Chrysalis stalked over to where they’d hidden the bell. She heard Tirek’s hooves clip-clopping, and the faint whirr of Cozy’s little wings. The changeling said, “I’ll be right back. I have something to attend to.”
Chrysalis buzzed into her room. The Mean Twilight log was still where she’d left it. She landed next to it, and stared at it.
“Well, it’s all come to this. Soon we’ll overthrow our ‘master.’“ Chrysalis spat the last word like it was acid. “Soon I will be Queen again.”
The log sat there. It didn’t reply. But Chrysalis could imagine what it would say if it could. “Aren’t you being too trusting? Tirek could steal all your magic, and Cozy could stir up a mob against you. Or the Bearers might decide to attack first.”
“You’re right, of course,” Chrysalis answered the voice that wasn’t there. “But somehow… I know Tirek and Cozy won’t betray me. I just know.”
“You’ve forged a bond with them like the one you had with us,” Pharynx’s phantom voice replied.
“Yes, yes that’s it,” Chrysalis agreed. “And I will rule my hive again.”
“We miss you, Your Majesty,” Pharynx said.
“Come back to us!” Sclerite begged.
“We need you! Thorax is an incompetent weakling who is leading us to ruin!” Cornicle pleaded.
“My brother lacks the strength to rule well,” Pharynx finished.
Chrysalis opened her eyes she only just realized she’d closed. They were all cheering for her. Almost everyone at the Hive hated living under Thorax’s rule. He was only king because of the meddling of the ponies. And with Empress Cozy Glow keeping ponies out of changeling internal affairs, she’d be free to rule once more!
Cozy greeted Chrysalis with a gentle, and in fact sincere, smile. “Feeling better?”
“How much of that did you hear?” Chrysalis demanded, whirling to face her.
“All of it,” Cozy answered. “Well, all of your part at least.” She didn’t ask the question “who were you talking to”, because she had a pretty good guess. Chrysalis had some emotional hangups related to her hive. Cozy idly wondered if she could put her unique manipulation talent to work helping someone work through their life problems.
Tirek’s arrival snapped her out of her wandering thoughts. There’d be enough time to work that out later.
“So, we’re all here.” Tirek smiled coldly. “We have Grogar’s bell.” He lifted it aloft. “We have the guide on how to use it.” He laid the book they’d stolen out on the table. “And we have the determination to overthrow Grogar.”
“Mmm, indeed,” Chrysalis agreed. “I’ve had enough of taking orders from that goat.”
“Oooh, I love backstabbing!” Cozy grinned in the most diabolical way. “Especially against a would-be supreme leader like Grogar!”
“Then let’s begin,” Tirek said. He bent over the book. It was filled with complex symbols and runes. “Chrysalis, would you help me with this spell?” he asked. “It looks difficult.” He didn’t like to admit it, but it was true.
Chrysalis scanned the page. “Yes, I think so. Together?”
“Together,” he agreed. Chrysalis fluttered over to opposite him, the bell equidistant between them.
“Go team!” Cozy cheered. “You can do it!”
Tirek inhaled deeply, and focused. His horns blazed with fiery power. A beam of the energy slammed into Grogar’s bell. It splintered into a thousand tiny lines, crisscrossing the bell over and over. Chrysalis unleashed her own laser, meeting his with equal force. It fractured and wove between his lines, forming a cage of pure magic. The bell vanished between strings of orange and green.
Chrysalis gasped between heaving breaths, “It’s not matching up! The bell isn’t responding!”
Beside him, Cozy was flipping through page after page of the book. “Petrification… Secret transformations… Synchronizing! Okay, here! ‘Increase and decrease the radius in time to a pony’s heartbeat.’“ She blinked. “How do we do that?”
Chrysalis and Tirek locked eyes, and nodded. They both lunged for Cozy with a hand or hoof. The little filly screamed in shock as they grabbed for her, and tried to dodge, but to no avail…
And the centaur and changeling each carefully felt her pulse. “G-golly, I thought you guys were gonna… heh, nevermind.” She wiped some sweat from her brow.
Chrysalis and Tirek stared into each others’ eyes again, and adjusted the constrictions of their magical cage to Cozy Glow’s pulse. The cage expanded, contracted, and seemed to hum with latent power. From within the web of Chrysalis’s green and Tirek’s red-orange, a grim yellow-black radiated through. Tirek could see the bell again as it illuminated the cage. Moments later, it was blazing so bright he had to close his eyes. But with his eyes closed, he could still see it through his eyelids.
Suddenly, Tirek felt his magic changing. The bell was shaping the flow of light from a sphere to a torus, and then to a whirling, rotating helix. The bell hovered at the middle, somehow both pitch-black and blindingly yellow. It burned like a hole in space, an event horizon of magic.
