//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Canterlot Tragedy // Story: The Elements of Fate // by jrain91 //------------------------------// A few days after the fateful night, Ice hadn't heard anything from Luna since she actually had to keep watch again. He didn't know that, however, and he was beginning think that he had did something wrong. So he decided to go get some herbs to create an anxiety elixir to calm his nerves and ease his thoughts. While he was gone, Celestia visited and gave Discord over to Fluttershy and the others to try to reform him. And after a long day of seemingly hopeless attempts, Discord finally saw the importance of friendship and left back to Canterlot with Celestia, who was still wary of his true nature and intentions. About an hour after Discord and Celestia had left, Ice returned from his herb gathering and while the other five had gone home Twilight saw him returning from the Everfree Forest and went to greet him. “What are doing in the forest this time of night?” Twilight asked. “Oh hello Twilight, I was just gathering some herbs to make myself a nerve calming potion. Nothing to get worried about.” he replied. Twilight looked at him and could tell that something was wrong. “What's wrong, Ice? You seem very preoccupied and not in a good way.” she inquired. “Oh it's really nothing, its trivial really.” he replied while staring at the ground. “IT”S NOT TRIVIAL! Now tell me what's wrong or I'll follow you around and keep bugging you. Better yet, I'll tell Pinkie Pie you're sad and she'll come cheer you up her way.” Twilight demanded. Ice just starred at her and said, “No! Not Pinkie! I'll tell you just don't let her go hyperactive on me. I'm not in the mood right now.” he replied hastily. “Good now why don't we go back to your place and you can tell me what's bugging you so much.” Ice agreed and both of them walked off to Ice's house. On the way back, the two saw Fluttershy leaving Ponyville to go back to her cottage. They stopped to say hi and Twilight told Fluttershy about Ice Breeze's sadness, which in turn made the yellow mare give him a big hug and she then insisted to come along to help him out. The three arrived at his house and they gathered around his living room to discuss his problem. “So, umm could you tell us what the matter... if that's ok with you. I'll understand if you don't wanna talk about it.” Fluttershy asked. “He already agreed to tell us, so I doubt he'll back out now.” Twilight told Fluttershy. “Alright, here's what is on my mind. I spoke with an alicorn named Princess Luna the night that you all were at the wedding party and we talked all night long in my dream.” “That’s great! What's the problem here?” Twilight asked. “Well I haven't heard from her since. I feel like I might have done something wrong and now she doesn't want to talk to me. So I'm feeling a little depressed at the moment.” he answered. Fluttershy then spoke up, “There, there, I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. She's just busy with her duties. I'm sure that's it, don't worry about it too much.” “What duties?” Ice asked. “Luna is princess of the night. Therefore, she is responsible for looking after all of Equestria during the nighttime. The only reason she was free that night was because Celestia stayed up all night because of the party and told Luna to take the night off. I'm absolutely positive that she's not ignoring you on purpose.” Twilight explained. “I guess that makes sense. Thanks you two, I feel better now knowing that she is just busy.” Ice said with a big grin on his face. The two mares said you're welcome and they both said goodnight and left for their own houses. The next day, Twilight received a book from Celestia explaining Starswirled's greatest spell that was unfinished. She finished up her chores and duties in the library early and that night cast the spell without knowing the consequences. The next day her five friends' cutie marks had switched place and this caused them to switch places with each other. Applejack tried to run Rarity's boutique, Fluttershy tried to be the smile bringer like Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie tried to work on Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash was up to her neck in Fluttershy'ss animals and Rarity was stuck controlling the weather. None of which went too smoothly. During all this Ice was out on an errand delivering a package to a pony named Octavia. The box was really big and he had no idea what was inside. When he arrived, a gray mare with a black mane and tail with a music note for a cutie mark answered the door. “I have a package here for Miss Octavia Melody.” “That would be me. Thank you for bringing this to the train station, I have a big concert in Canterlot tonight and my new Cello came just in time.” “Oh, well good luck.” Ice said. “Thank you, but I must get going. Farewell for now, your payment is at the bank in Ponyville.” While he was on his way back, Twilight had fixed her friends' dilemma by using the Elements of Harmony. And thus, convinced Celestia to use her once in a lifetime power and thus a new alicorn was born. Despite this excitement