The entire defense organization was going well, in the crystal empire, Cadence and Shining were in charge of reinforcing as much as they could the defenses of the citadel, meanwhile, on the outskirts of Canterlot the pillars were already watching the passage, ready For any contingency, in Poniville, Trixie and Starlight made sure to take all the local students from the school of friendship through the glass tunnels under the town, but not before having transported the students of the other kingdoms as close to their homes as possible, only the Young Six was left, but just as they were wrapping up, the first signs of trouble were heard.
"STARLIGHT GLIMMER!"
The thunderous voice with a reverberation of the former changeling queen was heard everywhere, she was flying over the town in search of her prey.
"WHERE IS THE PONY I WANT TO DESTROY, COME OUT AND FACE ME!"
After saying goodbye to Trixie, the pale lilac unicorn saw that her enemy was flying nearby, so taking a deep breath to control her nerves, she concentrated and disappeared from the library, to reappear a moment later on the roof of the school.
"Ahh, just the headmistress I wanted to see, mhahaha!"
The former queen stood on the roof in front of the unicorn while laughing maliciously.
"I'm sorry, but you didn't make an appointment, grraaaaahh!"
Jumping out suddenly, she caught Chrysails off guard, and as soon as they were in contact they both disappeared with a flash of turquoise.
*POP*
Following the inertia of the push, the changeling fell to the ground, but what was under her was not grass, no, what she felt was ice and under that frozen layer there was hard and rough rock only.
What?! snow?! how did she do it?! "What is this place?! Where did you bring us?!" -the ex-queen shouted-
"To a place where you can't hurt anyone." -the unicorn answered confidently-
"Mhahahaha, wrong, I can hurt you!"
With a scream full of thirst for revenge, the Changeling launched a magic beam with the intention of measuring the forces of the unicorn, but it eluded her by teleporting, to the annoyance of her attacker, the battle seemed to last a while and would be of great speed, but after several evasions, Chrysalis released a burst of energy close enough and the explosion hit the unicorn in the side, throwing her against a ledge, where she fell, losing consciousness for a second.
"AAARRRRRGGGGHH!, stay still so I can hit you!"
*POP* "Yes of course not!"
*Foooossssshh* *boom*
"GHAAA!" *plof* "Ugh" It's not just stronger, it's MUCH stronger than before, huh? Yeah! That will do! *POP*
After shaking, she saw that a few meters above there was a large ledge covered with a thick layer of snow and she teleport just below it when Chrysalis saw where the unicorn escaped the former queen flew to where she was near to the cliff to try to surprise her, but she was met with a beam of energy to the face, from which she quickly recovered.
*Fooosssshh* "GHAAA!, You will pay for this!"
"Put it in my account" *POP*
The unicorn disappeared and reappeared falling a few meters behind the changeling, making sure that it could not react, immediately launched a beam of energy at the ledge behind Chrysalis, causing a huge avalanche, and immediately teleported to the ground, just outside the area of collapse.
"Oh, my-" -was all the ex-queen managed to say before being buried by the snow and debris-
Once immobilized by the weight accumulated on her, she took a second to analyze everything that happened-
*shigh* I still can't control this power, I'm sure the same thing happens to Cozy, probably the one who has more experience with this level is Tirek, but I didn't expect the bell to increase not only my magic, it also increased my speed and physical strength, following Demiurge-sama's indication to try my new powers without pushing too hard to understand them first, was a good idea, it's terrifying how smart that demon is, but it's time to finish this nonsense, I already verified that she is no rival for me and can't hurt me, JA!, I hardly even feel the full weight that is on me right now!
Chrysalis's thirst for revenge so far was truly nothing more than a performance, but not everything came from herself, probably, if she had not known what true power is, everything she had done so far would not have been a performance, and that bothered her, now that she could see everything clear, with a cool head, she could recognize all the mistakes that she would have made otherwise, now there was only one more thing left to do here.
