Dead Space: Deep Space Terror

by Blackdrag-rose


Interlude: The Rematch

Once Chrysalis and Celestia returned to Ponyville, after the flight from the area that the Hive was located in, the Solar Princess landed in front of the others and asked Chrysalis if she had come a decision regarding what she had asked her when they were leaving the private tomb she had opened. The question caused the others to turn towards them and stare at them, because it appeared that when a pony returned from their adventure they engaged someone in a battle to show how strong they had gotten over the course over their travels, indicating that it was Chrysalis' turn if she followed the pattern. When she learned that whoever finished their adventure apparently had a battle with someone, where she found out that two of them had actually fought Sunset upon their return to Equus, she was half tempted to say that she was just fine and leave the planet behind, but the more she thought about it the more she decided that she couldn't let this chance slip by her. In the end she faced the group, of Equestrians and her friends, and informed them that she was going to take Celestia up on her offer to have a rematch, where she inquired as to where they were going to spar with each other before she figured out what she was going to do with the rest of her life.

"We'll head to a dead planet to battle each other," Celestia replied, though as Sunset approached them she noticed that Chrysalis and her friends were staring at her, but why they were doing that she had no idea, "What? You honestly didn't think that we would fight somewhere on Equus, did you?"

"I'm just surprised that you want to fight on a planet that's like Tau Volantis," Chrysalis stated, as that was what she thought of when she heard the term 'dead planet', but based on the looks that she was getting she could tell that there was something that she wasn't understanding.

"A dead planet is one where life, like humans or ponies for instance, won't develop," a new voice said, to which Chrysalis turned and found Twilight Sparkle, wearing a different set of clothing than what Sunset and Celestia were wearing, and had some strange earrings in her ears, walking towards them with Discord floating behind her, "Sunset's supposed to destroy them so I can eventually spark the creation of new planets, since I'm the God of Creation for our universe, but for the next few days I'm going to be extremely busy... because creating the spark of creation for an entirely new galaxy, to replace the one that you were sent to, is going to be extremely taxing and time consuming. Normally, when Sunset destroys a planet, I start the process to create new ones, but since I have to make a new galaxy I've decided to take the rest of the day off for now, especially since this will be the first time that Celestia's fought someone that's not Sunset... and that's when they're sparring."

Chrysalis stared at Twilight for a moment, as she slightly regretted her decision to battle Celestia if she was capable of sparring with Sunset, who was the God of Destruction who wiped out an entire galaxy in an instant, but at the same time she knew that she couldn't back out, not when she agreed to the fight. Since the Hyperion was still near the planet, as Ratchet had next to nothing to do until they were done visiting the planet, Celestia gathered her power for a moment and formed a sphere around the entire group, before pulling them up to the ship. Chrysalis soon discovered that the group that was coming to see the fight included Sunset, Twilight, Discord, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, including the newest addition that they had picked up, but she focused on what was going to happen next when they reached the planet in question. When they arrived aboard the ship, where Ratchet was waiting in the docking area for someones return, he nodded his head when he heard that they were heading out to a new planet, one that he must have been told about after Starlight and Sunset finished their adventure, before he returned to the bridge of the ship and activated the warpdrive once more.

This time around the journey between the two points was extremely short, making Chrysalis wonder if this planet was closer than the galaxy she had been sent to or if the power of the warpdrive made the journey even faster, but when they exited the warp system she discovered that the planet in question seemed to be like Earth... but, as she looked closer, there were some places where there was active volcanic activity and a massive ash cloud, no doubt a consequence of Sunset's battles with the other Equestrians that returned from their adventures. Once they neared their destination, and the ship's engines died down, everyone headed over to the transport ship that was in the docking area and Ratchet piloted it down to the planet's surface, where he appeared to be looking for a good spot to land. With a quarter of the planet looking like it was going to continue erupting for the next couple of years, at least until someone blew the planet apart, Chrysalis would have thought it would have been hard to find a patch of land that hadn't been ripped up, but Ratchet surprised her by finding a plain that was far enough away so they wouldn't have to deal with the fire and ash, which also had a mountain in the distance.

