Fading Star

Two dead Diamond Dogs were lying on the ground, with bloody, spark-filled holes shot through each of their skulls. Starlight Glimmer, standing right beside them, was unphased. It was her work, after all, and beyond feeling the triumph of victory, she was eager for more. This was what she needed.

The creaking of the door ahead in the narrow room sounded off again, Starlight raising her head ever so slightly. Without warning, three more dogs rushed out of the darkness towards her, all at the same time. Starlight scoffed, and aimed her horn at the ground, casting a ring of fire that halted the dogs a few feet in front of her. They roared and barked, enraged at the sight of their defeated comrades.

Starlight eyed down the largest, riling it up enough to muster some courage and jump over the flames, scorching its underbelly. Starlight stayed put, unflinching, shooting a ray of energy straight through the dog’s right eye, and out the bottom of its neck. The dog gave a quick yelp before falling to the ground, its paw still twitching.
The other beasts two immediately quieted down, fearful. Starlight waited a few moments before getting impatient. She gritted her teeth as her horn started glowing again, approaching the dogs, who were beginning to back away. Starlight had practically walked right into the flames before she extinguished it with her magic. The dogs ran back to the door at the other end of the room, yelping. Starlight recognized that feeling all too well.

Helpless.

Terrified.

But this time, she was in control. And it was the best feeling she had felt in a long time. With one spell, she shot a beam of magic from left to right across the room, slicing each dog in half.

Starlight turned off her magic, letting the darkness resume.
“Excellent job, my pet, you’re coming along nicely…” said a bodiless voice from up above.

Chrysalis, who Starlight loathed almost as much as herself, entered from the back door, a wicked smile stretching from ear to ear. Starlight hid her true feelings and bowed out of respect for the compliment.

“Thank you, my queen.”

“Yes...I think those filthy crooks that are coming here tomorrow will absolutely adore you.”

Starlight had almost forgotten why she was practicing this in the first place, to appease some ponies she hadn’t even met. She felt almost embarrassed, though, to be seen in the state she was now.

“Don’t think that this makes up for your past mistakes. You are still being punished, you know. Now, I’m sick of looking at you. Go fix me my dinner.”

“Certainly, my queen.”

Starlight stumbled off. Despite only having one fully-working eye, her aim was still pretty good, she had to admit. It felt almost ridiculous, then, to go from murdering innocent animals to cooking dinner like a house servant.

‘It’s not up to me.’

She frowned, radiating self-hatred.

‘It never should be.’

Starlight began her usual routine, trying to distract herself from her relentless negative thoughts.

Earlier that day, Rainbow’s group had woken up from a well-deserved sleep, and continued on through the endless trek down the tunnel. Yet, by mid afternoon, the ponies, most of which were badly injured, required another break.

“We won’t be long...I just need to rest my leg is all,” said Applejack.

Rainbow wasn’t as eager to stop, not while the Diamond Dogs could be coming from one direction, and Chrysalis from the other.

“Why don’t I go up ahead, see if there’s anything interesting. I’ll be back in thirty minutes, tops,” said Rainbow, who wasn’t really asking for permission.

“Why don’t I come with you? We don’t want to be sending anypony up alone,” said Hickory, stepping closer.

“Well...I’d love that...but the thing is...I’m a lot faster…”

“No, Rainbow, he’s right. And we don’t want you going too far ahead anyway,” said Applejack.

“Fine.” Rainbow muttered, after an exaggerated sigh, “Let’s go then.”

“Sunflower, Fluttershy, you watch after Applejack,” ordered Hickory.

“Sure thing.”

The duo set off again into the uninviting darkness, Rainbow flying farther ahead with the torch, while Hickory sauntered behind.

“Would you slow down? What is your rush?” he asked, worn out.

“Um, maybe that my friend is in danger? You should be in more of a rush.”

“She’s not my friend.”

“You know, if we get through this all alive, I think you two would get along,” she said slyly.

The tunnel seemed to only get narrower the farther they went, the earthen walls turning to hard, thick rock.

“I’m beginning to think those dogs sent us down a dead end. This can’t possibly go anywhere.”

Rainbow squeezed herself through an extremely narrow crevice in the tunnel, turning back towards it to help Hickory make his own way through.

“You just lack persistence,” she said, smirking.

“Persistent stupidity.”

“Oh, ditch that attitude. I think you’ve actually enjoyed this all so far.”

“‘Enjoyed’ isn’t the word I would use.”

