---------------------------------
Chapter 27 - Solar breakdown point.
---------------------------------
Chrysalis was an excellent tracker and knew the forest to perfection, so following the broken branches and Cheerilee's hoofprints was not much of a problem for the queen, jumping rocks and bushes Chrysalis moved at full speed, Cheerilee came much further behind, trotting slower and breathing deeply, the life of a teacher did not help her physical condition, Celestia for her part occupied her time to use a regenerative spell and fix her broken wing before returning to the pursuit of the queen.
Chrysalis stopped to look for more traces of where Cheerilee had passed when in the distance she heard screams and a loud crash, without thinking she ran in that direction, and moments later she found the scene she feared the most.
Red Bug lying unconscious on the ground, Clear Spark desperately moving her trying to wake her up and the hydra slowly approaching its two victims.
"MAMA!!!!" Clear Spark shouted in desperation as he forcefully moved Red Bug in a futile attempt to wake her up, the changeling had received a heavy blow that knocked her unconscious.
Chrysalis moved quickly and stood in front of Clear Spark and Red Bug to face the hydra.
"Easy son, mommy is here." Said the queen.
"Mommy, you made it." Said Clear Spark happy that his mother had arrived.
"Yes, just stay still and try to wake up Red Bug, I'll stop the hydra."
The colt nodded his head and began to move the changeling vigorously to wake her up, while the queen fired bolt after bolt of magic at the giant beast trying to scare it away, but it wasn't an easy task as the four heads of the beast attacked in no apparent order and made it very difficult for the queen to defend herself.
"Well well well, I didn't expect such a favorable scene." Said a female voice from above.
"Really Celestia?, I'm trying to save my son from a monster and you won't help."
"The only monster here has always been you."
Chrysalis cursed her luck as she saw that her problems had only doubled.
"I hope you don't mind but I don't intend to waste this opportunity, don't think I enjoy this but it is necessary for the safety of my nation that you are not in it."
Celestia launched a continuous magical lightning bolt, forcing the queen to respond in the same way and allowing the hydra to attack the queen freely as she could not defend herself from two flanks, the monstrous beast made its attack and the queen could only close her eyes and wait for the worst, but she could only hear a gigantic roar and when she opened her eyes she could see how the hydra had fallen to her side being unconscious.
Chrysalis and Celestia stopped and turned their heads to see a dark night figure fly up and stop next to Chrysalis, next to her came Twilight Sparkle.
"Chrysalis, take your son and go with Twilight to safety, I'll deal with my sister for now." Luna said stepping forward.
"How come you woke up so fast sis, that spell was supposed to put you to sleep for hours." Said Celestia annoyed.
"I have mastery over the dream world Tia, do you think a simple sleeping spell could stop me?." Luna replied.
"I'm sick of you interfering in my plans, step aside and let me finish what I started."
"I will not be moved sister, you directly attacked two princesses of Equestria and consciously put the life of an innocent at risk, now you are not in the best state of mind and I am going to stop you." Luna launched a magical bolt of lightning which Celestia replied in kind causing them to explode in the air causing a shockwave.
Chrysalis tried to cover her son but it wasn't necessary thanks to Twilight's magical shield.
"Chrysalis take your son and let's go." Twilight said carrying Red Bug with her magic and pulling out of the combat zone.
Chrysalis quickly grabbed her son and settled him on her back making sure he didn't fall off before following the alicorn, a little further ahead was Twilight looking around a little confused.
"I don't know this area of the forest, which way do we go?."
"This way Twilight, follow me." Said the queen before starting to run in the same direction they had come from, Twilight was following a little further behind, further ahead they found Cheerilee who was leaning against a tree resting and catching her breath from running so much.
"Cheerilee, follow us this way." Twilight yelled to the teacher without stopping and disappearing from sight.
Cheerilee complained about her bad luck and started trotting in the direction Twilight told her to go. "Must...do...more...exercise....ufff!" Said the teacher as she breathed a little strained from exhaustion.
As they left the forest Chrysalis stopped abruptly on the road and pulled her son down to check if he was hurt.
"Are you okay?, are you in pain?, do you have any wounds?, how many hooves do you see?" Said the queen checking her son thoroughly all over and slowly moving a hoof in front of his face.
"Mom, I'm fine and you know I can't see." Replied the foal taking the hoof from the queen and putting it down.
"I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous."
Twilight appeared a few seconds later and stopped next to Chrysalis, putting Red Bug down gently and taking a couple of breaths to recover.
"Are you both well?" The alicorn asked.
"We are fine Twilight, thank you for your help." Replied the queen.
"You're welcome, can you take care of your son and Red Bug?, I must go help Luna, I'm sorry to say but Celestia must be stopped." Twilight said regretfully.
"Go Twilight."