When they arrived at the edge of the plains Ratchet lowered the transport ship down onto a cliff that was overlooking the area in question, though when the ship came to a stop he tapped a few buttons and some sitting arrangements came out of the sides of the ship... though as that happened Celestia rested her staff against the side of the ship before she and turned towards Chrysalis, where she stared at the armor that she was wearing at the moment.

"You might want to change out of that armor," Celestia commented, though at the same time she jumped into the air and floated there for a few seconds, as it appeared that she was getting ready to head out and would wait for her to come to the area that she would be standing in, "otherwise you'll find that it will hinder you, instead of helping you."

"And I have something that you can wear, instead of whatever your wearing under the armor," Rarity added, though that didn't surprise Chrysalis at all, not when the fashionista was prone to making dresses in the most unlikely of places and even out of some of the strangest items.

A few minutes later Chrysalis, now wearing a dark green set of clothing that resembled what Rainbow and Applejack were wearing, a gi as they called it, left her armor in the capable hands of Isaac and her friends, before she floated into the air and flew after the Solar Princess. As it turned out Celestia had decided to pick the very middle of the plains, giving them plenty of room to battle in, though at the same time she knew that the other reason was so that if she started to use her full power she didn't have to worry about hurting the others in the process, which was why she had been able to beat her on the day that Cadence was supposed to get married. After surveying the area, and finding it to her liking, Chrysalis landed nearby and faced her opponent, who had been patiently waiting for her to arrive, knowing ahead of time that Rarity would insist on replacing the clothing she had been wearing, but she decided that now wasn't the time to bring that up as she prepared herself for battle.

"So, what are the rules for this fight?" Chrysalis asked, because based on the fact that she had to leave her weapons and armor behind, things that she had gotten used to using and wearing since she stepped through the mirror, she knew that this was going to be a magic fight with punches and kicks involved.

"I want you to attack me with all your might," Celestia said, though at the same time she shifted her body a bit, where she was facing Chrysalis now, while also raising one hand into the air while hanging the other by the side of her body, "and I, in turn, will do the same to you. The match will be over when one of us admits defeat, so no killing."

Chrysalis moved not even a second later, where she flew through the air and raised her right arm so she could punch Celestia in the face, though as she got close and swung her arm, however, Celestia moved out of the way and let her attack go right by her, surprising Chrysalis that she had dodged the attack instead of parrying it. A moment later Celestia released her left hand and slammed it into Chrysalis' chest, staggering her for a moment as pain flashed through her body for a brief second, before she spun around and kicked her in the same spot, knocking her backwards. Chrysalis stopped herself from moving too far back and stared at her opponent, as she was surprised that she had dodged her first attack with so little effort, but that only made her wonder if Celestia had always been like that or if it was something she had learned during her training with Sunset. She knew that her opponent was powerful, as it had been one of the things she had thought about before her initial invasion of Canterlot for food for her subjects, but with her transformed into this state she was already on an entirely new level... meaning that she needed to be careful, otherwise she was sure that Celestia would find a way to get through her defenses and take her down.

As such Chrysalis engaged her magic and readied herself, as not a few seconds later she rushed her target again and attacked her once more, though this time around she gathered her magic and loosed several energy shots at Celestia when she knocked her away from her. Celestia, seeing the attacks coming, simply brushed them aside with her hands, where the blasts traveled around the area and exploded when they hit some boulders and the ground, but while that was going on, and she was distracted, Chrysalis charged forward again so she could make sure of the opening that had been revealed to her. Chrysalis watched as her first came close to Celestia's face, who was distracted from the energy attack she had fired at her, but what happened next was that Celestia pulled her head back, without even looking at Chrysalis, and let the attack through the space that her head had been in seconds ago, surprising Chrysalis as the Solar Princess grabbed onto her hand and threw her away from where she was standing... though not a few seconds later Chrysalis righted herself and stood on the ground, while at the same time Celestia simply stood there and waited for her to attack.

This time around Chrysalis stayed on the offensive, because if her opponent was going to just stand there and do nothing she might as well try to exploit the weakness, but as she rushed forward and attacked, where Celestia floated into the air and simply ducked and weaved under her attacks as she dodged them, Chrysalis knew that there was something strange about this situation. Sure, Celestia was one of the most powerful creatures on Equus, much like Discord was one as well, but even so she knew that her opponent's power couldn't allow her to simply dodge all of her attacks like they were nothing and only fight back when she found a good moment to do so. Even though she had once been an alicorn, a creature of immense power that had to learn self control over the years, that hadn't given Celestia the ability to simply avoid attacks that were directed at her, as she would have done so during the wedding and struck Chrysalis down where she stood... and yet here she was, dodging her attacks like they didn't matter, though it wasn't until she emerged from her thoughts that Chrysalis noticed that Celestia had closed her eyes and was still dodging her attacks.

