//------------------------------// // TCE: Defeat // Story: Blooming Days // by Hoofprintz //------------------------------// "This will not be pleasant," Chrysalis sneered. "this will not be short," her horn surged with energy. "You will not enjoy this, Sunset Shimmer," an explosion of green flames sprouted up from the floor in a circular formation around me, completely hedging me in. "But look on the bright side..." I fired off a counter spell without a second thought, hoping I could douse the otherworldly flames with a torrent of water. Just as my magic was about to come into contact with hers, the liquid evaporated into a fine vapor. Her flames continued to burn, somehow now even stronger than they were before. "Once it's finally all over... you'll have the perfect new master!" The flames began to close in around me, their heat making it difficult for me to breathe. "And you'll willingly love her more than anyone or anything you've ever known!" I powered another spell, teleporting out of the predicament I was in to the other side of the hall in a flash. I watched the inferno burn for a moment before Chrysalis dispelled her own magic with a disappointed click of her tongue. "If I can't beat somepony like you, Chrysalis," I sneered at her confidently. "I deserve whatever horrible end fate holds for me." "Tell yourself whatever you need to rationalize it, Sunset," the changeling slowly turned to face me, her expression filled with malice. "You will be mine... and there's NOTHING you can do to change that." "Are you just going to keep yapping your trap," I prepared for the inevitable attack that would surely come from running my own mouth. "Or are you going to try and make me submit?" "How... curious," the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, betraying the fact that she wasn't as angry as she wanted to appear to be. "You know you stand no chance, yet you still continue to defy me. The Princess of the Sun must be truly impressive to have raised up such a devout protégé." "She'd stomp you into the ground with no problem," I chuckled, though it was a hollow sound. Her first claim wasn't far from the truth and had rattled me, but the mention of my mentor had rallied my spirits as soon as I'd heard the words leave her mouth. "Well..." she walked towards me, clearly not worried about anything I might be able to do to her in retaliation. She was back in her chipper mood, a vivacious smile on her face. "then I suppose it's a good thing I've decided to alter my strategy, isn't it?" Her eyes shined with excitement. "I wonder how terrible she'll feel when she realizes she's lost and you, Starlight, and Twilight are all serving me as my personal concubines." I made a mistake. Her words got to me. I knew she was trying to goad me into attacking, but the idea of me and my friends doing... anything like that blinded my better senses. I launched a stream of mana directly at her face in an attempt to shut that smug mouth of hers. She merely tilted her head to the side, avoiding the spell with as little effort as needed. I growled, cursing my poor luck as well as my lack of skill. Though, to be honest, the attack probably wouldn't have done much damage had it landed anyway. I was definitely fighting somepony out of my league. "Is that a sore spot I detect, Sunset Shimmer?" The queen cackled at my overly emotional reaction. "By all means, please!" her horn glowed brighter with green mana. "continue feeding me such delicious emotions. I do so adore your... taste." I bristled, mindlessly firing off another trio of blasts. The projectiles were much wider this time, my hope being that she wouldn't be able to dodge them with as much ease as the first. Unfortunately, my assault did absolutely nothing. Again. All three of my attacks disintegrated before making contact, instead colliding with a wall of green flames that had erupted from the floor around her. As the fire regressed back to where it had come from, I was somehow met with an even more smug expression of arrogance from the Queen of the Changelings. "Would you please just SHUT YOUR MOUTH!?" I wanted nothing more than to attack again, -- wanted to buck her right in the jaw as hard as I could -- but it was clear she was in control of the situation and so, I had to be a lot more cautious. "Why would I ever do that, Sunset?" She tilted her head as her horn began to pulse menacingly. "Each and every time you lash out so foalishly..." She was behind me in an instant, her cheek an inch away from mine. A sudden explosion of green flames had masked her movement from my eyes, though I was guessing it was just a flexing of her abilities and nothing more. "You give me more and more delicious sustenance." "Wh-what!?" I jumped forward, spinning in mid-air to face her. My heart was hammering, her speed and mana capacity at levels I simply couldn't hope to compete with. "Changelings feed on-" "Emotions, you DOLT!" she was in my face a second after another explosion of jade fire consumed her body. "Like that fear coming from you right now!" "That's... not true," I tried to step away from her, but the fierce jade eyes of the Queen of the Changelings froze me in place. "It's love. JUST love..." ... Isn't it? "How about," she smiled seductively. "I give you a more... flagrant demonstration?" She opened her mouth unnaturally wide, as if she was planning to swallow me whole like an anaconda might. I could do little more than stare in horror as she made her next move. It wasn't until a green sphere