The Ascent: To Liberate a Kingdom

Chapter Four: The White and Black Alicorns

The journey to Canterlot Castle wasn’t the smoothest, but she had managed to avoid any and all combat since parting ways with Discord. She had encountered numerous patrols, mostly comprised of changelings, and assumed that the ruins of Canterlot were under the jurisdiction of Chrysalis. She was one foe Celestia didn’t fancy running into anytime soon; but these things were usually unavoidable. She had also noticed that the changelings weren’t actively looking for anything; they were patrolling, simply keeping an eye out for any survivors. The Changeling Kingdom had a habit of taking prisoners to feed off in times of strife, and there were numerous hostage situations that Celestia had to deal with when the two nations clashed.

Moreover, her journey to Canterlot Castle had given her sufficient time to take in full view the desperation of her surroundings; there truly was nothing left of Canterlot. She hoped that this wasn’t the case in the other cities and villages too. Stopping in a nearby ruin, she caught sight of two changelings with their back to her. She was able to overhear the two speaking.

“You don’t think that bitch Celestia will get out of Tartarus, do you Sergeant?”

“Nah, I wouldn’t bet on it. They say she wasn’t actually dead when the Shadowbolts found her.”

“Right. Still, I’m not totally convinced that idiot Cerberus has what it takes to seal her there.”

“You should learn to have faith; The Archon is more than capable of making the right decision when it comes to a threat as great as Celestia.”

“True. The Archon is an impressive being.”

“Don’t let Chrysalis hear you saying that, she already killed an advisor for hinting that The Archon was stronger than her.”

“It is common knowledge though, isn’t it? I mean, the general consensus is that Chrysalis is slightly weaker than Celestia, and The Archon simply brushed her aside like a fly. I dread to think what he’d do to Chrysalis if she betrayed him.”

“Indeed. This ‘Alliance’ was doomed to fail; but I don’t think that was The Archon’s aim anyway.”

“I agree, we should consolidate our power and secede from this alliance before he chews us up too.”

The conversation was brought to an abrupt end as Celestia smashed their heads together from behind, knocking them both out instantly. She’d heard enough, and wanted to get to the Crypts before dark.

Celestia soon reached the front of the castle; its brilliant white stone was blemished with the scars of battle, and its front gate was barely intact. A small fire was raging in the corner of the front garden, and one of its stainless steel windows was smashed. She approached the doors cautiously, its heavy frame would be difficult to push open without making a large noise, but there was no alternate way in. She threw the doors open. The room was completely empty. After taking a few steps forward, the true nature of the deserted Main Hall was made clear. It was a trap. Multiple changelings stepped from the darkness and surrounded her.

“Thought you could sneak past us eh bitch?” grunted the larger changeling. “No matter; we’re taking you to the Queen.”

A wry smirk crept across Celestia’s face.

“What’s so funny?” asked a smaller changeling.

“I’ve got to sneeze.” Celestia calmly replied.

“You’ve got to... sneeze?”

Celestia let out a dainty sneeze, before shaking her head and looking back up at the changelings.

“What is this, ash?” questioned the original changeling in relation to Celestia’s sneeze.

Celestia grinded her teeth together, creating small sparks that suddenly ignited the ash, blasting most of the changeling ambushers away. She took the initiative from the smoke and resulting confusion and soared up to the darkness of the rafters, its lack of light providing temporary solace as she began planning.

“Where’d she go?”

“Aw man, I don’t want to die here!”

“Spread out and find her!” commanded the leader of the group. There were only four left, so she decided that her best plan of action would be to silently take them out one by one.

“Maybe she went outside!?”

Two changelings went outside to look, playing right into her plans. She dropped a small piece of wood into the corner of the darkness, alerting the nearby changeling. He panicked and looked in its direction, opening up the other changeling to attack. She swooped down, landing on his back. He cried out in pain; he wouldn’t be getting back up any time soon. She leapt back up to the rafters quick enough to avoid being seen by the other. She dropped down again behind the remaining one and swept his legs, before stamping on his head as he hit the ground. The commotion alerted the two who had left the Hall, and they both came back in to the room. Dropping down behind them for a third and final time, she smashed their heads together, a tried and tested tactic. And one that made her chuckle.

After dusting herself off, she moved through the hall. It was more damaged than the outside of the castle; it was evident that The Archon’s forces met the fiercest resistance of the whole invasion in this part of Canterlot, and that’s when Celestia saw it. She looked to her left and saw how her fallen allies had been treated; their carcasses burned, others crucified. In the corner was a pile of bodies very different to the Guards. They were Civilians. The elderly, the wounded, even the Children were simply piled in a corner. This time, the devastation got to her. She fell to the floor in a mess of tears and emotion. The invaders didn’t even keep the defenceless alive. She couldn’t stop herself from crying, as she remembered all of the young children at the Summer Sun Celebration, how they would gaze up in awe at Celestia’s power and resolve to do something great one day. She was proud to fill the next generation with hopes and dreams. It made her a happier pony. And in a matter of hours, those dreams were crushed forever under the might of one foe. She got back to her hooves more resolute than ever. The Archon would pay.