Chrysalis growled for a moment as her magic flared, where she ripped some of the earth out of the area behind Celestia, created to be pointed spikes so she could at least hurt her opponent, but then Celestia merely jumped over them, without opening her eyes, and Chrysalis followed suit as she continued her attack. The next thing she tried was fireballs, ice spikes, and blasts of lightning, as those were some of the lowest level blast attacks she knew that she could test against what was happening in front of her, and every time she fired one of those spells, at random, Celestia still dodged her attack like it was nothing. After a few more seconds of that happening, and getting absolutely nowhere with this fight, there was only one thing that Chrysalis could do in this situation, she jumped backwards and landed on one of the boulders that happened to be resting around the plains, though whether it was from her fight or one of the previous ones didn't matter to her at the moment. Once she was in position she focused her mind and let her aura flare to life around her body, though even as she raised her power to a higher level she still refrained from pushing it too far, as she didn't want to go wild, like she did at the Titan Station, which was why her body remained normal as she stared at her opponent for a moment.

"So you're finally getting serious." Celestia said, to which she opened her eyes again and stared at Chrysalis, though at the same time she noticed that she still wasn't using her full power, which made her slightly disappointed that her opponent wasn't trying her hardest to beat her, "Come, let me see the power you gained during your adventure."

Chrysalis swung her arm and loosed a surge of energy blasts that raced through the air towards where Celestia was standing, though as that happened she ran along the ground and stayed with them, so when the first energy blast reached her target Celestia would have to focus on them and not on her. What actually happened was that a golden aura appeared around her opponent and the energy blasts curved around where she was standing, where they went off in an entirely different direction and exploded when they came into contact with something, though at the same time Chrysalis threw her fist forward and was rewarded by Celestia actually blocking her attack with her hand. That was good news, because she was tired of the Solar Princess dodging her attacks while they were nothing and could work with her parrying her attacks, which was why she continued to punch and kick at Celestia as she pushed her back towards the mountain that was directly behind her. Celestia didn't seem to mind changing areas, since sometimes the force of their energies colliding shook the area around them and sometimes even broke it, but did continue to parry the attacks that were coming her way with the same efficiency that she used earlier.

What ended the barrage of attacks that Chrysalis was using, just her kicking and punching at the moment, was when Celestia moved under her attacks and punched her with enough force to send her all the way back to the plains, where she forced herself to stop in the same area that they had started in... though instead of rushing forward Chrysalis focused both her mind and her magic, as there was something she wanted to try against her opponent and this was the only opportunity she was going to get. Celestia, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow when she noticed that Chrysalis had stopped moving and that her energy was building, though as she watched what was going on, while floating down to where the changeling was standing, she noticed that the energy was starting to wrap around the area that they were in and that several forms were starting to take shape. That was followed by swords, axes, lances, spears, pikes, and a number of other weapons, ones that could be wielded by ponies and not the guns that Chrysalis had discovered, formed around them, though one thing that Celestia noticed was that they all appeared to be made of energy, which meant they would hurt if they came into contact with someone.

"This is my Weapon Dance technique," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she stared at Celestia for a few seconds, who was staring at the weapons with a look of interest in her eyes, before she looked around at the weapons she had been able to create, "Normally I try to use this when I'm outnumbered and there are a lot of scattered weapons around the area that I'm in, though at the same time I can also spend a little more of my energy to form my own weapons and use them in the technique. Of course it's more demanding when I use my own power to make weapons, but now that I'm not longer restricted by how much love energy I have on hand... well, let me just say that I made more weapons than what I actually needed for a single opponent."

"Sometimes making more is a good thing," Celestia replied, as she had read a few reports over the years from ponies that had fought a shapeshifter that turned the weapons of the guards against them and always fled the scene before they could be stopped, which meant that it was Chrysalis in all those reports, though at the same time she raised a hand and beckoned to her opponent, "I'm interested in seeing how well this technique of yours works."

