While the obvious ease with which Future Destined had sent them all hurtling back to the past had surprised them, no one was unprepared for their arrival. Spared the effort of controlling the time travel, the younger Destined had a shield spell ready to throw up, and an impenetrable bubble surrounded them while everyone readied themselves for a fight.
Lucida checked out the team members. Citrine’s work with Shining Armor had really paid off. The crystal pony was now fully armored in a thick crystalline sheath, and even her ironwood bat was reinforced with some wicked spikes of yellow crystal. She kept close beside Pif who had reverted to her natural form in order to take advantage of her full changeling capabilities. A changeling queen was a formidable opponent, but she also took the precaution of wearing body armor.
In fact, everyone had suitable armor and weapons provided by their hosts in the future. While they had arrived there with few belongings due to the circumstances of travelling to that time, Wisebeak and Future Destined had ensured that they would go back fully prepared, albeit with contemporary equipment and not anything anachronistic.
Watchful had assumed a hybrid form that gave her vicious natural weapons, and she immediately partnered with Glenn. The young griffon did not like fighting, but their hosts in the future had been able to supply him with the materials to make his favored defenses, especially the paralyzing darts. Watchful ensured that he would be protected while he took out the enemy.
Unsurprisingly, Silk had partnered with Destined. The bat-pony had proven that while he wasn’t a warrior, his clever hooves were quite adept at unarmed combat. While this was trivial in comparison to the alicorn’s abilities, at least Destined did not have to spend every moment worrying about his lover’s well-being.
That just left Forest Breeze. As the youngest and least experienced member, his fighting ability was minuscule, and by rights he should not have been on the battlefield. However, his talent more than made up for it. It was Lucida’s task to ensure that Forest got every opportunity to make use of it while she fought with all the weapons at her disposal, both natural and otherwise.
Lucida had only taken moments to assess the team’s readiness. She spent more time surveying the battlefield. They had been informed that they were going to be sent to the scene of the primary battle in Zebrica, and the walled city that was in the background certainly fitted that description. The actual fighting was taking place on the grasslands that stretched for miles in every direction, broken only by a river that the city was apparently built around. It was hard to see more because of the sheer number of combatants that filled both the earth and the sky. Innumerable zebra warriors and black changeling soldier drones were clashing with ponies and griffons in a horrible bloodbath. It was enough to make any of them sick to the stomach, but Lucida could not afford to let that happen.
“Forest! Get on my back like we practiced!” she commanded.
Forest scrambled on and settled securely between her wings, hooking his hooves around a harness that had been placed there for just that purpose.
“Des – drop the shield!”
The alicorn dropped the force field and the fighting pressed in on them. Lucida took to the skies in order to survey the battle. Changelings immediately swooped in on her, but Forest’s horn flared and illusions surrounded the enemies, making some drones look like attacking pegasi. They viciously turned on each other, leaving very little for Lucida to worry about.
On the ground, anyone who tried to take on the Citrine/Pif combination quickly regretted it. The crystal pony waded into the fray with screams of delight, especially when she could get a changeling in her sights. However, she fought with a lot more discipline than when they had first met the crystal pony. While she still had her brawler style, she fought smarter, and she listened to Pif whenever a disguised drone tried to sneak past her defenses. Lucida was counting on the duo to forge a path to their goal. The team’s purpose was not to partake in the general mêlée, but to take the fight to the primary enemy – Nightmare Chrysalis!
Lucida’s eagle-eyed sight couldn’t find their foe, but she spotted what had to be the Equestrian base, and she let out a screech that alerted her companions. “THAT WAY!” she yelled, pointing with a talon.
The team forged in that direction, primarily concerning themselves with defense but occasionally helping an ally along the way. There were just too many to help them all, so they focused on making their way to the Equestrian rear lines. The defenders opened at the last moment to allow them to pass, and abruptly the fighting ceased as the line closed again behind them. Lucida hastened to the command tent, but the guards initially prevented the hippogriff from entering.
Destined stepped up and flared his wings. “Do you know who I am?” he demanded.
“Y-yes, Prince Destined Path,” one guard nervously replied.
“Let me and my sister in,” Destined commanded.
The guard gulped and looked at the other who held up a magical icon. “Not changelings,” he simply said. They stepped aside and let the two in while the rest of the team waited outside.
Inside the tent, Celestia was standing at a situation table with her generals, as well one from the Griffonian army. She looked up in surprise at the arrival of the two. “Prince Destined and Lady Lucida – may I ask how and why you are here?” she asked formally.
Lucida replied, “How is a very long story, but why is pretty obvious. We’re here to take out Nightmare Chrysalis. We have reason to believe that it is the destiny of my team to achieve that.”
“I see. That will be no easy task. We have the main forces besieging her stronghold, but making very little progress.”
“How did you discover that this is the Nightmare’s stronghold? All intelligence up until now has been unable to pinpoint her location.”
“General Breezon kidnapped Princess Flurry Heart and took her here. Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle, and Long Path led a rescue team to retrieve her, and incidentally uncovered that fact.”
“That’s… amazingly convenient,” Lucida said with a frown. “Up until now, Nightmare Chrysalis has done everything to obscure her location, but she suddenly makes a very conspicuous attack on House Path with the ostensible goal of rescuing Breezon. As valuable as the general was to Chrysalis, that was not tactically sound, nor was kidnapping Flurry Heart and taking her to this location. The Nightmare would surely know that we would track her down here. Why suddenly draw attention to herself this way?”
“I would say because she was ready to take us on, and indeed the army that she has amassed seems up to the task,” Celestia replied. “My generals and I have been unable to penetrate her forces so far. What is strange is that she has always met our attacks with just enough force to balance us out. On the occasions that I have taken to the battlefield, Chrysalis has met and countered me. With the power of the Nightmare behind her, she is too strong for me to overcome. I do not know where she is getting the power from – there’s certainly very little love energy to harvest here.”
“Princess, it’s important to recognize that you are not dealing with Chrysalis any more than you were dealing with Luna when she was Nightmare Moon. The Nightmare is fully in control now, and it’s the Nightmare’s motivations that we must deal with. Those are destruction and death, plenty of which is happening right now. This battle is empowering her! She’s using Chrysalis’ ability to consume emotional energy, but feeding on the negative rather than the positive. She’s getting stronger every moment that this combat continues!”
Celestia’s face lit up with comprehension. “It all makes sense now. We have been led around like fools!”
Lucida nodded. “The Nightmare manipulated Chrysalis from the start. It had no interest in Chrysalis’ desires other than being a means of controlling her. Chrysalis’ failures only pushed her further and further under the Nightmare’s influence. The final History change that we had to fix was really only of benefit to the Nightmare. If we had not been able to fix that, Nightmare Moon would have won, and Equus would be a dead world. The pockets of life that we found would eventually run out of mana to power the magic spells that sustained them, and only the Nightmare and the other Aspects like Discord would have been left.”
Celestia looked very grave. “That implies that the Nightmare is attempting to do the same again. She is powering herself up with a huge influx of negative energy. We need to find out what she intends to do with it.”
