“Unh...” Celestia groaned as she came to. The burning on her chest cooled, the tension in her muscles eased, her body was already healing itself. A caterpillar scurried off in front of her nose. “I really must speak with the caretakers about getting some better bug spray.”
Let me out.
Celestia’s ears twitched at the source of the voice. It came from inside her head, yet it had a sense of direction to it, proximity, even. Something was close by. “What?”
Let me out, Celestia. This isn’t funny, let me out, now.
The Princess rolled her eyes when she realised where she’d landed: right in the statue garden, on the edges of the labyrinth. This particular statue she’d landed by was one of a cocky yet surprised-looking draconequus right before his defeat. “Just my luck. Of course I’d land right next to you. I’m a little busy at the moment, Discord.”
I know you are, that’s what I’m trying to tell you! Chrysalis has gone completely crazy since she killed Tirek! She’s draining ponies of their magic. The more exhausted they are, the more she gets out of them.
“I’ve noticed that, thank you.”
She’s not here, the real one.
“I’ve noticed that, as well.”
There’s more. She was at the halfway point between Ponyville and Canterlot, she’s probably near the walls right now. She’s already drained a dozen ponies, mostly EEA and Academy. I’ve been trying to call out to you, she started hitting everywhere at once this morning! Ponyville and Canterlot!
“And she only has a dozen? That’s strange, you’d think with those numbers she could...”
You see now? She can’t. This spell she’s using, it’s incomplete. She’s broadcasting the magic she steals, copying it to her drones. She’s turned her drones into copies of herself, including whatever she can steal. But that’s what she’s missing: they’re not perfect copies yet, they’re still weak. Only the real Chrysalis can drain a pony of their magic, and only when they’re exhausted. She’s been moving the bodies, I think. They’re still alive, but just barely, and I think she’s going to start killing soon once she completes her spell. I can sense her when she’s doing it, Celestia. She sticks out like fireworks when she’s broadcasting new magic, so let me out!
The swarm buzzed overhead. “Pardon me if I’m not too enthused by the prospect, Discord. You being loose is not much of an improvement.”
I never did anything like this to my little ponies. She deserves to be punished. Let me out, I swear I’ll make it good. I’ll make it funny, even you have a sense of humour. Call it community service, call it emergency powers, call it whatever you like to justify it to yourself, just let me out! For once in your life, try to see what a little chaos is good for and let me out!
Celestia’s mane flickered. “I’m afraid that’s not in the cards right now, even if I wanted to. The Elements of Harmony are in Ponyville, I moved them there a few months ago when we heard of the threat.”
So go get them. You can teleport.
“No, that’s precisely what she wants. She knows how to counter a teleportation spell already.”
And? Those counters take a lot more effort than teleporting does. As long as she’s not hitting you when you snap back, you’ll be fine!
“You don’t understand. She came into my castle hoping to wear me out, and that means she’s prepared. If she’s prepared for you, then that will be a problem we cannot deal with.”
Oh, don’t kid yourself. My safety isn’t at risk here. I can snap her out of existence any time I want, I just need the opportunity.
“And she knows that. She’s stolen powers from a water devil, and from Tirek. Either one of those may hold a counter-measure to your magic, as I’m sure you’re aware.”
I’d find a way around it.
“But not in time, not in this situation. I need to stick to a proper plan here, or I might play into her scheme. My only course of action right now is to hold as many of her drones here. She’s using innocent victims as a shield.”
Very well, then. But if you are going to do this, you should know: they’re already dead, Celestia.
“What?” she snapped.
The drones. These aren’t the live ones, I can feel it. She can’t channel enough of a signal into a living nervous system yet. This just the vanguard: they’re animated corpses. The live ones are still back at her Hive. It’s not in the desert, but on the far edge of it, about two hours as the Pegasus flies.
“Far edge of the desert, two hours. So reinforcements will be slow, that’s good. And you’re sure these are dead?” she whispered as the swarm approached.
Positive. Don’t let her hold you back. Don’t show any mercy, go full Daybreaker on them if you have to. You can’t save these things. She just wants you to think that.
“Using corpses, are you?!” Celestia shouted into the air.