Chrysalis charged forward and the rest of the weapons followed suit, almost making it look like an army of invisible soldiers were charging at the Solar Princess, who simply stood there and waited to see what happened, though once she got close enough to her target Chrysalis flexed her hand and one of the swords flew over to her, where she grabbed it and swung at Celestia. It was plainly clear that Celestia wasn't actually expecting her to grab one of the weapons, or call one over to her hand, which was why she had a slightly delayed reaction to that and almost got cut in the process, but at the same time Chrysalis was pleased to find that her opponent was slowing down a little. As she spun around for a second swing, however, it was Chrysalis' turn to be caught off guard, because Celestia reached out and caused one of the broadswords to come to her hand, one that she used to block the incoming attack and force Chrysalis backwards. As she did that, and came to a stop as the weapons waited for directions, Chrysalis realized that there was a flaw in this spell, now that she was actually using it against one of the Royal Sisters... anyone with an sufficient amount of knowledge on how magic worked, like Celestia for instance, could make use of the spell and arm themselves as well, maybe even order some of the weapons to attack their creator at the same time.

This was something that she honestly wasn't expecting, but should have at least seen coming since she was challenging someone that that was at least a thousand years old, maybe even more than that, though that didn't stop Chrysalis from charging forward and attacking Celestia again... where their blades connected for a moment and Celestia dodged the other weapons that came at her by pulling back at the last second. Despite Celestia avoiding the most nasty attacks that Chrysalis had planned, as she kept avoiding the weapons when they came for her, Chrysalis discovered that actually having an opponent that she could clash with, at least with energy weapons, was more interesting than what she originally thought it would be. There were times where she used magic and tried to blast her opponent in the face, which ended up missing since Celestia was faster than her, and eventually their weapons broke since they weren't made to be extremely durable, which cut into the number of weapons she had forged from energy until there was next to nothing left... and at the same time Chrysalis still didn't have anything to show for her efforts, because Celestia seemed to be avoiding all types of damage and her attacks seemed to be too slow.

There was only one thing she could think of that would turn this battle in her favor, one thing that would make it an even battle between them, and yet, at the same time, she still didn't want to tap into the uncontrollable power that she had unlocked a few years ago... though as the final weapons shattered, and they separated from each other, Chrysalis wondered if now was the time to try her luck and use her full power for once.

"I'll admit, that was an interesting spell," Celestia commented, to which she watched as the magic faded as quickly as it had arrived, as she was sure that Twilight had seen the spell in action and already had notes on how to mimic it for herself if she ever wanted to use it, before she turned towards Chrysalis, "but let me be completely honest with you, Chrysalis, the only way that you're going to be able to get close to dealing damage to me is if you tap into the power you awoke during your journey... and this time control it, instead of letting it control you. Just remember what you were fighting for, and who you were fighting for, when you made the decision to refuse Discord's offer and stay in that cell for a few years."

Chrysalis was mad at Discord for even revealing that, because it was something that should have stayed between the two of them, though at the same time it wasn't hard for her to remember why she had told Discord that she wasn't going to take his offer and let him leave without her. She had been dead set on rescuing Isaac and getting off the Titan Station before the Marker went off, and then that changed to them wanting to destroy the Marker before it killed everyone and started the Convergence event that they stopped, only for it to change again when Ellie called for help. She wanted to do everything in her power to save people, which was another reason she was leaving her home planet behind to travel across the stars, to help people that were in danger from the other villains that the universe had and to see new places that weren't trying to kill her. She had picked up the desire to protect innocent people from the evils that were arrayed against them and had discovered friends that were willing to stand beside her, regardless of the situation that they found themselves in... even if it meant fighting a planet that was filled with Necromorphs and a moon that was made from the flesh of who knew how many people.

When she thought about all of that Chrysalis sighed and closed her eyes, reaching back to the day she unlocked the power that had terrified her enough to almost swear off her magic entirely, before she reached into the depths of her being and tugged on her inner power.