The princess nodded her head and used her magic to teleport to where Luna and Celestia were, Chrysalis looked around and searched for a place to put Red Bug to rest and recover, she saw a nearby tree by the side of the road and took Clear Spark and placed him under the shade of the tree.
"Wait for me a moment sweetie." Chrysalis went to get her friend and also placed her under the shade of the tree, the queen wanted to help stop Celestia but her priorities now were to take care of her son and her friend.
"Mom, why is the princess doing this?". Foal asked.
"Celestia is obsessed with my past and cannot understand that I have changed, she cannot accept that she is wrong and that I now seek only to live in peace."
Chrysalis could see in the distance the magic rays that were lost in the sky and hear some explosions, but she couldn't do much at that moment, a few minutes later Cheerilee appeared from the forest and walked to the queen panting with every step, she reached the shade of the tree and collapsed next to Red Bug.
"I'm fine... I'm fine..." Cheerilee said taking a deep breath to recover.
"Cheerilee I need you to take care of Clear Spark and Red Bug, I need to go help the girls."
"Go...I...I got it..." Cheerilee replied motioning with her hoof.
Chrysalis ran through the forest in the direction of the explosions, she didn't want to leave her son alone but if they didn't stop Celestia, she or her son wouldn't have a peaceful future, but when she arrived the battle was almost over.
On one side was an exhausted Luna next to a beaten and very tired Twilight, both very attentive to the movements of her opponent, but was not Celestia, on the other side was a tall figure of a cream color, orange eyes, a pair of fangs, a mane and tail made of pure fire, large wings, a longhorn, and her Cutie Mark was a sun that shone brightly, the figure could barely stand and was panting heavily.
Chrysalis approached her friends and stood at her side without losing sight of the new figure in front of her.
"Who is she?" The queen asked.
"She calls herself Daybreaker, but she was my sister a few minutes ago."
"And what happened to her?"
"I'll explain later when we stop her."
"This is what you wanted, isn't it?, my own student and my sister to turn their backs on me?, you wanted to gain their trust with lies?, you wanted them to betray me?." Daybreaker asked exhausted and struggling to stand.
"I don't want any of that Celestia and I told you many times, I just want to live in peace just like everypony else."
"Don't call me Celestia, you damned vermin, I am Daybreaker and I will stop you even if it is with my last breath, I will not allow you to continue to taint my nation with your presence."
"My nation?" Luna asked intrigued.
"Exactly Luna, I no longer need you or anyone else, I am powerful enough to protect it from all of you."
"Celestia I'm not trying to take over anything, I just want to liv-."
"Lies, your life has always been lies, ever since I first saw you you have always tried to take over my Equestria, do you think I don't know that hundreds of your changelings are hiding all over the nation waiting for your orders?, you already tried to destroy us with a frontal attack and you couldn't do it, you tried to impersonate my niece but I found you out, I know that now you are trying to make us all believe that you have changed while your changelings are infiltrating all of Equestria with smiles and open arms, and I will not allow it, I know it is a trap I am going to stop you once and for all." Daybreaker took a step forward stumbling and almost falling to the ground.
"Stop sister, you can't win."
"I won't Luna, as princess it is my duty to protect Equestria from all threats and after I am done with her I will hunt down every one of her minions." Daybreaker tried to light her horn to attack but she was too tired and only managed to release a few sparks before panting again from exhaustion.
"I am a princess too and I also took that sacred vow to protect our nation from all threats., and that's what I'm going to do now." Luna lit her horn and cast a quick spell that Celestia couldn't dodge knocking her down instantly.
"What spell was that Princess Luna?."
"A sleeping spell, a good strong one, my sister will be unconscious for a couple of days."
The three mares approached an unconscious Daybreaker and Luna concentrated for a second and summoned an inhibitor ring on Daybreaker's horn.
"And what are we going to do about... Daybreaker?" Chrysalis asked.
"I'm going to send her to the moon for a thousand years, then I'll figure out what to do with my sister when she returns."
"WHAT?" Twilight asked.
"Is there a problem?" Luna replied.
"You can't send your sister to the moon for a thousand years."
"You're absolutely right, because condemning someone to live in solitude for a thousand years because of a mental breakdown would be VERY bad, wouldn't it." Luna didn't bother to hide the sarcasm.
"Emmm... I'm sorry, it's just...she's been like a second mother to me and... I never thought she would do something like that, I always saw her as somepony full of kindness and understanding" Attempted to answer the young princess somewhat embarrassed.
"It's ok Twilight, you don't have to be ashamed, we used to have other ways to punish crimes like these, we grew up in other times with different standards, I still find it hard to get used to today's habits, do you find it ok if we lock her in the dungeon until we find a solution that makes us all happy?".
"That's fine by me."
"Don't forget that Chrysalis is also involved, she has more right than us to decide on my sister's fate, it was she who tried to kill."