The magic kept building up as Tirek struggled to maintain control. At last, it twisted out of his grasp, and he was hurled back against the wall.
His head spun, but he held on to consciousness. Five paces from him, the bell hovered in the air, slowly rotating.
He called out with a wince, “Everyone okay?”
“Grgghugh,” Cozy groaned. “I think so.”
“My exoskeleton,” Chrysalis complained. “I feel like I just got backhoofed by an Ursa.”
Tirek shakily got to his hooves. He trotted slowly to Cozy and then to Chrysalis, helping each of them up. “After all that, I sure hope we got the bell working.” He guided them to the table, now cracked and nearly split in two. The book they’d stolen, however, had only suffered superficial damage.
“Chrysalis, would you like to receive the first spell from the bell?” Tirek asked the changeling.
Chrysalis grinned. “Yes. Can you amplify my shapeshifting power?”
Cozy handed Tirek their guidebook. He flipped through the pages, before settling on a spell that seemed to fit. He channeled magic into the bell, and the bell responded.
A cloud of yellow-black fog poured out of it and washed over Queen Chrysalis. She hacked and coughed as it stuck to her. Her body absorbed it all, changing into a taller, lither form with longer, stronger wings. Her eyes glowed with a ferocious lime light, and even her horn mutated to have a perpetually-green tip.
She grinned. “Yesssss, this is perfect. But this new body will require a new set of armor.” She channeled her now-lime magic over her body. Her little spiky crown grew into a helmet wrapping around her head down to her chin, a set of armor styled to look like chitin appeared around her chest, and sharpened boots encased her hooves up to her knees.
“I’ll be right back,” Chrysalis said as she headed for the door. Tirek shrugged, and continued reading the book.
Cozy fluttered to a position where she could keep an eye on both of them, probably to make sure nothing bad happened. Tirek shook his head with a wry smile. What powers could I even give somepony like that? She wins by talking, not fighting.
A minute or so later, Chrysalis came back in, now wet with rainwater but smiling wickedly. “I am impressed, Tirek. That exceeded my wildest expectations. It seems this bell is indeed all it was whispered to be.”
“Golly, you’re such a powerful fighter, Chrysalis. If I were Grogar, I’d be really scared right about you.” Cozy gave Chrysalis a sincere, encouraging look.
“Speaking of…” Chrysalis put an armored hoof to her lip. “What enchantments would you like to benefit from, Tirek?”
“Hmmm,” he wondered aloud. “Perhaps…”
Near the foothills of Canterlot, four unicorns stuck close together. With things as crazy as they were, there was safety in numbers.
“Do you think the princesses are okay?” Lemon Hearts asked.
“Of course. I mean, Twilight’s a princess, and she and her friends have never failed to protect Equestria. R-right?” Minuette asked, smiling nervously. She glanced back and forth. You can never be sure when some crazy pegasus or earth pony decides to start bullying you.
“If anypony can do it, she can,” Moondancer offered. “I’m just worried nopony can.”
Minuette said, her voice flatter than usual, “I believe in her. She can do it.” She didn’t sound confident at all.
“Why aren’t our allies helping?” Twinkleshine asked. “Where are they? Why haven’t the dragons or yaks or changelings come to help us?”
“I’m sure they’re on their way,” Minuette tried to reassure her. Am I really trying to reassure myself?
“Black fog!” Moondancer interrupted. “Let’s get out of here!”
Indeed, a dark fog was swirling right towards them. The four friends sprinted away. Moondancer tried not to think about how the fog seemed to have a mind of its own.
Cloudsdale was in many ways the greatest pegasus city in Equestria’s history. But today, it was in bad shape. It wasn’t suffering the riots so many other towns were, but it had its own problems.
“Everypony calm down!” Rainbow Dash demanded. “We’ll get things under control if you all would just stop freaking out!”
“But the weather’s going crazy!” a weatherpony retorted. “There’s snow all across Equestria. An entire district of our city had to be evacuated!”
“I know you’re all scared and upset,” Fluttershy offered kindly. “I am too. But panicking won’t solve anything.”
“The factory is shutting down,” a pony Dash recognized as Clear Skies reported. “That horrible black fog caused a panic and everypony fled.”
“Black fog?” Fluttershy asked.
“Thick, billowing black fog. It moved so fast and seemed to have a mind of its own!” Open Skies added. “Maybe there’s some awful fog monster going through here?”
Rainbow Dash locked eyes with Fluttershy. Did Grogar summon something like that? “We’ll be right back,” Rainbow promised the ponies. “We just have to talk with some of OUR friends.”
Dash and Fluttershy tapped their cutie marks. A moment later, they flickered out of sight.
