Deception
I heard movement around me that woke me from my sleep. Ponies were moving about, trying to prepare some sort of ceremony. There was a bowl of ground up materials near me and a circle drawn upon the floor of the cave. I pretended to stay asleep so that I could get a non-sugarcoated idea of what was really going on. I trusted Blade yes, but it was obvious that he was keeping something from me. I would just have to keep my eyes closed, and not react to anything that they say.
“Yes, right there.” Blade’s voice broke the silence.
“Sir, we are still missing the last ingredient.” said one of the ponies.
“No, I have it, that’s why I was out. I just happened to come by a pony who was willing to give blood for our cause.” Blade explained.
“So she is aware of what we’re doing?” the voice returned.
“No, I didn’t tell her who it was. There is no way in Equestria that I would have gotten her help then, no I followed the orders and kept her name out of the conversation.” Blade answered.
Who are they helping? Why would nopony in Equestria help them if they knew the identity? Those two thoughts kept flying around in my head.
“Should we lose the disguises?”
“No, not yet, not until our queen is restored.” Blade paused. “Sky, you can stop faking, I know that you’re awake. How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know that you’re keeping secrets.” I answered, only opening my eyes, not wanting to move for fear of disturbing Star’s sleep. The last thing I needed was her waking up in the middle of whatever this was.
“Don’t worry yourself; her majesty will come to our aid.” Blade stated, trying to reestablish trust.
“Who’s aid, yours or ours?” I glared, still not moving.
“Ours, and I include you in that my friend.” Blade answered.
“Then why are you keeping all of the secrets?”
“Because, if you knew who we were bringing back to life, you wouldn’t have helped us, and then, then we would have been unable to help you. We foresaw the signs of the coming storm, and so we got to work.” Blade answered.
“Lieutenant, she isn’t going to listen to reason. She already doubts us too much, if she sees her, then it will be all over, she’ll interfere.” said the voice from earlier, I could see that it belonged to a unicorn.
“I know what you’re planning, and I do not approve. You will not bind her.” Blade said firmly. “Sky I think that it is best if you, your friend, and your kid leave. I don’t know what else to do to protect you.”
“Too late, lieutenant, she’s seen too much.” growled one of the unicorns.
A sickly green aura launched from his horn and enveloped Star and me. I couldn’t move and the binding spell woke Star up. Twilight came rushing in at the sounds of the spell and was grabbed by another blast from the unicorn’s sickly green magic.
“Stand down!” Blade shouted, bucking the insubordinate unicorn across the face.
“No, he works for me, and he’ll only stand down when the queen has returned.” said the pegasus who was looming in the corner of the room. “Add the special ingredient.”
The unicorn climbed to his feet and tried to add a black, slimy substance to the bowl. Luckily he under-estimated Twilight Sparkle. Twi launched a bright blast of magic destroying the black sludge.
“You’ll pay for that.” the pegasus growled as a green fire ensnared him.
As the flare died down, it was clear what he really was, and what their intentions were. They were changelings trying to bring Chrysalis back.
“Thank you Twilight Sparkle, you have stopped the return of the evil monarch.” Blade said, a flame closing in around him too.
When he took his changeling form, he was different from the one who hid as a pegasus. Blade’s eyes were pink, and the magical aura that surrounded his horn was pink as well. He sent out a blast of magic, knocking the others back. Three of them got up and revealed themselves to have the same pink eyes as Blade.
“Alright team, free these ponies.” Blade calmly ordered the three changelings.
As they did, Blade dropped what looked like a changeling’s horn into the bowl and it began to glow.
“It’s too late to stop it now, don’t waste your energy.” Blade said looking back at us.
“You just freed Chrysalis, you’ve doomed Equestria!” Twilight was in a full out panic.
“Don’t be afraid, the Queen Chrysalis that you knew was corrupt, and the state that she will be restored in is the kind and loving queen that I know. She would have never done the atrocities that were committed at the wedding, not in her right mind.” Blade defended.
“Then why did she do it?” I asked, climbing to my hooves and guarding Star from their gaze.