“This will be a story you can tell your grandfoals! It’s an adventure! How many trips like these do you go on every day?”

Hickory rolled his eyes as he climbed over a slight rise from the ground. He stopped upon hearing a faint, high-pitched noise, far behind them, almost like a cry for help.

“What was that?” Hickory muttered, listening for more.

“It wasn’t a pony, I don’t think…” Rainbow said, as she too climbed over the hill.

“Could be those dogs…”

“You don’t really think they’re still after us, do you?”

“Well, it’s possible, but...that’s not what I’m really afraid of…”

Rainbow glanced at him, unsure what he meant.

“Oh, you mean Chrysalis.”

“Yes, I mean Chrysalis.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in all that.”

“I don’t want to believe it. Difference.”

“You know, worst comes to worst, we can get out of here and find Twilight. She can handle Chrysalis, easily, I’m sure.”

“Except we can’t go back, those dogs would rip us apart.”

“A little...aggressive persuasion should do the trick.”

Hickory chuckled. They were far ahead of the others now, and nearing the point to turn back.

“Looks like it just goes on...and on...and on…”

“It’s gotta go somewhere. Besides, If Chrysalis is down here, I doubt she’d want to be found easily.”

“Alright, let’s go back, I don’t want the others to worry…”
Rainbow nodded. The path back was easier to navigate than the path there, as it only got wider going backwards.

“Say, what’s this friend of yours look like anyways? I don’t even know who I’m supposed to be risking my life for.”

“Well...she’s uh...got like a pink coat, and a purple mane...She’s a unicorn.”

“A unicorn? I haven’t seen one of those in a long time. She’s got a name?”

“Starlight. Starlight Glimmer.”

“Sounds like a unicorn indeed. And, since you know more than you’re telling me, why are we really in a rush?”

“She’s...Chrysalis is doing some...horrible stuff to her, I don’t know it all, but it’s bad.”

“I get your point then...” Hickory said, as a sense of somberness descended upon them.

“Yeah, so the faster we get there, the better.”

“How many changelings do we have to go through to get to Chrysalis?”

“As far as I know, it’s just her. But don’t underestimate her, she’s defeated Celestia once you know.”

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do? Kick her to death?”

“Well, I’m in the same boat… We’ll figure it out...We’ve gotten this far, I think we can handle it.”

“Starlight, you’ll be sleeping here for the night,” said Chrysalis, motioning towards the open dungeon door. Starlight entered, sheepishly, awaiting some kind of creature meant to harass her for the night. But, to her relief, she found nothing. A quick sigh of exhaustion from the day was followed by the shutting of the door, filling the room with a cold, unforgiving blackness. Starlight wasn’t even that afraid anymore, she was constantly expecting surprises.

But this time, there was no surprise. Just emptiness and cold. Starlight sat down, her eyes open but with nothing to see. She itched at the bite marks she had sustained in this very room, which had since been cleaned up of the spider web and rat feces.

Starlight sat there, thinking, though she knew more the thought about her life the more pain she felt. It was hard to confront her feelings, but it was harder to ignore them.

‘They really hate me. And they’ve hated me from the start….but who can blame them? Look at me...I’m awful….I deserve it….’

She had reminded herself of that so often she started to annoy herself by repeating it, but she knew it was the truth.

‘I’m exactly what they said I was….a failure, a danger...that’s what they want me to be...They like having a pony like me around to compare themselves to…’

She despised herself above all, but still had enough room in her heart to devote her hate towards all those that, in her mind, had betrayed her. Her head ached as the voices inside her head argued with each other.

‘That demented witch! That disgusting, horrible, heartless insect! My queen. When I get out of here, I’m going to kill her first, I’m going to make her suffer! Then, I’m going to kill Twilight Sparkle, then…’

Her body started shaking from excitement. She stopped herself from continuing, her beaten-down conscious reaching out to her. She let go of her tears and crumbled to the floor in shame.

‘What am I doing to myself?’

Starlight still wondered if help was really coming. Did it even matter?

‘I can’t go back...I can’t...face them all again...I never should have tried to be a good pony in the first place...I’m just no good...I tried, look where it got me.’

She hung her head in despondence.

“I’m not like other ponies,” Starlight said out loud, though nopony was listening, “I’m...different...They think there’s something wrong with me...That I’m inadequate…” Her voice was trembling as she said the words, though it felt freeing to say them.

“I don’t belong with them, and they don’t even want me anyways….”

