//------------------------------// // Chapter ten: surprise, surprise! // Story: Worlds Apart // by Elkia Deerling //------------------------------// The very same night she experienced her dream and her conversation with Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle said goodbye to Spitfire and flew in the direction of Ponyville, using the cover of night. “You are our leader, and we’re gonna miss you,” Spitfire had said. Twilight had agreed, but had also explained to her that she didn’t have a choice. “In the end, it will be best for Equestria… I hope.” They had shaken hooves, and then Twilight took her leave. All night long she flew through the Equestrian skies, looking over her shoulder, eying the ground suspiciously, looking for possible threats. Her journey towards Ponyville had been everything but a pleasant and relaxed flight. But she reached Ponyville nonetheless. After flying all night, and with the morning sun already peeking over the horizon in a grey blur, Twilight stood in the middle of town square, and found it deserted. Thanks to the few ponies that hadn’t yet left Ponyville behind, she learned of the location of the ponies in the Everfree Forest. The ponies of Ponyville were so glad to see the face of their princess, and it broke Twilight’s heart that she had to leave them behind. But of course, she promised them to come back. And so she arrived at the Everfree settlement. Huts made of branches, twigs, and leaves were scattered all around, and all ponies were busy doing their daily tasks; foraging, working in the fields, sowing, or building. In short, they were surviving as best they could. Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle saw some pink between the dark green and brown of the forest. But before she could call out, Pinkie zipped to her first. “Twilight! Twilight! You’re here!” Pinkie exclaimed, holding her in the tightest embrace ever. Twilight Sparkle wanted to hug her back, but her hooves were pinned beside her barrel by Pinkie’s bear hug. “I’m so glad to see you too, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Do you know where the others—“ “EVERYPONY! TWILIGHT IS BACK!” As Pinkie’s yell reverberated through the village and out into the forest, a great commotion arose. Ponies opened their doors, walked towards the center of town, and cast hopeful, relieved, and sometimes even happy glances at Twilight Sparkle. It didn’t take her friends a long time to find her. Applejack, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike pushed through the crowd, and embraced Twilight Sparkle as well. “We thought we lost you, Twilight,” Rarity said with tears in her eyes. “Were you able to help the Cloudsdale ponies? Or are they… lost?” Starlight Glimmer asked. “They are fine,” Twilight said. “We managed to move Cloudsdale to a safer place.” Pinkie Pie jumped up, and put her hooves to her muzzle. “DID YOU HEAR THAT, EVERYPONY? TWILIGHT SAVED CLOUDSDALE!” Of course, that did nothing to diminish the mob’s size. If anything, it only grew bigger, and the ponies in it happier. After she spoke a few quick words of hope to the villagers, Twilight and her friends retreated towards the town hall, which was actually Zecora’s hut. As they stepped inside and stood amongst the vials, pots, and exotic artwork, Twilight noticed something odd. “Where’s Zecora?” Her friends went strangely silent. “Nopony knows,” Applejack said. “She wasn’t here when we all moved into the Everfree Forest.” Twilight frowned. “That is strange…” “We tried to find her, and searched everywhere,” Starlight Glimmer said. “But she has disappeared without a trace.” Sighing, Twilight thought this over. As much as she wanted to help find her zebra friend, Twilight knew there were other matters that had to be discussed. “I will stay a while to help organize more efficient search parties,” she said. “But first, I have something to tell you. You all might want to make yourselves comfortable, for it is a long story.” And so Twilight Sparkle told her friends everything Princess Luna had told her in the dream, leaving no detail undiscussed; she knew everything could matter. All the while her friends listened, although Starlight Glimmer sometimes interrupted Twilight and asked for more details, which Twilight unfortunately couldn’t provide. When she was done, she paused and took a few deep breaths. Telling the story was exhausting. She looked into everypony’s eyes, and could read the disbelief off of them. They could never have expected such an astounding story. Applejack waved her hoof around. “So, let me get this straight. There is a way to fix all of this? There