Confrontation with Chrysalis
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“How dare you take her,” Celestia’s voice barely above a whisper as her ethereal mane begins flutter back and forth more rapidly.
“You should have learned you lesson before,” Celestia said her eyes narrow.
“I did, princess,” she spat the royal title. “After that spell of love repelled me and my children to the far reaches of the world I learned, why try to drain an entire city of ponies power, when one, one Alicorn, could provide me and my army of children with more than enough.”
“Cadence and Shining Armors spell was based in love so it didn’t harm you,” Celestia said not taking her eyes of the black queen or her army of children pouring into the cavernous chamber surrounding them, “You should have taken that as a warning.”
“Ha! I beat you before in your own castle with just the power siphoned off that dumb stallion,” she gestured to Shining as he stood over his sister. “No, I not only have my power but all the power of your precious student princess. Her magic runs through me and from me in to my children, and do you know what the best thing is? Your majesty,” Crysalis mocked. “I found out that when you drain an immortal alicorn of their power they die, just like everything else” she said like a simple matter of fact “and wasn’t I surprised that a day later she revived, and thus allowing me to repeat the process all over again.”
The princess finally looked away from the insectoid pony to Twilight, despite the hoards of changelings, still being batted away by Shining and Luna as they guarded Trixie as she attempted to break Twilights bonds, all Celestia saw was an emaciated, tourtured, pony…her pony, her daughter.
Luna’s eyes widened as she watched Celestias mane begin to flap like it was in the winds of a hurricane, “Captain protect your sister,” she ordered her voice worried and filled with anguish as unconsciously flared her wings taking a protective stance in front of her niece and nephew.
“But…,” Shining started to ask.
“You’re shield, NOW!” Luna ordered watching the calm collected paragon of peace Princess Celesita was pushed to the emotional edge and the rage of the goddess begin to crack all the mental barriers of calm she had erected over the millennia to keep herself in check.
Luna closed her eyes and used a modified dream spell to reach out to the mind of each of the solar and lunar guards still in the fight in the narrow passages of the mountain hive saying only one word “RUN!” and without question they obeyed fleeing to the surface.
A violet bubble projected by Shining Armor began to encompass the four ponies. Shining looked out through the shield at his mother, the mare who protected him, took care of him who was the most compassionate pony he’s ever known and he was scared. Luna could see Celestia’s tears begin to evaporate as soon as they left her eyes the air around her sisters body begin to waver like the summer heat off a stone.
Luna knew what was going to happen, though it had never happened in the many thousands of years before, Celestia was breaking.
“Sister don’t,” she pleaded into Celestia’s mind.
“I understand you now and understand how helpless you were to stop the nightmare. I’m sorry,” Celestia thought back to her.
“Don’t! You can’t. The power will consume you as my dark power consumed me, sister..,” Luna begged as Celesita slammed the door shut to her mind.
“After drinking you student dry, I can only imagine the power of having the magic of three alicorn’s to feast upon,” the queen said her children poised to pounce as the circle around the family began to close.
“You. Will. Not. Harm. Them,” Celestia said and brought her hoof down with such power it shattered the cavern floor beneath it.
“And how will you stop me,” Crysalis said her sharp crooked horn glowing a bright green ready for battle.
“I am Princess Celestia Goddess of the Sun incarnate, Sovereign of Equestria,” she says her gentle voice gone replaced with something cold and foreign before dropping to nearly a whisper “and you have kidnapped and tortured my daughter.”
Crysalis watch in shock as she noticed the white alicorns eyes become slits and the pastel rainbow of her ethereal mane burst into flame. The stone floor melted and shattered with each hoof fall as she strode towards the hive queen, the magical energy of the sun flooding into the enraged goddess.
“Shining, Trixie,” Luna said pulling the awestruck ponies gaze away from the scene before him. “Don’t watch.”
Luna added her magic to Shinings own reinforcing his shield and tinting the bubble an opaque black. The two could feel the magic and heat bombarding the bubble from the outside stressing their combined magic. Celestia’s worst fear for Luna had always been that she would slip back into the Nightmare, but Luna’s fear was her sister would become one. The shield bubble shook and began to surge as it pushed back against the power outside, streams of light began to burn against Shining Armors coat and he grunted in pain as cracks appeared in the protective shell. Trixie could feel her coat burning as she through her body around Twilight shielding her from the heated beams. Luna and Shining poured all their combined magic into their defense, until suddenly they felt nothing.
The cavern was black. The only light visible coming from the red glowing of supper heated rocks on the walls and floor. The air was choked with the ash of a thousand incinerated changelings. The enchanted chains around Twilight unlocked signifying the source of the magic was gone.
“Mother?” a weak voice whispered in the darkness.
“Twilight?” Shining said tears dripping from his eyes as he knelt next to her nuzzling her.
“Trixie?” she said as the pale blue mare dropped to her knees and began peppering her the purple alicorns muzzle with kisses.
“Mother?” she whispered trying to raise her head.
“I don’t know,” Luna whispered back.
“We need to get you out of here Twily?” Shining said lifting his sister on his back. “Can we teleport?”
“No, I don’t have the strength left,” Luna said. “It took nearly all my reserves to hold back Tia.”
“Mother?” Twilight asked again a weak tear dripping from her eye.
“I..I…I don’t know,” Luna said standing and trying to recognize the path out.
“I won’t go, I won’t go without her,” Twilight said weakly trying to slide of her brothers back.
“We need to get you out of here. Mother can take care of herself,” Shining said.
“Twilight listen to you brother,” Trixie said trying to lift her lover to her brothers back.
“No,” Twilight protested pushing against the magical bonds holding her to his back.
“If she fights me, I won’t be able to hold her. I don’t have enough strength,” he said.
Luna sighed, and closed her eyes, reaching out mentally in search of her sister, desperately afraid of what she might find, afraid she might not find Celesita, but the Tyrant Sun that had taken her place and wreaked devastation upon the changeling hive. She could sense the three minds next to her then Luna’s eyes shot open as she felt the familiar push back of a fourth mind. She looked about the dark room settling on a pile of ash. She near galloped over to the pile sliding to a stop thrusting her wings out creating a gust of wind moving enough ash to see a golden sun.
“Tia!” Luna screamed using her wings to push more of the dust from the collapsed princess. Her sisters face uncovered the night alicorn bends down and begins to nuzzle the race and neck of her sister.
“Mother!” Shining said, rushing over to the white alicorn, looking gray with the ash mixed in her coat. Twilight slides off his back next to the elder alicorn her movement aided by a surge of adrenalin and her natural recuperative powers beginning to come back to life.
“Mother?” Twilight says pushing herself through the ash on her knees next to Celestia’s side. “Mother. Wake up. Please wake up.”
“I’m sorry Tia,” Luna said willing the spark she sensed in her sister to grow.
“Mother, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Twilight pleaded Shining Armor gently brushing his hoof through her mane. “I didn’t mean it. You are the only mother I’ve ever needed. I love you.”
“She is there, I can feel her,” Luna said.
“What about…?” Shining started.
“No, I do not know how but the power she let loose is gone,” Luna explained.
“Shining leave you sister here and go get the guard. We need to get her out of here into the sun,” Luna ordered.
Shining Armor without another word left the three mares in the dark and began to rush out the cavern, only pausing a moment as he passed the desiccated husk of the hive queen and giving it a little kick sending it crumbling to a pile of indistinguishable ash.