//------------------------------// // Episode 156: The Crystal Princess Drenched Crimson // Story: Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls // by thatguyvex //------------------------------// Episode 156: The Crystal Princess Drenched Crimson The skies above the Crystal Empire were being gradually stained gray by a growing haze of smoke that stemmed from fires that burned across the city below. Amid that haze, two figures clashed in a display of sparks, punctuated by thin lines of piercing magical blasts.  No matter how Princess Cadence’s spear thrust, nor how often her horn emitted beams of cutting blue light, the Second Espada always was a laughing step or two ahead. The rose adorned spear of light blue crystal that Cadence wove in a deadly pattern of swift thrusts or slashing combos ever met with the blocking blade of Chrysalis’ Zanpaktou. Each thin beam of penetrating magical power that flew from Cadence’s horn met with empty air, Chrysalis’ Sonido so fast that she left a mocking after image that laughed at the alicorn’s efforts. “I suspected you were the weakest of the lot, but this is still pretty disappointing, Princess,” Chrysalis said, halting another of Cadence’s thrusts with the tip of her own blade, the Zanpaktou holding the crystal spear in place tip-to-tip with seeming no strain on the Espada’s part. Chrysalis’ head cocked heavily to one side, her face growing a look of genuine curiosity that still somehow came off as chiding, “You’re not holding out on me, are you? I can admire the steel clad ovaries on you to actually try playing with me, but it’s no fun if we’re both tip-toeing around the foreplay. So should I turn up the heat? Get you more in the mood?” Just like that, Chrysalis switched from playful defense to a savage offense. Already moving supremely fast, she cranked up her speed further, the air filling with a continuous buzzing noise from scores of multiple consecutive Sonidos that left Chrysalis appearing around Cadence in a storm of visual copies and after images. Cadence was fast to erect a defensive barrier around herself, but cried out as she had still been too slow in the act to avoid several painful cuts that drew splashes of blood from wounds on her legs and chest. Once her shield was up it held a little, but Chrysalis seemed to increase the force of her blows with each strike, and in seconds the barrier shattered. In a quick defensive maneuver, Cadence teleported a hundred feet up out of the hurricane of slashes and swept her spear out in a wide arc. Crystal shards shot out of the spear and laced with magical power that made them glow brightly, they fell amid the space Chrysalis had been attacking and exploded like aerial mines, sending crystalline shrapnel in all directions. Cadence grimaced as she heard another Sonido next to her and jumped back as Chrysalis casually tried to lean on her shoulder. Looking conversational, Chrysalis tugged at her clothes, which was filled with holes and bits of crystal, “Come on now, Cadence. Ruining my outfit like this is just so... petty, don’t you think?” “Do you enjoy treating this like a game?” Cadence accused with acid in her voice, and Chrysalis just smiled. “Naturally. Life is meant to be enjoyed, isn’t it? Not much point to doing anything if you’re not going to take pleasure in it. Oh, I get that my appetites aren’t exactly to everyone’s tastes, but I see that as a ‘them’ problem, not a ‘me’ problem.” “Have you ever considered a hobby that doesn’t involve making other people miserable?” Cadence shot back, raising her spear above her head. There, she created a magical copy of the weapon, at about twenty times the scale, which crackled and hummed with arcs of magical power before Cadence gestured with her spear and sent the giant projectile flying at Chrysalis with enough speed and force to rip a wave through the sound barrier. Chrysalis yawned, raising a finger, at the tip of which a pure emerald sphere of light gathered before discharging into a massive Cero beam that slammed into the magical spear projectile and consumed it entirely before blasting it’s way upwards out of the atmosphere. “People are always going to be miserable. If it isn’t me making them that way, someone or something else will. That’s just how souls are. Never happy for long, unless it comes at the cost of someone else. I just embrace it and have fun with it. Quite frankly the rest of you seem crazy to me, going through life pretending to be ‘moral’ when most of it just looks like self satisfaction gussied up as being a ‘good person’.” She appeared in an instant in front of Cadence, moving with the slick grace of an oiled shadow. Her dark legs spun in a punishing heel kick that tore the air as it went, and Cadence barely got her spear in the way to block with the shaft. Even then the massive blow sent Cadence flying backwards, barely able to recover after a few tumbles, and when she did so she saw the crystal spear had been broken in half by the kick, the shaft snapped neatly in half. “Huh,” said Chrysalis, “Thought maybe that spear was something special, but just looks like a piece of crystal you shoved some magic into.” The Espada’s eyes began to narrow to dangerous slits, “Are you sure you’re not holding out on me? This is starting to feel a bit like someone is playing a joke on me, and while I have a wicked sense of humor, I’m not a fan of pranks. Ah, but then again...” She held up her empty palm towards “Cadence” and a much greater amount of reiatsu began to build up within her, darkness and thick, jade light emanating from her body in a thick wave. Power flowed into her palm in a growing sphere of burning emerald light, a Cero of far greater destructive power than what she’d unleashed thus far, “...I can always just stop playing with you and see if you’re the real deal, or just a soon-to-be corpse.” “Cadence” visibly gulped and tossed aside the bits of broken spear, and planted herself firmly, her voice not quavering but taking on a distinctly different tone, “Geeze, you’re even worse than she is, and that’s such a low bar I didn’t think it could be crossed.” Another voice shouted from above, a small insect that had been observing the battle now somehow having the deep masculine voice of a full grown adult, “I told you that trying to fight her one on one was a dumb idea! Are you going to let me in on this or what!?” “Y-yeah, could use the help!” said “Cadence”, just as Chrysalis discharged her Cero. Magic pooled in “Cadence’s” horn and fired out in a thick, teal beam. It was joined as the small insect, a stag beetle, now flew down beside her and a ball of green flame appeared to reveal a darkly colored, chitinous form that unleashed a wide beam of emerald magic of his own. The two beams combined into a multi-colored torrent that impacted with Chrysalis’ Cero, the explosive energies mixing together to create a significant detonation in the sky that shook every house in the Crystal Empire and a good chunk of land for miles around. It took a minute for the smoke to clear from the explosion, and when it did Chrysalis’ narrowed eyes opened up once more, her lips now twitching into a somewhat difficult to control grin, “So, I see my counterpart did at least one thing right with her miserable life. She still gave birth to two fine looking sons. It’s good to see you, Pharynx, Thorax.” With the smoke cleared, it was plain to see that one of the two individuals standing to face Chrysalis was indeed the changeling known as Pharynx. A dark mixture of blue and green carapace covered most of his body, save for some lighter mauve portions around his belly and wings, the wings themselves a rich magenta. Small burnished orange horns like a stags’ sprung from his head, and three small, pale jewel-like protrusions were embedded in his chest. He was, like his human counterpart, a sturdily built individual with a stern gaze in his solid purple eyes.  “Keep the compliments, you crazy hag,” Pharynx said in a gruff voice, raising his right arm and shifting it in a wash of green changeling fire to become a large, curved scythe-like blade, “You cut my brother. I’ve got a lot of payback coming your way.” “Uh, the concern is appreciated, brother, but seriously, I’m fine,” said Thorax as he shucked off the disguise as Princess Cadence, fully shifting into his natural form. Once upon a time, like Pharynx, Thorax would have appeared like any other of the Equestrian Chrysalis’ uniform drones. Now, after having evolved from the willing sharing of love, the transformed changeling magic within him had given Thorax a regal shape. Taller and more filled out than his fellow changelings, Thorax had chitin that was mostly a shade of lime green that bled to orange around the lower portion of his neck, where a darker green chitin took over around his belly. His back was covered by an armored shell of dark purple and pink that protected his gossamer violet wings, and a pair of large, orange stag horns flanked his head. A trio of white protrusions were embedded in his chest, like gemstones. Deep purple eyes tried to project an air of confidence, but a certain shy awkwardness seemed ever present even as the changeling King cleared his throat and with his wings buzzing shifted forward a bit towards Chrysalis. “As for you, my brother and I are here at the behest of our friends in the Crystal Empire to ensure their safety. This city is under changeling protection. Leave now, or-” “Wait, wait, let me stop you there,” Chrysalis interrupted, waving a hand, “I mean I’m sure you were leading up to a heroic threat or whatever, but I really just need to get a look at you two for a moment. Do you mind?” “Uh, what?” said Pharynx as he and Thorax glanced at each other, and then both of them gave a startled look as Chrysalis appeared behind them, leaning over with her fingers rubbing her chin as she tapped her Zanpaktou blade on her thigh. “Hmm, you know some people might call it a gaudy color scheme, but I think I could learn to like it. My boys share my dark complexion, you see, but I was curious just what you’d all look like under this candy colored spectrum. Very nice Pharynx. Good balance. Thorax, you’re a bit loud with the orange clashing too much, but the horns are a nice touch and give you that kingly look. I wonder how you’d fare with my boys. Oh, if only I’d brought Ocellus along! She’d be squealing over you two!” “W-w-what!?” Thorax jumped back, wings blurring in agitation, “What are you talking about!?” “Hm? Just making some observations, boys, no need to get all flustered,” Chrysalis said, eyeing the two up like someone might fresh fish at the market, “After all it’s almost like we’re family. I mean, I know your current mother in this world is a worthless trash bag shaped like a changeling, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a positive relationship.” “Lady, you’re a whole basket full of nuts, and the only relationship I’m interested from you is how intimate I can get you with my claws,” Pharynx said, shaking his head and spitting out a growl as he move with shocking speed for someone not using any obvious speed enhancement magic. Of course he was, his changeling magic altering his internal nervous system to boost his reflexes to unnatural speeds. This let Pharynx become a hacking spec of motion, both his forelegs now altered into deadly scything blades. Chrysalis used her Zanpaktou in a few deft swipes to meet his arm blades, smiling brightly with glittering eyes, “Just as brash as my own Pharynx. How delightful.” After one party she turned her sword in her grip and made a powerful horizontal slash. Pharynx caught it with both his arm blades, the two curved mantis-like claws barely halting Chrysalis’ blade. Pharynx hissed again and spat out a glob of puke green saliva at Chrysalis’ face, which she sidestepped after breaking contact with Pharynx’s blades. Just then a burst of emerald fire to her right caught her attention as Thorax changed shape and joined the fray. His body turned into that of a vast avian being, a gigantic bird with lime green wings and an orange head of feathers. As a Roc, Thorax’s physical strength was immense, but he used changeling magic to boost it further with metallic ligaments through his body’s muscles and a simulated massive surge of magic-enhanced adrenaline that let the bird form strike with colossal might. He used the Roc form’s gigantic beak like an oversized glaive, stabbing down at Chrysalis with a mighty beat of his wings. She braced her free hand on the back of her blade and used it to absorb the blow, a thunderous crack of noise filling the air as Thorax’s humongous body beat the air with over an hundred foot wingspan to try and press his beak past her block and skewer her. Chrysalis held the blow back, planting her feet upon the reishi of the air and barely skidding an inch before halting Thorax entirely and pushing him away with one powerful sweep of her sword. Thorax was thrown back, and Chrysalis ran a finger over her Zanpaktou’s edge. “I’m flattered Princess Cadence arranged additional dance partners for me, but honestly boys, where is she? Much as I enjoy the notion of toying with my pathetic counterpart’s offspring, I didn’t come here for you. I came to see what this Princess of Love is made of, and thus far I’m rather disappointed she’s a no show.” “Maybe she just has better things to do than worry about a psychotic narcissist like you?” Thorax offered, spreading his wings and then flapping them forward in a hurricane burst of air pressure. This burst of air by itself would be harmless to one like Chrysalis, but Thorax had been growing ever more skilled in the changeling’s magical arts. He wasn’t sure if he was as skilled as Queen Chrysalis yet, but he had access to far greater stores of natural love than she ever did, and so he suspected he’d been learning tricks even she never had the power to figure it out.  In some ways it was sad to him. It was only after he started sharing and receiving love freely among his people that he realized that Queen Chrysalis’ ways were not only wrong morally, but they’d been holding back the changeling race’s true potential for so long. Love was the source of a changeling’s power, yes, but in stealing it like Chrysalis had, they’d only ever been able to access a fraction of what that magic could truly do. Their new, colorful bodies weren’t a mutation or aberration, but the beautiful true form the changeling race was always meant to have. A part of him wished Queen Chrysalis could have seen that, instead of being stubbornly stuck in the old ways that only left her weak and alone.  Now, empowered by genuine, freely given love, Thorax and his people had been finding all sorts of new ways to use their powers. Feathers shot out of his wings and into the wave of air. As they went he changed the nature of those feathers into a storm of shining shards of silvery metal. This metal, mithril, was particularly responsive to magic and enhanced any magic that it came into contact with. Since a Roc’s incredible flight speed and strength was a magically based thing, in which the winds its wings generated were themselves magical tempests, these metal shards now magnified the windstorm to a sudden, epic proportion. A normal changeling never could have altered parts of themselves that were no longer attached to their body, but for Thorax it was entirely doable. The result was a sudden tornado-force storm of cutting wings and mythril shards that hammered right into Chrysalis. Pharynx, not one to remain idle, joined in by changing his form as well. Green flames burned bright and tall as he changed his form into that of a large insectile creature with six long, drooping limbs, wide mandibles, and a black and purple striped body with a massive and bulbous back end. The flying Bomber Blast Beetle was a particularly aggressive and large species inhabiting some rare jungles, and it’s ability to project fire capable of melting even a dragon’s scales made them feared by adventurers and travelers across the world. With a deep intake of breath that resulted in an inward gust of wind flowing into his body, Pharynx expanded his chest and abdomen in size, the flaming energy inside causing his body to glow internally a burning red. He then expelled in an explosive flourish a sweeping jet of liquid ruby flame directly into the tornado that Thorax had created. The air of the tornado swept up and fed the fire, and the mythril shards within reacted with the magically charged flame to intensify it even further. The result was an incredibly bright and shining sanguine tornado of fire that tore through the air and sky, filling the air with it’s metal melting heat. Not done, however, the two brothers looked to each other and nodded, both of their bodies flashing with green changeling flame to transform once again. This time the creatures they turned into were identical. Sharing qualities with deep sea mantas, but with even wider wings covered in pearl white feathers, these creatures were a unique combination of two animals. Scythe Rays, a type of aquatic stingray that used incredibly sharp bones edging its “wings” to slice prey, and a type of large hunting bird akin to the Roc called a Gust Hawk that used magic to generate bursts of air from it’s feathers for rapid movements. It was one of the newer abilities Thorax and his brother had discovered, not just the ability to transform into one creature, but mix and match elements of multiple beings into a “blended” hybrid.  