is a way to defeat Chrysalis?” “Duh, but only if we find the remaining elements,” Pinkie said matter-of-factly. “Have you been paying attention?” Rarity closed her eyes and shivered. “But then we have to get into Canterlot Castle, the place where Queen Chrysalis sits on the throne.” “That’s right, everypony. We have to find a way in,” Twilight said. Spike wanted to put a claw on Rarity’s shoulders to comfort her, but found that he was shaking as well. The thought of entering the castle of Chrysalis herself horrified him. There were a million things that could go wrong, and if they would get caught, Spike couldn’t even begin to imagine what the changelings would do to them. “Twilight…” he said, stepping over to her and grabbing her foreleg. “I’m scared.” Looking down, Twilight stroked Spike’s spines with her hoof. “You don’t have to be, Spike, because you are not coming along.” Everypony perked up in surprise. “I’m not?” Spike said. “He’s not?” Pinkie mimicked. “No Spike,” Twilight said. “I want you to stay behind together with Starlight Glimmer, and make sure that this village will stay strong, no matter what happens.” Starlight looked doubtful. “Are you sure about that, Twilight? I mean, what if something happens to—“ But she was cut short by Twilight’s raised hoof. “I understand that you are very concerned, Starlight, but firstly, we can’t leave this village without some kind of leadership, and secondly, we don’t need you.” Frowning, Starlight said, “What? What do you mean by that?” Twilight once again raised her hoof. “Don’t be angry, Starlight, I didn’t mean it that way. The thing is, if we are really going to do a stealth mission of some sorts, it is best to be with as few ponies as possible. We have to get the elements together, and we are the elements.” Twilight paused; her gaze traveled to the ground. “And besides, I don’t want to put any more ponies at risk than is necessary.” Nodding, Starlight Glimmer understood what Twilight said. “So it’s sneaking like a slithering rattlesnake then?” Applejack said. Twilight nodded. “Very well,” Rarity said, “I shall begin the work immediately.” Everypony looked at her with frowns on their faces. “Huh? What work?” Twilight said. “Why the camouflage, of course,” Rarity said. “I am certain I can piece something together from the fabric we collected from Ponyville.” To that, they actually had to laugh; something they hadn’t done in a long time. ** Of course, Twilight Sparkle took a long time to plan out this mission. It was night, and she sat at a table, drawing a map with some charcoal on some parchment, illuminated by a lamp with fireflies in it. Her tongue hung out of her mouth, as she racked her brain, trying to recall how exactly Canterlot Castle looked from the inside. It didn’t take her that much effort to remember it, for she had strode through its halls countless times, and had visited the library more often than Applejack bucked trees. She was scribbling and scribbling, so absorbed in her work that she didn’t notice Starlight Glimmer and Spike, until they stood right next to her. “Um… Twilight,” Spike said. Twilight perked up. “Oh, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, is everything alright?” “No it isn’t,” Spike said. He squeezed his eyes shut against the tears. He reached up and hugged his friend. “I’m not alright, because you’re leaving.” Starlight’s eyes also glistened with upcoming tears, but she held them back. “We came to say goodbye, Twilight. We are very worried about you, of course. Hay, the entire village is worried about you. But… I understand. I understand that what you’re about to do has to be done—for Equestria.” Stroking Spike’s head, while he buried his face in her coat, Twilight said, “I’m glad you see it that way, because I see it that way too. I hate to bring everypony in danger, but…” She paused for a second. “But I will make sure that everypony will be alright, and that nothing bad will happen to anypony. We will get through this, together, from start till finish.” Spike let go of Twilight for a minute, to look into her eyes. “Do you… Pinkie swear?” Twilight grinned. “Cross my hooves, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” And she accompanied her words with the familiar gestures. Spike stepped back towards Starlight Glimmer. “Well. I guess we’d better leave you to your work,” Starlight said. “You’ve got quite a mission ahead of you.” She tried to make her tone playful, but didn’t quite succeed. “I sure am,” Twilight said, nodding. Starlight turned around; Spike followed. “If you need some help with the planning, then you know where to find