//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: Trollestia’s Revenge // Story: The Royal Vacation // by Colt Vulpes //------------------------------// · Chapter 17 Trollestia’s Revenge Chrysalis lost her balance, flew forward, and landed on the ground. It was dark and cold. Where am I? “Oh, was that little jump too much for you?” Chrysalis looked around. She noticed they were now in the ruins of an ancient castle. “What did you just do?” she seethed. “I got us a private place to fight,” said Celestia. “Can’t have my loyal subjects getting caught in the crossfire, now can I?” “I’ll get you for this...” “Oh come on now, I thought you’d relish the opportunity! No changeling army, no royal guards—just a straight fight between the two of us.” Chrysalis did not want a straight fight. She had wanted to snag the Doctor, go back in time, and keep Cadance and Shining Armor from foiling her original attack on Canterlot. But now it looked like that was no longer an option. On the other hand, this scheme didn’t seem too advantageous for Celestia either. Chrysalis couldn’t figure out how it would help, anyway. She had her best guardsponies pointed straight at me, she thought. So what gives? The Changeling Queen straightened herself up. No matter, I’ve beaten her before and I can do it again. And then I’ll go find that stupid Doctor back. “Fine,” she said. “If it’s a fight you want—” The changeling’s horn glowed. “—IT’S A FIGHT YOU’LL GET!” Chrysalis launched a bolt of magic at Celestia, who responded in kind. The attacks met. At first it seemed Celestia’s would overpower the Changeling Queen’s, and then vice versa. The beam-o-war bent back and forth, before settling in the middle. They were exactly matched. Both Celestia and Chrysalis pressed forward, refusing to give up. Now, you may think this sort of engagement could go on indefinitely. You would be wrong. You see, as even a young filly can tell you, there is a fundamental conservation rule about magic: it can neither be created nor destroyed. And both Celestia and Chrysalis were pouring continuous—and considerably large—streams of magic into the same spot. The resulting buildup became increasingly volatile, until— *BOOM* —it exploded, reducing the floor beneath it to rubble and flinging both combatants backwards. Celestia got back up. “Well,” she said, dusting herself off, “that didn’t work!” Chrysalis growled. “I must say I’m quite surprised, though,” continued the princess. “When did you get the opportunity to drain Time Turner?” Chrysalis didn’t answer. She was growing tired of her opponent. That stupid princess had poked a hole through every one of her plans so far... plus she was so annoying. The Changeling Queen got back to her feet again. “I’ll beat you yet, princess.” “Oh, we’ll see about that.” Celestia fired off a smaller bolt of magic, and then sidestepped quickly. Chrysalis dodged the attack with relative ease. Unfortunately for her, it was the first of many. Celestia fired off a volley of magic attacks while jumping from one place to another. For somepony of her size, the princess was quite agile. Chrysalis tried to counter, but couldn’t get a clear shot. Celestia was jumping around too quickly. And, of course, ol’ Chryssie had to dodge those attacks as well. They weren’t too powerful individually, but the she knew she’d suffer a death of a thousand cuts if she stayed in one spot for too long. Eventually the Changeling Queen realized she had no choice. She planted her hooves down, locked in on her target—taking a few hits from Celestia’s barrage in the process—and fired off an attack in the Sun Princess’s direction. Chrysalis had cast a stunning spell, in the hopes that it would get Celestia to, ya know, quit jumping around so much. Unfortunately, Celestia winked out as soon as she saw it coming. Chrysalis looked around. Celestia was nowhere to be found. “WHERE ARE YOU?” the Changeling Queen shouted. “SHOW YOURSELF!” No response. “Oh you didn’t just leave me here, did you? You cowar—” *POOF* “Nope!” *POOF* Chrysalis blinked. Celestia had appeared right in front of her for an instant, and then vanished again. *POOF* “I wouldn’t do that, Chryssie!” *POOF* That time, Celestia had appeared in a different spot. *POOF* “Do you know why I—” *POOF* “—brought you here?” *POOF* Celestia was now jumping around, appearing in one spot, then another, and then vanishing completely. *POOF* “Because—” *POOF* “—I wanted to prove—” *POOF* Celestia appeared right in front of