//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: All's Fair // by Equestria Buck Yeah //------------------------------// "Luna!" Twilight hollered. Focusing, she popped away from her antagonists and reappeared a few feet behind her towering enemy. Chrysalis didn't even need to glance in her direction to swat her away like a bug with her own green magic. The others had the same idea though it was a bit more of a struggle for them to break away from their current battles. As Twilight's friends charged blindly, one at a time, they too met the same fate. The entire time, Chrysalis stared straight at the nightly princess, smirking in delight. The Elements tried again and again, losing strength with each attempt. Even the normally energetic speedster couldn't continue flying at the monster after being tossed aside for the fourth time. Luna slowly rolled over, straining, and glared at the queen. She received a chuckle. "Look at it this way, Princess," Chrysalis jeered. "You'll be dead soon. You won't have to worry about watching me annihilate your sister next and finishing what I began at the Royal Wedding or razing this city and all its inhabitants to the ground. You also won't have to worry about my hive swarming the Crystal Empire and destroying Shining Armor and that tart Cadance and the rest of that damned place, and no amount of love is going to save them this time! Just lay back and accept it. It'll go so much easier for the both of us." The battered alicorn could only muster a smirk, but it was enough to set the changeling leader off. Just as Chrysalis wound up for a brutal kick, Luna threw up a quick, thin barrier. The strike sent her tumbling several meters, but little damage was ultimately done. A few of her ribs would probably disagree, but she'd live. Chrysalis lifted a single brow and began her slow march forward. "Odd. You should be totally deprived of magic. No matter. I'll simply take the rest once I'm done having my fun." Luna's mischievous grin returned. "Oh, I think you've had enough fun for one day." "What, do you think you have any hope of putting me down after I stole so much of your energies? You must be going mad!" "Oh, I'm not going mad." Her eyes suddenly glowed brightly. "But, you will be." In a rage, Chrysalis leapt into the air, prepared to crush Luna's skull beneath her hoof. However, just as she was about to connect and possibly end the battle once and for all, her enemy suddenly melted into the ground before her eyes. The queen jumped back in shock at the bizarre development. She reasoned that Luna could blink away, but...doing whatever this was seemed off. "What the...?" Her fiery temper rapidly came out again, and she threw her back screaming. "Luna! Where are y-" Everything was black. The only evidence she even existed was her echoing voice. No matter which was she spun, there was nothing except whatever she was standing on. It felt grainy, coarse. She desperately tried to light her horn, but it was a monumental struggle. Eventually, she was able to see the green aura reflecting off something. It shimmered strangely in the darkness, and even more curious, she couldn't see her face in the mirror-like object before her. She turned again, and all around her, it was the same. She approached one of the surfaces. It looked smooth. The queen went to caress it and she caught a glimpse of her foreleg. It was withered and tight, nearly skeletal in appearance. Her gasp echoed in the chamber. Looking over herself, she saw that the rest of her was in just as bad of shape. Her ribs could be counted at her sides. Every strand of what was left of her muscled twisted and bent as she moved. Worst of all, she suddenly realized how unspeakably hungry she was. If she didn't escape from wherever Luna sent her, she'd be dead within days! But how did Luna do it? Did she somehow send her through time and displaced her to wherever she was? That couldn't be! She had eaten practically all of Luna's magic! She wouldn't be able to summon the strength to do such a thing! And even if the dark alicorn could, why would she be starving?! Panicking now, Chrysalis felt her way around the strange surfaces, looking for a weak point. Odd that the formations suddenly looked...really familiar. She tried to flap her wings, maybe find an exit above, but her malnourished body wasn't having it. Gradually, her magic began to fade too and the darkness slowly closed in on her again. There was something different now. Overhead, in the approaching blackness, she swore she could hear...music. The muffled sound of ponies talking. Bells? What? Finally, the changeling's jagged horn gave out. The nothingness barely lasted a second when an enormous visage of Cadance illuminated the room from front of her, a wide, nasty smile on her pretty, pink face. Chrysalis suddenly realized where she was. "Well, well, look at what we have here!" Shining Armor joined in on the right. "Did somepony catch a bug in their net?" "The