Starlight let herself lie on the ground, her eyes staring up at the ceiling.

“I am worthless….but I am not weak, and I’m not finished…”

She began shaking her head back and forth, almost uncontrollably, as her mind burned with a thousand thoughts.

“Everything those ponies did for me was pointless….I haven’t changed...This is who I am….They tried to make me into somepony I’m not, because they were scared of me…”

The darkness wrapped itself around her as Starlight laid on the cold, flat ground. It felt bizarrely comforting, to be alone with nothing but her thoughts.

“They should be scared of me...They thought they could treat me like I was an object...that I could be possessed and made into an example! It was all just a joke! My whole life has been one big, stupid joke…”

She stopped to catch her breath, getting so upset she was almost hyperventilating. She repeated that line in her head, ‘It was all just a joke,’ until she too began to find it funny. She started giggling, slowly at first, until it grew into a hysterical laughter, complete with the occasional tear and the final cracks being cemented into Starlight’s mind. She turned over and laid on her side, laughing herself to sleep.

“That was bad.”

Twilight and the other unlucky ponies were still in the prison, but this time sitting close together.

“I just can’t understand what the point of all that was!” said Rarity, in reference to the footage Chrysalis had presented.

“What’s obvious is, it doesn’t paint any of you in a very positive light,” Shining Armor said, at everypony else’s expense.

“Well, you’re not perfect either,” Rarity retorted, mildly insulted.

“I didn’t mean it to be offensive, what I meant was, the point of it was to make you look bad.”

“Then it worked, because now I feel bad,” Pinkie said, face down on the ground.

“She’s a twisted monster, okay? Who knows what she’s really after. It doesn’t matter, we’ve got to find a way out of here,” Twilight said, not wanting to think about the past.

“Good luck with that, our magic is gone,” Shining Armor said.

“Yes I’m aware. What I’m trying to figure out, though, is how exactly she’s doing it.”

“Who cares how she’s doing it?” said Shining Armor, said with contempt.

“ I’ve never heard of any spells that can cancel out magic like this...she must be using some kind of special tool, or an artifact or something.”

“Or maybe she’s just had a lot of time to practice,” Pinkie contested.

“No, I don’t think so. If she had that kind of power, she would’ve used it against us during our fight...whatever spell she’s using to do this, she’s got to be using something else to help her do it.”

“That’s a neat theory. But it’s not very useful,” said Shining Armor.

“Sure it is! If we can find whatever object she’s using to help her, and destroy it, we can blast ourselves out of here.”

“Then what? She’ll just get annoyed and kill us anyway.”

“This time...there’s no holding back.”

“You were holding back?” Shining Armor asked, half-angry and half-questioning his own abilities.

“I didn’t want to hurt one of you by accident…” Twilight said, though she did intend on her spell at least knocking Chrysalis unconscious. She hadn’t expected Chrysalis to be so resilient, and went on to assume she has some sort of extra-advantage Twilight doesn’t know about. Regardless, Shining Armor rolled his eyes at his sister’s attempted defense.

“See, that’s your problem...you care about us too much.”

Back in the tunnels far away, Rainbow took the lead of the group as they squeezed through a particularly tight fit in the slippery rock.

“Careful, everypony…”

Rainbow shone her torch ahead, only to find, yet again, a pitch-black continuation of the tunnel.

“It never ends!”

“It has to end...Somewhere,” Applejack murmured, exhausted.

“We’ll be in the Crystal Mountains by the time we’re out of here at this rate!” Rainbow yelled, frustrated.

Applejack and Fluttershy both glanced at each other.

“Wait…”

“You don’t think…”

Rainbow stared at them blankly as they waited for her to catch on.

“Uh, can somepony fill me in?”

“You might just be right, this might lead right towards the Crystal Mountains, which is where Twilight and Rarity and Pinkie Pie were headed! They’re connected!”

Hickory was the last to squeeze through, falling on the rock below.

“Did I hear that right?”

He jumped to his feet, the first good news he’s heard in a while.

“Your princess friend is on the other end of this?”

“It’s more and more likely, the farther this goes…” said Fluttershy.

“We get to meet the Princess?! Oh my Celestia! It’ll all be worth it for that!” exclaimed Sunflower.

“Easy sis...if you’re right about these two being connected, then your princess friend probably already found the changeling...right? She would have started much closer.” Hickory said.

“Er...probably…” Applejack said, suddenly worrying. Were they okay?

