Chrysalis touched down in the midst of the crystal buildings as a mocking laugh reverberated on the wind around her. She glared as the swirling blackness closed in around her.
The grinning face appeared before her, laughing. “Ssso… someone else has found that worthless trinket.”
Chrysalis blinked. “Khaji Da,” she muttered. “How does he know you?”
“Memory banks repaired. Shortened transcription:
“I landed in the snowy wastelands surrounding the Crystal Empire. I was acquired by a pony who sought to stop King Sombra. System Check was incomplete. Symbiotic Binding was not completed in time. Pony perished as a result of psychological interference. I was cast far away.”
Chrysalis frowned. “Which is where Korg found you,” she concluded.
She glared up at Sombra as he laughed again. “That trinket will not help you. It cannot be dessstroyed, and I could not ussse it… but it isss a weapon of masss destruction from the starsss. There isss no good in it.”
Chrysalis growled, wings buzzing. “The scarab isn’t the only one standing here,” she said, jabbing a forehoof at him. To her surprise, the gauntlet cannon formed and fired—but only succeeded in poking a brief hole in the mist.
“What the?” she remarked.
“Symbiotic Binding at 100%. Engaging threat at your command.”
Chrysalis blinked, then grinned. “Then let’s not fail again, Khaji Da.”
The gloom howled with anger, bolts of bubbling, sparking purple magic firing at her from all sides. The suit’s additional legs blurred, weaving shield after shield as Chrysalis returned fire. As she moved, she marveled at the feeling of the scarab—no longer did its extensions feel like an accessory or clothing, it felt like an extension of her own body.
With a snarling roar, the gloom blasted one of the crystal structures beside Chrysalis. It toppled onto the changeling queen, and Sombra grinned at the thought of flattening her.
He recoiled as a bright flash of green fire flared just as the building fell, and a towering dragon encased in blue and black armor emerged. It tossed aside the tower with a snarl, before laying waste to the gloom with a mighty jet of fire.
The flames parted the gloom, but only briefly. A trio of black crystal spires formed in its midst and fired bolts of black lightning at the dragon. The dragon burned away in another burst of green fire, and Sombra gave another brief grin—which turned into a snarl at the sight of a nimble pegasus now dodging his beams.
Chrysalis—in pony form—angled low and swiped out one foreleg. A curved, blue blade materialized out, which she used to cleave through the crystals. As they toppled, Chrysalis transformed back and angled straight for Sombra’s angry visage.
As she flew through the miasma, her mind buzzed. There was the faint sounds of nervous buzzing, screams, anxious cries—and they all at once ceased as she fired blindly into the gloom.
“Psychological shielding in place,” the scarab reported.
“Good, now find me his head so I may remove it,” Chrysalis snarled, rage boiling her blood. She was tired of having her changelings used as the king’s pawns.
“Tracking.”
Chrysalis angled towards the signature, but no sooner had she swiped a blade through Sombra’s face than it reappeared elsewhere. Each time she lunged for it, she felt a shard of crystal strike her side. Most bounced off, but a few pierced her second armor and jabbed her, causing her to hiss in pain.
“Healing.”
Chrysalis gasped as she felt the pain subside, but with each subsequent blow, the pain lasted longer than the one before.
“We can’t keep this up forever!” Chrysalis hissed internally. “We need a way to stop him for good!”
As Chrysalis closed in on his grinning face yet again, a mass of dark crystal slammed into her, sending her bouncing across the ground. Despite the scarab’s protection, she felt her wings crush as she rolled across the ground, and several loose shards of debris jabbed her.
She panted as she struggled to get to her hooves, her ears flicking towards the now darkened crystal castle. Chrysalis lifted her head to see faint forms at the top of the central spire.
“Chrysalis!” Shining Armor called. “We found the Crystal Heart!”
Sombra’s attention immediately snapped towards the castle and he hissed. “No…” he growled, lunging away.
“Your energy reserves are low. Healing system offline,” the scarab reported.
“I… know,” she grunted. “But we can’t stop now…”
Her ear flicked again, and she tiredly looked back towards the entrance to the empire, squinting. Another dark mass was flying across the frozen wastelands, and a deep buzzing filled her ears.
“There!” she heard a familiar voice cry as the mass grew close.
In an instant, Chrysalis was surrounded by the anxious buzzing and worried eyes of her entire Hive. She struggled to her hooves with the help of Thorax and Pharynx.
“What… what are you doing here?” Chrysalis asked.
“Princess Celestia told us you were coming here,” Thorax reported, standing at attention.
“And then Thorax kept asking questions. ‘What’s the Crystal Empire?’ ‘What’s so important about it?’ ‘Who’s King Sombra?’” Pharynx huffed. “So we decided you would need our help.”
Chrysalis teared up, nodding. “Thank you, my children,” she said.
“Alright, Hive! As one! For the Queen!” Pharynx barked.
“For the Queen!” the Hive replied.
Chrysalis watched in wonder as her changelings buzzed around her, lifting off the ground. Each bared their chests to her, and fired off a bright, pulsing pink beam. At once, her wings flared and her pain subsided. Power like she’d never felt before surged through her entire body. Her eyes ignited behind the scarab’s armor.
She lifted off from the ground effortlessly as the scarab soaked in some of her power, its blue armor glowing bright.
“Thank you, my changelings,” she said, eyes focused on Sombra. “Now, for the Hive!”
Chrysalis rocketed away in a blue blur of light, leaving behind her changelings.
She didn’t see what became of them.
Cadance frantically arched and soared around the snatching tendrils of darkness, clutching the Crystal Heart to her chest. The gloom shied away from its light, but had no issue attempting to strike the alicorn.
Shining raced to the nearest balcony, trying in vain to try and shoot off a spell, any spell. Unfortunately, shards of dark crystal embedded in the tip of his horn prevented him from using his magic.
“Cadance!” Shining called.
“Shining! I—ah!”
Shadows had snared her, flinging her to the ground. Darkened crystals quickly sprouted from the shadows on the ground, gluing her to the earth. The Crystal Heart skidded away from her towards the castle. Black crystals blocked up the space beneath the castle, preventing entry or escape.
As the dark crystals sprouted and sparked towards the discarded heart, it was scooped up in a blue blur. Sombra snarled as he tried striking at the fast moving object, but to no avail.
Chrysalis, meanwhile, looked down at the castle where the heart should’ve been—it was too risky to try and cut through that much crystal, even with her newfound power.
“Source of immense love energy detected,” the scarab reported, pinging a round target on the heart in her hooves.
Chrysalis blinked and looked at it, then to the enraged Sombra. “That’s why he wants it—it can destroy him. Maybe if we charge it…”
She frowned. “Khaji Da, can you use my love reserves to fire a beam into this thing? It might be strong enough.”
“Warning: firing off that much energy may drain critical systems. However, course of action is most logical choice. Priming for fire.”
Chrysalis smirked. “Sombra was wrong about you, little bug,” she muttered.
With a deep breath, she held the Crystal Heart out in front of her and focused on her reserves—both through her body and the scarab’s. A bright beam of purple, pulsing energy fired forth and struck the heart.
The Crystal Heart sung like a massive tuning fork, sending forth wave after wave of love out across the kingdom. Sombra’s gloom was blown away, revealing his unicorn form beneath. He was only able to let out one more cry of anger before he too was blown away into nothing.
Green and color returned to the Crystal Empire and its residents, bathing each in a full crystal treatment.
As Chrysalis opened her eyes, she smiled at the beautiful sight. A warmth flooded through her chest at the thought that she had managed such a thing.
Then her eyes shut and she plummeted to the earth.
To Be Continued…