Pinkie gaped in horror. She’d just been teleported to what Stygian assured her would be loud and quarrelsome. It was one of the locations ponies evacuated from Canterlot had been taken. And yet, not a single pony was to be found.
She zoomed back and forth, checking behind trees, in rocky caves, and even under rocks, but absolutely nopony was here. The only sign of their presence were tracks heading back towards Canterlot.
What happened? They were far enough from Canterlot Grogar probably wouldn’t have done anything to them, and there’s no sign of a fight. It’s like everypony just decided to go for a walk right back to the place they’d fled from.
Decided… or made to decide. Pinkie made a war face. Grrrr! So that’s what’s going on. These ponies were mind controlled!
I wish I had my sleuthing helmet, but sometimes you have to solve a problem in bad conditions. This is one of those times. Somepony had mind controlled everypony here!
Hmmm, but heading after them is dangerous. I’ll check back in with the others, and then we can go save the day.
Pinkie cracked her tail. And when she met whoever had stolen the minds of all these poor innocent ponies, they’d be sorry. Her party cannon had some meanie’s name on it.
Sweetie Belle lifted a vine with her telekinesis. She carefully tied it into a knot, and threaded it through another vine.
“This is hard,” she complained. “How do you do it so fast, Apple Bloom?”
“Earth pony magic!” Apple Bloom said with a big smile on her face. She was quickly weaving vines into nets. “Workin’ with vines is kinda like workin’ with apples. Just more stringy.”
“It’s a good thing the Washouts left their equipment behind,” Scootaloo added, packing a net into a cannon. “This stuff is dangerous. Dangerous is exactly what we need to fight off monsters!”
“Y’all ever wish Babs were here? I bet she’d do great.” Apple Bloom asked between bites to tie knots.
“Yeah,” Sweetie replied. “But I bet she’s doing the same thing we are in Manehattan. Maybe she’s fighting a secret war from the tunnels and skyscrapers!”
“Speaking of fighting, when do you think we’ll see some action?” Scootaloo asked, cantering in place. “I wanna defeat bad guys!”
“Prince Shining and Princess Cadance asked us to stay near Ponyville and protect it,” Apple Bloom reminded her. “Since they got their magic back, Tirek was probably defeated. If he wasn’t, he’s gonna want revenge. If he was, his friends will. Either way, we’re the ones keepin’ Ponyville safe.”
“I know,” Scootaloo sighed. “I’m just boooored!”
“Don’t worry, Scootaloo. I’m sure you’ll get some excitement soon. After what happened to Canterlot, I bet monsters will try to do the same to Ponyville.” Sweetie Bell gave her a reassuring pat on the back.
“Let’s get a move on. We need to set up our traps ahead of time t’make ‘em work as best as we can!”
“You’re probably right,” Scootaloo said. “Let’s go get ready to save Ponyville!”
Twilight paced back and forth. Pinkie’s report was dire, Fluttershy and Rainbow’s scarcely less so. Together, they’d been making progress, but the fact remained: Equestria was on the verge of total collapse.
Her musings were interrupted by Starswirl. “Twilight! Two ponies are here to see you.”
She looked up at him, and spotted who had just arrived. “Shining!” she shouted as she ran over to him, giving him a firm hug. “I was really worried. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Twily,” he reassured her. “Where’s Chrysalis? What happened?”
“Off on an ‘errand.’“ She rolled her eyes. “As for what happened, well, we reached a truce.”
“A truce?” Cadance asked skeptically. “You don’t actually trust them, do you?”
“I trust them to act selfishly but intelligently,” Twilight said with a shrug. “They want to rule Equestria. And they all realized that Grogar will leave nothing but ruins, so they want him stopped as much as we do.”
Shining Armor considered her words, and nodded. “Of course. They’re evil, but they’re smart. And since they want to rule, not destroy, they can probably be trusted for now. If we win, they’ll most likely betray us right afterwards, so be ready for that. But until then, they should make good allies.”
“I see what you mean,” Cadance agreed. “But after we defeat Grogar, it might be wise to immediately capture them.”
“We won’t do that,” Rainbow said firmly. “We’re not betraying our allies.” Something in her voice told Twilight there wouldn’t be any use arguing, so she decided to change the subject.
“What about you two?” Twilight asked. “What will you do now?”
“I think we should head back to the Crystal Empire. It needs protecting too, after all.” Shining gave Twilight a hug of his own. “And you’ve got things under control here.”
Twilight hugged Shining even tighter. “Please be careful. Grogar is really dangerous.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be okay,” Cadance said. She gave Twilight a reassuring smile.
Twilight nodded, and let go of Shining. He and Cadance trotted away together. Twilight watched them until they were out of sight.
Rarity and Applejack walked through the opulent Las Pegasus resort. It was strangely deserted.
