The War of the Mark

Chapters

The Queen's Gambit
On The Back Hooves
All Bark, No Bite
A Failure and A Broken Heart
Interlude: A Unicorn Serves His Purpose
The Kingslayer's Flaw
The Queen's Dream
A Change In the Heir
In the Wake

The Queen's Gambit

Chancellor Neighsay’s day had started as most did: with a good breakfast of various oats and fruits, as prescribed by the Equestrian Surgeon General, and a host of appointments and meetings with varying degrees of formality. His early morning schedule had been cleared beyond that, and as such he was available for a quick talk, in theory.

In practice, unfortunately, his ten o’ clock was replaced by needing to check up on one of his associates, who had apparently been neglecting their duties.

The Museum of Natural and Magical History was open to the public today, so there was no real need for anypony to be at the reception beyond mere ceremony. Still, as the Chancellor led his company into the building, he wondered why there wasn’t anyone there to greet them. He had the authority to let himself in, of course, and paid close attention to anything out of the ordinary, on the off chance the curator had had an accident with his magic again. The museum curator was a bit of an eccentric, but even by Bullet Time’s standards, Neighsay thought the skid marks on the floor here and there were a bit much.

The ponies he was with didn’t pay it any heed. Two colts walked ahead, leaving the pair of stallions to talk.

The blue Pegasus, Doldrum, had come to Neighsay’s attention a few times, usually in relation to some disciplinary measure that hung over the boy after yet another display of unnecessary (and, as was always claimed, entirely unprovoked) violence. The colt’s musculature was highly defined for his age, something Neighsay attributed to an obvious talent in absorbing positive words and imagery, a perfect skill for a wizard, mostly wasted on a Pegasus unless they decided to take up the craft of artifact magic. With some input from the EEA, that’s exactly what the colt had done, and done well, by all accounts. All it had really required was a few nudges in the right direction, and young Doldrum was now quite accomplished in his craft, by any standard. While Neighsay still felt that this case should have stayed at the lower levels of authority, he felt some pride knowing the Equestrian education system, with Neighsay as its head, allowed such fine specimens to develop.

He had no hand in developing in the other one, though. A coffee-brown Unicorn colt with a white mane and tail, Live Wire already had the clear cut of a Royal Guard. He, likewise, usually only came to Neighsay’s attention when all other avenues had been exhausted. Where Doldrum’s problem was mostly behavioral, though, Live Wire’s was decidedly more power-related, electric power to be exact. The boy had a talent for the element of electricity, which wasn’t too unusual in and of itself, but Live Wire’s raw power far surpassed the average lightning caster his age, rare though that type was. Whether it was due to talent or some emotional imbalance amplifying his castings, the colt frequently electrocuted those around him.

That is to say, before Fight Camp.

Neighsay had a hunch about his companion’s intentions, but decided against voicing any objections. “I never pegged you for a babysitter, Sunburst.”

“Well, camp counsellor is working out fine enough, I figured I might as well. Besides, I promised, and the boys have been getting better, I thought you’d want to see.”

Neighsay nodded as Doldrum pointed his snout at an Eastern Unicorn painting. Live Wire stood close by, almost bumping into him.

No sparks, no fire hazard, and yet Live Wire didn’t look as tired as he usually did when he kept his lightning down. Doldrum, likewise, seemed much more attentive than Neighsay could remember, even compared to the last time he’d evaluated the boy. Most of the time that boy kept his wings clenched shut against his body, and his ears twitching this way and that with anxiety. None of that was happening now: the wings were out and relaxed, ears pricked only when spoken to, all good signs of proper developmental progress at that age. Clearly the advanced practice was sitting well with him.

“Indeed. Live Wire hasn’t shocked anything yet in his excitement. Last time I saw him, he couldn’t go five minutes without crackling. Doldrum is looking fine, too. You’re doing good work, clearly. But, as to your friend Starlight’s suggestion?”

Sunburst winced. “What do you think? Technically, it is under your authority.”

“You’ve already begun work on the infrastructure?”

“Starlight started building the village a while ago, yes. Completely legally, she got the land for a good price.”

“That region, I’m sure she did. Still, it’s close to a good skiing spot, and there should be a sizable crystal node there. I distinctly recall hearing a geology student report on it. I think her name was Mud.”

“Oh? What did she do? Or what did ponies say about her?”

“Nothing, I mean literally, her name was ‘Mud.’ Can’t recall her last name, though. In any event, you still haven’t told me what you’re planning to do exactly, anyway.”

Neighsay passed by a painting of the Battle for the Pearl. It was askew by about three degrees. He nudged it back in place with his magic. He squinted, and sniffed the air. The scent of burning lingered here, but not the same kind as in the reception hall. This aroma had more of a bitter after-scent, like scorched rubber. The skid marks on the floor were more pronounced here. Looking up, Neighsay noticed little streaks on the walls and ceiling, as well.

What has Bullet Time been up to this time? New acceleration spell, perhaps? Why would he need to hit his brakes so hard?

“That’s just it: we’re not a hundred percent sure of what’s allowed, and we’d rather get everything in place when we know it’ll all get used.” Sunburst snapped him out of that train of thought.

“I suppose I can’t fault you for that. Will you be offering a daily regimen of lectures?”

“We were thinking of more of a workshop kind of thing, for special cases. And maybe get some specific niche wizards involved to help publish some books. Besides that, mostly a spa, some sort of counselling system.”

Neighsay rubbed his goatee as he contemplated the matter. “Yes, I think that can be arranged, we had a project like that a while back in Rainbow Falls. Never quite got off the ground, though.”

“Did the EEA shut it down?”

Neighsay’s ears twitched. He noted that Sunburst asked specifically if the EEA shut it down. Not whether the EEA had to shut it down, or whether the EEA merely wanted to shut it down, just whether the EEA shut it down. “Eventually, yes,” he replied. “It floundered about too much, never accomplished much of anything, no results to speak of. So, what do you expect to get from this… project?”

“Aside from maybe getting a place where the, umm, less accepted Unicorns can hone their craft, well… results like that.” Sunburst waved to Doldrum and Live Wire. “Just a year ago, both of those boys were considered lost causes.”

“Not by me,” Neighsay said with a glare. “No pony is a lost cause. The failure of a teacher, any teacher, is unacceptable.”

Sunburst wisely decided not to press the matter, as his own career in magical academia was well-known to Neighsay.

“Point being, there’s a lot of knowledge that’s at risk of being lost, or unused, because no one’s bothering to preserve it. Pony knowledge, the really old and powerful stuff. When’s the last time you saw a proper master restorator, or any speed mage who’s got more than one trick?”

“The current curator of the museum ticks both those boxes,” Neighsay noted. “But he seems to be missing.”

“Is that why you wanted to meet here? To help look for him?”

“If you don’t mind me multitasking. He missed a meeting today, one of my underlings reported. Perhaps he wore himself out on a large project, or he overslept and over-compensated with a speed spell. Five floors of exhibitions, and this many nooks and crannies to have a bad landing in, I’d rather have a second set of eyes to help find him. The reason may be magical in nature, after all, and that’s something you are more adept in than I am. The children, I could have done without. But you were saying? The master problem?”

“Masters of some arts are in short supply, you have to admit,” Sunburst explained. “Master pyromancers are a dime a dozen in the Royal Guard, but try finding a master-level leaf mage these days, where would you even look? Or how about chaos mages? How many are in Equestria now?”

“Still too many for my taste. Cross-eyed navel-gazing insurrectionists, the lot of them.” Neighsay gagged, nudging another exhibit that had gone crooked. There were more marks on the walls and ceiling here, but these weren’t all skid marks. Some of them looked like scratches, almost. “But that’s beside the point. I assume then that your Fight Camp colleague is also participating in this endeavour?”

Sunburst shrugged. Neighsay’s hunch had proven correct. “It’s right up his alley, and he needed a new place to stay.”

“He always does. Still, I can’t deny his obvious skills.” Neighsay shuddered. “I’ll see about getting the paperwork in order, there’s a special stature for organisations like what you describe. The clerks have a term for it, something Neighponese, because of course the Neighponese would have a word for it. I’m quite sure I know where to find the reports of that Rainbow Falls project, too, you might learn a thing or two from that.”

“Why did it close?”

“I told you: no results. Where do you expect to find enough candidates to participate?”

“Alherda,” Sunburst said bluntly. “I heard the Unicorn foals are filling up the hospital wards. You know, again.”

Neighsay stopped. “Ah. Yes, that answer is… acceptable. We’ve certainly tried to amend that situation, to no avail.”

They entered a great hall, the ‘Ancient Oceans’ exhibit, where a whale skeleton hung from the ceiling. The boys were standing in awe, looking up at the thing.

Neighsay looked left and right. “Still no sign of Bullet Time.” Once more, he sniffed the air.

Strange. No scent at all here.

“Boys?” Neighsay said. “Stay close. Something is amiss here.”

Doldrum’s back hide shivered, and he backed up towards the adults. “Umm, Mister Neighsay, sir? What’s all that on the ceiling?”

Up above, they all saw the marks on the walls. Skid marks, a sure sign of Bullet Time’s movements, but mixed in with other signs, clearer this time: burn marks, scratches, hoofprints.

Live Wire nodded towards a further exhibit. “Umm, there’s a pretty big crack in the floor there, sir.”

Neighsay’s blood froze.

“Can we go now, please?” Doldrum asked, getting closer to the stallions. “I don’t like this. Something’s wrong.”

Good instincts. “Not before I know what’s happened. If Bullet Time was attacked, he may still be here. A stallion of his level doesn’t go down easily.”

There was a ringing in the air, almost. Neighsay barely heard it, Sunburst and Live Wire didn’t seem to notice, but Doldrum outright winced. It wasn’t a physical sound, though, more akin to a wave of energy in the air, something being broadcast.

Bullet Time.

Neighsay recognised the speed spell immediately as the figure charged at them. The blur came from behind the sea creatures exhibit, lunging past a Mosasaur skeleton and brushing aside a model of a jellyfish.

The spell that created the blur involved something most restoration mages knew: manipulation of time perception. By allowing the mind to perceive time as going slower, reaction speed increased, and so doing removed a barrier towards the second part of the spell, which was physical speed enhancement. Neighsay had mastered the former, and so he was quick enough to realise he was being attacked. He had not, however, mastered the latter, so there wasn’t much he could do other than reach up for his amulet and prepare a retaliatory spell, assuming he survived the impact.

With his slowed time perception, he could take in details of the blur. It moved precisely as Bullet Time did during his sparring sessions, the same feline mannerisms to the gait and the little vibration of the ears in time with the breath. This thing was not Bullet Time, though, but a black form with green trailing from its head.

Chrysalis? She doesn’t have super speed, does she? Where would she even learn it? The preliminary training alone would be far beyond her means, not to mention her lack of intelligence.

Neighsay’s body seemed frozen to him. The thing floated slowly towards him, fangs bared. His vision cleared, his right front hoof moved up.

Too slow. How do I survive the impact? Frost Shield? No, too long to cast. Wind Wall? She’s too close for that.

It’s going to have to be a force-field from the amulet, anything else will just fizzle or miss at this speed.

Chrysalis came into focus. She was almost on him.

I’m not going to get a chance. I’ll have to hold her, hope Sunburst can land a hit.

Chrysalis made a face as if she was about to vomit. Something hit her dead in the stomach and sent her flying into a cabinet of nautilus fossils to their left.

Neighsay shook his head. “What just happened?”

“It’s Chrysalis,” Doldrum replied.

“I know that, but… I didn’t even see you move.”

“Ow… clearly not the pony I should have gone for. No matter.” Chrysalis got up, wobbly on her hooves. “That was a fine interception, little boy. It’s been a while since I went up against anyone wearing Arrow Snaring Gloves.”

She screamed. Light washed over her, blue crackles of energy sending spasms through her joints. For ten whole seconds, Live Wire kept up a barrage of electrical energy.

When it passed, she held her head low, and panted for air. “G-gah… you little...”

“Bugzapper?” Live Wire taunted, snorting and pawing at the ground with his hooves, head down to brandish his horn. “Yeah, that’s right. And there’s plenty more where that came from.”

“That was Bullet Time’s spell you just used,” Neighsay said to Chrysalis, making sure to stand between and slightly in front of the boys. “What have you done with him? Speak now.”

Chrysalis idly wiped her frazzled hair out of her face. “Oh, the museum pony? He got here nice and early, gave me plenty of time to… experiment. And then he gave me the gift of time. Like so.”

Neighsay was ready for her this time. His mind had already shifted to be able to track her movements, and casting a shield spell to withstand her barrage of blows was easy enough. She darted around the bubble covering all four of them, brushing past and stomping on the barrier every chance she got. She flitted from ceiling to wall to bubble like a moth, too quick to track or even brace for impact.

He saw it, clear as day: she was copying the motions Bullet Time had made. All the skid marks on the wall and the ceiling, she practically used them as guidelines.

She’s stealing powers, cutie marks, probably. If she can do that… Neighsay grunted. “Boys, you need to get out of here.”

“You’re kidding, right? Doldrum just saved you,” Live Wire said. “And I mean, she stood up to the Ten Seconds of Agony, sure, but maybe the Froggenstone Special will do it?”

“That is precisely why you need to leave. She’s stolen Bullet Time’s magic, she’s using his skills, and if she can do that to him, then she can do it to other ponies, as well. She didn’t dodge you, either of you. We don’t want her to upgrade if we can help it.”

Sunburst nodded. “Bullet Time would have dodged that spell, easily. So she’s not stealing all the power, just enough.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Chrysalis snarled, landing after another swipe. “I am growing stronger, stealing more magic by the second.”

Neighsay gave Live Wire his medallion, before tapping it along the edges. “Take this, it will take you to Ponyville. Keep the medallion safe, and yourselves.”

“But-”

“We are the adults here, we will fight her, and you will do as I say!” Neighsay snapped.

“He’s right, boys,” Sunburst added. “We can’t shield you forever.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes back in her head, then cackled. “No, you can’t.”

Neighsay gasped when he saw Chrysalis summon yellow energy into her hooftips. “Amber?”

She brought it down, and the barrier cracked.

Neighsay let out a grunt, rubbing his horn. “Amber Shard’s shieldbreaker. So she got to her, too.” Neighsay tapped the amulet, and a portal opened inside the fractured shield. “Get to Ponyville, the Elements of Harmony can finish her off if we can’t. You’ll get a medal when you’re done.”

Live Wire needed no further encouragement. He hopped through, and Doldrum followed.

Neighsay sighed in relief once the portal closed. The boys were through, and the two stallions faced Chrysalis alone.

She slammed the shield again, to no effect. “What? Why isn’t it working?”

“That spell has a two minute cooldown,” Sunburst said.

“Please don’t refer to mental refractory periods as a ‘cooldown,’ Sunburst, it is most unbecoming. And not nearly serious enough, given the situation. Still,” Neighsay said, “that does bring to mind an interesting point.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Chrysalis taunted from beyond the barrier. “You just gave away your strongest weapon. Your powers will be mine, and those boys will pay for their insolence.”

“You’re the insolent one here, changeling,” Neighsay said. “I won’t be needing any help against you. As for the boys, it’s a poor sort of teacher that can’t protect their students.”

It had been a late night for Bastion, following a trip to Rainbow Falls Animal Park. The train tracks towards Ponyville were currently being checked and fixed, so he and his moms had only gotten home after nightfall. That alone would have been reason enough to enjoy his soft bed a little longer than usual, but the Animal Park itself had certainly contributed, too. The site was too big to see in one day, but Bastion was sure he could do it with enough planning.

That is, eventually. On his first visit he’d flitted from one exhibit to the next, taking in all the natural splendour that didn’t exist near his old Hive. His mind still reeled, and part of him wanted to sleep in until noon. Eventually, he had to get up and get some breakfast. He heard his Unicorn mom at the front door and hopped out of bed, yawning as he shed his pyjamas. He checked his alarm clock: ten in the morning, a lot later than usual, but it was a school holiday, no one was going to say he couldn’t. Bon Bon was setting the table, Bastion came down from his room just as Lyra came in with the croissants.

“Good morning, mom.”

“Good morning, sweetie,” Bon Bon said.

“Good morning. Who wants croissants?”

Lyra set the bag on the table, and Bastion stuck his nose in just enough to get a whiff. His ears flicked, and he turned to Lyra. “They’re a little smooshed. Did Pinkie Pie bump into you again?”

Lyra nodded. “Yup. You know how she is. They’re still good, though, right?”

Bon Bon took one out of the bag before Bastion could and raised an eyebrow. “I’ll be the judge of that, honey. What did Pinkie Pie want this time? Still excited about Spike’s birthday party next week?”

“You know it,” Lyra replied, grabbing a croissant of her own. “She’s got plans.”

Bastion felt a tapping on his hooves under the table. Bon Bon nodded to him. “Bastion, would you mind getting some chocolate sprinkles?”

He hopped out of his seat and went into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” Lyra asked.

“Is Pinkie Pie really going to go through with Spike’s birthday party? Next week?”

“I think so, why?”

“Because his birthday isn’t for another three months,” Bon Bon replied coldly. “And after what happened last time, everyone in Ponyville agreed he should have a small celebration for it.” She reached for a kitchen knife. “So either Pinkie Pie has completely lost her marbles, or…”

Bastion came back with the sprinkles held in his magic. “Mom? What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing, sweetie,” Lyra said. “You don’t have to worry. You had a big day yesterday. Why don’t you take another little nap, huh?” Her horn glowed, and music started to play from it.

Bastion blinked as the magic sunk into his head. “W-wha… why…” His body felt heavy, wings drooping of their own accord. “Stop.”

He heard the sound of metal meeting wood, and he tried to focus. There was a rumbling on the floor, and as he clenched his eyes shut, he forced the numbing magic out.

A loud bang brought him back to full awareness. His Unicorn mom was pressed against the far wall. His Earth pony mom was standing on her hind hooves, pointing a crossbow at the green mare.

Bon Bon pressed a lever to load the next arrow. “You’re not the real Lyra. What did you do to her?”

The fake Lyra, meanwhile, was reeling from the impact. Little bits of molten metal were embedded in her head, though the wounds were quickly sealing up, dropping the fragments to the floor. “You little… What was that, a magma bolt? Where were you hiding that? Where did you even get that?”

Bon Bon smirked. “Mark 4 Volcano Arrow with metal shrapnel, that’s right. You’d be surprised what you can get at the Trader’s Fair for some home-made chocolate truffles.”

Lyra peeled herself off the wall and groaned. “Why would anyone trust you with a child? You go right for the face? Not even a warning shot?”

Bastion got behind his mom, and Bon Bon raised her crossbow again, hoof on the trigger. “Your head’s still attached. That was a warning shot. Now what did you do with my wife? How do you know that spell?”

“Little experiment of mine,” Lyra said with an evil grin. “It worked, too, well, partly. It would have worked. But if you wanna do it the hard way, that’s fine, too.”

“I could stun it,” Bastion said. “We can take it to Twilight for extraction, it’s just a drone. It can’t help it.”

Lyra let her head hang. She chuckled, then cackled. The sound filled the room, then it echoed through the house, through the town, it seemed to come from the whole world.

“Oh, no, my sweet, sweet little boy. I’m no mere drone,” Lyra said.

Bastion’s ears fell flat against his head. “No. It can’t be.”

“Suit yourself. Bastion, go.” Bon Bon took aim and fired. Arrow after arrow went into the fake Unicorn: lightning-tipped, smoke-tipped, frost arrow, at least five different ones by Bastion’s count, but still it didn’t do any lasting damage.

Slowly, as Bon Bon unloaded shot after shot, the green fur of the Unicorn faded and burned. It didn’t look like normal shapeshifting, more like some sort of spell that burned away like paper. Bastion went back into the kitchen, retreating past the stove and past the counter. He eyed one tile, then the fake Lyra.

“I am Chrysalis, Queen of Changelings,” said the Queen as she rose to her full height, forced to crouch in the low pony home. “Your little arrows can’t hurt me: my plated hide is as strong as the armour of a naga tank.”

“I know,” Bon Bon said. “I read your file.”

Bastion ducked when he saw her hit a switch in the kitchen. A trapdoor opened behind her, and a spring threw up what looked like a backpack connected to some tubing and a nozzle. Bon Bon worked her shoulders through the straps and tightened the apparatus in one smooth motion, before lowering a pair of goggles over her face.

“Okay, Your Highness, you’ve got one more chance to back out of my house and tell me where Lyra is.”

Chrysalis chuckled. “Is that supposed to scare me? That’s no weapon; that’s a baker’s spray can. What do you think you’re going to do with that? Glaze me?”

Bastion saw his mom let out a feral grin. “If you insist.”

Heat erupted from the nozzle. Red and orange washed over the boy’s vision, even through his closed eyelids. Even from behind, he could feel the burning all over. Bon Bon stepped closer and screwed the tip of the weapon closer to make a more concentrated flame, pushing the Queen through charred walls. Any screams were muffled by the whine of the makeshift flamethrower.

Once Bon Bon was satisfied the Queen was finished, she snorted. “That’ll teach you to barge into my house and threaten my son.”

When it was over, Bastion poked his head out from behind the stove. The living room had been destroyed. The front door and most of the wall around it had been reduced to crumbling ash.

Breakfast was probably mixed in between whatever was left of the chairs and table.

Bastion chuckled, albeit nervously. “You got her. You really got her. H-how? Why do you even have a flamethrower like that?”

“Now you know why I warned you about that switch: it’s got dangerous hardware under there.” Bon Bon patted the thin barrel. “Not a lot of bakers can make Midnight Castle charcoal biscuits, or dragonfruit pyrolysis pies. You need serious kit for that sort of recipe. This baby’s got phoenix down mixed in with the fuel, burns about as hot as the real bird.”

Bastion nodded. “Chrysalis was too big for the house. She couldn’t dodge indoors.”

Bon Bon smiled in response. “And with this thing, that close, you can afford to miss by a little. Are you okay, Bastion? Your ears aren’t ringing? No blurry vision? She didn’t get a spell off?”

He shook his head. “No, she didn’t manage to do anything. I could have blocked that lullaby spell, you know.”

“I know.” Bon Bon stared at the hole in the wall, pensive. “That was Lyra’s, wasn’t it? She copied it somehow?”

“Or she stole it. I’m fine, though, you stopped her before that lullaby spell got me. Are you sure she’s dead?”

Bon Bon cranked on a lever on her side to pump up some extra fuel and took aim. “Let’s make sure, huh?”

As they approached, Bastion saw what remained of the changeling queen. The body was a mass of charred remains, little more than ash in the vague shape of a corpse. Still, little bits of hide and the hard horn remained intact. She’d clearly taken the brunt of that assault, no ducking or dodging there.

“This is too easy,” Bon Bon said, keeping the barrel pointed at the thing. “It’s a decoy, has to be.”

“No,” Bastion replied. “That can’t be: drones don’t get magic like this, that was too advanced. Drones can’t steal magic like mom’s lullaby spell, and that was mom’s, I know it was. There’s no way that was a drone. Besides, if she wanted to get me, she’d probably do it herself, too.”

“Well, then we’re all set, aren’t we? We just have to call the Royal Guard, get them to clean up, find Lyra, and we can get on with our lives. No more worrying about her, huh?”

Bastion looked around. Now that they were out in the streets, he started to notice the silence. Berry Punch from across the street, Mister Goose Down from next door, the Chopping Block family, no one was out. The whole street was abandoned.

“Mom? You just burned a hole through our house.”

“We can get it fixed, no problem.” She patted him on the back.

“I don’t mean that, mom. You did all that damage, but look.” He gestured around. “There’s no one in the streets. Not a single pony.”

A hissing sound started to fill the air. Bon Bon kept her weapon aimed at the charred corpse as she retreated back into the house with her son.

Green smoke began to rise from near Sugarcube Corner.

“Okay, so she brought reinforcements,” Bon Bon said. “That’s no problem. The drones won’t do that much without their Queen, right? If they can’t think for themselves.”

“Not exactly,” Bastion said. “They can adapt, but they can’t think.”

“It’s not a problem,” Bon Bon repeated.

The light seemed to be pulled away from the sky, into one place. A rainbow formed near the library, and they could hear the sounds of sparkling magic being brought to bear.

“See? They’re already firing the Elements of Harmony. Nothing to worry about.” Bon Bon smiled.

He felt it, though. She was shaking.

“Mom? If Chrysalis is dead, what are they firing the Elements at?”

The rainbow died down, and silence fell over Ponyville once more.

Then came the laughter. A sadistic, evil cackling broke the silence. The Queen’s voice was everywhere. “Flee, ponies! Flee for your lives! The Queen has come to take you all!”

“That’s impossible,” Bastion said. “That sounded like five of her, at least.”

“Making a lot of decoys, then,” Bon Bon said.

“No, mom, you don’t understand. Decoys can’t do this kind of thing. This is her, this is really her.”

More bangs came their way, the rattling of battle, of panicked ponies trying to put up a fight. The rainbow near the library fired again, and again, and again. “They’re firing the Elements of Harmony. And the battle’s still going. She has to be using drones, but she can’t be, so that has to be her. But there can’t be more of her.” Bastion’s body shook. “I-I… s-she can’t be...”

Bon Bon put a hoof on his shoulder and leaned down, looking him in the eyes. “Bastion, listen to me. It doesn’t matter what she’s doing: she came after you. That means you need to get to safety. You know what to do, right?”

He gulped, then nodded. “Get to the grown-ups. Let them fight.”

The rainbow near the library was subsumed by a green glow.

Bon Bon stood up and looked on at the glow. In the distance, ponies were shouting: Weather Patrol, whatever Royal Guard presence was active in Ponyville. “Whatever she’s doing, she’s got Ponyville covered. Don’t head to the library, get to Canterlot.”

Again, he nodded. “Get the Royal Guard, get to the Palace. She’ll never get me there. What about you?”

“If she’s got this many decoys, or clones, or whatever she’s got, I’m gonna need every shot I can get. And I’d slow you down. I can kill whatever she’s using with this stuff, you just need to make sure you’re not caught. Go, get to the train station, head to Canterlot, hide. Don’t worry about me. You just be a good boy and be safe, alright?”

“Alright.” He kissed her on the cheek, cast a cloaking spell to go invisible, and dashed off, jaw clenched while she went back inside for more ammunition from her special order pantry.

He cleared the first street corner easily enough, with no sign of any enemies or even any pony in the streets. The second corner, he felt eyes on him. He felt the cold shadow before he heard the voice. “Cloaking spell, Bastion? Really? You’ve been busy while you were away.” The shadow of the Queen up above kept him in the dark. “But so have I. I wonder, did you know your mother had a sonar spell? It’s not perfect, but then neither is your cloak, is it?”

