The Mane Six and Christian thought they had seen the last of Chrysalis. Oh, how wrong they were...
After her defeat at the hands of Christian, Chrysalis has been trapped in a stony prison. However, she has been freed from her rocky state and has devised a plan to conquer Equestria once again; but this time, her plan involves something of a legend...
Celestia is lounging in her throne in Canterlot Castle. It is around noon and she has no plans for anything later on today. She sighs happily. It was nice to just sit back and take a breather. However, this moment of peace and quiet was short lived. Seconds later, a royal guard enters the room and marches up to the throne; stopping to bow before the Princess.
“Is there anyone in the area?” The princess asks, her eyes closed as she slumps down into her throne.
“No, Your Majesty.” The guard responds. Celestia smiles.
“Excellent.” Suddenly, her face warps into that of a wicked and evil smile. Her eyes began to glow an eerie green; followed by her white coat and multicolored hair. The Princess’s royal and pristine appearance transforms into a grotesque form. Her coat turns green and full of holes, followed by her hair and the rest of her body. Queen Chrysalis now stood before the guard. The guard also becomes surrounded in a green glow before transforming into a similar form, albeit smaller that the Changeling Queen. “It’s already been a week and no pony suspects anything!” The Queen gets up and moves over to one of the stained glass windows. “I assume the doppelgangers are having no trouble if that’s the case.” She asks her minion.
“Yessssss, Queen Chryssssssalissssss. They are adapting quite well to the Elementssssss of Harmony’ssssss lifesssssstylessssss.” The Queen smiles.
“Perfect. With those pests and Celestia and Luna out of the way, I can start my plan for revenge.” She trots away from the window and towards a staircase leading lower into the castle depths. “First off, I’m going to see what Celestia has been doing in her free time. The library of the castle should provide the answer for that.” She starts heading down. “I’ll be right back. If anything happens, take care of it.”
“Of coursssssse my Queen.” The drone responds. Chrysalis continues to head downstairs towards two doors. Smiling at the right door she thinks to herself:
“Nah, I’ll torment my prisoners later. First, the library…” She swings open the left door and enters the brightly lit room. Five-story high bookshelves dotted the athenaeum. Rows upon rows of records and fables lined the room. Chrysalis smiled. “Now… Where to start?” She spreads her wings and soars upwards towards the first line of books on her left. “Knowing Celestia, she would keep important records near the top…”
She flew higher and higher to the point where her horn is just grazing the ceiling. She scans the top most rows of books to see if she could find anything interesting. She plucks a book from the shelf. “History of Equestria? Boring!” She tosses it over her shoulder and to the ground. She moves a bit to the right and pulls out another book. “A tome on powerful black magic? Warmer, but still no.” She tosses that book to the ground too.
Irritated at this point, she starts scanning the spines of each book for something to catch her eye as she moves down the shelf. “Equestrian Dictionary, Dragon Anatomy, Wing Preening?! How does Celestia have this many boring books in a library this big?!” She shouts as she reaches the end of the shelf. Fed up with not finding anything remotely interesting, she starts her decent. That is, until something catches her eye: the very last book on the shelf.
Dust had coated the entirety of the book; making the spine impossible to read. Curious, Chrysalis plucks the book from its ancient home and, with a strong blow, cleans off the tome. “Equestrian Legends? Hmm…” She flips open the first few pages and instantly sighs and rolls her eyes. “Of course! It’s just a lame book on the Elements of Harmony. Great.” She continues flipping through the book rather quickly; scanning a few words per page. “Nightmare Moon… Discord… Elements of Conflict…” She pauses for a second. That last one sounded a bit… off. “Wait a second…” She flips back a few pages and sure enough, the title of the chapter read in big, bold letters:
“The Elements of Conflict.”
“Elements of Conflict? I’ve never heard of these… things.” She starts reading on and becomes bewildered at what she is seeing. “Four elements created by the princesses of day and night along with the being of chaos… Used to balance out order after chaos’s imprisonment… Less in numbers but equal in power…” Chrysalis is stunned at what she is reading, but the last line of the first paragraph makes her mouth water. “Less in numbers but equal in power, eh? These elements could make me the strongest being in all of Equestria! Plus, those meddlesome Elements of Harmony would be a thing of the past for good! I must find these four elements. With their power, nothing will stop me!” Chrysalis cackles, her laugh echoing throughout the library.
“Celestia! You are needed in the throne room!” A voice yells from below. Chrysalis quickly recognizes the voice as the ‘guard’ she left in the throne room. She transforms back into the form of the princess and flies back down to the floor of the library.
“I’ll be right there!” Chrysalis yells in pitch perfect tone as she dashes toward the doorway; the book still hovering next to her. She rushes toward the door, tossing the book onto a small table next to the doorway.
Back in the throne room, the guard is sitting in front of a cross-eyed mailpony who is just waving goodbye. Chrysalis climbs up the stairs and sighs to regain her breath as she enters the room.
“What seems to be the problem?” The camouflaged queen asks. The guard turns and reveals a cardboard box that the pony had just dropped off.
“It’s a package for you, Your Majesty; Your eyes only.” The guard answers. Celestia plucks the package from her guard and peers down the hall to see if the pegasus had left. Her answer came in the form of a crashing sound followed by a door slamming. With the coast clear once more, Chrysalis and the drone take off their disguises again.
“That pony was always a weird one.” She comments. “Anyway, let’s see what this is…” Chrysalis slices open the small package and looks inside. Confused, Chrysalis pulls out a regal-looking envelope; covered with pick lace and written in cursive ink. She reads the front of the envelope:
“From Candance,” Chrysalis shakes a bit as she growls. “The name alone makes my blood boil. What does she have that’s so important; Celestia’s rainbow hair conditioner?” She flips open the envelope and pulls out the letter from inside. Without hesitation, she starts reading aloud:
“Dearest Celestia,”
“While I am very appreciative for the wedding gift that you have given to Shining Armor and me a few months ago; I must inform you that we can no longer keep such a thing with us.”
Chrysalis stops reading and raises a brow and the Princess of Love’s words. “She’s so dramatic.” She reads on:
“After the incident with Chrysalis at our wedding and the rumors of Sombra’s return here at the kingdom; Shining Armor and I realized that having an item of this sort of power in our possession currently is not only dangerous to the Crystal Kingdom, but to all of Equestria.”
Chrysalis skims down to the last line which makes her jaw hit the floor.
“The Elements of Conflict are better off together and safe with you.”
Chrysalis stares at the piece of paper hovering before her; re-reading the last sentence over and over again. She glances over to the brown package next to her. She gains a huge, evil grin as she hoists the package into the air and in front of her. The drone in front of her starts to look distressed.
“What are thesssssse ‘Elementssssss of Conflict’, Chryssssssalissssss?” The drone asks. Chrysalis doesn’t answer as she picks up the package and starts rotating it with her magic; eyeing it with wonder.
“The key to everlasting power.” She says as she gains her smile again. “These elements will allow us to thrive all over Equestria! Nothing will be able to stop us!” The drone gulps as Chrysalis howls with laughter. “We could finish off Celestia and her precious Elements of Harmony for good! Canterlot would be nothing more than a breeding ground for the hive! Nothing could stop us!” She cackles aloud again.
“With all due resssssspect Your Highnessssssss, thesssssse elementssssss sssssseem very dangeroussssss.” The drone interrupts the Queen’s moment of joy. “We don’t even know what kind of power we are dealing with! It could wipe out the entire hive if not usssssed correctly!” The Queen scoffs.
“So we lose a few drones, we’ll spawn more.”
“How DARE you!” The drone hisses at Chrysalis, making her jump a bit in surprise. A drone yelling at her? Unheard of within the hive. “Do you not care for the resssssst of ussssss?!”
“Of course I care for my hive!” Chrysalis responds. “However, I care for the entirety of my hive and its survival in the future. If a few changelings are sacrificed so that we may thrive in the future, it’s no big deal.”
“No big deal?! How could you ssssssay that?!” The drone screeches at her. At this point, Chrysalis’s somewhat annoyed frown turns into an irate look displayed on her face.
“You dare question your Queen on what’s right and wrong?! Do you not trust your Highness’s plans?!” Chrysalis says, encroaching onto her drone’s position.
“Not when they rissssssk desssssstroying ussssss all!” The drone replies, unwavering at his higher up. The Queen gasps at her drone’s rebellious attitude. She has never seen such a thing in one of her drones. She glares into her soldier’s crossed eyes and exhales heavily, her breath warm and just visible as it hits his face.
“And what are you going to do to stop me from doing whatever I please?” The Queen asks her tiny drone. The drone looks at her face defiantly for a period of time, trying to think of something to say or do to show how wrong she was about her plan with these…Elements. Suddenly, he glances at the package at the hooves of his Queen. Quickly, he conjures up a plan, snickering at simplicity of the conceived idea.
“Thissssss!” In a split second, the drone snatches the package from the ground and zips toward the front door at a breakneck speed. It takes Chrysalis not even a second to realize what was developing before her and starts to unleash a barrage of green lasers toward her betraying bug. With pristine evasive maneuvers, the drone dodges every magic beam fired near him and crashes into the front door of the castle. The door swings open into the clear night sky and the drone flies off into the distance.
Chrysalis stood there in the middle of the room, her eyes strained and her lips curled into an evil and angry frown as she stares at the castle floor. That drone took the item that would ensure her rule for decades, even centuries! She was not about to let some insignificant, unruly, and little drone destroy her plans! She slowly raises her head as her horn in enveloped in a green hue. In seconds, hundreds of changelings swarm above their Queen; fangs glowing white in the pitch black darkness. Through the hum of her army’s wings, her demands are heard loud and clear:
“I want you all to find out where he went; and when you do, get back my element… and finish him off!” She roars to her changelings.
“Yessssss, Queen Chryssssssalissssss!” The changeling chorus booms as they flock out of the castle doors and into the night sky. After a few seconds, Chrysalis remains as the only one left. With a flash of a wicked smile, she turns and starts to head back downstairs.
“Mmmhmm,” She laughs. “While they find that traitor, I must get back to my books.”
----------
Three Days Later…
The multitude of changelings flock back into the throne room just after dusk to conceal themselves against the night sky; Chrysalis sits in the middle of the room, unwavering as her army returns and lands in front of her. The changeling in the front of the massive group marches forward and bows before his Queen.
“Is the deed done?” Chrysalis asks her drone. With a malicious grin, the changeling stomps the ground. Seconds later, another changeling zips up and lands next to him, holding something thin and rather large in his mouth. The changeling spits out the object, which floats slowly to the ground and lands onto the ground in front of Chrysalis. Chrysalis smiles: It’s a changeling’s right wing.
“Let’ssssss jussssst ssssssay that the ssssssituation hassssss been dealt with permanently.” The changeling says.
“And what about the element?” The Queen asks.
“I’m ssssssorry, my Queen. We did not find the element he had sssssstolen from you.” The changeling tenses up as he prepares to hear his Queen’s voice scold at him for failing his mission. Yet Chrysalis remains content.
“Very well. We do not need such a thing now anyway.” Chrysalis says.
“However, we did find ssssssomething, my Queen.” The changeling remarks.
“Oh? What did you find?”
“A pony, a pegassssssussssss more sssssspecifically. It wassssss found knocked out while we were taking care of our little... problem. We believe it to be the child of the traitor.” Chrysalis’s face shows a shocked expression.
“Hmm, no wonder he was acting the way he was.” Chrysalis puts a hoof on her chin to think for a second. “Do you still have this… child with you?” She asks.
“Yessssss, my Queen.”
“Good, it could be useful for our next plan. Those elements will be useless in our total takeover if this new plan works as it should.” The changelings all look at each other, quite confused on what their queen is talking about. In fact, they assumed they were going to be scolded at when they could not find the element.
“If you don’t mind me assssssking, my Queen; why do we not need the element you were sssssseeking?” The head drone asks out of confusion. Chrysalis laughs a little under her breath.
“Oh my dear changeling, I have a much better idea to prolong our Equestrian rule.” She says, laughing a little again. “Tell me… Have any of you changelings ever heard of Earth?”
Christian and Twilight are stationed at two ends of an open field right outside Golden Oaks Library. The noon sun high above them, almost as if the face-off is ripped right from a western film. Twilight takes a quick, deep breath. Training Christian in the magical arts has been a daunting project to say the least. However, the human has shown promise in his three weeks of lessons. With a shake of her head, she readies herself for today’s little outing.
“Alright Christian, you ready for your magic lessons today?”
“You better believe it, Twitty! I’ve been practicing all week!” Christian cracks his knuckles in readiness. Training with Twitty has been a great way to practice his newfound skill; as long as he had absolute focus…
“You said that last time before you hit that carriage!” Christian’s face scrunches at Dash’s comment before turning into an unamused expression.
“Thank you Dash for that annoying comment!” He sighs, a bit irked now. “Let’s do this. What’s first, Twitty?!” He shouts to his teacher.
“First, let’s do your easiest spell. I want you to block my magic. So…” Twilight’s horn starts to glow a faint purple. “BLOCK!” A vivid purple blast flies out of Twilight’s horn, aimed right at Christian’s face. Christian eyes light up.
“OH GEEZ!” He quickly throws out both of his hands, palms open toward the projectile. In the blink of an eye, a pale orange shield forms in front of him. The purple laser smashes against the newly made shield and vaporizes on contact. Twilight, realizing Christian’s quick casting, smiles. “Nice form, Christian!” She yells. Christian opens his eyes to see what happened. Relieved that he isn’t suffering from a giant burn mark on his face, he sighs. He looks up at his teacher.
“A little warning would be nice next time!” Twilight laughs a bit at the human.
“I said ‘block’!” She responds. Christian’s nostrils flare at the comment.
“Never mind that, Christian; you performed nicely.” A voice says from the sidelines. Christian turns to see Celestia sitting next to the rest of the Elements of Harmony and Vague.
“Celestia’s right, Christian; you sure are gettin’ the hang of your magic!”
“Yea, until he hits another mailbox.” Dash remarks.
“Oh, c’mon Dash. Christian has been getting a little better.” Vague says, floating above her.
“Meh, I’ve seen better.” She responds.
“Well, my boyfriend is no amateur, Dash.” A voice says behind the rainbow pegasus. All heads turn to see Dee-Dee, blonde-haired, gray-clad human Dee-Dee. The Elements sit there, flabbergasted.
“Wait a sec, Dee-Dee isn’t a pony? STOP THE PRESSES!” Vague yells as he falls to the ground, perplexed. Dee-Dee slowly inches away from the fiery lunatic.
“Uh, what’s up?” She asks.
“Well Dee-Dee… you’re a human!” Pinkie exclaims. Dee-Dee pivots a hip in annoyance.
“So?”
“Didn’t Christian say something about being your OC-thingy when you got here?” Pinkie questions, making Christian hop into the conversation.
“Pinkie, that was just a theory; since the portal is magic; I’d assume magic has something to do with it.” Christian states while holding back the rest of Twilight’s magic with one hand holding up his shield. “Ten bucks says that Dee-Dee has some plastic on her that makes the portal’s magic inert.”
“Well, my backpack does have some plastic in it” She answers.
“See?” Christian says while he blocks the last of Twilight’s barrage.
“Phew!” She says, a bit winded. “Nice work, Christian! That’s enough for today!”
“What?! That’s it for the day?!” Christian complains. Normally, Twilight would give him at least five lessons for the day. “Maybe Celestia’s presence is making her a bit nervous to try anything else?” He says quietly to himself.
“Well, that’s it for your shield training. How about we try a bit of conjuring, Christian?”
“Umm… Alright, I guess.” He says, nervously. Christian had never tried to conjuring something with his magic abilities before. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
“Obviously, something simplistic. How about…” The unicorn thinks to herself. “Ah ha! Perfect! Christian, conjure up a pen for me!” Christian looks at her, astonished at her item of choice and laughs.
“That’s it? A pen? Pfft, easy.” He says, shrugging at the request. Conjuring a bit of magic in hands, he snaps his fingers and after a brief flash of light, the object he created appears before him.
“See? Piece of cake!” He says triumphantly.
“Uhh, Christian?”
“Yes, Twitty?”
“That’s a hen.”
Christian’s eyes dart open after he hears the results of his spell. In disbelief, Christian glances down at the ground in front of him and sure enough, there was a hen sitting in front of him. His jaw drops as he takes in the slip-up. Meanwhile, Dash and Vague start laughing hysterically at Christian’s screw up, prompting the human to fire two darts at the flanks of the mocking ponies.
“How the heck did I conjure a hen?!” Christian yells to Twilight.
“Interesting!” Celestia exclaims. “Try another spell for him, Twilight.”
“Huh? Uh… Okay.” She responds, a bit hesitant. “Ready, Christian?” She asks as Christian shakes his head rapidly and refocuses himself.
“Alright, I’m ready this time! Hit me, Twitty!” He yells to her.
“Alright then! Christian, conjure up a mug!”
“One mug coming up!” Christian shouts as his hands glow a fiery orange once more. With a strong snap of his fingers he spawns another object in front of him. After another flash of light in front of the human, he yells to Twilight for confirmation; as his eyes are closed. “Well… Did I do it?”
“Uhh… sorta.”
“Sorta? What do you mean-” Christian says, bewildered. He opens his eyes to reveal an oriental-looking rug laying at his feet. A disgruntled expression washes over Christian’s face. “A RUG?! Give me a bloody break! How does this keep happening!?” He yells into the sky.
“Amazing!” Celestia shouts from the sidelines.
“Huh?!” Everyone else exclaims.
“Amazing?” Christian says, befuddled. “Uhh PC, I didn’t perform the spell correctly.”
“That’s why it’s so amazing, Christian!” She says as she gets up and starts to trot toward the human. “While you have Twilight’s prowess and magical talent; you still lack in conjuring easy spells. However, when it comes to harder spells; such as your shield and psychokinesis; you seem to perform them quite easily.” She explains. “I also find it quite interesting that, unlike unicorns, you learn spells through physical means rather than studying books and tomes. The human mind is quite odd and interesting in the way it works.”
“You’re telling me.” Christian says; a bit annoyed at this new found information. “Guess I’ll just have to practice more.” He says with a shrug. “Ain’t that right, Twitty?” He shouts behind him as Twilight trots up to the group.
“Looks like it, Christian! We’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Cool.” He replies.
“Well, if that’s going to be the lesson for today;” Celestia starts. “I might as well head back to the castle and-“
“YOUR MAJESTY!” A voice booms from above the group. The crowd looks up to see a squadron of royal guards flying directly at them. With a quick turn, the pegasi land in front of Celestia. Distressed looks are traded among the ponies before them as the head guard approaches Celestia with a panicked look on his face. “Your Majesty, you must return to the castle immediately!”
“What’s the problem?” She asks with serious concern.
“Your Majesty, a patrol just returned with news of a group of changelings just south of Ponyville.”
“No way!” Christian shouts in protest. “I made all those stupid bugs and their queen into lawn ornaments the first time I came here!”
“Well,” the guard continued; “apparently a few of them got away.” He turns back to Celestia. “Your Majesty, we must get you to the castle for safety. We don’t know if Chrysalis is commanding them; but we must be cautious.”
“I understand.” Celestia answers. “Then let’s...“
“Hang on a second!” Christian interrupts. “Where did you say your patrol spotted those insects?”
“South of Ponyville.” The guard answers without hesitation. “In the Badlands.”
“Good,” Christian answers with a devious smile. “Cause I’m going after them.” He turns to Twilight; “Twitty, you can teleport me there, correct?”
“Yes, but-“
“Good, then let’s go.” The human cuts her off. The rest of the Elements of Harmony look at each other quite worried at what their human friend wanted to do. Celestia and her guard also looked a bit concerned.
“Your Excellency,” A guard starts. “Going after these changelings can prove risky. With all due respect…”
“I’ll stop you right there.” Christian interrupts yet again, an annoyed and aggravated look on his face; “If you think you’re going to stop me from going after the bugs whose Queen kidnapped me and turned into a pony for her own nefarious purposes, then you’ve got another thing coming!” The guard steps back, a bit startled at the human’s attitude. “Plus, I won’t be going alone.” He turns toward the girls. “I’ve got the Elements of Harmony, right?” The girls nod with a smile.
“Hang on a sec, Rarity.” Dee-Dee butts in. “If all of you go and help Christian take out the changelings in the Badlands; who will stay with Celestia?”
“What do you mean?” The princess asks.
“What if Chrysalis plans a diversion and heads straight for the castle with another army of changelings? You’ll have no line of defense!” The guards’ faces become awash with vexation at Dee-Dee’s comment. The head guard jumping forth to defend his fellow squadron.
“Excuse me, Ms. Evermore; we are perfectly capable of stopping a bunch of changelings!”
“Really? How’d you all fare the other two times changelings invaded Canterlot?” Dee-Dee questions with a smirk on her face. The guard goes to counter her argument, but then; realizing that she is absolutely correct; slowly steps back in line with the other guards.
“Thought so.”
“Ms. Evermore does bring up an excellent point.” Celestia acknowledges. “Even if it is unlikely that Chrysalis has managed to become free from her stone imprisonment, some extra security at the castle would be helpful."
“Makes sense to me.” Applejack says. “So who else is going to go help Christian and Twi?” The girls look at each other with unwavering looks as they try to silently decide who is staying and who is going. Finally after a few seconds, Rarity raises a hoof.
“I’m going with Twilight and Christian!” The group’s eyes widen with pure shock as the white unicorn steps toward the human, who is surprised himself.
“Wow Rarity, didn’t expect you to want to fight.”
“Really? Even after what happened on your planet?” Christian suddenly remembers Rarity’s fighting back at Area 51.
“Never mind.” Christian says with a bit of smile. “Anyone else?”
“Count me in!” Dash yells. “Can’t wait to kick some changeling hide! You in Vague?”
