CANTERLOT DUNGEONS
Today was the day that the defeated villains were expecting a visit from Twilight, her friends, and the other Princesses. This was the day that Cozy and Tirek both dreaded, but Chrysalis was really excited. She knew exactly what to say to them to hopefully get them really angry. Sure enough, Twilight Sparkle came to face them in their cell, along with the other Members of Spike's harem, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, The Young Six, Garble, Ember, Thorax, and Discord.
Cozy and Tirek both wore annoyed expressions. They weren't looking forward to the tongue lashing that the Princesses and Twilight were going to give them. Chrysalis, however, was probably the most happy she had been in her whole life. Words couldn't describe how eager she was to see how her insults would play out on the new arrivals.
"Hello, Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow," Twilight said bitterly.
"Hello, Twilight," Chrysalis said, her voice oozing with venom. "Say, where's that little pet dragon of yours? Or was he your boyfriend? I honestly can't remember. Either way, I would've assumed he'd want to come along too."
She took a look around at the group of creatures.
“How lovely,” she laughed. “Everyone’s present. Here to throw us a parade?”
Everyone except Cozy Glow and Tirek winced slightly at Chrysalis' words, feeling disgusted with her unremorseful attitude.
"I think you know what happened to him," Celestia said simply. “No, we’re not here to throw you a parade either.”
Chrysalis snickered before Twilight spoke up.
"Listen up, you've all been charged with 1st degree murder. Cozy, since you're a child we cannot charge you with treason. How do you plead?" Twilight said curtly.
"Guilty. No contest," Cozy and Tirek said in unison. The Centaur and filly Pegasus knew it was no point in saying innocent. The chips were stacked too tall against them and a trial would only prolong the ordeal for them.
"Chrysalis, we didn't hear your plea," Luna said.
Everyone turned to face her.
"Guilty. No contest," she answered, a smile etched at the corners of her mouth.
Everyone felt even more disgusted with Chrysalis' attitude. Even though Tirek and Cozy were just as guilty as her, they, at least, looked a tiny bit remorseful at first glance, although they didn't want them to see it. Chrysalis didn't even look like Spike's death affected her in any way. In fact, she seemed happy about it. It was as if she had wanted this to happen all along. Chrysalis looked the perturbed ponies, dragons, griffons, changleing, yak, hippogriff, and Draconequus standing before her. She decided to play dumb.
"What?" she asked, pretending as if she didn't know why they were all mad at her to begin with. "Why are you all angry?"
"Oh, I don't know," came a voice. "Maybe it's because you're still showing no remorse after killing someone, a kid for that matter."
"Who said that?" Chrysalis growled. "Show yourself, now!"
Chrysalis looked around to see where that voice came from. She already knew it was Starlight, but wanted to play dumb more to really let everyone know just what she thought about them. Eventually, Starlight came up to her.
"That was me," Starlight said through clenched teeth.
Chrysalis' demeanor changed from angry to excited lookihg at the angry visage of her arch-enemy. Although she hated Starlight most of all, she now knew exactly what to say to taunt the already angry Pink Unicorn. An evil grin spread across her face.
"Oh my," Chrysalis mused. "Whatever happened to the Starlight I knew who wanted to reform me? Certainly, out of everyone here, I would've expected you to be the one who extended me a hoof of friendship hoping to lead me down a better path."
"That was before you became a deranged psychopath hellbent on trying to kill us all," Starlight snapped back. "Had I known that you were going to go and pull a stunt like this, I would've just put you out of your misery right then and there."
"But you didn't," Chrysalis said in a sing-song voice before laughing again. "And, boy, did you pay a price for it. Such a shame too. Although he was a complete nuisance, I must admit that stupid boyfriend of yours was such a promising soul. So full of life, so ready to take on all the challenges the world had to offer to him. He won't be missed. Ever."
Starlight glared at her arch-rival. Chrysalis' taunts were really starting to make her angry. She wasn't the only one either. Thorax and Ember's glares harshened. As Spike was their best friend, they certainly didn't appreciate hearing some bastard trash talk him while he was dead. Smolder was already just as angry as Starlight was now by just looking at Chrysalis' face. However, listening to her mock the one she loved more than anything in the world made her furious. Before Starlight could retort, the seething, orange dragon stomped up to face Chrysalis.
