Beauty Lies Within
Chapter 21
The Six Have Fallen
Fluttershy found her friends on a balcony that overlooked the ballroom. Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie were softly crying, while Applejack and Rainbow were sniffling.
"Girls?" She asked quietly, catching their attention.
Rarity saw her and grabbed a handkerchief from her purse that matched her dress. She used to wipe a little bit of her mascara that was beginning to run down her face.
"Fluttershy." She said.
The kind-hearted girl knelt down next to her and Applejack. "I'm sorry, girls." She said. But that was all she could say right then.
"Excuse me." A voice chimed in. The girls all looked towards the entry of the balcony and saw a very beautiful woman who seemed a few years older than all of them. She had flaxen blonde hair that went down to her back in pristine waves, pale skin that seemed to glow in the moonlight, and icy blue eyes. She wore a long black gown with bright teal trim that exposed her bare shoulders with long sleeves. On her feet were tall black heels, and a large black purse hung from her left shoulder.
"Why are you lovely ladies crying?" She asked.
Twilight sniffled. "It's nothing you need to bother yourself with." She said, standing up. "We don't want to bother you with our own drama."
The woman smiled and came up to her. "Princess Twilight, it's all right." She said. "I can tell when someone is having a hard time." She then glanced over at the other girls. "And I think all of you are experiencing heartbreak." She stopped when she looked at Fluttershy. "Well, not you, I see."
Fluttershy nodded. "I'm just feeling sorry for my friends." She said.
The woman tilted her head in confusion. "Why?" She asked.
Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity all glanced towards the ballroom. The woman followed their gazes downward and saw that they were looking over at the guys; Flash, Soarin', Spike, Cheese and Fancy. They were seated together, not bothering to dance anymore.
The woman then had a look of realization on her face. "Oh, I see." She said. "You can never be with the ones you love."
The five girls all blushed pink. Rainbow rubbed her arm nervously. "Well, personally, I wouldn't go that far." She said.
The woman smiled mischievously. "You care about him, don't you?" She asked.
"Well, yeah, but-"
"Then that tells it all." The woman said.
Applejack came up to her. "How did you know what we were feeling?" She asked. For some reason, there was something about her that rubbed her the wrong way.
The woman smiled again, this time softer. "Like I said, I can tell when someone is going through a tough emotion."
AJ knew that this woman was telling the truth about that, but still, there was something about her that was ringing alarm bells in her head. Of course, maybe it was just her emotions that were clouding her judgement at the moment.
The woman's eyes widened. "Oh, my goodness." She said, as if she had just remembered something. "Actually, I was looking for you six."
"What for?" Twilight asked her. For one suspicious moment, she was about to blast a beam of magic at her.
"I overheard someone saying that they are planning to poison those fellows of yours down there, and your friend, the Lord of Chaos." The woman informed.
The girls gasped in shock. Twilight tensed up again, this time in terror as she processed this information.
"Discord." Fluttershy whispered under her breath.
"Do you think it might be…." Rarity trailed off.
"It must be." Twilight confirmed.
"But why the guys?" Pinkie asked. "We're the ones she's looking for."
"Maybe she plans on using them to get to us." Rainbow theorized.
"Maybe." Applejack said.
"Here." The woman opened her purse and pulled out a large red apple. Immediately, the girls felt hungry as they saw the fruit. "Eat this."
"Uh, how is an apple going to help us?" Rainbow asked skeptically.
"I have enchanted this apple." The woman explained as she gave the apple to Fluttershy. "I've got five more." One by one, she handed a similar red apple to each girl. "One bite of these apples, and all of you will have the strength to defeat this foe of yours."
The girls all looked down at the red shiny fruits that they held in their hands. True, they look delicious, but they still weren't sure if they should trust this woman.
The five girls looked down at the guys, who were all drowning in their sorrows as they were a few moments ago. Fluttershy however, glanced out the entry towards the main entrance of the castle, where Discord should be finishing up getting the carriage ready to go. They had no idea what might happen to them in who knows how much time until she strikes. Were they going to risk the chance of them getting captured by Chrysalis and not knowing what she might do to them to force the girls to give themselves up?
They all looked back down at the red apples in their hands again. "But you must hurry." The woman said abruptly. "The magic won't last forever. When midnight strikes, they won't work anymore."
The Mane 6 all looked at each other with determination. "Together?" Pinkie asked her friends, holding up her apple.
The others held up their own, their decision made. "Together." They all said.
At the same time, they all brought their own apple to their lips. The sweet aroma filled their noses as they broke the red peel and took a bite.
The first thought that went through each of their minds is that these apples tasted wonderful; sweet and juicy. Applejack even recognized her apple as one from her farm. But the next thought was that they were feeling dizzy. They didn't even know that they were falling to the floor as blackness filled their vision until they hit the cold marble floor.