Before the tornado fire storm even finished dissipating, both Pharynx and Thorax built up charges of air amid the white feathers covering their wide stingray wings, and in perfect tandem shot forward at hypersonic speed amid blasts of air. The insanely sharp bone edges of their wide wings cut a neat X pattern right through the tornado, where they sensed Chrysalis’ presence, and they felt their blade wings make contact with something solid as the combined momentum and weight of their blows sent Chrysalis flying out at a slight downward angle. She was effectively thrown beyond the city limits, to the pastures of green plains that extended for a few miles outside the edge of the Crystal Empire suburbs. There she hit the ground feet first with sufficient force to break the earth into giant slabs as she skidded back, digging through the ground. Once she stopped, Chrysalis took a second to slowly stand and brush bits of red flame off of her form fitting, curve revealing dress, and looked herself over with a whistle of appreciation. With magic enhancing their every attack, the Equestrian versions of her two boys had inflicted a bit of damage, from a few burn marks to a few residual cuts from that last attack. She’d caught their wing blades with her own Zanpaktou, of course, but she was at least minimally impressed they hurt her at all. “Guess my children can’t help but be incredible, even with the disability of that pathetic counterpart of mine raising them,” she said with a smile as she looked up. The two hybrid Scythe Ray/Gust Hawks flew down and transformed once more, Pharynx and Thorax returning to their natural forms, albeit both now sporting different arm weapons. Pharynx still favored the scythe shaped arms, while Thorax had opted for a configuration of his left arm transforming into a thick, rounded shield that had the texture of a tortoise shell, colored a vibrant green, while his right arm extended a barbed blade that extended thorn-like protrusions from it’s edges.  The brothers wasted no words on banter. They were wholly dedicated in focus and on the task of at the very least delaying Chrysalis’ attack on the city. Their gossamer bug wings blurred to nothingness and the pair entered an eye defying series of zipping maneuvers that surrounded Chrysalis with their darting forms in an attempt to disorient her before they rushed her from the sides. Pharynx’s scythe arms cut at her neck and eyes, and she swept up a sinuous black leg to perfectly plant her heel kick on one of his arms to knock him off balance. Thorax’s blade of thorns stabbed hard for her chest, seeking her heart, but she spun and swept her Zanpaktou up in a harsh arc that deflected the attack in a shower of sparks. Her first shot out and Thorax got his shell shield in place in the nick of time, taking a punishing blow that cratered the around him as he was knocked back like a pinball. With a guttural shout Pharynx came right back in, sweeping both scythe arms down and then up in an upper-cut motion that Chrysalis bent away from like a pole dancer. One of his scythe blades kissed her flesh, and acidic poison shot from his scythe, trying to scald her skin with it’s burning touch. Chrysalis just laughed in joy at the pain and snapped forward like a rubber band, catching Pharynx off balance as she drove the heel of a palm into his chest and smashed him into the ground hard enough to leave a Pharynx-shaped imprint. By now Thorax had recovered, wings buzzing, and flung his left arm forward. The shield there shot out like a yo-yo, attached to his arm by thread-like muscles that extended to allow the spinning shield to move as he willed. The spinning shield nearly struck Chrysalis in the back of the head, but at the very last millisecond she tilted her head and danced to the left, turning her free hand backwards. Green light hummed around her hand and a series of jade Bala reishi bullets shot out, forcing Thorax to quickly dodge and retract his shield to block the ones he couldn’t evade. Spitting blood, Pharynx suddenly surged up, his scythe arms now flaming green as the blades extended and retracted on their own in a blazing storm of stabs and slashes while Chrysalis’ attention was on Thorax. She ceased shooting Balas at Thorax in order to quickly become a blur of Sonidos, flowing through Pharyanx’s assault to then appear behind him with a blinding upward swing of her sword. He threw himself into a roll to evade, but still felt the blade’s bite as it ripped a gash through his carapace. “Pharynx!” Thorax shouted, emerald fire bursting from his own arm as he transformed his thorn blade into a rocket propelled missile, extending it at sound ripping speed and force at Chrysalis while Pharynx flew back, gripping his wounded side. Chrysalis turned and took the attack right in the stomach, or at least it appeared so. She was driven back a few meters before she halted herself, and Thorax gasped as he saw her free hand had grabbed his extended blade, ignoring the thorns of it cutting her palm, and with a squeeze and twist she snapped the weapon’s tip clean off. As Thorax retracted his weapon and used a burst of changeling magic to reform it, and Pharynx began using similar magic to start regenerating his wound, Chrysalis ran her bloodied hand through her hair, seeming to enjoy the way her blood dripped onto her face, and let out a pleasured sigh. “Ah, this reminds me of when you two were little. Well, not you two, but my children. Such good boys. Fast learners. We’d spar and spar for hours, every wound a lesson from mommy to her little boys. And I was always so proud when they’d land a blow on me. My clever Thorax, my resilient Pharynx, and when I added little unpredictable Ocellus to our family it was even more complete.” “Gross...” Pharynx said, “Seriously, I don’t care about your weird family time. I think I prefer our world’s Chrysalis better. At least she had the sense to skip out and not even waste time writing letters, and we’re all better off for it.” Thorax on the other hand was frowning thoughtfully, “I don’t understand. If you care about your family, shouldn’t you understand how horrible the things you’re doing here are? The families you’re destroying by attacking innocent people?” “Thorax, my precious little idealist. You share that with your counterpart, you know? He dreams so much of a better world, where Hollows are not hunted or hated,” Chrysalis said with a fond amusement, “He never understands me either. But that’s okay, a mother doesn’t have to be understood by her children for her to love them. What does that love have to do with the fun I enjoy having? I could slaughter thousands and not love my children one whit less for it, because the ones I’m killing aren’t the ones I love. Is that not natural? Don’t bother answering that, it’s a meaningless question. I do what feels good, what gives me a sense of pleasure, ever and always. If I’m hungry, I eat. If I’m lusty, I mate. If I’m bored, I play. It just so happens that what I hunger for is souls, whatever I play with tends to break, and whomever I mate with... well they’d better have the ability to satisfy me or I’ll take my pleasure in other ways. And on top of all that, I just happen to love my children and want them to grow up to be whomever they choose to be, even if that choice is to hate me and one day kill me. Does that answer satisfy you, Thorax of this delightfully bright realm?” The sour curl of his lips and the unbelieving shake of his head could only be described as confused repulsion on Thorax’s part, “That just sounds like mindless hedonism to me, even with the weird way you think of your kids’ well being. But if you can’t empathize with anyone else, you’re no better than our mother.” “Oh please,” Chrysalis said with a hefty chuckle, “Don’t make jokes in poor taste, Thorax. Quite frankly I’m tired of hearing about that empty husk of a woman. Let’s discuss something more interesting, like where Princess Cadence is hiding herself.” “She’s not hiding,” Pharynx declared simply, cracking his neck a few times and double checking that his wound was now mostly closed, thanks to transformative changeling magic, “Just getting ready to kick your prissy flank. I don’t even like ponies all that much, but I won’t mind helping her knock your crazy block off.” “Prepping, is she?” Chrysalis said, and cast a glance towards the now distant crystal tower, “I take it your task was to delay me until she’s finished doing whatever it is she’s doing? Well then...” Spiritual pressure welled up from Chrysalis in a sickeningly thick tide, choking green light of an intermix of numerous green shades rising from her in a vast and growing aura. Thorax and Pharynx could feel the weight of this reiatsu on them, like some incredible vortex that was sucking them down into its infinite depths. Each of them was individually powerful by changeling standards, yet outside of that transcendent moment in which Thorax had helped the entire hive unleash their stored love magic all at once to shatter their Chrysalis’ throne, he’d never felt anything close to what this Arrancar wearing his mother’s form was showing off right now.  “I suppose I’ll get a little less playful and a bit more serious.” The wounds she’d allowed to remain on her body, simply to enjoy the sensation, regenerated instantly. The flickering aura of many shades of green that surrounded her body suddenly concentrated into the edge of her blade, and Chrysalis made a motion with the Zanpaktou so swift that it was like nothing more than a flash of light. It was a single, circular sweep of her sword, but the force of it unleashed such a torrent of raw physical force and cutting spiritual pressure that the result was a full three hundred and sixty degree shockwave that tore apart the landscape in the immediate mile around her. The circular wave of power, tinted in numerous shades of green, reached the outskirts of the Empire’s city and entire buildings were cut neatly in half by it. Fortunately the wave didn’t quite reach the areas of fighting, and most civilians had already been evacuated, by the combat in the city streets did pause at the incredible sonic boom of sound from the shockwave and Shining Armor saw the destruction of the outskirts houses and shops with a cold lump in his gut, knowing full well his wife was about to fight the one who could do something like that. As for Thorax and Pharynx, each had immediately made defensive moves the second Chrysalis had started to charge up her blade. Thorax had slammed his shield into the ground in front of him, transforming it into three times the size and thickness while altering the shield’s physical composition to take on a reflective, golden sheen. This metal, orichalcum, was particularly energy and impact resistant, but was also ludicrously heavy. Not very useful for active defense where maneuverability was key, for for a potent static defense against an energy attack, magic based or otherwise, the metal was ideal.  Pharynx meanwhile had opted to transform his whole body into adamantine, unconsciously copying the same protective move Equestria’s Chrysalis was fond of, while crossing his scythe arms in front of him to reduce as much of the blow as possible. Adamantine wasn’t as heavy or energy resistant as orichalcum, but Pharynx recognized the cutting power in the oncoming attack and opted for adamantine’s incredible resistance to such attacks.  Both underestimated the strength of the Second Espada when she wasn’t pulling her punches, although their quick actions did still save their lives. Thorax’s shield was cut through, but in so doing the wave of cutting force lost much of its power and when it struck Thorax in the chest it sent him flying back and left a deep cut on his chest, but thankfully not a fatal one. Pharynx’s left scythe arm was cut through cleanly, but his right one remained intact and he otherwise got off without injury, although that did leave his left foreleg a bleeding stump. He could regenerate it in time, but nowhere near as fast as he could more superficial wounds, and he was left breathing hard and biting back a shout of agony at the lost limb.  Chrysalis looked at the pair with a nod of approval, then coiled her legs beneath her and vanished in a blast of force from a Sonido that was so fast that she covered the distance to the crystal tower before either changeling brother could so much as blink. Now standing in the air a few dozen meters above the crystal tower’s apex, Chrysalis idly twirled a finger through her hair as she aimed her Zanpaktou’s tip down the magnificent crystal structure’s length. Her voice rang out loud like a peal of musical thunder. “Anyone home?”  A sparking circle of emerald spirit energy appeared around her Zanpaktou as she shot a focused and potent Bala into the tower’s top, blasting a hole through it. “I’ll just keep ringing the doorbell until someone answers, shall I?” A spark, a boom, and another chunk of crystal tower was blown off. “I mean, not that I’m against doing some creative interior decorating. Add a few more sunroofs to this place. I’ll probably hit something important eventually.” As Chrysalis charged up her next shot a familiar female voice called out, “That won’t be necessary, even if I could use a few more windows in here, just to let a little more light in.” Chrysalis looked towards the source of the voice, which had come from an archway that opened up onto an oval-shaped platform that surrounded the lower portion of the tower’s top, which was itself shaped like a massive sharpened spear tip. The platform was relatively new construction, added by Cadence as an observation area especially for whenever Twilight visited and wanted to do some stargazing. Now Cadence strode out onto it with a grim cast to her face as she looked up into the face of the monstrous individual assaulting her nation and her people.  The entire time she’d been watching the battles unfold from within the tower, with crystal orbs designed to shower her views across her city. It hurt having to watch her husband and his noble soldiers fight for their civilians' lives, while also having to wait while Thorax and his brother purchased invaluable time with their lifeblood. She was also aware of Zecora’s presence, down near the Crystal Heart, but trusted in the artifact’s defenses. Besides, the odd Soul Reaper woman seemed strangely... unhurried, as if she just wasn’t in a rush to get to the Crystal Heart. All the better for Cadence, who’d been fully committed to the ritual to attune herself to the tower and preparing herself for what was about to come. When she walked out onto the observation platform, she wore no armor, bore no weapons. She wasn’t even wearing her traditional royal regalia. No, the only thing she carried was a ring, floating in her gentle magic grip next to her head. It was an ancient looking thing, it’s metal a faded rose pink color that looked dull with countless years of age. It was carved with an unusual script, a language too old for modern scholars to have read, but Celestia had told Cadence the words’ meaning when she’d bestowed the ring to her long ago when Cadence first became a Princess... or rather, an alicorn. ”It means, ‘To my beloved frozen flower, to whom I give all my warmth - Anteros’. An engagement ring, bearing with it a great inheritance.” Celestia had not revealed all, back then, but in time Cadence had been taught the true duty of the current alicorns, and of the nature of Inheritors. Not all Inheritors would be alicorns, but the ones who reached that state of apotheosis were entrusted to be the first to bring forth the ancient alicorn race’s magic once more and guide the other Inheritors forward. It was supposed to only be when the time was right and the world was in a strong enough state of Harmony that it could be certain the damage done in the alicorn’s eons old war was repaired, but circumstances with the invasion from the human realm had changed things. That, and the fact that Celestia was largely certain Twilight had already discovered her Relic, making waiting any longer on the matter pointless. Each Relic being released weakened the seals on the other Relics, meaning a cascade effect was already rolling. Other Inheritors would start naturally sensing their Relics and be compelled to seek them out. Since the proverbial cat was out of the bag, might as well capitalize on it.  