"He was just a kid, you fiend!" she shouted.
Chrysalis just shrugged.
"Ehh, kids grow up to be problems in this world. You, my friend, are no exception. The way I see it, I've made not just this hellhole you call your home, but the entire world, a better place by ridding it of one more flaw."
"He was worth an infinite number of you!" Smolder countered. "He was more sweet, more pure, more loving, and, best of all, he was loved by many. Unlike you."
"Insults now?" laughed Chrysalis. "Hmph, go right ahead and say them. They don't hurt me, and they won't unkill that hideous salamander."
Smolder stomped her foot angrily, "I'm warning you, Chrysalis. If you don't shut your bucking mouth right now, I swear to the Gods and Goddesses above I'll knock you out. Do you hear me?"
"Aww," cooed Chrysalis. "Look at you trying to be scary. How adorable."
Before the angry Smolder could think of a comeback, Starlight interjected.
"Well, just remember that we're not the ones in the cell," the pink Unicorn snarled. "Before I leave here though, however, I just want ask one thing. Was it worth it? Was not being my friend just to try to take Equestria but failing miserably worth all this?"
This was the shot Chrysalis was waiting for. It was time for her to show her foes just what she really thought about not just the battle, but all of them entirely.
"On the contrary, it is actually us who have defeated you," Chrysalis smirked. "See, you may have stopped us, but at what cost? We may be defeated, but the fact that we took out one of you is more than reward enough for me alone, but now it's even better because 12 of you misguided fools actually thought of him as more than a friend. I was already pleased thinking about how much torture you twits were going through, but hearing that fact made that feeling of happiness indescribable. The icing on the cake of this whole ordeal is, if I remember correctly, he was an orphan. I'm willing to bet money that he's probably already reunited with his parents in the bowels of Tartarus. Now, they can all enjoy rotting down there together. So, in a way, I did him a favor. Now, rather than having no other choice but to consider any of you idiots his family, he gets to be with his true family. It's honestly funny how things work out sometimes. Wouldn't you agree? Oh, and here’s the cherry on top of it all. While I was biding my time in here, I began to think the magic of Friendship solved everything and kept everyone okay."
She paused impressively.
”Guess. Not.”"
Starlight's vision and face went redder than Applejack's cutie mark. Never in her life had she ever come across a creature so cruel, so shameless, so callous, so evil before. The pink unicorn let out an uncharacteristic growl. If given the chance, she could very well have killed Chrysalis right now. Cozy and Tirek both took a step back. They knew it was best not to intervene with them as that might be just the thing to push the ponies, dragons, griffons, changelings, yak, hippogriff, and Draconequus over the edge and they didn't want to get into any more trouble. They couldn't help but feel more shocked at Chrysalis' harsh, cold words.
Ember and Thorax looked at Chrysalis with shock. That shock, however, quickly gave way to rage. Thorax's eyes saw red as he looked at Chrysalis. Ember let out a growl and clenched her fists.
"You really think this is FUNNY?!!" Ember shouted.
"Funny, no. Hilarious yes," Chrysalis corrected.
Smolder's demeanor instantly changed from furious to apoplectic. Never before had she felt such rage or hatred against a creature in her entire life. Her fists clenched tighter than ever before as her blood pressure abruptly shot through the roof. Her cheeks turned a darker shade of orange, she bared and gnashed her teeth, letting a somewhat loud growl escape from her throat, and a thin trail of black smoke slowly seeped out of her nostrils.
Chrysalis gave herself a mental pat on the back looking at the seething faces of Starlight Glimmer and Smolder, as well as many other creatures in the hallway. A handful of them just stared at her with pure shock. They had, like Starlight, never come across someone as shameless as her and didn't know what to think or say. It had worked, she had said what she wanted to say just to be a brazen, unapologetic jackass. She turned back to face Starlight, who only looked even angrier.
"Something the matter, Starlight?" Chrysalis asked, not bothering to hold back another snicker. "You look a little red. Do you have a fever?"
She paused briefly as Starlight let out another furious growl.
"Or was it something I did?"
Starlight turned to the Royal Sisters.