He tried to pick up his speed, but quickly thought the better of it. One green energy shot from Chrysalis impacted on his right, a second one nearly nailed him on his left flank. The dirt roads of Ponyville turned on him: all the dust from the explosions tried to cling to him through his cloak. He’d been warned about that, and he had a counter-measure built into the spell, but it still revealed him for long enough.

Bastion took another turn right and dashed ahead.

Right into Ponyville Park.

He could have slapped himself.

Stupid, stupid.

He quickly tried to think of some way out: the gazebo thirty paces away, the pond on his ten o’ clock, the fountain, nothing useful popped up.

He was stuck in an open field, with a superior enemy in front him. If he retreated, he’d be going back into Ponyville, where presumably more enemies lay in wait. He stopped, and the shadow went past him. Only now did he see her clearly: Queen Chrysalis. She stayed up high so he had to crane his neck to keep looking at her.

Why would she tell her drones to turn into decoys? What is-

It finally hit him.

That wasn’t regular shapeshifting. She didn’t turn into my mom the normal way, it burned away piece by piece. That was a disguise spell.

Maybe they can’t change shape the normal way anymore?

“Well?” She taunted him. “What’s it going to be?”

There was only one viable strategy left. He dropped his cloak and quickly whipped his horn back, letting loose a fiery green bolt that Chrysalis easily floated out of the way from.

“Pathetic,” she said as the fireworks exploded behind her. “You’ve been with ponies so long you can’t even aim straight.”

“I can still fight you,” he said. “I won’t let you take anything from me again.”

“Silly boy.” She hovered downward until she touched the ground, lightly, slowly. “You were mine from the beginning. Everything you have is already mine by right.”

He dug at the ground, horn lowered for a charge. “You’re not going to win, no matter how many decoys you use.”

She grinned. “You really have no idea what’s happening, do you?”

“What?”

“I’m not using decoys, Bastion. This is the real me. And I’ve got you, at long last. I win.”

He closed his eyes, thinking.

What do I do? If I fly away, she’ll catch me.

If I change shape, she’ll blast me.

I can’t fight her on open ground like this, not alone.

He gritted his teeth.

“Well?” Chrysalis asked. “What’ll it be? I could put you to sleep, you know. You don’t have to be awake for what comes next. It wouldn’t hurt at all, I promise.” She took a step towards him. “It’s not your fault your uncle crossed me, I don’t have any reason to take that out on you. Just come with me, quietly, and everything will be okay.”

Do I try to trick her? Do I follow her?

He shook, his horn blazing at the ready.

I need more time to think. There’s gotta be something I can do. But if I fire another signal, who knows what’ll show up.

Please. Somepony, help.

I can’t do this alone.

Bastion’s eyes shot open as arcane energy swirled behind the Queen. A vortex formed, then a tunnel, and from the tunnel a blue Pegasus and a brown Unicorn colt hopped out.

Chrysalis looked back, confused.

The Unicorn looked just as confused as she did.

“Wait, didn’t we just get away from you?”

“Really, boys, you have the worst luck today,” the Queen chuckled.

“You’re in Canterlot, too?” Bastion asked, growling. “More decoys.”

The Pegasus braced himself. “Bullet Time’s been taken! Sunburst is fighting Chrysalis with Chancellor Neighsay right now.”

“And they’re losing, I might add,” Chrysalis taunted, facing Bastion again. “That little barrier they’ve got won’t hold forever.”

Bastion’s ears flattened against his head. “Oh, no.”

She chuckled. “Oh yes. Finally starting to dawn on you, boy? I’m sure you’re itching to get some payback against me. Well, here I am, but you’ll have to get through a lot of me to make anything count.”

He hissed. “Where’s the real Chrysalis?!”

Princess Celestia stood in one of her meeting rooms, looking at the stained glass windows. Her guards, one Unicorn and a Pegasus, stood nearby, flanking the now unoccupied throne while her pet phoenix, Philomena, flitted about the ceiling.

Morning meetings had been brief, with a few no-shows of the Canterlot higher echelons, probably a seasonal flu going around. She relished quiet times like this, and took full advantage of the opportunity to train her phoenix. Philomena needed a refresher course every fifty years or so, after all, or the silly girl became quite unmanageable.

“Philomena, swoop,” Celestia commanded.

Right on cue, the fiery bird took a graceful dive and pulled up. A textbook swoop, perfected over centuries.

“Good girl. Philomena, sing.”

Philomena took a perch up above and started squawking out a noise that Celestia presumed was an attractive call to a phoenix, but the alicorn had enough of a mortal’s hearing to lack any appreciation for it.

“That’s enough, good girl, good girl,” she quickly said, silencing the old bird.

Looking up, Celestia noticed Philomena looked more agitated than usual, always looking around left and right, nervously preening herself, dropping embers on the stone floor of the hall.

I wonder… is today the day?

On a whim, Celestia turned and went out to her balcony. A shiver ran up her spine. With a minor cantrip, she focused her vision enough to see the wisps of green smoke rising from Ponyville.

Seems so.

“Guards,” she said, back turned to them, “I’ve just had a terrible thought: I may have left the Royal Chicken Coop unattended for too long. Would you be so kind as to inspect the door, and make sure everything is in order? And while you are there, give my prized hen some exercise?”

“Your Highness?” asked the Unicorn.

“You heard me,” she replied. “The royal hennery requires great care, it’ll take both of you to attend to it. Let dear old Roxy spread her wings today. I will be timing you.”

Without any further objection or remarks, the Pegasus guard flew off while the Unicorn teleported away.

Celestia closed her eyes, and focused on her hearing next.

Deathly silence reigned in the halls, for a time. Then, hoofbeats, slow and steady, approaching with purpose. Celestia went to the middle of the hall, standing on the carpet, to greet the visitor that came through the doors.

“So, Chrysalis,” she said,”to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Celestia,” Chrysalis cooed as she waltzed in. “Not going to throw any guards my way today? Or did you run out of tasty in-laws?”

Celestia curled her nostrils. “Don’t think I have any lying around today, no. I noticed you’ve already attacked Ponyville.”

Chrysalis gasped. “Oh, no, no, no, you saw already?” She huffed in annoyance. “And here I was hoping to surprise you with my new forces.”

“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done to enhance your drones,” Celestia replied. “My little ponies have fought off worse.”

Much to Celestia’s confusion, Chrysalis smiled at that. “Oh, so the surprise isn’t completely ruined, then. Good. I wanted us to have our little chat nice and civil.”

“That’s why you’re here? For a chat?”

Chrysalis lowered her head and aimed her horn, glancing at the table behind the white mare. “Chat, assassination, transfer of power, whatever you want to call it.”

Celestia sighed. “Very well, then. If you intend to fight me, come.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to surrender? The fight didn’t go so well for you last time,” Chrysalis remarked.

“Things are different now,” Celestia replied, stepping closer to her foe.

“You look just as weak as you did before.”

“Perhaps. But look around.”

Chrysalis looked left at the balcony, then right at the windows, then up.

Celestia smirked. “No civilians this time. No need for me to hold back. Have at thee!”

The yellow beam of magic struck the changeling dead in the chest, driving her back.

“Dirty pull, old mare. I like it.”

Whipping her head back, Chrysalis unleashed a rainbow of beams from her curved horn. They slithered and writhed in the air like snakes, before homing in on their target.

Celestia flapped her wings to retreat, ducking and weaving in between the barrage.

What is she doing?

That’s a standard Royal Guard Scorching Ray, with the little tendrils at the base. Then there’s the Ray of Frost, which isn’t making any of the usual cracking sounds. And that last one was an Arcane Volley, but bright red.

She’s targeting the Academy, then, and the EEA. All those spells belong to the drill instructors.

Of course. Today is family day, she must have infiltrated them this morning.

And now we know why she wanted to steal magic, obviously. Presumably she wants mine, as well, to move the Sun once I am gone.

She set her hooves on the ground, and fired another beam right as Chrysalis did the same.

The beams made contact, and soon the two royals were in a deadlock.

Why wait, though? Why not attempt to drain me now? Tirek had that power, surely she has it as well?

Chrysalis growled and upped the power in her beam. Celestia wasn’t even breaking a sweat.

There must be a limit of some sort, or a rule she cannot break.

Chrysalis broke the stalemate and flew back, before launching another volley of blue arcane bolts. Celestia raised up a shield, recognising the spell again.

This is all wrong. None of my Royal Guards would be that clumsy with their magic. She hasn’t stolen their memories, their training, their discipline.

She’s not using any of the advanced techniques, either.

And yet here she is, with stolen spells.

“New tricks, changeling? You must be mad if you think you can defeat me with standard Academy spells.”

She blinked, and Chrysalis was gone. Something swiped the hooves from under her, and a pressure drove her head and neck to the ground, her body quickly following. She was pinned, forced to look up at the Queen.

Super speed.

She has super speed now, too? How? Even the most powerful wizards can’t master those without training or… special talent.

Is that what she’s stealing?

“G-gg...” Celestia squirmed and struggled, trying to bat away at the arm keeping her in place. Chrysalis loomed over her, pressing the sharp curve of that appendage into her neck like a blade.

No use. I can’t push her away from this angle.

Chrysalis let out low, guttural growl. “And now, at long last, it’s time to sever the head of state from the body of politics.”

Celestia groaned, stopping her squirming and instead just pushing at the appendage to relieve some pressure. “S-spare me.”

“Oh, yes, beg.” Chrysalis bared her teeth. “Beg for your life, Celestia. I want to savour this moment.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “S-spare me the theatrics, you insipid wench.”

“What?”

She afforded herself a snort. “Sever the head of state from the body of politics? Honestly, you’re the fifth cretin this century to say that to me, it’s getting stale. How long have you been sitting on that, I wonder? Did you stay up all night thinking how good it would feel to say it out loud?”

Chrysalis squeezed. “Don’t… test me.”

Despite the forced gulp, Celestia grinned. “Please. You do not frighten me. You’re nothing but a petulant little child. Look at you: you have my head pinned to the ground, you have the advantage, and yet you can’t stop yourself from making snide remarks. You’re still desperately hoping to get a reaction, to plea for my attention, my validation. You don’t deserve either. You are nothing to me.”

Chrysalis growled and pressed harder. “Pity. Are you sure you want those to be the words on your tombstone?”

Celestia winced as the pressure increased, the sensation of a blade forming on her neck. “I suppose, if you insist, for p-protocol’s sake I have to s-say… ”

“Weelll?” Chrysalis leaned in, keeping a firm grip on the alicorn’s neck. She pressed all her weight into it, making sure Celestia couldn’t move an inch.

Perfect.

“Philomena! Incinerate!”

Author's Note

For those few people still wondering why I disable comments: partly because I don't want that last line spoiled for everyone. I've been sitting on that for years, I like it, I want it to be a surprise.

Not much else to say about this one. The head and body line came from The Invisibles, and aside from that most of it is self-explanatory. All the remarks on difficulty writing and editing of the previous two stories mostly apply here, too. Some pieces were easier to write than others, but the editing process was a drag. I'm hoping I caught everything, but it's still only hope at this point.

On The Back Hooves

When the flames died down, Celestia wiped off the fatty grime that had gotten on her. She stood up, shook herself clean of whatever was left, then glared at the black spot on the floor that marked where her would-be assassin had been. “Princess of the Sun, Chrysalis. I am fireproof, you clearly are not. And good riddance to you.”

Philomena rawrked in agreement and flew down to perch on Celestia’s back.

“Good girl, Philomena. I think someone’s earned herself an extra portion of dragonfruit tonight.”

Happy caws answered her, before a sudden stop. Philomena grew anxious once more.

The palace echoed with laughter.

Celestia groaned and turned her head towards the door again. “Of course. That would have been too easy.”

In walked another Chrysalis, and another, and another.

Celestia took a step back towards her balcony and furrowed her brow. She tried to sense the magic in the air, but whatever it was, it didn’t make much logical sense. Even with her refined detection spells, she couldn’t tell the difference between these three decoys and the real thing. The presence of the Queen was everywhere, in fact, it felt thick in the air, presumably some manner of cloaking spell to create white noise. Regardless, the decoys were infused with Chrysalis’s essence, her identity. “That’s impossible. You can’t spare that kind of power for a decoy, the training that would take…”

“Don’t act the fool, Celestia, you know what I’ve been up to,” said the one in front, strolling towards her. “The pandas, the naga, Tirek, that wretched little bodyhopper Cozy Glow… it’s all led up to this. Soon the whole world will be remade as I want it, and there will be nothing but perfection: my perfection. Even a coward like you, using your pets to do your fighting, won’t be able to escape.”

“And you think killing me will allow you to move the Sun? You think there will be no one left to fight you?”

“Oh, I know exactly how to steal that power, don’t you worry.”

Celestia looked at the trio, trying to find some tell, some sort of hint to what kind of control this was. She snarled in rage. These decoys were next to perfect. Whatever they had been originally, there was no trace of it. “So this is what you’ve done to your Hive? This is how you treat your drones? This is what you were experimenting on them for? For pity’s sake, Chrysalis, these are your own people, your subjects. Have you no shame?!”

Two more Chrysalises came streaming in, one through a window and one stalking the ceiling as soon as she passed the door. These, too, were perfectly disguised copies.

The Chrysalises noticed Celestia’s confusion, and grinned at the prospect. One at the right, still by the door, tilted her head. “Why should I be ashamed of perfecting my own subjects? It’s no different from your little school for talented Unicorns, except maybe a little more inclusive. They are mine. I am simply improving my property. And while I will admit your little phoenix caught me by surprise, I happen to have it on good authority that even her flames will die out after a few bursts. Much like yours, in fact.”

Celestia nodded. “I see. So that’s your plan: a war of attrition. Your drones can’t drain ponies of their magic unless they are exhausted.”

“A little change in diet can do wonders for your health, I’m sure you’ll agree.” The one on the ceiling started. “There are more than enough of my drones in Canterlot to fight you. More are on the way, and growing stronger as we speak. Every pony who falls gives me more power, more skill, more talent. So, Celestia, Your Highness, will you make this easy, or do we have to do this the hard way?”

Celestia closed her eyes. With a shaking hoof, she reached for her crown, and tossed it aside.

“No need to be sad,” the Chrysalis up above said. “You never stood a chance in the first place. You could barely win against one of me, let alone five. I accept your surrender.”

Then Celestia stepped out of her golden horseshoes. First her left, then her right front hoof was bared. A little click and a kick, and her hind hooves were freed. Once she was done, she spread her wings.

The pin-point yellow beam of force against the one on the ceiling sent it plummeting down to the floor. Smouldering from its chest, its limbs shook for a moment, before stopping.

Celestia snorted at the band of Queens. Smoke began to billow from her nostrils. “I’ll take my chances with four, then.”

“You’ll pay for that,” said the one in front. A nod of the head, and two took their fallen sister’s place, coming through the windows again. “A surrender would have been painless.”

Six to one now. “You come into my lands, threaten my little ponies, and expect me to surrender? No, now the gloves are off. If you want my power, you can have it, one funeral pyre at a time.”

She sent a triple heat beam across the room, raking across the decoys on the ground and destroying most of the windows in the process.

No matter. They can be fixed.

And they were designed to break inwards, after all.

The six Queens went into a V-formation and tried to dive-bomb her with a barrage of arcane bolts.

“Philomena, stay close.” Celestia raised her horn and let loose a hurricane that picked up the bits of stone and glass, as well as unbalancing her airborne attackers. In the eye of the storm, she stood firm, while wind and rock and glass kept the usurpers at bay. She sidestepped the bolts easily, with her hurricane throwing off their aim. A quick pulse of power, and the wind blew the Queens straight into the walls of the Palace.

“Not so easy when you don’t have innocent bystanders to hide behind, is it?” Celestia taunted. She dropped the spell once she’d cleared the room. She’d bought herself some time, but she was still burning magic to do it.

“Depends on your perspective.” The decoys were already peeling themselves off of the stonework, “Are my drones really to blame for what they do? I’m sure the Geneighva Convention will something to say about you trying to crush and incinerate poor, helpless victims.”

Celestia scowled. These things really were perfect clones: they had the original’s vermin tenacity in them. Nothing short of incineration would work.

A green volley came from above, simple energy bolts that impacted harmlessly on a quickly cast shield. The ground forces took that opportunity to surround her, though, quicker than she could blink. They seemed to almost float over the ground, not even flapping their wings. It reminded her of a local museum curator she’d seen at some of the local Ren fairs.

“It’s no use, Celestia,” five voices said as one. “You can’t win.”

Wait. I killed the one with super speed. Do they all have it?

“Philomena, flame wave,” Celestia said.

The phoenix started flying circles around her master as Celestia’s horn ignited in tandem. Within moments, the air around her became hotter than the desert, the synchronised magic of a phoenix flame wave and an alicorn firestorm searing away any intruders.

Celestia kept her eyes shut throughout the attack.

I can’t let my guard down, in that case. They could have gotten me right then and there.

When she could see again, the five Chrysalises lay unconscious on the ground, wisps of smoke rising from their bodies.

“Bravo.” The remaining Queen clapped her hooves in applause. “You truly are a powerful pony Princess.”

Celestia hissed. It’s brava, you uncultured cockroach. At least learn some proper grammar for your gloating.

The ones she’d hit got back on their hooves.

How? How is she combining these powers into drones? Speed, magic, and resistances? They stood up to the tornado and the flame wave, so only a full blast at phoenix heat will destroy even one of her. I can’t make an area big enough at that level, and Philomena can’t do a controlled blast like that in rapid succession. I can’t hit them all at once, not with enough force, not if they’re spread out like this.

And even if I did, I wouldn’t be hitting her.

“The real you isn’t even here, is it?”

“No, Celestia, these are just my drones. My weak, imperfect drones,” the front one said, twirling around while the others followed suit and joined into a chorus of laughter. “Why so glum all of a sudden? You were talking such a big game moments ago. Well, go on, then. Do it. Strike me down.”

“Then do it again,” said one to the left.

“And again,” said the one to the right.

“And again, and again, and again.” the voices went by one by one.

“It doesn’t matter, you know,” Celestia said. “You can’t destroy me. Even with all your decoys, you don’t have the power.”

“Only one way to find out.”

Celestia braced herself. One Chrysalis ignited her horn in blue, one in yellow, one in green, one in white, one in red.

Why didn’t she do this first?

As soon as the thought materialised, the beam fired.

Celestia tried to teleport, but found herself yanked back in place by a counterspell. She’d lost count of how many were firing, and one drone in back grinned. With a flap of her wings, she dodged out of the way of the attack, only to realise it wasn’t aimed at her.

She hadn’t been fighting six to one, she realised, but six to two. And these changelings were loath to let her have any numbers advantage.

“Philomena, no!”

She had no time to think, and all those weekends sparring at the Academy finally paid off. She quickened her next spell. If the Chrysalises tried to counter her second teleport, they failed. Celestia popped into existence in front of her precious pet, just in time to take the attack directly on the chest.

Ice bit into her exposed coat, followed by fire. Acid tickled as it ran down her haunches, and lightning crackled through her muscles.

It wasn’t even meant to destroy her outright, she realised. It was meant to be a death by a thousand stings. Philomena would have perished, but Celestia would only suffer, and suffer she did. She cried out as the blast pushed her out of the throne room.

Blue sky filled her vision, her castle quickly shrinking in front of her. She was on her back, in mid-air, catapulted out of the balcony.

The last thing she saw was her phoenix flying away.

“Ph-Philomena… g-get R-Ro-”

A dull thud cut her off. The combined blast had overloaded her senses, and the impact numbed her so much she could only really register one thing at a time. Her eyes wouldn’t open. She couldn’t feel her body anymore. The smell of grass filled her nostrils, the taste of iron filled her mouth.

Her ears still worked, though, much to her surprise.

She heard a voice call out to her in her mind. A familiar voice, with only one request before she lost consciousness.

Let me out.

Bastion froze in shock. Chrysalis looked behind her again.

“You really don’t get it, do you, Bastion? I am the real Chrysalis. As for you two: you should have stayed in Canterlot, boys,” she taunted the new arrivals. “This is no place for pony children like you.”

With that, Bastion saw his chance to go invisible again. His wings revved up and he aimed a hoofful of goop shots at Chrysalis’s hooves. She looked down, surprised, but didn't move out of the way of his other attacks.

She was slower than he remembered, and he filed that fact away for future analysis.

Before she could react or he could ponder it further, he strafed around to join his friends, pelting her with prismatic orbs, testing her defences.

Fire only annoyed her, barely got her to blink. White broke her concentration as she tried to get out of the boy’s trap.

Lightning got her to wince, not when it hit her in the chest, but a head shot looked like it hurt her. Of course. “She’s weak to lightning! Go for the head!” he called out.

With a grunt, Chrysalis managed to yank herself free and shake off the green glue. “Oh please do. I want to see you try.”

Live Wire whipped his horn up and let loose a lightning bolt, but Chrysalis was already gone, dodging towards the park fountain.

She smirked. “Too slow, little boy.”

Live Wire and Bastion lowered their heads, ready for another spell. Doldrum walked ahead to stand in front of them. “I’ve already beaten one of you,” he said. “Give up now, please.”

“Oh, you don't need to tell me,” she replied. “Arrow Snaring Gloves, eh? I know how those work.” She tilted her head, squinting at Doldrum. “Yet you don’t seem to be wearing any. How odd.”

Doldrum looked back. “Guys, this is gonna be over really quick. I need you to-”

A loud “thump!” cut him off.

Bastion froze. She’d already closed the gap.

And Doldrum had already punched her in the gut.

“Now!” he shouted, jumping back.

The next few seconds were a blur of flame and light, as Live Wire unloaded a pillar of voltage as thick as her body. Chrysalis could barely move under the electric onslaught of the Unicorn, and Bastion made sure to clip her wings with orb spells any time she twitched. Eventually, the Queen collapsed.

Bastion reached up to feel his horn. It was a little warmer than he’d like, but he wasn’t anywhere near his limit yet. He was more concerned about his still empty stomach, actually. “You baited her into attacking you.”

Doldrum smiled sheepishly. “It’s a good trick, when it works. What’s going on here?”

“She almost got me,” he said. “She-she was at my house and I had to run and I ended up in the park, stupid, stupid.” He slapped himself. “There’s no cover here, and too much room for her to dodge.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Doldrum said. “We got her. She’s not breathing. How’s your heart?”

“I’m fine,” Live Wire said. “I could take out twenty of her if she’s that weak.”

An explosion sounded two blocks away.

“That’s the train station.” Bastion closed his eyes and winced. “Guess we’re not heading to Canterlot, then.”

“Ponyville’s under attack, too?” Live Wire asked.

Bastion nodded. “Canterlot?”

“We just got here from Bullet Time’s museum. She got him, and stole his super speed somehow,” Live Wire explained.

“But that’s impossible,” Doldrum said. “That one’s in Canterlot, this one here had super speed too. There can’t be two ponies with that, so where did this one get it? This is the same magic, she even got his tunnel vision.”

Smoke began to billow behind them, and the sound of buzzing wings approaching grew louder.

“Oh, no. How did you guys get here?”

“Medallion from the EEA, the big boss let us borrow it.” Live Wire showed off the trinket.

“Can you make a portal to get us back? I think we’re about to get swarmed.”

“No problem,” Doldrum replied. “I’ve been reading up.”

Chancellor Neighsay’s shield buckled under the barrage of blows from the Queen.

“You’re not going to last much longer,” she taunted.

“Sunburst, get ready,” he said. “Once the shield drops, I’ll-”

The sound of a portal opening behind the Queen cut him off.

A little changeling boy hopped through, followed by two colts who apparently did not understand simple instructions.

“Ah, Bastion, so glad you could join us,” Chrysalis hissed. “We were just about done with our grown-up talk here.”

Neighsay dropped his shield while she wasn’t looking. A set of ethereal chains appeared out of thin air, wrapping around her neck before tying her limbs together. “Not the distraction I was expecting, but it’ll do. Sunburst? Our dear guest is looking a little sick. Give her some natural light, would you? Boys, you’ll want to close your eyes.”

Sunburst closed his eyes and concentrated. A globe of orange fire appeared in the room.

“That won’t work; she’s fireproof,” the changeling colt called out.

“Fire resistant,” Sunburst corrected. “There’s a big difference.”

The ball expanded, and its heat intensified. The Chrysalis on the floor panicked, and tried to shoot a green flame at the stallions, but it was drawn into the miniature star and absorbed, burned away harmlessly.

Neighsay could barely see a squint from Sunburst under that glare, and there wasn’t even a final scream. The only sound that managed to surpass the hiss of that solar conjuration was a gasp for air.

The body turned to ash, then dust. With a little snort upward, Sunburst extinguished his orb.

“Good riddance,” Neighsay said. “No offence to you, young changeling. I don’t believe we’ve formally met.” He stepped forward and extended a hoof in greeting. “I am Chancellor Neighsay, the head of the Equestrian Education Committee, and you must be Bastion Pristin. I’ve heard good things about you from my colleagues. Interested in both magic and farming, I hear? Bit of beekeeping on the side?”

“Y-yes, sir. Pleased to meet you.” Bastion shook his head as he shook the hoof. “But you don’t understand. Chrysalis is attacking Ponyville.”

“Sad, but predictable. I’m sure the Royal Guard will scatter her forces now that she’s taken care of.”

“Umm, Mister Neighsay? She was in Ponyville,” Live Wire said, extending a hoof to return the medallion.

Neighsay kept his hoof out, and pushed the medallion back into Live Wire’s grasp. “She what?”

“We fought her,” Doldrum replied. “And… we’re pretty sure we kinda, sorta... killed her.”

“You mean you fought a drone disguised as her?” Sunburst asked.

The cackling echoed through the exhibit halls. There were no enemies in sight, but their voices came from everywhere. Or rather, there was one enemy who was everywhere at once.

“No, he means he fought me, just as you fought me,” Chrysalis said from above.

“Wonderful job, by the way, fantastic attack you finished me off with,” she said, coming from the right.

“Think you can do it again?” The Queen’s voice echoed through the room. “You’re going to have to.”

“They’re getting closer,” Neighsay said. “And they have us outnumbered.” He grunted under his breath. “They know our magic now. They’re trying to scout us, to see if we’re worth consuming, perhaps.”

“You’re worthy, alright, very worthy indeed. I think I’ll enjoy cooking ponies with your talent… Sunburst, was it? We’ll get to know each other very well soon. That was quite the experience.”

Neighsay gestured for the boys to come closer as he cast another bubble around them. “Silence bubble. Let’s not let her eavesdrop on us if we don’t need to. Any ideas?”

“The Hall of Steel,” Sunburst said, pointing to the far right. “It’s easy to guard, one way in and out.”

Neighsay shivered. “I can hold her off on my own, mostly. My powers are not well-known, she won’t know what to look for. But we're still outnumbered. Can your Star of Astoroth trick even the odds?”

“I’ve been practising my multi-tasking with Starlight, won’t be a problem. We can clear the place one floor at a time. Once I get the armour going, we can head up to the next exhibit and start taking the high ground.”