biggest," Cadance added from behind. "I couldn't find a jar big enough for it, unfortunately. You think it'll be okay, sweetie?" "Oh, I'm sure. It's not like anypony's going to miss a stupid bug or anything." "Nah! Though it looks a little hungry. What do you think we should feed it?" Yet another image of Shining Armor appeared on the left and above. "Feed it? Don't be silly! Isn't the point of keeping something so small and insignificant to see how long it takes for it to wither away and die for no good reason?" The entire room was littered with the laughing faces of her most hated of enemies. She had never felt such unspeakable rage and hatred in her life. Defying her weakness, she charged at the nearest crystal and began pounding on Cadance's face. "I'll show you how small and insignificant I am when I get out of here! You'll wish you were never born once I get my hooves on you!" Her fifth swing suddenly shattered the crystal wall, but instead of breaking free from her prison, she found herself falling into another one. Thankfully, it was a short distance to the new floor she found herself crashing onto chin first, slamming her eyes shut and groaning at the moderate pain. Whatever she was laying on felt similar to the what she was just standing on. Chrysalis struggled to her hooves and slowly opened her eyes. Wait. This looked like Ponyville. She looked up and behind to see a large crystalline castle with a hole punched out the side, probably from where she fell out. But...how was that possible? She was just in the caves where she left Cadance when she assaulted Canterlot all that time ago! Half a step forward and Chrysalis came to a screeching halt. Her swarm appeared out of thin air and had her surrounded – and where did Twilight's castle go? Well...w-whatever happened, her army was with her. All was going to be fine. "My children," she cooed. "I knew you could overtake those damn ponies! For a while, I was beginning to worry. They were fighting well against you. But, tell me, what became of Princess Luna? Where did she run off to?" The only response she got was an endless wall of dead-eyed stares and countless smiles that made her more and more uncomfortable with each silent, passing second. "Well?! What happened?!" she eventually hollered. The first of the enormous group flicked green and became Twilight. One after another, the others morphed into more copies of her and her friends. "What ever do you mean, mother?" the first Twilight asked. "Gah! Switch back to normal this instant! I couldn't stand looking like Rarity and I can't stand it when you look like them either!" "But we are normal," a fashionista replied as they reached out for her queen. "Don't touch me!" "We just want to be your friend!" Twilight chanted. "Won't you come with us?" Fluttershy begged. "Ponyville is so wonderful!" "It is pretty awesome. Just not as awesome as me!" "Or me! Or me! Or me! Or me! Me! Me!" the other Rainbows echoed. An orange hoof latched onto Chysalis' leg – the first of several. As hard as she tried to pull away, another two replaced the ones she managed to shake off. Even trying to fly away was proving impossible as they managed to grab her wings and hold them down while slowly overtaking her. "Play with us." "Sing with us." "Party with us." "Dream with us." "Get...get off of me!" An explosion of green energy stopped Chrysalis from drowning in an ocean of disgusting saccharine and a cacophony of unsettling friendship requests. Between ragged breaths, she looked up and found herself alone in a barren field. Several yards ahead of her was the beginning of some greenery, a few shrubs and trees. Where was she now? What was happening?! A gasp left her lungs when she spun around. In the distance, her hive stood proud and tall at the center of the wasteland. She stepped forward slowly and scanned the surrounding areas. There didn't seem to be any signs of her swarm anywhere. Usually, there were patrols flying around the structure and some hoofing it on the ground. Her trek forward came to a sudden stop when a familiar-sounding laugh came from above the tower. High over the changeling home, the sun shone brightly. Did...it somehow grow a voice? Bah! Preposterous! The ground beneath her began to shake and a near-inaudible hum filled the air. The source of both crawled out from below the horizon, far beyond the hive and climbed to the heavens. The moon was far larger than before, utterly masking its solar companion by leaps and bounds. Luna laughed again and appeared on the moon's face as shadow overtook the land. "I control one of the celestial bodies. Did you truly believe you could beat me?" "I had you at my mercy!" Chrysalis fired back. "You turned tail and disappeared!" The princess smirked. "Did I?" "Stop wasting my time with your stupid games! Come down here and we can finish this!" "What for? You're already finished – and you've got bigger problems than me." With that, Luna's visage vanished and the moon fell