“You better hope they’ve already won, or at the very least have figured it out too and are waiting for us...Because rescuing one pony is difficult enough.”

“We’ll do what we have to do..We’ve just gotta keep moving,” Rainbow said, trying her best to inspire confidence.

The pack set off again, and at a faster speed, as the tunnel began to open up slightly.

“How do we go about defeating Chrysalis anyway?”

“If Twilight isn’t already there, we wait for her and let her come up with the plan,” said Applejack.

“Twilight’s plans only work 50% of the time you know,” said Rainbow.

“But, she’s a princess!” said Sunflower.

“She’s still a pony. She’s capable of making mistakes.”

“Let’s hope she hasn’t. It’ll be twice the work to save her, Rarity, Pinkie, and Starlight,” Rainbow said.

“Say they are captured and we’ve got to take care of Chrysalis ourselves...How do we go about it?” Sunflower asked.

“Chrysalis is no idiot, and she’s powerful. We’ve got to take our time, get a good understanding of land, and make a good plan,” Rainbow said.

“I thought we were in a rush.” Hickory added sarcastically, from the back of the line.

“We are, but it’s better to wait a little longer than to run in blind,” Rainbow said.

“I'm with Rainbow on that, and if Twilight’s captured, we have to take this extra seriously,” said Applejack.

“I think the best way is to draw her out. If we can get her far away from where she’s keeping them prisoner, we can have enough time to get them out,” said Rainbow.

“What if she’s got defenses?” asked Hickory.

“Then we’ll figure out how to get around them...Look, nothing is going to stop us, we’ve got a mission, and we’re seeing it through,” said Rainbow, firmly.

The ponies all shrugged and continued on, no end to this journey in sight.

“Is it night time?” Twilight asked, having lost track of time after all the excitement.

“I think so. Chrysalis turned down all the lights,” said Shining Armor.

“Any luck with finding that object?” asked Twilight.

“Considering I don’t know what it looks like, whether or not it’s in this room, or even if it exists, no, Twilight, I haven’t.”

Twilight rolled her eyes at her brother’s relentless negativity.

‘He must be in a bad mood.’

“I guess we should all get some sleep.” said Twilight.

“Way ahead of you,” Shining Armor replied, lying on the uncomfortable ground and shutting his eyes.

“I’m hungry…” whined Rarity. Twilight glared at her friend’s neediness, though she had to admit, she could use a snack right about now as well.

“I left my bag behind somewhere in the cave...sorry…”

“It’s no problem…” Rarity fell back on the ground, closing her eyes. Pinkie had done the same. Soon even Twilight, who was in no mood to rest, had to give in and rest her eyes.

“Hey!”

After about half an hour after falling asleep, a faint, muffled whisper resonated in Twilight’s ears, her eyes opening instantly. She glanced around in the darkness of the cell and saw no one but her sleeping friends in there with her.

She heard it again, “Hey!!” but this time followed by the sound of tapping on glass. She realized it was coming from the other side of the prison. Jumping to her hooves in shock, she recognized the darkened outline of a pony on the other side, though it was too dark to make out who. She turned to her friends.

“Guys! Wake up!”

None of them responded, so she ran to each and shook them awake, eager and slightly panicked.

We’re being rescued!

“Twilight, what the heck are you doing!?”

“Look!”

All of the rudely awakened ponies looked in the direction she was pointing at, and also saw the distorted outline of a pony through the darkness.

Shining Armor approached. He squinted through the darkness, but also couldn’t tell who it was.

“Look, step back, okay?” said the pony.

Shining Armor shared a look of confusion with Twilight, before doing what the pony demanded and taking a few steps back.

The pony too stepped back from the glass, and removed from his satchel some kind of instrument.

“What is that?”

“It looks like a...like a-”

Swiftly, the pony took the tool and pressed it against the glass of the prison wall, and started digging with hard, jerky motions downwards in the shape of a circle, large enough for a pony to fit through.

“It’s a glass cutter, like the kind we Royal Guards have in our…” Shining Armor said, trailing off as the impact of the realization hit him.

“You mean...?”

Twilight looked back at the glas as the pony finished. He pressed against the completed circle he had drawn into the glass, before placing a single hoof and pressing on it, letting it fall into his other hoof right below it. Placing it gently on the ground to avoid making noise, the pony stepped through the hole he made.

There was Radish, the thought-to-be coward, beaming with excitement. He was still wearing the royal guard armor, though it was caked in dirt so much that it was barely recognizable. His beard was far more unkempt and filthy than before.