"Celestia, Luna," Starlight said through clenched teeth. "Could you kindly hand me the keys to this demon's cell and grant me five minutes alone with her?"
"Is this a private event, Starlight?" Smolder said with a louder growl and the smoke from her nostrils was getting thicker. "Or can anyone join?"
"You're more than welcome to join in if you want," Starlight growled.
"Thank you, Starlight," Smolder said in a low, scary tone.
Garble stepped up to hopefully try and calm his boiling sister down. He put a hand on her shoulder before speaking.
"Smolder, come on," he said. "She's not worth-"
The red teenage Dragon was cut off when Smolder abruptly swatted his hand away, never taking her eyes of Chrysalis, the object of her fury.
"No," she snarled. "This sick, twisted psycho tried to destroy the whole world and our Spike had to pay with his life to save us. Now, she not only has no remorse for what she did, but she has the audacity to make fun of him while he's dead IN FRONT OF US!!!"
Everyone flinched as they listened to Smolder's tone change from just above a whisper to screaming as the last four words of her sentence left her mouth. A few creatures were scared seeing not just Smolder, but Starlight, as well, pushed to the point where they both wanted to tear Chrysalis apart.
"Well, I'm sick of it. It's clear as day that any time in jail isn't going to do her or us any good. It's high time Starlight and I quit playing nice and give this lunatic the punishment she's had coming for a long time," Smolder finished. Her tone had turned from shouting to low and scary. "You want something to smile and laugh about, Chrysalis? I'll give you something to smile and laugh about."
"I want in on this too," growled Ember as she cracked her knuckles.
"Same here," snarled Thorax.
"I also want to accept an invitation for this event," growled a fifth voice.
The voice belonged to Rainbow Dash. She trotted up to face her lover's killer and gave off the angriest glare she could to Chrysalis. She felt as just angry as everyone else did. Although, she had tried the hardest she could to ignore Chrysalis' harsh words, it eventually became too much rage even for her to handle. Plus, looking at Chrysalis reminded her of bad memories when she was captured along with her friends and hung on the ceiling in cocoons in Chrysalis' throne room.
By now, everyone, except the five seething creatures and Fluttershy, were frozen in fear. Smolder's close friends all stared at her in shock. They had never seen the orange dragon, or anyone on that matter, this angry before. Neither had Garble. Gallus' knees quivered. He did enjoy pulling a prank or two on Smolder from time to time, as well as Smolder chasing him down and warning him of dire consequences if he ever tried it again, but now, it seemed Smolder was at least twenty times angrier than all the times she was with him from all the pranks he pulled on her combined.
Pharynx looked at his brother with the same shock. He had never seen his brother even slightly angry in his whole life. Ocellus wanted to say something, anything, to calm down the king of her species, but she couldn't think of anything and seeing Thorax so livid scared her half to death. Tears of fear brimmed in her eyes as she looked back and forth between Thorax's furious expression and Chrysalis' smug one. She didn't want to see someone who she basically considered her father to hurt someone else out of pure rage, even if they deserved it.
Twilight and her close friends all looked at Rainbow with fear she had seemed as angry as Smolder looked when they first entered the dungeon, but he tried to hold it back. Alas, however, it seemed that Chrysalis' taunts had even managed to push a stoic Pegasus like her past the breaking point.
Chrysalis, on the other hand, wasn't fazed at all. The bitter and shameless creature took one look at each of her five would-be attackers before breaking down in a fit of hysterical laughter. This lasted about 30 seconds before she got back up and looked at them again, she noticed that all four were now trembling with pure rage. Chrysalis could've sworn the insides of Ember and Smolder's nostrils were now glowing orange. She looked at Thorax and noticed his horn and antlers were now glowing a slight shade of Turquoise. No Doubt in her mind his rage had likely manifested itself into magic. Starlight's horn was also the same way except it was glowing much, much brighter. As for Rainbow Dash, she was now letting out a low growl. Chrysalis knew one final push would send all five of them into a full-blown rage. She felt very pleased with herself.
"Oh, what? What are you going to do?" she asked trying not to break down in another fit of laughter. "Friendship me to death? Kill me with kindness? Now, that's something I'd like to see you try."
