Chapter 5
Several gasps can be heard from the ponies as they began to back away from the Zecora look-a-like.
"Changelings?! In Ponyville?" Twilight heard one of the ponies yell out.
Some of the ponies began to flee the area, most stuck around to watch things develop. Pinkie was quick to get her hooves going and escape towards the ring of ponies now encircling Twilight and Zecora. They were in one of the more open spots of Ponyville, which allowed for a large number of spectators. Twilight would prefer there be fewer onlookers but it was a thought far in the back of her mind as she continued towards Zecora. As she began to walk past the large fountain located at the center of the square, Zecora opened her mouth to reveal two large fangs.
"Well I guess this disguise is no longer needed," said Zecora's figure as she began to undergo a gruesome transformation. Limbs became fully black and began stretching upwards. Wings started to form at the sides as an eerie, yet familiar, buzzing sound began to fill the air. More gasps were heard from the observers and in one final green flash, the Queen of the changelings stood before them. This was the second time Twilight had seen this transformation and chills were sent down her spine that of which had no rival. Twilight looked around to see that her friends were sharing her uncomfortable feelings. Rainbow Dash, who would usually be found hovering above the ground, was now flightless as she stared onwards in awe. Fluttershy began to sink lower and lower towards the ground in her usual terrified manner. Pinkie Pie let out a shriek and jumped into the hooves of Applejack who was just barely able to capture her in her stunned state as she gazed upon one of the most formidable opponents the friends had ever faced. Spike kept his eyes on Twilight showing a state of worry. Rarity sat on her rump staring at the queen mumbling something along the lines of, "Why must her wings be all flaky? They look absolutely dreadful!"
"Hello my future subjects!" Chrysalis cried out. Her voice seemed like a drill boring into the ponies mind. Buzzing just as her wings did. Completely unforgettable and chilling to the bone. Chrysalis guided her green eyes across the crowd of ponies before finally ending on Twilight Sparkle.
"Very perceptive of you, student of Celestia!" this one line took Twilight aback. How exactly had Chrysalis known something like that? It wasn't exactly a secret, but she had doubted Chrysalis' knowledge extended that far. The questions brewing in her brain must have translated straight onto her face as Chrysalis went on to explain as she walked around the circle of ponies, knowing full well that nopony would dare attack her.
"You see Twilight Sparkle, none of this went exactly as I planned, not that I'm complaining! I realized that a full on attack on Canterlot was a foalish strategy. So I used deception to infiltrate those closest to the top of the throne and feed off of their love. It seems that you have a knack for seeing through my disguises though and because of it, you had ruined the plans I had in place for years! I considered trotting on down here to exact my revenge upon you, but that's not how you defeat an enemy. You must know your enemy before you can defeat it! And with that in mind I came to Ponyville to extract information. Which is how I came to know of your studies and your reasons for being here, through casual conversation with your friends and fellow ponies while under the guise of this 'Zecora' figure. Though honestly, you in particular weren't the objective I came to Ponyville for..." And with that Chrysalis darted a quick look over to Rainbow Dash before whipping her head around to glance again at Twilight. "But no matter! When you came to her hut that evening with your trivial magic issue, I couldn't help but whip up a plan that put my old one to shame. Though I really do despise rhyming..."
"So do you know what has been affecting me!?" Twilight bursted out, cutting off Chrysalis' speech.
"Well of course I do you moronic foal! Do not interrupt me again or you will be responsible for two hundred lifeless ponies being carried out of this town." Chrysalis said before continuing her bragging. "I was quick to learn about how obsessed you are about your magic and couldn't resist adding you as a pawn to assist my plan."
"What are you talking about Chrysalis!? These ponies here know that I would never help you!"
"Oh but Twilight you aren't helping me, your 'cure' is," she said with a wide grin.
"What, what did you do to me!" Twilight yelled out.
"It was nothing really! I just gave you the potion that would clear the problems up. Oh, but with one little variation, the Vile-
Vial!"