“Hello again, Captain, Princess.”

“Radish! What are you doing here?! We thought you-”

“Ran away? I...I did, Captain...but...I couldn’t leave you all behind…”

“How did you get in here? The door was locked!” asked Twilight.

“I checked some of the other tunnels in that room, and one of them has a weak spot in the rock that I was able to crack open, and she didn’t hear me...it led right into another tunnel that goes along the ceiling....”

“Good work…” Shining Armor said. It was indeed a relief not to have one your most trusted subordinates turn out to be a traitor.

“But there’s a better way out of here...I’ve been taking a look around, and I’m pretty sure one of the doors in the largest room leads down a tunnel, right out of here…”

“It’s not locked?” asked Twilight.

“Nope, and it goes on way too long to be just another hallway…”

“Can’t we just go back your way?”

“She’ll think we went back the way we came, when really, we’d be going in the opposite direction! By the time she figures that out, we’ll be long gone!”

“Wait! Wait, we can’t just leave Starlight and all those other ponies here…”

Radish stared at her.

“Princess, I thought you would understand by now that this is a...much larger situation than we had anticipated...Your safety is top priority.”

“You don’t know me very well then.”

“He’s right, Twilight, we need to get out of here first, and then bring Celestia, or the entire Crystal Army if we need to,” said Shining Armor.

“My thoughts exactly, Captain. Have you seen all the ponies she’s been keeping prisoner up in the ceiling? We couldn’t possibly save them all by ourselves.”

“What about taking out Chrysalis ourselves? That was your plan!”

“We tried that...I think you’re the only one powerful enough to stop her, and like I said, we need you out of here.”

“But she’s sleeping right now! This is the best chance!”

“Keep yelling and she won’t be…”

Twilight panicked again and checked to make sure all was quiet.

“Look, Twilight, this may be our only chance in a long time, I say we take it and try again, but next time be better prepared.”

“You saw everything that Chrysalis was doing to Starlight, Shining Armor! She may not even be the same pony by that time! If we rescue her now, we may still have enough time to get her in the right mindset again, before this all becomes irreversible!”

“I get it, okay? But you’re more important.”

“I’m not more important than anypony, alright! I owe it to her.”

“We’re running out of time, I say we go now…”

“How are we supposed to trust him again?!” Rarity said, stepping forward confrontationally, “He left me for dead last time, after all.”

Radish eyed her down, both embarrassed and insulted.

“You’ll be thanking me later,” he said with angst. Shining Armor held his concerns as well, though wasn’t as up front about it. But his expression gave it all away anyway. Radish recognized it instantly.

“I was wrong, alright? But the only reason I came back to this stinkhole was to save your sorry asses in the first place....I’m trying to help you…”

The others all glanced at each other, wanting to trust him, but struggling.

Shining Armor approached his old friend, slowly.

“You know the way?”

“Well enough...You’ve got to trust me, Captain...This is our best bet.”

Shining Armor took a moment to accept the risk, nodding.

“Is everypony ready?”

Rarity and Pinkie, who just wanted to be back home safe and sound, quickly nodded, while Twilight kept hesitating.

“Come on, Twilight.”

Radish exited the hole in the glass wall of the prison, and picked up his spear. The other ponies all followed, and Radish led the way to the throne room doors. Ever so carefully, he slowly pushed open the doors, Shining Armor helping him, both trying to make as little noise as possible. Eventually all the ponies made it out, with minimal noise.

“There, that was the hardest part,” said Radish, smiling, “This way, and everypony keep it down, I don’t want that bug-eyed freak to get the jump on us again.”

Radish led them down the hallway where Pinkie had been snatched, and out into the Main Hall.

“Everypony stay alert…” he whispered.

The group carefully crossed the room to a large wooden double-door, built into the rock.

“This is it…”

“You’re sure?” asked Twilight, a bit intimidated by how large and foreboding the said door was.

“Bet my life on it, Princess.”

Shining Armor grabbed Radish’s shoulder, gently, and gave him a look of appreciation and thankfulness.

“I never doubted you, Radish.”

Radish, who had nearly given up on himself, took those words to heart.

“Thank you, sir.”

He slowly opened the door, still facing Shining Armor, when suddenly a dull green aura manifested out of the darkness. The light transformed into a furious storm of magic, that jumped out of the entrance straight through Radish’s chest. Radish collapsed to the ground instantly, wheezing blood as he felt around the new burning hole in his chest. Blood gushed all over his armor and onto the ground below. Rarity screamed and hid behind Twilight, whose eyes widened with despair.