Starlight took a few seconds to breathe and watch the debris and snow settle, after finally catching her breath, she turned around and began to retreat from the mountain, that bitter place where she had known defeat for the first time, but now it was a place that represented a great victory, or so she hoped, but after barely taking two steps a huge explosion threw her several meters into the ground, knocking her unconscious.
*BOOOOM!*
"Waaah!" *plof* "uuugggh" *faint*
Seeing her target finally at her mercy, the former queen pounced on her and quickly wrapped her in a cocoon made from the silk produced from her throat, almost like a spider, and the swift rotating movement woke the unicorn up again.
"Huh? Whoaahaa!"
Hay, I thought it would last longer unconscious, now I have to get back on paper. "But now that I have you in my power, I can enjoy my revenge for as long as I want, Mnahahahaahahahahahahaha!"
Maintaining a malevolent expression as she held the cocoon firmly between her hooves, the changeling rose to acknowledge her surroundings as she laughed, and as soon as she settled in, again continued with the pre-set plans, flying at full speed toward Canterlot south of her position.
On the outskirts of Canterlot, two figures were flying over the area, very attentive to their surroundings, suddenly one of the pegasi believed to have heard something in the distance, it was Flash Magnus, one of the pillars of Equestria, trying to identify the sound, It floated motionless in place for a moment, then a rapid hiss was carried through the air to his ears.
Mhn? What is that? It sounds like an arrow, but it is much louder as if it were something much bigger.
A second later, a huge pebble of earth exploded against his back, damaging his wings only partially, thanks to his trusty shield that he always carried over it, however, the damage was enough to prevent him from staying afloat, as he fell and enduring the pain as much as he could, reduced his speed as much as possible using his injured wings, while he brought the shield in front of him to reduce the damage of the fall and if possible avoid it from being fatal.
In the distance, a sound of something breaking apart caught Somnambula's attention, making her turn in that direction, a cloud of dust was suspended in the air and after paying a little more attention to the scene, she noticed the yellow pegasus that was falling quickly and she immediately understood the situation, jumping to the rescue.
*Ghasp* "FLASH!"
ARRRRGGGGHh, it hurts so much!, I haven't lost any speed, I think that's all for me. -This was the last thought that crossed the mind of the pegasus in free fall, before closing his eyes and gritting his teeth waiting for the impact-
But the impact with the ground never came, a few meters from the ground he felt a tug under his armpits, but he did not register it until he opened his eyes, when he looked at them, peach-colored hooves entered his sight and when he lifted it, a face covered in sweat, but with a big smile received him and was gently lowered to the floor.
"*Heee fuuu heeee fuuu* I *heee fuuu* I got *heee fuuu* you."
A few seconds later, the rest were next to them, and immediately Rockhoof, who was the second to arrive, just after Starswirl, began to check the injured pegasus and question about what happened.
"Somnambula, Flash, are you okay? What happened to you? Did you see who-!"
But he was quickly interrupted by the unicorn with the great white beard.
"Could you see where the thing that took Magnus down came from?" -asked the sorcerer severely-
The injured pegasus only shook his head, but the one who responded was the turquoise-maned pegasus that had finally caught its breath.
"Me neither, I only saw the cloud of dust in the air, as soon as I realized that Flash was falling I launched to help him."
"This is bad, I think so-"
Starswirl's words were cut off by an approaching background sound, it sounded like a stampede heading towards them and approaching rapidly, with the sound of a great blow on the ground to the noise momentarily ceased, the next instant, a few meters from them, a huge figure fell from the sky, it was the Cypriot centaur who smiled evilly at his targets.
When Starswirl realized that their enemy was in front of them, he immediately began to attack and in the next instant, the others followed suit.
Huh? What is this? I hardly feel their attacks, does this mean that the bell works very differently from how I do it? Well it doesn't matter, hahahaha, not only do I have more magic, now I'm stronger, faster, and much more resistant! hahaha.