of crackling energy formed in her gullet that I realized what her true intentions were. It started in my chest. A dull ache that gradually increased to a horrible pain. After just a few seconds it felt as if my heart was being compressed in a vice. I hadn't noticed it at first, the pain taking precedence, but at some point my mouth had opened of its own volition. I still couldn't move, forced to observe as a translucent stream of... something flowed from my mouth into hers. The pain was unbearable, feeling much like a vacuum had been affixed to my muzzle and my insides were being sucked out one by one. I closed my eyes as they began to fill with tears. I didn't want her to see my weakness. My breathing had stopped and if it didn't start up again soon, I'd lose consciousness. To my complete and utter surprise, the changeling decided to end her onslaught as soon as a quiet whimper escaped my mouth. My weakened body fell to the floor as I gulped in breath after breath of air. I couldn't stand, the ordeal weakening me to the point of exhaustion. It felt like I'd just been put through an especially difficult test from my mentor. It took every ounce of strength I had left not to vomit from her attack. "Y-you... you can..." I could hardly talk, the words coming out, but I could barely hear them myself. "Every emotion is fodder for a changeling," she'd closed her mouth, licking her lips in delight. "It just so happens that love is the most... scrumptious of them all." I felt myself get lifted into the air by my fetlocks. Looking down. Or up, I suppose. I could see her sickly green aura along my body, holding me aloft by shackles locked around my legs. She stared at me with pure satisfaction, that same gleeful smile as before plastered on her face again as she moved my face directly in front of hers. I tried to fight against the binds, but there was no way I'd be able to wrestle them off with my physical strength alone. My head was a maelstrom of pain. First because of the unnatural perspective, second from the frustration of my predicament, and third from her tearing my emotions away. Along with the headache, I became acutely aware of the strange feeling at the base of my horn. I wouldn't even be able to attack her magic with my own at this point, everything seemingly plotting against me. "PUT ME DOWN!" I barked, hopelessly trying to swing towards her to maybe headbutt her or possibly bite her snout. "In time, Sunset," she pInched my cheek with a hoof, moving my face back and forth like a mother reprimanding her foal. "WHY!?" I snapped at her again before my vigor left me completely. "Why are you doing this?" I wouldn't willingly let her see me cry, but I was nearly at my breaking point. There was nopony left to fight her and if the changeling was telling the truth, everything I felt made her stronger. My love for Twilight and Star. My fear of losing them. My despair at the fact that I was going to let my mentor down. That I have let her down... I can't win... "You've already won," I averted my eyes from hers, lamenting just how pathetic I was. "Just get it over with already." "I already told you..." she cackled with glee. "SUNSET SHIMMER!" I was flung at the wall, my left side slamming into it with an ear shattering crash. "THIS WILL NOT BE PLEASANT!" The severity of the pain barely had time to register in my mind before I was hurled into the opposite wall. "THIS WILL NOT BE SHORT!" Still not allowed to recover, I was raised high into the air, my orientation flipping before my withers slammed into the ceiling. "YOU WILL NOT ENJOY THIS!" Bright stars all the colors of the rainbow filled my vision as I plummeted to the floor, my chest and jaw taking the brunt of the force once I'd arrived there. Everything hurt. In spite of the fact that she'd withdrawn her spell, I wasn't able to move an inch. I didn't know if anything was broken, and I really didn't want to put any of my bones to the test to find out. I laid motionless on the floor, like a dummy with no ventriloquist to control it. You can endure it, Sunset! Do not let her break your spirit! You have to fight! I couldn't be sure if that was my own mind trying to motivate me or if my mentor had somehow sensed I was in trouble and was trying to do so herself. It didn't matter either way. I wouldn't submit. I would NEVER submit. I may lose to her, -- may be completely defeated -- but I wouldn't give her the victory. She'd have to take it from me. "Y-you know..." I coughed, an action that amplified the pain I was experiencing ten-fold. I groaned loudly before continuing. "a telekinesis spell... wasn't what... I was expecting from... somepony like... you." I still had my eyes shut, but I had to do something and a lame taunt was the only thing I had the strength left to do. "It's so... basic." I chuckled, another action that I most assuredly should not have done for several reasons. "And here I thought you were so much stronger than this... If only the rest of your pathetic existence was as resilient as that mouth of yours," she sounded beyond disappointed. "then maybe I could have had a little bit of fun." "Sorry... to disappoint..." I forced my eyes open, standing to shaking hooves. "I'll try and... live up to your... expectations," I smirked arrogantly. There was no fight left in me, only defiance through words. Apparently, she saw right through that bluff. "No, no," she shook her head. "You clearly wish to... talk. Let's do so. You asked why I'm doing this?" her horn shimmered