Amber smiled, equally grateful and relieved she had been granted a second chance. 'Finally. I can find some peace here. I have a home, a store, an old friend lives nearby. I've made some new friends too. Life's looking up.'
Twilight took five steps towards her throne, her tone relaxing from the stiff courtly fashion she had been using before. “I can grant you permission to live in Ponyville for now, but your citizenship and amnesty will have to be approved by Princess Celestia. It's more of a formality than anything else.”
Amber sighed, ears drooping. “Is there any chance she will say no?”
Twilight looked over her shoulder, opening her mouth to reply, and the throne room's left wall exploded in a green-black blaze of magic. Shards of crystal sprayed around the room, larger chunks sliced through three guards felling them instantly. Everyone alive coughed and choked on noxious fumes.
Eyes watering Amber looked at the demolished wall, “Shit...”
Hovering just outside the hole was a whole platoon of Changeling Soldiers. The Soldiers hovered in place, eyes narrowed in focus, energy shields raised to block any retaliatory strike. A few Scouts nimbly darted back and forth in front of their ranks, their four wings thrumming as they looked inwards, doubtlessly scoping the room out for survivors. A pair of Magi clumsily hovered just behind the Soldiers, their large, gangly bodies looking as if they did not belong in the air, green vapors drifted from their horns and eyes, a remnant of whatever spell they used to breach the wall.
The holes in their legs were what Amber noticed first. Then the tattered wings, shortly cut mangy looking manes and tails, and the dull, drab, dead color of their chitin. The worst thing was the acidic metallic burning odor coming off them. Amber could smell it from across the room. These Changelings overfed, frequently, and the blued steel armor they wore bore the symbol of a four pointed crown topped with rounded gemstone caps. This was Chrysalis's Swarm.
Those observations became moot as more smoke cleared, revealing the Changeling Queen herself. Her gnarled horn stuck out of an elaborately deigned helmet, which had a larger version of her crown slipped over it's blued steel surface. Her forelegs, chest, flanks, and back were covered in a suit of half-plate stylized to give her a more imposing look with fearsome jagged angles and spines. Not that she needed the help, her burning green eyes seemed to burn into everyone in the room and the delighted, malicious grin on her face held a special sort of horror.
Chrysalis's eyes scanned the room, quickly finding Twilight. She flashed a wicked grin, her two-tone voice oddly cordial in tone, “I choose a random room to breach into and what do you know, there's my favorite little nemesis. Ha! This is your throne room. How very much like a pony, the throne room right on an outer wall.” Her eyes narrowed curly, “Kill her guards. There is no comet to save you this time Twilight, you will not take me by surprise another time, and I do think I will simply burn your little village to the ground.”
Twilight coughed, a cloud of the smoke still clinging around where she fell. “I see you got out of that pocket dimension. I have gotten a lot stronger since then.” She stood up, flaring her wings threateningly.
Chrysalis flinched, it was clear she wasn't expecting to fight a young alicorn today. “So you got some wings, they wont help you after I rip them from your shoulders!” The hive queen's horn flashed green, a hail of magical bolts shrieked towards Twilight.
The molment Chrysalis opened fire her troops flooded into the room. The guardsponies were quickly overwhelmed by the swarm, each of the nine separated and forced to fight a loosing battle on their own.
Twilight jumped, pushing down wither wings to spring into the air, avoiding the barrage by a hoof's width. Zecora ran for cover, getting behind a pile of rubble. From her position Amber could see the zebra looking through her saddlebags, presumably for a weapon or potion.
The swarm seemed to be ignoring Amber for the moment. 'Probably because I'm kneeling like a prisoner.' Amber observed, 'But I am not a prisoner am I? I was pardoned... or at least will be. Maybe. If Celestia wills it.'
Amber watched as Chrysalis and Twilight engaged in an aerial battle. Violet and dark green energy rays slicing the room around them as they flew to out maneuver one another. Their beams blasted, burned, and smashed chunks of crystal out of the walls, floor, and ceiling. Amber could tell that both fighter's were holding back, testing the waters. 'Chrysalis probably wanted her alive last time they fought. I doubt Twilight has seen a Queen's full power.'
Amber stood up, a realization hitting her almost as hard as Thorn's mace had, 'If I save Ponyville I could use that as leverage to push Celestia into granting me amnesty!'
Her hoof went to her box, pulling the lid open the lid before slipping inside. It took only a few molments for Amber to find what she was after. With a quick pulse of her magic and tug with her foreleg she slid a war standard from the box. It's green banner was identical to her cloak, but old, stained, and tattered, with an additional blue ring around the crown emblem. She slammed it into the floor, the sharpened steel butt-cap piercing deeply into the crystal, allowing the standard to stand free.
A few of Chrysalis's Soldiers looked over at the movement. Two of them turned back to fighting the castle guards. Three broke off, looking at her to see how best to attack, one of them however stopped, hovering in air recognizing the banner. Pointing one hoof at Amber's banner, green eyes wide with alarm she shouted a phrase in Changlish which was lost to Amber in the clash of battle. But several nearby Changelings looked over at the cry.
'That's right, some of you still remember me don't you?' Amber grinned, wishing she was in her Changeling form so her fangs could ad to the intimidating look she was trying for. The cry was repeated until about half of the soldiers were slowly forming up into ranks, moving around slowly to try to encircle Amber.
Looking around the throne room Amber's eyes found a banner bearing the same star burst and starfield design as Twilight's cutiemark. Her horn lit up as she ripped it free of the wall. In Changlish she called, “I am Amber Fire, personal guard to her majesty Polygyne. Your actions shame our Hive irreparably.”