“Of course I’m in! Can’t just leave my best friend and my marefriend while they fight!” Vague floats down and nods to Christian. Christian himself looks towards Dee-Dee, who looking back at Celestia with a little bit of worry.
“You staying Dee?” Christian asks. Dee-Dee doesn’t respond for a few seconds, still looking at Celestia. She slowly turns and nods.
“Yea, I’ll stay. Not much of a fighter anyway.” She walks up to Christian and looks softly into his eyes. “Just don’t do anything risky, okay?”
“No problem, Dee. We’ll be fine.” She nods understandingly before running back to the other girls.
“The rest of you staying here?” Christian asks. The other three Elements of Harmony nod.
“You betcha, Christian!” Applejack responds.
“We can… um… help Celestia.” Fluttershy murmurs.
“Yea don’t worry, Celestia is safe with us!” Pinkie jumps over to Christian. “You just get those changelings, alright?”
“You betcha, Pinkie!” He turns toward his group of four ponies, all smiling with confidence and eager to protect Equestria. He smiles. Those dumb bugs won’t know what hit them. He thinks to himself. “You guys ready?” The ponies nod in confirmation as he walks next to Twilight.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get this show on the road, Twitty!”
“No problem!” She says as her horn starts glowing a deep purple color that, after a few seconds, starts to grow larger and larger; with occasional white flashes flickering from her horn.
“Good luck.” Celestia says to the crowd just as they vanish from sight. The Princess looks onward to where the group stood a few seconds ago.
“Somethin' wrong, Princess?” Applejack asks.
“No, I’m fine. I’m confident that those five will be able to handle anything them encounter.” She says, still thinking about the choice.
“Your Majesty, we must get going.” One of the guards breaks Celestia’s train of thought.
“Of course.” The guards start to lead Celestia, Dee-Dee, and the rest of the ponies back to the castle. Celestia is still deep in thought about what’s occurring, but more importantly on what Dee-Dee said. “Dee-Dee,” She addresses the human in mind
“Hmm?” Dee-Dee responds.
“What made you think that if Chrysalis had returned, she would plan a diversion?” Dee-Dee shrugs at the question.
“Honestly, it just seemed like something I would do if I was in her position; leading some of the Elements of Harmony and Christian away from the castle to make it an easier target and such; though it does seem kind of stupid now that I think about it.” Celestia grows curious at her statement.
“How so?”
“Well think about it, Chrysalis wouldn’t have much of an army; she would have no time to recover and grow her army if she had just recently escaped, which in it of itself seem unlikely that she escaped at all! You said it yourself! Most likely, she is still a stone statue somewhere.”
“Yes,” Celestia stops for a second to gather her thoughts before continuing forward. “But then that makes me wonder what her statue is.”
“Maybe that’s why the changelings are in the Badlands?” Applejack hypothesizes.
“Perhaps, I just hope for their sake that’s not the case.” Celestia says coldly.
“Why is that?” Dee-Dee asks.
“Because if those changelings found their Queen, all of Equestria could be in grave danger.”
Christian opens his eyes and is suddenly bombarded by the harsh sunlight above him. Acting quickly, he puts up a hand to block the blinding light in order to take in his surroundings of this new location. His first realization is that Twilight transported him and the rest of the group on the top of a mesa, making for a nice scouting location to spot any changelings. Looking across from his vantage point, he views a bleak and barren desert with the occasional plateau or rock formation to break up the orange sand dunes. It’s not the most breathtaking sight.
“Hmph, a wasteland if I ever saw one.” He comments while putting his sunglasses on.
“Well, they don’t call it the Badlands for nothing.” Twilight responds as she scans the area as well. “See anything?”
“Nope.” He says, shifting his sight away from the landscape. “Dash and Vague, get a bird’s eye view of the area.”
“No problem! Let’s go, Dash!” The fiery pegasus flies high into the sky with Rainbow Dash trailing and quickly overtaking her stallionfriend. Christian looks back toward the horizon. The expanse of the region they are searching could take the five of them days just find a few changelings who could be just flying around aimlessly.
“This whole search thing seems a bit off to me.” He says.
“What do you mean, darling?” Rarity hollers from the other side of the plateau.
“Why would changelings be flying around here? Doesn’t seem like the ideal place to raise an army.”
“That’s why it’s so perfect.” Twilight explains; “No pony in their right mind would come running around here. If Chrysalis did escape her imprisonment, she would want to find an area that is wide open and has no activity to raise a new army.”
“What about love? Don’t they need that to survive as well or something”
“Changelings could easy disguise themselves as ponies and hide in Ponyville to feed Chrysalis.” Twilight points out.
“I guess.” He shrugs. “I just hope for their sake they hide pretty well.”
“Don’t be so sure, darling.” Rarity interrupts. “Green is pretty easy to spot on an orange background.” She motions a hoof below her. Twilight and Christian walk toward the unicorn and peer over the edge of the cliff. Down below are a group of jade colored, hole-punched blobs huddled together: Changelings. Instantly, Christian’s hands curls into fists as his rage grows with in him. His thoughts focus back onto when a disguised Chrysalis hit him with a spell that would change his life forever. Over and over, the events play back within his mind; making his anger grow with every passing moment.
“You alright, darling?” Rarity asks, concerned about her friend’s well-being. Christian snaps back to reality at the question. He turns to look at the troubled faces of two unicorns. He glances back toward the insects he loathed, taking a second to gather himself.
“Yea, I’m fine. Just get us down there, Twitty.”
“No problem, Christian!” With another flash of light, her horn sparks back to life and transports the three of them down to the ground. The group reappears a few yards away from the bugs, just behind a lone rock spire.
“Nice teleport, Twitty.” Christian compliments the tactical hiding spot. Twilight beams a little at the human’s praise. It is rare that he would do such a thing. “Now then, what are those morons doing?” He peers from cover to try and see what the changelings are up to.
“What are you guys doing?” Dash’s voice echoes inside of Christian’s ear. Thinking quickly, he pulls Dash from the clearing and behind the rock. “Hey!” She yells in protest. “What’s the big idea?!”
“SHHHH! Keep your voice down!” Christian yells quietly. “We’re trying to stay hidden! Why else would we be behind a rock?!”
“Stay hidden from what?” Vague says from above them. Irked, Christian grabs the both of them and pokes their heads from behind the spire to look at the crowd of changelings ahead of them.
“Changelings? Sweet! Let’s get ‘em!” She says as she tries to break free from Christian’s grasp.
“Hang on a sec, Dash.” Twilight puts her ear up toward the crowd. “Listen.”
“What is it, Twilight?” Rarity asks, curiously.
“I think they’re talking to someone.”
The small swarm of seven changelings crowd around each other in a ring formation, eyeing each other with menacing and somewhat annoyed looks. Constantly, they keep looking toward the center of their encroachment; growling at what is in the middle: A female navy blue pegasi, who is scared out of her mind. She looks at the insects with fright and confusion; not knowing what they were going to do to her if she didn’t answer their questions. But how can she? She has no idea what a “human” is or why they want one.
“We’ll assssssk again;” The irked changeling in front of her says. “Where is the human?!”
“I already told you idiots! I have no idea what a human is!”
“Don’t play dumb with ussssss!” Another one of the insects replies, “We ssssssaw you with him a few dayssssss ago! Where issssss he?! Ponyville? Canterlot?”
“I don’t know!” She protests once more.
“Liessssss!” The bugs hiss collectively. “You were with him and the Elementssssss of Harmony! Tell ussssss where he issssss hiding!”
“I can’t because I don’t know! Get that through your thick skulls!” She yells in retaliation. The changelings look at each other; all of them sick and tired of failing to get their information. The changeling in front of her snarls in her face.
“Fine! Then we will have to try ssssssomething elsssssse to get our information.” The bugs start to close in onto her location. The pegasus starts to sink low to the ground and covers her head in fear of what they will do to her.
“HEY!” A voice shouts from behind her and the changelings. The changelings stop their attack and look to where the voice came from. Suddenly, two objects fly into two of the drones, knocking them out cold almost instantly. The pegasus peeks her head up to see an odd bipedal creature in front of the small swarm. All of the bugs’ eyes focused on him. “If you morons are looking for a human, I’ve got bad news;” He points his crossbow towards the changelings. “He found you first!”
“Chrisssssstian!” The changelings hiss simultaneously. “You will pay for what you did to ussssss and The Queen!”
“Christian?” The pegasus murmurs to herself.
“SSSSSSSurrender now, Chrisssssstian! You are outnumbered five to one!” One of the changelings yells. Christian smirks at the observation.
“Oh really?” He says as a group of two pegasus and two unicorns emerge from behind a nearby rock formation. “Because I believe it is you idiots who are outnumbered!” Frostbite smiles a little at the turn of events.
“Now do we get them?” The cyan pony asks. The one they call ‘Christian’ sighs.
“Yes, now you can get them!”
“Sweet! Come here you pathetic little bugs!” The pegasi shouts as she races toward the pack of insects followed by a fiery-looking pegasus soon after. The navy blue pegasi’s smile quickly vanishes as she curls up into a ball, terrified of the two ponies flying toward her and her captors. In seconds, both of the ponies knock each changeling unconscious, throwing their limp bodies to the ground. Christian marches forward with Twilight and Rarity behind him as the approach the pony that was the cause of the changeling’s banter. Kneeling down, he taps her lightly on the back.
“Hey, are you okay?” The pony responds with a short squeal as Christian touches her. “Sorry! I Didn’t mean to scare you!” The pony looks up toward the thing that saved her.
“It’s… It’s okay. Th-Thank you for saving me.” She says softly. The group smiles in relief at the damsel’s safety.
“Not a problem. What’s your name, Miss?” Rarity asks.
“My name? Oh! Frostbite! My name is Frostbite.”
“Well, hello Frostbite! I am Rarity!” The white unicorn greets her without hesitation.
“Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle. Pleasure to meet you.” Twilight says with a smile.
“The name’s Christian; Christian Average.” The pegasi smiles at her human savior. “Frostbite, eh? Cool name. I can see where you get it from.” Christian says as he looks at the pegasus in front of him. Truth be told, she lives up to her name: Navy blue fur which complements her aqua blue eyes. Her mane and tail are a pitch black which, oddly enough, contrasted her hooves which are as white as snow. Her cutie mark: Snowflakes under a dark storm cloud, showed her obvious talent with the ice and snow. “You look as if you could freeze me in one breath!” He points out.
“Well, it makes sense. My talent is freezing things.” Frostbite says with a small smile. Christian’s eyes dart open again.
“You know I was kidding, right?” He says nervously. The icy pegasus giggles.
“Yes, I know.”
“Okay, good. Phew!”
“Anyway,” Twilight interrupts. “What did these changelings want with you?” Frostbite shrugs in confusion.
“They kept yelling at me to tell them where a ‘human’ was. I don’t even know what that is!”
“Well, you’re looking at one.” Christian says plainly while pointing towards himself.
“So even after you said you had no idea what they were talking about, they still thought you knew?”
“Yea! I have no idea what they thought I knew!”
“Hey Christian!” A voice yells from above them. The group looks up to see Rainbow Dash and Vague starting to descend towards them. “Did you see me kicking some changeling butt?” Christian smiles.
“Yes Dash, and it was awesome!”
“I know right! It only took a few sec-.” Dash lands and stares curiously at the new pegasus in front of her. “Who’s the pegasus?”
“I’m Frostbite. I’d like to thank you for helping dispatch those… things.” Dash beams at the compliment.
“No problem, Frostbite! I’m Rainbow Dash. Don’t worry about those little bugs; they are no match for me and my boyfriend.” The rainbow pony gloats. “Ain’t that right, Vague?”
“You betcha, Dashie!” The maroon pony swoops down to introduce himself. “Hello Frostbite! I’m Vague Bla- WHOA! What’s with the teeth?!” Vague blurts out. The group gasps at their friend’s rude comment, which promptly makes Frostbite cover her mouth with her forehoof. Christian glares at Vague.
“Dude! Really?! Not cool!” He turns toward the saddened pony. “Sorry about him, Frost. He’s a bit… unstable. I’m sure your teeth are fine.”
“R-Really?” She says from under her hoof. The ponies nod reassuringly.
“Yea! What could be wrong with them? They’re just teeth!” Twilight says.
“Well... okay.” She removes her hoof and smiles at the group once more. What the ponies see makes Vague’s reaction justified. Instead of having normal teeth like every other pony. Frostbite had sharp, jagged teeth, almost like fangs. “Well?” She says, nervously.
“Awesome! Finally a pony with real teeth!” Christian says. “Look at those chompers! And you girls say you don’t eat meat!”
“Umm… Wow, Frostbite! That’s rather unique for a pony to have teeth like that.” Twilight declares.
“Really?”
“Now your name really makes sense. FrostBITE! Adds a bit of ‘umph’ to your name!” Dash states.
“Wow! Thank you!”
“Alright, alright,” Christian cuts off the praise. “I’m glad we made a new friend, but we’ve got to tell Celestia that the changelings have been…”
“BZZZZZAP! BOOM!”
“What the heck was that?!” Christian shouts as the group turns toward a changeling who managed to recover from his beating and fire off a green light into the sky that exploded like firework into the sky. The changeling starts laughing at the crowd in front of him. Christian growls. “What did you just do?!” He shouts as he points his crossbow at the bug. The changeling laughs at the human’s threat.
“You may be able to take on sssssseven of usssssss…” Suddenly, a loud buzzing can be heard in the distance; growing louder and louder as it closes in onto the crowd. Christian and the ponies look behind the changeling in horror as they see a massive swarm of the insects gather behind him, with more and more adding into the army. “But I wonder how you will handle ssssssseven HUNDRED of ussssss!” The changelings cheer as they encircle their colorful targets, waiting for the command to strike. Christian and the ponies look around at the massive horde surrounding them and get into their battle-ready stances.
“You girls ready for a fight?” The human says as he preps his crossbow with another dart. Twilight nods.
“Ready when you are, Christian!”
“HIYA!” Rarity double kicks the air in quick succession. “This should be fun!”
“Awwww yea! Let’s kick some hide, Vague!” Dash and Vague high hoof.
“What about you, Frostbite? Do you fight?” Christian asks the timid pegasus. Frostbite looks at the human with a nervous look on her face.
“Do I fight? Well, I’m never really fought anyone before…” She takes a deep breath and exhales, creating a puff of ice crystals as she breathes out. “But I do want my revenge.” She gains a confident grin and growls toward the changelings. Christian nods in confirmation.
“Alright then, they want a fight; let’s give them a fight!”
“Changelingssssss, ADVANCE!” The changelings let out an ear-piercing screech as they approach their prey. The ponies glance at each other, silently agreeing to the same plan. Without warning, the group lunges toward the changeling swarm in all directions, each attacking a battalion differently. Christian fires off multiple darts, each colliding with a changeling’s head with pinpoint accuracy and Twilight does the same with a few precise magic blasts. Rainbow Dash, Vague, and Frostbite soar into the fray; punching, kicking, burning and freezing anything that comes near the trio. Meanwhile, Rarity was keeping to herself, easily dispatching any disgusting insects that came near her with a quick split kick or chop.
“Ha! This is too easy!” Christian shouts to Twilight as they both take out five more changelings. “If we keep this up, we should have no trouble whatso-“
*Click* *Click**Click*
“What?! Out of darts already?!” Christian shouts as he hears the dreadful sound of the empty chamber in his crossbow. The four changelings that were in the midst of battle with him start to cackle at the news.
“Well, well, well.” The head changeling of the small pack snickers. “The human hassssss been dissssssarmed! Sssssseize him!” The changelings quickly fire off a few bursts of bright green slime right at Christian, who falls over and becomes glued to the ground in the ooze.
“GAH! Shoot!” He says as he struggles against the gunk, managing to free his right arm. Twilight, battling her own gaggles of insects, realizes that her human friend is in peril and quickly turns around to go aid him. She is quickly blocked by another small group of changelings.
“No! Christian!” The unicorn shouts as she looks onward at her troubled friend.
“Twilight, do something!” The human shouts as the insects slowly start to encroach onto his position. Thoughts race through her mind. She and the others couldn’t do anything with all of these changelings around. Suddenly, she gets an idea.
“It’s a long shot, but it’s the only way.” She thinks to herself. “Christian! You’ve got to use your magic!”
“What?! But I’ve never used an offensive spell!” He shouts as he feels another one of the changeling’s spells whizzes past his head.
“I know you can do it! Just trust me!” She shouts back. Christian looks at her with fear and worry, but quickly shakes the feeling and confidently nods back at Twilight. He raises his hand toward the advancing enemies, closes his eyes, and starts to concentrate his focus. Without warning, an orange beam blasts out of his hand, but swerves off to the left. The misguided magic zips past Twilight and into a rock face right next to Rarity’s head. She jumps at the small blast behind her just as she jump kicks another changeling.
“Hey! Watch it, Christian!” She shouts from across the battlefield. The changelings in front of Christian stop in shock and awe at the human’s ability.
“Interessssssting; sssssso you know ssssssome magic.” The head changeling laughs. “Ssssssadly, that will not ssssssave you now!” The bugs advance once more, getting closer and closer. Christian gulps as he tries firing off another beam straight ahead. Once again the projectile goes in the wrong direction; soaring upward and almost hitting Dash’s right wing.
“Whoa! Watch where you’re aiming, Christian!” She shouts below as she grabs two of the insects and smashes them together. Twilight gasps, Christian was running out of time. She needs to think quickly.
“If just using a spell won’t work, then maybe…” Another idea quickly pops into her head. “Christian! Try forming your magic into a tangible shape!” Christian nods rapidly at her request. Focusing once more, he starts moving his fingers and waving his hand to try and form something out of his magic.
Finally, his magic settles down into his hand takes on the form of a translucent orange just as the changelings go to pounce on him. “THROW IT!” Twilight yells. Christian hurls the magic ball as hard as he can at his adversaries. The head changeling jumps up to dive onto the human, but is blind-sided by Christian’s new form of attack. He flies backward into his brethren; all of them crumbling into a pile on the ground. Christian smiles in surprise and relief. Twilight finally manages to get to her human friend, panting after fighting off the changelings that swarmed her.
“Wow, wasn’t expecting that, Christian!” She says as she starts to free him from his entrapment.
“Yea, no kidding!” Christian says as he dusts himself off. “At least now I actually have an offensive way to use my magic.” Another small swarm of changelings start closing in onto their position. Twilight smiles at Christian.
“Shall we?” Christian nods with a smirk while forming another magic sphere in his hand.
“Oh, we shall.” The two of them rush towards the insects, casting multiple spells to shoot them straight into the blue sky above.
As the defeated changelings from below soar into the clouds, the three pegasi up above are making short work of any flying drones above the battlefield. Vague is easily dispatching changelings with a few well-timed sparks. Changelings who catch a cinder erupt into flames and are sent crashing down to the ground like meteorites; landing charred and puffing out smoke. Dash zips around and knocks out the insects with a few karate kicks, using the clouds as cover.
“This is easy, huh Vague?” she says while clobbering another changeling into a cloud.
“Yea!” Vague responds as he bucks another changeling’s teeth in. “You’d think for a bunch of bugs, they would pack a little bit more of a-“ Behind Vague, a small group of changelings have snuck up behind the fiery pony; their horns already bright green and ready to cast an entrapping spell. Dash turns around from fighting her horde to notice the surprise attack.
“VAGUE! BEHIND YOU!” She yells as loud as she can. But it’s too late. The changeling’s cast their spell toward Vague, who turns around to see a green light flying toward his face…
Suddenly, a wickedly cold chill rushes up Vague’s spine and over the rest of his body. Flitching at the chilling wind, he shuts his eyes for a few seconds. When he opens them, he sees an icy wall blocking him from the oncoming attack. Confused, Vague looks around to see the source of the protection: Frostbite hovering above him. The icy mare dives down and with one harsh breath, freezes the changelings in mid-air; making them plummet to the ground. Frostbite flashes a pointy smile at the burning pegasus.
“You’re welcome, Vague.” She says as she flies off to fight another group of bugs. Vague looks onward at the blue mare and frowns just as Rainbow Dash floats over to him.
“I don’t like her.” He says plainly. Dash is confounded by his word choice.
“What?! How can you say that?! She just saved your from getting jumped!” She protests.
“I know. But there’s just something about her that’s a bit… off.” He states.
“You mean the whole ‘fangs’ thing?” Dash asks.
“No… Something else; I just can’t put my hoof on it.” He says as he glares down at the cold mare below him.
“Maybe it’s just because you’re an inferno and she’s a blizzard.” Dash points out with a smirk. “You just don’t like her cause she’s your opposite.” She flies off to beat up my bugs as Vague looks down and pouts his lip, reflecting on Dash’s words.
“N-No!” He yells back at Dash in opposition. Floating after her, he glances back down at Frostbite one more time. “Thinks she so cool because she’s all icy.” He mutters to himself before soaring after Rainbow Dash. “Fire is way cooler.”
Back on the ground, Christian is easily taking out wave after wave of changelings with his new found offensive magic capabilities. Orange orbs are lighting up the sky around him. Out of the blue, Rarity decides to jump into Christian’s little fray and starts knocking out changelings like a professional boxer in the ring.
“I must say Christian, you’re skills with your magic seem to be developing quite quickly.” She says while roundhouse kicking a changeling and sending into the face of a cliff, shattering the surface of the rock like glass; keeping the bug embedded into the stone. Christian sees this and his jaw drops instantly. The fact that the high society unicorn could pummel a legion of changelings in no time at all is still mind blowing to him.
“Wow Rarity, you REALLY need to teach me some of those moves of yours!” He comments in awe. Rarity smirks.
“Oh I would love to, darling. However, you’ve been so busy with your magic studies with Twilight;” She says while punching another changeling square in the jaw. “And I have been working endlessly on designs. Our schedules just never seem to coincide.”