Destined spoke up for the first time. “Auntie, what is the one thing that the Nightmare has had access to that it hasn’t had before?”
Celestia was not slow to catch on. “Time travel.”
Destined nodded. “I think it’s reasonable to assume that it has something to do with her ultimate plans.”
“And it takes massive amounts of power to travel through time. The further you go along the timeline, the more it takes, if I recall your reports correctly.”
“You do. But what would require this much energy? Answer – a gigantic time leap.”
Lucida asked the obvious question. “What event would be that far back?”
Celestia’s eyes widened in horror. “No! She seeks to prevent the creation of this world!”
Lucida nodded. “The ultimate expression of Destruction and Death. We have to stop her at all costs. Which leads me to ask why more of our heavy hitters aren’t here? Where are Mama Twilight, Mama Luna, Shining Armor, and so forth?”
Celestia’s expression grew grim. “At first we insisted that Luna stay at Canterlot because of her advanced pregnancy, but now we can’t afford to let her or any of the others leave their positions of power. The attack on House Path was just the start of a greater campaign against us. Guerrilla changeling forces have attacked Canterlot, Ponyville, and the Crystal Kingdom as well. Free Agent has mobilized the sleeping Blue Changeling forces loyal to him, but the new breed of Chrysalis’ soldiers are both smarter and stronger. Shining Armor and Cadance are tied up in defense of the Crystal Kingdom, Luna and the Royal Guard are defending the citizens of Canterlot, while Twilight Sparkle and Free Agent are defending Ponyville and the Chrome Hive. If it wasn’t for the troops that Queen Carpacia and King Glimfeather have sent, we would be severely undermanned. The Nightmare learned well Chrysalis’ tactics of intensively breeding soldiers.”
Celestia’s chief General spoke up. “Nightmare Chrysalis’ tactics are obviously meant to balance out our forces to cause the greatest amount of death and destruction on both sides. It has been quite evident that she does not care about the welfare of the zebras that mindlessly follow her, and of course the drones would literally do anything that their Queen says without hesitation. You came here claiming that you were the ones destined to stop her, so the question is – how do you intend to upset that balance and defeat Nightmare Chrysalis?”
Lucida replied, “Would you believe through the power of friendship?”
The General scowled. “This is no place to play games…”
He was interrupted by Celestia who held up her hoof to silence him. “I see what you plan to do, but are you sure that it can be done?”
“Were you certain when you sent Mama Twilight to Ponyville to make some friends?”
“Point taken, Lucida. However, you have first got to get to Nightmare Chrysalis, and for that we need to make a plan of attack that will draw her out into a position of vulnerability. That won’t be easy.”
“We never expected it to be.”
“Fortunately we have reinforcements due to arrive very soon. Your parents are bringing more Griffonian troops with them in the Skyshark.”
Lucida recalled what they had learned in the future about how the griffons had been vital in the defeat of the Nightmare and were so proud of that achievement that they had forever afterwards been Equestria’s allies. It seemed that moment was soon to pass. “That sounds extremely promising, Princess. I’ll explain more when time is on our side. Is Queen Carpacia here?”
“She is, but is currently conferring with her own Princess-Generals. She lost another one today.”
“Too many people are losing family today,” Lucida replied grimly. “We need to bring this battle to a close sooner rather than later.”
“You will have the full support of whatever troops you need to achieve your goal, Lucida,” Celestia assured her.
“But, Princess!” the General started to protest.
“No, General Steelshod, I have spoken. Your priority is now the safety of Lucida’s team. I believe that they are the key to our very survival.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Steelshod reluctantly complied.
“Lucida, prepare to engage immediately upon the arrival of the Skyshark. We cannot spare the troops for one moment more than necessary.”
“We’ll be ready, Princess.”
“Very good. Dismissed.”
Lucida and Destined turned and exited the tent. The first thing that the hippogriff did was approach Watchful.
“Do you know where Queen Carpacia is, Watchful?”
“Sure! Her Majesty is about a hundred meters that way,” Watchful replied as she pointed in the appropriate direction.
“Right, follow me, everyone.” Lucida headed off towards Carpacia. “Celestia had some good news. The Skyshark will soon be here with Dad and Mom.”
“What about Mama Twilight and Papa Free?” Pif asked.
“They’re defending Ponyville and the hive. The bad news is that all the other alicorns are tied up fighting incursions in their own domains. We’re going to need the support of the regular troops to fight our way to Nightmare Chrysalis.”
“Why don’t we just teleport there instead?” Silk asked. “I’m sure Destined would be up to doing that.”
“Anti-teleportation spells are a standard battlefield defense,” Destined replied. “That said, I would be able to get past them anyway by myself. I can’t take on the Nightmare alone though.”
“The hard way it is then,” Silk said with disappointment.
The team found a group of changeling princesses with Carpacia in the center. Unlike Celestia’s generals, Carpacia’s daughters conferred and coordinated attacks through the hive-link, and most of them had their eyes closed as they concentrated on whatever they were responsible for. Carpacia noticed the approach of the team though, and she stepped out from among the other changelings.
“Greetings, Prince Destined, Lady Lucida, Princess Epiphany, and your honored friends. I cannot say that I am surprised to see you here.”
Lucida respectfully bowed, and then said, “Your Majesty, we are going to make a push towards the city in order to confront Nightmare Chrysalis. I request a squad of your best soldiers to help us.”
“You ask a lot under these circumstances,” Carpacia replied sternly. Then she smiled and continued, “However, there is one among you to whom we still owe a great debt. Graxx – attend Lady Citrine!”
One of the attendant drones came over to join them. He bowed to them, but he was especially respectful to the crystal pony. “I am yours to command, Lady Citrine.”
Carpacia continued. “I owe Citrine for returning my daughter. Graxx will repay that debt for me. Graxx – put your squad under the command of Lady Lucida and Lady Citrine.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you, Carpacia. I’m just awaiting the arrival of the Skyshark and reinforcements from Griffonia before we make our move.”
“They can’t come too soon,” Carpacia replied grimly. “Our forces are being forced back steadily. We are in danger of losing this war.” She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment before opening them again. “Captain Kerbarok says that they are within a quarter hour of arriving here. Be prepared to make your move soon after.”
“Handy having a Red Changeling captaining the Skyshark,” Destined murmured.
Carpacia caught what Destined said, and she smiled. “He has fulfilled that role admirably. You have no idea how many of my officers wanted similar positions on the Skyshark’s sister ships. Unfortunately for them, Equestrian and Griffonian officers won those posts, although some serve in lesser positions. Nevertheless, this terrible war has done marvels for uniting our disparate species against a common foe.”
Waiting for the Skyshark proved to be nerve-wracking. There was little that the team could do besides watching the battle. So many times they saw their allies cut down, never to rise again. Lucida was the most steadfast among them. ‘This is what it means to be the future Head of House Path,’ she told herself. ‘As warrior-scholars, our place is to be the final line of defense. I cannot falter now.’
The magnificent airship finally pulled into sight. It immediately attracted the attention of the airborne enemy, but a powerful shield maintained by war mages protected it from conventional attacks. The launch platform on top of the vehicle opened, and griffon warriors poured out. Lucida tried to count their numbers, but soon gave up.