"I have no hard feelings against your sister, but she consciously endangered my son's life, and I will not forgive her for that."
"Then let's go back to the others, then we'll see what to do."
The three mares walked through the forest following the queen until they came out and arrived where Clear Spark, Cheerilee, and Red Bug were, the queen approached her son and hugged him tightly.
"What is that thing?" Cheerilee asked pointing at the unconscious mare.
"Daybreaker, my sister's evil counterpart."
"And why does it look like that?, what with the fire and all."
"Every creature can succumb to its dark side but alicorns having great magical power manifest it in a physical form more easily in their bodies, like I did transforming into Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago, or my sister transforming into Daybreaker."
"So I can also transform into a mare of darkness?".
"Absolutely, just like Cadance or Flurry Heart."
"And what would they be called?" Red Bug asked.
"What thing?" Luna replied.
"What would the evil versions of Twilight, Cadance, and Flurry Heart be called?."
Luna thought carefully for a moment.
"Cadance would be HeartBreaker, Flurry could be FrozenHeart, and Twilight is... BookWorm?."
"I don't want to be BookWorm, I couldn't terrorize anyone with that name." Twilight commented with a pout causing the group to laugh lightly.
"So what are we going to do now?." Cheerilee asked.
"First I will take my sister to Canterlot prison, at this time she is not fit to lead the nation, her xenophobia could easily start a war against the changelings or any other race, but we must treat the whole matter as discreetly as possible."
"You know that's impossible, sooner or later the ponies will wonder why your sister is in prison."
"I know, but I'm not going to let her go free either after all she's done, she must pay for her crimes."
"And who will lead the nation if Celestia is locked up in prison?"
"Remember that I'm a princess too just like you, Twilight."
"I'm going to have to run Equestria?" Twilight asked in surprise.
"I'm not going to put you in the center of power if you have no experience, that I can do, but you are going to have to help with some issues and as you gain experience I will give you more responsibility over the nation, but as long as my sister is in prison we will both share power."
"Then I'll go back to my place, I want to make sure Clear Spark isn't hurt and make him something to eat."
"I'll go with you." Cheerilee said.
"I'll go to the village to wake up the ponies Celestia put to sleep, and early tomorrow morning we'll think of some long-term solution."
"I'll help Twilight, that's too many ponies for her to wake up alone." Red Bug commented approaching the princess.
"Then I'll come back early tomorrow after sunrise and make sure my sister didn't escape."
Luna said goodbye to the group and flew to Canterlot carrying Daybreaker with her magic, Twilight together with Red Bug headed to town, and Chrysalis with Clear Spark on her back went home accompanied by Cheerilee, the queen was very irritated by everything that had happened and she didn't want any more wars in her life.
Cool, keep it up!
Bookworm? I think Knowledge Absorber would be better name for Twilight's Dark side. Because she was obsessed with learning.
Finally caught up. The writing could use a bit of work, but I’m still enjoying reading it.
Huh I was wondering when daybreaker would show up
Twilight Sparkle
Midnight Eclipse
It is a bit disappointing that Chrysalis didn't interpose the Hydra between them to hopefully take it out as collateral. That thing apparently needs to be re-homed, it's simply causing too much trouble where it's at. Maybe someplace where ponies don't regularly intrude its territory?
Eye for an eye, Celestia's crime against the changeling nation should cover Chrysalis's crimes, did we ever see confirmation that actual thousands of ponies died in this timeline from the invasion?
11483019
Cockcrow Fizzle!
11482971
Celestia's Hubris would catch up to her eventually, now she has to face the consequences for her actions and, like Luna said, pay for her crimes.
Now who's the liar? Celestia didn't find out about Chrysalis until it was too late. It was Twilight who found her out, and Celestia turned her back on that correct accusation."
In all fairness, this is technically true. I mean, the "infiltrating" part is misleading. But semantics aside, Celestia/Daybreaker is not wrong, at least not with this statement... technically.
If we want to go with what's already canon (and yes, Equestria Girls is technically canon), then Twilight Sparkle would likely become Midnight Sparkle.
11482865
She likely wouldn't be able to terrorize anyone with a name like that either.
11483019
That's a good one. One of the things that I've always had an issue with the name "Midnight Sparkle" was that it still had part of Twilight's actual name in it. But I'm for Midnight Eclipse 1000%.
11483024
"An eye for an eye" is not a valid punishment method. Because an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.
As for the invasion, if you're referring to the one during the wedding, I don't think there were any casualties then. After all, it was confirmed that during the Canterlot invasion, they technically never committed any crimes. But apparently, they have caused harm in the past, which is likely why when arresting Chrysalis, they had to charge her with ancient crimes. Perhaps ponies have died in this timeline, but they are still in the ancient past, and likely would apply to the show canon as well. As long as they don't contradict the show, the comics are canon. And out of the 5 "FIENDship is Magic" comics, only one of them can't work as canon. And that's the one with the Sirens.