“Ah hate this place,” Applejack muttered. “Flim and Flam are makin’ money by scammin’ other ponies!”
“You must admit though, the decor is simply splendid,” Rarity said. “Such style! Such fabulosity!”
Applejack was about to give her thoughts when an all-too-familiar voice interrupted. “Well, it certainly is a surprise to see you here, Applejack,” Flim said. He’d slid up to right beside her.
“But a pleasant one, isn’t that right Flim?” Flam added.
“Absolutely! We’re always happy to entertain guests with your status!” He grinned. “And we’re truly flattered that the legendarily discerning Rarity considers our decor splendid. So, what can we do for you ladies?’
“The friendship map told us there was a problem we could solve here. We’d like your help in locating it, if you would be so kind as to humor us.”
“Rarity!” Applejack hissed. When Rarity gave her an inquisitive look, Applejack waved her to the side.
“What is it, Applejack?”
“Ah think Flim and Flam are the friendship problem! Even in a time this dire, they’re still takin’ advantage of gullible ponies!”
Rarity put a hoof to her lip. “I understand your concern, Applejack, but we have to start somewhere. And these two do know Las Pegasus quite well.” Applejack sighed, but choose not to raise any further arguments. Rarity turned back to the brothers.
“We would be honored to help however we can!” Flim replied. “What exactly are we looking for?”
“Well, friendship problems can take many forms. Arguments, feuds, societal issues…”
“For that, Miss Rarity, you only need look out the window.” Flam pointed behind them.
Las Pegasus was in chaos. Ponies were screaming at each other, stealing things from stores, and in a few cases even getting in fights.
“Ah…” Applejack said, taking her hat off in astonishment. “Ah don’t know what to say.”
Flim nodded. “We barricaded our resort the moment it started.”
“But it’s not a sustainable business model to turn this place into a fortress,” Flam said. “And so, we would very much like your help in calming things down.”
“So you want to help… because not helpin’ would cut into yer profits!?” Applejack asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” Flam answered bluntly. Flim made a quick hoof signal, and Flam abruptly closed his mouth.
“What my brother means to say is that while that is certainly one of our motivations, we do have others as well.” Flim gave Rarity another smile. “We have friends of our own, and we certainly don’t want anything bad to happen to them. So economic interest is a part of it, but it is by no means all—and even if we wouldn’t make a single bit off helping you, we’d do it anyway.” Flam nodded his agreement.
Applejack raised an eyebrow in unmitigated skepticism. Rarity chuckled nervously, and suggested, “How about you shake on it?”
Flim and Flam offered their hooves to Applejack. With a sigh, she spat into her hooves, and shook them both. “Alright. For Equestria’s sake.”
Rarity dashed in to break the awkward situation with, “Then it’s settled. Come along, boys. We have work to do!”
The little villages of Sire’s Hollow had been converted to a fortress. Hay bales blocked the road, and unicorns stood ready to fire lasers at any threat.
But when the attack came, it came in a different form. The ground rumbled, and their barricades collapsed into newly-formed holes. A house followed suit, its walls folding inwards in a resounding CRASH.
“Help!” a colt called out from within. “I’m trapped!”
Firelight and Stellar Flare rushed to the scene. They frantically tried to dig him out, but there were just so many ruins.
A shadow fell over the two of them. They looked up in unison, and gasped.
Rockhoof landed beside them, shovel at the ready. “Don’t worry, little one. I’ll get you outta there.” He thrust his shovel in between the planks of wood, and with a mighty heave, threw half the house to the side.
The colt scampered out, and gave him a hug. “You saved me!”
“Just doing my job,” Rockhoof replied. “Now, let’s figure out who’s destroyin’ your homes, and put a stop to it!”
Just outside Professor Twilight’s castle, the six students at the School of Friendship skulked in the shadows. The cold, grey sky cast a pale pall over the land.
“I just thought of something,” Ocellus said quietly. “Chrysalis, disguised as Fluttershy, mentioned Grogar. So did Spike. It took me a while to recognize the name, but I figured it out.” Ocellus looked up at them. “Guys… he’s the Father of Monsters. Our oldest myths call him the creator of the changeling species.”
“Hey, I heard something similar. He created dragonkind, or at least that’s what a book I read said.” Gallus shrugged as Yona stared at him. “What? I can enjoy reading too.”
“What do you think it means?” Silverstream asked, a hoof against her chin. “In general, I mean.”
“It’s possible he’ll reach out to either the changelings or the dragons,” Ocellus said hesitantly. “If that happens, some might join him.”
“There are a bunch of dragons who want to go back to how things use to be,” Smolder explained. “If he wants allies, he can find ‘em there.”
Sandbar nervously looked over his shoulder. “So… what should we do?”
“Let’s go see the professors.” Silverstream gave her friends encouraging smiles. “They’ll know what to do. Follow me!”