“Then how about this;” Christian says, taking out a group of the bugs with another orange sphere. “After we take care of this little infestation, I take a break from my magic to learn some of your fighting techniques.
“Sounds like a plan!” Rarity says, demonstrating a perfect crescent kick to the face of the last changeling in her group. The dust finally settles around the battlefield as the insects lie defeated on the sand. Christian looks around at the fallen swarm, showing a small sneer at what he and his friends had done. He glances back at Rarity, showing no signs of exhaustion after the fight. “You think that’s the last of them, Christian?” She asks.
“Don’t know. Looks like it from here.” The human responds, plucking a few darts out of some of the unconscious changelings. “Hmm, for seven hundred of those bugs; it didn’t seem like a lot.” He comments while loading one of the darts into his crossbow.
“You would be surprised on how quickly their numbers can stack.” The white unicorn mentions. “So, when shall I start training you?”
“Let’s get back to Ponyville first; then we can discuss when we can start.” Christian says with a smile. Rarity nods.
However, unbeknownst to Christian; one changeling manages to get back up from his respective beating and immediately starts making a beeline for the human. Rarity opens her eyes from her carefree nod and notices the impending threat.
“Christian! Behind you!” She gasps. Christian does not move at first, reacting slow to his friend’s words. However, he feels the rush of air against the back of his neck. After a second, he throws his arm behind him, knocking the changeling out with the back of his hand. The human blinks a few times, recomposing himself to see a wide eyed, mouth agape Rarity in front of him. Confused, Christian turns around to see a knocked out changeling behind him.
“Oh… Uhh, whoops, my bad.” He says to the insect. Rarity on the other hand shows a bit of surprise at Christian’s swift movements.
“Quite impressive, Christian; I didn’t know you had some prowess in fighting already.” Rarity points out.
“I don't. I think that was just a reflex, Rarity.” Christian responds, spinning back around towards her.
“Then that was some reflex!” She laughs.
“Sorry to interrupt your little conversation,” A voice hovering above them says. A quick glace up reveals the three pegasi; with Dash leading the pack. “But we just kicked hundreds of changelings’ butts and Chrysalis is nowhere to be seen. Anypony else think that’s weird?”
“No, I was thinking the same thing, Rainbow.” Twilight says while approaching the rest of the group. “Considering the amount of changelings here, she must be close by.”
“You foolssssss” A murmur whispers behind them. Christian is the first to spin around stare the weakened changeling right in the eyes. With a few hand gestures, the changeling starts to glow orange and is wicked over to where the aggressive human is standing.
“What was that?” The annoyed human asks. The changeling says nothing; just laughs in his face.
“You foolish poniessssss have fallen victim to the Queen’ssssss ingenioussssss plan.”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight demands.
“We changelingssssss were merely a disssssstraction for you foolssssss! The Queen hassssss already sssssstarted the next part of her plan. Ssssssoon, Canterlot and all of Equesssssstria shall be ourssssss!” The insect hisses into Christian’s face; who responds to the gesture with an eye twitch. His fist tightens.
“Where is she?” He growls into the changeling’s face. The bug cackles again. Christian snarls at the answer. “Start talking or I’m sure one of these ponies have a way of making you talk.” He shows the changeling the band of ponies behind him; each armed with a different strength to get some words out of him. A small gulp is heard from the changeling as he looks at the five ponies who pummeled him and his brethren.
“Very well,” The changeling says. “The Queen is making her way to the casssssstle with another army of changelingssssss.” He gains a smirk. “If I were you, I would hurry back to your precioussssss Canterlot Casssssstle.” From off to the side, Christian can hear the growling of Twilight as if she were a dog. Christian tosses the weak insect aside and looks back at Twilight.
“If that’s the case, then let’s move. We have to go warn Celestia and the others.”
“Already on it, Christian!” Twilight says as she starts charging a teleportation spell.
“Good, then let’s go.” Christian starts toward Twilight, but an opposing force pulls him back. Christian turns to see the soft face of Frostbite.
“Can I come too?” She asks with a soft smile. “I would like to help you all in any way I can.” Christian nods almost instantly.
“Of course, Frostbite!” Christian exclaims. The cobalt pegasus smiles, showing her pointed teeth once more and flies over to Twilight. Christian goes to take step toward her, but is yet again stopped by a hoof on his shoulder. With a glance, Christian recognizes Vague almost instantly. He sighs. “What Vague?”
“Christian, I don’t think Frostbite should come with us.” He says with concern in his voice.
“And why is that Vague?”
“I don’t know, but there is something… off about her. The cold personality, the fangs, and the fact she just so happened to be here with these changelings is just weird.” Christian rolls his eyes at his friend’s worried banter.
“Vague, you need to relax and stop worrying about every minute detail.”
“But she’s-“
“I don’t want to hear it. Now, let’s go before Chrysalis beats us to the castle.” Christian sprints off to catch up with the others, leaving Vague to ponder his thoughts about the frosty mare. There is something weird about her, I know it! I just need to find out what. He trots over to the rest of the group as Twilight prepares to finish her teleportation spell.
“To the castle!” She yells as the strong lavender flashes from her horn. In mere seconds, the group is whisked away from the desert battleground.
Moments later, the crew arrives a few yards in front of the large, opulent doors of Canterlot Castle’s entrance. The second Christian sees the castle’s entrance; he rushes forward like a cheetah after a gazelle. The ponies race after him; Twilight leading the pack.
“Do you think we beat Chrysalis here?” Twilight hollers to Christian. His eyes dart around the castle’s exterior for a few seconds.
“Looks like it; I don’t see any changelings around.” He says, skipping a few steps he dashes up the stairway to the entrance.
“Then it looks like we have the upper hand.” Dash points out while soaring above the two of them.
“Not until we warn the others.” Twilight comments; Christian nods at her response.
“Then let’s not waste any more time!” Christian breaks out into a full-fledged sprint as he reaches the final few feet to the door. With a strong body check, Christian bashes the front door inward; the doors slamming into the wall of the castle with a powerful CRACK! Without breaking his stride, he races to the middle of the main hallway “Celestia!” He shouts while rushing down the hall. “Chrysalis is on her way to…”
He suddenly slides to a halt in the middle of the hallway. Twilight gallops in behind him, but stops right next to her human friend. The rest of the ponies crowd into the castle, wondering what Twilight and Christian were staring at. They get their answer as they peer in front of their two friends; jaws drop with anguish, anger, and fear at the sight before them.
Queen Chrysalis, sitting in Celestia’s throne; with the sun princess detained in a cocoon of green ooze next to her, with only her head sticking out. Chrysalis grins at the sight before her.
“Christian! Twilight! And friends! Please, come in and join us!” She says as a massive swarm of changelings start to reveal themselves from the ceiling; out from behind the marble pillars, and from behind Celestia’s throne. The ponies hear loud BANG! and turn around to see the changelings closing the front door and the bugs blocking the now shut door, preventing the group from escaping.
“I hope you find everything to your liking.” Chrysalis says, making Christian, Twilight, and the others turn their attention back to her. “If not; then please, let us make you comfortable… Like your friends.”
“Friends?” Twilight gasps as she remembers the others who stayed with Celestia. Chrysalis makes a motion with her head toward the back of the castle. Twilight and the others turn around toward where she nudges and a look of horror comes over their faces. Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Dee-Dee are stuck above the front door in a green, jelly-like substance; with only their heads poking out of the gunk, just like Celestia. All four of them look annoyed and defeated at the situation there in.
“Howdy.” Applejack says plainly to the group below her. The ponies and human turn back around, angry with the Changeling Queen. Chrysalis, while laughing at their expressions, motions a forehoof toward her guests. Changelings start to descend from around the Queen and above the group. They land and start to surround the six of them. Chrysalis starts howling like a hyena as her changelings start to close in for the capture.
Christian, Twilight, and the other ponies stare at Queen Chrysalis, mouths agape with fear and confusion. The Queen is smiling; smiling at once again taking the castle by storm. And this time, she was going to make sure it stayed this way PERMANENTLY!
“Mmhmmm,” She laughs. “I have been waiting so long for this moment: The true fall of Canterlot… plus Christian!”
“Dream on, Chrissy!” Christian says, stepping forward. “The Elements of Harmony and I have gotten pretty good at beating you and your changelings’ sorry butts. You may have captured half of The Elements, but we’ve still got enough firepower to send you flying out of here like a green cannonball!”
“Oh, is that so? That’s cute.” The Queen says while reclining in the throne. “You really think you still have the upper hand, don’t you?”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asks, apprehensively. Chrysalis starts laughing again, making Twilight and Christian exchange a quick glance of uneasiness.
“You shall see soon, my dear.” Chrysalis raises a hoof. “Changelings, put them with the other prisoners.” She says, seemingly bored with the statement. Christian and Twilight exchange another quick glance with each other before quickly dispatching the few changelings nearing them. Racing toward the Queen, the two of them take down any oncoming bugs before jumping up to Chrysalis herself. The Queen’s eyes bulge at the sight of her two enemies meeting her eye to eye. Crossbow and horn at the ready, Christian and Twilight smile with victory.
“Well, looks like you have lost your touch there, Chrissy.” Christian comments.
“I agree.” Twilight adds with a smirk. Chrysalis stares worryingly at the two attackers, before she herself gains a big, fanged smile across her face. Christian’s face scrunches in confusion.
“The heck are you smiling about?” Suddenly, a cold blast explodes right next to him and Twilight.
“Step away from her, if you please.” A voice says behind them; a certain chilling mare’s voice. In disbelief, the two of them whip around and to their horrors see Rarity, Dash, and Vague all flat on the ground groaning in pain, with Frostbite standing over all three of them donning a corrupt smile on her face.
“Frostbite?! What the hay are you doing?!” Twilight yells at her.
“Protecting my grandmother.” She says, widening her smile.
“GRANDMOTHER?!” Twilight and the others shout in booming puzzlement. Chrysalis lets out a soft laugh.
“Oh? Did I not mention that Frostbite was my granddaughter?” She smiles innocently. “My mistake.”
“Oh, it’s not your fault, dear Chrysalis;” Frostbite says, sweetly. “These pathetic excuses for ‘heroes’ just fell for your brilliant trap. Honestly, putting me with a bunch of drones in the middle of the Badlands to bait some of The Elements and the human was pure genius.” The mare cackles as Vague starts to slowly get back up, along with Dash and Rarity behind him.
“Hey Christian, guess who was right?” Vague mumbles, weak after his scuffle. Christian’s eyes narrow at his friend’s comment.
“Vague, not the time!” He shouts. Frostbite uses a hoof to push Vague back onto the ground and motion some of the changelings around her to pick up the defeated and fiery stallion.
“Place him with the others.” She says. The changelings nod and pluck Vague from his spot and fly upward toward their other captives; with Rarity and Dash being carried after him. An evil grin full of her jagged pearly whites forms on her face as she turns back to Twilight and Christian. “Well, it looks like the tables have turned.”
“Not in my book.” Christian says as he nudges his crossbow closer to Chrysalis’s face. The act makes the Queen laugh under her breath.
“Now, now; let’s not do anything hasty, or the results will be… disastrous.” She says, mockingly.
“What do you mean, Chrysalis?” Twilight snaps.
“If you two so much as flinch toward me, my dear granddaughter will make sure that your friends will pay dearly for it.” She flashes a smile at the two of them. “I suggest that you two surrender yourselves to avoid any problems.”
“Oh you little…” Christian goes to shoot a bolt at Chrysalis’s forehead. He is starting to get sick of her games.
“Christian!” Twilight stops him before he so much as thrusts his arm forward. He looks back at the mulberry unicorn, whose eyes have started to well a little with tears. “She’s not kidding.” She motions her head toward the front of the castle. Christian looks up to see Frostbite grabbing hold of Fluttershy’s head, eager to perform an unknown act of harrow on the poor and defenseless pegasus. Christian turns back and looks fiercely into the eyes of the insect queen, a fire burning in his pupils with sheer hate. He then looks back at Twilight, who had let a single tear shed from her eye as she realized the options at hand. “Please…” she struggles to say the word. Christian’s look of despise disappears from his face instantly as he stares at Twilight’s expression. Taking one more look back at Frostbite; who pulls Fluttershy close to her, making her pointed smile grows wider; and another final look at Chrysalis; he pulls his arm away from The Queen and signs in defeat. Chrysalis smiles at his response. She knows what just happened. “Alright Chrysalis,” Twilight says, her eyes no longer swelled with tears but still saddened at the outcome of the situation. “We surrender.” She sighs. Chrysalis’s grin grows even bigger.
“That’s what I thought. Changelings, hang them up with the rest of their friends. I’d like to see my entire trophy display.” A small swarm of bugs swoop down and prepare to lift the Queen’s two new prisoners with the rest. However, before her minions take them away, a thought strikes Chrysalis. “Oh, and before you try anything, Christian.” Her horn starts to glow an ominous shade of green. Seconds later, Christian crossbow starts glow the same color. The clips that attach the tranquilizing weapon to Christian’s wrist become uncoupled and the bow is swiftly taken from Christian’s arm.
“Hey!” Christian shouts in disapproval as the crossbow flies next to Chrysalis. Chrysalis floats the item in front of her, admiring the technology and intricate design.
“You know, I never really liked this thing; always taking out swarms of my dear changelings; though I’ve never had any problems with it personally.” She says as she spins the bow around a bit, still looking at the crossbow. “But just in case…” Chrysalis’s green magic suddenly collapses in onto the crossbow; crushing the item into a five pieces before throwing the remains onto the ground in front of her, which in turn, breaks the bow further. Christian gasps as he sees his only true means of a form of an attack become nothing but pieces. He growls at Chrysalis like a rabid dog.
“Oh when I get my hands on you, I’ll…” The changelings around him grab him and start lifting him away along with Twilight before he finishes the threat. “Hey! Let go of me!” He shouts as he struggles against their grip as he and Twilight start to be glued up to the wall in green cocoons above the front doors of the castle just like their friends.
“And don’t try any of that magic that you picked up either, Christian.” The Queen says. The prisoners go wide-eyed at her comment.
“Wait, how did you know?” The newly encapsulated Twilight asks.
“Information spreads quite quickly in a hive.” She responds. Christian growls again, regretting not putting that changeling to sleep before him and the others teleported back to the castle. The changelings around him finally finish entrapping the human in his new, gooey prison before returning to their Queen. Chrysalis gets up from the throne and trots up to her prisoners. "Ahh, I love the feeling of total success." She says with a satisfied sigh. The captives above all make faces of disdain.
"Excuse me, grandmother," Frostbite interrupts her thoughts. "If you do not mind, I shall patrol the area with a few drones to make sure that our surroundings are secure."
"Oh, of course my dear Frostbite." Chrysalis says as a few of her drones fly off next to the cold pegasus and the group soar out the doorway; leaving Chrysalis to deal with the fruits of her labor.
"I can't believe this." Christian says in an agitated manner as he struggles against the sticky restraint. Not only had Chrysalis captured them all, but Frostbite had led them into a trap from the start!
"Believe it, Christian!" Chrysalis says from below. "I have all of you detained and right where I want you!"
"How did you even break out of your stone statue prison anyway?" Twilight says with attitude in her voice. Chrysalis smiles again.
"I think you know how. I had a little help from two... new friends." Twilight and Christian immediately exchange a look of surprise mixed with anger. They knew exactly who it was.
"Paradox and Trixie?" Twilight answers.
"Ding! Ding! We have a winner!" Chrysalis says with a nod.
"How did those two help you?" Christian asks sourly.
"Well you see, Christian." The Queen starts. "A few changelings managed to escape that bomb your planet used to freeze me into a stone. After Celestia's guards hid my statue, they simply followed them, stole my likeness back, and carried it to the Badlands. That's when I met the two of them, who freed me from my prison so I can exact my revenge once again on all of you!" She shifts her look to Celestia. "Only this time..." She marches right up to Celestia's face. "I will make my rule permanent." The words make Celestia's eyes narrow.
"And how will you accomplish that?" The princess asks. Chrysalis's grin grows wider.
"Oh, you know exactly how I will do such a thing." Chrysalis presses a hoof onto Celestia's cocoon. "By using The Elements; tell me where they are!" She yells into her ear. Meanwhile, the entrapped group behind Chrysalis gain the same confused look on their faces. Chrysalis knew who The Elements of Harmony were. Why is she asking where 'they' were?
"Wow Chrysalis, did you get stupider while you were a monument?" Dash yells from above, her cocoon tensing up as she tries to pull against it. "We'll never help you take over Equestria!" She screams. Chrysalis hears the insult and does a swift turn around to address the situation.
"What was that, Dash?!" She yells back.
"She's right, Chrysalis!" Rarity hollers. "We don't care what you offer! Helping you is something we will never do!" This makes Chrysalis howl with laughter. Everyone once again became confused at The Queen's actions. Why is she laughing now?
"I don't mean The Elements of Harmony, you fools!" The answer shocks everyone in the room, especially Celestia, whose face is now gaining a brighter shade of white. The moment Chrysalis said the sentence, she knew what other elements Chrysalis meant. Chrysalis glances over to the sun princess and flashes a grin. She knew that Celestia knew. "I mean... The Elements of Conflict!"
The mention of these new elements makes the room go dead silent. The Elements of Harmony are perplexed at these relics; Vague and Dee-Dee are flabbergasted, as these elements have never been mentioned on the show. Christian has absolutely no idea what the heck is going on, and Celestia is still ghost-white with fear.
"I... I don't know what you are talking about, Chrysalis!"
"Quit playing dumb with me, Celestia! Or else your sister and her little stallion student will pay for your noncompliance!" Celestia gasps at the threat. She knew Chrysalis captured them as well, and the last thing she wanted was Luna and Supernova being hurt.
"What are The Elements of Conflict, Celestia?" Twilight interrupts the two royal figures. Celestia returns to a pale white hue as her star student asks the question. Chrysalis flaunts a mocking smile.
"Girls, they are nothing! Chrysalis is..." Celestia starts, but is quickly silenced by the changeling queen.
"Oh don't bother lying, Celestia. You may as well tell them. It would make the next few hours so much easier for them to understand." Celestia scowls at her. The situation was already dire, but this would just add in more problems. But, Celestia knows she does not have much of a choice in the matter. If she didn't say anything, Chrysalis would injure somepony to get her answers. With a sigh, she looks back up to the girls.
"Girls... There is something you must know."
"What is it, Celestia?" Applejack's asks. An eerie silence fills the room, lasting a few tense seconds before the princess speaks again.
"...You're not the only elements that I created." The Elements of Harmony's eyes grow wide at the news; not knowing what to say to her or each other. Another group of elements like themselves? The subject itself is simply mystifying. Even Christian is a bit astonished at what she said.
"Well, this just got more interesting." He comments.
"What do you mean, Celestia?" Twilight questions.
"Before The Elements of Harmony; before... Nightmare Moon; another group of elements came into being... They were called The Elements of Conflict." An audible gasp of amazement is heard from the front of the castle. The girls could not believe the news! A bunch of elements developed before their time! They couldn't contain their curiosity; questions started to pour from their mouths uncontrollably.
"Why were they created? What do they represent? Who can use them?"
"Alright girls, settle down." Celestia calms the group down. She is actually glad that they were interested in the subject rather than distraught. "I'll tell you all the story... Even you, Chrysalis." She says through clenched teeth. Chrysalis smiles and sits back in Celestia's throne.
"Then by all means Celestia, let the story begin!" The changeling queen requests. With another long and somewhat unnerving sigh, Celestia starts to unravel the tale of what happened long ago: The creation of The Elements of Conflict.
"Well, it all started back when Discord ruled. The land was in a mess of chaos and Luna and I had to stop him to restore order. However, we ended up doing so in the least likely of ways..."
Equestria is a land rattled with a chaotic storm, and Discord is its source. Princesses Celestia and Luna are determined to put a stop to this mess and return balance to the land once more. As the approach his throne through the chocolate rain and upside down buildings, a tense determination is shown in their eyes.
"Well, well, Celestia and Luna! What a coincidence it is to see you two here! Care for some tea?" Discord snaps his fingers to make some tea cups and kettle appear next to him.
"Discord, now is not the time for your games. Your reign of chaos ends here!" Celestia shouts at him. Discord is less than pleased to hear such a rude greeting.
"I guess tea is out then." He says, making the items vanish next to him. "So be it. Do what you will to me then.” With another quick snap of his fingers a red and white target appears hanging from his neck. Celestia and Luna exchange a look of confusion.
"I'm quite surprised, Discord. I didn't think you would give up so easily."
“Well, I just figured that if you two were going to cause mass chaos anyway; there would be no need for my assistance.” Celestia and Luna raise a brow at the spirit’s words. They exchange a glance of concern before returning their attention back to Discord.
“Causing chaos? PAH!” Yells Luna. “We will do no such thing!”
“Oh? Is that so Luna? I beg to differ.” Discord slithers over to the two princesses.
“What are you talking about, Discord?” Celestia questions.
“Well think about it, Celestia. I am the spirit of chaos; we all know this. And you two want to bring harmony to Equestria.” Discord snaps his fingers again and a gold weighing scale appears next to him. The scale has the figures of Celestia and Luna on one side and on the other side is a figure of Discord himself. “As you both are aware, there is a natural balance of harmony and conflict, or chaos, in the world.” The scale shifts a little, causing Discord’s figure to lower a bit. “Now of course, the scale shifts occasionally whenever there are… slight disturbances; like it is currently during my rule now.”
“Yes, so what’s your point?”
“My point is; say if you were to get rid of one of these factors, like how you two want to get rid of me for example,” Discord flicks his figurine clean off the scale, causing the princess's side to crash downward. “It would cause an unbalance in this natural scale.” Celestia stares at the unbalanced scale with curiosity and wonder. “This would leave only harmony and no chaos whatsoever.”