from the sky, pulverizing the changeling tower – and the moon itself – into dust. Chrysalis' horrified scream was barely silenced by the sounds of carnage. Gale-force winds and violent shock waves flew from the impact in all directions. It took nearly all of her strength not to be blown over, and the typhoon of sand nearly tore her skin apart. Several short but agonizing seconds raced by. The raging storm went away as fast as it came. Chrysalis' lungs burned as she coughed up the bits of dirt and soil that managed to find their way into her mouth. Finally, she was able to look again at the devastation but immediately regretted that she did. The winds hadn't simply pelted her and everything around her with sand and earth; they revealed that just beneath the ground laid a veritable ocean of skeletons – ones that she recognized to belong to changelings. The fangs, unique horns and overall structure were unmistakable to her. Her heart raced. Her breaths became short and panicked. She was as still as stone yet trembled like a leaf. "Oh, Chrysalis." Her shrunken eyes shot toward the sun. She knew that voice too. "You should consider yourself lucky that you revealed yourself in public among so many of my subjects," Celestia said. "If you had been stupid enough to face me alone instead of at the Royal Wedding, you would have ended up a smear on my wall, no matter how much strength you may have siphoned from anypony. But, in case you don't realize what an insect you truly are to me, allow me to demonstrate." As the solar princess faded out, the sun suddenly began descending upon the landscape. The heat skyrocketed for every foot it got closer. The bones surrounding her burst into tiny flames, seemingly awakening the corpses from their slumber. They reached for their queen, screaming in agony. Though she tried to shield her eyes, the light was incredibly blinding. The first of her own screams came when the hoof badly protecting her vision lit on fire mere inches from her face. Soon, her mane and tail followed suit. The flames crawled along her body, almost entirely bathing her. As she screeched in horror, the first bits of skin peeled away from her skull. ----- Glass-eyed, Chrysalis laid still on the ground, shivering and twitching as a small puddle of drool collected below her mouth. Any changelings that were still conscious and fighting had decided it best to turn tail and ran off, especially after their queen's first ear-piercing shriek. Above her stood the princess of the night, her horn and eyes glowing. Around them the former Element Bearers had gathered, curious as to the goings-on. After a moment, the alicorn's eyes returned to normal; her horn remained lit. With a gentle tug from her magic, a strange dark cloud emerged from Chrysalis' gaping maw and hovered before Luna. She sighed in relief and brought the pulsing form into her chest, wincing ever so slightly as it sank into her skin and restored her mane and tail to its naturally flowing state. In the skies overhead, the moon made its way beneath the horizon, exposing the warmth of the sun onto everything it touched once more. She settled her magic back down as the most obvious question was asked. "What...what just happened?" Twilight inquired. "Her worst nightmares." "Is it...over?" Fluttershy spoke up. "Yes. She won't be hurting anypony anymore." Pinkie hopped uncomfortably close to the unconscious queen and darted a single eye along her mouth. "What all was that that you sucked out of her face?" Luna shifted her gaze away. "It was...the Nightmare." "But I thought we banished the nightmare when we first encountered you as Nightmare Moon. But that begs the question, how did you turn into her again?" Rarity asked. "The Nightmare was born from my jealousy of Celestia, as you know. Though you did destroy Nightmare Moon back then...well, jealousy is an emotion, and you can't simply banish it. Not in the traditional sense, at least. Even to this day, I've had to control my emotions regarding such things. However," Luna shared a smile, "thanks to all of you, especially, it has not been a difficult task." "Why'd you turn into her here then? Shoot, I didn't even know you could do that." "It wasn't my initial intention to. It was more of a 'Plan B' that I had put together on the way to Ponyville. I...didn't tell Celestia about it. I was afraid she'd prevent me from doing what I did. In any case, thanks to Spike's letter, before we began making our way here, my sister and I assumed that she had somehow managed to pit you all against each other, most likely to break you up and then deal with you individually rather than as a group." "You figured that all out in that short a time?" "And correctly too, I must say," Rarity added. "Even though we haven't dealt with changelings much, it sounded like something Chrysalis would do, given their abilities and how they gain strength. What we weren't sure about was if she was gaining power at the same time somehow. If she