“Oh, you finally noticed?” the first of the Chrysalises asked as more of them landed. “Well, waste not, want not, right? Don’t worry, I have plenty of bodies for today. Last chance, Celestia. Surrender now, or I’ll have to beat you into submission.”
Celestia smiled. Behind her, she heard the cawing of a bird. “Why should I?”
“I have you outnumbered, and I have more magic than even you can bring to bear.”
She looked up. “Oh, I’m not so sure about that, actually.”
“Your Royal Guard can’t protect you from me,” one of the drones taunted, not even following Celestia’s gaze. “Every pony that fights me will be added to the arsenal.”
“Who said anything about ponies?” Celestia’s horn glowed, and she sent out a beam of light to signal her reinforcements.
The six Chrysalises looked up in confusion. Philomena was swooping down, and screeching with excitement, but that was nothing compared to the sound that followed.
The Queens covered their ears when the second bird called out. Celestia let her smile turn into a smirk. A shadow began to grow on the ground, before circling around the garden.
The Chrysalises could finally see it up close, so Celestia decided to follow basic protocol.
“Chrysalis, allow me to introduce: Roxy, one of my other pets.”
The swarm hissed. “A roc?” One of them asked. “Really? You want to send more birds to fight me? I’m insulted.”
I agree. A trained roc is nice in a fight, but they’re formation breakers, hit and run at best, not much use in a brawl. I’m all for causing a little chaos in the ranks, but I don’t think that’s what you want here.
“Oh, Roxy doesn’t fight much, no, she’s strictly a messenger. But I think it’s only fair to warn you: she can carry quite the payload. Speaking of which: Roxy! Delivery, please!”
As soon as she uttered the command, the roc gave a firm flap of her wings, pelting the area with the payload that had been stashed in between those giant feathers. The Chrysalises all raised shields against the bombardment, only to realise they were blocking light little things that bounced off harmlessly. The bombs didn’t even explode, though they did crack the shields with remarkable ease.
“Pinecones,” a Chrysalis remarked. “You’re hoping to fight me with pinecones. You have gone truly senile, Celestia.”
Honestly, I’m starting to think the same thing. You could have at least used chestnuts or something spikier. I’m quite fond of exploding acorns myself. Best squirrel war ever.
“Watch and learn,” Celestia whispered, before raising her voice to the six. “I’m not going to risk any animal’s safety to fight you, Chrysalis. You don’t get to see all the beasts I keep in my bestiary. You are a pest, and pests are best dealt with using gardening skills. So, I went ahead and procured a few… natural options to deal with you.”
The glow in Celestia’s horn became a solid gold, and solar energy flowed over the field. The pinecones started hopping up and down, drilling into the ground before rumbling underneath.
Chrysalis tried a counter-spell, the other five fired at Celestia’s horn, but the blasts fizzled out before they could connect.
Wait, she can’t counter that? What sort of spell is this?
From five paces away, the midpoint between the two forces, a form emerged from the ground. An evergreen tree trunk rose up to about twice the height of Celestia, branched out, and sprouted needles.
Then, hidden deep in the pine needles, it opened its mouth and eyes, and roared. Celestia had always thought these creatures were much like shaggy dogs in that respect: it was hard to tell where the mouth and eyes started and where the fur or needles stopped.
The first green giant stepped forward with a wooden creak, branches swinging to loosen up its makeshift arms. The rest of its compatriots soon followed, sprouting and growing to full height in seconds.
“Treeguards,” Celestia said. “A little something to spruce up my defences, if you’ll pardon the pun. My little ponies picked these up in the Limos Valley. Even if you strike me down, these giants will not stop fighting. In fact, if you do strike me down, there won’t be anything to stop them.”
“We’ll see about that.” The vanguard of Chrysalises readied their horns and swung in tandem to launch a spell at the new arrivals. But, as the forest grew around them and the things began to wake up, roaring in outrage, all their horns fizzled.
“Oh, you’re not familiar with this creature? I suppose you wouldn’t be: the Limos Valley has a very powerful magic running through it, one that’s primarily based on hunger, similar to your own. My Treeguards? They have an anti-magic field. A weak one, though, very faint, and short ranged.”
Oh, that’s why she couldn’t fire a counter: anti-magic field, nice.