“That’s what we want, Discord!” Luna screams. “It would be utopia! It would be a good thing to have no chaos!” Discord grins at the lunar alicorn.
“Is that so Luna? Would it REALLY be such a good thing?” The question makes Luna growl.
“This is not the time for-”
“He’s right.” Celestia cuts off her sister’s sentence. Luna freezes in place, doubting what she just said. Her head slowly turns toward Celestia, the shocked expression still fixed upon her face.
“W-What did you s-say?” She mutters.
“Discord is correct. Without chaos or conflict, yes there would be utopia, but…”
“But you and I both know that utopia never lasts.” Discord finishes. “Sure, peace would last for a few years, but it always ends the same. Complete and utter FAILURE!”
“That’s preposterous!” Luna shouts in disbelief. “Celestia, you don’t actually think…”
“I do, Luna. Discord is right, a world without chaos will only end in disaster; we can’t just get rid of him. If we do, I shudder to think of what the aftermath may bring.”
“But if we can’t stop him, how will we restore order to Equestria?” The lunar princess questions. Celestia puts a hoof on her chin as she ponders her sister’s question.
“If I may interject here.” Discord interrupts Celestia’s train of thought. “I may have a solution that would be appealing to both of us.” Celestia and Luna eyes grow wide in shock.
“Why would you be willing to help us?” Luna hisses.
“Well, I know you two wish to keep harmony here, and truthfully, I have grown tiresome of causing chaos here; using the same tricks over and over again dulls the feel of everything. It’s like having a birthday party every day; you get bored sooner or later.”
“Alright, then what’s your idea?” Celestia questions.
“Oh, Celestia, i’m not going to just tell you, silly pony.” He says while patting her head. “I’ll tell you if we make deal.”
“About what?” She snarls.
“My detainment, of course. When you two do seal me away somewhere or throw me into a cell, I wish to be freed in 1,000 years to wreak chaos once more.” Luna goes to yell her utmost denial at the request, but Discord beats her to the punch. “Or you could just get rid of me. I hear the first few years of total harmony aren’t that bad before the complete destruction of society.” The two princesses shiver with fear at the choices they were given. At least if they gave his idea a chance, his chaotic reign would end at least for a millennia. Partially defeated and out of options, Celestia and Luna sigh their answer.
“Fine, it’s a deal.” Celestia answers. “What’s your plan?”
“Well, I was thinking if you two could contain my chaotic essence into artifacts while i’m away. Then, the aura of chaos would still exist throughout Equestria, and you two could still keep a relative harmony without full on utopia.” The two alicorns were shocked at the explanation. The idea was brilliant; a way to cause conflict without the spirit of chaos. Celestia and Luna smirk at the ingenious behind it, and agree to the plan.
“And so; Discord, Luna, and I created four artifacts that would retain an aura of chaotic power while Discord was sealed. These artifacts became known as The Elements of Conflict. These elements were based of the four main elements of conflict: Structure, Space, Situation, and Behavior.” Celestia exhales tiredly as she finishes her story. The ponies above are amazed at what they just heard. Christian, however, is a bit confused.
“Wait, you based these “Elements of Conflict” off of the actual elements of conflict?” He asks with a scrunched face of question.
“Of course, Christian.” Celestia answers. “What else would we use?”
“...Nevermind.” He keeps quiet. Chrysalis on the other hand starts giggling with glee at the story she has just heard.
“Ahh, what a beautiful story, Celestia.” She says while rising from her seat. She saunters over to the captured Celestia, delicately touching the cocoon with a forehoof. “Now only one question remains: Where are they now?” Celestia growls at her, as she knows what will happen if she doesn't answer her. She has no choice.
“We agreed to separate the elements as to make them difficult to find. We gave Discord one before we sealed him away, Luna kept another, and I held on to the last two.”
"Mmmhmm, yes, keep going.“ An anxious Chrysalis starts moving a forehoof in a circular motion at her.
"After Discord escaped, he hid his somewhere and we thought it was lost for good. However, just recently... we recovered it. Much to my dismay.” She murmurs the last bit of her sentence under breath.
“Good to know” Chrysalis flashes her fangs into another smile. “What about the other three?"
"After... Nightmare Moon, Luna somehow lost her element. I don’t know where it is and neither does she.”
“Unfortunate, but oh well. What about yours?” Celestia exhales heavily at the Queen. She knew she was stalling.
“Mine was lost a long time ago. I have no idea where it is. I only have Discord's element now.” She answers. Chrysalis frowns a bit at the news, but quickly shakes off the feeling.
“And the last one?” She hisses. Celestia then gains a taunting grin.
“The last element was sent away to…”
“Candance and Armor, right?” Celestia smile turns into a scared frown. “Oh yes, I know all about THAT little secret. You gave it to them as a wedding gift, correct?” Celestia nods slowly, shaking a little out of fear.
“How did you…” Chrysalis lets out another cackle.
“Oh my dear Celestia, now it is time for me to tell YOU a story!”
Meanwhile, outside the castle doors, Frostbite and her armada of changelings have just gotten back from their patrol. Happy that nopony noticed anything suspicious around the castle, she lands and goes to open the doors to give her report to Chrysalis. Before her forehoof touches the two giant doors, she hears something within the castle. Curious, she puts an ear up to the door to hear what was going on inside.
“You see Celestia, back during my second takeover, before Christian;" She glares menacingly at the human. "I was sent a package from Candance and Armor.” A voice said, which Frostbite easily identified as her grandmother.
“What?!” Another voice gasps. Probably Celestia’s. Frostbite thinks.
“Indeed. If I didn’t do a bit of reading from your library, I would have paid these little trinkets no mind at all.”
“No…”
“Indeed. However, this tale has no happy ending. Before I had a chance to even look at the element in question, one of my own drones snatched it from me and flew off with it! I ordered my changelings to go after him and retrieve the element. They failed to find it, however they did bring back two things. Number one: A changeling’s wing,” Everyone inside the castle and Frostbite gasps, astonished at the horrible act. “And number two: A small, dark blue, and cold pegasus.” This made Frostbite push away from the doors, hyperventilating at what Chrysalis had said. Recollecting her thoughts with a quick shake of her head, she gulps.
No… It can’t be. She raised me as her own! She presses her ear back to the door to hear her grandmother once more.
Back inside, the shocked and disgusted faces of the captured ponies above tell all their thoughts on the current tale Chrysalis is telling.
“You vile insect!” Twilight says in complete disapproval. “That means…”
“Correct Twilight, Frostbite was that pegasus. Her father was unruly and needed to be... taken care of." The ponies couldn't believe what they were hearing. "After a bit of manipulation of Frostbite's small mind from yours truly, she believes that I adopted her into the hive and despises all of you. Not only that, but she will stop at nothing to take down all of Equestria until it all belongs to the hive!”
Frostbite backs away again from the door, a few tears dripping from her eyes that freeze upon contact with her fur. She couldn’t believe it. The grandmother that she came to know and love was nothing more than an illusion for her own revenge. She wipes away the crystallized water from her face. But as she does, she starts seeing… things. Images from what appeared to be a dream started to fill her eyes. Slightly jumping at the hallucinations, she closes her eyes and shakes her head to try and forget them. Instead, they become even clearer to her.
“What the hay?!” She says, panicked as she tries to figure out what these images are. Suddenly, one of the images molds into a somewhat familiar shape: A defeated changeling. A bit shocked, she calms herself a little and tries to focus on the entire scenario. After a few moments, the rest of the scene clears up. The background of the changeling image is in some sort of icy cave of sorts. Confused at the setting, she turns her attention back to the drone, who she now realized had no right wing. She stares at the creature, pondering why she felt like she knows the changeling. Her attention suddenly shifts against her will to left side of the cavern, where a frosty boulder lay pinned against the wall. Again confused, she stares at the large rock for a second or two before a voice echoes inside of her ears.
“It is… hidden there, Frostbite. They will… never... find it.” The pegasus turns to see the changeling speaking on weakened breath. She approaches the injured drone. The insect looks up at her, his heavy breathing echoing throughout the cave. “Chrysalis… did this… to our family.” The changeling mutters. “Make her pay… for her deeds… my dear... daughter. ” As the changeling utters his final words and his eyes flutter close, Frostbite becomes filled with an enormous sense of despair and grief.
“Frosssssstbite, are you alright?” A changeling behind her asks. Snapping out of her trance, she grits her teeth out of view of the changelings. But not to them, to her untrustworthy grandmother. She turns toward the drones with a rage-filled glare in her eyes.
“Everything is fine. Go and patrol the town for any wandering ponies.” The changelings look at each other as if their leader had gone a little bonkers in the past few minutes.
“But Frosssssstbite, we jusssssst came back from-”
“I said, GO!” her voice booms as the unknown anger seethes from inside her body. The changelings flitch at the siren that was just wailed at them and instantaneously comply with her demand. They zip back to the town before she erupts again. Standing alone at the entrance to the castle, Frostbite looks toward the large doors and stares. A disgruntled frown forms on her face. “I promise, she will pay… father.” She rockets away from the castle with only one thought on her mind: Revenge.
Back in the castle, Chrysalis is still prancing around the captive Celestia, while the prisoners above look onward in hatred, and now disgust. Christian is one of the few still trying to struggle against his binds. It is a useless endeavor, but he didn’t care; at least he is still trying.
“Now Celestia, you said you have one of the elements, correct?” The Queen asks.
“Yes.” Celestia answers with a sigh.
“Good! Now, next is the simple question:” She presses both forehooves firmly onto her cocoon. “Where is it?!” Celestia is unwavering at the question. Her stern face shows the stone cold expression of strength.
“I’ll never tell you, Chrysalis. Not now, not EVER!” Her voice vibrates throughout the castle’s interior. Chrysalis frowns, displeased at her answer.
“Is that so? Well then, let’s get to the fun part then!” She nods to a few of her changelings above. “Changelings, go get Luna and her little student. Bring them to me.” She glares into Celestia’s eyes. “We’ll make her talk.” Another smile emerges from her face, showing off her pearly white fangs.
“NO!” The princess protests.
“I wouldn’t do that, Chrysalis!” Vague shouts at her from above. Caught off guard by the hot-headed prisoner above, she turns and gives Vague a snide look.
“Why not? What are YOU going to do to stop ME?” The prisoners gaze onward at Vague, who dawns a smirk on his face.
“THIS!” He shouts as a bright light envelops him. The ponies near him feel a blazing heat emitting from Vague as his body glows like a hot cinder as it starts a fire. The harsh light suddenly envelops into a full on flame of orange fire, incinerating the green slime that used to immobilize him. The inferno falls to the ground like a meteor, extinguishing the entirety of the flame and creating a rather large plume of smoke. The gray clouds settle revealing Vague; free of his binds and donning a huge smile. Chrysalis starts gritting her teeth.
“How did you escape?”
“Easy.” He blows out some smoke from his nose. “Fire is kinda my thing.”
“Wait, you could have done that the whole time?!” Dash hollers from above.
“Yea, why?”
“SERIOUSLY?!” The rest of the captured party shouts in retaliation.
“We could have been out of here a while ago, man!” Christian yells. Vague facehooves at the realization.
“Well, shoot.”
“Enough of this! Changelings! Seize him!” Changelings swoop down and encroach on the pegasi’s position. With a confident smirk, he soars upward, lighting any insect’s in his vicinity on fire; making them crash into each other or into walls haphazardly. Chrysalis’s right eye starts twitching. How hard is it to take out ONE PONY?!
“HA! Your bugs can’t beat me in the air, Chrysalis!” Vague gloats while zipping past another swarm. The queen growls, then a light bulb flashes over her head.
“That so? Well then, I’ll just have to level the playing field!” Her forehoof flies forward. “Changelings! Strike him down! Clip his wings!”
“Yessssss, Queen Chryssssssalissssss!” A horde of changelings responds. As Vague blasts the insects out of the sky like fireworks on the fourth of July, a long changeling manages to sneak up behind the fiery fighter. With a sneer, the bug lunges down and delivers a hard body check to Vague’s back.
“GAH!” He shrieks as he crashes to the ground. His body tenses with a harsh pain as he struggles to get back up to his hooves. He turns to see his crippled wings, in no condition of getting him back into the air. A gasp is heard above, courtesy of Rainbow Dash. As Vague continues to fail at getting back up, the changelings around him back off. Chrysalis emerges from the insects, laughing at his failed attempt to save his friends.
“Awww, what’s the matter, Vague?” The pony looks up as the Queen stands above him. “Can’t take a hit?” She proceeds to deliver a sharp kick into Vague’s stomach, sending him flying back toward one of the castle’s stained glass windows.
“VAGUE!” The group shouts from above, simultaneously. Chrysalis laughs again as she approaches Vague once more.
"How precious! Trying to stop me and save your friends all by yourself? You're such a fool!" Vague glares at her angrily as he tries to recover from the blow; managing to slowly stand back up on his now weak, rubber-like legs. Chrysalis frowns. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?" She pushes Vague forward to knock him back down to the floor; which also makes him crash through the stained glass window behind him. The colored glass shatters into thousands of shards that fall to the ground below. Thinking quickly, Vague grabs hold of the ledge where the window used to be. The crowd looks on in horror as their friend's life literally hangs by a thread.
"Don’t you DARE lay another hoof on him, Chrysalis!" Dash yells. This little comment perks Chrysalis’s attention. Her mouth suddenly fills with a certain... sweetness. A sweetness she has not tasted in quite a while.
“Mmmmm…” Chrysalis licks her lips. “If I am not mistaking, that is the succulent taste of love.” She kneels down to Vague, who is struggling to hoist himself up from the window. “Tell me Vague, are you and Dash… together?” Vague says nothing, only emitting a small growl. Chrysalis smiles, “There’s no need to answer, Vague; for I know of a better way to find love between two ponies.” She leans in close to Vague’s right ear. “A loved one’s DEMISE!” She whispers into his ear. Vague’s face changes into full on panic as Chrysalis backs away and starts laughing again. “How will a pony of fire fare in water? I’m quite curious to know the answer.” She questions. Vague’s legs start kicking furiously below, trying to propel himself upward as he tries to make his wings move, but they hurt with every little movement. The constant motion makes his left forehoof slip off of the window he is holding onto.
“GAH!” He shouts, as he sees Chrysalis placing her forehoof onto his right forehoof: his lifeline. His pupils dilate and his forehead glistens with sweat in the sunlight.
“Chrysalis, please; don’t do this!” He stutters with a shaky voice. Chrysalis says nothing; only smiling as she applies more pressure to Vague’s hoof.
“Good bye, Vague!” With one quick motion, she pushes her hoof forward; causing Vague to lose his grip onto the ledge.
“NO! VAGUE!” His friends shriek in horror as they see the events unfold before them. Vague starts plummet from the castle. The view of Chrysalis’s mocking grin being replaced by the lake below him; growing larger by the second. Chrysalis pears out of the empty window and puts her ear toward the sky below. She listens to the final sounds of the falling pony:
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” The scream rapidly starts to get quieter until it is barely audible to the Queen. A few seconds later, the yell stops completely; and moments later, is replaced with another faint sound.
*Splash*
Chrysalis puts her head back up and smiles. The deed has been done.
“YOU MONSTER!” Dash cries, knowing full well what just happened. “I… I… I loved him!” She starts stop sob, her eyes exploding with tears like a waterfall of sadness trickling down her face.
“Mmmmm” Chrysalis licks her lips again, along with the rest of her changelings. “Yes, my changelings. Feed off of her love! Make our power even stronger!”
“Dash... “Twilight goes to stop her, but realizes her efforts would be in vain. Vague was her stallionfriend, and his demise was the perfect catalyst for a snack for Chrysalis and her drones. Twilight glances over to Christian, who had anger written all over his face. “Christian? Are you okay?”
“First my crossbow, now Vague…” His first curl. “Vague, I swear to you…” The slime he is stuck to seizes to try and contain the human. “She will pay for her actions, Twilight.”
“I know she will, Christian.” The unicorn responds in a somber tone. “We just need to wait for an opportunity.”
“Don’t bet on it.” Applejack comments. “At this rate, we ain’t goin’ nowhere anytime soon.”
“Yea, I agree with AJ.” Dee-Dee says. “We’re all in a bit of a sticky situation. And no, I’m not trying to be funny.”
“I found it funny.” Pinkie says from above her, smiling. Dee-Dee pouts.
“Argh… Huh? I’m… I’m alive?!” Vague looks at his reflection in the water from the shore of the lake. He blinks at his own face, not believing the image before him. How was he able to survive the plunge into the water, let alone the fall?
“I’m glad you’re okay, Vague.” Another voice says to him. Vague’s eyes shoot out of his head. He growls. It was her voice: Frostbite. He turns around to see a distraught looking cobalt pegasus staring off into the distance.
“YOU! What the hay do YOU want?!” The mare says nothing and continues to look onto the horizon. Vague grows puzzled; she isn’t trying to capture him again or freeze him into a hotsicle. “Well?!” He says with urgently.
“I saved you.” Vague becomes instantly silent.
“Wh-What?” He mutters a few seconds later.
“I saw you falling from the castle. I grabbed you before you hit the water and put you down safely on the shore. Then, I created a giant ice ball and threw it into the water to simulate you hitting the lake.”
“W-Why?” Vague asks, still not believing a word she said. He figures his somewhat busted wings somehow helped slow his descent and haphazardly glide over to the shore.
“I want revenge…”
“I KNEW IT!” Vague cuts her off. Of course, she had a plan all her own. “You wanted to take me down yourself!”
“Let me finish, you hot-headed buffoon!” She hisses in rage. Vague cowers in fear at her booming voice and shrinks back down to the ground. “I want revenge… On my grandmother!” Vague looks at her like a deer in headlights. Why did she want to exact revenge on Chrysalis?
“Huh? Why would you want to-” And then it hit him like a freight train: The entire story he heard back in the castle came flooding back to him. “Oh…”
“She took away my family… my dear father…” Vague sees a single tear flow from her eye. She quickly wipes it away with a forehoof. “And that’s why I must stop her.” Vague nods in understanding. Frostbite must have snapped out of whatever brainwashing Chrysalis had done to her. “Look, i’m sorry for what I have put you and your friends through. Truly, I am. I don’t want her to do anything to them as well.” Vague nods again, still wavering if he should still trust her or not. This could be another trap that she has set up. He frowns at her, but then sees an honest and regretful look in her eyes; true sadness. Vague sighs, he might as well team up with her. After all, going against Chrysalis alone again would end just the same, only this time, no Frostbite would save him.
“Alright Frostbite, I’ll help you.” Frostbite shows a small smile. “But you BETTER not pull anything this time!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t. Chrysalis is my target now.” The icy pegasus glares up at the castle. “And we will finish her and save all of your friends.” Vague looks at her like she’s some sort of a crazy pony.
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Frostbite looks at him with a concerned look on her face. “You don’t actually think two pegasi can take out an army of evil insects and their queen, do you?” Frostbite gives him a sneer.
“Yup.” Vague blinks twice at what she just said.
“You’re kidding, right?” The pegasus looks up to the sky.
“Not at all, Vague.” She smiles again. “I have a plan.”
“Oh great.” Vague facehooves himself. “And what would this plan be?” Frostbite laughs to herself a little. Vague rolls his eyes. He didn’t see how that question was funny.
“You see Vague,” Frostbite looks toward a group of mountains on the horizon. A small breeze blows against her hair, making it flow a bit in the wind. “My father, before he… moved on… He told me about something the changelings were trying to find in my old home in the mountains.” She puts a forehoof on her head to help clear the image in her mind. “It was… behind a large boulder… covered in ice.” Vague’s eyes light up again. “We must head to the mountains and find this… thing.” She finishes her small story, turning back at Vague and looking at his extremely cheerful face with confusion and nervousness.
“Your father could have been talking about the Element of Conflict he swiped from Chrysalis!” His smile grows wide, but Frostbite remains staring at him all concerned and perplexed.
“The Element of what now?” She asks. Vague rolls his eyes. He has a lot of explaining to do.
“I’ll explain on the way.” He spreads his wings, which are surprisingly not hurting him anymore. “Hey, why do my wings no longer ache? That body check I received from that changeling should have put my wings out of commission!”
“Oh, they did.” Frostbite comments as she preps her wings for their trek. “However, a quick ‘cold treatment’ from my breath healed them in no time! Even for a hot-head such as yourself.” Vague flapped his wings and they had never felt any better. He leaps into the air, and floats around a bit to test if they truly are all patched up. He smiles as he performs a few loops and corkscrews, they definitely are as perfect as ever. He descends next Frostbite, who has just started lifting off the ground.
“Thank you, Frostbite.” He says, glancing back at his wings.
“No problem, Vague. Now, let’s get going.” The two of them soar up into the sky and rocket off to the snow-capped mountains in the distance. They both know they are in for a long trip…
Meanwhile, back inside the castle. Chrysalis and her changelings were just finishing up their early afternoon love snack; courtesy of Rainbow Dash. Dash, whose eyes are red and puffy from her extensive crying, is still grunting a bit at her loved one’s demise. Her friends around all felt a similar pain and are determined to get revenge for Chrysalis’s actions.
“Ahhh…” Chrysalis moans. “Thank you Rainbow Dash for that… Mmmm… Delightful treat.” Dash grimaces at her comment. “Now where were we before I was so rudely interrupted?” Sh puts a hoof on her chin as she tries to recall her actions from memory. “Ah! Now I remember!” She trots back to Celestia’s cocoon and places a green hoof under her chin; lifting her head up a bit to meet with the Queen’s. “Now then Celestia, where is Discord's The Element of Conflict?” Celestia growls and tries to pull her head back from Chrysalis.
“I already told you Chrysalis,” She says while struggling. “I will NEVER tell you where it is!” Chrysalis smiles smugly at the princess.