Meanwhile, Discord had just finished prepping the carriage for flight when suddenly, his whole body tingled, and he wiggled around like a snake.
"Woo!" He exclaimed. "That was a new one." Suddenly, Discord felt like there was a chilling sensation in the air. Something must've happened, something terrible. Immediately, he teleported over to the guys in the ballroom, who all jumped up at his sudden appearance.
"Discord, do you mind?" Spike asked, a glare on his face.
"I must say though, you have been making quite the appearances tonight." Fancy added.
"Sorry about my suddenness, gentlemen." Discord said. "But have you noticed that it feels…. Colder in here?"
"What are you talking about?" Spike asked. "Everything's-" Suddenly, the draconic young man felt a chill go up his spine. "What was that?" He asked.
The other men looked at Discord, thinking that he was playing a prank on them. The Lord of Chaos held up his hands. "It's not me this time, I swear." He said.
Soarin' then felt a sharp coldness hit him, and it made the hairs on his neck stand up. "Yeesh, that's frightening." He said.
Flash felt like there was something bugging him. Being a royal guard, he was trained to hone in on his instincts, and right now, they were telling him that something was wrong. "I don't think this is a joke." He said.
Cheese then began vibrating violently, as if a blizzard had stormed in the ballroom. "Y-Y-Yikes!" He exclaimed. "W-Where did that come from?"
Fancy began rubbing his arms as if to warm himself up. "I must say, this is not at all humorous, even if this is not a joke."
Suddenly, six apples came rolling down towards them. Flash picked one up. The red fruit had a bite mark in it. "What is this doing here?" He asked.
He looked over at the others, who were each holding an apple, all of them having one bite mark in each. Some of them were a little bigger, while a couple others were smaller.
Discord inspected the apple that was in his hand, looking closely at the small bite mark in it. Then, he suddenly felt like his heart had dropped to his feet, heavy as a stone. "Oh, no." He whispered in horror.
Suddenly, a loud cackling echoed throughout in the ballroom, causing the music to stop. The guests all looked around, wondering where this eerie laughing was coming from.
A beautiful blonde woman was standing up from a balcony overlooking the ballroom, laughing an evil, victorious laugh. A sinister smirk then came on her face as green flames climbed up her body. When the flames relinquished, Queen Chrysalis was in her stead.
The guests all gasped in horror at the appearance of the Changeling Queen. The guys, however, readied themselves for a fight if she makes the first move.
Celestia flew up to her. "Chrysalis." She said, her violet eyes narrowing.
"Well, well, well." Chrysalis said, flying up with her bug-like wings and looking down at the guests below her. "Isn't this a fabulous party, is it, Celestia?" She said.
"You're a fool to show yourself like this." Luna said, flying up besides her sister. "Especially tonight."
"Oh, where's the fun in not attending?" Chrysalis asked, her smirk still visible on her face. "I thought I'd come back, making a statement. Crashing the biggest party of the year and finally having my shot at revenge, it seems worth it, don't you think?"
"Your shot at revenge?" Celestia asked. "Well then, here you have it."
Chrysalis laughed. "Oh no, Celestia." She said. "I'm aiming my revenge at someone else."
"Well, here I am!" A voice shouted. Starlight Glimmer came up and levitated herself up to the Changeling Queen with aqua green magic. "Go ahead, take your chance."
Chrysalis glared at her. "As much I would love to suck up all of the love you have and turn you into a hollow being, I'm saving you for later." She said. "Right now, I'll be leaving, with a few trophies."
Her hand lit up with stark green magic, and six flashes of light appeared behind her. There, each encased in hard green cocoons, were the Mane 6, all sleeping peacefully and limply. Everyone gasped in horror. The guys immediately sprung into action, but Chrysalis stopped them with a blast of green goop. Celestia, Luna and Starlight attempted to do the same, but the outcome was the same as green goo glued them to the wall.
They all struggled fiercely to break free. "Release them!" Discord roared, his eyes glowing with flames.
"Or you'll pay!" Flash added.
Chrysalis snickered at the threat. "All right, then. You each want to play the knight in shining armor?" She snapped her fingers and the cocoons containing the sleeping Mane 6 vanished into thin air. "They're still within the city, but where? Well, if you know them well enough, you'll find them."
The Changeling Queen then pointed to the large grandfather clock. "But there is a catch." She said. "Until the clock strikes twelve, their lives are on the line. If you don't make it by then, they'll be DEAD!"
Chrysalis cackled again as a column of green flames enveloped her. When they faded, the Queen of the Changelings was gone, her evil cackling echoing throughout the room.