It was at this moment that everyone in the dungeon, including Cozy and Tirek, knew that Chrysalis couldn't be saved from her own big mouth. One look at Smolder, Starlight, Rainbow Dash, Thorax, and Ember signaled to everyone there that maybe they did need this. Maybe they just needed to take out all that pent up rage inside them with a good fight and then, they'd be back to normal. That was until Fluttershy stepped in-between the villains and the four irate justice seekers. She whispered something in Starlight's ear for a few seconds, which seemed to calm the Pink Unicorn down, before doing the same with Smolder, Rainbow, Ember, and Thorax. Although it did calm her down, Smolder wanted to say one last thing to the unremorseful, sadistic creep before her. She flew up until their noses met between the bars. Her icy blue eyes burned with hatred as she made eye contact with her boyfriend's murderer.
"I want to make something very, very clear right now," Smolder said with another loud growl. "You're bucking lucky that Fluttershy was here to calm us down or Starlight, Thorax, Rainbow Dash, Ember, and I would've personally made sure that you would not live to see your sentencing. Part of me still does want nothing more than to tear you limb from limb to show you personally what kind of pain we go through every day, as well as the kind of pain you put our Spike through in his last moments of life. Just remember that."
Once Smolder was finished, the cream colored Pegasus turned to face the arrogant, barefaced, disgraced Changeling Queen. Her turquoise eyes vibrating with determination for the third time in less than two weeks. Chrysalis just looked right back at her with the same smirk.
"You may have taken Spike's body from us, but there are two things you will never, ever take away from us. The first is his spirit. We all hold a little bit of him inside us. His kindness, generosity, laughter, loyalty, and honesty all live on inside our hearts. The other thing is all the happy memories that we have made with him. We will always have things that will remind us of all the fun things we all did together with him. His love for us, as well as the love we felt for him, is something you would never be able to suck out of us because even one percent of it would overload the system that resides inside your soulless body. My pride as being one of his twelve marefriends increases ten-fold with each passing day. We've seen thousands of creatures of all kinds support us and praise Spike. Those who barely even knew him were writing poems and sending letters praising him on a daily basis. I've never seen a single person in the time I've known you ever come out in support of you. I think I'll leave you to think about that as you sit here until your sentencing," Fluttershy said, her tone had shifted to Bold Fluttershy.
Chrysalis just laughed again. Clearly, this Pegasus had no clue who she was talking to.
"What?" Chrysalis asked, locking eyes with Fluttershy's. "You think I care that you still have memories of that stupid lizard? I don't. If anything, it's probably depressing for you all to relive memories with him knowing you can't make any more of them with him. You may think you hold a part of him in you, but that statement is not only wrong, it's stupid as well. That is unless you all did some rather unspeakable things with him during your relationship. If that is the case, I'm glad I was never your ally to begin with. Also, never underestimate a changeling's power to suck love from another being. One Changeling can suck love from 50 creatures in one sitting, no matter how large it may be, and still be able to transport it back to me. Also, "pride as being one of his 12 marefriends". Give me a break. The only reason you probably got with him was out of pure pity. That's right, I heard about that whole admirer fiasco. I just can't buy the fact that you loved him genuinely because this whole confession came out of nowhere. He probably only made up those "reasons" he loved you out of the blue. If anything, he only did it for an ego boost, because he's a Dragon among ponies and he needed some, sad reason to validate himself in pony society, even though that whole harem thing changed nothing. Also, I could honestly care less how many poems and letters get sent to you that praise your worthless, little pet. Like I said before, this whole place is a hellhole. What makes you think I'd think of the residents any differently?"
Fluttershy's determined expression turned into a completely shocked one. The cream-colored Pegasus didn't know what to say or do. This was the first time that her speech seemed to have zero effect whatsoever. For a full five seconds, she just stared at Chrysalis' sadistic, grinning visage as if she were a lone piece of a puzzle in a box and the rest of the puzzle was missing, but it felt like a solid half hour to her. Then, her usually vibrant, turquoise eyes drooped to the ground and her vision blurred with salty water. For the first time since seeing her Spike lying on the ground at the scene of that awful battle, she felt powerless and didn't know what to say or do. Neither did anyone else.