“Then that is where we’ll go. Live Wire, I need you to keep hold of my medallion a little longer.”

“But don’t you need it to defend yourself?” the colt asked.

“That artifact contains more than mere gate spells: it’s a key to the vaults at the Academy. We have some very sensitive equipment there we can’t afford to let fall into enemy hands. It’s also a teaching implement: if Chrysalis gets her greedy paws on it, we’ll risk losing precious knowledge. Besides, you boys still need to get to safety. All three of you now.”

“Mister Neighsay, sir, I don’t think you understand,” Bastion started.

“No? Then explain it to me, please.” They heard glass breaking, and hurried through the museum to get to an older-looking exhibit, modelled after the Unicorn courts of old. All around, there were banners of the ancient dynasties, and suits of armour lined up and arranged by age and region: pre-classical lancers, Eastern Unicorn samurai, halberdeers from the Northern Forests with matching antler helmets, not exactly a war machine but fine fighting material if provided with a bit of magic.

“There was another one of her in Ponyville,” Bastion said. “She used a spell my mom has, my Unicorn mom. And the one in the park had super speed.”

“I’ve noticed these drones have the ability to steal spells.” Neighsay stopped. “Wait. She had what?”

“She had super speed, too,” Doldrum said. “The same speed Bullet Time has.”

“You are certain of this?” Neighsay asked.

“Positive,” Doldrum replied. “It was the same power.”

“And the same weakness,” Live Wire added.

“That’s impossible,” Sunburst said. “Bullet Time must have been taken here. Even if a drone could steal magic, that’s just one drone who could have it. There can’t be more of them.”

“Unless she is broadcasting this stolen magic somehow, and sharing it throughout her army,” Neighsay suggested.

“The one in the park knew we came from Canterlot,” Live Wire said. “She knew you had a barrier up. So they’re communicating, and communicating pretty quick, too.”

Neighsay shuddered. “That would make organising efforts against them difficult. And in your experience, Bastion, this isn’t something they should be able to do? This isn’t some secret weapon you or your uncle may have been privy to?”

Bastion shook his head. “No, sir. Whatever this is, I don’t think these are drones. They don’t move like drones, they don’t feel like drones. Every single one of them is her. She’s weaker than I remember, though. I’ve already seen three of them die. They can’t change shape, and it’s like they have to think more slowly than before. Maybe they are communicating, and that slows them down. And I’m pretty sure the real Chrysalis can take more punishment than these things do. There’s something off about them, it’s a perfect copy, but not at full power yet, if that makes any sense.”

“This is… good information, young changeling. Thank you for it, and you should be commended for being able to notice under such stress.” Neighsay sighed and nodded. “Perhaps she is spreading her captured love energy too thin, or perhaps her drones are lacking in cognitive capabilities to manage so many powers at once, or whatever network she has isn’t fully functional for this large an army. That's some advantage, at least. However, if what you say is true, then every single Chrysalis we see is indeed as much a threat as the real Chrysalis, capable of using any number of stolen magical spells. This complicates matters.”

“What do we do now?” Live Wire asked. “We can help you defend, you have the medallion.”

“Very brave of you to suggest, but an inefficient strategy. Sunburst?”

“On it.” Sunburst went to the middle of the room and started muttering an incantation under his breath.

“It’s me she wants,” Bastion said. “And any powerful Unicorns she can drain. If we split up, then she has to decide where to focus her power.”

“Indeed. And if this new stealing spell of hers is as you say, then that means she’ll be dividing her attention as well,” Neighsay added.

Explosions sounded in the distance.

“Though I suspect her attention is already scattered.” Neighsay waved to Live Wire for him to come forward, and he tapped the medallion, before drawing an arcane sigil on it with his hoof. The gold shimmered a vague blue. “Tap this once you're ready and go quickly. This is the emergency portal: short distance and only open for a second. It's difficult to track, but not impossible, so you’ll need to keep moving. After you walk through this, the medallion will lock itself, so she won’t be able to detect it, even if she steals my powers. You’ll have to find a way to safety through Canterlot on your own.”

“I can make two of us invisible,” Bastion said.

“Good lad. Doldrum, how’s your armour proficiency?”

“Pretty good, I think?” the Pegasus replied.

“Can you handle a Kingslayer armour? A fully operational one?”

“I don’t know. Is there one I can use?”

Neighsay nodded and gestured to the amulet again, flicking through it like the pages of a menu. When he found what he wanted, the etheric form of an arm bracer appeared out of it. “We’ve not needed to use this one for a while, but it pays to be prepared. Hold out your arms, I’ll give you a custom fit.”

Doldrum did as he was asked, and Neighsay closed his eyes. The arm guards and matching leg padding appeared on the boy’s body, as snug as if they’d been made around his form. Dark blue cloth wrapped around him, before additional metal plates went around his chest, shoulders, and the bases of his wings. His head was covered with a traditional helmet of the Eastern Unicorns, one with a horn covering.

Doldrum held up one of the arm bracers, flexed his hoof, and nodded in appreciation when three claws burst out of the top. With another nod, the blades withdrew.

“That has all the functionality of the Kingslayer armours of the Pre-classical era. It is an old design,” Neighsay said. “Archaic, even, I’m afraid, but it’ll have to do.”

“That’s okay: I’m better at the old stuff. Thank you, sir.”

“Never let it be said installation wizards are weak.” Neighsay closed his eyes and held out his front hooves. From his horn, grey chains appeared and snaked around his limbs, before coating his belly and chest. He whipped them up and down, and a pair of spiked orbs appeared at the ends. Satisfied, he finished the wrapping around his arms. “You boys head out, and stay out of sight. We’ll clear out this building and get any ponies we can to safety. Once we can establish a base of operations, we can irritate her enough to force her to make a mistake.”

“Umm, sir?” Bastion asked. “About that, I think I might know one way you could fight her? But you’re not going to like it.”

“Say no more, I’ve pondered the same thing. Sunburst?”

“Satis, Dee!” Sunburst shouted, finishing the spell with a slam on the ground. Yellow energy pulsed through the floor, flowing into the armours decking the halls. Old iron equipment from ages past started to rattle, then squeak as the metal joints came to life.

“We’ll try our best,” Neighsay said. “And if we must resort to a more desperate strategy, well… at least you’ll know if it works. Now go, you’ve dallied here long enough.”

Without another word, they tapped the amulet, and went through the portal.

The procession of armours marched through the museum, axes, spears, and becs de corbin in hoof. War drums started playing on their own accord, and even the flag poles of the Unicorn bloodlines floated along, pointed tips at the ready.

“What was that about a desperate strategy?” Sunburst asked.

“He’s a smart boy, that changeling. He was pondering the same idea I was.”

“Is it a good idea?”

Neighsay sighed. “Let’s not think about crossing that bridge before we get to it.”

Author's Note

This is where the combat scenes get a little messy, but also where the foreshadowing starts to pay off. It's established early on in story 1 that yanking someone out of a teleport (like Twilight in the Crystal Empire) is a known factor. Celestia tries to teleport, Chrysalis reveals she can counter that. But then in the same 'move,' Celestia can teleport again, unopposed. I don't like how that played out, but I couldn't think of a way of re-writing it without seeming inconsistent. So I went with the Death of a Thousand Cuts angle.

Similar thing with the lightning magic requiring headshots to be really effective. There's a reason that's there, and fans of Avatar: the Last Airbender might realise it (hint: it's reason Aang has burn marks on his foot) but I don't spell it out here, so it might get lost.

And again, I don't want spoilers in the comments, because some of you who know my style might realise what the Plan B is already, and I want new readers to get that surprise.

Also yes, I did use that spell from Bedknobs and Broomsticks. It's a good spell, and a good movie you should watch if you haven't already. Angela Lansbury plays a fantastic character in that, mixing calm, compassion, and understanding with a solid dose of 'Do not mess with me' energy. It's also a classic case of a character understanding their own weakness and acting accordingly, rather than expecting the world to bend around her... even though bending the world around her with magic is very much an option in her case.

But I digress. Celestia is hearing voices in her garden. You can probably see where this is going.

All Bark, No Bite

“Unh...” Celestia groaned as she came to. The burning on her chest cooled, the tension in her muscles eased, her body was already healing itself. A caterpillar scurried off in front of her nose. “I really must speak with the caretakers about getting some better bug spray.”

Let me out.

Celestia’s ears twitched at the source of the voice. It came from inside her head, yet it had a sense of direction to it, proximity, even. Something was close by. “What?”

Let me out, Celestia. This isn’t funny, let me out, now.

The Princess rolled her eyes when she realised where she’d landed: right in the statue garden, on the edges of the labyrinth. This particular statue she’d landed by was one of a cocky yet surprised-looking draconequus right before his defeat. “Just my luck. Of course I’d land right next to you. I’m a little busy at the moment, Discord.”

I know you are, that’s what I’m trying to tell you! Chrysalis has gone completely crazy since she killed Tirek! She’s draining ponies of their magic. The more exhausted they are, the more she gets out of them.

“I’ve noticed that, thank you.”

She’s not here, the real one.

“I’ve noticed that, as well.”

There’s more. She was at the halfway point between Ponyville and Canterlot, she’s probably near the walls right now. She’s already drained a dozen ponies, mostly EEA and Academy. I’ve been trying to call out to you, she started hitting everywhere at once this morning! Ponyville and Canterlot!

“And she only has a dozen? That’s strange, you’d think with those numbers she could...”

You see now? She can’t. This spell she’s using, it’s incomplete. She’s broadcasting the magic she steals, copying it to her drones. She’s turned her drones into copies of herself, including whatever she can steal. But that’s what she’s missing: they’re not perfect copies yet, they’re still weak. Only the real Chrysalis can drain a pony of their magic, and only when they’re exhausted. She’s been moving the bodies, I think. They’re still alive, but just barely, and I think she’s going to start killing soon once she completes her spell. I can sense her when she’s doing it, Celestia. She sticks out like fireworks when she’s broadcasting new magic, so let me out!

The swarm buzzed overhead. “Pardon me if I’m not too enthused by the prospect, Discord. You being loose is not much of an improvement.”

I never did anything like this to my little ponies. She deserves to be punished. Let me out, I swear I’ll make it good. I’ll make it funny, even you have a sense of humour. Call it community service, call it emergency powers, call it whatever you like to justify it to yourself, just let me out! For once in your life, try to see what a little chaos is good for and let me out!

Celestia’s mane flickered. “I’m afraid that’s not in the cards right now, even if I wanted to. The Elements of Harmony are in Ponyville, I moved them there a few months ago when we heard of the threat.”

So go get them. You can teleport.

“No, that’s precisely what she wants. She knows how to counter a teleportation spell already.”

And? Those counters take a lot more effort than teleporting does. As long as she’s not hitting you when you snap back, you’ll be fine!

“You don’t understand. She came into my castle hoping to wear me out, and that means she’s prepared. If she’s prepared for you, then that will be a problem we cannot deal with.”

Oh, don’t kid yourself. My safety isn’t at risk here. I can snap her out of existence any time I want, I just need the opportunity.

“And she knows that. She’s stolen powers from a water devil, and from Tirek. Either one of those may hold a counter-measure to your magic, as I’m sure you’re aware.”

I’d find a way around it.

“But not in time, not in this situation. I need to stick to a proper plan here, or I might play into her scheme. My only course of action right now is to hold as many of her drones here. She’s using innocent victims as a shield.”

Very well, then. But if you are going to do this, you should know: they’re already dead, Celestia.

“What?” she snapped.

The drones. These aren’t the live ones, I can feel it. She can’t channel enough of a signal into a living nervous system yet. This just the vanguard: they’re animated corpses. The live ones are still back at her Hive. It’s not in the desert, but on the far edge of it, about two hours as the Pegasus flies.

“Far edge of the desert, two hours. So reinforcements will be slow, that’s good. And you’re sure these are dead?” she whispered as the swarm approached.

Positive. Don’t let her hold you back. Don’t show any mercy, go full Daybreaker on them if you have to. You can’t save these things. She just wants you to think that.

“Using corpses, are you?!” Celestia shouted into the air.

“Oh, you finally noticed?” the first of the Chrysalises asked as more of them landed. “Well, waste not, want not, right? Don’t worry, I have plenty of bodies for today. Last chance, Celestia. Surrender now, or I’ll have to beat you into submission.”

Celestia smiled. Behind her, she heard the cawing of a bird. “Why should I?”

“I have you outnumbered, and I have more magic than even you can bring to bear.”

She looked up. “Oh, I’m not so sure about that, actually.”

“Your Royal Guard can’t protect you from me,” one of the drones taunted, not even following Celestia’s gaze. “Every pony that fights me will be added to the arsenal.”

“Who said anything about ponies?” Celestia’s horn glowed, and she sent out a beam of light to signal her reinforcements.

The six Chrysalises looked up in confusion. Philomena was swooping down, and screeching with excitement, but that was nothing compared to the sound that followed.

The Queens covered their ears when the second bird called out. Celestia let her smile turn into a smirk. A shadow began to grow on the ground, before circling around the garden.

The Chrysalises could finally see it up close, so Celestia decided to follow basic protocol.

“Chrysalis, allow me to introduce: Roxy, one of my other pets.”

The swarm hissed. “A roc?” One of them asked. “Really? You want to send more birds to fight me? I’m insulted.”

I agree. A trained roc is nice in a fight, but they’re formation breakers, hit and run at best, not much use in a brawl. I’m all for causing a little chaos in the ranks, but I don’t think that’s what you want here.

“Oh, Roxy doesn’t fight much, no, she’s strictly a messenger. But I think it’s only fair to warn you: she can carry quite the payload. Speaking of which: Roxy! Delivery, please!”

As soon as she uttered the command, the roc gave a firm flap of her wings, pelting the area with the payload that had been stashed in between those giant feathers. The Chrysalises all raised shields against the bombardment, only to realise they were blocking light little things that bounced off harmlessly. The bombs didn’t even explode, though they did crack the shields with remarkable ease.

“Pinecones,” a Chrysalis remarked. “You’re hoping to fight me with pinecones. You have gone truly senile, Celestia.”

Honestly, I’m starting to think the same thing. You could have at least used chestnuts or something spikier. I’m quite fond of exploding acorns myself. Best squirrel war ever.

“Watch and learn,” Celestia whispered, before raising her voice to the six. “I’m not going to risk any animal’s safety to fight you, Chrysalis. You don’t get to see all the beasts I keep in my bestiary. You are a pest, and pests are best dealt with using gardening skills. So, I went ahead and procured a few… natural options to deal with you.”

The glow in Celestia’s horn became a solid gold, and solar energy flowed over the field. The pinecones started hopping up and down, drilling into the ground before rumbling underneath.

Chrysalis tried a counter-spell, the other five fired at Celestia’s horn, but the blasts fizzled out before they could connect.

Wait, she can’t counter that? What sort of spell is this?

From five paces away, the midpoint between the two forces, a form emerged from the ground. An evergreen tree trunk rose up to about twice the height of Celestia, branched out, and sprouted needles.

Then, hidden deep in the pine needles, it opened its mouth and eyes, and roared. Celestia had always thought these creatures were much like shaggy dogs in that respect: it was hard to tell where the mouth and eyes started and where the fur or needles stopped.

The first green giant stepped forward with a wooden creak, branches swinging to loosen up its makeshift arms. The rest of its compatriots soon followed, sprouting and growing to full height in seconds.

“Treeguards,” Celestia said. “A little something to spruce up my defences, if you’ll pardon the pun. My little ponies picked these up in the Limos Valley. Even if you strike me down, these giants will not stop fighting. In fact, if you do strike me down, there won’t be anything to stop them.”

“We’ll see about that.” The vanguard of Chrysalises readied their horns and swung in tandem to launch a spell at the new arrivals. But, as the forest grew around them and the things began to wake up, roaring in outrage, all their horns fizzled.

“Oh, you’re not familiar with this creature? I suppose you wouldn’t be: the Limos Valley has a very powerful magic running through it, one that’s primarily based on hunger, similar to your own. My Treeguards? They have an anti-magic field. A weak one, though, very faint, and short ranged.”

Oh, that’s why she couldn’t fire a counter: anti-magic field, nice.

The six all focused their attention on Celestia now, trying to get another composite beam off. Two of them tried to take the high ground, but a single wing flap from the roc brought them down, while a second flap from Philomena took out three in a blaze.

“Of course, when you have about thirty of these giants in one place, the short range becomes more of local suppression field.”

“This changes nothing,” a drone growled.

“It changes everything,” Celestia retorted. “You see, while you were plotting this little coup attempt, I’m sure you obsessed every night about how clever it was and how nopony would figure out what exactly you were doing, it’s in your nature. However, in all your fantasising you forgot one crucial detail: I do not need to know exactly what you’re doing to stop you. It was painfully obvious you were going to try and steal pony magic. Logically speaking, all I need to do stop you is to nullify pony magic along with your usual changeling tricks. No fireballs, no counterspells, not even a pathetic glue shot. Your magic is shut down.”

Brava, Celestia, brava, that’s the Princess I remember. Today might just get interesting. Honestly, this is much more entertaining than anything I was planning.

Celestia’s ears twitched. “You were planning something, too?”

What? D’oh, nothing, nothing, carry on, gloat a little. Please, on my behalf. She deserves some pain.

“Big mistake, Celestia,” one Chrysalis said. The drone’s eyes glowed, and more of her kind soon descended onto the garden. They all came in squads of six, and much to Celestia’s surprise they stayed in formation. “If you shut off pony magic with these things, you’re even more defenceless than usual. No counterspells or teleporting for you, either. They don’t shut down my army, and they don’t shut down magic when it’s pointed inward. You just sealed your fate.”

One of the initial drones rushed past in a blur while the Treeguards engaged, clumsily swatting at the approaching assassin like an insect.

Celestia closed her eyes as the thing closed the gap. At half a pace of distance, she pointed her head down. The beam that shot out of her horn blew it back with a searing burn in its chest.

“You’re right, of course: they do not cancel out all magic,” Celestia remarked, standing up again. “And it’s true, they won’t shut down your stolen speed spells. But, do consider: speed is all you have now. It is twenty-four to thirty-one. I still have a good portion of my magic, and I will burn you.”

The hurt clone growled. “What? How?”

Celestia merely smirked, relishing her advantage.

“Why, the very thing you’re trying to steal, of course. It’s solar magic, Chrysalis. I can still use solar magic. And that means I can sit here and blast you to ashes while my new friends swat you away like the bug you are.”

“I can still steal more.”

“Perhaps. But unless you happen to drain a pony with talents equal to mine, that will not matter.”

Celestia mentally commanded her Treeguards to form a defensive line around her. Six formed an inner circle, eight formed up around her to cover the corners, and ten covered the edges in front of that line, leaving six Treeguards as a spare to circulate back and forth if need be. With her formation in place, she ignited her horn again. This time, it was a bright, blinding phosphorous light.

Her defences were up. The enemy had called in reinforcements, and she had all the time in the world to analyse their movements and numbers now.

I see your plan now. Every pony she gets her mitts on makes her whole army stronger. So the more of them you can pull into this lovely garden brawl, the less of a force she has to do the stealing, and the more time you buy for your little ponies.

Celestia wiped some dirt off of her nose and snorted at the drones. “Don’t you just love photosynthesis?”

The plan was simple and effective. Sunburst had managed to animate suits of armour of at least five eras, along with a host of other adequately sharp implements, so there was now a way to post guards at every room entrance. Neighsay had his etheric chains at the ready, and Sunburst stayed far enough behind to provide cover fire.

They went into the ‘Ancient Oceans’ exhibit first. Three Chrysalises waited for them there, sticking close to the ceiling. One lunged at Bullet Time’s speed, and got a taste of 500-year old halberd for her troubles. Neighsay wrapped that one in chains, and Sunburst lowered his miniature Sun onto it to fully dispose of the creature.

The other two stared on, and tried to pincer the Chancellor with a double beam: one ice, one fire.

Neighsay swung his weighted chains around to deflect the attacks, then sent them rushing at the two creatures. They ducked out of the way at the last second, and Neighsay grunted as he pulled at his weapons to get them back. The drones took their chance to get up close while he had his arms open.

Apparently these things didn’t realise his chains were cast from his very much exposed and undamaged horn. Neighsay barely had to squint to intercept the things, and two dips of Sunburst’s flame orb later the stallions had cleared the room.

“They don’t seem to be very aware of their own weaknesses,” Neighsay observed.

“Yeah, they’ve got a really bad case of tunnel vision every time they go full speed. I wonder what she’s actually getting, then,” Sunburst replied.

“Cutie mark-related magic, from the looks of it. The basic spells that are inscribed on our bodies, the skills required to wield them, but not the experience, not yet, at any rate.”

“Where to next?”

Neighsay nodded to the section where the first drone had appeared from, behind the jellyfish. “That way. We secure this area, then post up at the entrance, and work our way up. Once we get the high ground, we can signal the Royal Guard.”

Sunburst nodded and sent two Eastern Unicorn samurai suits to check. They were blown apart by a blast of thunder.

“Aww, did I ruin your little toys?” The Queen’s voice rang out.

“You’ll pay for that.” Neighsay galloped forward, horn at the ready. When he entered the exhibit, he found himself stepping into green glue.

“I’m short on cash today, mind if I borrow a little something from you?”

The Queens were behind him, fangs bared.

Neighsay grinned. With a single motion, he broke free of the glue trap and made a wide swing at the walls to get them to scatter. “You’ll have to do better than that. I am the head of the EEA, the overseer to all of pony generational knowledge. I know how to get around changeling tricks.”

They’d scattered, as he’d predicted. One was above him and to the right, one behind him, one to his front and left. This was a smaller exhibit on marine invertebrates, mostly jellyfish and sponges, so she wouldn’t have the room to go at full speed.

Predictably, the Queens resorted to spellwork instead. Behind him came a lightning bolt, in front of him an ice ball formed at the cusp of being launched, and from above a whicker net fell down on him.

All three were familiar to him. All three were easily cancelled out by a shield pulse spell. “Don’t think you can surprise me, you insolent insect. Every power you’ve stolen belongs to a colleague of mine. I know their tricks well, I know yours also.”

“True, true. But I’m learning. And you’re going to run out of toys and stamina long before I run out of drones,” the one in front taunted, before going wide-eyed.

The samurai suits were up again, and stabbing her in the gut.

“B-but…” she looked behind her, at Sunburst. “I destroyed those. How?”

“Solar magic,” Sunburst said, tapping his horn. “I’m pretty good at fixing things, and shedding some light where I need to. Speaking of which?” Down came that orb of consuming heat again, and Neighsay chained up the other two before they could flee.

Neighsay chuckled. “I’m surprised your spies wouldn’t inform you about a pony like Sunburst. He does possess one of the rarest talents to find in a pony, after all. You’re committing a grave error if you underestimate him.”

Queen number two wriggled and screamed, but she was soon reduced to ash.

Queen number three, however, smirked evilly as the orb closed in. “My spies told me enough. For example, did you know there’s an Earth pony two blocks down who’s strong enough to punch through a brick wall?”

Neighsay’s heart sank. He could feel the pressure mount on his restraints. “Sunburst, be quick!” The chains shattered, sending a spike of painful feedback into his horn.

The cavalry took care of her. Two hollow lancer ponies impaled the last Queen against a back wall, allowing Sunburst to finish her off.

Neighsay saw it, though: the look in that one’s eyes as she expired.

She knew what she was doing. She knew how to counter his chains now.

Charlemane help me, I’m going to need a hand soon, I fear.

“Ground floor’s clear,” Sunburst said. “The entrance was empty. We might run out of armours soon, though, I don’t know how many we need to keep guard.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Neighsay said, sighing. “As long as you can keep up your spell, we can add more to the arsenal. We’ll head up and get the heavier guns there.”

Sunburst snickered. “I just hope Bullet Time doesn’t mind me messing with his bigger exhibits.”

The portal itself made a little bit of noise, but the boys went through quietly enough. They exited out into the main street of Canterlot, the one leading through the walls and gates of the city towards the Palace.

Bastion twinned his cloaking spell to cover Live Wire, and Doldrum’s suit of armour had a stealth mode of its own, so getting around unnoticed should have been easy. They kept their stealth spells selective, as they’d been taught at Fight Camp, so they could still see each other up close. Their mission was somewhat halted at the corner of Chomper’s and Saddle Street, by the groaning sound coming from Bastion.

“What’s the matter?” Doldrum asked.

“Umm, funny story: I kind of slept in today. Chrysalis got to my house at breakfast, so…”

“You haven’t eaten yet.” Doldrum winced in sympathy, though it was hard to tell with that helmet. “Okay, we’ll look for food on the way.”

“But-”

“You’re no good to anyone if you’re starving. Besides, that might have been on purpose: maybe she wants you weak and hungry.”

“Thanks. Which way are we going?”

“You’re the master strategist, you tell us,” Doldrum whispered.

“Can we get to the Palace?”

“I doubt it,” Doldrum replied. In the distance, they could vaguely see a large avian form in the air, and even without that the din of battle sounded between them and their destination. “I think Princess Celestia is already fighting.”

“Where’s the Royal Guard?” Bastion asked.

“If they haven’t been targeted as it is, probably holed up and defending a base while they send out rescue teams. That’s their standard plan.”

“That’s a terrible plan,” Bastion argued. “They’ll just get picked off one by one.”

“It’s how they got through dozens of other battles like this. The Royal Guard isn’t meant to protect the royals: it’s the royals protecting the citizens. But getting to them is probably not a good idea, either. Where can we go where she won’t find us?”

“Nowhere,” Bastion said. “I think it’s me she wants, and she’s going to figure out we escaped and cloaked soon. She’ll probably sense the portal, if she can’t detect that amulet as it is.”

“She can’t,” Doldrum explained. “It’s deactivated now, just a pile of gold until someone makes the right move.”

“And your armour?”

“If she can find me in this suit, then she can find all of us as it is. It’s the same magic.”

Bastion nodded, stifling a groan even if his stomach couldn’t. “Okay. If we can’t hide, then we find a place to fight her.”

“All of her? I mean, sure, I’m up for a challenge, but do you think we can?” Live Wire asked.

“I’m moving ahead.” Doldrum led the way towards a fountain at the middle of the crossroads. Bastion worried, since he couldn’t see the Pegasus at all from that distance. He had to admit, the armour was pretty decent.

When he and Live Wire reached him and the transparent armour let them see each other again, Doldrum whispered to them. “We’ll have to decide now. If we go straight ahead, that’s towards the Palace. That’s deeper into Canterlot, where the rich ponies are. If we go left, that’s towards the Academy. There’ll be a lot of powerful Unicorns there who can help.”

“And a lot of Chrysalis to fight them. If we go back, we try to get out of Canterlot. Can we portal out to some other city?” Live Wire asked.

Doldrum nodded. “I could turn this thing on again.”

