Boncord: The Pre-Sequel

"Wake up!" Chrysalis shouted. She stood over Bon Bon and Discord along with two other changelings. Bon Bon and Discord had shifted into an embrace while they slept.

"Is it time, already?" Discord asked with a yawn as he and Bon Bon stood up. They looked around and saw that the prison cell was wide open.

Chrysalis looked over to her changeling companions and with a nod they transformed into Starlight Glimmer and two guards, respectively.

"Stay close and you won't seem so suspicious." Chrysalis ordered as she hastily sauntered off with her companions- Discord and Bon Bon followed the changelings closely. They weaved their way through the lower halls of the castle until they came across an inconspicuous doorway guarded by two armored ponies.

"We're here to check on the Elements of Harmony." Chrysalis bluffed.

"Ma'am?" One of the guards replied with a confused look.

"You just brought them up to the throne room." One of the guards explained. Chrysalis flashed him a perplex look and then promptly fired a blast from her horn at both guards, knocking them unconscious as she reverted back to her normal appearance- the other changelings followed suit.

"So much for Subtlety." Discord mocked with a sigh.

"We have a traitor in our midst." Chrysalis explained as she eyed over the two changelings at her side. "Thorax!"

"Yes, my queen?" One of the changelings replied with a salute.

"Stay close by my side. I have a dozen infiltrators in this castle and it could be any one of them." Chrysalis ordered.

"Then Starlight Glimmer also knows about Twilight Sparkle's assault." Bon Bon gasped.

"We must make haste!" Chrysalis ordered as the five galloped off toward the throne room.

Elsewhere in the castle; Starlight Glimmer stood on a balcony, which opened to the throne room, staring out at the morning sky, surrounded by a dozen guards. A dark spot formed on the horizon as scores of air balloons trailed behind an army of pegasi, accented by three distinct streaks in the sky; purple, blue and rainbow.

"The filly gave us some toys to keep us busy while we await delivery on the real prize." Starlight Glimmer said with a menacing grin as her horn glowed. She levitated a gun-like apparatus onto the back of each of the guards. Heavy black saddlebags fit over their backs and two barrels extended beyond the face of each guard- aimed by an ornate bridle that each guard wore. The guards aimed around randomly to familiarize themselves with the weapons.

Starlight Glimmer stared out at the approaching army for a while. "Open fire!" She ordered.

As the guards bit down on a bit attached to their bridles, deep within the machinations of the weapons, a clockwork mechanism crushed a shard of arcanium and expelled the resulting blast through the barrels and out into the sky as a bright red bolt and sounded with a thunderous crack.

Up in the sky, at the lead of the charge, Twilight Sparkle, Trixie (in the form of an alicorn) and Rainbow Dash streaked rapidly toward the spire at Canterlot Castle.

"Are you sure they don't know we're coming?" Trixie asked.

"They'll never know what hit them!" Rainbow Dash assured confidently.

"I just hope the changelings are in position." Twilight said with a sigh.

"What is that?" Rainbow Dash asked loudly as bright red points of light began to fill their field of view.

"Trixie doesn't like this at all." Trixie said nervously.

As the field of red lights got closer their elongated shape and direction of movement became apparent.

"Look out!" Twilight Sparkle shouted as blasts of energy began grazing past them.

The three leaders dodged the first salvo of blasts with relative ease but the followers behind them began dropping out of the sky as the blasts struck them with explosions of red light. Bolts tore through the canopies of some of the balloons- sending them drifting to the ground.

"We're never going to make it there at this rate!" Trixie lamented.

"She must have found out about our attack." Twilight Sparkle sighed as a tear of anger formed in her eye.

"I'll move in and draw their fire!" Rainbow Dash boldly exclaimed as she picked up speed and hastened toward the spire.

"Trixie's almost in firing range!" Trixie followed closely behind and began taking pot-shots with her magic.

"I'll have to deploy the ground forces outside the castle." Twilight explained as she fell back toward the balloons.

Back in the castle Bon Bon, Discord and the trio of changelings quickly burst through the unguarded door to the throne room.

"I was wondering when you would finally show up." Starlight Glimmer cackled as she casually strolled in from the balcony as the commotion of the arcanium blasters sounded from outside.

"Where are the elements!?" Chrysalis demanded as she stepped forward.

"You mean these worthless things?" With a flash of magic from Starlight Glimmer six tarnished and mangled metal trinkets clattered down onto the floor in front of them.

"What have you done with them!?" Chrysalis examined them.

