The Story Of Sky Blue

by Capulus

Healing Gods and Going Home

As Luna took them into the small abandoned apartment building where Celestia was, Sky was relieved to see that only the palace was still affected by Discord’s spells. Luna unlocked the building with a series of complicated spells, that even Sky had trouble following. The door creaked open, and they all walked in, and up some stairs in the middle of the dusty lobby. Luna had to set off what Sky saw as some extremely elaborate traps, until they ended up in what was probably once the penthouse. She saw Celestia lying down on the bed, sleeping. Sky approached her, and when she heard no protest from Luna, put her forehead against Celestia’s, slowly pushing into her mind. Sky faced stronger defenses than she had found in any of her friends, but as she tested the strength of them, they allowed her easy access. All through out Celestia’s mind, Sky could feel Discord’s presence affecting her, making her not think about her actions. Sky just kept pushing and ended up in Celestia’s ‘Sanctum’, which she noticed was the polar opposite to Luna’s. Where Luna lived in perpetual midnight, Celestia lived at midday. Where Luna lived on a cloud high in the sky, Celestia lived in a field, with flowers and bushes and animals dotted about the never ending landscape. She saw Celestia, crouching in what could loosely be called the middle, surrounded by a yellow bubble, with miniature suns floating around, trying to burn through. Sky flew over, but was stopped about twenty feet away, when she was hit by a wave of heat powerful enough to melt platinum. If it had been real, Sky would probably have died on the spot, or at least received extremely serious burns. As it was, she still felt pretty uncomfortable. She went through her mental database of spells, and found one that would probably work.
“UNDA!”
A huge ball of water grew over Sky's head, and grew in size until it was three times the size of one of the suns. It launched with a huge WOOSH and went to hit one of the suns, but evaporated as soon as it made contact.
Well... That was anticlimactic.
“VENTUS!” The wind spell also did nothing.
“EXTINGUERE!” The extinguishing spell also had no effect.
“Sorry, but you won’t best me this time with your weak little ‘language’.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure! CLARUS!” This spell had quite an extreme effect, but Sky knew it would do more harm than good later on. She had cleared the princess’ mind, obliterating Discord’s influence, but it would disable some of Celestia’s basic functions for a while. She would have her memories, she would be able to speak, but that would be about it. Sky regretted having to go to such drastic measures, but she knew the princess would understand it had to be done. Sky felt herself pulled out suddenly, when a pair of hooves grabbed her and threw her back. She realised the physical effects the spell would have had. Sky pulled herself up, and saw Luna looking at her, a look of hate on her face.
“What did you do? Why did she scream? If you hurt her, I wil--” She stopped as she heard a weak voice from behind her say;
“Luna, my sister, do not worry. If not for her, I would still be under Discord’s influence.” Luna spun around and saw that Celestia had opened her visible eye, and was looking at her with a small smile.
“Sky Blue just did what she had to, didn’t you?”
“Ummm.... Yes... Your majesty...”
“Oh, please! Call me Celestia.”
Luna looked confused.
“I’m confused. What did she do? Why did you scream?”
“Sky just used a ‘Clear’ spell on my mind. While it did help, I wouldn’t do it again for a while.” Celestia laughed lightly at the look of horror on Sky’s face, and the look Twilight was giving Sky.
“But if it weren’t for that spell, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now, or at least I wouldn’t be speaking with any measure of coherence.”
Luna looked extremely excited.
“Well, come on sister! Let’s go and defeat Chrysalis and Discord!”
“She can’t.” They all looked at Sky in surprise.
“Why?” This was from Twilight, who was practically speaking in a squeak in front of Celestia.
“Because, Twilight, the ‘Clear’ spell that Sky used is one of the most powerful for getting rid of unwanted entities in a ponies’ mind. But, if incorrectly used, it can clear a ponies’ mind cleaner than a piece of paper. Sky did exceptionally well, but, to get rid of Discord, she had to give it extra power. I can still speak, but it may be a long time before I can walk. Do not blame Sky though! She did what she had to do, and if she hadn’t of, nothing would have gotten Discord out of my mind. I congratulate her on her exceptional ability with magic, and I am extremely happy that someone such as her was able to wield the Element of Knowledge. That’s right, I know. It’s kind of obvious the way you’re wearing the element around your neck like that.” Celestia said this as Sky’s jaw dropped. “Now young ponies, you must go, and defeat Chrysalis and Discord once and for all!” They all voiced their assent loudly, and then said their goodbyes and left, heading with speed to the place Sky remembered, to finally defeat Chrysalis and Discord.

