//------------------------------// // Three Princesses and a Queen // Story: The Beginning of the Eclipse // by Snorlaxkid //------------------------------// The next several days practically revolved around Solar Eclipse adjusting to a nearly twenty-four hour schedule. She had to raise the sun, tend to court, raise the moon, and watch over the dream realm. This left precious little time for rest. However, a solution came from an unusual source, the minds of Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker. The personalities would take shifts, with one good and one dark personality "awake" at any one time, unless special occasions required more of them or specific combinations. This meant that Solar Eclipse barely had any real time to sleep, but still felt relaxed and rested under almost any circumstances. That is until Cadence arrived to see the sisters. "And that's when Twilight found us." Luna and Celestia's voices said as they finished their explanation of the night they'd become fused. "We've had time to adjust, but so far nothing has changed other than our right eye." They sighed in unison, looking down at their clothing. A flowing robe, dark and flowing with stars. While it was on of Luna's. it contrasted well with their Celestia-like coat, and aided in showing their status as a combination between each other. Other than that, she wore only a mixture of both Nightmare Moon's and Daybreaker's armors, resulting in an interesting clash between the orange and blue. Cadence rubbed her forehead on the other side of the table. While the story had been relayed to her by letter, seeing Solar Eclipse and hearing the story was something else entirely. Even now it was hard for her to wrap her head around. Still, it was good that things were going well so far. Now she only had to wait for Twilight to arrive... As if on cue, the door behind her opened as Twilight entered the meeting chamber, accompanied by two guards who took position on either side of the door. Having all the princesses in one place always called for more security. She smiled at Solar Eclipse bashfully before running over to Cadence for their customary greeting. This prompted a small smile from Solar Eclipse, even in times of stress like these, it's good to see that some things don't change. "What brings you here Twilight?" Solar asked in Celestia's voice, quiet and calm. "If I'd known I was having two guests I would have had treats prepared for the occasion." Solar was greeted with an uncomfortably long silence before Twilight responded. "Well, Cadence and I were corresponding over the last few days and we thought..." She sounded like what she was saying was one of the most painful things she could ever admit. "That it might be best if you stayed out of the public eye until this matter is settled. While I don't agree, a lot of ponies are frightened of your appearance." Solar Eclipse's mind erupted into chaos as the statement awoke the two dark personalities within her. "They fear us? Of course they do. It is to be expected." Came Nightmare Moon's voice in their joint mind, venom dripping from every word. "We are unfamiliar. Alien. They could never accept us." "Who cares if they fear us? We don't need their approval to rule." Daybreaker now, a dark laugh accompanying her statements. "No, we should-" Celestia tried to begin, before she felt a familiar helpless sensation, like when Daybreaker was controlling her body, as Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker wrested control. "And if we refuse?" Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon's voices challenged Twilight and Cadence, crossing her arms as Solar Eclipse sat down, looking a bit like child about to throw a tantrum. "We have every right to rule despite our condition, we are not addled." Cadence took a step forward, holding out a reassuring hand. "We're not asking you to relinquish your power. We're only suggesting you should-" Solar Eclipse glared at Cadence, freezing the princess of love in her tracks. "We should what? Seclude ourselves? Hide our face because it embarrasses you to see us joined like this? And then what? What if this transformation is permanent?" The words hung in the air, and in the minds of the sisters within Solar Eclipse. It was a worrying thought none of those involved wanted to admit, but nothing like this had happened before, there was no guarantee things would ever return to normal. "Sister?" Luna's voice rang out in their thoughts. "I know Luna, I'm worried too. But we'll get through this, don't let Nightmare Moon's doubts and Daybreaker's fears cloud your judgement. We're going to become ourselves again I promise." Celestia's reassurance was powerful, but it did little to fix the current issue. "We can't assume