“Poison, poison of the mind. She was changed by the very changeling who stands in that corner.” Blade answered as a blinding burst of pink shot up from the circle that surrounded the bowl.
“Hello Twilight Sparkle.” said a calm voice as a decayed hoof stepped through the beam.
“Chrysalis.” Twilight snarled.
“I hope that you accept my deepest and most sincere apologies. If there is one thing in my life that I regret, it was trying to harm your family.” Chrysalis said, climbing out of the beam completely.
I couldn’t look away from her. She had the same physical appearance except for her eyes, a bright pink. Her expression had no cruelty in it, no hatred. Twilight, however, was unable to see it, she was too focused on their shared past.
“Twilight, relax. She’s different, Blade was telling the truth. If you would just look into her eyes, you could see what I see; she is about as capable of hate as Star is.” I said, stepping in between the queen and the unicorn.
“Listen to your friend, I know that I haven’t fixed our natural appearance yet, but if you just give me a moment, I can show you what we really are.” Chrysalis stated.
“You mean that this isn’t even your real form?” I asked, confused because everything that I’d ever read about them had them displayed in this form.
“No, with the fall of Discord’s reign, he brought us down. He changed us into this, but now I have the power to undo his curse.” Chrysalis answered as a bright pink aura began circling around her horn.
The same spiraling pink surrounded every changeling in the room, blocking them from view. Soon the spirals began to fade and reveal the changelings that they held. The changelings were no longer decayed. Their bodies were solid, still void of any color except for black, but they didn’t have any holes. The manes and tails maintained their natural transparency, but were no longer the ghostly blue that they had been before. Chrysalis now had a pink mane and tail, Blade had a purple set, another had a grassy green set.
“This is our true form.” Chrysalis said calmly, still showing no emotion but the obvious remorse for the deeds that she had done before.
“I see it now, but it will still take a while to earn my full trust.” Twilight grimaced.
“I would not expect any more of you, dear Twilight. Let me explain to you the truth of how we used to live in the meantime. During Discord’s rule, we changelings live alongside the ponies of Equestria, and our hunger for love was not sated by deception. Instead, we simply lived hoof in hoof with other ponies, using our powers to change form only once we had earned our love honestly.” Chrysalis explained.
“I hope that you are willing to trust us now that you know the truth. Whether or not you or anypony accepts us, we will still fight to save your home.” Blade rejoined the conversation. “Isn’t that right my queen?”
“That is the truth. Now my dear Twilight, will you aid us, or will we have to go about this without any aid from your kind?” Chrysalis asked.
“You have my assistance.” I nodded my head.
“I can’t just stand by and let the Void consume the world, I’m helping.” Twilight said, not looking up to face any of the changelings.
“Thank you.” Chrysalis said quietly. “Now,” her tone raised slightly, “Pain, you and Shade will stand down. I expect that you two can escort yourselves to the dungeons.”
“Yes your majesty, we know the way.” one of the traitors growled.
“One… more… obstacle.” groaned a dark voice. “When will you all learn, this time, I will not hold back.”
“Void, we finally get to meet.” Chrysalis calmly muttered.
There was a dark laughter. “Well Chrysalis, I’ve been watching you from afar, and I must say, I am quite disappointed in your change of tune. However, I will be willing to overlook it if you would work for me.”
“I will not doom these ponies to any fate that you intend for them.” Chrysalis refuted.
“How dare you turn down my generous offer at piece? I guess that you really are the scum that the ponies think that you are. One word can describe all of your kind, worthless.” Void retaliated in a rage filled shout.
“Get out.” I said calmly, feeling Star shaking as she held my leg.
“Insolent pony, do you have a death wish?” Void sighed.
“Better question, do you? Do you even know what happens when somepony decides to fight against Equestria? Let me give you a hint, Nightmare Moon was banished for a thousand years before being ripped out of Princess Luna, Chrysalis was just brought back to life, King Sombra was completely obliterated, and Discord was turned to stone until he could see things our way, do you really think that you fight us? Are you really that stupid? Do you have a death wish?” I smirked, “Because I know just how to stop you, once and for all.”
“We’ll just see about that.” the Void laughed before sending a bolt of black lightning into me, throwing me across the cave.