Tirek cut off his internal monologue as Rockhoof was speeding towards him; Raising one of his front hooves he hit the ground with all his might, causing a good part in front of him to snap up, and a rock that the land pony was unable to evade due to the speed he was charging appeared in his path, he crashed headlong into the new bulge and temporarily lost consciousness, while Mistmane and Starswirl constantly attacked him, Flash was a couple of steps ahead of them with his shield, ready for whatever the centaur might throw at them, while Mage, the earth pony hurled her potions at Tirek from behind the three of them.
Everything seemed to indicate that they could easily retain the villain until Rockhoof regained consciousness, but when Somnambula tried to attack his back, the centaur took her from the air and with a quick movement threw her on the rest, knocking them all down, with a machiavellian laugh leaned over and absorbed all the magic from the pile of ponies.
"Mmmmuha, delicious, age-seasoned magic, definitely great."
"NOOOOOOO!"
Rockhoof, who had just regained consciousness, lunged at the centaur, but was easily contained and received the same treatment as the rest, when Tirek finished, he took the 6 on his magic and entered Canterlot without considerable opposition.
In the throne room, the elements, the diarchs, Discord, and Turing were gathered, the group was fine-tuning the details of their defense plan.
"The pillars are parked on the outskirts of the city, they are ready for any event." -said the monarch of the night-
Seeing the concerned face of her former student, the monarch of the sun added her opinion to calm her down.
"You don't have to worry about them, Starswirl is a pony with a good head on his shoulders, if he is outmatched, he will escape to warn us of any problems he finds."
*Shigh* "I can't help it, I'm worried for his and Starlight's safety, I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling, *shigh* but I can't let that cloud my decisions!" -she finished firmly receiving the approval of those present-
"Without a doubt," -continued the youngest of the Alicorns- "this is the darkest hour that Equestria has ever faced, all of them are dangerous enemies that we have faced before, however, we always come out victorious, this time will not be different, they think they have disabled the elements of harmony, they think they have victory assured, but we will show them that they are wrong!"
The words of the alicorn were received with cheers and words of acceptance by all those present, the only ones who did not shout were the diarchs, they just exchanged glances and smiled at each other, they both shared the same thought, 'she is ready', after a couple of hours and much discussion, they had finished adjusting their plans and everyone took their respective positions, the elements and Discord, hid behind the throne while the diarchs and Twilight stood in front of it, stoic, waiting for the arrival of their enemies, and they did not have to wait long, when they began to feel uneasy about not receiving news from the pillars, sounds of battle began to be heard outside the throne room, these lasted only a moment and then the doors were opened suddenly.
*SLAM* "Cozy Glow!" -the purple alicorn spat with disgust-
"OH! How considerate! Were you waiting for me?"
"Cozy Glow, are you…" -Twilight began-
Rising a bit in the air, to be threatening, the alicorn began to speak but was quickly interrupted by the mini-villain.
"About to sweep the floor with you!"
With a cry from the dwarf pony, she released a magic beam, interrupting the alicorn's thought, who was knocked down as she fell by the distraction.
*FFOOOOSSSSHHH*
"GHHAAA!" *plomf*
However, she quickly rejoined, helped by the diarchs who had also been surprised by the unexpected attack; a group of guards galloped in to support the princesses but was quickly dispatched by Cozy, transporting them to the pit outside the castle by opening a portal right in front of them as they charged.
"Who would have guessed? It's true! Alicorns have more fun, hahahahahahaha." -said the pony in a mocking tone, and when she finished she launched a new attack against the group in front of the throne-
But this was timely blocked by a shield generated by Twilight as she covered her face to avoid being blinded by the flash, the sisters met their gaze and nodded.
"It's time sister" -said the monarch of the sun with a firm face-
When the attack was stopped, the diarchs abandoned the shield that had just protected them, to rise into the air, and with a commanding voice, they ordered in unison.
"Give up Cozy Glow, you can't win against all three."
"But I'm having so much fun!"
The alicorns briefly exchanged gaze and began their attack, combining their magic in a powerful spell that would easily turn a powerful unicorn into ash, this was the decision they had reached a few hours ago, after having made many plans, they came to the conclusion of that they must have a hidden ace, a trap prepared if they had decided to act so openly, so the sisters decided to be the bait to activate it.