But I digress.
11483132
Yes, we meant in terms of Celestia's current fanatical thinking, not that such was Equestrian doctrine or law. Sorry about the confusion. 😇
11483134
So you mean more along the lines of a role reversal, perhaps as a result of karmic justice?
11483157
Right. Celestia is attempting to impose a double standard, but when all is balanced out, we believe she will be found wanting.
YES FINALLY JUSTICE WILL BE BROUGHT UNTO Celestia\Daybreaker. I eagerly await that chapter.
Also I do like "Midnight Eclipse" over "Midnight Sparkle" for Twilight's dark self
This is mostly food for thought and not really criticism... trust me I would let you know... in Alternate Universes, things can be different. This is just an opinionated observation. And a reflection on things that COULD go wrong...
I mean... to avoid hypocrisy and even catastrophe: Celestia will eventually need to be balanced and reformed using elements and/or therapy, and then forgiven. Unless either:
1. she is taking Chrysalis's canon position and never being reformed. Which would be a tragedy considering all she has tried to do for others in trying to set up a future that has to rely on that kind of punishment less, and more reforming. But nothing really wrong with that otherwise... except the statement at the end ("And...") would double.
2. we are gonna go throw others in jail, Starlight, Trixie, even spike from that greed episode... fizzlepop berry twist... she may have saved the day in the end, but some would seek justice for all the wrong she did.
Discord would go back to stone because he just can't seem to see the consequences of his actions regardless of intent...
All the changelings involved in kidnappings...
Chrysalis, because she would still be guilty of major crimes, and justice that would throw those others in jail wouldn't have a bleeding heart.
And attacking Celestia after impersonating Cadance alone would realistically net Chrysalis a death sentence if Celestia had wanted it.
The only thing stopping Celestia is the fact that Chrysalis is a ruler herself, but the changeling state could be labeled a terrorist state/organization and then hunted down under the pretense she is a tyrant. In which case war propaganda would be spread. People would trust Celestia over her criminal sister and young student. And ponies would rally to her support because they have been terrorized first hand by the changelings.
And would easily be convince Luna and Twilight have been tricked by the changelings... and that everything good Chrysalis has done is and illusion and all her alibis were another changeling pretending to be Chrysalis.
Or even worse, Luna will not be able to take the throne peacefully because ponies would claim she is working with Chrysalis to overthrow her sister again.
And...
Not to mention even if Celestia is convicted... it will cause people to fear Twilight, Cadance, and Flurry causing assaination attempts, dissent, and a call for them to step down.
Which would likely CAUSE Twilight, Cadance, and Flurry to turn into their dark forms... creating a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts... great fodder for a sequel IMO...
At the very least Chrysalis would be convicted of kidnapping even the foal because he was not legally adopted...
The faol would be put into foster care,, and Chrysalis and possibly even all changelings would be banned from equestria.
And Cheerilee would be convicted of fraud.
Cadance might be able to take in the changelings, especially if thorax is canon, but it would hurt their relations with equestria.
But Cherilee's teaching days are over unless she starts teaching either in the hive (a great option) or in the crystal empire.
Now... personally... I dont play Skyrrim without the Parthunaax Delimma installed... so I would forgive Chrysalis and Celestia... but this is not my decision. I'm just saying although I say all this, I wouldn't enact it either... too "bad end"-ish for my tastes.
But if that gives anyone else ideas... it's yours.
Great chapter keep it up
Again, not criticism. Just a written form of an idea that this story inspired in me.
Considering all that other species, other that hipogrifs and yacks, either tried or wanted to try to do to ponies... I dont blame her for being afraid or even hateful of a race that can replace and kidnap people and get away with it. Almost replacing someone she cares about on one of the most sacred days imaginable.
Leaving her in a cave to starve to death. And almost doing the same to Celestia’s beloved student.
This is a good thing to twist against Celestia. Having some seemingly manipulative bug turn her sister against her AGAIN, her neice, and even her student now... one that is supposed to protect equestria.
Snap Celestia's already old and tired mind into giving into Daybreaker.
Celestia genuinely believing Chrysalis tricked them. Paranoia and spite driving her mad.
Being saved by her student without the elements as the final straw the caused Celestia to retire with her sister's suggestion and company... and leaving her student to rule.
All in all, the story was a blast and I like this twist on a Chrysalis story. Truly delightful. I look forward to anything else you do with my favorite love bugs! And I will keep an eye out for anything else you do! Hope you have a wonderful new year!
This story has been most excellent.
Sacred boot? Really? Typos galore is par for the course on sites like this. Continuity errors, too, given how few actually reread and revise what they’ve written to make a coherent final whole out of it.
But now you’ve got me picturing Luna, Moon Waifu, dressed up like Vermin Supreme! Some things are just too silly to be believed.