Twilight's mind raced back to that night and she remembered noting a strange glow coming from the vial though she quickly dismissed it as being some strange zebra remedy. She stared down at her hooves feeling racked with guilt. "What did you do!" She cried out again.
"Well it's simple really. Any potion added to the vile-vial will do what it normally does except it infects the consumer with a malicious magic. This magic will feed off of your negative actions and thoughts until it is strong enough to take control of the host by itself. So, Twilight Sparkle, been feeling anything sour lately?" The queen yelled as she grew another wicked grin on her face. She pulled out the Vile-Vial from underneath her wing and tossed it on the ground near Twilight where it landed with a thud.
Suddenly it was all coming back to Twilight in a flash. The rabbit, the mail, the letter. But one thing still itched at her brain.
"So then, since I am serving as your supposed pawn in this whole endeavor, care to enlighten me as to my original problem?"
Chrysalis let out a buzzing sigh, "Fine fine very well, it was the-"
"THE MIST!" said a cry from above as bright sunlight poured down into the town square and a being flew into view as she landed across from Twilight and Chrysalis, landing between them and the rest of the ponies.
"Princess!" Twilight cried out in joy.
"Well now this should be interesting." Chrysalis let out.
"I'm so thankful to see you right now Princess! What was it you said?" Twilight said, hopeful for an answer to sate her ever-curious mind.
Celestia began calmly all while keeping her eyes glaring at Chrysalis, "The mist my dear pupil. To put it simply it is a test of focus preformed by the magic within a unicorn. It happens when the magic within a unicorn is so vast that it begins to test the host in a variety of ways to ensure its host is worthy. It affects all great unicorns AND alicorns as long as time has been recorded. Myself, Luna, Starswirl the Bearded, and perhaps even her majesty here have experienced it. I'm sorry I wasn't able to realize this any sooner for you Twilight, but to leap to such a conclusion would be dangerous and I would have had to been here for myself to make sure."
All of this information was both a relief and yet overwhelming at the same time for Twilight. She had always been proud of her magical prowess but had no idea that something like this was possible. It turned out she still had a lot of learning to do.
" My studies on changelings brought me upon a revelation. Changelings have always been known to quickly counter-attack. With Canterlot suspicion-free, I suspected she might come after the one mare brave enough to stand up to her brother and her friends in order to reveal your sinister plot. Now then," Celestia said, "to remove you from the sight of my subjects once and for all!"
"Celestia, dear Celestia, do you really want to play this game again? I have been down here soaking up all the love and tolerance for not only this Zecora figure but also the love for your star pupil over there! Hearing stories of how helpful she is to her friends over here has been quite delicious to me," Chrysalis said as she licked her lips tauntingly.
"I won't let you harm my subjects. I will use whatever means I must to protect them!"
"Silly Celestia, I'm not even the worst of your problems right now. She is!" Chrysalis pointed a hole-filled hoof over to Twilight. "Well then Twilight, does it anger you that I used you and your friends to gain power?"
Celestia finally glanced over to Twilight and noticed the Vile-Vial on the floor. "TWILIGHT GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Celestia yelled to her pupil but Twilight was already glaring directly at Chrysalis.
"I won't be used by you! I won't let you use my friends again either! Your plan will never succeed!" Twilight yelled back to the changeling queen.
"And what about your zebra friend?" Chrysalis let out in a low tone.
Twilight's ears perked with sudden anger.
"Surely you must have found her earlier to finally come to this realization. She sure is, I mean was, resilient then huh?" Chrysalis said with a cackle.
Twilight let out a scream of unequal anger as she floated into the air and closed her eyes as she forcefully glanced upwards to the sky, unable to control her own body. When she re-opened her eyes they were glowing a brilliant white.
Other ponies began to slowly back away from the scene.
"Twilight NO! You must focus and maintain control!" Celestia yelled out, but to no avail.
The magic of Twilight Sparkle began to form long tendrils coming out of her body that crackled and snapped with magical energy. These tendrils were glaring white, mimicing her eyes, and gave off a loud static sound as they whipped about seemingly uncontrolled.