Seeing them leave the shield, all that Twilight could do was bite her lip, when she saw them combine their spell she hoped that the predictions were wrong, that there was no trap, but all hope was extinguished when the attack started.
Out of nowhere, Cozy made the bell appear and activated it, neutralizing the princesses' attack and stealing their magic at the same time, causing them crippling pain that knocked them down.
*CLONNNGGGG*
"GGHHAaaaa" *plof, plof*
"Noooooo!"
When they hit the ground, Twilight rushed over to them as the pegasus bragged about her success.
"HA! That's their problem! They rely so much on their specials powers that they don't use their brains for anything else."
But the diminutive villain's gloating was cut off by the princess's words.
"You talk about yourself, right?"
"Huh?"
"NOW!"
From behind the throne, the rest of the elements came out, the speedster being the first to reach her goal, giving quick and tight pirouettes around her, spinning her uncontrollably and moving away again, the words 'surprise attack' echoed near Cozy, so she forced herself to regain its balance, the first thing her eyes managed to register, was the manic smile of the pink pony that was suspended in the air by a light blue aura and the mouth of the confetti cannon that It occupied a large part of her visual field, she immediately covered its face with a wing and the impact was immediate, the explosion of confetti made her back away coughing to try to get it out of her throat, to be immediately attacked by pink geese commanded by Fluttershy, but she was not able to hit the animals or the element of kindness since every time she pointed, a green flare was thrown at her by Spike, every second the chase put her at a greater disadvantage.
Arrrrggghh, his coordination is too much! Why can't I make my power obey me?!
Cozy Glow was trying desperately not to lose the bell as she tried to find a gap in her attackers' coordination, but a rope suddenly tied her up, causing her to hit the ground with a sharp jerk.
"Gghhhhaaa" *PLOF* "UGHhh!"
Finding herself on the ground and surrounded, she immediately secured the bell between her hooves, while casting aggressive glances at the ponies around her.
Damn I'm surrounded, now what do I do?!, my magic isn't doing exactly what I want, I can't rely on teleporting far from here!
But just when all seemed lost for Cozy, a glow illuminated the stained glass windows, realizing this, the smile returned to the little villain who immediately covered herself with a shield the instant that an explosion threw all those who were standing against the floor.
Concentrating, Twilight quickly gathered everyone and generated a shield around them, while, through the newly opened gap behind the throne, the imposing figure of Tirek and the empowered figure of Chrysalis entered.
"MNAHAHAHA, do you think your pathetic shield will be able to stop us? No Princess Twilight, the pillars were defeated and your school is abandoned, you have to accept reality, this time you have lost." *Hissss* -said the former queen with a threatening tone-
"You may think you've defeated us, but you haven't, and even if you did, it doesn't matter, no matter how many of us you take down, Equestria will still stand and in the end, it will be you who will fall."
The villains exchanged glances with a neutral countenance and immediately afterward laughed.
"MnhahahahahaahHAHAHAHAAHAHA"
"MuajajajaajaHAHAHAHAHAHA"
"JijijahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
"Are they so blind that they haven't noticed?" -said Tirek being the first to recover- "in case you didn't know strange things have been happening all over Equestria, we've been busy."
"A rumor here, a gossip there, a whisper from the shadows." -contributed the Changeling-
"We take care to subtly destroy the trust and friendship of ponies, friendships can be damaged so easily." -continued the centaur with a mocking tone-
"With the subtle accumulation of damage, it was very easy to turn the ponies against each other." -added Cozy fluttering around the shield-
"We put the entire kingdom on edge, that all it takes to sink into chaos is the slightest push in the wrong direction." -Chrysalis continued-
"There will no longer be friends or rainbow magic that can save you." -Tirek said-
"Do you know what is more powerful than friendship?" -The Changeling interrupted, putting herself in front of Twilight- "the [Fear]" Great with this level of power I can use the spell without falling exhausted!