however, prying eyes in the form of a changeling turned into a bush saw everything and heard the plans for the crowning ceremony. After they all went home, the changeling ran back to Chrysalis and told her the news, for this was just the distraction causing event she had been hoping for. And she then began to tell her plan to the two changelings that followed her! “Alright then, did they say when the coronation ceremony was going to be?” Chrysalis asked. “I believe it's tomorrow at noon my queen.” one of the other changelings said. “I see. This doesn't give us much time to execute my plan then. We must start immediately!” she said. “Yes ma'am what would you like us to do?” the other changeling said. “I suppose both of you have already learned the forms of a couple royal castle guards?” Chrysalis asked in a demanding voice. Both changelings nodded in agreement. “Excellent! Then let us go to Canterlot while everypony's sleeping, take out the two guards and you two take their places. And don't forget the masking powder, to mask our presence so Luna won't notice us. And that other something special for tomorrow.” The three then proceeded to sprinkle the powder over their bodies, which made their bodies blend in with the environment and suppressed their life force. “Now I'll go over the plan one more time before we go. First, you two take the place of the guards by me knocking them out and sending them down here. Then I will come back down here with them to make sure they don't escape or alert the other guards. Then, once the sun comes up, I'll take the form of their beloved sun princess: Celestia herself! When the real Celestia is busy introducing Twilight to the Canterlot royalty, one of you must tell Luna to come with you as there is urgent news. I'll be hiding on the inside of the balcony wall using the masking powder and I will change into Celestia once you convince Luna to come with you. Of course the other one must be one of the guards escorting the princesses up to the balcony so as to tell Celestia to not act conspicuous in the ceremony by leaving and that Luna can handle it. Then me, disguised as Celestia and the one of you from the main hall will escort Luna to the royal bedroom. Once there, use the sleeping powder I gave both of you on her, then immediately teleport yourselves and her to our fortress and lock her in the anti-magic chamber in the dungeon to keep her from escaping. I will follow suit shortly, after I place the note in the bedroom and free the guards we captured. Is everything clear?” Chrysalis finally finished. Both once again nodded. Then they set off and executed the first part of the plan with ease: capturing the two guards and switching places with them. Now Chrysalis was eagerly awaiting the sunrise to come to start her revenge! The next day, all the nobles of Canterlot and the surrounding towns were in attendance of the coronation ceremony of Ponyville's new princess: Twilight Sparkle! Onto Canterlot via train, Twilight grew increasingly nervous. “Now why don't cha calm down Twilight? You're as nervous as Mayor Mare around the CMC. Jus calm down.” Applejack said trying to calm her down. “She's right you know, this is gonna be awesome. I mean you're a princess now! How cool is that?” Dash added. “Yeah I guess you two are right, what could go wrong?” Twilight asked. “Well, if you don't mind me saying so. There will be hundreds of ponies staring at you, judging your every move. If you make one little mistake your life as a princess could be over before it even began!” Fluttershy answered. “Now, now dear. Don't listen to her, you'll do just fine. Just remember to keep your composure, it's all in the presentation.” Rarity said, seeing that what Fluttershy had said made Twilight even more nervous. “You're just nervocited, you'll be fine. Unless you mess up a speech or catch your hoof on your dress or bump into Celestia while walking onto the balcony or even have a bird poop on you while you're standing there on the balcony. Whew! Did I miss anything?” Pinkie asked with the usual grin on her face. “No, I think you got it all Pinkie, thanks.” Twilight said sarcastically. Then the train horn blew and just like that, they had finally arrived in Canterlot for Twilight's and unknowingly to them or anypony else, Chrysalis' big day as well! Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Ice had just finished his last odd job for the day by helping Cherilee teach the young ponies about magic. On the way out of the school, he saw a light blue mare with a purple star-covered wizard’s hat and cape. She looked as if she was searching for somepony, so Ice decided to go ask her and introduce himself. “Excuse me miss, are you by chance looking for anypony in particular? You seem to be flustered at the moment.” Ice asked. “And who might YOU be?” the blue mare retorted. “Please forgive me, my name's Ice Breeze.” Ice explained. “Well Ice Breeze, the Great Trixie must find Twilight Sparkle before her crowning ceremony.” Trixie said while frantically looking around. “Well, I'm sorry to say, but Twilight and her friends already left about three hours ago.” Ice explained. Almost immediately, Trixie's ears