They approached the garden Sky had described, and stopped.
“Well... At least we won’t have to look for the way through...” Twilight said this as they saw a huge hole in the far wall of the garden. They all walked towards it, wishing to be out of the strange quiet of the place. Even Fluttershy looked uneasy. The birds, rabbits and other creatures were acting strangely. When the ponies were halfway to the hole, they found out why. There were a series of green flashes, and Changelings ran at them from every direction. There was a moment of confusion, but that was all the Changelings needed. They quickly isolated each member of the group, and soon they were only just able to see each other. They were still thrown off by the suddenness of the attack. But when Fluttershy was attacked by a Changeling and knocked out, they shot into action, using their own special ways of taking the Changelings down.
Rarity using her rudimentary Pony-Fu skills,
Rainbow Dash flew about, sending Changelings flying in all directions,
Twilight transformed them into whatever came to mind,
AJ bucked them across the clearing, some actually landing on the outskirts of Canterlot,
Pinkie had pulled out a Double-Rainbow-Thrower, and was burning the Changelings’ eyes with the colour,
And Sky just knocked them out with her magic. Eventually, all the changelings were either knocked out or clutching their eyes in pain from the awesomeness of the double rainbows Pinkie had been firing about. And a few had been killed by a powerful spell from Sky. And there were a few confused pumpkins sitting next to the battlefield. The others were celebrating their small victory, but Sky was sitting next to the dead Changelings, crying. She heard Rainbow approach and put a comforting hoof around her shoulders.
“What’s wrong? We beat them! And Twilight healed Fluttershy, so it’s all good!” Sky just cried even more, struggling to get words past her sobs.
“I-I-I killed them... I-I j-just killed th-them. My people...”
“They weren’t your people, Sky.” Sky dried her tears and looked Rainbow in the eyes with a look that made her flinch.
“I grew up around Changelings. I met so many, I even made a few friends. And yet, I just slew them without a second thought. They were just following orders... I just can’t help thinking... They had families... They had friends... And because of a stupid instinctive reaction, they will never be seen by them again! I killed them! It was bad enough I killed those ones in Ponyville.” Rainbow remembered what Sky had said about the Changelings that had tried to attack them.
“Sky, it’s alright. You didn’t think, and your instincts took over. Just move on, and let’s go and face Chrysalis, and end this... Alright?” Sky nodded sadly, and they joined the others, who were waiting by the entrance to the hole. Pinkie had ditched her Rainbow-Thrower, and was now nonchalantly holding a cupcake launcher on her shoulder, with Cupcakes strung down her neck.
“What are those?” Sky said, gesturing to the Cupcake necklaces.
“Ammo belts, silly!” Sky just rolled her eyes, and they headed into the darkness of the tunnel.
They walked on for ages through the dark tunnel, never deviating from the straight path they were on. Sky decided to explain a few things.
“Alright. Now, we are about to come out in the middle of Changeling territory, or at least, the capital.”
“What?! There was a path right into enemy territory in the middle of Canterlot?”
“I was doing some reading a few months ago, and I found out it had been built when the ponies of Equestria and the Changelings had once been allies, and it was built as a trade route and an escape tunnel for times of crisis. But then Chrysalis became Queen, and she declared war on Equestria... After bringing most of her troops through the tunnel. After Celstia and her guards defeated them, they had the tunnel bricked up, and spells were cast throughout it. I doubt that they are still here though, or the Changelings wouldn't have gotten through. Then Chrysalis brainwashed Luna, made a deal with Discord, and now, here we are. Once we get to Chrysalis’ castle, we have to stay together. No matter what. Rainbow, even if the Wonderbolts themselves offer you a chance to be their captain, refuse. If we split up, you guys will get lost. I don’t want to waste time trying to find you after you’ve run off to look at something shiny.” Sky was being a bit rough, but the others understood how nervous she was feeling. Fluttershy surprised everyone when she spoke up, her voice echoing through the tunnel.
“Sky, you shouldn’t worry. We’ll get the elements, banish Discord, and imprison Chrysalis. Everything will be fine.”
“No. Unless we... Unless we...” Sky choked on the words, and the next few came out with a group of sobs. “Unless w-we kill Chrysalis, w-we can n-never feel s-safe from attack. I h-have to kill her if I-I want to l-live a normal life.” Everyone was looking at her in amazement, as they knew Sky had barely concealed contempt for Chrysalis.
But, then again, perhaps that was just concealing something else...
It was Pinkie’s turn to surprise everyone, when she spoke with a calm voice, still high-pitched, but nowhere near as bouncy as it usually was.
“Sky, why are you crying? We all know how you feel about her.”
“You think you do. I spent sixteen years with her. Sixteen years. You can’t spend days at a time with someone for that long without developing feelings for them. I loved her. Not romantically, of course. I loved her as a mother, and for thirteen years she almost acted like one. Now that I know the truth, I see how hard that would have been for her. It was probably helping her that I was practically an all-you-can-eat buffet. She must have been getting stronger because of me. Even after I found out the ruth, I continued loving her. Chrysalis was the only real mother I ever had.”
The others continued walking in silence, listening to Sky’s confession.
“And I didn’t only develop feelings for her. There were some Changelings I grew up with, and we became good friends. That is, until I found out their true affiliation. I confronted them, and I just wish I could have given the chance to respond to my accusations. A few weeks before I left, I discovered that Chrysalis had actually been the first Changeling to discover that they could feed off of love. Their world is so barren, that until they started the trade route with Equestria, starvation was the most common reason for younglings not aging above five years old. The Changelings were dying out, in fact. But then Celestia discovered them, and she helped them. Now I realise that they probably didn’t want to do what they are doing. I abandoned my friends. It was kind of good though, because shortly after that I started trying to figure out how to escape. I left three years later. I just want to see them again. I want to apologise.” She tried to hide her face, but failed, and they all saw the tears streaking her cheeks. Rainbow moved closer, and put a wing around Sky.
“Don’t worry. After we beat Chrysalis, they’ll be begging to be friends with you again.” Sky just chuckled, and they kept walking in silence, until they finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel, and, avoiding thinking about how dark this sounded, walked through it. They were in the middle of a dark, sad, grey city.
“Welcome to The Changeling Capital, my friends, and my home for the last sixteen years.”

Comments

[Zoomwar]

wow nice more plz!!

[Capulus]

931212 If you're talking about the Seventh Element, I just felt that love was a bit sappy, and it was a bit late to change Sky's Cutie Mark into a love heart.

[Capulus]

931544 Almost finished, just working on the epilogue now. This has been a fun few days writing this.