Spike stood atop one of the many balconies of his castle. Well, technically it was Twilight’s castle, but he was her little brother, so he had a share in it. From his high perch, he looked out over the Everfree forest.
Their battle with the villains had devastated the area. Trees had been reduced to splinters, craters pocketed the ground, and a fissure ran out of Everfree to right beside the castle. Among the blasted area, six creatures cantered (or did their species’ equivalent) towards the castle.
Spike flew back to the map room. “The students are coming here!”
Twilight turned around. “How far are they? Did they look hurt?”
“No, they look fine.” Spike glanced around the table. Everypony but Rarity and Applejack was here.
“Can you go greet them and lead them here? It’s a little easy to get lost in this place,” Twilight said with a little smile.
“Can do!” He saluted, and flew downstairs. He flew out the window and down towards there. It was easy to intercept the six creatures.
“Hey guys!” Spike called out. “Looking for Twilight?”
“And the other professors, yeah,” Sandbar agreed. “We think we’ve figured out something important.”
“We need to explain immediately,” Ocellus said, her eyes darting back and forth. “Can you take us to her?”
“Follow me,” Spike said. “They’re right through here.”
Since not all of them could fly, he led them through the big doors, between the pillars, up the stairs, and into the map room. Ocellus, Sandbar, Yona, Smolder, Gallus, and Silverstream followed right behind.
“Okay,” Spike said between pants. “H… how about y… you guys tell them what you learned?”
“Sure,” Smolder said. She wasn’t winded at all. “We think that Grogar might take control of dragonkind and changelingkind.”
“C-control me?” Spike asked fearfully. “How?”
“Well, not control exactly. Uhh, Gallus, can you explain?”
“Yeah,” Gallus said. “Alright, so Grogar supposedly created changelings and dragons. He’s legendary to both of them. So if he offered to give them free rein to do whatever they wanted to Equestria, some of them would probably agree.”
“We already have Starlight working to gain all of Equestria’s allies on our side,” Twilight said. “But I can warn her about that. Spike, take a letter.” Spike dutifully raised a scroll and quill, and Twilight dictated, “Dear Starlight, I have received word that Grogar might attempt to convince dragons and changelings to join him. Be sure and highlight his untrustworthiness as an ally and his love of destruction for its own sake—which would leave them with nothing. Your teacher, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Twi… light… Spar… kle! Done!” Spike said. He grinned at her.
“Go ahead and send it, Spike,” Twilight said. “There’s no time to waste.”
Spike exhaled onto the letter, and its smoke drifted into the air and out of the room.
“Now, we have to figure out to do with you,” Rainbow said, looking at the students.
“Do with us? What Professor Dash mean?” Yona asked.
Fluttershy gave them a sympathetic frown. “All of you but Sandbar are foreign students, and in several cases, with direct connections to the leaders of your country. We don’t want you getting hurt.”
“With all due respect,” Gallus said, looking Rainbow Dash right in the eyes, “we can take care of ourselves. We stopped Cozy Glow. We’ve been following you since you reached an agreement with her and her friends. We know what we’re doing, and the Tree of Harmony has a special connection with us. We want to help. So are you going to waste time trying to get us not to, or are you going to let us fight and maybe gain the edge you need to win?”
“He has a point,” Pinkie said in her half-humorous way. “The Tree of Harmony saved them when all magic was about to be lost forever. I say we let them come with us and help stop Grogar!”
Twilight looked from one face to another as Starswirl charged his horn. Rarity and Applejack appeared in a flash of light. “Can you leave us for a minute or so?” Twilight asked the students. One by one, they nodded, and filed out.
“What’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked.
“The students want to come with us and fight Grogar,” Rainbow summarized. “I feel like we should let them come.”
“Absolutely not,” Applejack said firmly. “We promised their families to keep ‘em safe as best we can. Ah am not breakin’ a promise.”
“Grogar is really powerful,” Fluttershy added. “Much more than Cozy was.”
“But if Grogar wins, nowhere will be safe!” Rainbow argued. “We’d be putting them all in danger by not having them come along and help!”
Before Applejack could respond, Stygian interrupted. “Um, it’s not my decision, but I do have some thoughts.” He looked at them uncertainly, expecting to be ignored, but they were listening attentively. “There is a middle ground. You could have them come along, but stay back a ways and stay behind trees, rocks, and other barriers. They can provide cover and utilize their connection to the Tree of Harmony, and they’ll be less in danger than you will be at the front lines.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Rarity said with a nod. “Protects them while still letting them help.”
“Yeah. Good thinking, Stygian!” Spike said.
“I agree,” Twilight added. “All in favor?”