Suddenly an intense panic flooded the alicorn momentarily, making her lose concentration, allowing the shield to be easily destroyed, but as it reached her, the alicorn expelled it from herself, she was not alone, fear could not dominate her.
"And what makes you believe that the magic of friendship only extends to ponies?"
"What?"
The question so out of place with the rhythm of the conversation stopped the villains in their tracks.
"TURING!" -shouted the purple alicorn with all her might-
Suddenly everyone who was with Twilight burned in multicolored flames that distracted the villains for a second, the next instant a large object caught their attention, a huge piece of debris was thrown against them, clouding their vision with dust.
Changelings! But how? I would have realized almost immediately, just by looking at them in the eye, when they changed with the originals.
Doubt crossed Chrysalis's mind as she tried to spit the dust in her throat; then, pieces of metal were heard falling to the floor, followed by a voice with a metallic reverberation.
"Overclock active, A mode active."
The next thing the villains felt was the huge shock that threw them to the outskirts of Canterlot, near where Tirek had fought the pillars, they had been hit with the same spell that the diarchs had tried to use previously against Cozy when they managed to reorient themselves, they opened their eyes and found they were surrounded, Yaks, Dragons, Hippogriffs, Ponies, Kirin, Changeling, Deer, representatives of all the nearby races with which Equestria had friendly ties, they looked at them with fierce eyes, the sky was quickly covered with clouds dark, cold air rapidly lowered the temperature of everything around them, the Windigos had reached the center of conflict and misery; As they tried to assess their new situation, Twilight and her friends appeared a few meters in front of them.
"The only deluded ones here were you," -Twilight spoke confidently- "the magic of friendship is not limited to ponies, the elements of harmony cannot be destroyed or deactivated, you have fallen into your own trap!"
With these words the battle began, the attack signal was given by Twilight, charging a massive amount of magic in his horn, she launched a powerful blunt beam with which she knocked down Tirek, in the next instant a large number of pegasi caused mist around the villains to block their view when they tried to counterattack they lost their balance, the yak made the floor shake, they could not find the elements since a large number of Changeling imitated them, the dragons threw fire at them or attacked them with their claws, little by little they were overcome.
"What annoying flies!"
With a furious scream and using a large charged pulse, the villains knocked down everyone who was still fighting around them knocking them unconscious, when they searched around to see if anyone was still standing, a beam of energy drew a circle around them.
"ENOUGH!, As you can see you are not as powerful as you thought," -said Twilight as they came flying- "the magic of friendship is found in everyone, not just ponies!"
The villans crossed glances and launched a joint attack against the Alicorn with all their might.
*FFFFOOOOOOSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!*
*BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!*
"HA, there you go, your friendship magic was of no use to you!"
Cozy Glow yelled triumphantly, but the voice that came out of the smoke cut off her celebration.
*SHIGH* "You know Cozy, I'm truly sorry I wasn't able to make you see the magic of friendship."
"WHAT?! Impossible!" -Yelled Tirek-
When the smoke cleared, not only was Twilight, all the elements were around her, suspended in the air by the power that surrounded them.
"No matter how many times you attack, it will always end up falling, friendship does not only exist between ponies, all creatures have within themselves the magic of friendship, the elements were never tools of power, they were always mere representations, the true ones, and its magic has always been within its bearers and all creatures."
The alicorn's eyes began to glow and the pillars that until now had been enclosed in the crystal caves under Canterlot appeared floating to the right of the M6, behind them, the Young Six floated to their left, all while the alicorn continued to speak.
"As there will always be darkness in the world, there will always be those who will find the light, the pillars were the first and with the help of the light they sowed the seed of the tree of harmony, and although they did not create it, their efforts bore fruit in the elements that Celestia and Luna found, the same ones that chose me and my friends as carriers, and now, even without the physical need for them, a new generation of carriers has been chosen,"
During his speech, the pillars regained their magic and the Young Six gave happy looks to the princess of friendship.