“No,” Bastion replied. “We can’t. If we gate out of here, she’ll know. Portal magic leaves a trace at long range, that’s why ponies don’t usually use it anymore.”

“How do you know?” Doldrum asked.

“My mom told me. You know, to make me feel better. She said she could yank me back if anyone ever tried to kidnap me with a teleport. And if she could do that…”

“Then Chrysalis definitely can, too.”

“Especially now. Chancellor Neighsay would have sent us far away if he thought he could. But we can’t risk it. Besides, we do have one other option.” Bastion took the lead. “We go right, then left, then we keep going straight ahead... until we can go down.”

Live Wire gulped. “You mean...”

“Yes. We move into the mountain, head into the Crystal Caverns under Canterlot.”

“Can we hide there?” Live Wire asked.

“We can fight there,” Bastion replied. “I think I have a plan. We might be able to beat her, but it’s gonna take all three of us. There are still a few things I need to be sure of, but right now I think we have a shot.”

“Sounds good to me. We’re not alone in this,” Doldrum added. “Lots of ponies are fighting her right now.”

“Yeah. We don’t even need to win. We only need to tip the scales,” Live Wire said.

“Then that’s where we go.” Bastion winced again at another hunger pang.

“There’s a waffle shop about two blocks away,” Live Wire said. “We can get you some food there.”

“Good idea. If she wants me hungry, then I think I wanna get some brunch first.”

Author's Note

Those of you read the Pharynx fic will have seen this coming: the Treeguards are from the game Don't Starve. I wasn't intentionally going for the look and feel of when Azula reveals she's packing Dai Li guards, but it ended up sounding like that and I ain't complainin'.

I wanted the revelation of what Chrysalis is doing exactly to be implied early, but only solidified later, to let the reader feel the anxiety of the characters a little more as they figure it out. Initially, it was going to be closer to another one of the plots from The Invisibles, specifically the one where Jim Crow makes his first appearance. As it stands, it should resemble Slivers from Magic: the Gathering, but I never read the books with them in it, so I can't be sure.

In effect, this is like a zombie army with a twist: normally when one person falls to a zombie, the zombie army gets stronger by one unit. In this case, every pony who falls gives their power to the whole army, making early targets more important, and making every victim more valuable in terms of purely units of power. It means the usual strategy of simply taking out more than you lose will not work, effectively countering the numbers advantage a wizard can provide. It also means that ultimately, even if you do somehow manage to defeat the army, you can still be left with one single unit who's insanely powerful and dangerous...

A Failure and A Broken Heart

Celestia revelled in the situation. Chrysalis and the drone squads were now deadlocked against the Treeguards, and while the changelings swarmed the gardens with superior numbers, there was no way for them to penetrate the Princess’s defenses.

One squad of six was ahead of her, but the leader of that group had taken a blast already. One squad was ten paces above ground, trying to keep track of any more birds coming in on her six o’ clock. Then two flanked her on her two o’ clock and her eight. The last group circled around up above, slowly.

The swarm tensed.

Don’t get cocky. It’s almost impenetrable, Celestia. She can still speed her way through.

One drone tried just that, as soon as Discord sent the thought through. The wooden giants were slow to move, but with that many between her and the enemy, Celestia didn’t even need to do anything. One swipe was all it took to get the thing off the ground, and the follow-up blow crushed it like a bug.

I got a signal out of that.

Celestia’s ears perked.

She’s broadcasting her powers from somewhere, but it’s not a direct line. She’s got intermediates, other broadcasters.

“That’s why they’re in groups of six,” Celestia concluded, whispering. “It’s always one dominant brain and five underlings.”

And those dominant brains have a controller, and those controllers link back to Chrysalis. I can feel the one steering this little warband, but only barely. You’re going to have to get the drop on a lot of them for me to get a ping.

“Patience,” Celestia whispered. “She’s thinking. By now, she’s probably figured out she can’t win on speed and numbers alone.”

Then what are you two waiting for? Get to fighting already.

“I am waiting for her to decide on her next move: fight or flee. And she is waiting for me to play my hand. I only have six Treeguards I can spare for an attack. She wants to know how I’ll deal with her army if those are too slow on the offensive.”

The swarm revved up its wings.

“Cute trick, Celestia, I will admit,” one drone said.

“But your defence is stationary,” said another. “As long as I have you here, I can keep plundering your city without anyone stopping me. And eventually, I will get a pony’s power that can match yours.”

“There we go,” Celestia said under breath. “That’s precisely what I wanted to hear.”

You want her to plunder Canterlot?

Celestia whipped her horn back and unleashed a ball of fire at the group closest by on her two. They all dodged out of the way, scattering them across the garden and sending a few up into the air, where they had room to move.

Or at least they would have, had there not been a giant roc still patrolling the general area. Roxy came in with a mighty flap of her wings and blew the group of drones away, towards Celestia and the mass of walking pine trees.

Celestia kept a close eye on them as they tried to adjust. She zapped one with a solar beam, blasted another with a lick of flame, and managed to catch three of them in a fire spell combined with a small gravity trap.

Oh, I see. She’s still trying to exhaust you. You’re being efficient.

Celestia let out a confident hum. The ones in the air had fallen to her magic, but her Treeguards had taken advantage of the situation and clobbered their way over six more.

I’m getting a signal, Celestia. The master drone is due East, about five blocks away. She’s on the move, though, I think that one’s in combat already.

“The Academy,” Celestia reasoned. “No doubt that one is hiding in a corner somewhere, gathering information in the library, perhaps looking for any weaknesses to exploit, or a weapon.” She closed her eyes, thinking. “I can take a wild guess what she’s grabbing, then.”

What do you plan to do about it?

“Neighpoleon said it best, I believe: never interrupt your enemy while they’re making a mistake.” Celestia laughed out loud, resorting to her Royal Canterlot voice again. “You know, you almost fooled me there, Chrysalis. I was ready to break formation and wipe you all out in one fell swoop. But that’s what you want, isn’t it? Even if I destroy every single one of you, there’s a back-up ready to descend on me. Sorry to disappoint. I can hold you at bay for as long as I need to, and pick you off one at a time.”

Roxy did another dive run, unleashing a whirlwind upon the drones.

A few of them tried to blast upward, green bolts pelting upward, but Roxy was smart like that. The changelings still lacked an anti-air spell that could hit a roc at that range, and to fly upward was to risk getting sniped by the Princess. The only remaining option was to fly up as one organised swarm, and it was precisely that tactic that Roxy was making impossible. The Chrysalis drones could stick to the ground, to some extent, even walk on walls, but once airborne they suffered the same weakness any flying creature did: no grip. If they tried to lift off as a group, they would be scattered and destroyed as a group.

Two squads had already been crushed, three remained.

Five more came in from all directions to circle around at a safe distance.

“This won’t work forever, Celestia,” a fresh Chrysalis growled. “That bird of yours is going to slip up eventually. It’s only a matter of time before I get some voltage on that overgrown poultry.”

“You’re right. But in the meantime: Treeguards! Suffocate and exterminate!”

Taking the offensive anyway, then? What happened to waiting her out?

“I never planned to merely wait: I need to exhaust her before she does the same to me. Roxy is a good disruptive element, but I can’t rely on her. If Chrysalis sees it coming, she can counter-act a gust, or start sniping her.”

Unless your little anti-magic field expands a little.

“Exactly. This is going to come down to who overplays their hand first. I’ll need to time this perfectly.”

The six Treeguards lumbered across the lawn, stomping their roots and picking up the pace to a steady walk, then a clumsy run in simple straight line formation with their arms crossed.

The Chrysalises flew up to evade them, and much to Celestia’s delight, they did keep an eye out for the roc.

But while they were doing that, they neglected their blind spot.

Another swirling orb of fire erupted from her horn, sucking in three drones who would have only been grazed by it. The main body of the group disintegrated into smoke and ash. After that rush, she signalled those Treeguards back. Two more squads of Chrysalis drones arrived to take up space, perching on the walls of the nearby labyrinth.

Well done, Celestia. I’m surprised you’re holding out so well.

“Don’t cheer yet. She knows what I can do now. I suspect she’ll be launching her counter.”

Wait. She’s in Canterlot now.

“I know she’s in Canterlot, Discord, she’s right in front of me, forty of her.”

No, I mean the real one. She’s draining a pony right now.

“No matter. She can’t use spells while my Treeguards are standing.”

It’s not spells she’s draining, Celestia. It’s an Earth pony. She’s stealing Earth pony strength, she’s going to go for the face!

No sooner did Discord warn her, or the counter-attack was already happening. Celestia’s vanguard of trees swiped at the black assailants, but in mere seconds one was covered in Queens and toppled over. They pounded the thing with their hooves, cracking wood and splintering its eyes and mouth.

The rest of the trees braced themselves and stared in awe.

“Right. So, as I was saying: this won’t last forever. Your little Treeguard trick only stops magic on the outside. But I can steal more than mere spells now, Celestia,” one Chrysalis taunted, waltzing over the wooden corpse. “I just ate a lovely little martial arts instructor off on Bleet Street, cracks cinderblocks in half on Saturdays. And I still have my speed.”

They rushed into the front line, and more Treeguards fell. The garden was filled with the sounds of roaring, cracking, and the occasional splat. Even with the added speed, the Queens still had to get a grip on the Treeguards, and staying still long enough to strike, for some, meant staying still long enough for those tree trunk arms to come together in a crushing slam. The trees moved closer together, to swat off any strays trying to get a shot at their unprotected backs.

Celestia growled. She was giving up ground.

She mentally signalled to Roxy to stay out of the melee for now and head to the Academy instead. Nine Treeguards had fallen, and Celestia had lost count how many dozen Chrysalis drones had been disposed of already. Still the changelings poured into the garden, six at a time, called back from their raids on the city, no doubt.

The Queens regrouped and struck again, this time forgoing any pretence and simply lunging to hit the conifer collossi in the face. The brawl erupted in all directions, the swarm spread out.

This is bad, Celestia. I hope you have a back-up plan, because you’re not going to like mine.

“Again: patience, Discord,” she whispered. “I still have the advantage, she just doesn’t realise it yet. All she’s doing is getting closer to evening out.”

That’s still closer than I’d like!

Another one of the giants fell.

What are you doing? Why are you not doing anything about this?

“I want to see something. A little experiment, if you will.”

See what?

The enemy breached the outer line. With her front forces down, sixteen Treeguards had now fallen, and the eight on her secondary wall were getting overwhelmed.

“See what happens when she is the one surrounded.”

Celestia dug her bare hooves into the ground and concentrated. A golden pulse shot out of her body, and some of the drones hopped over it on instinct. When the pulse hit the remains of her fallen first line, the splinters and chunks of trunk started to quake.

Five of the drones, ones that weren’t busy fighting, looked behind them. “Oh, no.”

Celestia smirked. “I told you, Chrysalis: solar magic still works. My power is strongest in supporting others.”

The roars filled the air once more. From the splinters, new wood grew, new roots sprouted, and eager warriors emerged again. These were smaller Treeguards, not fully grown, but still capable of a firm swipe and certainly more than a match for a featherweight changeling Queen.

“One of the upsides to working with plants: death does not mean the same thing it does for animals, neither does resurrection. Thank you for walking right into the middle of my forces, by the way. I couldn’t have gotten them into position otherwise. Oh, and thank you for the additional units, too.”

“Ugh, the old Sorcerer’s Apprentice trick.” A Chrysalis up in the air groaned. “That went out of style when Star Swirl was in diapers.”

“Don’t exaggerate: he’s the apprentice that started it, after all. Now then, about that Earth pony?”

What remained of the swarm quickly took off, hoping to reposition in the air.

Celestia grinned. “Treeguards! Fly trap, now!”

The sound that came over the garden resembled that of an angry herd of porcupine. Needles shook and rattled against each other, the scent of lemon and pine filled the air. Even Celestia had to stifle a cough. The Chrysalises were worse off, however, now covered in a sticky amber substance. With their wings weighed down, flying wasn’t an option.

And with their magic shut down by the Treeguards, neither was cleaning it off.

Oh, clever girl. You waited for them to get flanked, so you’d cover their escape path in one big swoop.

“Thank you, Discord,” Celestia said. She blinked, and tried to ignore the spots in her eyes.

Careful. That Second Sunrise spell is a doozy. It’ll take a lot out of you, even I need to lie down when I try that one.

She wobbled on her hooves.

“Tactical error, Celestia,” a Chrysalis on her left said. “You’re exhausted. We don’t need to fly to get to you, remember?” The drone went into super speed again, ducking and weaving past the Treeguard swipes.

It burst into flame once it got past the second row.

“And I don’t need a high-level spell to light you up when you’re soaked,” Celestia retorted.

With a stomp of her hoof, she ignited the oil. She lit up her horn to feed more magic into the flames, and her garden became Equestria’s largest outdoor oven. It didn’t destroy the Chrysalis clones outright, but it burned them and hurt them enough for the Treeguards to march in and snuff them out. A few drones stumbled here and there, flailing blindly as the trees descended upon them, but once they fell, they turned to ashes. “Strange. I guess they really were already dead, if their bodies decompose so quickly.”

You got them. You really got them, all of them.

“No, not all of them.”

Celestia turned her head towards the sound of clapping. Another group of Chrysalises, twenty or so, came walking out from beyond the garden’s labyrinth.

From the other side, twenty more came flying in, though they kept their distance.

“Wonderful trick, Celestia,” said one of them. More and more descended upon the Princess and her guards. “Truly wonderful. I’m impressed.”

“Do it again,” said one behind her.

“And again.”

On and on it went, just as it did before. Ten groups, sixty individuals this time, on a quick head count.

Celestia, you just burned a big spell, and she knows it. What are you planning to do now?

She let her head hang. “I have to buy time. Every single one that falls here is one my little ponies don’t have to fight.”

The stallions made it to the second floor unharmed. Neighsay let the two suits of samurai armour take the lead, leaving Sunburst behind him and two antlered halberdeer suits taking up the rear.

Glancing around at the top of the stairs, Neighsay couldn’t see any enemies. This section of the museum was wider than the ground floor, more of an open build with bigger windows, leaving plenty of light.

It also lacked options for cover. The openings between the halls were, likewise, wide, wide enough for five ponies to fit, at least. The hall they were entering now opened to his left, one giant exhibit pointed at him in a welcoming fashion.

“The Lizard Tooth?” Neighsay asked, nodding to the exhibit.

Sunburst walked up as Neighsay and the armours entered, then shook his head. “No. That one’s all off centre.”

“Further in, then. Keep your eyes peeled. I don’t like this silence.”

They walked past the Lizard Tooth exhibit, giving a wide berth to the windows and staying low while their animated guards covered their backs and front. The two empty samurai suits went into the Tailed Beasts exhibit, and Sunburst pointed at one object in particular.

“That one. That one’s perfect.”

“Alright, let’s restock, then.” The two trotted over carefully, keeping a close eye on the walls.

“Going somewhere?”

The samurai suits turned, and were immediately blasted to pieces by fire, this time. Rope and gambeson burned under the metal parts, and the two flesh and blood ponies behind the suits made a dash to safety.

Neighsay spotted them now: behind the Parrot Dragon skeleton in the next hall and the Shingleback fossil nearby, two Queens had been lying in ambush. Two more tried to cut off Sunburst at the pass as he headed towards his mark.

“Get that thing moving, Sunburst, I’ll hold them off!” Neighsay swung his magic chains at the ones in front, letting the halberdiers deal with the rear guard. Once a whip crack got the two out of position, he cast a mending spell to speed up the recovery on the samurai suits.

Apparently he hit the katanas, though, because those got up and started swinging without their owners.

“Unorthodox, but I’ll take it.”

He kept one eye on Sunburst, one eye on the enemies. Four to six, it should have been manageable, but these Queens were stronger now, if not faster. They hissed and jumped from spot to spot on the ceiling, ducking and weaving under every shot of his chains.

They’re getting smarter, too. Not good. “Sunburst? Now, please!”

“I’m casting as fast as I can!” Sunburst called out, before continuing his incantation.

“You really should learn shorter spells, you know,” one of the drones taunted.

Neighsay cursed under his breath. One drone had broken formation to sneak up on Sunburst, and the suits of armour were useless against airborne enemies. Even the katanas wouldn’t reach Sunburst in time. Even so, Sunburst grinned.

Neighsay grinned along with him. That Chrysalis hadn’t realised where she was standing.

And while they were clearly adapting to match their opponents, these drones hadn’t learned one of the most basic lessons in magical combat yet.

Never fight an animation wizard in a dinosaur exhibit.

A heavy club tail came down on the thing’s head, cracking its skull and snuffing it out immediately.

Sunburst let out a nervous chuckle. “There we go, more friends.”

“Ah, the Macetail, my favorite,” Neighsay said.

“Please, Neighsay, it’s an Ankylosaur. Only children call them ‘Macetails.’”

The rest of the fossilised skeleton began to move: a squat quadruped as long as two ponies, but about as high at the shoulders as a pony was at the head. This was one of the smaller, more compact specimens in Canterlot, and Neighsay counted his blessings when he noticed the hesitation in the other three drones’s eyes.

Sunburst gestured to his right, and a Shingleback skeleton rose up from the metal prongs that held it aloft.

Stegosaur, Neighsay mentally corrected himself, another one of the smaller specimens of that species. Two halls down, a screech marked the animation and liberation of a Three-Horned Parrot Dragon, known among academics and other such stuffy types as ‘Triceratops.’

The first two were tank types that were built to repel or withstand any attacks from above, both armed with swinging tails. The third was a bulky ramming type with an armoured plate to protect the neck joint, not that these things needed it, if the pieces could move on their own. The odds were turning in favour of the Unicorns, by any metric. Even the samurai suits had managed to reassemble themselves.

Neighsay snapped a hoof and launched a set of chains at one of the drones above. She dodged, but he grazed the tip of her hind leg, and that’s all he needed. With a mental command, the chain expanded and wrapped tightly around the stray limb, then pulled.

One firm yank of his magic, and she was in between the two herbivore tanks. One tail swung like a hammer, the other presented its spikes, and only ashes remained of the Queen. The one that had been next to her already descended on Sunburst, but the halberdiers were in position this time.

Faced with two axeheads, she hovered away from the armours and charged up her horn. She got three horns pinning her down for her troubles, though only the nose horn actually penetrated hide. The other two horns held her down at the shoulders as the Triceratops skeleton came down from its magic-aided jump. The halberdeers finished the job.

“Only one of you left now, and more and more of us,” Neighsay said. “You can’t win. Surrender, and we might show leniency.”

“Silly ponies. You think you can defeat me with a pile of bones? You really don’t understand, do you? I’ve already won. It’s only a matter of time. Every pony who falls before me, strengthens every single one of me. It doesn’t matter if you kill ten or twenty of me. While you’re doing that, there are fifty of me gaining so much power it’ll only take one to defeat you.”

Neighsay aimed his next chain at the throat. “So what you’re saying is: if we kill so many of you you have to stop feeding, we win.”

She stared him down. She didn’t even try to evade the attack. “You’re a fool. I only need one to win. And I already know where he is. I’m closing in on him as we speak.”

He yanked the chain and set her down in between the meat grinder pair. “If you’re referring to Bastion, he’s long gone by now.”

“You sent him to the town square. Clever of you not to use a portal farther away, but pointless. I’d already prepared for that. Face it, Neighsay: I outsmarted you.”

Neighsay growled. Even right before defeat, these things were so desperate for attention, so hungry to have their supposed superiority confirmed. “You’ve not outsmarted anyone. You’ve gone on a suicide mission, and turned your own demise into an annoying little puzzle. Well, I’ve solved your puzzle already. And before I send you to your maker, one more thing you should know.”

“What’s that?” she asked as the dinosaurs raised their tails.

“These aren’t bones, you dumb cretin: they are fossils. While they may look like mere bones, you should be aware they are, in fact, solid rock.”

He didn’t bother looking back at the result of the execution. Once the room looked clear, he sighed.

“Maybe you should have sent Bastion farther away,” Sunburst started.

“She would have chased him. And there’s no place in Equestria where ponies can defend themselves better. No, we make our stand here.”

“Up a level, then?”

“Yes. We secure this floor, get to the roof, and then we declare open season on these things. If you can hold up your friends, that is.”

“No problem,” Sunburst said with uncharacteristic confidence. “As long as I’ve got someone to line up the shots, I can take out these Queens pretty easily.”

“Good. Have you noticed she hasn’t tried grabbing anything with telekinesis?”

“I did. I’m guessing these things can’t, but we shouldn’t let our guard down.”

The Triceratops led the way into the next hall, which was themed for prehistoric plant life, so it was completely useless for their purposes.

Neighsay’s heart pounded with anxiety. Every corner they turned they had to check for traps, make sure no enemies were in hiding.

“She’s not tried to change shape here yet, either,” Neighsay noted. “So young Bastion’s observation was accurate.”

“These drones are weaker. What do you think she’s trying to do?”

“I can only hazard a guess.” Neighsay stepped further in, following the animated skeleton. “From the looks of it, this is some type of life manipulation magic, mixed in with essence farming. She’s trying to harvest identities somehow. That alone is worrisome, but not unheard of. Your friend Starlight would have the same sort of background in these things.”

“But not the numbers,” Sunburst concluded. He set up his last set of armours, the two samurai, to guard the windows.

“No. That’s the truly disturbing part. She’s sharing these powers throughout her army. Every drone she uses has identical strengths.”

“And identical weaknesses.”

“Well, yes, but that won’t matter past a certain point.”

“So why hasn’t Canterlot fallen, then?” Sunburst tried. “With that many drones, there must be an army of ponies who’ve fallen already.”

“Unless the drones cannot feed. She was researching plant-based magic, as I understood it. If these things are like leaves on a tree, then I would assume the root is what is connecting them and feeding them. Perhaps only the root can feed.”

“Meaning the real one’s probably at the Academy, where all the juicy targets are.” Sunburst snorted. “Guess it's a good thing that I didn’t end up there, then, after all.”

“No, it isn’t.” They stopped. Neighsay closed his eyes and let his head hang, bracing himself. “I suppose now is not the best time to say it, Sunburst, but I may not get another chance. As one wizard to another: I want you to know we are trying to change things now. What happened to you in Canterlot was scandalous. My predecessor allowed far too many mistakes to happen. You should take some pride in what you’ve become. A lesser pony would have been driven to anger by it, even vengeance.”

Sunburst chuckled softly. “I don’t know. I think my friend might have been a little more vengeful than me.”

”Deservedly so, to a point.” The Chancellor stared at the ground, lost in thought. “We can’t keep losing Unicorns like this, not again. We’ve lost too many already.”

Sunburst put a hoof on his shoulder. “We always make the sacrifice when we have to. It’s in our nature.”

Neighsay’s ears twitched at a cracking sound on his right. Sunburst noticed it, too.

The wall.

They were standing too close to the wall.

Before he could react, Sunburst had shoved him away. Dust and stone hit him in the head, knocking him out for a few seconds. When he got to his senses, the stallion was gone, and in his place two Chrysalis drones stood.

“Honestly, I thought you two would never stop moving,” one started.

Neighsay growled. She’d broken through a brick wall with her bare hooves. He readied his chains, but he could already hear the sounds of crumbling armour and falling fossils.

She’s got him. She’s knocked him out already.

I’m sorry, Sunburst.

“Oh, don’t look so glum. You ponies are so melodramatic, it was only a matter of time before you let your guard down. And speaking of guards, I do think I just shut down your little toybox as well. So, Neighsay, Chancellor, why not surrender now? Give in, let me have your power. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

Neighsay rattled his chains, moving to the middle of the room. Now that the drones had super strength to go with Bullet Time’s speed, above and below he had no real cover to rely on, either.

Only one thing left for me to do.

No mercy, no witnesses.

He sat down and brought his front hooves together with a resounding ‘thud.’ The drones hesitated, and he felt the glow burning from his eyes. Pure arcane energy swirled above him. His cape unbuckled itself and flew off. His cutie mark, normally kept hidden by his uniform, was on full display.

The mark was that of a swirl of magic, coming out of a limb that did not belong on a pony.

He let out a low, guttural growl as rage took over his senses, feeding it into his horn, fuelling the swirling energy. “Maugris of the Frozen Woods, Charlemane the Great, give me strength!”

With a flick of his horn, the energy took shape, and slammed down.

The boys made their way through the streets, ducking and dodging away from the sight of any Chrysalis drones that flew overhead. Just like Live Wire had said, there was a food stand not too far from where they’d made their turn. Seeing no vendor pony, they quickly grabbed what waffles and donuts they could, along with drinks, and left some coin, before sneaking off further to eat.

Bastion sighed in relief as he munched on his waffle, though the sound of buzzing wings above still made him anxious. None of the drones were looking at them, the invisibility spells still held up, but he wondered for how long.

The drones were flying towards where the portal had opened.

“They’re gonna come after us soon,” Bastion said once he’d finished his food. “Chrysalis can beat this kind of cloak.”

“She shouldn’t beat mine,” Doldrum said. “Back at Fight Camp, they told me changelings never got past this sort of thing.”

“Me too,” Bastion whispered, “but she’s stealing pony magic now, and she beat it in Ponyville.”

“Okay, don’t rely on just the cloak, got it. We’re all clear on the plan, then?”

“Get to the crystal caves, hold out there,” Live Wire said.

“And if that doesn’t work,” Bastion started.

“We go for plan B,” Doldrum finished.

Doldrum led the way, always checking if a street was clear or not, motion to his compatriots with a minor signal from his armour, nothing that would give away their position, as far as Bastion knew.

They went through a fashion district, huddled at the corner of a street, then dashed silently towards the arts and crafts district. They got as far as a wool shop when they spotted a Chrysalis blocking their way at the courtyard ahead.

“I know you’re out here, Bastion!” she called out. “I can smell you.”

“Okay, that’s a problem,” Bastion whispered. “If we try to go past her, she’ll detect us, and if we go around, we might not make it to the mountain. What do we do?”

“Stick to the plan,” Doldrum said. “You had a good plan, and it’s still good. She’s not alone, obviously she’s trying to set up an ambush.”

“So we’re trying Plan B, then?” Live Wire asked.

“Yeah,” Doldrum replied before Bastion could. “We’re going to have to.”

“Don’t just say that. She’s going to kill you if we try that,” Bastion objected, “both of you.”

“Don’t worry,” Live Wire reassured him. “We’re the toughest colts in the country. We know what we’re doing.”

“Besides,” Doldrum added. “You still need to make sure you’re right about what she’s doing. There’s only one way to know.”

They moved ahead. The square where the Chrysalis was standing guard was another one with a fountain, as before. This square was wider, though, one reserved for fairs and weekly markets. The fountain was one shaped like a cornucopia, a horn of plenty, something Bastion felt was probably ironic in some way or another.