Of course Cadence wasn’t so foolish as to assume her Relic held enough power to fight off this insane Hollow Chrysalis. Anteros, as she understood it, was a mid-class alicorn “deity” of love. Potent in his own right, but nowhere near what Celestia and Luna were tied to. Which honestly was fine by Cadence. She didn’t envy what the royal sisters had to deal with, since Luna described Iah’s personality as like trying to control the full fury of a winter storm combined with all the moodiness one might expect of a moon goddess. And as for Eos... well, Cadence just silently hoped Celestia would be okay, tapping into that kind of power. Compared to that, Anteros and her sounded more compatible, but the proof would be in the proverbial pudding. “Color me pleased you didn’t make me go looking for you,” Chrysalis said, walking downward on steps of air until she was on the platform facing Cadence, her posture like that of languid lynx stalking towards a rabbit, “I don’t mind a little hide and seek, but the day is dragging on.” “I’ll make sure not to waste your time then,” Cadence replied with a frosty cool coloring her voice as she slipped the ring onto her horn, “And remove you and yours from my country, Chrysalis.” “Ooooh, do I detect a note of grudge?” Chrysalis asked, leaning closer and tapping a finger to her lips, “Old friend of my counterpart, are you?” Cadence felt her muscles tense and blood rushing through her ears. Although it had been quite some time since her wedding to Shining Armor, she still keenly remembered the painful days spent prisoner in the caves beneath Canterlot, abducted and replaced by Equestria’s Chrysalis. She’d long since come to accept changelings as friends and allies, but there was still quite a long held sore spot for the race’s former queen. She forced a grimacing smile onto her face as she felt the crystal tower beneath her begin to vibrate with power. “Not that it’s any business of yours. I understand you’re not her, but quite frankly you seem just as bad, and I think taking you down will be... therapeutic.” “Hah, assuming you can, my rancor filled rose,” replied Chrysalis, glancing down the length of the tower as she now noticed the build up of power within the structure itself. “At least it looks like you’ve got something set up with this tower of yours and that ring you just put on. Well far be it from me to be a spoilsport. This won’t be as fun we don’t taste a little of each other’s blood. So come on, flower... show me your thorns.” ---------- Zecora puzzled over the situation. She had bypassed the outer wards around the Crystal Heart with a little time spent tampering with the magic via a few bursts of reiatsu at what looked like the weaker points in the spell’s construction. The energy type may have been different, but it seemed like the actual methodology behind magic-based wards and spirit-based ones were quite similar. Or perhaps it was merely coincidence in this case? Regardless, opening a hole in the outer ward only let her get marginally closer to the Crystal Heart itself.  Other defenses could not be so easily bypassed, with small turrets of pointed crystal pylons activated both in the ground and roof of the tower’s underside the moment Zecora stepped close to the Heart itself. Flash Step did serve to evade the beams of bright blue light fired by the pylons, but she had to waste entire minutes destroying those with a few well aimed Kido spells, and she was still left with a much thicker and potent ward around the Crystal Heart that try as she might she could not see a way to deactivate. Then again, at this range, she didn’t entirely have to. Her Zanpaktou’s power could not only fully analyze and show her the nature of the ward, but it extended to the Crystal Heart itself, allowing Zecora a proper view of the magical artifact any everything it was tied to. Which turned out to be pretty much everything in the Crystal Empire. Zecora was shocked to see just how many lines of energy spread out from this Heart, infusing almost every portion of the city, the tower, and most fascinating of all, it’s citizens. With her Zanpaktou’s ability to see the true nature of things, she could now clearly see the thousands upon thousands of microscopic yet somehow dazzlingly bright lines of magic that spread out from the Heart and flowed outward in every direction.  The Crystal Heart beat with an incredible amount of stored magical energy, but it was also receiving a steady stream of such energy from those spread out threads. Focusing on those threads, Zecora could spot numerous concentrations of them at different locations, like big clusters. Her Zanpaktou show her these clusters were located underground, spread out in pockets around the city. I’m also sensing the reiatsu of living beings in those locations. Those must be the shelters where the Empire’s citizens evacuated to. Energy is flowing from them and into the Crystal Heart, and then the Heart is transferring that power into the tower... no, not just the tower, to a specific point at the top of the tower. It didn’t take a great genius to understand what was happening, as Zecora could readily sense Chrysalis’ spiritual pressure at the apex of the tower, alongside another lifesign that appeared to be the focal point of the energy transfer from the Crystal Heart. Whether or not this impressive amount of magic would be enough to counteract the overwhelming might of the second most powerful Hollow to ever exist, even Zecora could not say.  But her mission, given to her by her creator Starlight Glimmer, was specific on several factors. If feasible, physically retrieve the Crystal Heart, but only if doing so would not cause severe issues to the Empire itself. Zecora was chosen for this mission particularly for the analytical power of her Zanpaktou, which could determine the Crystal Hearts’ nature and whether or not it's removal would be critically detrimental to the Crystal Empire.  Secondly, if it was determined the Crystal Heart could not or should not be removed, Zecora was to use her Zanpaktou’s ability to gather as much information on the Crystal Heart as possible so it could be potentially reproduced at Hitsuyo Aku.  Finally, her third mission was to minimize the damage Chrysalis and her children would inflict. Having been receiving updates via Kido spells from Redheart, Zecora was aware that the Crystal Empire’s defenders had driven back Chrysalis’ Arrancar to the city’s main square, and that the city’s guard Captain was temporarily working with Redheart to defend injured civilians. Considering Chrysalis was now focused on Princess Cadence, the purpose of the distraction attack on the city had fulfilled its purpose, and with the magical build up in the tower itself, Zecora determined the time was right. Activating a communication Kido, Zecora spoke so that her voice would be heard by Redheart and all of her Reigai, “This is Captain Zecora to all Reigai of the Second Company, your work is appreciated. Distraction is no longer necessary. Withdraw to the designated rendezvous point and await further orders.” Redheart’s voice was quick to respond, “Understood, Captain. However I request permission to remain on site. These Arrancar remain unruly, and there are still injured civilians my Zanpaktou’s ability is ideal to tending to.” Zecora found herself nodding, having expected as much from her ‘Lieutenant’, “Permission granted, Redheart. Do as you will, but don’t let your guard down. All other forces, withdraw.” After receiving acknowledgments from her squads, Zecora turned her attention back to the Crystal Heart, working to glean as much as she could via her Zanpaktou of the artifact’s inner workings, even as the heart began to pulse brighter and brighter as it fed streams of intensely bright blue power up into the crystal tower and to the Princess high above. ---------- By this point the entirety of the shining tower of blue and white crystal was pulsating with a heartbeat of potent magic. Streams of light rushed up the surface of the tower with each pulse, a deep and resonant ba-dump of a heartbeat clapping the air with each passing few seconds. This magical power gathered at the hooves of Princess Cadence, a circle of piercing blue-white light filling the platform around her like a liquid pool of raw energy. This, followed by Cadence lighting up her horn with magic and focusing it upon the ring she wore there. A symbol of a chain appeared for an instant, intensely red as a rose, before the seal was broken by Cadence’s magic. Upon doing so the latent power within the Relic burst forth all at once. A rose red dome of magical power sprang around Cadence, it’s edges spitting bolts of passionate pink and red energy that concentrated upon Cadence like the jolting streams of an electro globe.  