//------------------------------// // Bitter Reunion // Story: Phantom Krystal: An Unstable Ruby // by Lifeblood_Wisp //------------------------------// If Chrysalis wasn’t already angry, she was now. She was now at the hooves of Celestia and Luna, half thinking she was going to be blasted into oblivion. A crowd of cheering and roaring ponies rose behind Chrysalis, pouring salt onto her already fresh and open wound. She couldn’t make out what the crowd was saying, but still she could hear voices with each yell from the crowd. Voices that sought to taunt the powerless queen and gain immeasurable pleasure from doing so. While everyone else heard senseless yelling, she heard the ponies calling her weak and foolish, asking how she of all changelings was the queen, and with each roar she heard something new. “Ain’t this a bitchy queen?” “No wonder she always loses!” “Well if she does always lose, why even bother anymore. She’s just embarrassing herself. Embarrassing. That was it. Right there. The trigger word. Embarrassing. The word that slammed into her mind like a sledgehammer on drywall. The word that went through her emotions like a brick through glass. It was that very last set of words that got to her. ”Thats right….the wise do know when to yield…don’t they?” The changeling thought to herself. Her dive into deeper thoughts was broken by Celestia’s command to be “on her hooves”. Like Luna, she expected to see some form of retaliation, but all they bared witness to was a broken mess of mixed up emotions on the floor. Nonetheless, the mess rose before them with a dour expression, and motioned for the princesses to lead the way. As soon as the palace doors closed behind them, Celestia donned a more serious mindset. She always hated to be the one to break silence, mostly because she knew Luna liked it. Nonetheless, she knew she had to do so in order to get any further with Chrysalis. “So, Chrysalis. Any specific reason why you came so quietly? I at least expected some retaliation from you.” She said. In most other scenarios, Chrysalis would’ve opted to keep her cards close to her chest, but the sheer sense of defeat felt too great for her, hence her more revealing response. “I…fought the Elements on the way here. I wished not to, but they saw me as a threat. Luna’s head snapped around to glare right into Chrysalis’ eyes. “Why didn’t you want to fight hm? Maybe it’s because of somepony you wanted to see?!” She said viciously. Chrysalis’ eyes opened wide as her glance shifted to thats of Luna’s. Both their horns flared and their bodies glowed with magical energy. “Where. Is. He!” “Answer me first, insect! Where are they!” “I can send you to them if you want!” “Try to do so and you’ll have secured your spot in the fresh hell that is Tartarus!” Celestia would’ve intervened, but her course of action suddenly changed once Twilight Sparkle entered the palace. Celestia quickly warped in front of Twilight. “Get back! Ready yourself!” She urgently said. Twilight’s horn now flared up, as did Celestia’s. Everyone in the room was prepared for the worst. But they were not prepared for what the worst would bring. First, it brought the horns of Chrysalis and Luna together, creating a multicolored spark that further lit the already light abundant room. Next, it brought words from out Celestia’s and Twilight’s mouths. Ones that expressed deep desire for the two adversaries to calm themselves and prevent a destructive battle from taking place. It then brough a dark blue flash from behind Luna. One that brought her to her knees and eventually to the ground. The worst had now brought about the worst voice that could’ve been heard in the room. “It’s….you!” Arachnis said. His horn radiating with Luna’s magic, he and Zoey emerged from the settling light that came with the aforementioned flash. They glared at Chrysalis with eyes that could pierce through even the thickest of skin. Chrysalis’ anger was suppressed and her more worried and cautious self came back in an instant. She felt unadulterated fear from the looks that she received, but nonetheless she approached them both in a relieved but cautious manner, careful to not seem like she was angry. She was relieved more than anything to see her kin after what seemed like weeks to her. Arachnis whispered in Zoey’s ear and she looked at him with to wide eyes and a worried face. If Arachnis was to do what he just told her, the collateral damage would certainly make the princesses and the elements angry. She wanted to show her resentment for his decision, but she knew with how he felt at the beginning of their journey together, he wasn’t going to change his mind now. She accepted the inevitable, and gave Arachnis a nod. As Chrysalis got within earshot, she heard Zoey say “Don’t overdo it.” and she tools some steps back. Chrysalis approached once more. “Arachnis I….you’ve got wings, and I feel Luna’s magic within