me,” Starlight said. Twilight Sparkle smiled at her friends. She knew that this might just be the last time she saw them. “Starlight,” she said, when Spike was already out the door. “Yes?” Twilight’s voice was a whisper. “If I don’t come back, then… then take care of Spike. Would you do that for me?” Now Starlight Glimmer lost her battle against the upcoming tears. “I will,” she said with a hoarse voice. “I will.” ** As night fell, the ponies gathered together in a shadowed alley. They were all dressed in black silk, allowing them freedom of movement, a camouflage together with the night, and, according to Rarity, a fashionable appearance. Before them lay Canterlot Castle. They could hardly recognize it. The entire castle was covered with a strange, black substance, pitted with many holes here and there. The once cheerful purple banners were replaced with green ones, bearing a black sigil with blue, insectile wings. A sticky, green goo dripped from the minarets and golden rooftops, making the castle look as if it cried green, viscous tears. Changelings skittered all over the place, climbing the towers and disappearing through the windows, while others flew to and from. Despite the plan, Twilight Sparkle gulped. A million things could go wrong, but she had done her best to eliminate as many risks as she could. With her knowledge of the castle, she had already mapped out the best route through the halls and chambers. Briefly, Twilight Sparkle got a flashback. A flashback to the time where she miserably failed at sneaking into Canterlot Castle, determined as she was to stop time with one of Starswirl’s spells. It had ended in much awkwardness. She hoped that she would do better this time. Nodding to her friends and then looking back, Twilight and her friends made their first move. They trotted over the open road towards some bushes and trees which served as a little garden. So far so good; no changeling had spotted them. Twilight silently thanked them that they had no searchlights or something like that. They jumped over the ring of bushes. The grass muffled their hoofsteps as they neared. They were heading towards a window. In fact, it was the very same window Twilight had used when she tried sneaking into the castle on that strange Monday. Twilight looked back to check on her friends. She could read the anxiety on their faces. Only Pinkie Pie seemed to be relaxed; it was all a game to her. Keeping low to the ground, and using the bushes as cover, they neared the window. But then, they stopped. “Oh no! How could I have overlooked this?” Twilight said softly. “What is it sugar cube?” Applejack whispered. Twilight pointed. There was a small path which snaked through the garden, and ended at the western gate of Canterlot. Slowly, Twilight looked up over the hedges. Two changelings stood guard at the golden gates. But no bushes or trees stood beside the path, so the ponies had no cover. “If we move in now, they will see us,” Twilight whispered. “Then how are we possibly going to get in?” Rarity asked, voicing the question that shot into the ponies’ minds. Twilight covered her head with her hooves. She made a big mistake. “I don’t know.” But then she shook her head. Now was not the time for desperation. Now was the time for a quick and clever solution. The gears in her head worked. They turned and turned, trying to concoct a genius and inventive plan that would get them past this guard patrol. Twilight’s mind raced with options, but neither of them was useful, safe, or worth the risk of exposure. Twilight Sparkle drew a blank. No clever plan came to her. Suddenly, Applejack joined Twilight at the hedge. She looked over the edge, eying the guards and estimating the distance. Then, she found a stone near a small pond, tossed it in the air, and bucked hard. “Hey, what was that?” one of the changelings said, turning his head towards the hedge opposite of Twilight and her friends. “Better find out,” the other said, and then they marched towards the bush. There was a moment of bafflement on Twilight’s face. Such a simple plan, and she hadn’t come up with it. Applejack prodded her. “Let’s go, Twi.” Twilight nodded, and together they climbed through the window. They were in the castle. It was much darker than they expected. Light came from green lamps hanging here and there on the wall, filled with some fluid that slightly lit up the hall. They were weak lamps, just powerful enough to see where they were putting their hooves. Apparently, the changelings weren’t too fond of light. Twilight looked left, then right, and then concluded that the coast was clear. “Come