Doldrum gestured to his lips in a silencing motion, then he vanished from view, even from Bastion’s perspective. Doldrum went on the prowl, and Bastion and Live Wire were alone under the changeling’s cloak.

They went into the square, and immediately the buzzing sound of more Chrysalis drones filled the air.

One of them flew atop a paper supply shop, and stared intently at the fountain below.

“I know you’re there, Bastion. You’re holding something that belongs to me. Give it up now,” it commanded.

The other drones, four in all, spread out and started clicking their tongue.

Bastion’s hearts sank. Sonic pings. It’s different from before. She must’ve gotten to a Night Guard.

Further and further the two crept, each time waiting until there were no eyes on them. They made it to the fountain where the first drone kept watch, her eyes staring on in the distance beyond the pair.

The colts circled around as the other drones kept on clicking their tongues and sniffing the air. The one drone on the fountain hopped down, behind the boys. They quickly moved to the other side of the fountain so her click wouldn’t detect them.

Live Wire tapped Bastion’s shoulder. Both of the boys were pressed against the stone. Bastion shrugged, and he was already starting to wonder if maybe the sound of running water might block that sort of detection.

A scream echoed through the streets.

Looking up, they saw the one monitoring the square had an injury: three claw marks were on her chest. A moment later, frost and fire erupted from the marks, and the drone fell.

Bastion quickly risked a look around. All of the drones in the square had stopped moving.

“Now’s our chance. Blast them!”

Dropping the cloak, Bastion unleashed a volley of blue orbs at the nearest drone, electrocuting it before a white orb froze its skull. Live Wire took out two drones farther up the square, opting for a quick twinned lightning bolt to the eyes. Doldrum got the last two, firing off a pair of ice orbs from a necklace under his suit. The projectiles impacted cleanly on their skulls, leaving them a mess on the ground, before they disappeared into green flame and ash.

He joined his friends once they were clear, his own cloak dropped. “That worked. That really worked,” he said. “You were right.”

“She’s using some of them as broadcasters,” Bastion concluded. “They’re not all identical. If we know which ones to hit, we can eliminate her advantage.”

“Well done, boys,” a voice called out. “Three against five, it almost sounds unfair. Three against five, how unfair. Three against five, unfair!” it laughed and mocked.

“She baited us,” Bastion said.

More drones came from all directions. Where the first broadcaster had fallen, three drones took her place. Where the boys had entered the square, six blocked their path, above and below. Where they planned to go, three more stood in the way, and three hovered above.

“Well done,” said a drone blocking their exit. “You managed to get away from me twice today, Bastion. And you didn’t even need to sacrifice your friends to do it. But you’re out of luck now. You’re going to have to give up some ponies if you want to go any further.”

“What is she talking about?” Doldrum asked.

“You haven’t realised yet?” said the drone. “I suppose you wouldn’t. Little Bastion here is a trained strategist, remember? He doesn’t see friends or allies, only resources. He’s using you to save his own hide. He’s using you well, I’ll admit, but still, using you. Give him up, and we can leave this whole mess behind us.”

“You’re lying,” Doldrum hissed.

“Am I? Think about it: he’s a changeling. He doesn’t belong among ponies, never did. All you really are to him is a snack. I mean, honestly, how long have you even known him? You’re outnumbered, outmatched. And you won’t get a sneaky hit on one of my Primes again, little boy.”

“Primes?” Doldrum asked. “So they’re called Primes, then? Those higher drones?”

“Oh, yes. It took me quite a long time to get them just right, but I managed it. And now-” she froze.

All of the drones froze.

“Are you doing this?” Live Wire asked.

“No,” Bastion replied. “I don’t understand, why would they-”

From the right end of the street came a white stallion with a fancy moustache, brandishing a thin duelling sword. He wiped something black off of it, before turning back and yelling: “Fleur! More vermin down here! Be a dear and break out Old Betsy, would you?!”

The boys quickly dashed past the squadron of drones, leaving the stallion to clean up. It didn’t last long, however, as another band of six descended upon them two blocks down.

Doldrum stopped to catch his breath. “You guys go. I can cover you.”

“No!” Bastion replied. “You can’t let her get you.”

Doldrum had already fired. Whatever Frost Amulet was in that armour, it was meant for use in war. With a standard shot, nine balls of ice shot out from it, forcing the drones ahead to fly up. More of them cut off their escape, behind them, on the left, on the right.

Doldrum panted. He let loose another volley, and another one, but while it forced their pursuers to slow down, nothing connected. Meanwhile, the sounds of combat erupted from where they’d escaped. Bastion was sure he heard the hissing of drones mixed in with cries of pain, but there was no way there’d be any reinforcements for the boys, not with Chrysalis so focused on the three.

A squad of five landed in front of them. More swarmed the buildings, stalking the boys and hissing in frustration.

The colts stopped, looked around for a way out, and finding none, stood back to back to each other.

“Can you tell which one’s the Prime?” Doldrum asked.

“No,” Bastion replied. “Probably more than one, and probably hiding.”

“I think I’ve been a very good sport about this,” said one of the Chrysalises. “Now surrender. Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.”

Live Wire gulped. “W-what happens if we surrender? Are you just gonna let me and Doldrum go?”

Bastion froze. “What?”

“Of course,” said the Chrysalis. “I have urgent things to do with him, important business. I wouldn’t have time to deal with either of you, as fine a pair of specimens as you might be.”

“And after that, what? You’re just going to leave?”

She winked at the Unicorn. “Well, I suppose there’s no point in lying now. No, I won’t leave. I’ll remake this city in my image, and I’ll feast on whatever I want.”

Live Wire gulped. His horn crackled, his hooves shook.

The drone snorted and giggled. “Oh, put that thing away. You can’t harm me, not really. Strike one of me down, and two more will take my place. You’re only going to end up hurting yourself. If you surrender, it’ll be painless. I’m not as bad as you might think. All I want to do is feed, is that so bad? You ponies let Bastion do it all the time.”

Bastion growled.

Live Wire closed his eyes, his whole body was trembling now.

Doldrum shook his head. “Don’t do it.”

The Chrysalis in front of them took a confident step forward. “So? What’ll it be, little boy?”

Finally, Live Wire took a deep breath in, shot her glance, and breathed out. “Eat this.”

Bastion felt a hard form push him to the ground, before the ground quaked and the air erupted. He closed his eyes on a reflex, but even then the flashes of light burned through his eyelids. Thunderclaps rocked the street, windows shattered, and dull thuds marked bodies falling from the sky.

One flash bang, two, three, four, on and on, for a whole minute, there was a bone-rattling impact in the air with the regularity of a clock.

Silence descended on the streets of Canterlot. Bastion’s ears rang, and his nose curled with the scent of ozone and smoke. When the ringing passed, Live Wire was standing. The drone who’d approached them was not.

Neither was any of the few dozens or so that had surrounded them.

“You did it,” Bastion said, rubbing his ears as the ringing subsided. “You took out a whole squadron with just one spell. You could flatten a whole city block like that.” He chuckled. “Guess you really are Royal Guard material.”

Bastion could only see him from the back, but he could already feel something was off. Live Wire's mane looked more frazzled than usual, and so did his coat. There were little spots where the hairs stood upright, or had fallen away entirely. Tiny droplets of blood started to leak from those bare spots. "Live Wire?"

The little Unicorn didn’t reply. Live Wire stumbled, his horn crackled, but differently this time. The sparks usually spiralled up his horn and flew off. It looked like they were flaking now, pulsing but not quite managing to make it all the way to the tip, like a heart that couldn’t pump to the whole body. Doldrum tried to get to him, but even at only two paces away, Live Wire collapsed under his own weight too quickly.

Bastion’s hearts pounded as he joined the armoured Pegasus. Live Wire’s mouth hung open, his breathing sounded laboured.

“D-darn it,” Live Wire said with a wince. His chest spasmed with every breath. “Oh, darn it.”

“What’s wrong?” Bastion asked.

“It’s nothing,” Live Wire replied. He sucked in another breath of air and groaned in pain, one hoof clutching his chest.

Doldrum sighed, and offered his hoof to his friend. “It’s okay. You’ll be fine.”

Live Wire clutched that hoof to his chest for comfort, his face a mask of agony. “A-h-haah… I-I just wish…” His body shivered, curling up into foetal position.

“What?” Bastion asked.

“I-I…”

“What?”

He whimpered, and a tear ran down his face. “I can’t think of anything cool to say.” He sighed, and his eyes drifted shut.

The buzzing in the air returned. Two more squads of six were heading their way, from the sound of it, and closing in fast. In seconds, he could see them approaching. They had eyes on him and Doldrum, and he could feel the telltale signs of detection magic. Chrysalis, or her swarm, was fully focused on them now. The stallion with the rapier was nowhere to be seen, but Bastion heard a few shots of magic coming from where he’d been.

They were alone, and in sight of the enemy. “Come on, we have to get him out of here,” Bastion started. "She's locked onto us."

Doldrum leaned in, put a hoof to Live Wire’s neck, then shook his head. He turned over the body so it was lying on its belly, and patted his friend’s head. “No. We have to leave him.”

“But we can’t just-”

“He’s gone. His heart’s blown.”

Author's Note

Like I said, I may have taken the term 'killing your darlings' a little too literally.

This one was... tough, on several levels, even ignoring the internet troubles that interrupt me every single time I try to change something on-site :twilightangry2: . But I digress. It's difficult to convey space and numbers in a story like this, kind of a limitation of the medium there. I don't know if it really sank in when they're cloaked and moving towards a Chrysalis. And Fancy Pants getting the sudden kill out of nowhere? I wanted to convey the streets aren't completely empty, and ponies are still fighting, but I couldn't have the boys just pick up reinforcements out of thin air. So they just happened to walk in on a gentlecolt with some rapier skills.

But yeah, now you start seeing more of that foreshadowing: Live Wire knows what could kill him as early as story 2. He even knows how much time he has before he dies.

As for Neighsay: his cutie mark is never revealed on the show, so I decided to make it the class icon for wizards in D&D, seemed appropriate. Maugris and Charlemane are both characters connected to a local legend, one I intend to adapt for my own purposes one day. The central character of that legend? Well, you'll see.

As always, no spoilers in the comments :raritywink:

Interlude: A Unicorn Serves His Purpose

Sunburst’s body was weighed down by a familiar magic he’d only felt a few times during changeling attack drills. Their brand of suppression magic was one that clouded the mind and made the body sluggish, he recalled. The best thing to do when hit with it, if he remembered correctly, was to find a safe spot and lie down.

He was pretty sure ‘up in the air above Canterlot, carried by two Queens’ did not count as a safe spot. He was only barely aware that his body was being carried, but the blood rushing to his hind hooves was a decent indicator of the situation he was probably in.

He tried to open his eyes. Sure enough, he could make out one Chrysalis to his left, another to his right. Below were the streets of Canterlot, but a lot farther than he remembered going. The two Chrysalises started going down. He recognised where he was now: a pastry shop on the road to Ponyville. The time between landing and entering the shop were a blur.

“Sunburst, is it? So glad you could join us.”

Another Chrysalis stepped out of the shadows. The whole place was dark, he now realised, boarded up on the outside and covered in green goop on the inside. They dropped him on the floor.

“You’ve been very annoying to me today,” the Chrysalis said. “Very painful, too. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Realisation set in. This was the real one. She was in Canterlot. She was right in front of him. If he could send a signal, if he could launch a fireball, he could end this whole mess.

The Queen smirked as her clones flanked her. “Not much of a talker, then. Not much of a caster, either, not now. I wouldn’t bother trying anything, Sunburst: that suppression spell on you was strong enough to lay low Shining Armour. And while I will admit, you’re a powerful wizard, you are not in the same weight class as Shining Armour.”

Sunburst stopped squinting. His horn was blocked, his mind numbed. He couldn’t focus, he couldn’t think. “What do you want with me?”

She gestured around the room, and the green goo around lit up.

It wasn’t random piles of slime, he now realised. There were ponies in there, mostly Unicorns. He recognised Bullet Time on his far right, unconscious but breathing. Amber, the shieldbreaker specialist, was laid out on the floor, incapacitated the same way.

He shuddered when he saw another mare. Green Unicorn, short manecut, green and white, he recognised her as a former classmate, though only vaguely: she was more into the bardic schools than the purely arcane. He knew why she was here, though.

Bastion’s mother, one of them, at least. “You’re going to kill me like you killed them?”

“Oh no. They’re very much alive. They need to be, for now.” She strode over to him.

He tried to stand up, and she stomped on his neck to push him down.

“Don’t bother trying to move. It’s much easier if you let go. Just surrender, and it’ll be over soon.”

Sunburst grunted and tried to get on his hooves again, managing to get his horn to spark.

He got a kick in the stomach for it. Coughing and wheezing, he rolled onto his back in agony.

His breath was cut off by her hoof. There was an arch inwards on that limb, it made for a very fine grip.

He batted at the limb, desperately trying to gulp for air.

“Thaat’s it,” Chrysalis cooed. “That’s what you want. You want to breathe, you want to live. It’s funny, you know, they say you only truly know yourself right before you die.”

Sunburst’s eyes lit up.

She’s not using telekinesis. She can’t shapeshift, and she can’t use telekinesis. Maybe she can’t focus.

More pressure on his throat cut off that train of thought.

“No, no, no, you tenacious little pony, don’t start thinking now. I need you to panic. I need you to know you’re about to die, and I need you to try and stop it. Come on, let me see. Show me your true self. Show me what you are in death.”

Spots appeared in Sunburst’s eyes. His mind trailed off to weeks earlier, to meeting Starlight again, and learning magic back in Sire’s Hollow. His arms went weak, and he stopped struggling.

“That’s it. Embrace despair. Accept defeat.”

The hoof went off of his throat, and he desperately gulped in as much air as he could.

When that breath of relief left him, that’s when she breathed in above him.

Despite air filling his lungs again, he still felt weakness creeping up on him with his exhale. His horn throbbed, his heart slowed.

His thighs burned.

Chrysalis licked her lips, and Sunburst saw his cutie mark flash before her eyes.

“There’s the solar magic I was missing. Thank you, Sunburst. We’ll put it to good use.”

As he fell into darkness, he saw her concentrate, and the two Chrysalises standing beside her got the same glow in their eyes.

She took my magic. She has my cutie mark now.

They all have my cutie mark now.

His eyes drifted closed, and his body shut down.

Chrysalis picked up the caped stallion and tossed him aside. She didn’t bother commanding her drones to cocoon him, not this time. Time was of the essence. Bastion had been spotted, and one of his allies had fallen.

She took off at full speed with her two drones flanking her. The battle for Canterlot was going well, all things considered. Her disposable minions had brought all the available high-value targets, as planned. Bastion was panicking, and he was still within her reach, also as planned. It was a shame she had to plan ahead for any troubles with him teleporting, but even that eventuality had not caused any diversion from her plans.

She flew over the marketplace where the boy had last been spotted. Little specks of black marked where her drones had fallen, and on the roof of a shop, where one of her Primes had been destroyed.

That Pegasus boy was a nuisance, and she knew it. There weren’t many ponies around these days with artifact magic flowing through their veins, let alone one so young. At least the artillery Bastion had at his disposal was gone.

His heart’s blown, she’d seen the Pegasus say, when her drones had concentrated their lip-reading skills on that spot. More than likely an overload, the body not being ready to carry so much power.

The corpse of the Unicorn colt lay at the corner of the street. His body had been turned, because ponies never let their dead enter the afterlife hooves up.

A pity, really. Power like that would have been useful. And at that age, that power must have been locked in his talent. But there was no power to be had from a dead boy, not yet, at any rate.

She flew on. There was a stallion nearby, one of her Primes reported through their hive mind network: a powerful stallion, a noble by the name of Fancy Pants. He was skewering drones left and right with some sort of extendable rapier.

She groaned at the prospect. These ponies were so annoying.

All across Canterlot and Ponyville, her drones were feeding her with sensory data, and while much of it consisted of panic, there was far too much defiance and far too many horrible puns mixed in. The Elements of Harmony were kept at bay, Celestia was contained, but at a heavy cost, in numbers if not in quality.

She closed her eyes and summoned reinforcements from the Hive. They’d take some time to make the journey, but she couldn’t risk overburdening herself with too great a force to control in one place.

I’m too close now.

She slowed. Her drones were dying up ahead.

What?

There was an entrance to the Crystal Caverns under Canterlot, or the catacombs leading to the caverns, she couldn’t be sure. Whatever it was, it was an old building, nestled against solid rock, with only one way in or out. The entrance itself was sized for a Princess, most likely this used to be an old escape route for the royals. In modern days, it didn’t have any of the signs of a tourist attraction, but it looked like it saw use for some reason or another.

The sight in front of said entrance was more interesting, though.

Defending the way into the caverns was that annoying little Pegasus colt, firing off shots from an Ice Amulet, a Lightning Ring, the occasional Wind Belt, and bolts of light from his helmet. She set down at a safe distance and commanded more drones to fall in, breaking them off from the forces assailing the Academy.

He was fast, this one, reflexes quick enough to make one think he was wearing enhancements for it, but she’d learned already he wasn’t. One drone fell to the blades on his arms, another was sniped by a stray ball of ice, and he unleashed a thundercloud that zapped any foe that stepped in it.

The zaps were weak, but they hurt enough to stun a drone momentarily, and against an opponent in full Kingslayer armour, that was enough.

She grinned. It was a sight to behold, truly. That little boy fought for dear life. Through the link of her hive mind, she swore she tasted tears, no doubt for his fallen friend.

As fun as it was, though, she had business to attend to. She couldn’t even be bothered to steal his powers, at least for now. A simple blast from her horn to drive him back, bury him in rubble if need be, and she could pass on to the main course.

She squinted, and conjured up a ball of energy.

It fizzled as soon as she brought her horn down.

“Wait, what?”

She tried the spell again, and again.

With a mental command, she tried to make her drones fire a spell, but nothing happened.

In fact, nothing happened in all of Canterlot or Ponyville. Her drones were cut off from any pony magic.

She looked at her hooves in confusion.

“Why is my magic gone?”

Author's Note

Hmm, why indeed, eh?

Doldrum's gonna have to go up against Chrysalis next, but at least he's got his armour on.

Shorter chapter, couldn't really decide on what to do with it, so I let it slide as is.

The Kingslayer's Flaw

Celestia saw the panic in their eyes. The drones had slowed down their assault, leaving her Treeguards more room to swing. Up above, she got a few shots off at the ones that took to the skies.

What just happened?

“If I had to guess, Chrysalis just absorbed something she shouldn’t have.”

What are you talking about? She absorbed solar magic. She’s got you. Or she should, now. How are you winning?

Celestia hid her smirk behind a hoof, hoping none of the drones would notice. “There are only a few ponies in Equestria with talents like mine, Discord. That means there aren’t a lot of ponies who know how my power works. Solar magic is selfless in nature, it barely has any power on its own. On the rare occasion another pony is born with it…”

They struggle to learn anything else.

“Exactly. I’ve had a few students who managed it, but many more who failed. And even if she didn’t get to a failure, she’s only absorbing the talent. She doesn’t have the experience, or the acquired skills to compensate. In other words, all of her stolen magic is eliminated now, including that blasted super-speed.”

So what are you waiting for, then? Fly up and teleport out already. She can’t counter you anymore.

Another volley sent five drones plummeting to the ground, while the conifer colossi held off further attacks on the ground. “Not yet. There are other types of magic that won’t be blocked by this, and if she finds one of those while I’m out in the open, well… I cannot risk that. I just have to hope Roxy and Philomena can tip the scales at the Academy.”

The drones retreated to their safe zone. Panting and growling, they stared at the Princess hidden in the makeshift pine forest.

“Had enough yet?” Celestia called out in her Royal Canterlot Voice. “It seems your eyes were bigger than your stomach. Perhaps if we settled this one against one, you wouldn’t have to waste so many resources.”

One of the drones in front of her chuckled. “Nice try, Celestia, but I won’t be falling for that. No, you stay right where you are while I go and fix whatever this little defect is.”

“You can’t fix it, Chrysalis. Unless you happen to have enough fine control to eject only one talent, you’re not going to be able to purge yourself of this weakness.”

“Didn’t anyone tell you, Celestia? There is one way to be rid of a bad cutie mark, actually. All I need to do is destroy the source of it. That pesky Sunburst fellow fooled me, and he’ll pay with his life.”

Celestia had to stop herself from bursting out laughing. “Sunburst? You took Sunburst’s powers? Oh, dear, that was a very poor choice indeed, if you wanted raw power. Although I suppose at least now you’ll be a fantastic speed-reader.”

“Laugh all you want. You’re only delaying the inevitable. I can still get rid of this.”

She’s going to kill him, Celestia. A cutie mark can’t exist without the pony’s soul.

“I know that,” she whispered. “But I know Sunburst as well. She said he fooled her. If he did this on purpose, then he must have known what would happen.”

You think he pulled a fast one on her?

“I know what he’s capable of. I know he doesn’t think on the short term. He must have had a plan, but what, exactly, I won’t know until she tries to kill him. Perhaps he’s trying to distract her.”

Well, then use the distraction already! She’s going to wear you out eventually. It doesn’t matter how many of them you shoot down, she’s got more incoming!

Celestia closed her eyes. “What’s her position?”

Last I sensed her, she was just past the walls. Two hundred yards into Canterlot, due West.

“Then that’s where Sunburst’s body will be. The plan remains the same.”

Why? You’re not going to get another chance to cut her numbers down like this. What are you waiting for?

“Patience, Discord.”

You don’t really have a plan, do you? You’re just going to sit around and wait for her to find something that’ll beat you.

Celestia sent a scattershot fireball across the palace wall, striking down another two squads. The drones hissed, and started flying in circles around her like vultures.

“And what would you have me do? If I teleport, there’s no telling if I’ll be at the right place. There’s no telling if she has hostages, if she has superior numbers, there’s no telling if the original has powers that these drones do not. I can’t leave here.” She gritted her teeth and let loose a flame pillar into the air, scattering the swarm again. “She’s determined to wear me out, and I have dug my hooves into defending this spot.”

Anything is better than here, Celestia. She’s trying to get your powers, so why not deny her?

Celestia whispered even more hushed than before. Her Treeguards blocked her lips from view, just in case Chrysalis had had a lip reader for breakfast. “Because then she can still get to you.”

What?

“She has Tirek’s powers, Discord. She can steal yours, as well.”

Not while I’m in stone.

“You don’t know that, and that’s not a risk I can take. You are too valuable. The Academy can stand as long as there are ponies defending it. The Vaults are secured by the Royal Guard. You are not. You are out in the open.”

Don’t give me that pathetic sentimentality, Celestia, you landed by me on accident.

She chuckled, and another miniature Sun scoured through the ranks of the swarm, sending more to an ashy end.

It didn’t matter. Their numbers were endless, replacements ready as soon as one fell.

“I suppose that’s true.”

Then why?

“I told you: every single one that falls here is one my little ponies don’t have to fight. The only way I can end this myself is if I find the real one, alone, and catch her unawares, or if I can wipe out every single drone in Canterlot with one fell swoop. So unless you have some magical means of tossing me right in front of that wretched Queen, or some way of holding the entire army down while I charge up my spell, it’s a numbers game.”

You really plan to risk everything for your ponies? She’s going to kill you eventually, you know. She’s going to kill anything she doesn’t like.

“I know. But I am not fighting alone. My little ponies are resourceful, Sunburst’s sabotage is proof of that. I have one spell that will end this, and I suspect she’s aware it. I can’t afford to fire a spell that leaves me exposed if I don’t know for absolute certain that it will let me win.”

The buzzing in the air intensified. The swarm formed a hemisphere around the garden, covering both the Treeguards and the Princess. Their wings started producing a whistling sound, focused inward.

“Sonic attack. She’s trying to give me a headache. Must be desperation.”

With a flick of her horn, Celestia let out a gout of flame to streak through the ranks, dropping another dozen.

She sighed.

Looks like the headache worked.

“It’s not that. I’m running low on spell power. I only have a few large blasts left at this point. I’m going to need a recharge soon, or a rest.”

Good thing you’re still in the sunlight, then.

“Yes.” She spread her wings, and breathed in. Her mane and tail shimmered. “Treeguards, defensive formation. Let her tire herself out for a change.”

In the distance, she saw five drones flying high, heading West.

“And let’s hope Sunburst knew what he was doing.”

Neighsay looked out through the hole in the wall, where a drone had approached him.

“Who’s Maugris?” she asked.

That was the last thing that one uttered from its mouth. A force of magic formed around it, crushing it in its grip and snuffing it out instantly.

Three more drones stalked around him.

“Allow me to introduce: the Grasping Hand of the Big Bay,” he said. “One of our oldest and most powerful spells, developed by Maugris, the infamous bay pony of unusual size. The spell’s a bit of a rarity these days, unfortunately, but a perfect fit for situations like this. One casting, near infinite damage potential, superior defensive capabilities.”

The drones scowled.

“So you’ve got a monkey’s paw made of magic. That won’t help you against us.” They rose up on their hind hooves and brandished their horns.

Nothing happened.

“I see we were correct in our assessment,” he gloated. A second hand appeared on his right and punched one of the stunned drones right into the Stone Age section.

“What? What did you do?” asked another.

“Me? I didn’t do anything. You are the one who underestimated Sunburst and his capabilities. His talent gives him access to solar magic. Solar magic is, by its nature, selfless and supporting. In other words, his talent blocks him from learning other varieties of magic. Of course, a bit of hard work soon corrected that handicap, and his acquired skills more than make up for his inherent weakness, but… you can’t steal those yet, can you?”

The Chrysalises growled. More came in through the hole, circling around him.

He cracked his spectral knuckles in anticipation.

“Well, that’s a shame,” she replied. “Guess he’s no use to me anymore, then.”

Neighsay tilted his head. “Strange. So you left him unattended after you consumed his powers. The real Chrysalis is on the move, then.”

The drones took a step back, confused. “You knew. You knew this would happen, and you sacrificed him. What kind of pony are you?”

He glared at them. “I am an academic, as is Sunburst. And we are Unicorns. You should read up on pony history sometime: sacrifice is in our nature. Besides, we took our precautions.”

The drones raced to the cake shop where they’d left the bodies. Without the speed of the museum pony, though, they lost precious seconds.

Once inside, they looked around for their mark. Bastion’s mother, Amber, the museum pony, Bastion’s mother, all were still in stasis and all were alive, but no Sunburst.

It didn’t make any sense. They’d sedated him, and drained him. He ought to have been comatose, and no one in Canterlot knew where the bodies were left.

Walking forward, they found a note on the floor. One of the drones picked it up and read it aloud.

“Delayed teleportation spell, stored in an item. There’s a reason wizards wear capes.”

A wave of anger flowed through the swarm. In the Academy, in Ponyville, even on the field with Celestia, rage filled their bodies and clouded their singular mind, making their left eye twitch in synchronised frustration.

