At first, the room was deathly quiet, neither Chrysalis or her opponents wanting to move at all. Then Dash made the first move, and the final round of the great game began. Dash flew straight at Chrysalis with the all the speed she could muster, leaving a sonic boom in her wake as she flashed her wing-blades past the Queen’s face with lightning fast blows that sent showers of sparks flying off with each blow, but the Queen matched her, her horn glowing as she cast a spell that enhanced her speed to match Dash blow for blow, parrying and blocking each one, until she was able to lash out a hoof, and send Rainbow tumbling away. The Pegasus retreated, leaving room for Applejack and Pinkie to jump in and do their thing, Pinkie’s hammer nearly crushing Chrysalis’s leg plates when the Queen blocked it.
Applejack charged in, and the Queen used her momentum to flip the farmpony over her head, so she landed with a nasty crash on top of Pinkie as the Pink pony went to attack again. The two rolled away from a deadly energy blast from the Queen’s jagged horn, and Rarity tagged in with Luna, scythes and rapier jabbing and slashing away at the Queen, who answered with conjured blades of her own, brushing aside Rarity’s rapid jabs and slices with one curved sword, whilst also deflecting and redirecting both of Luna’s scythes with the other.
Luna exploded into shadows, vanishing from view for a few moments before reappearing behind Chrysalis, attempting to take advantage of her exposed flanks, only to find Chrysalis’s blade already there to meet her, the Queen grinning at her from over her own shoulder.
Celestia joined the fray, her burning blade leaving embers trailing in its wake as she sent blow after blow at Chrysalis, but the Queen once again parried each and every one with the same blade she was using to keep Rarity busy, the green length of hardened resin flashing back and forth between the two white coated ponies, while also neatly keeping Luna on the back hoof with her second blade.
Allan dashed across the impromptu arena to Anna’s cage, where the poor girl was trying desperately to get out of her prison. She turned her rage on him, glaring at him as he looked for a way to open the door.
“You did this!” She hissed. “You made all this happen!”
Allan didn’t have time to argue. “Yeah, of course I did! I went out of my way to hurt my own family, my own friends, and my hometown, just for laughs! That’s totally what I did!” Finding a lock proved impossible. “Alright, stand back! I wanna try something!”
Despite her hatred, she did as instructed, and Allan swung his Nightmare blade at the bars, as hard as he could. It bounced off, harmlessly.
The fight nearby raged on, with everyone ganging up on Chrysalis in order to make her fight on the defensive, with Pharynx calling out strategies he recognized in the Queens attacks, and Celestia and Luna taking the brunt of the assault, each sporting bruises and cuts up and down their bodies.
Allan was about to try something else, when he noticed something.
The spell circle centered on Anna’s cage.
The energy for the spell circle was coming from the cage.
Anna was trapped inside what amounted to a great big energy conduit, and all the energy Chrysalis had gathered was flowing through the bars.
Allan cast his glance around, trying to figure out what he could do to shut the arcane structure down.
“Look out!”
Anna’s shout of warning, coupled with his keen senses, were enough to save him from incoming danger. He sidestepped the downward slash of the green sword blade, before whirling on his attacker.
Connor Murphy, dressed in full, hardened resin armour plates, grinned down at the Changeling, raising his sword back up. “Hello, Allan. Glad you could stop by.”
“Connor.” Allan snarled, raising his hoof and summoning his blade. “As if this day couldn’t be any worse.” A pair of drones flanked the treacherous Connor, horns aglow. “Too scared to fight me on your own?”
“As if.” Connor grinned. “I had you on the ropes before, and now I’ve had a crash course in fighting, thanks to her majesty.”
Allan snorted. “Meanwhile, I’ve had months of training, and I’m in a better condition than our first fight. You’re going to lose.”
Connor responded by looking at his escort and jerking his head. The Changelings started firing blasts of magic, forcing Allan away from Anna’s cage, and towards the rear of the room, where a throne sat.
Allan used his sword to block two spells, before turning to stand his ground against Connor, who charged in with his sword swinging.
Allan ducked beneath Connor’s first swipe, then vaulted over his second, coming down on his rear hooves and straightening upright, standing nearly eye level with his opponent, swords crossed in between them.
Connor shoved against Alan's sword, trying to throw him off his balance, before calling on his drones to attack again.
Allan growled, jumping back and blocking those incoming blasts with a shield this time, before catching Connor’s next, unpracticed swing with his free foreleg, before heabutting the human.
Connor reeled back, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead, using one hand to wipe the liquid away from his eye, and called for his drones to attack again.