flopped downward, “Sh- she's already left?” Trixie asked, now in a sadder tone. Ice looked at her for a moment and could tell that she was greatly upset by this. “Yes she has, I'm sorry. Was there something you wanted from her?” Ice asked sympathetically. “Well, the Great, um I mean I wanted to give her this present I made for her. We've had a lot of trouble with each other in the past. So I wanted to fix that.” she said while staring down at the ground. “I see, well she should be back tomorrow if you would like to wait. “ Ice explained. “I would, but I have nowhere to stay.” she replied. “You could stay at my house. It has two bedrooms and no one uses the other one.” Ice said while smiling. Trixie looked up at him with a confused face, “Why would you offer that to a complete stranger?” she asked. “A little kindness and generosity would never hurt anypony.” he replied. She just smiled and accepted his offer and they then went back to his house. That night, the two of them sat up while Ice kept telling jokes, which Trixie, apparently thought were hilarious. “Why are you trying so hard to get me to smile?” Trixie asked. “A bit of laughter will go a long way. Especially to those who are sad.” he said while smiling. But hours before they went to bed, an event in Canterlot happened that would set up a conflict in the near future! Five hours before Ice and Trixie arrived at his house, Twilight and the others reached the castle doors. Celestia and Luna were both there to greet them and the changeling guard, sent a telepathic message to the one on the balcony. About half an hour passed and there was now a rather sizable crowd awaiting their newest princess underneath the Canterlot Castle balcony. Celestia and Luna went out first to address the crowd, “Our royal subjects! Hear my words, a new princess my faithful student Twilight Sparkle has arisen from the nearby town of Ponyville. She has proven herself on many occasions, even returning my beloved sister Luna back to her old self. We now present to you, Princess Twilight Sparkle!” and with those words, Twilight walked out onto the balcony between the two royal sisters. Twilight looked down in shock at how many ponies there were, but managed to pull out a short speech, “Hello everypony, I thank you for coming to my coronation ceremony, it means a lot to me. Seeing as I'm not acquitted with being a princess, I'm not exactly how beneficial this will be in the beginning stages. With that being said however, I promise to give my absolute effort for you all. But before you all start thinking that I did all these amazing things by myself, let me tell you that you'd be very wrong.” At this point she turns her head back and signals the other five to come out. Which in turn, gives Chrysalis, who is concealed on the inner wall of the balcony, the opportunity to signal her changeling guard who is next to Luna! While the other five are addressing the crowd with Twilight, the changeling disguised as a guard, walks up to Luna. “Ahem, I'm sorry to interrupt such an auspicious occasion, but we have just received word that there is a threat planning on attacking the ceremony!” Luna quickly looked at the guard and whispered, “Are you sure soldier? Who told you this?” “It was the mayor of Ponyville, apparently a dark figure came through the town telling everypony of his plans. He said that he would be coming at five o'clock and I'm sure you know that it's four thirty already!” the fake guard explained. Luna then ran over to Celestia, just as Chrysalis had hoped she would. For then she could change into Celestia after Luna entered the room, when the guard persuades Celestia from moving from the balcony. “Sis! I have just heard that somepony or something is planning to attack this ceremony!” Luna whispered loudly into Celestia's ear. “What are you sure?! We have to stop it!” Celestia quickly replied. Luna ran inside first, then Celestia would try to follow, but was stopped by the changeling guard. “What do you think you are doing soldier? This ceremony's in danger I have to go stop it!” Celestia yelled at him. “I realize this, your highness, but please leave it up to Princess Luna.” the guard pleaded. “Why should I? This is a most urgent matter after all. All of these nobles as well as Twilight and her friends could be in grave danger. So why should I not go?” Celestia asked growing impatient. The guard took a big gulp in hopes that this would stop her or else the whole plan was ruined. “Well, your highness, how would it look if both of the royal sisters left in a hurry from such an important ceremony? They all would suspect something was wrong and this in turn would cause a widespread panic throughout the crowd. I'm not sure the guards could handle that without using force on some of them. Please reconsider!” Celestia starred at him and pondered this for about ten seconds and said, “Fine, I guess you're right. It would cause a huge panic and we wouldn't want to hurt any of the nobles ourselves. On top of that, my sister is capable enough for herself. Just in case though, please go with her.” The guard then bowed and left off of the balcony with a huge grin on his face, knowing