“They must have been packed in like sardines,” Pif said.
“We’re going to need them all,” Lucida replied. “I can already see enemy aerial reinforcement heading our way.”
Lucida noticed that one of the griffons was headed their way, and she quickly recognized who it was. Soon, General Warfist alighted next to her and removed his helmet.
“Captain Kerbarok informed me that you and the time-team were here, Milady,” Warfist said. “What are your goals?”
“General, it is critical that we break through the enemy lines and reach Nightmare Chrysalis. We need your complete cooperation to achieve this. I have already cleared it with Princess Celestia.”
Warfist nodded curtly. “Understood. I will deploy the troops to action this.” He put his helmet back on and used his comm to issue orders.
Graxx began to coordinate his troops on the ground. Within a short time, a safe corridor was forced open. “Go now!” Graxx commanded.
Lucida surged forward, leading the team back to the battlefield. The Equestrian defensive line parted to allow them through, and then closed back up again. Skirmishes began around them virtually immediately as the enemy threw more troops at them. The Red Changeling and griffon warriors inflicted massive damage on them, but still some got through. The team handled them well enough though, each in their special way. In order not to confuse their allies, Forest Breeze chose a different tactic. He used his illusions to make them appear to be slightly to one side of where they actually were, and as the enemy went past where they really were, the team members attacked with impunity. Between the griffons, Red Changelings, and the team themselves, they were leaving behind a line of dead or dying zebras and Black Changelings. The attacks never eased up though.
“Is it my imagination, but are we getting hit by more enemy the further we go?” Silk asked between dispatching a zebra and a changeling. His voice was getting a little hoarse from the number of sonic blasts that he had used in his defense.”
“I noticed that too,” Watchful replied.
“The Nightmare knows we’re a threat,” Lucida said. “It doesn’t want us anywhere near the city.”
It was a bitter truth that the closer that they got to the city walls, the more foes they faced, and the slower their progress became. Losses among the team’s defenders were starting to rise also, but they continued to fight undaunted. For the first time since the battle began, the Equestrian forces reached the final line of defense of the Nightmare’s forces – the city wall and the warriors defending it. Here it seemed that they were stalemated, but Destined had been conserving his power for this moment. He yelled an order at Graxx and Warfist, and their defenders suddenly forced a gap open in front of him. Naturally the enemy started pouring through that gap, but the alicorn was already charging up his horn. Destined released a massive concussive blast aimed at the wall, knocking down all of the enemy soldiers in the way, and striking the wall which exploded. Masonry and timber flew inwards, leaving a huge gap in the defenses of the city. The time team surged forward, as did their accompanying protectors.
Celestia and Carpacia had been closely monitoring their progress, and troops from their forces were directed to take advantage of the opening. Ponies, red changelings, and griffons poured through the gap in the city’s barrier. Both physical and magical defenses were broken there, and war mages teleported in to join them. The enemy had another surprise for them all though. Entire legions were waiting for them!
“Where the buck did Nightmare Chrysalis get all these warriors?!” Pif yelled in frustration.
“While the Nightmare was stalling for time, it must have been pulling in warriors from all over the continent,” Lucida replied.
“Horesefeathers! Brace yourselves!”
A wall of zebra warriors slammed into them. Despite the reinforcements, the team struggled to survive, let alone make progress. Black changelings seemed to ooze out of every nook and cranny, and they had their sights set on the team. Pif surged forward with Citrine by her side, taking point in their fight. They were the two strongest fighters after Destined who was still recovering from his massive effort, and they took it upon themselves to clear a path for the rest. The plan seemed to be working until a large gap was forced through their defenders, and a surge of warriors slammed into the pair. Despite her power and her best fighting skills, Pif was overwhelmed, and she screamed in agony as their weapons found their marks.
The scream seemed to galvanize Citrine, and she hurled herself into the fray with near insane levels of rage. Zebras and changelings were batted away from Pif’s form where she had collapsed to the ground. Her compatriots hastened to form a protective shield around their stricken teammate.
Pif was in bad condition. Her carapace was cracked and bleeding in several places, and her wings had been ripped off. Her breath came in shuddering gasps which were getting weaker. Citrine dropped her bat and embraced the changeling, crying and screaming, “Don’t die! Don’t die!” The crystal pony poured her love into her mate, and slowly the changeling’s breathing eased and her wounds started to close up.
Lucida recognized the same healing power that Chrysalis had displayed in the Crystal Kingdom when she’d had plenty of love energy available to heal herself almost instantly. To see one crystal pony generate enough love for Pif to start to recover was frankly amazing. Her sister was not out of danger yet though. “Des – can you teleport Pif back to the field hospital and then get straight back to us?”
“I can now that the magic shield has been penetrated,” he assured her.
“Do it!”
Lucida pulled Citrine back from Pif, and Destined put his leg around his sister and teleported her away, returning only moments later.
Citrine seethed for a long moment before she picked up her bat. Her crystallomancy flared, and the bat grew razor-sharp knives of crystal, and her armoring thickened. She threw back her head and screamed, “Show your face, Nightmare! Stop hiding behind your minions and fight me like a mare!”
Wicked laughter filled the area – chilling, malevolent, and self-confident. “As you wish, foolish child.”
Nightmare Chrysalis materialized above their heads, and for the first time they saw the final form of the fusion of the Nightmare and Changeling Queen. While still recognizable as Chrysalis, she had grown considerably in stature, and horrible in visage. Her mouth open in laughter was filled with row upon row of dagger-like teeth, her mane was an eldritch horror, and her carapace as black as ink.
Citrine was undaunted. “Come down here, whorse! Come down and let me beat your brains in!”
The Nightmare’s laughter died, and she sneered. “Foolish creature – you only feed my power, but I shall oblige you.”
The Nightmare dived and blasted Citrine with her horn, but the crystal pony deflected it with her weapon. The follow-through came close to striking the Nightmare, but only took a bit of her mane. Time and time again, they engaged with neither making a conclusive blow.
Meanwhile the enemy forces had rallied around their leader, and the rest of the team had to start fighting for their lives. Lucida tried to warn the crystal pony – “She’s just toying with you, Citrine! Fall back! Fall back!”
Citrine was oblivious to Lucida or anyone else for that matter. At last she saw an opening and lunged in. The blade of her weapon plunged deep into the Nightmare’s torso before finally stopping when it reached her hooves where they were gripping the shaft. “Got you, bitch!” she yelled in triumph. Her grin fell though as the Nightmare started to laugh. Distracted by her enemy’s obvious contempt for what she had done, Citrine did not notice a tar-like substance seep from the wound and flow over her hooves until it was too late. It hardened and her hooves were locked in place as the Nightmare lowered her head until she was nose to nose with Citrine. The foul stench of death and decay wafted from the creature’s mouth as she laughed before she finally spoke once more.
“Idiot! I am the Avatar of Death – I can’t be killed. You can die though, but I think I’ll teach you a little lesson instead.” The Nightmare’s horn pulsed with power, and Citrine’s weapon shattered. And so did the limbs of the pony who was holding it.
