The Ascent: To Liberate a Kingdom

Chapter Five: The Trap

Celestia entered that Castle Gardens from the southern door and was met with an uplifting image. The Gardens had been left untouched. She blinked, and then saw through the mirage. They were just as torn up as the Castle they were part of. Probably Discord’s doing, she thought, as she took in the sight. Not one shrub was left intact. The wildlife had been massacred. Even the very grass was uprooted. It bore no resemblance to the Gardens that were here during the last Wonderbolts Derby. In truth, she had never shown much interest in the Canterlot Castle Gardens; but now that she’d lost it, she regretted ignoring it.

“Maybe I’m thinking about something else entirely.” she mumbled. She followed what remained of the path past the fountain and towards the stone statue in the centre of the Gardens. The statue was of a Pony holding a banner; it had been erected after the first defeat of Sombra, and had a door on the pedestal it stood on. The door was a basically a heavy sandstone block, and was easy enough to operate by using the lever to its right. She went to grab the lever and stopped dead in her tracks; there was no lever in the socket. A familiar, yet disembodied voice echoed from behind the door.

“Where do hopes go up? And pennies come down? And both meet to make a splash?”

It was a riddle. And the voice was Discord’s. It seemed to Celestia that The Archon had used Discord primarily as a locksmith to safe keep his ‘secrets’ - particularly this ‘Filly’ – from potential enemies. Celestia sat on the fountain opposite the statue and began to think aloud.

“Hopes go up? Hopes go up...” she looked around. It wasn’t how the hopes got up, as much as what they were going up for.

“A wish perhaps?” She proceeded to think about the second part. “Pennies? Are they figurative?” she tapped the fountain she was sitting on when it hit her.

“A Wishing Well! But there’s not one here. It has to be something similar.” she pondered. This wasn’t one of Discord’s harder riddles, but it was still a riddle all the same. “These hopes and pennies make a splash. Perhaps it’s a water feature that I’m looking for...”

She put her hoof to her head.

“Of course it’s the fountain that I’m sat on right now.” she got up and hovered to the top of the fountain, where the severed lever handle was placed. She grabbed it and placed it into the socket, before pulling it down. The door shuddered and rumbled as it began to grind down into the floor; the dust from within was disturbed and clouded further vision into the crypts. All she could see were the first few steps in front of her. She lit her horn with a light spell and descended further into the crypt beneath Canterlot Castle.

She hadn’t been going long when came to the first antechamber; it was a dull room, it’s age apparent within moments, and she could tell even from the scent that this room hadn’t seen a living being in ages. In truth, the crypts never saw much use; they were to be used as a memorial to fallen war heroes, but it hindered visits from their families, and was soon put into disuse. There was no sign of it being disturbed, save for the subtle footprints in front of her. Celestia could make out two sets of larger hoofs going forward, accompanied by a smaller set – no doubt this ‘Filly’ – but only one set of large hoofs leaving the crypts. Something had been left behind to guard the Filly. She pressed on, easily tracking her target through the crypts.

After navigating through several narrow passageways, she finally arrived at what seemed to be a newer part of the crypts than the entrance. It was a perfectly round room, with a large hole in the centre, the bottom of which was extremely far down. Hovering over this hole was a small cage with a bed. Someone was on the bed. She was a small purple coloured Unicorn Filly, with a darker purple mane accentuated by a simple pink streak splitting it.

“Excuse me! Miss!” called the small pony in the cage. “Can you get me out of here please?”

“Who are you my dear?” replied Celestia. It would be good to put a name to an as yet unseen face. She definitely had a filly’s voice.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle! I’d say a little more, but I don’t really like heights!” the young filly skittishly replied.

“How do I get you out of there Twilight Sparkle?” asked the white Alicorn.

“I think there’s a button that opens the cage over there!” directed the filly. Celestia quickly trotted over and pressed the button. The two exits to the room instantly slammed shut, but the cage door did indeed open.

“Are you sure that was the right button?” inquired Celestia.

“Oh I’m quite sure...” laughed a voice from the cage. It was noticeably deeper, but still feminine. Celestia turned around in time to see the filly change into a figure about as large as Celestia herself.

“Princess Celestia. It’s been a long time.”