anything like that yet." Twilight said, trying to calm the situation before it became more heated. "For now we should remain cautious and keep things calm. I don't like the situation we've been forced into either-" "You don't like this situation? What do you think we think of it? Look at us! We've been turned into a complete freak!" Nightmare's voice was the loudest now, drowning out the others behind her. "Our own subjects, who rejoiced and loved us only days ago, now fear and distrust us!" She pointed an accusing finger in Twilight's direction. "And now this... this betrayal!" There was a sudden bang, and Twilight found herself suddenly sailing backwards, crashing to the floor. She was unharmed physically, but she felt as if she just had been punched by a fully powered Tirek. She gasped for breath as Cadence and the guards stared shocked at herself and Solar Eclipse. Solar Eclipse looked at her own hand, caught off guard by her own attack. "On the other hand, the powers of night and day combined could truly prove useful..." She said, as a sinister grin formed, before she turned her attention toward the guards at the door. "Leave us." She commanded, tendrils of darkness suddenly appearing from the walls and dragging the guards through. -------------------------------------------------------------- Outside a third guard was caught by surprise as the two stationed inside suddenly phased through the wall, dropped in front of him with terror on their faces. "What's going on?!" He barked, his voice snapping the two back to reality. "The princesses are quarreling, sir! We were thrown out by magic cast by the fused princess, Solar Eclipse!" One reported, his voice still shaking despite his attempt to remain professional. The third guard concealed a grin, as his green eyes flashed. "I will handle the situation from here. Both of you go and get reinforcements, things may take a sour turn." He demanded. The two fearful guards were unable to resist his commanding presence and quickly retreated, relieved to be as far away from the magic that they'd just experienced. Once the two were around the corner, the remaining guard laughed and removed his helmet, before disappearing a flash of green flame. In his place stood the rightful queen of changelings, Chrysalis, who tossed aside the helmet. "What a boon," She practically squealed with delight as she turned to the doors. "I come here to seek revenge for all I've lost, and find not just an opportunity for that, but a chance to rid myself of all my most powerful enemies at once! For good this time!" She carefully opened the door ever so slightly, getting a good look as Solar Eclipse began to prepare an unknown spell, likely to attack her fellow princesses with. She could taste the fear in the room, fear from Solar Eclipse of being left alone and powerless, fear from Cadence, of Solar Eclipse's rage, and fear from Twilight, of having to fight her mentor. The only thing wrong with this moment was that she wasn't the one causing all the fear! Chrysalis started preparing a spell of her own, and took aim, her twisted horn glowing sickly green. "I'll start by disabling the big threat, than take down the little brats at my leisure." She grinned triumphantly as she fired, the green beam of magic flying straight for Solar Eclipse. ----------------------------------------------- Solar Eclipse was barely aware of who she was targeting at this point. Daybreaker's lust for this newfound surge of power, and Nightmare Moon's endless rage made it impossible to think clearly. All she cared about was testing out her new strength on the traitors in front of her. So she'd start by hitting them with all the strength she could muster. "If you're going to put up some fruitless attempt stop this attack, you'd best do so now fools! In moments you'll both be nothing but ash!" Cried Daybreaker's voice as she felt her magic reach its climax. All she had to do now was point a finger! She laughed insanely raising her arm to attack. Her laughter was cut off as she suddenly was struck in the chest by a massive bolt of green magic, the blast tearing clean through her. She recoiled, her own attack misfiring and blasting a massive hole through the ceiling, debris and plaster raining around her. Solar Eclipse found her world spinning. She could feel the hole in her chest, the blood seeping out of it. "But... Who?" Daybreaker asked, brought down as Solar Eclipse dropped to her knees. She began refocusing her energy, trying to use magic to seal the wound and stop the bleeding. "Who... Who dares to interrupt my triumph?!" Solar Eclipse glared at the door, where a rather surprised changeling queen met her gaze. -------------------------------------- This was impossible. She had to have spent