I lied on the ground, pain shooting through my entire body. “Star, get out of there!” I shouted, as I tried to get back onto my hooves.
“Stubborn little pony. It’ll be more fun to kill you than I thought.” Void laughed.
“No!” Star shouted, standing up tall.
“Who are you to stand up to me?”
Star didn’t answer him; she just started to channel her magic into her horn and prepared a shot. The Void wasn’t going to stand for this though; he shot a second bolt of lightning at her. I heard her scream as a cloud of smoke formed around her. I ignored my own pain and launched into the air and flew straight at the alicorn. I didn’t care what happened to me, I just wanted to make him pay for what he had done, I’d never felt so much rage in my life. I felt myself impact against him, and I felt him give slightly, falling backwards.
“You overexerted yourself, stupid. The Princesses were harder on you than you thought, and that means that you’re vulnerable. I’ll kill you!” I screamed as I kept pushing against him.
“You may be right about the first part, but you can never defeat me, much less kill me. Stop being so foalish.” the Void said before fading into the darkness.
I slammed into the ground as he lost physicality. I climbed back to my hooves and nearly doubled over, now that the adrenaline rush had come and gone. I looked back to where the others were, but instead of seeing Star on the ground, it was Chrysalis, she had saved Star’s life.
I tried my best to walk over and join them, but was unable to get the whole way. My legs gave under the weight of my body. Everything seemed to move in a blur, making it impossible to see anything clearly. Twilight came to me and lifted my up with her magic and brought me the rest of the way, setting me down gently beside Star.
“Sky Flare, are you alright?” Chrysalis asked weakly.
“Am I alright? No, are you alright, you got hit by the stronger attack.” I replied.
“I shall be fine; the same applies to your filly.” Chrysalis gasped out.
“Thank you.” I wasn’t sure what else that I could say, she just saved Star’s life.
“Oh how sweet.” chuckled a familiar voice. “Let me help, it sure seems like you all need it. I won’t be able to help much, but I can at least give you your energy back.”
A strange light surrounded Chrysalis and branched off to me. The moment that I was taken into its embrace, my pain subsided and I was able to stand back up.
“There you go, that’s about all that I can manage. I’m going back to fight him again, even if it is hopeless.” the voice returned.
“Discord…” Twilight said quietly.
I didn’t see where he was, but I knew his voice. I looked around frantically trying to find him, and when I did, I wished that I hadn’t. Discord was beaten up badly, covered in cuts and scraped. I could only assume that he’d gotten injured in a fight against Void.
“Don’t look so grim, I’ve been worse.” he kept the fake smile. “After all, I’d rather be beaten to a bloody pulp than stone, at least this way, I can still feel.”
“Discord, please, don’t go back, you’ll get yourself killed.” Twilight pleaded.
“When has that ever stopped me before? Hiding is like making sense, unless it’s hide n’ seek, making sense and hiding are no fun.” Discord laughed before fading.
“He’s going to get himself killed.” Twilight said quietly, shaking.
“Sky Flare, you said something about knowing how to defeat the Void. What was it?” Blade asked, trying to pull the conversation away from Discord’s appearance.
“Yeah,” I said putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder to comfort her, “it’s just like the story. We need to find all of the Universe Stones, then we can use them on Chrysalis and maybe, just maybe we’ll have enough power.”
“I’ll send out some troops to locations that they are rumored to be.” Blade responded immediately. “Captain, go out and get all squads ready to move out. I want these stones found, now.”
“Thanks.” I nodded, lifting Star off of the ground. “And Star, I promise, the Void will be gone soon; you don’t need to be afraid of him.”
“I’ll look for locations for any known stones.” Twilight said pulling out a book.
“Why don’t you use our library? We have a large quantity of books and a multitude of scholars at our disposal. I’ll even call in those who work in Canterlot.” Chrysalis suggested.
“Alright Chrysalis, when do we leave to go to the library then?” Twilight asked, not caring about her own grudge against the changeling queen.
“Now.” Chrysalis said as a massive pink flash consumed us.