that the plan would succeed after all! Once the changeling guard exited into the balcony room, he walked over to where Chrysalis was hiding and told her it was time. She then quickly changed into Celestia's exact doubled, body and voice. The guard and Chryslestia ran down to the main hall where strangely enough all the guards had been knocked out. Luna thought this was because of the alleged threat to the ceremony. While in actuality it was the second changeling guard who had knocked the others out with his sleeping powder and then teleported back to the changeling's fortress. “Who could have done this so quickly? Sister please come and help me investigate this tragedy!” Chryslestia happily agreed and walked slowly and menacingly over to her. After searching the room for about five minutes, Chryslestia told Luna to come check out the royal bedroom with and the royal guard. Luna asked, “Why would we go up there sister? The incident happened down here obviously.” “Isn't it obvious sister? If the incident happened here and nopony's here to account for it. They must have went further into the castle. And since I have a very strong magic relic hidden in the room, it's a good possibility that's where they're headed.” Chryslestia answered. “Magical relic? What art thou talking about sister? I know of no such thing.” Luna explained. “That's because I had to keep it an absolute secret. Just trust me, you trust your elder sister don't you?” Chryslestia asked. Luna nodded in agreement and they rushed up to the royal bed room. Once they got there, the room was completely untouched. Luna and the guard went to the far side of the room while Chryslestia stayed near the door. Then all of a sudden, the door slammed shut: BANG!! Luna and the fake guard quickly turned around to see Celestia's body quickly fading away to reveal Chrysalis underneath her full body mask. “You again?!” Luna yelled. “I-is that Chrysalis? The one who was masquerading as Cadence?” the guard asked while pretending to shake in fear. “Yes she is! You stand back, I'll deal with her and her evil intentions!” Luna shouted. Chrysalis just looked at her and laughed, “Hahahaha, you think YOU can stop ME?” You poor delusional mare. You have absolutely no chance! I overpowered Celestia at the wedding, so I can definitely take you down.” “Thou thanketh so? Then, why don't thou try it, vile changeling?!” Luna demanded. “Oh dear I would, but I have no need to.” the changeling queen then nodded to her fake guard behind Luna and before she knew it, Luna had a rag full of powerful sleeping powder smacked onto her face. “Y-you were a changeling all alo...” before she finished she passed out and was quickly teleported along with the fake guard back to the fortress. Chrysalis then wrote a note explaining what had happened and where Luna was and then, she too vanished back to her fortress in the Morphius Valley. Once there, the changelings quickly took Luna to the dungeons only magic sealed room, so she would have no way to escape. She then woke up not shortly after, “Where am I? She tried to blast the door down with a magic beam, but she learned very quickly of this particular room's ability to stop magic from starting and she quickly fell into despair, for she knew her only hope for escape was somepony to either negotiate or barge into heavily guarded territory to get her back. And Celestia wasn't likely to negotiate anything, even if her sister's life was at stake. Meanwhile back at the castle, the ceremony had just finished up and Twilight, her friends and Celestia all came in from the balcony as the crowd below dissipated. “I wonder what's taking Luna so long.” Celestia thought to herself. “Umm princess? Could I ask you a question?” Fluttershy quietly asked. “Sure Fluttershy, what is it?” Celestia replied. “Umm, well where;s Princess Luna? I haven't seen her since we came out to the balcony.” she asked. The other five just now realized this as well. “That's a good question. I have no idea where she is at!” Celestia said with a worried tone. “Ok princess, what's going on? You're hiding something from us aren't ya?” Rainbow Dash asked. Celestia looked at the five and then nodded and explained what had happened. Rarity then noticed something out of place as they headed downstairs, “Princess Celestia dear, why is the royal bedroom door closed? Wasn't it open when we got here?” Celestia looked at the door in shock and quickly ran over to the doors and opened them quickly.There on the bed she saw a letter. And it read, “Dear Princess Celestia, this is your lovely enemy Queen Chrysalis! If you're wondering where your precious sister is, then my plan worked perfectly! If you want her back, you have one of three choices! One, to hand over the crown of Equestria to me and resign from the throne. Two, keep your throne, but allow my subjects to continuously to feed on the citizens of Equestria. Or three, the stupidest one, you can try the suicide attempt of storming my fortress, which I might add, you don't even know its location. So the choice is up to you princess, choose wisely or face the consequences. You have a week to decide, if no decision is made by then, Luna dies!”