Big Bin of The Future: Rival Chitin, Batch 1 · 7:31am Dec 6th, 2020
Okay, here's the stuff. Now for some background info:
Elytra is not the same as Chrysalis; he sets very clear limits on what is acceptable.
Of course, he still hides himself away, but under his own guise. He loves being himself.
The “bottle up our emotions” bit is how I feel a changeling would feel on the inside if they met someone they didn’t want to lie to, but had to. It’s not that it isn’t natural, but for someling like Elytra, who is lying to actual friends of his, it hurts in the same way you would hurt if you lied to your friend.
Also, the Legend of Everfree scene I depict puts in another quirk of the Falakverse: Gaea Everfree is real instead of just an invented persona, and using Gloriosa as a vessel. This lets Gloriosa perform magic on her own, which is amplified by the Geodes instead of the Geodes being the whole source of her chloromancy.
Chloromancy: The magical term for plant magic.
I took the idea from Ruler Of The Everfree, a story by TheEveryDaySparkle. Check it out!
The Plan is Set In Motion (Return Of Harmony)
Twilight gasped, saying, "Come on, girls! Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot immediately!"
I hung my head and said, "I'm sorry," and before they could question me, my Honor Guard had knocked them all out.
I shed a tear, then steeled myself. "Honor Guard, detain your counterparts in the library and take your places. The Plan has officially begun."
Twilight woke up hanging upside down. "Mmmnn... Elytra? What did you mean by...?"
She then realized she and the girls were in cocoons upside down, with a glob of goop on her and Rarity's horns, and a thick silk binding on the pegasi's wings.
"Twi? What in tarnation is going on here?"
"Um... what's happening?"
"Darling, this goop seems to be a delightful mane and tail conditioner, but I don't want to be submerged in it!"
"Elytra! I knew that freak was up to no good!"
"This goopy stuff squishes around funny, you know?"
"Girls! Calm down. I heard Elytra mention a plan before I blacked out. Maybe if we can escape, we can stop him from-"
Twilight's speech was cut off by a group of four drones that placed down a set of black stones that looked like scarabs, which opened their wings and created a square of navy blue energy before converging into a wiry tower, the energy swirling into a vortex both sinister and warm, Elytra appearing in its horizon.
"First of all,“ he said, “allow me to extend a sincere apology. Changelings subvert enemies by wearing the faces of others, and though I have rules against replacing ponies, I really must ask, is it really replacement when the changelings and the ponies were technically the same once? That's still no excuse, though."
"Let me out of this cocoon, you backstabbing freak!," Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Well, that's not nice, but understandable. I did just knock you out, stick you all in cocoons, and bind your traits up. Listen closely, though. The weird horseapples at the farm? There's a reason the Failsafe didn't work. The air is saturated with Chaos Magic, and it has a tendency not to work as expected. There's only two creatures I know of that use Chaos Magic; Cosmos, and Discord. I hope it's Discord we're dealing with, you know? Anyway, whoever it was hid away the elements - Chaos Magic. Doesn't. Make. Sense. - and Discord usually leaves this riddle;
To retrieve your missing Elements,
just make sense of this change of events;
Twists and turns are my master plan,
then find the Elements back where you began.
Now, my Honor Guard are in your stead, heading to Canterlot with me. THe thing is, they and the hedge maze are distractions that cancel each other out; you six are going to go into the library and find the start of YOUR journey; the Reference Guide to the Elements of Harmony."
"Where we began..." Applejack realized, and Elytra nodded. "Never take Discord's riddles at face value. The Honor Guard have orders to play along with Discord's little 'game,' and while they do that, you six are going to be preparing to blast him."
"Yeah, so what if it's this 'Cosmos' one?," Rainbow Dash asked, and Elytra's face became gaunt and distant before he said something in a chilling voice.
"Then may Faust, Celestia, Luna, and Harmonia have mercy on this land and thy souls which dwell within it."
The cocoons then burst, the goop and silk falling off the wings and horns. "Good luck, girls!," he said cheerily before the message cut out, the communication array reverting to four scarabs, which the drones took before scuttling off.