When I regained the ability to see, we were in a massive library, bookshelves climbing high on every wall. It had a somewhat dark mood due to the gothic architecture, but that was fitting, considering the changelings’ previous forms. There were changelings searching the shelves and others, which were still disguised as ponies, were coming in by the hoof full. Some of the ponies were prominent in their fields of study, and turned out to be changelings. I even saw one of the teachers from Celestia’s school, Ancient Scroll.
“Professor Scroll?” I asked approaching the greying pony.
“Sky Flare, I was not expecting to see you here. And yes, to answer the question that you are about to ask, I am a changeling.” Ancient Scroll replied quickly.
“But you have a family and a life as a pony?” I gasped out.
“And my family knows about me, they are fully aware of what I am. I even have a pony colleague that knows my secret.”
“As you can see Sky Flare, not all of the changelings were corrupted, not even when I was. I was able to keep the darkness from entering some of their hearts, letting them and their descendants live lives free from the burden of hatred.” Chrysalis explained.
“Yes, those of us who were saved by her highness were able to go into hiding amongst the ponies. We were able to feed in the way that we were meant to, through truth and not deception. It used to be that ponies and changelings lived alongside each other without hiding, and that is the way that I have been living with my wife.” Ancient elaborated.
“We don’t have time to discuss this, we can talk when the work is done and the Void is destroyed.” Blade intruded in the conversation.
With that, Ancient Scroll nodded and began working with the other changelings. Any time that they would make a discovery, they would mark a map of Equestria with a possible location. Once a spot was marked, a squad of three changeling soldiers was sent out to recover the stone. This went on for a few hours before the first squad to return arrived.
“Sir, bad news.” said the changeling in the center, who appeared to be in charge of the squad.
“What is it Stroke?” Blade asked quickly after seeing that the squad had returned.
“The sun and the moon have fallen below the horizon.” gasped out the changeling.
“Are you sure?” Chrysalis asked, worried.
“Yes your highness, I am sorry to say, but I saw them sink with my own eyes.” Stroke sighed.
“That means that Discord has fallen, there is nopony left that is strong enough to move the sun or the moon.” Chrysalis sighed at the sound of her own words.
“No, I refuse to believe that it is over. There is one thing left to try!” Twilight shouted in a fit of fury.
“Twilight Sparkle, it is far too dangerous for you to attempt to retrieve the Elements of Harmony or free your friends.” Chrysalis said solemnly, showing that she knew more about the situation than I did.
“What do you mean free her friends?” I gasped, “Did something happen to the others Twilight?”
“The Void took them, and he was chasing after me when I found you. I’m not sure where he took them, but they need my help.” Twilight answered quietly.
“You mean our.” I corrected.
“What?” Twilight asked, perking her head up.
“Our help, you’re not alone. I know about how you used to feel before Celestia let you stay in Ponyville, I know about it all. You didn’t want friends, you just wanted to be left alone, well, it’s a bit too late for that.” I explained.
“But, Sky…” Twilight paused, dropping her head again. “What about Star?”
“She’s going to have to some too. I can’t very well leave her here, and even if I could, she probably wouldn’t let me. Would you Star?”
Star shook her head, “No.”
“See, so what other choice do I have.” I smirked.
“Staying here, I don’t want you to put yourself at risk.”
I took a deep breath, trying to keep my temper. “Too bad, they’re my friends too now. I won’t just stand by and let you put yourself at risk alone either, we’re both going. I don’t care what you want; a true friend will do anything for their friends, and for me, that means putting my life on the line. You’re my friend, and I know, from all of my time with Dashie, friends can be stubborn, they might not know what’s right, and that’s why you can’t be alone. I know that you’re capable, but think about it like this, when have you fought alone, ever? You haven’t you’ve always had you’re friends beside you, backing you up.”
“Sky…”
“One more thing, they’re not just your friends, or my friends, you all aren’t just heroes. No, you’re Star’s friends too, and above all else, we’re a family. Not by blood, but by a bond that’s just as strong, we’re family by friendship. That is something that you should understand pretty well, after all, isn’t that what you’ve been studying since you moved to Ponyville?”
“Alright.” Twi replied, lifting her head again.
“Good, because I could have kept going, easily.” I laughed.