Allan repeated his backward dance and shield maneuver, eyes still fixed on Connor as the human warily kept his distance.
Alan's three opponents advanced, forcing him to back up behind the throne, where he found an opening that lead outside the tower. Ducking back into the tunnel, Allan cautiously lead his enemy out onto a balcony-like ledge, complete with guard railings and lit torches on tall, metal poles that had been taken from street signs. Connor and his warriors followed, stepping out into the sunlight.
Allan leaped forward before their vision could adjust properly, and quickly sliced his sword through one Changling’s neck, who immediately dropped to the floor, sent off into a quiet slumber. Sweeping his blade back across to the other Changeling, Allan found more resistance, as this Changeling had recovered a little of his sight, and fired two quick blasts of magic his way. Allan managed to dodge one in time, but the other clipped his wing, making him hiss in pain, the guttural sound making Connor grin as his sight cleared.
“Ooh, no flying for you.” He chuckled. “How ever will you get out of this?”
Allan responded by neatly ducking underneath the third spellblast and slipping his sword between the Changeling’s eyes. “Like that, only, without the enchantment, and more blood.”
Connor grinned, pulling his sword back before lunging forwards. Allan neatly hopped out of the way of Connors thrust with a grin of his own. “Really now, you shouldn’t broadcast your move by pulling back so much. Try it like this.” Allan rapidly extended and retracted his sword-hoof from the shoulder, stepping closer to Connor with each attempted strike. Connor managed to backpedal out of the way of the last one, but got two nasty cuts on his cheeks, to match the scab on his forehead.
Connor retaliated by sweeping his sword from right to left, putting a lot of weight behind it. Allan ducked under, dropping back to all fours and going into a roll before straightening his legs and catapulting himself back onto his rear legs, to meet Connor’s return swing with a deft parry.
Connor saved himself from having his sword swept out wide by using the force of the deflection to spin himself around three hundred and sixty degrees, before slamming his elbow into Alan's tough jaw-plate. The crack in his mandible stang like hell, but Allan lashed out with his free hoof and flattened Connor’s nose.
Connor toppled over backwards, and Allan leapt on top of him, bringing his sword down, with the intent to finish Connor off, only to be denied the pleasure when Connor managed to get his sword in front of him, using both hands to hold Allan away.
The Changeling grunted, trying to force the blade closer, only for the tower to suddenly and violently shake, part of the wall next to the balcony bursting out in a shower of magical sparks, carrying Princess Cadence out with it, Chrysalis’s cackling laughter drifting out from inside as Cadence spread her wings and managed to catch herself before she hit the water below.
The sudden motion threw Allan off balance, and Connor capitalized on the distraction, and Allan found himself being replaced as top dog. Connor forced his sword towards Allan's neck, the same way that Allan had tried to do to him.
“Looks like it’s game over!” Connor grinned, using his greater body weight to pin the Changeling down.
But he had forgotten something.
“Yeah, it is game over.” Allan grunted. Then he shifted shape, flames rushing up between them.
Connor cried out in surprise, the flames rolling harmlessly over them both, before Allan, now a dragon, twice the size of a pony, and a fully half again the size of a human. With his stronger legs, Allan pulled them up underneath his rival, and pushed.
Connor rose up, high, arcing gracefully over the edge of the balcony, before starting his more rapid descent, arm outstretched in an attempt to catch the ledge.
His fingers brushed the railing. Then Connor fell, screaming.
And this time, there were no drones to catch him.
Allan shifted back, the flames having not even dispersed before he erupted out of them, galloping back inside and sliding to a halt in front of Anna’s cage.
There were bits and pieces of shattered resin everywhere, little divots in the walls from spell impacts and whole chunks of the ceiling that had become dislodged, but the floor was pristine, kept untouched by powerful preservation magic. There was no way to disrupt the circle itself, but maybe, Allan could get Anna out of there, and then cause the tower to collapse….except that would detonate the magic and destroy the city.
Allan was wracking his brain, trying to come up with a plan, something, anything, when Fluttershy screamed.
Allan and Anna both looked across the room, to see Fluttershy dangling from the telekinetic grip, of Queen Chrysalis. None of their friends were daring to make a move, and Chrysalis had thrown up a shield between herself and the Alicorns behind her.
“Rather fitting, don’t you think, Allan?” Chrysalis sneered. “You bore witness to the death of my love. I become the destruction of yours.”
Anna sucked in a breath behind him, and Allan felt the shock, the pain, the anguish, coming from his childhood friend. There were no words that could console her. She really had loved him. And he’d lied to her. To himself. To everyone.