The six all focused their attention on Celestia now, trying to get another composite beam off. Two of them tried to take the high ground, but a single wing flap from the roc brought them down, while a second flap from Philomena took out three in a blaze.
“Of course, when you have about thirty of these giants in one place, the short range becomes more of local suppression field.”
“This changes nothing,” a drone growled.
“It changes everything,” Celestia retorted. “You see, while you were plotting this little coup attempt, I’m sure you obsessed every night about how clever it was and how nopony would figure out what exactly you were doing, it’s in your nature. However, in all your fantasising you forgot one crucial detail: I do not need to know exactly what you’re doing to stop you. It was painfully obvious you were going to try and steal pony magic. Logically speaking, all I need to do stop you is to nullify pony magic along with your usual changeling tricks. No fireballs, no counterspells, not even a pathetic glue shot. Your magic is shut down.”
Brava, Celestia, brava, that’s the Princess I remember. Today might just get interesting. Honestly, this is much more entertaining than anything I was planning.
Celestia’s ears twitched. “You were planning something, too?”
What? D’oh, nothing, nothing, carry on, gloat a little. Please, on my behalf. She deserves some pain.
“Big mistake, Celestia,” one Chrysalis said. The drone’s eyes glowed, and more of her kind soon descended onto the garden. They all came in squads of six, and much to Celestia’s surprise they stayed in formation. “If you shut off pony magic with these things, you’re even more defenceless than usual. No counterspells or teleporting for you, either. They don’t shut down my army, and they don’t shut down magic when it’s pointed inward. You just sealed your fate.”
One of the initial drones rushed past in a blur while the Treeguards engaged, clumsily swatting at the approaching assassin like an insect.
Celestia closed her eyes as the thing closed the gap. At half a pace of distance, she pointed her head down. The beam that shot out of her horn blew it back with a searing burn in its chest.
“You’re right, of course: they do not cancel out all magic,” Celestia remarked, standing up again. “And it’s true, they won’t shut down your stolen speed spells. But, do consider: speed is all you have now. It is twenty-four to thirty-one. I still have a good portion of my magic, and I will burn you.”
The hurt clone growled. “What? How?”
Celestia merely smirked, relishing her advantage.
“Why, the very thing you’re trying to steal, of course. It’s solar magic, Chrysalis. I can still use solar magic. And that means I can sit here and blast you to ashes while my new friends swat you away like the bug you are.”
“I can still steal more.”
“Perhaps. But unless you happen to drain a pony with talents equal to mine, that will not matter.”
Celestia mentally commanded her Treeguards to form a defensive line around her. Six formed an inner circle, eight formed up around her to cover the corners, and ten covered the edges in front of that line, leaving six Treeguards as a spare to circulate back and forth if need be. With her formation in place, she ignited her horn again. This time, it was a bright, blinding phosphorous light.
Her defences were up. The enemy had called in reinforcements, and she had all the time in the world to analyse their movements and numbers now.
I see your plan now. Every pony she gets her mitts on makes her whole army stronger. So the more of them you can pull into this lovely garden brawl, the less of a force she has to do the stealing, and the more time you buy for your little ponies.
Celestia wiped some dirt off of her nose and snorted at the drones. “Don’t you just love photosynthesis?”
The plan was simple and effective. Sunburst had managed to animate suits of armour of at least five eras, along with a host of other adequately sharp implements, so there was now a way to post guards at every room entrance. Neighsay had his etheric chains at the ready, and Sunburst stayed far enough behind to provide cover fire.
They went into the ‘Ancient Oceans’ exhibit first. Three Chrysalises waited for them there, sticking close to the ceiling. One lunged at Bullet Time’s speed, and got a taste of 500-year old halberd for her troubles. Neighsay wrapped that one in chains, and Sunburst lowered his miniature Sun onto it to fully dispose of the creature.
The other two stared on, and tried to pincer the Chancellor with a double beam: one ice, one fire.
Neighsay swung his weighted chains around to deflect the attacks, then sent them rushing at the two creatures. They ducked out of the way at the last second, and Neighsay grunted as he pulled at his weapons to get them back. The drones took their chance to get up close while he had his arms open.