on, everypony,” she said. “We have to go to the left now.” The throne hall was a few corners away. The ponies moved as silently as they could, which was easy, because the thick carpet muffled their hoofsteps as much as the grass had done. The halls they were sneaking through now made up the outer ring of Canterlot Castle. There wasn’t much there, except for some meeting halls and storage rooms. Twilight thought that this would be the easiest part of the castle to move through, as there shouldn’t be too many changelings wandering through the outer ring. Twilight soon realized how wrong she was. At the next corner, Twilight’s ears perked up, and she came to a halt. “Wait!” She listened more intently. Yes, there were hoofsteps coming straight towards them. The rest of the ponies heard it too. Rarity panicked. “Whatever should we do, Twilight? They will be on us any minute now.” “Use your magic,” Applejack said. “Turn us invisible or something.” Twilight flashed a glance at Applejack. “I can’t, not with this many ponies all at the same time.” Then she smiled. “But I do know a trick that will help us.” Twilight concentrated. She tried to cast the spell as quietly as she could. With some effort, she kept her horn’s glow weak. With more effort, she reduced the amount of sparks and tingling sizzles to a minimum. She panted, and sweat pearled off her brow. “They’re coming!” Rarity said. And at that moment, Twilight released her spell. The entire room had turned upside down. The ponies were standing on the ceiling, looking at each other with bewildered gazes (except for Twilight). Applejack thought she felt a bit nauseated. Their complete perspectives were changed. Then they looked upwards—or downwards. They spotted six changelings, two of them in red armor. The changelings walked silently underneath them—or above them—until they rounded another corner and disappeared from view. With another burst of magic from Twilight, everything returned to normal. “What the hay just happened?” Applejack said. “Reversed gravity spell,” Twilight said with a small, proud smile. “I used it in the Crystal Empire to scale the tower.” “You mean slide down,” Pinkie said. Applejack touched her head with her hoof. “I’m confused.” Despite Applejack’s confusion, they moved on. The four ponies continued their way through the castle. Twilight made a habit of stopping and listening at every corner. According to Twilight’s mental map, the hall to the throne room should be around the next corner. Twilight stopped, listened, heard nothing, and rounded the corner. Where she came face to face with about a dozen changeling sentries. The fact that Twilight couldn’t hear them didn’t mean that it was all clear. The changelings looked flabbergasted for exactly one second. Unfurling their wings, they charged towards Twilight. “Run!” Twilight yelled to her friends, and so they did. They ran blindly through the marble hallways, with the changelings in pursuit. When Twilight looked back, she saw how the changelings were gaining on them. Of course they were faster; they had wings. Twilight’s mind clammed shut as pure panic overwhelmed it. She knew the mission had failed. If they didn’t do anything, a whole castle full of changelings would be on their heels in a matter of minutes. But they didn’t do nothing. As they rounded a corner, and the changelings briefly lost sight of the ponies, Rarity, surprisingly enough, sprang into action. “Everypony, stand in front of the curtains!” The ponies stopped and looked at their friend. Even if they hid behindthe curtains, the changelings would easily spot their brightly colored hooves. And now Rarity was telling them to stand in front of the curtains? “Go!” Rarity hissed. The ponies did what they were told. Each of them took place in front of the big, purple curtains. Rarity’s horn glowed; the changelings rounded the corner… … And went straight past them. They charged on ahead, and their hoofsteps echoed away through the hallway. The ponies were too surprised to say something. But they didn’t need to. Looking at their hides and manes and tails, they saw that their color had shifted. Their whole bodies were the exact same purple as the curtains. As soon as they gathered and caught their breaths, Twilight asked, “What spell was that?” Rarity waved her hoof. “Why, just a simple color changing spell, darling. I use it all the time to change the color of my fabrics. It goes a lot faster and a lot easier than dying them.” “Swell,” Applejack said. “Thank you very much,” Rarity said. “Shall we move on?” Everypony agreed, and they were on their way again. Walking back towards the