“Aww Celestia, it’s so cute how you think you can keep information from me.” Chrysalis points down a flight of stairs. “You four changelings go and retrieve Luna and her friend; and this time, no interruptions!” The changelings nod as wicked smiles grow on their faces. Celestia struggles violently against her gooey prison to stop Chrysalis from touching her sister.
“No! Don’t you lay a hoof on her or…”
“Or what?! What are YOU going to do, all helpless and trapped in your little cocoon. I have you ensnared Celestia. You can do nothing but watch!” Chrysalis fills the castle with her howls of laughter as she sees the poor princess’s futile attempts to free herself. Meanwhile, Dee-Dee delivers a paralyzing glare to the Queen. This whole situation is disgusting to her.
“Wow Chrysalis, this is low even for you!” She barks. Chrysalis catches her words and snarls as she turns around and stares the human down.
“Who dares to-” Chrysalis hesitates as she realizes who just said the comment: The female human… the one called ‘Dee-Dee’. Chrysalis simply put two and two together to realize the only reason why she was here. She gains another evil smile. Looks like Dash’s consolation was just the appetizer for herself and her hive. Chrysalis’s smile revealed her sharp teeth; an idea formulates within her mind. She hovers toward Dee-Dee, who is still frowning at the insect queen.
“Well, well; I have forgotten about you... Dee-Dee, was it?” Chrysalis asks with a tone of eagerness in her voice. Dee-Dee rolls her eyes.
"What's it to you, you oversized fly?" She responds with anger straining her voice. Chrysalis growls at the insult.
"Why you little-" The queen goes to raise her voice, but quickly composes herself to avoid going off topic. "Anyway,” She continues. “It's quite obvious that you are human; like Christian."
"Your point?" Dee-Dee asks, raising a brow.
"Well, it seems odd that another human is allowed to come here. Last I checked, your government is very secretive when it comes to Christian and Equestria.” The queen states with a curious demeanor..
"My mother is Secretary of State; that's how I found out about Equestria." Dee-Dee answers without so much as blinking. She has prepared herself for these types of questions. She knows what Chrysalis is up to.
"I'm sure.” Chrysalis pauses for a moment and starts to head back to the throne. After a few steps, she halts to a stop and cocks her head a bit in Dee-Dee’s direction. “Tell me, are you and Christian... together?" Dee-Dee shows no obvious expression of surprise. Christian, however, suddenly realizes the scheme Chrysalis is creating.
"Dee-Dee..." He says in a mundane tone; secretly trying to tell her to be careful on how she answers her.
"Maybe we are, and maybe we aren't. It's none of your business." Dee-Dee’s answer comes off as stern and in an irked tone. Chrysalis takes no notice as she paces back toward the gray clad girl.
"Mmmhmm…” Chrysalis laughs to herself. “Do you know his... secret?" Now that question rose alarm to every captive hanging from the wall. Even Celestia gains a worried expression on how Dee-Dee will answer.
“Is she talking about Chris-Cross?” Pinkie thinks aloud. Christian suddenly snaps at her suggestion.
“I thought I told all of you to knock it off with that name! It drives me bloody crazy!” Chrysalis and Dee-Dee take no notice to Christian’s small outburst. Instead, their eyes remained locked in focus with each others.
“Well… Do you?” She asks again. Dee-Dee struggles to contain her desire to spit at Chrysalis’s face for bringing up the fact. She wants to say ‘No’, but how could she? Because of her, Christian will never be a normal human ever again. Dee-Dee realizes she can’t help but speak the truth. She growls at her through a few angry and panted breaths before she tells the queen her answer.
"About what you did to him?” She takes a second to think out her next sentence. Suddenly, she jolts forward as far as the slime will let her; and gets five inches from Chrysalis’s muzzle. “Why else would I be thinking of tearing your wings off, you revolting bug?!” Chrysalis topples back a bit at the shriek of an answer, shocked at the human’s set of lungs. She stays motionless for a few seconds before a smile quickly replaces her stunned expression. It was just the answer she wanted.
"Dee-Dee!" Christian shouts in worry.
"What?!" Dee-Dee turns back to Chrysalis, who had a huge, cocky grin on her face. "Oh... Shoot."
"All I needed to hear.” She makes a motion toward Dee-Dee with her head. “Changelings, grab her and bring her in front of Celestia.” The bugs comply and instantly swarm Dee-Dee’s cocoon.
“Hey! Get off me!” She yells as they pluck her cocoon from the wall and place it down in front of Celestia and Chrysalis. The insect Queen gets up and starts to encircle the prisoner before her.
“Chrysalis, you better not touch her!” Christian shouts from a far. Chrysalis licks her lips again, already tasting the love emitting from Christian.
“Well Christian, that’s up to Celestia here.” Celestia looks at her, flabbergasted.
“Excuse me?!”
“That’s right, Celestia. If you don’t tell me where the Element of Conflict is...” She points her horn at Dee-Dee. “Dee-Dee will have to get used to walking on four hooves!” Everyone in the castle gasps in horror at the demand. Celestia especially, becomes petrified with the decision she has to make. She doesn’t want Dee-Dee to get hurt; but at the same time, she must protect The Elements of Conflict!
“You crazed insect!” Celestia hollers at Chrysalis. Chrysalis smiles at her reaction. “Even if I do give you the element's location, you can’t possibly think that you will be able to wield it!” Chrysalis laughs at this pathetic excuse for stalling her true answer.
“Oh, my dear Celestia; that is where you are wrong.” She starts trotting toward her. “You precious books have told me not only the lore of these artifacts. Anypony can wield an Element of Conflict. However, they will only be able to access a fraction of its power. I believe that blue unicorn, Trixie, was able to do this a while ago.” Celestia grimaces at her reply. “But enough talk,” She points her horn back at Dee-Dee. “Time to make a decision!”
“CHRYSALIS!” Christian shouts; warning Chrysalis if she did anything to his girlfriend. Celestia stutters as she tries to think of an answer to this stalemate she is in. Her thoughts are waged in battle over what to do. She sighs. The answer is obvious to.
“Dee-Dee… I… I…” Celestia doesn’t even get to finish.
“Celestia, I understand. Protect The Elements of Conflict! Don’t worry about me!” Celestia is quite surprised at Dee-Dee’s take on the situation; she can’t even speak at her reaction! Chrysalis, meanwhile, smiles at the human’s answer for the sun princess.
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then, Celestia?” Celestia remains speechless. “Very well then.” The Queen’s horn starts to glow a brilliant bright green. “Looks like it’s time for a ‘change’ in your life, Dee-Dee!” The green glow starts to get brighter. The ponies on the way shriek at the scene unfolding before them. Christian curls his fists and starts trying to tear himself from the wall; anger fueling his every action.
“CHRYSALIS! STOP NOW!” The Queen laughs at the human’s threat. She looks back at Dee-Dee, unwavering with only her stern frown still on her face as her magic is fully charged.
“Let’s see how this new form SUITS YOU!” The green laser blasts out of her horn and hits Dee-Dee square in the chest. The force of the impact frees her from her sticky prison and launches her a few yards back. She falls, back first, onto the marble floor. The entire ordeal knocks Dee-Dee unconscious, yet small and quiet grunts of pain can be heard from her. Chrysalis lifts her head to see the results. She smiles. “Changelings, bring her down to the dungeon while the curse takes effect.” The bugs comply and hoist her limp body away and down the stairs to the dungeon below. The ponies above are not believing what they just saw. Meanwhile, Christian only has the look of sheer hate, disgust, and anger in his eyes as he just stares at Chrysalis. Chrysalis, on the other hand, turns back to Celestia; happy about the results. She can still taste the love that she is leeching from Christian.
“Chrysalis, how could you?!” Celestia ruins the Queen’s happy thoughts, much to her annoyance.
“How could I? You’re the one who did not tell me The Element of Conflict’s location. Naughty Celestia.” Celestia loudly snarls at her excuse. Chrysalis ignores her and looks back at Christian; who still has the look of the devil in his eyes. “Oh, and Christian…” Christian does nothing to respond. “Thanks for the LOVE-ly meal.” She licks her lips, and seconds after, Christian's psyche snaps like a twig.
“THAT’S IT!” With a sudden and unknown new strength, Christian yanks at his cocoon binds and breaks out of the sticky substance with ease. He falls to the floor and lands with a roll. He looks up at Chrysalis; the definition of fury staring down at the insect queen. “YOU’RE HISTORY!” Christian makes a mad dash towards the queen. Chrysalis, Celestia, the changelings, and the ponies are all shocked at how he managed to escape so easily.
“C-Changelings, s-stop him. NOW!” Chrysalis stutters out of fear of what the human would do to her. The changelings hesitate, but soon comply with their leader’s orders. A swarm of them dive toward the sprinting human. Christian glances up at the impending armada and starts firing off orange orbs like a Gatling gun. Each sphere hits a bug dead on.
“Wow! I’ve never seen Christian THIS mad before!” Twilight says aloud.
“Yea! Chrysalis really did it this time!” Dash comments.
“Yes, but this kind of rage is… unbelievable!” Rarity adds.
“Yea, it’s just like…” Pinkie and the others slowly turn their heads to one yellow pegasus hanging above them.
“...What?” Fluttershy asks nervously. The other ponies look at each other; all of them thinking the same thing.
“Y’all don’t think that Christian got another ability from Fluttershy, do ya?” Applejack asks. Twilight thinks for a second.
“No, I think just part of Fluttershy’s rage just added onto Christian’s already crazy anger.” Twilight hypothesizes. Pinkie starts nodding rapidly.
“Yea! Christian needed some fighting tactic from Fluttershy! The author didn’t think talking to animals would be that effective.” The other ponies blink at their pink friend.
“Pinkie, the hay are ya talkin’ about?” Applejack asks while looking at her like like she is some sort of deranged madpony.
“I have no idea!” She answers with a smile.
Meanwhile, Christian is still blasting changelings out of the sky on his way toward Chrysalis. The closer he gets, the more sweat drips from the insect’s temple. She can’t believe her changelings can’t even touch him! More importantly, she can’t believe how angry Christian is! Suddenly, Christian gains a clear straightaway at Chrysalis and speeds up toward her, readying a spell. Chrysalis jumps at his encroachment. She must think quickly; and her answer comes quick and easy. She charges up another spell and aims her horn at Christian’s stomach. A stream of green slime propels out of her horn and collides with the hate-filled human. He gets thrown to the ground and slams his head into the marble tile; knocking him unconscious. Chrysalis sighs heavily in relief as she sees Christian on the floor in the goop.
“Phew.” Chrysalis sighs tiredly. “Changelings, immerse him in a cocoon. Make sure that HE DOES NOT ESCAPE AGAIN!”
“Yessssss Chryssssssalissssss!” The changelings cast their own slime spells and put a thick wrap of the stuff over Christian’s entire body. After successfully making it so Christian was no longer visible inside his new prison, he is lifted up by ten changelings and hung from the ceiling of the castle above the other captives. The ponies below look in horror. Their friend became a juggernaut from his anger; knocking out every changeling in front of him; and Chrysalis casts a single spell and he falls like a brick!
“How strong did all that love make her?” Twilight whispers to herself. Chrysalis, still shaking a little from the frightening ordeal, turns back to Celestia, her eye twitching a little.
“Now, back to the matter at hand.” She she grins. Celestia gulps, wondering what the queen has in store for her next…
Meanwhile, near The Far North in a few snow-capped mountains, Frostbite and Vague start to close in on their destination: The highest mountain in the range.
“So, do you think this ‘Element of Conflict’ will actually stop my grandmother?” Frostbite asks as they start their descend toward the summit.
“If Chrysalis is hunting for it; then it’s powerful.” Vague explains as a small snowstorm whirls up as they land. “So yea, i’d be willing to bet that it could stop her easily.” The duo land in front of a dark cave carved into the mountain. Vague peers inside to see a blue wooden door halfway through. Frostbite marches forward inside.
“C’mon! We have to hurry!” She says, beckoning Vague. He quickly gallops after her inside the cave. Frostbite hesitates for a second before opening the door, remembering the ordeal that happened here when she was little.
“You okay?” Vague asks, tapping her on the back. Frostbite shakes her head to ignore her thoughts.
“Yea, fine. Let’s get this element, save your friends, and stop my lunatic of a grandmother!” She turns the doorknob and pushes the door open. The two peer inside to see an interior made of pure white: Ice and heavily packed snow make up the ceiling, walls, floor, and all the furniture; which consists of a few chairs, a table,and a couch. Walking inside the freezer of a home. Vague immediately grows nervous from stepping inside in fear of melting everything. Frostbite notices the fearful look on his face and laughs. “Relax Vague, i’m sure you won’t melt anything.”
“If you say so.” Vague takes one step onto the ice tiling, and sure enough, his hoof stays firmly on top. He sighs with relief. “Well, that’s good. Now, where’s that boulder you mentioned?” The two look around the living room of the cave igloo for a few minutes. Approaching the hallway toward the far end of the cave. Frostbite notices the rough outline of a grayish circle inside of the right wall. She looks closer into the shape and upon her further inspection, reveals the boulder… under a foot layer of ice and snow; impossible to breach.
“Wow, talk about freezing over.” She says, pointing to the encapsulated rock. Vague peers inside and chuckles at the amount of frozen water over it. Looks like he has to turn up the heat anyway.
“Heh, easy. Stand back.” He starts to take a deep breath. Frostbite senses the danger of the situation instantly and ducks behind the frozen table on the other side of the room.
“VAGUE! ARE YOU INSANE?!” She yells at him as she sees his mane and tail start to glow brighter. “YOU’RE GOING TO MELT THIS ENTI-”
*FWOOSHHHHHH!*
Vague’s entire body ignites like a roman candle and starts to burn a bright orange hue. Frostbite ducks below the table to shield herself from the intense heat and light. The table she’s hiding behind starts to sweat a bit from the sheer magnitude of heat on the other side. She braces herself for everything to turn into a puddle around her.
Then, the heat suddenly stops.
Frostbite slowly peers over the table and sees Vague shining a forehoof on his coat in a dip in the icy flooring. The wall next to him, however, has a hole bored into it; revealing a giant boulder.
“Impressed? And I did minimal melting to the rest of the cave!” He shouts to her. Frostbite emerges from her cover. She lightly nudges him in the side.
“Not bad ya piece of tinder.” Her complement make him smile a bit; she really did warm up a bit… for a ponysicle. “Now, help me move this stupid thing.” She flutters up and gets on one side of the rock; Vague follow suit on the other side. Putting their backhooves on the rest of the wall and pushing forward, the rock slowly budges from it’s old home and rolls into the family room of the cave. The two of them show no weakness at the task as they check out what the rock is hiding: A small alcove dug inside of the icy walls. Frostbite and Vague look at the hidden hole, with curiosity and anxiousness. another flashback hits Frostbite as she remembers her father’s last few words. She shakes her head again and kneels down to look inside the niche. She crawls in to get a better look.
“Well?” Vague asks, as it take her a few seconds to search. The blue pony pops out shortly after, pulling out a present-sized box with her mouth. Frostbite sits down and stares at the item. This is it, the ticket to avenging her father, family, and Vague’s friends. “Open it.” The pegasus nudges her. Frostbite slowly lifts the lid off of the box and the two peer inside. “Oh dear Celestia…” Vague starts. “The Element looks…”
“...Like me.” Frostbite finishes his statement as she lifts the necklace out of the box and sets it down on the floor to get a better look at it. The necklace looks similar to the Alicorn Amulet; but has many different features. For one, it’s lacking a horn, and the head and wings of the pony are a shiny cobalt blue. The eyes are a piercing blue instead of a sharp red, and the red diamond is replaced with a brilliant, onyx-colored heart at its center. The necklace is marvelous. Vague nods at Frostbite’s comment; it does look a lot like her.
“Put it on!” Vague says quickly.
“What?”
“It can be a coincidence; It looks so similar to your likeness! Put it on and let’s see what happens!” He asks again. Frostbite hesitates again. They are dealing with an artifact of legend with the possible potential to destroy Equestria; she isn’t about to anything reckless. Then again, this is the only thing that can stop Chrysalis currently. Nodding, she picks up the necklace with her forehoof; takes a deep breath, and slides it around her neck.
Then, something incredible happens.
Moments after putting on the necklace, the whole room becomes washed in a vibrant and harsh bright white light. Vague shields his eyes from it’s source: Frostbite. The icy pegasus the starts to rise slowly into the air with the use of her wings, as if an invisible set of strings is holding her in the air. In the middle of it all is Frostbite, staring upward and into the light itself. An inescapable thought starts to race inside of her head, making this entire ordeal clear to her. Vague starts to freak out from what’s unfolding and ducks behind the same table that Frostbite used for cover. A few seconds pass again and the light starts to die out; slowly lowering the pegasus as it fades. Vague looks over the table to see Frostbite; eyes closed and lost in deep thought; but looking rather courageous and content with what just happened. Like the fact that she was just surrounded in a brilliant aura of light was nothing to her.
“F-Frost?” He mutters. “You okay?” Frostbite’s eyes suddenly open and she smiles.
“This is awesome!” Vague shouts. “Did you get any cool powers too? Do you know?” Frostbite doesn’t answer, she simply touches Vague’s inferno of a mane. The split second her hoof makes contact, the fire shoots up her hoof and envelopes her body. “GAH! FROSTBITE!” He shouts in worry. a sudden laughter is heard from the new flame.
“Relax Vague, i’m fine.” Frostbite emerges from the fire, but looks much different. Instead of a blue fur coat, it’s now glowing red with heat. Her white and cyan tail also change to the yellow and orange of a burning flame. The only things that stay the same are her black mane and hooves, the Element itself, and her light blue eyes. Vague can't believe what he is seeing in front of him; a cold pony turned into an inferno in the blink of an eye.
“What. The. Hay. Frostbite.” Vague stutters as he sees how at peace she is with being lit up like kindling. Frostbite giggles, she has a bit of explaining to do.
“You see Vague,” She starts. “As The Element of Situation, I have the ability to use the natural elements found in nature for use in any situation that comes about.” The flames suddenly die around her and her pegasi body reverts back to what it looked like before. “And I can always turn back to my old, cold self again at anytime!” She says with glee. Vague nods at her answer and grins at these new results.
“Oh, Chrysalis is in for it now.” He states with utter joy.
“Yea.” Frostbite adds. she looks over Vague’s shoulder and toward the small speck of Canterlot Castle far off into the distance. It’s time for her to avenge her family, and get revenge on Chrysalis for messing with her in the first place. “C’mon Vague,” She lifts off the ground again, while tucking the element back into its back and hoisting it up with her. “It’s time for you and I to get some revenge.” Vague agrees with a nod and the two of them jet away from the cave and the mountain it resides in. She glances back at her old home, remembering the events that occurred there one final time. Vague looks at her and sees the determination in her eyes burning like the flame she was just a few minutes ago.
“You ready, Frostbite?” He asks as they keep speeding back the Canterlot. Frostbite grins.
“Better believe it, Vague! Let’s go and pay my grandmother a surprise visit… One that she will NEVER FORGET!”
“Okay, now if I can go the next FIVE MINUTES without some sort of interruption, maybe some progress can be made!” Chrysalis shouts while walking back to ‘her’ throne. Her patience has become thinned by the two recent escapes. With Celestia still not budging about the whereabouts of her newly found Element of Conflict; she wants her next move to be quick, effective, and painful… like a booster shot.
“Sssssshall we go and retrieve Princessssss Luna and her little friend, dear Chryssssssalissssss?” A changeling asks while motioning toward four others behind him. Chrysalis puts a hoof on her chin as she ponders the question. The last two times she tried to bring out Luna as a means of breaking Celestia, it got stopped just short of the act. She doesn’t want to risk another attempted escape; she’ll need a closer resource. Chrysalis scans the row of cocooned mares until another idea clicks in her brain: Celestia’s OTHER breaking point.
“No,” Chrysalis answers. “I have a much more… creative idea. Changelings! Bring forth Celestia’s star student. Bring me Twilight Sparkle!” The room fills with a collective gasp. Chrysalis glances at the sun deity, whose pupils just shrunk to the size of a pea. A hum of drone wings replace the silent sound of shock as they collectively move to the other side of the room. Twilight looks up at the swarm and gulps.
“D-Don’t c-come a-any c-closer!” She stutters in defense. Chrysalis laughs at the futile threat.
“That’s just adorable! She thinks she’s a threat.” The queen says. The bugs grab hold of her cocoon and yank it away from the wall. Moments later, it’s dropped in front of Celestia and the bug queen. Twilight starts panting and writhing as Chrysalis starts to step toward her, struggling to break free like Vague and Christian. “I have no worries of you escaping, Sparkle.” Chrysalis meets Twilight’s face a few inches away. “Without your precious magic, you’re as trapped as an insect in a spider’s web.” The queen taunts. Twilight tries not to show fear at the queen as she tries to muster up a sentence.
“What’s your ploy, Chrysalis? Why choose me?” Twilight snaps at her. Chrysalis smirks, and leans in a bit further.
“Because you’re the key to MY element.” She backs away and turns her head to Celestia, who is softly growling at this new plan Chrysalis has created. “Now Celestia…” She starts. “You will tell me where your new Element of Conflict is!” The queen sounds sure of her words this time; deadset on getting the answer she craved for. Celestia frowns further. Has she not gotten the message yet? Why is she so certain that she will succeed this time?
“My response still stands, Chrysalis; I AM NOT telling you its location!” She yells to make sure Chrysalis hears her loud and clear. Unfortunately for her, Chrysalis did.
“That’s a shame, Celestia.” She moves behind the immobile Twilight. “I didn’t know you hated Twilight that much.” Her horn lowers toward Twilight’s own, making Twilight shiver with fear.
“Celestia!” She screams at her approach.