Opening the next set of doors, leaving the Main Hall, she entered the Throne Room. Here, she would hold court and discuss matters both great and small with all manner of ponies. They were some of the more boring things she had to do, but she loved conversing with the farmers, the simpler characters that lived in Equestria. Sometimes, she was slightly envious of their lives; blissfully unaware of the dangers that lay but a few miles from their homes. Her thoughts were soon cut short by a sinister voice addressing her.

“My my, Celestia. What a... pleasant... surprise this is.”

Celestia looked forward. There, sat on her throne, was Queen Chrysalis, the Alicorn Leader of the Changeling Kingdom. She was as relaxed as ever as she sat up on her throne, smirking at the white Alicorn standing before her.

“Like what I’ve done with the place? A little ‘Spring Cleaning’ never hurt anyone.” Chrysalis hinted at the pile of bodies in the corner. “I had to get rid of the nasty bugs, you see. This whole city was crawling with them.” Chrysalis erupted into a thunderous cackle.

“Those ponies were civilians. They had no part in this war.” Spoke Celestia through gritted teeth.

“Didn’t they, Celestia? I think otherwise. How else were we going to rile you up?”

“You treated them like Pawns in some little game!?” Celestia screamed. “That’s deplorable... even for you.”

Chrysalis cackled again. “Would you like to know how they died, Celestia? Would you like to know what the last thing they saw was?”

Celestia remained silent. She couldn’t take anymore of this.

“The last thing they ever saw was their loved ones being picked at random, and having their throats cut right in front of them.”

Celestia was yet again reduced to tears. It was an atrocious thing to do, and Chrysalis knew it. When it came to mind games, there wasn’t anyone more ruthless than Chrysalis.

“What do you say to that, Princess of the Sun?”

“I say that...” Celestia choked up again.

Chrysalis chuckled.

“I say that you deserve every new hole I tear into your body!” Celestia tearfully screamed. She soon erupted into an explosion of white light, the emotion controlling her thoughts. All she wanted to do was remove Chrysalis from the world, be it with her lifeless body or piece by piece. Her rage was dictating her every action as she shot a massive blast of light at Chrysalis. The black Alicorn was quick to evade it though, rolling away from the throne and firing back with her own sickly green blasts of magic. They simply rebounded off the glowing aura now beginning to encase Celestia. Celestia retorted with a rapid barrage of flames into Chrysalis’ general direction, managing to graze Chrysalis’ wing. Chrysalis responded by aiming a pinpoint shot at Celestia’s head, only for a burning flare to reach out from Celestia in the shape of a hand and grab the bolt, crushing it in its grip. Chrysalis grunted angrily, nothing she was throwing at Celestia was working.

“Are you just throwing magic at the wall and seeing what sticks, Chrysalis?” roared Celestia. Her voice was a deep, sub-equine roar, almost as though it wasn’t hers.

Chrysalis was taken aback. She wasn’t fighting the Alicorn she’d once warred with all those years ago. This was something else, something colder. Chrysalis had to take definitive action.

“Enough messing around, I’ll end this battle once and for all!” The Changeling Queen charged up a powerful bolt from her horn and aimed it at Celestia. “I’ll freeze you where you stand and cut off your head myself!” she fired the bolt, and an enormous explosion filled the room.

Celestia opened her eyes. The sun was bright out, and Celestia realised that she’d been unconscious for a few hours. It was already morning. She was unscathed though, and looked around to find Chrysalis as she pulled herself back up. She caught sight of the black Alicorn lying near the throne itself, her body contorted in an unnatural way. It looked highly painful. Celestia shuffled over to her, and realised that Chrysalis’ eyes were open, and very dry. She had not blinked in several hours, too. Her horn was shattered; telltale signs of a miscast paralysis spell. A thick scent of magic filled the room, but it didn’t smell completely like Chrysalis’. It was definitely Celestia’s though. Coupling this with the fact that she did not remember a lot of how the battle started, only being able to remember what she was talking to Chrysalis about just before. Something was odd here though; and that was how Chrysalis was capable of miscasting a simple paralysis spell. It was easy enough to cast one, and overcharging a spell didn’t shatter your horn. Something was off here.

“That settles it then.” Celestia muttered to herself. The only original member left of the alliance was The Archon, and he was always up at Canterlot Tower. She passed through the door on the north side of the Throne Room and into the Castle Gardens.