wasn't, I could have easily overpowered her. But, in case she was, I needed a back-up plan." "How'd you even know how strong she was anyway?" Rainbow asked. "It became clear to me when we were face to face, but not up until that point. I was able to sense how much power was behind her energy beam. We were nearly equal though she wasn't quite as powerful as I was. However, she was close enough to me in strength that I felt it necessary to call upon The Nightmare. My plan was to bait her into absorbing it into her being and then ending this struggle from within." Twilight blinked in mild disbelief. "So, all those times you saved and protected us...?" "Was to get her to realize that Nightmare Moon was compassionate and loving of you all as I am." "No offense, Princess, but that plan sounded incredibly reckless from the beginning! What if Chrysalis was able to figure out how to use it herself once she consumed it?!" "I assure you there was no danger of that at all." Luna glared hard at the fallen queen. "The Nightmare is a part of me. It always will be. Besides, I had a thousand years to learn how to control it, how to manipulate it in every conceivable way. Chrysalis did not." "So, what'll you do with her now?" the younger alicorn wondered. "We have special cells in our dungeons where somepony as power as she can be held. These cells have magical fields placed upon them that negate any spells cast while inside them. She will not be a threat, even once she comes to. Once we've finished up here and Celestia has returned to Canterlot, we will discuss what to do with her then." Luna craned her neck toward the distant royal city and spotted a group of what appeared to be royal guards heading their way. "I believe the reinforcements we asked to be gathered are on the way now." Rainbow took to the air and squinted in the same direction. "Looks like it, yeah. Should be here in a few minutes. Guess they're going to help round up the remaining bugs." A light blue aura surrounded the limp changeling and lifted her into the air. "I'll have a few of them escort me back to the city just in case Chrysalis awakens sooner than anticipated. It shouldn't be a problem, but it doesn't hurt to take precautions." She rested a comforting hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "I'm just glad to see that you're all alright." "You too, your Highness." "Once Celestia and I have ironed this all out, I'll stop by to see how you're doing. I can imagine that whatever she did to you must have been terribly painful. If there's anything either of us can do until then, please let us know." The girls took a quick look at each other only to hide their eyes. They gave Luna a nod, allowing her to fly off with her prisoner and meet the approaching guardsponies halfway. Eventually, they each stepped forward – and Rainbow Dash landed beside them. The momentary silence was thick. "So." "Yeah, that was..." "Something." "Something alright, yeah." Another beat. Rainbow decided to break it – with a good point. "Well, I mean...come on, girls. It was Chrysalis the entire time! Doesn't that sort of mean that all the stuff we said–" "We meant every word," Twilight sadly confirmed. They returned to staring glumly at the dirt. "So what do we do?" Fluttershy asked. Ever the pillar, Applejack was the first to do what she knew needed to be done, making sure to adjust her hat before extended a firm yet proud hoof. "Say we're sorry and move on." Fluttershy caught her gaze first, and they shared a smile. Her yellow hoof found her friend's, followed by a blue one and a then a purple one. Though Rarity was hesitant for a moment, seeing them all smile at her apologetically was enough for her to join in. A second later, it felt as if all their ribs were about to break when Pinkie squeezed them together for a hug. Once the silly mare let them go, the fashionista cleared her throat. "Um...now that we're mercifully past all this, w-what do we say to Spike about what happened?" Twilight hissed through her teeth. "I have a feeling that's something we're probably going to have to both sit and talk with him about. I can't imagine what this whole ordeal has done to him." "Yeah." A small ruckus in the distance turned Twilight's ear. Must still be a few pests left. "In the meantime, though, um...we could go see if Celestia would like any help in cleaning up whatever mess is still left." "I wouldn't mind crackin' a few more changeling heads," Applejack agreed. "Heh, we better hurry or we'll never get a chance to beat Fluttershy's score!" Rainbow Dash joked. "How many did you end with, anyway?" Her yellow cheeks flushed. "Thirty-nine." The speedster jabbed a gentle elbow in her friend's side. "Jeez, leave some for the rest of us, why don't ya?" The girls shared a welcome laugh. "Yeah, let's go kick some more butt!" Pinkie cheered. Six determined grins and nods later, they raced off toward the distant commotion. Those remaining changelings won't know what'll hit them.