“Chrysalis!”

“That’s Queen Chrysalis to you, you dethroned pretender!” snapped the Changeling Queen. “It seems the decoy I placed in the Throne Room didn’t prove much of a fight. How did you end his pathetic existence Celestia?” she questioned, this time in a far calmer tone.

“He ended himself. He had me quite fooled until his miscast.” Celestia responded. She’d been through enough until now, and Chrysalis’ mind games weren’t going to work on her again.

“That fool. I knew he couldn’t cut it.”

“And you, Chrysalis? I bet you’ve been bored out of your mind in here.”

“True. Indeed, I have been bored, and I would have spent my time draining the life from these subjects of yours if my armies hadn’t murdered them all anyway.” Chrysalis pouted. “Still. Your life ends in this room, Celestia. I’m here to make sure of that.”

With that, Chrysalis ran at Celestia. The two Alicorns had never fought face to face before; when these two clashed it was always their armies who did the fighting. Nonetheless, Celestia had no idea of what Chrysalis was or wasn’t capable of, and as such would not let her guard down. This would be a learning curve for both of the combatants. Celestia and Chrysalis locked horns. Chrysalis wanted to test Celestia’s strength, and was quickly taught just how strong Celestia was as she forced Chrysalis aside and darted back. Celestia was seeking out Chrysalis’ strengths and weaknesses; it would be unwise to lunge straight for her. Neither Monarch was stupid enough to go charging in head first, as their first mistake would be their last. Celestia rapidly fired a series of small embers at Chrysalis who had no problems scurrying away. Chrysalis responded with a salvo of magic, and Celestia teleported away. Celestia was beginning to get the image that the two were of similar power, and decided to start thinking outside of the box. She took off into the air, Chrysalis following suit. The two engaged each other with damaging spells of varying power, evading and teleporting away to avoid their opponent’s attacks. This proceeded for several minutes, all the while Celestia formulating a plan.

“This is a close contest, eh Celestia?” panted the black Alicorn. She was getting a good workout from her white counterpart, and was enjoying every minute of it. “They say that a ruler is only as good as the decisions they make. Tell me, Sun Goddess. Can you call yourself a good ruler?”

Celestia didn’t respond. She watched Chrysalis intensely as her adversary lowered herself to the floor. Dropping to the floor as well, Celestia began running around the outside.

“Got you on the back foot have I? Don’t worry - you’ll have plenty of time to rest soon my dear...” Chrysalis menacingly said. The Changeling Queen began to give chase to a ragged Celestia; it appeared that Chrysalis had indeed fuelled up before their confrontation. Celestia was tired, and hadn’t properly rested since defeating Cerberus in Tartarus. She had to focus, and turn the tables on Chrysalis. The black Alicorn was catching up with incredible pace, and Celestia had to dart inside and go through the cage in the middle of the room just to avoid being tackled by her. Chrysalis followed suit, and as she entered the cage, Celestia nimbly fired a bolt of magic at the cage’s button, locking Chrysalis in.

“You whore... I’ll kill you for this!” roared the Queen as Celestia again fired a bolt of magic, this time at the chain suspending the cage over the abyss below.

“No!” cried Chrysalis as she was sent plummeting to her death below.

Celestia breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her foe plunge. It was short lived, however as Chrysalis fired a heavy shot at the roof of the cage, throwing it open and flying out. The bolt went wayward, and met with the roof of the room, releasing sunlight into the prison. Chrysalis returned above the abyss and began to laugh madly. Celestia was nearly spent, and resigned herself to her only option. She took off, flying higher and higher. She held her arms aloft and suspended herself in the air, before throwing her hoofs back down towards Chrysalis in an almighty heave. Celestia began to glow brightly as an intense beam of light shot down from the Sun and burned the room up. Chrysalis’s screams of agony and shock were soon drowned out in the cleansing flames of the Sun.

“I can’t take much more of this...” Celestia said to herself, collapsing to the floor. Having defeated three of her long standing enemies in one day was enough, and to finish it all off she still had to face The Archon. She also hadn’t had to tap into the Sun’s power for centuries, the last time she did was when her and Luna first banished Sombra from the Crystal Empire. She dusted herself off and made for the exit.