One by one, the ponies nodded—except for Applejack. “Ah promised to keep ‘em safe… but I guess as long as Grogar’s free, nopony’s safe. So… Ah agree too.”
“It’s settled, then,” Twilight said. “You can come back in now!” she called to the students. She quickly relayed their decision, and concluded with, “Get ready. We might be heading out soon.”
For the first time since Flurry Heart destroyed the Crystal Heart, snow fell on the Crystal Empire. There was yet enough magic to prevent it from accumulating, but snowflakes still drifted onto heads and hooves in the streets.
The cold of the weather, however, was warm compared to the mood of the city. “We should secede from Equestria,” one stallion said through a scarf. “Their problems aren’t ours.”
“If we raise the Crystal Heart’s shields, we’ll be safe. We need to take care of our own families.”
“The prince and princess ran off,” a third added with a roll of her eyes. “Why aren’t they here to protect us?”
“Yeah. I thought they were our royals, not Equestria’s?”
So engrossed were they in their bitterness, none of them noticed that the snowflakes were starting to fall faster.
Zecora’s hooves pounded the ground as she hurried through Everfree Forest. With the madness that had struck Equestria starting to seep into the air, she needed to gather a few more herbs. Although her collection was extensive, it just wasn’t practical to keep a supply of every plant she could ever use in her house. For those she needed rarely, it was easier to gather them when she required them.
All this led to her running through a forest alive with even more danger than usual. The roars of cragadiles, manticores, and worse resounded through the trees. It seemed the Windigos’ power to inflame rage had even reached the creatures of Everfree.
There’s the stargum root! She came to a quick halt, and pulled it up by her teeth. Even that little bit left her head feeling clearer and her emotions calmer.
As she turned to head back to her hut, she bumped into a muscular, spiky manticore! It roared, and took a step closer to her.
Zecora took a deep breath, and stared calmly at the creature. “That you are upset, I can clearly see,” she said. “Why not have a treat from me?”
It cocked its head to one side, and grunted. Giving her a suspicious look, it sat down.
“Though this looks so very crude, I think it will aid your mood.” She got out her mortar and pestle, and broke a bit of the stargum root into the bowl. A bit of pounding later, and it was a fine powder. “Eat this before the weather’s wetter. In a moment, you’ll feel better.”
The manticore extended a paw. She carefully put her bowl in the creature’s paw. It roughly threw the powder back into its mouth, paused a moment, and started licking Zecora affectionately.
“It was a pleasure, my furry friend. But my quest is not yet at an end.” When the manticore looked at her confused, she continued, “I must go home to make more cure. Your help would speed it up for sure!”
The manticore nodded, and lowered to its belly. Zecora climbed on, and the great beast leaped into the air.
Tirek flexed his muscles. They bulged with pure magic. Grogar’s bell had enhanced his power to a massive degree. Of course, this was only the obvious improvement he had received. It had taken an enormous amount of work, but he and Chrysalis had been able to craft a bewitchment that would all but assure victory. As Tirek’s body had the highest innate tolerance for extreme magical stress, he was the natural carrier of this spell.
Cozy alighted daintily on his shoulder. “Golly, Tirek, you sure are looking powerful!” She grinned. “As for me, I think I look as harmless as ever!”
“Agreed,” Tirek replied with a smile. “Now, how about you get to work while Chrysalis and I finish up?”
Cozy fluttered down to the ground. She reached up to her ribbons on her mane, and they flashed with a pale blue light.
Cozy was a pegasus, and transforming her into an alicorn was beyond even the Bell’s power. It seemed the rarefied status of alicorn was restricted to a level unlike nearly any other magic. Cozy hadn’t been too bothered. “After all,” she had said, “I want to look like a harmless little filly. And being an alicorn might get in the way of that!”
So instead, Tirek and Chrysalis had given her a variety of magicks in her ribbons to call upon—essentially turning her ribbons and bows into artifacts. Cozy had insisted on a very specific set of magicks, and the two adults had done their best to meet her expectations. Now, it was time to see if it would work.
The blue light spread out across her body, and an identical copy of Cozy appeared next to her! “First, let’s talk to the Crystal Empire.” Her clone nodded, and vanished. Cozy closed her eyes. Though Tirek couldn’t see what she was seeing, if he’d executed the spell correctly she would be able to send her copy anywhere in the world, and see and talk through it as if she were there. It wouldn’t have any physical substance, but Cozy’s preferred weapon was her honeyed words anyway.
Cozy felt the magic flowing through her. It was such a lovely experience. This was what it must be like to be a Starlight Glimmer or Starswirl the Bearded!
She dispatched her image to the Crystal Empire. As she closed her eyes, she could still see—but now, she saw through the illusion’s eyes. The ghostly copy of herself moved effortlessly across vast tracks of land, through solid rock, unimpeded by any barriers. Perhaps fifteen seconds passed before it arrived at the Crystal Empire.