“Blade, I would like for you to join them, I’m sure that Stroke can handle taking charge in your absence.” Chrysalis stated firmly. That was an order, not a suggestion.
“Yes your majesty.” Blade nodded, taking the form of a pegasus.
Blade was now a soft brown with a darker brown mane. His eyes were a bright green, not the normal green for the way changelings used to look, no, a grassy green. His cutie mark was still the same as it had been when he was an earth pony.
“I trust that you know where they are being kept, Surge.” Blade said, leaving no room for a lack of an answer from the changeling standing beside of him.
“There is rumored to be a small cave system beneath Ponyville. It can be accessed by going beneath the center of the Town Hall.” the changeling answered.
“We’d best be off if we’re going to get to them in time.” Blade said, leading me, Twilight, and Star out the door of the library.
Instead of being in the wastelands, we were now in a city of changelings. They roamed the streets as casually as ponies did in Canterlot. They came in all shapes and sizes, showing physical diversity similar to that of ponies. They paid us no attention, possibly thinking that we were changelings in disguise, but more likely just not caring particularly about three ponies. We didn’t look like anything special.
I turned my gaze to the sky, which looked like it would on a night of a new moon. The only light that we had was coming from the stars that were scattered across the sky. It could have been worse, Luna could have put away her stars before she was beaten; at least we had some light. However, while my gaze was aimed upward, I noticed something; I noticed that one of the stars blinked from existence.
“Twilight, it looks like he’s taking out the stars.” I said, stopping and turning their attention to the skies above.
“You’re right, there’s a star missing from the little dipper.” Twilight gasped.
“Not good, if he can take out one, than he can wipe the sky clean. We have to stop him before then.”
“Why would he do that?” Star asked as she rode on my back.
“Simple he wants to take away our hope. He’s already pulled the sun and the moon from the sky, now he wants to finish the job.” Blade answered grimly.
“We’ll stop him though, we just have to hurry. Twilight, how good is that teleportation spell of yours?” I reaffirmed Star.
“I got Spike and myself out of a mess once, but he came back a little scorched. I haven’t really taken anypony with me since then.” Twilight answered.
“Get me to the least expected place in Ponyville that you can think of, I’ll be the test subject, okay Twi?”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked back.
“I trust blade to watch Star until you can get them there with me.” I smiled.
“Do you really have that much faith in me?” Twilight seemed to be doubtful in her own abilities, something I had not seen from her yet.
“Twi, if anypony can do it, it’s you. I’m not putting myself at any risk because guess what? You won’t mess up; you’re too good for that.” I smirked. “Plus, if we want to save your friends, we need to get there sooner rather than later.”
“Alright.” Twilight nodded, “Stand close to me and give me your hoof.”
I did as I was told without hesitation. There was a bright flash of light purple and our surroundings changed again. Twi and I were standing in a small house in Ponyville. I wasn’t sure to whom the house belonged, but that didn’t matter, what mattered was that I got through without so much as a single singed hair on my mane.
“If anypony asks, you’re going to save Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said before popping out of the room.
I stood there quietly, not moving as I waited for Twilight to return. She popped back in a few seconds with Star and let her gallop over to me. Before I could say anything else, she was gone to go pick up Blade.
“Star?” a young filly’s voice yawned from behind us.
“Scootaloo?” Star asked spinning around.
“We’re going to save her, Scootaloo. We’re coming for Rainbow Dash.” I smiled at the orange pegasus.
“I wanna come.” Scootaloo replied without a second thought.
“It’s up to Twi; she’s in charge on this mission.” I told her.
“She can come.” Twilight said popping into the room, Blade by her side.
“Don’t you think that it would be a little bit too risky to bring another filly along with us?” Blade asked.
“Rainbow Dash could use a cheering squad; she seems to do better when she has one anyway.” Twilight laughed back, trying to maintain a positive mood.
Star and Scootaloo stood between me and Blade while Twi led us quietly through the deserted streets of Ponyville. We took back roads and secret paths that Twi had learned from Pinkie and quickly made our way to the Town Hall. We entered through the back, silently.
“Well, hello there.”