The Conquering of Love

by Littlecolt


Twilight Sparkle Ch 7 - Transference

Book One: Twilight Sparkle

Chapter Seven - Transference

Twilight felt a blast of hot air and a wave of force pushing her back. It happened so fast, the next thing she knew she was flying backwards through the air. Her ears rang and all the sound around her was muted. A few seconds later, she solidly met the ground and rolled for several more feet.

She raised her head and tried to look around, but her vision was spinning. Bright lights flickered all around her and she could feel intense heat. The smell of smoke began to permeate the air.

Fire! Twilight thought, shaking her head as she tried to get a grip on her senses. Her vision slowly started to stabilize and she looked all around her. She was outside on the lawn of Rarity’s house. Flames licked up from the floor of the boutique ahead of her. The wall opposite where the rift was had been blown to rubble, which was now lying in flames all around her.

“Princess! Pinkie!” Twilight yelled as she regained her footing. A sharp pain shot through her head as she yelled. She placed a hoof to her forehead and felt a sharp edge and the warm wetness of blood. She pulled whatever had cut into her out of her forehead. It fell to the ground and landed with a thunking sound.

“At least nothing hit my eyes...” she said, and then realized what the object was that had just lodged itself into the dirt. It was a sharp shard of a green colored lens. Twilight looked around in a panic and saw more glistening shards of the Colorscope lying strewn around her.

No time to worry about it now! she thought. She ran towards the burning building as quickly as she could.

“Princess!” she yelled as she approached. “Pinkie! Are you alright?”

A figure emerged from the flaming hole in the wall. Rainbow Dash, her mane burning in places and her face blackened with soot, stopped just outside of the boutique. She turned and reached a hoof back through the opening. She kicked, and out rolled Celestia. Her Twilight Glimmer disguise was slowly deteriorating, revealing Celestia’s true form.

“Princess!” yelled Twilight, running faster towards the two. She lowered her head and prepared to attack the changeling that was posing as Rainbow Dash. Then a familiar laugh shot out from Rainbow Dash’s mouth.

“So it was Celestia, then! This is too rich!” said Rainbow Dash, her body distorting and growing.

Twilight stopped in her tracks and fell backwards. She watched in horror as Rainbow Dash turned fully black. Her hooves extended and formed holes, and a crooked horn sprouted from her forehead. Her wings exploded in an eruption of blue feathers, revealing a pair insect-like wings underneath. The unmistakably imposing gaze of Chrysalis burned into Twilight’s eyes.

Twilight once again regained her footing and looked at the princess, whose disguise was now fully gone as well. Her face was charred along her cheeks and chin. Her mane was smoldering in several places and streaked with blood.

“This can’t be happening!” yelled Twilight as she approached the princess. The changeling queen laughed and stepped to the side to let her pass, just like in Twilight’s nightmare. The princess raised her head and looked at Twilight.

“Twilight... My faithful student. I wish...” Celestia began, but was cut off by Twilight.

“No! Stop!” Twilight yelled as tears streamed down her face. “This can’t turn into that nightmare! Please don’t leave me!”

Chrysalis laughed. “It’s too late, Twilight Sparkle! You’ve failed!” she said.

Celestia sighed and shook her head. “I’m not leaving you yet, Twilight. I just wish I’d thought to tell you how to avoid a blowback from opening that rift!”

Twilight raised her head and cocked it to one side.

“You’ve still failed! This pathetic plan of yours ends now!” Chrysalis said as she stepped towards the two of them with a sneer on her face.

“You think so?” asked Celestia, nodding her head to the fiery room behind the changeling.

Chrysalis turned her head just in time to see Pinkie Pie, her mane completely in flames, flying through the air towards her. The pink pony crashed her front hooves into the side of the changeling queen’s head and knocked her forward onto the ground. Pinkie rolled as she hit the dirt hard.

Celestia pushed herself back up onto her legs and closed the slight distance between her and the now grounded changeling. She lower her head and pressed her horn’s tip directly to the side of Chrysalis’ head.

Pinkie Pie, her mane still flaming, pulled herself over to the two of them and pinned the back of the changeling’s neck to the ground.

Chrysalis stared into Celestia’s eyes with a smug smile on her lips. “You three really are hilarious!” she laughed.

“I don’t think it’s time for you to be laughing, monster,” said Celestia as a burst of white energy erupted from the tip of her horn. The energy shot through Chrysalis, and her expression quickly changed from gleeful to angry.

“And I don’t think it’s a time for you to be getting cocky, princess!” said Chrysalis.

Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “How are you manipulating the dreams? Speak!” she yelled.

Chrysalis laughed again and dug her hooves into the dirt. Celestia pressed the tip of her horn harder against the changeling’s head, drawing a few drops of blood.

“You know what the funniest part of this whole situation is?” asked Chrysalis, not waiting for a response. “It’s that somehow you think you can call me a monster! It’s just so... poetic!