Celestia watched Chrysalis for a few seconds, already feeling the change in the former queen's energy as she actually reached for her new power, though as the seconds ticked by Chrysalis' aura came to life, as she expected it to, before taking on the appearance of flames. From what she could tell, based on what Discord had shown her on Chrysalis' travels, the changeling didn't have a specific element that she was partial to, rather she she used whatever spell was best at any given moment and usually got away from her enemies once she was done, so she was sure that there wasn't an affinity involved this time around. Considering that some of the other ponies had affinities for other things, much like the absent Lyra and Trixie, who were in the Dragon Lands last she checked, she was sure that Chrysalis wasn't tied to a specific element, rather she connected to something else, especially with how powerful her inner power was. Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that Chrysalis' skin was changing color, taking on a near bone white coloration, while at the same time her hair and tail turned crimson red... and when she opened her eyes Celestia found that her sclera had turned black while Chrysalis' irises had turned golden yellow.

For a moment she actually thought that Chrysalis was going to charge at her like some mindless creature, as that was the vibe she was getting from her, but as she readied herself she noticed that a look of surprise appeared on Chrysalis' face, as she had to look over her body a few times to be sure that she wasn't hallucinating what she was seeing.

"I'm... in control?!" Chrysalis commented, as the last time, and the only time, she had used this power was when she had been forced to transform into this form, but now she was actually in control of her power and not being used like a doll of some kind, before she faced Celestia, "This is different than when I used this power the first time around... so I have no idea what will happen when the battle starts up again."

Celestia nodded her understanding, as Discord had explained it to her and Sunset earlier, before she beckoned for Chrysalis to come at her, as she was wondering just how strong this new power of hers was, though the air around her opponent rippled as Chrysalis flew towards her, faster than what she had been doing earlier. This time around Celestia grabbed the fist that was coming towards her and stopped it in it's tracks, though at the same time the area around them was flattened by their energies coming into contact in such a manner, reminding her of when Sunset battle both Rainbow and Applejack upon their return, or when Sunset fought their father sometime later. Chrysalis, sensing that an opportunity had presented itself, pulled her fist out of Celestia's hand and spun around, where she brought the back of her leg down on where the Solar Princess was standing, causing the entire area around her to break as her attack was parried, though at the same time Celestia looked at Chrysalis and smiled, as this was what she had been trying to pull out since the battle started... and right now it was time to see just how strong Chrysalis had actually become, which was followed by her forcing Chrysalis backwards before the battle started anew.

Chrysalis stood there for a few seconds, feeling the power course through her body as she wondered why she had taken so long to try this since she appeared to be in complete control, before she gathered her energy into her right hand and sent a beam of energy towards her target. Celestia, seeing it coming, raised her hand and used her own power to form a shield in front of her, to which the beam struck it and turned into bands of energy that arced around her body and exploded when they struck the mountain behind her, before she noticed that the beam had stopped when the smoke cleared. As she noticed that Chrysalis was no longer standing where she had been a few seconds ago, however, she focused her mind and waited to see what her opponent had in mind for her, though that was followed by the air behind her shifting as Chrysalis appeared behind her, where she parried the attack that was coming her way and the area around them shattered under the weight of their powers colliding. This time around Chrysalis grinned as she grabbed onto Celestia and hurled her into the air, before bursting into the air as well and launched herself into a fury of punches and kicks that her opponent either parried or blocked... while at the same time the air around them shuddered as they moved away from the plains and headed towards the mountain that was near them.

As they clashed in the air above the mountain the peaks rumbled and collapsed in the process, though at the same time Chrysalis kicked Celestia down towards the ground and loosed a storm of blasts that raced down towards where she was standing, forcing the Solar Princess to loose some blasts in return and cause some collisions in the middle of the air while tearing the mountain apart. Of course while that happened Celestia found that Chrysalis was definitely planning her attacks out ahead of time, as while the two of them were blasting each other she used her magic and teleported behind her while she was distracted, allowing Chrysalis to kick her in the back and send her flying towards the mountain for a moment, before she spun around, touched the face of the mountain, and kicked off before heading back towards her opponent at the same rate as she had been sent towards it. From there the two of them came into contact with each other and the force of their collision, of their energies, shook the entire mountain range that they were in as Chrysalis tried to force Celestia backwards, as she wanted to show that she was strong and that she could match Celestia's power. After a few seconds Chrysalis grinned as she grabbed Celestia's hand once more and pulled her close, though this time around she took the kick that was aimed at her chest and didn't go flying this time around... though once the attack was over she spun around and kicked Celestia in her side, sending her flying through the air until she passed over the ocean that was near the plains she had picked earlier.