Citrine screamed in agony as she fell away from the Nightmare, the stumps of her forelegs all that were left. She collapsed onto the ground, gasping from the pain, but she struggled to bring it under control. In her ultimate form, Citrine’s crystallomancy had converted her body to living crystal, and the shattered legs did not bleed. Pain was the main consequence, but the crystal pony had never let that keep her down. She snarled, “I’ll find a way to destroy you, even if death isn’t an option.”
The Nightmare’s sense of humor had run out by then. “You cease to amuse me, fool. Let your death feed me then.” She lit up her horn once more, but before she could deal the death blow, an enormous burst of power hit her flank and hurled her aside.
Citrine blinked as a familiar blue form appeared next to her.
“Are you okay, Citrine?”
“I’ll live, Blue. What kept you?”
“Sorry, but I’m here now. Pardon me, but I have a Nightmare to fight.”
Citrine stared as Blue dashed off at high speed to confront the Nightmare who was already recovering from the blow. Blue’s transformation was complete, and he was as much a dragon as he was a pony, but brimming with magic potential. It seemed that he had become a legendary kirin!
The demon creature’s eyes widened in recognition as she saw the transformed pony. “So, Creation, your minion has found me. Too bad that you’re too late.”
“The balance must be restored, Nightmare. You will not be permitted to win.”
The Nightmare laughed. “I have already won. The battles continue unabated, and I grow stronger by the moment. You cannot stop me any more than that pony could kill me.”
“I am not destined to stop you. My purpose is to enable others to do that.”
“You don’t have the power to do even that!” the Nightmare declared, and fired a bolt at Blue.
Blue Streak dodged with ease and raced to one side in a blink of an eye. He opened his mouth, and it disgorged a blast of elemental energy – the Fires of Creation! The Nightmare was struck once more, but again she recovered quickly. This time she was wary of Blue Streak’s speed and power, and the two circled each other in a constant effort to overcome their foe.
Meanwhile the rest of the team and the forces protecting them were suddenly relieved by another new addition to the combat. Black Changelings rained out of the sky, burned to a crisp by the flames of an irate dragon.
Lucida had been so preoccupied with defending herself and her teammates that she had not even noticed the gigantic dragon approach. “Cinder? What are you doing here in this time?” she yelled up to the dragon when she had a chance.
“My younger self is stuck back in the Dragonlands still, and I could not let my mate fight alone,” she replied cheerfully as she swatted aside several zebras in one blow.
The dragoness was making a huge difference. Her hide was impenetrable to conventional weapons and changeling horn blasts alike, and her talons ripped apart the enemy. Nothing dared fly near her unless they wanted to be cooked by her flame breath. She was an inexorable force, and the team finally got a respite.
Silk was nursing a lacerated wing, but was otherwise intact. Panting from his efforts, he managed to ask, “Shouldn’t Cinder be helping Blue take on the Nightmare?”
Lucida shook her head. “You heard both Blue and the Nightmare. Cinder can’t kill her any more than Citrine could. Blue can only reach a stalemate with her as they are each other’s counterparts. His purpose is to keep the Nightmare under control, while Cinder’s is to keep our enemies away while we bring on the one means of defeating her.”
“And what’s that?”
“The same thing that defeated Nightmare Moon.”
“You mean… Harmony? But the Avatars of Harmony aren’t here!”
“Yes, they are.”
“Where?!”
“I’m talking to one.”
Silk was stunned for a moment before saying, “What?”
Lucida gestured for the rest of the team to gather around her. “The key to defeating Nightmare Chrysalis is to bring her into Harmony. Chrysalis can be cleansed of the Nightmare, and Equus saved. Mama Twilight and her friends did this with the aid of artifacts from the Tree of Harmony, but later it was shown that they did not need them, just so long as they were true to their Aspects.”
“But we still don’t have any of them here!” Destined objected.
Lucida nodded. “I know, but later, during the Battle of the Crystal Kingdom, Mama Twilight proved that Harmony was not restricted to the original Element Bearers when she got Sunset Shimmer to substitute for her. I’m telling you now that I believe that our team carries all those Aspects. Silk – you’re always helping others with your time and skills; you are the Aspect of Generosity.” She turned to Watchful. “As a Red Changeling, loyalty is a given, but you have been particularly loyal to the team and its goals.” She looked to Glenn. “You are a gentle soul in a terrible situation, yet you never fail to show your goodness. Even when fighting our enemies, you try to incapacitate rather than kill. You are definitely the Aspect of Kindness.” Forest was next. “The truth cannot be hidden from you, and your experiences have made you soul of honesty. That is your Aspect.” She looked at Destined. “Need I point out which one of us is the Aspect of Magic?” Lucida faltered then. “Laughter… I would have said Citrine was that Aspect. She’s the life of the party, the boost to our morale, and always ready to entertain us when we need it most. But she’s been maimed and I…”
“Hold it right there, pony-bird!” came Citrine’s voice.
They looked around to see Citrine struggle upright, ignoring the pain and pushing with the stumps of her shattered forelegs.
“You don’t think for a moment that you’ve got what it takes to replace me, do you?” she asked with a fierce grin.
Lucida could not help but smile at the mare’s determination. “Our Avatar of Laughter!”
“Great. So how do we do this?” Citrine asked.
“It’s friendship that binds us. We’ve been comrades in arms and companions between troubles. Friendship is the greatest magic in Equestria… no, in all of Equus. You six just need to open your hearts to that magic and release it. As always, Destined is the guiding force.”
The alicorn stallion glanced in the direction of the combatants. Blue and the Nightmare were still blasting away at each other and moving around at a prodigious rate. “How in Tartarus am I supposed to hit that moving target? Blue is having a hard enough time!”
“You’re the Alicorn of Time – use that ability!” Lucida said with some exasperation.
Just then, some of the enemy managed to break through the defensive cordon, and they had to concern themselves with dealing with them before regathering.
“We’re going to need to be undisturbed for a moment or two,” Silk said. “Unlike Princess Twilight and her friends, we don’t have artifacts of power to give us a head-start. Interruptions like that can’t be allowed to happen.”
“I’ll help Cinder, but the rest is up to you six. Be prepared to act at the next opportunity.”
Blue’s fight with the Nightmare continued to be stalemated. For the best part of half an hour they fought without either getting the upper hoof. He would occasionally score a hit, only to have her immediately recover, while the reverse was also true. However, unlike the Nightmare, he was not getting a constant feed of new energy from the battle nearby, and he eventually made a mistake as he tired. The Nightmare’s blast sent him hurtling a great distance before crashing through a wall and some furniture before skidding to a dazed halt. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but it only made him dizzier. He struggled to his hooves despite the vertigo, and started to walk back, only to stop before a device that elicited a gasp of recognition from him.
“Oh, Creation – we’ve got a problem.”
Back with the team, Lucida had seen Blue get blasted into the castle and the Nightmare turn her sights on them.
“It’s now or never, guys!” she said urgently.