The drone holding the note threw it aside and whipped her horn about. If he’d teleported, there was a trace to follow. He was still out, still unconscious, he wouldn’t have gotten far from his exit point. All it would take was a simple tracking spell to find him and yank him back. She concentrated and held her energy, not even relying on stolen pony powers this time. She’d done this a hundred times before.

Nothing.

The drone beside her picked up the note and read another line.

“You should get a tracking spell off in about six months or so, but only if you do your homework tonight.”

And to think, the day had started off so well.

Chrysalis sat atop a building, looking down at the entrance to the caves of Canterlot, and her drones who were dropping like flies against a colt in fancy armour.

She knew the design, she knew its capabilities. She felt no surprise when one of her drones had its skull crushed by an ice ball, though it did smart a little. She very much anticipated the tension and pain of being electrocuted by another thundercloud summoned by the built-in Lightning Rings, which would last up to thirty seconds on average, but this one managed a full minute. Once that minute was up, the drones moved in again and tried to get a hit in. Of course, with no ranged magic to speak of, this was a suicide mission.

A Kingslayer armour piloted by a capable artificer, it had been a while since she’d been up against one of those.

Under normal circumstances, she would blast the boy. That was not an option, and as he cloaked himself again for a surprise arcane scattershot against three more drones (from the helmet, of course), she did sorely miss that option. He ducked out of the way of a hard swipe, rolled out from under a body slam, and used a Wind Belt to create distance, before firing a Thunderbolt. He was good, this little one, and smart: he knew to aim for the head and horn with electrical attacks. Bastion had probably explained that to him.

But blasting him wouldn’t work, even if she could. The Kingslayer designs were notorious for keeping healing charms in little pockets on the back, capable of reviving and revitalising an assassin so he could finish the job after ignorant guards had delivered him before their liege. She’d have to kill that boy three, maybe even four times if she was unlucky.

She groaned. The day had started out so well, and now she was stalled. Bastion was not far, she knew. All she really needed to do was get past the entrance and into the caves, and her plan would be complete. Celestia was stalling her forces at the Palace, the Academy was a deadlock now, and even that annoying Neighsay was taunting her with his hand conjurations.

Sunburst got under her skin the most, though. She’d let him distract her from her plans. He’d tricked her into making a mistake, and now there was no way to correct it. With the cutie mark of a failure in her essence, she had no way to access the real powers she wanted. Ponyville, thankfully, was still a battle in her favour, now that the Elements of Harmony were spent. She closed her eyes and scowled.

A dragon? Where did those ponies get a full-grown dragon from all of a sudden?

Even that didn’t matter. Once she had Bastion, her spell would be complete. Once she had him, nothing would be able to stop her.

The armoured boy had taken his toll on her forces, but he was starting to tire out, silly little thing, he probably used up the revitalising magic too early. Chrysalis grinned as she saw his movements slow. His right arm began to twitch, that horned helmet shooting light at her drones was looking heavier by the second, and his spells were running low on power.

He must have been using his own magic to fuel at least a few of them. Even the more powerful armours didn’t let a pony last this long, not when he was burning that much power that quickly.

She chuckled to herself and rose up on all fours. The little guardian was down to using a Flame Bracer, using it conjure up a wall of flame.

Oh, classic noobie mistake. If you have to throw up a wall of fire, you’re practically begging the enemy to attack you. So cute, I almost feel bad.

She flew over and commanded her drones to step aside. Marching forward, she passed through the flames unharmed, as those too were dying down from magical exhaustion.

She stood before the boy now. Such a small thing, and yet such a nuisance. “Sixty drones to one pony. I’m impressed,” she said. “Mind if I ask you your name, little boy?”

He threw his hooves up in a casting motion, but nothing came out of the armour. He tried the necklace, the belt, the helmet. He wasn’t faking it, either: she could taste his exhaustion in the air.

It was delicious.

“Well? At least let me know who cost me so much. I want to savour this.”

He gulped and backed up. “D-Doldrum. My name is Doldrum.”

“Well, then, Doldrum. Let me just say it’s an absolute pleasure to come across a boy like you. Artifact magic is rare these days.” She stepped forward. “Especially in the young ones. But do you know why it’s become rare?”

He kept on backing away, then stopped, bracing himself. “W-why?”

“Because of creatures like me.”

She snatched him up by the neck, snaring him with the indent in her right arm. He squirmed feebly, but she didn’t squeeze at his throat yet. “See, artifact magic is all about writing things into other things. You put magic onto something else. I’m sure you’re familiar with the tradition of Stormcrafters, no?”

He kicked and squirmed and slapped at that arm, but to no avail.

“Stormcrafters were the beginning, really. They became the things they wanted to imprint. They passed on their magic, even beyond death. That’s the sort of thing I can respect, more than you’ll ever know. And it’s why you’re so quick, isn’t it? You don’t have the gloves yet to catch arrows out of thing air, but you have the skills to make a set. You can create new power for yourself, and put it into something else. A very good skill to have, but it comes with a flaw. Can you guess what?”

Now she squeezed, making him squirm more. She casually removed his helmet and smiled. Golden eyes, blue coat, quite a lot of throbbing veins in his neck, too, clearly this boy worked out. She idly wondered if there was any filly she might turn into and really mess with his head, but she had to stick to her priorities. “There we are, you handsome little killer. The problem with artifact magic is that artifacts can lose their magic. You can drain things from an artifact, copy them, if you know how. And since the ponies making them had the same magic, well… that makes you a prime meal, doesn’t it?”

“You won’t win,” he croaked. “Bastion’s already gone.”

She chuckled. “He’s about three hundred yards into the mountain, in the old mining quarters.”

The boy’s eyes widened.

“Don’t look so shocked. I kept Princess Cadence in those caves for weeks, and you ponies never bothered to undo my surveillance spells on the crystals there. Even if I am a little handicapped at the moment, I’ve known exactly where he is since he went in there. So you and I can have a little fun, can’t we?”

His struggles intensified. She felt his wings clench up under those armoured plates.

“Fine little toy you have here, though, did Neighsay set you up with that? Oh, of course he did, but it must be uncomfortable now, let me help you out of it first.” She drove a hoof into his gut, forcing out a groan of pain. Not quite content with how restrained that groan sounded, she ripped the metal plates off his chest and belly. With the spurs of her free arm, she cut into the gambeson underneath and ripped away the fabric covering his torso, exposing his belly and the trinkets he wore. “Wind Belt? Check.” She ripped the belt off before doing the same to his arm and leg guards, tearing off more protective fabric. “Lightning Rings and Flame Bracers? Check. We’ve already got you out of that silly Triple Radiance Helmet, oh, and that Frost Necklace has to go as well, far too girly for a rugged little boy like you.” She bit into his neck and ripped off another trinket, drawing blood in the process.

“N-no…”

“What’s that?” She leaned in. “Oh, you were planning another little sabotage, were you? Think you can fool me with the same trick Sunburst did? Not this time. I know this design, I know the tricks of the old assassins. Your armour has a Revival Amulet right around…” She patted down his wings, baring them as well. His tail armour fell to the ground, leaving his entire body exposed. “Oh.”

She checked the back of his neck, behind his ears, wingfolds, but nothing came out. For a moment, she felt genuine sympathy, and shock. “No Revival Amulet, no Revitalisation Charm. Dear me, you were fighting without any back-up. That is a gross oversight on Neighsay’s part, I’ll be sure to punish him for that on your behalf. I would have loved to see you try. Wait for me to feed on you, then revive yourself and break my hold. That might have worked. Or maybe not, I’m not entirely sure how this works, to be honest.” She squeezed down harder. “But regardless, there will be no second chances for you, little boy. There was an arrogant stallion around here not so long ago, and I need to fix what he did to me.”

“S-sunburst?” He barely managed. His eyes started to water, his nostrils dripped.

She sharpened the edge pressing against his throat. “Oh, that’s right, you know him, I almost forgot. You pests really do flock together. Thanks to him, I can’t use any of the spells I so rightfully acquired from you ponies. But magic like yours, that’s written deep into your core. Magic like yours, that will work. So, Doldrum, in your final moments, I want you to know: when I am through, I will take over everything. I will make your body into a piece of decoration. I’m going to make a hobby out of keeping you alive just to suffer. I’m going to take a trip to the local archives and find out where your family lives, where you go to school, just to have a little fun with every single pony in your life. I’m going to get creative and make an example out of you. Did you honestly think you could defeat me?”

Still he resisted. “W-wouldn’t be the first time.”

“What?”

“W-warrur devl, herrda.” His eyes began to flutter shut.

Chrysalis’s jaw clenched. The insolence, the defiance, it drove her mad. More importantly, she couldn’t feed because of it. “You’re the uppity pony that stole my kill? You’re the reason I had to delay my plans, you little…” She shook her head. She couldn’t kill him outright, not when she needed him. “No matter. I suppose I should expect as much. Bastion really did choose his allies well. You’re a good boy, Doldrum, with commendable powers. So, how about you act like a good boy, and share.”

She cut off his air completely, sensing the despair throughout his body, even if his spirit still resisted. For a few seconds, his mouth hung open, his nose desperately sought air, and heavy legs kicked in a futile attempt to break loose.

“Yes, there we go. It’s lights out, little Doldrum. Feel that throbbing in your head? Those little spots in your eyes? That’s you, all alone, right at the edge. That blackness creeping in, that’s me, taking what I deserve.”

It was a waste of precious time to speak to him, she admitted that much to herself, but it was necessary. Only in despair, only in the moments before death, could she get what she needed.

“You can struggle all you like. It doesn’t matter. In the end, your body will give in. You’re a strong little boy, you know you should listen to your body, don’t you?”

His kicks slowed, then stopped. His wings went limp, his ears drooped, and his eyes, already welling up with tears, fell shut.

“Thaaat’s it. Accept defeat, embrace despair. Everything you’ve done, was all for nothing.”

His body stopped moving entirely, and she could feel he was on the brink. In that moment, she released him.

His body drew one final breath, one desperate attempt to cling to life. That one breath was charged with all his talent, all his will to live, everything that made him unique and so annoying but useful to her.

And like any breath, he had to let it out eventually.

Sucking in that breath of his, she stole everything he was. It felt good: fire, ice, thunder, wind, all the things Earth ponies lacked flowed through her. His body shuddered hard after hitting the ground, the essence of a young pony with a fresh cutie mark was purer than that of an adult who had experience to dilute its influence. The elemental magic he used with his artifacts wouldn’t help without a trinket, especially with Sunburst’s influence still corrupting her, but she had speed again, even greater than before. This ran deeper, on a more primal level. Reflexes, instincts, body awareness that would take years to develop, he had been gifted with, and she’d taken it as easily as taking a lollipop from a baby. Flexing a hoof, she felt strength, as well, more magical enhancements to her body. This was a calculated strength, focussed, reliable, not the raw clumsy power of an Earth pony karateka. It was like she’d plundered a magical arsenal, and put everything on at once. On a body so young, limited by size and development, the result wasn’t too impressive, but on hers? The possibilities were endless.

She tossed his limp body aside and let the power flow through to her Primes, who then shared it through the whole Hive.

“This will do nicely. Even a Treeguard can’t stop this magic from coming through.” She turned back to her drones. “Keep Celestia contained. This will all be over in just a little while.”

The drones took off, and Chrysalis left Doldrum’s body at the cave entrance.

Author's Note

Well, y'all knew this was coming. Two down, one to go.

The Queen's Dream

It took Chrysalis about two minutes to get to the chamber Bastion was in. It was a large cavern, still littered with crystals all over the ground and walls. This was where she’d hid Cadence the first time, and it had served her well then. The place was big enough to get lost in, high and wide enough for a Wonderbolts derby.More importantly, entrances and exits were difficult to see in the dim light, and the giant crystals had unpredictable effects when coming into contact with magic.

She took off flying to get to the middle of the room.

Stretching out her senses, she knew Bastion was here, at least. The crystals still carried her detection spell, but unfortunately they provided no detailed information as to his whereabouts, thanks to Sunburst’s scrambling influence. She looked down, eyeing the ground for any movement. Nothing showed. She went up higher, to where more crystals hung, in case he’d had the bright idea to hide up top. Nothing there, either.

She concentrated on the tracking spell she’d cast after the Unicorn boy had fallen. Even that hardly worked now.

She’d have to do this the old-fashioned way.

“I know you’re here, Bastion!” she called out. “Come out now. Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be. You belong to me, and you have something I want. The longer you wait, the more ponies suffer!”

She saw a flash come up from below. Several flashes, even.

She ducked out of the way of the incoming spheres.

Biting ice impacted on her flank, chilling her hip joint and sending pain rocketing up her spine. She growled and shook that leg. “You arrogant…” She looked down again.

That shot came from below. Let’s see, left, right?

Another flash. She saw it coming, it was a slow-moving projectile, easy to dodge at this range.

It splashed the back of her head with some kind of irritant. She coughed and spluttered, and quickly wiped off the remains of the acid ball.

“Prismatic spells, really? That’s the only trick you have now? Basic light show and annoying little ball games?”

The next flash was blue. Again, she tracked it with her eyes.

Electricity hit her in the stomach before she realised what was happening.

He was using the crystals. This whole chamber was like a hall of mirrors: send one light source up, it’s reflected all over. Her eyes couldn’t track these spells, because the reflections threw her off.

Still, she could take a wild guess, and he couldn’t hide forever.

She dashed down to the ground level and crushed a crystal rock with her bare hooves. The Pegasus’s strength flowed through her, and she could feel some traces of resilience as well.

That boy was quick on the short range. No wonder he lasted so long.

An electric orb clipped her right wing.

There!

She dashed again, to the other side of the chamber, smashing through more crystals. Nothing, again.

How?

The crystals flashed again. A green smoke bomb made her cough, as before. Her eyes watered.

No matter. I can still make my eyes stronger, even without changing shape.

She rushed over to the source, and this time she cast a spell, though she was loath to do it. A prismatic sphere, mere child’s play, that’s all she could manage with Sunburst’s accursed cutie mark corrupting her power. She sent more crystal flying across the cavern floor, then perked her ears.

It was vague, but she could hear breathing. She fired again at the source.

Gotcha.

She was on him before he could blink. Slamming her hoof down on his throat, she pinned him to the ground, making sure to tighten the grip immediately. There would be no room for error now.

“I’ve got you now, little boy. Very clever, using the cave like that. Did you really think that would stop me?”

He croaked. “Actually, I thought it’d make you blink.”

Five glowing spheres rose up from the ground. These were bright white, and growing brighter.

He delayed his spells to set a trap.

Clever boy.

The light pierced through her eyelids, and the thunder rocked her eardrums. She put up her hooves to block out what she could, but his plan had worked: she’d sharpened her senses to find him, and now she was blinded, and deaf, for a few seconds.

He took the chance to slip away, then unloaded on her while she was in no state to dodge.

Unfortunately for him, he was still only a child, and a changeling Queen did not fall to children. She chuckled when he slapped her with a fireball, she smiled when another solid ice sphere cracked against her joints, and she scowled when he got in a head-shot with a ball lightning.

He panted when he was done.

She snorted. Her chest itched from flying around so much. “Are you just about done now? You know it’s pointless. I’m stronger than you. I defeated both of your friends, and it cost me nothing. I can still take you.”

“Why do you keep trying to take everything away from me?” he cried out.

“Because it isn’t yours in the first place, Bastion. You are mine. Everything you own is mine. It’s mine by right. And soon, every pony I want will be mine as well. Just accept it already.”

“No, I’m not. I don’t want anything to do with you. You don’t own me. I have a family again, why can’t you let me have that?”

“Blame your uncle,” she retorted. “He’s the one who kept me from what I needed. He had a magic in him, one I need. It’s the final piece of my spell, and I know he put it in you. The griffons told me enough.”

He stopped backing up.

Good boy.

“So that really was you,” he said. “You sent the griffons.”

“Not directly, but yes, I had a small part in that. I had to make sure you have the magic I need. I needed to know where Faux Pas put it. And now I know: he hid it… “ She pointed at him as she licked her lips. “Starting from your neck joint, a smidgen to the left, and then it’s, oh, let’s say two scoops of brain matter to dig through.” She grinned. “That’s where we get our dreams from, the old ones. Every changeling dreams of the swarm, it’s one of those little parts we never changed. But it’s meant to fade once you learn how to speak.”

He shivered. “But… they said it was normal.”

“It is, up to a certain age, but griffons don’t really know about that part. The swarm dream is part of our magic, like a cutie mark is to ponies. It’s unusual to see it in older children, or adults, but not unheard of. It wouldn’t raise any suspicion even if they did know, but it told me enough. I know you have those dreams, I know no one would think to look there, and I know Faux Pas would put it right there. So either give it to me the easy way, or I will make sure that after I’m done, every pony you’ve ever loved will regret the day you entered their lives: your mothers, your friends, that little filly Apple Bloom…”

He lowered his head. “You’re lying. If my uncle really did have magic you wanted, why did you kill him?”

She chuckled and threw her head back. She had to wipe away a tear from laughing so hard. “Ahahahaaa! Oh, of course, I forgot. This is just rich. You weren’t there. None of the Council was. You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“I didn’t kill your uncle: he killed himself. He abandoned you, just like everyone else you’ve ever loved.”

Celestia was overwhelmed. The Treeguards swatted and punched the air with the drones moving in full speed again. She noticed a few on the far end of the garden try to fire some spells, but those fizzled before anything could reach, thankfully.

“Sunburst was quite proficient with prismatic spells. Still, where is this power coming from?”

She ate something weird just now. Very young, very pure, but I don’t know what it is.

Once of the drones closed the gap and punched Celestia in the face. She winced, and a point-blank fireball dispatched the thing. Wiping her snout, she commanded her forces to stay closer together.

She’s going to get you eventually, Celestia. I still don’t see what you’re waiting for.

“Patience, Discord, I keep telling you. There’s only one way to win.”

She’s in the caves underneath Canterlot now. I think she’s chasing something, or someone, maybe?

“Bastion,” Celestia concluded. “She needs Bastion to complete her spell.”

Then why do you keep stalling? Blast her already. Teleport out, she’s got this many drones keeping you busy here, she’s probably defenceless now!

“I can’t teleport while I’m in the middle of my Treeguards, remember? Besides, I can still hold out. She has no heavy projectiles.”

Five of the drones came in for a swoop. One slashed at her side, two of them knocked the legs out from under her, the other two struck her in the throat. She was knocked unconscious for a second.

They all fell once the Treeguards got a hold of them.

She’s too fast now. I think she ate an artifact or something, to be honest.

“Or an artificer,” Celestia concluded. “And there are not many of those in Equestria.” She stood up again, and let a wave of healing seal her wounds and ease her throat.

What’s the plan, Celestia?

She sighed. “There is no plan. This fight is already over. It’s only a matter of time.”

So you’re giving up? You’re just going to do nothing?

“Don’t worry, Discord. This will all be over in a few seconds. Treeguards! Defensive formation.”

She closed her eyes and gathered power into her horn. A blinding phosphorescent light started to grow at the tip while the cohort of conifer colossi formed a canopy around her.

“Alright, then, Chrysalis!” she shouted. “You want me to spend my strongest spell? You want to see what leaves me exhausted? Feast your eyes on this!”

Neighsay landed in the Royal Guard Academy, brandishing his spectral hands as he went. His fur singed from the sudden teleportation, but he was otherwise unharmed, save a few scratches.

“Chancellor Neighsay,” one of the guard ponies greeted. “Glad to see you are alright.”

No enemies in sight. No signs of panic.

Oh, thank the stars, the Academy’s not overrun.

“Captain Brick Wall, good to see you, too. How are things going here?”

“Not good, I’m afraid. The drones attacked our quarters this morning. They got to our rookies. Right on family day, too.”

Neighsay nodded. “Any particularly skilled ones they targeted?”

“Not like what you’re thinking, no. They were drained of their energy, standard changeling feeding only. The drones came as relatives and friends, but they didn’t change shape like they normally do; it burned off of them like paper. They drained like normal, though. A lot of my boys are down for the count.”

“Yet I do not see nor hear much fighting.”

“We’ve managed to fight them back to the perimeter,” Brick explained. “They were pelting spells first, then they retreated, and now they’re just throwing themselves at us. We’ve had to dig ourselves in. We can handle speed and strength like this, I’ve seen this before, but never in these numbers. This kind of high level is supposed to be rare, not army-wide.”

Neighsay let out a grunt and rubbed his neck. “I noticed. I barely got away from the ones in the museum. Had to choke one with my cape just to survive them rushing me.”

“Do you have any intel we should know?”

“None you do not already have, I fear. Chrysalis is draining ponies with powerful talents, stealing their cutie marks. But more than that, she is broadcasting them, sharing and copying power through her army.”

“And this new speed of hers?”

Neighsay bit his lip. “I know where she got it. I failed, and now we have to gamble. I only hope I was correct in my analysis. Chrysalis is targeting one of the changeling refugees, named Bastion. She seems to believe he has some magic hidden within him that will finish this spell. I shudder to think what that will look like if this is the incomplete version.”

Brick Wall nodded. “We’ll try to get a search party out as soon as we can. It’s going to be tough, though. These things have us pinned down. Even if we teleport, they’ll know where to find us.”

A shiver ran up the Chancellor’s spine. “They are keeping you contained, as well. What news of Princess Celestia?”

“Oh, she’s burning them by the dozen, last I heard.” Brick whistled, impressed. “Her phoenix and her roc came swooping in a while ago, gave us the shots we needed to gain some ground. But we can’t approach her now. There’s an anti-magic field around her, and if we try to approach from afar, there’s any number of drones we’d run into. Between that and keeping the shelters safe, we don’t have the numbers to make a move.”

“And you said they made an incursion early on. You repelled all of them?”

The Captain nodded. “All of them.”

“How far did they get? Did they breach the vault?”

“They did. We got them out before they could steal anything important, but they did make off with one of our practice weapons.”

“Which one?”

“One of our Dragonslayers. They didn’t even get the ammo.”

That shiver became a chill. “They probably brought the ammunition themselves.”

Neighsay squinted, and Brick Wall followed suit. The light in the windows started to grow lighter, whiter, almost.

“Is it just me, or is the Sun getting hotter?” the Royal Guard asked.

“Oh, no. Brick Wall, I’m going to need you to prepare for a rapid deployment. Wait for the signal, we’re going to have to get to the Princess as soon as possible.”

“But we can’t get through the anti-magic field,” Brick protested.

“As close as we can, then. I know this spell. Celestia wouldn’t use this if she wasn’t about to end the fight. We have a little while longer, a few minutes, but once that spell is done, she’ll be vulnerable. We need to get to her before any changeling does.”

The sunlight started to warm their hides, more than normal.

“And the ones right by her when we get that far? Even if she’s firing a massive spell, we’ll be fighting the survivors, and they might outnumber us by the time we get there.”

“Take it from an academic,” Neighsay said. “If she has timed it properly, there will notbe any survivors.”

Bastion felt his throat tighten, his heart pounding. She was still at a safe distance, she didn’t grab him yet, but he couldn’t believe his ears. “What?”

“I didn’t kill Faux Pas,” she repeated. “He killed himself. He wouldn’t respond to manipulation. He didn’t fall in line in front of the swarm, he defied me, so I defeated him in battle. I had him. And then he destroyed himself.” She groaned. “He destroyed himself so thoroughly I couldn’t even extract anything from the remains.”

“You’re lying.” Bastion bared his fangs, eyes watering with anger.

“Why would I lie about that? Right now, really?”

He took a step back. “Because you’re insane. Because you just want to take everything away from me.”

“Insane?” She chuckled. “Well, I suppose that’s a fair point. But I’d like to see you keep your sanity after reincarnating a hundred times over.” Staring down at him, she had to admit: she’d produced a fine specimen, if not directly. She could see it in his eyes. “You really think you have it figured out, don’t you? Even now, you’re still trying to find some way out, think of some grand scheme to kneecap me. You don’t even know what you’re dealing with.”

“I know enough. You’re a bully, and a thief.”

She snorted. “I am the progenitor of our species. I was the first changeling to form. I made your ancestors, and those of every changeling alive today. You, all of you, were planted for me. Today is harvest day. I’ve lived through countless lives, seen empires rise and fall, made a few rise and fall, even. Those were fun times. You think I’m insane? I think I’m the only sane soul in the world sometimes.”

Bastion lowered his horn.

“Oh, put that thing away, you’ll only hurt yourself.” She chuckled. “Do you really want to know why your uncle died? Do you want to know how his last moments were spent? Would it make it easier?”

“Yes,” he breathed.

“Fine. He stood before the whole of the swarm. He explained himself, he defied me. He wanted me to believe we should form our own kingdoms instead of feeding on others.” She sighed. “I suppose I should have seen it coming. I hadn’t made one like him in too long, he was resistant to simple manipulation. But then he attacked, and he overplayed his hand.”

The boy tensed.

“He had mastered a spell, you see, one I used to have, in the old days. He could turn himself into a swarm of insects, divide up his consciousness, split up his form. It’s a wonderful spell, but it takes a very particular mind to cast it, and if you get it wrong, well, even I wouldn’t survive that failure. He did it, though, he did it perfectly. He kept it a secret from me right until the end, who knows what he was thinking. I’m still not sure if he knew what I was. He knew what I was planning, though, he must have. It doesn’t matter at this point, anyway. He fought me, almost managed to drain me from behind, and then I grabbed him. He was spent, he had nowhere to go. Then, one by one, those little bugs of his swelled up and he exploded in a big green cloud of acid. The great Faux Pas took his own life.”

“No.”

“It’s the truth. He abandoned you. He loved you, I made sure of that. He had to love you, unfortunately, I couldn’t rely on him and all the others if they didn’t have real emotions of their own.” She pawed at the ground and threw her head back. “Oh, if only you knew how long I’ve had to work at this, trying to hold on to my memories from one life to the next. Equestria was such a violent place before those ponies arrived. The things that have hunted me… you have no idea what real terror is. I doubt you even know what real magic is, if the ponies have gotten so deep into your head. Faux Pas knew I needed the swarm form, I know that much. He realised I would seek it out before even I did. And given how long it took for me to fabricate a changeling who could learn that spell, I couldn’t afford to risk another incarnation. I can’t tell what I’ll lose every time, it’s so unpredictable, not like making others. Making more changelings is mostly predictable.”

“Stop lying,” he insisted. “If you made all the changelings, what about the other Hives? Why make drones like me and… my family? Why did you have to do that to us?”

“A necessary evil,” she replied calmly. “I’m not sure you’d understand if I did explain it. But think of it this way: evolution happens because the world around changes. Trees grow taller, giraffes get longer necks. Food shortage in the forest, deer become smaller. Did you know there’s a flower that can only grow on a dragon’s corpse? It’s very special, very rare because of that. The best way to get one, you can probably guess, is to either kill a dragon, or start breeding a few. Some forms of magic can only grow under stress, so I created a bit of stress in select drones to grow it. That’s why you are the way you are: a mindless drone cannot create, it has no ideas. But a free will like yours? That can get inspiration, creative ideas, new thoughts, dangerous thoughts I couldn’t risk experimenting with myself. I thought you already knew that.”