Chrysalis, inches from her face. “—that I’m not as useless as everypony thinks.” *POOF* She vanished again. *POOF* “You got lucky last time, Chrysalis.” *POOF* “I was exhausted that day—” *POOF* “—you took me completely by surprise—” *POOF* “—and you had been sucking Shining Armor dry.” *POOF* “But now it’s time you learn what I really am.” Celestia had completely vanished again. Her disembodied voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. “And just what are you?” Chrysalis was losing (the rest of) her patience. Once again, no response. “Well!?” Chrysalis thought she heard something from one of the old castle’s pillars. She fired a bolt of magic and it crumbled. There was nothing behind it. “I am... old.” “What’s that have to do with anything?” Chrysalis scoffed. *POOF* “Well you see—” “AHA!” The instant Celestia appeared, Chrysalis shot a bolt of magic at her. It hit the princess square in the face. Celestia was knocked off her feet. “I got you!” said the changeling, approaching her opponent triumphantly. Celestia got up. She had a small trickle of blood running down her cheek, but it didn’t really bother her. “Took you long enough,” she said. “Why you—” Chrysalis fired another magic bolt, which Celestia narrowly evaded. “This is turning out to be a fun battle,” said Celestia. Fun? She’s crazy! “I mean, just look at us,” said the princess. “Me and you, a magic duel. Winner stays, loser gets squashed like a bug!” “That’s. Not. Funny.” “Too bad!” Chrysalis thought Celestia was going to vanish again, but instead the princess charged. The Changeling Queen prepared to take evasive action. Once Celestia got within close range, however, the princess fired a bolt in one direction and swerved the opposite way. Realizing there was no way to dodge both attacks, Chrysalis opted to meet Celestia head-on. Celestia responded by ducking at the last possible instant, rolling over, and firing a bolt upwards at her opponent. Now, this of course left Celestia in a very vulnerable position. She was now lying upside-down on the ground, where anypony could just come up and stomp on her. As a result, this sort of technique relies heavily on hitting one’s opponent successfully, lest the attacker be a sitting duck. Or it would be that way, except this is Celestia we’re talking about here. *POOF* Celestia vanished and reappeared roughly 10 feet away, standing upright. Chrysalis, on the other hand, had taken the full brunt of Celestia’s attack. She was reeling from it. “Okay, your turn!” said Celestia. What? WHAT!? Chrysalis was getting the unnerving feeling that the princess was toying with her. “EEEEAAAAAHHHH!” The Changeling Queen screamed and fired a huge bolt of magic at Celestia. The attack was very obvious, so Celestia had plenty of time to dodge. The bolt missed its target and slammed into the wall behind, smashing it to pieces. “Ooh that was good,” said Trollestia. “Try not to scream next time, though. Gives the whole thing away.” Chrysalis screamed again, and fired an equally powerful bolt of magic, followed by several more. “I!” *ZAP* “WILL!” *ZAP* “KILL!” *ZAP* “YOU!” *ZAAAP* “Not like that you won’t!” “EEEAAAAHHH!” *ZAAAP* “It doesn’t matter how powerful you are if you can’t hit the far side of a barn!” “UUUUAAAHHH!!!” *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* “Allow me to demonstrate my point.” The princess vanished again. “WHERE!” *ZAP* “ARE!” *ZAP* “YOU!?!?” Chrysalis looked around, panting. Still no princess. “Well if I can’t find you, I guess I’ll just have to knock this whole place down!” “You know, I’ve been meaning to do that myself for quite some time now.” There was that voice of hers again—everywhere and nowhere. “And what does that mean?” Celestia ignored the question. “I just haven’t had the heart to do it.” “Quit speaking in riddles and SHOW YOURSELF!” “Do you know where you are, dear Changeling Queen?” “Some old castle. I really don’t care, to be honest.” “You know, this castle is over one thousand years old.” “Is it now? I’ve never been one to care for histor—AHA!” *ZAP* “Nope. Missed by a mile.” “Well then get out here and fight, you coward!” Celestia ignored her again. “Really, there is something you should know about—” “EEEAAAAAHH!” Chrysalis was done chatting. She started sending bolts of magic in every direction. “Now now, don’t tire yourself out. What fun is that?” Chrysalis stopped her fruitless barrage. She was breathing heavily from exertion. “Now then,” said Celestia’s disembodied voice. “What