"That light is called harmony and it is within everyone, likewise we can all represent it, together."
With these last words, Twilight crossed her front hooves over her chest, closing her eyes, the next instant, the pillars launched a multicolored beam towards Twilight as she felt within them the magic of harmony, then her friends and finally the Young Six, when the three energy beams focused on Twilight who floated higher than the rest, raised her head pointing her horn directly to the sky and a thick ray of light ascended, this, immediately afterward, was covered by rainbow spirals, when it reached his highest point, it caused a rainbow explosion that dispelled the black clouds and annihilated the Windigos, scattering them in frost across the sky.
"Erm, this is bad, right?" -asked Cozy Glow-
"Quick, use the bell!" -Answered Tirek-
"Didn't you have it?!" -answered the pegasus-
"They took it from us when they took us out of the castle, *shigh* that mare in armor has it." -answered the Changeling-
"This is going to hurt right?" -asked Cozy-
"You have no idea."
With the last words of the centaur, a thick rainbow ray descended from the sky on the villains, removing all the stolen power, returning them to their original state causing them an intense feeling of emptiness.
*pant pant pant*
As the light waned, the first thing Chrysalis checked was that the items that had been loaned to her were still with her and in good condition, after confirming it, she breathed deeply, keeping the mask of hatred.
Well now there is only the final act and my mission will be complete. "Friendship will not save you forever! we will return! we will always return! nothing will stop us until finally!..."
Changeling's words were cut off by a huge muffing with strawberry frosting and colored sprinkles on top falling from the sky over them, followed by chocolate rain.
All eyes turned to the master of chaos.
"Don't look at me, I still haven't gotten my magic back."
"Turing, *glup* did you use Grogar's bell?" -Twilight asked fearfully-
"Negative, my reserves are not capable of storing chaotic magic." -answered the metallic voice of the automaton-
"B-but you still have it, right?"
"Negative, Pinkie Pie asked me to loan it to her for five minutes exactly one minute ago."
"Emm, Pinkie? Are you okay? How are you feeling?" -Asked the purple alicorn-
Everyone's gaze fell on the party pony that had the bell between her hooves and a strange smile, wide but without revealing her teeth, it vibrated slightly and from time to time an electric arc would jump around her.
"Hmm, my body is tingling, I have some itchiness and also…"
Before everyone's stare, she grew to over 10 meters in height, its mane expanded into tentacles that looked like cotton candy and its pupils took the form of glazed muffins, with colors included, while the sky was covered with pink clouds, balloons began to rise from the ground and fairground booths to float through the air.
"WITH THE POWER TO TRANSFORM THE WHOLE COSMOS INTO A GLACE!"
When confetti and streamers started raining down, Discord finally spoke.
"Do you think I should…?"
Upon receiving affirmations and assents from everyone around him, the Draconequus flew up to face the face of the pink mountain, took the bell from his hoof, and used it, removing all the chaotic magic of the element of laughter, it shrunk to its normal size and immediately fell to the ground where she was caught by Twilight, meanwhile, the master of chaos used the bell on himself to regain his powers, when he finished he snapped his fingers and appeared in front of the diarchy, activating the bell to return their magic, after which their manes and tails floated ethereally as usual.
With all the creatures gathered around her, the princess of friendship turned to everyone.
"Thank you all very much for your help, without your strength they would have destroyed all of Equestria."
"You don't have to thank Princess Twilight," -answered the King of the Changeling- "Your plan was great, I doubt that any of us would have come up with something so unusual."
"Besides," -continued the draconic queen Ember- "It is just as you teach it in your school, the more we participate in the magic of friendship the safer we will all be."
The queen finished while giving Smolder a look full of affection and pride.
Everyone's attention was drawn to the giant muffing when the three villains desperate for oxygen poked their heads out of it.
*Ghhhasp heee fuuu heee fuuu heee fuu*
"There is no punishment severe enough for you to expire everything you have done!"