The six linked arms and closed their eyes, concentrating on the feelings that they had for one another. Lucida could sense a palpable force growing, but was it too late? The Nightmare lunged at them – only to be checked by a dragoness. Cinder did her best to stop the Nightmare, but despite her size and power, she had little success. She was hurled away like a rag doll, and the Nightmare advanced again… only to stop and gasp, “NO! Not again!”
The six friends were rising into the air, drifting into formation about Destined. At the throats of five of them, a glow grew, and Destined’s horn glowed in response, then something coalesced on his head as his mane began waving in an ethereal breeze, shimmering in the colors of his future self.
The Nightmare screamed in rage, and fired upon them with all her might, only to see the beam wither and die before touching any of the six. Shafts of rainbow energy linked them all and converged on Destined. His eyes opened and shone with the power contained within him, and he turned his gaze on the Nightmare. A rainbow stream of Harmony erupted from him and enfolded the Nightmare.
The Aspect of Death and Destruction wailed and screeched as she resisted. The prodigious amount of energy that she had taken from the battle was pitted up against the power of Harmony, and for a terrible moment it seemed that she might be successful, but her reserves were quickly spent and her resistance collapsed. Dark putrescent wisps poured out of Chrysalis’ mouth, nostrils, and eyes as the Nightmare was exorcised from her at last, and they shriveled and evaporated in the cleansing brilliance. To Lucida’s surprise though, the Harmony stream did not stop. As she watched, Chrysalis started rapidly shrinking. No – not shrinking – getting younger. Teenager, then adolescent, then child, and finally nymph before Harmony was done with her. The six Avatars then sank to the ground and collapsed in exhaustion.
Lucida walked over to Chrysalis and looked at her. The changeling looked up at her with innocent eyes, smiled, and giggled. “Well, it looks like you’re going to get a second chance after all, Chryssy,” Lucida said as she picked up baby Chrysalis. She placed the infant on her back between her wings, and Chrysalis snuggled into the feathers and promptly fell asleep. “Oh, I can see I’m going to have fun trying to explain this one,” Lucida grumbled.
The defeat of the Nightmare and the changeling queen under her control had caused all fighting on behalf of the Black Changelings to cease. With half the opposition gone, the Equestrian forces were able to rapidly turn the tide of the battle, and the zebras were pushed back until it became obvious that the battle was lost and they surrendered.
While his friends had been defeating the Nightmare though, Blue had been staring death in the face. Or more precisely, the biggest mana bomb he had ever seen, quietly counting down the seconds until its detonation.
The Nightmare’s plan was fully revealed now. The battle had been irrelevant except as a means for drawing in as many combatants as possible into the area. The more ponies or griffons that turned up, the more changelings and zebras were brought in to fight them. It had been a matter of constant escalation until they reached a peak. Then the mana bomb would go off and kill everyone, friend and foe alike. It did not matter to the Nightmare because as she told Citrine, she could not be killed. Everyone else would die though, Celestia included, and that would have fed the Avatar of Death all the negative energy that she needed to accomplish her real goal – travelling to the deep Past to destroy the world before it was even born.
The Nightmare might still have the last laugh. Blue could not disarm the bomb, nor stop the countdown. He could not destroy it without releasing the terrible energies inside. He could not pick it up and run with it because the crowded streets and battlefield outside would make travel even at his speeds quite slow. His comm had been destroyed, so he could not call for help. He was stumped, and starting to despair.
‘Up.’
“What do you mean – up?” he responded to the unheard word.
‘Go up!’
Blue looked up to where part of the ceiling had collapsed where the supporting wall had been shattered by his passage through it.
“Oh. I don’t have my wings.”
‘Create them.’
Blue blinked in surprise. “I can do that?” Rather than wait for an answer, he closed his eyes and concentrated. The fires of creation flowed around him, and soon he had a magnificent pair of wings complete with a thruster pack. When he opened his eyes, he gave them a looking-over and nodded in satisfaction. “These will do.” He looked back at the bomb and nearly choked when he saw how low the countdown timer had gotten.
Blue grabbed the bomb with his forelegs and willed the thruster to life. He took off, streaking through the gap in the ceiling. He poured on the power, gaining altitude at a prodigious rate. He looked at the countdown. He was rapidly running out of time. He pushed the power pack to produce every bit of thrust possible despite barely being able to hang onto the bomb under that terrible acceleration. The air was getting thinner, and he realized that he should have created a high-altitude pack too. Instead he drew on the enormous power within him to cope, and still he climbed.
How many miles had he risen? Was it enough? He was starting to lose consciousness. Blearily he tried to read the countdown.
10
A little bit further.
9
Every second was an added safety margin.
8
Surely this was enough?
7
Enough… What… what to do?
6
‘Release the bomb.’
5
What now?
4
‘Turn around.’
3
Blue managed to turn, and the thruster started braking him. The mana bomb rapidly shot away from him, escaping the bonds of Equus.
2
“Sorry, Cinder. Not going… to make… it…”
1
. . .
0
The sky lit up as a second sun joined Celestia’s for several seconds. Everyone on the ground looked up in wonder, and moments later they felt a jolt of magic as the shockwave from the explosion reached them. Nothing of great consequence happened though, and everyone was left wondering what had happened as the new sun rapidly died.
Everyone but Cinder who had anticipated this moment. She had seen Blue soar into the sky and knew what it meant. She told the others, and they soberly considered that they had possibly just lost a brother or friend. Not even Cinder could answer that for them.
“Blue’s fate rests on a razor’s edge of probability. What happens is beyond our control,” Cinder said sadly.
Lucida looked up at the great dragoness and had a moment of realization. “You lost him today in your timeline, didn’t you? That’s why you came back with him.”
Cinder nodded. “I had to raise our children without their sire. House Path ensured that they did not lack for parents, but I have never taken another mate.”
“I’m sorry, Cinder.”
“Not your fault that I chose a true hero for my mate, Lucida. He saved Equus so that our children would live to know how great a warrior their sire was. Let us pray that Fate has other plans for Blue this time around.”
The six new Avatars of Harmony had started stirring by this time, and they all got up and gathered with Lucida and Cinder. Watchful was the first to spot the tiny changeling nestled on Lucida’s back.
“Is that Chrysalis?” Watchful asked with a touch of shock.
“Yep. I think Destined’s talent combined with Harmony has reverted her to an innocent infant.”
Watchful’s horn glowed as she probed the child, and she gasped. “She’s unbonded!”
“What do you mean by that?” Lucida asked.
“All changelings are unbonded when they hatch. Normally they bond with the first changeling to give them love, which is usually the Queen. That’s why changelings are always loyal to their hive. Epiphany bonded with her parents who were all present for her hatching and loved her. But Chrysalis seems to have been reset. She will bond with the first person to feed her love.”
“HA!” scoffed Citrine. “She’s going to starve to death then.”
Lucida was about to respond when a squad of griffons descended to join them on the ground. It was the person who led them though who grabbed the hippogriff’s attention.
“Dad! You’re okay!” Lucida hurled herself upon Path as he took his helmet off.
Path smiled and stroked his daughter’s head crest. “I’m so proud of you, Lucy. You and your siblings and friends have achieved a historic victory.”