Objects took shape amid the bolts of power, smooth plates of armor that then slapped onto Cadence’s body like magnets. Each piece fused to her body in a burst of power, the dome of deep pink energy growing with each added portion. Chrysalis, more out of a bizarre sense of courtesy than any concern, used Sonido to vanish and reappear a respectful distance back, idly twirling her Zanpaktou in her hands as she licked her lips in rapt anticipation, eager to see what the Princess could do with this new power. The armor continued to fuse with Cadence’s form in slab after slab, until every inch of her body, from head to tail, was clad in elegant segments of rose red armor that to Chrysalis’ eyes appeared quite a bit more advanced in design than traditional medieval armor. Cadence’s head was completely covered by a sharp angled, visor bearing helmet that had lines of glowing neon power around its edges, the visor itself a single fused line of blue crystal, the helmet’s head growing sharp bladed fringes on it’s sides that reminded Chrysalis almost of bunny ears. Aggressive, sharp bunny ears. Her horn was similarly surrounded by a sheath of armor, tipped with a bright blue crystal tip that emitted pulsating light.  The rest of the armor held a similar style, with numerous smooth segments lined with glowing bands of pink energy, with the joins of Cadence’s legs bearing circular nodes that were more robotic than organic. Her tail was even encased in a segmented fan of armor that ended in a blade of pure rose colored energy. Her wings were... not gone, but rather replaced by a spread of four metallic blades of blue crystal in the shape of wings, shot through with more lines of glowing pink energy. As the dome of red power continued to crackle around Cadence, she reached out an armored colored hoof, and as if in response an object rose from seeming nothingness, appearing from the pool of light on the ground. It was a large but gracefully constructed polearm, a halberd as opposed to the spear that Thorax had used when posing as Cadence, although Chrysalis could see a few similarities.  This halberd bore a double axe head of blue crystal, shaped like an overly exaggerated and sharpened heart, with the shaft of the halberd running through the heart’s center. The shaft itself was made of bright, rose colored metal, which then grew into a wide spear point at the top end of the halberd blade. A line of pink energy ran down the tip of the spear point and the shaft of the halberd itself, similar to the lines on the armor. Cadence held the weapon in the crook of her hoof, and then spun it in a single, hefty motion. The energy dome around her flashed and burst outward in a display of force, and the pool of magical energy at her hooves flowed up into her in a similar expulsion of force and sound that washed outward in a wave around the top of the tower. Chrysalis watched, keeping her own reiatsu high as she felt out this newly transformed Cadence.  “Mmm, that’s actually rather spicy, Princess. A little on the ‘Power Rangers’ side of style, but I like the taste of that energy you’ve got pouring off of you. Now the question is, how rough can you play, now that you’re all dressed up for a night on the town?” “I’ll let you be the judge of that.” The words actually came from behind Chrysalis, for Cadence had, in a scintillating streak of pink light, flown right behind the Espada and cut a flashing swath through the air with her halberd. Chrysalis was just as fast in her response, her Zanpaktou cutting a dark circle around her to meet the halberd’s blade. The two weapons met in an explosion of sound and force that sent both combatant’s hurtling backwards from one another. A rich chocolate laugh was flying from Chrysalis’ lips as her eyes positively gleamed hot with pleasure, “That’s the spirit, Princess! No point in me coming all the way here without something to sink my teeth into.” As she spoke she felt a tension in her Zanpaktou and she flicked her eyes towards it to see a pale blue glint of light shining off of a series of thin lines wrapped around her blade. Wires, thin wires made from pale blue crystal. The wires wrapped around the middle section of the blade from eight different sources, which ran all the way back to where Cadence spread her wings, the four blade-like protrusions on either side of her spinning the wires from their tips.  With incredible force the wires retracted, dragging Chrysalis along with them, although that was mostly because she wasn’t bothering to resist as Cadence pulled her towards the Princess’ halberd as Cadence sped towards her and cleaved downward with a bisecting chop. Chrysalis heedlessly threw her free arm in the way of the halberd’s blade, the crystal edge sinking into the hardened flesh of her Hierro. For a second the two were stuck close together, Cadence’s wires still holding Chrysalis' blade fast while Chrysalis he’d the halberd back with her bleeding forearm. “Is that spiritual pressure I sense from you?” Chrysalis asked with a sweet intake of breath, “That was no simple magic ring you slipped on, then. It released spirit energy into you. Layering that bit of power on top of the injection of magic you’re getting from your precious Crystal Heart and I can see how you can penetrate my Hierro now. How does it feel, Princess? Does it make your blood burn hot? Do your senses scream in pleasure from having so much power at your grasp?”   “You know for someone who seems to hate your counterpart here, you love the sound of your own voice just as much as she does,” Cadence groused and cocked back a hoof, which was free since she was wielding her halberd with just her magic. She slammed the hoof forward right into Chrysalis’ jawline with a sonic impact. The Espada’s head snapped back for a moment, but Cadence felt an immense push of strength from the woman as she moved her bleeding arm that still had Cadence’s halberd in it and grabbed Cadence’s hoof, utterly ignoring the way that dug the halberd further into her flesh. Cadence felt a painful pressure on her hoof as Chrysalis’ squeezed, slowly intending Cadence’s armor. To break free, Cadence teleported away, although this also teleported her wires, freeing Chrysalis’ sword. Appearing below Chrysalis, Cadence flexed her metallic wings and shot out another series of crystal wires, this time spinning out several dozen that shot out in flickering gleams of light that traced around Chrysalis.  For her part, the Espada watched the wires with interest, slowly tilting her body or making slight side steps as the wires cut around her. Her arm had already healed, and experimentally Chrysalis cut at one of the wires with her Zanpaktou. Surprisingly the crystal wire resisted the blade, at least from a casual swing, but once Chrysalis put a bit more power behind it she found the second wire she struck out was severed fairly easily. She found it a tad odd it seemed the wires were being set up as if anchored to something, but she could only assume magic was involved, as she saw nothing for them to be anchored to.  That said, the speed at which Cadence could shoot the wires out was commendable, and even severing them, Chrysalis soon found herself needing to make faster movements to dodge the cutting storm. And even as she evaded the ones that went towards her, Chrysalis saw even more wires were forming patterns around her, almost as if spinning a giant series of webs around her. “Ah, this is rather nostalgic,” Chrysalis said, plucking one of the wires with a finger “Reminds me of home, in a way.” “Feel free to go back any time,” Cadence said, and moved in another bright streak of pink light. Instead of going straight for Chrysalis, Cadence impacted one of her wires, which bent back and then shot her forward, right into another wire, which repeated the process. In mere seconds Cadence’s speed and momentum continued to build as she bounced off of wire after wire, to the point that she was forming a dizzying pattern of pink streaks around Chrysalis to the point that even the Espada had to admit that tracking the motion was a little difficult. If she was just relying on her eyes, at any rate. Chrysalis’ senses still kept track of Cadence’s spirit energy, and her reflexes were up to the task of turning in time to meet Cadence’s real attack when it came. Cadence was spinning her halberd in a disc of raw speed, and Chrysalis met her with a streaking black line of her Zanpaktou cutting through the blaze of lightning speed. Both women were left struck, blood spurting from Chrysalis’ chest, while Cadence’s armor took a sudden gouge in it’s own chest area that seeped blood.  Cadence forced her mouth to stay clamped shut, despite the pain, refusing to give Chrysalis any satisfaction. Besides, her focus was already on her next attack, and her overall plan. She’d gotten her blade into Chrysalis’ flesh twice now. One more good hit ought to be enough for her intentions.  