“Don’t you DARE hurt her or any of the other Elements of Harmony, Chrysalis!” The queen laughs at her demand.
“Oh Celestia, i’m not going to hurt her… I’m going to help her!" Celestia and Twilight’s looks morph into confusion. What is her plan here?
“Then what are you…” Celestia goes to say something, but Chrysalis continues with her previous sentence.
“I’m going to help her…” She jumps into Twilight’s point of view. “By making her MY new student!” Another collective gasp is heard.
“WHAT?!” Everypony exclaims. Chrysalis nods.
“That’s right, Celestia. Either you tell me where the Element of Conflict is…” She aims her horn at Twilight’s head again. “Or I will turn Twilight Sparkle into my own changeling student!” Twilight feels her heart stop for a few seconds, as do the rest of the ponies in the room.
“You… You can’t be serious.” The solar princess gasps.
“Oh, I’ve never been more serious in my life, Celestia.” Chrysalis approaches Celestia’s prison again with a sort of swagger as she trots forward. “And I will do the same thing to the rest of Twilight’s friends until you comply. Every. Last. One. Until I break you like a twig.” She says fiercely to her face before backing away. “Now, make your choice.” Chrysalis finishes her statement. Celestia stares blankly forward as replays the threat in her head on loop. Then a horrifying thought strikes her mind: She is now balancing The Elements of Conflict with The Elements of Harmony. Chrysalis had put her in a stalemate; either way is a loss. She does not want to see Twilight become one of her… disgusting bugs. But she can not let Chrysalis know where The Element of Conflict is. Meanwhile, as Celestia tries to sort this out and think of a solution; Twilight is sweating profusely from the choices her teacher is given.
“Surely, Celestia will think of a way out of this!” Twilight whispers to herself, confident in her teacher’s abilities.
“I… I…” Celestia can’t speak. She was given an impossible choice, and Chrysalis’s patience has run out.
“So be it.” She hisses through clenched fangs and turns back to Twilight. The pony snaps back to the current situation as Chrysalis marches toward her, seething with rage.
“Celestia! Do something!” She yells as Chrysalis’s horn glows green once more. Celestia only stares at her student as her mind continues to feud with her decisions. Finally, her thoughts settle on a conclusion.
“I’m sorry, Twilight…” She mutters loud enough for the others to hear. Twilight couldn’t believe her teacher’s answer, yet she understood it. If those elements were to get in Chrysalis’s filthy hooves… Twilight dares not to think what would happen. Then again, staring down a horn charging with a spell to turn you into a disgusting insect isn’t a great alternative.
“Say goodbye to your old life, Twilight Sparkle!” Chrysalis shouts as her horn glows even brighter. The unicorn tries to turn around to see her friend’s faces, to try and form a sort of farewell. But all she could see out of the corner of her vision is her other friend’s closing their eyes; waiting for the deed to be done. With a sorrow sigh, Twilight turns back around and closes her eyes as the spell reaches full power.
“WAIT!” A voice breaks the silence. Twilight’s eyes bolt open to see Celestia shedding a few tears at the sight of her somewhat valiant (and forced) sacrifice. “You win, Chrysalis. I’ll… I’ll tell you.” Chrysalis stops the spell instantly and her fangs curve into a smile. She has finally broken her. The ponies are speechless, especially Twilight, at the sudden change of her decision. Then Twilight remembers what happened when Trixie hypnotized Christian, and everything made sense.
“You slimy bug.” Twilight hisses through her gritted teeth. Chrysalis used her and the threat as a way to make her teacher give in; just as Trixie did. Chrysalis smiles at the mulberry unicorn’s little comment and flips back to Celestia, still cringing at the choice she made.
“Well, out with it Celestia.” She wraps a hoof around Twilight and brings her cocoon near her, the green horn pointing at her head. “Or else.” Celestia gulps again. She knows that it would hurt even more to keep her waiting. A short sigh, with mixed emotions of anger and depression is heard escaping her mouth.
“The Element of Conflict… Is still in the castle.”
“Where?!” Chrysalis pulls Twilight closer as the princess hesitates to give her the crucial information. On the other side of the castle, five ponies continue to watch helplessly at the ordeal. Suddenly, they all hear some sort of faint whooshing sound from outside…
“...Its location is-”
CRASH!!
BANG!!
“Now what?!” Chrysalis growls.
*Flap Flap Flap*
“Celestia, don’t say another word!” A voice shouts from behind the queen. Everypony gasps at the sudden turn of events. Chrysalis, meanwhile, is trying not to break a blood vessel in her eye at the amount of rage from another interruption… and the source of the voice.
“Last time I checked, I pushed you out of a window and you fell into a lake.” She hisses.
“You should check again,” Chrysalis does a swift half-revolution and sees the impossible before her: Vague Blaze, alive and flying, who just burst through the front doors of the castle. The ponies above cheer at their friend’s well being. Especially Dash, who can’t help but tear up at her stallionfriend once more.
“How are you still alive?” The insect asks while throwing Twilight to the side.
“It’s quite simple actually.” Vague smirks. “I had some help.”
“From who?” She hisses. Just then, another flapping is sound is heard from outside the wide open doors of the castle. A blue pegasus enters the interior, landing next to Vague. Chrysalis sighs in relief, it’s Frostbite. She will be able to take care of things, Chrysalis thinks to herself.
“Ahh, Frostbite; my dear, dear granddaughter. Dispose of this pest, if you please.” Frostbite looks over at Vague, who looks back at her. They both nod simultaneously.
“Like how you disposed of my father?” She turns back to Chrysalis with an angry frown. Chrysalis reels for a second at her comeback statement; blindsided by her words.
“E-Excuse me?” She stutters. “I haven’t the slightest clue of what-”
“DON’T YOU LIE TO ME!” Her scream explodes around the entirety of the castle’s walls. “I heard every last detail when you were talking earlier! Your takeover, The Element of Conflict that Candance sent you, and what you did to my father!” She stomps a forehoof. “So, I am here to put a stop to your plans… and avenge my family!” Chrysalis is speechless at her granddaughter’s words. She can’t believe that Frostbite broke out of her trance. But it didn’t matter to her; her goals would be reached one way or another.
“You… you traitorous little pony! You’re just like your father before you! Getting in my way and trying to stop me!” She takes a few aggravated deep breaths. “Only this time…” She points a forehoof at the duo. “You will NOT ruin my plans! Changelings! Seize them!” A flood of bugs rushes at the two, but it only makes Vague and Frostbite smile even wider.
“Bad move, grandmother!” Frostbite exclaims as she reveals a peculiar looking necklace from behind her and straps it onto her neck. With the changelings still coming at them at a rapid pace, Frostbite simply goes to touch Vague’s fiery fur. Chrysalis looks onward at Frostbite’s actions and tilts her head in confusion.
“What is she doing?” She says under her breath.
“Smart pegasus.” Celestia says with a smile. Chrysalis whips around to face Celestia.
“What was that, Celestia?” She snaps. Celestia laughs and nods toward the front of castle. Turning around, Chrysalis sees two bright orange pegasi instead of one. Confunded at the cause; Chrysalis stares at the necklace on her neck, and every thought in her brain simultaneously clicks all at once. “No… NO! IMPOSSIBLE!” Frostbite sees her grandmother panic in the distance and smirks. Her next move is going to blow her grandmother's mind.
“Vague, let’s light it up!” She shouts as she zips around the front of the room, creating an inferno of heavy flames in her wake. Vague smiles and follows her immediately after, helping to create a burning barrier between themselves, Chrysalis’s prisoners, and the changelings. The army screeches to a halt midair in front of the blaze, shocked at what the pegasi did. Chrysalis growls with a powerful anger.
“Don’t just gawk, you imbeciles! Put it out and get them before they free the prisoners! AND GET THAT ELEMENT!” The changelings immediately start conjuring green slime from their horns and lobbing it at the inferno to put it out. On the other side, Vague and Frostbite finish putting up their literal firewall, happy at their element of surprise. Which fades as they see the changeling horde on the other side start dousing the flames in green gel.
“We need to act quick! Free the others! We’ll need the help!” Frostbite shouts as she goes to relight the wall in front of them. Vague nods and soars upward toward the remaining captives. Dash can’t help but smile at her stallionfriend.
“VAGUE! You’re alive!” She booms
“Heh; I’m glad to see you too, Dashie!” He beams. “Now, hold still so I can-”
“Vague! Don’t bother with us!” Rarity pleads. Vague gives her a confused look. Has she lost it? He thinks to himself.
“Umm… Why?” He asks while scratching his head.
“Help Christian! He needs it more than us!” She nods her head toward the bigger cocoon hanging above them. Vague’s pupils dilate at the thing. It's as big as a small car!
“The hay happened to him?!” He shouts.
“No time to explain! Just get him out of that disgusting prison!” She hollers back at him. Vague moves in flash toward the cocoon flying up and around its exterior. He’s surprised he can’t even see Christian inside!
“Hope I don’t burn you, dude.” He says as he merely touches the goop with his forehoof and it lights up faster than a bonfire in a volcano. The outer layers of the chrysalis become cinders; making its center, Christian, fall out from underneath the burning wrap and slowly descending to the castle’s floor by a few green and slimy strands of what remains of his enclosure. Hanging a mere few feet above the tile, the puppet-like strands that are suspending him snap from the fire brought about by Vague. Christian hits the ground somewhat hard; an audible groan is heard from his body as a result.
“Yup, his fine.” Vague concludes.
Meanwhile, Christian starts regaining his vision and looks at the green pool underneath him… then at the diminishing fire in front of him. He struggles to get back up to his own two feet as he tries to comprehend what the heck is going on around him.
“Well… Vague’s alive. Need to thank him later.” He says as he manages to balance himself while standing. “Probably missed a lot though. Whatever, not in the mood right now.”
“Christian!” A voice shouts from behind him. He turns and sees Rarity looking either angry or scared; he can’t tell as his eyesight is still less than perfect from his detainment. “Christian! Look out!” The voice shouts again.
“Mmm... Wha?” He says in response before realizing the swarm in front of him has breached the wall of flames.
“Chrisssssstian issssss freed! CAPTURE HIM ONCE MORE!” One of the bugs orders.
“Oh…” He pauses for a second as his brain catches up to the urgency of the situation. “SNAP!” Christian yells, shaking off his daze. “Alright then, you insects!” He presents one of his hands. “EAT MAGIC!” He flicks to cast an orange orb into his palm… which fizzles out into nothingness. Surprised by the fail, he goes to cast another one, yet nothing appears this time. Christian becomes frightened at the result of his only OTHER form of attack now somehow not working. “What the heck?! Why can’t I-” Christian memory snaps back to what Celestia said back in the hospital room after Area 51:
“You will develop a much higher magic stamina…”
“Guess that hasn’t happened yet.” He says as he starts backing away from the insects as they encroach onto him. “Somebody… HELP ME!” He screams in dismay. Rarity looks down at the human’s display. She knows he’s in trouble, and there is only one thing he can do.
“Christian! Look up here!” Christian glances up at the white unicorn. “You’re on your own here, Christian! You’ll need to fend them off yourself!” Christian grows even more scared at her solution.
“ARE YOU CRAZY, RARITY?!” He responds as his back touches the castle's front wall. “I can’t fight hand to… hoof! I can barely do so when i’m mad and-”
“Christian, darling; listen to me!” She cuts him off. “Celestia said that you are supposed to get an attribute from all of us sooner or later. The little ‘reaction’ back in The Badlands was no reaction. You have my fighting moves, you just have to realize that you can use them!” Rarity says this with sheer determination and confidence in her voice. Yet Christian still looks at her like some sort of deranged lunatic.
“What are you, nuts?!” He shouts back to her.
“Either you do that, or you’ll become stuck in another disgusting pinata!” She counters. The bugs approach Christian further. Rarity knows that she is running out of time. “You must fight, Christian!” She shouts again.
“I’m telling you, Rarity; I can’t fight!” He continues to protest.
“Christian, fight!”
“But I-”
“FIGHT!!!” Christian blinks and sees a lone changeling coming at him full force, fangs and all, as Rarity’s words continue to echo within his skull.
Then something clicks inside of Christian’s brian.
A flow of a new knowledge suddenly comes to him. Time seems to slow down for Christian as he takes in all of these new thoughts: Karate, Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Jujitsu, Kick Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, every fighting moving imaginable hits Christian like a bullet train. A sort of clarity forms over him as this knowledge is absorbed into his mind. He takes a deep breath, exhales, and smirks.
Time starts to speed back up as Christian reers up his right arm and readies himself. As the changeling is about to tackle him, he thrusts his hand forward and delivers a shattering palm strike to the changeling’s muzzle. The insect gets launched backward into the swarm behind him from the sheer force of the hit. The rest of the swarm falls down as their fellow bug falls on top of them. Chrysalis looks at Christian’s act and gawks in astonishment; while Celestia smiles at his new skill. The rest of the swarm quickly gets back into the air, though a bit frightened at the human’s new power. Christian looks back at Rarity and smiles.
“I told you, darling!” She winks at him. Christian nods and looks back at the swarm; staring at the bugs with a menacing stare.
“I know way more than Kung Fu, you stupid bugs.” He says before motioning the rest of the swarm to come at him. Irked by his demeanor, the rest of the insects fly toward him only to be swiftly dispatched. Christian takes care of the first few with some well-timed kicks and punches before knocking out two more with a perfect split kick. He lands down on one knee and lifts his head up to stare at Chrysalis. “That the best you got?” He says with another smirk.
“You’re new tricks show nothing! Changelings, get him!” Another swarm of changelings come out from the shadows. Christian looks up and smiles.
“Bring it on!” He says while getting into a crane pose. Changelings veer to his position, which makes him leap out of his pose and slam one of them to the floor with a chop. The next two dive toward him, which makes Christian roundhouse kick one into the other, causing a spectacular collision and knocking them both out. Rarity watches the human fight from above, approving every move he uses.
“Nicely done, Christian.” She says to herself. She then turns her attention to the rest of the swarm coming for him. She frowns in worry. “Looks like he’ll need some help.” She looks up at Vague. “Vague, darling; if you wouldn’t mind, can you free the others and I from our binds?” Vague glances over from his position.
“Oh! Uh, of course! Yes! Sorry, just got distracted because i’ve never seen Christian do… well, THIS! It’s awesome!” He says will gently descending toward the other captives and lighting their respective cocoons aflame. The first to be freed, Rarity leaps down toward Christian’s general area. While he’s busy flip kicking another changeling, Rarity comes crashing down on another bug that was about to creep up behind him. Christian turns his head around to see the defeated insect.
“Thanks for the save!” He says with a wave from behind his back. Rarity nods and jumps behind him and gets into a fighting stance. Christian does the same and jumps behind her. The changelings surround the two of them at all sides. Christian glances left to right as the two of them rotate around to see that they are surrounded. “Well, this should be fun.” Christian states.
“Indeed.” Rarity responds. “Are you ready for another test with your new moves, dear?”
“Better believe it, Rarity.” He prepares for the rush of insects. “Let’s party!” The changelings engulf the pair, but they jump out kicking and punching like karate masters.
Meanwhile, Vague frees Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy from their individual cocoons. Rainbow Dash takes no time in smothering her stallionfriend with a hug once freed from the goop and off the wall.
“Ohhhhh, Vague! I’m so happy to see that you’re alive!” She screams in joy once more. Vague starts rapidly patting her on the back, ensuring her of his health and trying to tell him that he needs air. He shoves her off, gasping for a breath.
“Heh, it’s nice to see you too, Dashie.” He repeats himself, but he doesn’t care. He is glad to hug his marefriend again. Just then, a lit-up Frostbite descends toward the two lovers. The sheer look of disgust on Dash’s face said every one of her thoughts for the other pegasus.
“Dash…” She starts. The rainbow pony puts a hoof up. Her face changing to a look of regret and deep thought in seconds
“Look, I don’t need an apology from you, Frost.” She says, softly. “Even though you basically handed us over to Chrysalis, you were somewhat misled by your crazy granny.” She looks at Vague and nuzzles his coat. “And, well, you did save Vague’s life.” She looks back up into Vague’s eyes. Frostbite gives a small smile as she returns to her frosty self once more.
“Thank you, Rainbow Dash. That means a lot.” Dash shrugs at the compliment.
“Aw, it’s no problem. But I think persuading the others will be way tougher.” She explains. Frostbite nods as she grabs a nearby changeling with a forehoof and throws it to the ground; still maintaining eye contact with Dash and Vague.
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She says, cocking an eyebrow. “I think I have a way of gaining their trust again.” She peers down toward Chrysalis, looking fierce as her drones fail to the ponies around her. “But i’ll need the two of you to help me make it work.”
Down below, Christian and Rarity are destroying insect swarms left and right. Their combined martial arts is easily dispatching anything that comes near them. Christian grabs a changeling trying to sneak up behind him and, while still staring at the horde in front of him, uses it as a projectile to knock out half of the bugs in front of him. Rarity on the other hand, is backing the human up with her own style of knocking changelings unconscious with a forehoof and the occasional spin kick.
“Could this be any easier?” Christian shouts while elbowing a changeling behind him.
“Well, they could be flying at us a bit slower.” Rarity comments while flipping a changeling over and slamming him into another drone with a kick. “But this is quite fun nonetheless!” She shouts with glee. As the fight goes on, three changelings wise up and manage to get around Rarity and Christian by flying up high and out of their sight. Landing behind the white unicorn, they prepare themselves for a sneak attack. Christian gets a quick glance at the three of them and quickly thinks up a strategy to take them out.
“Rarity! DUCK!” He shouts as he motions toward her. Rarity complies, though is confused by the human’s words. Acting quick, Christian uses Rarity as a literal pommel horse as he side flips over her and lands in front of the three changelings. As he lands, he kicks the changeling in the middle and sends him flying; leaving the other two not only startled by what just occurred, but now trembling in fear at the human’s new moves. “HIYA!” He shouts as he flip kicks one of the bugs and punches the other right in the jaw. The two remaining changelings land flat on their backs in defeat, making Rarity smirk at his skills.
“Excellent form, Christian!” She says as she clobbers another changeling in the muzzle. Meanwhile, Pinkie and Fluttershy watch the two of them from off to the side, bugs zipping past them and then flying backward seconds later.
“Should… Should we help?” Fluttershy squeaks. Pinkie Pie shakes her head quite rapidly.
“Nah, they should be fine!” She says as she ducks and another insect’s defeated body gets thrown over her.
“Actually you two,” Christian says, overhearing their conversation. “Could you both go down to the dungeon and check on Dee-Dee for me?” He karate chops a changeling and flip kicks one behind him. “Luna and Supernova are probably keeping an eye on her, but please check just in case.” The other two ponies nod.
“Sure thing, Christian! C’mon Fluttershy!” Pinkie bounces toward the stairs.
“Umm… Okay.” She says and quietly follows her friend. Christian keeps an eye out for any changelings that wanted to go after the pink and yellow ponies. Luckily, Christian and Rarity were the main targets.
“Hey,” Christian turns to Rarity while simultaneously grabbing a changeling’s forehoof. “Where’s Applejack?” He asks, throwing the changeling at Rarity so she could kick it into the wall. Almost as if on cue, three changelings crumble to the floor next to the duo seemingly out of nowhere. The two turn to see the orange earth pony on top of the pile of defeated bugs.
“Ah’m right here, Christian.” She says with a smirk. “Ya didn’t think I wouldn’t be fightin’ too?” She says with a cocky smirk. Christian smiles back.
“It’s not that, AJ.” He says as the fight continues with him drop kicking a changeling. “I just thought you were still stuck to the wall.”
On the far side of the room, Chrysalis grows more and more annoyed by the second. Her prisoners are free, her changeling army is falling, and to top it off; her granddaughter is an Element of Conflict who turned against her! She stares unwavering in a silent rage as Christian and the ponies pummel changeling after changeling.
“This is unbelieveable!” She growls to herself. "Everything was planned perfectly! This shouldn't be happening!"
“Yet you underestimated your granddaughter.” Celestia points out. Chrysalis does a swift turn around.
“What was that, Celestia?!”
“You never thought of the idea of Frostbite turning against you or being an Element of Conflict.” She says calmly. “Your own recklessness, small mindedness, and lack of foresight has put you in your current situation.” Chrysalis gains the most aggravated look on her face from Celestia’s words. “You are going to fail again, Chrysalis.” The princess finishes. Chrysalis growls quite loudly at her in response. Who is she to tell her what will happen? All she needs is a way to fix this mess. Quickly, Chrysalis scans the room to find some sort of advantage… and she grins at her answer.
“It’s not over yet, Celestia!” She snickers as she glances to her left. “Not by a long shot!” Celestia sees her look over her to her side and, urged by curiosity alone, follows her eyes to what she is looking at. Celestia gasps as she sees a knocked down Twilight still encased in her green prison, struggling to shake loose. Chrysalis’s horn glows green in mere seconds as she levitates Twilight’s cocoon over to her and by her side in the blink of an eye. Twilight has barely anytime to react to the chain of events. In the blink of her eye, she is carried right to Chrysalis’s hooves. Once again scared at her motives, she tries with all her might to escape her cocoon and Chrysalis’s grasp. It is no use however, she remains held fast to both entities.
“EVERYPONY! STOP NOW!” Chrysalis shrikes to her drones and enemies alike. Every fight within the castle ceases. Everyone looks toward Queen Chrysalis, who is holding Twilight in one forehoof against her, and looking as enraged as ever.
“Now, here’s what’s going to happen: Christian and the ponies are going to surrender to my changelings and be captured once more, Frostbite will grant me her Element of Conflict, and Celestia shall tell me where her Element of Conflict is; OR SO HELP ME, I WILL TURN TWILIGHT INTO A CHANGELING RIGHT THIS INSTANT!” Celestia remains fixated on The Queen’s threat. She is no longer kidding around. And what were the others supposed to do? There is no other option!