She could have gone straight to the Guard and mobilized them. But her experience had taught her ponies were more inclined to do things if they thought it was their own idea. So, naturally, she went about her work.
“Help!” she called out. “Somepony, I need help!”
A crystal pony looked at her with sympathy and worry. “What’s wrong?”
“My parents were in Canterlot this morning. I don’t know what happened to them!” She sniffled. “I’m so worried for them. Please, get your guards to come help!”
“I’ll be right back,” the mare stammered, and ran off. Cozy wanted to smirk, but she had a role to play—that of the terrified, loving child afraid of being abandoned.
A couple minutes later, the mare came back, a guard just behind her. “You’re worried about your parents?” he asked sympathetically.
“Y-yeah,” she choked. “I don’t know if they’re okay, or if they—” She sobbed, tears dripping down her cheek. “Please, help save them!”
Another pony had trotted up to the commotion. “We have to help her!” he pleaded. “She must be worried sick!”
“Yeah,” a third crystal pony added. “It’s the right thing to do.”
The guard sighed, looked back towards the castle, and then to Cozy. “Look, I can’t just go running off alone, but I’ll ask and see if we can march on Canterlot.”
“Thank you,” she said, giving him her best grateful look. “You don’t know how much this means to me. I just hope you succeed.”
“Y-yeah.” He took off his helmet, and averted his eyes. “We’ll probably have to wait a bit, you know—organize with the other cities so we have a chance. A-and we can’t do anything until Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor get back. But…” He looked her in the eyes, his own eyes pained. “I promise I’ll do everything I can.”
“You’re a hero,” Cozy gushed. Flattery, properly applied, was a potent tool. “I’ll never forget this.”
“Well… be safe.” He cantered back to the crystal castle.
One he was out of sight, she got to work increasing the popular support. A few tragic details, a few pained whimpers, and the now-crowd was putty in her hooves. She knew the rumor mill would take care of the rest, and soon the entire Crystal Empire would be clamoring for a liberation of Canterlot.
“I… I think I’m going to get a meal,” she finished. “Daddy always says I need to eat more.” A few other excuses got her safely away from the crowd, and from there it was trivial to recall her ghostlike image back to the hideout.
All in all, her little mission took perhaps ten minutes. A very good thing, really:
She had more cities to convince.
As Cozy lay on the ground, her eyes darting about under her eyelids, Queen Chrysalis reentered the room. She had returned to her lithe, natural form, and was carrying her beloved Mean Twilight log.
“Tirek, I need your help on something,” she said to him. She had almost rejected this idea entirely, but in the end, one fact remained true: she wanted this to happen.
“What is it?” the centaur asked.
“As you may have noticed, I have kept this around.” She hefted it aloft.
He raised an eyebrow. “Of course I did. I’ve come to think that log might be your best friend.”
No reason to answer an obviously true question, Chrysalis thought. “What I wish to do is something Grogar may have imagined would have happened someday, but I think he would never suspect me of doing now.” She bared her teeth. “Another secret weapon—similar to your special shielding.”
“And what is it you want to do, Chrysalis? Stop avoiding the issue.” Tirek crossed his arms in a skeptical but not unfriendly way.
Chrysalis stroked all that remained of Mean Twilight Sparkle. “Months ago, I created copies of Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack out of wood, pictures of each of them, and a piece of each’s mane. This team proved to be that awful mix of incompetent and treacherous, and they were devolved back into wood by the Tree of Harmony. The copy of Twilight was by far the most competent and driven, and I have kept what remains of her with me as a memento.”
Tirek raised an eyebrow. “And? Do you intend to create something similar to her?”
“Not… exactly,” Chrysalis purred. “With the power of the Bewitching Bell, and your mighty talents, I think I’d be able to undo what the Tree did.”
“So you mean to—?” Tirek asked, his eyebrows sliding upward.
Chrysalis slipped her tongue between her lips in a predatory smirk. “Yes, I would like to resurrect the dark clone of Twilight Sparkle and have her join us in our quest.”
“Tell me more about her,” Tirek requested. “This is a very fragile situation, after all, and a new member could ruin everything if she were to betray us.”
“She is dangerous,” Chrysalis replied. “A natural betrayer like Cozy. As talented at magic as Princess Twilight herself. Brilliant, self-centered, ruthless, independent. And…” Chrysalis mumbled something.
“What was that?” Tirek asked. “You know I can’t understand you when you talk quietly.”
“She is smarter than me,” Chrysalis grudgingly admitted. “She would have destroyed me if not for the intervention of the Tree of Harmony.”
Tirek stared at her. “So why do you want to bring her back if she already tried to destroy you once?”