yet again. She teleported the orb that was holding Twilight in front of herself. "This fool," she pointed a hoof at the violet mare. "Is already mine. She can only perceive me as her beloved brother now. It was SO easy to deceive her. She'll do anything for me now," she smiled adoringly at the unconscious unicorn trapped in the ball. "Maybe for n-" "I'M NOT FINISHED!" she glared at me, baring her fangs. I clamped my mouth shut. She cast another spell, Twilight's orb flashing back to the corner and Star's replacing it in front of the changeling. But... "STAR!?" I rushed forward, ignoring all the pain that moving brought on. I pressed my hooves against the green sphere, my horn igniting with red mana. "STAR! I'M HERE!" She was lying on her side, her violet eyes barely open as if she'd just woken from a long slumber. She smiled weakly at me, pressing her hoof against the interior of the mana where my hoof was. "She can't hear you," the changeling laughed at my desperation. "Unfortunately, this one isn't mine just yet," she teleported the sphere next to Twilight's. "But that will change once I break you, Sunset Shimmer." "What!?" I kept my magic flowing, seeing one of my friends conscious blessing me with a small measure of hope. "Why would Star...light... Why would that matter?" Chrysalis' eyes widened in elation. "Oh you poor, ignorant fool," she clicked her tongue several times in disapproval. "I thought you had better discernment, but it turns out you're just as hopeless as my little sister." "CHRYSALIS!" I was doing everything I could to keep myself from doing something extremely foolish. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!?" Her grin persisted. "Perhaps if you get on your knees and beg, I'll fill you in," she flipped her mane back with a hoof, trying to appear nonchalant. "As if I'd do that," I snorted. "You want to tell me. You wouldn't have brought it up at all if you didn't want to rub it in my face! Isn't that right, Your Highness?" "Guilty as charged," she shrugged, giggling like a mischievous filly. "It really is too much fun toying with a weak pony's emotions," she locked eyes with mine. "Very well, Sunset. I'll tell you the truth you seem to be unaware of. Starlight Glimmer," she tilted her head towards Star. "That mare has more love in her heart for you than anyone or anything else." "She..." my eyes opened wide. "I suppose you could say... you are her heart," the queen snickered as if it was the dumbest thing she'd ever said. My legs nearly lost what little strength they had left. Can... she be telling the truth? I knew she had feelings for me, but... I looked back at the sphere Star was trapped in. Her hoof was still pressed against the mana. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. "Not only have you let your friends down," Chrysalis chided. "You've let down the queen, my sister, your mentor, and the one who loves you more than she loves all else." My heart trembled. "It's over, Sunset Shimmer," she narrowed her eyes on me, her horn brimming with green energy. "You're nothing more than a pathetic failure!" Star slowly shook her head. Her horn sparked to life drawing the queen's attention. "How is she..." the changeling was genuinely surprised, the look on her face one of unabated shock. The lilac mare pressed the tip of her horn against the interior of the green sphere. Words slowly began to take shape on the prison before the unicorn lost consciousness once again. I still believe in you, Sun. I felt adrenaline surge through me, along with something else I couldn't quite put my hoof on. "You're right, Chrysalis," I closed my eyes, feeling warmth seep through my veins. "OF COURSE I AM!" she was clearly annoyed. Star's defiance had seemingly gotten to her. Probably because it had revitalized me to an extent... and done so much more than that. "Star loves me..." I smiled, pressing a hoof against my chest. She loves me... I opened my eyes, the river of mana in me growing and flowing outwards from my irises before moving upward and enveloping my horn. The Queen of the Changelings looked hesitant all of a sudden. For a moment, It almost seemed like she might reconsider her plan altogether. That quickly passed, a seething expression of rage growing on her face. "I haven't let her down," I poured my heart and soul into my horn. "She still believes in me... She LOVES me! I WON'T let her down!" My mana soared, my entire body becoming engulfed in the sunlight of my mentor. My coat began to resemble the surface of Celestia's star and my eyes shined just as bright. The changeling could only look on in shocked disbelief as my power continued to grow. Still... something felt off. The base of my horn began to burn more and more in proportion with my skyrocketing energy. I almost considered scaling back my effort. Until... DO NOT HOLD BACK, YOUNG ONE! Princess Luna's words rang out in my mind. I gave my all, everything left inside of me. I would defeat Chrysalis no matter what it cost me. The cacophony of my horn and magic singing was drowned out by the sudden sound of shattering glass. Glass that fell from the base of my horn to the floor beneath my hooves. In an instant, everything was far more vibrant. Colors were more vivid, sounds more distinct. Even the carpet under my hooves felt more comfortable. The river of mana I had just been emanating suddenly felt like a drop in the bucket compared to what was at my disposal now. Now, it was a vast ocean. There were no more shackles on me. I was free.