“Princess, you can end this now! It doesn’t matter how she’s doing it if we stop her here!” yelled Twilight. Chrysalis laughed and Celestia frowned and shook her head. As the tip of Celestia’s horn moved to the side, Chrysalis leaped upwards, flinging Pinkie Pie away. She reared up on her hind legs above Celestia, who was still crouching. The changeling lowered her horn and lunged towards Celestia.

“Princess!” yelled Twilight.

Celestia pushed herself forward and lifted her head. Her horn pierced the changeling’s chest with a hollow sound. With a single fluid motion, she then rose to her hooves and tilted her head to the side. The changeling’s body dropped from her horn and hit the ground.

“Killing her here will do us no good, Twilight,” said Celestia as she walked towards Twilight. “This was merely a shadow of hers.”

The changeling’s body began to be absorbed in the dancing shadows being cast from the flaming building. Twilight stared in awe at her mentor as she approached. Her eyes were devoid of their usual kindness, and her horn was stained red.

“We have to go now, Twilight. We can only hope that Chrysalis was not able to see what just happened here.” said Celestia as she reached a hoof out to Twilight.

Twilight, a bit scared, but also determined to persevere, took the princess’ hoof and rose to her side.

“Yowch!” yelled Pinkie Pie, jumping away from the boutique and smacking her hooves against her head. “My mane’s on fire!”

“You only just noticed?” Twilight asked.

“Well, yeah! I don’t know what the Pinkie Sense for burning mane is!” said Pinkie Pie, exasperated.

Twilight managed to laugh and smile at Pinkie. Pinkie smiled back and then turned towards the burning building.

“What a mess.” said Pinkie Pie.

“We’d better hurry,” said Twilight, “I hear hoofsteps coming this way, and if the others were any indication, they’re not coming to check if we’re okay.”

Celestia nodded, and then turned to Pinkie Pie.

“You should be safe once we leave, Pinkie Pie. I hate to dash at this point, but we have to,” said Celestia.

Pinkie Pie nodded. “Don’t you worry about me!” she said with confidence.

Twilight gasped as she remembered her broken visor. “The colorscope! It was destroyed in the blast!” She flipped open her now charred saddle bags and found that the communicator that Pinkie had given her was still intact, though. She breathed a sigh of relief for having not lost everything.

“We know where the rift is, we should be able to go through it without the scope.” said Celestia as she leapt into the flames of the Carousel Boutique.

“Go on!” said Pinkie Pie, “You’ll figure out something, I know it!” She smiled and waved.

Twilight smiled back and nodded her head, then turned and jumped after the princess.

In the boutique, the heat was overwhelming. Twilight quickly bolted towards Celestia, who was already at the far wall. A perfect circle of flames sat upon the wall, evenly burning with a slight green tint. Just in front of the flaming circle stood Applejack, her face blackened from the explosion and her legs halfway revealed as changeling legs.

“You can’t stop this,” said the changeling, in Applejack’s voice. “Even the queen herself couldn’t stop it if she wanted to.”

Twilight closed her eyes tightly and her horn began to glow a violet hue as she prepared an energy blast. Celestia reached her hoof back and placed it on Twilight’s forehead.

“Just a moment, Twilight,” said Celestia as she eyed the changeling suspiciously. “Let’s not be hasty. What do you mean by that, changeling? What can’t the queen stop even if she wanted to? The dreams, or something else?”

The changeling sat down and laughed. Its disguise further dissolved, Applejack’s image flickering away like a fire going out. Soon, only Applejack’s face, hair, and hat remained. The creature shook its head and stared at the ground.

“The madness,” it said, still using Applejack’s voice. “This whole mission. She never even came up with this idea. Invade Equestria? It’s crazy...” The changeling heaved forward and coughed. Celestia placed a hoof gently on its back, her expression having returned to its normal compassionate state.

“Whose idea was it?” Celestia asked, speaking soothingly.

The changeling coughed uncontrollably. It gasped for enough breath to speak. “Don’t matter,” it managed to say between heavy breaths. “Cloudsdale team... won’t make it... we’re all dead... Even you...”

Celestia frowned at the mention of Cloudsdale. Twilight stepped forward. Even though it was a changeling, the face was still Applejack’s, and she hated seeing her friend like that.

“Why are you telling us all this?” asked Twilight. The changeling nodded its head across the room. Twilight turned and looked. Fluttershy and Rarity laid in a pile, burning. Twilight gasped at the sight.

“Maybe... seein’ that somehow brought out this pony’s honest personality...” said the changeling. “Please, leave now... so this sufferin’ ends. I don’t wanna see ‘em... burnin’ like that.”

Celestia nodded her head and walked towards the flaming circle on the wall. “Very well, changeling,” she said, “we shall do just that.”

Twilight looked back at the changeling in shock. Is this from my dream world’s Applejack? Or is this changeling really showing... compassion? thought Twilight.

The changeling laughed as it caught sight of Twilight’s expression. “Are you that surprised? We have loyalty, pony! We only lack... love...” it said as it fell forward onto the floor. “But maybe bein’ in this dream... bein’ this Applejack... seein’ this place burn, and her friends with it... made me feel... somethin’... somethin’ sad... and somethin’ inside a’ me burnin’, too...”