if I told you this castle was once my home?” “You lived in this dump? Pfft, sucks for you.” “Well, it was much nicer back then.” Huh? Wait... no, that can’t be... “I see the gears in your little bug brain turning. Good, good.” “QUIT PLAYING GAMES WITH ME!” *ZAP* *ZAP* *ZAP* *KRRRRZZZAAAP* Chrysalis was now firing her attacks aimlessly. “I’m not playing games, Chryssie. And you know, as long as you’re fighting me you should care about history. After all, I was there.” *KRRRRZZZAAAP* “I told you I was old, but you didn’t seem to grasp the magnitude of it, my dear.” *BRFRAAAAP* “When you first hatched, I had already been ruling Equestria for centuries.” *KRAFRAAAAP* “I have seen the world transform around me as the eons passed.” *KRRRBRFAAAAAAAP* “Sister and I built this castle ourselves, over one thousand years ago.” The changeling stopped, as she slowly realized Celestia wasn’t just horsing around. Her eyes began to widen as she took it all in. There’s no way. There’s just no way. “NO!” shouted Chrysalis. “Yes,” replied Celestia. “YOU LIE!!” screamed Chrysalis. “I never lie,” lied Trollestia. “YES!” *ZAAAP* “YOU!” *ZAAAAAP* “DO!!” *KRRRRZZZAAAP* “Wow, you sure are powerful. I’d be in real trouble if you hit me with a blast like that.” ... “Too bad you never will.” “Oh I will!” responded Chrysalis, firing off another bolt in a random direction. “You can’t hide from me forever!” “I beg to differ.” “You have to show yourself eventually, and when you do I will crush you!” “I somehow doubt that.” “Oh, I will flatten you.” *ZAAAP* “I will destroy you!” *KFFRAAAP* “I will annihilate you!” *KFFBFRAAAPPP* “I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings!” she bellowed. “I AM THE MOST POWERFUL BEING IN EXISTENCE!!!” *KRRRZZZFRAAAP* In her frustration, the Changeling Queen had found strength that she didn’t know she had. An explosion emanated from her horn, destroying the castle in its entirety. With the floor beneath her crumbling, Chrysalis was now in freefall. She fanned out her wings and landed on the ground below. She scoured the rubble for signs of Celestia, but couldn’t see her anywhere. Is she gone? Did I do it? Chrysalis was beginning to think she may have actually won the battle, when she heard that stupid voice again. “The most powerful being in existence? Well, that’s quite a big thing to say.” Great, she’s still alive. “You’re close,” continued Celestia, “although in truth I believe a certain dragonequus may have to disagree with you... but that’s neither here nor there.” Chrysalis remained silent. She didn’t quite know what to say at this point. “You want me to tell you a secret, Chryssie?” ... “The fight’s over,” said Celestia’s disembodied voice. “I’ve won.” “...and what’s that supposed to mean?” Chrysalis resumed her search for Celestia. “I’ll admit something: you are more powerful than me,” said the princess. “After our initial skirmish, I realized that.” Then... why don’t I feel like it? thought the Changeling Queen. It was true. Despite her overwhelming prowess, she felt like Celestia had beaten her at every turn. At this point, she realized that she was now struggling to keep her balance. “And let’s face it,” said Celestia. “I’m pretty much as strong as a creature of my kind can get. I have been for some time.” No response from Chryssie. “And I’m not trying to brag, Chrysalis. I’m telling you that I’m at the limit of my power. There is absolutely nothing I can do to bring myself up to your level.” Chrysalis just stood there and listened. Her eyes kept drifting out of focus. “But it doesn’t matter. Strength doesn’t win fights. For that, one needs cunning, technique, precision... and in this case, psychological manipulation.” *POOF* Celestia appeared in front of the Changeling Queen. “Game over.” Chrysalis prepared to attack... only to find that she was completely drained. The attempt alone made her lightheaded. She lost her balance and fell over, defeated. Celestia looked down at her fallen opponent. “For centuries,” she said, “I’ve honed every art I took an interest in. I learned how to fight, I learned how to heal... and I learned how to manipulate someone. It really wasn’t too hard to mess with your feeble little mind; you were quite easy to defeat once I found your weakness.” “What...” “You’re too quick to use up your power. You wasted every ounce of magic you had on your fruitless attempts to hit me.” Horn glowing brightly, the princess walked over to the Changeling Queen. “Time to go home.” · ×