Metamorpho? (A Canterlot Wedding)
Chrysalis chuckled darkly before saying, “Oh, I doubt that. Isn’t that right, dear?”
Oh, Celestia, please make this end.
I nodded subserviently and muttered, “Mm-hm,” in a monotone.
Chrysalis kept Cadance at a distance and monologues about how “Shining Armor” was growing weaker, and the spell too, the drones forcing themselves on it like flies bumping into a window.
When Chrysalis said I was under her total control and unable to perform “my” duties as Captain of the Royal Guard, I smirked mentally, even more so as she said, “Soon, my changeling army will break through. First, we take Canterlot, and then... ALL OF EQUESTRIA!”
Celestia put up her effort, but she was defeated, and afterwards, the Mane 6 ran to get the Elements.
It was then that Chrysalis began to frown. “What’s going on? The changelings should have broken the barrier by now!”
At that, I couldn’t suppress a chuckle, which Chrysalis and the guests noticed. “What? How are you conscious?!,” she yelled as her horn lit with another measly mind control spell.
It was then that Shining Armor said, “Because that isn’t me!,” and my chuckle became a full-on laugh as he lit his horn with another shield spell, which reinforced the barrier further, Chrysalis gaping as she turned back to me.
I grinned slyly as I said, “I knew you’d come for the wedding of the Princess of Love, Chrysalis. Me and Shining Armor had already hashed out a plan before the barrier even sprang up.
Green flames flared around me as I prepared to expose myself, and as they sprang up, I said, “You took Mi Amore Cadenza...”
...and as they subsided, my form as King Elytra revealed for all, I finished, “...But I had already taken Shining Armor!”
To my surprise, it was not anger at being fouled that dominated Chrysalis’ muzzle, but shock. “M-Metamorpho?”
Confusion plastered onto my face. “Who?”
Chrysalis seemed to get weak-kneed as she said, “Metty, I never expected your changeling blood to awaken. D-don’t you recognize your mama Chryssie?”
Mama Chryssie. The words found little purchase in my head as I drew the Heart Blade and said, “My mother died of cancer, Chrysalis! Don’t you dare try and trick me!”
Chrysalis seemed hurt, but she continued, “I faked death because I wasn’t sure your changeling blood would ever awaken, Metty! Remember when you thought that dog poop in the sand pit was clay?”
My eyes widened. Only my parents knew that. My grip never wavered, though.
“Or when you thought about sneaking off a consecutive cruise by commandeering a life raft, because you couldn’t take having to stay on the ship?”
The list went on. Chrysalis said things only my parents would know about, but my grip never wavered, though tears dominated my eyes.
Finally, I said it. “It’s true, huh? To think, I came here preparing to fight against my own mother without even knowing it. I blew holes in my own mother without even knowing it.”
Chrysalis’ face softened as her head tilted. “Metamorpho...,” she began.
She was surprised when my blade sliced past her left bang without warning.
“Chrysa- Mmmph... Mother,” I said, “I am only going to say this once. Yes, to you, I might be Ellys Robins, Prince Metamorpho, your sweet little human child with dormant changeling royal blood - Hay, that explains why the Necrosia turned me into a monarch.”
I twisted the blade outwards in my magic as I began to shift to a bipedal form. “But even though you raised me, you prioritized your hive, and probably your plans, over your son. The day Silver Ink injected me with Necrosia, I stopped being Metamorpho Chrysalia. I stopped being Ellys.”
As the hilt of the Heart Blade was taken into my clawed hand, my eyes never leaving Chrysalis, I stood in a ready stance. “I became E-Ly-Tr-A Nec-Ros. The nymph you were hoping for? He grew up without a mother, and eventually his father drank too much alcohol because you were irreplaceable to him. When his changeling side awoke, he had no knowledge of Metamorpho. He grew up benevolent, stealing changelings from you because he refused to do any sort of sexual act. He took the place of Celestia for the millennium her sister was sealed in the moon. He was at the front lines of the Battle of Trot. He blasted your holes. He traded away a lifetime of sustenance to restore a unicorn’s magic. He discovered how to inject large amounts of love into his hive with love poison. He stole what, in another world, you would consider your magnum opus; The six ponies that bear the Elements turned into changelings. He built in the shadows. He watched as students came and went. And now... after all that... the changeling he became is right here, still holding his blade up to you, defending ponies.”