hallway, which was now completely empty, the four little ponies entered the throne hall, slowly and carefully. To their surprise, it was also completely empty. Twilight concluded that their discovery had actually been a good thing, because all of the changelings in this wing of the castle must have heard them and chased them. If Twilight hadn’t made the map of the castle, she must have thought she was lost. The throne hall looked nothing like it had before. The banners were green and bore the changeling logo, which seemed to glow in the gloomy green light from the lamps. The stained glass windows, normally displaying the feats of the princesses and Twilight and her friends, were overgrown with the slimy goop the changelings produced, and their images were not visible at all. “This place looks absolutely horrible,” Rarity said, stepping over a pile of green goop. “It sure could use a broom,” Pinkie said, but then she saw the windows and added, “and maybe a window cleaner as well.” Twilight turned to her friends. “Focus, everypony! We have to find that hidden panel.” She looked around the room and frowned. “Now, according to Princess Luna, the panel should be at the wall over there.” She pointed to the opposite side of the hall. “So let’s get over there and look around.” So they did. The four ponies began inspecting the floor tiles and the marble wall, which wasn’t as shiny as it had been before. Once again, it proved to be Rarity who helped her friends out. Thanks to her sharp eyes, she detected a groove in one of the floor tiles. She stepped on it, and, with a slight grinding sound, the wall opened to a little room. As soon as they could look into it, the ponies gasped. There it was, placed on an ornately carved pedestal; the Orb of Translocation. Immediately, Twilight and Rarity could feel the magical aura the Orb radiated. They felt as if their horns moved them towards the thing. The Orb sucked them in, but Twilight and Rarity resisted. They stood their ground. “Now that’s quite something,” Applejack said. Even though she was an earth pony, she was able to tell that the Orb possessed powerful magic. Strange vapors, like a thousand mirrors, swirled around in the ball, revealing flickering images of the plane to which it led. Suddenly, Rarity yelped. “What’s wrong, Rarity?” Pinkie said. Rarity’s face twisted into a scowl. “Oh, could we please leave this foul throne hall behind! I felt something drip on me.” She looked behind her to inspect the costume she had sewn together so carefully. “Just look at this. It’s ruined!” Applejack ignored her, for she had something to ask Twilight. “Hey, Twi?” With much effort, Twilight managed to pull her gaze away from the Orb of Translocation. “Yes, what is it?” “Well, I was just thinking, if this is a throne hall, and the center of the castle and all, and this is where the princesses are supposed to be, then where is the—“ A terrified yell came from Rarity, as she found out where the droplet of slime had come from. Looking up, she witnessed the queen of the changelings, skittering over the ceiling like a spider. Chrysalis let go, swooped down, and landed upon the floor tiles, blocking the way towards the throne hall. The tiles cracked and shattered underneath her pitted, black hooves. “May I thank you for not only bringing yourself, but also your friends right into my hooves, Twilight Sparkle?” Chrysalis said. “If I wouldn’t know better, I’d say that you were on my side, ha ha!” She threw her head back and cackled like an insane witch. The ponies watched her, frozen in fear, their hearts racing at the surprise. How long had she been there, observing them? Twilight Sparkle made a mental note that if she would get out of this situation alive, she would watch ceilings more often. “You are a fool to think that I haven’t yet found out about this orb here,” Chrysalis said, her voice icy, heartless, and cold. “During my time as Cadence, I have roamed the castle, exploring every nook and cranny, knowing that I would someday return, but not disguised. I have seen this new world, and, however vile it looks, I am bound to conquer it as well. Queen Chrysalis, interdimensional regent. How does that sound?” “Bad,” Pinkie Pie deadpanned. Chrysalis’s slit-pupil eyes eyed the pink pony for a moment. But then her gaze was once again directed to the leader of the group. “What were you expecting to do in the other world anyway, Twilight Sparkle? The element of kindness is dead, and so should your hopes be. Or is there something I haven’t heard anything about?” Twilight said nothing. Unfortunately, Chrysalis was a clever creature, and she figured it out herself. “There is another one, isn’t there? And it’s in there.” She waved a wing towards the orb. Pinkie Pie shook her head. Of course, Chrysalis didn’t believe her lie. She knew she shouldn’t take the pink pony too seriously. “And…” She paused, letting her terrible voice echo through the castle. “I bet that is where your rainbow-maned friend is too.” “No, no way,” Pinkie said. “Rainbow Dash? I don’t even know a Rainbow Dash. Nopie dopie; never heard of her.