Apparently these things didn’t realise his chains were cast from his very much exposed and undamaged horn. Neighsay barely had to squint to intercept the things, and two dips of Sunburst’s flame orb later the stallions had cleared the room.
“They don’t seem to be very aware of their own weaknesses,” Neighsay observed.
“Yeah, they’ve got a really bad case of tunnel vision every time they go full speed. I wonder what she’s actually getting, then,” Sunburst replied.
“Cutie mark-related magic, from the looks of it. The basic spells that are inscribed on our bodies, the skills required to wield them, but not the experience, not yet, at any rate.”
“Where to next?”
Neighsay nodded to the section where the first drone had appeared from, behind the jellyfish. “That way. We secure this area, then post up at the entrance, and work our way up. Once we get the high ground, we can signal the Royal Guard.”
Sunburst nodded and sent two Eastern Unicorn samurai suits to check. They were blown apart by a blast of thunder.
“Aww, did I ruin your little toys?” The Queen’s voice rang out.
“You’ll pay for that.” Neighsay galloped forward, horn at the ready. When he entered the exhibit, he found himself stepping into green glue.
“I’m short on cash today, mind if I borrow a little something from you?”
The Queens were behind him, fangs bared.
Neighsay grinned. With a single motion, he broke free of the glue trap and made a wide swing at the walls to get them to scatter. “You’ll have to do better than that. I am the head of the EEA, the overseer to all of pony generational knowledge. I know how to get around changeling tricks.”
They’d scattered, as he’d predicted. One was above him and to the right, one behind him, one to his front and left. This was a smaller exhibit on marine invertebrates, mostly jellyfish and sponges, so she wouldn’t have the room to go at full speed.
Predictably, the Queens resorted to spellwork instead. Behind him came a lightning bolt, in front of him an ice ball formed at the cusp of being launched, and from above a whicker net fell down on him.
All three were familiar to him. All three were easily cancelled out by a shield pulse spell. “Don’t think you can surprise me, you insolent insect. Every power you’ve stolen belongs to a colleague of mine. I know their tricks well, I know yours also.”
“True, true. But I’m learning. And you’re going to run out of toys and stamina long before I run out of drones,” the one in front taunted, before going wide-eyed.
The samurai suits were up again, and stabbing her in the gut.
“B-but…” she looked behind her, at Sunburst. “I destroyed those. How?”
“Solar magic,” Sunburst said, tapping his horn. “I’m pretty good at fixing things, and shedding some light where I need to. Speaking of which?” Down came that orb of consuming heat again, and Neighsay chained up the other two before they could flee.
Neighsay chuckled. “I’m surprised your spies wouldn’t inform you about a pony like Sunburst. He does possess one of the rarest talents to find in a pony, after all. You’re committing a grave error if you underestimate him.”
Queen number two wriggled and screamed, but she was soon reduced to ash.
Queen number three, however, smirked evilly as the orb closed in. “My spies told me enough. For example, did you know there’s an Earth pony two blocks down who’s strong enough to punch through a brick wall?”
Neighsay’s heart sank. He could feel the pressure mount on his restraints. “Sunburst, be quick!” The chains shattered, sending a spike of painful feedback into his horn.
The cavalry took care of her. Two hollow lancer ponies impaled the last Queen against a back wall, allowing Sunburst to finish her off.
Neighsay saw it, though: the look in that one’s eyes as she expired.
She knew what she was doing. She knew how to counter his chains now.
Charlemane help me, I’m going to need a hand soon, I fear.
“Ground floor’s clear,” Sunburst said. “The entrance was empty. We might run out of armours soon, though, I don’t know how many we need to keep guard.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Neighsay said, sighing. “As long as you can keep up your spell, we can add more to the arsenal. We’ll head up and get the heavier guns there.”
Sunburst snickered. “I just hope Bullet Time doesn’t mind me messing with his bigger exhibits.”
The portal itself made a little bit of noise, but the boys went through quietly enough. They exited out into the main street of Canterlot, the one leading through the walls and gates of the city towards the Palace.