Chrysalis’ face was between rage, guilt, pride, and shock before it finally settled on rage as a magic bolt lanced towards me. “Then so be it, King Elytra.”
The words stung, that my estranged mother no longer considered me her son, but I stood stalwart. “It may hurt, fighting your own flesh and blood, Chrysalis, but know that there is nothing in this world that says who we are as a constant. Goodbye.”
Chrysalis lanced a beam of energy at the shield, Shining Armor unable to bring it back up before the changelings began to swarm Canterlot, and our duel began in earnest.
It was a duel that stung to my core... because she was my mother, and I her son.
At least she wasn’t going to chop off a hand that I couldn’t restore.
Pure Rage (The Crystal Empire, Part 1)
While the other ponies ran... I just stood there.
”Elytra! What are you doing?! Run!”
“Shining Armor... don’t worry about me. I have some things I want to get off my barrel,” I said.
Shining called out to me, but I didn’t listen, just laid a hoof on my Heart Blade and stared up with all the rage I had for myself directed into my gaze, beginning to shift into a bipedal stance.
”Do you know how much I hated myself, Erebos Sombra? In the wedding, I had to say things I knew in my heart were lies, and dismiss things I knew were true. I had to yell at my dearest friend and not apologize.”
As I spoke, an intense aura surrounded me, becoming a twisting wind that pushed away the storm.
”I had to act like the outraged big brother! I had to watch as Chrysalis tore away Twilight to that wretched cavern, without saying ANYTHING! I had to fight the mother I never knew was my enemy! How would you feel if you had to say what you knew was false just for some stinkin’ PLAN?! The truth is, changelings have emotions. We can loathe. We can love. We can cry true tears and laugh true laughs. We bottle up our TRUE feelings so they don’t ruin our ACT.”
The twister began to whirl with even more intensity, creating a tornado that cleared away a sunlit hole in the Frozen North’s clouds, devoid of the snowstorm.
”BUT HERE AND BUCKING NOW, I HAVE BUCKING HAD ENOUGH OF CONCEALING THE UTTER RAGE AT EVERY! LAST! THING! I HAD TO EXPERIENCE IN THAT WEDDING! TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT YOUR FOES AS THEY FLEE, SOMBRA...”
My hand grasped the handle tightly.
”BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THE EMPIRE, AND ALL MY RAGE WILL BE YOURS TO FEEL! CRYSTAL STAR SUPERNOVA!”
At that, I began to slice through the air, every cut a line of energy lingering over Sombra’s form, my rage coalescing into pure speed and magic, and when it was over and the Heart Blade was sheathed, the twister closed with a final WHUMPH...
...and every last one of those fifty cuts made in the air detonated over Sombra’s smoky form with the combined force of an umbrum’s typical weakness to love, the power of the Elements, and the power of the Diamond Star’s powerful borrowed technique, forcing the whole cloud of shadow-smoke three times the distance to the train station.
I sighed. “I really needed to get all that rage off of my chest,” I finished before I hobbled to the barrier and collapsed in the Empire, devoid of any emotion.
Orchid Mantids and Stag Beetles (The Mane Attraction)
”Little Rara?,” I said, to which Applejack said, “Yeah... what’s it to you, Elytra?”
I twisted my head around. “I remember you two... you were at the Orchid Mantids and Stag Beetles joint concert the last night they performed before the scandal.”
Applejack tilted her head. “You know them?”
I chuckled as I turned the rest of my body around. “AJ, Goss and I were the lead singers for the Orchid Mantids and Stag Beetles! It was a way to show that not all changelings were bad, and that there was nothing wrong with being yourself.”