“Whoa… C-Chrysalis, just… just chill out, okay?” Christian says, scared out of his mind at the hand she dealt. “You got us. We’ll give up; let’s not do anything rash here.” He says while throwing his hands up in surrender.
“Christian, you can’t be serious?!” Rarity proclaims. Suddenly, Dash and Vague land in front of them, looking just as scared as Christian.
“No, no, Rarity.” Dash starts, “I agree with Christian. Chrysalis means business this time.” Dash and Vague both move to where Christian is standing.
“Yea, she’s nuts! And she has Twilight! It’s not worth it!” Vague exclaims. The other ponies can not believe their friend’s responses to their predicament. Chrysalis sneers at how quickly the tables have turned in her favor. Twilight is in awe; shocked at how quickly Christian and her friends surrendered. Celestia simply looks down in total defeat.
“Excellent!” Chrysalis laughs. “Now, all I need is that Element of…” Chrysalis takes a second to scan her enemies encircled by her changelings. She does not see a cobalt pegasus among them. “Wait a second...” Chrysalis says, confused. “Where is Frost-”
“CHRYSALIS!!!” A voice echoes from the ceiling of the castle. Startled, Chrysalis looks up to see the cause. To her surprise, she sees nothing. Suddenly, a swift and chilling wind blasts in front of her. Chrysalis braces herself as the wind gets fiercer and colder. After a few seconds, the wind passes her, leaving her there in the middle of the corridor. She blinks a bit after the ordeal, and quickly notices something different.
“What the?!” She screams. “Where did Sparkle go?!” Just then, the voice calls out again.
“Christian! Catch!” Frostbite yells as she carries Twilight’s cocoon above everyone else. With a slow but strong throw, she heaves the chrysalis toward the surrounded group.
“Oh snap!” Christian shouts, stunned by her action. Acting as fast as he can, he dispatches the two changelings in front of him with a few quick punches before hopping over their defeated bodies and running to where Twilight is falling. Taking a few steps, Christian hits the ground with a slide directly underneath where Twilight’s shadow is falling. Twilight gasps as she is caught by the human. “Gotcha!” Christian shouts in success. He starts to get back up onto his feet. “Nice throw, Frost!” He yells to her as she hovers down toward the window a few feet away from him.
“Frostbite!” Chrysalis stares at her granddaughter. “I’ve had it with your attitude toda-”
BWAK!!
In seconds, Frostbite, fed up with Chrysalis for everything that she has done; swoops from her position and sucker punches the queen square in the jaw. Chrysalis flies to the other side of the castle, landing right in front of a stained-glass window on the opposite side of the room. Dazed by the blow, Chrysalis holds her head as she tries to make everything stop spinning. As her vision clears, she focuses on Frostbite on the opposite side of where she is. Frostbite stares back with a look of disdain and rage frozen on her face.
Then, Frostbite closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Her fur and tail start turning into a gray-black marble like mix, almost like the color of slate. Her mane remains its black sheen and her eyes stay light blue. she opens her eyes once more. “You will face my stone-cold fury quite literally, dear grandmother!” She yells. Chrysalis growls at the threat.
“You shall not defeat me, Frostbite! I WILL get that Element!” She demands. Frostbite smirks.
“Not today.” She grimaces and looks toward the ponies. “Vague! Dash! NOW!” Her voice prompts the two pegasi to spring into the air and rush toward the stone pony at lightning speed. The two of them go on each side of Frostbite and lift her with ease before racing forward, right toward Chrysalis’s face.
“No…” Chrysalis murmurs with a frown. She tries to get back up onto her forehooves, but her body is still racked with pain after Frostbite’s first hit. “I will not… be beaten… again!” She says as she tries to move.
“Hey Chrysalis!” Chrysalis stops her struggle to get up and looks toward the three pegasi coming at her full force. Time seems to slow down for Frostbite and Chrysalis alike. Though seemingly a blur to her, she can still see a smirk on Frostbite’s face. Chrysalis growls at her granddaughter’s attitude. How dare she be happy at her traitorous acts! Frostbite stares at Chrysalis with malice, yet also a sort of peace is also on her mind. Her task given to her is about to be complete. Within a few yards of each other, Frostbite makes her last comment to her grandmother: “This is for my father.”
Chrysalis hears this sentence and before she can even react to what she said, Frostbite’s rocky hoof connects with Chrysalis’s head. Combined with the speed from both Vague and Rainbow Dash, Chrysalis gets the equivalent of a wrecking ball going Mach two hitting her square in the face. The sheer force of the impact launches the queen out of the window; shattering the glass into fragments as she soars onward and upward toward the horizon. The ponies do some quick loop-de-loops to slow themselves down and simultaneously drop the somewhat bulky Frostbite. Frostbite falls back down to the floor and turns back into her blue and cold self once more. Out the destroyed window, she sees the small, green speck that is Chrysalis ascending over the clouds and into the distance. The changelings look toward the broken window and are immediately overcome with fear and distress over their queen’s loss.
“Queen Chryssssssalissssss!” One of them shouts. “Quickly! After her!” The bugs surrounding the other ponies quickly scatter and zip toward the window and after their queen. The battered changelings on the ground here the cry and get slowly get back up into the air and haphazardly follow. Frostbite smirks as the swarm of changelings fly from behind her and toward the horizon line. Vague and Dash land behind her as the last of insects scramble out of the castle. Dash can’t help but laugh at how the tough insects just start fleeing after their queen has been beaten.
“Yea, you better fly!” She yells at the last bugs as they fly away, sore and scared. Meanwhile, Christian is using a bit of his magic to try and unwrap Twilight and Celestia from their cocoons. Surprisingly, he is able to free them.
“You two okay?” He asks as he throws away the last of the sticky green goo. Twilight and Celestia nod in unison.
“We are now, Christian. Thanks.” Celestia says. Christian shrugs at the comment.
“No problem. I’m just glad i’m getting this magic thing somewhat down.”
“Well, magic isn’t the only thing.” Christian turns around to see Rarity behind him. She has a confident smirk on her face as she trots up next to Christian. Christian smiles, scratching his head in flattery.
“Yea, I guess you were right about the fighting thing back there. Thanks for the save, Rarity.” He says. Rarity shrugs at the compliment.
“Why, don’t thank me, darling. That fighting was all you. The only thing I did was encourage it.”
“Well, to be fair; it is your skill that I got from The Elements of Harmony.” Rarity nods with a laugh.
“Fair enough.” She says with a laugh. Christian laughs a bit too with her. Then, the group looks toward Frostbite, who is still staring out the window next to Vague and Dash. “I can’t believe what happened with Frostbite though.” Christian says in astonishment.
“Well, she’s not the only one, Christian.” Twilight states. “Today has been full of turmoil for all of us!”
“Yea, no kidding!” Christian responds with a snicker. “Anyway, i’m going to go thank her for what she’s done. Without her, well; we would still be on that wall.” Christian starts walking over to Frostbite, leaving Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Celestia behind.
“We should do the same.” Applejack states aloud.
“I agree Applejack. Frostbite deserves it, as does Vague and Dash of course!” The two of them follow Christian toward the three other pegasi. Celestia simply stares at Frostbite, her expression unwavering from her look of deep thought. Twilight looks up at her teacher, a bit concerned at this behavior.
“Umm… Princess Celestia?” She questions. Celestia immediately snaps out of her trance.
“Huh? Hmm?”
“Uh, are you alright; Princess Celestia?” She asks. Celestia nods and looks back at Frostbite.
“Yes, Twilight. I’m fine; I’m just.. thinking.” She returns to her former, mutual expression; which makes Twilight shrug. Celestia is such an enigma.
“Alright then! I’m going with the others.” She says as she starts toward the group by the window. Celestia continues to watch the blue pegasus, curious about how she acted today. She then looks toward the broken window where Chrysalis had been defeated; the horizon where the changelings have all flown towards.
And Celestia cracks a small smile.
At the same time, Frostbite feels a wave of new and different emotions wash over her as she receives praise from everyone and starts to take in the defeat of her grandmother by her hoof. To her, it felt good to help out these ponies. Well, way better than hating them at the very least.
“Frostbite, that was EPIC!” Christian shouts up to the sky.
“Indeed! The way to took control of that situation was well done!” Rarity says with a grin and a nod.
“Speakin’ of situation, that element of yours is quite impressive!” Applejack compliments.
“I agree!” Twilight continues. “The way you can harness those elements is spectacular!” Frostbite doesn’t even know how to respond to all of this. She is too overwhelmed by a hot feeling of satisfaction and gratitude. All she can help to do is smile, her pointed teeth shining in the sun.
“It was a well orchestrated plan, Frostbite.” Vague adds with a smile. “Nice job, Element of Situation.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you two.” Frostbite says to the two other pegasi.
“It was awesome to kick changeling hide like that! It felt SO good!” Dash adds, yet it falls on deaf ears for Frostbite, who turns her attention back to the horizon as the others keep talking. Looking onward at what she had caused: Chrysalis failure. She can’t help but smile at that thought.
“Frosssssstbite…” Frostbite’s ears suddenly perk up. Her eyes dart around the outside of the castle. She swears she just heard a voice calling out her name. She leans outside the broken window and peers around the exterior for anypony; yet no one is seen. “Frosssssstbite…” The voice softly echoes again, though it is now clearer to her. Frostbite is certain that she hears somepony this time… and the voice sounds somewhat... familiar. “Thank you, Frosssssstbite.” The voice praises to the pegasus. Frostbite goes wide-eyed; she knows whose voice is calling out to her.
“F-Father?” She says quietly while looking up to the heavens.
“Chryssssssalissssss hassssss been dealt with, and our family hassssss been avenged.” The voice continues. “I can finally resssssst in peace…” The voice seems to sigh in relief at his statement. “I’ll be watching you… My dearesssssst daughter.” The voice fades from her ears, yet Frostbite continues to look up at the sky, hoping to hear from the voice again.
“Hey, Frostbite?” Another voice snaps her back to her senses. She does a quick turn around to see everypony looking quite concerned at what just happened, Vague especially. “You okay there, Frostbite?” He continues with a somewhat concerned smirk. “You see a bit… shaken.” Frostbite smiles a bit as his worry for her well-being.
“No Vague, I’m fine.” She states with another smile. “i’m… happy.” She turns and looks up at the sky once more, taking in a deep breath and sighing in relief. This moment, right now, was the first time she felt at peace with herself; with the world. And she knows she’s not the only pony who feels like this right now. “We’re both… happy.”
Canterlot Castle’s interior is racked with suspense in the aftermath of Queen Chrysalis’s defeat. The guards are just fixing the giant hole in the stained glass window where the queen was sent flying out of courtesy of Frostbite, Rainbow Dash, and Vague Blaze. Behind the guards, the air is racked with uncertainty as Frostbite stands before Princess Celestia’s throne, a scared expression stuck on her face. Princess Celestia reclines in her throne, giving the pegasus a menacing glare. Christian and the ponies are off to the side, a tad worried at the iexpression Celestia is giving to Frostbite. The room itself is bathed in a quiet but tense aura as Celestia prepares to speak what is on her mind.
“Frostbite,” She states, sternly. The pegasus’s legs tremble a bit at the words.
“Y-yes?” A nervous Frostbite whispers with a gulp.
“Because of your actions, all of Equestria was put into immediate danger from Queen Chrysalis’s possible rule.” She states. Frostbite glances down in shame at her words. “Not only that, but Chrysalis also almost got her hooves on The Elements of Conflict. With these artifacts, she would have been unstoppable.” Frostbite now tilts her head down at this, acknowledging that she could have caused complete chaos because of her betrayal. The others look onward at the two of them, scared at the fate Frostbite is going to get sentenced to.
“However…” Celestia shows a small smirk at this, completely confusing the bystanders. “Not only were you manipulated by Chrysalis from the start, saved Vague’s life; and came back to put a stop to Chrysalis and her changeling’s wrath... You saved me, my sister, The Elements of Harmony, and our human ambassador; and lastly... You are also an Element of Conflict.” Frostbite looks up and smiles at the princess, she knows where this is going. “Because of these factors,” Celestia continues, “I hereby pardon you of your past transgressions.” The crowd behind Frostbite cheers at Celestia’s announcement; happy that their new friend isn’t going to spend her life in the dungeon. Frostbite couldn’t be happier.
“Thank you, Princess Celestia.” She says with a bow.
“There is, however, one thing that I ask of you, Frostbite.” The princess suddenly states. The crowd’s cheering comes to an immediate halt, stunned and worried by what Celestia is going to say next. Frostbite also grows a bit uneasy.
“What is it, Princess?” She asks. Celestia smiles at her thought.
“I would like to keep a close eye on you and your element, Frostbite. There is no doubt in my mind that Chrysalis will be after you because of your element and your betrayal. That being said, I realize that you have no place to stay...”
“You don’t mean-” Frostbite doesn’t even get to finish her statement; Celestia is already a step ahead of her.
“How do you feel about staying here, in the castle?” Everyone’s jaw drops at Celestia’s question. Seconds ago, she looked as if she was ready to lock Frostbite away for good; but now, she is offering that the cold pony stays in the castle with her?! Everyone cannot believe the princess’s words, not even Frostbite!
“I… I… I would love to, Your Highness!” She exclaims with joy.
“Then it’s settled. Effective immediately, you are to move into Canterlot Castle, Frostbite.” The princess dictates with a smile. Frostbite can barely contain her joy for her new home; her wings involuntarily flutter and lift the pegasus off the ground. Dash and Vague can’t help but laugh a little at her reaction.
“Alright. Chill out there, Frost.” Dash says, bringing her back down to the ground.
“Oh come on, Dashie; let her enjoy herself. She’s had a rough day; she needs a bit of good news.” Vague comments.
“Rough day?!” Dash hollers while flipping back around to her stallionfriend. “You’re kidding, right? She just found out a few hours ago that she is part of some legend with awesome powers! How is that a rough day?!”
“Well maybe it wasn’t rough for her, Dash…” A new but familiar voice echos within the room; making everyone become struck with an unnerving silence. In the celebration of Chrysalis’s defeat, everyone had forgot about the damage the queen had dealt before she was stopped.
Everyone except for Christian, that is.
“Dee-Dee...” His voice shakes as the gray pony slowly trots into the center of the room. Her eyes tell her entire thought process: Confusion, anger, sadness, worry; all reflected in the tears trickling down her face. Christian rushes to meet her; to comfort her in any way he can. He kneels down to meet her at eye level, but she does not acknowledge him and continues to look down at the floor. “Dee-Dee,” He says again while taking one of her forehooves. “I know what’s going on in your head right now. I know that you know what Chrysalis did to you can never be changed.” He says, softly. Dee-Dee nods slightly at his words. “And although you can never truly live a normal, human life again; know this:” She tilts her head up and meets her eyes with his. “You and I are now closer than ever.” Dee-Dee gives him a small smirk.
“Thanks Christian” She says while wiping the tears from her eyes. “But… I can’t be… me again.” She frowns again.
“We’ll see about that.” Christian gets to his feet. “Celestia, you can make her like me, right?” He asks. The princess ponders the thought.
“Well, I would have to use a different spell… But, yes. I can make her similar to you, Christian.” She says with a nod. Christian turns back to Dee-Dee, a smile now forming on her face.
“What do you say, Dee-Dee?” He asks.
“I say let’s do it!” She leaps into a hug for Christian, who embraces her right back.
“I’ll make the preparations then.” Celestia says, grabbing a few books from next to her. “The spell should be ready within a few hours, once I do a bit of reading that is.”
“Sounds good!” Dee-Dee says, letting go of Christian. The pony rushes up the stairs toward Celestia’s room. “I’ll be waiting!” She hollers as she vanishes from sight. Meanwhile, the rest of the ponies who witnessed the event in silence, sigh collectively in relief that their other human friend would be cured of her curse.
“Well, I’m glad Dee-Dee will be okay.” Vague announces.
“Indeed.” Rarity agrees. “But why must you use a different spell for Dee-Dee, Celestia? Why not use the same spell you used on Christian?” She ponders to the princess.
“Well Rarity, the spell I used on Christian was very specific and I could not use any other at the time. The spell I will use for Dee-Dee will allow me to have more resources on hoof.”
“Makes sense to me.” Christian shrugs.
“Yet before I get to that,” Celestia says, plucking another book from the pile next to her. She stares at the tome with a agitated and concerned look as she narrows her eyes on its cover “I must do more research on The Elements of Conflict.” She drops the book in front of her, revealing its cover to the others: Equestria Legends. Everyone moves in to see the object up close and get a better look. Twilight starts eyeing the cover with confusion; until she realizes what this book really is.
“Is this the book Chrysalis used to find out about The Elements of Conflict?” She asks anxiously.
“Indeed it is, my star pupil.” The princess answers. Celestia surrounds the book in a faint white glow as it levitates in front of the group before her and opens its pages. “What Chrysalis read in this book… What she made me reveal… Is all found in here.” She lectures while flipping through the pages. “The Elements of Conflict were created by Discord, Luna, and I. They were indeed meant to maintain Discord’s chaos while we sealed him in stone for a thousand years.” The book flips to a page depicting the two princesses and the spirit of chaos in a circle, with four objects in the center. “The elements were supposed to be hidden away, only to be revealed to the four ponies that are destined to wield them.”
“But Chrysalis said that anypony can use them.” Applejack points out.
“Yes, but only a small amount of their power.” Celestia turns the pages again to show another illustration; this one featuring the silhouette of a pony wearing some sort of necklace or amulet with a pillar of light being cast upon them. “The true wielders of the Elements of Conflict can tap into their true power!”
“Like Frostbite?” Pinkie says, pointing to her with a forehoof. Celestia nods.
“Yes, Pinkie. Each element was designed for each type of pony: An alicorn, an earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus. Frostbite being the pegasus in question.” The pages turn again to yet another illustration, yet this one is vastly different. The ponies gasp in awe at the two page depiction of the silhouettes of an alicorn, unicorn, and earth pony; all empty spaces. However, in the space of the pegasus is a picture of Frostbite herself, wearing her elemental amulet on her neck.
“Whoa! Check it out! Frostbite’s in the book!” Dash points out. A look of surprise flashes across Celestia’s face for a split second. She turns the book around and is astonished to see Frostbite’s picture among the empty images.
“Interesting.” She says to herself. “It seems that the book must have updated itself when Frostbite discovered her elemental power. It even has a new description for her!”
“What does it say, Celestia?” Twilight asks. Celestia scans the summary next to Frostbite’s picture.
“The Element of Situation, being born from a drone of betrayal and a pony of the north, has the ability to use any natural elements around her to change her form and equip her with newfound powers and assets. She can wield such elements as the flame of an inferno, the rush of a river, the fury of a whirlwind, and the strength of stone.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!” Twilight gasps.
“Yes, but now we must find the others.” Celestia says, closing the book and placing it next to her. A serious look has taken over her face. The ponies worry at what she is currently thinking.
“What do you mean, PC?” Christian questions.
“Now that Chrysalis is aware of their existence, I am certain that it is only a matter of time before Paradox and Trixie discover their existence as well. If those two manage to get even one of the remaining Elements of Conflict…” Celestia noticeably shivers from fear at the very thought. “Equestria and Earth would be under a threat that would be nearly unstoppable.” The ponies gasp once more at Celestia’s answer.
“Then we find those amulets before Paradork and Ditzy nab them!” Christian suddenly exclaims.
“It’s not that simple, Christian.” Celestia shuts down his idea. “The rest of the elements are hidden in areas where no pony would ever look. Not only that, but we must also find the true wielders of the elements if we are to keep their power safe.”
“What about Discord’s element? Didn’t you say you still have it?” Twilight mentions. Celestia smiles at her pupil’s memory.
“Yes Twilight, I do still have it. In fact, you all know what element I still have; even Chrysalis unknowingly knew!”
“WHAT?!” Everyone explodes in unison. How would they know what element was still in Celestia’s possession? They all take a second to think of what Celestia could be talking about. Then, a light bulb goes off in Twilight’s head as she remembers Chrysalis conversation.
“Of course! The Alicorn Amulet!” She shouts her answer aloud. Everyone looks at her as they start piecing together her answer. After a second, multiple “A ha’s!” ripple among the ponies as they realize Twilight’s answer.
“Correct Twilight, The Alicorn Amulet is actually The Element of Structure. Trixie managed to tap into its magical properties; yet this is not its true purpose. Once we find the true Element of Structure, the amulet’s power shall be revealed!”
“So,” Twilight starts to recap. “On top of trying to stop Paradox and Trixie with whatever they are planning to do to take over Equestria; we need to find the two other Elements of Conflict and the ponies that can wield them AND the pony who can use the element that we already have?” She takes a breath. “Sounds like a fun time to me! What do you say, girls?” The other Elements of Harmony talk amongst each other for a few seconds in group huddle before revealing their answers.
“Sound likes an awesome adventure to me!” Dash shouts with a flip “I’m in!”
“Count me in, darling!” Rarity says.
“OHHH! It’ll be like one of those “Find the Object” books that I like! ONLY REAL!” Pinkie squeals excitedly.
“Umm… I’ll help, Twilight.” Fluttershy mutters.
“You know you can always count on me to help, Twi.” Applejack tips her hat to Twilight. Twilight smiles at her friend’s call to adventure. She looks to Christian, who is leaning against a marble column.
“What about you, Christian? Do you want to help?” The human snickers at her question. The answer should be obvious to everyone.
“Are you kidding?” He smiles and starts walking toward the ponies. “Let’s see: You want me to find a bunch of ponies who can use amazing abilities with the power of legendary amulets and help them out in order to stop evil from taking over?” He stops short of the group; getting into a thinking stance as he ponders the obvious question. “Hmm, now why does that sound familiar to me?” He smiles. “You better believe i’m in, Twitty!”