The changeling closed its eyes and breathed out one last time. The image of Applejack remained on its face, a smile frozen on its lips. Twilight sighed and turned back to the princess.

“Let’s go, Twilight. Follow me closely and don’t take your eyes off me. You need to keep your emotions in check, no matter what you see and feel on the other side of this rift.” said Celestia.

Twilight nodded. The princess leapt through the wall and vanished. Twilight pressed the pink-gemmed communicator firmly into her ear, and then jumped through as well. As she pressed through the wall, a bright flash of light blinded her briefly. As her eyes adjusted, she saw that she was floating in a green stream of water-like energy suspended in the air. She could see Princess Celestia just ahead of her motioning her to follow.

Twilight tried to push forward with her hooves, but gained no momentum. The energy looked like a river, but didn’t allow one to swim through it. She looked to the princess for guidance. Celestia simply tapped her horn.

Twilight shrugged. Makes sense... stream of magical energy, so move around with magic, she thought. She concentrated on the idea of her body flowing through this stream like a fish in water, and in no time at all, she was moving forward. She waved to the princess, and then turned to glance backwards. She was unprepared for what she saw.

She saw herself, but absolutely huge, and encased in a changeling cocoon. She placed her hooves over her mouth to keep herself from gasping. From behind her, she could hear the princess shushing her quietly. Twilight took a deep breath and turned back towards Celestia. She finally came alongside her.

“Concentrate on the energy all around us,” whispered Celestia. “Can you feel it?”

Twilight scrunched her face up for a moment, searching for the sensation. It came to her quickly. She was filled with an overwhelming sense of joy. The feeling nearly brought her to tears.

“Don’t let it break you down, now,” whispered Celestia. “This is the power that the changelings feed upon. This is the raw energy of love.”

“It feels wonderful,” said Twilight with a bit of sadness in her voice from the thought that Chrysalis was feeding on this energy.

“All right, the next part is going to take you a bit longer, but as we move towards the collection pool, try to visualize it,” said Celestia. “The green flow you see is just from the changeling. Once you can see the energy of love, it will be a lot easier to move around.”

Twilight tried to visualize the energy as the two floated towards a large green pool of energy in the distance, but she couldn’t quite make it out. Everything was hazy, despite the energy being so powerful.

As they entered the central collection pool, Twilight could feel herself being pulled downward. Celestia grabbed Twilight around her arm and pulled her up towards the top of the pool.

“If we ever get pulled down by that undertow, I really don’t know what would happen,” said Celestia, “but I can not imagine it would be good.”

As they reached the top, Twilight felt an enormous wave of energy crash over her. Emotions welled up inside of her. Tears began to uncontrollably fall from her eyes. Her mouth curled upward into a smile so big it hurt her cheeks. She looked at Celestia, who was also smiling, but visibly fighting to resist it.

Then a giant pulse of energy flew right through Twilight. It sent chills down her spine and filled her stomach with butterflies. She knew immediately, without any doubt in her mind, where the pulse had come from.

“Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight, “what are you doing?”

“Which way did you feel it come from?” asked Celestia. “We should aim for Rainbow Dash if at all possible. Once we enter another pony’s stream, though, we will be locked on course. It will get a little bumpy, but don’t worry, it’s fairly simple after that.”

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated. She tried to remember everything she could about the pulse of energy, but it was just so amazingly powerful, she was having trouble pinning down a specific heading. As she thought this, another pulse hit her, and her eyes flew open.

“This way!” she said as her horn glowed and she flew upward. Celestia followed quickly.

“Here it comes,” said Celestia.

“Here what comes?” asked Twilight.

Her question was answered rather quickly as she felt herself get pulled upward, Celestia right behind her. They now accelerated at an amazing rate, flying through the air. The outline of a cocoon flew towards them so fast it was impossible to identify the pony inside of it. Twilight raised her hooves up in front of her face.

“We’re gonna hit it!” she yelled and closed her eyes tightly.

A moment later, she felt herself land softly in what felt like a stack of hay. Celestia landed gently on her hooves beside her. Twilight stood up and looked around, shaking the debris from her mane. They were surrounded by tall grass, some of it taller than Twilight. The two pushed their way through, trying to find a clearing. They eventually came out near a large tree. It was covered in thick vines. The sound of birds and other animals scattering echoed across the field as the two ponies exited the grass.

“Where are we?” asked Twilight, “It must be some place like the Everfree Forest.”

Celestia shook her head.

“No, Twilight,” said Celestia as she pulled some thick vines to the side, revealing a door in the tree’s trunk, “I’m afraid not.”

Twilight grabbed more vines and pulled them down, fully revealing the all too familiar door. This was her home, Golden Oaks Library.

“What in the world happened?” asked Twilight, as she dropped the vines onto the ground.


END OF BOOK ONE: TWILIGHT SPARKLE

TO BE CONTINUED IN BOOK TWO: OVERGROWTH