Chrysalis then flew through the air and chased after Celestia, where the two of them started trading blows above the water, where the ocean rippled under the force of their powers, though when they separated again Chrysalis didn't fly after her opponent and brought her hands together... where a sphere of energy started to form between her palms as she stared at her target. Celestia seemed to stare at her for a moment, as if just feeling her power, before her power flared to life and she gathered her energy as well, forming a sphere between the palms of her hands as well, though as that happened Chrysalis had to chuckle, as their first fight ended with a beam struggle and it appeared that the second one would likely end the same way. Moments later the two of them fired their beams through the air and they collided with each other, shaking the ocean that was beneath them in the process, but after a few moments of the two beams struggling against each other Celestia's started pushing Chrysalis' backwards... until Chrysalis found that she was being pushed back, despite the fact that she was using her full power in this fight, yet she continued to fight back against her opponent.

In the end Celestia's beam tore her own apart and barreled into her chest, where Chrysalis found herself flying back towards the area that they had landed in, though after a few seconds she crashed into the ground and collided with the rock wall that was beneath the transport ship... though as she coughed and struggled to pick herself up she found Celestia standing over her, with a hand reaching out to her.

"Your power is impressive, but you need more practice before you can best me," Celestia said, though to prove her point Chrysalis felt her power diminish as her transformed state reverted back to her original state, where she had to huff for a few seconds, indicating that it used a lot of energy to use that form, "I will say that you did great for your first attempt against a godly creature."

"So, where do I measure against the others?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she took the hand that was offered to her and let Celestia pulled her into a standing position, before she glanced up at the other ponies that had gone through their own adventures.

"If you were more experienced, I'd say on Rainbow and Applejack's base level," Celestia replied, to which she glanced up at the others, who were currently discussing what they had seen during the fight, before turning and looking at Chrysalis once more, "but at the moment, with your current experience, I'd say that you're a level or two away from that point, so with some additional training you'll be on their base level."

"I guess that means I'm on Pinkie's level... or Rarity's level." Chrysalis commented, as she originally thought she might be on Pinkie's level, but when she thought about it she determined that she was more close to Rarity's level, something that she honestly didn't care about since she wasn't likely to tap into her power again in the future, "So, out of Twilight, Sunset, and yourself, which one of you is the strongest god?"

"Normally, in any situation, the Angel is supposed to be the strongest," Celestia stated, where she glanced up at Sunset for a moment, who was talking with Ratchet and Chrysalis' friends, no doubt discussing something about what they had seen during the fight, "but you would be surprised to find that Sunset is even stronger than me. An Angel is supposed to be stronger than their God of Destruction, so they can keep them in line and stop them from going on a rampage, but Sunset is much stronger than I am. I have the feeling that her fighting some powerful enemies, like Rainbow and Applejack, or even Beerus himself, has pushed her own power to even greater heights, and I don't think she's done growing yet."

Chrysalis stood there for a moment, surprised that the basic relationship was supposed to be the Angel being stronger than the God of Destruction, while in reality Sunset Shimmer was even stronger than Princess Celestia and seemed to be growing stronger with each battle. At the same time, however, she determined that it wasn't her concern, since she was planning on leaving Equus behind and traveling across the rest of the universe, meaning that Sunset and Celestia could deal with this situation on their own. Her focus was on leaving Equus, and her painful memories, behind so she could head out into the universe and help the rest of the universe out, just like Ratchet and those other heroes had down when they came and stopped the Unitologists, because she was sure that there were villains out there that were trying to dos something on the level of the cultists. She had to admit that she was eager to learn about a new part of the universe, the people that called that new area home, and combat the enemies that were in their way... and at the same time she was sure that her friends were ready for that as well.

As she and Celestia headed back up to the transport ship, however, she found that she was immediately bombarded by questions from the other ponies about her new powers and how she had come across them, telling her that she didn't have to tell them if it was too painful... and yet she found that she was going to have tell them something before she left, to which, on the way back to Equus, she told them the answers to her questions while focusing her mind on the future that she had planned for herself and her friends.