“Speaking of abilities,” Rarity jumps in. “Christian, you and I must schedule some time to hone your new fighting ability along with your magic tutoring with Twilight. After all, you are without your crossbow.” Christian gains an irritated look on his face.
“Don’t remind me.” He growls, still remembering Chrysalis crushing his favored crossbow into pieces.
“That’s right!” Vague exclaims. “Chrysalis destroyed it! Oh dude, what will John say?” He ponders, worried that John may be mad at him somehow.
“Actually, I already spoke to John about the matter.” Celestia says, which surprises Christian. When did she have time to speak with his uncle after the mess that occurred a few hours ago?
“What did he say, PC?” He snaps.
“He said that he get right onto making you a replacement, but it will take a while.” She states.
“Fantastic.” Christian sigh with a roll of his eyes.
“On the bright side, I don’t have to worry about being tranquilized for a while!” Twilight says with glee. Christian gives her a piercing glare from behind his back.
“Whoop de doo for you.” Christian mocks while twirling his pointer finger in annoyance. “Next chance I get, i’m researching a sleeping spell… Or learning pressure points from Rarity.” He mutters to himself.
“Alright! Enough of the chit-chat!” Dash shouts while soaring into the air. “C’mon Vague! Let’s go help Frostbite move into the castle!” She jets out of an open window. Vague and Frostbite laugh at her antics.
“It’s best not to keep her waiting. Let’s go, Frost.” Frostbite nods as the two of them fly up into the air and after Dash. Frostbite soon leads the way as they head for her old, mountain home. The rest of the ponies remain in the castle, watching the trio leave.
“I’m glad Frostbite did what she did.” Twilight comments as she sees the three dots vanish into the distance.
“Indeed, my star student.” Celestia comments. “I just hope the other Elements of Conflict follow suit.”
“I have a question!” Christian interrupts. “How are we supposed to know who is an Element of Conflict? How do we know that Dee-Dee isn’t an Element or something?” Celestia smirks at Christian’s questions.
“Time will tell who is able to posses an Element of Conflict. As for Dee-Dee, well... humans weren’t in mind for wielding such artifacts when they were created.”
“So, no humans? Awww…” Christian pouts. He hoped that Dee-Dee would be able to gain some ability to defend herself while she was here as well. That, and he was hoping that he may have a chance at possibly be an element. Seeing Frostbite getting new powers from the world around her was mind blowing to say the least.
“Why are you so bummed out?” Twilight breaks Christian's thought process. “You are getting new powers every other week! You already have three of the six you will get!” This makes Christian forget about getting an element. He had three untapped powers just waiting to appear any day now!
“Fair enough.” Christian says with a shrug as he heads to the door. The ponies look at him, confused as to what he is doing.
“Umm, where are you going, dear?” Rarity ponders while scratching her head in confusion. Christian turns back around to address her.
“Well, I feel like it should be a tradition that whenever we kick some evil being to the curb; we should celebrate appropriately!” Pinkie's eyes suddenly light up like a pair of headlights
“That sounds like the invitation to a party!” Pinkie bounds toward him like a kangaroo on a sugar high. “C’mon! C’mon! Let’s get started!” She grabs the human and starts dragging him along.
“Alright! Whoa! Slow down a bit there, Pink.” The command falls on deaf ears as the pink pony continues to prattle on about the details of the soon to be bash.
“This is going to be such a fantastic party! We need to tell Frostbite and Vague and Dash- OH! We should make it all cold and icy themed for Frostbite for beating her granny! Pinkie continues to talk as she drags Christian down the hallway and out of the castle doors; her voice still on rapid fire as it starts to leave the vicinity. “We’ll prepare everything at Sugarcube Corner! I know exactly what to set up, and bake, and decorate, and design, and...” The others watch as the doors close behind the two of them. Twilight stands there with a single question hovering over her head.
“How can he deal with her yet still put me to sleep if I say one thing?!” She shouts, and then sighs. There is no point in trying to reason with it, she thinks to herself.
“We better go help those two,” He says to Rarity. “Fluttershy, you mind helpin’?”
“Not at all.” She says, softly. Applejack leads the two of them toward the doors. However, before getting even halfway, she turns back around.
“You comin’, Twi?” The orange pony asks. Twilight nods at her friend.
“Of course, i’ll be right there!” She says as the three of them leave. After the doors shut once more, Twilight turns to address her teacher. Celestia smiles, as she expected as much for her. “Princess Celestia, about The Elements of Conflict.”
“Yes, Twilight?”
“How long do you think it will take for Paradox and Trixie to find out they exist?” The question had plagued her mind ever since Chrysalis was launched from the castle. Knowing the Queen, she was most likely on her way to the two of them right now. Celestia stares out the window for a few seconds, watching the sun start to get low.
“They will know by midnight.” Twilight gasps.
“But… Then how will we…” Celestia cuts her student off before her thought is complete.
“However, I know they will not act in a manner to find their locations.” She states, still focused on the sun's brilliant colors outside.
“Why not?” The unicorn questions. Celestia does not move from her position.
“Because they want us to find them first; do their work for them. And even still…” She turns back toward Twilight. “Paradox is planning something, something big.” Twilight gulps at the news. “The blueprints he got from Area 51, one of them is the design of a weapon so powerful, it will allow Paradox to claim the throne.” Twilight cannot believe what she is hearing! No wonder he needed those prints! She thinks to herself.
“How do you know this, Princess Celestia?” She asks, curiously.
“John told me; but do not worry Twilight. John also said that most likely the designs that Paradox and Trixie stole are actually failed prototypes. Paradox and Trixie will just be wasting their time with their findings.”
“That’s a relief." Twilight sighs. "So, we should be fine?” Celestia snickers at Twilight's conclusion.
“Nothing is ever easy, Twilight. Now, go enjoy yourself!” Twilight sighs, but also smiles at her mentor’s words.
“No problem, Celestia!” She turns to leave her teacher and join her friends.
“Oh!” Celestia suddenly remembers something rather important. “And Twilight?” She hollers.
“Hmm? Yes, Princess Celestia?”
“Don’t worry about your friendship with Christian.” Celestia says with a smile. Twilight blinks at her teacher and gains a perplexed stare, curious at why she would mention this subject.
“Why?” Is all that she can respond with. Celestia laughs again, her reactions to odd questions are always a joy to her.
“One day soon, you two will become great friends. I can sense it.” Twilight can’t help but laugh at the statement.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” She turns to leave the castle. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Princess Celestia! She waves from behind her back. Celestia smiles and waves back.
“Good bye, Twilight!” She says as she waves her off and the large doors close a third time. Celestia lays back in her throne, a sort of clarity almost makes her mind clear of any worries in the near future.
Almost.
One thought was still on her mind, a thought that did in fact worry her of the near future. She remembers the conversation that she had with John earlier, an hour after Chrysalis’s defeat. She took a short trip to Earth to talk to John about Christian’s crossbow, which he said was “Not a problem.” Then, John brought up the events at Area 51 that happened a few weeks back. That’s when he said something that made her fur now crawl with nervousness.
“So, the blueprints that were stolen are worthless?” Celestia questions as she stands among the agents and scientists of The Pentagon. John walks over from the desk he was standing by and starts reading off the latest report that was given to him.
“Yes Celestia, the lab boys here say that they know for a fact that one of those blueprints is a failed prototype.” John reads off of the clipboard in his hand.
“What about the other one?” Celestia asks. The question makes John and the scientists go dead silent. All typing ceases and all conversations come to a halt. John gains a grave stare that pierces Celestia’s look of concern.
“We… Uh… We still don’t know what that last blueprint really was. But… The lab boys say that some signs point to… It being a possible threat. A threat that we thought was gone forever.” Celestia keeps a blank stare on her face as she tries to muster a sentence.
“W-what t-threat?” The two words fall out of her mouth. John takes a deep breath as he remembers the information.
“Well… There is a ten percent chance that he took a classified weapon that, if operation, could be used to take over Equestria and Earth.” Celestia brakes out of her chance. Only ten percent? They seem so nervous over it. She thinks to herself.
“And the other ninety percent?” She asks.
“Oh, it’s absolutely nothing and Paradox is an idiot.” John snickers at his comment. “Yea, most likely, that’s what it is. The classified stuff never leaves The Pentagon, so we should be okay. I’ll make sure to call you if anything comes up though.” Celestia nods with a smile and proceeds to leave.
It is this thought that is making Celestia rethink her reaction a few hours ago; making her rethink about what could happen now… What may happen. Yet as Celestia gets up from her throne and goes toward her room to perform the spell for Dee-Dee, she assures herself that John said it’s only a ten percent chance, and it’s most likely nothing… Yet that question remains embedded within her subconscious, resting and toying with her in the back of her brain:
What if it is that other ten percent?
Up at the Far North, Rainbow Dash and Vague are carrying the last bit of Frostbite’s things out from her old, mountain home. Luckily for the two of them, Frostbite does not have a lot of personal belongings in her freezer of a home. Dash wipes some sweat off her forehead as she re-enters the mountain home.
“Whew!” She exclaims. “All right, Frost! I think that’s the last of everything!” She yells toward the back of the home. Frostbite pokes her head out from one of the rooms in the long hallway in the back.
“Not everything, Dash.” She says, while looking back into the room she is in. “There are still a few more things in here.” Dash hangs her head with a sigh.
“Ugh! Fine!” She floats over to her friend. Meanwhile, Vague zips in from behind Rainbow, back from another drop-off of Frostbite’s things at the castle.
“Are we almost done, you two?” He asks as he lands in the middle of the two of the pegasi. “It’s starting to get dark out.”
“Yes, just a few more boxes in here and then we will be done.” She says, pointing to the final three boxes in the barren room.
“Oh, awesome! Let’s go, Dash.” He jumps into the room. Dash groans and peaks her head into the side room.
“Well, at least this is it.” Dash sighs as she enters the room where Frostbite is standing. “What room is this anyway?” She asks. Frostbite looks around the barren room and shrugs at the question.
“I don’t know.” She says while re-entering the room. “I think it belonged to my parents.” She says while scanning the room once more. Dash blinks a few times as she stares at her somewhat sad expression.
“Oh…” She glances toward the boxes in the corner. “So… Is this your parent’s stuff then?” She asks. Frostbite nods.
“I believe so.” She says while moving toward the three boxes. Vague picks up the box stacked on top of the other two and smiles.
“C’mon you two, let’s get these things out of-” Vague goes to fly out toward the door, yet one of his backhooves hits one of the boxes below him, causing the pegasus to tumble out of the air and onto the icy floor. The box he was holding flies into the air and lands with a powerful THUD! onto the floor. The contents of the box spill out and slide about onto the ice. Vague’s eyes light up in shock as he realizes his clumsiness. “Oh man! I’m sorry, Frost!” Dash glares at her stallionfriend.
“Yea, you should be, Vague! You might have broken something of Frostbite’s!” Frostbite pays no attention to the two of them as she gazes upon the mess of object that came out of the box. One of them in particular catches her eye: A beautifully jewelry box, encrusted with multiple gemstones. The box had opened when Vague dropped the box. Frostbite slowly walks over to the box, halting the two pegasi’s conversation. The two of them look at the cold pegasus as she picks up the box. Frostbite gasps in confusion; the only thing that was residing in the box was a piece of paper.
“What in Equestria?” She says aloud. “What is a scrap of paper doing in a jewelry box?” She picks up the piece of paper to see what exactly it is. “Hmm… Odd.” She says, noting the blank piece of paper. She flips it over to inspect the other side. With a gasp, she is shocked to see something written on the other side. The two pegasi crowd around her to see the note.
“What’s it say, Frost?” Rainbow Dash asks. Frostbite starts to scan the note’s writing and proceeds to read it aloud:
“My dearest Polar Wind,”
“I have betrayed the trust of Queen Chrysalis. I have taken from her something powerful that would have given her unimaginable power at the risk of destroying me and the other changelings. Now, they will be after me. I have hidden the object in the house, and I will do whatever it takes to protect our daughter. For the sake of our family, you must flee from this place for your own safety. Knowing the Queen, she will adopt our daughter and make her a part of the swarm. As for me… I am unsure of my fate… I hear the swarm outside, I may not have much time left. Be safe my dear, I love you.”
The note’s signature is illegible to the trio, yet it’s meaning hits Frostbite hard with a wave of emotions. A trickle of tears comes down her face. Dash and Vague look at each other and realize that the note they just heard was from Frostbite’s father, and most likely his last words. Frostbite collapses in sadness as she tries not to start bawling in front of her friends. The note falls out of her hoof and flutters down to the floor. Dash scoops up the note and scans over its contents. That’s when she realizes something.
“Wait a sec, Frost;” She says. “Do you know what this means?!” She says with astonishment. Frostbite nods her head between her small sobs.
“It’s… It’s my father’s final words.” She sniffles. Dash shakes her head.
“No… It means your mother may still be alive!” Frostbite’s soft crying stops instantly as she hears Dash’s conclusion. She quickly gets up from the floor and rushes over to Dash to read over the note again. Quickly reading over the note again, Frostbite gains a small smile.
“She’s alive?” She says quietly. “My mother is alive?!” She booms with excitement. Dash nods at her words.
“Most likely, I didn’t hear Chrysalis say anything about any other pony being in the house; just you and your father. She must’ve read the note and left this place as fast as possible.” Frostbite flips at the news, her family is not completely destroyed after all!
“This is wonderful news! I can’t believe this!” She shouts with glee. Vague looks at the note and scratches his head at it and Dash’s answer. While her thought process made sense, it left more questions than it answered.
“If what you’re saying is true, Dash; then… where is she?” He asks.
“It doesn’t matter.” Frostbite answers Vague’s question. Dash and Vague look at each other, confused as to why Frostbite answered in such a way. “My mother is alive, that is what is most important. I will find her… someday.” She gazes up toward the ceiling of the room, which makes the other two pegasi give her small smiles of joy. The fact that their friend now has another family member somewhere in the world is enough happiness to go around. Frostbite turns back around to her two friends. “C’mon you two, let’s get this stuff out of here!” The two pegasi nod.
“Right!” They say in unison as Vague picks up the rest of the contents of the spilled box and puts them back into their cardboard home. Each pegasus picks up a box and heads toward the front door. As Vague and Dash exit the mountain home, Frostbite glances back into the darkness of her old and cold house. With a smile, she remembers that she is leaving behind a life that left marks that may never be forgotten; yet it also brings to light a life full of opportunity.
“C’mon Frostbite!” Vague yells from outside. Frostbite glances over her shoulder.
“Coming!” She shouts back. Frostbite grabs the handle of the door and takes one last look inside. With a soft smile she closes the door and leaves her old home for the final time and flies into the night toward her new home and a new chapter on her life.
The bright moon lights up the night as the darkness covers Equestria. Most of the ponies have fallen into a deep slumber, happy and content that everything is the way it should be. Princess Celestia and The Elements of Harmony are also sound asleep; at peace with the knowledge that Chrysalis and her insect army are hundreds of miles away somewhere, defeated and broken.
Or so they think.
Far away from Canterlot and Ponyville, a few creatures trek across The Badlands, limping and heads hung low in defeat. Queen Chrysalis and a few of the remaining changelings in her army slowly cross the barren desert, in search of a new home to hide in for the time being. As the queen saunters away from civilization, two shadows cast against her. Chrysalis gasps in fear as she knows who the two characters are and continues to keep her head hung low.
“Well, well, Chrysalis. Defeated again, I see? How pathetic!” Paradox scorns her. Trixie, whom he is next to nods in agreement. The time spirit starts to hover around the queen, eyes still narrowed at her in anger. “I give you freedom from your prison; help you raise an army, and yet you still fail me?” He questions Chrysalis as he floats back to his student, his back now to Chrysalis. He turns his head. “Tell me, Chrysalis: How did you fail this time?” Chrysalis finally shifts her focus toward the spirit in front of her. With a look of fear and worry in her eyes, she speaks:
“An Element of Conflict.” Chrysalis returns to looking back down at the ground. The statement makes Paradox’s eyes grow wide with shock. Trixie on the other hand, gives her a look of confusion. Paradox slowly descends to the ground and closes his eyes, focusing on her words.
“Well then…” He mutters. “Your loss is validated, then.” He stares at the queen before glancing away. Chrysalis’s head jolts up to meet Paradox’s, surprised but his sudden change of mood. Trixie is also confused at his startled reaction.
“Validated? Trixie does not understand, Paradox.” She says. Paradox looks at her student with concern.
“Those… Elements.” He says as he turns and walks away from the group. “The Elements of Conflict are ancient and legendary artifacts of extraordinary power.” He turns his head back toward his student. “With even one of those artifacts, we would have enough power to usurp the throne.” He clenches a fist as he finishes his sentence. Trixie eyes light up like the stars above at her teacher’s words. These artifacts would make taking over Equestria easier than ever!
“Really?” Trixie says with intrigue. “Then Trixie thinks we should go after these so-called “Elements of Conflict”, Paradox! Imagine the power we would…”
“We will not do such a thing, my student.” Paradox interrupts his student’s words. Trixie gasps in surprise and confusion. Why would Paradox decline such an opportunity?
“What?! Why?!” Paradox laughs at Trixie’s reaction as he walks to her position. Meeting the unicorn eye to eye for a few seconds, he turns his attention back to the direction of Canterlot.
“That is what Princess Celestia believes what will happen. Celestia is hoping that we will want to seek out The Elements for their power. She want us to wait until The Elements of Harmony and that human have found all of The Elements so we will act in a way to steal them.” He snickers at the thought. “She is such a foolish pony. I have foreseen her making this assumption.” He looks back at Trixie and Chrysalis. Chrysalis cocks an eye at the spirit’s explanation. “What Celestia does not know is that I care not for such petty items. No… They are not of any importance to me.” Trixie and Chrysalis continue to stare, bewildered at the spirit’s words.
“So… What will we do then?” Chrysalis questions. Paradox suddenly snaps his fingers, making two tubes materialize and start floating next him. Trixie gives off a malicious smile as she recognizes the two cylinders.
“Of course… Trixie is quite pleased with where this is going.” The unicorn comments. Chrysalis stares at the two tubes blankly, as their purpose to her is unknown.
“You see, Chrysalis…” Paradox starts. “These are blueprints to a few projects that I wish to begin. Trixie and I stole them back on Earth from the human’s government. We shall use these to take over Equestria and its inhabitants.” The spirit motions a hand and the two blueprints fall into each of his hands. Chrysalis rolls her eyes, this plan seems flawed on a number of levels.
“Yes, because trying to build these… things unnoticed will go a lot smoother than trying to get The Elements of Conflict before those ponies.” Paradox laughs again at Chrysalis’s statement.
“We will have no such trouble. Celestia and the human government believe that these two blueprints are worthless; nothing but failed prototypes. Yet I know what power they are truly capable of.” He glances down at Chrysalis and the ten battered changelings behind her. “However, I will need an army to gather materials and build our first weapon.” He raises the blueprint in his left hand upward. Chrysalis finally smiles at the spirit of time. Not only for wanting to help, but to get back what was taken from her not to long ago. The queen kneels toward Paradox, as do the drones behind her.
“My changelings and I are at your command, Paradox. We will be happy to assist you.”
“Excellent.” He floats toward the queen and raises her head, making their eyes meet. “When our victory is complete; you shall receive your place on the throne once more, Chrysalis.” Chrysalis nods in understanding. “Now then, back to the matter at hand…” Paradox grabs the blueprint floating to his left and snaps his fingers again, making the tube to his right vanish. He stares at the object, thinking about his next move. “Those ponies want The Elements of Conflict so badly?” He thinks aloud. “I say… Let us help.” Trixie and Chrysalis revert to their previous states of confusion. Where is he going with this?
“Come again, Paradox?” Chrysalis questions. The spirit whips back around.
“Those Elements will be worthless once our plan comes to fruition. We shall lead the group into a false sense of hope by letting them find the other Elements. Then, once we strike at full power; all of their hope will vanish as they realize they are no match for us.”
“And how will we do this?” Trixie asks.
“My student, you know that I know of the past quite well. I am aware of an Element of Conflict’s location: The element given to Princess Luna.” The two ponies’ eyes bulge in shock at the reveal. “It just so happens,” Paradox continues. “That the Element is located where the first part of our plan will take place.” Trixie steps forward, anxious to begin the long awaited scheme.
“Where shall our plan commence, Paradox? Trixie is ready to begin.” Paradox glances down at his periwinkle student before raising his head and looking to the night sky above.
“Look to the stars, my student; and you will understand.” Trixie follows her teacher’s words and gazes up at the midnight sky. She stares at the multitude of stars that are twinkling among the blackness. Yet it is the largest object in the midst of the stars that makes everything clear to her. Chrysalis also looks up into the void above them, hoping to understand what the spirit of time means. As her eyes dart around for a few seconds, they come to rest and focus on the main source of light in the night: A full moon, courtesy of Princess Luna.
“How?” Chrysalis asks, as she understands the spirit’s motives. Paradox gives her a small smirk.
“I know many spells, Chrysalis. One of which is that portal spell that allows the human to traverse from here to Earth. I can modify the spell and combine it with a long distance teleportation spell and teach it to Trixie. Do not worry Chrysalis, there will be no need of any banishing to get there.” Chrysalis marches up to the spirit and gives him a nod.
“I cannot wait, Paradox. I’m eager to see what you have planned.” Chrysalis starts up a bit of a chuckle that breaks out into a full on maniacal howl. Trixie, Paradox, and the changelings soon join the queen in her contagious laughter as it echoes throughout The Badlands and into the night. The moon casting their shadows across the land. Paradox raises his staff into the air, the stopwatch on top eclipsing the moon above. He silences himself to address his two cohorts; turning to them and dawning a malicious grin.