Fortunately for everyone there, however, three loud voices that belonged to Rainbow Dash, Starlight, and Smolder seemed to do the talking for them. The words that exited the mouths of all three girls seemed to cut through the thick silence like a hunting knife.
"HE DID LOVE US AND WE LOVED HIM!!! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!!!!"
Everyone turned to the source of the voices and found Starlight, Rainbow, and Smolder once again stepping up to face Chrysalis, Thorax and Ember following half a step behind. One look at all five of them told everyone there that any sliver of hope calming them down was now gone. Their faces looked even more irate than before when Fluttershy first intervened. Fluttershy would've wanted to do something to calm them down, but it seemed, even to her, that Chrysalis had blatntly ignored the warning signs. Now, the irredeemable, cold-blooded killer had crossed the point of no return and there was now nothing to stop Chrysalis from receiving a beating like no other. Fluttershy gave a dirty look up at the evil, soulless, former ruler of the Changelings. Chrysalis' smirk turned into a full-blown, evil grin as she returned Fluttershy's look.
"I'm sorry, Chrysalis," Fluttershy said, almost growling as she spoke. "I tried to save you from this, but you left me with no choice but to leave you at the mercy of these five. Have fun."
"Psh," Chrysalis scoffed. "I'll live."
"No, you won't," Starlight said in a low and scary tone as she walked up to the bar of the cell and looked up to her most hated rival. "I am thoroughly sick of you."
Chrysalis pretended to be surprised.
"Sick of me?" she asked innocently, before turning to the crowd. "Does anyone here have any pills on hoof for this patient? She could be coming down with something very serious."
Starlight's horn began to glow as bright as it did when Chrysalis first laughed at Smolder, Ember, Thorax, and her.
"I have tried to help you to get onto the right path," Starlight growled. "I held out hope for you being alright after you ran away from us, and I was praying that you'd see the light and come join us for a better life, but this is the last straw. You're nothing but a big, sad, ruthless, psychotic waste of oxygen."
Chrysalis was unfazed. She knelt down so she was nose to nose with Starlight. For a solid three seconds, no one moved or said a word. Then, Chrysalis spoke her sentence and it only seemed to anger Starlight, Rainbow Dash, Smolder, Ember, and Thorax further.
"So, revoke my good conduct medal and cancel the parade you were going to throw in my honor, you revolting, little rat."
Celestia and Luna walked up to speak to Chrysalis next. The wore glares almost as bad as Chrysalis' soon-to-be assailants. Chrysalis jumped back up and looked the Royal sisters over with a menacing grin.
"You two again?" she sneered. "There's something different about you, but I just can't put my hoof on it. Wait, don't tell me. You've changed your mane styles."
The Princesses didn't respond. While Luna held her harsh glare to Chrysalis, Celestia levitated a ring of keys, stuck one of them into the key slot of the locked door, jiggled it around for a second, before the door was unlocked and swung inward. The Royal Sisters beckoned for Tirek and Cozy to come with them, and they did just that with a word or resistance. They did not want to stick around for what was to come next for their unremorseful cohort. As Cozy passed by the Princesses, both Celestia and Luna noticed there was something off about her, like she was trying to tell them that she wasn't competent when she did all her evil deeds. It seemed her soul was almost broken and crying out for help. The crowd also noticed that and couldn't help but feel like they'd be seeing her again soon. even Starlight, Smolder, Ember, and Thorax had that same feeling in the back of their minds. They pushed that aside for now, they were somewhat eager, and somewhat afraid at the same time, of what the two Dragons, two Ponies, and Changeling were going to do to Chrysalis. It was five to one, but Chrysalis was still taller than all of them and had more experience in fighting. They watched as the five seething creatures entered Chrysalis' cell, followed by Celestia. They moved up to see what was happening, but Luna stopped them.
"No, I'm sorry, but you can't go up there. This is something they need to resolve on their own" she said.
"WHAT!?!" yelled Garble. "Are you crazy?! I don't want my sister fighting that lunatic alone. She's bigger than her and we've already found out she's more dangerous than her."
"The same could be said for my brother," added Pharynx.
Smolder and Thorax overheard their sibling's concern and took a few steps back to look at them. Their expressions softened considerably.
"Don't worry about me, Gar-Gar," Smolder called. "I'll be fine."
"Same with me, Pharynx," called Thorax.