“It’s Destined and the others who were the Avatars of Harmony that defeated the Nightmare though.”
“A team is only as good as its leader. You have proven yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt.” He turned his head to look at Destined. “And you too, son. You’re shaping up to be a fine Prince of Equestria. Nice crown, by the way. Where did you get it?”
Destined looked up in surprise, not realizing that the artifact was still there. “It came from Harmony, Dad. I… I think it’s a new Element.” He looked around to see that the other five still had the gem-set necklaces. “Make that six Elements. How can that be?”
“Something to be figured out later. Citrine – what happened to you?”
The crystal pony waved the stumps of her forelegs almost nonchalantly. “This? It’s nothing. Saves me the cost of two shoes.”
Path stared in disbelief before he started chuckling. “Never change, Citrine. We’ll see what House Path can do for you later. Anyway, we’ll have time to chat later. I mostly wanted to confirm that Chrysalis has been destroyed so that we can start winding up this battle.”
Lucida grimaced. “Umm… The Nightmare has been banished, and Chrysalis neutralized. She still lives though.” She turned around to show the tiny changeling half buried in her feathers.
The change that came over Path was shocking. His eyes darkened with rage and he reached for the child. “She will not live for much longer!”
Lucida hastily moved away from Path. “No, Dad, this isn’t the same Chrysalis.”
“What do you mean? Have you so quickly forgotten all the pain and suffering that she has put our family through? All the death and destruction she’s responsible for? She has earned the death penalty several times over!”
Lucida frowned. “I hate the things that she did in the past too, but this Chrysalis is now an innocent child. I won’t let her be judged upon the sins of her past, any more than I judged Mama Twilight on the atrocities committed by her alternate timeline self.”
“This isn’t an alternate timeline! This creature has not earned forgiveness!” Path blustered, getting redder in the face.
Lucida argued with determination on her face. “This creature is Pif’s grandmother! She tried her best to redeem her and failed. This time we succeeded.”
“Just because she’s been reduced to infancy, doesn’t mean that she’s been redeemed! She’s insane and dangerous!” He reached for Chrysalis again.
Lucida turned so that Path could not get at the changeling. “Stop it, Dad! Watchful says that she’s been reset. She’s no more dangerous than the Queens of the other hives.”
“I’ll be the judge of that! As the Head of House Path, I order you to give Chrysalis to me!” Path snarled.
Lucida’s blood ran cold, then her brow flattened. When she spoke, her words were like steel. “Lord Long Path, you have allowed your emotions to overrule your judgement and would condemn an innocent to death. You are unfit to rule this House anymore. I invoke the Blueblood clause with my brother and the Avatars of Harmony as my witnesses. I relieve you as Head of House Path. Stand down and threaten this child no more.”
Path stared and gaped for the longest moment, unable to comprehend this turn of events. Then he slowly deflated and sank to the ground. All the anger and hatred drained from him, and tears started to well in his eyes. “What have I become?” he whispered.
Lucida settled down beside him and put a wing around him, disturbing the tiny changeling for a moment before she went back to sleep. “It’s okay, Dad. We all make mistakes, and let’s face it – you’ve been training me to replace you from the time I was a chick. You’re a dreamer, an idealist with big plans, but running a Noble House was never part of those plans. You’ve always been a slightly uncomfortable leader. Now you can pursue your dreams and goals while I look after the House business.”
Path nodded. “You’re right, Lucy. Have I told you how proud I am of you? You’re going to be a much better Lord of House Path than I ever was.”
“You’re still an honored Lord of the House, Dad – just not the boss anymore. We’ve both got a lot of work ahead of us to transition power and responsibility. Meanwhile, we have a bit of a mess here to clean up. Let’s get back to work, hey?”
Path took a deep breath and gave her a small smile. “Yes, boss.”
Lucida chuckled as they got up. “By the way, let your Griffonian warriors know that they were instrumental in our success. Tell them that we couldn’t have gotten to the Nightmare without them. That’s going to have very positive repercussions in the future.”
“Oh? Something tells me there’s more to that. I suppose I’ll hear about it in due course. I’ll talk to you all later.” Path replaced his helmet and reassembled his griffon squad. They took off to take care of mopping up the battlefield and retrieving the wounded.
Destined came over to Lucida and said, “Congratulations, Sis. Or should I say Lord Path?”
Lucida shook her head. “There will only ever be one Lord Path. Dad has earned that much. Lord Lucida Path, will do when being formal, or just Lord Lucida might be better to save confusion. But I’ll kick you in the balls if you start getting stuffy with me.”
Destined cringed. “Right. Lord Lucy it is then.”
Lucida giggled. “Close enough.”
“So – what are we going to do with Chrysalis?”
Lucida looked around at the sleeping changeling. “Well, there’s no way that we can raise her at home. I can’t expect either Dad or Papa Free to completely ignore what she used to be. That’s going to take years. Same deal for the Chrome Hive. She needs to be fostered.”
“Yeah, but where? Put her with a pony family like Papa Free was placed with a griffon family?”
“Actually, that’s exactly what I’m going to do, and I think I know who to place her with.”
# # #
The team made it back to the base camp and joined Celestia in her tent for a debriefing. Queen Carpacia was present too, and her attention was immediately caught by the red changeling in their midst.
“Who is this?” she demanded.
Lucida replied, “This is Watchful Eyes, Your Majesty.”
“Watchful Eyes is a drone. This is a Red Changeling Princess! One that I don’t know, and that’s impossible.”
“This is Watchful, but she’s an Avatar of Harmony now. Her experience seems to have evolved her.”
The Red 'Ling was indeed changed. She was a little taller in stature, and her crest had been replaced by a true mane. Most telling though were her eyes. Gone were the softly glowing red orbs, replaced with the slit eyes of a changeling Queen. Watchful gave Carpacia a nervous smile as the Queen examined her.
Carpacia suddenly smiled. “The hive has never known such a thing to happen before, but the truth is in front of me. You are indeed a Princess now, and you will take your place alongside the other Princesses.”
Watchful looked uncertain. “Actually, Your Majesty, with your permission, I would prefer to remain with the team, and with the one that I love.” She shifted into her griffon form, moved alongside Glenn, and nuzzled him. “A Princess for a Prince.”
Carpacia regarded them for a long moment while they waited nervously for her response. Eventually she sighed. “The world is changing too fast for me, but I see that this might be the way of the future. You have my permission.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Celestia stepped forward then. “If that has been sorted out, perhaps we can now proceed to the debriefing?”
“The sooner, the better,” Lucida agreed, only to be interrupted by Twilight and Free arriving in a flash of light.
“Phew! The teleportation beacons make that so much easier!” Twilight exclaimed. “Anyway, the threat to Ponyville and the Chrome Hive is gone, so we thought we would join you. You can expect Shining and Cadance soon too. I talked to them by comm before coming over. They just had to sort something out first…”
She too was interrupted by a new arrival.
“…which apparently went more quickly than anticipated,” Twilight finished.
“Hello, Twily,” Shining Armor said. “Are we in time for the debriefing?”
Celestia said, “We were just about to begin. Lucida, if you would…?”