“But why? If you can do all that, why did I have to lose my mom? Why didn’t I even get to know my dad?!”

“I thought a smart boy like you would understand by now,” she mocked. “It’s not a perfect process, soul magic. You always lose pieces, and when your ingredients include experiences and memories, well, repeating results becomes a little complicated. I am trying to evolve into something greater. I needed to develop the ultimate spell, and I had to calibrate my magic for it to work properly. Having to gather up pieces of my old selves between lives didn’t help anything, either. Your mother wasn’t the first failure, and not even the most spectacular one, really.” She chuckled. “You should have seen what happened to the ones I used to develop our communication magic back in Star Swirl’s day. Those were fun, if a little too loud in the end.”

His mouth hung open from the shock.

Chrysalis smiled in approval. “Deny it all you like, the truth is still the same. Every changeling that’s ever lived has an ancestor created by me. Every dynasty that didn’t have me in it was programmed and destined to grow one little piece of my ultimate power. Once they were ready, it was harvest time, and those wars gave me War Engineers fit for the purpose I needed them to fulfil. The other civilisations? The pandas, the naga, these ponies?” She gagged. “They were good to keep some knowledge intact, but they never got far enough. They weren’t ambitious enough to try what I was trying, too ignorant of how the world works to even attempt to find real power. I couldn’t rely on them to find the answers I needed, and I couldn’t risk any changeling finding out the truth and try to usurp me. Those dark days in the past took their toll on me. It’s taken a long time just to get back to my old self, and I am almost ready to be a new, perfect self. I have everything I need now, except one thing.”

She closed her eyes and sighed, before glaring at him. “Faux Pas was designed to love you, you see. I made him. He would never have left you alone without some way to defend yourself. I know he slipped a sliver of magic into you, I know where it is and I know how to get it out of your body. So, Bastion, dear boy, now that you know the whole truth, are you finally going to behave? All you have to do is give in and submit. You were mine from the start. Your mother, your father, even your flawed uncle, they were all mine and they all had a purpose. All I’m asking is you fulfil yours. Just think: you get to be a part of perfection, my perfection. It doesn’t have to hurt.”

He gulped. “But how? My mom… the other drones… the Council?”

“All just bags of meat I tossed together from a primordial soup and some magical wood centuries ago, just like you, after enough generations and ripening, of course. It’s meat that could produce more meat, but still just meat for me to play with. The real trick is in how much you let it think for itself, actually. You remember me showing you the bottles, don’t you?”

He shivered. “No.”

“Of course you do. Those bottles contained little bits of soul, tiny specks of experience and personality. They contained bits of changeling, like your mother. How much of you do you think is unique and how much is leftovers? Do you really believe you’re that different from the other drones? There’s more of you to bottle, but in the end you can still be bottled. It’s the things you lose in the bottling process that’s the real issue.” She growled. “But it’s all the same. Everything they are, everything you are, is the result of my will. You belong to me. Your ancestors belonged to me generations ago. You… are… nothing. Everyone who’s ever loved you, did so because they had to.”

He clenched his eyes shut, whimpering. “Stop.”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t believe it, you know it’s true. Your birth mother, your uncle? Engineered by me. Your new mothers? Drafted into it by pony politics. And all your so-called friends? They’re only nice because they have to be, because that’s what ponies do, that’s what they are told to do. You’re not supposed to be cared for, Bastion. You were meant to be abandoned, and to gain power and knowledge from the pain. The only one who’s ever shown you kindness she didn’t need to was me. You missed your mother so much, I was willing to give you three more of her. I would have, if it had made you happy. You’d probably have grown a little faster, win-win all around, really. But you were too young to accept the truth, so I left it at that and kept it our little secret, even from Faux Pas.”

“They weren’t the same,” he sobbed.

“You say that, and maybe that makes you feel better, but I know you understood it from then, you clever boy: the only difference between you and a mindless drone is how different I let you be. The only reason we’re having this conversation is you and your uncle got away before I could bottle what I needed from either of you. Now I’m going to ask you for the last time: do you give up?”

Rage welled up in his body, heating him underneath the carapace. White light erupted from his horn and fanned out, forming a rainbow of beams.

“A Prismatic Spray, not bad. A little young for that spell, aren’t you?” She didn’t bother dodging. The red beam singed her wings, the blue one crackled through her from head to tail, ice bit into her shell and acid flowed through the wounds.

Bastion’s eyes were closed, his jaw clenched, his whole body tense with the exertion. He didn’t need to see the damage he was doing. He felt the resistance against the beams clearly enough.

He screamed in fury, he cried, he flared his wings out and dug in his hooves to try and push against her a little harder.

When it was over, he stumbled. His left front leg buckled, but he kept his eyes on where the Queen had stood.

Chrysalis stood in a small crater, wiping off the residue. She nodded at him. “Kneeling at last. At least your uncle taught you some manners before he croaked.”

A hard blow against his throat sent him sailing up, then a hard crystal wall stopped him, and the noose was not far behind. Chrysalis pinned him to the wall by his throat. Judging from her face, she had been damaged by the prismatic spray, but she was already healing.

I couldn’t do it.

I’m not strong enough.

He gasped for air, and kicked feebly as he was held aloft by the Queen.

“There we go, there’s that despair we needed. Just a little while longer and this will all be over.”

“C-Cel…” he stuttered.

“Celestia? Hah. I planned well ahead to deal with her.” She closed her eyes and grinned. “In fact, I’ve got her on the ropes as we speak. She’s in my sights right now.”

The Daybreaker was not a commonly known spell. Only one creature in the world was known to master it, and even then it was mostly lost to history.

Chrysalis knew her history well enough. The two drones flying swiftly and stealthily over Canterlot had been on a simple mission: smash and grab. Specifically, smash the Royal Guard Academy, and grab one functioning Dragonslayer arbalest. After that, all they had to do was wait for the right time.

The Daybreaker spell, in those circles that were aware of its existence, was commonly referred to as ‘the nuclear option.’ Princess Celestia of Equestria had been forced to resort to it on only three occasions. All three occasions were grand battles that determined the flow of history for ages to come. All three occasions were battles where large numbers and massive casualties were involved.

All three occasions had left survivors, and reliable witnesses to interrogate.

Celestia kept that spell as a last resort for good reason, Chrysalis knew.

For one thing, it took a long time to cast. The process of the casting involved congealing the light of the Sun itself into a volume large enough to create one pinpoint missile per soldier in the opposing army. At the same time, it required a divination element as the targeting mechanism for said solar missiles. The focus necessary to even attempt it was an anger, the intensity of which historians and storytellers alike dared not speak, save for hushed mentions of a searing red rage. Some witness records even claimed Celestia changed shape during the casting, and that she became a different pony altogether, one with a more monstrous aspect. Given her sister’s track record, that seemed likely enough.

The second problem the spell had, though, was that it was, at its core, still only a projectile spell firing missiles, and as such it could be dodged like any missile could. Chrysalis had made sure to never surrender her speed advantage for that exact reason.

She wondered idly, through the web of her consciousness, if Celestia had really planned to wait out the assault. A war of attrition might have gone in the pony’s favour if she’d played her cards right.

Now, though, Celestia was busy casting her trump card, and standing perfectly still in the process. The two drones set down and loaded the ballista with a poison-tipped arrow. It was a little something her last batch of Council members had cooked up, and no doubt they’d forgotten all about it by now.

Chrysalis afforded herself a grin through the drones.

“I do have a way with Alicorns, don’t I?”

The arbalest itself was carefully chosen. The Dragonslayer model was the upgraded version of the Dragonblinder, after all, that old favourite of the Pegasus artillery. An arrow shot from one of the old models was fast enough to catch a dragon in the eye at top speed. An arrow from this newer one could afford to miss and go through a dragon’s skull.

Celestia had no such protection now, standing still and shouting inanities to hype herself up and intimidate the drones around her.

The Queen took aim. The Treeguards around Celestia made it a difficult shot, but from a higher vantage point it wasn’t impossible. The things kept swaying left and right, and the drones in the field were creating enough a distraction to get the inner circle of giants to move. One poison-tipped shot to the neck would suffice. It would be enough to kill a normal pony, defeating the purpose, but Celestia’s body would probably be okay long enough to take her power.

One drone lunged at the Treeguard blocking the shot. The drone soon fell, but the Treeguard was out of position for a split second.

“Sweet dreams, Your Majesty.”

She pulled the trigger.

It was finally done. Chrysalis had her prize in her grasp, squirming and wriggling feebly though it was.

Bastion’s eyes were watering, both from hearing the truth and the acute lack of oxygen.

Slowly, surely, his struggles slowed down.

He looked up, his arms fell to his sides.

She could sense the pulse of magic in him. It was right where she’d guessed it would be: in that little spare nerve in the brain, where dreams of old lurked.

She’d almost failed, she realised. There was always the chance the despair wouldn’t take, that he could shut off his body somehow. His eyes closed, and the pulse came again.

Just a little further.

She bared her teeth, and it took all her self-control not to bite his head off right then and there. He knew now. He still remembered the bottles, when she’d shown him the true nature of all changelings, free-minded or not. It was a risky move, but it had paid off. Him knowing the truth had ripened his soul, opened his mind to new ideas, and given magic a chance to take root.

Her mind wandered. How far she’d come. She only barely remembered her own power at its prime, but the drive for perfection had stayed with her through the ages.

Moulding more changelings, shaping their flesh, then their minds and souls, the memories started to feel more tangible, more recent.

Clarity was her greatest strength, to see things like free will and destiny for what they were: simple commodities that could be brewed, bottled, stored and re-used. She still remembered the first time she’d honoured a true hero of her Hive, by ending his existence and feeding his essence to the next generation of drones. That had started her glorious purity cycle.

She’d never gotten past that one requirement, death. All she could accomplish was a moment’s snapshot at the time of expiration. She had perfected the capture of that moment now, though.

The boy’s arms went limp. His legs stopped kicking. His eyes drifted closed.

Then the disappointment came to her mind, the risks involved in tampering with soul magic, the need to let changelings develop their own thoughts, to have fully functioning souls in the first place in order to create new magic. So much inefficiency, so much difficulty in making perfect copies. Isolation from the outside was the only way to ensure that.

And now she’d broken her isolation fully. She was finally ready to come out of her proverbial cocoon and change the world as she pleased.

She released her grip, letting him slide down the crystal.

Finally, the reason why she needed that perfection came to mind. Weakness, fear, and the mere existence of terrors far beyond mortal understanding.

I’m doing you all a favour.

Bastion gasped for air, and in the moment he exhaled, she stole it.

She heard a wheeze.

No power.

No magic.

She tried to steal his breath again, another wheeze.

That sound was coming from her.

Bastion took in greedy gulps of air, getting back on his hooves. Weakness took over Chrysalis’s body, a lightness in her head that turned to a pounding agony. Her chest burned, her back itched.

“W-what?” she stammered.

Bastion winced and rubbed at his throat. “You don’t sound so good, Your Highness.”

She locked eyes with him, and tried desperately to breathe. He was back up, and the shaking in her limbs did not bode well. She could barely move. “H-how?”

“Could be a lot of things. Maybe you shouldn’t have chased me so far. Maybe, when you share your power all over, you feel the weakness all over, too, when you run out of breath.”

He snarled at her, and grinned.

She realised then that, much like his uncle, he’d been bred too well for his function. The soul pieces she’d used to create him, the experiences she’d allowed him to have, she had improved upon the process that had created Faux Pas.

He had only rudimentary training, but he still had his uncle’s talent.

He planned this.

He tricked me.

How? When?

“Or maybe, just maybe, it was something you ate.”

Chrysalis felt her hearts skip a beat.

The Pegasus.

“No magic, no super speed, no super strength.” He snorted. “No escape. You can’t breathe, and I’m still ready to go.”

Author's Note

So, yeah, here's what y'all knew was coming. This whole 'twist' to the story has been at least five years in the making, it was set as soon as I decided Doldrum and Bastion would meet. Well, sort of.

In the original concept, Sapphire Gaze had to meet some ambassadors at a summit, and one of them would be Chrysalis in disguise. Bastion would sense it, then hide away in fear, saying "Don't... let her... get me." Which clues Sapphire in to the boy's plan: don't intervene, let her get him. She boobytraps Bastion, and the notion that she could is still hinted at in Changeling Blood, but dismissed in the stories after. The actual result of that boobytrap is also mostly intact, but placed upon a different character. It was gone from the story in a lot of versions, mind you.

At the time of writing, I still need to write the ending to this story. It's been a tricky one.

A Change In the Heir

Pain dominated the swarm.

Chrysalis could barely breathe, and the whole of her army was suffering the same way she was. Every breath in was laboured and forced, and every breath out came in a long, slow whine of a wheeze. Closing her eyes, she tried to feel out the source of this corruption, perhaps isolate that accursed Pegasus magic and shut it down.

Bastion kicked her in the head then.

“Let the ponies go,” he commanded.

It was no use. He was only a child, but with her body crippled as it was, even a child would be enough to best her. He flew up for another blow to her head, but she managed to block him in mid-air. Her magic was still shut down, so restraining him wasn’t an option.

He still had his magic, though, and he clearly enjoyed hurting her.

“Let them go now!”

A point-blanc lightning ball exploded in her face, driving her back. She almost slipped on the slick cave floor, and she would have tried to fly away if Bastion didn’t cut her off with another prismatic sphere, ice-flavoured this time.

She growled in frustration.

So close. I can’t lose, not now.

He punched her in the gut.

“Give her back!” he screamed.

Even now, he barely did any real damage, but it was enough to hurt, enough to distract. Sooner or later, he would get a lucky shot in, damage her eyes or crack a joint to really cripple her.

Glaring at him, she already saw the calculations in his head. Even in his pathetic excuse for a righteous rage, he stayed at a distance when she could keep her eyes open. He was still lucid, he was still thinking.

He was still planning to outsmart her.

I don’t have a choice. There’s only one way to get rid of this handicap.

“Give me back my mom!” Another hard blast, acid this time, and she was blinded momentarily again.

She heard his wings buzz. He was going into melee again.

“Enough!” With a force of will and a pulse of magic, she obliged him. The wave of force sent him back a few paces, but she didn’t care. She threw her head back and let seep the power she’d been building up all day. Green swirls of energy spiralled out from her and wandered out, fading as they went.

Soon, she’d ejected all the pony magic she’d gathered that morning, spitting out the soulstuff that granted her those new powers.

She blasted him into the crystal wall with a snarl on her face. “Ah, that’s better.” She cleared her throat and rubbed at a sore spot. “It’s a shame, but you forced me. Good job, Bastion: you really are a worthy successor to your uncle.” She took a step forward. He wasn’t getting up yet, wobbling on his hooves.

The poor little thing was tired, and she couldn’t blame him. All that adrenalin, all those emotions coursing through such a little body, the strain must have been tremendous.

“Your plan worked: you’ve forced me to give back all the magic. Now what? You’re still down here, in a cave, alone, with me. One little child that everyone abandons, against a near-perfect changeling Queen.” She grabbed him by the throat and pressed him against the crystal again. “What’s your plan now? Are you expecting your Pegasus friend to get up and hit me in the back? I’m sure he’ll put up a nice fight, but he can’t surprise me. I know what a Stormcrafter can do when they’re unarmed, assuming he can even move after what I did to him.”

He gasped for air, and she pressed down harder.

“What, no clever comeback this time? Go on, let’s hear something. It’s not like I haven’t had to listen to these stupid little ponies and their jokes all day. It’s very annoying, you know, hearing every little thing they say to your army. Go on, Bastion, tell me. How does the heir of Faux Pas get out of this one? What bright little next step did you have in mind to defeat someone thrice your size and armed with magic you can barely dream of?”

“Y-you…”

“Yes? Go on?” She leaned in closer, waiting for the moment his body would shut down.

There was a flash in the crystal. A reflection, she realised, in a split second.

Pain wracked through her, and only her now. Light filled her world, and agony filled every fibre of her being. Thunderous sounds quaked through her ears and rattled her very blood.

When it was over, Bastion snuck out from under her grip.

She turned to keep her eyes on him as he retreated. Her body was shaken from the onslaught, her regeneration was too slow to recover.

She saw what he was retreating to: the little Pegasus, Doldrum, had made his way to the chamber. He was a mere ten paces away from her.

And beside him there stood a Unicorn, holding a golden amulet, and a pair of trinkets.

Her mind drifted back to that fight.

I flew over him. I went right by him.

The Pegasus took the amulets and gave them to Bastion before she could react.

She recognised the designs, even from afar: one a platinum snowflake pattern with six sapphires in the middle, the other a flower pattern made from a mix of blown glass fortified with silver edges.

A Healing Amulet, and a Revitalising Trinket. Midnight Castle design, fifth century, maybe sixth.

One to heal wounds, one to regain energy, temporarily.

Three charges each. Four, if she was lucky.

Bastion saw her stare at the things while he healed his wounds as best he could. Then he tossed them aside. He followed her gaze, and shrugged. “You never checked Live Wire’s pulse.”

Celestia embraced her rage. Her hide, already a pearly white, became a blinding phosphorous beacon, while her mane and tail ignited into pure flame. Her senses merged with the light of the Sun itself, seeking out her foes.

The courtyard, the Academy, the streets of Canterlot, everywhere a changeling Queen stood in the light, she now knew their precise location.

She froze. Two of them were carrying a weapon, and aiming at her.

Shtunk!

She didn’t move from her position, even then. She didn’t need to to see what had happened. With her expanded senses, she saw the giant black root that had popped out of the ground behind her, and that had blocked the shot.

“Discord?”

I told you you wouldn’t like my plan. Go for it, Celestia. Full Daybreaker, let’em have it.

She growled. “Oh, no, not yet.” The power wasn’t enough yet. Her fangs grew, her eyes changed, and fire build up in the air around her.

“Chrysalis! You dare call yourself a Queen and try to strike at me?! You do not know what kind of powers you’re playing with!”

The drones around her started to take off.

Then they faltered, and landed. Some of them were clutching their throats.

What the…

“There’s what I was waiting for. Now you get to see why they called me Day-breaker!”

Celestia took a deep breath in, closed her eyes, and let the light flow. A burning beacon formed above the garden, one that quickly split and dripped off into spiralling rivulets of flame, dozens of them. The fires sought out the changeling drones, and instantly turned them to ash when they made contact.

She saw it through the eyes of the sunlight. The garden, one by one, was cleared.

The Academy, even a few indoors. Down the streets, she spotted Fancy Pants trying to make a bandage of his suit while three Queens stalked him from a rooftop. That rooftop held no threat mere seconds later.

Pony Joe’s shop was overrun.

I liked those donuts.

Another little sliver of anger fuelled the flames that cleansed the place.

She lost count around the sixty mark, but she never lost awareness. Always there was a drone, a Queen, clutching its chest feebly. Under normal circumstances, a lot of them might have dodged this attack, only getting grazed. Not now, though, not when they were paralysed and gasping for air.

Eventually, the spell came to its end, and she could feel no more enemies in the light.

Canterlot was clear.

Her head swam. The flames of her mane died down, her tail required a little more flicking and swishing to go out. She blinked to get her eyes back to normal. Licking her lips, she found her fangs were still there. Those things never went away when she wanted, and it gave everything such a strange after taste.

She swayed on her hooves, then leaned against the statue.

“There. We saved Canterlot. Good job, Discord,” she said with a sigh. “Couldn’t have done it without you.”

Don’t sell yourself so short. You’re a powerful fighter when you want to be. And, um, about that weed in your garden…

“Tell me about it later, please.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m too tired. That spell takes a lot out of me. I was so angry, I forgot. I knew she was going to try that, and I almost fell for it. That could have gone… so much worse.”

How did you get it to hit all of them? Did your ponies have a mass paralysis spell or something?

“Something like that. It was a simple gambit, really: she knew I would have to resort to the Daybreaker. I knew she would strike when I cast it, because I’d be vulnerable. The only way for me to win was to force her hand. Sunburst shut down her magic.”

But she had her speed again. She ate an artificer, a strong one, and a fast one.

“Speed and strength don’t matter if you cannot breathe. She let her guard down.”

Very clever. But it’s not over yet, Celestia, you know that.

“I know.”

The real Chrysalis is still out there, she’s still trying to finish her spell. And she still has her live drones for reinforcements.

Celestia chuckled.

What’s so funny?

“You. I am in no condition to fight anyone right now. I’m spent, and my Treeguards will have to protect me. But I am not the only pony fighting Chrysalis, you know.”

No, but you’re the only Alicorn who can fight her! You’re going to get swarmed by the next wave once they get here!

“If they get here, you mean.”

What?

“There are two Princesses defending Canterlot, Discord. My sister went to the Hive when the attack began. I’m sure she has them all under some illusion or dream spell by now.”

And the changeling boy? What if Chrysalis gets to him?

“With crippled lungs? I doubt she’ll do much of anything.” Celestia chuckled, then furrowed her brow. “Come to think of it, I didn’t know Luna could do that, she usually tries paralysis first. Regardless, Luna has control over the swarm now, it’s only a matter of time before she can get to the real Chrysalis. That connection between her and her drones leaves her open, that’s why she used the corpses first. No living brain, no entry to the Dream Realm.”

I hope you’re right. That’s still a changeling Queen you’re dealing with, alone with a child.

Celestia’s ears flicked. “Ah, speaking of which, I think I hear the cavalry.” She looked over her shoulder and groaned with pain when she saw who it was. “Chancellor Neighsay, just the pony I wanted to speak. Would you be a dear and head down into the catacombs? There is someone we need to collect there.”

Chrysalis braced herself for the fight. Three children, all exhausted, two of which should have been deceased, it was an easy victory.

The Pegasus was on her before she could blink, swiping her front hooves out from under her body.

Oh no.

The attack was quick and brutal. With her balance shaken and her body still recovering from the mass ejection, the Unicorn unleashed another pillar of lightning on her. She gritted her teeth, but her body could take it, a simple electric current that went from her horn to her hind hooves didn’t linger in her body long enough to do any real damage.

Then the Pegasus reared up for a punch, and her world exploded into light. The blow to her gut alone made her sick to her core, but that innate cloud-wielding magic played through her body and scattered the lightning. Instead of passing through and surging in a straight line, the lightning crackled and ripped through all of her body.

She twitched hard enough to dislocate her own joints: left arm, right ear, one of her abdominals, even her tongue cramped. Another blow drove her back further, and she felt a breeze through the pain.

Bastion was behind her head.

The spurs on his arms hooked across her horn in a scissor motion, and he reared back for a point-blank blast.

She screamed.

White filled her vision. She was being pulled back. Another kick loosened a fang, a third went straight to her throat.

Two more punches landed directly on her shoulders, though the left one hit decidedly harder than the right.

Darn kids, they’re aiming for joints.

She would have praised them if it hadn’t hurt so much. As she fell over, horn clattering to the ground, the Unicorn finally let up his assault.

That’s it. Now’s my chance.

She saw her chance. All it would take was one swipe to get some distance, a few bites to the neck of that uppity Pegasus, and one blow to crush the Unicorn’s skull. Bastion was still the weak link of the three, she could take him easily.

The plan formed, the motions seemed almost automatic. However, her body wouldn’t respond.

What? Why can’t I move?

Looking down, she saw ethereal chains binding her body. The Unicorn had an amulet in his hooves: Neighsay’s amulet. She hadn’t even noticed through her drones’ eyes. The old coot wasn’t wearing it anymore, he’d passed it on.

The Pegasus brandished the amulet and made some quick arcane gestures. Chains burst forth from the trinket and wrapped around her limbs, tying her down and tightening hard enough to bite into her hide.

Bastion spit a gob of green goop on her before she could squirm out. Tailtip, legs, torso, arms, all the way up to her neck she was coccooned and chained.

The boys panted. A concerted strike, all-in to finish a superior opponent quickly, she had to respect it, to some degree.

She struggled against her bonds. Closing her eyes, she summoned her reinforcements. It would take them some time to arrive, but the ponies were weakened now. The next wave would finish it.

All she had to do was teleport out, and she didn’t need an intact horn to do that. Or she shouldn’t have.

She tried to teleport again and again, but nothing happened.

“Trying to teleport out?” Live Wire asked. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“How?” she asked. “You can’t hold me.” She flexed her sore body and tried to break through the goop.

Her arms went still. Her legs stopped moving. Her body was unresponsive. She was paralysed from the neck down.

“How?”

“EEA-issue restraints,” Doldrum said. “Ponies don’t like it when you hurt foals. Teachers usually don’t let you get away with it.”

“But, but… you don’t…”

Doldrum along the amulet’s sides, making the chains rattle and tighten further.

It finally dawned on her: Neighsay had deactivated the amulet, making it impossible to trace. That little bastard artificer Pegasus had turned it back on and set it to trapping mode.

She still had her reinforcements. She could still call out to them.

The number you are calling is currently not available. Please leave a message after the beep.

Beep!

That voice. The voice was in her head. The voice was where her swarm should have been.

Thinking back, she realised things were out of order. She’d seen the Unicorn with the amulet just now, and the chains, but the Pegasus only the cast the chains after that.

The Unicorn couldn’t wield an amulet like that, so where had those first chains come from?

I have you now.

Chrysalis growled. “Luna. That royal pain is in my head. But how? I kept my drones away from her, I used the dead ones. She couldn’t have found a way in.”

“Unless she got to them back at the Hive, which I’m guessing you left undefended,” Bastion taunted. “It’s over.”

“The dead ones you used are wiped out,” Live Wire said. “Princess Celestia destroyed them.”

“No. I hit Celestia with a poison arrow, there’s no way she could withstand that poison. I won!”

You lost. I am in your base, taking control over your Hive. You took a great risk, linking your senses to theirs. I control what they see and hear now. And I have found the backdoor to do the same to you.

“I can still fight you.” Chrysalis clenched her eyes shut and concentrated. “You made a big mistake, trying to get into my head.”

Normally, I would agree. Corruption is a great risk in these battles, after all. But you are spent, your magic is as exhausted as your body and, let’s be honest, your mental skills were already crude as it stood. Your network is under my control now. I don’t need to take any chances with your mind, your body and senses are more than enough.

Chrysalis let her head fall back. Her hearts sank.

“That’s it, then. This is the end of it all. Centuries of hard work, and I’m defeated by my own creation.” She smiled at the three and closed her eyes. “I suppose that is traditional for Titans like me. Alright, boys, you may finish it. Take the honour you deserve.”

Silence fell.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Finish me off already. You know you want to. I killed your uncle, Bastion. Every single bad thing that has ever happened to you is my fault. I tried to take away your mother, all of your mothers. You don’t even know what lovely things I’ve done in Ponyville.” She smirked. “Oh, you’re going to love what I did to Sugarcube Corner.”