Applejack’s eyes widened. “You were Forest Stagg and Butterfly Orchid?!”
I smirked. “Forest Stagg was an old pseudonym before I was Torpor Trance; it takes a few names to remain undercover. In fact, the scandal was my way to retire from the stage... but since little Rara is getting involved...” I pointed to the poster’s fine print. All the ponies looked at it, and their eyes widened.
Featuring the reunion concert of the Orchid Mantids and Stag Beetles!
“Time to show these people that Forest Stagg...”
”And Butterfly Orchid...,” Gossamer said from behind me, already shifted into her white, pink, and purple form as Butterfly Orchid,
”...have still got a groove in their hearts!,” we said together.
Rarity and Applejack both fainted.
Elytra, Starlight Inexplicably Included (Friendship Games)
Sunset was surprised to see the reply, not in Twilight's hornwriting in the book, but in Elytra's communication mirror as a text message.
Dear Sunset Shimmer,
It pleases me to hear that you have been well, and that you have continued your studies and been able to continue your studies outside of Celestine and the Princess Protege Program. I have a favor to ask of you, however. A particularly unruly rejected student of Celestine has recently demonstrated an independent thesis that has had the school consider accepting her straight into the PPP: insights into the Butterfly Effect stemming from a single action in Twilight's past. Needless to say, the lecture tired me out, and I will be appearing in person with the student in question, Starlight Glimmer, as well as our current PPP Student Assistant, Twilight Sparkle, to watch the upcoming Friendship Games. Don't worry, we have the time to spare. In fact, the lecture's just now beginning to occur.
-Elytra
Princess Protege Program Tutor
Princess Celestine School of Arts
Head Of Operations, Sensor Program
Sunset considered the message for a moment before managing to pick out all the symbolism of the message, which translated to "I need a break from some bad futures we just visited, courtesy of a mare named Starlight Glimmer. Incoming."
"Why'd you do it like that?," Starlight asked me.
I booped her on the muzzle with a claw and smiled mysteriously (a trait I had acquired from being Celestia) and said, "Our alibi. And why waste a whole page on a letter? Leave the formal messaging between Twilight and Sunset, and still convey a message; the perfect loophole."
As Starlight opened her mouth to ask, I held it with my claw, then waved to the three creatures about to enter the chronal vortex, as I remembered the future me had done, and placed the book onto the apparatus as they left. They didn't need to hear it until they were us.
The moment they were through the time hole, she asked, "What do you mean, alibi?"
I let out my small chuckle as I extended my claws and shifted my posture. "When we first journeyed to the human world, I created the alibi that Twilight and I represented a school known as the Princess Celestine School of Arts; an alias for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I was a tutor for a special honor roll known as the Princess Protege Program - a way of saying you're the 'princess's personal student' - and Twilight was my charge, visiting CHS to compete in the Fall Formal. Sunset was a previous PPP student."
Starlight mulled this over, before she said, "That makes sense, actually. You used actual experiences as reference points to establish a set of names and positions that you could interchange. You downplayed our sojourn through time into a mundane thesis, the same way you dodged mention of unicorns and magic by establishing it as an arts school."
I nodded, continuing with, "Now, Twilight is the Student Assistant, and since she took you under her wing, you're now about to be placed in the spot of Princess Protege Program beneficiary. Can't have things progress too quickly, of course, but I'm confident you'll be accepted into the program with open arms... or, of course, hooves."
Starlight giggled at that, before asking, "Now what do we do?"
I smirked. "Now, we enjoy the Friendship Games, thanks to this stable time loop you managed to create with your more refined time travel spell. Seriously, though, I can't believe it's this well made - full quantum exploration of the Days of Divergence while keeping the original timeline entirely intact. You outdid yourself."
As we made to enter the portal, I turned to her and said, "Minor warning, though; get ready to be a biped, wear clothes, and have hands."
As Starlight began to ask, "Wait, what do you-," Twilight leapt in, and I tossed her in before leaping in myself.