Lucida gave her oral report with the rest of the time-team adding relevant details. She started with their journey to the far future and ended with her confrontation with her father.
“So, that is Chrysalis asleep on your back?” Celestia asked. The little changeling had not escaped the alicorn’s notice, but she had waited patiently for the explanation for its presence. “Has she slept since being reduced to an infant?”
“Yes, she has. I believe she needs an infusion of love to energize her, but that will also form the bond, so we must be careful to ensure that the ones who give it to her will raise her too.”
“Who’s going to adopt her though?” Shining asked.
Lucida gave him a nervous smile. “Actually, I was hoping you and Cadance would.”
“WHAT?!”
“Chrysalis is a changeling Queen. Despite Papa Free’s experience, she should not be raised in an ordinary pony’s home. She needs someone to teach her to be a responsible person as she grows up again.”
“Have you forgotten what she did to me and Cadance?!”
“That was a different Chrysalis. This is an innocent child who needs love and guidance, not to mention foster parents who can cope with a powerful child who might throw a tantrum. It would be unfair to put that responsibility on an ordinary pony couple.”
“But I…” Shining was interrupted by Cadance putting a hoof on his shoulder.
“Shiny – I’d like to do this.”
The alicorn stallion stared at his wife and saw the sincere determination in her expression. He sighed and said, “This is what you get when you marry the Alicorn of Love. Okay, dear – you win. I’ll let you raise her.”
“No, we will raise her. You have raised one daughter well enough. You will have the benefit of experience the second time around.”
“Yeah, but I haven’t raised a changeling before.”
Free laughed. “I’ll invite you and my parents over for dinner soon. I’m sure that they can give you some pointers.”
“What about the Crystal Heart? Won’t Chrysalis overload on love energy because of it?”
“Have you already forgotten the amulets I made for visiting changelings so that they would not get burned out?” Twilight pointed out. “I can make a special one specifically for Chrysalis to control how much she gets.”
Shining Armor groaned. “It seems I’m out of arguments. We’ll raise her as you wish.”
Lucida gently removed the changeling from her back and placed her into Cadance’s waiting hooves. The Alicorn of Love smiled down at the tiny 'ling and projected some love into her. Chrysalis yawned and opened her eyes, staring deeply in Cadance’s. She gurgled happily, reaching out to the alicorn with her tiny holey hooves.
“It is done,” Carpacia declared. “The bond has been made. You are now and forever Chrysalis’ foster mother.”
“She will be a wonderful princess. Just wait and see,” Cadance declared confidently.
As people gathered around to have a closer look at child Chrysalis and Cadance bonding, a strange groaning and screeching sound grew louder outside of the tent, eventually drawing the attention of everyone within. It abruptly terminated with a thud just as they headed out to find out what was making the noise. The time-team members recognized it immediately.
“That’s the Doctor’s workshop!” exclaimed Destined.
“Indeed it is,” Celestia agreed. “I have not seen it in quite some time.”
“But how did it get here? And why? Haven’t the time wars ended?”
“Why don’t you ask the Doctor?” Celestia suggested with an amused smile.
The door of the workshop opened just then, and a tan earth pony with a brown mane and tail and an hourglass cutie-mark stepped out. He regarded the onlookers and gave them a grin. “Quite the reception committee!”
Lucida stepped forward. “Doctor! Has something else gone wrong?”
The Doctor gave her a slightly puzzled look before realization hit him. “What? Oh, no! Nothing like that. It’s just that for the first time in ages, I haven’t had to hold reality together for you. Freed me up to get a few other things accomplished for a change. Nicely done, by the way.”
Lucida was relieved. “Thanks, Doctor. We couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Tosh! I couldn’t have done it without you. All of you played your part in this victory.”
Lucida grew sad. “Yes, but some of us paid a heavier price than others. We lost Blue Streak today. Pif was badly injured, not to mention Citrine.”
The crystal pony cheerfully waved one of her stumps from where she was lying on Destined’s back.
“Ah! I knew I was forgetting something!” The Doctor turned around and called through the door. “Derpy, love – can you… oh, I see you have already.”
The Doctor stepped aside as Derpy emerged, pushing a strangely familiar pod.
“You find the strangest things at the edge of space,” the Doctor continued. “There was this pony who was half frozen and virtually dead from suffocation. I restarted his heart and put him in this changeling healing pod that I got from out of my collection.”
Lucida and Destined rushed over to peer into the pod, and recognized the face of the pony inside. “It’s Blue! He’s alive!”
The Doctor scratched his head with one hoof, looking a little puzzled but happy. “Yes, he is. Not sure why though. Something inside of him kept him alive long enough for me to rescue him.”
“The Avatar of Creation,” Lucida told him.
“If you say so. I’ve met stranger things.”
Twilight stepped up then. “We’ll take Blue off your hooves, Doctor. Thank you on behalf of my entire family for saving him.”
Twilight levitated the pod away, heading for the hospital tent. Celestia stepped up then.
“It’s good to see you again, Doctor. It’s been a while.”
“Ah, yes, Celestia. What’s it been – fifteen, twenty years?”
“Try seventy-five,” she replied with amusement.
“Oh. Well, you know how time flies by.”
“Indeed I do. Will you ever come by for that banquet that I promised you?”
“Of course! Love to come! Someday soon. I’ll pencil it into my diary. Got to go now though. Lots of things to catch up on. Come on, Derpy. Time waits for no pony.”
The Doctor chivied Derpy inside the workshop, and shortly later the same strange sound that had brought everyone out there started again. The workshop faded out of sight to the astonishment of all but one of the watchers.
“Farewell, Doctor,” Celestia murmured. “See you again in another seventy-five years or so.”
# # #
The gruesome aftermath of the battle was sickening and saddening. So many ponies and griffons would not be returning to their families, nor changelings to their hives. Then there were the wounded and maimed who would never be the same. Equus had seen wars before, and despite the most optimistic outlook, it would probably see them again. At least the treatments had improved over the centuries. Some things were irreparable, although some ponies took it better than others.
Citrine was terrorizing the staff as she zoomed around in the wheelchair that had been provided. They wanted her to rest up, but she insisted that she was fine. The medic was most frustrated.
“You know that once you become normal flesh and blood, those legs of yours will suddenly become gushing wounds. How long do you think that you can maintain your living crystal form?”
“As long as I need to, doc. Since the Harmony thing, this feels completely natural for me.”
“And if it changes while you’re asleep?” he asked pointedly.
“Nah. I’m a crystallomancer. Things change or not change because I will it.”
“What about pain? Has that abated?”
“Still some pain in the stumps, but these socks save me from the worst of knocks. They’ll do until Techbird puts together those prophetic legs for me.”
“Prosthetic,” the medic corrected. He sighed. “I suppose I can’t stop you as you seem quite healthy otherwise.”
“Woohoo! Freedom!” Citrine spun around in her chair and raced out of the room.
The medic shook his head in resignation before he moved on to the next patient.