“Because she would be a powerful ally! And because I believe she and I have enough interest in common she will work together with us up until Grogar is defeated.” Chrysalis pursed her lips. She muttered, “AndImissher.”
“You miss her?” Tirek echoed. “After she tried to destroy you?”
“After I was exiled from my hive, before I met you two, she was the only person who reminded me of what it was like to have a hive again. Even if she betrayed me, I still harbor those feelings. Why do you think I’ve kept this log all this time?”
Tirek shrugged. “Alright, I’m open to resurrecting her. But we should ask Cozy before going ahead with it.” Chrysalis nodded, so Tirek walked to where Cozy lay. He gently shook her. “Hey kid, wake up.”
Cozy opened her eyes. “Golly, it sure is a good thing you caught me when I was in the middle of nowhere. Otherwise, it’d be pretty awkward to have my image just freeze in place.” She looked to Chrysalis. “So what’s going on? Are we leaving?”
“Not quite yet,” the changeling replied. “Cozy, there’s someone I’d like to add to our little conspiracy.”
“Oh? Who?”
Chrysalis quickly filled her in on the history of Mean Twilight.
“Ohhhh,” Cozy said, soaking up the story. “I thought you just had that log because you liked how it looked.”
Chrysalis chuckled lightly. “So… what do you think?”
“Well, she already tried betraying you once,” Cozy pointed out. “Why wouldn’t she betray you again?” Framing it in the hypothetical prevented her from slipping into the trap of talking past the deal. Chrysalis probably wasn’t trying to do that, but it never hurt to be cautious.
“Because last time, I treated her as a servant. This time, I will treat her as a f—a co-conspirator,” Chrysalis quickly changed.
“And you believe that’ll be enough to keep her loyal?” Cozy asked.
“That… and the fact that her goals are similar to ours. I have a feeling she’ll be just as upset about Grogar’s destruction of Canterlot as we were.” Chrysalis smiled slyly. “And there’s one other thing: her ‘siblings’, her fellow clones, aren’t being resurrected yet. We will bring them back upon our successful conquest of Equestria, not before.”
“That means we would have to keep the existence of the Bewitching Bell from her,” Cozy said.
“We’re thinking about this the wrong way,” Tirek argued. “If she’s joining us, she has to be joining us all the way. And that means no secrets. Any attempt to obfuscate the truth will leave her suspicious and therefore make her more likely to betray us.”
Chrysalis thought it over. “You make a good point, Tirek. Alright, we’ll tell her about the bell. Assuming you approve, Cozy?”
“There’s a risk, of course,” Cozy answered. “This Twilight clone hasn’t had the chance to see the benefits of cooperation as we have. But I have a feeling she’ll be smart enough to see the only way we prevail. The most important thing would be to make sure she sees betraying us to Grogar as a bad option.” She nodded towards Tirek. “And I believe we could do that. So… yep, I'm in!”
“Excellent.” Chrysalis lifted the bell aloft. “Let’s begin.”
“So, just to get this straight…” Cozy asked. “Grogar’s bell is so powerful it lets you resurrect ponies?”
“No,” Tirek answered. “Or rather, probably, but doing so would leave it unusable for months at least. But in this case, we aren’t doing a resurrection. We’re just undoing a spell, or redoing it perhaps.”
Chrysalis and Tirek stood on opposite sides of the table. The Mean Twilight Log was positioned between them, and Cozy fluttered off to one side. Cozy had decided to stay here in both mind and body while the Twilight clone was meeting them. She was pretty good at smoothing over issues, after all.
Tirek lifted Grogar’s bell high, and began to cast the complex enchantment. Chrysalis joined in, adding her green bolts to his orange fire. The beams met above the branch, weaving together. The black-yellow of Grogar’s bell swirled down, seeping into the wood.
Chrysalis felt something shivering inside the log. It crackled with her energy, and began to shimmer like a soap bubble. Pressure was building behind her eyes as the strain of controlling the Bewitching Bell became greater and greater. She gazed into Tirek’s eyes. He nodded, and increased his own magic output.
Their beams of light washed over Grogar’s bell and flowed down onto the table like the fog of an early morning. The stick had stopped shimmering and had started glowing! The all-too-familiar color of Twilight Sparkle’s telekinesis emanated from it as tendrils of magic started to reach out from the log towards the bell.
Chrysalis pushed even more power into the wood. Just as she feared she’d reached her limit, Cozy cheered, “Go Queen Chrysalis! Go Lord Tirek! You can do it!”
In an instant, it was over. The log flashed with black-white energy, and reshaped itself into an equine form. The copy of Twilight landed on the table with a thud.
Chrysalis sat down, exhausted. Undoing the work of the Tree of Harmony had been far, far harder than she’d expected, but it had paid off. Mean Twilight was back.