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Yes,” Chrysalis said, ending the ‘s’ in a slithering of her tongue. “I know there are six elements of harmony. Minus one is five, yet you are here with four. Hmm… This might get interesting after all…” Twilight realized that this was exactly what the princesses had been afraid of. Her mouth fell open. “And you would never go and risk everything just to get one element. Even with another element you would still be too weak. No, the other element is alive as well, isn’t it? Kindness is alive. I should have known about the two lost elements before,” Chrysalis said. “I have already sent spies into the new world. I mean, you should never plunge headfirst into a situation without knowing exactly how things will turn out, now would you?” Twilight could have facehoofed, because that was exactly what they had done. And she was going to do it again. With a shake of her head, Twilight came back to her senses. “Everypony! GO!” and with that, she bolted for the Orb. “I don’t think so!” Chrysalis shouted, and jumped. But Applejack was quicker. She turned around and bucked upwards, hitting the queen straight in the chest, in the soft part of her body. Applejack bucked all the air out of Chrysalis. She fell down mid-flight, stunned. “Go, y’all!” Applejack yelled. “If we’re gonna go in, might as well go in NOW!” Rarity jumped on the queen’s back, then onto the pedestal, and said, “Wise words, Applejack,” before she disappeared into the magical object, her essence merging with the magic inside and redirecting to another world. “Oh! That looks like fun!” Pinkie said. Just like Rarity, she jumped on the queen’s back, but, unlike Rarity, she landed on Chrysalis’s horn, and used it as a diving board. With a somersault, Pinkie jumped into the Orb. “Come on, Twi!” Applejack yelled. She charged headfirst through the Orb. Twilight Sparkle waited. She looked at Queen Chrysalis, who answered her stare with one of her own; one much colder and deadlier; a stare full of hate. “If that world will not destroy you, then I will,” Chrysalis said. “I will destroy you and your friends, so that nothing stands in my way, and my children will have all of Equestria as their playground, forever!” Twilight took a moment to let those words sink in. If the world will not destroy you? But Twilight had no choice but to go in; her friends had already reached Earth. “You will see me again, Twilight Sparkle,” Queen Chrysalis said, as she slowly got up to her hooves. “And when you will, you will see the grand Queen of the two worlds before you.” She realized that she could never stop Twilight from entering the orb in time. “Now go! Go and do whatever miserable mission those princesses have sent you on. Don’t worry, I shall follow soon.” “When we meet again,” Twilight said, inching closer and closer to the Orb, “I will be ready.” Then, with a pop and a sizzle, Twilight Sparkle stepped through the orb and disappeared from the face of Equestria. ** As soon as the swirling bursts of magic faded away, Queen Chrysalis stood up. It took her a moment to catch her breath, but once she finally did, she let loose an awful cry, which echoed through the castle’s hall. Her highest commander, a massive changeling in blood-red armor, appeared shortly. Discord was off in the Crystal Empire, attending to other necessities. As the changeling scurried towards its queen, Chrysalis silently scolded herself. She should have had him here, then she might have bested the ponies and prevented them from entering the Orb. “Commander!” Chrysalis said, when the changeling reached the throne. “The elements are alive, all six of them. They escaped through the Orb, and I am going to find them and destroy them.” “And you want me to take command?” the changeling said. “Exactly. If anything goes wrong, contact Discord in the Crystal Empire. He knows more about magic and about my long-term plans for Equestria.” The changeling saluted. “Yes, my queen.” Then Chrysalis turned around, facing the hidden pedestal with the Orb of Translocation. With a voice as cold as the chill of foreboding, she said, “And now, the game begins.”