too much on that spell, she was delirious. She'd seen straight through Solar Eclipse, there was no way the alicorn could possibly survive that attack. And yet, there she was, glaring back at her with a look that could kill. "Drone chatter! What does it take to kill these ponies?!" She exclaimed under her breath, her unusual choice of expletive a result of her shock at the situation. "Chrysalis?!" The Queen was caught off guard by the voice of her nemesis, Twilight Sparkle. Right, she was here too. Change of plans then. She entered the throne room, hiding the fear in her twisted heart as she closed the door behind her, using the keys she "borrowed" as a guard to lock it. "Right, we can catch up later brat. If you want to survive this you're going to need to do everything I say." She spat, though her voice lacked its usual venom toward the alicorn, lost in the fear and the rapid calculations going through her mind. "Everyone together! Cadenza! We need a shield. Now!" The two alicorns didn't bother asking any questions, quickly moving to Chrysalis' position by the door. Twilight stood between Chrysalis and Cadence as she hastily put up a shield, only for it to immediately to be pounded by a sudden blast from Solar Eclipse. She flinched, but her shield stayed up. "What are you even doing here?!" Twilight asked incredulously as Chrysalis paused to concoct the best use of their resources. "Does that even matter? I'm saving your sorry hides now, whether I like it or not." Chrysalis looked at Twilight, who was giving her a coy grin. "What? What are you grinning about?" "Oh don't try to hide it, you could have just run after that cheap shot, but you stayed," Twilight replied, "Somewhere deep down you'd prefer we were safe." Chrysalis started, her cheeks flushing an almost radioactive green for a moment at Twilight's accusation. "What? You're imagining things! I just... You're just a means to an end! Don't look any deeper into it! If I'd had my way, I would have drained all of you dry ages ago!" Her mind suddenly clicked. She knew how to end this fight. And she hated it. A sudden flurry of blasts against the shield however, assured her that this was her only choice. "Oh for love's sake.." She said before suddenly pulling Twilight off the ground and into a deep kiss. Twilight was rather shocked by this development. When she said that Chrysalis wanted them safe, this wasn't quite what she meant! Then came a strange surge through her body, as Chrysalis began pouring a portion of her own power into the alicorn. Why did everything changelings do have to be so weird? A kiss to give her a power up? Chrysalis released Twilight after a few awkward seconds, her head light and spinning, she could see a glow forming in Twilight's eyes. That was good, right? She glanced up at Cadence, only to realize the pink barrier was now between the princess of love and them. For her credit, even dazed she quickly realized what that meant braced herself, guarding her face as Twilight suddenly released a blast of raw magic in all directions. "Why don't I ever think my plans further through?!" Chrysalis exclaimed as she was thrown backwards, slamming into the wall and blacking out. --------------------------------- The changeling queen's eyes snapped open. She began checking herself with her hands, too afraid to look down. "Still alive... Thank the go-" Her hand trailed down to her side, where she felt a sharpened piece of glass sticking through her chitin. She glanced up. Above her on the wall she was leaning against was a now shattered stained glass window. She laughed bitterly. "I'm going to be killed by glass? Glass?!" She forced herself to her feet, getting a glimpse at her abdomen and the glass sticking out of her at several different angles. "No... Not here. If I'm going to die, I refuse to die surrounded by my enemies." She looked across the room, all three princesses were unconscious, Cadence and Twilight relatively unharmed, and the hole in Solar Eclipse already having stopped bleeding. "She's still alive, I just know it. That would be just my luck." Chrysalis said, started toward the doors which had been forced open by the blast. Her green blood was leaving a thick trail with each step. "I'm not gonna last long at this rate. Serves me right for helping my enemies. That was so stupid..." As Chrysalis made her way out, she was quickly met by several members of the royal guard, all arriving on the scene as the reinforcements she had meant to come after she'd left. She glanced back at the ruined meeting room and the unconscious princesses. "Would you believe me if I said this isn't what it looks like?" She tried, barely managing an almost innocent looking smile. Based on the restraints quickly placed on her, they didn't.