“You pathetic ponies...Always think you’re so clever…”

Chrysalis’ dark, sleek form took shape as she exited from the darkness, the ponies all backing away in opposite directions, slowly. Chrysalis cackled with glee, another futile escape attempt foiled.

“You just don’t stop, do you, Highness?” she laughed again, as Twilight stood there defenseless.

“Come now, Highness, you haven’t got your magic...What exactly do you intend to do now?”

Twilight’s fearful expression turned to a smug smirk as she noticed Radish, still alive, reaching for his spear he had dropped on the ground. Shining Armor was seething with rage. He hated getting caught. Twilight, meanwhile, had developed a delighted grin, and even began chuckling to herself, trying to distract Chrysalis.

“And what’s so funny?”

Immediately after her obnoxious taunt, Chrysalis’ shrill, startled scream filled the hall as Radish’s blade pierced up through her underbelly. Chrysalis bucked in pain and promptly kicked Radish square in the face with a hind leg, sending him tumbling to the other side of the room, a trail of bright red blood following him.

As Chrysalis wheezed in pain, Shining Armor ran towards her with all his anger, tackling her to the ground. Twilight, desperate, reached over to Rarity.

“Rarity, you’re in the best shape right now, you need to go down the tunnel, get out of here and find help!”

“Me? Twilight, I don’t think-” Rarity sputtered, eyes wide with fear.

“Go! Now!” Twilight commanded.

Rarity, shaken up and unprepared, mustered up some courage, courage she had regretted not to have shown upon Plat’s death yesterday. She nodded, and rushed towards the door, while Pinkie ran to help Shining Armor, holding down one of Chrysalis’ legs while Shining Armor began punching her in the face repeatedly, a gleeful rush of adrenaline surging through his veins. He left a few hefty bruises on Chrysalis’ face, as she grunted in pain from her stab wound.

Rarity was long gone, and just in time, as Chrysalis regained her focus and blew Shining Armor and Pinkie off of her with a spray of green magic. They both crashed across the floor, scraping some skin off. Twilight stood between them, trying to act like Rarity hadn’t just escaped. Chrysalis stumbled to her feet, and began laughing.

“I bet you enjoyed that, boy...it feels good when you give in to your anger, doesn’t it?”

She chuckled a few more times, and reached for her bleeding wound.

“Now it’s my turn.”

Using her magic, she grabbed a groaned Radish by the leg, pulling him across the stone floor towards her. Shining Armor rose to his feet, already furious.

“Stay back, darling, we’re in the middle of something.”

Chrysalis held each pony in the air with her green magic, forcing them to watch.

Radish, on the ground, lifted his head up, gasping for breath.

“Captain…….”

Shining Armor’s heart softened for just a moment, listening to the pleas of a soldier who just gave his life for him.

“I’m…...sorry….”

Shining Armor didn’t get a chance to respond, as Chrysalis raised the wounded stallion into the air, and, in one brutal motion, ripped him in half, his hind legs flying to one side of the room, the rest of him to the other. More than enough blood and organ tissue sprayed out all across the floor and onto Chrysalis’ face, though she didn’t mind.

“Yes, you should be.”

The other ponies couldn’t even scream, they were so shocked and horrified. Shining Armor especially, who held back tears as he cursed Chrysalis for everything she was worth in his head.

“You...you…”

“Oh, did that upset you? And what’re you going to do about it?” Chrysalis said, wiping away Radish’s blood off of her face. Shining Armor said nothing, silently enraged.

“It seems there’s one less of you than there was before…and I don’t mean the new one...I actually think he counts as two now...” Chrysalis teased. “Out of all of you, you sent the gutless beauty queen? We’ll see how far she gets.”

“You’re going to pay for this, Chrysalis….Celestia will come, and she won’t be as forgiving as I have.”

“Oh, I’m terrified! I had never considered that before! You’ve already proved my point, Twilight Sparkle. You’ve become a desperate wreck trying to save your beloved pupil, so much so that you fell into every trap I set. What makes you think Celestia won’t end up the same way?”

“She’s...she’s…”

“We’ll see….Besides, your friend won’t make it far down that way anyhow…”

Twilight turned pale, as the unknown became known. Chrysalis loved it when that happened.
“The only thing she’ll find that way is death.”