact with something hard.

The shadow that stared down was forcefully pushed aside by her attack. Exhausted and mildly satisfied, Celestia slowly embraced the shadowy arms of oblivion. As her eyes closed, one distorted sound seemed to stand out from the jumbled mess. Several hours later, Celestia’s eyes popped open as the princess regained consciousness. In a daze, Celestia began to frantically look about her surrounding.

A dim orange glow met Celestia eyes, revealing the interior of a brown sort of structure. She also noticed that she was no longer laying on the hard ground. She tried to remember what had happened and how she ended up in a bed. Try as she might the shroud that blanketed her mind seemed impenetrable. With no alternatives, Celestia tried to rise from her bed before a voice sounded from beyond her vision.

The sound was a familiar voice that set Celestia’s mind at ease. “Calm thyself sister, thou’st inhaled massive amounts of smoke and need to rest,” Luna spoke softly. Jumping from her chair, she strolled to Celestia’s bedside. Celestia settled back down and turned her head to stare at Luna. Luna returned her sister’s gaze with loving eyes as she spoke softly. “We‘re glad that thou’st recovered but why would thou rush into the flames?”

“Didn’t thee read the note that we left atop our bed.” Celestia replied in a confused tone, “I was called to Twilight’s after she informed me about a changeling appearance.” “It was there that I learned about this catastrophe.” “How’d you learn about the attack Luna?” Celestia finished. Luna now understood why Celestia was unaware of the entire situation.

In a clear voice, Luna began her tale, “we were performing our nightly duties when a consciousness suddenly joined the realm of dreams.” “Which wasn’t unusual however the waves of terror it had emitted demanded our immediate attention.” “We soon discovered it was Fluttershy who was in distress, we quickly quelled her fears.”

“Afterwards Fluttershy informed us about the dragons, the evacuation, and how the changelings had protected them,” Luna concluded. Celestia gave a sigh of relief upon hearing that Appleloosa was evacuated. Her ease was short lived as Celestia’s mind latched on to the last part of Luna’s words. Celestia bolted upright in her bed with a speed that caused Luna to gasp in shock.

“What do you mean changelings were helping that’s impossible.” Celestia snapped. “We understand thine skepticism sister, we share it.” “Yet having seen it for ourselves we know it to be true,” Luna replied. Celestia looked at Luna, wearing an expression of disbelief she spoke again. “Changelings are heartless beings, they must be plotting something.”

Before Luna could reply a loud "ahem" came from the other side of the tent. “If you’re quite done belittling our efforts this day, perhaps you’d enjoy an explanation.” A rigid dual-toned voice echoed as the sound of hoof falls approached. Stilling her composure, Celestia looked in the direction where the voice had originated. Within moments, Chrysalis had been revealed by the candle‘s soft glow.

Chrysalis stopped right next to Luna before speaking again. “You may not believe it and frankly I don’t care either way.” “However, Luna speaks the truth, my hive and I did protect the ponies of Appleloosa.” “Why,” Celestia retorted, “I doubt it was from the kindness of your heart.” Chrysalis gave a dry chuckle before resuming, “Quite right Celestia, we do have a stake in the welfare of these ponies.”

“I’ve designated this town as a test site to try a different approach for extracting love energy.” Both Celestia and Luna gasped at Chrysalis’ bold declaration. Luna’s horn lit up with magic as she turned to face Chrysalis. “If thou think we’ll allow harm to befall these ponies, thou’rt mistaken,” Luna growled. Chrysalis simply smiled at Luna, revealing her front fangs in the process.

“You misunderstand me, we are not going to siphon their love.” “Instead we’re going to feed on the love and affection they freely give to us,” Chrysalis stated. Now the two princesses stared at Chrysalis with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. For a short period of time, the tent was silent as the sisters pondered on what they just heard.

It was Celestia that finally broke the silence with four simple words. They. Don’t. Trust. You. Regardless of the truth, Chrysalis just smiled bigger. “For now but if we help them, they’ll come around,” Chrysalis countered. Luna cocked her head in confusion, “are you planning on befriending them?” she asked. “I prefer to call it coexistence but I guess they are similar,” Chrysalis commented with a shrug.

Wanting to steer the conversation to more urgent matters, Celestia looked at Luna. “How are the survivors doing,” Celestia asked. Turning to meet Celestia’s gaze, Luna quickly caught on. Straightening her posture, Luna reported that the changelings and night guards were tending to the injured. How the slaying of their comrade had caused the other two dragons to retreat.

Luna’s voice took on a more somber tone as she relayed the fact that they had suffered some casualties. Celestia looked back to Chrysalis before courteously asking to have a few words with her sister. Surprisingly, Chrysalis didn’t snap any kind of retort but merely left the tent. Stopping outside the entrance, Chrysalis surveyed all the torch and magic lights that dotted the landscape.

Deducing from the lack of voices, Luna had erected a sound dampening field. It was only natural since they didn’t trust her if their roles were reversed she would have done the same. Since eavesdropping was impossible, Chrysalis decided to take a stroll and gauge the ponies reactions to the changelings. Chrysalis weaved her way through the crowd and as she did so a small smile formed on her lips.

It appeared that the ponies reluctantly accepted the help of her changelings. Perhaps it was the magnitude of the situation or the fact that changelings could apply first aid via the use of magic. Whatever the reason, Chrysalis could feel a slight warmth permeated the air around her. Although it was faint the aroma carried the distinct taste of gratitude. Not wanting to deprive her changelings of what little there was, Chrysalis walked on.

However, a young filly ran out from the crowd and raced toward Chrysalis. Chrysalis stopped and watched as the filly quickly closed the gap between them. In a matter of seconds, the filly was standing in front of Chrysalis. “Can I help you young one?” Chrysalis asked as politely as her dual-toned voice would allow. The filly fidgeted at first but slowly raised her head to look at Chrysalis.

The filly anxiously blurted out her appreciation for saving her daddy before rushing off. Chrysalis' smile grew bigger, partially due to the filly’s gracious words. The actual cause for her smile was the love that came with those words. It carried a fragrance of cinnamon and a slight dash of peppermint. Her taste buds rejoiced, soon joined by her stomach by the tasty treat.

Yet Chrysalis’ good mood was short lived as her thoughts turned to drone 23 and Zembani. It had been several hours since she had lost contact with drone 23. Chrysalis was able to sense that drone 23 was still alive, which meant the drone was unconscious. Her main concern was Zembani, he must be worried about them fighting dragons and not being able to help. At least drone 23 will be able to brief him when she regains consciousness and they reestablish their telepathic connection.

Chrysalis silently cursed that little filly for ruining her good mood. Wanting to be alone, she unfurled her wings and took off into the sky. Landing on the highest cloud in the sky, Chrysalis began to plot her next move. Despite the dragon attack, everything was moving according to plan. However, she knew it would be trickier from here on.