Before either sibling could say another word, Smolder and Thorax went back into the cell. A large glow could be seen from the bars to the crowd.
"What-What happened?" Garble asked.
"Celestia has transported everyone to an ancient battlefield that my sister and I have fought many a foe on," Luna explained. "She had a feeling that something would go down with the heated rivalry between Starlight and Chrysalis and told me that if Chrysalis acted like this, she'd teleport them to that battlefield rather than have them battling in a small cell."
"I swear, if my sister gets really hurt during this, you will not hear the end of it from me," Garble warned. "She means the whole world to me."
"Same with Thorax," Pharynx added again.
Luna remained calm.
"I understand you concerns for your loved ones, but rest assured, should they get hurt, we will make sure that they receive top-of-the-line care."
MEANWHILE
*POOF!*
In a flash of magic, Celestia had transported herself, five angry justice seekers, and Chrysalis to a flat, grassy field with nothing around for miles. Not even a tree. They landed on a circular platform made out of white marble and had about five feet of elevation off the ground. Although still eager for the impending fight, Chrysalis was very confused about why the others and she were here and not in the dungeon. She glared hatefully at the Sun Princess.
"Why are we here?" she demanded.
Celestia responded by first putting a magical forcefield around the abandoned arena. Then verbally answered Chrysalis' question.
"This is an ancient arena where my sister and I have fought many a foe that threatened Equestria," Celestia explained, her glare harshening as she looked Chrysalis right in the eye. "We recently retired this method of dealing with threats as the last few my sister and I had were easily squashed. You, however, are a special case of evil that has led me to briefly unretire this method so that these five can deal with you themselves."
Hearing this made Chrysalis smile sadistically again.
"Oh my," she began. "Unretiring a form of how you dealt with threats just for me? I am deeply honored. Thank you soooooo much. In fact, I feel so honored that I won’t use any magic to fight you."
The venom oozing from Chrysalis' voice as she taunted Celestia only made everyone there even more angry.
"Oh," growled Starlight. "Let's see if you still feel "honored" after we're through with you."
"Oh, don't worry," laughed Chrysalis. "I'll make sure you all will reunite with your little salamander pet in Tartarus."
"THAT'S IT!!!" screamed Smolder.
She jumped up and began flying toward Chrysalis at full speed. As smug and sadistic as she was, Chrysalis didn't have the time to react as Smolder landed a direct punch to the face, knocking her off her hooves and a tooth went flying out of her mouth. The other four creatures followed close behind, not wanting to miss out on giving Chrysalis her well-deserved karma.
Chrysalis, however, reacted fast and began to fight Smolder back. She landed a blow on Smolder's cheek and knocked the orange Dragon off of her with a buck to the stomach just as the other four irate creatures caught up where the two were scuffling. Chrysalis jumped back up only to be knocked back down again by another punch from Starlight. That only lit Chrysalis' fire as she kicked Ember, Thorax, Rainbow, and Smolder away and lunged at the pink unicorn. Unfortunately, she was right on target and successfully managed to sink her razor-sharp teeth into Starlight's side, making her scream out in pain. On instinct, she bucked Chrysalis off of her. It knocked her back no more than a foot before she lunged again at Starlight. She was met with another punch, this time from Rainbow Dash. It didn't affect her at all this time, though, and she returned the blow to her face, catching the cyan Pegasus off guard for just enough time for her boyfriend's killer to land another two blows to Rainbow's face, knocking out a tooth. She would've gotten a third blow if it weren't for Thorax and Ember slugging her in the cheeks from opposite sides. The combined force of the blows dazed Chrysalis enough for both Dragon and Changeling to land another blow on Chrysalis' face. Chrysalis immediately snapped out of her daze after that one, however, and punched both Ember and Thorax as hard as she could. The blow intended for Ember hit her dead center of the chest, knocking the wind out of her. The punch for Thorax hit him square in the nose. Both were left stunned for just enough time for Chrysalis to make another lunge for Starlight and make another attempt to hit her. This time, however, Starlight was ready for her and bucked the evil former ruler of the Changelings with all her might. That one really hurt for Chrysalis. Up until now, the other blows delivered to her hurt just a bit, but any pain would disappear after a second because of the adrenaline rushing through her body at lighting speeds. Now, it seemed that the adrenaline was starting to fail her in terms of numbing her pain. She also seemed to feel a liquid filling inside and leaking out of her mouth. It tasted like iron. Starlight also seemed to realize Chrysalis was in a weakened state and prepared to strike her again. This time, with a blast of magic. It hit her square in the chest. For the first time since Smolder jumped to kick the fight off, Chrysalis was knocked off her hooves and she went for a tumble across the arena. It was now taking every ounce of her strength to try and stand back up. She was successful in doing just that, but she didn't have much time to celebrate that achievement before Rainbow Dash decked her square on the nose.