Chrysalis was enjoying the chaos and yelled out towards the sky, "YES TWILIGHT SPARKLE! LET THE ANGER MANIFEST WITHIN YOU! WREAK HAVOC ACROSS PONYVILLE!"
And with that, Twilight's neck snapped forward, directing her brilliant gaze upon Chrysalis and the tendrils stopped moving.
"No." Twilight said. But her voice was different. Calm. Deeper. And it seemed as if her voice had gained thousands of years of wisdom.
Chrysalis snaps back into the present, "Oh? What is this?"
Twilight eyes seem to focus on Chrysalis for a split second, and then the tendrils moved. They whip forward at nearly blinding speeds towards the queen. Chrysalis lets out a yelp and puts up a shield to protect herself. The tendrils blasted through the shield and latch onto her, preventing her from moving. One tendril wraps itself around her horn, seemingly preventing her from casting magic. All around, ponies began to back further and further away from the mayhem. Some, unable to avert their gaze stuck around, others turned their flanks and begin to flee. During all of this, Twilight's friends stood their ground and continued to be the closest ponies to the mayhem.
"WHAT IS THIS?! NO! THIS ISN'T PART...OF...THE PLAN!" Chrysalis howls out. Her voice becoming cut off by the tendrils grip on her neck and her voice becoming higher and more raspy.
"Your evil, ends now." Twilight said once again in her near-ascended voice.
Responding to Twilight's command, a massive surge of magic moved through her body and directed down the tendrils attached to her. The began to pulse as magic was being fed into Chrysalis. The holes in her legs began to crackle as white magic began leaping across the gaps. Her wings were wilted away in seconds as the tendrils began to feed more and more magic into her. She lets out blood curdling screams that would send even the most battle-hardened ponies fleeing. Her body begins to slowly evaporate from the ground up. Her hooves are the first to go as the magic that Twilight observed ripping apart the page in her library began to do the same to a full grown pony. Ponies watched on in horror as more and more of her body began to disappear from view. Finally the magic reached her head and suddenly there was silence as the queen of the changelings was gone.
Everypony who stuck around to watch was speechless. Nopony dared move, speak, some refused to take a deep breath as they tried to comprehend what just happened. Celestia showed a look of worry as she turned her head back towards her pupil. Twilight was changing.
From inside of her, Twilight could feel something else. She watched that entire scene unfold from inside her body but unable to act or move her body in any way. It was as if she was watching somepony act for her. Now she could feel something rising. Hatred. Despair. Anger. Malice. Evil. These feelings were quickly overwhelming Twilight as she watched on in horror.
The Vile-Vial's magic was now sated.
The pure white magic that once filled the square was now slowly turning a dark green hue. Slowly the green magic began seemingly infecting the white magic until even the furthest tendril had been turned green. Celestia notices this happening and flies up into the air to let down a ray of sunlight so bright and magnificent that no pony could bare to look towards it without covering their eyes. The tendrils of magic began to disappear from view when suddenly a tendril grabbed Celestia from behind and began to wrap itself around her horn. The sunlight began to fade and soon the tendrils shot out and grabbed Celestia. Ponies now began to panic and try to run away but more and more magic began to pour forth from Twilight's body. Soon there were tendrils grabbing every pony in sight.
Fluttershy was too stunned to move and was caught quickly. Rarity was the next to be grabbed as she was the slowest of the running bunch. Applejack threw Pinkie Pie on her back with the help of Rainbow Dash and began to run when tendrils latched on to her leg. She looked back at the tendril then looked at Rainbow Dash and quietly said, "Fly! Ya' foal!"
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings only three times before she was soaring through Ponyville as fast as she could without damaging the buildings. Tendrils soon chased her through the town as she quickly turned left and right trying to dodge them without flying too high in the air where it was easy to get surrounded. She had many close calls, flying at this speed gave her very little time to react to dead ends and obstacles. She could feel like magic on the hairs of her leg before she was grabbed by the tentacle of magic and quickly yanked back towards the town square.