Thus far she found she was able to think and fight clearly, despite the way the memories of Anteros were rising up in her mind from the power of the Relic. Indeed it was almost as if those memories weren’t fighting for space in her head, but were rather neatly blooming, like a bed of roses, in the back of her mind. She almost felt as if she could see Anteros himself, reclining on that bed of roses and watching her with a calm interest. There was no fight for control, just a quiet embedding of presence. Whether that was comforting or worrying, Cadence couldn’t be certain. Regardless, much as Celestia had explained would be the case, Cadence had an innate and instinctual knowledge of her new abilities with the Relic’s power activated. The wires were more than just weapons, but extensions of Anteros’ divine magic. Magic that was now hers, and hence the wires acted as extensions for her own magic.  She channeled that magic through all the wires she’d set up around Chrysalis, which caused them all to burst to life with lines of pale blue energy. With a flex of her wings she caused those wires to then contract towards Chrysalis in a shining storm of slashing wire blades, each burning hot with magical power. Chrysalis was faster than anything Cadence could have imagined, seeming to slide through the inescapable cage of wires like a laughing phantom. Yet Cadence had set up hundreds of the wires and she’d left no room to escape! With a shout she contracted the last of the wires, forming practically a solid sphere of burning wires that slashed through the space Chrysalis occupied. Cadence couldn’t see Chrysalis at this point, but she felt resistance in a few of her wires and heard a wet squelch nearby. She turned to feel hot blood spray across her face, and Cadence reflexively gagged, even with her helmet keeping the blood out of her mouth. The blood did momentarily blind her, however, and she cleared it just in time to feel the heel of Chrysalis’ foot impact her chest and sent Cadence flying backwards. The breath was knocked out of her, and her injured chest screamed in pain, but Cadence kept control of her fall and quickly righted herself, quickly relocating Chrysalis who descended towards her while... bouncing her severed leg in her free hand. “Well well, you cut my leg off with those wires,” Chrysalis said cheerfully, “I think limb severing is a prerequisite to know you’ve been in a halfway decent fight, no? Here, hold this.” Chrysalis tossed her severed leg to Cadence, who reflexively caught it, then let out a disgusted sound and threw the limb aside. She felt even sicker as she watched the blood swell from Chrysalis’ stump and a new leg formed in mere moments, muscle and bone growing so fast that Cadence could see the woman’s dark flesh grow fresh and shiny new over the muscles.  “That’s... horrific,” Cadence breathed.  “I find it quite pleasant,” Chrysalis said, stretching her new leg out, “There’s just something refreshing about feeling the new flesh grow in. I’m glad you’re proving to be so much more fun than I expected. You can even cut my Hierro. Granted I don’t put much effort into that defensive power, but still, those wires of yours are quite the nasty little weapons.” “You’re not taking me seriously if you’re not putting everything into defending yourself,” Cadence commented and Chrysalis shrugged. “Look, you’re impressive enough with your mysterious ring and that Crystal Heart giving you a boost, but this is still foreplay for me...” Chrysalis said, and a mad razor gleam entered her eyes as her mouth beamed a wider, more fang filled smile, “But if you really want me to, I’ll go hard. Just know I don't do safe words.” “Feel free,” Cadence said, leveling her halberd at Chrysalis, “But you won’t get the chance.” Cadence’s horn lit up, the armored length of it filling  with pulsating rings of light until the crystal tip flared with light. Chrysalis prepared to dodge the incoming spell, but found there was no beam or similar discharge, but rather a sudden feeling inside her own body that felt like parts of her were going numb. She looked down to see that her left arm, parts of her chest, and her leg just above the point where it had been severed, were suddenly turning into pale blue crystal. Her eyes narrowed and she aimed her Zanpaktou with her other arm at Cadence, discharging a dark green Cero that tore through the sky. Cadence was just fast enough to teleport away, appearing above Chrysalis this time as her horn  continued to glow. “Confused?” Cadence said, “Powerful as you are, you’re just as arrogant as our world’s Chrysalis. Every time I’ve struck you I was leaving shards of crystal inside your body. Catalysts for a crystal petrification spell. You can’t regenerate if you’re turned into a piece of lawn art.” The crystal began to spread in spiking shards across Chrysalis’ arm, leg, and chest, and yet despite this the Espada seemed... unconcerned. In fact she looked up at Cadence with a mocking salute of her blade, “Not a half bad notion, Cadence dear. Could even work. That said-” Cadence watched in bemusement, which then grew to shock as she saw Chrysalis’ body become enshrouded with a thick arua of shifting green energy as the Espada brought forth more spiritual pressure from her body. She then sensed Chrysalis’ spirit energy concentrating within that body, spreading through it, and into the crystal portions. The crystal began to crack, shot through with veins of green light. Then the crystal parts of Chrysalis' body exploded, which in turn exploded Chrysalis’ body in half, sent both her arm and new leg flying, and left a spray of blood flying through the air that painted Cadence’s armor. “Gah!”  Cadence let out a surprised yelp as Chrysalis' intact upper half, along with her right arm that wielded her Zanpaktou, was propelled by Chrysalis' own self-detonation to fly right into Cadence. “Hello gorgeous,” Chrysalis said, her torso hanging off of Cadence like a macabre decoration before Chrysali headbutted Cadence in the faceplate of her helmet, then spun her torso like a top and cut Cadence’ across the chest once more. Armor sparked and Cadence was smashed backwards by the blow. And Chrysalis wasn’t done, even as her body undulated and bubbled with new blood, bone, viscera, and growing organs.  Her bloodied mouth spat a stream of crimson, but that blood pooled around the front of Chrysalis’ tongue. A thick sphere of green Hollow power roiled around the glob of blood, intermixing and bubbling with power as it grew, and grew, and grew until a crimson and emerald sphere of spirit energy the size of a small cabin existed. ”Cero Arteria.” (Cero Artery) Rather than fire in one large beam, the Cero sphere instead boiled and burbled like a cauldron and shot out several streams of Hollow energy that curved and flowed like highly pressured streams of liquid. These streams of destructive power, filled with currents of red and green, moved in a swirling mass that then converged on the still dazed Cadence.  Cadence saw the attack coming past her baffled state and she had enough presence of mind to defend herself. Her wings emanate intense blue light as hundreds of wires shoot out, empowered by Cadence’s raw magic and spirit energy. These wires crossed in front of her in thousands of strands, forming a diamond shaped shield twenty meters wide and several feet thick.  The Cero Arteria’s many streams rushed into the shield, slamming into it in a explosive torrent of power that shook the air, warped space, and caused every head down in the city to turn skyward at the massive display of power as clouds burst away from the sky and the ground rumbled with the impact taking place hundreds of feet in the air. Shining Armor saw this and spoke his wife’s name under her breath, and his own horn lit up bright. He shot a stream of magic skyward and added his own shield of magic to Cadence’s barrier, doing all in his power to strengthen it.  