Bastion twinned his cloaking spell to cover Live Wire, and Doldrum’s suit of armour had a stealth mode of its own, so getting around unnoticed should have been easy. They kept their stealth spells selective, as they’d been taught at Fight Camp, so they could still see each other up close. Their mission was somewhat halted at the corner of Chomper’s and Saddle Street, by the groaning sound coming from Bastion.
“What’s the matter?” Doldrum asked.
“Umm, funny story: I kind of slept in today. Chrysalis got to my house at breakfast, so…”
“You haven’t eaten yet.” Doldrum winced in sympathy, though it was hard to tell with that helmet. “Okay, we’ll look for food on the way.”
“But-”
“You’re no good to anyone if you’re starving. Besides, that might have been on purpose: maybe she wants you weak and hungry.”
“Thanks. Which way are we going?”
“You’re the master strategist, you tell us,” Doldrum whispered.
“Can we get to the Palace?”
“I doubt it,” Doldrum replied. In the distance, they could vaguely see a large avian form in the air, and even without that the din of battle sounded between them and their destination. “I think Princess Celestia is already fighting.”
“Where’s the Royal Guard?” Bastion asked.
“If they haven’t been targeted as it is, probably holed up and defending a base while they send out rescue teams. That’s their standard plan.”
“That’s a terrible plan,” Bastion argued. “They’ll just get picked off one by one.”
“It’s how they got through dozens of other battles like this. The Royal Guard isn’t meant to protect the royals: it’s the royals protecting the citizens. But getting to them is probably not a good idea, either. Where can we go where she won’t find us?”
“Nowhere,” Bastion said. “I think it’s me she wants, and she’s going to figure out we escaped and cloaked soon. She’ll probably sense the portal, if she can’t detect that amulet as it is.”
“She can’t,” Doldrum explained. “It’s deactivated now, just a pile of gold until someone makes the right move.”
“And your armour?”
“If she can find me in this suit, then she can find all of us as it is. It’s the same magic.”
Bastion nodded, stifling a groan even if his stomach couldn’t. “Okay. If we can’t hide, then we find a place to fight her.”
“All of her? I mean, sure, I’m up for a challenge, but do you think we can?” Live Wire asked.
“I’m moving ahead.” Doldrum led the way towards a fountain at the middle of the crossroads. Bastion worried, since he couldn’t see the Pegasus at all from that distance. He had to admit, the armour was pretty decent.
When he and Live Wire reached him and the transparent armour let them see each other again, Doldrum whispered to them. “We’ll have to decide now. If we go straight ahead, that’s towards the Palace. That’s deeper into Canterlot, where the rich ponies are. If we go left, that’s towards the Academy. There’ll be a lot of powerful Unicorns there who can help.”
“And a lot of Chrysalis to fight them. If we go back, we try to get out of Canterlot. Can we portal out to some other city?” Live Wire asked.
Doldrum nodded. “I could turn this thing on again.”
“No,” Bastion replied. “We can’t. If we gate out of here, she’ll know. Portal magic leaves a trace at long range, that’s why ponies don’t usually use it anymore.”
“How do you know?” Doldrum asked.
“My mom told me. You know, to make me feel better. She said she could yank me back if anyone ever tried to kidnap me with a teleport. And if she could do that…”
“Then Chrysalis definitely can, too.”
“Especially now. Chancellor Neighsay would have sent us far away if he thought he could. But we can’t risk it. Besides, we do have one other option.” Bastion took the lead. “We go right, then left, then we keep going straight ahead... until we can go down.”
Live Wire gulped. “You mean...”
“Yes. We move into the mountain, head into the Crystal Caverns under Canterlot.”
“Can we hide there?” Live Wire asked.
“We can fight there,” Bastion replied. “I think I have a plan. We might be able to beat her, but it’s gonna take all three of us. There are still a few things I need to be sure of, but right now I think we have a shot.”
“Sounds good to me. We’re not alone in this,” Doldrum added. “Lots of ponies are fighting her right now.”
“Yeah. We don’t even need to win. We only need to tip the scales,” Live Wire said.
“Then that’s where we go.” Bastion winced again at another hunger pang.
“There’s a waffle shop about two blocks away,” Live Wire said. “We can get you some food there.”
“Good idea. If she wants me hungry, then I think I wanna get some brunch first.”