Out on the balcony two of the guards took hits from Trixie's distant magic shots and fell to the ground. As Rainbow Dash swooped through the entrance to the throne room a blast of magic from one of the arcanium blasters struck her wing.

"Ugh!" pain shot through Rainbow Dash's body as she skidded to a halt in front of the scene.

"As you can see." Starlight Glimmer paced over to Rainbow Dash and quickly peeled the cutie mark from her flank with her magic. "There isn't a pony left in Equestria who can wield the Elements of Harmony now."

Chrysalis leveled her horn at Starlight Glimmer, ready to fire.

"You think you can defeat me!?" Starlight Glimmer taunted.

Chrysalis fell over from a bright blue explosion behind her and writhed in pain. Bon Bon, Discord and one of the other changelings looked over and Chrysalis looked up- Thorax stood over her. Two of the guards moved in off the balcony and pointed their arcanium blasters at the group.

"But, why?" Chrysalis struggled.

"When this war is over I will be the leader of a newer, fairer changeling empire." Thorax moved over and stood beside Starlight Glimmer.

"Do you really think the ends justify the means? Do you really think you can trust her?" Bon Bon asked with a frown.

"Chrysalis was a cruel leader. She is only using the holdouts for her own gains. When this is done the changelings and the ponies can be allies. We will usher in a great new era for all creatures of Equestria!" Thorax explained.

"Trixie disagrees!" With a blast of magic the two guards were quickly dispatched as Trixie swooped in and stood before Starlight Glimmer and Thorax and proudly spread her wings.

"I see Cadence has gotten lax with the ascension criteria." Starlight Glimmer chuckled as she fired a blast at Trixie, who blocked it with an energy shield.

Thorax grabbed and equipped the arcanium blaster off of one of the fallen guards as Discord, Bon Bon and the other changeling quickly dragged Chrysalis to cover behind a pillar.

Starlight Glimmer concentrated hard and Tirek appeared in a flash in the middle of the throne room. "I have a present for you." She cocked her head toward Trixie- who quickly dived for cover behind another pillar.

With a swipe of his gigantic arm Tirek knocked the pillar over and Trixie ran into the open to escape as the section of ceiling above caved in. Tirek quickly and effortlessly drained the magic from her and Starlight Glimmer moved in and pulled the cutie mark from her flank. Trixie collapsed from exhaustion.

"Just come out and surrender and nopony else needs to get hurt!" Thorax pleaded as he kept his sight trained on the pillar that concealed Chrysalis and the others.

"I don't think so!" Twilight Sparkle shouted as she swooped in and fired a blast of magic at Tirek, who shrugged it off with ease.

"At last. The real Twilight Sparkle. Come for these worthless trinkets?" Starlight Glimmer taunted as she pointed to the Elements of Harmony on the floor.

"No!" Twilight Sparkle slumped down to the floor and began to sob as she examined the battered elements. Tirek slowly stomped toward her. The remaining surviving guards from the balcony returned to the throne room and trained their weapons on Twilight Sparkle.

"They are out of aerial support. Some of their balloons managed to make landfall but there's not enough to pose a threat." One of the guards reported.

"Well then, Twilight Sparkle. It looks like this ends with you." Starlight Glimmer taunted as she trotted up along side Twilight Sparkle.

"Princess Cadence-" Twilight Sparkle protested.

"Won't survive my siege for another week!" Starlight Glimmer interrupted. "Thorax, quit playing around!" Power surged through her horn as she teleported the remaining four from behind the pillar out into the open. "Execute them!" She ordered to the guards.

The guards opened fire and the other changeling at Chrysalis' side dived in front of her and was struck by a bolt from one of the arcanium blasters leaving him in a lifeless heap on the floor.

"Brother, no!" Thorax screamed. "You promised this would end peacefully!" Thorax pounced angrily at Starlight Glimmer. Starlight Glimmer teleported herself some distance away and fired a powerful blast at Thorax- leaving him motionless, on the floor.

"Enough!" Discord shouted angrily as he stood tall. Energy arced through his body as he disappeared in a flash- along with
Bon Bon, Chrysalis and the broken Elements of Harmony.

"Impossible!" Starlight Glimmer snarled.

"I don't understand." Tirek trembled.

"This isn't another one of your treacheries, is it?" Starlight Glimmer seethed with anger as she stared at Tirek. "Because if it is you will never see your brother again."

"Of course not." Tirek pleaded.

Twilight Sparkle shuddered in fear as she was stripped of both her magic and cutie mark.

"No matter." Starlight Glimmer grinned and placed a hoof on Twilight Sparkle's shoulder. "It looks like your little resistance has finally come to an end."