"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAN!"
"Whoooooooooooaaaaaaa!"
"YAAA_HOOOOOOOOOO!"
Not Just A Campfire Tale (Legend Of Everfree)
As the first people got up, however, I held up a hand and summoned a barrier.
“Now, just a few moments of your time, everyone,” I said. “I have a Gaea Everfree tale that you don’t want to miss. In fact, did you know the spirit, and let’s put aside the whole ‘Celestine’ facade for the night... is real in Equus?”
I had them hooked, so I continued. “You wouldn’t be able to hear the story from anyone in the modern world, but in the Everfree lies a mysterious saganoma named Zecora who has been there since before the Falsity. The basic gist of the story was that Gaea, spirit of the Everfree that had sprung from Discord’s herb garden, had once been revered by many. Gaea’s following was strong, in tune with every ripple of the untameable wild magic of the forest. They could sense the magic of the land as it permeated everything within the boundaries that Order ordained via the Elements of Harmony.”
Their captivation was obvious, even Gloriosa’s, and I smiled. “The ancient world took notice of the powerful spirit, but eventually, with civilization proceeding, as Old Gods tend to do, Gaea became nothing more than a memory to the ponies of Equestria... save one zebra, who continues to this day to give praises to Gaea. However, Gaea had come to the conclusion that as the turn of the era came about, it was time to move on. It was then she had stumbled upon a portal between the human world and Equus, and dove in, never to return.”
I began to manifest shapes from the firelight as the tale reached its climax. “In this new world she had found, Gaea sensed no magic in the wood surrounding her. She found she could not channel magic, now lacking a physical form, and there laid the dilemma: her magic could make a physical form, but leave her without a spell to her name. In order to restore her power, she needed a vessel.”
I was surprised to hear the whispers of a spirit as wisps of sea-green magic surrounded Gloriosa. When the magic cleared, a woman with sea-green hair and a verdant green dress highlighted with raspberry-coloured leaves stood beside Gloriosa, eyes pinpricks of green light framed in sclerae black as tar. Her gloves were wooden but flexible as vines, and she wore a mask the same raspberry. Daisies adorned her shoes, and a thorn-bush headband completed the look. The whole woods reverberated as she spoke but one word.
”Gloriosa.”
I nodded. “Yes, Gaia, as you have proven, Gloriosa became your vessel. The Geode’s crystals amplified her power, but that power stems from you originally. Long before we came here, Gloriosa, head of this camp, found the other end of the now defunct portal, and-“
Gaia held up a hand. “Her grandparents were present. Gloriosa was too young by two years to inherit my power when we had first met, and her grandparents were too feeble to contain my power. The promise I had made was not to reclaim Camp Everfree into the forest, but to grant my power to Gloriosa when she was old enough to contain the power. Even before that, I could sense she had latent abilities from the interaction between dimensions, so I offered to teach her, and alone, with no crystals and without my power to supplant her, she was able to create a single blackberry sprout.”
I nodded, somewhat dumbstruck by the fact, and continued. “When Gloriosa came of age, Gaea invested her spirit into her, and from there, I could say no more.”
Sunset yawned. “Well, that was a nice story. But we need to get to bed now. It’s... still only ten o’ clock?! What the hay?!”
I smirked. “Starlight taught me this time slowing spell. I cast it on everyone in the barrier, as well as the fire. Now then, off to bed we go. And congratulations to all of you. You all now hold the secrets of the connection. I am sure you will guard them with your lives.”
As I said that, I cast a spell that locked the secret behind mental gates onto everyone but the Rainbooms, myself, and Astartes.
As me and Astartes returned to our tent, the Opal Tent, Astartes said, “Was it really necessary to blurt out everything we have worked to keep secret just to expose Gaea?”
I smirked as I turned to him. “Wallflower’s Cognitive Vault, memory lock configuration. Everyone but the Sensors, Gloriosa, and Gaea had it cast on them before they split off.”
Astartes’ eyes widened, then he smiled. “Good play.”