"That was for invading Canterlot," snarled the Rainbow-maned Pegasus.
Starlight ran up and bucked the sadistic and badly injured killer in the face next.
"That was for capturing all my friends to try and suck the love out of them," Starlight growled.
Thorax came up and slugged his former ruler right in the face.
"That was for brainwashing all the Changelings into believing they had to feed off love and not share it."
Ember came up next to give her final punch to the face for incorrigible villain next.
"That was for endangering all the students, particularly Smolder, at the School of Friendship."
Lastly, it was Smolder's turn. Rather than delivering a final punch, however, she bared her claws hidden within her fingers and slashed them across Chrysalis' cheek, drawing more blood.
"That was for trying to kill my fellow harem members!" she yelled before she took a deep inhale. "And this..."
She opened her mouth to reveal an orange flame, very bright, very beautiful, very hot, and very deadly. It made Chrysalis feel a whole new level of pain as the flames licked at her scratches, cuts, and bruises, but she absolutely refused to scream out. She didn't want to give anyone that satisfaction of seeing her reduced to a screaming mess begging for mercy.
"...is for MAKING OUR SPIKE PAY WITH HIS LIFE TO MAKE SURE WE WERE ALL SAFE!!!!!" Smolder finished, screaming.
Starlight charged up her horn one last time. She gave the harshest glare she could to the barely standing villain.
"And this is for making fun of our Spike while he was dead," she growled and released her magic blast.
At this point, however, Chrysalis didn't even bother fighting anymore. She just closed her eyes and waited for the final hit. It hurt for a few seconds before everything went black.
***
Starlight released her magic and sent Chrysalis flying through the air. She hit the forcefield and landed hard on the arena once more. This time, though, she didn't get back up. The five battered heroes and Princess approached her cautiously, making sure she wasn't playing dead. One look at her beaten up, swollen, bruised, and bloodied face told everyone she wasn't playing. Although they hated her more than anything, the five heroes decided against giving more blows to their now unconscious enemy. Celestia's horn lit up and she closed her eyes for a brief second before her horn stopped glowing and she reopened her eyes.
"She's alive, but unconscious," Celestia said.
"Let's head back," Starlight said. "I know Pharynx and Garble are worried sick about their siblings."
With that said, the six creatures, with Chrysalis in tow, teleported away. The white marble arena once again stood solitary in the field. Everything sat eerily quiet, and no animals made a sound. No happy singing of the birds and no happy chittering of the squirrels.
***
Everyone teleported back to the cell where Chrysalis and her cohorts were originally being held in. They stepped out into the hallway and Smolder and Thorax were each tackled into a hug by their respective brothers.
“Oh, thank the Gods and Goddesses you’re safe,” Garble exclaimed.
“I missed you too, Gar-Gar,” Smolder smiled. Even though her abdomen was still a little sore from when Chrysalis had kicked her, but she didn’t mind.
“Same with you, Pharynx,” Thorax added.
For a moment, no one said anything as the siblings reunited. Then, Rainbow piped up.
“I feel better now that I got that out of my system,” she said.
Everyone else agreed. Although, despite that, Starlight still felt a tinge of sadness for Chrysalis not seeing the magic of friendship. Sure, she was a psychotic, irredeemable demon, but she felt that maybe, just maybe, there was a sliver of good inside her. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Now that the fight was over, everyone could look forward to the sentencing, which would take place in two weeks. Since they all plead guilty, they wouldn’t have a trial. Little did anyone know, however, of a giant bombshell that would be dropped about Cozy’s backstory that would make everyone see her in a new light.