Even so, the torrents of the Cero Arteria drilled into the shield like unrelenting hoses, scouring the wires, breaking down the protective magic with the raw and truly insane might of the dark Hollow power that stemmed from the Second Espada. Yet, in the end, Cadence was fueled by both the Crystal Heart, her Relic, and aided by her husband, one of Equestria’s greatest masters of barrier magic. The Cero Ateria’s finished with a final, massive explosion of power that filled the sky, and Cadence was flung from the heart of the eruption of power in a smoking streak... yet she was alive, her armor was scorched by intact, and when she impacted the ground in a street shattering landing, she was still on her hooves. Shaking, breathing hard, sweat soaked, and in pain, but on her hooves and alive. She looked around and found she was on a street that ended right at the edge of the north outskirts of the city, the frozen mountains of the north forming a backdrop behind her. Shaking her head, she tried to get her thoughts together. The crystal petrification spell was her intended trump card, and it had nearly worked, but she hadn’t counted on just how easily her opponent could just rip her own body part with such casual ease. On top of that, the petrification should have  worked faster, but it seemed as if Chrysalis’ own power could resist it to a degree, making the crystal spread slow enough that she could effectively tear off parts of her body to avoid it. Cadence would need to be able to petrify her all at once, but even with the energy of the Crystal Heart filling her she just didn’t have enough power for that. Granted, she wasn’t an expert on the spell. It had been invented ages ago in the Crystal Empire, and it’s use had been banned not long after. Not long ago Sombra and Radiant Hope had researched the spell in the Empire’s libraries, seeking a cure to the condition of the Empire’s former ruler, who had suffered the fate of crystal petrification. Unfortunately the Empire never developed a reversal spell, but Cadence had suggested checking Canterlot’s own library, as Canterlot had about a thousand extra years of magical development over the Crystal Empire due to the Empire having been magically sealed away during that time frame. It was possible one of Equestrias many famous mages over that thousand years had developed a reversal spell. All that being said, Cadence had only just taught herself the spell in preparation to defend the Empire against Starlight Glimmer and her cohorts. Unfortunately that particular gambit had not worked, and now she was drained, injured, drenched in blood that was only partially hers, and far less certain she could actually beat this monster that had come to threaten her life, her loved ones, and the people she was sworn to protect. A slow clap filled the air as Chrysalis, now fully regenerated once more, appeared nearby in a flash of Sonido. “Congratulations, Cadence dear. You’re still alive, after taking one of my favorite Cero techniques! You should be beaming with pride.” “Shut up. Shut your mouth. I don’t want to banter with you,” Cadence said in a heated whip crack of breath, “I’m not here to entertain you.” “Everyone and everything exists to entertain me,” Chrysalis said simply, as if stating the world’s most basic fact, “But this is good. Hate is a beautiful emotion. Let it strengthen you, Cadence dear. You’re going to need it, since I’ve decided something.” “What?” Cadence asked, against her better judgment.  Chrysalis reply was delivered with such good natured cheer that it chilled Cadence to her core. “I’ve decided that you and I are going to be best friends.” Suppressing the shudder than ran through her like a winter fog, Cadence straightened herself and poured magic into her halberd, which vibrated as it floated in her tightened telekinetic grip. "No thank you. I'd sooner make friends with this world's Chrysalis than a utter nut-case like you." That caused Chrysalis' smile to falter into a sneer, "Oh now that hurt more than any of your attempts to dice me to pieces, Cadence dear. Very well, let's resume our fun. But I wonder what you plan to do next, since you seem to be faltering, and I've still got power to spare." True enough, Chrysalis still appeared to have the edge in terms of raw power. On top of that her regenerative ability was a real problem. It seemed she could rapidly erase any damage Cadence managed to inflict. It was possible if Cadence was able to destroy something critical like Chrysalis' head, or wiped her body out entirely in one fell swoop, perhaps that might finally put the monster down, but landing such a blow seemed problematic given there was still such a disparity in power even with her Relic and borrowing magic from the Crystal heart. There was one option she could try, but... The Crystal Heart was a nearly limitless font of magic, derived from the love of all the citizens of the Crystal Empire. Currently all of those civilians were fervently hoping for not only Cadence's success, but the well being of all their loved ones fighting to defend their home. Those feelings were essentially prayers of a sort, an outpouring of magic that flowed into the Crystal Heart itself. The artifact then transferred a portion of that power to Cadence, hence the additional power boost. However there were limits to that transfer, like a faucet of water pouring water into a balloon. The balloon was essentially a limited vessel and the faucet could only safely pour so much water in so fast before the balloon would... pop. But if the sacrifice would be worth it, a massive outpour of power could be placed into the vessel for a few brief minutes before the vessel could no longer withstand the force and- But if I can use those few minutes to end this... won't that be worth it? Cadence thought, and hesitated. It wasn't just her life she needed to consider, but that of those she'd leave behind. Not to mention, with a second foal on the way, her life wasn't something to just burn out casually. But what other options did she have? "Cadence!" She looked up at the sound of Thorax's voice, seeing the changeling King and his brother both tearing through the air towards them. The pair landed on either side of her, looking fatigued from their own fight with Chrysalis a short while ago, but also having gained their second wind as the pair shot glittering dagger glares at the Espada. "Weren't planning on doing anything stupid, were you?" Pharynx asked. "Pharynx, manners! You're talking to a Princess!" Thorax berated, and his brother scoffed. "What? She had this 'I'm about to sacrifice myself heroically' look on her face. Which is stupid. As if she has to do anything like that with us still in the fight." "Y-yeah, well, true, but still you could say it more politely," Thorax said, shaking his head and the focusing his glare back on Chrysalis, "Never mind that though, we've got to deal with her." Cadence gave Pharynx a somewhat embarrassed side look, "Were my intentions that obvious?" "Pfft," was all the reply from him she got, and Thorax cleared his throat. "Forgive him. He's still got issues with showing his feelings." "I think I can cut him some slack, considering circumstances. Thank you both. I nearly forgot I wasn't alone in this fight." Thorax smiled at her, wings buzzing, "As long as I'm in charge of the hive, the Crystal Empire will never lack for at least one ally." An impatient throat clearing drew their attention back to Chrysalis, who was also tapping her foot as she waited for them to finish talking, "This is heart warming and all, but it also rather interrupts the mood, doesn't it? I don't mind the boys joining in our fun, Cadence, but at the same time I feel as if this fight needs something more to keep it engaging for me." "Don't you think of anything else other than you're own twisted fun?" Thorax asked, and Cadence and Chrysalis both answered, "No" at the exact same time, Cadence with resignation and Chrysalis with elation. Then Chrysalis got a particularly unusual glint in her eyes as she held her Zanpaktou lovingly in front of her, one of her hands slowly stroking down it's edge, "You know what? It may be inappropriate, but that's what makes it oh so tantalizing an idea. I mean, I know I shouldn't. It's pure overkill. So unnecessary. So overindulgent. So brutally needless. So... me. I so rarely do this. The last time was Gaia, but we're friends now too, Cadence, so while this may be sooner than is traditional, I think I just have to force our relationship to the next level." Thick strands of liquid spirit energy, like an outpour of lime green blood, enshrouded Chrysalis. Cadence, Thorax, and Pharynx all felt a sick feeling in the back of their throats as the amount of pressure stemming from Chrysalis erupted to a feverish pitch that made them feel like they were drowning at the bottom of a deep, cavernous underground sea. The ground cracked apart around the Espada, causing nearby buildings to also fracture and crumble. The air itself seemed too vibrate with fear. Chrysalis looked positively euphoric as she dragged her hand down her Zanpaktou's length, covering it in her blood, and spoke in a resonate voice. "Indulge rapaciously; Devoradora." (Devourer)