“Shut up,” he replied.

“And what about little Apple Bloom, then? You think she’ll ever be safe while I am alive? Don’t think this is the last of me, little boy, not if you let me live. As long as I draw breath, I will be looking for revenge. I’ve spent centuries preparing for this day, I can start all over if I really need to. So do yourself a favour, and finish me off. Even the ponies won’t hold it against you. You’ll be a hero.”

She opened her eyes again. Sure enough, the boys were considering it.

“It’s your call,” Doldrum said. “I’ve done this already.”

“I don’t think the Royal Guard would kill her like this,” Live Wire offered, “but it’s your choice.”

Bastion raised a hoof above her face. A drop of green glue fell on her, coating her mouth. Then one drop shut her left nostril, another sealed the right.

The air was cut off from her body. Even her spare airholes were sealed with the coccoon. The burning in her chest intensified, her hearts pounded.

But when she started seeing black spots, Bastion ripped the nose blocks off. He snorted, stared at her, and leaned in. His voice was calm, tired, almost defeated, even, yet somehow relieved.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore. You don’t get to tell me what to think, you don’t get to tell me how to feel. You are nothing to me. And it doesn’t matter what you’ve done: in about two weeks, I’ll be back home, and I’ll be happy. I get to have a life without you in it, and you don’t get a say in that.”

Chrysalis mumbled in the makeshift gag. Her eyes flared with anger, but all he did was walk away.

“I’m done with you, Your Highness.”

It was the same tone of voice, the same defiance, the same arrogance.

He was truly his uncle’s heir.

“I win.”

Author's Note

So, coming back to last chapter: the boobytrap was going to put Chrysalis in an illusion spell. Yeah, the original concept was drafted at a time when both Naruto and The Invisibles (the latter of which is where the bulk of this story came from) were fresh in my mind.

Part of the difficulty in writing this was: the OC's aren't supposed to be that powerful. They fight by husbanding and leveraging their strengths, as well as relying on outside help. The biggest issue was timing when Luna manages to get to the real Chrysalis: it's when the trigger is pulled. That's why she doesn't realise her army is destroyed while fighting Bastion solo. I'm intending to put that in the next chapter, but I know some people can't wait, so... early explanation here.

One more chapter, ending and epilogue, and then it's done and I can close this series. Still need to write that chapter at the time of writing, though, for the most part. It's a simple four scenes, drafted, but the details need tweaking.

In the Wake

“Now breathe out.”

Bastion’s body tensed on reflex.

“Deep breath in and out, out, keep going, all the way, you’re doing great.”

Bastion groaned as he came to. His head was on something soft, his body was covered. The smell in the air was that of disinfectant alcohol. The lights were bright, and the voice talking about breathing was female, adult from the sound of it, and definitely not a changeling, let alone a changeling Queen.

Slowly, carefully, he sat up. There was a sting in his left arm, a quick glance revealed it to be an IV. He was in a hospital room. Across from him was Live Wire, sipping some fruit juice. To the right of the Unicorn Doldrum was blowing into a tube-like device at the behest of a nurse.

“Okay, great.” She checked the tube and smiled. “I’ll be back in three hours for another test, but right now it looks like you’re all better.”

Doldrum coughed and patted his chest. Like the other two, he was hooked up to an IV.

The nurse, a white mare with a blue mane and tail, noticed the changeling boy was up. “Oh, and right on time, too. Hi there. You’re Bastion right? I’m nurse Willow Bark. Do you know where you are?”

“A hospital,” he croaked. “Canterlot?”

“That’s right, Canterlot General. Do you remember what happened?”

Bastion closed his eyes and thought. “I was fighting Queen Chrysalis. We were fighting her. We won. And then I walked away.”

“That’s it?” Live Wire asked.

“Yeah. After that, nothing. What happened?”

Willow smiled. “Okay, that’s pretty much what we expected from what Chancellor Neighsay told us. You boys can fill him in, I’ll be back with some snacks for our little hero here, and I’ll let everypony know you’re up. Banana yoghurt or pineapple?”

“Banana, please,” Bastion replied.

He sighed, a wave of dizziness washing over him. Once the nurse was gone, he turned to his friends. His head was pounding, even his eyeballs throbbed with stress. “Ow… What happened? How did we get here?”

“Chancellor Neighsay picked us up in the cavern,” Live Wire replied. “A couple of Royal Guards took care of Chrysalis.”

“Took care? You mean…”

“They captured her and moved her,” Live Wire explained. “We don’t know where. All three of us were tired, but you were wobbling right after the fight was over. I think maybe you had a bad reaction to the amulets.”

“We all did,” Doldrum noted. “Amulets like that let you fight for longer, but eventually your body catches up. You passed out, we were awake for the whole thing, mostly, but we could barely move for a while. You were out for about four hours.”

Bastion gulped. “Is it over?”

“It’s over,” Live Wire replied. “We won. Princess Celestia collapsed, but she’s alive, and right now Princess Luna and Cadence are taking care of things. There’s a bunch of Crystal ponies helping out with the injured, too. But we need rest, that’s what the nurses said.”

Bastion let out a sigh of relief and let his head rest on the pillow. “And Ponyville? Do we know who’s okay?”

“I don’t think anypony really died. Well, you know, except for me.” Live Wire snickered. “A lot of buildings got hit, though. Cloudsdale nearly fell out of the sky. The Royal Guard Academy got overrun before the real attack even happened.”

“Have you talked to anyone from Ponyville in the meantime?”

“No. They’ve kept us away from everypony else so far. We’re fine, it’s just exhaustion.” Doldrum smiled.

“Boys?” A stallion came stumbling in, a noble from the looks of it, with bandages over his midsection. He was clutching his chest, and the red spot underneath betrayed the stab wound it was covering.

He looked familiar, but it took Bastion a moment to realise from where.

“Mister Fancy Pants,” Bastion greeted. “Thanks for the help out there.”

“Boys, I heard about what happened. I wanted to apologise. I never even saw you by that fountain.”

“It was a busy morning, sir,” Doldrum said. “And you helped us out a lot. We only got the drop on her once. We might not have made it if not for you.”

“Still, you fought that thing on your own.”

“No, we didn’t,” Bastion insisted. “Chrysalis spread herself too thin. Everyone fought her together. And you took out a Prime we didn’t know was there.”

“You saved our lives, sir,” Live Wire said. “I mean, if I had to blow my big spell too early, we were done for. We owe you.”

“Well, you ended up saving mine when you got the Queen, so consider your debts squared.”

“Fancy Pants, return to your bed this instant!” a mare called out from beyond the door. “We are overburdened enough as it is, you’re going to start bleeding again.”

“Right, that’s my cue.” Fancy Pants winced and rubbed over the bandage on his waist, before limping off.

The source of the mare’s voice came in with an exasperated sigh.

“Princess Luna,” Doldrum greeted. “Hi.”

“Greetings to you, boys, and well done today.” She strode in, smile bright on her face, though tinged with worry. “That was a hard-fought battle, even if it was mercifully short. How are you all feeling?”

“Worried,” Bastion replied before the other two could. “Where’s my mom?”

Luna nodded. “Bon Bon is in Ponyville, and she is fine. She suffered a small bump on the head, but she took her toll on the invading forces there. Lyra Heartstrings is recovering in Rainbow Falls, that’s where we’ve sent all the civilian casualties. And by that I mean the ponies who were drained, no fatalities, due greatly to your actions. Canterlot emergency wards are full of Royal Guards and recruits, for the most part.”

Bastion sighed in relief. “And the Apples?”

“Dug in their hooves, fortified their farm, then evacuated into the Everfree when they were overrun,” Luna replied. “It seems Chrysalis was keen on taking that position intact, for the magic of the Zap Apples, I would assume. Granny Smith contacted me and wanted you to know she scored no less than a dozen headshots, and is quite upset that you denied her a new personal record, something about an Uncle Wesson, I couldn’t quite understand it. But, regardless, I think they had a few frightful moments today. They are not terribly injured, but they are bruised and exhausted.”

“Good.” He chuckled. “For a second there, I thought Chrysalis might have tried a hostage situation.”

“It wouldn’t have served her purposes any better than what she did. Now, Doldrum, Live Wire, your parents have been informed, they are on the way. However, Cloudsdale suffered a large-scale sabotage, so it may take some time. Some of the roads are flooded, and the railroads will need mending.”

“What happened in the castle?” Live Wire asked. “Is Princess Celestia okay? We heard she collapsed.”

“She did indeed. My sister exerted herself in the fight, as she has in the past, but she is fine now. She suffered no greater injuries than you have. You three did very well out there, you know. You formulated a superior strategy and you executed it despite the difficulties.”

Doldrum gestured to the changeling. “Bastion came up with the plan.”

“It wasn’t much of a plan, really,” Bastion said, blushing. “I knew she was stealing pony magic, so I had to know if she needed a live pony for it to work. Live Wire’s little stunt told me what bait she’d fall for.”

“Yeah, thanks for slipping me those amulets, by the way,” Live Wire said. “That was really smooth.”

“Ninja tricks,” Doldrum said. “You really sold the dying part.”

Bastion nodded. “After that, it was a gamble. Live Wire’s power is the sort of thing she’d want to keep around, so I figured she wouldn’t dispose of his body, and she couldn’t spare any drones to stash him with all the fighting going on. But Doldrum was the real ace in the hole.”

Luna chuckled. “You tricked her into draining you. Did you taunt her with anything?”

“I didn’t need to,” Doldrum said. “Mister Sunburst had the same idea we did.”

“Chancellor Neighsay mentioned it before we left,” Bastion added. “She got to Sunburst, and she drained him. That shut down all of her magic.”

“Meaning she was desperate for power,” Luna concluded. “And in consuming you, she ate your greatest weakness.”

Doldrum nodded. “And then she spread it all over her swarm. She choked, they all did. We hoped that would be enough for ponies to fight back.”

“Indeed. Very clever thinking, a classic approach to fighting vampiric foes like her. Your ancestors would be proud, I’m sure. And as a contemporary to some of them, I know I am.”

“But how did you beat her?” Bastion asked. “You paralysed her, just like that. And how did you guys know?”

“When your friend made his supposed sacrifice, he entered the realm of dreams,” the alicorn explained. “He called out to me, and laid out the situation. We were able to coordinate that way, much like I did with my sister when she was briefly knocked unconscious a few times. It was a simple matter to find young Doldrum and catch his spirit as he fell. The others… they eluded me. I was already inside of Chrysalis’s home base when Live Wire fell, trying to use her own network against her. She was clever, though: she hid herself in the masses.”

“But I thought Chrysalis had moved her base?” Bastion asked.

“She had. But thanks to the efforts of both yourself and many other allies, she had to rely on reinforcements, and I was given a good lead on where to look. My Night Guards have sharp senses, detection magic is their strong suit, and my sister delivered a starting point we could use. We found the hive, infiltrated it, and I, well, infected her system, you might say. I took over most of her senses right before she could deal a grievous blow to my sister, and I managed to keep her unaware her forces were wiped out. But to feed her an illusion of what was right in front of her, that I could not do so easily.” The Princess bit her lip. “I am sorry it took me so long, boys. I saw through her eyes for a time. There were some… terrifying moments I witnessed, and I regret it deeply. Especially you, Bastion. I saw her strike you and I couldn’t stop her in time, only slow her down with memories.”

“But… you can just take over a pony’s body like that?” Live Wire asked.

“No, heavens no,” Luna shook her head vehemently. “Not from that far, certainly. Any normal creature can keep such an invader out, even a powerful one like myself would struggle in the best of situations. But Chrysalis spread herself thin. She left openings by using drones the way she did, difficult to breach, but not impossible. And thanks to you three, far less difficult to breach than she expected.”

“So where is she now?” Bastion asked.

“She is imprisoned, contained.”

“Are you going to kill her?”

Luna tilted her head. “Do you think we ought to?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I was supposed to.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. She wanted me to.”

“And yet you didn’t. Did you deny her because you felt it was wrong, or because you wished to deny her what she wanted?”

“I’m not sure. A little bit of both? That’s bad, right?”

“It would be. But, a clever boy like you, I suspect you knew deep down she planning something, and didn’t fall for her trap,” Luna said.

“But we had her,” Doldrum argued. “What would have happened if one of us had, you know...”

Luna’s ears twitched. Behind her, nurses trotted back and forth, and one had gone and fetched a bit of food for the changeling. “That’s nothing for you to lose sleep over, especially while you are recovering. Rest up, all three of you. If you wish to speak with me, wait for sundown, and call me in your dreams. In the meantime, you’ll need to regain your strength, and I will need to take over a few royal duties while my sister recuperates.”

A few days later, Princess Luna strode through the crystal corridors of a cave that did not officially exist, beneath a river that was omitted from any maps, towards a cell that hadn’t seen use in millennia.

It wasn’t even much a cell, really, more of a glass bubble under running water. A steady stream came in from the ceiling and washed down the chamber’s walls, to then go down the length of the pyramid-like pillar it rested on.

Inside the chamber was a single prisoner.

“Chrysalis, good morning,” Luna greeted. “I trust you’ve had time to grow accustomed to your new accommodations?”

Chrysalis snorted. “What, Celestia couldn’t make it?”

“She had another, more urgent appointment. And you haven’t answered my question. What do you think of your new cell?”

Chrysalis tapped the glass. “It’s not soundproof. The water is a weird touch.” She looked around. “Where am going to get my food delivered from?”

“Ah, you noticed. You will not be getting any food delivered, Chrysalis, that’s the beauty of this cell. It was made by monarchs of the Crystal Empire, designed to keep villains like you contained. The crystal is a superconductor of magic, meaning any blasts you might attempt will fail before you form them. So will any magic, in fact. The forest above this cave is an old graveyard for Treeguards, I’m sure you can imagine what effect that has on any spellcraft. But not all magic is cancelled: the stream above you has healing and sustaining properties. You will not need to go hungry for as long as you live.”

Chrysalis growled. “I suppose that’s a plus. Did you come here just to tell me the prison menu?”

“No. I wanted to talk to you about young Bastion. You honestly wanted him to kill you, didn’t you?”

Chrysalis snorted from behind the crystal.

“There’s no shame in admitting it. You wanted him to kill you, so you could eject your soul and reincarnate. Cut your losses, so to speak, start fresh with whatever you could hold onto, and in another five hundred years we would get to the same song and dance again. He’s only a child, Chrysalis.”

“He was mine,” Chrysalis argued. “They are all mine. I made them. I made their ancestors, I designed their bodies, I sculpted their souls. If I didn’t need to let them have their own thoughts and, ugh, personalities, I never would have let them. But that’s the problem with magic, isn’t it? It’s a personal thing, you can’t replicate it so easily.”

“No, you can’t. And you never will again.”

“We’ll see about that. I got very close today, you know. I had those boys right where I wanted them. If you had been a split second late with that paralysis trick of yours-”

“Then Neighsay’s Amulet would have protected them, as he intended.”

“Don’t try to talk big, Princess, not here, not now. You know as well as I do it was you who beat me, not those children.”

“You can tell yourself that, if you like. But I know what broke your defenses. I know the precise moment your mind slipped and your body fell.”

The Queen bared her teeth. “You lie.”

“It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I certainly won’t let those boys know the truth, not after what happened last time. But someone of your stature should know a thing or two about a delayed death touch, and hidden nerve damage.”

“No.”

“Oh, yes. When the lightning scattered through your body, when that uppity Pegasus colt forced lightning to go in unnatural places… that wasn’t meant to destroy you or damage you, only incapacitate you. They knew how to capture you. They planned it, they took their opportunity, and they brought you down like a hunted animal. You were defeated by children.”

Chrysalis let out a grunt. “Whatever lets you sleep at night. Or sleep through the day, I guess. You can’t keep me here forever, Luna.”

“I don’t need to. This cell is designed specifically to hold necromantically imbued creatures like yourself.”

“What?”

Luna smirked. “I told you: those waters will sustain you. You won’t grow hungry. But that’s a whole forest of Treeguard magic above you, and a giant absorbent crystal below you. As you feed, bit by bit, more of you will be replaced and scattered by the water’s magic. It will, slowly but surely, replace you. In time, all that will be left of you is a puddle.”

The Queen glared.

Luna smirked. “Oh, I see what you are thinking. Surely there’s a sliver of me left in some other body? We prepared for that. The griffons have extensive experience in purifying that sort of influence, assuming you even thought to use such a fail-safe. Perhaps you were thinking you could corrupt me, with the little time I spent in your head? That avenue has already been taken care of, as well. A great burst of power to break free? You’ll only hurt yourself. You were exhausted when you were brought in here, and even at full power you wouldn’t be able to manage it. There is nothing you can do now. You will waste away here.”

Chrysalis paced back and forth, knocking on the walls. “You can’t do this to me: you’re a pony. Aren’t you supposed to try and reform me? Give me a chance to redeem myself?”

“Your soul is fragmented, and your mind beyond repair. Oblivion is redemption for the likes of you.”

“That’s it, then? You’re not even going to ask me why I did it?”

Luna snorted. “Laziness and lack of inspiration combined with a desperate egotistical desire for immortality.”

“You don’t know, then. You don’t know what’s coming.”

“More tricks, more deception.”

“No. You ponies came here fleeing monsters you created. There was worse out on this continent when I ruled. There are things out there, more cruel, more powerful than I ever was. And without me, without the power I was about to rightfully take, everything you’ve built will be destroyed.”

“Then we shall have that in common,” Luna retorted. “Thank you for the warning. I’ll make good use of it.”

“You need me, Luna. You don’t even know what is coming, or when it’s coming.”

“Indeed. But I know it will not be today, and I know it will not be you. That is enough for now.”

Luna turned her back on the cell as Chrysalis raged.

“You think you’re so much better than me?! I know how you ponies treat your own! You’d sacrifice each other in a heartbeat if it meant you’d get a sunny day! Your sister experiments with her students at that school of hers, too, and you know it!”

Luna stopped.

“You know I’m right,” Chrysalis said. “How is what she’s planned for Twilight Sparkle any different from what I planned for Bastion?”

Luna turned and sighed. “Twilight Sparkle usually creates her own problems, and while she enjoys some level of trust and independence, she is still aided in solving them, and benefits from her own solutions. You created the problems for little Bastion, and expected to reap the rewards of his solutions. But by all means, keep telling yourself you’re better than us. I’ve seen the bottles.”

Chrysalis grinned. “It’s quite a collection, isn’t it? Heroes, healers, great thinkers, all those souls and destinies just lying around. I can show you how to use them. You could have a permanent Golden Age, never have to suffer mediocrity ever again.”

“See, that’s your problem, Chrysalis: you’re so far gone you can only recycle and re-use old ideas. You’ve become as stale as the drones you farmed so callously. We already know what to do with the bottles.”

“Don’t tell me you destroyed them? Even you wouldn’t be that foolish?”

Luna grinned. “I gave them to some friends of Sunburst’s, and to the changelings of Alveola. Your mindless drones are being given minds of their own as we speak. Your people are free now, Chrysalis. They are free from you, and will never have to suffer your inadequacies ever again.”

Celestia sat next to the hole in her garden, and leaned on the statue. Philomena perched on Discord’s tail.

“So, you sowed those seeds all those centuries ago, and only now you would let them grow?”

They take a long time to grow.

“And your plan was to let them attack the Tree of Harmony, to free yourself from stone.”

At the time, yes. It would have worked eventually.

Celestia let her head rest against the stone. “Then why reveal them now? Why did you block that shot?”

I couldn’t let Chrysalis win, what kind of a dumb question is that?

“Why, Discord? You don’t care if anything happens to ponies. You never cared.”

No, I don’t. But I still have standards.

“So you saved me because you have standards?” Celestia asked.

Well, yes. You’re fun, Celestia, or you used to be, and so was Luna. You haven’t been the same since that argument with your sister. I… I wish I’d been there when it happened. It’s no fun being powerless.

She pondered her next question carefully. “You understand, then, that others feel powerless around you?”

The statue groaned into her mind. If you’re trying to teach me morals, Your Highness, you’re fresh out of luck. You did technically de-throne me when I was a legitimate ruler, twice. Equestria was mine by right, and I defended it when it was mine.

“So you don’t think Luna and I did a better job at it?”

The Crystal Empire would have still been standing if I’d been around. Chrysalis would never have dared to move against me.

“Oh, I think she would have,” Celestia argued. “I think she would have focussed on you first, try and steal your powers, analyse your limits.”

You mean like she did to you?

“Yes, but with one critical difference.”

I don’t solve my problems with nuclear power?

“If you had been attacked while you’d been in power, no pony would have come to your aid, except Luna and I.”

The statue fell silent.

“Do you understand what I am saying?” Celestia asked.

Yes. Ponies hate me and fear me, as they should. They should fear power.

“I am saying that as powerful as you are, you have blind spots, some of which I have exploited myself, if you’ll recall.”

Your point?

She sighed. “You of all creatures should know the creed of chaos mages, Discord. Power that can be taken away is no power at all. You make enemies, and you have to worry constantly if any of them ever find your weak spots. That is what it was like for me and my sister at first.”

But you managed.

“You shouldn’t have to deal with that alone, Discord, that is what I am saying. You helped us. You saved me, even though it went against your nature, against your interests. I won’t pretend to know what goes on in your mind or what existence is like for a creature of chaos like you, but I know I can make it more bearable.”

Are you offering me a way out?

Celestia stood up, and Philomena went to sit on her back. “I am offering you a probation. There will be terms, terms to negotiate, on both our ends. I don’t expect you to behave like a model citizen, but I will want some limits. As you pointed out: a little chaos can be a good thing.”

That sounds like a ‘yes’ on the way out.

“Think it over, Discord. Ask yourself what it is you really want, decide upon it in your own time. I will ask my sister and some associates what they would expect in return.”

It’s negotiations, then. I get to ask for anything I want, you ask for anything you want, we argue until one of us buckles and pretends they’re happy with it?

“Yes. A mutually beneficial arrangement. Your freedom would be one bargaining chip for me, your abilities of detection would be one for you. I’m sure a former ruler of Equestria knows his way around the negotiating table.”

Ooh, trying to appeal to my ego? I haven’t had anyone try that in centuries, that’s devious of you, Celestia. I like it. Alright. I’ll see what I can think of, without reason.

She chuckled. “I expect nothing less. Oh, and before I go, Discord?”

What?

“Thank you. I don’t think I got around to saying it at the time.”

For a moment, she swore she saw a drop of water near the statue’s eyes.

Don’t mention it, Celestia. Seriously, I have reputation to uphold.

Bastion was early to the Cutie Mark Crusader meeting. He sat in the clubhouse, looking over the Apple family orchard, and let his mind wander. His ears flicked at the sound coming up the ramp.

“Hey, Bastion,” Apple Bloom greeted. “Feelin’ better today?”

“A little,” he replied.

She went to sit next to him and look out the window. “A little better is good. Get enough little betters together and you’ll be all set.”

He smiled.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” she asked.

“I already told you.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t say it again, if you think you have to. I don’t mind.”

He sighed. “It’s just weird, is all. It’s still weird. I talked to Princess Luna again. She said the whole bottle thing is worked out now, they’re going to start, umm, ‘habilitating’ the drones soon. They can’t even call it re-habilitating because the drones never got the chance to be anything.”

“And she’s sure that whole story wasn’t made up? About you, you know…”

He nodded. “Positive. I don’t really know what to do with that. Was my soul someone else’s? Am I the same as my uncle? Am I a mix? Am I going to start dreaming of past lives? Whose was the first one she used to make me? What if Chrysalis was right, and I’m just designed to be abandoned?”

She bumped her shoulder against his. “Then she did a real poor job makin’ you, ‘coz you’ve got a lot of ponies who aren’t gonna abandon you.”

Bastion chuckled. “Thanks. That still doesn’t answer my question, though.”

“Well, you’re obviously not the same as your uncle.”

“Not that question. What am I supposed to do with that? It feels like… like I’m supposed to be important, or powerful.”

“Aren’t you?”

“I don’t feel like it,” he replied.

“Maybe that’s a good thing, then. If you really think about it, your uncle died so you wouldn’t have to fight. He died fighting Chrysalis, and you took her out.”

“He killed himself,” Bastion said.

“What?”

“My uncle took his own life. He destroyed himself, trying to kill Chrysalis. She didn’t kill him. Princess Luna was in her head for a while, she told me it was true. So… whatever I do now, my uncle paid with his life to do it.” He fidgeted. “She didn’t take it, he gave it. He decided he was going to die for me. But I don’t know what he wanted me to do after that.”

“Yeah, that’s not an easy thing to worry about. But, if you don’t mind me speakin’ from experience?”

“Please.”

“Maybe you don’t know because he didn’t want you to know. Maybe the whole idea is that you’d make your own decisions. Make your own mistakes, even.”

“I guess that’s true.” He sighed. “It’s been a weird two weeks after that battle.”

“Still worried she got ya in the end, huh?” She nudged him.

“A little. I mean, I know she didn’t, I’ve had proof she didn’t. I’ve seen new things, tasted new things, I know she couldn’t fake all of that, but still… I passed out. I don’t remember how I got to the hospital. What if I’m dreaming all of this?”

Apple Bloom shrugged. “I could hit you in the head again, if it makes you feel any better. Might even get a cutie mark out of it this time.”

His nose curled. Outside, he could hear the buzzing and swishing of Pegasus wings, along with the crackle of electricity, and some discussion about pecan pies versus lime key pies for Royal Guards.

His friends were coming. In a few minutes, they’d have their meeting, discuss how to help out the reconstruction effort, and maybe get a cutie mark in the process.

Aside from the cleaning up, it was like Chrysalis hadn’t even existed.

“You know what? No. I’m good.”

“Good, how?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I told you Bastion would be here already,” Sweetie Belle said, coming up the ramp. “We went all the way to Sugarcube Corner for nothing.”

The others were not far behind.

“You could have just let me do a quick flyby, you know, you didn’t have to come along,” Rumble argued.

“Are they always like this?” Doldrum asked.

“Nah, Sweetie Belle’s just taking over for me today,” Scootaloo replied.

“Girls are weird,” said the Unicorn who had restraining orders keeping him away from petting zoos.

“We should get the meeting started,” Apple Bloom said. “Do you wanna lay out the plans again?”

“No.” Bastion gestured to the wall where they plastered their ideas. “You do it.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive. I think I wanna lay off the planning and over-thinking for a while, hear somepony else’s ideas for a change.”

The End.

Author's Note

Well, here we are. Almost a decade in the making, re-thought and re-written more than I care to remember. The end of the Bastion trilogy, and probably the last story in the Faux Pas-verse, at least for a time. I had one more idea for when the CMC were adults, but given how the show turned out I had to nix it, like a lot of other ideas.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.