Amber grabbed the banner with a hoof and pulled, ripping the cloth free. As quickly as she could manage she floated over Twilight's banner and tied it to her standard. Holding her old banner in her hooves Amber concentrated, flickering dull orange flames engulfed her hooves, igniting the old banner instantly. “A foe without honor is a foe already beaten.” Amber continued, the blazing banner falling to the floor.
The Changelings started to advance, horns lighting to fire magical bolts, two of them sporting the blue-white glow of battle-magic. Amber stomped one hoof into the ground, lunging with both her hooves thrust outwards, a torrent of flame spiraling outwards in an arc from each, bathing the ranks of soldiers in choking flames. “Burn heretics!”
The Changelings towards the edges of the flames shot sideways in the air, narrowly avoiding the roaring flames and coming out lightly singed. Those in the middle were not so fortunate. Several choked on the flames, falling coughing to the floor, chitin charred and smoldering. Two screamed, rolling on the ground ablaze, one dropped dead outright.
Amber tucked and rolled, coming out of the dive by springing back up to her hooves. Snapping her left hoof towards one of the unscathed Soldiers she threw a second sweeping line of flames, dismissing the magic from her right hoof as she did so. A blue white glow lit up around her right a split second later, just in time for a large crackling bolt of blue energy and a green ray to slam into her right side, throwing her violently to the rubble strew floor.
Amber rolled to the side, ignoring the pain from the hit, firing off two blue bolts in the direction she had been hit from, following up with a wave of flames one more time. The fiery aura around her hoof died, the spell's energy depleted. 'Crap... I'm running out of mana...' Amber realized with a grimace.
Her display of arcane power attracted the attention of the two Magi. The tall Changelings looked at one another and nodded, their horns lighting up with a deep green aura. One's spell energy slowly begand to build up at a point just in front of him, preparing a spell for later casting. The others horn blazed bright blue as he conjured a shimmering blue forcefield in a half dome to cover his companion.
'Of course they would prepare barriers in advance...' Amber grumbled. The art of pouring a few days worth of magic into a spell to hold onto and use later was something their caste had perfected ages ago. Amber had absolutely no way to tell how much it would take to break through the field, and with the other Magi charging a spell she didn't have time to try more than one thing.
'No time to go to my box for a potion or weapon...' Her eyes darted around the room, seeking anything that might help. A glint of metal caught her attention. Just behind the hovering, glowing aura radiating Magi, laying on the floor beneath some rubble, a fallen guard's spear. Amber grinned, her horn flashed green, her telekinetic grip found the spear, pulled it from under the rubble and sent it flying.
With a loud squelch the spear burred itself in the Magi's side, steel blade plunging in clear to the socket. The Magus screamed, voice reverberating with arcane power as the shock shattered his concentration. His gathered spell energy rippled, bubbled, warped, then compressed inwards to a single point of green light before blasting outwards. Everything became white. All sounds in the room were replaced by a loud high ringing which seemed to echo through Amber's skull.
As her head slowly cleared Amber found herself at the edge of a large scorch mark on the floor. Traces of blue-white energy zipped around in the air in front of her, the only remains of the force field. There was no sign of the Magi who she had hit. Amber was fairly certain the small green and black lumps were his friend. Despite the explosion most Changelings were still fighting, the spells effects clearly limited to Amber's area of the room.
The ringing persisted in her ears, white spots clung to her eyes. Amber stumbled back a few steps, reaching into her box to try and find anything at all. As she searched the green eyed Changeling Soldier dove from above, slamming her shoulder directly into Amber's chest, throwing her backwards. Amber hit the ground, her new adversary firing off three energy rays at once in a small arc.
Two slammed into the floor on ether side, the third caught Amber square in the chest, vaporizing the outer layers of metal. A metallic smoldering smell filled her nostrils as wisps of smoke poured from her armor. Before she could get up the Soldier followed her rays up with another charge, spinning around at the last minute to slam both her hind hooves into Amber's chest. A loud metallic clang of chitin on steel pierced Amber's ears, the first sound other than the ringing in the last few seconds.
Fortunately her armor held despite the damage. Amber grunted her hoof flashing blue as she threw the last of her prepared spells. A flash of blue-white energy exploded just in front of her, the concussive way throwing her and her attacker apart a few feet. Staggering to her hooves Amber panted, 'Oh gods, that kick knocked something loose...' Amber groaned, wrapping one foreleg around her chest.
Her attacker pushed herself up as well, horn glowing green as she slid a short sword from a scabbard on her back and flipped it up, readying herself to strike.
“Look to your left old friend! This battle is not your end.” Zecora called.
Amber looked just in time to see the zebra throw a glass potion bottle her way. Catching it with her magic Amber pulled the bottle to her. Unsure of what it was Amber shrugged and hurled the bottle at the soldier with a loud cry of “And we shall know no fear!”
The glass bottle shattered at his hooves, blue liquid simply forming a pool on the floor. The Soldier looked over at Amber completely baffled. Amber turned to look at Zecora equity confused. The Changeling Soldier turned to look at the zebra alchemist as well.
Zecora face hoofed, cursing in her native tongue before shouting, “Such stupidity, I am reeling! That was a potion of healing.”
“Oh!” Amber and the Soldier exclaimed together.
“Heh, oops?” Amber shrugged, giving her foe a pain filled, shaky grin.
The Soldier nodded, “Oops.” She agreed before charging forewords, short sword thrusting strait for the weened spot on Amber's chest plate.