Alan's head lowered, eyes fixed firmly on the floor, out of shame.
“What? She didn’t know?” Chrysalis laughed. “Go on! Tell her everything! Tell her what I saw in your dreams!” Alan's head snapped up, eyes wide and full of disbelief. She’d seen his dreams?! The Queen smirked, laughing haughtily as she hoisted Fluttershy up higher. “Making love to this little cream pie, telling her how much he loved her, and how he had never loved you!”
Allan didn’t need to feel Anna’s heart start to crack. He could hear it in how her breath came quickly, and was far too light.
“A-Allan? I-is…..is it true? You’re really him? And….and you….you never….?”
The world fell still. Allan wanted so desperately to keep his friend happy, to tell her that Chrysalis was wrong. But he couldn't’t lie to her. Not to his best friend. Never to her.
“I….I thought I loved you.” Allan said, slowly. “But...I was deluding myself….I said I was in love with you because I thought I should. Not because it was true.”
Anna gasped aloud, tears flowing down her cheeks.
“And I’m sorry.” Allan stated, loudly, and clearly. He raised his head up, and looked her in the eye, to show her how honest he was being in that moment. “Truly, completely sorry. If I had realized what I was doing to you…..to us….I would never have done any of it. Because then….at least then, I’d still have a best friend.”
Anna choked back a sob, before collapsing into a heap in the bottom of the cage, leaving Allan to fight back the stinging tears in his own eyes. He turned his head, slowly, to meet Chrysalis’s slit eyes. “Happy?” He asked.
“Very.” The Queen smiled, a fang filled grin that made Allan want to hit something. Preferably, with a massive hammer. “There’s only one last thing for me to do…”
Allan snarled, sending a magic bolt streaming across the room towards Chrysalis.
The Queen just grinned, moving Fluttershy between them to intercept.
The bolt never reached the yellow mare, instead, it fizzled out just inches away, having only been given a small amount of energy. Allan crossed the distance in mere moments, ducking behind Fluttershy and slashing at the Queen with his blade, which no longer held the slight, shimmering glow of magic that indicated it’s fantastical quality. The strike hit Chrysalis on the shoulder, biting deep into her armour, and even part way through her chitin.
“Get away from her, YOU BITCH!” Allan screamed, with a fury he had never felt before.
The Queen staggered back, her grip on Fluttershy failing as Allan tried with all his might to kill the bitch who had destroyed his hometown, his life, and his relationship with his best friend. His eyes were narrowed with deadly rage, and murderous intent was written all over his furious muzzle.
Celestia and Luna all threw spells at her, but Chrysalis still had shields in place, blocking them easily.
Twilight joined them, teeth gritted as she channeled as much power through her horn as she could physically handle. Even Rarity and Pharynx started blasting away at the Queen’s shields, making it ripple, pulse and shake with every impact. Dash and Applejack leaped up to help Allan try to get through Chrysalis’s exceptional bladework, taking turns to hammer in punches, slices and bucks in regular intervals, Chrysalis’s sword becoming little more than a green blur in front of them in order to deflect them.
Pinkie jumped up to Chrysalis’s side, almost landing a solid hit on her flank before the Queen conjured up yet another shield. Rarity moved to the opposite side as Pinkie, her rapid jabs actually puncturing the shield Chrysalis hastily made to block her.
They slashed, stabbed, hammered, burned, blasted and smashed away at Chrysalis’s defenses, and still, they couldn’t get through.
Chrysalis started to laugh again. “Is this it?!” She cackled, throwing back her head and laughing loudly. “Is this really all you can do? Is this really your best? You think you can beat me like this?”
Allan, Dash and Applejack managed to lock her blade in place, straining against her massively enhanced, magical strength as they tried to force her back. Their teeth were gritted, and sweat started to slick their coats.
“No!” Allan grunted. “We can’t beat you!”
Dash’s gritted teeth warped into a grin, her eyes hard and burning with determination. “But she can.”
“She?” Chrysalis asked, raising an eyebrow.
They didn’t evem have to respond.
An silver tipped arrow ripped through Chrysalis’s neck.
The Changeling Queen gasped, her breath turning into a horrible gurgling sound as blood flooded her throat.
Fluttershy, standing tall, eyes narrowed and mouth set in a narrow, grim line, knocked another arrow, drew back, and fired.
Chrysalis’s body went rigid, her mouth open in shock, as blood dribbled from the corners of her mouth, and from the arrow that now perforated her skull.
With one last, gurgling sigh, the Changeling Queen keeled over, and lay still on the floor, finally dead.
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