The angry faces of the monarchs of the sun and the moon looked closely at the villains trapped under the bread, but Discord approached them both and whispered his idea in their ears at the same time, having doubled up to do so without appearing in their midst, the smile on all four did not bode well for the villains.
"Hmm, yeah, that seems quite appropriate to me." -Luna answered after hearing the proposal-
"Can I help you?" -said the Discord on the right-
"Pretty please?" -finished the one on the left and they both made cute eyes-
The diarchs accepted and the three prepared their magic, (the master of chaos was unified again) casting their spells at the same time, the effect was immediate.
The muffing flew into pieces and the villains saw how their skin began to petrify quickly with horror, the only one who kept the clear hatred on her face was the former Queen Changeling who tried to pounce on the diarchy, finally, the magic finished its work, where Before there were the three villains, now there was a statue with a pedestal of them, Cozy with a face of despair 'floating' in the air, Tirek trying to cover himself from the spell and Chrysalis jumping in charge with her mouth wide open revealing her fangs.
"Together forever" -said the Draconequus- "I can't think of anything else that they have wished less."
The sun princess turned to Twilight and began her speech.
"When I sent you to Poniville…"
"Mmmh, well, the battle is already over." The voice of the Sorcerer King commander rang out.
But his words were not heard by any creature, the image became watery and then disappeared.
"What is your opinion Demiurge?"
"I think her ability to innovate with the materials at hand is acceptable, she can be a good pawn in the future."
"Albedo"
"I have the same opinion as Demiurge, her abilities are not a big deal, but she can still be improved."
*Shigh* what I wanted was your opinion of the battle conducted by the princess, not whether it was to be worthy of serving Nazarick.
"Umu, while her tactics weren't a big deal, we must admit his improvisational ability, that trick with the Changelings wasn't such a bad idea."
"It is just as you say Ainz-sama," -the Succubus replied again- "but if Chrysalis had not been under our control, the distraction would have failed miserably."
*Shigh* They're right about that, but what I wanted them to see first was the tactic, not the flaws.
"Well, that was enough entertainment for today, you can return to your work, there is still a lot to do."
Bowing, the guardians withdrew from the Supreme Being's office.
Well, I have the rest of the afternoon to review reports and the night to continue practicing poses and reviewing the books I took from the library, let's get to work!
After defeating the villains and taking care of their punishment, as well as thanking the support of all the neighboring nations and arranging an impromptu feast for all the combatants, the M6, Turing, and the pillars spent the night at Canterlot Castle, which fortunately had not received catastrophic damage, however, Twilight could not sleep all night and her friends noticed it when they shared the table with the princesses during breakfast, however, it was not for nothing, considering the bomb that Celestia dropped in front of everyone foreign rulers and their troops the day before as part of her speech.
"Wwwaaaahhh mña mña mña, good morning everyone."
After the chorus of greetings from the others, the dressmaker spoke immediately.
"For heaven's sake my dear, you look terrible! Did you spend all night awake?"
*Shigh* "No, well, something like that, the truth is that I practically did not sleep at all, I was thinking all night, trying to understand why they want to retire," -she said looking at the sisters on the other side of the round table- "but more than anything trying to understand why they chose me as the successor."
Seeing her former student's stress, the Sun Monarch spoke fondly.
"Twilight, it's simple enough, our reign was long and prosperous, but a paradigm shift is already needed,"
"We and our way of thinking comes from the past." -added Luna-
"It is time for someone with fresh ideas to take the reins of the nation, we did not last so long in power because we wanted to keep it,"
"During all that time we waited for someone worthy to emerge to take the throne." -added the youngest of the sisters after swallowing the food from her mouth-
"But that didn't happen until these last few years when we saw you grow as a pony, mature as a leader, and not only that but also correct our past mistakes."
With this last comment, the sisters exchanged a look full of sisterly love.
"We are sure you're ready for the position, Twilight." -the princess of the night finished after drinking the last of her juice-
"When you took charge of the problem yourself, we decided not to intervene," -continued Celestia- "at that moment Luna and I decided that this would be your last test, the one that would confirm whether or not you were ready for the position, and I can assure you that each and every one of your achievements so far made me feel more and more proud of you, but none of them prepare me for how proud I felt when you took the problem by yourself and solved it in the best possible way."