Twilight gazed on in horror as the tendrils began to latch themselves on to the ponies that she cared for and tighten their grip. She could feel an enormous surge of magic being built up and knew that if she didn't act soon...
Twilight's train of thought was interrupted by an unlikely scene. She watched as dozens of tendrils began to flail wildly in the air. Nearby she watched as they were launched at a target but then deflected away. Her thoughts quickly turned to Celestia but she looked to her right and saw her struggling with about twelve of the tendrils, too constricted to act. The target seemed to be moving closer and closer to Twilight when she noticed a familiar figure. She wondered what pony would be stupid enough to get this close to her. But this figure didn't walk on four legs. He walked on two.
Spike!, Twilight yelped out inside her mind. But how?!. Twilight was awestruck as she watched Spike walking towards Twilight slowly. The tendrils of magic were bouncing off of his scales, being deflected away as quickly as they launched at him. OF COURSE! A MATURING DRAGON SLOWLY GAINS HIS HARMFUL MAGIC IMMUNITY!
Spike grew closer and closer now being almost within reach. Twilight felt another surge of hatred as the magic quickly began to materialize in front of her, expanding outwards creating a bubble of pure magic. Twilight feared for Spike, knowing he couldn't be completely immune to magic. Spike looked on at Twilight and began to push through the magic. He winced in obvious pain but bit his tongue to prevent from crying out. He walked as though he was walking directly into strong wind as he grew so close to Twilight she could have reached out and grabbed him. Spike raised his arms with his claws drawn. Was he going to? No, he couldn't! But he should... he has to. Twilight's mind wasn't ready for this. Was she going to force her number one assistant to kill her? To prevent the deaths of everypony there, he would have to. She closed her eyes inside of her head and prepared herself.
Instead of feeling a claw across her neck, she felt scaly arms around her body. Spike was hugging Twilight. Twilight could tell he was in a lot of pain from the unbelievable amount of magic assaulting him.
Spike slowly opened his mouth and managed to say, "Please Twilight. Please stop. We all love you so much."
Twilight began to cry. Atleast she felt that she would, if she could control her body. This sudden realization of care drove up a powerful feeling of love and confidence from inside her. She could feel the heartbeat of every pony within her grasp right now, trying desperately to survive and have their Twilight Sparkle back. This power rose up from within and started to take over the evil and malevolent that was controlling her. She knew it was her power and she was going to take it back and use it to defeat this evil that had manifested itself within. The vile feelings inside her began to fade as she let the love that each of the ponies feel wash over her.
Slowly the tendrils grew weaker and weaker. Slowly they began to retreat towards Twilight and the source of their power. Ponies everywhere began to let out gasps as they tried to bring air back into their lungs and get themselves back standing up. Celestia was released and dropped to the ground with a thump before slowly getting back up. Her friends began to recover as well, they got up and directed their gaze towards Twilight.
She felt in control, but she knew this wasn't over. She couldn't go on endangering her friends. She had to think of something. Her magic was still extremely dangerous and nearly uncontrollable. Nearly.
Her neck seemed to relax and once again, the magic turned into a brilliant white. The bubble of magic that was assaulting spike was now just an aura of faded white that encased Twilight and Spike, who continued to hold on tight. Twilight's eyes continued to glow white as she turned to face Spike and said, "Thank you." She gently backed away from Spike and turned her eyes to Celestia, who could only stare on. Twilight looked her right in the eyes and let out a soft, "I'm sorry."
And with that she rose again into the air. Magic cackling through the air as everypony's eyes began to stare up at her. Celestia realized what was happening before anypony else did but eventually they all came to realize. Twilight began to disappear from her hooves up. Magic taking away her body before their very eyes. She couldn't hear what the ponies were saying but she could see many mouths moving as tear-filled eyes looked up at her. She spared a glance for each of her friends, looking down on them and remembering her cherished moments with each of them. Finally there was silence all across Ponyville.
The ponies in the town square stared up into the sky, seemingly at nothing.