you. I always thought you’d advance your powers but this…I’m proud..” “Proud of me? Or the weapon you created?” “W-what?” “….bout time your experiment backfired.” Before Chrysalis could even react. Arachnis readied his wings and tackled Chrysalis, ramming her into the floor first, and then upward through the ceiling and outside the palace, making two large holes. As Arachnis sent Chrysalis higher in the sky, Chrysalis formed a barrier around herself. “Arachnis…why’re you doing this?!” She yelled. “To show that I’m more than just your fucking puppet!” He yelled back. Chrysalis thought on that response for a moment. W-what? My puppet? Surely he isn’t talking about Somba, right? No…he couldn’t be. Those damned princesses must’ve gotten hold of him! Even so, he isn’t relenting. I have to fight, then I’ll free him. It’s either that, or he beats me into a pulp, and turns to them for good. A green aura appeared around Arachnis, and the next thing he knew, he was sent straight into the ground with a loud BOOM. The citizens of Canterlot stopped what they were doing to rushed out their residences to witness what had fallen into their streets. Many speculated it was a shiny crystal or a meteor fallen from space. Their conjecture were only half correct As the dust settled, the townsponies gathered around the the crater and from it, came a creature that amazed them all. Something that possessed features that resembled both pony and changeling, but none seemed to overlap the other. Arachnis rose to his hooves, stood firm, and looked up to his tyrant mother, as did the townsfolk. He readied his wings, sparked his horn, and flew right back up and straight into Chrysalis, charging a dark blue beam that, while not as powerful as something Luna could’ve mustered, was still far beyond most ponies around his age could dish out. Even through she properly defended with a shield, Chrysalis was sent careening downward and into the Everfree Forest. Chrysalis made deep tracks in the ground from how far back she was sent. She knew Arachnis had the upper hand, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurt what she created. Nonetheless, it was painfully clear that she would have to try a bit harder. She once again levitated Arachnis and shot him right into the ground, being sure to position him a fair distance away from her. It was then that she noticed a glow. One of red and blue that could only be coming from an infuriated Arachnis, letting her know she played her cards right. From a thicket of bushes and trees, Arachnis rushed at Chrysalis with large blue wings and fury in his eyes. Chrysalis’ horn glowed just as bright as she simply looked at Arachnis coming toward her at dangerous speeds. He finally made contact, first driving his hooves into her and slamming her into the ground. Arachnis’ horn dimmed, and eventually its light faded as he fell to his knees. He observed his damage only to look wide eyed at his victim. It wasn’t Chrysalis Only seconds after noticing, green electric shocks struck him and the sting populated his body faster than a virus. He then felt his hooves being tugged, as four vines e were keeping them tightly locked, almost cutting off his blood flow. He turned his head only to see a heavily breathing Chrysalis applying the vines. She teleported in front of him. “A pony can only handle a goddesses power for so long….” She said Arachnis wanted to retort, but his body ached so badly he didn’t even know if he had the energy to speak. Chrysalis noticed this lack of words. “Arachnis! I…I’m sorry for what I had to do. I-I put my baby through so much pain…. But it was the only way to free you from their control. Why I would’ve been more gentle if I-“ “S-shut the hell up…and drop the act Chrysalis.” Chrysalis had never felt so much worry, and confusion in her life, but she only chose to facialize one of those feelings. “W-whatever do you mean? I-I thought the ponies in Canterlot tried to-“ “You didn’t free me from a damn thing! I tried to free myself from you!” He yelled “I-I don’t…” “Oh now you don’t know?! YOU THINK I DIDNT KNOW ABOUT WHY YOU MADE ME!?” The vines loosened around Arachnis “YOU JUST WANTED SOMEPONY POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU COULD NEVER DO” The vines dropped Arachnis “I…gave you that power because I lo- “Because you wanted a weapon, that’s why!” Arachnis struggled to stand. He slowly walked toward Chrysalis “That’s…Arschnis none of that’s true! I-I…” “I don’t want to fucking hear it. If an experiment is all I am to you…then you aren’t my mother anymore.” Arachnis walked right past Chrysalis and into the town of Canterlot. Chrysalis’ horn glowed, as a nearby tree had a green aura around it. Its leaves turned brown, eventually they fell. Soon the tree was nothing but a hollow husk of what it moves was. Arachnis had been far from doing so, but Chrysalis truly felt like Arachnis had killed her.