"But seriously, when they dropped the bomb, her face had no price, that I would not have given for having a camera HAHAHAHAHAHA!" -interrupted the hoarse voice of the speedster-
The comment caused the purple alicorn's face to redden in embarrassment.
"Hahaha, y'a right, it took almost three whole minutes to the poor filly before she could baste two words together." -added AJ-
"Maybe so, but after those three minutes she showed her mettle and made a choice proper of a ruler." -said the dressmaker with pride for her friend-
"Well, it was obvious that it is not possible to carry out anything with the throne room in that state, postponing the coronation until the repairs are complete was the most logical option, besides, the rest of the creatures also needed time to do their preparations." -the alicorn defended-
"Okay, this breakfast has gone down well for us after yesterday, but I think it's about time we put our hooves to work, Twilight, now that everything has settled down a bit, I think we should start planning the extended proposal that we will deliver to the nations on the other side of the mirror who wish to take asylum in Equestria, furthermore, if I'm not mistaken, I believe that tomorrow is when they will return the prisoners who were sentenced to serve a week as punishment in the Sorcerer Kingdom, also, will soon finish the cleaning work in the throne room and begin the reconstruction, so I think we can receive them without any problem, as for the new 'statue', what would be good to do with it?"
After meditating a bit on the words of her mentor, the princess of friendship still could not find a good answer.
"Mmmnh, I think for now it has to be placed in a visible place, perhaps in the main patio is a good idea, and later we will take care of giving them the right place."
"Speaking of the new garden ornament," Starlight interrupted, "there is something that has been bothering me since yesterday, it's just like something doesn't add up."
"What is it that troubles you, noble Starlight?" -asked Luna-
This surprised her momentarily, as she was not expecting one of the diarchs to respond.
"Ah, this, yes, you will see when Chrysalis attacked me, I thought she had become quite powerful, her words reminded me how much she hates me, but her actions, they did not match at all, I mean, instead of simply torturing or weakening me she locked me in and while she wasn't looking directly at me she seemed disinterested."
"Umm, I'm not completely sure, but she seemed quite motivated to me when she faced everyone outside of Canterlot." -spoke Fluttershy-
"That is precisely what I mean!, when she fought me she did not use all her power if she had used against me the strength and speed that she use during the pitched battle, I would not have been able to even keep up with her, it was as if all her anger was fake while fighting, as if she was just acting, in fact when the pillars and I were locked up, in the crystal caves under the castle, she objected to the idea of simply eliminating or torturing us at that very moment, it was as if she was diverting the attention of the other two."
Now that she mention it it's true, also, if I remember correctly when Starswirl offered to bring the statue to the castle, he seemed to be a bit sad for some reason. -the purple alicorn thought-
How curious, does that have something to do with Starswirl offering to stay to guard the statue tonight? -thought Celestia-
The group was silent for a moment and the one who broke it was the pink pony.
"Maybe she was not against us if not on our side, maybe it was all the plan painstakingly orchestrated by a great strategist, or maybe she was just following a complicated plan designed by a cunning demon, who knows?" -the pony finished shrugging her shoulders and sipping her milkshake-
They all exchanged worried glances for several seconds and then simply accepted that it was just Pinkie being Pinkie.
But the pony's words made Turing who had been observing everything in silence until now, doubt.
I think I'll take another look at the statue of petrified villains.
Meanwhile, on the seventh floor of the great underground tomb of Nazarick two demons were chatting about the tasks at hand.
"Well then, those are the latest results of the experiments?" -asked the Archdemon in a red suit-
"It is correct Demiurge-sama" -answered the amorphous demon that served as a messenger-
"Well then- Achis!...?"
"I-is Demiurge-sama okay?"
"I'm sure it's nothing, but it's better to be safe, tell Pestonia I will visit her later."