# # #
Blue Streak recovered consciousness six days after the battle. The nursing staff removed him from the pod, cleaned off the goo that covered him, and then transferred him to a normal hospital bed with orders to rest. He promptly fell asleep, but when he woke in the morning, he found that he had visitors. Twilight, Lucida, and Destined sat by his bedside, and so did a familiar young dragoness who had been fetched from the Dragonlands.
“Cinder. Good to see you, dear.”
“It’s good to see you wake, my warrior,” Cinder replied.
“Have you seen… umm… the older you?”
“I have. I thanked her for enabling you to be prepared to face the Nightmare.”
Twilight said, “The Matriarch Cinder is our guest for now until she decides her future.”
“What do you mean, Mama?” Blue asked.
“In the timeline that she came from, you did not survive your jaunt into space. This time you did, which means her timeline is no longer History. She has nowhen to go back to anymore. That future now has a Cinder who did not lose her mate during the battle.”
“For which I am truly grateful,” Cinder added.
“That is sad. We need to do something for her, Mama.”
“We will – just as soon as we figure out what.”
“How did I survive that anyway? I fully expected to die.”
“Oh, come now! Surely it’s obvious?” came a familiar male voice.
Everyone’s attention shifted to the owner of that voice and his companion who had somehow arrived in the ward without being noticed.
“Discord? What are you doing here…?” Twilight began before her voice froze from shock at recognizing the pony with Discord.
A pure white alicorn mare with bright red mane and tail and a quill with inkpot cutie-mark stood there smiling benignly.
Twilight gaped. “F–Faust? But you… I mean…”
Discord rolled his eyes. “For Pete’s sake, you would think you haven’t seen a demi-god before. Hellooo! I’m here too!” he said, tapping himself on the chest with his mismatched paws.
“Why are you here?” Lucida asked.
“To restore the Balance. Blue Streak carries within him the Spirit of Creation which was needed to counter the Avatar of Destruction. However, that need is past, and while Creation is a positive force, the unbalance would still cause problems after a time.”
“So why doesn’t Creation simply leave now that its job is done?”
“Blue Streak trained hard to make himself a compatible host for Creation, and it’s quite comfortable there. We need to persuade it to leave.”
Faust stepped forward and touched a hoof to Blue’s torso. After a moment, she looked up at Discord who nodded and moved to Blue’s other side. After several long moments, a pale bluish glow started to rise from Blue’s body and took on the form of an ethereal pony with no discernible features. As it did so, the kirin features on Blue started to fade. The pearlescent scales that covered his legs retreated to just above his hooves. His draconic features softened, although the prominent canine teeth remained, as did the slit eyes and cloven hooves.
A deep and powerful voice was heard in their heads. ‘Thank you, Blue Streak. Your dedication and sacrifice will not go unrewarded.’
Then it dissolved in a series of sparkles.
“Whoa! That felt weird,” Blue exclaimed. What did it mean by reward?”
Discord grinned. “You’ll just have to find out eventually. If you haven’t figured it out in a couple of hundred years, you can ask me again.” He then snapped his claws and disappeared.
The enigmatic Faust still remained. She smiled and finally spoke. “Take care of my little ponies when they leave their home at last.” Then she quietly faded from existence.
“What do you suppose she meant by that?” Lucida asked.
Twilight shrugged. “I’m still getting over just seeing her. How can I comprehend her motivations?”
“I suppose being enigmatic is part of being what she is. Discord is no better, after all,” Destined opined.
“Well, I’m just a warrior, and I’m not going to stress over things like that,” Blue said firmly. “Right now I’d like to know how the others fared.”
Twilight replied, “Destined, Silk, Citrine, Forest, Glenn, and Watchful were able to channel Harmony to defeat the Nightmare. Citrine lost part of both her forelegs after attacking the Nightmare, but she will be fine. It was Pif who came off worst. She nearly was killed and only an infusion of love from Citrine saved her. She spent a lot of time in a changeling healing pod too. She came out of it a day earlier than you, and she will be fine except she’s lost her wings, and she’s quite upset about that.”
“She can’t shape-shift new ones?”
“Apparently it doesn’t work like that. My research shows that even when they take a form that doesn’t have wings, the cells associated with them are still present. They shape-shift, not disappear. Having them ripped out removed the necessary cells. By the way, that’s why changelings can’t duplicate everything – they simply don’t have the necessary cells to shift them into.”
“Poor Pif. I know she didn’t fly much, but she enjoyed it when she did.”
“At least she survived. So many others died during that battle. Others have been crippled for life. War benefits nopony but creatures like the Nightmare.”
# # #
Despite the best efforts of the medical staff and the usage of changeling healing pods, some combatants still succumbed to their injuries long after the fighting had ended.
One such victim knew that his time had come. The elderly griffon managed to make his desires known, and a messenger was sent to another part of the hospital. She found Blue Streak sitting propped up in his bed with several family members at his bedside. He had been ordered to rest, but he was already getting antsy. When the messenger passed on the request though, nothing could keep him in his bed.
Blue Streak hastened to the griffon’s bedside with Cinder, Destined, Lucida, and Twilight in tow. He gasped when he saw the condition of the griffon.
“Master Warfist!” Blue exclaimed. “I did not know that you had been wounded!”
Warfist opened his one remaining good eye and fixed it upon Blue. When he spoke, his voice was weak and croaky. “I’m dying, Blue Streak. Age has caught up to me at last.” He paused to catch his breath. “Did Cinder tell you about the Final Rite?”
Blue blinked in surprise. “Yes, she did. But Master, that was supposed to involve killing all who sought your glory and honor. I haven’t done that.”
“Would not the Nightmare have taken all that *cough*… and more? Were you not *cough, cough*… instrumental in her eventual defeat?” He panted heavily from his effort to speak.
“I suppose you could look at it that way, but I’m also supposed to fight you to the death. I won’t kill you!”
Warfist’s expression showed a hint of amusement despite his weakness. “As I said, I’m *cough, cough*… I’m already dying. It is time to stop delay…*cough, cough, cough*…delaying the inevitable.” He weakly reached up with trembling talons and pulled off the cords to the devices monitoring him which promptly started beeping in warning.
A nurse rushed in saw what had happened, and she attempted to get to Warfist to reattach them. Blue held her back though and looked over to Twilight.
“Mama, please stop them from interfering.”
Twilight bit her lip. It went against her nature to let this happen, but it was not her place to interfere either. Her horn lit up and a force field came up between Blue and Warfist and the rest of the people in the room. The nurse objected strenuously then rushed out to find help.
Warfist coughed again before saying, “Remove the IV’s.”
Blue pulled out the needles in Warfist’s forelegs, and blood oozed out of the entry points.
“Now – drink my heart’s blood.”
Blue dipped his hoof into the blood and licked it off.
Warfist sighed and closed his eye. “You have brought death to me… and drunk my blood. *cough, cough* The ritual… is complete. Hereafter you are Warmaster… General Blue Streak Warfist XVI.” He broke into a fit of coughing that gradually grew weaker. “You have accrued… all the honor of… my bloodline. I am… proud of you… son….”
There was one last sigh as Warfist exhaled his final breath. Then he was still, and the only sound that could be heard over the noise of the medical devices was that of Blue Streak weeping.
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